Winter...

If you can't beat it, can't move south, might as well enjoy it with the boys.

Sunsets. Crickets. Stars. Red Wine. Fishing.

Welcome to Northern Ontario.

Why do I choose to live in Sudbury...

 The beautiful lakes, the green forests, fishing, ATV trails, camping, cottage country....

and then there's this junk.

Studded tires, winter jackets, snow blower and shovel.

Sharon keeps telling me we should move down south, but we're comfortably established here. Couldn't imagine spending the summers any other way.

 Thanks for yet another close season Blue Jays! We were behind you all the way. See you next year in the ALCS.

All good things must come to an end

Fall colours - by Mike Lalonde

Well it was a great summer for people up in the north. Camping, fishing, hunting and hitting the trails. Now the leaves are changing colour signalling the arrival of winter.

Sudbury offers maintained trails for snowmobiling but if it's alright with you, I'm going to stay inside by the fireplace with a good book... and await the arrival of spring.

Gotta love the north

Hazardous winter conditions are expected. Snow, heavy at times, has begun in the North Bay area and will arrive in remaining regions this evening. The snow will continue into Thursday before tapering off to a few flurries Thursday night. Total snowfall amounts of 25 to 35 cm are expected near North Bay, with 15 to 25 cm expected elsewhere.

Just make it stop already. Spring can't arrive soon enough!

Key Cloning - Be Careful

CHICAGO (WLS) --

There's a new reason to keep a close eye on your keys. The ABC7 I-Team tested new apps that make copies of keys without the owner's knowledge or permission.

Two of the key cloning apps say the new technology doesn't make it any easier to steal keys. In fact, they say it leave an electronic trail. But some locksmiths have concerns.

The I-Team shows you how easy it is for someone to get in your home with help from a smart phone.

We usually think of keys being made by bringing in the physical copy. But now, a smartphone and white piece of paper can clone your key.

"Someone can just come with his phone and snap a picture, see where you live later on and he has a key for your house," said Shimon Mery, owner, Nonstop Locksmith Security. "The locksmith doesn't really verify, 'Yeah, you're the right person to cut the key,' he just sees a key and cuts it."

There are new apps and websites which analyze and scan your home, office, padlock or mailbox key codes, but doesn't work with car keys. Those codes can be brought into a locksmith or shared via text and email, with other people like a girlfriend, boyfriend or nanny.

"You share it with them you cannot go back and unshare it so they have a copy of your key. So even if you let them go for many reasons they can still go and have a key copied," Mery said.

The owners of Nonstop Locksmiths in the West Loop showed us how quickly they can make a copy, after we set up a profile on the "Key Me" app and paid $9.99 for the codes.

Our I-Team intern took my office keys on my desk, snapped the pictures and went to a local locksmith. About an hour later: "I'm in!"

Key Me recently opened this kiosk in Lincoln Park, where people can make a copy using a key, or with those codes from the app.

These locksmiths aren't fans of it but they won't turn a customer away.

ABC7's Jason Knowles asks: "Are you worried that you could be giving the keys to a criminal?"

"We are but it's not, it's not really something we can control," said ?

Key Me and another service, Keys Duplicated, both say their technology doesn't increase risk of theft. They say required, user profiles discourage would be criminals from logging in.

"We have some other security checks on the back end, not necessarily to tie you to the key but to make sure it doesn't look photo shopped or fishy. If we have any doubts about the key we will email the person and say please take the picture again to make sure they still have access to the key," said Jordan Meyer, COO, Keys Duplicated.

"With our mobile app we require a credit card to purchase, user verification, it has to be an Apple-verified device and an Apple ID to download it. We also require a USPS verified mailing address," said Michael Harbolt, Key Me.

They say it's just as easy to simply steal a key and make a copy, or use other tools for sale online that can measure keys.

"People need to treat their keys the same way they do their bank ATMs or their credit cards, so we strongly recommend only sharing keys with people you trust. Understand anyone with access to your keys can make a copy at a future point," Harbolt said.

You can also upgrade to a high security lock and key which requires multiple forms of ID and won't work with those apps.

"We are not going to copy that key," said Mery.

And a "high security" key is different than a key that says "do not duplicate." According to the Associated Locksmiths of America, the "do not duplicate" message is a false sense of security because many businesses will make a copy anyway. That group also says it has concerns with the new key cloning technology, saying anyone, including a valet, can take a picture and make a copy.

Where did the summer go :(

It seems just yesterday that we were at the camp enjoying the summer, visiting the kids in the south. Now it's 10 below and we're shovelling the driveway again. There's a trade off for the quieter way of live, the natural resources that surround us. That trade off is called winter, and it sucks!

