Sep. 17th, 2025 10:11 pm

Extremely short car reviews

ink_13: (Default)
[personal profile] ink_13

2023(?) Chrysler 300 edition.

On my trip to Nova Scotia I booked again on the "whatever" level. Upon arrival at the rental desk, it was a classic Seinfeldian "we actually have no cars" situation, but seeing that my account has status (because of transfer from airline status I think?) they said they'd try and get something nice for me. And so, this car, the last Chrysler sedan (in Pentastar V6 form, not V8 muscle form).

I couldn't get the radio to connect to my phone for media in any way shape or form: not by USB (nothing), not by Bluetooth fallback (it would say "PHONE ONLY"), so for the most part I used one earbud and trusted Google Maps' audio directions. Also the touchscreen didn't work most of the time.

It's well-trod ground that this is a late-90s Benz at a chassis and suspension design level, and it drives like it, which is to say "not nimbly". That V6 does push 300 ponies, but the car also weighs almost two tons, so while it moves, it's not a hustler. The interior feels cheap and I found it challenging to get it perfectly comfortable, but at the end of two days with it I say we hit a level I would call "okay". At least it has adaptive cruise, a sunroof, and lanekeep assist.

But a European-fighting distance-crushing cruiser this isn't. I'd say the GTI is just as comfortable with a better interior and superior acceleration.

It does look hella boss, though, particularly in black (as this one was).

Tags:
Sep. 16th, 2025 11:10 pm

Broke and repaired

ink_13: (Default)
[personal profile] ink_13

Yesterday, I was eating one of the last peaches of the season when I misjudged the size of the stone and accidentally bit into it. At first it felt like a little sliver of something was caught between my teeth, but I quickly discovered that, no, my 21 incisor (that is, upper left) had cracked.

This is less upsetting than it might appear at first because that tooth is, of course, already fake, a veneer built on what's left of my long-broken chomper. These things don't last forever.

My first reaction was to call the dentist's office, because the sooner I could get this fixed the better, and it turns out the soonest was "the next day" (i.e., today as of writing). The process was much like last time: grind away a little old stuff to create a bonding surface, build it up, grind it down.

The new one feels almost like nothing at all, which I think is always the goal. While I had that triangular void it was uncomfortable on the lips and tongue, whereas now that it's replaced it's like it was always there. There are subtle differences, of course, that will take a day or two to get used to, but not hugely noticeable.

I was, however, warned that if it fails again it's likely to be time to replace the veneer with a crown. So that's probably inevitable, but if this one lasts as long as the predecessor did, that's about 23 years from now, and who knows what advances in dental technology we'll see by then. Maybe the magic tooth-regrowing technology will have been developed in the interim.

Tags:
Sep. 15th, 2025 11:40 pm

Time away

ink_13: (Default)
[personal profile] ink_13

My old fiddle teacher invited me out to visit her in the Annapolis Valley for an Irish set dancing weekend. So I cashed in some Aeroplan points (and $100 to cover airport fees) and went.

Set dancing shares a lineage with contra dancing that runs in part back to the quadrille (it's a bit complicated, not least of all because both nearly died and were revived in the late 20th century), but I have to say that between them set dancing makes contra look like something for babies. The basic component moves are almost the same, but set dancing has more of them and combines them in a more complicated fashion.

(On the other hand, while it's true that in contra you can get away with walking all the steps, there's also an emphasis on spinning and flow that lets even intermediate dancers start to look smooth and fancy. My biggest frustration over the weekend were partners who wouldn't use the full 8, wanting to be poised 1 or 2 beats early for the next thing. But I digress.)

The weekend was taught by Pat Murphy, who literally wrote the book on set dancing. An incredibly gentle man with a classic Tipperary accent and a solid teacher. Workshops during the day when he teaches sets with more detail, and then ceilis at night where there is less handholding. My impression is that there's a vague expectation that the dancers will know complete sets by heart upon just hearing the name, but I can't keep those in my head once the set ends. Personally, I lean on the fact that I know almost all the component steps and the caller to keep up, and there were a couple of dances during ceilis that could have used a little more calling.

Aside from hesitant partners, the worst thing about the weekend was getting accidentally tripped Saturday morning by someone from a neighbouring set who lost track of things. I would have been OK but the floor was slick with talc that some people put on the bottom of their leather-soled shoes to slide even better. Me, I just danced in Blundstones, and I lost purchase after stumbling twice. I landed on the left side of my butt and seem to have gotten away with only a minor bruise.

