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The Langdale Ferry to the Sunshine Coast as seen when approaching Gibsons.
Arriving home from Victoria, after the airport delays and the 60-mile drive home, with memories of the trip across the Strait still fresh in my mind, I pulled into my driveway at 0225. This time there was minimal drifting and I drove up to the door. The house was just as I left it, and the cat was beside himself to see me. I went to bed at 0330 and slept until 0920, waking only twice and with almost no congestion.
Today I have some errands in Three Hills and a concert in Carstairs tonight. I may blow some snow, too, to clean up the drive. My plan is to have the new tires installed on the 4X4 today when in town. I plugged it in last night and hope it will start. My shoulders are still sore from winching the jib sheets. I don't think the pain is in the joints, but rather the muscles of the upper arm and the tissue around the actual joints. Blowing snow was hard on them, then I was winching against high resistance sailing yesterday. I need to work my arms more and get back into shape. I used to lift supers and also work my arms a lot when sailboarding.
At 1800, I drove to The Mill and picked up Fen, Maddy and Max and drove to Carstairs. Supper was a spicy African stew on white rice, and followed by music performed by a talented duo. Their sets were a mish-mash of material, including some random Christmas carols. If I never hear another Christmas carol, I will not mind in the least. Carols were a treat back when people had to actually sing them, but these days when carols are endlessly regurgitated electronically everywhere and all the time from the end of November on, it becomes obvious how really inane and terrible most of them are. The Little Drummer Boy has to take the cake though. It has to be the stupidest and annoying of the lot. Thankfully they did not punish us with that one. I drove the others home, returned to Swalwell, and hit the hay. Logic is in the eye
of the logician.
I slept until 0820 and awoke with only a little congestion. The last two hours, I had strange dreams which I'll attribute to the spicy supper.
I have nothing planned today except meet Ruth and get Zippy back. Jean and Chris have no plans for Christmas except they want me to come up at some point. I think they are both burned out, so I decided that I will go to Gull Lake and make them turkey supper on Christmas Eve. I have plans to attend the Christmas Day supper at The Mill. I have not bought any presents, and have been thinking. Mckenzie needs skis and Nathan would love an electric train, I am sure. J&K don't seem in a hurry to get McKenzie skis, so maybe that will be my present to the three of them. This will not be cheap as we take our skiing seriously. Jean and I are both instructors and have little use for cheap ski gear. * * * * * I posted this link to Facebook yesterday and wonder if people will misunderstand. I am sure that out of context, this post appears quite bizarre to anyone who has been off-planet this year and not seen the following and wonder if I have taken leave of my senses: I don't follow pop music at all these days and only got to looking into this with all the fuss about Miley Cyrus AKA Destiny Hope Cyrus AKA Hanna Montana (a Disney creation), and found I was falling down the Rabbit Hole -- and here I am. What do I really think of all this? I think these works are hilarious, mostly harmless and powerful social statements -- that also make big money. At first I was somewhat offended, but then I got the joke. People don't recognize real art -- or irony when they see it. These pieces are fully "in your face" to a culture which peddles women's bodies every day in every way, but will not acknowledge that fact, and actually denies it. These are IMO, contrary to what people claim, powerful protest pieces and the best part is that the people they mock and chide actually pay to see them! * * * * * I drove to Drum and picked up Zippy. I returned and think I'll have a nap. Since this morning, I did a bit more research into the above and found that there are tons of parodies. Here are some more. All are done amazingly well. Enjoy. And then there is the similarity to
Marvin Gaye's Got to give it up: I think I've seen enough. Time to quit procrastinating and get some work done around here -- or have a nap. I'm still tired after my adventure. * * * * * I had my nap: one hour fast asleep. I never would have guessed years ago that one of my biggest pleasures in life would be undisturbed sleep. One thing that disturbs my sleep has been my shoulders, especially the left one and I decide to look up some exercises: These don't require equipment or brute force. I'm going to work on them and see.
Bowen Island is still on my mind. What a week that was! It is 1932 hours and I am listening to Randy's Vinyl Tap on CBC One Calgary. He is playing Christmas music and I am enjoying it. Go figure. A little inaccuracy
sometimes saves a ton of explanation.
Bookkeeping today. That is about all I did and there is more of the same left to do. I went to bed early. You can pretend to
be serious; you can't pretend to be witty.
