Fathers Day Note

This is something I haven’t thought about in a very long time, but Father’s day does have meaning. At least now it does.

You may or may not know, but I do not have a relationship with my father. It is a long and complicated story, and I won’t get into the details here. Suffice it to say, the last time I wished my father Happy Father’s day was close to 10 years ago, and we haven’t really spoken much since then.

Last year Father’s day was something special. That is when Sox and I learned that Sprout was going to join our family. It was a very surreal day, and not much thought was put towards my own father.

This year was a lot of fun, but it was also hard. I read a bunch of baby-type blog posts about how children celebrated Father’s day, and how much the dad enjoyed that. A little part of me was sad. I missed out on stuff like that when I was growing up and I’m still angry with my father about things like this. I long to have treasured memories such as these.

I realized though, I get to make up for that. Sprout is my son. My family gets to set their own course, and I am not doomed to make the same mistakes as my father. This year begins a new life for me full of new firsts, new traditions, new fun, and new surprises. Observing this brings me great joy. This reminds me that I am in control of my life, and that I control my own fate. It reminded me that I have lots to look forward to with my family.

I plan to remind myself of these thoughts every once in a while. It is important to remember who I am and where I came from, but equally as important to remember that I am my own person.

Blood Cookies

Blood, it’s in you to give.

Today was my return to donating blood. I had a bit of a break due to Sprout’s arrival, but it has been in the back of my mind for a while now. Donation number 28. Woohoo. Nothing has changed there, but the front desk lady didn’t recognize me like she used to. 🙁

Besides the wait due to the number of people waiting, the donation went smoothly. All too quickly I was on to the cookies and juice. Mmmmm.

Making an appointment is so easy. If you can spare a couple hours of time, consider trying it at least once. It really is a an excellent way to give back to society.

LOTD – Tearing Philosophy

There are lots of ways that companies can respect their customers. Provide a good product, provide a good warantee/guarantee, live up to promises and expectations.

Or.

Live up to this lovely, and accurate test to see if a company respects its customers.

If a sticker peels off cleanly, without tearing or leaving crap behind, then the company respects their customers. If ithe sticker leaves something behind, the company doesn’t care.

Excellent philosophy.

Pinch Commuting

This morning, while riding to work, I discovered the ultimate way to make yourself wake up quickly. Sox, this post you may want to skip.

Take one commuter on his way to work, mix in a pickup, sprinkle with a turn in the road, and top it all with wet pavement. Sound like a tasty treat? Read on for the whole story.

I was riding to work this morning, and came very close to getting pinched by a truck. It was close. Very, very close. As in, I was scared close (and that takes a lot). I was going downhill on Esquimalt, just about to cross under the train tracks. I was slowing for the corner, and a pickup started to pass me. Instinctively I put my hands on the brakes. The truck was already too close for my comfort and a right hand turn was coming up. I started to slow since something felt off. Sure enough the truck started to move right and pinched me into the curb.

I hit the brakes hard and yelled. Truck didn’t move left at all. The driver didn’t even know I was there (remember he had just passed me?). I was on a damp patch of road, on a turn. My back tire locked up, and my bike slid left a little. My bars (on a road bike) were inches from the truck, and my momentum was going left on a right hand turn.

Thankfully my balance was good, and I avoided hitting the truck. Damn I was pissed though. The truck got away from me a bit, and I wanted to chase him down so badly. I was still upright, and I was still rolling.

I regained my composure, with copious amounts of adrenaline flowing through my body. My legs were shaking. I took a few deep breaths, reminded myself that I was OK and not hurt, and continued my commute.

I saw the truck stopped due to construction stopping traffic. I was tempted to talk to the driver, but I didn’t. I gave him a dirty look as I rode by, but neither the driver, nor the passenger were paying attention.

In retrospect I wish I had at least said something cordial to the driver, and reminded them to be more cautious. A few minutes later I arrived at work, thankful I was still in one piece.

The hardest thing about commuting isn’t the riding, it is dealing with the other crap on the roads.

