Weekly Report -> PC Chicken Sausage Rolls are Bad

Food this week ->
Went to Montreal on Tuesday with James and Michael.  On the way back we stopped by the Montreal bakery and I got a couple cakes including a Nutella Crepe Cake.  So good with all the layers and whipped Nutella.

Nutella Crepe Cake.

CMC Christmas Party was this week.  It's the first one we've had in years.  It was held at the Nepean Sailing Club.  They dining hall is pretty nice.   The roof is actually and upside down wooden boat hull.  Very cool idea.

CMC Christmas Party.

There were alot of door prizes, including 1 prize of an extra day of vacation. 

Door Prizes.

Andrew won the vacation prize.  If I had won, I wouldn't have picked that.  I have too much vacation already. 
I did win a Godiva Chocolate basket.  I thought it was a good prize at first, but when I opened it later the basket only has 8 pieces of chocolate, 1 pack of hot chocolate, and 2 bags of chocolate covered mini-pretzels.  It also came with a giant brown flower pot.  I told the organizer not to get this basket again (which I think came from Costco).

Bad Godiva Chocolate Basket.

There was lots of food at the Christmas party made by the club chef.  The bacon wrapped scallops were amazing!  We had so much food, people were encouraged to take home doggy bags.

Lots of Good Food.

Even with the doggy bags, I still packed 16 boxes of food to take back to work for the next day!

And Lots of Leftovers.

And More Leftovers.

Tired out the new Big Mac this week because they are $3 for a limited time!  The new Big Mac has more sauce, meaning it has sauce on the upper and lower halves.  Before it was just on one of the halves (don't remember which half).  The probably with this is that when you bite the Big Mac, the middle bun and burger now slides out easily.  It made a mess.  BUT the burger upgrade and bun change is good.

New Big Mac.  Too Much Sauce.

Went to Rideau Restaurant with the guys from work.  We ordered 8 dishes.  The General Tao Chicken dish was changed back.  The sauce was changed and it was very bad.  It's been fixed since the fall.

General Tao Chicken.

I think the Schezwan Beef was mostly fixed too.  The beef slices are now bigger and sauce was change back too.  The sauce is still not as spicy or "tangy" as before, but much better than the summer.

Schezwan Beef.

Went to Farmboy Saturday morning.  I got some bacon and sausages from the Breakfast Bar.  Went home and made eggs and toast to go with it.

Saturday Breakfast.

I got some PC brand sausage rolls from Loblaws on Saturday.  I cooked a box in the oven.  They tasted bad!  The sausage had a weird taste.

Very Bad PC Brand Chicken Sausage Roll.

I noticed afterwards that I bought a Chicken sausage roll box.  Never again!  Problem is, I bought 2 boxes because it was on sale :(  I need to dump the extra box.

Made a roast pork shank on yellow potatoes and carrots.  The pork shank was pre-cooked from Costco, so I only needed to roast it for 15 minutes.

Roast Pork Shank on Vegetables.

The pork is really good.  It shreds like pulled pork.  The sauce/drippings caramelized and were soaked up by the vegetables.

Shredded Roast Pork Shank.

The roast pork shank comes in a 2 pack and Susanna took the other package.  I'm definitely getting more of this.

Breakfast "round 2" on Sunday morning.  Scramble eggs with leftover bacon, sausage, and some disgusting chicken sausage rolls.

Sunday Breakfast.

Useless Gaming News:
I had a huge headache on Sunday, but I really wanted to finish Luigi's Mansion 3.  I was on floor 15, the last floor.  The level was pretty easy but the 2nd last boss battle against Hellen Gravely was tough.  I think it would have been really easy to do with 2 players, but in single player and switching between Luigi and Gooluigi makes it hard.  I died once.
Then the final boss battle against King Boo was super hard!  I died 4 times before I beat him.  Before these 2 bosses, I only died once in the whole game.
Overall the game is pretty good.  The first 3rd of the game is better than the last two 3rds.  Mainly because you get the elevator buttons in a non-linear order.  After level 5, the elevator buttons are gained in order.  It would have been better to get them in different orders.  Multi-player looks good, but I haven't tried it yet.

