Category: Seal News

I was doing some hardware repair on one of my servers this past weekend. Then AHT asked me about recommendations for a travel chrome-book. Got to thinking how many machines I have and use in my household. It’s a lot.

• my main linux desktop in my office which runs linux Mint
• my main laptop (also running linux, Ubuntu for this one), which I use for mobile computing around the house and as my travel laptop
• an older Macbook air donated by Claire which I use for fiddling with mac stuff, when I do that
• my main server in the basement (its a tower with 8 HDD and 28TB of storage) which I use as my NAS running in OMV.  It also runs a few virtual machines on it – my Plex server, a Duplicity backup server for backing up our family photo collection in the cloud, a Windows 7 VM for my weather station software and my BlueIris weather cam software, a linux VM for running my secondary weather station software, a torrent server, and a server managing my Unifi access points
• a backup Plex server (running OMV, with 12 TB storage) for backing up all my Plex media weekly
• four raspberry pi’s in my office  I use these for running various servers such as Pihole (for ad blocking), Network monitor, (Uptime Kuma), a music server, second torrent server, and one which takes snapshots every minute from my weather cameras and makes a daily time-lapse from them every night
• an router/firewall appliance running OPNSense software as my firewall and DHCP server
• two Lenovo tiny PC’s.  One of them runs Windows 10 for when the software I want to use only runs on Windows (like the tax software I use) since I’m pretty much all linux on my other boxes).  The other one is running my home automation software (Home Assistant) which runs as a VM in Proxmox, a hypervisor for VM’s and containers
• two Dell micro PC’s.  One is running my sealweather website (eventually to be moved to a different machine).  The other runs some VM’s on another Proxmox node – a VM for my reverse proxy server (manages incoming web traffic), a WordPress site (theseals.ca and eventually sealweather.ca), a live TV server (Jellyfin) and a Nextcloud server for file sharing, and auto-downloading of my photos from my phone to my network
• a raspberry pi running in my garage as an “offsite” backup location for all my photos and music files.  Files from my main server are automatically backed up once a week
• a raspberry pi (v1) that I have running an mqtt broker (a message server) which transmits info from one of my weather stations to my secondary weather page in real-time.
• a mini desktop (running linux of course) near all my basement servers to access them through a KVM switch
• a raspberry pi zero-w which runs the FlightRadar24 software to detect and report on all aircraft within 100km+ radius of my house.
• and Lisa’s and Claire’s macbooks

And not included in this list are the number of old laptops I have lying around waiting for decommissioning or some other re-use.

I think that’s all.

We got a dog! When I say we, I mean Claire, and Claire actually got her in January of last year. 

She is a beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog, who is now a 100+ pound puppy. She is the bestest dog ever (according to Claire, and Lisa).

As a puppy she was a little menace – very sharp teeth meant a lot of bruises and ruined shoes, but her cute little face has meant that she gets away with pretty much everything! She has grown to be a total princess but lovable goofball of a dog, and we are so happy we brought her into our home!  Well, I tolerate her.

Back in early 2020, I had both of my bikes stolen off the back porch (you can read the obit here). I’ve since replaced them, with a Surly Troll and a Milwaukee Beltline. Both bikes were customised by me to suit my riding – internally geared hubs for low maintenance and ease of use during winter, among other customisation’s. But the latest customisation’s are the most interesting.

My commute home from work involves a hill with a decent grade for a part of it. Some days, I just didn’t have the gas in the tank to make it all the way up the hill, and had to walk- most days were fine, but some days, no energy. I always thought that if I could just have a little boost for that bit of the ride it would be great. Then along came electric retrofit kits!

I’ve added a mid-motor to the Troll, and a front hub motor to the Beltline. I swap the battery between the bikes as needed. Now, that hill is no problem!!

Martin got married! We had our very own COVID wedding, as Martin and Rebekah got married at City Hall. 

The ceremony was restricted attendance, so only Lisa and Rebekah’s mom Aida got to be in the City Hall chapel with them (and the officiant of course) while the rest of the families waited outside, huddled around our phone screens (or online for family watching in Victoria) to watch the ceremony as Lisa live streamed from her phone. Definitely a COVID wedding to remember!

Wedding photos were taken at city hall and Osgoode Hall just around the corner, before the entire wedding party walked to Terroni, an Italian restaurant on Adelaide in the downtown core. The bride and groom looked lovely, and it was a beautiful wedding!

