Vaccines, stay-at-home how to survive another year of COVID19 pandemic!

 We have been in lockdown since December 26, 2020, and an additional "stay-at-home" order since January 12, 2021.  The schools have been shut down since the break for holiday season.  

The government started administering vaccines begining December 15, 2020.  

The numbers are coming down.  In my city the average weekly new cases are in the 1500/day.

Is it due to vaccines or due to people staying-at-home?

It's more likely to be from people staying-at-home, and more specifically children staying at home.  Prior to the schools closing, there were outbreaks* at about 150+ schools in the province of Ontario.  These contributed to the increase in the transmission in the community.  

The lock-downs/stay-at-home cannot be a long term solution.  Vaccine is being rolled out at a snail pace, and it's about to get slower as companies are re-thinking distribution and countries are thinking of new policies around vaccine distribution.

Vaccines are showing some flaws.  Given the speed they were developed and approved, it doesn't surprise me that they have side-effects, and one may still get it even after being fully vaccinated*.  In addition new variants of the virus, which are more transmissible and more deadly are popping up.

When it started a year ago around this time, I admit, it threw me off balance so much that all I could care of was to be able to pass one more day without getting it.  When the numbers started going down last summer, I had a glimmer of hope that maybe the virus has taken its course and it's dying out on its own, sort of like Spanish Flu.  Things are different now.  

The measures in place, plus the new variants paint a depressing picture.  How and when can we go back to living again?

I definitely don't know the answer today.  

 

*Outbreak: 2 or more cases of COVID-19 positive within 14 days. 

*Fully vaccinated: both shots administered 

First time COVID tester

 You can find all the information on Google, as my daycare provider explained to me I need a COVID test for my daughter to be re-admitted to daycare.

Despite the fact, above is the wrong way to find any information, I had no choice but to turn to the web.  Note, web and not Google.  Most people don't distinguish that Google is not the web.  And while most information is available on-line but  the first source should be valid and verified document which should be available to those who are in the position to recommend tests, e.g. daycares in this scenario.

In any case, I had no choice but to turn to the web, and use search engines to find the answers to my questions:  where the test is performed ?  how is the test performed?  how do they admit patients for testing? 

 From conversation with the daycare provider: throat swabs for COVID-19 testing could be done at drive-thru assessment center by appointment.

What I end up doing, and it seemed to be the only option available to me, was nasal swab, at a physical location, by appointment.

It took me three hours to find the location closest to me, make an appointment online, arrive there, park, go through the process of being admitted, and get the test done.  I believe this is great, and I got extremely LUCKY.   

I started here:

COVID 19 testing locations for my area

I found out eligibility to get tests done at the pharmacy is to have no symptoms.  From there I searched for an 'Assessment Center' closest to me.  

The next step was to find out how they admit people for testing.  It was incredibly frustrating when the page would not load.  I used many different browsers on different devices to get there faster.   Slapping this information on top of a poorly designed website is wrong at many levels.

Finally, I tried a link from the not fully loaded page, that got me to appointment booking page.  This page, unlike its parent, loaded all the information quickly.  I was happy to find out the center can accommodate me in a couple of hours.  So, I booked the time slot.

We arrived at the center five minutes late.  At the entrance, I was asked if I had an appointment and since I did, I was shown in.  There was a line up at the entrance.  Which I don't know if it was for COVID testing or something else.  

The first step after entering was to give the reception my daughter's information and receive a bracelet, just as if we were being admitted to the hospital.  It was quick.

The next step was to be seen and checked for vitals, temperature, and oxygen level, and explain the symptoms.  There were six people ahead of us.  Two out of three stations were staffed.  It took us 20 minutes to be seen by the nurse.

The last step was to get the test.  We were called in almost immediately, or I guess relative to the last step it felt much faster!  A series of white plastics were hung from the ceiling to form a makeshift rooms to get the test done.  There was one chair placed in this room.  I was told to sit on the chair, and hold my baby in my lap.  I was incredibly grateful when the person performing the test appeared so quickly.  I cannot imagine how I could have kept my daughter still in such small possibly infected place.

