Author Archives: mathan

We cut the cable…

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Sort of.

I got a call on Thursday while I was working from home from Bell doing their typical, “How do you like the service, is there anything we can do better.”

I like Bell – I’ve never had a real problem with them and given I know a bit about the technology they’re using to run the phone network, and also know the upgrades they have made our area.

My only complaint is that the service can be pretty expensive.  Of course, when they call, there’s nothing they can do because I typically have the lowest price packages, everything is bundled, etc…  Right?

Well… they finally had an offer for a long existing customer.  Our services that we had were:

  • Home Phone Choice
  • 1,000 minutes North American long distance for $15/mo + $6.95 network access fee (whatever that is!)
  • Bell Fibe Internet 25/10
  • Our condo fees include Rogers cable, something like up to 3 or 4 terminals

With what we had, you either pay $30 more unlimited internet… or pay $30 more for unlimited internet and Bell TV!

The offer became

  • Change our long distance plan to unlimited for $10/mo – Saving $11.95 per month
  • Change our internet to an unlimited plan for $10/mo ($30 – $20 package discount)
  • We got a further discount for packaging three items.  I have mobile phone as well, however that doesn’t count towards the bundle, I think… That is odd if it doesn’t.
  • Add TV for an additional $30

So you’re thinking – Iain, you’re a fool, you could have stuck with Rogers for free.  Yes, but then I wouldn’t have unlimited internet, and I wasn’t willing to pay for unlimited internet unless I got something else, honestly. $30 is a complete rip off for unlimited internet, and I do believe the plans need to be better.  Still, this was too good to pass up.

What about the TV service?

This is exactly why I didn’t want to pass up this deal.

In short, Rogers is shit:

  • The amount the signal is compressed on Rogers,
  • The colour black looks like blotchy grey and even whites are blocky depending on the channel,
  • The channel layout is horrible,
  • The set top box from Cisco is way too slow,
  • The technology is dated

Prior to moving to the condo, Scott and I had Bell ExpressVu.  The satellite we had was GORGEOUS.  The signal was so clear and that was prior to high definition television.  Cousins of mine also have Bell TV satellite service and it’s still gorgeous.

Interestingly, I actually have never seen Bell Fibe TV truly in action.  I had seen AT&T U-Verse in action and was pretty impressed by that.

Needless to say, I’m gobsmacked at

  • How clear the signal is.  There’s very little compression.
  • How fast the channels change.  It’s WAY faster than the old Cisco “Nextbox” from Rogers.
  • And the fact that it’s essentially streaming over the internet through our ADSL modem.  The set top box plugs into our modem via Ethernet!  That is cool!  It could actually connect over coaxial if we wanted, but we decided not to.
  • The wireless second receiver ($7/mo additional or $199) is a nice touch.  I can put that receiver in the bedroom (where it resides) or in the man cave.

The only draw back we have is that we had to move all of our networking equipment into the living room:

  • The ADSL modem,
  • Apple Airport,
  • The hard drive we use to back up our laptops, connected to the Airport,
  • A new 5Ghz Wifi network extender for the wireless STB in the bedroom

The outcome is that our wifi signal is low in the bedroom.  So it’s to be determined if it’s going to be a big issue or not.  I could re-wire the condo so that the STB is in the man cave, and the wireless terminal is on the main TV – which works beautifully too, that wireless terminal is responsive.

But, if I choose not to use the wireless terminal in the future and just use Rogers in the bedroom – after all we still have Rogers “for free” (really, it makes up $35 of our condo fees) – then I’d like that option.

So, first 5 hours with Bell TV – I’m hooked.  I really like the service, and I think people should consider it as an option, more so than Rogers, once it’s available province-wide.

Now that said, I am surprised that cable has not followed the lead of what Bell and AT&T have done.  There’s no reason why they could not go with an IP-based TV solution over cable with the same picture quality.  And all the features that Rogers has, Bell could have as well.

*shrugs*

It’s all about integrity

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So Microsoft has decided to back track on their DRM and always on ‘functionality’, and even went as far as to turn off region locking.  Here are a few articles:

There is one article that stands out the most for me:

It’s true.  It’s all about integrity.  The only reason Microsoft has backtracked is because the PS4 was outselling the XBox in pre-orders 2 to 1 according to rumors and they want their money back.

