News and Views (Dec 12,1998 - Mar 29, 1999)   Set up as entries in a running log book, with the most recent stuff at the top. (To send information for this section, you can Email Doug, or get more info. My Email address is [email protected])

Back to Leclair home page

-----Sun, Mar 28, Doug
Gotta pass on this story - it's way funny. Lindsey works part time at a Good Will store, and got the use of Johanne's car on Saturday so she can go to work. I had a special band practice & suggested Johanne drop me off & pick me up afterwards so she can have the van.  Jo decides she really needs her car, so on the way to practice I drop her off to pick up her car. She can't find Lindsey, so she leaves the lunch from the car inside the Good Will back door, planning to phone Lindsey & let her know what's happening. She gets busy signals when she trys to call between errands, and when she finally gets through, Lindsey says something like "hang on, I better tell the police officers". Apparently a guy that works at Good Will had his car stolen from the same parking lot while he was working a week ago, and a panicing Lindsey thought it had happened again. She'd called the police who were on the scene (and probably wondering what kind of wacko car thief would deliver the lunch before stealing the car). If you want to poke fun at Linds or Jo, their Email addresses are on the family Etree page.

-----Thur, Mar 25, Doug, Sherri, Paulette
Lotsa new stuff added tonight. A picture contribution from Sherri, whose Email address [email protected] is now in the family Etree page for easy reference. Her caption was "Only in Timmins, they say!!!", but I don't think Toronto is quite in the same league as Timmins for snow (altho I guess it is north of London). With my feeble eyes, I can't tell if that's Mike or Paul playing king of the castle.
    Also, I've added a page with the answers to Paulette's trivia questions - now there's an answer link after every section on the trivia page.
    And finally (sorry it's taken so long) we have the recording of the heartbeat of petit Poitras. It's a fairly long .wav file, so you might have to be patient while it downloads. If it doesn't play properly from your web browser, you can save the file to a disk directory, and double click on it from Windows Explorer or File Manager. Here it is.

-----Tue, Mar 23, Doug
Ouch, it's been almost a month since I updated this site, as Dan so bluntly pointed out in an Email from Thailand. (He's such a shy Thai guy.)  He's also happy that the temperature has cooled off to 37 degrees Celsius, with 70% humidity in his corner of the world. The level of confidence in his guess of 19 1/4 inches for the baby pool must be pretty high, since he's asking me how I'm going to ship him the beer. (As Nicole would say, "ship happens" )
    Doug & the slugs just got back from March break week in Ottawa at my brother's place. Did a couple of day ski trips over to Quebec, and ate like kings - should have seen the Indian food my brother whipped up. Actually, even better was the Thai meal Johanne created last night. Maybe we can get Dan to send some E-recipes.
    I'm about to put in the answers to the second batch of trivia questions - there will be a link on the history/triva page. Speaking of trivia, here's a nerd nugget for you - so far we've used up 31.5% of the available space on our website, including some largish maps in my canoeing section.  There's lots of space left for your contributions!
    Here are some of the things I'll be working on soon to ketchup on stuff I've received, and follow up on some good suggestions. (I relish your ideas, keep them coming in!)
    - audio file of baby Poitras's heartbeat, which I received some time ago.
    - answers to Paulette's original trivia questions
    - A picture of snowy Toronto from Sherri
    - maybe some pictures from Johanne & Carole's trip to the Bahamas
    - next trivia idea from Dan: match the names to the birthdays (no, I won't include the years - don't panic, fellow geezers)
    - I hear rumours that Paulette had done some research into the history of the Leclair family tree. I'll try and talk her into giving me some info so I can display it here.
     Hmmm, looks like I have lots to do. Better quit blabbering and start on those trivia answers. The next update will be sooner than the last one was, I promise!

-----Sat, Feb 27, Doug
Sorry I've been slow in updating this site - things have been a little crazy at work, it being RRSP season & all. I've put some new questions of my own into the trivia section, although I'm not sure of all the answers yet. Send me your guesses and questions for this bunch. For some reason I can't dial into my PC at work at the moment, which means I'll have to add in Paulette's trivia answers later, as well as the heartbeat recording for baby Poitras. Should have some new pictures in the next day or two as well.