Weekend Report -> A Week in Review

Food this weekend ->
Got live blue crabs from the Asian grocery store in Kanata.  They were a medium to medium-small size this week, so 5 made a good snack.   They only came to $7.05 too.

Live Blue Crabs.

I also got some Rideau Restaurant takeout on Friday night.  Got an order of beef chow mein and shrimp in lobster sauce.

Rideau Takeout and Apple Pie.

The shrimp in lobster sauce was so good mixed with white rice.
Dessert was a discounted apple pie.  I can't believe I ate the whole pie in 2 days.

Useless Halloween News:
Celebrated Halloween at work on the 30th.  I figured we would get a sugar rush early and not get all the sugar on just the 31st.  I called it "Merry Halloween Eve".  We had 200 chocolates, chips, popcorn and even a cake.  All for only $60.

Halloween Treats.

Halloween Cake.

Useless Transformer News:
Got the exclusive Transformers: Siege Smokescreen from Toys R Us in the mail. 

Smokescreen.

EB Games had the exclusive at first, but only ordered enough for pre-orders.  I didn't pre-order, so I'm glad TRU took over the exclusive.

Got the ComicCon exclusive BotBots in a different package. 

ComicCon BotBots.

Still missing 2 BotBots from Series 2: #22 and #24.

Useless M:tG News:
Also got in the mail, the exclusive 3 My Little Pony Magic: the Gathering cards.  It was $50 but $30 of it went to charity.

My Little Pony Magic Cards.

Useless Gaming News:
Picked up the new Luigi's Mansion 3 on the Nintendo Switch.  This is fun.  You play as Luigi searching a haunted hotel for Mario, Peach, and 3 Toads, all the while solving puzzles and capturing ghosts.  I'm still on the first 5 floors of the 15 floor hotel.

Luigi's Mansion 3.

Also picked up a new board game: Tapestry.  Out of the Box had an extra copy and held it for me.  It's sold out everywhere!

Tapesty.

6 Player games at Anthony's on Saturday.  We played Fibbage 2, One Word, Telestrations, and then more Fibbage 2.

Happy Retirement Mike!

Lunch today -> Lone Star.
Mike is retiring on Friday, but his retirement lunch party was today at Lone Star.  I'd say 3/4 of the company was there along with ex-CMC people.  He was my first boss, and the one that hired me.
I got a steak and guacamole sandwich with fries.  It was alright.  Not very much steak in the sandwich and the fries were really salty.

Not Good.

Useless Food News:
A 2nd location for "Art Haven" has opened at the old Kanata Town Center.  It's behind Basics before Danaldo's Barber Shop.
This shop lets you paint various pottery things and they sell good bubble tea!  I got myself a taro milk bubble tea after getting a haircut yesterday.

Taro Milk Bubble Tea.

Useless Gaming News:
Still re-organizing my basement, but it's getting there.  Steve was able to order for me a switch box.  Julie uses this one and it auto detects what gaming system is in use to display on the TV.  Fairly cheap too.

Switch Box.

Useless Kickstarter News:
I got my Kickstarted copy of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night on Nintendo Switch in yesterday.  It's made by the creator of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and is his new take on it without using the Castlevania theme.  Not very far in yet, but this game is awesome!  Lots to explore, lots to collect, and lots secrets to find.

Bloodstained.

Weekend Report -> Tornado

Food this weekend ->
2 Tornadoes hit Ottawa on Friday.  Destroyed the Merivale transformer station and knocked out power to most of the city, including my house.  I was out on Friday but on my way home I noticed hi-tech park had power.  After a short stop at my parent's house, I decided to wait out the blackout at CMC. 
I monitored they Hydro Ottawa site to see when I got power back.  To kill time, I found the season finale episode of Game of Thrones on Ed's shared folder and watched that while snacking on chips and chili.  I watched the animated Transformers: The Movie after :)

Blackout Snacks at CMC.

