Outdoor is better
by Garry on Dec.31, 2011, under Cycling
A couple of days ago I setup the bike on the trainer in the basement. As much as I like to ride and know this is a necessary evil to try and maintain some sort of conditioning over the winter, it sure is painful to ride indoors, going nowhere. Even with the tv or the iPod as a distraction, it is majorly boring. Spin classes are better with the company of others and a structured training program, but still outdoor is better.
I hit some trails through Wittier Park today for a nice 28km ride in a balmy +2°
Why you shouldn’t hang around railroad tracks
by Garry on Dec.30, 2011, under Activities, photography
It’s a nice sunny day and I’m out taking pictures with a friend. We’re in a very picturesque area that just happens to have a railway bridge over a river. This seems like a great subject for some interesting photographs. The bridge and track are up high so we scramble up the steep side of the railroad bed and get in position to take a few shots.
What may not be apparent from the photo on the left is that in the distance, there is a curve in the track, and you really can’s see anything coming. We’re getting serious about getting some great shots, there are tripods in play and we’re right into the bridge structure. We’re concentrating, and perhaps not paying too much attention to our situation and the potential pitfalls of our activities.
And then it happens, we hear a faint rumbling, and look up to see a locomotive coming quite quickly down the track. No warning whistle, why would there be, this is not a railroad crossing, and we’re not supposed to be there.
We scramble to pick up our camera bags, tripods etc. and hustle to get off the track. Moments later this freight train barrels past us and the engineer shoots us a less that friendly look.
Moral of the story, be aware of your location and don’t get overly involved in your pursuits. Either that or stay away from railroad tracks!
Updating to WordPress 3.3
by Garry on Dec.29, 2011, under Grab Bag
So I updated my Blog site to WordPress 3.3. I used the “automatic” approach and of course ignored all the things you are supposed to do like backing up your database, disabling all plugins etc. etc., and things didn’t go so good.
The updated didn’t complete properly. It ended in showing a blank screen shortly after initiating the update. In fact after that, the whole blog was “gone”, no errors in the browser, just a blank screen. Turns out the update process caused a crash of a lot of stuff on my hosting provider’s site, and he was not too thrilled about that.
Plan B, do a manual update, still no success, and I still can’t login to the wp-admin page. A little Googling and we decide to disable the plugins manually, and apparently, that was the money to get the site back up. So, right now I’m updating all the plugins, enabling one at a time, and hoping nothing crashes out again.
Ever since the automatic update feature was introduced in WordPress all my updates have gone flawlessly, and I guess I was lulled into a false sense of security. Lesson learned, follow the process, back everything up, and give my hosting guy a heads up that “something” might happen.
From the Updating WordPress « WordPress Codex
Consider rewarding yourself with a blog post about the update, reading that book or article you’ve been putting off, or simply sitting back for a few moments and letting the world pass you by.
Utah Trip
by garry.c.stewart on Dec.27, 2011, under Grab Bag
Have not got around to writing much (anything) about our late fall road trip to several national parks in Utah, but here is a photo from Sunset Point In Bryce Canyon National Park.
Ready for Holiday iPads and more?
by garry.c.stewart on Dec.23, 2011, under Grab Bag
InformationWeek Mobile Edition – NEWS & ANALYSIS – IBM Equips IT To Welcome Holiday iPads
After the New Year, expect employees at every level to bring iPads, Android tablets, and smartphones into work, looking to get on the corporate network.
When that happens, IBM wants to make sure its customers will be ready, Kevin Cavanaugh, VP of IBM Collaboration Solutions, said in an interview this week. Last year, the joke was that many a CEO came back from the Christmas break with a new iPad that he expected to be able to use for work. When that happened, the CIO and IT team wouldn’t “want to say no, except that they’d just been working on a policy to ban these devices,” he said.
