My parent’s 60th wedding anniversary was in early August. The family wanted to do something together. However Catalina was under quarantine at that time, so we delayed it to last week. To celebrate, we met in Salmon Arm for a short while.
So once again, I did the drive east from Vancouver. Last time we met my parent’s there, they took quite awhile to make the commute. Since I figured we had time, I thought we should experiment with the route and try going through the Okanagon valley to see what that is like. At the very least, they should have great fruit stands.
On the whole though, I was disappointed. The towns of Kelowna and Vernon did not look like what I expected. They looked like pretty average towns. I think I was expecting something more touristy, but they were just places to live and work. It seems a shame for the valley which is supposedly Canada’s orchard.
The fruit stand we did stop in was literally called “Kelowna Fruit Stand” and it seemed rather commercial. That said, I impulse purchased a box of cherry juice that has been fantastic. I should look to see if I can get it locally.
My parents actually arrived at Salmon Arm far earlier than last year. Their excuse was that it was because they didn’t have to take care of the dog; Dallas was staying in a kennel for the trip.
This year the weather was better in Salmon Arm, but that isn’t saying much. Last year it was raining a lot every day. So we were able to go to the beach, but we didn’t stay long; it was still cloudy. The lake was pretty cold; probably filled with glacier water. Still, I had my manliness to prove so I went swimming. (I couldn’t let my sister be the only one in the water.) We went out to a floating platform and I jumped off a couple of times.
Really, the reason we went was to spend time with the family. That was mission accomplished.
I did splurge for the family and rented a speedboat for a couple of hours. It was a lovely afternoon and the marina had a boat available for us. We did get to watch a houseboat arrive to pick up supplies; it was filled with young people. In fact, on the roof there was the spectacle of beer with a tube and tunnel contraption. They did not look like the most responsible of people, but they were friendly on the dock when they passed us.
We took the boat out after getting training. Eventually we figured out that if we went in certain directions we could bounce on the waves. My father had the biggest smile on his face when we did that. My mother and sister, not so much. After a bit of time, we went back to the rental place, dropped them off, and went back out. We continued to have a great time until our two hours were up.
The biggest issue with the boat was that to enter and leave the marina, you have to go between a green buoy and a red buoy. When we returned the first time, we had trouble finding the buoys. It didn’t help that there was a sailboat with a bright red sail trolling about the area. Eventually you learn that the buoys are much closer to the marina than you would think from out in the lake. The second time we returned, the earlier houseboat was going on the wrong side of the buoys. That was a bad example for another speedboat that followed them.
The speedboat renter did compliment me on what they saw of my driving, and that I did go the correct way.
While I was in Salmon Arm I continued my daily running. Since I didn’t know good running trails, I continued with my habit of trying to run every street. I now have covered 18% of the town. The good/bad part is that there is no competition for anyone else trying to do the same; I’m the top runner in Salmon Arm.

Since Catalina returned, she determined that we should take advantage of the area we are in and do more hiking. This is a good idea. Last week we determined to implement this plan.
We first had to decide where to go. The last hike we did was a three hour drive away to Joffre Lakes, but we wanted something closer this time.
There are two mountains near Vancouver that are collectively known as “The Lions”. You can see them from many parts of Vancouver, although it is harder from downtown. Unless you live in a tall high-rise. They are the origin of the name for the Lions Gate bridge. (Which, in turn, is the origin of the Lionsgate film studios.)
The initial plan was to try to hike up to one of those peaks. A website claimed it would take eight hours. As we got closer to the departure though, we got the feeling that was too ambitious. There was another trail that started in the same place, Tunnel Bluff. That one was a more achievable four hours.
We went to the small town of Lion’s Bay, where the trail started. I was a little nervous about this place; a lot of the reviews for the trail complained that their car got towed. However, I went to the website of the town and got a detailed description of where it was safe to park. It did mean we had to walk a kilometre to the trailhead, but it also meant we didn’t have to pay for parking.
Note: Lion’s Bay is set into the side of a mountain. When we were driving through, Catalina stated, unequivocally, that it was “F***king gorgeous!” We even went so far to look at property prices when we got home.
The trail started with a series of switchbacks, so it was slow to start. But after an hour, the rest of the trail was surprisingly flat. There were two creeks that had, what might laughably be called, bridges. They were more a log or two across with a rope to help you balance.
The end of the trail was well worth it. You come out of the trees on to a large rock that overlooks the bay. All the climbing you did earlier has paid off and you can see everything. The many islands are all there in the distance and you can see all the boats crossing the sound. The vista is incredible.
And if you looked up the mountain, you could see that the peaks of The Lions were completely shrouded in clouds. We made the right choice of trail.
A nice lunch was had as we enjoyed the view. Took lots of pictures.
The trip back was relaxing. And the car was right where we left it.

This month I visited my family. I had decided to only go for one week. I planned accordingly. However, since I was working while I was there, I didn’t actually have to go back. I kept coming up with excuses to stay. In the end, I stayed for about four weeks.
I sort of wished I had planned for that. If I had known, I would have been able to handle my plants better. In the end, most of them have died. I’m sorry about that. The hot pepper and rosemary look like they have survived, and a few green onions might pull through. The oregano, thyme and parsley are not coming back.
I did do a few smart choices though; I brought an extra pair of running shoes. And I needed them. I did a lot of running down there. Mostly because there were new areas to run that I hadn’t seen before. I even did something I normally loath doing; I drove to places to do my run. This allowed me to range far and wide. I discovered that the area to the south east of my parent’s place is a lot hillier than their area. Which is saying a lot since they live on the biggest hill in the surroundings. According to my calculations, I have run more in the month of July than I have ever run before. But I could have said the same thing about June. And May. (This Tennessee run has made me competitive.)
Eventually though, I had to return back to Vancouver. Catalina is coming back soon, so I have to get the place ready for her. She will have to isolate, so I better have a nice home for her to live. This was my first time trying to drive from Alberta to Vancouver in one day. I’ve done the other way in a single day several times, but this was the first time trying to do it heading west.
I did the drive back on a Monday. I was hoping things would be easier by doing it on a weekday. There were more trucks on the road than usual. It made passing harder. The construction on the road was more active, which caused the occasional lineup. There was one stressful time though, when a single car was doing 20 under the speed limit in an area where there was no passing for a long time.
Because it was a really hot day too, I decided to stop at D Dutchman Dairy. It is a place we discovered in Sicamous. It initially got our attention because it was a petting zoo next to a fruit stand. But they have a lot of ice cream for sale too. On a hot day, I thought it would be nice to have some. Unfortunately, a lot of other people had the same idea. I was surprised to see it so busy on a weekday. Since I was travelling I got two milkshakes for the road.
They were good, but it was getting to 35° when I got to Kamloops, and it was probably not a great idea to have that much dairy in my stomach. I got a wrap there, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as my stomach was feeling a bit off.
This may have caused an issue later. By the time I got back home to Vancouver, I did not feel like eating much; I ended up only eating a bunch of cherries for dinner. I probably should have eaten more, because I was totally useless the next day. I forgot that my body needs a lot of calories to keep functioning.
The weather in Vancouver has also been hot since then. It is harder to stay motivated under those circumstance. I’m compensating for the heat by running later in the evening. Unfortunately, this causes me to stay up later as I’m still feeling a little wired.