Around 1am there was a notice I got power back.  I headed home, but the site was wrong.  There was power back but it stopped about 2 blocks from my house!  D'oh!
I stayed at Susanna's house on Saturday because she got her power back.  Watched Voltron Season 1 on Netflix.  Pretty good.  I didn't know they made 7 seasons!  We ate soup, ramen, pizza, meat pie, cake, lemon tarts, and a shrimp ring.  I don't know why I didn't take any pics?
I got my power back on Sunday morning.  All my fish and ghost shrimp survived while the air pump was off.  The heater in my shrimp tank didn't work after the power came back.  Got a replacement today.  Also all the ice melted in the fridge ice maker.  All the water dripped down over all the other frozen foods.  When the power came back, the water re-froze and covered everything in a layer of ice!

Dinner today -> Mussels
I decided I'm going to eat all my freezer food.  I started with defrosting a box of mussels.  I broiled some in the oven, topped with garlic butter and 3 cheeses.  Good stuff.

Mmm... Mussels.

Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Decorated the break room with Halloween treats and a jack-o-lantern voting area this morning.

Halloween Decorations.

There were only 6 entries for the carving contest, but we had a good voter turn-out. 

Jack-o-Lantern Entries.

It was close between 1st and 2nd place: 16 votes for #6 and 12 votes for #1. 
I won :)  The prize was a $25 Tim Horton's card.

BBQ Hotdogs

Lunch today -> BBQ Hotdogs.
I helped organize a hotdog BBQ at work for lunch today.  We bought the big Costco sized hotdogs, potato salad, watermelon, and drinks for everyone.  Excellent turnout and everyone left full.

BBQ Hotdogs.

Happy 38th Anniversary CMC Kanata!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!!!

and

HAPPY 38th ANNIVERSARY CMC KANATA!!!

Lunch today -> Cake, cake, and more cake.
Today was CMC Kanata’s 38th Anniversary.
Everyone rejoiced!
The Social Committee funded me to go to Costco and picked up 5 cakes to celebrate.
Everyone rejoiced!

Downstair's Cakes.

Upstair's Cakes.

We had: NY Style Cherry Cheesecake, Tiramisu, Coconut Cream Cake, and 2 Tuxedo Cakes.
Everyone rejoiced!
All I ate for lunch today was 3 slices of cake.
and everyone rejoiced!

Dinner today -> Potato and Leek Soup.
Made soup for a late dinner.  I pressure cooked some red potatoes, 2 leeks, and a sweet onion in chicken broth and dashi.  Then I added a can of coconut cream, half can of red curry, and a full pack of pre-cooked bacon.  Blended it up with my immersion blender until it was smooth.  It was good.  I think it will be good cold tomorrow too.

Potato and Leek Soup.

Useless Toy News:
Went to Walmart to price match the Slimer Lego Dimensions pack and some Zootopia Disney Infinity figures to match the Microsoft.com sale.  I had no problems with the price match at Walmart, while Kanata Toys R Us wouldn't match it (they did it before, but won't any more).

Latest Goods.

Nutella and Peanut Butter Crescent Rolls

Lunch and Dinner today -> Pizza.
Picked up a Hot n Ready pepperoni pizza for lunch and finished it for dinner at CMC.  Stayed late for gaming night tonight.

Pepperoni Pizza.

Dessert today -> Cinnamon Buns and Nutella & Peanut Butter Crescent Rolls.
I bought a pack of Pillsbury Cinnamon Buns.  My plan was to unroll them and then re-roll them with a slice of maple bacon between the layers.  BUT the small cinnamon bun pack doesn't unroll!  I need to get the grand cinnamon bun pack.  D'oh!

Pastries.

I also made Pillsbury Crescent Rolls filled with nutella and peanut butter.  The insides don't look very good, but they taste awesome!

Nutella & Peanut Butter Crescent Rolls.

Useless Gaming News:
We played Ancient Terrible Things today after work.  It's suppose to be a 60min game, but it took us 2hrs.  It was our first go at it and a couple of us play slow cough*Peter*cough*and*cough*Evan*cough ahem hem.

