Sounds like something disgusting happening to someone's lungs and nasal passages, but no, it was Calgary roads tonight. It seems like everybody left work at the same time, trying to drive home on extremely slippery roads. Our commute downtown to home is normally 40 to 45 minutes. Tonight it was 2 hours of nerve racking hell. Wondering if someone behind me would panic, slam on the brakes and slide into me, or the car behind me, causing a chain reaction. One guy just cut me off and kept doing it even in the face of angry beeps.
I'd been debating if I should snowshoe or do a spin session tonight. A nice dinner and a big glass of wine later, I'm seriously contemplating going to bed.
I don't think the roads tomorrow are going to be any better. Calgary transit said the busses were 30 to 60 minutes late, and no surprise there. They were caught in the same traffic. From what the nice CBC traffic reporter was saying, every single major road in the SW was clogged with traffic. All of them. Totally clogged. Last time a commute took this long there had been collisions in several major SW intersections. This was just every car in Calgary trying to be on the road at once.
Don't forget the AMA feature coming up. Ask Me Anything. So far I've had two respondents, (thank you!) with a generous number of questions. One has no fear of having a question attributed to her. I shall see if I can plan something special. Something along the lines of have you stopped beating your chocolate yet?
I don't expect this post to get many readers. They're all still on the road, trying to get home.
Ironman Canada - DONE! What next?
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Monday, December 9, 2013
The AMA list is forming
Great swim this morning, with some water running after. Coming out of the pool into a blizzard wasn't so nice. The roads in Calgary are complete and total shite, though the City has had every piece of equipment out for about a week now. They're just getting into parts of the NE that had car eating monster snowdrifts. The tow trucks and plows have to work together. They have to truck away the snow because there is no place to plow it.
The trip home after work was very, very slow. The road outside our house was the best one, since it doesn't get much traffic. 24th was black ice end to end. Elbow was that chalky powdery stuff that acts like a buffing agent.
Arranging novel details is picky work. Especially when you have to insert a scene between two others. Remembering who said what to whom and trying to keep the stories straight is tough sledding after a long day at work. I'd love to tackle it fresh in the morning.
Last, and most important, for you. I've had only one response for the Ask Me Anything feature. I'm starting to make up lists of questions and thinking about who I could attribute them to. My imagination is involved. This ought to terrify you. Even one, short innocuous question will immunize you. You aren't going to get a better deal this December. Comments, email, social media are all acceptable for responses. Heck, even inviting me out for a coffee, for my readers that live here, and asking me then is acceptable.
The trip home after work was very, very slow. The road outside our house was the best one, since it doesn't get much traffic. 24th was black ice end to end. Elbow was that chalky powdery stuff that acts like a buffing agent.
Arranging novel details is picky work. Especially when you have to insert a scene between two others. Remembering who said what to whom and trying to keep the stories straight is tough sledding after a long day at work. I'd love to tackle it fresh in the morning.
Last, and most important, for you. I've had only one response for the Ask Me Anything feature. I'm starting to make up lists of questions and thinking about who I could attribute them to. My imagination is involved. This ought to terrify you. Even one, short innocuous question will immunize you. You aren't going to get a better deal this December. Comments, email, social media are all acceptable for responses. Heck, even inviting me out for a coffee, for my readers that live here, and asking me then is acceptable.
Sunday, December 8, 2013
A FineFettle of a winter run, 1600
I'd made arrangements for a pre-dawn run, so I was up early to the cat alarm. Curtis takes his alarm duties very seriously, and is very polite and genteel about it. At first.
Then I was downstairs writing for a bit because it was still early. (Did you see yesterday's snippet?) Behind me was a noise all cat owners know. I had just settled myself into the chair with the heated and vibrating thingies, and had to leap up before they started licking it up. I'm just glad they didn't hit the snowshoes that had to be returned today.
After lots of limbering up, checking the weather page, and dressing carefully, I headed out. I'd overdressed yesterday, so wore less. After all it was only -16 C, not quite zero F. Not quite dawn. The idea was to run toward the reservoir to meet up with Michelle, then run down to Fish Creek. My RunMeter was all over the place. I reset it once, but that didn't do any good. I like the numbers they produced, although they are totally, wildly wrong. I know I did not run a half marathon in 1:23.