So we’re in the time of COVID. For the past 6 months we’ve been living with the restrictions and changes in our everyday routines due to the pandemic. We’re doing our part to stay safe, and avoid passing anything on to others – wearing masks, limiting our outings, etc. Last week, Lisa was back at school and three days into the new year, and guess what? COVID shows up in her classroom. A student tested positive, so her class, and Lisa, are isolating for two weeks. No fun for anyone, but managing through it. Looking forward to better days ahead!

Our second university graduate! Claire graduated from Queens University this year with a BA in Biochemistry and a second BA in History. Great job Claire!! Because of the Covid thing, we didn’t get to attend a traditional ceremony. So we threw one in the back yard, complete with mortarboard toss.

A nice shot from one of my weather camera’s today.

In solemn remembrance, we gather today to mourn the loss of two irreplaceable companions: the orange Soma Wolverine, affectionately known as The Pumpkin, and the steadfast Surly Straggler. These two beloved bicycles were more than mere modes of transportation; they were the trusted steeds that faithfully carried their rider to work day after day.

The Pumpkin, resplendent in its vibrant orange hue, brought a ray of sunshine to the daily commute. With its sturdy frame and dependable components, it tackled every road and weather condition with unwavering resilience. The Surly Straggler, a true workhorse, stood as a symbol of reliability and endurance. Together, these two wheels bore witness to countless early mornings and late evenings, weaving through traffic and conquering the miles with unwavering dedication.

Though cruelly snatched away by thieves, their legacy lives on in the hearts of those who treasured their presence. Let us cherish the memories of The Pumpkin and the Surly Straggler as we mourn their loss and bid them a fond farewell. May their stolen wheels find peace, and may their rider find solace in the enduring spirit of these remarkable companions.

(The above obit written by ChatGPT (in Jun 2023). Pumpkin and Surly were stolen off the back porch in the middle of the night. I even have video of the perp walking them away. But gotta admit at least some blame goes to me – they were both left unlocked. Lesson learned.)

So here we are, the Teen’s are behind us, and we move into the Twenties. Happy New Decade everyone!! As part of our look back, our family put together our lists of the top 10 movies of the past decade. Here are our choices. What are yours?

I’ve had my current phone for just about two years now. It’s a phone from a Chinese manufacturer, Xiaomi. It’s a Redmi 4x model to be precise. Phone has been a good phone, no issues, but I do like to update my electronic toys. So I’ve been keeping my eye out online for what’s new and available from the same manufacturer. That’s when I came across a new Chinese manufacturer – Umidigi.

On the AliExpress site (which is where I ordered my Xiaomi phone from) they’ve had some decent spec’d phones for pretty good prices. Prices less than $200 CAD. One of them, the Umidigi Power, was a new model running Android 9, and had AC wifi and NFC (rare in budget phones). Handset was a little larger than I wanted (6.3 inches), but the price was good – $180 with free shipping. Normally, items from AliExpress take about 3-4 weeks to arrive (but usually without duty or shipping costs), and since we were going to be going on holidays in mid July, I was a little concerned it might arrive while we were out of town. So on a lark, I checked out Amazon, since I knew they had been selling Xiaomi phones lately. Sure enough, they had the Power, and it was the same price as AliExpress, and free shipping, AND, two day delivery! So, I picked one up.

Why am I posting this on my blog? Mainly so that I can document my experiences with this phone. A number of web sites complain about the quality of Chinese phones. I’ve had zero issues with my Xiaomi phone. Let’s see how this new Chinese brand holds up. I’ll post updates as time goes by to keep tabs on the new Umidigi Power experience.

Mostly for me, but maybe you are interested too.

I’ve added a new page to the Seals website: Seal Videos. Here, I’ll occasionally post videos that we’ve taken or other interesting ones I might find on YouTube. It’s right in the menu above, or you can go straight there with this link: SealVideos

For Martin’s birthday, Lisa made a cake with mirror glaze.  Worked out nicely!!

Lisa and Darryl and the Helicopter

For my birthday this year, Lisa got me/us a helicopter tour over Toronto!  It’s offered by Helitour Toronto, and flies from Billy Bishop airport.   It was the “Romantic Tour” – just me, Lisa, and the helicopter pilot, in a 7 minute tour over the core of the city.

Google also made a video from some of the photos I took while hovering over downtown.

On November 20th, we welcomed a new university grad into the family.  Martin graduated with a BA in Philosophy – With Distinction! – from Concordia University.  Good on ya kid!!

