Neil Yan Dot Com

Another relaxing trip to Maine this year. Lobster, clams, and R&R by the poolside. This year, we also had the privilege to visit Carley’s cottage; perch next to a huge lake! Ben’s looking forward to canoeing with his parents in the summers.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted something, but it’s been CRAZY THIS SUMMER!! First, we’ve finally broken the news to family and friends that Ben is expecting a new sibling!! Yuppers!! Ben is going to have a sister (or brother) in January; roughly the same date as his birthday…but 2 years later

Then, we decide to go on a summer trip, first to Maine to visit family for a week, and then to GREECE for a week!! For myself, I had a small side trip to St. John’s, Newfoundland during the Civic Long weekend for a stag.  For Ben, it was our second family trip together; last year’s trip to Vancouver was our first.

Maine was a lot of fun. Ben’s cousin Carley is 2 years older than him and so he’s got a little side-kick to hang out with for a week. The weather was fantastic (“HOT”) and no rain. We basically sat by the poolside and had lobster and great food for a week. Loving the R&R!! Sheila and I even managed to take the canoe out for an hour up at their cottage. Amazing!

Then, we were back home for a day and then we jumped onto a plane and headed for deficit riddened Greece. As Sheila’s friend said, “They need our money”; so we got a pretty good deal to Athens and a 3-day cruise through the Greek Islands. Athens was HOT, HOT, AND HOT!! It was 40+ everyday!! Suffice to say, our activities were scheduled for early morning and after sundown. Since most of Europe is on vacation, not much was open, so that worked to our schedule. Ben and Sheila handled the heat exceptionally well (for a toddler and a pregnant woman). The Acropolis and all the other touristy attractions in Athens were well worth trekking through the heat!! Then, we were off onto AquaMarine to sail to Mykynos, Kusakani (Turkey), Patmos, Crete and Santorini. Temperature, cooler out in the Agean Sea, but still hot! The highlight, Santorini! What a pictureques place! Just like the postcards!!

Ben was having a blast. It’s great to see the world through his eyes. Basically, it all boils down to water fountains, stray dogs, trains and cars.

We’ve been pondering how to give Ben a haircut. We wanted to try MelonHeads, a chain of children’s hair “salons”, but everytime we go by, it’s not busy enough. We want Ben to see other kids getting their hair cuts so maybe he won’t be so scared. Today is a sunday, so we figured it’s probably going to be a good day for him to try MelonHeads.

We get there and it’s packed with kids. Ben’s a little curious, but not overly excited about being there. Each kids sits in a vehicle shaped chair (cars, trucks, plane, etc.). I’ve got a good feeling that he might get hair cut with little fanfare.

NOT THE CASE!! First, I try to put Ben into his car shaped seat and he wanted nothing to do with it. The tears start to flow. He draw stares from all the other quiet kids. So, after trying for a minute, we decide that Sheila is going to sit in a regular chair and hold him while he gets his hair cut. Second mistake! He screamed and cried throughout the whole ordeal.  We wanted it super short so that we don’t have to go through it again for a long while, but as soon as the electric cutter came out, he wailed like no tomorrow. She tried for a second, but it wouldn’t do; he just moved too much. All the while, me, my mom and my sister are trying to calm him down with toys from around the store.

After what seemed like an eternity, it was over. Sheila got him out of there as quick as she could so that he’d stop crying. They did manage to get a picture of him before he left. So, for $24, we got a picture, a certificate stating it’s his first hair cut and a little bag with his hair in it.

After all that, he went back to his grandmother’s place and slept for 3.5 hours. Now, our Ben is officially a little toddler!!

Our 1999 Jimmy has been showing signs of aging lately. U-joints have been replaced, AGAIN. Brakes are making nice violin noises. Fuel pump went last month. The water pump went a few weeks later. Since its our only vehicle, we decided to go and get a reliable car (a second one). That’s exactly what we did this weekend.

We test drove the Honda CRV first.  It was a nice drive (anything newer than our 11 year old car is a nicer drive). We happened to have torrential rain during the test drive, so it was a good opportunity to test the traction control, the anti-lock brakes. They all worked great. It didn’t have  a lot of pickup when I needed it, but it was a nice drive. I told the sales rep that we were testing the RAV4 afterwards, and he only had one thing bad to say about that; they hatch opens outwards as opposed upwards with the CRV. A straight comparison of both cars, they’re pretty much similar. It just depends upon your preference. After a few hours of debate and testing, we decided on the…RAV4 4WD!!

