What to do when your phone stops working.
Luckily there are two hand-sets. Swap batteries and the broken handset starts working. So the battery is dead. What now?
Phone says: vtech DECT 6.0
Google finds: phone, picture, model: LS6115-2
And sidebar shows: NiMH replacement battery, model: 89-1337-00 (BT 28443), $19.99
But the obvious route is not usually the best.
www.alexanderbattery.com
technical@alexanderbattery.com
Answer: Unfortunately we do not carry this battery in stock. We can order an equivalent. Our part number is 70AAAH2BMJ. Price is $14.97/ea. Delivery would be about 1-2 weeks.
These (US) sites show a sample of the competition:
www.batteriesdirect.com
www.batterymart.com
www.batterydepot.com
Ten seconds research convinces me that phone batteries last ~1year.
So, I'll take two from alexanderbattery. Their price is decent, Canadian, and I don't have to deal with any hassle. I just reply: "Great. Please order two for pickup. Thanks." and when they arrive, I get notified, and I drop by to pay and pick them up. Easy.
Fail
Placed order March 24, arrived March 31, picked them up April 1, installed them April 5. They work fine, but are slightly shorter and wider and consequently don't fit in the phone, so now they're duct-taped to the back of the phone, which sucks.
Next time, I'll obey the manufacturer.
May 2007 - October 2008, we lived in Kanata and had Rogers cable internet. For unrelated reasons, I hate Rogers, but the quality of the internet was decent. October 2008 - present (December 2009) we live closer to downtown (K1Y 1W6), and we have a Primus phone/internet package. The price is decent ~$70/month (taxes included). The phone quality is good. We've never used more than the allotted long distance minutes. But the internet sucks. Our Primus DSL is unbelievably bad. Here's the add: Triple Value Bundle.
The first problem is that they give you an idiot's install package. When you sign up, they tell you that you have to pay them a sign-up fee. Sounds reasonable. What they don't tell you is that you're buying a useless modem/router device, and that if you thereafter want to use any other device they will refuse to support you. That wouldn't be 100% stupid if the device was a wireless router, but it's not. You can buy such a device from them, but since they don't tell you any of this at sign-up time, it's too late and you're screwed.
So, you get a Thompson SpeedStream modem (which is a DSL modem and wired router combined). They don't tell you your username and password, so you can't connect it to your wireless router (which no doubt you already have unless you've lived in a cave for the last decade and they are your very first internet provider). Solution: call them, get the user/pass for DSL, change the modem to bridged mode, setup your router with the user/pass as PPPoE. But good luck with this as their support staff speak almost no english.
Bridge Mode
TekSavvy provides this article that shows screenshots of how to set the modem to bridged mode. Basically: wired connection to modem >> 192.168.1.254 >> SpeedTouch >> Configuration >> Setup >> Bridge >> 0.35 >> new user/pass >> yes DHCP >> Finished.
Once in bridged mode you won't be able to connect directly to the internet via the modem. You'll have to setup PPPoE on your router and talk only to your router.
Why bridge mode? Well I made a bunch of changes before getting usable internet and this was one of them. The idea is that if both your modem and your router are in "Routed PPPoE" mode then they conflict. Also the idea is that the routing capability on the modem is a flaky add-on.
You access the SpeedTouch modem via: 192.168.1.254
The original setup was:
Routed PPPoE on 0/35 and 0/33 (modified by user)Speed
Factory Defaults
Configuration modified by CWMP
(UTC+01:00) Amsterdam, Bern, Rome, Stockholm
Web Browsing Interception: Automatic
I've never much cared about speed before. But the Primus DSL would sometimes drop to such an abysmal crawl that I was obliged to get some measurements. You can go to speedtest.net or speedtest.primus.ca to measure the speed of your internet connection.
Kbps = Kilo bits per secondWired to the SpeedTouch Primus modem in default (Routed PPPoE) mode:
Mbps = Mega bits per second
1 Mbps = 1000 Kbps
KBps = Kilo Bytes per second
X Kbps = X/8 KBps
speedtest.net (preferred server: toronto) 1808-2111 Kbps download, 111-127 Kbps upload
Wireless Router PPPoE to SpeedTouch modem in bridge mode:
speedtest.net (preferred server: toronto) 1639-1956 Kbps download, 96-152 Kbps upload
One site I found said that average high-speed internet is 1.9 Mbps = 1900 Kbps = 237.5 KBps = 1 GB in 73 min. Which is probably okay.
But from my box at work, the internet is 40x faster:
speedtest.net 42,368 Kbps download, 5,932 Kbsp upload, ping 17 ms.
speedtest.primus.ca 38,392 Kbps download, 12,914 Kbps upload, latency 6 ms.
Primus says you will get up to 7 Mbps = 7,000 Kbps, and I'm getting 1,800 Kbps, so that's 25% of what I might expect. Not terrible. But before all my fixes, I was getting 300 Kbps. That's unbelievably bad.
Wireless Channels
Initially, I had horrible download speeds, so I tried all channels 1-11 on my wireless router. It's true that some of them (2 and 3 in my case) really sucked. But the others were all about the same and didn't give me much improvement over my initial config (ch6). In the end I settled on ch7.
An easy way to test for bad channels is a ping test:
cmd> ping -t 192.168.1.1
This sends pings directly to my router. My good channels had 0% packet loss and almost all times shorter than 3ms.