Now, at one level, I don’t have a problem with companies making money from relatively kosher means.  But as the article states:

Having integrity proves to the world that you are true to yourself
and to others. It shows that you stand up for what you believe in,
and against all odds, do not lose sight of yourself. Integrity
should be the backbone of all companies and should be what we all
strive for, each and every day.

I liken this to coming out as a gay man.  You don’t see me going back into the closet because it’s popular to be straight, and I’m not gay because it’s popular all of a sudden, it’s what I happen to be.

If Don Mattrick truly believed in the XBox One and the way gaming is going, then why not stick to your guns, and not turn the XBox One into the XBox 180?  Show us what the benefits are of what you are proposing?  Instead, we get an integrity issue.

Okay, okay, fucked if you do, fucked if you don’t.  Yes, the XBox team is probably in a bind here.  If you truly believe in the technology then stick by your guns and do what you can to explain why it’s a benefit.

I have to admit, I was coming around to the way games could be shared, being able to login on any XBox One around the world and having access to my games.  That idea was pretty neat honestly.  And it would allow my friends to be able to explore games that I have.

I had problems with the 24 hour ‘must’ connect to play games.  In short, stupid.  Yes, my PS3 connects to the net every 24 hours because I choose to.  Big difference – choose versus must.  If Microsoft had made this an option – and made it clear – less of an issue.  This was, probably, my biggest issue.

The ‘giving a game once’ wasn’t clear to me either.

Simply too many mixed messages, nothing clear.  EXPLAIN YOURSELF!

Mattrick’s arrogance is clear as seen here over at Engadget: “fortunately, we have a product for people who aren’t able to get some form of connectivity, it’s called Xbox 360.” So you’re going to deny key markets and individuals (see the Navy Times article above) access to the latest and greatest technology?

Take a flying leap.

As one guy, posting on EB Games’ feed promoting the newly updated XBox One said:

Don't be sheep and instantly change your mind...this is the company
that tried to shove it up your ass and make you swallow their 
policies... Don Matrick even said "if you don't want to connect 
every 24 hours we have a console for you...it's called the Xbox 360
"..what an asshole.. that was their stance until their wallets 
seemed lighter now Don has released a statement all of a suddenly 
saying "we heard everyone and are excited to offer a change"? Sorry
but I won't buy this console or even consider it in the slightest 
until that little puke resigns from Microsoft and learns the hard 
way that you can't give the people who are the reason you get a
check every two weeks the finger and then expect them to come back

Especially when you have to pay for an XBox Live Gold membership, and they have all kinds of advertising all over the user interface.  Double dip much?

My response:

You're going to buy a console from arrogant slime that double dips
with advertising and your monthly dollars? I think not! Don needs 
to step down for his arrogant buy a 360 comment. Know what? I'm 
buying a PS4 - that's my 360.

The main reason I have an XBox 360 is to play Forza and to turn that box into an arcade gaming machine.  I LOVE the fact that XBLA has a bunch of classic arcade games for sale, and I’ve got most of them with a handful to buy to complete.  After seeing this crap about the XBox One – I’m turned off big time, and I was already turned off because of my 360 experience.

I don’t buy for a minute that games would drop in price had this functionality remained in place, which was one argument.  Use the Steam argument?  We’re talking about game publishers like EA and Microsoft.

An article at Gizmodo states:

The real fear behind DRM on games is the idea that at some point in
the future, you'll be told that you are no longer allowed to use 
the content you'e paid for. It's that you're "allowed" to use 
anything at all, instead of outright "owning" it. And in the past,
shitty DRM has absolutely worked like that. Walmart MP3s and the 
like have taken their servers offline, stranding file formats and 
leaving them to die, forgotten.

That is not how DRM, by and large, works today. There is very 
little risk of any particular format dying off. The dangers, as 
such, lie in a dropoff of support, or at worst, confiscation. That
for whatever reason, Microsoft would tell us to screw ourselves 
and stop supporting Xbox One games, or kick you, specifically, out.

BULLSHIT.  I’ve already got content on my XBox 360 that I had bought in the cloud that is no longer available, games that I was hoping to buy no longer available for purchase and I know some of the content on both systems will expire.

