Category Archives: Personal Life

Personal Life Entries

Hankook Ventus V12 EVO Simply Awesome

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Here in Quebec we have a law that forbids using summer or all season tires in winter from December 15 to March 15 or a fine is expected if caught not complying. I totally understand the law since I never found all season tires adequate for Quebec winters therefore imagine summer tires, drivable but dangerous to one self and others.

I haven’t installed my summer tires even if the ides of March has long past and the reason is simple, Quebec is notorious for potholes due to the heavy unthaw and freeze cycles and the patching process is not that fast, indeed because of the numerous potholes to patch. I usually put my summer tires on in mid April where the chance of snow fall is near none and the potholes are repaired in great majority. But I can’t wait to put back the summer tires because last year I installed probably the best sports tire I ever owned, surpassing all previously owned such as Pirelli, Bridgestone, Michelin and Good-Year but the latter isn’t hard to beat since they simply can’t do proper UHP tires.

The tire I am praising is the Hankook Ventus V12 EVO K110, these tires are so smooth and hard at the same time it’s hard to believe the combination. They are smooth because they swallow well the imperfection of the roads more than all tires I owned before. Here in Quebec the roads are closer to 16th century trail than asphalt roads so testing summer tire quietness and imperfection absorption is easy to determine. In wet weather they are not the supreme tires but until now no surprise because they let go gradually so very predictable under wet traction and while under lateral force. And for me that is very important because I am the type to take corners very heavily rain or dry and I need a tire that gradually loses traction and not suddenly. I also have to mention the Ventus V12 EVO K110 are not screamers, they don’t have tendencies to screech especially while cornering and that is a plus, we don’t want people or the police to turn their heads do we. ;)

However while the tire are soft enough amazingly they give out a nice hard feeling because they have a strong sidewall making my ~1636 Kilogram (3606Lbs) SUV act like a go-gart because rolling is near zero. The feeling on the steering wheel is also very intuitive, a plus. We already put over ~7000 kilometers (~4350 miles) and the wear is barely noticeable. And not only that, last summer when we took our vacation we drove from Montreal to Florida and back overloaded and where in many occasions we hit very nasty potholes (especially around Philadelphia region) and where I was sure they would have blown off so solid the bangs were, I mean really hard hits the type you are SURE they would blow, but no, they remained solid along the way.

And it comes to a surprise since last year I blew one of my winter tires in similar pothole while being alone in the vehicle, thus less heavy by far. And it was a day were temperate wasn’t low so extreme low temperature wasn’t a factor. So if my supposedly amazing and expensive winter tire (Bridgestone Blizzak ws70) with bigger sidewall and supposedly more rugged constructed blew under a less stressful condition, I have to ask how on earth my supposedly fragile summer tires (Hankook Ventus V12) took way more brunt yet they made the journey without a problem. I can deduct that some companies over price their tires and claims and proves that Hankook gives you a good product for the price you pay.

I just can’t stop thinking of the vacation, every now and then we hit the fenders so much we were heavy, even a slight up and down wobble made the tire touch the fenders and sometime all at once when hitting a pothole, in other words the tire often were squeezed. My wife and I were nervous all along the travel road and scared to get stranded and unable to find similar tires or even continue with a spare tire, which I am sure we were not going to make it because so heavy we were traveling. That’s how bad it was, yet the tires being punished from above and below, squeezed and all resisted wear and tear and not to mention the extreme heat of the Floridian tarmac where we saw many cars and trucks blew their tires for no apparent reason other than high temperature.

In all, the Hankook Ventus V12 proved to be good enough under the most demanding circumstances and they got a new client that will buy again or do what I am doing now, spread the word. And it’s not only the overall good nature of the tire I praise, it’s the fact they are some of the cheapest tires you will ever find in the Ultra High Performance category. And do I have to mention they look awesome?

The Hankook Ventus V12 are on 20″ CX817MB by CX Wheels.

And a little bragging here, ins’t my Saturn Vue one of the best looking Vue ever? Stealthy looking with no stickers or other stupidities. Just a pair of Euro style back lights and wheels makes it just plain awesome compared to most Vue’s out there where people think more is better. ;)

A Little Word to More Digital

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I have been receiving a few messages lately by one of your staff and although I am flattered by the scheme I will not respond by email as I see you don’t have it and will not get it by replying. Google AdSense offers way more in the long run and that is known practice with low risk for my own reputation. ;)

You can forever scratch my name off your list, I have a hard head.
Thanks for the proposal but sorry for my rejection.

Camera Price Lower Than Expected

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It’s a couple of weeks I have been hunting for the perfect price to pay for a used camera, more precisely for the Canon SX30 IS, and finally paid off. I can’t really take nice pictures of the camera as I had to use my son’s phone cam, and we all know this is by far the worst type of images for clear detail. But you can trust me when I say the camera is flawless, everything in the box was accounted for and above all, paid less than expected thanks to Henry’s (henrys.com). And the image this camera takes, unbelievable for a bridge camera, but it is a Canon, what else to expect?

Below is my first image taken with the Canon SX30 IS, straight out of the box, I closed all light (except for the PC screen making some light) and shot, and the result is very good for not setting anything.
(Image resized and quality lost)

Below is the same image to show even closer the quality of the image. (Image Cropped and resized, quality lost even more, sorry)

Therefore if your are looking for some amazing possibilities with your camera and you do not want to pay a fortune for a new one, I really suggest this Canon SX30 IS, it is by far one of the best camera in this category, in fact, even new cameras of this type from other companies do not even come close in quality image. If you have money to spend, buy the SX40 HS, the newer model, but these series are truly exceptional. (Avoid the SX20 IS by the way, it’s a bit too hold in my opinion)

Pain In My Heart

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The other day I learned that my neighbor living downstairs was laid off by his company after 15+ years of service, supposedly due to not enough work. Sure my arse, because it’s full of new employee’s that have hardly worked there for a year and they did not get laid off? But the true story goes like this; he was let go because he did not get along with a new manager that was put on the night shift with him. My neighbor told me that he did not get along with this guy, hence, he got booted for this reason he thinks, because there is work and hiring they have been doing.