All in a nice visit: J and her now-fiancé M (a farrier by trade) have a cozy apartment with a comfy guest room, and the east end of the Annapolis Valley is not really that foreign of terrain: it's actually quite a lot like Ontario around the escarpment (if you overlook the Bay of Fundy).

Do I have much more to say about it? Not really. I didn't open my laptop once (although the iPad got a workout) and it was a good break of a weekend.

Sep. 10th, 2025 09:49 pm

Knowledge of changes

ink_13: (juggler)
[personal profile] ink_13

The contract and schedule for fan coil replacement has landed. Alas, my end of the building drew the short straw and I don't get new FCUs until December. Presuming there's no schedule slip.

But... I suspect this means I have to bump the beginning of renos into January. We can do design work starting next month as planned. This makes more sense anyway, I can spend my end-of-year break the way I really wanted: packing up the entire apartment.

Not. But needs must and all that.


Part of the design discussions will no doubt be how much of my furniture survives this process. The lounge chair, the desk chair, and the antique banker's chair in the bedroom are all shoo-ins. The red couch, the IKEA IVAR bookshelves, the dining room chairs/table, and the mismatched bedside tables are obvious cuts. But things like the blue Joybird sectional, the bed, and the TV console will be tougher to lose.

Things that aren't staying I will attempt to sell, if only because I would rather that than cart them to the landfill.

Sep. 9th, 2025 10:53 pm

Motion of the seasons

ink_13: (juggler)
[personal profile] ink_13

I went to Fiesta Farms hoping to score some of the last peaches of the season, and my instinct was correct. They're down to some gold varietal (Golden Queen?) that I suspect may be clingstone. No shortage of apples, though.

Their berry supplier is still producing, though, and I was able to get field raspberries and strawberries still. Won't be long before it'll be citrus time again.

Sep. 8th, 2025 10:43 pm

Time zone change

ink_13: (banjos)
[personal profile] ink_13

In my head, I go to bed around 10:30, but that easily slipped to 11, and lately if I've got my head on a pillow by 11:30 that counts as a win. But that has meant commensurate sleeping in... let's just say it's a good thing I work from home with people mostly based on the west coast.

I've decided to try setting a morning alarm, a vaguely unpleasant habit I gave up out of a lack of need. It would be better if I wasn't up so late all the time, and the best way I know of to do that is to wake up consistently and let fatigue drag back naturally.

Also, I have to be at the airport somewhat early on Friday, so priming for an earlier wakeup will make that part a little easier.

Sep. 7th, 2025 10:25 pm

Things to do

ink_13: (Default)
[personal profile] ink_13

After thinking "huh, I should try this" for some time, yesterday I had dinner at La Palette and then some drinks at Drom Taberna afterwards. The food at La Palette continues to be excellent, most notably in the form of an Iberico pork shoulder steak prepared sous vide and then seared before service. Drom's bar service is...efficient, shall we say. I drank Amaro.

The band was playing 80s covers, mostly Steely Dan, and I it made the time pass easily enough. But drinking in a bar (even while listening to them credibly cover "Wicked Game" or "Josie") has never been my thing, and when they cleared the furniture to make room for dancing, I beat feet shortly afterward, because there was nothing for me to do expect awkwardly stand in the periphery.

Would it have been better if I had waited another few minutes for the dance floor to fill up? I doubt it. I'm not much of a dancer on my own.

But I've done it, so I suppose I can cross another experience off the list.

Sep. 4th, 2025 11:23 pm

Out the hoos

ink_13: (banjos)
[personal profile] ink_13

I could use a thing that forces me out of the apartment for an evening. I'm here until December after all, and to be honest over the last few weeks I have spent the vast majority of my weeknights at home.

So far my best thought is to do the Italian courses at George Brown (starting with Northern). I still have my uniform in the closet (with the now-retro rolled-up long sleeves; today's students get short-sleeved jackets). That'd be every Tuesday for 6-12 weeks.

It starts on the 16th so I guess I better decide soon.


I'd kind of like to pick up yoga, but surprisingly the only place anywhere close to here is the YMCA.

Profile

chezmax: (Default)
chezmax

October 2011

S M T W T F S
      1
2345678
9101112131415
161718192021 22
23242526272829
3031     

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Sep. 19th, 2025 12:30 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios