Archive for ◊ August, 2007 ◊

31 Aug 2007 Book ‘Em Danno
Author: Gail |  Category: Aviation, House of Fielding  | One Comment

one shady character
one shady character

Two weeks ago I was the successful bidder of an online auction for health charities through work. The prize was a one-hour ride for two people in Durham Regional Police’s new Air1 helicopter. Oh, and this baseball cap.

One bidding war, a couple of weeks of waiting for the Sergeant in charge to return from holiday, two security checks, and a flurry of emails about dates and times and approvals from managers later, my friend and I have a date booked and we’re taking half a day off. Woo-hoo!

I wonder if this means I can speed a little in the Durham Region and get away with it…

31 Aug 2007 Gas Leak Friday
Author: Gail |  Category: Working Life  | Leave a Comment

I was at work less than three hours when there was announcement of an evacuation due to a gas leak around the intersection in front of my office building. People could smell gas despite the fact that our windows don’t open, which meant the fumes were creeping up through the ventilation system via the outside ducts. Firetrucks and emergency vehicles were already on the street, and the block was cordoned off to pedestrians and street traffic. Everyone spilled out onto the streets and the people in my branch gathered around our meeting point, waiting for news of when we could return to the office. We didn’t have any, so a bunch of us went for lunch nearby and returned an hour later for more news at 1:30. There was only a brief update without a message to go home, so we decided to return to the meeting point at 2:30, but shortly afterwards a bulletin was issued for everyone to return to work on Tuesday. Anyone deciding they had to retrieve something from the building had to do so at their own risk.

So that’s how the long weekend began early! No complaints here, although I hope they find the problem and get it resolved — the last thing anyone wants is to have their workplace blown to smithereens. I left my desk in a haphazard state (including my sunglasses and mobile phone charger), which is hopefully how I’ll find it on Tuesday.

30 Aug 2007 On Patriotism and Being Canadian
Author: Gail |  Category: Books, Culture + Society  | One Comment

Canadian Armed Forces
Alcan Dragon Boat Festival, Vancouver — June 22, 2005

My plan for this evening was to process last weekend’s photos, but alas, I had to face the fact that I don’t live in a self-cleaning apartment and my clothes aren’t of the self-laundering variety (when will the scientists get around to inventing these???). Oh well, there goes another evening, but at least it was productive.

I thought I would share a couple of passages from the book I mentioned recently, Timbit Nation, which I finished the other day. (I highly recommend this book, whether you’re Canadian or not, at the very least as an entertaining travelogue.)

{ continue reading… }

30 Aug 2007 Regatta
Author: Gail |  Category: Out + About  | 2 Comments

regatta

I crashed immediately after getting home from the Argonaut Rowing Club, taking photos of the regatta and indulging in a gourmet BBQ. ‘Twas a fine way to spend a summer evening, if you ask me — boats, a gigantic lake, and food! Photos forthcoming.

28 Aug 2007 Because It’s Quicker to Post Photos of Dinner
Author: Gail |  Category: Food + Drink, Loss  | One Comment

… than write about the weekend. Tomorrow I’ll be at the yacht rowing club after work (I wish that didn’t sound quite so… bourgeois); maybe I’ll write it up on Thursday. Yeah, right. Hopefully I won’t forget it all by then.

At Thai Thai on King Street (East), we began with appetisers:

bon appetit!

Moving right along, we had a combination of entree delights:

combo entrees

Finishing off with coffee and dessert:

apple crumble pie

I had dinner with a friend from BFO, someone I hadn’t seen for a while because she’s been suffering from the deepest forms of grieving, a stage I am all too familiar with, having gone through it at about the same point in time from my loved one’s death. I was pleased to see she was well enough to come out, that her appetite was back, and I was especially happy to see her much brighter in spirit and outlook than when I had seen her last. We caught up on each other’s lives over dinner, and when I said goodnight it was with big smiles and waves.

Life is never the same again, but slowly a new one can take form. I’m convinced of that.

28 Aug 2007 Bridge to Bridge
Author: Gail |  Category: USA  | 4 Comments

George Washington Bridge from the High Bridge water tower

The George Washington Bridge from the High Bridge water tower, New York City. See birds’ version of it, and a great shot from inside the tower.

Rather predictably, I was out cold last night after getting home from work, with the weekend’s activities catching up with me — and there were many! I haven’t even uploaded the pictures from Honesdale with Holly yet. By the time I write about last weekend, it’ll be the weekend again, and I’m going to the air show. And oh yes, details forthcoming re: helicopter trip…

27 Aug 2007 Mission Complete!
Author: Gail |  Category: Flying  | 3 Comments

mission complete!