But here is where things get very interesting and heartbreaking, my neighbor is in his late fifty’s and approaching retirement and will probably not find another job with the same salary bracket as he must start from the ground up all over again.

Why, and I ask again, why would a company not take in consideration the time left before retirement, there should be laws that protect workers that are very near retirement. My heart is below my belt, I cannot take it even if I barley know my neighbor. He lived from pay check to pay check and has no means to do without money or a normal pay until he can retire or be eligible for Canada’s public pension fund. For the next 36 weeks, he is eligible and receiving unemployment insurance but then what. This man is alone, taken advantage of by his adult children and shunned by the rest of his family because his ex-wife made sure of that, no friends, nothing, only us to help him out, and we do and will continue to do so, because he is human and I do not want him or anyone to find their way under a bridge. Everybody seems so cold towards these cases nowadays it’s not even funny. I am presently seeing a total debacle of a person unrolling in front of my eyes, I will NOT stand idle.

Of course I am not asking for money, me and my wife will take charge of sustaining him as much we can until we can. What I am trying to do here is make you realize that even if you barely know someone, and he/she is not quite your type, you still need to have a heart and help if you can. So if you know someone near you who needs help, don’t turn your back on them. The only thing you need to remember, is not to be afraid to tell them not to get comfy asking stuff, especially money, never give money directly to anyone, buy for them instead, such as food, do NOT give them money. Ask if they consumed food that day because that is priority number one. As far I am concerned it’s not hard to help, and with that, you will find some comfort of your own.

eBay and People’s Dream

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This morning I was looking at eBay listings to find out if the camera I want to buy had been sold or if other has been included for auction. And what do I see, a person selling a USED item higher than the camera itself is worth new, and she has a Zero (0) sold items record. And the worst part, I think she may even sell it, now that I would like to see the face of that d!ckhead. lol I found the seller on Facebook by the way, cute girl and seem down to earth, but nuts when it come to affairs, I guess its her dream to catch that fish, and it will be an American fish since she does not send overseas. lol

By the way, the Canon SX30 IS should not be bought over $275 (without shipping). And with shipping this Camera should not sell over 360$ and above that they better give you a 90 days warranty or run far and wait the next opportunity. I will see if I can get it for as low as $300 with warranty, but for that I will need lots of patience and might not be at eBay. ;)

Signs of Liberation

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Finally some sign of settlement, I guess time do fix things. There is a saying that goes; “only time fix things”, in my case only time liberates.

With time, trees bend and take the shape the wind dictates. When a person feels like the wind but truly does not want to bend anything and especially not just a few particular trees out of the bunch, the best thing is to remove the wind for a lengthy period and it will leave the trees to take shape on their own.

Rihanna in Barbados

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Here is another picture that was lost in my desktop folders, the women we see in this picture is the famous singer Rihanna, she sold over twelve million albums in only about 4 years, that is a huge success and lots of money to spend. LOL

I have this image in a much larger size and I can see her face very well, she is so cute, I love those multi-mixed genetic features she has, a bit of this, a bit of that and remixed again with this and that… LOL

By the way I pixelated the little girl’s face because she is under age and for respect to a very far family member that we never met. That little girl is part of my wife’s step father’s family, seen in the background. Rihanna is from Barbados and my wife’s mother and her family was in Barbados last year in vacation when they snapped this picture with Rihanna, lucky them… for have visited Barbados that is. :)

 

 

Goodbye Bernard Pépin

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Like all weekends our family gets busy, however usually they are not sad like it started this weekend. Well, in a way I knew it was coming. You see, since the beginning of 2009 it’s the third person I know that passes away, and last week the 30th of Mai, a former co-worker died at the young age of 46. He felt sick on Friday, he felt a bit of numbness on his left leg and hand, he decided to sleep over it, he never woke up, R.I.P.

He was always cheerful and funny, always in time and no matter what age the person was he treated him or her the same way, with respect. Even if I don’t have all the experience in the construction world, he made me feel at ease and never said no to a good teaching session, he had lots of experience and I learned a lot with him. He was what we call here in French a “Charpentier”, a Carpenter. He loved what he did, he left his native region of Beauce to come to Montreal at the age of 20 with only 200 dollars in his pocket and his Trans Am, his wish was to work in construction as a carpenter, he got what he came for.

I got to know him when I stared to work for the same company only about 1 year ago, but I heard of him years before that. My wife is project manager for the construction company he worked for. Because of this I got to know a great guy, so much that I still refuse to believe he is gone, I still want to talk to him… I spent over 8 hours a day for months, working, talking, having fun, thinking, getting hurt, bitching about the boss and what else happens on a crazy construction site. On Saturday’s often my wife use to bring one of the kids at the job site, so he got to know all my kids very well too. We also spent a few times together outside the job. In all he became known and appreciated by our family. Indeed appreciated by everyone, I never seen so much people for a funeral. It shows he was a star…

Bernard, we will miss you so much…

In Memory Of Bernard Pépin
Un Beauceron Qui A Du Coeur (Best Jarret Noir ever…)
Bernard Pépin