As originally posted on http://azores.paulofernandes.net

This trip has been my first opportunity to really experience the ocean, and experience it we have—we’re on an island surrounded by the Atlantic. While “really” just a layer of salty water covering part of our planet, to those of us used to the landlocked life of the Canadian prairies, the ocean is a magnificent spectacle that seems to take on a life of its own.

Swimming in the ocean is almost completely unlike the usual Lake Winnipeg that we are used to. The water is clear, cool and salty, often a bit shocking when you first dive in due to both temperature and taste. Once over that, it’s quite enjoyable. The water has been choppy every day since we’ve been here (a hint of the power that lurks within it), which has made swimming quite enjoyable. Attempting to ride the crests of waves with our bodies like a surfer has proved to be a lot fun, but also results in nose and mouthfuls of salt water.

Life near but out of the ocean is also pretty good. While eating dinner and relaxing at São Lourenço or going for a walk outside the Beach Parque at Praia Formosa, the ocean is there providing a background ambience of crashing waves. There are also tides! Again a foreign concept to us prairie-folk, the ocean level does change noticeably throughout the day. We are still trying to figure out when high-tide and low-tide actually occur, as we only typically see the ocean in mid-afternoon and the late evening.

There’s far more to say about our experience, but this is all for now. I hope you’ve been enjoying all that we’ve had to say thus far.

As originally posted on http://azores.paulofernandes.net

Hello and good day from the island of Santa Maria in the Açores. This trip has been an amazing one thus far, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who’s up for an adventure. For the non-Portugese types, having some Portugese assistance on your side certainly helps and is also highly recommended.

There are many differences between the North American and Açorian lifestyles. The adjustment has been going well, but there are still some interesting differences between our cultures.

Pace of Life
The pace of life here in Portugal is much more laid back than in Canada. While we’ve only been here for the weekend and thus can’t really speak on how life is during the week, it certainly seems as though life is lived in a more relaxed way. Lounging on the beach, late lunches and dinners, and hanging out in cafés for hours contribute to this.

Coffee
Coffee, called café here, is espresso all the time. Asking for one in a local coffee shop yields an ounce and a bit of very strong coffee in about 20 seconds, and in 10 more seconds it’s on a saucer along with a packet of sugar sized perfectly to the coffee and a specially-sized stir-stick. It all fits together extremely well. The coffee here is some of the greatest I’ve ever experienced, and it’s making me think about moving to Europe.

Casual Drinking
It’s hard to avoid having a drink daily around here. The Portuguese are far from a nation of alcoholics—they simply enjoy a drink with their meals and when relaxing in the afternoon and evening (like most other European cultures), and don’t think twice about it like many of us do in Canada. We aren’t consuming copious amounts of alcohol, as the “portion sizes” here are smaller. It’s just the custom, and I could get used to it. Red wine is good for you, after all.

Driving
Driving in the Açores is most certainly an interesting (read: sometimes treacherous) experience. As you will see in our photos, the roads here are narrow and often winding. Roadways more-or-less one and a half lanes wide become two lane roads, and to keep drivers on their toes, people often park in essentially one of these lanes. All of these factors lead to a phenomenon known as car shrinkage that often prevents accidents. Needless to say, car shrinkage occurs more commonly here in Portugal than in my collective North American driving experience.

That’s about all for now, as it’s about time to get back to the relaxation here. Life’s good, and we’ll continue to update as we can. Enjoy the photos!

I’m going on hiatus for the next three weeks (not that you the reader noticed — it’s been longer than that since my last update). I’m headed to the Açore Islands in Portugal with Paulo Fernandes (and his parents) and Dan Lussier to have a bit of a vacation.

Follow us on our travels…

This is probably an incredibly cliché meme, but I haven’t seen it and thought it might be interesting to see what we all can’t get enough of, musically speaking.

