We got a snow warning for this?

Vancouver had a 'SEVERE SNOWFALL WARNING' last night but as you can see by the photo, the results on the following morning were somewhat underwhelming. On the other hand, I was quite pleased with the result.

My bike is scheduled to come out of the shop tomorrow afternoon, which means my training for the ride can officially start on March 1st. Not as early as some, but still soon enough to give me adequate time to get physically prepared for the trip. I also got a phone call from one of the 'ride guides' tonight and he was able to answer a bunch of questions I had. He was also good at getting me even more excited about it - we will be talking again soon to hopefully schedule me in for an Orientation meeting where I will be introduced to fellow riders as well as volunteers who will support us not only on the ride, but also with the fund raising aspect as well.

Speaking of support, there have been a couple people in my office who have stepped forward to offer their services for a bake sale! Of course our target audience will be the OTHER co-workers in that same office who hopefully have a weakness for exotic sweet stuff. We will see what we can put together. Still, it was pleasantly surprising to see the enthusiasm that others have been showing for this event.

I am blogging updates on my personal page at the Conquer Cancer website as well - the updates there will be more event and ride specific, tend to be shorter and hopefully more frequent. If you find yourself wondering how I am doing with the fund raising or training, that will be the best spot to find out. Oh, and you can conveniently donate right from that page too - just click the big yellow button!

Riding for Research, Cycling for Cancer Care

I have decided to participate as a rider in the Ride to Conquer Cancer this year. I have a variety of reasons for doing this: the cause is worthy, I’m out of shape, I miss riding my bike, etc. In choosing to do this ride I have committed to two important goals:

First, I will finish this ride and make it from Vancouver to Seattle in two days. I have not been on my bike in about a year and am totally out of shape. Furthermore, my bike is also in a state of disrepair. This is starting to sound like a reality TV script already. I have until mid-June to prepare for the ride and I will be blogging updates along the way. This charity event provides online support for the participants by setting up Rider Profile pages, and even incorporating personal blogs there. While some of my posts will appear here as well, I will try to figure out that system to keep most of the cycling activity on that site. Depending on how robust it is, I may have to cross post here just to put up the interesting photos.

Second, I have set a goal of raising $3,200 for cancer research. The proceeds will go to providing care and research funds right here in BC - you can see a more detailed breakdown here. For those of you outside of the province, understand that the money raised here also contributes to the body of research on cancer, which can benefit all of us worldwide. Each of you can help with personal donations, which can be done on my rider profile page, found online here, or a donation form can be printed out and mailed in if that is easier. The deadline for me to meet my fund raising goal of $3,200 is on May 21, 2009. I haven’t done fund raising before so if any of you have tips or advice, I’m interested to hear more.

Thanks in advance for your support.

Fifty Valentine Days

Valentine's day arrived and I had a full day planned. My 'West Coast Parents' were having their fiftieth wedding anniversary. I think they got married around the age of twelve or so, because they certainly don't look or act like people who were at the age of legal consent fifty years ago. I hope I do as well.

The general plan was they were having an open house for any and all to drop by - and drop by they did. I was on hand to answer the door, take coats and ensure the guest book was signed. Other friends of theirs were brought in to help with catering, fixing drinks and the like. Over a hundred people arrived, some staying briefly while others reveled into the night. By the time my wife and I left, it was clear that they were happy with how things turned out.

Lasting fifty years of marriage is a rare accomplishment. I have heard people say that it was easier back then, etc. but the bottom line is that it is still quite a feat. The prime minister of the nation, along with the Governor General and other dignitaries don't autograph plaques to commemorate the event for nothing. Art, Mary Lee, congratulations. Fifty looks good on the two of you.

I really don't know why

I don't know why I like this picture. I suppose if I thought about it long enough I'd come up with reasons, but I don't care to do that. I just know that I like it, and that's enough.

I was going to write about these index card sized posters I saw littered on the sidewalk on my way in to work that read 'Sinner Repent' and 'Accept Christ' in some misguided attempt to advertise a religion. But I won't - at least not here. I have too many of my own issues with organized religion right now to offer anything resembling an unbiased or fair approach to the topic.

So I like this photograph. I like how it dissects the one building and reflects yet another. I can't explain it beyond that and don't see the need to. I took it on my way into the office and remember that my mood lifted a bit afterward.

Beer on Friday makes the week worthwhile.

Vancouver weather seems to be back to normal. The snow is gone, we have rain three days out of seven (or thereabouts) and I no longer need gloves when going outside.

I'm especially happy about that last bit.

Things have been pretty hectic at the office lately, but we did manage to push out an important release to our software. Bringing on a new customer is always a busy time for us and in the current economic climate, we all know how important it is. At my company, bringing on a new customer always means beer on Friday.

If I had my way, we would have a new customer every damn week.

I have been finding it harder to come up with things to post about here lately. I think in part it has been because I've become more active posting on Louise's blog and also I find I have increased my usaage of sites like twitter and facebook. I blame my ipod for that. Both of those 'social networking' sites are better suited for quick, short replies to people and so are mobile devices. Contrast that with my typical blog post which would be painful to create on such a device. Maybe I should be looking at a netbook with a decent keyboard?