» Toronto - Simon Lau

Toronto Winds Take Out Backyard Tree

The morning of April 25th started out to be quite nice. It was 20 degrees Celsius around 10AM when I went for a run. By the early afternoon we had hit a high of 27 degrees. It’s amazing how quickly things can change. No more than an hour after lounging in an outdoor the pool the clouds rolled in and the winds howled as rain wicked across the windows.
100 KM/h gusts of winds ravaged the city knocking out power lines and even taking out a sign which hit a man in Scarborough, The Star.
For the second time that I could remember, my family’s home was affected by the weather. About 10 years back a storm split the tree at the back of the property and this year a different tree was uprooted. It’s no small tree either, my guess is that it’s over 24″ in diameter at the base and probably 30 odd feet tall. Looking at the base of the tree, it appears it was rotting from the inside. While it contributed to the tree’s sudden collapse, it’s still a remarkable feet for the wind to topple it.
Here’s a picture from my room on the second floor. The clean up begins now.

Tags: high winds, storm, Toronto, tree

. 26 Apr 09 | Miscellaneous, Toronto | Comments (0)

Toronto Earth Hour – March 29, 2008 @ 8PM

If you haven’t heard about Earth Hour, maybe you’ve already been living under a rock without excessive use of electricity. In which case, you’ve probably done an excellent job and keeping your carbon footprint relatively small.

earthour

In Toronto, Earth Hour was considered a huge success. I was at Nathan Phillips Square when it began and I didn’t think it was that big. The lights dimmed but around the city but visible light pollution still hung in the air. There was even a single office still lit in City Hall.

In an effort to curb the use of electricity, it was reported that Toronto’s electricity demand dropped by 264 Megawatts. The equivalent of 175,000 homes turned out their lights in a city of a little over 3 million. According to the announcers at Nathan Phillips Square, that’s a participation rate of 7% for the homes in the city.

I personally thought that was low and figured Torontoians should have done better and stepped it up to 10%.

Despite me saying the buildings around NPS were not fully dimmed out like the power outage of 2003, the aerial photographs captured SaveOurClimate show a very different story.

One of the beauties about Earth Hour was the ability to stare up into the sky and see the star from below.

Tags: Aerial, Earth Hour, Lights, photos, Power, Toronto

. 29 Mar 08 | Technology, Toronto, Zen | Comments (0)

Four New Contests – Feb 19th 2008

Win One Years Supply of VIM

Entry Page: http://www.homebasics.ca/viewcontest.asp?contestid=216

Rules: http://www.homebasics.ca/contests/vimiga08/rules_en.html

End Date: March 20th 2008

Prize: There is one (1) grand prize available to be won. The winner will receive a one (1) year’s supply of the complete family of Vim cleaning products. The prize will consist of an assortment of Vim cleaning products (sizes will vary). The total approximate retail value of the grand prize is $ 100.00 CDN.

Win a Designer Tea Set

Entry Page: http://www.homebasics.ca/ViewContest.asp?contestId=215

Rules: http://www.homebasics.ca/contests/redrose08/rules_en.html

End Date: March 27, 2008

Prize: There is one (1) grand prize available to be won consisting of a beautiful Portmeirion® Sophie Conran White Tea Set. From celebrated chef and food writer, Sophie Conran, comes this artfully designed collection. The tea set includes: 1 white Portmeirion® Sophie Conran tea pot, 4 white Portmeirion® Sophie Conran tea cups, 4 Portmeirion® Sophie Conran white saucers. The total approximate retail value of the prize is $100.00 CDN.

Win a Hockey Night in Toronto for Two

Entry Page: http://www.deltahotels.com/chelsea/leafscontest/index.html

Rules: http://www.deltahotels.com/chelsea/leafscontest/prizes.html

End Date: March 14, 2008

Prize: Two (2) tickets to The Toronto Maple Leafs versus The Montreal Canadians, Saturday, March 29th, 2008 @ 7 p.m. A one-night (1) stay for two (2) people in a Deluxe room on the evening of Saturday, March 29th, 2008 One (1) full buffet breakfast for two (2) people served in Delta Chelsea Hotel’s Bb33 Bistro and Brasserie on the morning of Sunday, March 30th, 2008 (approximate package value $800 CDN)

Win a Trip for 2 in the Dominican Republic

Entry Page: http://www.lavieenrose.com/contest/index.jsp?locale=en&id=61

Rules: http://www.lavieenrose.com/contest/rules.jsp?id=61

End Date: March 31, 2008

Prize: The grand prize of the Contest consists of a one-week trip package for two people, in the Dominican Republic (the “Package”), provided by Voyages Plein Sud. The Package shall be awarded to the winner selected from among all those who registered according to these rules. The approximate value of the grand prize is $3,000.

Tags: contest, Hockey, Tea, Toronto, Vacation

. 19 Feb 08 | Contests | Comment (1)

Back in Toronto

I arrived back in Toronto late last night after some lengthy delays at Newark New Jersey. Apparently there were HVAC issues with the plane and there seriously were. During the flight half of me was freezing cold from being beside the window and the other half was of was burning hot from the heating vents. Upon arrival in Toronto, one my family’s luggage went missing. Of course, it had to be the suitcase with all the gifts in it! Damn Newark and there high theft rate. The luggage eventually rolled down the conveyor 20 minutes after the belt was cleared which was a huge relief despite the delay.

The next couple of days will be spent unpacking and getting ready for 2008 and my final semester of Mechanical Engineering!

Tags: airport, hvac, Toronto

. 04 Jan 08 | Travel | Comments (0)