The swab was, understandably, painful, but was quick, and the instructions I was given was really helpful to get it done fast, despite of discomfort my daughter was in.

When it was over, I waited long enough to finish his sentence about how I can access results, and just ran out of the place, all the way to the car, holding my daughter as close as possible.  

I got extremely lucky!  It could have been much worse and by that I mean it could have taken longer more dragged out, tiring.  It was not.  I thank the staff for it.

The results came the next day before noon, that's less than half a day.  Negative!

Learning Jenkins in an adhoc way

 It just happens that I have to setup a CI/CD ecosystem to test a series of changes to the compiler.  I am using Git and Jenkins as the framework.

I am getting to know both!

I am using corporate Jenkins, which means another team has downloaded, and configured Jenkins.  I have a personal Jenkins space, with limited configuration capabilities.  It is connected to a source repository which contains an application code, toolchain and build scripts.  The relationship between these pieces are as follow:

  the build scripts build the toolchain, which then is used to build the application code.

Each of these, the scripts, toolchain, and application, is maintained in a separate repository.  The main goal is changes to each repository triggers the build, guided by Jenkinsfile.

I added the build scripts and toolchain repositories as submodules of the application.  I then navigated through the Jenkinsfile documentation online to find a way to trigger a build when a commit was made to the git submodules.  After a couple days on the topic, I gave up.  

I tried GitSCM with various settings and none worked.

In order to make progress, I moved to an alternative way.  It is a simple minded way.  I git clone each repository, within on Jenkins Pipeline and go build the toolchain and the application in that order.

Jenkins, being so pervasive in the development world, should be able to handle multiple repositories and invoke the build when there's a change to one of them.  

Please, leave me a comment here, if you know how.  Thanks in advance!

GNU GCC Register Transfer Expression RTX

Not a whole lot of documentation available on the topic!  I guess when you find something the hard way, you earned the right to show it off.  But, besides vanity, it's good to document it for future reference.  I can refresh my memory using this page.  It can also prove helpful to others.

Objective: gen_reg_rtx (machine_mode) vs gen_rtx_REG (machine_mode)

Declared: rtl.h

Defined: emit-rtf.c

Returns: a pseudo register/a hardware register (type rtx)

Implementation difference:   gen_reg_rtx asserts if called after compiler's register allocation phase is completed.

Code changes all the time! Above information is valid for GCC v8.3.1 source.

Toronto Zoo Opens this weekend, May 23rd, to offer Drive-thru tours --and it's already sold out

I have not been to Toronto Zoo.  So, I am not about to ruin my first time experience by jumping into the car and going there, because I have nowhere else to go.  And when I look at the ticket prices for this "unique" experience --I am less inclined to do so!

Canada is reopening without knowing where Canadians are getting COVID-19

Canada is reopening without knowing where Canadians are getting COVID-19

is the title of this article, by Adam Miller, and published by CBC yesterday! 

He is taking advantage of two recently identified active clusters of COVID19 in Peel region, as well as London, Ontario to publish a very poorly written, very confusing article.  He sites Alberta and BC as provinces who have been 'successful' in keeping the spread of the virus under control. Then sites South Koreas' opening of night clubs as making the country taking two steps back into shutting down the night clubs!!

How the South Koreas' example is relevant to Canada not knowing where its COVID-19 cases are coming from, and how BC's, and Alberta's success (both being part of Canada) contribute to Canada's failure are questions I have when I read his article.

It's journalistic effort to grab clicks, based on the most talked about topic these days.

Really bad article!

How am I coping with the imposed quarantine?

I am full-time work-from-home compiler developer or simply a software developer.  I got this gig after 1.5 years being off, caring for my daughter.  I love it, all aspects of it.  The work, pay, and my colleagues.

I am also full-time house-wife, a very traditional kind, where most responsibilities of keeping home/life running falls on my shoulder.

I also take care of our daughter, feed, bath, and keep her social calendar filled with playdates, age appropriate classes, and activities.  I had found her a great daycare where she looks forward to going daily, and it has been so great for both of us.  I get to do my work and she gets to learn and socialize.  Of course the daycare is closed for now.

