I forgot to mention that yesterday I picked up my camera from Victoria Camera Service. They changed the light seals, and cleaned the camera up a lot. It looks shiny new again (almost). Today I will be buying film, and I hope to start using it this weekend.
A couple days ago the kitchen sink started draining really, really slowly. Then when the dishwasher was running, and the empty cycle was going on, the disgusting water was backflowing into the sinks. It was just nasty, nasty.
Yesterday our landlord came over to see if he could fix the problem. Between the two of us, with him doing most of the work, we got everything unclogged and emptying smoothly again. It was pretty disgusting seeing the crud and gunk that settles into the pipes over time. We could definitely tell when we cleared the clog too. The stench of sewer wafted through the crawl space. :yuck:
Today we are getting the chimneys cleaned. This will be a much cleaner job since we have hired people to do it. 🙂
Tidbits from the first half of the week.
Somehow I lost my favorite MEC vest. I am so ticked off! :grr:
Yesterday was my latest blood donation. It was insanely busy there. Turned out that the Sikh Community had chosen yesterday for a large turnout. They had a tent setup outside with warm food for donors. After I donated I was offered a samosa. I turned it down in favor of cookies and juice.
Since a week before Halloween Yoshi has been afraid to go into the backyard while it is dark. We think it must have something to do with him getting scared from firecrackers. We used to have to take him out into the front yard and wait while he pees, but last night was the first night he ventures back out into the dark yard. 🙂
I had a good scare at work today. I plugged my Visor in to sync it, but as soon as I plugged it in, my computer reset itself (that happens every once in a while). Everything seemed fine at startup, but when I started Eudora, it complained that two folders were missing. These were container folders that housed mailboxes. Specifically the one housing my work and project related email was missing. I didn’t know what the other one was. After a couple frantic moments, I discovered that they had reappeared. A restart of Eudora and everything was hunky dorey. Scarey for a few moments though.
After eating some toast, drinking some coffee, and getting changes, I was already running late. Shortening the story a lot, I picked up Mike, we zipped up to Duncan, and discovered that James was running late.
When everyone finally showed up and was fully geared up, we started the long march to the top. Tzuhalem has lots of climbing followed by lots of really fast, fun, swoopy downhill, punctuated by a smattering of stunts along the way.
It was a hard ride for me. I was a little hung over, which for me means I was very lethargic. By the time we got to the top I was wiped. I really wanted to ride some of the stunts on Sunday, but I was just too out of it to do it safely. Plus, I wasn’t a big fan of the construction technique used on the stunts. The rung on the ladders were very angular pieces of wood that were set quite far apart. This made traction (in my mind) spotty. Mentally I wasn’t on my game, and I didn’t want to push myself too much, so I took it easy and tried to have fun.
In the end it was a great ride. I was thoroughly exhausted by the time we got back to the vehicles, but I was glad I got out. The whole ride had a wonderful chill in the air. I love fall riding!
Halloween was lots of fun last night. Sue and I had some guests over for dinner and a movie. Before the movie started, we all wandered down the block to check out the fireworks. Some people from the block had organized everything so that everyone with fireworks was welcome to bring them down to get shot off. They also had hot dogs, hot chocolate, and coffee. Very fun! Read more for my shots from last night.
Today Yoshi and I ventured out to Elk Lake. That is where I took the above two shots. We started with a half hour warm up walk, then followed that by a round of retrieving the ball. Great fun for him. Darn chilly for me! 🙁
Tonight we are off to a friends 30th birthday party. Tomorrow I am riding in Duncan, then attempting to do some yard work (weather dependant).Talk about a busy weekend!
The latest 26 Things Photo Scavenger Hunt was released today. Over the next month I will attempt this next project. I love the idea of it.
high point
familiar
too much
2PM
the end
layered
three
contemplation
warning
electric
sharp
red
reflection
movement
soft
cold
close up
new
team
oversized
intimidating
culture
energy
famous
community
shadows
Once everyone was done carving we set them up on the front porch and had the ritual viewing/photo session. The wind was pretty blustery and some of the candles had a hard time staying lit. I had lots of fun trying to take quality shots. I think I did better with these creations, than I did with the Government House ones.
I dropped my new camera off there yesterday and got them to check it all out. I just talked to Victoria Camera Service, and it was all good news. Everything checks out on it, and the only thing they recommended was to replace the light seals, so I told them to go ahead. They are a bit backed up, but the guy said a couple weeks. No problem 😛 I am just happy that there is nothing wrong with the camera. I took a chance on it, and I was a little worried, but not I am just stoked to get it back and start using it.
I wanted a professional to check it out, so that when I start using it, if the shots turn out crappy, I can blame me, and not the camera!
As you may have guessed by the above pic, I bought a new camera!
It is a Yashica FX-103, and it came with the original manual. I am going to print out a new one and keep the original in a safe place.
I am pretty stoked about the camera. I got it for a great deal, but it only makes me wonder if the camera is fully functional. Walking in to the Swap N Shop, I wasn’t expecting to buy anything, but I got talking to the guy, and this sounds like a good camera. When I got home I searched the net for more information on it, and I found some people selling it for $200 CDN. I got it for half that, so that further fuels my paranoia about it not working properly. I am going to buy some film today, burn off a roll tonight, and get that developed to see if it works. Cross your fingers for me. :cross:
After warming up at the TTA, we headed up Skull, Inventive, and up to C-Section. After C-Section it was up the Switchbacks we headed up to Snakes and Ladders, then it was down to Skull, and back to the vehicles.
The temp was awesome, the blue skies spectacular, the trees beautiful, and the trails difficult. Swooping down some of them reminded me of summer times, yet here it is in the waning days of October. Crazy!
Mike and Shane tried their hands at riding a skinny, skinny, skinny. I have ridden this one to the end exactly once. It is hard since getting on to it requires lofting the front tire onto it, and lifting the rear on as well. Then you have to negotiate a twenty foot long log that widens from 4 inches wide to about 6 inches wide. The exit is a 2 foot wheelie drop. I gave it a go yesterday, and got about three quarters of the way down the log before I lost my balance and jumped off the left side.
The rest of the ride was too fun for me to stop and take out the camera. We blasted down Snakes and Ladders, then went up the fire road and raced down Skull trail.
Back at the vehicles Sean wanted to give a skinny a go, so he attempted the barrier ride a few times.
Great ride. I totally forgot to mention that Yoshi was with us too. He had fun, but he was pretty pooped by the end. He was tired before we left the lot, so he was pretty slow the whole ride. Being th good pooch that he is, he hung in there until the end.
