Fiddleheads and swing
While out a href=”http://www.geocaching.com”geocaching /a on the weekend I spotted another sign of Spring, a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddlehead_fern”fiddleheads/a. They are one of the first ferns to appear in the Spring and grow very quickly before disappearing. They are a delicacy and have a unique taste when prepareda href=”http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4198.htm” properly/a.br /br /Last night I had a really fun time swing dancing. It was great for a couple of reasons, a live 20-piece jazz band, a new venue with a dance floor that has a new bounce, dancing a record number of dances in an evening (15) and dancing with many of the folks that I dance with regularly on Friday night. One of the organizer, a href=”http://www.swingdynamite.com/”swing dynamite/a, showcased their latest dance troupe submission to the upcoming Canadian Swing Championship in Montreal in May. I think that they will win an award as their dancing rocked. I am hoping to check out their dance lessons in the future.
Sore for a good cause
As I type this entry my legs and bum are a little sore and tired. Yesterday, I cycled 90km/56 miles as part of the MS-Bike tour which took me and 600 other cyclists from Ottawa to a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kemptville,_Ontario”Kemptville/a. We stayed overnight ata href=”http://www.kemptvillec.uoguelph.ca/” Kemptville College/a and cycled back today. Over the two days of cycling we covered close to 160km/100 miles. I was able to locate a couple of new a href=”http://www.geocaching.com”geocaches /athat were placed recently. Rather than stays in the dorms, I decided to camp and was able to use my solo tent which worked out great as they don’t have sufficient dorm space for all cyclists. In a couple of days, I’ll post a story about one of my first experiences with diesel fuel. While touring the campus I saw something that brought back memories of a misadventures in the occurred when I was in Grade 5.
Scavenger David Morrell
Last night I finished reading another good book. It is a href=”http://www.blogger.com/david%20morrell”David Morrell’s/a “a href=”http://www.amazon.com/Scavenger-David-Morrell/dp/1593154410″Scavenger/a.” The book came on the market in March and I was waiting for it come out in paperback but after reading the inside corner again I bought the book and couldn’t put it down. Scavenger builds on many of the happening of his previous novel, “a href=”http://www.amazon.com/Creepers-David-Morrell/dp/159315237X”Creepers/a” and continues where it left off. I like a href=”http://www.davidmorrell.net/”David Morrell/a as he is an author with the ability to say and express a great many things with few words. He relies on your imagination to flush out the details. The book contains reference to a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System”GPS/a, a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching”geocaching /aand letter-boxing which I thought were cool. Early on in the book I figured out the central theme and enjoyed watching the way he has the characters perform their roles. It was a good book and I recommend it highly.
HP
I stayed up last Friday night until the magic hour with 1500 people at the largest bookstore in town. The line was so long that it took me 30 minutes just to get my hands on the book. While waiting for midnight to roll around I skimmed about of books on a href=”http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista”Vista /asecurity and thought about how secure I was not make my laptop. Once I had the book I headed over to the 24 hour grocery store to buy a quick snack of a href=”http://www.kozyshack.com/productdetail.html?id=1″rice pudding/a and started to read the book slowly. I hit the sack at 3:00AM by which time I was really tired. Yesterday, I continued to read the book a work through the first 100 pages. Not much has really happened to this point which is nice as there are 600 pages more to read.br /br /I sent out two geocaches recently and they are being found. I went for a 7 mile run this morning along the Ottawa River which felt good after being stationary yesterday. My Wednesday night intervals with the a href=”http://www.runningroom.com”Running Room/a are going well and I’ll post an update later in the week.
I hate Urtica dioica…
While span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_0″geocaching/span yesterday I ran into some a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinging_nettle”span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_1″urtica/span span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_2″dioca/span/a. It is weed that I don’t like interacting with as it always leaves me itching. span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_3″Urtica/span span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_4″dioca/span is commonly known as stinging nettle. My span class=”blsp-spelling-corrected” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_5″aversion/span to stinging nettles is sort of like a href=”http://www.jasonplancaster.com/”Jason’s/a to a href=”http://www.jasonplancaster.com/category/poison-ivy/”poison ivy/a. The cache was 40 yards away and the only way to get it was through a patch of stinging nettle. My first brush with the nettles was not fun. I jumped into a stream up to my knees and washed away the irritant. I wasn’t too concerned about the water quality of the stream. I jumped up on shore and through another patch and found the cache nearby. It was back again into the stream to wash my legs again. Once home I washed my legs with a href=”http://www.tendra.com/item.asp?id=24793lang=2amp;si=12″span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_6″Hibiclens/span/a and then with a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betadine”span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_7″betadine/span/a. I thought I had nipped the problem in the bud. A couple of hours later I tried hand span class=”blsp-spelling-corrected” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_8″sanitizer/span with a moisturizer. In the wee hours of the morning I tried a 3M skin cream. I stopped by the drug store this morning on the way to the office and found relief and it felt good. It came in the form of a href=”http://www.pfizer.ca/english/our%20products/consumer%20healthcare/wound%20and%20infection%20care/polysporin/POLYSPORIN%20Pain%20and%20Itch%20Relief%20Lotion/default.asp?s=1″span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_9″polysporin/span/a. I coated my legs in the stuff and felt normal again. Ever couple of hours I would lather on some more of the cream. The cream is yucky as it sort of like wearing dried glue on your legs but it is given me relief. Next time I see a span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_10″geocache/span surrounded by stinging nettles I may take a pass until I’m wearing pants.