It’s time for winter again!   SealWeather is ready to record this year’s snowfall, and tonight is the first snow this winter expected by the forecasters.  You can check out how much we’ve accumulated by checking out the SnowCam here.  Available all winter long!

I know, its been a super long time since I last posted anything to TheSeals.ca.   There’s a lot that has happened since my last post (in 2010!!):  trips to Barbados, Cuba, Italy, Punta Cana, USA, Victoria, Costa Rica, Lisbon, and the latest, to Sweden.  You can check out pictures from these trips (and past ones) at our SealGalleries page.  For the Italy and Sweden trips I kept an online blog to record our experiences: SealsInItaly2012 and SealsinSweden2017.    That’s a fair bit of travel.

We were empty-nesters for a little while when both Martin and Claire were off at University – Martin at Concordia and Claire at Queens.  Martin has now graduated (Philosphy) and staying in Montreal and Claire is back home for a term taking online courses in her third year.  I’m still working at Toronto Hydro, and Lisa is still teaching, this year grade 8.

Lots has happened (including a face-lift to this website), and I hope to keep SealNews a little more up to date in future.  No promises though!

Ok. So it’s been a while since I updated SealNews. The big news over the last year was our new 3rd floor addition we did on our house. We started the process last year with development of the plans. Over the fall we had to get zoning variances from the City as we were outside of the zoning bylaws. No problem with that. Then starting in Feb 2010, we started the work. I won’t bore you with the details, but like a lot of major projects, we had our ups and downs. Biggest downer was that our general contractor bailed on us with the project only about 75% done. But we finally got the project finished this past August/September. I’ve documented in pictures, and you can find them here if you want to look through them.

For March break this year we once again made a trip to Mexico. This time though, we headed to the west coast. We went to an all-inclusive in Nuevo Vallarta, which is just north of Puerto Vallarta. The resort was quite nice, and fairly quiet too. Everyone had a great time. Pictures here.

Summer vacation plans are already underway! This year, we have decided to make out trek to Europe. We’re going to visit friends in London first, then head over to the continent for some touring. We’re planning on hitting Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and then over to Berlin. A whirlwind tour of Western Europe!! On past vacations, I’ve made a journal of my travels. This time, I’m planning on making an online journal, so that friends and family can travel with us. I’ve started it already, and will continue posting to it during the leadup to the vacation, and during our trip. You can have a look and follow us on our trip at Seals in Europe 2009. Visit often!

As the lease on our Subaru Outback was coming to a close, we went car shopping in January. Checked out a couple different models: Subaru Impreza, Honda Civic, and Honda Fit. We wanted to get something a little lighter on the environment (and the gas pump!) than the Outback. We ended up choosing the Honda Fit. It’s definitely smaller on the outside, but boy, is it ever roomy on the inside. And super versatile. You can fit (pun intended!!) a lot of stuff inside this little car. I’ve started tracking the mileage to see what kind of economy we get, and you can see my tracking here Honda Fit Milage

Ever wonder what the weather is like where we are? Well, you can go to Environment Canada or The Weather Network websites. Or you can check Seal Backyard Weather! Find out what the weather is in our backyard! Last Father’s Day I got myself a weather centre that I can hookup to my computer to record the weather live in my backyard. So now I (and you) can see what the current weather (temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind direction and speed) is at our house. Link to Seal Backyard Weather: SealWeather

Lisa just got the news. She’s teaching Grade 3 in the fall, back at the school she’s been at since she started teaching. It was a great relief to finally know as she had been declared “surplus” and wasn’t sure where she was going to end up in the fall. Surplus teachers are more or less guaranteed work, but can be placed anywhere in the TDSB area. So she’s extremely pleased to have found a position at the same school.

This year Martin and I both rode in the annual Ride-For-Heart cycle along the Gardiner Expressway and up the Don Valley Parkway. Claire was supposed to come to but chickened out at the last minute. We rode the 25km route as part of the Toronto Hydro team. Thanks to friends and family we also raised more than $600 to support the Heart and Stroke research.

It’s March Break time again!! Hooray!! This year we’re off to Mexico. The resort – an all-inclusive called Dreams Tulum – is about a hour south of Cancun airport, an area known as the Mayan Riviera. Looking forward to the sun and fun!

Summer holidays this year was at a rented cottage on Round Lake – Northeast of Peterborough. Mum came with us and we had a restful two weeks enjoying the lake and surrounding area. Pics here on Seal Galleries!

