Tag: Life

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.

Pancake Buccaneer

Ahh Buccaneer days. Strange little phenomena in Esquimalt. The Saturday morning of Buccaneer Days a firetruck goes around the neighborhood waking people up at 7:30 for the pancake breakfast. The first year we were in Esquimalt Sox and I wondered what the hell was going on (for the longest time while laying in bed all we heard was a siren, and a muffled voice. As it got close we heard: “Wakey wakey wakey. It’s time to get up. Pancake breakfast time”).

We skipped the breakfast again this year, but decided to catch the parade. Yes the parade. Not sure if they have one every year, but they did this year. Excellent parade too. Not too long, lots of great floats and things to look at. A bit of candy thrown in our direction. Fun fun. The sirens scared Sprout though. Bit of a screaming fit when that happened. Poor guy.

Part of the fun of the parade was watching the cars that were trying to cross the parade route. Police were out to stop this, but there weren’t any signs anywhere that warned people that a parade would be closing Equimalt Ave. Bit of an over sight I would say. Esquimalt Ave is a pretty busy route.

The stupidest individual came whipping out of their driveway as the lead firetrucks approached, and sped up quite quickly. A police officer made the chickie stop and lectured her in front of the crowd before making her pull over (and presumably receive a ticket). Fun times in the Esquampton. 🙂

Back to the parade. JennV and baby L were on hand with us to take it in. After the parade wrapped up the 5 of us headed to the fair for “lunch”. Mmm, Mr Tube Steak, coke, and mini donuts. It was fair day. That’s all there is to say about that, other than Sox and I felt a little ill by the time we got home. 🙂

Lots of fun in a short period of time. Looking for a fun parade, I would suggest taking in the Buccaneer Days parade next year.

Pics are here.

Highland Weekend

Ahh, the May long weekend. The weather was supposed to be a little rainy for the whole weekend, but Saturday and Sunday were both pretty nice.

Friday night Sox and I had KaptainK, e, and JJ over for dinner.



Saturday I got out for a fun mountain bike ride in the morning, then I managed to get a few hours of yardwork in.

Sunday Sox and I headed to Bullen Park for the Victoria Highland Games, specfically the pancake breakfast. Mmmm. After eating we went home to return later in the day with KaptainK, e, and JJ to check out the activities. Fun times.















Today it was a dog walk at Beaver Lake. But wait, to make it more fun we awoke to a rain storm. Ahh, wet dog, stroller in the rain, mud puddles, and wet shrubbery.



All in all it was a great family type long weekend.

Crow Golf

Just got back ffrom Macaulay Point park where Yoshi and I went for a walk. Gorgeous morning out there. SUnny and warm. Too warm for my hoodie.

On the way to the park we passed a beach. From far away I watched a crow trying to break open a clam. He would grab it in his beak ,fly up about 20 feet, then drop it on the rocks. No luck. I saw the crow repeat this several times. As I got closer I heard the clam hit a rock, and knew that it didn’t sound right. When I got close enough I saw that the crow was trying to break open a golf ball. 🙂 No luck there.

Insult to injury: another crow swooped in and drove away the first crow.

Moron Approaching

I got something to say here. To the drivers of vehicles on the streets of Victoria, get your heads out of your collective asses.

It’s not that hard to be a safe driver, and yet, there are lots of examples of stupidity by careless and clueless drivers. Since I am now a regular cyclist this trend scares me, and I know it scares Sox too.

My Friday commute home was a prime example of what makes me irate. 3 incidents in a 10 minute ride.

The first was as I was climbing a hill on Esquialt Road and approached Tyee, an SUV passed me with their right turn blinker on. No big deal since there was lots of room for them to get past me and make the corner. Stupid lady driver stops and looks back through her vehicle at me. She was wanting me to pass her on the inside. I had to stop and wait on the uphill. Why do people think this is a god idea? Pass a cyclist then stop on a busy road to let the cyclist pass them? Yeah, good idea moron.

The next incident was by a cab. Again on Esquimalt I approached Dominion the stupid taxi driver started to pass me with his turn signal on, I saw this and began to wonder. Sure enough cabbie turns in front of me, cutting me off, forcing me to grab the brakes. I yelled at him, something along the lines of “what the fuck are you doing”. One of the fares in the cab then gave me the finger. I was pretty displeased by that act, so I read the plate, and started reciting it over and over the rest of the ride.

The last incident was at the 4 way stop by my house. When it was my turn to go I noticed another car aproach the stop. Before I knew it they were taking a left turn to end up in the same direction I was going (I was going straight). I yelled Hey at the lady, and she didn’t react. I yelled again and finally she looked over and was shocked that I was there (she ended up driving down the center of the road for a bit).

In none of these incidents was I in any real danger but this is only because I was on the lookout for these moronic episodes. I just hope my luck won’t run out. All it will take is one slip up by me or someone else, and I will have a much more somber post here.

If you drive, please be aware of cyclists. Don’t do stupid things around them. Give cyclists the room on the road they deserve. Don’t pass a cyclist that is approaching an intersection. Slow down a little and let them have the right of way. It won’t cost you any real time on your trip, but it will cause less stress for the cyclist. Share the road. There is plenty of it out there for everyone.

Beer Dreams

“Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed – Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn’t drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, ‘It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver.'”
-Deep Thought, Jack Handy