Software
I did three things to my laptop before I got usable internet. I'm not sure if all were required, because I didn't do reboot tests in between each.
1. install the latest drivers for the wireless card
2. install the latest management software for the wireless card
3. tell the wireless card to always use full power
4. use WPA instead of WEP at the router (this seems like an all-around good idea)
5. shut off the macbookair
MacBookAir
It's possible that our MacBookAir was causing part of the problem. It seemed that when the MacBookAir was powered off, then my ASUS L5GA laptop with Intel Pro Wireless 2200BG card would get ~30,000kbps. But when the MacBookAir was powered on, I would get 600kbps. Although those results weren't very consistent. Perhaps it had nothing to do with it. Perhaps there was some other intermittent interference from other apartments in my building.
Here's some ideas I've gathered:
http://forums.macnn.com/92/networking/305303/mysterious-crashing-with-linksys-wrt54g/
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/990169.html
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1080253&tstart=645
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=489910&tstart=15
Current Status
I now run the ASUS always wired with a static IP. The MacBookAir runs wireless with a dynamic IP. When we have intenet, it is decent ~2,500kbps. But the router will intermittently become disconnected from PPPoE, which is solved by rebooting the SpeedTouch modem (toggling its power switch) and asking the router to reconnect (via the router's status page at 192.168.1.1). This might not happen for several days, or it might happen several times in a given day. It may be correlated with bad weather. It doesn't seem to be correlated with rate of internet usage. It's a real pain, but it's work-around-able, and I'm not willing to waste more time debugging it.
I think I'll probably just go back to Rogers.
Get Movies From The Ottawa Public Library
It turns out that you can borrow videos from the Ottawa Public Library, and many of these are mainstream movies. So the library is like a free movie rental store. Sounds kind of cool.
First problem: none of the good ones are available. First solution: you can go to the website and request them. They'll eventually arrive at your local branch and you'll be notified by phone or email. You have about a week to pick them up and about a week to watch them. I think your number of requests are unlimited. So you can do what I did and simply request hundreds. With any luck, they'll show up at a rate of about a couple every week. You can engineer the rate at which they arrive by looking at the "position" they tell you when you request the movies or later by looking at the "position" column when looking at your account. But be warned, I think position doesn't take into account the number of copies they have. So if you're in position 20 but they have 10 copies then you should expect to receive it in about a week, not in 20*7 days.
Second problem: their website sucks. You can't easily browse, and you certainly can't browse by availability. You can search for a specific title. It's best to use thier: Search > Advanced Search > Format: DVDs. Here's a link.
You have to login in order to request movies. If you have a library card then I think you have a account. It's just your library card and your phone number (I know, super secure). But if that doesn't work for you, just stop by any branch and they'll set you up. Once you're logged in, you just search for a title, click on one of the results for details, and click the "Request next available copy" button.
Since I went to the trouble of mining their data, I thought I'd share. Here's a good portion of their pre-2009 movie list. I built this by searching for DVDs titled * (i.e. all of them, but I gave up after a while). For some of them (i.e. the ones I considered requesting) there are IMDB links. Go wild.
| Probably Worth Looking At Lilies In the shadow of the Moon Guess who's coming to dinner Lake of fire Stalag 17 All roads film festival collection 2 A room with a view Pollock The 11th hour Six degrees could change the world Up the Yangtze I'm not there The great debaters Across the universe The kite runner American gangster A collection of 2006 Academy Award nominated short films Murder in the first Shallow grave Immortal beloved Legends of the fall Donnie Darko The Shawshank redemption The Da Vinci Code Passchendaele Stormchasers Richard III Cat on a hot tin roof My dinner with André Wildlife specials Shake hands with the devil Going upriver: the long war of John Kerry. Word wars The last Englishman Manufacturing consent Fearless Boys don't cry Quiz show Bullets over Broadway The adventures of Priscilla, queen of the desert Becoming Jane I remember Nelson Human footprint -- National Geographic Channel. The tenant of Wildfell Hall Standard operating procedure Terry Jones' Medieval lives Ghost in the shell Rob Roy Les Misérables The sound of music The age of innocence Swimming with sharks The Buddha of suburbia Man on wire Body of war A collection of 2007 Academy Award nominated short films All Roads Film Festival: 5th anniversary collection Control Sergei Prokofiev's Peter & the wolf Cranford Chop shop Sense and sensibility Earth, the biography the story of our world John Adams Pulp fiction Fiction The small back room The fugitive The small back room Maya Lin: a strong clear vision Africa: the Serengeti In the heat of the night Atonement The Live's Of Others John Adams (TV) Earth, the biography (TV) Foyle's war. Set 5 