At some point you know that both Microsoft and Sony will turn off their servers and make games and other downloadables no longer available, so if you lose your drive, You’re SOL.  You better have a back up – which thankfully I do for my PS3 content – and still have to do that for my 360.

In short – Microsoft did a piss poor job of communicating the benefits to the masses and instead of fighting the uphill battle, they threw in the towel and waved a white flag.  A total train wreck and cluster fuck by Microsoft executives.

Why am I so passionate about this?  Because I know something better is out there and had Microsoft scaled back on part of their DRM a little bit to appease things, it would have been pretty cool.

Microsoft, you have an integrity issue.

As someone on my Facebook thread said, there are definitely more pressing and important issues out there in the world.  I agree.  Maybe I should be more passionate about those issues, and should be giving a voice to those as well.

Why I will invest in the PS4

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I hesitate to consider myself a Sony fanboy.  I am a big fan of my PS3 and love the games that are available for it.  Considering it’s the second game console I’ve had where I’ve significantly and consistently played the games.

When the PS4 was first announced by Sony a few months ago, the only mark I had against it was the fact that it did not have backwards compatibility with the PS3, although with Sony purchasing Gaikai, the plan is to make old classic titles available through Cloud gaming.  It’s kind of like ONlive where the games are streamed to a console, very little of the logic is actually run on the console itself.

I’m kind of meh on this style of Cloud gaming.  Mainly because, here in Canada, and I suspect a good part of the world outside the United States, we have caps on our net bandwidth.  We don’t have the unlimited bandwidth plans that other countries have, or otherwise I am looking at changing to another provider.  Admittedly, I’d prefer not to change providers because of this.

Ideally, I’d have preferred to be able to retire my older PS3 (though I love the first generation design!!) and use the PS4 in the living room and the PS3 in my mancave. Looks like I won’t be doing that.

If my older PS3 does die, I’ll either get it fixed or I’ll invest in a newer PS3 slim with the sliding door.  I am surprised I’ve not seen the YLOD (Yellow Light Of Death) on that old PS3.

Most of my friends are also interested in the PS3 and are interested in the PS4.  Even my 360 friends are interested in the PS4.  So that is a big consideration.

The consideration of DRM was also a big factor.  If Sony had similar DRM restrictions on the PS4, I would be second guessing purchasing in this whole generation.

I am not concerned about DRM from games companies.  We’ve seen Electronic Arts and others institute codes for playing online or requirements to buy an online pass if you buy a used game – and those seem to be going away.  We’ve already seen this.  I dealt with this in the 80s and 90s on older platforms too.  Key thing is, DRM is not built into the platform, and I like that I can let my friends borrow my games and play them and vice versa.

I also buy used games.  Why not – if someone doesn’t care much for a game, why should I pay full price?  I also have no problem with the capitalistic model used by EB Games/Gamestop.  I get what the game is worth at the time, and I often have my games for a long time.  I also find I trade in games I’ve only played for a short period of time – which other people have only used for a short period of time.  Like I said in my last post – almost all of my PS Move games have all been traded in.  Also interesting to note, most of my Nintendo 3DS games were worth more than my PS3 and 360 games I traded in.

The price point was also right.  I invested in a PS4 when it was $499, around the time Little Big Planet came out.  I did think long and hard about making this purchase and I justified it as the PS4 was more than just a game box, but also supported BluRay, NetFlix (which I don’t use) and other services.

Funny that with the XBone I’m somewhat critical of it because I won’t use the TV services, yet with the PS3 I was looking for something more than just the gaming aspect.

$399 was a no brainer for me for a Day One purchase.

I will be critical of Sony for a moment – that $399 doesn’t include the PS4 Camera.  I can see this going two ways – it’s a good thing because you’re not forced to buy gratuitous hardware that’s simply not needed.  At the same time, you’re putting out more money.  $449 versus $499?  Is that really a good bargain?  To be determined.

One thing I didn’t go into was how much XBox Live Gold is a/was a rip off relative to PS Plus.  I would say that PS Plus did take a step backwards that in order to play multiplayer games  online that you need a PS Plus membership.  But they are not requiring it for Netflix and Free-to-Play games. XBox Live does require it.  You also get free games – some are AAA titles, some are less so, but I would say PS Plus is the greater value.  With Microsoft including free games, it does change the landscape in a good way.

