Neighbors

Sorry for the recent radio silence. The logic board on my laptop recently went belly up. Fortunately, even though it was out of warranty, Apple agree to replace it at no cost. The reason being is that the logic board was just replaced last August, while the laptop was still under warranty. Given that situation, they readily agreed to cover the new logic board. If they had not, the cost of replacing it would have been equivalent to buying the lowest cost Apple laptop. But it’s all good.

The neighborhood/subdivision is really starting to shape up. While it will probably be another 6 months before construction is completed and everyone moves in, there are preliminary signs that this is shaping up to be quite a diverse area. We have seen a number of Muslims, Hindus, African Americans, Caucasians, an interracial couple (a couple houses down) and a French Canadian couple next door, who just recently moved in. They have a definite Quebecois accent (from what I understand, the French spoken in Quebec is distinguishable from European French). In the meantime, my wife and I are making an effort to learn/memorize the names of everyone we meet.

In recalling the neighborhoods I grew up in the States, I can’t recall living in a diverse neighborhood like this one. Lemme see, Park Avenue in Barberton (1964 to 1968), was all white. Ditto for the neighborhood in Elmhurst, Illinois (1969-1970) and Robinson Ave in Barberton (1970 to 1977). The same can be said for the neighborhood on Dahlia Circle in Barberton (where I lived from 1977 through 1990). The two apartment complexes I lived in Columbus for a total of 6 years (Harvard Square Apt and Governor Square Apartments) were essentially all white as well. The neighborhood on Saddlehorn Drive (1996 through June 2007) was the same story. So, living in this new neighborhood in Oshawa has been an interesting experience. Thus far, it appears that we have been blessed with great neighbors. I will give an update regarding my impressions of the overall makeup of the subdivision once it’s filled up.

In other news, we now have sod in the front and back yards. Prior to the installation of the sod, we were given instructions to water the grass frequently. Fortunately, it has been raining frequently lately. As a matter of fact, the Toronto area is on the way to setting a record for rainfall, following on the heels of a near record setting seasonal snowfall.