-----Sun, Feb 14, Doug, Denise
Happy Valentines day everyone! Denise has got her prediction of 19 1/2 inches in for the baby pool. Had an Email from Yves, saying all's well with mother and child-to-be. Say he's going to send a recording of the baby's heartbeat taken last Wednesday - 156 beats per minute. Kid's already a hard worker!
   Wanted to make sure everyone understands that this whole site is aimed at the extended Leclair family, including inlaws, outlaws, offshoots, offspring, friends, neighbours, family pets, etc. Everyone's welcome to participate and make contributions.
   I re-arranged the home page a bit, merging a few of the links and putting the most frequently used ones at the top of the chart. The "Site Info" page is going to be re-worked with a map of our site, and some suggestions on how to find your way around. Stay tuned for another batch of  Trivia - I have 7 new questions on my list so far (but I only know 5 of the answers).
   Hey Dan, how about a Bangkok update? Everyone seems to be curious about life in Thailand.

-----Wed, Feb 10, Doug, Paulette
I know you folks have all worked on the trivia questions and are waiting to find out how to check the answers. It's really easy - just Email your answers to Paulette, who's email address is [email protected].  She'll let you know how many you got right, although I'm not sure she'll tell you which ones they are. Maybe I'll put up a scoreboard page to see who's the trivia champ. (You know what this means, eh - we have to come up with some questions to stump Paulette. Dig into the obscure facts buried in your memories, and send them in. You don't have to come up with a dozen, either.)
    Sa wa dee Khrap, Dan, you'll see why I grin so much when you read the guidelines page here. No, it's not because I've had a couple beers too many. {wink}.
   And before anyone complains about the colours again, I'm going to change those titles in the History page. Even I can tell that that purply colour is pretty ugly.
   This is 5 days in a row that we've had an update to the website. If we use people's participation as a measure of success, I'd say this website has worked out pretty well. I'm having a great time, and have learned a ton about web stuff. Well, better go work on my colour scheme.

-----Tue, Feb 9, Paulette, Maureen, Jennifer, Catherine Anne, Dan
Boy, things are really hopping on the old network today! Paulette perservered through some Email problems, and has provided an intriguing set of Leclair trivia questions. I'll put them on the history page, (here's a shortcut) since they refer as far back as the 1950's. Hang on to your answers for a while until I figure out what to do with them - sending them to me won't do much good, because I don't know very many of the answers myself. Stay tuned for more info on this one.
   Like on a hot summer day (hmm, what a nice thought) the pool's getting crowded. With recent entries from Maureen, Jennifer, Catherine Anne and Paulette, we now have almost every size from 18 to 21 1/2 inches. If you haven't got around to sending in your entry, your choices are pretty limited, but what the heck - give it a try.
   Also had a note from Dan, giving a brief glimpse into life in Thailand. Sounds like being continually on vacation to me. Wonder if they need any network nerds over there? Here's part of Dan's message:
   >>Hey there, or as we say in Thailand, Sa wa dee Khrap! Nice to hear from you recently Doug, couldn't help but notice you seem to be grinning alot. I am having fun on the net, it was time to join the 20th Century before it ended. I am planning to contribute and interact with the site but bear with me. "Cha Cha" which means slowly in Thai. Still haven't had a good chance to explore the site, once I have you will hear from me.
    Thailand does offer a lot more than the obvious. Located in the tropics it is an ideal setting.(unless you hate the heat) This is the year 2542 by the Thai calendar. Formerly know as The Kingdom of Siam, the cultural experience is inspiring and should be enjoyed by all. You can go hiking in the mountains; trek through the jungle on an elephant, veg on the beach, swim in the sea (better yet snorkle or scuba dive), fish... Not to mention the food...Granted it is not for everyone, but if you can handle it, nothing can compare... a la prochaine  <<

-----Mon, Feb 8, Dan, Bert
Must have been reach out and touch someone day - I see messages in the guestbook from Dan in Thailand, and Bert, out in BC. Dan's promising some "stimulating" content - the  only thing from Thailand I know of that's stimulating are Thai peppers, and they're definitely too spicy for me. Dan, if you're thinking of any other spicy, stimulating content, remember that your mother reads this site too, eh? (Bet you don't hear "eh" very often, eh? ) If anyone else is wondering where the heck Bangkok is, Thailand is in south eastern Asia, and Bangkok is about in the middle of Thailand
   I think it's so rustic the way Bert was named after a typical northern animal - I'm talking about you bear. Then again, Nat thinks I was named after a typical southern animal, as in uncle "Dawg". Sounds like Bert and Renata are pretty busy taking care of two motels. If you want to see what one of them looks like (the motels, not Bert & Renata), have a look at their motel web site.
   Johanne and Carole left yesterday for 4 days in Nassau in the Bahamas. One of those last minute club getaway things. That leaves me in charge of meal preparation - hope Lindsey & Nicole aren't suffering from malnutrition by the time Jo's back. Not a worry for me, since I have a couple months of  sustenance stored away just above my belt. When the ladies return I expect I'll be adding some tropical pictures to our Snapshot spot.
   Just realized that we've now had electronic contact with all 8 members of the Leclair family.  That sounds like a milestone for the website that's worth celebrating, so I'm off for a beer. -Cheers!

