Chasing views, a comet and hot springs

If there is one word to describe the Canadian Rockies, it's majestic.  The last time I was in AB was in the early 90s visiting my brother, and he took me to Banff and skied Lake Louise and Sunshine.  I didn't appreciate skiing the Rockies back then as I wasn't as confident of a skier.  

One vision that has etched in my mind's eye was the drive from Calgary to Banff on Hwy 1. You see the mountains in the distance.  Then all of sudden they are there looming over you like giants.  You have to drive to understand what I mean, cuz I am not good enough with words to give it any sort of appreciation.

We live in an amazingly beautiful country and this region is majestic.  We were in the most western part of the Mountain Time Zone.  It gets dark early and that's due to the mountains surrounding you.   Watching the sun set behind the mountains is something to behold.   Watching their shadows move across the landscape is like something from IMAX, just in real life.   Any photo I take will not have the same effect.

Radium hot springs was a great spot to take a road trip break.  We weren't on the road that long, but I found out after that this was much better than the Banff hot springs.  This was a geothermal heated water in a pool that was just off the highway. 

It kinda looks and feels like a rec centre and the pool was below grade and open to the sky.  It was $20 for towel and locker. The Banff one is literally just a hot tub at a fancy hotel.  For sure you'll pay a lot more.  Everything in Banff was more money even the views.

The only less than impressive spot was the Continental Divide.  Basically it's this concrete pillar with AB on 1 side and BC on the other.  And these signs that need some fresh paint.  If you read the Google reviews on this site seeing spot.  It basically said the same thing.  It's a 1min stop, take a selfie and get back on the road.

Banff is more beautiful than I remember.  Maybe it's because I've been to other parts of the world, or I see what we have in ON, and we don't have anything that compares.   In any case, it made us appreciate our country that much more, and excited to visit other parts.

When you are in the Rockies, you feel so small.   But that's nothing when you compare us to the vastness of space.  Then we are so small we are nothing.   This comet Tsuchinshan was passing by our planet and we could see it in the sky at around 7pm in the west, just when the sun was setting.  It looks like a small vapour trail of a plane.  Always in the same West-SW spot.   It's hard to see in the city, but we did get a glimpse.  

But we saw it just north of the city where there's less light pollution and obstructions.  Imagine, the last time comet Tsuchinshan was in visible to Earth, was a couple of ice ages ago (80,000 yrs).  That's long interval between visits.  Makes you feel a bit insignificant in comparison to our solar system, never mind the galaxy or universe.  How they determine celestial specifics is beyond my comprehension.

I was happy to have finally found a solution that T and I were happy with in terms of the trim around our side mail box.  It was once a MILK delivery box back in the 50's.  But when that service ended, it became a Mail Slot.  Our post delivery person drops our mail in this slot on the side of our house.  I forget what the original looked like when we first got the house 22 yrs ago.  All I know is that 15yrs ago I insulated this wall and had a new door made, and never finished the trim on it.

All I knew was that it needed to be low profile.  Trim sticking out can be a problem in tight quarters.  So I thought about it, and 3D printed the trim and covered it with drywall tape and mud.  I didn't have to cut anything.  I glued it on like it was tile for a backsplash.  And its thickness matches the depth the door protrudes from the wall. Which is 3mm.

It turned out really well.  It looks like it had always been there, like it was embedded into the wall.  I saw the nearly finished renovations next door since the fire incident.  And noticed their mailbox.   It gave me the inclination I needed to finish ours.

One checkbox closer to a finished house.

Kevin's gone home

Oct 2014

The street cat that many who passed by thought was ours, has found himself a new home.  This cat had lots of homes.  He's slept at our place, next door, but most of the time he was outside, under a chair or table or inside a shed.  He was tough, and had the scars to prove it.