Drupal Tidy

Decided on a whim (and a little investigation), to upgrade muddylaces to Drupal 4.7.2. There are a couple modules that I use(d) that haven’t been updated yet. Since it was nothing critical, I decided to go for it.

This was a more complicated than usual upgrade, but now that it is done, I am liking it. Hopefully everything made it across just fine. I had to update two of my custom modules (easy), and update my theme, and tidy up a few things.

Excellent. Fun Fathers Day project.

Spammers Deleted

Fuckin spammers. I am being inundated with email right now, but I am not receiving spam. I am receiving the backlash of a spam shit-fest.

Spammers are using my domain name and making up email addresses off of it to use as the from address. There are thousands of bounces, out of office replies, delivery status notifications, and other failure notifications. So far I have deleted probably close to 5000 of these.

It is my own fault for having a catch-all for the domain (since been deleted). I liked the catch all for a number of reasons.

Spammers are scum.

Family Stuck

This morning was family morning. Sox, Sprout, Yoshi, and I stopped at Starbucks on our way to Colquitz River Park/Cuthbert Holmes Park. The sun was out, and it was a gorgeous day for a walk. Yoshi was certainly comping at the bit for a good run.

With drinks in hand we wandered the trails enjoying ourselves immensely. The trails were wonderfully suited for the jogging stroller that Sprout was in. He sat up mostly, and grinned quite a bit. We saw a little bit of wildlife too.

Yoshi also got the workout he needed. He ran through the brush, ducking under things, jumping logs, and tramping through the brambles and tall grass.

Near the end of the walk Yoshi gave us a bad scare. He disappeared. This isn’t too bad normally, but we couldn’t hear him at all. We located him though. In a creek with no way out. He jumped down an embankment and couldn’t get back up. There was no shore on this particular creek. He tried a few times to jump up but each time he fell back in. He never panicked (to his credit), but he also wouldn’t leave the spot since he saw me there. I had located another, easier pullout for him to use, but he wouldn’t wander far enough away to find me (no matter how much Sox and I called him).

After ten minutes or so I found a way to get him. Holding onto the base of a shrub, and getting as close to the edge of the bank as I dared, I was able to reach down enough that when Yoshi lunged, I was able to grab his collar and pull him up (I tried making a noose out of his leash but he didn’t like that idea). Back up on the path Yoshi was happy to be re-united with us (and we were pretty happy too). Yoshi was in pretty good shape, but I managed to get a little stinky, slimy mud on my shoes, shorts, and legs.

With Yoshi back in the car, we went shopping (had to continue the family time after all). Bought a nice aluminum case for my nano, and bought some shirts at Old Navy.

What I was really shopping for was some nice flip-flops. What a flip-flop fiasco. I want some nicer ones (no plastic), and those appear to be hard to find. London Thugs? No. Sport Mart? Close, but the ones I liked were too small (even size 12). Winners? No. Old Navy? No. I give up for today.

While shopping in Old Navy we ran into kaptainK and JJ who were also out doing some errands.

Along the way home we stopped for lunch, and then it was time for Sprout’s nap.

All in all an excellent morning.

Midway Blur

Last night I finally did something I have wanted to do for a very long time. I went out for a night shoot to a fair. Buccaneer Days has a Midway complete with twirly rides, cotton candy, games of chance, and lights. Lots and lots lights. Fun.

I had to wait until it was pretty dark before I headed out shooting, but it was worth it. It was too light when I first left, so I headed down to a lookout and shot some pics of the harbour, and the cruise ships docked at Ogden Point.

Digital is the way to go for night photography though. Easy to see and correct for exposure mistakes.

The key is to try and imagine what you are trying to accomplish, and develop a plan to make that image. Some of the pictures I took were up to 10 second exposures. With time like this, you can easily miss out on chances to reshoot.

Do you want to stop the motion? Get a slight blur of the lights? Create arcs of light? Can you even achieve what you want with the equipment you have on hand?

The prize at the end of the shoot is the images you have created. Definitely a good investiment of time and effort.

Pics are here.