I enjoy all aspects of my life, except at times, I don't get good quality sleep and that grossly hinders my ability to cope with everything.  It's at these times, that it occurs to me I am doing more than my share.  But when this passes, it's all back to good and normal.

With quarantine I am getting very little sleep.  I am overtired, and most nights I wake up after a couple hours sleep unable to fall back asleep.  My days are not long enough, I attend to my daughter's online learning schedule, play with her, take her on walks, and only turn T.V. on when I absolutely have no other choice, like I have a 1-1 with my boss.   This is quite disruptive.  The two windows of opportunity I have to get work done, is during her nap and when she sleeps.  Both have been disrupted pretty badly.  She doesn't sleep well at night, and doesn't nap long during the day either.

I don't know for how long we are expected to stay quarantined, or more importantly how long the childcare centres will be closed for.  I google this every other day, and last I checked it was not clear when.

I don't have a plan B.  

How has the quarantine impacted my husband's life?

My husband's main concern is not to contract the virus, and he has been successful in altering and limiting his daily activities to pursue this goal.

This change is amazing, since he used to spend two hours of every three hours outside of the home every single day, without any exception.  When asked to stay home on social occasions, and other life situations, his mood would turn sour after two hours.

But now, he calmly spends his whole day at home.  Paces the small living/dining space with his phone in hand to get his 2KM daily walk everyday.  Eats his breakfast and lunch at home, something that probably happened less than the count of my fingers over the course of 8 years marriage.  Get his work done remotely, and watches T.V. with our daughter.  

He rarely helps out with the work around the house, that has not been his thing, and he is not about to change now that he's at home all the time to see the amount of work that goes on daily to keep the house and life in general running.

He can continue with this lifestyle until it's declared safe to go out.

How is this quarantine changing the way my toddler perceives the world?

To her, with limited vocabulary, certain things such as school, supermarket, library, parks, are "broken".

I am trying my best to convince her, it's "broken", but not for good, and not only for her.

She gets excited to meet her friends virtually but half way through the meet up she tears up, and starts shaking her head, that she no longer wants to continue with this.  These days she can spent hours with the animated characters, she knows their names, and happily references them in her conversation.  Reminding her of the names of her real life friends have the reverse effect on her mood.

I am trying my best to convince her, no matter what the situation, we need to keep in touch with our real friends, even if they aren't physically close to us.

The idea of fresh air, and spending time outdoors appeals to her, but when we are out, with careful planning ahead, and much caution, it only takes 10 minutes for her to ask to go home.

While our governments' effort in taking slow, and calculated steps to reopen our economy is much appreciated, kids and their re-integration in the normal cycle of life should be discussed too.

Things We Left Unsaid

I read this book in translation.  As a native of the country the author is from, I found the translation fell short at times.
I liked the story.  Clarice, the protagonist, is a full time mom and housewife.  She has three children, the twins Arsineh, Armineh, and her son Armen.  Her husband, Artoush, is a man with strong political convictions, something Clarice openly objects.  Her mother is a perfectionist, and she is not shy in pointing out to Clarice her shortcomings in being a housewife.  Her sister, Alice, is her complete opposite.  She thinks highly of herself, has too much self confidence,  and has an opinion about anyone and anything (more often unfavorable).
The story is almost insignificant; recounts the daily lives of Clarice's family, and her social interactions with friends and neighbor.  Through out these insignificant events we meet the new neighbors, Emile, a widower, his daughter, Emily, and his mother.   They add an element of enigma to the story of Clarice's life.  Clarice interacts with them, almost reluctantly, and only because others wants her to do so.   Ironically, this forced relationship opens Clarice up to a whole new level of self awareness.  She questions her current status and wonders about the choices she has made in life.
I could empathize with Clarice.  I too often find myself putting everyone else's needs ahead of mine.  But, I hoped the story offered a shift, but instead, I think, it offered a middle ground, where Clarice was still the same person, doing the same things, but now, recognized [instead of taken for granted].

