Deadbolt Brilliant

When we moved last, one of the things we did after moving in was get a locksmith in to change all the locks. The main reason I wanted this done was I wanted a keyless deadbolt.

We picked out the Schlage Plymouth model in the satin nickel finish.

This thing is simply brilliant.

No worrying about locking ourselves out of the house, or getting locked out by the kids. When walking down for swimming lessons or to get groceries, there is one less thing to carry. No need to copy keys for guests, dog walker, house cleaners, family members, neighbours, etc. Simply program in a new code. When Sox goes for a run, or takes Yoshi for a walk, she can just go and I don’t need to leave a door unlocked for her.

It is easy to use, and the keys light up so you can see in the dark. The only fault I know of is that they key is hard to use in the deadbolt (you have to get a couple things lined up properly).

I love it and highly recommend it to anyone. I just noticed that Schlage even has their own twitter account.

Daredevil Dude

This past Saturday I had a movie night at home. Sox was having a sleepout in the back yard with Sprout so I had the house to myself (mostly)

I broke out a DVD that I got for myself at Xmas. The movie was Daredevil.

I hadn’t held out any hope for the movie and was actually expecting it to be pretty lame. Shockingly I enjoyed it. I don’t know the comic storyline, but the movie plot was pretty good. They introduced the characters well enough for me to get who they were and what they did.

Ben Affleck actually did a good job in this role. I don’t see him as an action movie star, so I was anticipating a train wreck. Jennifer Garner played Elektra well, though the character didn’t get enough screen time. Colin Farrell played Bullseye really well. A very psychotic dude with lots of little idiosynchracies.

I was time well spent.

Parenting Slack

This morning was not a good morning for me and I didn’t feel like I was a good parent. All my parenting skills and patience had flown out the window. I just could not cope with whatever either of my kids threw at me. Maybe it was a lack of sleep, maybe it was a lack of coffee, maybe it was something else.

Thankfully Sox was able to pick up the slack and we made it through the day.

This was frustrating for me. I usually have lots of patience and to lose that on the weekend, was not good. Sox and I usually trade off and this keeps us sane. Today she picked up the slack and we made it through the day.

Actually, it was a pretty fun day. Mattick’s Farm this morning then homemade pizza for dinner. Tonight Sprout is having a campout in the backyard with Sox. I hope tomorrow is better.

Yoshi Frustrating

Below is what greeted me when we came home today after a trip to Mattick’s Farm. Yoshi was a bad dog.

I thought we had blocked him out of everything bad, but I guess we forgot to close the kitchen door. I know he was trying to get at the scambled egg pan, but he sure made a mess of things. The pan was ruined and is now in the garbage, along with the spatula. Thankfully nothing else was wrecked.

The oven door is a mystery. That must have happened when he was getting the pan off the stove. That dog is so frustrating sometimes.

Cellphone Direction

Looks like our cellphone has died. I think it might be time to upgrade and actually get a halfway decent phone. Trouble is I don’t want to spend an arm and a leg.

I’d kind of like a smartphone, but not sure I really need one. I was contemplating getting a family plan with Telus since there have numerous times when a second cell phone would have been handy.

Suddenly it dawned on me that I don’t have to stay on Telus, we could feasibly switch to another carrier. Wow, suddenly the possibilities are endless, and I quickly got overwhelmed.

Rogers/Fido? Bell? Telus? Koodo? Family plan? Smartphone? Simple and cheap phone? Not sure what direction to go in.

Moron Passed

To the moron in the car on the Johson Street bridge tonight:

You were following way to close to the cyclist. That just isn’t safe. I know she was riding slow, and I know she was hugging the right hand side of the lane instead of riding in the center, but that doesn’t mean you have to badger her. Chill out.

To the lady in the Pathfinder-esque vehicle:

Not only were you too close to the cyclist on the bridge, but you looked like you were trying to pass. You were encroaching on my lane! I honked at you, and yet you didn’t slow down and move over. What is wrong with you? Besides, what were you going to do if you had passed them? There was a long line of cars in front of you. See moron #1 above.

Investigate Broken

I should have ridden to work today. I wanted to ride, but as I was on my way out the back door bike in hand, I decided to investigate a strange metal on metal sound I heard on my last ride.

I found the source. It was another broken spoke. If you recall, this happened pretty recently already.

Frustrating. I had a quick shower, got dressed and jumped in the truck. Disappointing.

Slowing Intersection

I don’t know why, but when I am out on the roads, I seem to come across lots of morons.

Yesterday I saw this guy on a scooter running a red light. More than once. He turned right on to the road I was on without slowing down at all. I know he had a red then. He approached another light that was also red (the instersection of Head and Old Esquimalt). Instead of slowing, he turns right, then noticing there is no traffic, pulls a u-turn so that he is on Head, facing Old Esquimalt. He guns it and turns right to get back on to Old Esquimalt. The same a running a red.

Today while riding to work I was moving along at a pretty good clip and some car pulls out of a driveway to get into traffic. Only there isn’t room so they hit the brakes and end up blocking the bike lane. I then have to hit the brakes and weave around them. A little later some truck stops in the bike lane and double parks so he could drop off his wife. I wanted to give him a mean look (oooooh), but he was shielding his eyes with his hand. He knew he was doing something he shouldn’t.

On the way home today I was coming down a hill to an intersection and I had a green light. A cyclist decided to try and zip across the red, and through the traffic, nearly t-boning me.

Finally, as I was climbing a hill on Esquimalt Ave, a red and white taxi blew past me pretty quickly at less than a foot from my shoulder. There was a whole other lane they could have mover over in to, but no, he had to stay in his lane.

After experiences like this, it’s

no wonder more people don’t cycle commute.