On Friday I drove from Vancouver to Alberta to visit my parents. It is a long drive, and with a pandemic raging it is probably not advisable. I did have a test last week, so I’m pretty sure I’m clear. And my parents have been very careful too, so it is probably okay.
The hardest part of the drive is the section between Vancouver and Hope; in either direction. Heading east, there is always a traffic jam outside of Hope. (This time it was construction.) Heading west, the traffic jam is closer to Vancouver. So I have that to look forward to when I head back.
Once past Hope, there is very rarely any traffic issues.
I did my best to be nice to my body. I stopped regularly to stand and stretch my legs. And to raid fruit stands near the Okanagan. The fruit stand in Salmon Arm had fresher fruit, but the one in Sicamous had a better selection. Plus it is across the street from a dairy that has ice cream. I stopped there to get a milkshake for the road. Unfortunately, a girl after me thought it was her’s and grabbed it. I didn’t accept it until it had been sanitized.
That brings me to another point. There weren’t many people wearing masks. There was physical distancing, but often I was the only one wearing a mask in a business I visited. That concerns me.
I would like to make an observation about the town of Golden: It really shouldn’t exist. Every other town seems to make sense due to the road that logically winds its way through the mountains. But that is not Golden. In Golden, the road is no longer natural. In Golden, the road has been willed into existence and busts through mountains and along cliffs to continue on. If mankind hadn’t forced their will through the mountains, there would be no reason for that town to exist.
I stopped at a turnout at the entrance to Yoho park to use the facilities. There was a pair of women there having trouble with their car. They had concerns that their tire was loose and were trying to tighten it. The big issue seemed to be that the hubcap was in the way of getting at the screws, and it had a locking bolt on it that prevented its removal. They had a husband on the phone offering advice. I do not know enough about cars to be able to help, and admitted that to them, so I was very glad a man in a pickup truck came by soon after; he looked much better able to help them.
In the end, the drive took twelve and a half hours.
2020-6-30 23:37

There is a street, a cul-de-sac, that is infamous among the runners of Vancouver: Captain’s Cove. If you are trying to run every street, it is one that is particularly hard to get. It is at the south end of the city, at the bottom of a hill, on a dead-end street. The entrance overlooks the Fraser River Park, so it is nice and scenic. But most crucially, it has a gate. I assume that rich people live behind that gate. It is also small enough that the gate is probably not going to open very often.
I know of only three other runners who have successfully completed it, one by sneaking in with a mail truck. A few others have “completed” it, but that was more based off of GPS trackers not being precise enough and the error margin putting them beyond the gate. I might be willing to go that route, but it would feel unethical.
Today, I decided to do something about it.
I ran across the entire city and staked out a place in the Fraser River Park. Then I waited and watched. I was hoping to tailgate a car going in, so every BMW, Lexus, or Porsche gave me hope, but none turned into the cul-de-sac. Eventually two people came out walking their dog. I asked if they would let me in to run the street, but they wouldn’t accommodate me.
I continued to wait, keeping my Garmin ready to spring into action at any time. I tried to amuse myself by reading on my iPhone, but it failed to charge overnight so I didn’t have full-power.
After a half hour, the two people came back. I asked them again, but this time I described the issue. I’m trying to run every street. “It’s barely a street.” But, according to CityStrides, it still counts. “Our neighbours wouldn’t like it.”
I don’t know if I impressed my problem on them, but when they went back inside, they went through the car gate. And then started talking to someone just beyond. That gate is wide enough that two trucks could pass each other at speed. I took my chance, started my Garmin and sprinted it. I went through the entire street and back out in less than a minute. Success!
I was probably waiting an hour for this opportunity. Was there a better use of my time? Probably. But it was worth it. Since I announced I was near the top of the Vancouver CityStrides leader board, the others have started climbing again. I am very competitive; I’m not proud of this. But the thought of losing my position depresses me, so this was important for my mental health.

This month I’ve run more than any other month before. 576.8km. I think my previous maximum was 488km. So a significant increase. This is because of the virtual run across Tennessee. I’ve increased from my usual minimum of 12km a day, to a minimum of 16km. I’m currently sitting at 50% of the way across the state, so that is good. I have until the end of August to do the whole thing, but I’m planning to run back too, so I can’t let up.
The route is interesting in that it took me several days to even get into Tennessee. The south west corner of the state is covered by the Mississippi river, so you have to “run” across Arkansas to find the bridge to Memphis. I ended last night in the state of Georgia. You almost feel like you’ve taken a wrong turn, but in actuality you are probably avoiding mountains. Virtual mountains.
Dogs are allowed to sign up as well. It is a little depressing to see that many dogs are doing better than me. I shouldn’t be surprised, because dogs are really good runners, but I still feel I should be doing better.
Mind you, there are some really big runners who have already finished.
On Friday, I saw a post for another virtual run. This one was based off of the Camino de Santiago. I was VERY tempted to join it. I’ve been intrigued by the actual pilgrimage for awhile, and this seemed like a good gateway drug. I was thinking to log my mileage on both virtual runs at the same time; I don’t know if that was ethical. Eventually I decided to give it a pass. I already have a run to focus me, and I don’t need to spend money to get a medal and a t-shirt.
With all the new mileage, I am making very good progress on covering all of Vancouver. Today was a big day in that I am at second place in the standings on CityStrides for Vancouver. I only have eight streets left to do. Three of those streets are guarded by gates and security, two of those are very strictly guarded as they are part of the Port. The remaining five are actually in Burnaby. I guess the borders of the city aren’t that strict in the database. My best bet for the secured streets is to have a bad GPS unit on a rainy day and then wander just outside the gate, and hope an errant satellite mistakes me for being on the other side. Seems unethical, but I think that is how others have done it. I’m going to try and hit four of the Burnaby streets next weekend.

I have been continuing to self isolate at home. My wife is still trapped in America. As much as I want her back here, it is probably better that she stays there: She is living in a big house with plenty of room and a mother who is feeding her very well; in Vancouver we have a small apartment. This place is adequate for one person working from home, or two people IF one of them is going to work each day. Also she does not feel safe flying these days. I do not blame her.
In the intervening time I have grown scruffier. I have not shaved since March 12th, and it shows. I was supposed to have a haircut on April 3rd, but that got cancelled. So it looks like I will be getting long hair. Catalina has been getting long hair, and it is making her look fantastic.
I have at least been good about getting out every day. I have to run to keep up my streak so that gives an excuse to leave the apartment. If I need groceries, I’ve often been ending the run at Costco to grab essentials. Unfortunately, I can’t bring my rolling cart on those trips, so I have to carry everything home. You become a lot more discerning about your purchases when weight becomes a factor. It does not help that I’ve been drinking more chocolate milk; it’s a good recovery drink and it makes a nice hot chocolate. It is also heavy.
A benefit of the pandemic is that golf courses have closed down. I wish I had realized sooner though. With the courses closed, I can run on them. That means there are a bunch of new trails that I’ve never had the chance to run before. I’ve already made trips out to two of them. I had a plan to alternate them; one Sunday I would work on running every street of Vancouver, the next Sunday I would explore a golf course.
Unfortunately, I’ve heard that two of the city courses are opening up on May 1st. That is before the next Sunday. I’ve run one, but the other I have not. So my window of opportunity is closing fast. Ergo, I must do my weekly long run tomorrow evening to get out to this un-run golf course.
Next month I start another challenge: virtual run across Tennessee. It is 1000km, and I have four months to do it. If I can keep my regular pace, I will finish within two months and a bit. Which will probably prevent me from being able to do the and-back-again challenge intrinsic in it.