The games I am looking forward to on PS4 are Driveclub, Knack and Infamous Second Son.  The rest I’m neither here nor there about.

Sony’s attitude has also been a lot more open and they’re interested in gamers and helping developers.  Sure, it’s going to help them in the long run to get profits.  I have no issue with that, it’s good business sense.  If they’re being a good corporate citizen, then I’m happy to support Sony.  I can’t say the same with Microsoft.

I think Sony is striking a good balance between downloading games from the cloud and physical media. There aren’t a lot of frills and if you want them, then you can add them as needed.  You’re not forced into it.  There’s very little advertising, you get a lot of value with PS Plus, there’s little DRM, and the graphics seem better – though Driveclub versus Forza remains to be seen.

If I’m gaming, I’m gaming.  I don’t need to bring my television into my gaming system.  Voice recognition – it’s fun but I find it annoying.  Yes, Kinect is ahead of it’s time, and it’s a cool system, but along with Kinect, I don’t use Move as much as I was thinking I would.

I would LOVE to see someone come up with a few games that leverage a cloud gaming infrastructure that Microsoft has created.  That’s probably my only wish from Sony.  Cloud gaming in the Gaikai format I have little need for, but if that helps to introduce intelligent AI type functionality, that doesn’t hog my bandwidth, I’m all for it.

December can’t come soon enough, though hopefully the PS4 will be out for Black Friday. That would be very cool, especially given that’s the start of the holiday shopping season.

That said – I know Microsoft and Sony will do well on the sales of their respective consoles.  As much as I was anti-XBone, I have actually somewhat chilled on my stance.  Still, the way the XBone works, and even how my 360 works, they both irk me.

Why I won’t be buying an XBone

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Last week saw the full announcement of the XBone, aka XBox One, and the PlayStation 4.

I currently have an XBox 360 and a PlayStation 3.  The XBox was supposed to be the game machine I use to play Forza 3 & 4, and also to turn into a classic arcade game box.

Sadly it’s not turned out that way.  See, yes I have Forza 3 & 4 and I like both games, I don’t play them a lot but when I do, I play for a few hours.

Turning my 360 into the classic arcade game box?  Not so much.  The games are great and fun, however Microsoft has started removing games from the XBox Live Arcade game store and it seems that all of the arcade games I wanted to download, but was taking my time downloading – almost all gone.

The XBox Games Store/Marketplace was pretty cool and at one level is still quite cool.  Being able to buy games online from work, and have it automatically download to the console by the time I got home was pretty cool.

I guess I’m just disappointed that games are being removed from the store.  I can guarantee that Sony has not been doing that with PlayStation because Sony is gamer focused.  I can pretty much find every older game that has been available since the start of the PlayStation launch.

So that was the first straw.  If you make it available, making it available for a long time, don’t just delete the games.

The amount of advertising, I still maintain, bugs the hell out of me on the 360.  Now, Microsoft has said the amount of advertising will be reduced on the XBone.  I am skeptical, and given I would be paying a premium price for a console, and paying for XBox Gold – the advertising seems gratuitous, and given I’ve worked with businesses in the digital advertising space, I have a good idea Microsoft is racking in the money for ad impressions.

The DRM space also has me concerned.  I do let my close friends borrow my PS3 games to give them a try, and they let me borrow their’s.  While I’m not exactly new to gaming (Commodore 64, Amiga CD32, Dreamcast, Game Cube, Wii, WiiU PS3, XBox 360), with the previous console generation, I’ve had to learn what games I really like.  I’ve really come into my own.

Not being able to try a game out ahead of time is a concern of mine.  I don’t want to spend the money.

Now, Microsoft has said you can lend out a game once to your friends and that you can login to a friend’s console and play a game.  This intrigues me and maybe this is what gets around my issue.  It remains to be seen how this works.

The context of people saying that games will drop from $59.99 down to $39.99 or so, I have to admit I am very skeptical.  There’s no way the game companies, the licensors, etc… are going to reduce the price of games even if DRM is applied to games in a strict way.  Microsoft reduce the price and use Steam’s model?  Ha!  Borderlands 2 is the same price on Steam as it is in stores right now, so don’t give me that.