I don't know what is up with the weather guessers. The forecast is for minus one and it is now minus 16 and blowing at 7 MPH. I hope the forecast bears out, though as that means the house will not eat up too much coal over the next few days. My plan, if it works out, is to pack up my skis, snowboard, tow lines tire chains and an extension cord and head up to Orams'. I have some shopping to do and some cleanup before I go. * * * * * I was ready to go by 1400 and drove to Red Deer. There, I found myself in heavy traffic until I got downtown and past the shopping centre areas. I stopped at at the Wipe Out ski shop and looked over what they have on hand, with a plan in mind to buy skis and boots for McKenzie and some powder skis for myself to use kiting. They had a good selection of skis in my size, but I have not kept up with what is good and what is not, and considering the price tag, I decided to wait and do some research. They had nothing in Mckenzie's size, so I went on over to Play It Again Sports. There, I found used skis and new boots for her at a decent price and also a set of new powder skis with bindings to suit me. The skis turned out to be a lady's model, but I bought them on the understanding that I can return for a refund within seven days and the only difference from men's skis is the graphics and balance point. From there, I continued to Lacombe where (apparently) the only model train hobby shop in Central Alberta is located. The only person in the shop was a young girl who had no sales experience, who informed me that they were out of the pieces I needed. In spite of her unhelpfulness I managed to determine that they should have enough to make up a present for Nathan but was out of time and drove to Gull Lake for supper and to spend the night. Good teaching is
one fourth preparation and three fourths theater.
I'm at Gull Lake today. There is no wind for kites and nobody is going anywhere this morning, but Chris did go for a cross-country ski. After lunch, Jean Mckenzie, Nathan and I made the 45-minute drive to Red Deer to exchange Mckenzie's boots and return my skis. We bought another pair of boots for Mckenzie and I bought new performance boots for me. My old ski boots were so thrashed that Play it Again Sports did not want them, even on consignment.
I returned the skis I had bought, but in their place took a pair of men's powder skis -- same brand, same size, but with less exciting cosmetics and a slightly stiffer flex. The bindings are yet to be mounted and we have to pick them up on the 27th. Until then I have my downhill skis. From there we drove to Lacombe and bought Nathan an HO model train kit which had just arrived, then drove home for turkey dinner. We opened presents around the tree in the evening and celebrated the first Christmas in Orams' new home. Everywhere I go I'm
asked if I think the university stifles writers.
I'm at Gull Lake today and headed home for the day, and for supper at The Mill tonight. It is a Dick family tradition to ski on Christmas Day, but again this year we are missing out for the third time in a row. This is the third time in many years that we have not been on a ski hill on Christmas Day. Nathan's arrival has tied Jean down and Ellen's illness also affected our plans, too. With luck we'll get back on track next year. We'd go skiing locally, but the nearby hills are closed today and the mountains are a challenging three-hour drive with the youngsters, each way. We are thinking we may get it together to go out to Canmore, Banff, or Lake Louise later this week and stay overnight. Additionally, Nathan is not yet three and although we figure he can ski with us, but we have not yet found skis for him. Ski hills have programs for his age group and, in fact, Jean used to be in charge of the Tiny Tigers sometimes when she was a ski instructor at Sunshine Village, but Nathan has never been in daycare and is very attached to his Mom, Dad, and sister. We figure he would have a melt-down if separated and would be best skiing with us.
I drove home, stopping at The Mill along the way. Many in the family are already there. I just stayed long enough to help fix an air mattress, then continued home. I'll return there for supper. I dropped Zippy off, turned up the heat, did a few things and returned to The Mill for supper. Almost the whole P-S clan was there. I had not seen some of them for a long while. It was a good time. Christmas greetings to all. I'm falling behind in my correspondence and apologize. I hope to catch up soon. Nietzsche was stupid
and abnormal.
Supper last night was spicy and my sleep was a bit disturbed. I was not congested and slept well enough that I am up at 0600 feeling rested, but did wake up a few times before dropping off again. I'm up earlier than I might be since I plan to spend the day at Canyon with the Orams. Canyon is a local area, claiming to the the biggest non-mountain resort in Alberta.
The chairs at Canyon are slow, the snow is thin and icy, and the place is often crowded, but it is fairly near home for Jean and Chris, being and hour or less from their new home. Medicine Lodge ski hill is closer to Orams' home, but only open weekends. For me Medicine Lodge is just about as far as Nakiska, an Olympic ski resort with world class facilities in the mountains. Jon and I were on the Ski Patrol at Canyon back in the '80s, so we were there often in those times, but Mount Allan (Nakiska) was built for the '88 Olympics. For me, Canyon is 120 km and Nakiska, is 193 km, a half-hour further than Canyon and on better roads, so the choice is obvious and I have been going to Nakiska in recent years. The other mountain resorts are another hour away -- minimum. We are taking Nathan out for his first time on skis, so a small hill close to home is in order. If that works out, then we'll go to the mountains. * * * * * We arrived at Canyon around 1000 and skied until just after 1300. By then, we had enough for the first day out. Nathan enjoyed the experience, and did well, so maybe we will get to the mountains this holiday. From canyon, I drove home and had trouble keeping my eyes open along the way. I stopped at the A&W in Three Hills and got a coffee.