As I look at the pageviews, I wonder what brings people here to this page? Are you looking for me or are you genuinely interested in what I have to say :) Maybe you're looking for my co-worker. Yes, there are in fact a number of people with the same name as myself. It's not uncommon considering we've got a large French community up here in the north.

Sharon and Mike on the highway for the upcoming long weekend - visiting Jordan in Guelph.

Winter woes

This winter was particularly brutal not so much snow but the bitter cold and the amount of ice build up. There was flooding in the Flour Mill and Notre Dame was closed for a bit.

Most of the snow has melted away :) To pass the cold days and nights, I've been dabbling in photography lately, Sharon's been busy with yoga.

The upcoming long weekend will be our first opening of the cottage and I hope that winter hasn't been too hard on it. We've been giving serious thought to relocating south, closer to the cottage and better business opportunities. I'm hoping this will be our last year in Sudbury - crappy roads, cold weather, limited employment opportunities and a whole lot of rocks. We'd also be closer to Ashley and Jordan. Ashley graduated and is now working in Human Resources for a Toronto area firm. Jordan is now self-employed as a home renovator.

This has been one of the coldest darkest miserable winters that I can remember. While the amount of snow has been reasonable, the temperatures have been dismal and the sun rarely shines through the clouds.



We're thinking perhaps it's time to move to Southern Ontario. Sharon could find accounting work and there are relocation options for me in the mining industry.



Having just purchased a smaller home almost two years ago, the value of the house has increased - but do we want to relocate ourselves yet again? So much incertainty.

Signs of spring

It's been a miserable winter, although not as cold as I'd expected it might be. Sharon took up curling and I've gotten my lazy butt back to the gym. Ashley came home for reading week and helped us paint the rec-room.
Tax season is gearing up and that means a lot of clients rushing in to file their taxes. Some of them think that carrying fees for their mutual funds are a deduction but not if they've set them up as a TFSA.

A TFSA is a great way to save some money without feeling the taxman's bite when it comes time to withdraw.

Sudbury roads are full of potholes and as usual the city won't take any liability for them unless you put up a 10 foot billboard informing them of the holes in the streets.

Until next time.

Summer coming to an end...

A year and a day later... has it really been this long since the blog updated? Well there isn't much content to begin with and I doubt anyone is really following this. The nights are getting a little colder which sucks, but it was a hot beautiful summer.


I was able to get some roadtrips in, and the kids had fun. It's rather wet and cold here in Sudbury and I actually had to close the windows before going to sleep... gone are the days of listening to the wind blowing through the window. :)


The Vale strike is over and everyone is back to work now. It was almost an entire year and many people ended up losing their homes or vehicles.


Speaking of homes, we painted the kitchen and living room and laid down new flooring. Here are some photos of it, taken with a point and shoot camera:

The garden has been neglected this year, due to laziness more than anything. We wanted to go blueberry picking as well but again, due to laziness, didn't. I've started takig up walking at night trying to get a little more exercise instead of lazing around the house.

Summer 2009

Well the summers have been quite wet haven't they? The few weeks that we do have sun sure are beautiful though. It's a perfect time to head to the island and enjoy the sun.

Where has summer gone? It seems like only yesterday that spring was here. Summer is slowly fading away and I'm almost in tears thinking about it.

Well.. for now we've got a few more weeks of beautiful sun and camping around a fire with a nice cold refreshment.

Renovations

It's been a while since updating my blog. This was due in part to some major changes in life. The recession is taking a toll on Canadians from coast to coast.

Xstrata in Sudbury, laid off 686 workers which will definitely hurt our economy. I can't help but feel terrible for those workers and their families especially the sole income ones. These are some of the hardest working guys (and gals) you will ever meet.

GM announced they are laying off 10,000 workers as well.

2009 is not going to be pretty.


My hours have been cut back as well. After a lot of thought, Sharon and I decided that it would be best to sell the rental property while the market was decent. The sale took place in March of 2008. Since that time the value of property continues to decline and we didn't make much of a profit.

This means very little to me though when I think about the families who might lose their homes due to economic hardships. There are some people who might not be able to keep their only home, while we were fortunate enough to own two of them.

I've since decided to volunteer at the soup kitchen and we make regular contributions to the food bank. If we can help out anyone less fortunate, then we'll do so.

Sharon recently hired a woman whose husband was laid off at Xstrata. While it's only for six months, that money will help put food on her table.

There are no winners in this recession and nobody is better than anyone else. Let's hope that this economy gets back on track.

Camping

Camping season is almost upon us. Grab your gear, marshmallows and fishing rod!!!