Useless CMC News:
Reminder: Christmas Lunch is on Thursday!

Trophies have Arrived!!!

The Bad News:
Jessica was kicked out of Korean Idol group Girls Generation today by their management company.  I saw the tweet late last night and read the news this morning.  Too bad.  I liked her and she was really good on Running Man too.  My favorite is still Taeyeon.

The Good News:
I picked up the softball trophies today.  They've been forever engraved with the "CMC Strike Fighters" name :). 

CMC Strike Fighters 2014 Champions.

The left one is for winning the D2 Tournament in June.  The more important right one is for winning the C Recreational division.

2 Championship Trophies.

The Best News:
After picking up the trophies, I got some KFC for dinner.  I wanted more chicken before the 9-piece promotion was over.  The bucket normally had 5 drums and 4 thighs, but today I got 5 drums and 5 thighs!  Score!

KFC Standing with the Trophies.

RIP Brian

Went to Brian's Wake tonight.  Lots of past and present CMC friends showed up.

Lunch today -> Farmboy Buffet.
I had to go to the bank at lunchtime, and I dropped by Farmboy afterwards to pick up some lunch.  I got food from their hot food buffet that was paid for by weight ($1.99 per 100grams (I think?)).  I got some garlic linguine, meatballs, butter chicken, General Tao chicken, chicken wings, mac & cheese, and quinoa chili.

The garlic linguine and butter chicken was really good.  The quinoa chili was different, but tasted really good too.  I should have gotten more of the chili, but this plate was $13!  More than I expected, but it was the wings and mac & cheese that weighed the most.

Useless Clothes News:
It was pouring buckets of rain today.  During my brief lunch trip, I discovered that my cheap $17 running shoes from Walmart are NOT water-proof.  When I got back my desk, it felt like I was walking on sponges.  My shoes and socks were soaked and I took them off to dry abit.  I was walking around the office in bare feet all afternoon.

Teaches me for trying to save money and buying cheap shoes.  I wonder how long it will take my shoes to dry?

Weekend Report: Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!

I made it back from training in Montreal since Tuesday night.  The Marriott Courtyard Airport hotel was pretty nice and was only a 5 minute drive from CMC.

Comfy Bed.

Sofa and Big Window.

Food this weekend ->
On Saturday my relatives from Connecticut and Toronto were visiting for my grandma's birthday.  All we do when we get together is eat, and eat alot.  We had a buffet for lunch at the Chinese Buffet on Merivale.

Plate #1.

Congee to Fill in the Gaps from Plate #1.

Big Fresh Mussels.

For dinner we went to Rideau Restaurant.  My mom ordered 8 dish set +3 +soup.

Not-so-great Soup.

Schezwan Steak?

Fried Fish and Broccoli.

Pork Jowl and Mushrooms.

Seafood and Greens.

Tofu and Chinese Sausage Balls.

Shrimp Tofu and Lettuce.

Steamed Chicken.

Chinese Greens.

Salt and Pepper Shrimp.

Sweet and Sour Pork Chop.

After dinner, we ate dessert at home.  Some fruits, baked Kit Kats,

Fruit Tray.

Bakable Kit Kat, Watermelon, and Star Fruit.

and a fresh Nutella Crepe Cake that I picked up on Friday in Montreal (they had just made it.) 

Nutella Crepe Birthday Cake.

Multiple Layers of Whipped Nutella and Crepes.

This is the store front for the Sources location of Les Delices Lafrenaie.  Being right beside a Lindt outlet is evil.

Sources Location.

Useless Gaming News:
My cousins and I played a new game I picked up in Montreal: The Phantom Society.  It's the same makers as King of Tokyo.  The game is a quick and fun.  2 teams play as the ghost or ghost hunters.  The ghost objective is to destroy rooms to get to 45 points, while the ghost hunters need to find the ghost.  If the ghost hunters guess the wrong room the roon's points are added to the ghost team because they destroy the room while searching.  It's alot like a fun minesweeper.

The Phantom Society Game.