Sept 2015

This cat was the best pet that was never ours.  Sure we'd often feed him, give him some chicken, milk, cat treats, and even cat food.  And it wasn't just us, he was neighbourhood pet for at least 4 other homes, that I knew of.  He didn't venture far from his hood maybe it's cuz he knew he had a good territory, but I've seen him wandering around other streets.  And on Halloween he's hung out with me while giving out candy, and people have asked if he was our cat because he visits them.  But this cat didn't belong to us.  He's got many humans, but his original human was our neighbour at the end of the street.

He wasn't always looking to be fed.  Sometimes he would just like to rub up next to you and hang out.  When I first saw him, he wasn't skittish.  But he would never come into the house.  I had to coax him in with treats.  I would lay a trail that went inside the house.   And he would look at that door to ensure he had an exit.   If it was raining buckets outside, he'd lie down across the front door opening.  He'd get a bit damp, but he wouldn't come inside.   He kept me company when I was renovating the main floor and the laundry room.  I'd be out on the front porch taking a break and he's wander over and I'd hand feed him some treats.  He was so friendly.  I'd never had a cat as a pet.  I never really considered a pet cat.  This one was easy.

Eventually he grew to trust me.  And soon he'd wait to come into our house and make himself at home.  He learned his spot was in the hallway close to the door.  And came to know the milk was kept in the fridge.

He did spend 1 cold -30 deg C winter night inside though.  It was the 1st and last time.  We weren't sure what he'd mark inside our home.  So T didn't get much sleep worrying about that.  And he would prefer to be outdoors.  We know he had some home in a shed.  But it's not heated.  He would have frozen his ear tips off.  But every year he survives.  Never goes to the vet, supplements his diet of scraps from various homes, with birds he's killed.  He's also killed a few bunnies, a squirrel and big rat.  

This cat was a hunter.  You'd see him walking across fence tops following potential prey.  I've seen him perched in front of our neighbour's big pine tree.  Then he'd pounce in to its middle and a million birds would evacuate!  

I've seen him play with a live mouse in the middle of the street.  I could see its tail wiggling.  He'd let it out and pounce on it again.  Toying with it.  I have seen him kill a squirrel on our lawn.  I saw the squirrel hanging around the tree, and Kevin was lying there minding his own business.  I literally went to the garage and a came back to the front and it was like a lioness with it's teeth in the jugular of a gazelle.  It was gross.   Then he left it there for me.  Awesome.  He's left us with several gifts over the years that he's killed to let us know he's appreciated us and his other humans.

Everyone kinda took care of him.  Brushed him, fed him, sheltered him, gave him affection, meds even, and nursed him when he was wounded.

About a month ago, he was looking rough.  And sure enough he had some more battle scars.  Not sure how he got them, but this last one took a lot out of him.  Our neighbour (not Kevin's owner) took him to the vet.  As he had a massive gash under his front leg/belly region.  It was easy to miss.  He was laying around a lot, and it was hot so I thought it was due to the heat.  But I saw him limp from the side table he likes to lie on, to the chair and then I lifted him down to the porch when I filled his bowl with milk and a few ice cubes.

He spent a week in their house, on antibiotics and a cone of shame.

Finally he was back outside free again.

He was laying on our lawn under our cedar tree.  One of his usual places where he snoozes.  The grass is cool and the tree provides shade.

He looked weak.  And our neighbours commented that food he'd normally devour, he'd ignore, choosing instead to stay where he lay.

Then one morning he was lying on our lawn, with a bowl of water next to him in case he was thirsty.  Then he left.  Our next door neighbour was worried he'd be prey.  We all kinda figured that he was going somewhere to be put out to pasture.   But he was a tough kitty.  He always seemed to bounce back.

But not this time.  He'd gone back to his original human owner, back to the first home he ever knew, and passed away a few days later.   He knew his time here on Criscoe was coming to a close.

RIP Kevin - Aug 25, 2024

June 2024

I'll forever have this image of you on our driveway when I would come home from my morning rides.  You're the best pet we never owned.  We'll miss you.