This first one is the small map, that does not give full justice to what we ran. I just love the blue pace line.
Here's the run map blown up a bit.
In fact, after carefully plotting in Google Earth, I ran a hair over 11 K, in about 1:23 or so. That's about a 7:27 pace, and we stopped once for a selfie and twice for a hug. Plus some walking bits around the path detour. Ignore that straight bit heading up and to the right. That's an artifact of trying to keep Google Earth from scrolling to outer space. Michelle kept going and if I read that tweet right got through her 32 K run with no further adventure.
Here's the promised tusk selfie. One of these is not like the other.
We had a really nice chatty run. It was cool, of course, and snowing lightly. My legs behaved themselves. My theory is that I need to limber up better, and spend a bit more time getting ready to run. Maybe I'm running too fast.
Linda had coffee ready for me. Nice! After some coffee, treats, a shower, more treats, I napped a bit. Then headed out to return the snowshoes. I had somehow bent the plate that the boots get strapped to. While my feet were strapped in. I have no idea how I did that, and didn't break anything of mine. MEC was good about the exchange, though the clerk was mildly amazed.
The big thrill of the day was waiting to get out of the parking lot. I'm just sitting there, and the car to my right gets put in reverse, and starts heading for me. I'm frantically beeping the horn, waiting to get crunched. It stopped just in time. I left before they could take another run at me.
And good news for fans of Big D's at the Calgary Market! It's open again, and the line up was around the corner. I'm not sure who's running it now, but it smells as good as ever.
Oh, and this is post 1600 overall. A few more and I'll break my record for most posts in a year.
Last thing, don't for get the AMA! Ask Me Anything and I will answer. Leave your questions in comments, email, or social media. If you don't leave a question, I might make up one and attribute it to you.
Then I was downstairs writing for a bit because it was still early. (Did you see yesterday's snippet?) Behind me was a noise all cat owners know. I had just settled myself into the chair with the heated and vibrating thingies, and had to leap up before they started licking it up. I'm just glad they didn't hit the snowshoes that had to be returned today.
After lots of limbering up, checking the weather page, and dressing carefully, I headed out. I'd overdressed yesterday, so wore less. After all it was only -16 C, not quite zero F. Not quite dawn. The idea was to run toward the reservoir to meet up with Michelle, then run down to Fish Creek. My RunMeter was all over the place. I reset it once, but that didn't do any good. I like the numbers they produced, although they are totally, wildly wrong. I know I did not run a half marathon in 1:23.
This first one is the small map, that does not give full justice to what we ran. I just love the blue pace line.
Here's the run map blown up a bit.
In fact, after carefully plotting in Google Earth, I ran a hair over 11 K, in about 1:23 or so. That's about a 7:27 pace, and we stopped once for a selfie and twice for a hug. Plus some walking bits around the path detour. Ignore that straight bit heading up and to the right. That's an artifact of trying to keep Google Earth from scrolling to outer space. Michelle kept going and if I read that tweet right got through her 32 K run with no further adventure.
Here's the promised tusk selfie. One of these is not like the other.
We had a really nice chatty run. It was cool, of course, and snowing lightly. My legs behaved themselves. My theory is that I need to limber up better, and spend a bit more time getting ready to run. Maybe I'm running too fast.
Linda had coffee ready for me. Nice! After some coffee, treats, a shower, more treats, I napped a bit. Then headed out to return the snowshoes. I had somehow bent the plate that the boots get strapped to. While my feet were strapped in. I have no idea how I did that, and didn't break anything of mine. MEC was good about the exchange, though the clerk was mildly amazed.
The big thrill of the day was waiting to get out of the parking lot. I'm just sitting there, and the car to my right gets put in reverse, and starts heading for me. I'm frantically beeping the horn, waiting to get crunched. It stopped just in time. I left before they could take another run at me.
And good news for fans of Big D's at the Calgary Market! It's open again, and the line up was around the corner. I'm not sure who's running it now, but it smells as good as ever.
Oh, and this is post 1600 overall. A few more and I'll break my record for most posts in a year.
