Tempus Fugit

Latin (tem-pu̇s-ˈfü-git): Time Flies

Category: Life

  • On the road – Day 1

    It’s been a while since I’ve been in Toronto on business but this afternoon I flew in for four days of education with Agfa for a project I’m working on with two other team members.  The flight down on Westjet was uneventful except for the guy in the middle seat who thought he owned the armrest and couldn’t figure out why the TV control buttons were not doing anything for his screen, while mine was flipping channels like a bandit. He even tried it twice, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him what was wrong. Guys that technically challenged probably shouldn’t watch any more TV. I slept off and on and listened to a couple of podcasts to pass the time.

    After a long wait in a taxi line and a short ride we’re at the hotel. We’re staying at the Radisson Airport and the rooms are quite nice and we hit the local Kelsey’s for dinner. Over dinner I got to know my team mates a little better as they are both new on the project and work on different areas that I do. Now I’m back in the room watching a little TV, without any help from my seat mate! It’s warmer that Winnipeg at +4, but raining. No matter, we’re stuck at the hotel without a car, so It will most likely be work and sleep for most of the week.

    Radisson’s have sleep number beds, so I’ll get to check it out for a few days. Since we’re looking at a new bed for home and I know somebody who can get me a great deal on a bed!

  • Water Play

    The Right Stuff
    The Right Stuff
    Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo

    Today was a little cloudy at the lake but still nice and warm. Most of the day was spent on the dock with Eric, Dez, Scott & Mandi and everybody hit the water toys big time. After some swimming and floating around Scott & Mandi took the kayaks out for a paddle, then Eric set up the wind surfer and wend out for a while. After he returned, Dez took a spin. Then we got the motor boat into the action and Eric went wake boarding. This is quite a feat of endurance behind a 25hp outboard on a 16′ Lund. Then we switched up to the Knee board which works a little better given the horsepower restrictions. Everybody took a turn, even me! As you can see from the pictures, I still have a trick or two up my sleeve. Hey! Wait a minute! I don’t have any sleeves!

  • Treasure hunt update

    This morning Eric, Dez, Scott and I went hunting for treasure.  Dez found the first two, Eric found three more, I found a couple to save myself some $s and unfortunately, Scott didn’t fine any. Good thing it’s his birthday! 

    Happy Birthday Scott!

  • Memory

    It’s interesting how memory works.

    When I was about 12 my parents took my sister and I on a fabulous road trip to New York City and Washington, D.C.  It was quite a memorable experience. Lately I’ve been thinking about one of the stops we made on this epic trip.

    As part of the trip we spend several days on Mackinac Island. This portion of the trip was a GWL convention location for my dad and as kids we were all over the place with pretty much unlimited access to food & fun. The strange part is that all these years I thought the island was in Canada! Well, not so. Its an island in the Great Lakes but clearly in U.S. waters close to where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron join, and the Mackinac bridge spans the water with the worlds third longest suspension bridge.

    We stayed at The Grand Hotel and had a great time. After looking at some of the website and remembering the fun I had as a child, I think I’ll put this on our “must visit” destination list. I’m not sure we’ll be staying at The Grand at $330+ US/night, but somewhere on the island. And for sure we’ll being the bikes, as no cars are allowed, very cool. Just bikes, hourses & walking. That will slow you right down.

    Technorati Tags: Mackinac, “Grand Hotel”

  • Treasure Hunt

    I’m initiating a treasure hunt, complete with rewards. But, you’ll need to be family to participate. Here is the deal. Have a look at the map. There are 8 objects to be found. Please don’t move them. Each one, when you are the first to show it to me is worth $20. So all up, there is $160 to be won for a little bush wacking.

    Good luck treasure hunters. Of course if I find them first, well no money for you!

  • Smells

    Smells can really trigger strong memories. Occasionally I’ll catch a wiff of something and it will instantly take me back 30 years to a very specific time and place. Sometime, I’ll smell the perfume my mom used to wear and a flood of memories will instantly come back to me. It’s quite an experience.

    Wow, that was a little of track from how I thought this would go. A couple of days ago while riding to work in the morning I was really hit by how much closer to life you are on a bike vs. a car when moving around the city and it was the smells on the ride that gave me this thought. As I went up the street there was a freshness in the air, a smell that would be hard to describe, a spring quality. To me it was as if I could smell the “green” of the grass.

    Well, at the top of the street the relaxing and refreshing scent of spring was quickly swept away by a VW TDI diesel exhaust stream. We’ve been looking at a new vehicle and the TDI has caught my attention mainly because of it’s incredible mileage, but I’d forgotten about the exhaust and diesel smell and the clanking of the engine. This car was almost out of site and I was still sucking in the fumes.