Lisa just got the news — she’s been hired on full time at Secord public school  for next year!  It was kind of tense for a while there, not knowing whether she was going to have a position at the school shes been at all year.  But the enrollment numbers came in and there was a full time position for her.  She’s already begun the planning and is eagerly anticipating being back with the kids again in September.

Well, I’m on the move again.  After spending the past few years consulting on energy issues for the Ontario Public School Board Association, I have accepted a position with Toronto Hydro.  I’m going to be managing the Treasury department there.  Another new challenge, one that I’m looking forward to.

This year for March break we had a family trip to Dominican Republic.  We were on the north coast, at the Costa Dorado, an all-inclusive near the town of Peurto Plata.  Had a great time and great weather again.  Pics here!!

Well, all that schoolwork finally paid off.  Lisa started working as a teacher in October.  For a while there it looked like the job market wasn’t going to be kind.  But as often happens, something came up.  A half-day kindergarten job was available and after acing the interview, Lisa was hired.  She teaching morning junior kindergarten at a school just a few subway stops away from our house.  Which is great because she can be home when the kids get home after school.

Lisa’s sister Lori got married in September.  Had a nice wedding up near Collingwood. Mum stuck around so she could attend.

Just back from our summer  holidays.  We sent the kids out to visit Mum in Victoria at the end of July (first time flying by themselves!).  Then, as soon as Lisa was finished school Aug 12, we jumped in the car and headed west.  Our drive west took us through the northern US, and we managed to fit in a couple of site-seeing stops.  See the pics here.  After arriving in Victoria, we stayed for a week, then it was the second half of the cross-North America trip.  We packed the kids and mum into the back of the Subaru, put the extra luggage up on the roof, and headed back east, this time through Canada.  Highlights of the drive back were Jasper and Banff provincial park, Royal Tyrell dinosaur museum, and the Polar Bear express to Moosonee on the edge of James Bay.  The kids never want to take a car ride again, but I’m sure they’ll remember trip for some time to come!  Pics of the road trip back here.

Back from yet another trip.  This time, we visited Tennessee for Lisa’s cousin’s wedding.  Mum flew out to Toronto, and we all piled into the car for the drive down to Tennessee.  It was a great drive, with some interesting scenery.  I never expected the eastern US to be so hilly and mountainous.  We stayed in a place just outside of Knoxville Tennessee for the wedding.  Everyone had a great time, as you can see here.

It’s March Break, and we just got back from an exciting trip to Antigua!  We went with Lisa’s Mom and Dad and her sister for a nice family vacation.  Stayed at the Jolly Beach Resort, an all-inclusive on the south west coast of the island.  Days were sunny, temperatures were hot, and the ocean and pool were warm.  Everyone had a great time.  Have a look at some of our pic’s here.

Merry Christmas!!  Well, Xmas is fast approaching.  No plans for travel this Christmas, just hanging around T.O.  My mum is coming out again this year – as she did last year – for the holidays.  She’s here for just over a month – till mid-January.  Everyone, especially the kids, are really looking forward to it.

Well, another school year begins.  But this year, it’s not just the kids.  Lisa is going back to school too!  She’s enrolled at Medialle College in Buffalo to get her Master of Arts in Teaching.  She’s spent so much time in the classroom over the past 5 years that she thinks she might as well get paid for it!  She’s really looking forward to it – though not the commute to Buffalo!  Luckily, she only needs to attend for two days each week so she drives down on Wednesday mornings, stays the night and then drives back to Toronto after class on Thursday.  Starting in January she will be doing her student teaching in a local school here in Toronto – likely the same school the kids are at.

This year’s renovation project – the front yard.  We’ve been saying for years that we were going to do something with our postage-stamp front lawn.  It was a pretty boring and basic small front lawn with a straight walk up to the front of the house.  About a year ago, Lisa worked with a landscape designer – someone she knew from the kids school – to redesign the space.  So in August – while Lisa and the kids were away at a friends cottage, I rented a jackhammer and got the project kick-started – at 8am on a Saturday morning.  The neighbours were impressed!  Anyway, between the two of us, we installed a new cobblestone walk and planted our garden.  You can see some of the pics here.  Our homepage background also shows our handiwork.  Anyway, a fun project and looks pretty good.

We’re back!  Had a great time in merry olde England and saw lots of sights.  Some of our pics here.

Well, in a few weeks we’re off on our trip to England! We’ll be staying in London for a few days, then renting a car and travelling the island! We’ve got a pretty packed schedule lined up, including visiting with the Seal/Camm families in Lancashire. Everyone is really looking forward to it. We can hardly wait!!