Where do rabbits hang out? I always thought you would find them in corn fields or close to livestock. Apparently, this is incorrect. Last month, a white rabbit hang out in my backyard for about three weeks.  No, it wasn’t the BBQs with beer talking either -  I have pictures to prove it .  So, yesterday I am walking to the beach in Sarasota, Florida..

What do I see just next the pier?  Yes, rabbits!

These ones were brown with larger ears, so technically they were hares. Who knew rabbits like the beach?

So I am trying different ways of getting downtown in the morning. The other day, I get on the No. 165  TTC bus heading south to the York Mills subway station.  I am the only passenger sitting comfortably at the back of the bus. The Highway 400 and Major Mackenzie Road loop is the first stop. I get on 1 min before its scheduled departure. The bus moves up about 20 meters and stops.

The driver turns to me and says, “I am going to shut the engine off now. We are going to be here a while.”

“Isn’t this bus leaving now?” I asked.

“No.You can’t follow the schedule, especially in the summer.”

Alright, I am a patient person and he knows what he is doing. So, I wait. An elderly Italian lady gets on the bus, apparently, just to chat to the driver.

“So, whattya tink … today rain or no? Last week lotsa rain but today I dunno. Ma, maybe I water the tomatoes anyway. ” More  friendly chatter follows and the lady is now ready to step off the bus. I guess the driver’s break is now over. She suddenly notices that someone else is on the bus. She points at me says: “Insomma, ma, whattabout him. He comma with you?”

“Yes, I come with the bus.” I yelled from the back trying to be funny. The lady leaves and the driver is laughing has head off. I guess, this far north there are not that many passenger on a TTC bus.

Last Sunday was another hot weekend. So what better way to cool off then to head to the beach? Since I am practically (in downtown terms) close to Barrie I decided to take the family for a trip to Centennial Beach.  I was supposed to be a quite day of lying on warm sand and going for swims in cool Lake Simcoe.  A day of enjoying the sounds of tiny waves washing ashore and the smell of algae in the air. I tried to ignore the crowds gathered next to the beach but I simply couldn’t. Coincidentally, it was also the location of the  Barrie Brews and BBQ Festival. The smell of smoked meat and BBQ sauce was filling the air and I couldn’t resist. I decided to check it out.

Once on the festival grounds, one vendor clearly stood out. Traeger was displaying their line of wood pellet grills. The rep told me that each unit is actually both a smoker and a BBQ. Too bad, I just bought a shiny BBQ. Anyways, there were two units that caught my eye mostly because of their appearance: The Longhorn Steer and Lil’ Pig.

I should mention that the pig snout is used for venting the steam. Oh yeah, there was also a band doing  covers of rock classics like The Rolling Stones, Neil Young and U2. All this fun and excitement just minutes from home. Yeah, living north of Hwy 7 has its perks.

We see you staring at our racks.

Meat is murder. Tasty, tasty murder.

So the rabbit spent the night in my backyard. Does anyone know how to check it for rabies?

So, after installing the Rain Catcher 4000, I have been waiting for a storm to see how quickly the barrel fills up with water. The storm started when I was at Canada’s Wonderland and lasted about half an hour. When I got home (er, 5 min later) I realized that there was a hail storm in my neighborhood. Take a look…

Oh yeah, and the rain barrel was full.

So my new rain barrel is finally installed. Yes, this is my contribution to save our planet. I initially thought I would have to connect the RAIN CATCHER 4000 to one of the main spouts to get enough water. However, as I realized after the first major storm, enough rain water gets collected just from the porch roof in one hour.

I used a patio stone and some gravel to build a somewhat level base. Then I removed a section of the spout so that the bottom edge of the spout is about 2 inches above the screen. This will be just enough space to remove the screen.

I also anchored a short piece of pressure treated 1×6 with Tapcon screws to the brick. Then, I used some flexible copper strapping and 1 inch stainless screws to attach the barrel to the 1×6.

The Rain Catcher 4000 came with a clip for the hose but it kept coming undone so I fastened that with the copper strapping as well.

Finally, I weighed down the screen with a rock. The Rain Catcher 4000 probably looks strange in the front of the house but I plan to conceal it with a tall shrub.

Well, it was perfect timing. It is about to rain.

From what I have seen , the iPhone-like touch interface to be featured in Microsoft’s Windows 7 looks very impressive. I hope Microsoft makes the interface backward compatible with MS Windows existing features. For example, some of us are used to the “blue screen of death” when the operating system totally gives up and crashes. To jog your memory, here is an example of one:

As you can see, this is just too boring and flat at a time when are most likely already agitated and want some “closer” interaction with the device. How about using the new Windows 7 touch interface features to enhance your experience? Imagine you could express yourself interactively on how you feel about the Windows blue screen of death… er, with your fist!

You could also use your foot. Well, the possibilities are endless…

How did I take this picture? The car was on a rotating platform. I set my Canon Rebel XTi for a long exposure (about 15 sec) and placed the camera on the platform. I needed to lift my camera’s angle a bit but since I did not have my small tripod with me, I had to use the next best thing in my pocket…yes, my wallet. I also enhanced the reds in Photoshop afterwards.

Some of the bikes the were on display…

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