Early in this month, Catalina and I went to Houston. We were going to go see some friends, go to some parties, and then relax a bit. At the conclusion, I would come back to Canada; Catalina would follow a month later.
Unfortunately, while we were gone, COVID-19 started to arrive in America.
The parties were a little nerve-wracking. At one point we were talking to this women who was telling stories about her time on a cruise ship. Oh and the sniffling and sneezing she was having at that moment were from allergies. I’ll admit, I had trust issues.
At the end of the week, I left my wife. She is staying in Houston for a month to manage her affairs there before she will come back in early April. At least, that was the plan. The airline is now acting cagey about the flight and have changed it from direct to having a layover in Denver. She is currently unsure if she even wants to get in a plane under pandemic conditions. I do not blame her.
My flight back was still direct. I stayed in my window seat the entire time. I cleaned my hands as much as possible. But by the end of the trip I was sure I had contracted the Corona virus. Despite having no evidence of this. I do appreciate that Catalina’s mother gave me a meal to bring with me. And you feel really special eating Beijing Duck on a flight.
On my first day back in Vancouver, I did not go to work. I stayed home, and did my work there. Unfortunately I did go in on Thursday for a meeting. And there was a goodbye celebration for a coworker. They had cake; there is no way I’m missing cake. I did worry that I was infecting the entire office, but I did my best to distance myself from everyone. But again, Cake!
Since that day, I’ve stayed home the entire time. Home from work, not from life. I have to continue daily running. Although my schedule for that is more flexible now; I no longer feel I have to do it in the morning before work. But I am discovering that that brings its own risks. If I go onto the Seawall in the evening, there are a lot of people there. I have to do a lot of dodging, and I can no longer guarantee that I keep two metres away from the other pedestrians.
I do not blame them for being out. If you live in downtown Vancouver, you have a small apartment. It is unreasonable to keep people cramped up in a small space for days on end. They deserve to be outside. But it does mean I have to avoid them.
So, if I do an evening run, I have to be more creative in my routes.
I have occasionally gone grocery shopping, usually at the conclusion of a run. I try and get just what I need and get out of there. But it does mean I’ve interacted with people. Which makes me worry.
I’ve had some bowel issues, and occasional coughing. These are all symptoms of the virus. But they haven’t been bad. And the stomach issues may have come from the shrimp (I’m sensitive to them) I had in Houston. And the coughing may just be life in general. But hypochondria slips in easily. But I’ve been back for three weeks now, so I’m feeling more confident that I’m not infected.

Yesterday I finished the latest book in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, (better known as the “Game of Thrones” series), “A Dance with Dragons”.
I read the first book back in 1996 when it initially came out. Actually I read it before it came out, as the parts with Danerys Targaryen were printed in my copy of Asimov magazine. I thought it was fantastic and I couldn’t wait to continue it. But I didn’t want to be burnt; I had seen epic series go uncompleted because their author had died. So I decided that I would wait until the author finished the series before I read it. This would also let me only have to go through them once instead of continually rereading to remember what had previously happened.
At the time, I didn’t think it would be that hard. The author had only planned a trilogy and it shouldn’t take too long. That was nearly 25 years ago, and five books have come out in this “trilogy”. According to the author, he only has two more to go, but the last book came out nine years ago.
With the television series out, and increasing popularity, it was becoming impossible not to have the books spoiled for me. I knew there was an event called the “Red Wedding”. I knew the fate of various characters. So I surrendered and started reading again. I reread the first book in 2017 and have been slowly going through them ever since. (Although I finished the second one in two weeks.)
They are still fantastic books, but they are also long slogs. The writing is good, but it didn’t grab me. It might be because there are a lot of characters and they are hard to all follow. I’m never sure who is the protagonist that I’m supposed to identify with and root for. It doesn’t help that whenever you start to like someone, they get killed. It’s safer not to read. There is a lot of politics which makes it have less action.
I compare this all to other books. I snuck in a few other novels while I was doing the big read and I could absolutely inhale them. (I highly recommend the Old Man’s War series. That was gone in a few weeks.)
I’ve started watching the TV show as well, making sure not to go so fast that I don’t go past what I’ve read. The show has helped my compression a bit as the characters and their personality stick out more in my head.
But now there is nothing holding me back. I can mainline the TV show. When the last two books come out, IF they come out, they will not hold as many surprises. Such is life.

This month I’ve done more presentations for work than I have, really, ever.
Earlier in the month my company had a developer convention. We took over the local science centre, and gave a bunch of talks. My family asked if they could come to see me present, but it was employees only.
I had originally volunteered to give a talk because I saw it as a way to challenge myself. And presenting is a valuable skill to have. So I figured out something that I was working on that might be worth giving a speech about and submitted it to the organizers.
Thankfully, they didn’t select me. But my manager grabbed two other people on my team and assigned the three of us to give a presentation. That one was accepted. It was significantly easier and a better learning experience; not everything depended on me.
We split up the project, had meetings, made slideshows, and did practice sessions.
We gave our talk on the 16th. I think it went well; my manager complemented me afterwards. He said I had good skills and looked confident. I did feel old-school because I wrote my speech in point form on cue cards. Most others either winged it or read from their computer.
Today, I gave another speech. This one was easier.
They had a panel on running; they want to get people to join for the Vancouver Sun Run. I volunteered and they accepted.
It was not a big event. There were a total of ten people in the audience, and about seven panelists. It didn’t help that it was just after lunch, so people may not have returned yet.
For me it was a chance to talk about how great I am for 5-7 minutes. I may have gone over, because I’m just that awesome. Basically I talked about running ultramarathons. I touched a bit on daily running, but I had run out of time so I had to stop.