The private life of a masterpiece Days that shook the world The Crow Stargate Pulp fiction Seven The usual suspects 12 monkeys The Englishman who went up a hill but came down a mountain Poldark Apollo 13 Sharpe's rifles Middlemarch Like water for chocolate Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Reality bites Timecop Maverick The client Baraka The remains of the day The fly The piano The Secret of Roan Inish. In the line of fire Short cuts Driving Miss Daisy Bloody Sunday Clear and present danger Nell Speed The madness of King George Heavenly creatures Forrest Gump Interview with the vampire Tombstone The birds Nixon A great day in Harlem True lies Before sunrise All or nothing at all My fair lady Charade In the name of the father Shadowlands The secret garden Groundhog Day The crying game My own private Idaho Wuthering Heights The Blackheath poisonings Merlin and the dragons Lawrence of Arabia Doctor Zhivago Great expectations The Fisher King Oliver Twist A Canterbury tale Hands of a murderer : a Sherlock Holmes mystery. Dick Tracy White Fang Cleopatra Pump up the volume Madama Butterfly The real Bruce Lee The Life of Leonardo da Vinci The agony and the ecstasy Astro boy. The complete series A tale of two cities Sex, lies, and videotape Dead poets society The Unbearable lightness of being The thin blue line A handful of dust Mississippi burning Fury The Jane Austen collection The Maltese falcon National Velvet Good morning Vietnam The sword in the stone Alice in wonderland Bleak House Swiss family Robinson The black cauldron Anne of Green Gables Killing fields The Dead zone Man on the moon The boys from Brazil The Longest day Breakfast at Tiffany's Romancing the stone Dune The velveteen rabbit The dark crystal Sweeney Todd : the demon barber of Fleet Street. Fast times at Ridgemont High The Scarlet Pimpernel War and peace The Man from Snowy River Crazy/beautiful The postman always rings twice Shogun The four feathers The lion, the witch & the wardrobe : the first book of the Chronicles of Narnia. White oleander Cinderella Big Red Monster's ball A knight's tale And justice for all Apocalypse now Almost famous Kramer vs. Kramer The Patriot All quiet on the western front Hair The King and I Alien The rainmaker The real Bruce Lee The day the earth stood still Murder by numbers The notebook The fast and the furious Donnie Darko The believer The Shining Caddyshack The Thomas Crown affair Raging bull The Blues brothers Jack Frost David Copperfield Bright young things Matchstick men Spider-Man 2 Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind The grapes of wrath The last unicorn Tuck everlasting E.T. the extra-terrestrial Spider-Man The world according to Garp The princess diaries Interview with the vampire Star trek II: the wrath of Khan. Blade runner Jumanji Sling blade Brideshead revisited Sin City Finding Forrester The terminator Lolita Star trek III : the search for Spock. A Nightmare on Elm Street Ghostbusters Heaven can wait Against all odds A Christmas carol The war of the worlds Amadeus Hamlet Gandhi A streetcar named desire Octopussy The night of the iguana Never cry wolf Scarface The breakfast club The color purple The goonies The pirates of Penzance The Americanization of Emily Name of the rose Mean girls Freaky Friday Old Yeller Ocean's eleven Pretty in pink Platoon Dr. Strangelove, or, How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb Mary Poppins Labyrinth The Mosquito Coast Top gun It's a wonderful life The color of money Capote George Orwell's 1984 Girl with a pearl earring Lost in translation Die hard The Sixth sense The land before time Dead ringers Rain man A fish called Wanda The Princess bride Snow White Rumpelstiltskin Chicago Fargo Three men and a baby Full metal jacket The untouchables Wall Street Lethal weapon Spaceballs Planes, trains and automobiles Titus Andronicus The many adventures of Winnie the Pooh The jungle book Charlotte's web Touching the void Twelfth night A room with a view North and South : the complete collection. Bend it like Beckham Awakenings GoodFellas Charlie Wilson's war Around the world in 80 days Big The little mermaid Public enemy Life of Brian The adventures of Indiana Jones : the complete DVD movie collection. Driving Miss Daisy The abyss Turner & Hooch Back to the future the complete trilogy. Tremors King Lear The fury Patton When Harry met Sally Say anything The fly ; The fly 2. Henry V Steel magnolias Rosemary's baby The fly Monty Python's flying circus Who framed Roger Rabbit The Witches Field of dreams Batman A.I. Star Trek VI : the undiscovered country. The little mermaid 101 Dalmatians 101 dalmatians II. Patch's London adventure Wizard of Oz Me and you and everyone we know The paper bag princess My fair lady Peter Pan Whale rider The hunt for Red October Dances with wolves About a boy Back to the future the complete trilogy. The chronicles of Narnia Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets Ghost Not without my daughter The Godfather DVD collection Home alone The Rescuers Down Under Misery Pink Floyd, the wall Arachnophobia The Crow Into the woods Die hard 2 : die harder. Night of the living dead Scream Terminator 2 : judgment day. Aliens Robin Hood : prince of thieves. Dances with wolves Amazing Grace Naked lunch The nature connection with David Suzuki Cape Fear He said, she said City slickers Hook Courage under fire JFK Three kings Reservoir dogs Bridge on the River Kwai The Doors Arsenic and old lace The perfect storm Thelma & Louise Patriot games Beauty and the beast Glengarry Glen Ross Dracula