As you can see from the photo’s, construction of the cottage in Fernie has begun. The foundation is now complete, material for framing is being delivered tomorrow and the windows and doors are on order. No turning back now!
January 2004 Snowstorm
For the past two days we have been snowed in. The boys are home for the week as it is exam time at their high school. They are helping me with the snow clearing. The roads in our neighbourhood are terrible and there are cars and big trucks in the ditches. I am staying put until the plough comes along. Nick’s Volvo loves these conditions but my van slides all over the place, even with new all-weather tires on. Martha you keep an eye on the weather forecasts for the weekend. You may want to think about not venturing out on the highway if the winter snow continues. Good News… our house is toasty warm through all this deep freeze.
Website Demonstration a Success
The Chatham-Kent Firefighters Association chose last night as the official launch date for their membership’s website. They wanted a live demonstration at city hall’s council chambers, to demonstrate the workings and features of their new website I made and host for them. I was told “all the equipment would be provided and all I had to do was show the guys how to use the forum and gallery… very casual laid back atmosphere, don’t worry”.
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Catching a Comet’s Tail
On Jan. 2, NASA’s Stardust spacecraft flew through a 14,000-mile-an-hour hail of debris from the Wild 2 comet. Under this withering barrage, the ship’s objective was not only to survive, but to use a collector made of a bizarre substance to gather an unaltered sample of five-billion-year-old dust and gas ejected by the comet. NASA is using a substance called ‘aerogel’ in the Stardust spacecraft to catch pieces of the Wild-2 comet.
The NYT is running an article about some other amazing aerogel properties. My favourite quote about aerogel: ‘It’s the lowest density of any solid, and it has the highest thermoinsulation properties. Though it would be very expensive, you could take a two or three bedroom house, insulate it with aerogel, and you could heat the house with a candle. But eventually the house would become too hot.’
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Freezer Burn
I just wanted to add our voice to the winter festivities. With the wind considered, our temperatures have been at a day time high in the -30’s and a night time low of -50’s for almost 2 weeks. We can hear the cash registers ringing all the way from Natural Gas City to Amwell Street. We plan on selling the silver to be able to pay the fuel bill. Oops… we don’t have any silver.
I can imagine the energy companies frustration with all the street people. They get to lie on the heat vents for nothing.
We’re Snowed In!
We got a ton of snow today. This is a picture taken out of our upstairs bathroom window and the snow is over the eves. 
Click thumbnail to enlarge.
Empty Molson Brewery Largest Marijuana Operation in Ontario History
Over 100 police officers converged on a former Molson brewery site today, exposing what they say is the largest marijuana grow operation in Ontario history. Ten people were arrested and officers hunted for others possibly hiding in the massive three-storey building.
Thousands and thousands of marijuana plants, being cultivated with sophisticated watering and chemical grow devices, are believed to be on the site — an 11,250-square-metre building located in an industrial area. The police have never seen a grow operation of this magnitude.
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Chrysler Unveils 850 HP V-12 Supercar at Detroit Auto Show
Chrysler ME Four-Twelve
The AMG-developed all-aluminum 6.0-liter V12 engine produces 850 horsepower and 850 lb-ft of torque, and the car has a curb weight of only 2,880 pounds. Power get transferred to the wheels via a 7-speed transmission using the latest double wet-clutch technology and electronic controls. The transmission delivers uninterrupted torque to the rear wheels, shifting between gears in 200 milliseconds.
The ME Four-Twelve is intended to set new performance standards for a mid-engine rear-wheel-drive sports car. Chrysler expects the ME Four-Twelve to set new performance standards for a rear-wheel-drive mid-engine sports car: a top speed of 248 mph (400 kph), accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds and from zero to 100 mph in 6.2 seconds. Believe me, that’s STINKIN’ FAST! It’ll pass everything but a gas pump.
[EDITED 1/16/04] For a few other 2004 NAIAS pictures we took in Detroit on January 15th, see the autoshow photo album.
Martha’s Turtle Cheese Cake
Here is the recipe for the delicious cheese cake we had for New Years. Enjoy!
2 packages (8oz each) of cream cheese softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
20 KRAFT caramels
or
1 tub caramel dipping sauce from the produce dept.
Use enough to spread on the bottom of the crust
(and there is still enough left over for dipping with
granny smith apples and Scors chipits)
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Graham cracker pie crust
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Blog template completed
I’ve finished all the template changes I wanted done to our new blog. If you are experiencing any readability or usability problems, please let me know so I can correct them. If you have pop up blocking enabled (via third party software), you might have to add “4tg.ca” to your white list so you can see the comment form. I promise you’ll never see popup ads originating from our families’ site.
There was some concern about losing the “click for smilie” option we enjoyed with the old forum script. I don’t like the current smilie script hacks available for MovableType so for the time being, you’ll have to use the sidebar link that pops up the cut/paste codes for smilies.
F.Y.I. our currently featured icon in our title bars is… a picture of Rosemary and Catherine using the loaner car this past summer. 