When I got home, I went to bed and slept at least two hours. When I awoke, it was dark. I think I have been fighting a flu or something. Men have become the
tools of their tools.
I am conflicted between taking time alone to putter around the house and research projects and spending time with family while they have winter vacation time between now and the 6th of January. Basically, we have ten days. The weather promises to turn colder tonight,
with freezing rain and blowing snow, but promises to warm up after a
few days. I continue to tinker with my Lorex surveillance system. Even after a lot of tinkering with settings, it will not send me emails when it detects motion. I've had to file a support ticket. The D-link IP camera works fine and sends me an email every time I walk through the living room. However, the D-link unit is unreachable from my Android app. IMO, these surveillance systems are not fully debugged and need further development. I wasted the better part for the day on the Lorex problem including an hour on the phone. Forty-three minutes were spent waiting on hold while being subjected to repeated announcements and a snatch of very distorted "music" repeating in a loop.
I finally was connected and the worker was more interested in getting rid of me than assisting me. I learned nothing and the problem continues.
The wind came up in the late afternoon and I took the kite out with hopes of doing some snowboarding. With the plus five temperature, no gloves were required, but I still find the harness over my snowsuit clumsy and awkward. It turns out that I have forgotten a lot in a year. I knew that I have gotten out of shape, but I had also forgotten exactly how to rig the kite. After some fiddling I got it set up and launched, but the wind was gusty and I managed to get launched and dumped on my face in deep snow several times, then the wind died and shifted north. By then dusk was settling and I decided to quit. I have never liked this kite much. I loved the one I learned on and assumed this 8.5 metre Evo Smart II would be similar since I bought it from my instructor on his recommendation. I find the control bar setup requires me to reach too far out to sheet out and the kite has less wind range than I had hoped. I'm going to have to play with it and adjust it indoors, and maybe go back to see the vendor.
After supper, the wind really came up and blew at twenty to thirty MPH from the north until bedtime. The temperature dropped, too, down to minus sixteen in a matter of a few hours. That is a sudden change of over twenty Celsius degrees! (thirty-six degrees Fahrenheit). It's 2210 and I am off to bed. I looked outside the front door when I went to shovel coal and I see there is a total whiteout. The temperature continues to drop. Good night. A friendship
founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship.
The temperature is minus twenty this morning. It's pitch dark now at 0630 and 'll check to see how much snow we got and how badly it drifted once we get some light. The news reports cars stuck on a nearby highway. The driveway was blown in again last night and Elijah has been blowing snow for three hours. Another half-hour should get it cleared off. I think I've said before that I can't recall such a cold, snowy winter in 45 years living here -- and winter is just getting started! We're below normal again and the days are less than eight hours long. I'm cleaning house today and doing laundry, but first I wasted several hours configuring the surveillance system. I had chicken, salad and broccoli for supper and then sat down with two beers and popcorn to watch TV. Well, it is mostly not really TV. I mostly watch Netflix. Tonight I did not feel like doing anything else and watched "Cracked", "Kidnapped", and a bit of the "Murdoch Mysteries". That is a lot of video for me. I went to bed around 2130. Imitation is the
sincerest form of television.
I slept right through, and awoke at 0455 with no congestion. That is unusual. Why? What is different Yesterday was not unusual. I worked at the desk, did some housework, had two beers and some popcorn and watched more video than usual last evening AND I washed the sheets and pillow cases.
In the past, have noticed that dust from my hair after lawn mowing or beekeeping was a problem and have sometimes taken antihistamines to cope. I also tried to remember to wash my hair before bed after such activities, but I am now thinking that maybe even when I am not working outdoors that dust mites may build up in the pillowcase after a few nights and cause issues. I buy new pillows fairly often. Good pillows are quite cheap at Wal-Mart and pillows lose their spring after a while. The biggest problem in my experience is to find pillows which are the right thickness and firmness to suit me. It is hard to tell in the store.
I routinely wash my sheets every week or two, whether they seem to need it or not, and the pillowcases get washed at the same time. Washing the sheets means stripping and remaking the bed. With tight-fitting fitted sheets, that job is a hassle, but washing or changing only the pillowcases is easy to do, even daily if indicated. Hmmm. Maybe I will start changing pillowcases more often, and I do have spares. I'll think twice before I start taking more drastic measures, though. The special sheets and pillowcases sound like a hassle.
The holidays continue. Not for me, as
I am retired, but for everyone else. I notice that even many
of those at work are not fully up to speed this week.