The requirement to call into the mother ship every 24 hours is ridiculous and this is my biggest issue.  The dismissive attitude of Microsoft about this is probably the biggest reason why I am not buying an XBone.  I’ve been to way too many countries where net access is spotty and not reliable even certain places in the western world.  The rest of the world is not Seattle, Microsoft.  There are no benefits or advantages to having to connect every 24 hours It’s just not required. Simply connect every time the machine is turned on.

I don’t want to be dismissive and naive that the online gaming industry is not going to go cloud based.  We’ve seen it with digital music and I would say a good portion of games I have on my 360 and my PS3 are downloaded.  And those games are not easily shared – although if you do login with your PS3 credentials on another PS3, you can download and install those downloaded games. I have two PS3s here that I do that with.

The final thing for me about XBox is, honestly, the games aren’t there for me, at least on the 360, to warrant getting an XBone.  The graphics were also better on the PS3, it it just seemed to be a more well rounded system, games-wise.

That said, I have to admit, if I were to get an XBone, I would be interested in – Forza 5, Quantum Break and Crimson Dragon (for Scott),

Surprisingly I’m less worried about the voice command aspect of the XBone.  I just know that the first thing I’ll say when I walk into someone’s home who owns an XBox  One is “XBox on”. *GRIN*

I have no doubt that Kinect is going to be great on the One, but I really dislike playing Kinect games.  I also dislike playing Move games on the PS3 – In fact, I traded in a bunch of my Move games because I’m simply not playing them.  Move and Kinect?  They’re not really that great.

The TV functionality – I’m neither here nor there about it.   I already choose to turn on my amplifier to watch TV – why would I want to turn on both my cable box and XBox just to watch TV?

  • For the sake of voice commands?  I have to admit, I hate voice commands, it makes me feel like a real dork, even with my 360, it’s faster just to use a controller
  • For the TV guide?  My experience with using TV guides with Web TV (when I had a TV tuner card for my old PC), even Nintendo TV has been lacking, even worse in Canada as we often get forgotten.
  • I don’t even using the TVii functionality on my WiiU, so why would I bother on XBone?
  • So I can watch TV and Skype at the same time?  I don’t think so.  I’d prefer to be present to the person I’m Skyping with.
  • Getting stats and such about the program?  See TVii above.
  • Play movies?  I have an Apple TV, a PS3, XBox 360, iPad, a WiiU and even my TVs to do that with.
  • Exploring the web on my TV?  Again, there’s no need, even with SmartGlass.

The TV functionality seems really gratuitous.

Sadly for you Microsoft, I’m not willing to buy a $499 dongle to play Forza 5, though I would LOVE to play that game.  If you’ve done one thing right, it’s what you’re doing with cloud gaming – specifically Forza 5 is VERY cool.  I’d be worried about all the cars that would get scratched up with how aggressive I am with that game.

Beyond all that, another win I would say the XBone has is the controller.  I like the design and look of the new controller over the PS4.

BTW if there is one game I am looking forward to on the XBox 360 – Max and the Curse of the Brotherhood.  This may be the first game I would finish through to the end.

Hello Ouya

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Blah:.android mathan$ adb kill-server
Blah:.android mathan$ adb devices
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached 
015d4363803fe80d device

The kitchen is done, except…

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Two doors above the fridge.  The stain was off and not close to the rest of the cabinetry.  That’s it.

Dry walling was completed today in the storage locker and everything that was in our bedroom, my man cave and the living room is back where it belongs.

We have our bedroom back!  We have our dining room back (almost)!  My man cave is back!

Now it’s time to enjoy everything. 🙂

It’s almost done!

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Another day or two of work by the contractors next week and another week to wait before we get four replacement doors and we are done!

The doors are being replaced due to

  • One due to the varnish peeling off
  • Two above the fridge as the cabinet there was mis-sized and the fridge couldn’t fit underneath
  • One for the magic corner because the magic corner’s size is bigger than first thought.

 

Nous souhaitons une agreable vol!

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I have a gripe with Canadians.

Canadians love to shit on the national airline – Air Canada.

What those Canadian’s don’t know is that Air Canada truly is one of three, current, North American airline to achieve 4-stars from Skytrax – the world’s largest airline review site.  The others being Porter and Virgin America.

How can that be?