------Sun Feb 7, Dan, Jennifer & Catherine Anne
We've gone international with the online arrival of Dan Melancon in Bangkok, Thailand. His new Email address is [email protected]  If your web browser is set up to send Email, you can go to the Family Etree and just click on his Email address to send him a message. (An Email will probably get to Thailand before you can figure what the snail mail postage would be.)
   Other new arrivals are Jennifer and Catherine Anne, who are now reachable at [email protected]. They're looking for some Email, so send them a note if you can. Wish the Elliott family was as modern as the Leclairs - I'm the only one who's online, although my mother's considering an internet hookup.

------Sat, Feb 5, Nat, Doug
As you can see in the guestbook, Nat seems happy that the baby guesses aren't much over 21 inches - can't imagine why. {grin}. There seems to be a growing concensus that the child should be born in a pizza shop, with the "delivery in 30 minutes or it's free" deal preferred over the  "2 for 1" approach .
   Found a good scanner at work that I can use, so I can put pictures onto this site a lot more easily. My first scanning attempt was the maps in the trip planning part of the canoe page. Once I get it figured out, I'll work on some photographs. I've also got some new Website software ( M/S FrontPage 98 )  so I may try some fancier stuff - now that I've progressed past the orange background stage.

------Thur, Feb 4, Doug
Another pool entry from Carole, but there are lots of good guesses left.  If you're having trouble getting Email to me, leave your guess as an entry in the guestbook on the home page. I've finished converting all the pages in the site to the colour scheme you're looking at, although I may bring back the orange for next Halloween. Did a bit more work on my canoeing pages, although there's lots more to do. Here's a scavenger hunt challenge for you - find the poem I wrote last week, the picture of a canoe going through ice, and the number of the topographic map than shows Holtyre. (Hint: start with the home page Links link.)

------Tue, Feb 2, Doug
Still playing with the colour scheme, and redecorating more of the pages. Catherine Leclair (the Toronto one) has entered the baby pool, and I think Carole's about to. I snuck in a new canoeing page for general info, and to help plan our next trip. Here's a chilling picture of an early spring trip in Algonquin.

------Fri Jan 29, Doug
OK, I see from the guestbook that Paulette's ganging up on me too, so I surrender - I'm changing the background colour on the home page (for a start). Having admitted that I'm chromatically challenged, I've gone to Johanne and Lindsey for colour consulting, with the results (after Johanne overruled Lindsey)  that you saw on the previous page. I'll take the blame for the other colour changes, like this page, for example.

There are 2 new pages on this site, which appear at the bottom of the list on the home page. One is the current status of the baby pool, with what length has been guessed by whom, and the latest computerized predictions. The other is a page where we can put links to other websites of interest. Until you give me some of your favourite links to include (no smutty ones, guys), the only entry is the website of the Draggin' Butts, which is the dragon boat team I coach. Check 'em out!

------Wed Jan 27, Yves & Nat
Just want to clarify that the guesses for the pool are for total length, head to toe, as measured by the hospital. After a brief conference, the judges have decided to allow entries received from Nat (21 inches) and Yves (21 1/2 inches), despite their "insider" information. Yves claims he's used a genetic analysis (and a couple of old wives tales) to come up with his estimate (more likely a couple of his wife's old ales).

I see my daughter Nicole has left her mark in the guestbook, and has lost no time in making fun of my efforts. Seems she doesn't appreciate the orange background.on these web pages - guess she's not old enough to understand the sophisticated symbolic meaning of the gold theme, and the "website with a heart of gold". Here's a hint Nicole: what metal do they mine around Timmins?  (I know where I can find the money to pay for the pool prize - I'll take it out of Nicole's allowance {grin} )

------Tues Jan 26, from Yves & Nat, & Carole
First, the latest from Yves & Nat: "We are happy to say that all is well here in Timmins. Here is a picture of the ultrasound which was taken January 15, 99 at 15 weeks. The baby has grown quite a bit since the last ultrasound (3 weeks ago). It was 4 cm from head to buns and now is 11cm from head to buns. Mommy-to-be is feeling much better now that the dreaded first trimester is behind us."

