Tag: I am Canadian

Stepping 20 years into the past

Posted on By admin

Met up with the boys tonight. Some of them still kept in touch with each other, some not as much, but all made the effort to come by and spend an evening together when they knew I was in town. Some of them I’d not seen in close to 12-15 years. I’m honestly, truly, deeply touched. These were my guys, my tribe, my friends when I was living in Montreal and tonight, it felt at times like I never left. We retold the old stories of our most stupid times together and we just laughed at and with each other. I’ll cherish this night for a long time.

uncategorized

Canadian Internet Authority Launches Free Stock Photo Library

Posted on By admin

The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) has released their very own stock photo library packed full of hilarious images of Canadian stereotypes. Hockey, maple syrup, poutine, moose, they’re all there and they’re totally free to use as long as you give proper credit.

The point of the stock photo library, explains the CIRA, is to enable people to “add a little Canada to your website,” with some “maple syrup-infused visual masterpieces.”

I must incorporate one (or more) of these into my next deck for work.

Image credits: All photos by CIRA/.CA.

uncategorized

So…. I might have just ordered 2 kilos of squeaky cheese curd

Posted on By admin

I’m Canadian. This means that I have a fondness for poutine. It goes with the territory. Unfortunately, getting cheddar cheese curd outside of western Canada has, in the 15 years I’ve lived overseas, proven impossible.

Until now.

I recently came across this little gem of a news article:


Walter Grob, the current owner of the Engelberg cheese dairy, moved from Unterland to Engelberg. After years of hiking in Switzerland and Canada, the young man from eastern Swiss took over the business in 2015 at the age of 24. He produces traditional products in outstanding quality – but always tinkers with something new. Thanks to his innovative strength, he has already launched several new products, such as the Cheddar, and won prizes at the Swiss Cheese Award.

From there, auntie Google provided this information:

Walter Grob
Klosterhof 1, CH-6390 Engelberg
Telefon: +41 (0)41 638 08 88
info@schaukaeserei-engelberg.ch

So I reached out by email.

But got no answer.

Then I reached out by phone.

And got in touch directly with the man himself. And found out that the email reply was written but never actually sent, and since they make cheddar 3 or 4 times a month, I could have as many curds as I wanted. He’s been trying to get the product in stores, but with little success.

But I will get 2kg of freshly made cheddar cheese curds by post next week.

This makes me stupidly happy.

uncategorized

Rather proud of the child

Posted on By admin

Ben has boarded his solo flight to Canada. He’s excited about the trip, a bit anxious about the exact process, and is looking forward to seeing his cousins, aunts, grandparents and new dog. I’m rather impressed with doofus. He’s seriously grown up in the last couple of years and becoming more and more confident and independent. He can still be a right pain in the backside, but at his core, he’s a good kid and we done good. For the flight itself, as long as he has food, drink and a movie, he’ll be happy.

He just sent this to Katy. We still need to work on his English spelling, lol (his French is getting remarkably good).

uncategorized

21 years ago, on this day, I was probably not sober

Posted on By admin

As the ice storm hit, I was still working at the lab. The sidewalks were so covered in ice, I fell on my back and slid pretty much the whole length of Drummond, ending up in the middle of Dr Penfield drive (with oncoming traffic goodness). When the lights went off a couple of days later, downtown was a mess. Sheet ice was sliding off buildings and crashing down on the sidewalks. I remember how quiet is was, apart from the random shots of cracking ice. That, and the army trucks coming in.

A bunch of us… I forget exactly who now… ended up at Khaled and Paul’s apartment – they still had electricity because of their proximity to Ste Justine hospital. I remember we were 9 people in a 4 bedroom flat. I ended up sharing a sofa bed with Joanne, the new tenant who was moving in on that day, but had no furniture. It was surreal. God bless her, she completely took it on her stride. It turned into a continuous party. I didn’t sober up for a week. People would wake you up for a wake-and-bake. When the power came back on, we stayed there for another couple of days, for the fun of it. When I went back home, the worst thing was cleaning out my fridge, where everything had defrosted and spoiled. The smell… The horror… The horror.

uncategorized