All My Puny Sorrows

This is one incredible story of strength of a family supporting, and loving each other through the toughest times. It may not be even a story, as I have heard that there's an autobiographical element to it. It is told from the perspective of the younger sister, Yolanda. 
Yolanda, the narrator, is an aspiring author. She has married twice, and about to divorce out of her second marriage. She has two children from each of her marriages. She has moved to Toronto to enable her daughter to follow her dream of becoming a dancer. She is originally from Edmonton, where her mother, and sister still live. 
Multiple unsuccessful suicide attempts of Yolanda's sister, Elfrieda, brings her back to her hometown. And why would Elfrieda want to take her own life? She has everything going for her; an established pianist who has reached fame and fortune very early in her career, and a married woman; her husband's life revolves around her.
This book is not going to answer your burning question about mental health. It is also not going to provide [false] hope that the system in place is efficient, and well equipped to care for patients in this category. But, it is going to tell you an honest story one family's courageous [futile] fight to keep their loved one safe. 
I loved reading this book, but it left the desire of hearing Elfrieda's voice unanswered. I wish the author would had disclosed more of Elfrieda's emotions in this story.

When Breath Becomes air, by Paul Kalanithi

Talking about death or dying are avoided on the account of being sad topics. Or perhaps we avoid it because we don't know much about it. I wonder if we thought and spoke about it more openly, pragmatically it would lead us to live a happier, more meaningful life.
In “When Breath Becomes Air” Paul Kalanithi attempts to find the meaning of life through understanding death. I like to think he would have written this book, much later in his life. That's what he talks about in his opening chapter. That pursuit of meaning of life and learning about death was his life quest, that he thought studying literature was where he finds the answer but then he realized being a doctor may lead to a better understanding of life and death. His story is sprinkled with irony, as he writes about his life as a doctor and as a patient. He doesn't approve of using stats as a doctor to tell patients something like, "you have six more months to live."; yet he is curious about the number of months left of his own life when talking to his oncologist. 
So, did I learn more about death after I turned the last page of this book, I certainly did not. But, what this book taught me was it's good to stay curious about it, even in perfect health.

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things, Bryn Greenwood

Bryn Greenwood has crafted a very complicated, and interesting character, Wavonna Quinn. Greenwood has also developed supporting characters whose behaviors and actions define Wavonna. A drug dealer father and drug user mother are very unfortunate role models and caregivers. Despite the parents abusive and neglecting behavior Wavonna grows up, finding ways to survive and care for her baby brother, Donal. 

In the eye of those who meet Wavonna she is a girl who doesn't talk and eat. But behind this facade there's a person with depth, kindness, and intelligence. 


Greenwood is thorough, and consistent, the result is: a story that is believable.

Many reviews of the book glorify it as a "love story". This is true. 
It is a love story of two outcasts, Wavy and Kellen, who could not be any more different in social and cultural status. These two are different, yet deeply care for each other so much that they are prepared to let go of each other for the sake of "well-being" of the other. 

Greenwood, however, chooses to end their love story on a happy note and she does it pragmatically.

Along the way, there are people whose wrong judgement make Wavy's and Kellen's, and consequently little Donal's life very difficult, (grinding teeth, and knot in the stomach chapters). But they are proven wrong (Yay!). 

It has been a few weeks since I finished reading, but I still think about it. 

Quotes that really made the book stand out for me are:

Wavy: "Nothing belongs to you"
Wavy: "I am as real as you are. My family is real like your family."

I really liked this book!  The only dilemma I have is Wavy being a minor when the two became intimate. Why has Greenwood made this choice is beyond me.

Review: The Orphan's Master Son, by Adam Johnson

Except for a few in depth, personal observations that caught my attention, the rest of the story fell flat for me. Sure the story of, the orphan's master, Pak Jun Do; his rise, and fall through the political ranks of North Korean government, and his strength of character was quite something. Even if he was not an "orphan"; if there was a man and a woman who claimed him as their son, he would still be the "the property of", as this was "the ultimate perversion of the communist dream."

 There are two parts to this book.

In Part I, Pak Jun Do's life unfolds; from his days in the orphanage, his kidnapping stint with officer So, and then his days on the Junmo ship to finally being named the "hero of the state" he depicts strength of character, and integrity.