Freedom 55

There were these retirement commercials over a decade ago, that depicted a couple heading into early retirement, and their dilemma was choosing Tuscany or Provence, Italy, and then driving the winding roads in a convertible like Thelma and Louise.

I don't see those commercials any more.  Yeah.  Cuz it's a crock of s#!t.  Well the travelling the world and all that imagery.  I realize now that I've hit that Freedom 55 milestone, that it's not about that.  It's always been about - "do I have a choice?"

And it's not just about having enough money to pretend to be like I'm in Oceans 55.  I've managed to take care of my stuff long ago, and set things in motion so I could hopefully have a choice at this stage of my life.  I don't want someone to take care of me.  That's just how I've learned to live my life.  I wanted to always have a choice.  You can't have everything.  Or if you got really lucky.  Maybe you can.  You are one of the fortunate commercial people that have a person bust through the walls and encourage you to dream big.

But most are NOT in that position.  And pinning your hopes on stuff like that can be - not so gud - at a stage when you aren't as good as you once were.  Freedom 55 is setting yourself up so you can take care of yourself.  It may not be like in the commercials, but at the very least, comfortable.  

My response to the question above is - I do have a choice.  I consider myself lucky.  But it's the choices I made along the way that put me where I am - good or not so good.  Remember it's all relative.  Not so good for you might be really good for someone else.

It wasn't always so easy, but effort and perseverance can go a long way.  Having foresight is key, starting early, investing in yourself.  All clichés, but all relevant.  I didn't wait for things to happen, I could be waiting a lifetime.  I knew I needed to make things happen, make connections, try new things.  Sure some things didn't go exactly to plan but still it came out on the positive side.

You try, you fail or things go wrong, you work out a solution,  you learn and move forward.

I realize now, how unimportant many things are.  And the simplest things are the most important.  I get to wake up and see the sunrise.  It's amazing.  I'm a bit groggy at first, but it's a miracle every day.  

I'm fortunate to be where I am, and have the family I have, but also to be healthy and capable.  And more importantly everyone I love is healthy.   It's a blessing that I can share my life with them.  I notice these things more now than ever.

Everything else seems secondary.  It's not about wanting more.  But appreciation of what's within my hands to grasp.  In some cases my toes.  Haha.  Certain peeps will get this.

You can't turn back time no matter what. Live your life while you can live it well.  You have ONE life to live.  Don't bet it on some random numbers.  You can...just don't plan your life on them hitting.

Keeping cool

This week we are at the start of a heat wave.  And although it feels like the central air is properly cooling the house.  It's been too hot for me to sleep up stairs and last night I slept in the basement.

I tried, but I just could not do it.  I would have had heat stroke in my sleep.

4 years ago to the day I called Eugene, to recharge our AC unit.  It shouldn't be like this as it's a closed system.  So we may need to replace our central air some time down the road.  It's 15yrs old now.  And should be good for at least 20yrs.

Seems like we just replaced the old furnace and AC unit that was in our home for 29yrs.  Our furnace works fine.  I could just replace the AC unit.  The plan is to recharge the AC unit if it needs it a few more times, then replace both units in 10yrs.

Eugene just turned 80 a few days ago.   I'm hoping he's around the next time to recharge.  I am unsure how I found him, but he used to fix our old washer and dryer.  The ones that came with our house, that were older than me.

So I know he used to work at Inglis, and there's like 6 deg of separation between him and Tresa's godmother who also worked at Inglis.

But I have had lovely chats with him when he'd come and service something in our house.  He'd tell me what not to get, or what to look for if we needed to replace an appliance.  He would explain to me how the AC unit heat exchange system worked.   And he'd show me how to check that it was working properly.

In any case.  I noticed he didn't bring the same gauges as 4 yrs ago.  He said he forgot them.  These ones are for fridges.  But it was fine.  He was still able to get the job done.

Life's a journey where you meet whoever.  Thanks Eugene.  Good to see you again. 