Spartacus The best of Mr. Bean Wallace & Gromit. Three amazing adventures Schindler's list The complete Beatrix Potter collection Romeo & Juliet Sleepless in Seattle Black Hawk down War and peace Iron will The essential Egoyan Wayne's world 2 What's eating Gilbert Grape The Three musketeers : [all for one, and one for all]. Annie Leibovitz The tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny ; The tale of Mr. Tod. The Firm Kalifornia Philadelphia Searching for Bobby Fischer Jurassic Park Mrs. Doubtfire Lord of the flies Treasure Island Four weddings and a funeral Dragon, the Bruce Lee story What's love got to do with it? The nutcracker The Pelican brief Into the wild Howards End Aladdin My cousin Vinny The piano White men can't jump Malcolm X A river runs through it The last of the Mohicans Hero Scent of a woman The great escape Lethal weapon 4 A League of their own Batman returns The player Baraka Blood diamond Jarhead Shelley Duvall's Faerie tale theatre Aftermath: population zero Romulus, my father The Buddha of suburbia The Edwardians Starting Out in the Evening Long way down. Complete TV series King Corn Ballet shoes The Deal Housewife, 49 Sharkwater (TV) Gulliver's travels (TV) The legend of Tillamook's gold Ganges Love in the time of cholera Darfur now No country for old men Pucca. Kung fu kisses All about Eve Life after people Zodiac Boy called Twist Philby, Burgess and Maclean Watership down The furies The Hudsucker proxy Mr. Holland's opus Leonard Maltin's animation favorites from the National Film Board of Canada Raining stones Much ado about nothing A year in Provence Heaven & earth Six degrees of separation Lip gloss Diary of a worm Cracker. Series two The Windsors, a royal family The Bostonians Bizet's dream Kurt & Courtney Thumbelina Queen of the East Yanni live at the Acropolis Whaledreamers Around the world in 80 treasures Faces of Earth Mitzi Gaynor: razzle dazzle! High noon Reservation Road Le peuple invisible Jimmy Carter. Man from Plains The memory keeper's daughter Love and other dilemmas Late fragment The wild horse redemption Surviving my mother The secret of Santa Vittoria The Strauss family Elton John: tantrums and tiaras The lost book of Nostradamus American teen The daydreamer Love's unfolding dream The Dick Francis thriller. Volume 2, The racing game A walk to beautiful African American lives 2 Abel's island Country matters Before the devil knows you're dead Normal Too tough to die, a tribute to Johnny Ramone How the West was won Journey to the center of the Earth The stone angel The Easter Bunny is comin' to town Lonesome dove Steal a pencil for me Family motel Into the unkown with Josh Bernstein. Tortoise vs. hare Finding Rin Tin Tin Operation Valkyrie: the Stauffenberg plot to kill Hitler. The small back room Recount The last laugh Spirit of the Marathon The Jewish Americans. King Priam. The hands of Orlac Tin man The blue elephant The rape of Europa Surfwise The business of being born Moondance Alexander I'm still here: real diaries of young people who lived during the Holocaust. Missing Sorrell and son Shaun the sheep. Off the baa! Lost stallions: the journey home. Crusade: a march through time. Justice League. New frontier Steep In the family Alice upside down Charlie and Lola. [Volume] eight, I am collecting a collection Sand and sorrow: a new documentary about Darfur Wind at my back: the complete third season. Jesse Stone. Sea change Jumanji Get on the bus Pocahontas Victor, Victoria Forget Paris Cadfael. A morbid taste for bones Brother Cadfael. The leper of St. Giles Mighty Aphrodite Waiting to exhale Clueless Restoration Nixon Mallrats Heat Something to talk about Safe Truman How to make an American quilt Goldeneye Dolores Claiborne Babe Circle of friends Anne Murray's classic Christmas Leaving Las Vegas Damage The best bits of Mr. Bean Casino Get Shorty To die for The bridges of Madison County Clerks Dido & Aeneas Sharpe's company Angels in the outfield Sharpe's enemy Sharpe's eagle Oliver's travels Sharpe's battle Stonewall Kurt Cobain, about a son Phantom museums: short films of the Quay brothers. Scotland forever Can you hear me thinking Mysterious Britain Double happiness Liberation The rector's wife Omagh Crumb Ben-Hur Wind in the willows A wrinkle in time Million dollar babies The courtesans of Bombay Who gets to call it art? The assassination of Richard Nixon Pulse Mad hot ballroom Brother minister Hotel Rwanda God sleeps in Rwanda | Probably Not Worth Looking At Sharpe's gold Sharpe's sword Sharpe's honour No quarter unledded Madiba Baseball -- a production of Florentine Films and WETA-TV Einstein and the stars Rainforest (Jungle) Dinosaur -- BBC Wildvision -- writer: Brian Meehl. Signs out of time: the story of archaeologist Marija Gimbutas. The miracle of life: pregnancy workout. The Beatles anthology Cadfael. Monk's hood Central America; Pilot Film and TV Productions LTd. ; WETA. Archibald Frisby -- a production of Great Plains National The House of cards. v.2, To play the king Richard Scarry's best sing-a-long Mother Goose video ever The Mikado -- directed by Rodney Greenberg L'animation Radio-Canada [enregistrement vidéo (DVD)] : un hommage Frédéric Back. A brilliant madness Discovering Italy -- written & directed by Patricia Franklin The Beatles: the ultimate DVD collection. Brother Cadfael. The leper of St. Giles Baseball. Inning 1, Our game: [the 1840s-1900] Baseball. Extra inning Baseball. Inning 9, Home: [1970-1994] The best of Mr. Bean. Volume 2 101 dalmatians II. Patch's London adventure -- Walt Disney Pictures Mrs. Reinhardt