Last thing, don't for get the AMA! Ask Me Anything and I will answer. Leave your questions in comments, email, or social media. If you don't leave a question, I might make up one and attribute it to you.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
minus 26 isn't the problem, and a snippet
It's a beautiful day out there. Cold, clear, sunny. A perfect winter day in Alberta. I haven't run for a week, letting my calf get all calmed down, and it's fine now. The snowshoeing the other night was fine. So I bundled up and went out for an easy 3 K, 22 minutes. Here's some photos. Getting ready to go.
The furnace exhaust sometimes has very interesting sculpture. I think it looks a little bit like a little creature peering in, wondering if there is food in there.
The snowshoe tracks from the other night.
As I said, a brilliant sunny day.
Needless to say I was careful with layers.
Just setting out, no tusks.
Now tusks. Not as good as some I've had, but it was a very short run, just over 20 minutes. Everything was sweaty when I was done, so I suspect I was a bit overdressed. The problem is my neighbours that don't shovel their sidewalks near the plowed road. I had to leap over several mounds. The other problem is tree branches weighed down with snow. I'm pretty dialed in how low I need to duck, or weave around to avoid hitting branches. Good thing I was wearing a hoodie or I'd have had snow down my back. RunMeter map was all over the place so I didn't put it here.
Linda out working on the Christmas decorations.
Some of the completed decorating. Sorry about the window smudges. I have no idea who Nadia is. I'm just guessing she lives in the cup de sac behind us, and someone is sweet on her. This has been done a few times now.
No entries in the AMA feature. Ask Me Anything over the next little while, and I guarantee an answer. Leave your questions in comments, email, or other social media.
Book news! I had a brainwave for my book this morning and I've started a new chunk. I figured out what happens to one of the characters. I had added more info about him earlier in the book, so now you'll be broken hearted when he dies tragically. When I wasn't looking one character met a hot guy in Kona, and I'm writing about them just now. They house sit for some minor characters that are doing some traveling. I know how two of the major characters meet their spouses, and I'll be writing about that. Lots on the go. I figured out one chunk that goes away. I added a long conversation between Kelly and Janice, during a quite time in Kona just before Janice heads home.
The recent chunk I wrote is during an easy training ride in Kona, after several of the other characters join Kelly and Ronnie. Elsewhere I note the laws about toplessness had changed, as part of other societal changes. This is all pretty much how it flowed out of my brain, very little polishing or massaging.
Kelly stood in the parking lot reading from a checklist on her phone. “Ok guys, I know your bikes are perfect. Everybody has their sunscreen on? All your gear? Nutrition? Water? Electronics? You know how to get out to the highway?”
Ronnie, Hardisty, and Penny all nodded. They were about to go on an out and back on the Queen K highway. Ronnie had been through this many times already.
“All right. I’ll meet you at 50 K where Penny wants to turn around and I’ll have refills for you, and you’d all darned well better need them. Hardisty, Ronnie has her plan and I know she’s going to stick to it. You know it’s an easy ride for her, and in your head you think you ought to be able to keep up. I’m telling you now the heat here is like a creature with teeth. You won’t. She is way faster now. I’m telling you not to try, but I know you will. Call when you bonk and and Janice or I will come get you.”
Hardisty nodded, but Kelly didn’t believe him. They waved as the riders headed out.
“What now?” Janice asked. “We’ve got, what, an hour before we have to leave here?”
“I’ll start getting things ready for the post ride snack, and dinner tonight. Always something to do.”
A little while later Janice helped Kelly load supplies into the van. “Do you think Hardisty believed you? I can already feel the heat.”
“No, he didn’t. He’ll still be ok when Penny turns around, but I don’t know how much longer he’ll last. It can get hot fast.”
“That’s my guy for you. I can’t believe you guys don’t have the air conditioning running.”
“Ronnie unplugged it as soon as we got here and told me she’d spank me if I turned it on. She wanted to get used to the heat, so I had to as well.”
“Which is why you’re standing there in those shorts and nothing else. Aren’t you going to put a top on when we head out?”
