Happy Birthday my son, you turn 2 years old today!
Wow, where does the time go! This past year has flown by, and you have certainly changed a lot. Every day is a treat with you since you are so funny, fun, and cute. I love all the adventures and play we have together.
I love you very, very much.
This past weekend I was supposed to go snowboarding, but plans fell through and the people I was going to go with weren’t going any more. I was faced with the decision of bailing myself, or to go alone and to try and salvage something. I was weak and decided to check the snow forecast the morning of and make the decision then. Anything over 10 cms was a go, but I wasn’t looking forward to it.
When it comes to mountain biking, I have noticed the same thing. I no longer take the chances that I used to, and no longer ride the big lines I used to. If it is raining, I am reluctant to head out, and I rarely ride alone any more.
Honestly I don’t feel like I am getting old, but some days I sure act like it. I am definitely more responsible than I used to be, and I think that affects me more than I think. I now have a lot more in my life that I care about than I did 8 years ago at the height of my sporting fun. Back then I could (and quite often did) drop everything on Friday and head out for a weekend of riding or boarding. Now everything I want to do takes more planning, and effort. Much of the time I would rather spend the weekend with my family.
So what do I do? I know I am a fairweather mountain biker. I know I won’t snowboard alone anymore. I still want to ride, but I can never seem to make it out of the house. Right now I am trying to accept that this is life for the next few years more.
This post sounds a lot more depressing than I meant it to. I love my life with Sox, Sprout, and Yoshi. I wouldn’t change it for anything, but I can’t help but remember how I used to live. Fun and enjoyment have a new meaning now, and it doesn’t involve an adrenaline rush. I now have a lot more to life, and that is the best feeling in the world.
Thankfully I had already received a replacement for the lost one.
Here is the only somewhat decent picture of the eclipse last night. I set up my tripod on the deck, and with my new lens did three test shots to nail the focus. When I tried my first real shot, the battery died. :grrr: I couldn’t even review my previous shots until I put the card in my computer. I ended up with 2 horrible shots, and this one. 🙁 Bummer.
Apparently not so for some people. The Times Colonist did a story about the changes, and there was a priceless quote:
New regulations took effect midnight Thursday at B.C. service stations and some motorists didn’t appreciate them. Count Dolfi in that camp.
“It’s an imposition,” said the Victoria woman as she pumped $20 worth of gas into her tank. “I feel like I have no control over my life whatsoever, no choice.”
Uhh, a change in how you pay for gas means you have no control over your life? That is an odd thing to say. I hope the lady was saying whatever she could to get quoted, or she was misquoted/taken out of context. That is quite a reaction.
The bottom three are of the back of my espresso maker.
Yoshi and I did the tour of the park before being able to see the new ship. Meh, it looks like a ferry. Perhaps the inside is a little nicer. They are a welcome addition to the fleet though, since I know the Nanaimo, and Victoria runs are extremely busy. Being able to move more cars and people in the same amount of time is going to be great. I hope that they have a nice area on the car deck for pets, and I really hope they have somewhere to lock up bikes, not that I plan to walk on with my bike any time soon.
It was a nice walk, Yoshi had a great romp, and I got to take some pictures.
One of the first things the do is test the iron level in the blood. The lady that testing my iron level thought she would have to squeeze my finger a lot to get a decent drop of blood since my hands were so cold. I quipped that I bleed well so it shouldn’t be a problem. Sure enough there was plenty of blood flowing and when she dropped the blood into the copper sulphate, it sank like a stone. That is a good thing.
Recently I’ve started going after eating dinner which hasn’t had any negative effect, other than having less room for cookies. 🙁 One thing that never changes is which arm I donate with. I always, always, always use my left arm. Almost every time I go I have to wait for a bed due to this, but I don’t care. It is almost a superstition, but I have never had a problem so why miss with success?
I took Yoshi out for a nice walk yesterday. We ended up at Colquitz river park. It is a nice small park that I quite enjoy. The terrain is pretty easy, but there are several micro environments that are quite different. There is a swampy river estuary, a dense forested area, a wide open field, some scrub brush, and even a weird area filled with tiny trees that Yoshi loves to run through.
The grasses are dried out now, and rustle in the wind. I love their chaotic, yet repetitive patterns. From far away large bunches will sway back and forth, but up close they are such a jumble of growth.
The light was a bit weird in the forested area. It isn’t a thick canopy but it still filtered out the light making it seem darker than it really was. The overcast sky meant there was a nice even light on the undergrowth, which did help me out a bit.
Nearing the end of the walk we came across a beagle that was on leash. Yoshi went and said hi, then trotted off into the scrub chasing imaginary birds or something. The beagle sat down and looked toward where Yoshi had disappeared. The forlorn look on the face of this dog will not soon be forgotten.
So far only 40% of the students have signed up so far.
My thought was why is UBC building this system? Their system can only contact the phones they know of. If that person is away on vacation, and the system is activated, they will get a message. Also, how fast can UBC’s system pump out the text messages?
Wouldn’t it make more sense to get the cell phone providers to do this? They could blanket a specific area and get every phone in that target area. I bet they even have a broadcast functionality already built in too. To me this would seem way more effective and useful. Telus, Rogers, and Bell. Easy, peasy.