Jack Frost Corner Gas. Season 5 (TV) Pucca. Ninjas love noodles The aristocats -- Walt Disney Pictures 101 Dalmatians -- Walt Disney Pictures Clifford the big red dog. A big help! Pingu. South Pole adventures Water horse: legend of the deep. The Osmonds: 50th anniversary reunion concert. Franklin. Franklin's sailboat Sharks: knights of the sea. Be my valentine, Charlie Brown Chrysanthemum: -- and more mouse mayhem. Barack Obama Human body: pushing the limits. Saturday night live. SNL in the '80s: lost and found Justice League. New frontier -- Warner Bros It's bad for ya' -- George Carlin Partner dancing 101. The Latin dances Caillou. Caillou's winter wonders The Beatrix Potter collection -- BBC Video Sure shot Dombrowski: hockey's greatest two-way player. It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown Goosebumps. Perfect school The Who at Kilburn 1977 Goosebumps. One day at HorrorLand Wind at my back: the complete fifth season. Rush - snakes & arrows live The Three Stooges collection. Volume two, 1937-1939 Wind at my back: the complete fourth season. Jane and the dragon. Struggle for hope: Six gestures Tai chi: (6 forms, 6 easy lessons) Michael the visitor The greatest-- and the latest: Comic relief. Les classiques de Frédéric Back Medieval warfare Snowshoes and solitude: a year in the Wabakimi wilderness. Thomas & friends. Trust Thomas & other stories The Kids in the Hall. complete season 5 1993-1994 Keepers of memory (director/producer, Eric Kabera.) Mighty machines. Vol. 7 Mighty machines. Vol. 5 Mighty machines. Vol. 6 Mighty machines. Vol. 8 Yesterday in Rwanda Faults & fixes with Nick Price Mighty machines. Vol. 9 America and the Holocaust: deceit and indifference. Breaking point: Quebec/Canada--the 1995 referendum. All about fast trains Auditioning (by Allan Miller) Leonard Reed's shim sham shimmy Garbage (Disney Educational Productions) Vietnam (produced by Escapi New Media Studios) The big plane trip (directed by William VanDerKloot) Loreena McKennitt: no journey's end. Mighty machines. Vol. 4 The big comfy couch. Are you ready for school? Due South. Season two Due South. Season one Mighty machines. Vol. 3 Mighty machines. Vol. 1 Mighty machines. Vol. 2 Baseball. Inning 5, Shadow ball Baseball. Inning 3, The faith of fifty million people Baseball. Inning 2, Something like a war The Three Stooges collection. Volume two, 1937-1939 Fun and funky fitness for kids Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Les classiques de Frédéric Back The Kids in the Hall. complete season 5 1993-1994 The Kids in the Hall. complete season 4 1992-1993 UFO and paranormal phenomena. The mystery of life and death Dinosaur & Prehistoric life. Tchaikovsky: the tragic life of a musical genius. Essential art house. Lord of the flies. Healing cancer: from the inside out. Mac computer basics Bible code II: Apocalypse and beyond, finding our future. Teens, sex & health: a comprehensive approach to sexual education. CSNY/ Déjà vu Snow angels -- Crossroads Films production The first emperor -- directed by Brian Large The secret of happiness -- Eckhart Tolle. Are you ready to sing? Incredible Britain Ayurveda - for detox Ayurveda - for stress relief Classic archive: gyorgy cziffra Exercise and cancer - inspirations, indications Hollywood singing and dancing Peter Grimes Thomas & friends. The great discovery All-access: an unprecedented look behind the scenes. Growing up. Arctic Hansel and Gretel -- EMI Classics Growing up online It's a plus: learn to add. Puppytown. Growing up The dancing princess Mac computer applications Activity TV. Puppets Luck of the Loch Ness monster: a tale of picky eating. Franklin and the secret club Animalia Beginning ukulele. Volume 1 Am I normal?: teens and emotional health. Email for seniors: a step-by-step guide for the computer sky. Goosebumps. A night in Terror Tower A senior's guide to using a computer Eloise's rawther unusual Halloween Embracing aging: families facing change. Goosebumps. Monster blood. Big rig Tec the Tractor: best friend on wheels. Robson Arms: the complete third season. Arthur. Big brother Binky A mama for Owen The royal diaries Happy Valley: what's in your jello? Goosebumps. The night of the living dummy Do unto otters: a book about manners. Hello numbers: learn to count. One-on-one training with Jackie That incredible state Babywatch. The complete guide to having a baby for men The source of the secret Kid guides. Zoos Solomon yoga & pilates Finding hope in recovery: families living with addiction. Casper the Friendly Ghost . Trick or treat Flying: confessions of a free woman. The Bible code: predicting Armageddon. Goosebumps. The ghost next door Go Diego go! Diego's Halloween Daphne: the secret love life of Daphne du Maurier. Stott pilates. Pilates for breast cancer rehab A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving The Backyardigans. Escape from fairytale village Live to be 150: can you do it? It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Monarch and milkweed Signing time. Series two, volume 13, Who has the frog? Goosebumps. It came from beneath the sink Baby boost 48 songs You're not elected, Charlie Brown Bebé goes shopping; Bebé goes to the beach. Postcards from Buster. The case of the coin purloined Who wants to be an entomologist? Joy Division: the true story of the meteoric rise and fall of one of the most influential bands of our time. Ports & pilots -- presented by North Carolina Public Television. Kideosyncrasy. Volume 2, Getting the world in shape one kid at a time. The Pyongyang concert -- EuroArts Music