Ethan & his Daddy's AdventuresNews & Updates from the desk of Ethan's Daddy
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Name: Vincent
Gender: Male


Interests: HNIC, TML, parenting
Expertise: Numbers?
Industry: Consumers Packaged Goods


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Member Since: 2/7/2007

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Friday, March 23, 2007

Ethan's 2 month update. And the winner is...

Two month checkup + shots today for baby Ethan   Doctor's office was a bit busier than usual (which meant lots of crying babies!).  Ethan probably enjoys loud noises since he just napped through the whole wait.

Monthly Check-up also means weight & height & head circumference measurements:

Length = 57 cm

Circumference = 40 cm

Weight = ???

A random poll of some friends yielded the following guesses:

Uncle C4 = 15lb

Uncle BB = 14.3 lb (so precise)

Uncle BB's Mandy = 13 lb "range"

Uncle SJA = 16.5 lb

Uncle SJA's Pat = 12 lb

Auntie Jenny = 20 lb (then revised to 12lb)

Mommy = 14 lb 12 oz

Daddy = 15 lb 6 oz

 

AND THE ACTUAL WEIGHT is....

13 lb 15.8 oz

so...if we were playing Price is Right, the contestant closest to the actual amount recorded at pediatrician's office without going OVER is....

Uncle BB's Mandy = 13 lb "range"

until next month....

 


Monday, March 19, 2007

10K

 IMG_5070 IMG_5071

Not the kind of 10K that BadmintonBoy does...but significant in a way too :)

So 10 months into ownership (well, almost 10 months), and we're at the 10,000 km mark (i'd put my review on mbcanada forum...but that site closed down...sigh).  Wonder if C4 wants to go back to the BMW dealership to see if actually get to test the 3 series this time

Problems @ 10K:

The brakes were letting out a high-pitched squeak noise when the weather got REALLY cold...called MB and they said it's normal, will go away when temperatures arent so extreme, and there really wasnt any way to fix it. 

Luckily, there was a voluntary recall to replace some wiring in the windshield wiper control, so I complained again, and they did some sort of inspection & servicing, and now the problem is gone!  (i think they fixed the one-touch driver side window as well; quite a few ppl on the forum had the same issue where the window would open partially, then close on its own)

Even got a courtesy car (2007 B) for the day (not much has changed; exterior packaging is better, i.e. dont really need to spend $$ to get alloy wheels, body coloured handles, etc)

Likes:

- Ride height: starting to see why people like driving SUVs :)  just feel like there's better visibility.

- Fuel economy: Trip computer is telling us we averaged 9.0L/100km...so that means we used 900L of gas in the last 10 months ~ $100/month (even at $1/litre).  We didnt get the turbo version, although i find performance is acceptable.

- Storage: quite a bit of trunk space (seats up: managed to fit 2 full suitcase + 2 carryon for SJA's parents). It fits Ethan's stroller and we can still put in groceries, shopping bags, etc without having to fold down any seats.

Dislikes

- nothing major, just the centre console doesnt really provide much space for storage -- although the slide-out storage is pretty neat.

- LATCH mounts: seems like only available on the outer seats in the back, so with Ethan in the back, we cant really fit 2 adults in the back anymore (compared to sister-in-law's Accord which allows LATCH in the middle seat, can still fit 4 adults + Ethan)

Ethan update:

Went shopping @ Vaughan Mills on Saturday :) bumped into a fellow student from Ms Ling's prenatal classes (their daughter, Chloe was born Jan 22 -- we saw them get admitted to NYGH on our way home!).  I think we'll be doing those baby get-togethers soon!

Just found out another friend (our bridesmaid) is expecting! Looks like Ethan will have quite a few friends to play with very soon!

2 month checkup on Friday, anyone wanna guess Ethan's weight? (he was at 10 lb 11 @ 1 month mark)


Friday, March 02, 2007

SNOWDAY!!!

So who got stuck in the traffic yesterday & this morning?

COMPLETE skeleton staff at the office today...everyone is "working" from home (except me).

Roads were pretty light this morning...even for a Friday. Oh well, I'm sure C4, BB & ulumu are laughing since they dont have to deal with snow/freezing rain!


Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Hindsight?

Slow day at work today...so lets look at Finance News

Heard on the radio that Chinese stocks tumbled -- shanghai index fell 8.8 per cent to 2.771.79 (china boom instead of the tech boom?).  A lot of the ads for Chinese related mutual funds are claiming 100+% returns in 2006 -- lets see if I need to start including these in my rrsp portfolio

While at the bank, we get "perks" like discounted trading commissions (still EXPENSIVE compared to US based brokerages...but i guess every $ helps).  My overall track record has been kinda depressing (no, there arent any nortel shares in my RRSP portfolio), probably would've done better if i just kept my $$$ in mutual funds instead of converting to cash then invest in specific companies.

Some stuff i've missed out on after doing some number crunching using SEDAR info:

Grey Island Systems (http://finance.google.com/finance?q=gis.v):

They make the GPS tracking devices for buses & fleet vehicles (i.e. armored trucks)...stupid thing went from $0.20 to $0.60 in less than a yr. Quite a few contracts from North American based transit companies...wonder if it's still worth investigating at $0.60

Adeptron Technologies (http://finance.google.com/finance?q=atq&hl=en)

Contract electronics manufacturer...the whole sector has been taking a beating since the tech boom (look at nortel, celestica, etc). Saw this one go from $0.20 to $0.35 - 0.40...sux

Wireless Matrix (http://finance.google.com/finance?q=wrx&hl=en)

Similar to GIS above...but for slightly different customer base (i think the GPS enabled devices can communicate with one another...)  This one has been a bit more volatile; going from $0.40 to $0.75, back down to $0.50, now back to $0.80...where will this one go...

Pure speculation

One of my old colleagues who worked in the US really likes to play stocks around earnings release time. Lots of candidates for short sells.  Being more risk adverse, I try to see if there are stocks who've taken TOO MUCH of a hit after a release

BOBJ (http://finance.google.com/finance?q=bobj&hl=en)

Actually came across using this company's software on 2 separate occassions...pretty good data mining tool.  Thought it had value at around $20...missed the chance and now it's back up to the mid-30s range

ASTE (http://finance.google.com/finance?q=aste&hl=en)

Thought i'd try my luck with this one...and it did deliver (after riding out the inital scare)...and it's CONTINUED to rise?!?! missed out on another 50-60% gain

Well, those are the "what-ifs"...too bad the ones i end up picking arent delivering the 50+% returns (yet??? still keeping fingers crossed).

Some good news continue from http://finance.google.com/finance?q=si.to&hl=en, hope this one hits $1 before 2010

 

Ethan News:

Been more grumpy...his crying has become louder and he seems to want us to cuddle him more.  Mom hasnt been getting much sleep (i've been doing alright coz of the neo citran i take before bed).  He slept pretty well during the Leafs/Habs game while mommy napped for 2 hrs (too bad his luck for the Leafs has worn off...their winning streak around the all-star game coincided with Ethan's arrival).

He also seems quite longer now...guess kids grow everyday!

 


Friday, February 23, 2007

Happy Anniversary!

   

With Ethan being a honeymoon baby, mommy decided to take some pics to celebrate our 10mth anniversary :)

Thanx againg to C4 & SJA for your help back in April!! And of course, thanx to everyone for their gifts!

Ethan's 1 month  update:  10 lb 11 oz

Any guesses for the 2 month mark???

Comparison from 1 month ago...

haha...mommy put him into the same clothes to go out



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