“Nope. And you don’t need to either. If I was running I would. We’ll see a bunch of other athletes and Sherpas today and most of them will be topless. Only reason Ronnie is wearing a top is that the race requires it, and she likes to train like the race.”
“I’ve heard her say that a lot. Don’t you have way too much stuff here for our guys?”
“Oh yeah. And I’ll probably bring most of it back home again. Better too much than not enough. Any athlete that stops will get a refill. That’s part of the deal. You’ll see. Ready to go?”
Kelly got set up where she and Penny had arranged. She put up a sign, “Team Ronnie Refills” about 50 m down the road. Once that was done, she yelled and clapped for every bike rider that passed. Most waved and said hello to her. A few stopped for a refill or to chat a bit.
“That last guy only wanted a better look at your boobs, I’m sure of it,” Janice observed.
“Maybe. I don’t mind. He was also out of water. I haven’t seen him before so he’s probably new, and not used to the heat. He might not have someone at turnaround. I’ll have to watch for him on the way back. I’d mind if he got heat stroke.”
“Will you really?”
“Oh yes. I take care of Ronnie as best I can, but we all look out for all the riders and will help if needed. One of them helped Ronnie with a flat, so it’s not all one sided. Sometimes we get a whole group of Sherpas together. That’s fun, and we can coordinate aid stations and rolling support.”
“There’s more to this than I thought.”
“It’s the big leagues here. The athletes are out here sweating their balls off training for the big day. I can scarcely do less. We should see Ronnie any time, keep an eye out.”
“Do you think Hardisty will be with her?”
“Maybe, but I doubt it. She’s way stronger now than he thinks, but it isn’t really hot yet. Can I make a suggestion?”
“What?”
“Hardisty doesn’t yet really know about the heat. Take off your top and try to drag him off the road for a quickie. The break will do him good.”
“He won’t, if he’s trying to keep up with Ronnie.”
“None the less.”
“It’s really all right?”
“You have eyes. What have you seen?”
Janice looked around. “All right. I’ve actually been feeling a little over dressed.”
Kelly’s timing was good. Ronnie coasted to a stop a few minutes later, tossing two empty water bottles into a box near the van. Kelly had two more ready to go, with a third in hand. She poured that over Ronnie, and handed her another baggie of nutrition. “Have you peed?”
“Yup, just before getting here. Hardisty dropped back a little while ago, not sure if he’s riding with Penny or solo. Going good.”
“Good! See you in a bit!” Ronnie pushed off.
“That was like an F1 pit stop.”
Friday, December 6, 2013
WedThursFri AMA!
Zoom. Week done. It still seems like Tuesday for some reason. Other than shoveling lots, and a bit of snowshoeing last night, and the regular yoga class, I've been a fitness slug.
Work on the recent novel, The Sweet Elixer, has been going well. I realized I needed a couple more scenes set in Kona, so I've been working on them.
I'm sure looking forward to vacation in a couple weeks.
As the song goes, 'thought I'd something more to say'.
A new feature here, AMA. Ask Me Anything. Leave the question in comments, and I'll address them in a blog. Never know what's going to happen. Or you could send them to me via email or other social media.
Work on the recent novel, The Sweet Elixer, has been going well. I realized I needed a couple more scenes set in Kona, so I've been working on them.
I'm sure looking forward to vacation in a couple weeks.
As the song goes, 'thought I'd something more to say'.
A new feature here, AMA. Ask Me Anything. Leave the question in comments, and I'll address them in a blog. Never know what's going to happen. Or you could send them to me via email or other social media.
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
It snowed.
A lot. And it got blown around a lot too.
Monday we made it in to work. No swim. Last time I swam when it was crappy weather I couldn't get a parking spot. We ended up in the new City Parkade, all spiffy and shiny in the new paint scheme. Very bright and clean, especially considering all 7 stories of it were under water for much of July.
Going home was an exercise in patience, but it didn't take as long as I feared. We didn't even try on Tuesday. When I looked out and saw that another several inches of snow had fallen, and no plow, I made the arbitrary decision to go back to bed. I don't haven anything that urgent happening at work. The roads look like a sloppy enchilada out there, and I didn't need to be on them. By tomorrow they should be better, since the snow has essentially stopped.