Is “Die Hard” a Christmas movie? It is a question that the internet has been asking lately, usually with respect to “Love Actually”. I won’t get into the arguments for or against, but I have been thinking about my opinion on it.
I usually say it is one. I even watched it on the day of Christmas Eve, and I don’t think I’ve seen it since it first came out thirty years ago. After watching it again, it is clearly not. It is an action movie set during Christmas, nothing more. But why do I think of it as a Christmas movie?
Let’s examine it; I do not have a high opinion of Christmas. I enjoy family and the ceremonies that go along with the holiday, but I dislike the way it has been changed into a shopping ritual with crass commercialism. Carols have been ruined for me, because they are overplayed during advertisements.
So I can theorize that I call “Die Hard” a Christmas movie because I want to sabotage what others think of Christmas. “Love Actually” is a better Christmas movie, but I would rather watch “Die Hard”.
Now what does that say about me? That I am distrustful of an institution that does improve my life and want to break it? That sounds distressingly similar to what happened in the last presidential election in America. I can no longer assume I am better than the average republican voter. I am subject to the same pettiness as they are.
2019-12-30 20:33

Yesterday was the office Christmas party. In the past it was a nice affair, but this was the first time that Catalina would be able to attend; usually she is out of town.
It was at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, where we take over multiple ballrooms. Most importantly, it is easily within walking distance of home. So we get to not worry about parking or traffic. (It was bad for others this year.)
Catalina was dressed magnificently, and she got many compliments for her mirror dress. It also made her very easy to find anywhere in the room.
We got two drink tickets, but that was only for the basics. The price for a tequila was discovered to be $14, which was more than we were willing to spend. And it probably wouldn’t even have been good tequila.
The food this year was very disappointing. Last year, my table was one of the last ones allowed to go to the buffet, so I was getting hangry by the time we were released. This year we were about halfway through. But they were already closing down one of the buffet lines when we got there.
The food selection was not great; the first half of the food consisted of salads of various ethnicities. The hot food, was mashed potatoes, pasta, and some exotic vegetables; most of it was picked over. And the only meat they had was turkey, which ran out by the time we got there. We were told there would be a ten minute wait for more.
This seems like very poor planning on the part of the hotel. Overall, I was disappointed with the meal.
But the dining company was nice. It was nice to introduce my wife to all of my coworkers that she had only ever heard about. She was familiar with a few already, but now she got to get to know many more.
Afterwards we had a nice walk home, with Catalina cozy in her big coat. A huge Christmas tree had been installed outside of the art gallery that was lighting up the night.

My Garmin died. It was a slow passing. The battery just wouldn’t charge anymore. Thankfully, before it got into this state, it hd a full charge, so I was able to use it for a few days, fully aware that the end was nigh. I kept trying to plug it in, in hopes that it would charge again. That didn’t always help; one time the plugging in got it to turn on while I wasn’t around so that all that happened was that the battery drained. But I’ve had it since 2013, eight years, so I can hardly complain.
I ordered a new watch via Amazon, so I had to improvise for the few days I was between Garmins. Thankfully my Apple Watch can track me, although I prefer a dedicated appliance. But for a temporary basis, it was fine. It did mean I had to work a bit more to transfer the data to my online tracker, but that was hardly a deal breaker.
Eight years of scientific progress has changed Garmins. There are a whole bunch of new features that quantify aspects of my runs. And I am a complete junkie for statistics.
Unfortunately, I think the new watch is interfering with my Apple Watch. Not via electronic communication, but through the statistics. My Apple Watch trusts the information from the Garmin over its own data. And the Garmin track calories burned differently than Apple does; it separates active and resting. This wouldn’t really be a problem, but my Apple Watch gives me a pleasant reward animation if I can keep the calories burned above 1000 each day. And it keeps track of the running total. So on a day when I ran 25km, I only did 900 calories worth of effort. I think I’ve fixed that, but I worry about the future. You shouldn’t change your measuring system in the middle of scientific research.
One of the new measurements from the Garmin is my cadence; the number of steps per minute. I’ve been told that I SHOULD try and have a cadence of 180 steps per minute as this encourages shorter strides. I’m usually around 170. If I try to increase the cadence, it is quite visible on the charts. Initially for 500 metres in the middle of the run, I did my best to increase my step speed. However, I didn’t really seem to perfect the shorter stride and instead I just vastly increased my speed.
So the idea of fartleks has come around. I now try and do more short sprints within my run. I also have tried to change my Saturday runs to be as blisteringly fast as I can go, although for a shorter distance. My goal is to increase my speed so I can do the Sun Run in April in under 40 minutes.
Well, since I’ve tried doing that I have learned more about my body. Since I run every day, my body has no time to recover. So if I do anything too strenuous, it can add up quickly and start causing real pain. It is why, when it is colder out, I make sure to wear more than shorts, even though I can withstand the chill; but my knees degrade quickly if I do it too many cold days in a row. And now I’ve learned that these sprints are hard on my feet as my left foot is starting to hurt from the pounding.
I’ll try to build up speed again after the pain goes away.
But this recovery time is applicable to more than just running. I used to have a runner’s body which means I have huge leg muscles, but nothing above the waist. For the past few years I’ve been trying to do push-ups as well; usually in the evening before bed. It has been working out well, and I’ve gotten compliments on my upper body. The only problem is that I have not been able to increase my numbers. I’ve been plateauing at just below fifty for about a year. It’s made the exercise frustrating.
But last month, because of back issues, I took a break from the push-ups. When I got back to it, my limit had not degraded. And for whatever reason, this month I started only doing the push-ups every second day. Since then, I have been almost consistently above fifty, and even making new records.

The trip to Salmon Arm two weeks ago was great. The weather was not, but it was still a pleasant experience.
Catalina and I got to Salmon Arm first, but we drove right past it. We continued on to Sicamous because the rest of the family had stopped there on our recommendation. There is a good dairy with great ice cream. It’s worth stopping if you have the time. After getting the requisite ice cream we headed back to Salmon Arm and the hotel.
The next day I got up early and went for my run. Unfortunately, the entire town seemed to lose internet access while I was out. Which meant I could not see a map on my phone. I had a lovely run, but it went longer than intended. I never got truly lost, but I would have taken a more efficient route back if I had known better. Still, I got a good overview of the area.
When the weather isn’t good, there wasn’t a lot to do. We did check out some beaches and walked along them, but there was no way we were going swimming. Except in the hotel pool. That was nice, except there was a group of eight old white men who had come for a golf vacation who kept taking up the entire hot tub. They were nice enough though.
On the second day it cleared up a bit, so we inquired about renting a boat. However, the boat operator was not giving good odds that it would stay clear. But we still walked along the docks and enjoyed the brief sun.
Generally we just enjoyed each other’s company, having drinks and snacks in the hotel room and talking.
On the Wednesday we went our separate ways. The rest of the family left early to get back to Alberta. After they were gone, I took a somewhat long run that ended up being a half-marathon in distance. I thought I was going back to the beach we had previously walked along, but I took a wrong turn and went down a steep hill to a dead-end. On the advice of a local I ran along the railway tracks. Fortunately the next train to come by was five minutes after I was off the tracks.
We took a leisurely drive back to Vancouver. We checked out a farmer’s market/petting zoo/corn maze that was in Salmon Arm before leaving.

We took a day trip to the States today.
We’re going to Salmon Arm tomorrow to meet my family for a short holiday. So we thought we should get supplies. It is a lot easier for us to make shopping trips to the U.S. than my family. And we do need to get some other things there.
I am not a fan of Walmart, but my wife is, and that is the first place we hit. And there I had the most Walmart experience I could expect. And my expectations come from People of Walmart. I hit the washroom before leaving and the other man in there had decided that while using the urinal he didn’t need to pull up his pants. At all; he was mooning everyone coming in. It made the man who came in after me, who didn’t wash his hands, seem almost normal.
After that we went to Trader Joe’s. I like the snacks there. My wife likes the alcohol. We split up as we enter and go impulse shop our respective sections. It’s not pretty.
Yeah, I totally expect the border agent to pull us aside and charge us duties. I’m not going to pretend I’m not over the non-existent exemption for five hour trips.