Easy – just fly any other airline in North America. United, American, US Airways, Southwest, Delta – they cannot compare to the level of service and professionalism you get on Air Canada.  Save maybe Porter and Virgin America.

United has vastly improved it’s service, and I see it on the way up with it’s merger with Continental.  It remains to be seen what happens with American after the merger with US Airways.

What about Westjet and Porter?  You know what, relative to the US-based airlines, they’re not bad.

Westjet, I really don’t care for because they act like Southwest yet their prices are just as high as Air Canada.  No frills?  Yes and you pay the price.  They don’t even have business class, and their mileage program is not affiliated with OneWorld or Star Alliance so why would I fly them?  They’re just not my cup of tea.

Porter, I’ve only flown once and I really enjoyed their service.  They would be my second choice, though again, their mileage program is not affiliated with OneWorld or Star Alliance.    The service is excellent, I love what they have done with the Toronto Island Airport.  I honestly have nothing bad to say about them.

There was a discussion that occurred today that started with a picture of, what looked like, a great meal in Air Canada Executive First.  Someone pointed out to me this fact after I had said, “And people in Canada like to crap all over Air Canada. They don’t know what they have until they fly on other carriers.” responding with, “…AirCanada economy blows, like the economy class of all other North American carriers.”

Food-wise, I have to say Air Canada is one of the best with Westjet on-par for food.  I heard Porter was really good but I wasn’t impressed when I flew to Chicago over a year ago.  As for the rest of the airlines in North America – this quote from me says it all: “Try any other airline – except maybe Virgin and Porter – who have better food choices. You can’t.”

Now I’ve had some amazing experiences on various airlines – British Airways First and Business class blows any experience I’ve had in business class, away.  Yes, I agree, Air Canada doesn’t compare when flying internationally, but I would hardly say they are sub-par and I wouldn’t say “they blow” like this one person did.

Then it got into providing bi-lingual service.  He was sitting in a section on a Frankfurt to Montreal flight with a flight attendant who was fluent in English and Mandarin.  He implied he wanted service in French and there was no one on board that could provide him with service.

For the record, the Service Director announces what languages the flight attendants can be of service in, and two of those, by law, have to be English and French.  As the official languages act says, service in Canada in Federal offices and on Air Canada has to be provided in both languages.

That’s not an issue, Air Canada guarantees this.  All this guy had to do was speak up and request service in french, and they would have got him a flight attendant who speaks french.

Personally, I don’t expect every flight attendant on an Air Canada flight to be able to speak both languages, but I do expect them to have an appropriate amount. Believe me, I love hearing the announcements in both languages and it helps me to remember some of my french.

Seriously, people, stop shitting on Air Canada.  Take off your blinders and if you’re being self entitled, maybe you need to show some humility.

Quartz and Appliances!

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The past two days have been exciting here in Penthouse des Ours.  Our counter top arrived, plumbing is in for the sink, dishwasher and fridge (ice maker & water dispenser).

Not without some hitches:

  • the cabinet was too low above the fridge so it’s had to be adjusted
  • the quartz backsplash for the island was mis-measured so that’s being replaced and will take another day or two
  • we were told we’d have to re-pick our backsplash, but after telling the tile folks we’ve already had to pick our cabinets twice, and our counter three times; they figured out how to get us what we wanted.  We did not have to repick our back splash.

With a reno like this, you really have to roll with the punches.  I’m actually somewhat laughing my butt off because I know the contractors will fix it.  I trust them and in then end the kitchen is going to look amazing.

And on the plus side, our dishwasher is SOOOO quiet relative to what we had before.  Having an ice maker is… interesting.  Not sure I’ll use it but I know Scott will.

Tile goes in tomorrow, Friday, and grouting on Saturday or Monday.  🙂

The day is here!

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We got word that tomorrow will forever now be known as… Counter Top Day!

Normally it would be May Day, especially in Morris Dancing tradition, and yes my family would try to get me up at an ungodly hour to watch them dance.

I digress.  Between 11 and 2, our counter top will be installed.  Thursday will be backsplash day if our contractor can get the tile guy in, and plumbing will also be Thursday – Working dishwasher and water for the fridge.

It’s all coming together.

In the meantime, I leave you with a video featuring dancing goat heads.  The new Pet Shop Boys single – Axis: