On the weekend of August 2-3 2008, the Queensway (Highway 417) Clyde Avenue Bridge was replaced using a new rapid replacement method. This involved lifting the existing bridges out and replacing them with new bridges that had been prefabricated on a site nearby. The whole process of replacing the bridges could be completed in less than a day as compared to up to 2 years by regular methods. This is the same process that was used last year to replace the Island Park bridge.

The MTO had a website with a webcam setup so people could watch the “action”. As I did last year, I grabbed the images from the website as the action was unfolding. The video below is the result of those images and allows you to see what happened. It’s not quite as “exciting” as the Island Park bridge move last year but at least this time the camera is reasonably static.

1. The webcam was updated every 30 seconds (roughly) and the video above is encoded at 5fps. The total length of the video is just over 7 minutes.
2. The compressed video is almost 70MB and the uncompressed one is over 1.8GB so no, I won’t email it to you.

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We’ve had our 2006 Pontiac Vibe for about two and a half years now and we recently passed 80,000km (just shy of 50,000 miles). Overall the car has been working well for us. We’ve had no mechanical issues with the car and the only real cost has been regular oil changes. I think we’re soon due for a brake job though. We still have the original all-seasons on the car after 80,000km but we’ve put winter tires on for two of the three winters the car has gone through. Even with winters, the all-seasons tires still have around 55,000km.

Our average fuel consumption for 2008 is currently at 8.34L/100km (~ 28 MPG). This isn’t very good in my opinion but it does include winter driving with the snow tires on. In the winter with the snow tires, we’re getting around 9.0L/100km (~ 26.5 MPG). In the summer months we’re down around 7.5L/100km (~ 31.4 MPG) which is a little better. It’s interesting because the US DoE has the 2006 Pontiac Vibe at 31 MPG (7.6L/100km) for highway with their readjusted numbers. My problem still stems from the fact this car was rated at 34 MPG (6.9L/100km) for highway when we bought it. The best fuel economy I’ve ever achieved in that car was a one-off 6.7L/100km (~ 35.1 MPG). That was when we were driving on secondary roads averaging 90km/h (~55 MPH), true “highway” driving. I also annoyed the snot our of The Boss on this drive as I was putting into practice some of the driving techniques I’ve learned from reading ecomodder.com.

With some driving style modifications, I think this car should be able to do consistently in the 6.8L/100km to 7.0L/100km range in the summer. It’s very noticeable though when you turn on the AC as the little 1.8L engine has to rev higher to deal with the added load. This definitely contributes to worse fuel economy. One thing to keep in mind is that the defrost settings on this car also turn on the AC.

One other gripe about the car is that there is a very thin layer of paint. It seems that everything causes a small paint chip. I think if you sneezed while standing within 10 feet of the car it would get a paint chip. To try and keep the rust at bay, I bought one of those colour matched paint pens from the dealership and every couple months I have to dab a few more chips. Nothing major but it’s one maintenance annoyance I could do without.

We’re probably going to keep this car for many more years. It will probably get relegated to the “second car” in a few years as it’s not quite big enough for a growing family.

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Today I read about a new search engine called Cuil (apparently pronounced Cool) that is from some ex-Googlers.  The “magazine-style” search results are interesting to look at and I’m sure that people searching for their favorite celebrity will be very happy with the presentation.

One problem I’ve found with Cuil’s results page is that it appears they insert random images in with the results.  These random images aren’t necessarily associated with the actual page they are lining to.  For example, I searched for labranard on Cuil to see if it picked up some of my pages. The image below shows two of my pages (Apparently a Saint Bernard Labrador Mix is a Big Dog and Articles tagged Labranard) from the results generated.

If you notice, both results have an image associated with them. The part that concerns me (as the owner of the link at the other end of those results) is that I don’t know where those images came from. They are not from my site and I don’t think they should be associated with my content. The last thing I want is from the copyright owner to come knocking on my door telling me I can’t use their image, even though I am not using it.

The other interesting part is that each additional page of Cuil’s results seems to duplicate links. On subsequent results pages for labranard, I see the same link/image combination in a different place. It’s rather redundant to have multiple instances of the same link on subsequent pages.

Anyways, I’m sure I’ll try out Cuil from time to time to see how it’s progressing.  I’m always curious to see where my pages show up in the search engines.  Call it vanity.

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I need a Bull Retractable ID Badge Holder with Steel Cord to replace my almost broken retractable badge holder. The stupid cheap badge holders have a tiny braided thread that doesn’t stand up to being used on a regular basis.  Since I have to wear an ID/Access badge at my work all the time, it would be nice to have something that would withstand being used daily.

I just need to convince a bunch more of my co-workers that they need these and then we can do a big bulk order.  I’m too cheap to pay for shipping for just one. 

Maybe someone will buy me one for my birthday or Christmas some year. 

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The munchkin has a new favorite show. It is Yo Gabba Gabba and it’s fantastic. Uh, and she thinks it’s fantastic. Yeah, that’s what I meant to say.

The clip above has to be one of my her favorite segments of the show. This one is used in the commercial for the show on Treehouse and it’s great. The green guy is Brobee and yes, I already checked and you can get a Brobee T-Shirt.

Updated: Ooo, I managed to find Yo Gabba Gabba info on Wikipedia including an episode listing. Lots of cool stuff. Now I know how many episodes I have to catch with the PVR.

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Keep your receipts!

For the first time ever, I am disputing a charge on my credit card. I’ve been really lucky I guess because I’ve never had a problem before. It’s actually a very minor charge for a pizza we bought from a local place a month or so ago. Turns out I got double charged even though the first transaction was canceled due to a “communication error” with the card reader. I even got the receipt stating it was canceled.

Unfortunately I didn’t keep that receipt.

I contacted the credit card company after I noticed the transaction when I was looking at my stuff online a couple weeks later. I called them up only to find out that yes, I can dispute the transaction but it would be much quicker if I had the receipts. Well, unfortunately I didn’t keep them so now it looks like I’m going to be out. Apparently there is a reasonable chance that I’ll get my money back but without the receipts it’s going to take a fair bit longer.

Keep your receipts!

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