Last bike ride for the year

Man, was it cold out this morning. Still is, actually, but was especially so at about 6:30 am when I set out for my morning ride. I was wearing quite a bit too - cycling shorts with knee warmers under a thin pair of sweat pants - and all that under my wet weather biking pants. Thick socks in regular sneakers. Two pair of gloves, because just the one pair wasn't cutting it yesterday. A t-shirt under a sweater, a thin hoodie and an insulated coat over that - today was not the day for my rain shell, it was too cold for that the other day. Under my helmet was a toque and a scarf wrapped high around the back of my neck.

I still wasn't warm. I really needed some sort of a wind breaker, like what I get with the rain shell. On today's ride the wind was extending through the layers I had on my arms and torso, leeching what little heat I had from me. At least the double pair of gloves worked better than just the single. To compensate, I chose to ride at a slower speed, but on hills so I could be working hard enough to stay warm without the wind chill. I didn't bother with listening to my podcasts on this ride because I didn't want to have to stop and take off a glove to change tracks, etc. At least I remembered to change the batteries in my lights though, so I was extra visible.

Overall, the ride wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't horrible either. It was dry and I noted that the ground now has frost in it, something that wasn't there just last week. And as for cold, well it was at minus 6 degrees Celsius. That's cold on a bike, but I have been in worse and fared better. It's just becoming a little clearer to me what sorts of things I am going to need to keep riding in this weather. Like perhaps an insulated biking jacket for starters.

Running on little sleep

Last night, Holly asked if I wanted to join her in doing something 'crazy'. That something, as it turns out, was a late night grocery run. There were several factors that led us to this expedition: the car coop doesn't charge the hourly fee after 11:00 pm, we needed groceries for our open house party this weekend and most compelling of all, we hoped that we would avoid the mad rush of holiday shoppers by being out at such a late hour.

Overall, it worked. What we did not count on was the aggressive restocking that goes on at that time though. While there were very few actual shoppers, there were at least as many warehousemen busy unloading pallets of stock. We had to negotiate our shopping cart around their pallet jacks on several occasions. Still, the staff were friendly and helpful with finding items we couldn't so overall I think it was a good plan.

By the time we got home, the pair of us were completely exhausted. I remember looking at the clock shortly before dozing off and it was almost 3:00 am, meaning that I would get roughly half the amount of sleep I normally run on.

Getting out of bed this morning was difficult. It was so very comfortable and warm. Maybe a nap this afternoon will help.

Different Strokes

We have been visiting the family on Holly's side over the past week, which involved a lot of driving and eating of sweet potato pie. It was a very good visit with family. Near the end of our stay however, we got news that my mother had suffered a stroke. This came out of the blue for me, although in hindsight I should have been able to see the signs. I started calling other family members straightaway to do what I could to take some of the load off of Dad. Being on vacation in the US meant I really could do little else, and I needed to do something.

The kicker came when I got in contact with my cousin in Hamilton, or rather, when his wife called me back. She informed me that my uncle (mom's older brother) had also had a stroke just days before and was also in the hospital. I began to wonder if my mother's clan had expiry dates.

In both cases, they had bad strokes. When I say 'bad' I mean ones that dealt significant damage. This isn't the first stroke that my uncle Don has had - he's had significant strokes before as he has the misfortune to inherit very bad circulation from my grandfather. This was Mom's first stroke though (at least a diagnosed one), so when she posted a comment on my brother's facebook page that read

Was in the hosp for the day today. Symptons, frothing at the mouth, delerious, diagonozes. take an aspirin a day, come back for more blood tests. ha ha Did have a c.t. scan, blood work and ekg. Was back by 3:30, not bad

both Shawn and I figured that Mom was joking around. Neither of us understood what she was saying at the time, even though in hindsight all of it is pretty clear except for why the doctor let her out of the hospital after reporting symptoms like that. Of course, Mom wasn't able to get out so easily on her second visit.

At this point, both Mom and uncle Don are conscious and in the hospital (in different cities.) Both are recovering at whatever pace they are able to and for the rest of us it is still pretty much day by day. More later as this develops.

Mid-Movember update

Well this is it, my moustache after a fortnight. Unlike a goatee it isn't as itchy although the hair is still just as bristly. It is not soft at all. Now that it has some length, I find that I need more self discipline to stop smoothing it.

This is only after two weeks.

