Forward Weeds

Yesterday was such a nice day, and I was so looking forward to getting out for a ride. Unfortunately I woke up feeling run down, and I had a sore throat. I think I picked up this cold from Sprout, but I am not 100% sure.

Instead I took it easy at home. The longer I was home the nicer the weather got, and the warmer it became. Damn.

As I was taking it easy I could hear some of the neighbours out mowing their lawns. I knew that our lawn needed to be done too since the dandelions were beginning to flower. I also knew that if I didn’t get out there and do it, that sox would when she got home and then I would just feel too guilty.

So I got out and mowed the lawn. It looked way better once I was finished, but this just pointed out to me how beaten up our yard has become over the last year of neglect. I can forsee many, many hours spent toiling to work back the weeds and repair the damage.

I also managed to get a little work done on our composter to (hopefully) stop the critters from invading it. I screened off one side of the composter where the critters had dug under the edge, and tunneled into the compost.

No progress on the deck this weekend either. What a waste of perfect work weather. I know the guy needs a weekend too, but our landlord has promised this deck will be done by the end of March. That is next weekend, and there is a bit more construction to do, then the entire deck needs to be stained. It is kind of out of my control, but that doesn’t mean I can’t hope it will be done. I just want my BBQ back up next to the kitchen and not in the carport any more.

Next weekend sox and I hope to tackle the dumping ground that our garage has become.

Samaritan Lights

Here is a good samaritan story that has happened to me a few times.

I was in a parking lot and someone has left their car. They left the lights on.  I tell the person, wondering if their car is the kind that automatically turns the lights off.  They inform me that the lights will go off in a couple minutes.

Who invented that lame feature anyway?  Why is it useful?  Every time this happens to me I feel like such a shmuck, and I wonder how many times those people get warned that their lights are on.

Identity Scanning

Identity management.  I wish I had more control over my identity information, and who can use, store, and distribute it.

In the past couple months I have been notified that my personal information may have been obtained when some files went missing from a mutual fund office, and I have my credit card re-issued by the bank due to the loss of some data from somewhere.

This frustrates me, and infuriates me.  I take precautions to prevent ID theft, and someone else can lose a laptop/harddrive/back up file containing the critical information for thousands of people.

Coreman has a bunch of links to info about identity management.

What is making me post about is a return I made to Office Depot today.  The receipt has a barcode that the clerk scanned.  After scanning the returned items, he hands me a slip to sign that is my credit card credit.  I realized quickly that I never handed over my credit card.

Somewhere Office Depot may be storing my credit card number.  Great.  How secure is their datacentre?  Some day maybe there will be the control I desire, but for now why should I be expected to live with always being concerned that some company I shop at stores my personal info and has the potential to lose it?

Experience Dads

I just got back from an interesting experience today.  I had to do some errands this morning, so I took Sprout with me.  I ended up at Mayfair mall, and after finishing my running around, I decided to get a coffee from Starbucks.

As I am heading in to the store, I notice a friend of mine wheeling his son towards the mall. He also had a friend of his, with his daughter.

So, there I am with two other dads, and two other kids, walking around the mall talking dad stuff, and drinking coffee.  I found it very enjoyable, yet something I never would have imagined myself if you had asked me when I was in my 20’s.

Sprout had fun too.  He always likes getting out, and that mall has a lot of sights to see.  I also bought him a few new toys which he seems to love playing with 🙂

Sweating Map

climbing towards fitness

Training rides seem like they are hard to come by. Today I rode to work, and it took a lot less time than I was expecting, which is a great thing.

Starting off from home it was a little chilly, but just perfect for riding really. My HRM seems a little wonky, and wasn’t registering for the longest time. When it did start when I was downtown I was already up to 160. I slowed down a bit so I would be sweating quite so much at work. Light rain started when I was a few blocks away, so I didn’t even get wet.

I took the most direct route, which also has the most traffic and stop lights. I left home a little after 7:30, and was in the office at 8. Not bad I would say. The linked map says it is just a little over 7.5 km.

I think for my ride home I will take a longer route. Maybe along the water. According to the map that is approx 16.5 km.

Deck Luxury

The man is on a roll. The deck is nearing completion. The guy doing the construction was out in the back yard in the rain for several hours on Sunday. I think he stopped when he ran out of wood. I am actually hopeful that he will finish by the end of the month. I just need to find out if he plans to stain the deck. If not, then I get to bring the BBQ back onto the deck instead of keeping it in the carport. That will be luxury!




Sensor Climbing

Got out on the trails for a ride today.  Training for Canmore is hard!  Add in that I was pretty forgetful today, and you get a weird ride.

Two blocks from home I remembered that I forgot the HRM strap, which is the sensor.  I had move the receiver over to my mountain bike, but without the sensor things are just useless.  I decided not to return home for it.

Once at the trailhead, I noticed that I was the only vehicle in the parking lot.  Weird.  It was 8:30 or so, but still, I expected to see at least another car out there.

I geared up and headed out.  It was a little chilly, but I knew I would warm up soon enough.  about 2 minutes from the truck I remembered that I left my camera in the truck.  Damn.

I took a route that had lots of climbing which was what I had planned.  If I had a working HRM this would have been fine.  Instead I pushed too hard, and got my heart rate too high.  The forced me to stop more than once to recuperate before I threw up.  Not a good feeling to stop riding, and feel nauseous, and dizzy from lack of O2.

I quite enjoyed the fresh cool air, and had a fun ride.  It was just over an hour long too.