Today I had Yoshi at work like I do every Thursday. At lunch I decided to take a walk over to Bosley’s to get him some tasty treats (all natural peanut butter and apple biscuits). I went to grab my leash from my backpack, but found it missing. I looked all over but I found I had left it at home. To top it off I had no vehicle today.

I did what any self respecting computer geek, MacGuyver wanna be would do. I fashioned a leash out of some extra Cat 5 cable that was of no use to the Voice Mob!

last night Sue and I had a wonderful dinner at Blighty’s Bistro. this is a small restaurant in Oak Bay that has the friendliest waitresses, a wicked atmosphere, and excellent food. while we were waiting for our appy’s (I highly recommend the mussels) Joy McPhail stopped by for some dinner. she talks very loud. she was seated next to our table, and even when the restaurant was full, we could hear most of her conversation. when the restaurant was empty though, we couldn’t really hold much of a conversation because she was so loud. oh well, the experience was still wonderful. get the lemon mousse!

Happy Birthday to me! 28 years ago to the day I was born (sometime after 8 pm). I awoke this morning to a nice sunny morning, and got to open a couple presents in bed. Woohoo! Sue had framed a couple pictures that I took a while ago, and they look fantastic. She also found me a wonderful black spring jacket (I have been wanting one for a while).

So far the only plans I have for today are to go for dinner with Sue at the SouthBay Pub. This Sunday we are having a bunch of my friends over for a brunch. Should be fun!

after last night’s late night driving session I was looking forward to sleeping in. 7:30am my cell starts ringing. it’s mike wanting to know if I was still in for riding. the destination was mt prevost for some shuttle runs. I hear the word shuttle and decide instantly that I am in. I then found out everyone was meeting at 8:15. crap, better hurry. I ran around, and managed to find clean riding gear, eat breakfast, drink some coffee, pack clothes for after the ride, load my bike and gear into the truck, the zoom out to the Helmken Park N Ride.

we gathered into two vehicles and headed to Duncan. wee! when we finally got to the top I was pretty excited. I haven’t ridden my Bullit in quite a while, and this was a good time to ride it. we quickly learned the trails were very sloppy. tires became clogged, and you could tell how fast you were going by how much mud your tires were throwing. the trails were steep, greasy, and fun. after the first run I was ready for the next.

our second run we started off on a different trail. again, it was steep, but this one had a shale base so traction was great (at least for me it was). we popped out on to a fireroad and were a little lost. since I had never been there before I relied on the rest of the group to lead the way. they did good though because we did find the trail we were looking for.

pretty much everyone had a crash of some sort. nothing serious, but somehow I had escaped. until “the incident” . I am not sure exactly how I did it, but while going down a steep pitch quite quickly, both feet slipped off their pedals, hit the ground, and then flew out behind me. there I was with my belly on my seat and both legs extended out behind me flying down the trail. I was braking for all I was worth, but I couldn’t stop. I hit a bump, got a little airborn, but managed to pull it together (still in the superman). I couldn’t do anything about my position, and I wasn’t gaining speed so I wasn’t too worried. eventually I wrangled my bike to a stop, laid it in the bush then proceeded to laugh for a few minutes. Jason was right behind me when it all happened and he was laughing pretty good too. the rest of the run was a blast (but uneventful).

we only got two runs in, but it was sure fun. in the summer that place would absolutely rawk. I can’t wait to get back there.

here are a few aftermath shots of my bike

friday night Sue and I headed to nanaimo to crash at my moms place since saturday we were planning on hitting Mt Washington for a day of sliding down the slopes

saturday morning came early as Yoshi decided that since the sun rises earlier so should he. we had our breaky, then hit $tarbuck$ for some caffeine to go (an americano for him, and a Tazo Chai for her).

heading out on the highway we made good time on our way towards courtenay. the only scare I had was the suicidal robin red breast. yeesh. birds aren’t that bright. maybe this one was depressed/ not sure, but as we were maching along the highway this bird darts from a bush into the front of my grill. I never saw it fly away, but I also never saw any remains. I am not sure what happened to the bird but I hope it gets some help!

washington was fun. the weather was all over the place, and the snow had the consistency of a slurpee. we slid in fog, rain, wind, a touch of sun, and general overcastedness. we hit all areas of the mountain, and I had a great day boarding. I had one wicked bail though. we were trying to cross an untracked field, so I kept my speed up. I hit it, leaned back, and was feeling pretty good. very quickly I hooked an edge (not sure how I did that), then did two complete sommersaults. I left a couple greg sized dents in the snow. when I sat up I felt like I had rung my bell a little. I was a little dizzy, but that quickly passed

also on the hill satruday was the big stupid bike race. imagine a dual slalom race with a few big berms, a gap jump, and a table top to finish. put it on snow. then make the snow really sloppy. people were crashing left right and center. I think that maybe next year I will try it out. 🙂

after we left the hill we went back to nanaimo. mom took me out for my birthday dinner. myself, my mom, my sister, and my sue went to Milano’s on Milton street. they serve italian and grrek cuisine. the location is an old converted house. the food was excellent, the wine was excellent, the company was excellent, and the ambience was excellent.

after that it was a quick jaunt down the island highway and we were home (very late).

if you have a cell phone with Telus Mobility the you should be advised to go over your last few bills with a fine tooth combine … err I mean comb. I have SMS text messaging, and this month I got double charged (last month too). luckily I caught it before I paid. I called them up (several times since their IVR system kept dumping me) and when I eventually talked to someone she reversed the charges. she then put me on hold and called another department.

get this, they know they have a problem, but haven’t told their customers yet. also, “they are working on it”. they hope to have it fixed soon.

I really wonder how many people haven’t noticed this yet.

driving to work this morning I saw a classic boneheaded driver move. heading along esquimalt road towards downtown there are two lanes. as the road approaches catherine st. there are signs that the left lane turns into a left turn only lane. the driver in front of me isn’t watching, is waiting for people in front of him to turn left, then realizes where he is. immediately he turns on his right turn signal to move over a lane. cars are passing him, then a bus comes close. this guy almost pulled out in front of the bus!

he decides to take the longer way and goes left. the irony? as we both pull around the corner I see that he has a big sticker on the back of his canopy that says “drivesafe” …

I took Yoshi for a walk at Macaulay Point park last night. It was a good walk right before dinner, but on the beach there was the above seal that was in the molting process. there were signs about warning people to stay away, and that the seal was fine. the sign also it’s appearance and breathing patterns may seem like he may be dieing, but that in fact the seal was very healthy. cool! I kept my distance but snapped a few pics.

later on in the walk there was a plane flying overheard. the engine drone is the sort of urban noise that I don’t notice anymore. in an instant there was a large bang, the engine sputtered a bit, then stopped! yikes. the plane started to nose dive, then the engine restarted. phew! scary moment. the plane turned around to head back I guess. a couple minutes later the engine cutout again. no nose dive this time, but the pilot got the engine started and kept on his merry way. certainly made the walk interesting.