I’m home in one piece! (More on this later.)

I had a fabulous weekend, most of it in New York City, but the icing on the cake was arriving at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome half an hour before they closed and catching the very last load of the day in the 1929 New Standard biplane. I was airborne within 5 minutes of parking my car.

The biplane pilot was the kind fellow who did me a favour last year by scattering Hugh’s ashes around the time of my first wedding anniversary (Hugh died July 26). He knows my story.

When he saw me approach the plane he recognized me straightaway, gave me a big smile and greeted me warmly. We talked for a while after we were back on the ground. I told him I was in flight training and doing much better this year. His wife (also a pilot) died of cancer exactly 10 months before David, so I know he knows why I keep making these pilgrimages to the Aerodrome. After all, he’s still there, too.

24 Aug 2007 Rhinebeck Ready
Author: Gail |  Category: Flying  | Leave a Comment

biplane evermore

The Biplane, Evermore

I’m hoping to go up in the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome biplane this weekend. Let’s see if the weather cooperates. It’s a camera-only weekend this time, I’m leaving the PowerBook at home.

Clear skies, everyone, and happy Friday!

23 Aug 2007 The Post-It Note That Launched a Thousand Stories
Author: Gail |  Category: Ancient History, Australia/NZ, Books  | One Comment

the road trip(s) that started with a post-it note

View larger.

I scanned this first page of the 1992 Aussie road trip journal recently to email to Lachlan, and because my book is completely falling apart at the seams. I’ve been keeping it in a box because there are bits glued and taped in, and the adhesive isn’t working anymore! I flipped through the book for the first time in a very long time a couple of weeks ago and it made me laugh and cry, as these sorts of memory lane-ish activities tend to do.

This first page is actually the least interesting part of the road trip journal — I wrote long entries, doodled and pasted things on the following pages — but I wanted to show the post-it note glued into the book. Isn’t that how all modern-day road trips with strangers begin? With little square notes stuck or tacked to bulletin boards? I’m really glad I kept this one, though, it’s how I ended up in Scotland (and some other countries) in the first place.

I’m currently reading Timbit Nation, a book written by a Globe and Mail journalist who decided to hitchhike across Canada to experience his own country through the eyes of the locals — the locals who pick up hitchhikers, anyway. I’m thoroughly fascinated by this book, not just for the hitchhiking stories that bring back memories of my own crazy times spent with my thumb out on lonely roads in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia, but the political and cultural background information the author incorporates into his documented journey. It’s like a crash course in Canadian history mixed with travel journalism. Some parts are absolutely hilarious to me, because I can relate to some of the frustrations the author expresses about hitchhiking and some of the, erm, unusual characters he meets along the way.

Maybe one day I’ll think more seriously about putting some stories together — with a little more than weak tape and glue — but for now I’ll start with some here and there on my website before I get senile and not remember a thing… like about writing that bit from Day 4 of the road trip in Canberra: “…lost a treasured pair of yellow knickers…. where???” What??

22 Aug 2007 How’s This For a Playoff Scoreboard?
Author: Gail |  Category: Out + About  | One Comment

how's that for a scoreboard?

Went to a playoff game at Christie Pits this evening, Game 5 of the series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Brantford Red Sox in the Intercounty Baseball League. Each team had two wins each, so this game was important. A summary of the game can be found here.

slugger

I’m quite liking the Sigma 28-135mm lens I bought last week, and it performed rather well under field night lights. Even with a much longer zoom than the 18-55mm kit lens I used at last month’s baseball game, I managed to get a few good shots. But I also wished I could upgrade the camera so I wouldn’t miss some plays like the one I attempted of a player flying through the air, a shot that came out completely blurry.

The game got pretty exciting when the scoreboard was tied, thanks to a home run by Brantford after they were down 7-1 late in the game.

very nearly a skirmish

There was very nearly a skirmish because the Brantford pitcher kept hitting the Toronto sluggers with the ball. Someone counted five (?) direct hits, two to the same player! I thought there would be an altercation when all the players got on the field in a heated exchange, but it finally dissipated without incident.

ready

In the eighth inning Toronto pulled past Brantford, but I thought Brantford still stood a chance until the very end when Toronto turned up the heat to bring it to 13-8. It was a great game to photograph — I picked different locations, shooting through the fence, over the fence, and was entertained by the hecklers and hollering crowd. Baseball players must learn how to tune everyone out!

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