I got hit by a car this morning.
I was doing my run, heading west on Hastings. I came to the corner of Commercial street with the light mostly green for me; it was counting down that it would change soon. I probably sped up to make it. A car appeared and tried to turn right in front of me. The driver was looking to the left, so she did not see me. A building blocked visibility, so we didn’t have warning of what was about to happen. When the car appeared I yelled caution; I had the right of way and assumed she would stop.
She did not.
It was 7:36 AM. She was in a white Lexus RX350.
So suddenly I had a moving car in my path and no time to stop. The side view mirror hit me and I got thrown to the ground. Fortunately, the mirror was a collapsable one, so it didn’t hit me too hard.
For a brief moment I thought the car would do a hit-and-run, so I yelled at it “You ran over me!” But it was just pulling around so the driver could get out and check on me.
I was a little shook up, but nothing felt broken. I had a bit of a scrape on my left eg, but that was the most obvious injury. We exchanged information. She was apologetic. But then I was too; I said sorry for yelling at her when I thought she was driving away. I’m Canadian; it comes naturally.
Afterwards I felt good enough to continue my run. It was about 4km home. It totally wrecked my pace, but I was still moving well.
My left foot felt like it has gotten squashed. As near as I can tell her tire ran over my foot. And the scrape on my leg was actually from the moving tire.
I still felt fine when I got home, so I went to work.
After half a day there, I noticed some new aches and pains. My left wrist hurt if pressed. My back felt achy. So I took off for a bit in the afternoon to go to the “City Centre Urgent & Primary Care Centre”. I was seen very quickly there, and the doctor was of the opinion that I had some bruises and strained muscles. I should be fine but watch for any changes. By this time I had forgotten about my foot; it had stopped hurting so I didn’t even mention. I wonder if my shoes are still good?
And yes, I did check, I can go running tomorrow.

It’s been a busy weekend.
Yesterday in the morning I did a run in Vibram FiveFingers. These forced me to use different muscles for running. Of course I had a good reason to go slower, because there was no padding on my feet. But now my legs ache and walking hurts.
In the evening we went out and had an early dinner at Legendary Noodle and then went to the beach. I found a good spot to sit and read. This was part of a plan, because at 7:45 there was an airshow; a pilot with a stunt plane did about fifteen minutes of tricks. After it was over we walked home. An hour later we went right back to the same place to see the evening fireworks. (It’s a half hour walk each way.)
In that time, things had changed significantly. We thought we would be able to get in as easily as Wednesday evening, but it was a lot busier. Security basically closed off the beach because it was full. We had to stand in a crowd of people behind the wire barriers to see the show.
I don’t think the show was as good as on Wednesday, but the finish was better.
Today I got up early and did a run that I THOUGHT wasn’t going to be too long, but it ended up being 23km. My legs hurt but I wanted to take the opportunity to sneak into the Port of Vancouver and run around some of the streets there. I had been told it is possible to get in on the Sundays when security isn’t as tight. The rumours were true and I got a bunch of new streets.
It is fascinating back there. There are beautiful, uninterrupted views of the North Shore and huge ships being loaded and unloaded.
I continued onto the Trans Canada Trail, which for some reason had a fence closed on it. It wasn’t impossible to hop it, but it was precarious when you can’t trust your aching legs.
Since I was in a new area I did a few more streets than I had expected, which caused the total run to be a bit long.
At noon we were out seeing the Pride Parade. We were there for two hours; there were a lot of people, corporations and organizations marching. The highlight was seeing the Prime Minister there. It was still going on when we left. It had all started to blend together so we decided we had had enough.
Then off to Sunset beach to see the after-parade shows. We grabbed a bunch of free stuff and went home.
We took a much needed nap.

Yesterday we had a barbecue at work. I tried to bring some food, but the stuff I brought was not actively eaten. So I got to return the chips to the store I brought them from.
As usual, there was a lot of food at the barbecue. For the past year I am always hungry, so I was able to sate my appetite for awhile. We have a good variety of foods and some of my co-workers are very good at cooking. I got to try a bit of sous-vide steak along with some salmon. There was also the requisite burgers and hotdogs. And a lot of sides.
Cherries seem to be very common here so several people brought those. (I may have installed myself near them during the party.) There was a period a few weeks ago where Catalina and I purchased 13lbs of cherries in a 24 hour period. (We were forced to buy a lot due to parking validation requirements.) They were very good.
It continued today with some of the leftovers still waiting to be eaten. In a taste test comparison, I think I like the double chocolate cookies from Costco better than their one-bite brownies. I am surprised by this discovery.
I miss being able to hold a barbecue for my friends at my place. But Vancouver does not allow me to live near friends, or have a big enough place to throw a party.

It’s been a wild weekend. There was an event in town that several people we knew were coming in for. Since we knew it was happening a year in advance, we were even able to get the guest suite for some of them. Unfortunately, these guests will not be coming back here next year; the apartment building was not happy with how they left the guest suite so they’ve been banned. This reflects badly on me and I do not like that. Fortunately we can still use the guest suite for other friends.
The event culminated in going to the beach on Monday. I had taken the day off so that I could enjoy it too. Mind you, I also spent a lot of Monday sleeping because it has been a tiring weekend.
There were a lot of cool people there, and a few of them even taught us “poi”; basically waving scarves and weighted strings around in cool patterns. I think I was able to do the double twirling for a few seconds. Catalina was a natural; she kept at it for a long time. I needed to take a break and absorb what I had learned so I went swimming while she continued learning.
The night ended with a beautiful sunset before we had to go up the stairs (479 steps) back to the car. Truthfully, I enjoyed the stairs; it’s good to challenge yourself. Even if you do it carrying a cooler.