What did I do with my free day?
Wrote a bunch. I've got a nice scene to add to the Kona trip. In between working on that I got a very nice hour long spin session done after the first round of snow shoveling. That's the longest I've been on the bike in quite some time, maybe almost a year, and it felt great! The cramp or whatever it was in my right leg from Saturday is almost completely gone.
Linda had been working on a butter lamb recipe. Like butter chicken, only with lamb. Tres yummy, as you might expect. More writing. A very light shoveling again.
Here's some recent photos. I just love reflection shots.
The driveway was deep enough Monday night that it scraped the underside of the car. At least I didn't have to shovel it first to get up it, which has happened a few times.
In process of shoveling.
The view this morning.
The sun trying to break through the murk about mid day.
After the clouds essentially went away it turned into a nice day. Kind of cool, -16, with a -26 C windchill.
Monday we made it in to work. No swim. Last time I swam when it was crappy weather I couldn't get a parking spot. We ended up in the new City Parkade, all spiffy and shiny in the new paint scheme. Very bright and clean, especially considering all 7 stories of it were under water for much of July.
Going home was an exercise in patience, but it didn't take as long as I feared. We didn't even try on Tuesday. When I looked out and saw that another several inches of snow had fallen, and no plow, I made the arbitrary decision to go back to bed. I don't haven anything that urgent happening at work. The roads look like a sloppy enchilada out there, and I didn't need to be on them. By tomorrow they should be better, since the snow has essentially stopped.
What did I do with my free day?
Wrote a bunch. I've got a nice scene to add to the Kona trip. In between working on that I got a very nice hour long spin session done after the first round of snow shoveling. That's the longest I've been on the bike in quite some time, maybe almost a year, and it felt great! The cramp or whatever it was in my right leg from Saturday is almost completely gone.
Linda had been working on a butter lamb recipe. Like butter chicken, only with lamb. Tres yummy, as you might expect. More writing. A very light shoveling again.
Here's some recent photos. I just love reflection shots.
The driveway was deep enough Monday night that it scraped the underside of the car. At least I didn't have to shovel it first to get up it, which has happened a few times.
In process of shoveling.
The view this morning.
The sun trying to break through the murk about mid day.
After the clouds essentially went away it turned into a nice day. Kind of cool, -16, with a -26 C windchill.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Bowels should not go click, and other anomalies
The last little while a lot more of my joints go click, especially getting out of bed in the morning. Most of them aren't alarming, and most of them are not a surprise. At least not now. The other morning I was lying on my back, thinking about getting up. I twisted a bit to start moving my feet towards the edge of the bed, when there was an enormous click from my midsection. Nothing hurt, but it sure startled me. In my world, guts don't go click. A few other cautious motions convinced me in fact it was my back, and it was a good click.
I tried taking a photo but it didn't work out. (New para, change of topic, keep up!) I've been wondering why my left foot has always needed a bit of sock tugging to be comfortable. It always feels like there's a ridge of sock. Well, it turns out there's a ridge, but it's not a sock. It's a bone. My right foot is a smooth curve of bone on the top. My left has this point of bone sticking up, about a third of the way down, between my ankle and big toe. It's really quite pronounced, and I don't remember it being that way.
Lately I've been thinking about communication. I've always liked email, right from the start. I've long since lost count of how many email accounts I've had. Even now there's probably 5 different ones that I'll end up reading. But people don't do emails so much anymore. Except at work, and I wish they'd get the email on that.
There isn't much email at home anymore. I'm much more likely to get messages from friends through a text, through Twitter, or through Facebook. Rarely through LinkedIn but it happens every now and then. People always said email was bad because there was no way to judge emotional context, but that's just poor writing skills. Sometimes people use it to avoid communication, but that annoys me. It took a long time to realize that many people don't like email because they either don't know what to say, or it takes too long to type it out. I've always said that the single greatest productivity booster companies could invest in is teaching people how to type. Even old geezers that think they'll be retiring before they have to learn this computer shit. When I was doing software training, watching someone log in told me everything I needed to know about how my day was going to go.
