DOH!

So I wasn't thinkin' when I scheduled a system test at work... I scheduled it on a long weekend! WTF was I thinkin'?! Oh well, it was a short one and lasted all of a half hour and I was able to do it from home. I was up for an hour before that prepping to make sure it went smoothly.

I'm going to stay up and start my day... I read that it was good to get up at the same time every day. I was surfin' after the test was done and I decided to see if there was a plug-in for Firefox so the player for Sirius radio (internet stream) would work properly. I came across this and it's awesome. It's just like my car radio and shows what playin' and gives a good "dashboard" view. You can put up a favorites list and everything. Anyway, small things make me happy I guess.

Jim's trip is comin' up real fast... he's a bit nervous but I think it's a good nervous... ya know the kind when you're excited and know that something is gonna be a challenge, but it's a challenge you want to take on. I do envy him, I wish I had more vacation days so I could have the family vacation activities, my trip to Algonquin with Jim and do a solo trip to Algonquin too. One year I'll do it I'm sure.

Speaking of family vacations, we're borrowing my aunt and uncle's tent trailer and takin' the kids to Charleston Lake for a weekend camping trip. I know this is totally contradictory to the camping that Jim and I do in the Algonquin back country but I enjoy it... just in a different way. Jim and I talked about this the other day and he's not into the trailer camping in any way... he went camping with his family a couple of weeks ago and they tented it. I just prefer the trailer when we have a baby. I know that lots of people enjoy tenting with babies but for me it easier with the trailer and Marie enjoys it more so that makes me enjoy it 'cause I know she's not strugglin' with it. It's also handy to have the fridge for milk etc. I guess I'm sayin' that I have a place in my heart for both types of camping.

I've never been to Charleston Lake but from the pictures, it looks very pretty. I'm really lookin' forward to it.

Saving Jane - One Girl Revolution is playing on the radio... I really like the riff... cool, hard driving, catchy melody... I should take the time to listen to all the words but I've always been more of a music person so sometimes I totally miss the message in the lyrics.

Now it's a really "poppy" tune that I found myself kinda enjoyin' in the car the other day... Jupiter Rising - Electropop... I KNOW, WTF?! right? well, what can I say, it's a another one that gets into yer head.


Well, I hear little feet walkin' 'round upstairs (I'm in my home office in the basement) so I think I go up and scare the poop outta the boys... they'll never expect me to be in the basement at this hour and they didn't see me come down here at 05:00! mwahhahahaha! (eeeevil laugh)

Have a great long weekend all you fellow Canucks! To my good friends to the south, have a great weekend and enjoy yer July 4th celebrations this week!

g.

Travelling at the speed of light is not possible... darn.

http://www.thekeyboard.org.uk/Faster%20than%20light%20speed.htm

interesting read (I think). I always had dreams of traveling in space when I was a kid.

Marie is a happy girl!

Today Marie got news that she is now allowed to drive and effective immediately her license is valid again! I got home and... nobody was home! The van was gone and I thought, "I guess this is what it's gonna be like for the next month or so... Marie has a lot of 'lost' driving time that she wants to attempt to make up." Good for her. :)


Well, I'm in at work early today... I'm trying to avoid the damn traffic that I've been stuck in for the last few months. I used to be able to leave the house at 06:30 and still miss the traffic but now it's starting as early as 06:00 so I've decided to start leaving the house at 05:30 again. The upside to this is I can leave work at 15:00. I left at 15:30 yesterday (I had some stuff to do that delayed me leaving at 15:00) and was home at 16:50.

Okay, so it's another post that I can't seem to get finished so, I publish and come back if the day allows.

g.

Hennessy Hammock

So Jim and I went out to the forest near our houses to do a test setup of our Hennessy Hammocks. Jim had set his up inside his house and in his backyard but neither of us had set it up in realistic conditions so we decided it was time we did.

Jim posted a video to his blog... take a look to see our little adventure. For the record I didn't really scream like a girl with excitement. I just couldn't believe how comfortable it is. I'm really lookin' forward to our trip this year 'cause it won't matter how bad the ground is, I'll still get a great sleep.

There's only 42 days left until our Algonquin trip and I'm in need of getting regular physical activity back into my schedule. Marie has told me that I'm under estimating the impact of what I'm tryin' to pack in my days (and nights) and that I should be more realistic on what I can get done in the time I have. I wish I could cut my commute down 'cause there's 3-4 hours a day that I can't do stuff... even if I could get it down to 1.5-2 hours a day then I'd be able to fit stuff in first thing in the morning. I find that once the kids are up, they want to participate in whatever I'm doin' and that means that I don't get to go at my pace and there are frequent stops where there wouldn't be if I was solo. It's tough 'cause I want them to have time with me but it can sometimes feel exhausting when it gets lop-sided and there's no time for me (Marie has the same problem). We keep reminding each other that the kids came into our lives and we should take time for ourselves but that's easier said than done. Anyway, we'll get it figured out (I hope)

Suki put up some of her "compromising position" pictures but I'm somehow a little disappointed and I'm not sure why... perhaps not compromising enough? and I can't remember, did she ever get the dollar bill from the ground?