On Saturday I drove from Vancouver to Priddis, Alberta. In all it was 989km.
We (well, “I”) stopped at the Cloverdale Bakery to get some Danish pastries for the trip. I love actual Danish pastries because I grew up with them. This bakery is the only place I know where I can get them, but it is so far away I can only do so when I’m on a road trip. The weinerbrod was amazing; it was still warm from the oven. I also wanted to get my mother’s opinion on it.
The next significant stop was in Sicamous. I figured we were close to the Okanagan valley, so we should try and get fresh fruit. I had Catalina on fruit-stand spotting duty, but she totally dropped the ball in Salmon Arm. Still, we hit Fruit World and were able to pick up some cherries, strawberries and significantly overpriced peaches. Next door there was a dairy farm with a petting zoo. They even had pheasants and peacocks to look at. I think their money-maker was the ice cream they sold. They had a large flavor collection, and I would have loved to go to town on it, but I was the driver. I did get a very good chocolate raspberry milkshake. Very driver-friendly.
I noticed something fairly soon after entering Alberta from British Columbia. The memories of highway driving in the prairies came flooding back. The drivers from Alberta drive differently than B.C. drivers. Now, don’t get me wrong, B.C. drivers are terrible, especially in the lower mainland. But past Hope, there is an evolutionary pressure on them that does help.
In Alberta, there are long two lane highways. Inevitably, clumps happen as one slow driver tries to pass another slow driver. Slowly. Other cars get backed up behind the slow moving obstacle. It’s annoying.
That doesn’t happen in B.C. In the mountains, there are a lot of one lane highways. Occasionally, for a few kilometers, they become two lane highways and suddenly it is a speed race as everyone has a vested interest in trying to pass the slow drivers in the limited time they have available. This makes people very efficient at passing. In Alberta, the two lanes last forever so they feel no rush. Hence the clumps.
We stopped in Banff for gas. There were advertisements for the Banff marathon the next day. I probably could have done well in it, but I think I would need more warning than twelve hours.
We had thought about having a dinner in Banff, but it was like every other ski-resort town I’ve been to: no convenient parking, and no drive-thru. If you want to eat, you have to pay a lot to park and you will be sitting down. We subsisted on the snacks we had in the car.
2019-6-18 14:52

Together, Catalina and myself read the first chapter of the bible, Genesis. It does not paint the religion in a good light. The later chapters might redeem it, but I have not read them yet. As such, my initial impression is that it is a soap opera of terrible people. These are not people I want to admire. And the writing could be better; the plot is stopped every so often to let the reader know who begat whom.
In this environment, life is cheap and it is a buyer’s market. The solution to problems seem to be to kill everyone. And if you don’t feel like doing that, slavery is completely condoned.
The key to being successful is to be favoured by god. Abram somehow lucked out and his family is blessed and can do no wrong. I have no idea what they did to deserve it. They are allowed to be a jerk to each and everyone. No consequences. Take slaves. Kill people who annoy you. Is this why people keep thinking God has a plan for when bad things happen?
The pharaoh that they deal with doesn’t seem to be terrible. He’s looking for advice and seems to deal fairly. From what I’ve heard, the pharaoh is supposed to be the wickedest person, so I’ll assume there is another pharaoh in a later chapter.

The Vancouver Sun Run was today. I’m in the yellow group, which isn’t the fastest group. (That’s the blue group.) I’m in the group that should be done in 44 to 48 minutes. They put you in the appropriate group so that the fastest people run first, and aren’t blocked by slower people. Considering there are sometimes 50,000 people running, this is necessary. The race starts at 9:00 in the morning. But the last racers don’t start until after ten; they are expected to take nearly two hours to complete. i.e. They walk.
Last year, I ran with the Fraser Street Run Club; they are the run group I usually join for my group runs with the Running Room. The problem with them is that they are all very fast, so I didn’t help their statistics. I ran my fastest 10km ever, but I wasn’t even in the top ten of the group. So this year I ran with my company; I figure I’ll place better in a group full of computer programmers. There may be more of them, but I think I’m more competitive.
Last year, I ran it in about 42 minutes. Technically I could have been in the blue group this year but I haven’t been feeling that my legs are in the best condition. So I was worried I would embarrass myself if I couldn’t make the time my group wanted.
I had three differing goals this year. At minimum I wanted to finish in 48 minutes. Better would be to finish in below 44 minutes so I can justify going in the fast group next year. My stretch goal was to beat 40 minutes.
I finished in forty minutes and eleven seconds. Not quite my stretch, but pretty close. It gives me something to shoot for next year. And I think I can cut off 12 seconds. Especially since I was slow at the start because I had to dodge the crowds of people going slower than me. That wouldn’t happen in the blue group; I would be the slow person they would need to dodge.
I pushed hard this year. Unfortunately, I think I ate too much for breakfast. My stomach felt queasy at points in the race, but it usually just caused burps. Embarrassing but not slowing.
The weather was good too. Not hot. Partly cloudy so there was occasional sun.
At the end, Catalina was as the finish line cheering me on. She even got a video of me running. We then went into the stadium and checked out the after run party. Basically vendors, food, and occasional free stuff. The advantage of finishing fast is that lineups haven’t had a chance to form yet.
We left the arena at about 10:45 to see the worst hailstorm I’ve ever seen in B.C. Hail that was big enough to hurt as you were hit by it. I sheltered my head with a bag, but it still hurt my fingers. And there were probably lots of runners/walkers still on the course at that time. And there is absolutely no shelter anywhere on the course, unless you leave it. I’m glad I was fast.

I started using CityStrides. It combines my love of maps and running. Previously I addressed this addiction with orienteering. However I have not joined the local orienteering club. All orienteering clubs usually meet on Wednesday evenings and that intersects with my usual group run day. They also meet all over the lower mainland, so I would need to start driving to them. And I’ve gotten to the point in my life in Vancouver where if I have to drive somewhere, I don’t want to do it. Which is odd, considering that I will happily run to places much further away.
Anyway, CityStrides keeps track of everywhere I’ve run and then shows me on a map. And then challenges me to cover an entire city. So right now, according to it, I’ve run 18.2% of Vancouver. I regularly run with someone who has covered 98% of the city. It is encouraging me run places I haven’t run before so I see new things. It is sometimes surprising what you can find when you go a bit away from the regular routes.
Interestingly, I have only run 3.52% of Edmonton. I lived and ran there for much longer, but my percentage is much lower. (Heck, I’ve completed 8.95% of a village in France that I hiked/ran through twice.) The reason for that, I think, is that I didn’t push myself to run different routes. Also, Edmonton is more spread out than Vancouver. And more importantly, the streets in Edmonton are numbered. CityStrides will only consider a street run if I have run 90% of it, even if they are discontinuous. In Edmonton, many streets will span the entire city.
I like a goal. The challenge invigorates me.
I’m mostly trying to cover the downtown peninsula, but I have now started expanding more and more out into the other areas. I doubt I will be able to get everything though. The streets it uses don’t always exist; there is a trail in Stanley Park that no one has run because the actual trail is different from the waypoints that exist in CityStrides. And one of the more frustrating “streets” is the boundary between Lost Lagoon and an adjacent swamp. I’m still tempted to find a way to get those streets, although I may have to get very wet for some of them.

It has been a bad month for running.
My physiotherapist gave me the go-ahead to start running again. It was short distances with lots of walk breaks, but it was still running. My back was a little off, but it was improving while I was running.
Then, right before the long weekend, I got hit by the flu. So my holiday time was spent lying in bed. For the first time in about a year and a half I did no exercise. With previous injuries I would still exercise, mostly on a stationary bicycle. This was clearly the worst illness I’ve had since I started doing daily runs.
I also discovered that if I take a Tylenol PM before going to sleep, I will sweat enough to be in a puddle halfway through the night.
On Saturday I started running again. I’ve been improving my 10% since then. However, I have other muscles that are causing me issues now. My core muscles that extend into my legs get very painful if I cough. Did I mention that my illness has been lingering for awhile?
I would like running to stop hurting.