Without further ado:

Song / Artist / Album / Playcount
Blast Off / Weezer / B-Sides And Rarities / 34
Smoke (Strings) / Ben Folds Five / / 33
Comptine D’un Autre Été: L’après Midi / Yann Tiersen / Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain / 33
Even an Ugly Man / Hawksley Workman / Lover/Fighter / 32
Watermark / The Weakerthans / Left and Leaving / 32
Ping Island/Lightning Strike Rescue Op / Mark Mothersbaugh / The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou / 31
The Victor / Weezer / B-Sides And Rarities / 31
Master / Abandoned Pools / Clone High / 30
Don’t Panic / Coldplay / Parachutes / 30
Charmed Life / Diana Krall / Live in Paris / 30
Local Celebs / The Paperbacks / An Episode of Sparrows / 30
Blonde And Blue / Headstones / Greatest Fits / 29
If I Make It Through This Winter / The Paperbacks / An Episode of Sparrows / 29
None Of The Above / The Weakerthans / Fallow / 28
XFire / The Bens / The Bens / 27
Sunrise / Norah Jones / Feels like home / 27
Psalm for the Elks Lodge Last Call / The Weakerthans / Reconstruction Site / 27
Crazy In Love / Beyoncé Knowles feat. Jay-Z / Dangerously In Love / 26
Jealous Of Your Cigarette / Hawksley Workman / / 26
I Suffer This Like A Dream / The Paperbacks / An Episode of Sparrows / 26
Plea from a Cat Named Virtue / The Weakerthans / Reconstruction Site / 26
The Last Last One (Golly Thanks For The Great Tip On My Paper Route This Christmas) / The Weakerthans / Watermark EP / 26
February Stars / Foo Fighters / The Colour And The Shape / 25
Mrs Young / The Rentals / Excellent Stocking Stuffer / 25
Hurt / Johnny Cash / The Man Comes Around / 24

Now, I owe Jane an email to prove that I’m still alive.

While going through the available commands in Mac OS X 10.4, I found some interesting ones…

amaze – wander around in a maze
bison – GNU Project parser generator (a replacement for yacc)
lipo – create or operate on ‘fat’ files
yes – (be a yes man…) repetitively output ‘y’ (or an expletive of your choice) for all eternity
wall – send messages to all users (by writing ‘on’ the wall)

I’m happy to announce that more photos have been uploaded to the Image Gallery. Take a look at the friends section for an awesome picture of Dan, Blane and Matt, as well as the long-awaited photos taken at Jane’s farewell party before she left for Tanzania.

Enjoy!

I wish I had something really inspiring to write about, as the blogging has gone stale over the last month or so. Care to send some inspiration my way?

The UMES retreat was last weekend, and was a great time. We have a great group of people, and there’s a lot of potential for good things next year. Photos are available, and should capture the spirit of the event.

Work also continues to plod along. I’m becoming better friends with the biggest, most complicated piece of software I’ve ever seen, though I feel more like an accountant than an engineer for doing so. And despite my learning, it still feels like I’m standing at the base of a tall building, knowing what the office looks like that I want to get to, but having no idea how to get from here to there, if it’s even possible. Majorly frustrating.

Finally, the time has come for me to get a car it seems. I’ve been looking at new cars thus far — the possibility of a warranty is rather appealing. I’ve so far been looking at the Toyota Echo Hatch and Matrix/Pontaic Vibe. I’ve test-driven the latter two, with interesting results: the Pontiac Vibe & Toyota Matrix are the same car with a different shell, yet they are very different. To be cliché, the devil’s in the details, and the Toyota comes out on top. Unfortunately, they’re fairly expensive when well equipped, so I may have to lower my expectations or turn my sights elsewhere. That’s where the Echo Hatch comes in, but more on that when I actually get to drive one.

Later, y’all…

After all the waiting and calling and emailing and waiting and waiting, I finally received my long awaited Powerbook on Friday.

Thank you, Apple!

Unfortunately, Apple has neglected to provide any information or procedure on how to ship my iBook back to them. Looks like it’s time for more calling and emailing, and hopefully less waiting than before.

As for the ‘book itself, the screen is huge and bright, the keyboard is great and has this amazing “texture” to it, and Tiger is nice too. Not a quantum leap, but nothing to sneeze at either. I’m hoping I won’t miss the 12″ form factor, but only time will tell.

In the mean time, I need to figure out a way to differentiate my Powerbook from the other two around UMES that happen to belong to my fellow Sticks, and I’m accepting suggestions. I’d prefer something non-permanent yet still unique. How about some kind of adhesive vinyl artwork on the outside cover?