I once had a boss who would only read what was on his blackberry screen. He might scroll one page, but not two. It took talent to keep a message short enough for him to read, or compelling enough to make him scroll, and yet easy enough to respond with a yes, no, or most likely, I'll talk to you about it.
I was out for a run on Saturday while it was still nice. If I'd called it at 5 K it would have been a beautiful nice run. As it is, I started getting a bit of a cramp in my right calf, again, just where it thickens up into the big part of the muscle. This is a very popular place for me to get a cramp or a muscle strain. I tried to stretch it a bit, and changed my gait to see if I could make it to 6 K, but no way. It started to really hurt about 5.5 K and I called it a day and walked it in. Gentle stretching and some rolling have helped, and I can almost walk normally again.
I was part of a pretty good NaNoWriMo writing group. Of the six of us, two thirds were a winner! Congrats to Janice, Cori, and Gerald. And me, but you guys knew that already. Funny how none of them are particularly pleased with their work, and had their struggles. There has been discussion of a manuscript burning party. I'm actually pretty pleased with mine, so I don't know I could do that. Maybe I'm hopelessly deluded and in love with my own characters and writing. Linda calls it quite readable, so maybe all hope is not lost.
We are supposed to get the first major snowstorm of the year, starting sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. Who knows what the traffic will be like. To make you all feel better about that, here are some cat photos. I had to take a dozen or more of Curtis, but Celina was a sweetie pie about the whole thing and posed like a model.
I tried taking a photo but it didn't work out. (New para, change of topic, keep up!) I've been wondering why my left foot has always needed a bit of sock tugging to be comfortable. It always feels like there's a ridge of sock. Well, it turns out there's a ridge, but it's not a sock. It's a bone. My right foot is a smooth curve of bone on the top. My left has this point of bone sticking up, about a third of the way down, between my ankle and big toe. It's really quite pronounced, and I don't remember it being that way.
Lately I've been thinking about communication. I've always liked email, right from the start. I've long since lost count of how many email accounts I've had. Even now there's probably 5 different ones that I'll end up reading. But people don't do emails so much anymore. Except at work, and I wish they'd get the email on that.
There isn't much email at home anymore. I'm much more likely to get messages from friends through a text, through Twitter, or through Facebook. Rarely through LinkedIn but it happens every now and then. People always said email was bad because there was no way to judge emotional context, but that's just poor writing skills. Sometimes people use it to avoid communication, but that annoys me. It took a long time to realize that many people don't like email because they either don't know what to say, or it takes too long to type it out. I've always said that the single greatest productivity booster companies could invest in is teaching people how to type. Even old geezers that think they'll be retiring before they have to learn this computer shit. When I was doing software training, watching someone log in told me everything I needed to know about how my day was going to go.
I once had a boss who would only read what was on his blackberry screen. He might scroll one page, but not two. It took talent to keep a message short enough for him to read, or compelling enough to make him scroll, and yet easy enough to respond with a yes, no, or most likely, I'll talk to you about it.
I was out for a run on Saturday while it was still nice. If I'd called it at 5 K it would have been a beautiful nice run. As it is, I started getting a bit of a cramp in my right calf, again, just where it thickens up into the big part of the muscle. This is a very popular place for me to get a cramp or a muscle strain. I tried to stretch it a bit, and changed my gait to see if I could make it to 6 K, but no way. It started to really hurt about 5.5 K and I called it a day and walked it in. Gentle stretching and some rolling have helped, and I can almost walk normally again.
I was part of a pretty good NaNoWriMo writing group. Of the six of us, two thirds were a winner! Congrats to Janice, Cori, and Gerald. And me, but you guys knew that already. Funny how none of them are particularly pleased with their work, and had their struggles. There has been discussion of a manuscript burning party. I'm actually pretty pleased with mine, so I don't know I could do that. Maybe I'm hopelessly deluded and in love with my own characters and writing. Linda calls it quite readable, so maybe all hope is not lost.
We are supposed to get the first major snowstorm of the year, starting sometime tonight or tomorrow morning. Who knows what the traffic will be like. To make you all feel better about that, here are some cat photos. I had to take a dozen or more of Curtis, but Celina was a sweetie pie about the whole thing and posed like a model.
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