Let me tell you about my weekend.
Catalina has made it clear that she does not like my sofa. I decided that when she came back to Canada we would go shopping for a replacement. Fortunately Costco had some nice comfortable reclining chairs for sale so I took her down there on Saturday to get an opinion on them. She liked them, so we went and bought them. The store would hold them for 24 hours while we got ready for them.
We walked back home and drove the car back. It is a lot harder to drive to Costco than to walk. With all the one-way streets, and traffic jams, it seems to take about the same time as walking. Catalina went in and brought one of the chairs out in a flat-bed cart. In the harsh light of day it was clear there was no way that the box would fit in any orifice of the car. This is going to be a problem.
We thought about phoning friends and seeing if they had a bigger car we could borrow. Eventually we got the idea of borrowing one of the flat-bed carts and rolling it home that way. We called and got permission for this, as long as we deposited a driver’s license. However, that would be something we would need to do on Sunday.
In the meantime we had put the sofa in Craigslist to see if anyone would take it off our hands. In the worst case scenario we could get someone to take it away for $50 to donate to a refugee family. But we did get someone and they were willing to come on Sunday afternoon with their moving truck.
On Sunday morning we walked back to Costco. We were able to get both chairs onto one cart and then started rolling. It actually went fairly quickly, although the hill on Smithe was a bit of a struggle.
When we got to the building though, it became clear that the boxes were too big for any of the doors. So we went to the loading dock in the back and struggled to get them up the short flight of stairs. After that, with the security guard’s help, and the loan of his rolling cart, we were able to get them into the elevator and into the apartment in two separate trips.
Afterwards we took the flat-bed cart back to Costco.
Now the problem was the sofa. It was a bigger problem than it should have been, because due to reasons, there was only one elevator working in the building. And it wasn’t the moving elevator. Heck, even getting the sofa out of the apartment was a struggle because of existing furniture in the way. It would only go through doors if it was on its end and rotated through. In other words, it couldn’t be done on the rolling cart.
And with only one elevator working, it was always packed with people.
Our first attempt to get it onto the small elevator didn’t work. It seemed to be a touch too big. Maybe if we took the small legs off? Well, they needed a Phillips screwdriver to do that, and the only one I had did not work well with the small holes. Eventually I was able to get two off with an eyeglass screwdriver, which was not enough. This was not my finest moment.
On the second attempt we got it on board by treating the elevator doors like a regular door and rotating it through when it briefly opened. All with an audience in the elevator, including a security guard.
After that, we got the sofa back to the loading dock and let the Craigslist guy pick it up.
The chairs were assembled. It was soon discovered that they needed more outlets to deal with all the features. So we had to go out and buy a powerbar for them. But then, everything was done. The chairs had their place. They reclined nicely. They are comfortable and I’ve even caught Catalina sleeping in them.
And all of this moving was done while my back is not in the best shape.

When I flew to Houston last February, sitting in the airplane seat messed me up and eventually caused plantar fasciitis. I’m still feeling the effects of that.
I thought I had taken good enough care of myself this time to avoid any bad effects. I even made sure to stand up and move about the cabin on the flight. And things went well. I was able to run in Houston without any issues. I felt I had dodged a bullet.
When I got back to Canada, things started out okay. I had no pains when I ran. I even did a 23km run on New Year’s Day (four days after I got back) that, when mapped, looked like Santa. The next day, Wednesday, there was a quick run, and on the way home, I had a bit of pain in my back. Nothing serious though.
It was still there the next day. On the Friday I noticed it may have been connected to my left calf. So I spent that evening and the morning of the next day massaging it, and using a foam roller. I even made an appointment to see a massage therapist, although the next availability wasn’t for two weeks. My run at lunch felt great. Until I got to the halfway point. Then things got worse and worse. I was hurting a lot by the time I got back home. In fact I could barely walk.
On Sunday, I decided that my run would only be 5km. It still hurt. Things weren’t getting better.
By the next Wednesday, my run was only ten minutes, and it was painful the entire time.
I kept at that time/distance until last Friday when I saw a physiotherapist. He diagnosed me with an L5/S1 (Lumbosacral Joint) sprain with nerve root irritation. Basically my back is sprained, and my muscles were fighting to protect it. That is why my legs and butt hurt while I was running. And the impacts were going to make things worse.
In other words I have to stop running. I had gotten up to 288 days of consecutive running.
I have some exercises I can do that will help things. And I hopefully will get back to it soon enough.
I thought about trying to keep the streak going with water jogging, but that would have been too large a commitment to keep doing that every day by going to a pool some distance away. It is doable, but unpleasant enough to not make it worth it.
And, I’m okay with failure. I was hoping to get up to one year of daily running, but if it was easy, it wouldn’t be an accomplishment. In my head I thought of those people who have been doing daily runs for thirty years. But they do such short runs that it isn’t really a challenge. I’ve been doing usually about 12km. That’s not easy and each day is an accomplishment.
Besides, I’ve noticed several other injuries are starting to lessen now that I’m giving my body a break. So there is that too.

So for the last two weeks I’ve been in Houston, celebrating the holidays with Catalina.
Initially, my family came too; they stayed for half a week. Catalina’s mother used to run a restaurant and she kept cooking for us. We tried to stop her by inviting her out to dinner, and we ended up at Dim Sum where she sneakily paid too. Her food was fantastic! Every dish was really good. I think she was trying to fatten the family up. Well, it was mission accomplished for everyone else.
I was able to thwart her by continuing to run every day. This town is not friendly to runners. Or, maybe I should say that being out in the suburbs is not friendly to runners. The roads in the communities have sidewalks, but they are usually blocked by people parking in their driveways across them. However, the traffic is so light in those areas, I feel okay running on the roads. However, the big thoroughfares that have heavy traffic never have sidewalks. In those cases I try and run as much to the side as I can, and on some of the limited grass if that still isn’t safe. (I’m faster on the roads than the uneven grass.) The big storm a few days ago did make it harder to stay off the roads.
There were four cardinal directions I could go. To the west I could eventually get to a creek that I could run along. On the last day I found that on the north side of it there were better trails than the south. To the north I was blocked by a golf course, but that worked out well on Christmas Day when it was unused and I could go everywhere I wanted on it. To the east was industrial, and I did go a couple of times, but it was a bit nerve-wracking being next to a lot of traffic. There was also a gated community that was its own little fortress. It looked like it had good trails, but they were not meant for non-citizens. To the south, there was a bayou; I initially thought I could take a trail through it, but I quickly found it was too wet to make it interesting. I instead ended up getting lost in a gated community that hadn’t guarded its back entrance. On another day I stayed on major roads and was able to go far to the south.
The rest of the time, it was fairly domestic. We didn’t make much plans to do anything and just spent time together. Catalina still had to work, and I concentrated on a software project at those times. I made good progress.
At one point we did go out with the same clothes from our wedding and had a semi-professional photographer take pictures of us. We got some beautiful ones that I still need to organize and post publicly.
I’m now in the plane waiting to go back to Vancouver. We are delayed in leaving because we are waiting for some passengers on another flight that is running late. They have just arrived so we should be leaving soon.
2018-12-28 18:52

