Coffee Suggestions

On the weekend I had to buy some more coffee. I made the plunge and bought by first bag of decaf beans. I couldn’t find the Decaf Cliff Hanger Espresso by Kicking Horse coffee that I so dearly desired.

I opted for something roasted locally and chose the Fernwood Mile Zero Decaf. So far I am not enjoying the espresso shots I am getting out of this. Unfortunately for me I had a whole bag of this to get through before I can try something else. Maybe I should just grind it all and take it to work for my own special brew in the office. We have one of those single cup makers that takes a filter and grounds. This could get expensive trying to find a new favorite.

I might try the Decaf Espresso beans from Serious Coffee since I know they will sell by the half pound. Anyone have any suggestions on where to get great decaf espresso beans?

Karma Driver

I got some good bus karma on the way home tonight. As was exiting the building when I left work I saw the bus I wanted to be on at the stop just down the street. I knew I would never make it in time so I started the heading to the next stop.

I sprinted as quick as I could while holding my bag in one hand. The bus passed me, but I held out hope that there would be lots of people at the next stop. Thankfully the intersection I had to run through was still green. The bus driver waited for me, and as I jumped on the bus I thanked her. She replied with “If you put in the effort, I’m willing to wait”. That was nice.

Once I got downtown I got off and walked over to my stop for the #6. I only waited a couple minutes when a bus rounded the corner. Awesome. I expected it to take 45 minutes to get home and I got there is just under a half hour.

Movember Shaving

Movember is on. This morning the rest of my facial hair was removed. I had pretty much forgotten what shaving my lip was like. Damn that is difficult.

Before Movember picture:

Movember 1st picture:

The first thing I noticed after shaving was that I could feel my breath on my lip. Odd sensation. My ride today highlighted the lack of facial hair too. I could feel the wind more.

To make a donation go to my MoSpace.

Ride Effort

Since it was so nice and sunny today, I thought I should get outside and ride, instead of getting on my trainer. It actually took a lot of effort to convince myself to get out and ride. It would have been so easy to just stay home and read.

The ride was actually quite nice, and I felt like to was a decent workout too. I dressed warm enough to generate a decent sweat, but never once felt hot. Here is my route:


Perfect Fall

Today was such a gorgeous day. Warm, sunny, perfect. Sox’s Mum was in town so we walked the dogs at Elk Lake. The kids had some fun too.

We may not get the colors that eastern Canada gets, but our fall can be every bit as gorgeous.

My son is impervious to cold. He was running through the lake until he was soaked. Then he tripped. While down on all fours he crawled a couple steps before standing up. He never complained about how cold the water was. Then he walked all the way back to the car (10 minute walk) and never mentioned feeling cold. Amazing.

Zoomed in and out on a leaf pile while I rapid shot some pictures. This was one of my favorites.


Design Halloween

Yesterday my son Sprout helped me carve our Jack O Lanterns. Well, I did the carving. He helped me clean out one of the pumpkins while I did the rest. He also helped design the first one. By design I mean I showed him a website with some stencils and he chose one I could actually carve.

Anyway, here are the Jack O Lanterns that were outside our house for Halloween. The first one was Sprouts chosen design.

I’m very happy with how they all turned out.

I also have to say that Halloween in our neighbourhood was pretty lame. Sox and I figured we would have lots of kids coming by so when we were at Costco the other week we picked up 2 150 count boxes of candy. We had about 15 kids come by. They each got a big handful which was about 6 pieces each, meaning we still have 2/3 of what we bought. Woops.

LOTD – Meatloaf Gruesome

BoingBoing has an awesome Halloween dinner idea. Meat hands!


Take your favorite meatloaf recipe, form to a hand shape in a mold, top with onion bones and fingernails, ketchup blood, and cheese. Bake until gruesome, served with mashed potatoes. Mmmm. This is something I’d love to try with the kids when they are older. Sprout may not eat the potatoes, but I know he will eat the meatloaf.

via BoingBoing

Break Caffeine

Last month when I was really sick I went a whole week without coffee. I was too sick to even think about drinking coffee, which if you know me says a lot about how I was feeling.

After I was better I noticed when I woke up in the mornings that I wasn’t feeling groggy like I used to. I began to notice that while at work I still didn’t need caffeine, but it was a strong habit to go get a coffee when I needed a break.

I decided that this was an excellent time to cut back on caffeine, and to seriously consider cutting it out entirely.

Since I got back to work I have allowed myself one caffeinated coffee at home in the morning. At work and any other time I am out, I drink decaf. So far so good. I enjoy coffee a lot, and really don’t want to give up that part of my life, but I am prepared to give up caffeine, as long as I still get the rich taste I have become accustomed to.

The best part about giving up most of the caffeine is that I am now staying up later than I was before, still getting up at the same time, but feel relaxed and refreshed in the morning. My sleep quality must have improved once I drastically cut back on caffeine.

Now I am nearing the end of my regular Kicking Horse Cliffhanger Espresso. I think I might start looking for their decaf version here in stores. If I can’t find it, I may just order some online.

Yoshi Bolted

Well, it was bound to happen. I let Yoshi out the back door this morning after he was done eating breakfast for his morning constitutional.

As soon as Yoshi got outside I saw the buck standing in the middle of the back yard. The buck bolted, then Yoshi saw him and started to give chase.

I called Yoshi (rather loudly for 6:30 am) a couple times, and he stopped in the yard and looked back at me. By this point the buck was gone, and Yoshi returned to the job at hand.