 In Part II the book evolves into a few intertwined timelines; all continuation of Jun Do's story but told by different sources, with slight but noticeable differences. Part II is long-winded. The story of the autobiographers of Division 42, working along side the North Korea's "Pubyok", is separate hinged to the main story with story of Jun Do; this on its own, however, tells of the lives of the "regular" citizens shaped by the state controlled propaganda machine, which counts their blessings and attributes these to the benevolence of the "Dear Leader", Kim Jong-il, daily.

 The most interesting part of the book is the contrast between the reality and reality of the government propaganda; which makes the distinct point that: "In North Korea you were not born, you were made." Given the book's disclaimer of "incidents and dialogue, ..." being "products of the author's imagination", the recount is nothing but a story, and should not shape the readers' perception of life in North Korea. Life in North Korea still remains a mystery.

Jon Montgomery, Canada Amazing Race Host, advice is ...

Jon Montgomery is the gold medal winner of skeleton race, 2010 Winter Olympics, as well as host of Amazing Race Canada show.  His advice on parenthood published as part of his interview with ParentsCanada is spot on.  I quote here for easy, and frequent access:


I feel sorry for the kids who won’t have another chance to learn some of these valuable life lessons while they are young; but, they’ll get their education one way or another. The consequences for being lazy, not working well with others, having poor sportsmanship, and never learning the value in losing will be astronomically higher if they learn these things later in life – because the laws that govern this world do not change simply because we feel children are too young to learn them.

If we could improve the volunteer experience with the Engineer-in-Residence program --a personal recount

A successful program that has been running for years, Engineer In Residence, EIR, program was established to help "bridge the gap" that often exists between "real world and classroom theory".
The program places P.Eng and EITs in elementary and high schools across the province of Ontario. The volunteer EIR "brings real-life dimension to the curriculum, using hands on projects. presentations and other activities."

As a licensed engineer, when I received the "Call for Volunteers" email from PEO in April of 2016, the email text was similar to what I quoted, above, from the "About" page of Engineer-in-Residence program web site, I clicked on the embedded link and applied.

Although there's a lot of positive that goes with volunteering in general, and this volunteer program specifically (based on past participant anecdotes published on the web), I started with a low expectation.  I anticipated slow response to emails, lack of well defined process, and to summarize a program that relies on volunteers to be self-starters with limited, or no assistance.  Even with this assumption, I found myself at times confused, at best, and frustrated, at worst, with the way this program was run and issues were handled.  Below, I state three events that made me feel this way.  Since I want to be as objective as I can in my recount, in each scenario I state my expectation first and then describe my experience.

Notification of change:
My expectation:
A coordinator plays a key role, someone whose job's definition is to ensure an effective interface between the program participants and the program.  One would expect this role to be always filled, and in the event of a change, it would be broadcast to those who are sitting patiently on the other end of the communication waiting for the transition out of the old, and transition in of the new to complete.
My Experience:
After a month of working with a program coordinator, and close to a month of no communication, a broadcast email arrived from a new email.   The email didn't  say anything whether there has been a permanent change over, or whether this new person is stepping in for a bit.  I had a conversation thread going with the then coordinator, trying to set up a date to get the Police Check process started.  After a month long wait, the broadcast email from the new person, and its call-to-action was all that I received. It was confusing, but not something that breaks the camel's back.

Appointments and last minute change of plans:
My Expectation:
When one sets a meeting date a month in advance, the most probable outcome one expects is the meeting happens as planned.  But, there's a chance that something happens that inhibits one party to keep her/his promise.  So, the logical course of action is to reach out to the other person, and ensure the appointment is canceled and/or rescheduled.
My Experience:
I arrived in the office, after an hour long commute, only to find out the person I am meeting with is not there.  I checked the email to see if I had the day and/or time right, there I found a fresh email from the person I was meeting, at 10:30 am the same day saying, " something has come up and I am no longer available today."  I felt very frustrated. The email ended with "Sorry for the late notice,"  This didn't make me feel any better.  However, I thought, these are administrative mishaps, and qualify as minor impediments to a year long,  great experience of interacting with young, curious minds who are ready to be interested and engaged in engineering experiments.