Now I did the math, and if this child keeps growing at this rate, it will be 360 meters long from head to buns on delivery day. Let's hope this growth rate slow down just a bit. I'm sponsoring a pool for guessing the length of the baby at birth. Closest guess gets a case of beer or comparable beverage. Email in your guesses, to the nearest quarter inch, first come, first served.  My guess is 19 and 3/4 inches, and I'll publish guesses in this section as I receive them.

Sent out some requests for details for our Family history section, and Carole sent me some info which is now in that section. Also, my apologies to anyone who tried to use the Email address for Denise & Louis in the Etree section. I had a typing mistake which would have kept it from working. Think I have it fixed now.

Still waiting for more input on family history or current events. Fire me off an Email if only to say you saw my request, so I know there are people out there watching and listening.

Hmmm, hafta find a picture of Leo & try that makeover stuff again . . .

------Thur, Jan 7, from Doug
Had an Email from Paulette - she seems to be settling into her new home, and promises to send some info for the site soon. I noticed that Dan has visited the site and signed the guestbook. Actually, there are quite a few entries in the guestbook. One included some kind words about our site from a "coach" from Geocities, who provides our free website. The coach's Email address ends in "de", which, according to my Internet Country Code reference, means he/she is from Germany.(It's entirely coincidental that these are also my initials.{grin}) To look at the guestbook, you can click on "View guestbook" around the middle of the home page, or click here.

I made some other minor changes, notably moving the advertisements to the bottom of the pages. This should make pages appear faster, and let you see more of the page.

Also got a message from Carole that she doesn't want to hog the makeover limelight, and wants to give someone else a chance. Actually, I think her words were more like "that blonde picture has got to go!" Guess I could attempt another work of art - hmmm, wonder what Leo would look like with a beard? I'll have to see what pictures I have that I can "improve".

------Fri, Jan 1, 1999, from Doug
Celebrated Catherine's birthday as well as New Years when John & Catherine, Johanne & Doug, and Carole and Robert had supper at La Costa on Thursday night. Carole and Robert came back to our place where Lindsey and John joined in for a Rumoli for nickels marathon. (Where I cleaned up, I might add.)
  And of course, we had the first barbeque of the year at John and Catherine's on New Year's day, which has been their tradition since the Pickle Lake days. I wasn't the only one properly attired for a barbeque (shorts, of course) - Carole was sporting a Caribbean style beach wrap with a Bob Marly theme. A superb meal, as always.

Carole was saying that Gil & company were in a minor accident just as they were leaving Timmins to head home. Someone went throught a red light, and bashed the car in front of them, which then hit them.No one was hurt, and once they convinced the insurance company that towing it back home wasn't really a great idea, everything was under control.

I'm on the computer so much lately, the kids haven't had much of a chance to try out the new makeover program they got for Christmas. So I gave it a try- started with a cutout from one of the pictures already on the Snapshot page, and created variations 1, 2, and 3. Artistic perfection, or what, eh?

------Tue, Dec 29, from Doug
Continuing to put the "feast" in the festive season, the Elliott's hosted Carole, Robert, John, Catherine, Samantha and Patrick last night. This time ham was the main event, with tortiere, and sugar pie. Amazing, the sugar pie still disappeared quickly despite Johanne's description of how you need to add ingredients until it oozes properly in your hands - another informal recipe. And apparently that burnt look on the top is supposed to be there?

Patrick gave us a close look at a Furby - a crazy little muppet that seems to know what's going on around it. Don't know what was funnier - the Furby or the group of  humans trying to talk to it in broken "Furbish". Lindsey's got a dilema - her school basketball team's been invited to the national finals - they actually finished second in Ontario, but one of the prairie teams dropped out. It's sponsored by Reebok, and is 'the' highschool basketball event, but there's a catch. Lindsey and 6 other girls also on the volleyball team, and that team is playing in a big tournament in Michigan on the same weekend. Both coaches want to field the best team they can - should be interesting.

I notice a few more entries in the guestbook, one from Robert, and one anonymous?. Finally got started on the family history section, but I'm looking for info from the senior Leclairs. Did I hear that someone had traced the family tree back a ways?

------Sat Dec 26, from Doug & Carole

I forgot to mention that I added a guestbook to the home page so visitors to our site could leave their comments.  I just moved it so it's near the center of the home page. Obviously Carole found it, because she used it to note that some Timmins folks have now had a look at the site:

"The following members were viewing the Leclair WebSite on December 26/98: Kristy, Eric, Richard, Wanda and Denise Fortin, Melanie and Carole Camirand, Darryl Moland, and Paulette Melancon. The comments were: Aaahhh, This is Cool, I'm impressed, Talk about a modern family we've got. We'll be back to check for new photos and planning on sending some stuff."

The guestbook is another way to leave info to be added to these pages. The good news is that it's really easy, and you don't have to mess with Email. The bad news is that each guestbook entry is limited to about 250 letters, so you have to be quite brief, or use multiple messages. I plan to copy relevent tidbits from the guestbook to this section, so scanning "News & Views" will always get you the latest gossip.

The Elliott houshold is pretty quiet - just got back from a major turkey feed at Martha's house with Mary & Len, & the Keiths. This on top of a major goose feed yesterday at our place, with the basted bird supplied & prepared by Mary and Len. This on top of Christmas Eve evening at Donna and Carol-Ann Keith's place, with about 2 cubic feet of hor-d'oevres per person.

Carole, you might want to keep an eye of this site for the next picture. We gave the girls a computer program that lets you see what various kinds of makeovers would look like, and they're practicing on a picture of you {grin}.

------Thur, Dec 24, from Doug

Twas the day before Christmas... I was looking through the films I've had scanned by Blacks, and hit the jackpot - lots of Leclair pictures. I'm adding 16 here, some from Mike and Sheri's wedding, and some general summer stuff. I'm too lazy to catalog them twice, so the details are in the Snapshot Spot. (If you think there's a picture of you that's too ugly, then send me a replacement {grin} )

------Sun, Dec 20, from Doug:

Had a mini family re-union as Paulette moved into her spiffy new condo. Lending a hand were Leo, Christine, Catherine, Mike, Jack, Maureeen, Catherine-Anne, Jennifer, Johanne, Doug, Lindsey & Nicole. By now, Neil and Dan have arrived at their mom's new home, too.

Paulette was incredibly organized, and had every box labelled with the contents and the numbered room it was to be delivered to. What started as a 'move the boxes' operation turned into a complete move when Jack used his cab to bring in a pup. (Not a taxi toting a terrier, a truck toting a transport trailer.) Not to be outdone, Johanne made arangements for a pup for the Elliott household by long distance (don't ask) - a 4 year old cocker spaniel. Not as exciting as Nat and Yves' new family member, but then again, ours arrives already trained {grin}.

I'll have to start up the family history section to record the potatoe ( or is that buddaydoe) farming stuff, and I'm sure Christine will want  a write-up on the history of the blueberry picking expeditions {grin}.

Gathered some new Email addresses, so the Family Etree section has been updated, too.

------Fri, Dec 18, from Nat & Yves

Hi everybody,

Here is the untrasound of the baby at 12 weeks, one day. We are already very proud of our little one. Yves says `he', Nat says `she'. What do you think?

Merry Christmas,  - Nat & Yves :):)

------Thurs, Dec 17, from Doug

It's actually snowing here. (It was 15 degrees C two days ago - incredibly mild winter so far in London.)  Have started up the Etree and News sections, as you can see. Had a note from Nat promising some baby pictures, but I suppose that'll have to wait a while {grin}. Probably take me that long to figure out how to insert pictures on the site anyway. Send in some Email with other folks Email addresses and what's exciting in your part of the world.

PS: I got brave, and tried to put a picture in the Snapshot Spot. It seemed to work on the first try. Have a look and see if it works for you.

------Sat Dec 12, From Doug

Finally got around to getting this site on the air, as I'd promised to do for a while. The actual site is free, as long as we can put up with the advertisement at the top of each page, and hold the information content down to 11 Mbytes. I figure we'll have lots of space as long as we don't have more that around 50 pictures. As I'm working on the PC, Carole and Johanne are downstairs making tortieres. Naturally, there's no recipe, and Carole's tasting the meat mush to try and figure out what's missing. When the last one coming out of the oven was too hot to handle, Johanne invented frisbee tortiere, which may be a demonstration event at the next Olympics.