Geocaching adventure…
Yesterday, I did my first research session in 30C/86F conditions. The training sessions are four hours long and once outfitted you feel like a test pilot as you have a variety of sensors inside and outside your body, all measuring how you are reacting to the heat. In a future post, I will describe in detail what happened and will happen at my two sessions next week. The next sessions will be at 95F and 104F. It is fun training in the heat but the only bummer is that you don’t get a tan.br /br /While span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_0″geocaching/span yesterday, I made a data entry error that put me on the wrong side of the Ottawa River, on the north, Quebec side. When I got to the apparent cache site all I could see is a large patch of poison ivy. Would a span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_1″geocacher/span put a cache in the middle of a patch of poison ivy. I double checked my coordinates and had entered 24 rather than 23. The correct coordinates put me back on the south, Ontario, side of the Ottawa River. The cache was a little nasty as they had magnetically attached the first span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_2″waypoint/span inside a metal culvert leading underneath a sidewalk. You had to reach elbow deep inside the pipe to fetch the metal span class=”blsp-spelling-corrected” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_3″canister/span to get the next set of coordinates. The final cache was hidden inside an old willow tree that was apparently surrounded by poison ivy but I think that the folks at the cache before me didn’t know what PI looks like. While leaving the cache I spotted a red fox which was cool. It looked like a span class=”blsp-spelling-corrected” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_4″super sized/span cat and was on the prowl for dinner.
Minivacation
I’ve spent the last couple of days at my parent’s place which has a panoramic view of Lake Ontario. On a clear day, I can look out and see the Toronto skyline which includes the Skydome. The weekend started off with me driving my father to the airport as he had a business trip in the states. I was able to get in some geocaching, home maintenance and catching up with my parents, brother and nephew. I fixed my nephew’s mp3 player and usb drive which made him happy. I cut out the wooden frame of the four windows that my father and I will replace later this year. I bolted the aluminum storm windows on to act as temporary barriers until the vinyl insert windows arrive from the manufacturer. Today, I replaced the internal door lever on the screen door so that G couldn’t push his nose against the door and accidentally get out. I finished my second Barry Eisler novel with another four waiting for me to read back in Ottawa. It has been hot with temperatures averaging in the hight 80s. I’m looking forward to heading back to Ottawa tomorrow where it is a little cooler. Once in town, I have to start preparing for my next adventure, a long weekend of hiking over the upcoming holiday weekend.
Cycling, geocaching and rabies…
On Saturday, I went for my first cycle of the year and it was to Dairy Queen, on the other side of the Ottawa River, in Quebec. I was excited. It could have been that I was at Dairy Queen or my inaugural cycle. As I think about it, it was likely the cycle.br /br /Today, I searched out a handful of new geocaches that were slightly out of the city. The plan is to go for progressively longer and longer cycling workout to build up my legs for a cycling tour in early August. I tried out my new ca href=”http://www.rei.com/product/733683″amelback/a with my REI a href=”http://www.rei.com/product/747522″backpack/a which has a pouch for the camelback. The combination works great and now, I realize what I was missing out on during my Shenandoah hike. The camelback keeps your back cool while cycling and gives you hydration on demand.br /br /At my second geocache, I met my first a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raccoon”raccoon /aof the year, who I think was rabid. Raccoons are nocturnal and think one was walking along the trail in broad daylight, he looked emaciated and looked as if he had lost all of his inhibitions. He looked a little freaked out. I let him walk by using the bike as a barrier. On my way back from finding two other caches, I got my first flat tire of the year as I was cycling along a corduroy road. I brought along a spare tire, the tire levers and a pump so, I was back in business in about 15 minutes.
Long weekend…
My long weekend in Montreal, Quebec is quickly coming to a close and it is time to get back to normal stuff. Over the weekend, I located ten geocaches and moved my tally up to 704 finds. It felt good to finally surprass 700 finds. The Body World exhibit was really good and I’ll check it out again next time I’m in Montreal. The exhibit runs until early September, so I’ll see if it is better the second time around. It was interesting learning about our bodies and its various components. At the same time, it was like being at a funeral as most folks spoke with hushed tones and moved around very somberly. The exhibit allowed me to review some of the material that I am learning in my podcast-Nutrition Science class being taught by a U. Cal Berkeley professor.br /br /When I’m in Montreal I usually stay at a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGill_University”McGill/a as it is convenient and affordable. One thing that suprised me is that I am getting better at taking the a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Subway”STM/a, the subway. After getting into town, I implicity knew which of the three lines to take, which direction to go and where to get off.br /br /I picked up a new book by C. J. Box, “a href=”http://www.amazon.com/Free-Fire-C-J-Box/dp/0399154272/”Free Fire/a.” It is mystery about a series of murders that were committed in Yellowstone National Park and because it is a federal park, for jurisdiction reasons the criminal can’t be brought to justice. (IBSN 0399154272)
Montreal and Body World
This weekend I am heading to Montreal, Quebec for a long weekend of span class=”blsp-spelling-error” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_0″geocaching/span, exploring and RR. We get Monday off as a holiday for something called a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Day”Victoria Day/a, so I thought it was time to head east and see what is new in the city. One of the things that I am looking forward to is the a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_World”Body World/a exhibit at the science museum. I missed the exhibit when it was at the science center in Toronto. I think Jason saw the exhibit when it was in span class=”blsp-spelling-corrected” id=”SPELLING_ERROR_1″Philadelphia/span. It was just opening when I was in Phoenix, AZ. After missing the exhibit so many times and being intrigued by the web site it will be one of the highlights of the weekend. In keeping with tradition, I will run up a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Royal”Mont Royal/a on Sunday morning.
