I feel the need to relate the story of the hole in my front yard. It is a nice hole, but I would rather it get filled. Also, it isn’t a hole that I created.

It started last Friday (Nov 5) when Suede and I came home for lunch. As we were pulling into the driveway I noticed that the grass was really wet, and that the street was a little wet. On closer inspection I saw that some water was flowing up through the ground right beside the end of our driveway.

Hmm, not good.

We called the city, and notified our landlord.

What follows next is quite funny.

Suede took Yoshi for a walk, and when she came home, there was a orange pylon by the end of the driveway.

A little later a Victoria City works truck showed up, and two guys got out and inspected the leak. One of them placed a cell phone call, and all he said was “Yep, there is a leak”. Meanwhile, the other pops off the closest manhole cover, and confirms that he can see water leaking down there too. Then they get in their truck and leave. They told Suede that they should get to it by Wednesday (Nov 10).

At some point in the afternoon our pylon got upgraded from a orange pylon to one of those construction, sandwich board, blinky signs. Wooooo!

Over the weekend the water started to really come out of the leak. It was sending quite a river of water down our road, and into the storm drain. The grass was supersaturated, and the edge of the driveway had no support under it any more.

Tuesday (Nov 9) we came home to a large hole in the front yard, dug right beside the end of the driveway. There are now 4 of the blinky signs, all connected with flagging tape (another upgrade). The hole is about 5 feet long, 2 feet wide, and about 6 feet deep. Really, it is a nice hole, but every day when I drive down my street I have a slight anticipation of what I am going to find. Unfortunately there is still a hole, and there hasn’t been any progress in a while.

There is always tomorrow though.

The Hip though, were magnificent. They played a combination of new stuff, and a lot of older stuff. I much prefer their older material. To me their past couple releases have had a lot of songs that sound very similar. Their newest releases have felt very flat to me.

The sound was pretty good, but I felt that the mix was a little off. I someimes found it difficult to hear Gord Downie over the rest of the band, especially when he went off on a rant (which he did a few times). I was happy to see that Mr. Downie hasn’t changed much on stage. He is still as strange as ever! His antics up there were priceless. I remember one time I saw them in concert he was riding his mic stand like it was a horse. He rode it so hard that he bent the thing and a rodaie had to bring him a new one for the next song!

In that respect he really hasn’t changed. At times he looked like he was in the middle of some bizzarre seizure. Ahh, good Canadian boys!

After the concert we headed back to Suede’s moms place, and then this morning (after getting too few hours of sleep), we hopped back on the ferry and came home. Whirlwind trip to Vancouver, but as usual, it was fun!

The set list (from thehip.com)
Vaccination Scar
Grace, Too
Poets
It’s A Good Life If You Don’t Weaken
Summer’s Killing Us
Courage
Bobcaygeon
Nautical Disaster
It Can’t Be Nashville Every Night
Boots Or Hearts
Inevitability Of Death
Gus: The Polar Bear From Central Park
At The Hundredth Meridian
As Makeshift As We Are
Springtime In Vienna
Goodnight Josephine
My Music @ Work
New Orleans Is Sinking

1st Encore:
You’re Everywhere
Ahead By A Century
Blow At High Dough

2nd Encore:
Fully, Completely
Heaven Is A Better Place Today

This past weekend some of Suede’s family visited with us. As I mentioned in a previous post Friday we went out to our favorite restaurant, and as usual, it didn’t dissappoint. Well, I quite enjoyed my meal, but Suede and her step-mom were less than ecstatic about their dinner.

Saturday Suede, her step-mom, and I took Yoshi to Matheson Lake and did that jaunt in what seemed like record time. I still found time to take some pictures of the colored leaves. Yoshi of course loved the romp in the woods. The neat thing about that walk, like so many surrounding Victoria, is that you don’t see anyone else there. When we got to the parking lot there were no other vehicles, and when we were finished, there was one other vehicle there. Very nice considering it is about a 15-20 minute drive from our home.

After the walk, we stopped for some food at My Chosen Cafe, then headed home to get cleaned up. Lovely start to the day.

Last Halloween post for this year. These were the Jack O Lanterns that Suede and I carved. Mine is the top one, and Suede’s is the cat.

Halloween was quite fun this year. Suede and I joined the children of some friends for trick or treating. It is an annual tradition for Suede to join them, and I have gone a couple times now. It is very fun, and the kids usually have some great costumes.

After the candy trek, we went and set off some fireworks and played with sparklers. Lots of fun.

Pics are here.

Yesterday was the Royal Victoria Marathon. Suede and a few of our friends ran the half marathon, which, in my opinion, is still a great accomplishment. I managed to see everyone that I knew was running the race while they were on course. I always find it amazing how many people take part in these events. It is pretty amazing to stand in one spot as the lead runner comes by, then wait until the street is jam packed with people running. Seeing the downtown streets with no cars and packed with people is pretty awe inspiring.

I am very proud of all my friends who did the race. I think it is a huge accomplishment to finish the race. While not everyone set a personal best, I think that each and everyone of them should be proud of their race.

My pics are here.