Ottawa!

I got back into town early this morning. The trip to Boston went really well - there wasn't that much crazy partying, but we did do our fair share of bar-hopping around Harvard, and I managed to find the original Cheers (tm) bar for a pint of Guinness during a Sunday walk through Boston. They also sold Cheers golf shirts, which allowed me to continue my tradition of buying location-specific golf shirts while traveling.

It's nice to travel direct, for once. Typically, I go for the cheapest travel arrangements I can find, which usually means that I have to drive to Toronto, and then go through a few extra connecting flights before I actually end up where I need to be. Don't get me wrong, it's a small price to pay to see the world, but being able to hop on an Air Canada Jazz flight and be in Boston an hour later is pretty sweet. There were only five of us on the way down, too, so it was kind of like having our own private jet. Very cool.

Boston's a beautiful city, but I get the impression that it's very expensive, rent-wise, to live there. I wandered past a realtor's office that advertised one and two bedroom condos for under US$400,000. Yikes.

I think I've officially given up the idea of buying a home, at least for the next year or so. Not even counting the cost of a mortgage, once you add up the cost of property taxes, utilities, appliances, maintenance, etc., you've basically reached what the cost of my rent (utilities included) costs every year. It'd be fine if I needed more than a single bedroom and living room, but I really don't see the need at this point.

In any case, it's time to spend a bit more quality time with the Prince of Persia, then put garbage / recycling out for the night. I came down with a cold on Saturday, and I still feel as though someone stuffed a small pumpkin inside my nasal cavity while I was sleeping. A good night's sleep should take care of that, hopefully.