Ben’s going to like it. It’s go 4 doors, so he’ll have his own entrance (unlike now, he’s got to crawl pass the front seat…the Jimmy is only a 2 door). I have nothing bad to say about the Jimmy. Mainly because we’re going to keep driving it until it won’t drive anymore…and hopefully that’s going to be a few more years

Ironically, today, Ben climbed into the Jimmy by himself…UNASSISTED! I was putting his car seat back in, and when I turned around, he was pretty much in the back. No one was behind him to help. Mount Everest, here he comes!!

We lived through Michael Jackson, Atari, Commadore 64, PET computers, Rubics Cube and a million other cool things. Or so we thought. Now we have the INTERNET!! I going to have to say, it blows everything else that I’ve seen in my lifetime out of the water. Where was the Internet when we were kids…facebook, twitter, online shopping, and “other sites”?

Don’t get me wrong, Space Invaders was awesome when we were 12 years old! But a 12 year old today would look at Space Invaders and laugh.

Case in point. British Petroleum is responsible for that monster oil leak at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. The oil platform caught on fire, tumbled over, and the pipe at the bottom of the sea broke and is leaking roughly 5000 barrels of oil into the ocean PER DAY!! It’s the biggest oil disaster since, I don’t know, EVER!! It’s been 4 weeks now and a good chunk of the coast line is tainted with oil. People’s livelihood is at stake. Wild life is dramatically affected!! So, what happens. BP PUTS IT ON THE INTERNET!! That’s AWESOME!! They put a camera down 1.5Km in the ocean so that the world can see the leak!! Well, really they want us to see all the efforts they are making to plug up the pipe, but nothing has been successful. So, all you see is a leaky pipe!!

Check it out here!

Isn’t the Internet awesome!! What will Ben have to look forward to when he’s my age?

My plans to end my amateur golf career when I hit a hole-in-one almost came true yesterday. It was the 10th hole at Highland Gates GC in Aurora. The score card said it was 206 yards to the hole. I brought my driver, but chose to borrow my golf partner’s 3 wood, which I’ve never used before. Here is how close I came…

Alright! You hear about other people’s kids who throw tantrums, but you always hope your kid never becomes one of those kids. Ben, officially, is one of those kids! BUT HE’S ONLY 15 MONTHS OLD!! What do we have to look forward to when he’s 2 or even 5? But we think he’s different.

Most kids who throw tantrums don’t care where they are (ie. in the middle isle of a busy Walmart or in the busy parking lot lane on a Saturday afternoon). Ben, on the other hand, seems to only do it at home or at his grandmothers.

Most kids just toss themselves onto the 1) pavement 2) cement sidewalk or 3) muddy leaves with little regard to how it’s going to hurt when they slam their craniums down. Ben, on the other hand, starts to whine a little bit, sits down, does a shoulder check to see how hard the pavement is going to be and then decides 1) if it’s soft (like carpet), “throw head down quickly and cry loudly” or 2) if the pavement is hard (like tile or hardwood floor), ”lean into the pavement making sure the head doesn’t hit the pavement too hard, AND THEN CRY LOUDLY”. Either way, the shoulder check is important….he’s got to protect the head. He’s figured out that hard pavement + soft cranium = “a lot of pain that parents just brush off”.

In all cases, he’ll cry for maybe 45 seconds, look around to see that no one is really paying attention, and then pick himself up, wipe any tears that may have flowed, and the pick up the closes toy/object on the floor and proceed to put it into his mouth. He’ll walk over to the closest person, smile and then hand them the toy/object. All is good again.

That’s my boy!!

Well, it’s been 2 weeks now since I got my permanent layoff from my job, but it feels nothing like I thought it would. It wasn’t much of a shock to get the notice. Things haven’t been busy in our department. Although I was kept busy, it wasn’t really meaningful work; more “make-work” projects. So, when they let me go with a healthy severance package (it helps that I had 10+ years of service), I was kind of glad.

I had initial plans to travel this summer for 2 weeks with Ben and Sheila. Now I can extend that to MONTHS!! And the beauty of it all, we can go anywhere in the world!! So, that’s what we have to look forward to.

Timing has been on my side most of life. Good timing none the less. I have just managed to get all my paper work done to start up my own business. It’s been on the radar for years, but something inside me said this year was the year. Would you know it? I have plenty of time now to concentrate on building my tech business while still getting paid!! Ironically, I got approved to be a distributor for a tech company the same day I got let go. The next day, I got a call to do some consulting for another company. I haven’t been this busy in years!!! Well, except for last year, when Ben showed up….that was a pretty busy/crazy year

So, if you’re looking for a laptop, desktop, server, anything for a small office/home office, give me a shout!! I can be reached through my website (http://www.sohoconsulting.ca) or at neil.yan@sohoconsulting.ca.

Wish me luck!!