As I was scooping it out of the tank Elliot was asking me about what I was doing and why. I told him about how sometimes when pets get old they die. I stayed away from mentioning Yoshi.
Of course Elliot being a boy wanted to see it up close and personal.
On boxing day I went into a Chapters and spied several books that I would love to read if I had the free cash and the free time.
Yesterday I was in Munro’s and spotted a couple more books that looked interesting:
Googled: The End of the World as We Know It
Yesterday I was also in Lens and Shutter perusing.
I fell in love with the Gary Fong flash diffuser sets until I saw how big they were. Huge. I then looked at some other diffuser options. I ended up finding the diffuser I wanted at a reasonable price, but they didn’t have the one I needed for the Canon 430EX.
I also spied a wonderful new camera bag. The Crumpler $7 Million Home. Looks awesome, and I think it would hold my gear more comfortably than the current bag I have.
What’s the point of typing all this up? To remember for later. If when I have a job and I have some spare cash I still think I want these items, I now have it recorded what they were.
As I pulled up today I first saw one guy waiting for a haircut and almost kept driving. Then I saw my favorite barber sitting in his chair reading the paper. I thouhgt I might get lucky after all.
Turns out the guy was waiting for a different barber, so I walked in, and basically got to sit down right away. 20 minutes later I was feeling much lighter and looking much better.
The question is, when I get a job, do I keep going all the way to Oak Bay, or try to find someone else?
We took our time getting home, and on the final highway stretch we were glad to be home. Until I looked over at the mini van that just merged onto the highway just south of Thetis Lake. The van had a couple kids in it, yet the driver was using both hands to text! Yikes. I wanted nothing more than to get away from that van.
It was so obvious at night too since their whole cell phone and slideout keyboard were lit up.
As we passed the car, Sox and I were baffled when we saw noone in it. The car just parked there sure made everyone slow down.
A little ways down the highway there was another police car parked in the middle median that was also empty. A third one was by the Costco exit in Langford, also empty.
Figuring the next one we see will be the actual speed trap I made sure I wasn’t speeding. We got out to Goldstream and hadn’t seen any other police cars.
Just North of Goldstream in the Southbound lanes is where we saw the trap. There was one police car, yet at least four officers. There was also at least a half dozen cars pulled over getting tickets. All on Christmas day.
Maybe they were getting warnings? I can just see the police driving out parking their cars strategically, then car pooling in the last cruiser out to Goldstream.
This past weekend we entertained more of Sox’s family. It has felt like a very busy time, but it sure has been wonderful to see everyone.
I had one regret this year though. I switched photo printers. I was using Kodak Gallery, but they have had a few issues as of late, so I though I would give @shutterfly a shot. I’ve heard they have excellent picture quality, and outstanding customer service. I placed my order on Dec 10 which was a little late, and the prints were sent on Dec 12. This should have been plenty of time to get them to me. I was going to use them to make calendars for my family. Unfortunately, I never got them. I called today and they are reprinting and resending the entire order. I am very dissapointed in this, and will likely just use Costco for time sensitive items next time since I know they are quick and their quality is fine. In the next couple weeks we will see if I am happy enough with Shutterfly to give them more of my non critical business.
For Christmas I got a couple DVD’s, a new sweater, some socks, a cool tshirt, and more that I can’t remember right now. Sometimes I feel old when I get excited about new socks, but Sox’s mum knits the most awesomest socks ever.
In all it was a lovely Christmas full of fun, family cheer, friends, food and drink. What more is there?
SIMBS has done it again. Another trail at the dump is drastically changed, and in my opinion, not for the better. Snakes and Ladders has been a favorite trail of mine for a very long time. It is a downhill trail full of switchbacks. There have been a couple Dh races on it, and I know that trail like the back of my hand. It is my go to trail when I want to show new people the dump, or I am just looking for a fun trail to ride.
Today I was railing the trail grinning like normal when all of a sudden the trail turned left when it should have went straight. A new trail had been cut and the old one was blocked off. The bottom half of Snakes and Ladders is gone. SIMBS was revamping a trail called Torpedo Run, and I think they rerouted Snakes and Ladders as a byproduct.
The new section links to an older trail, and makes Snakes and Ladders way shorter. Also, the new section is not nearly as fun. Finally, I am left wondering what happened to the old school trails called Shar’s choice and the Gay Terrace that lay below the blocked off section. I’m hoping they are reachable from Torpedo Run, but I fear they are no longer able to be ridden.
I know SIMBS must maintain the trails, but it angers me when something this drastic is done. I’m hoping there is a sound and scientific reason for the changes. I also know that unless I get involved in SIMBS, I probably shouldn’t complain too much, but I really felt the need to vent. One of the reasons I no longer join SIMBS is that I don’t feel they represent my interests as a mountain biker. This is just another example of that. No, I don’t want to join SIMBS and try to change them from the inside. I know it is a difficult thing to do because of their relationship with the CRD.
I took my time heading up hill, and ended up walking way more than I am used to. Once I figured out where I wanted to go, I chose the route there. I should always do this before I start riding, otherwise I stop and every intersection and wonder which way I should go. I ponder about which trail comes after the intersection, and I consider several trails beyond that decision point. This makes for a very stop and go ride.
Somewhere along the way I decided to head up the switchbacks then decide on which end trail. I settled on Snakes and Ladders.
The ride was pretty typical winter ride. A little chilly at the start, but I warmed up pretty quickly. The rocks and roots were pretty treacherous, and I likely should have let more air out of my tires. Getting back in the winter riding groove is hard. Slithering down rock faces is pretty easy, but climbing up wet off camber roots when you haven’t done it in a year is tough.
Overall I had a blast. It wasn’t a terribly long ride, and I walked a fair amount, but I still worked up a good sweat, got some fresh air, and more importantly got myself and my bike muddy.
Also, my new brake pads are now bed in nicely and have dramatically changed the control I have over my bike. The read pads are likely a little low too, and I might pick up some more the next time I am near a bike shop.
I was at a @starbucks wanting a coffee anyway, so I asked the nice clerk to check them. Turned out one of them had over $6 and another over $4! Almost like winning the lottery.
Yoshi managed to get into some recycling and shredded an orange juice container, a soup container, and a cream container. That wasn’t enough though. He also ate a gingerbread house. He left the wet sticky candies on the floor, but the whole house got eaten.
The bad part is that when I was starting to drive away I remembered that I needed the grocery bags. When I returned to the house Yoshi looked very guilty but I didn’t see anything amiss. If I had thought a bit about it, I would have just brought him with me. I could have prevented this mess.