Provide support when things are not going as planned:
My expectation:
When things are not going the way they are supposed to, I expect the experts to guide and/or course correct, the very least touch base with both the teacher and the volunteer.  Especially, if they are kept in the loop, by way of being cc'd on the email, and asked directly.
My Experience:
There was a day long training, in which participation for EIRs and Teachers were voluntary.  During this full day session however,  the participants were given an introduction to the program and tutorial on the format of it.  I learned at this session that Teachers and EIRs meet in the start of the school year, and collaborate on putting together the content to be presented to the class, they'd also come up with a mutual convenient schedule for the EIR to meet with the class.  When the feedback request email arrived end of November, I still had not had a face to face with the Teacher and not been to a classroom.  I had a series of missed call appointments, and infrequent email replies from the teacher to show for, with no concrete plan for future.  I could relate to the teacher having a busy start of the year.  But, I think by November we should have had the very least one face to face.  I wrote the EIR support team, consulted them on how I should proceed.  I received reply from one of the EIR Support Team members saying, keep emailing until you get through.  And that's the level of support I received in my first experience with the EIR program.  I was honestly thinking of giving up half way through.  But, then I thought where would that leave the kids.  In the spirit of making a difference, I kept at it.

Conclusion:
We are counting down to the end of 2016-2017 school year.  I have not met the kids at the school I was assigned to even once.  But, I have met with the two teachers working together on this, twice, and have exchanged many emails with them.  These teachers are running numerous science projects for their kids, something I commend.  I don't know if much thought was given on how does running an EIR program for a full academic year fits the existing schedule. I think it was perceived as doable to accommodate alongside other running projects.  In any case, although I was not able to launch the EIR program as explained in the one day training, I was able to offer my services as a practicing Software Developer to one of the science projects these two teachers were running for their kids.  I developed for them four Salmon Ecosystem software projects/games to complement, and reinforce the learning of the science project the teachers are running for the kids this year.  The games simulate good, and bad ecosystems and follow their impact on salmons' survival. Although the games are written and ready to be deployed, the teachers have not had a chance to run through them with the kids.  There has been a lot of gaps and delays in our email communication. These delays has hindered the project progress.

This is my personal experience with the way Engineer-in-Residence program was run this year.   I am not returning to the program next year.  I think the program markets itself very well, but it lacks the characteristic of a well-run, organized program.
I am sharing this in an open forum, because I hope coordinators and participants of Engineer-in-Residence program and other similar programs can share their experience here when they come across it. 

Zipcar's cancellation policy --occasional driving membership plan

I have been a Zipcar member since December of 2010.  Given I needed access to car, on average, once a month; I opted for Occasional Driving Membership plan.  In this schema, I paid a one time admin fee, and an annual fee.  Under this plan, I had the flexibility to rent as needed.

It worked well.

Life circumstances change, however. For us buying a hybrid car has made the convenience of being a member of car sharing program redundant.

I searched the Zipcar web site for membership cancellation information.  This is not mentioned under the "help".  But, type "cancellation" in the "Ask a question box", and you get

We're sorry to see you go!  To cancel your membership, please give us a call below.
Call 1-866-4ZIPCAR

I called today, and here is the scoop.  Two things should be in place for a full membership refund to occur:
  a.  No reservation should have been made, and used in the current membership year
  b.  Cancellation should occur less than 30 days after the membership renewal  date

So, I still enjoy carrying my Zipcar membership around, at least for a few more months!

Review: A Spool of Blue Thread, by Anne Tyler

The story is about a big family. We start reading about the Whitshanks in the present time, and then reading their parents', and finally their grand parents' stories. Yet with all the background information, which I should say the author has done a pretty good job of keeping concise, by the end of the book, the reason for the characters' behaviors and actions is somewhat left to personal interpretation.
Of all the characters in the book, I found Denny's, the son of Red Whitshanks, the most interesting. The book starts and ends with him, so I thought of him as the book's protagonist. His rebellious streak, despite all the attention he received from almost every member of his family, especially his mother, perplexed me. And it looked like he was the most angry with his mother. I kept thinking why? None of the events, not even, his mother lying to him to get him see a counselor justified his anger towards her. We see youth that turn out bad, despite their parents hard work to provide, educate, and guide. So, I guess I wanted to see the author's point of view of why Denny turned out to be so angry in spite of all he had going for him.

