Month: March 2011

I switched to Teksavvy on March 17 and all was well and fine until a week later when I realized that the Internet wasn’t working.  I waited a day to see if anything would fix itself but nothing.

Friday evening I call them up and say they say that they have been getting reports of Rogers Cable physically disconnecting the cable afterward.  Sure enough, I look in my front door and there is a note saying they visited and they would offer me some kind of deal like ‘six months free Internet’ if I come back to them!  Doh!

So here I am waiting for my Internet to be reconnected.  What a pain in the ass!  They are trying to schedule me sometime this week but I haven’t heard anything from them.

I must admit that it is very, very strange to not have Internet at the house.  I had not realized how much I rely on the Internet for general life.  Let me point out a few things that occurred over the weekend:

– I was thinking of checking out some vacuum cleaner reviews and realized I could not.
– I wanted to check out the interest accumulated on my investments (for my taxes) but could not.
– I usually wake up on a Sunday morning and check out the new headlines…nada.
– I wanted to download some new True Blood episodes for Vero.  Ain’t gonna happen.
– I was trying to figure out a piano chord and it took a little more thought than simply searching on the Internet (this may be a blessing in disguise!)

Sunday was quite a strange day for myself.  I puttered around the house looking for a few things to do.  However, I realize now that I did get a few things in order…I started learning piano again, I caught up on a few TV shows and comic books I had been meaning to read.

All in all, it was a strange experience to not be surrounded by the Internet and I’m not sure if I’m better for it.  Perhaps I should adopt a ‘no-Internet policy’ on Sundays at the house.  I find that some of my time on the Internet is to waste away a Sunday morning.  But I could be doing other things to waste it away!  Like reading a book I purchased awhile back, or learning an instrument.

It’s been an interesting experience and I’m not sure how long it will last…

Saturday morning I drove Andreane back home and headed over to Mike’s place to help him with a little problem he was having.  There was a leak in the basement leading from his front porch that needed a little fixing.  Mike’s parents came up for the weekend to help out.  It was pretty cold during the day but we made do and I think Mike is impressed with how it turned out.  I know I would have been stressed out if I had a leak to my basement and didn’t have any clue on where to start fixing it.

It was a good afternoon of tearing apart a deck, and fixing the slope so that any water that may accumulate would run away from the house.  Plus as an added bonus, I got an excellent supper prepared by Louise.  I’m really happy that Mike’s parents came down to help Mike out because I don’t think Mike or I would have any clue on where to start with a project like that!

On Friday night we had Vince and Naomi drop by for dinner.  I was quite excited as I wanted to try out a spicy marinade my friend Nat provided me.  Vero picked up some T-Bone steaks and we lit up the BBQ for the main event.  It was a grand success!  The marinade was so good that Vince requested another steak!  I must admit that I don’t usually try out marinades, but I think I’m going to have to change that in the future!

The night was spent gabbing about everything and anything, making fun of Andreane’s lack of music knowledge (we introduced her to Nirvana’s Unplugged album…classic!) and at one point we headed into the hot tub for a few hours.  It was a perfect night to do so…minus five isn’t too hard to handle when sitting inside a soup bowl of boiling water!  I also notice that the water seems a lot clearer than usual.  I think this is because I have it above the corner filter.  It was hard to fill the hot tub back up in the middle of winter but with the thaw that we are experiencing I took advantage of it.

I had a personal shock when Vince and Naomi told me that they had never watched Flight of the Conchords before so we popped in an episode before they headed home.  They were quite pooched from the hot tub…a few hours in a hot tub is killer on people who aren’t used to it.

All in all, a grand night!

Originally from The Northern Times (but chances are will not be there forever, hence the copy and paste): http://www.kapuskasingtimes.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3042537

This was quite the inspiring read about Marc-Andre’s guitar business back home!  At least I was inspired to go out there and do something.

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Strumming it up

Tanja Ingram-Paquette

Lutherie Dubosq Guitars has opened it’s doors next to the Royal Theatre and Marc-Andre Dubosq said he has a lot of ideas for his new business.

“I will hand build custom made acoustic and electric guitars,” said Mr. Dubosq. “As well I will repair and restore guitars and other stringed instruments. Eventually I would like to teach guitar lessons as well as a guitar building course so people can experience the overwhelming satisfaction of playing an instrument they built themselves.”

He added that he has been interested in music for as long as he can remember but when he reaches back into the recesses of his memory, searching for that triggering event, he find myself in the front row at his very first concert.

“It was Robert Paquette live at the Centre des Loisirs,” reminisced Mr. Dubosq. “The music was so wonderfully loud you could actually feel it in your core. My interest in all things music hasn’t let up since. I was taught to follow my dreams and so that is what I am doing. I come from a family of entrepreneurs (my parents have owned and operated La Boulangerie for many years now) and enjoyed the idea of being my own boss and turning my passion for music and guitar building into my livelihood.”

When he and his wife started to talk about the possibility of the business, Mr. Dubosq said the first thing that came to mind was Carpe Diem (Seize the Day).

“Why waste away in a job that provides little personal growth and self-actualization when you can take a risk and hopefully turn your passion into your livelihood,” said Mr. Dubosq. There are lots of opportunities out there and I for one was accepted on the Ontario Self-employment benefit program as well as the NOHFC entrepreneurship grants and also found financial backing from North Claybelt.”

Born and raised in Kapuskasing, Mr. Dubosq said he is truly “un gars du Nord” and wouldn’t trade places with anybody else in the world.

He was a teacher for eight years and although he enjoyed the work the reality of cutbacks and school closings was slightly unsettling.

“My wife and I had talked at length about embarking on a once in a lifetime adventure before starting our family (what we now know to be the biggest adventure of our lives),” said Mr. Dubosq. “My wife was just finishing a contract and I needed to officially quit my job to qualify for the entrepreneurship grants. The timing was impeccable. I found a guitar building course in Australia and so we decided to take a well deserved break from reality, satisfy our sense of adventure and most importantly learn the intricacies of guitar building from a renowned Master Luthier. Now back to reality our lives have been turned upside down. The construction of my workshop is complete and we’ve welcomed baby girl Zoé, the future spokesperson for Dubosq guitars, into our lives.”

Mr. Dubosq hopes to combine his love of teaching with his passion for music and guitar building first by teaching guitar playing lessons but also, and more importantly, he would like to teach a guitar building course so people can experience the overwhelming satisfaction of playing an instrument they built themselves.

There will be a grand opening for the store front later this spring but Mr. Dubosq will be building and repairing guitars in the interim. Once the store front is open the hours will be open weekdays (except Wednesdays) and Saturdays and will be available to the customer through phone or e-mail.

A welcome surprise came yesterday in the form of my friend Kevin who had been living in Calgary with his wife Kathleen for the past seven years. They moved to Toronto in the past year and he was doing some work around Vars and decided to drop by.

I haven’t seen the man in quite a few years but it was great to get back to where we left off. Good laughs were had and it was nice to catch up on life events like the birth of his daughter and hearing about what he is doing in the renewable energy sector. Turns out that he is responsible for the solar panel projects that went up around St. Isidore and they are looking to expand. Quite interesting stuff!

I am glad that they are back in Ontario which will undoubtedly lead to a few more visits in the future!

More Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/palm0014/sets/72157626183945327/

Who would have thought the resort has free wifi? Very useful while sitting here waiting for Melissa and vero booking the rooms. Presidente beer ain’t too shabby either. But what’s up with the torrential downpour?

Well, in a few hours we’ll be on a plane to the Dominican Republic. I must admit that I haven’t been crazy excited for the trip but it’s starting to sink in right now. Perhaps it’s the god awful weather we are having right now in Ottawa.

So here’s to a St-Patrick’s Day celebration down south in celebration of Ryan and Emilie getting married!