International Bear dreams: learn to read. Viva piéata. Volume 1 -- Montréal : Imavision Berenstain Bears. Family and friendship Drawing power! Safari animal drawing Planet B-boy -- directed and produced by Benson Lee. Okay, I bought a Mac! Now what? Spooktacular new adventures of Casper. Vol. 2 Jazz class for kids Sneaker confidential Sunrise Earth: sunrises of the ancient world. -- Discovery Channel Interview the best -- S.n. Quick licks for guitar: fast classic metal. -- Mel Bay Quick licks for guitar: up tempo blues shuffle. -- Mel Bay Drumsense. Volume 1 -- Colin Woolway. Drumsense. Volume 2 -- Colin Woolway. Affairs of the heart. Series one, Volume 1-2: classic tales of love and loss based on the fiction of Heny James. Make way for ducklings: and more Robert McCloskey stories. Gunnin' for that #1 spot Woodcarving with Chris Pye Steps4kids handwriting Steps4kids cursive writing SPI: successful partnership investigation. Activity TV. Paper airplanes Edward the King -- written by David Butler and John Gorrie Garrett's gift -- written by Karyn Parsons Big boats & busy harbors -- Fred Levine Productions : Little Hardhats Talespinners 1 & 2 -- National Film Board Bear friends: learn to read. -- an LDJ Production Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King Dinky Dog -- the complete series -- A Hanna Barbera Pty Production -- 2008 Kid guides. Museums -- Echo Entertainment Incidents in the life of a slave girl [a DVD study guide] Distributed by Recorded Books Phonics 4 babies. Colors & counting -- Distributed by Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2008. South Central Farm: oasis in a concrete desert. The battle of the bag -- CBC Learning, 2008. Crazy for life: a true story in one act. -- written and performed by Victoria Maxwell. Audubon videoguide to butterflies -- Audubon Society, 2008 Men get depression -- PBS, 2008. Jack London's Call of the wild, 2008, c2000. Tchaikovsky: the tragic life of a musical genius. -- BBC, written by Matthew Whiteman and Suzy Klein. Treasures of America's national parks -- by Bellevue Entertainment It's movie time -- National Geographic Max & Ruby. Perfect pumpkin -- Nickleodeon Fidel Castro: a life of revolution. -- CBC, written and directed by Terence McKenna. Zappa plays Zappa -- directed and produced by Pierre & Francois Lamoureux. Java jive -- producer, Selwyn Jacob ; director, David Ozier. Inspector Gadget: big little problems. -- 20th Century Fox Computer comfort: Help for the Computer Shy Internet for seniors: a step-by-step guide for the computer shy. How to use a Mac: a guide for Windows computer users. How to surf the web on your Mac computer: a step-by-step guide for using the apple safari web browser. Anger: myths and truths about the emotion. -- ABC News Depression: out of the shadows. -- PBS Home Video Transformation: the life and legacy of Werner Erhard. -- directed by Robyn Symon. All you need is love -- London Weekend Television, directed by Tony Palmer. Derivatives of logarithms -- TMW, 2008 Be the change -- producer and director, David Chernushenko. Ottawa Madeline. We're off to Africa -- 20th Century Fox, 2008. I'm an animal Vol. 1 -- Vivendi Visual The greatest and the latest: Comic relief. -- directed by Billy Crystal Comedy Central salutes George Carlin The Hardly Boys in Hardly gold -- written and directed by William Wegman. Alphabet soup: learn the letters. -- an LDJ Production Signing time. Series two, volume 11, Once upon a time -- Two Little Hands Productions Signing time. Series two, volume 12, Box of crayons -- Two Little Hands Productions Buddy Guy, guitar lessons -- Koch Gentle vinyasa yoga: mystical desert mist beginner & intermediate. -- MyYogaVideo.com Yoga: gentle practice. -- Real Bodywork John McCain -- produced and written by Deirdre O'Hearn. Mustard pancakes. Are you ready to sing? -- Distributed by Vivendi Visual Entertainment Yoga body sculpt: perfect yoga poses to tone & sculpt your entire body. -- Anchor Bay Latin rhythms fat blasting dance -- Anchor Bay Soup stories: how letters become words. -- an LDJ Production Voyage to the Bunny Planet -- Weston Woods Studios, Inc. Strobist lighting seminar -- Midwest Photo Exchange Solving integrals -- TMW Integration by substitution -- TMW Calculating volume with integrals -- TMW Derivatives and integrals of exponentials -- TMW Integration by parts -- TMW Integration by trig substitution -- TMW Improper integrals -- TMW Hiya, kids!!: a 50's Saturday morning. Online dating for the computer shy Wings over Canada. 10th Anniversary season Yoga: core cross train. The medicated child Mapping stem cell research: terra incognita The four-winged dinosaur Company: [a musical comedy]. Beyond Beijing: exploring China's cities. Kid guides. Aquariums The calculus tutor. Volume 3, Differentiation formulas Car of the future: engineering for the environment. Bush's war Max & Ruby. Max's present Red, white and brown Stott pilates. Volume 1, Pilates with props The country wife Christmas tapestry Warnings from the ice Raffi renaissance All stars of rock guitar Musician More Mac computer basics United Feature Syndicate, Inc. and Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates Slippin': ten years with the Bloods. Cinderella : a dance fantasy. Body & soul Alice in Wonderland : a dance fantasy. Madeline. Meet me in Paris One dead Indian : the story of Dudley George and Ipperwash. The complete adventures of Cubby Bear Dizzy Gillespie : Live in '58 & '70. Escape to Canada Raised to be heroes Ripples cross Destination Ottawa Zoo TV : live from Sydney. I know I'm not alone : [a musician's search for the human cost of war]. Eternal enemies, lions and hyenas Breaking point : Quebec/Canada--the 1995 referendum. Hamas, behind the mask Birth = La naissance. Growing up wild Combination platter Brother Bear The Shakespeare collection Bush's brain The hunting of the president : the ten-year campaign to destroy Bill Clinton. Angels in America New York The big comfy couch. Wait your turn, and Fancy dancer Bopha! Great adaptations N is a number : a portrait of Paul Erdos. Century of warfare Cracker. Series one, Glenn Gould collection Israel : a nation is born. This boy's life Linnea in Monet's garden Snowy The big comfy couch. Comfy & joy, and Jump for Joy The extra-special substitute teacher The Rainy day adventure Raffi in concert L'animation à Radio-Canada [enregistrement vidéo (DVD)] : un hommage à Frédéric Back. Richard Scarry's best busy people video ever Toronto Blue Jays : 1992, Atlanta Braves ; 1993, Philadelphia Phillies ; presented by Major League Baseball Productions. Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore, or The Witch's curse [videorecording]. Jeeves & Wooster. The complete fourth season The tale of two bad mice and Johnny Town-Mouse ; The tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Mr. Jeremy Fisher ; The tailor of Gloucester. Sabrina Discovering Egypt Funny face Porgy and Bess Jazz. Episode seven, Dedicated to chaos Jesus of Nazareth Gettysburg Jazz. Episode eight, Risk Rudy Calendar The Audrey Hepburn story Bell, book and candle The war room Dieppe A night to remember Stalingrad Dave Homeward bound : the incredible journey. The Holiday Collection Sacred fire : live in Mexico. The greatest-- and the latest : Comic relief. The Noël Coward collection Rowan Atkinson live! Adam Bede The Henrik Ibsen collection The call of the wild The Kids in the Hall. complete season 4 1992-1993 Destination Canadian Rockies The boys of St. Vincent The camomile lawn The Life & times of Allen Ginsberg Shelley Duvall's Tall tales & legends. John Henry Speaking of courage Never so few McQ Bad day at Black Rock The Kids in the Hall. complete season 3 1991-1992 David Leadbetter golf instruction. Taking it to the course An ungentlemanly act Shakespeare : the animated tales. The original television Christmas classics Of mice and men = Des souris et des hommes. Aileen Wuornos : the selling of a serial killer, the 1992 interviews. Eloise at Christmastime = Éloïse fête noël. Porco Rosso Flipper Two brothers = Deux frères. Road to the presidency : inside the Clinton campaign. O pioneers! ABC's Eloise at the Plaza Burned bridge The inventors' guide to making your brainstorm bankable : how to protect and market your invention. Mastering woodworking machines Mastering your bandsaw In the shadow of the Reich Bringing down a dictator The Iceman : confessions of a Mafia hitman. The Sarah plain & tall collection Momentum Toronto Blue Jays : 1992, Atlanta Braves ; 1993, Philadelphia Phillies ; presented by Major League Baseball Productions. Salmonberries Mr. Saturday Night The tale of the Flopsy Bunnies & Mrs. Tittlemouse : The tale of Pigling Bland. The adjuster = L'expert en sinistres. Haxan ; witchcraft through the ages. Jeeves & Wooster. The complete third season Citizen Cohn Shadows and fog Blue sky Fires of Kuwait Agatha Christie's Poirot. Death in the clouds Salvador The magnificent seven Ferngully, the last rainforest Aromatherapy : [learn the all-natural way to relieve stress and enliven your senses]. The eagle has landed Te Deum Unforgiven Bob Roberts The best years of our lives The old man and the sea We are traffic! ; Return of the scorcher. School ties Agatha Christie's Poirot. The ABC murders The Discoverers The perfect husband Orlando Chaplin Passion fish Mr. Saturday Night Damage Midnight express Tropical rainforest Death becomes her The Birth of a nation Dora the Explorer. Dora and the 3 little pigs [videorecording]. The Edwardians Devices and desires The best of Mr. Bean. Volume 2 Poisoned by polonium : the Litvinenko file. My father's angel = L'ange gardien de mon père. Can you hear me thinking Diamonds of war. Africa's blood diamonds Living and dying with muscular dystrophy Popmart : live from Mexico City. Elvis Costello live : a case for song. Free cinema Bon Jovi. Lost highway: the concert The Noël Coward collection Absolute hell : a rose-coloured spectacle. Six days in June : the war that redefined the Middle East. The McCartney years Anatomy of a script.. #6, Tom Schulman Coney Island Zoo TV : live from Sydney. Father Christmas Kissology. Vol. 2, 1978-1991 : the ultimate Kiss collection. Destination British Columbia Another road home The Kids in the Hall. complete season 3 1991-1992 Madeline's Christmas = Le No?l de Madeline ; plus, Madeline and one other story. Letter from Wingfield farm The Short game Changes The ballad of the sad café Daddy The Edward R. Murrow collection Bruce Springsteen in concert : MTV plugged. The Doobie Brothers, Rockin' down the highway : the wildlife concert. Class action = Confrontation ? la barre. Crosby, Stills & Nash : the acoustic concert. The Commitments Uncovered : the whole truth about the Iraq War. Peter Gabriel : play : the videos. Weezer, video capture device : treasures from the vault 1991-2002. The very best of Cher : the video hits collection. Simply Red, Stars A murder of quality Barbra Streisand : the concert. In America Little house on the prairie. Season 4 Sarah McLachlan : afterglow live. The Manchurian candidate = Candidat mandchou. No quarter unledded Oscar Peterson : a night in Vienna / produced by