Orams have the coming week off and we have been talking of skiing, but the weather is not the best right now and the cold is now projected to continue to Wednesday. Looking at the mountain weather, though, Banff and Canmore are expected to be quite a bit milder than the prairie and there is fresh snow forecast. Elijah did most of the driveway yesterday, but had missed a few spots, so I went out this afternoon and cleaned up. This accomplished two things: Cleared the drive, and gave me some exercise. I find I am suddenly behind in housework, so started work on the project by vacuuming the entry, the front stairs, and my bedroom. Then I dusted a bit.., The first
principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the
easiest person to fool.
I have to get a better bin auger working and ensure the surveillance system is reliable. I'm also waiting for a better airfare to Ontario to go visit Mom and, after that, plan to go to B.C. for the Vancouver Boat Show and to sail a while. I've also been sticking around for Christmas and New Years activities and to spend time with Orams while they are on holiday. In the last while, I have let housework slip, so I plan to continue cleaning house today. I'm getting an early start on spring cleaning, too.
The surveillance cameras continue to be a problem that I work on from time to time. I've tried so many things that I am starting to forget what I have done and go in circles. Neither the Lorex or the D-link are 100% when it comes to remote viewing.
Maybe it is just me and my unreasonable expectations, but somehow, one would expect a surveillance system to be rock-solid and reliable in every regard. Even one failure or unreliability fails the entire system, no matter how good the other components are. By that measurement, both these systems fail. * * * * * I have written, reverse engineered (hacked) and debugged software going back 30 years now and I decided that there must be a glitch in the Lorex software. I had noticed that when I checked "maximize" on detecting motion, that the picture was not maximizing. That had not interested me, but that checkbox is right beside the "send email" on detecting motion checkbox and I wondered if clicking these boxes showed a checkmark but was not setting the flag, or if the flag was setting, it was being cleared somehow. and not being saved. Interestingly, by playing with them in various combinations, I was able to have a few emails sent. The D-link IP camera email feature continues to be intermittent. I got more housework done today, and changed the RO filter cartridges for the first time in 25 months (if my records are correct).
My unit (left) is a basic unit we have had for at least ten and maybe fifteen years. I helped Orams install their new unit last week and I see that RO units are more sophisticated these days, but this one does still the trick. One of the
symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that
one's work is terribly important.
We are in the deep freeze still and can
expect this to continue for a while. Although we have passed
the darkest time of year, and days are slowly getting longer,
January is the coldest month. Early February can also be
brutal.
I have yet to take a look at my bees and the minus twenty temperature outside this morning does not inspire me. The deep snow is also a discouragement. I really should get more insulation on top of the hives before the brood rearing starts increasing mid-month, but getting to the supplies and the hives will be a struggle. I suppose I could put on my snowshoes or break trail with the 4X4.
Just as suddenly, the D-link camera is working. Go figure. I vacuumed and dusted this afternoon. Elijah came and shoveled snow and coal. We had another 3" last night. At 1600, I put a lasagna in the oven to take to The Mill tonight. Shortly after, Zippy barked authoritatively at the door. I opened it and no one was there. Shortly after, she barked again and again no one was there. I had to explain to her that nobody is coming for supper. We are going out. I guess she has learned that if I put something into the oven, people will be coming over soon. Too funny! Zippy is not a bold watchdog. She barks reflexively when the doorbell rings, and runs to the door, but stays behind me if someone she does not know is at the door. If it is someone we know, then she is bold. I am planning to stay up until at least ten tonight, so I had a nap while the lasagna was cooking.
Seeing as I did that, and I had been vacuuming and raised a dust a several points, I figured I should wash my hair before lying down, so I had a second shower today. Although it seems I cleaned house only a short while ago, I am seeing dirt, so I have set out to work the place over, wiping and dusting and vacuuming. The job is immense as is this place, but I enjoy cleaning and it gives me something to do while I wait to head off to visit and sail. I really need to rebuild the bin buddy before I go anywhere, but am reluctant to start. Once I start, the job should go well and I can worry less about leaving. In a week or two, I'll get another load of coal, too, and a full bin makes keeping the auger covered easier for people charged with the responsibility. I really, really should get a gas furnace installed for backup, but the job is somewhat daunting since this place is big and old. The lasagna is ready and I'm off to The Mill for the evening. A scholar who
cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.
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I
slept fairly well, but lightly, and awoke refreshed. The plan
is to spend the day at home, but my new skis should be ready for pickup
later today and I may go up to Orams' for the night.
I'm
in a sort of limbo. I have a number of things I plan to do,
but need to deal with several things here before I am comfortable
leaving the house in this cold winter for longer than a few days.