I was interested to learn that Jill doesn't ride her bike to work... I just assumed she did since she lives so close to work. I'm judgin' here, just sayin' I was surprised since she luvs her bike and seems very hard-core to me from her posts.

Geoff... well I'm, not sure, is he on vacation or not? He had a neat picture of a coffee ( actually prolly a latte) and he made reference to it prolly being from Four Bucks which I assume he's referring to Starbucks which is really funny since I always have trouble buying from there 'cause everything is so damn expensive. (how's that for a run on sentence?)

I'm helping my cousin move this weekend... not exactly what I was lookin' to do with my weekend but she needs the help.

Work is suckingk right now... nuttin' in particular, just crappy, uninspiring sh!t. I'd love to figure out a way to "un-pimp" my job. (if ya didn't click on the link you won't get it... or maybe you won't get it even after ya click on it since I'm ramblin' total nonsense right now...)

Ah, well... I'm gonna grab a bite to eat and then get back to work.

Have a good day everyone.

g.

I know it's been said before but I'll say it again...

cyclists need to be *very* careful out there.

A friend of mine was tellin' me that her co-workers husband was biking in to work like he has many times before, only this time (last week) he was knocked off his bike by a city truck and killed. I don't know the details (iPod or not, aggressive rider or not, etc) but it doesn't really matter.

You need to assume that people behind the wheel of the vehicles are not paying attention.

I know that's a sad commentary on our licensing system and the tolerance we have for people being irresponsible while operating a vehicle but it is an unfortunate reality. Just last week I saw a woman eating breakfast cereal while diving in to work! That is unacceptable and she should have her license suspended for that kind of irresponsible behaviour!

Please, please, please people... be careful out there on your bikes, always be aware of your surroundings and have an escape plan. This poor woman is suddenly left without her husband to raise her four children all because someone operating a large vehicle wasn't observant enough to see the cyclist around his vehicle and ran him over.

I promise I won't always be posting these serious/somber posts but I had to remind all of you how dangerous it can be on the roads out there.

Have a good day everyone and keep your eyes and ears on the activity around you when you're riding home today and everyday.

g.

Recurring theme...

I've been reading a lot of blogs over the last year and there's a noticeable theme in blogs of people who are into some sort of fitness activity - most hate fat people. Here's the ironic thing about what I've read... they also seem to have a strong dislike for fat people doing any sort of physical activity.

Fat people just can't win, it seems.

I'm in agreement that being overweight is not a good thing in any way however, not recognizing what it takes for someone to obviously change some very bad, ingrained habits is... well, just plain rude.


Have a good day everyone (including the chubby people!) :)

g.

It makes me sad...

when I see emergency services lining the highway on my way home 'cause it means another soldier has died and the funeral procession is on it's way.

Last night that was the case.

I feel proud that we show this tribute to our fallen soldiers but I also feel sad and, to be honest, angry that we have a fallen soldier.

I know that's a distinct possibility for all soldiers when they sign up but it's the way this war was brought about that makes me angry. It was deception that was used to make this war happen. Don't get me wrong, I understand that the attacks on the U.S. could not go unanswered but to the use deception to expand the war to another country and put all those soldier and civilians at risk... the people involved should be ashamed of themselves. I mean, it's almost like Osama Bin Gone now. There's almost no mention of the mastermind behind the heinous attack on the U.S. and it's like he's of no consequence now. It's all about Iraq and getting contracts to rebuild for the American companies that are connected to the people who deceived us and conned us into the war in the first place.

My oldest son's friend had to say goodbye to his Dad when he shipped off for Afghanistan last week and that's what I think of when I read about all these soldiers dying... those children who will loose part of their childhood innocence because their mother or father get killed somewhere in the world that the child has never heard of. It's crazy and it upsets me. Perhaps it's other things happening in our life right now that are making me feel extra sensitive.

I was debating on whether I would write about this 'cause on one level I feel like it's not my story to tell but on the other, it does affect me and this type of thing is why I decided to do this blog so I will write it here.

On Sunday night my niece (who has taken a turn for the worse) had to be resuscitated after experiencing several major seizures. (I haven't been updating you all on the situation because of the fact that I wasn't sure I should be writing about it but as I said, I feel this is appropriate) As you can imagine this has been difficult for Marie. She is a very caring person and she really takes it hard when anyone is suffering, let alone her brother's child. I imagine the whole seizure thing is hittin' close to home for Marie too.

Aaarrrgg.

I don't want to write anymore right now.

Sorry for the downer post but thanks for giving me your time and for listening.

I'll write more later if I get chance.

g.