Make it an Easy-clean bathroom

I have often appreciated the bare minimum condo developers provide in each room of the condo, leaving them to owners to customize.  It has become a tradition, and almost a hobby to get busy with a small size renovation project around this time each year.

This year, inspired by this houzz article, I decided to make some changes to the bathroom.

I was spending time scrubbing the grout, and trying to get the green spots that appeared recently on bathtub tiles.  I didn't think I could get the green off the tiles completely.  It made sense to remove and replace the tub surround tiles.  The green spots may have been due to the fact that the fan was not working properly, so I added cleaning the fan to the list.

The existing porcelain floor tiles, 12x12, gray, covered roughly 31sq/feet area, which meant a large area to clean grout. I decided to go with a larger tile, and darker color, but stick with porcelain, because they are less porous, harder, and less prone to stain.

For the longest time, I had searched online or popped in home decor and furnishing stores looking for a practical way to organize the toiletries, however nothing appealed. The most common, the shower caddies, all took up extra space, and if not cleaned regularly would best case look dirty, and worst case rust.  I was replacing the bathtub tile surround, so I could ask for a niche that is deep and wide enough to hold all items now sitting in the four corners of the bathtub.  Each week, cleaning under each item was time consuming. With the niche, I only had to swipe clean one surface.

The tub and vanity are in good shape, and easy to clean, so I left those out of the project plan.  But, I decide to get a new, chrome finish shower set.  I had brushed nickle spout, and control which despite scrubbing them clean with lemon juice the looked darkened, and old.

My wish-list was complete, so all I needed now was a good contractor to execute the project on time and within my budget.

I had had good working experience with Home Depot installers.  I used them for two previous flooring projects.  They had a project expert at the store.  He was so helpful, and knowledgeable.  I only had to tell him what I have in mind, and he would recommend the material.

I had second thoughts on going with Home Depot when I found out Home Depot has replaced the residence expert with a project center.   But being able to use Home Depot credit services and pay the cost of the project over 12 months period, interest free, lured me back in.

Not having the residence expert, I took to the internet, read through client feedback posted on each item on Home Depot web site, to make my selection.  Not having anyone to verify if the choices I've made fit their necessary purpose, I completed and paid for the order.  The total cost of material and labor came to $3700, a bit higher than I expected, but I was quite excited about my choices, and anxious to see the end result that I forgave myself for going over the budget.

I chose
  white mosaic mesh for the bathtub surround,

  porcelain glazed, matt finish 24x24 in beige for the floor
  and two piece delta control and hand shower in chrome finish, and a separate spout in chrome finish
   
The work started on the Monday and finished on Thursday, on time, as promised four days.  However, unlike past projects, this one faced a couple of bumps along the way.

Day 1: the demo took half a day, when the work was done, there was a layer of dust every where and there was a rather large chip on the engineered hardwood floor.  The demo guys didn't have floor and furniture protection sheets, and although I had called ahead of the project start day to inquire what I need to prepare the home, I was not made aware to get my own.

Day 2: building the niche, installing the waterproof drywall, and tiles, however when it was time to install the tiles I was made aware of the possibility of some of the meshes, especially in the corners, not being completely aligned with one another.  Bottom line, what I picked was not meant for large surface, such as tub surround.  There was no choice but to take the tiles back to the store and get new ones, subway tiles as recommended by the installer, this perceived inconvenience shed $500 off the project cost :)

Day 3: install the faucet, control and head shower, install the floor tiles except for the rough-in of a hand shower and control won't work if there is a spout.  So, the only way to make progress in project is to use my old shower head and control, but apparently the demo guys have got rid of the old set.  So, the installers promise to buy a set.  What seemed as a set back, saved another $300 off the project cost :)

Day 4: grout, baseboards, towel bar, shower curtain bar, a full contractor came to finish up
I went with the gray non-sanded grout.  This color, and type grout worked well with both the floor and the bathroom tiles.  I used the floor tile for baseboard.  The guys also helped with installing a towel bar, and shower curtain rod.