    From there it was back into a brief reprieve of fresh air on a bike path and then into the fragrant mix of heavy rush hour traffic downtown. Actually, this is the most fun part of the ride as I get to pass most of the cars, weave in and out of traffic and try not to get hit or be too obnoxious, but it is a bit of a rush. I’m certainly awake when I roll into the office.

    Technorati Tags: smell, cycling, spring

  • Recommended videos

    Robert Newman History of Oil, very clever and thought provoking.

    Tony Campolo with Strombo on the Hour – HT to Bill. Wow, there is good programming on CBC TV.

  • Road Trip – Day 2

    From a Starbucks in Grand Forks.

    We checked out a cool Swedish design furniture store across from the HoDo and then headed off to the Fargo Air Museum. Then it was off to Schells, a totally awesome sporting goods store and a stop at Cold Stone Creamery for a treat for the road as we drive back to Grand Forks for, you guessed it, more shopping!

    More pictures of planes & Schells. Wakeboards for Dez?

    More detail later, we’ve got to hit the road. 

  • Road Trip – Day 1


    The Donaldson Hotel
    Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

    We’re taking a road trip to the US which is quite unusual for us. It’s the Easter long weekend and we headed south after making a Starbucks stop for a couple of ventis. The border crossing was backed up with travellers with the same idea at 9am but, thanks to Shirley’s skillful navigation we ended up in the fast lane and were quickly on our way after about a 15-20 minute delay.

    The next stop was a rest stop, an impressive convenience in the US that Canada could do well to copy, assuming we had an interstate. Most amazing, besides the quality if the facility and it’s cleanliness was this. Only in America.

    Back on the road it was a quite, sunny drive into Grand Forks for the real purpose of the trip, shop til’ you drop! We hit a few of the big box stores on the way to the Columbia Mall. We even bumped into some church friends doing the same thing. After cruising the mall and lunch at Applebees we were back on the road. Shirley had a nap and I listened to Maxwell on the iPod. Next stop, Fargo.

    We checked into the HoDo and surveyed the room for a few minutes, then moved on to more shopping. West Acres for over 2 hours! I think I dropped after the first hour. Thanks to John Maxwell on the iPod and some comfy leather chairs the second hour was quite enjoyable. Dinner at Paradisio (mexican) and a litte sight seeing (Horbachers grocery store – wooo hooo!) we were back at the hotel, WOO HOO!!!

    The hotel is very nice, quite artistic, but not very soundproof. The resturaunt had live jazz and the bar must have been busy, because there was quite a lot yelling and screaming. We’re also one block a way from a very active rail line in the heart og the city, which means a lot of whistle blowing. I slept through some of this but the 8am wakeup train could not be ignored.

    Lots of wireless internet around besides the complementary hotel system, so that’s quite nice. We’re just enjoying the second cup and a snack from the complimentary breakfast and then we’ll be off for the day. More shopping, but a bit more of a focus on sight seeing, I’m hoping for the Air Museum.

    p.s. – Scott, the Blue Man Group was in town yesterday, but we didn’t go (review). 🙁

  • Spring arrives

    The temperatures are on the rise and the snow is melting fast and I saw a sure sign that Spring has arrived on Friday. No, it wasn’t a robin, it was a guy on a motorcycle, and at 6C it still makes for a very “cool” ride. I can remember riding my motorcycle late in the fall to put it away at my parents for the winter in those temperatures. Definitely cool if you’re not dressed properly for it.

    Saturday was a busy day with an afternoon wedding that was very nice, and then we went to see the Cannes Lions winners in the film category at the Art Gallery. The Film Lions are awarded to the best commercials of the year. A lot of the commercials were uproariously funny, some quite poignant and a few quite tasteless, but overall it’s a great show. This is one of the Gold winners.

    Lots of laugh out loud stuff and quite a few “how did they do that?” moments. Perhaps a few “Why did they do that?” moments as well. Like what’s with the frog jumping out of the drain pipe on the Sony commercial?

    This afternoon there was another spring time first. The boys were over for lunch and we all went for a bike ride afterwards. No motors, just leg power. It was a bit wet and generally we took it at a pretty easy pace. Well, except for when Scott went flying by me a couple of times, and then the chase was on! We went 26.4km at an average speed of 19.5km/hr, a decent pace for the first time out considering we stopped a couple of times and slowed down to look at some houses on South Drive. We discovered that my rear tire throws the most water, and I got the wettest, which was surprising since I had a fender and Eric didn’t. Later we figured out that perhaps I had it set too low. I’ll check it out on the next wet ride. I was a good time riding with Scott and Eric.

    Technorati Tags: cannes, film, awards, biking