Scott Morin ; concert co-produced by Universal Music Canada and ORF. Eric Clapton : Crossroads Guitar Festival. Slacker A perfect hero Great adaptations Little house on the prairie. Season 5 The Kids in the Hall. complete season 2, 1990-1991 Prime suspect 1 Phil Collins live and loose in Paris Peter Gabriel secret world live VH1 Storytellers. Alanis Morissette Fool's gold : [the story of the Brink's-Mat robbery]. Phonics video tutor. Level 1 Nirvana nevermind Turning projects Live from Baghdad AC/DC live at Donington VH1 Storytellers. Sarah McLachlan Phonics video tutor. Level 2 Diana Krall live in Paris The Civil War Little house on the prairie Little house on the prairie. The pilot : the premiere movie. Little house on the prairie. Season 1 Little house on the prairie. Season 2 Little house on the prairie. Season 3 Click, clack, moo, cows that type : and more fun on the farm. Spirits of Havana : with Jane Bunnett. White room = Le secret de la chambre claire. The Canadian history series, 1939-2000 The best of 1990-2000 Agatha Christie's Poirot. Collector's set 4 Blue sky Little man Tate Indian runner Barbara Taylor Bradford's to be the best [videorecording DVD]. Barbara Taylor Bradford's a woman of substance trilogy Fires of Kuwait Tom Jones The Prince of Tides Discovering Greece Red Rocks live : Neil Young, friends & relatives. Silver & gold Kiri Te Kanawa : home & afar. A passage to India Beastie Boys video anthology Santana : supernatural live : an evening with Carlos Santana and friends. Appalachian journey : live in concert. You're the one : in concert. What about Bob? Jazz. Episode ten, A masterpiece by midnight Bon Jovi : the Crush Tour. Butterfield 8 All the way : a decade of song and video. Symphony no. 9 Grand Canyon Lost horizon Incident at Oglala When it was a game Mr. Deeds goes to town Yanni live at the Acropolis It happened one night Duke Ellington's sacred concerts Father of the bride Mr. Smith goes to Washington Madonna : truth or dare. The Paris concert for Amnesty International : the struggle continues-. Where angels fear to tread The Snowman ; and, Father Christmas. Live at the Beacon Theatre / James Taylor. L.A. story Antarctica : an adventure of a different nature. Black robe Ring of fire Meet John Doe It's a wonderful life = La vie est belle. Summertime High lonesome : the story of bluegrass music. Sacred fire : live in Mexico. Dad's Army Three men and a little lady Intolerance Royal wedding Francis Albert Sinatra does his thing Sadako and the thousand paper cranes = Une enfant d'Hiroshima. Eric Clapton unplugged The greatest-- and the latest : Comic relief. The Edwardians Zappa plays Zappa The small back room James Last : live in Berlin. Night of the fox Gowan : live in concert. Echoes that remain 49th parallel Kissology. Vol. 2, 1978-1991 : the ultimate Kiss collection. Art Blakey & the Jazz messengers : live in '58. Cuba : the accidental revolution. Portrait of a marriage Africa : Namibian ecosystem. David Leadbetter golf instruction. The swing Fine things The complete thin man collection An angel at my table : a trilogy. Kaleidoscope Live Aid Peter Gabriel : play : the videos. Sanding and finishing hardwood floors Hamlet The very best of Cher : the video hits collection. Breaker Morant |
Sundance Balloons In Ottawa (May 12th 2009)
On May 12th 2009 we flew in a Balloon over Ottawa. It was a great experience. I booked with Sundance Balloons by calling 613-247-8277 and chatting with a friendly agent about what was involved, when they were available and how to reserve a spot. They have a pretty good website where you can do it all yourself. It's a two part process. First you pay for vouchers that give you the right to fly. Then you use the code from the vouchers to schedule a flight. This is because ballooning is very weather dependant and you might have to re-schedule several times.
I went with my wife and my dad and handled the booking. You need lots of info to fill out the forms, like date of birth and weight (which is reasonable considering that it's a balloon ride). They tell you to bring a hat -- advice which I ignored. I thought they were concerned about the sun. Nope. It's the giant fire three feet from your head. Believe me: bring a hat.
It's not cheap, $220 per person, but I had a great time. Our balloonist was Frank, and he and the crew were spectacular. We took off from Carleton University and followed roughly this route. The take off and landing are the most existing part. While you're up there you move with the wind, so it is very calm, and there are great views. To spice things up, Frank lowered the balloon once we were outside the city so that I could actually touch the tree tops. We'd been up for quite a while and sunset was approaching when Frank decided that he'd be able to set down in the middle of an Orleans soccer field. We came in as close as he could over a power line and landed with two bounces. A guy from the chase vehicle was already there when we touched down and grabbed on as we bounced to add weight and help us land. It was lots of fun.
Koreana is probably my favourite restaurant in town. They have a great mix Kim-Chi, Bimbap and Sushi, and I really like the friendly, professional, but laid-back attitude of the staff. Usually, I have their Sushi and Amanda has stone-bowl, but next time I'm there, I'm going to try #20.
The Best Thing I've Ever Tasted
This Hazelnut Cake from Simply Biscotti is the best thing I've ever tasted. I'd probably be willing to pay $50 for it. Amanda brought it home to me as a treat, for which I am eternally grateful.