The end result:

Lessons learned: Talk to an expert when picking material, ensure and don't leave it to the installer to bring the proper protection for your floor and furniture.

Visiting London / three nights / 2016

Best thing we ever did was to order Oyster card online, which arrived before our departure.  With 15GBP credit on the card, it made our transfer from Heathrow to our hotel cheap, and effortless.   During our time in London, we tapped the card upon entering and exiting the train station, depending on distance traveled, the fare was deducted.  We only topped up a couple of times during our stay. To get to the airport, we bought tickets on Gatwick express, 19.9 GBP. The Gatwick express leaves Victoria train station every 15 minutes, and travels to Gatwick non-stop.

On arrival to our hotel we were surprised to find out that the Holiday Inn London - Kensington Forum charges 30.75GBP for early check-in.  The fee entitled us to eat-in at the all-you-can-eat-buffet breakfast.  The hotel was in great location: close to the Metro's Gloucester station, in a not too crowded, clean, upscale neighborhood,  nice restaurants, and cafes close by, and branches of two major supermarket chain, Tesco and Waitrose, within walking distance.  The average nightly fee was C$211/night.  From our hotel room we could see "The Eye".

The  Eye was the first place we went to.  We spent an hour in line to get the ticket, we spent almost half of hour sight seeing money to buy the express tickets, then waited another hour to get on the famous Ferris wheel.  The wheel took us on a 30 minutes spin above London, where we snapped a few out of focus pictures, right.  When it was all over, we wondered if it was worth it, and the answer was NO!

But going on the Hop on Off tour which included a cruise of Thames river from the Tower of London to London Eye was well worth it.  We cruised around the city passing important buildings, churches, and colleges while listening to the rich history of them: Churchill Arms and the very ordinary looking palace of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in Kensington, the St. Pauls Cathedral and Westminister Abbey, Peter Pan and Lady Diane Memorial fountain in Hyde Park, the Paddington neighborhood, and the station where trains take travelers to Paris in under 2 hours, the London School of Economics, Royal Albert Hall, the house where Beatles lived, the house where the Prime Minister lives, Number 10 Downing street, The Houses of Parliament, Piccadilly and Trafalgar Squares, and I am sure I am forgetting a whole bunch.

And of course, you can't be visiting a new city and not try their cuisine.  This was not an easy task, as with the globalization and immigration there was fusion every where we looked.  On my list there were a place that boasted to serve the best English breakfast, another that was renowned for its tea, and one that was down to earth but served very delicious fish and chips, all these had addresses in East End London.  I was surprised to find out that the neighborhood is not suited for non-Londoners, so we skipped them, and ended up eating in not so very exciting places, like Prezzo, Spaghetti House, Pret A Manger, Burger King, and Paul.

Similar to food, finding shopping authentic to London was difficult.  Walking down Oxford Street we were surprised by how every where you go you see the big brand names, and how absent the local design is from major shopping streets.  But, we had to see the Selfridges and so we went, and although in the series the restaurants are all on the main floor,  we were told there is a not too expensive restaurant on the roof top.  We had lunch there, Fish and Chips --mediocre.

Getting out of London provides the opportunity to see the roads, and high ways, and experience the culture of transportation, an essential element of growth and prosperity.  And internet makes it possible for visitors to book tickets in advance to save time.  We bought our tickets to Bath on National Express web site, and found Victoria Bus Station, and although there is a myriad of bus companies that operate between Victoria Bus Station and Bath's, we spot the National Express bus.  It's a long trip, better suited for overnight stay, but it can be done in one day.  Bath is on UNESCO's list of heritage cities, so it's expected to feel ancient, the Roman Bath and the Bath Spa are the two main attractions of this city.  It's said that the mineral water pools of Bath have healing powers.

We did manage to go to one museum during our stay.  There was no fee to get in but the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit , which was the main motivation for our trip, had a nominal fee of 10 GBP.  This was to introduce a different side of Leonardo Da Vinci, not the painter of the famous Mona Lisa Smile, but the innovator of many equipment and machines.

I think visiting London and surroundings could be educational and fun!