Just to remind everyone, I'm growing this facial hair for charity, not just for kicks. Please check out the fantastic logo to the right - the one called 'Bigote Bros.' It will take you to the Movember website, where any donations you make will go toward helping to find cures for prostate cancer and other men's health issues. There is a lot more information on that website so I encourage you to check it out.

Movember and Remembrance

I tweeted my thanks to a prior generation for their sacrifice this morning, despite the fact that it is all but guaranteed to not reach the target audience. Let's face it, twitter is a technology for this generation. No matter, I put it out there anyway.

If you look on the right of my blog you will see a fantastic logo for the Bigote Bros. Bigote is Spanish for 'moustache' and a few of us at work have banded together to participate in this year's Movember event, where we grow moustaches in an effort to raise money for prostate cancer and men's health issues in general.

I must say, it's a lot easier than biking to Seattle.

If you feel like making a donation to this worthy cause, just click the logo and it will take you to my official page, where you can make an online donation using their secure webform. If I get a donation, I'll post a picture of my current moustache - oh, and anything over $10 will get you a tax receipt as well. I'll be honest - this is not my preferred look.

Finally, the picture is one I took of Robson street about a week ago in the morning as I was heading into the office. I like how the lights reflect off the wet pavement.

Return of the mouse (for now)

Our mouse is back. He hasn't dared to come inside this time, but it did inspire me to tear down the patio so I could clean in behind the benches. Telltale signs of the mouse were there although I didn't see the rodent while I was cleaning it up. It was an all-day job but that was ok, it needed to be done. I figured I had solved my mouse problem until later that night when the mouse returned to inspect my work. He knocked over a can set out to be recycled and I caught him in the beam of my flashlight. I knew I had more work to do.

The next day I made a trip to the store and got some traps. They are installed and I'm ready for the inevitable. I'll spare you the gruesome details, but when I was picking them up at the store the lady was very experienced and knowledgeable, so I got a very informative lecture on the pros and cons of each type of trap. Until I've caught the mouse though, I have to put up with our cats wanting to go outside to the balcony area with a look of excitement in their eyes. Of course, all they seem to do is stare at the mouse - they haven't actually managed to catch one.

One of the best dishes in Vancouver for less than $10

Last night, Holly and I ate dinner at a little Japanese restaurant in town called Aki. This is a place that serves wonderful food, but whenever we go, unless we have been going often, I usually get my favorite dish. It's what I would consider one of the top dishes to eat in Vancouver for less than $10. That's a pretty tall order in my opinion, but the beef curry at Aki lives up to it, in my mind.

It's a little strange ordering beef in gravy on rice at a place known for good sushi. It also takes a while for them to prepare, but it is oh so worth the wait. Meanwhile, Holly ordered a rice bowl that was covered in various sushi that she seemed to also enjoy, although since it was assorted sushi, there were one or two pieces that she offered to me instead. While she is not a fan of octopus, I can attest that it too was delicious, assuming you like that sort of thing.

While I really like the beef curry, I also know it's not the kind of dish my dad would ever try. It has the word 'curry' in it, and that puts him off, even though it's nothing at all like Indian curry, which is what he is thinking of. Having said that, it does have a bit of spice to it, but not in a burning hot kind of way - more like 'a lot of different and subtle flavours exploding in my mouth with each bite' kind of way. Oh well, his loss, my gain. Even though I'm not hungry right now, I'm salivating just at the thought of this delicious dish.

A nice Wedding and some Cross Border Shopping

So Chris and Amy got married. We were in attendance and had a great time. Amy's dress was beautiful (as was she) Chris and the boys were looking sharp and everything fell into place for a great time. It was a long day but there is no way we would have missed it.

Anyhow, congratulations you two, and thanks again for including us.

Both Holly and I had to behave ourselves at the reception because we had rented a car for the weekend and planned to use it for some cross border shopping the next day. On our way into Washington we noted that even the Nexus lane was pretty busy and that they did something unusual this time: they allowed TWO lanes for the Nexus cars and shunted all the other regular traffic through ONE lane, where they queued up cars to have the dog run by and sniff. It made for a long wait to get into the US on this rainy Sunday afternoon.

We made it through though, and managed to get our snacks at Taco Bell, among other places. There were some deals to take advantage of but really this was a small trip with very little coming back. But it was a nice drive in the rain.