The executive iPad is just the most visible symbol of the unstoppable trend toward the consumerization of IT and the trend toward employees bringing their own devices to work, Cavanaugh said. IBM has responded by delivering enterprise software that runs on these devices, whether they are owned by the enterprise or not. IT may not welcome the chaotic state of the mobile technology market, but mobility looms increasingly large in enterprise technology planning.
Twelve
by Garry on Dec.02, 2011, under Grab Bag
Still miss you.
Think of you both most every day.
Grateful for everything you poured into my life.
Thankful that we will be re-united.
Ride on
by Garry on Nov.27, 2011, under Activities, Cycling, FOG
After the FOG Annual General Meeting this morning and talking with some of the guys about winter riding and how several guys cycle commute all year round, I was inspired to get back on the bike for a spin this after noon. I tried to get a riding buddy, but something about “it’s too cold” and “I’ve got some stuff to do”, left me riding solo.
The hard pack snow and ice on some of the road sections were a little tricky, but the trails on the river banks were good for riding with packed and semi-packed snow covered trails. The section through Whittier Park was just as much fun as it is in the summer, but I did slow down quite a bit for some of the tighter corners. I didn’t go down, but the bike did on an icy section in The Forks. As I felt the bike start to go, instincts took over and I clipped out and stepped off the bike landing on my feet. Not bad reaction time for a first ride on ice.
The sun came out for a while and it was quite warm even for -5°C. From The Forks it was down Lyndale Drive and Des Meurons to the bike path that parallels Fermor and back to the house for a 24km, 1:17 ride.
Winter Walk
by Garry on Nov.19, 2011, under Activities, Nature
Well, it seems to have happened suddenly, it’s winter. We’ve had a little snow, and the temperatures have dropped enough that we’re feeling the chill of the season.
We took a late afternoon walk at St. Vital Park just as the sun was going down. There were very few people around this normally popular weekend destination. Could it be the coolness of the day?
It seems strange that we’re complaining about how cold it is at -12°C and in a few months, we’ll think this is a warm and balmy day and spring must just be around the corner. Unfortunately, at this point, it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Getting Closer
by garry.c.stewart on Nov.10, 2011, under Technology
| Richmond, BC, Canada | 11/10/2011 | 6:25 | Arrival Scan |
| Seattle, WA, United States | 11/10/2011 | 5:35 | Departure Scan |
| 11/10/2011 | 4:17 | Arrival Scan | |
| Ontario, CA, United States | 11/10/2011 | 1:58 | Departure Scan |
| Ontario, CA, United States | 11/09/2011 | 21:00 | Arrival Scan |
| Anchorage, AK, United States | 11/09/2011 | 15:09 | Departure Scan |
| 11/09/2011 | 10:14 | Arrival Scan | |
| Narita, Japan | 11/09/2011 | 21:48 | Departure Scan |
| 11/09/2011 | 19:59 | Arrival Scan | |
| Shanghai, China | 11/09/2011 | 16:17 | Departure Scan |
| Shanghai, China | 11/08/2011 | 23:49 | Export Scan |
| Shanghai, China | 11/07/2011 | 21:26 | Departure Scan |
| 11/07/2011 | 19:41 | Origin Scan | |
| China | 11/07/2011 | 6:54 | Order Processed: Ready for UPS |
Temperature
by Garry on Oct.21, 2011, under Travel
I thought I’d planned well for the trip as far as what temperatures we’d experience but I think I payed too much attention to the daytime highs and ignored the overnight lows and the effects of altitude. Night time temperatures can be a little important when your camping in a tent trailer.
At the Loveland Pass (11,000ft) we experienced snow and thankfully were not camping there. But, later in the day beside the Colorado
River near Arches National Park (~6,000ft) the overnight lows were in the 3° range.
Tonight at Bryce National Park the campground office has a sign requesting that you disconnect your waterline as the overnight low is expected to be -3°C.
Right now I’m by the cosy camp fire. Could be some snuggling for warmth later.