When I got back from my Alberta vacation, I noticed some bubbling in the ceiling above my bathroom sink. That doesn’t look good. It was in a perfectly straight line, so it looked like it was coming from above.
I called management, and their initial thought was that I was to blame. I can’t fault them for that; whenever I talk to people who work in the building, they are complaining about mold because people don’t air out their apartments. I try to be better, but I still didn’t think this was my fault; I was gone for a week and I hadn’t been running any water. Still, it is their building so they had to come and investigate.
And investigate they did. I came back from work to find holes in my bathroom ceiling. They were now sure it wasn’t my fault and that it was a leaky pipe above me. They made a request that I clear out the closet because the leak isn’t even in the bathroom. Fortunately I cleared out the correct closet, the one next to the bedroom. I’m glad Catalina wasn’t here, because I had to place the entire contents of the closet on her side of the bedroom. You have to live tight in Vancouver, so losing a storage room is a major problem.
On a Monday, I came home to a big hole in the closet ceiling. There was a dripping pipe with a big bucket beneath it. Every few seconds there was an audible drip. The plumber had also opened the door to the bedroom and so when he removed ceiling, drywall dust got everywhere.
They told me that they wouldn’t be able to fix the problem without shutting off the water in the entire building, which would have to take place in a week. This dripping sound was right next to where I sleep. Fortunately I had a string that I tied to the pipe and led it down to the bucket, which mitigated the dripping sound.
The next day though they got in a different plumber, who removed my string and attempted to tape the whole thing up. Poorly. So now the drip was happening in a number of spots so I wouldn’t be able to use my string method. I just lived with it.
I survived under these circumstances for the week. I wore shoes everywhere and adjusted to the fact that my apartment would remain dusty and messy.
On the following Monday, I woke up to find the water was out. Apparently throughout the entire building. I thought it was due to my problem; which seemed odd since I hadn’t seen any general announcements. And to do it before people had a chance to get up in the morning? I found out from the security guard that the pipes had gotten clogged from some tenant(s) deciding to put diapers, kitty litter, food, and feminine hygiene products down the toilet. Apparently I live with a combination of idiots and barbarians.
I still did my morning run, and did my best to clean myself off with wet wipes. I had some that I had purchased years ago for emergencies like this and they were still good. I couldn’t shower at work because I had a doctor’s appointment before.
Management phoned me. They wanted to take advantage of the shutoff to get the pipe fixed in my place. This was not unexpected. So when I came home, fairly late, the pipe was fixed and the water was on. There were still holes in my ceiling.
On Tuesday I went to the management office to complain about the mess that had been made. (I was mostly concerned about the dust that had gotten everywhere.) And to find out the future schedule for the holes in the ceiling. Interestingly, the lady in management took the opportunity to vent to me instead. She had just gotten back from vacation and it was in the evening when her neighbour in the building told her sewage was coming up the bathtub. She had to spend the evening cleaning and getting an emergency plumber. The pipes were so backed up, that a snake couldn’t break it up; it was like concrete. So they needed to rip out the drywall to get at the pipe to remove it.
She tried to say it was lucky that they could do my repair at the same time; I corrected her that it was not lucky, just convenient.
In any case, she would get the repairs done by Friday. And then afterwards, a cleaner would come and clean up the mess.
That was all finished today. So, I now have a clean apartment, and I just have to get everything back into the closet. I should probably take the opportunity to purge some of the clothing as well.

I went for an eye exam today. It has been probably four years since my last one. I was a year behind when I got laid off in Alberta, and it consistently slipped my mind when I got to BC two years ago. But I’m on the ball now.
It was a short walk to the optometrist; I like downtown living. I had to pass through the Yaletown Candytown, a street festival that took over a few blocks.
Everything was professional at the doctor. This seems like a good place to go. Prognosis: My eyesight is not that bad, considering my age. I do not need to wear glasses.
However, she did put some pupil dilation formula in my eye so she could take a good look at what is going on in there. She first noticed that there is some early signs of cataracts. My mother had them later in life, so this isn’t surprising. And it is a simple operation if they want to do something about it. It isn’t a concern yet.
A more pressing matter were some warning signs of Macular Degeneration. I haven’t got it yet, so I can take steps to mitigate it. Mostly, I have to protect my eyes from UV light. The doctor was recommending I get some good UV protective sunglasses. Even better, would be to wear a hat. (Thank you Steph for your help in getting me the one that I wore today.) I also need to have my computer use a darker background, possibly using NightShift as well. I also should eat colourful fruits and vegetables, which any doctor would tell you.
I’m glad this was caught early. Although there is no cure, so I have to be careful.
Afterwards I wandered out into the festival. It wasn’t great while my pupils were dilated; it was impossible to focus on some things. But it was still a good place to hang out.
There were creepy gingerbread men wandering around. I liked the two inflatable polar bear costumes. There was some sword fighting demonstration, and I liked that one of the actors was dressed like Princess Mononoke.
There were also ice sculptures. I frankly found them offensive. This is not a city that deserves ice. It is not cold enough to support it. Leave the ice sculptures to places where the art can last for more than a few hours.

I had a good vacation. It was nice and relaxing.
My computers all seemed to work, so I could do my personal work. I didn’t get too far, but I did advance things. The chief part was to work with my father and figure out what we need him to do to start making progress. With that, things should start happening quickly.
I continued doing the running every day. The area my parent’s live in is not great for running though. Wait, let me rephrase that; it is good for a run, but not for multiple runs. There is only one area that feels safe to run; otherwise I’m running on a major highway. So a lot of my runs were on the same backroad. It’s a beautiful road, but I was on it for seven of the nine days.
On two of the days I went into the Kananaskis park to do something different.
I initially tried to go up the Moose Mountain service road. It seemed like a good challenge to do a long uphill. However, I saw the Pneuma trail, which parallels the road and I thought that would be a nicer way to go. Unfortunately I had done no preparation for such a change, so I was unprepared for some of the facts on the ground. Namely, that there are trails that intersect the Pneuma trail. And the Sulpher Springs Trail is a much more major trail that I mistook as the trail I should be on.
I started suspecting something was wrong as I was going down a lot more than I expected on a trail that was supposed to be going up. However, I figured that I could always turn around at some point and go back the way I came. Fortunately, it did not come to that. I encountered the road that I had used to drive into the park. I was able to parallel that to get back where I started, at nearly the distance I wanted to run.
Dallas, the family dog, was well-behaved the entire time.
The next time, I attempted the same plan, but with a better idea of where I needed to go. This time, I was able to get to the top of the road. I even got to the top of the peak, but I don’t know the name of the mountain I was on. From there, you could see the trail route to the top of Moose Mountain. Thankfully I wasn’t going that far. I was happy with what I was seeing. From certain points, it felt like you could see the entire Canadian prairies. I’m certain I saw the buildings of Calgary.
All of this running did continue to make me hungry. My mother complained that I was looking too thin. However, I was eating twice as much as everyone else.
But all good things come to an end. On Sunday I flew back to Vancouver. The flight from gate to gate would be an hour and forty minutes; enough time to watch an entire movie if I didn’t get distracted. It was going well until they decided to reset the entire system. The half hour reboot meant no more movie for me.