14 Sep 09 A rough Sunday morning : smashed Chevy Venture windshield
OK, a bit of a breather over lunch after a hectic morning; 2 of my colleagues are out of the office while they take 5 days of training on Windows Server 2008.
I just realized that I haven’t published anything here since the mid-Spring several months ago! Don’t worry, I’ll be soon retroactively sharing some stories of my adventures and fun over the extended leave I enjoyed with the family over the summer.
So it was a brisk Sunday morning yesterday just before 8:00am as I drove on a local road near my home when suddenly a bit of a whooshing sound… I had about 0.25s to view the hood on my Chevy Venture rising up… and then a resounding smashing sound as it hit the windshield hard. The Chevy Venture hood has the front grill integrated into it and as such includes a near 90° angle. That hood angle is what caused most of the damage to the windshield which, despite being severely cracked, did not completely shatter. I was able to solidly close and latch the hood afterward, which surprised me a bit; I’m guessing it was improperly latched during a recent service visit or perhaps by me when I check the oil and other engine components.
As always, it could have been much worse, since I was driving on a secondary road at only about 65-75 km/h; I’m quite convinced the damage (and potential collision risk) would have been much worse if I were on a faster and busier highway.
I realized afterward that I had lost the chrome grill inlay and I returned with the boys (they weren’t with me at the time it happened) and Tristan was most proud to spot the shiny chrome grill just barely peeking out of the grass on the side of the road.
That was actually a good thing since just the replacement grill on eBay goes for between USD $70-105 and that’s not including shipping. Extra large bowl of ice cream for Tristan (and Zach, who checked his side of the road)… 
Ah, it could have been worse… but still, about $450-600 all included to have the windshield (and possible molding) replaced. So, it’s riding my great Trek 6500zx bike for a couple of days depending on the repair delay…
Tags: Cars, Chevy Venture, Tristan, Zachary
25 Apr 09 Bowling au Cosmos / Champion Lanes avec Tristan, Zachary et l’équipe AAA Gouverneurs de St-Hubert
Ahhh.. 28c dehors, soleil, pas de nuages et dans l’après-midi nous avons passé 3 heures au Bowling Cosmos en face de l’hôpital Charles-Lemoyne au Champion Lanes.
Just for the record:
Best score was me with 116, Tristan with 92 and Zachary with 61.
L’équipe était pas mal tous la, en plus des familles et amis pour supporter ….
Photos à suivre une autre fois
Tags: bowling, Gouverneurs St-Hubert AAA, hockey, Love, Tristan, Zachary
17 Jan 09 1e tour de chapeau pour Zachary avec les MAGH-2 de St-Basile / Zachary’s 1st hat trick with the St-Basile MAGH-2 vs. St-Lambert
Zachary Majumdar au centre avec Hockey St-Basile MAGH-2
Bravo a Zachary qui a réussi son premier tour de chapeau (3 buts dans un match) ce matin lors du match de son équipe MAGH-2 (rouge) vs. St-Lambert…
Zach était particulièrement en forme pendant que Tristan, et moi, l’encourageai de nos superbes places dans les estrades a l’aréna Jean Rougeau à St-Basile-le-Grand.
Après son deuxième but Tristan est allé donner quelque conseils a Zachary, durant un changement de ligne, concernant l’idée de faire des feintes sur le gardien de St-Lambert. J’avais dis à Tristan que ça, c’est le travail de l’équipe de coaching (Patrick Germain est le directeur de coaching des équipes Pre-Novice / MAGH a Saint-Basile) mais bon, que veux tu, un frère veut toujours (sans le dire) aider son plus jeune a mieux jouer. Ca fonctionné et quelques minutes plus tard, Zachary avait réussi son 3e but.
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Hats off to Zachary who had his 1st hat trick (3 goals in a game) this morning in the game between his MAGH-2 (red) team vs. the visiting St-Lambert…
Zach was particularly in shape while Tristan, and I, cheered him on from our great spots in the stands at the Jean-Rougeau Arena in St-Basile-le-Grand.
After his second goal, Tristan went to give a few tips to Zachary, while there was a line change, suggesting he try faking shots on the St-Lambert goalie. I had said to Tristan that it was the job of the coaching staff (lead by Patrick German, coaching director of the Saint-Basile pre-novice / MAGH teams) but alas… a brother always wants to help out (without admitting it) his younger sibling to play better. It worked and Zachary scored his hat trick 3rd goal a few minutes later.
Tags: français, hockey, Kids, MAGH-2, Sports, St-Basile-le-Grand, Zachary
28 Dec 08 God doesn’t require us to succeed, only that we try…
Nice quote from Mother Teresa … while watching a CBC Newsworld Cool to be Kind series story by Sunil Patel about a very successful Toronto businessman who goes out every night at 2:00 to give hot tea and sandwiches to homeless people …
Something more to (keep) teach(ing) Zachary and Tristan with the new Wii Fit and associated games
Tags: Cool to be Kind, homeless, Love, Sunil Patel, Toronto, Tristan, WII, Zachary