 

Doorways to heaven

After living in this house for 22yrs.  Knowing we wanted new front and side doors.  Finally today was the day.  I honestly didn't know if this day would come in my lifetime.  And I thought we'd get the front door replaced and then I'd be waiting another lifetime for the side door.  But they are both arriving today!

I must be the luckiest person on the planet.  2 for the price of 3 doors.

I know we went to Bauhaus doors, back in early 2000's.  Their doors alone were $5000.00. But doesn't include installation.  Which at today's rates. Seems reasonable for a custom door.   Pandemic pricing caused everything to double or triple. If you are willing to pay that price.  They will raise it.

Like that movie Field of Dreams ... Raise it, and they will Pay.

Our doors were hard to open, well the side door was, and they were leaky.  We could always feel cold air coming from the hallway.  And being solid doors, we always had them open and the storm door latched so that we could get some natural light in the hallway.  After all these years I can now replenish my vitamin-D stores.

I asked every year.  When are we getting doors replaced?  Response - I'm looking.   It wasn't a big deal.  Front door is definitely leaky, you can feel the cold air coming through in the winter time. And the side door was a bit hard to open and close.  There was definitely a technique to it. But I could not stand the side storm door.  It was a pain in the behind. 

Our renos are largely done.  I would have preferred to have them all done.  Before installing new doors to prevent any potential scratches or dings.  But the basement is still needing a new door to the laundry & tiles.  What can you do?  This is the way.  I have very little control over this schedule.   My control is limited to - will this ever get done? Not when it gets done.

I thought the process for getting a new door would take months.  As in, they take the old door out, then you have an opening, they measure for new door, then you wait many weeks for door to be manufactured, door is delivered and installed.  

They measured it in April, and 6 wks later it's here and they are removing the old doors and frames as I write this.

What a difference.  I'm used to the old door.  Where I could just pull it behind me and it would lock.  Convenient, but also the reason I've accidentally locked myself out many times.

The side door you could do that, but it was a bit of an issue with the locking mechanism and how it sat in the frame.   I hated the aluminum doors.  They were just a blast from the past.  It made the house have a 80s rental vibe.

The side door is clear.  It's a bit odd at night.  Cuz someone can look right into the house.  But at the same time it's nice because it's clear.

The front has the frosted glass.  It lets light in, but you can't see in or out.  The only thing that needs to be done is the trim on the inside.  We'll figure that out in good time.  Not a big job.

For now, I can enjoy these new door.  Even that robin on the roof approved!

These aren't 3D movie glasses

How cool was that?

The last time I can recall being in an eclipse, I was in Gr 4.  And at grade school and not allowed to go outside and the window curtains were all drawn closed.  And these were those heavy vinyl curtains.  You could shoot a puck at it.

In any case, I didn't see anything back then.

Fast forward to April 8, 2024.  And for the month leading up to the eclipse, there was news of 1M+ visitors making their way to Niagara Falls region, to experience the eclipse and Falls at the same time!  Along with that was news of sky high room fees during this once in a many decades global event.

Legit!

The eclipse was to start shortly after 2pm local time and last for just shy of 2.5hrs.

I wasn't sure what to expect.  I wasn't sure whether the protective glasses from Amazon were legit.  
They looked like 3D movie glasses, but once I got them in my hands, these were much much darker.  You couldn't see anything unless you were looking up at the sun.  

Watching the morning weather, I wasn't sure if I would see anything again this time around either, as they were forecasting cloud coverage for the duration of the afternoon and wouldn't clear until well after the eclipse.  I thought .. Oh well that was a waste of money for the glasses.

TO - 2:20PM

But determined to not let this opportunity slip by, I went outside at a few mins past 2pm local Toronto ON, time to see if the clouds would clear and I could see anything.

And somehow it did.  It was super nice out.  

And as I tried the glasses on, and could see the amazing image of the moon taking a small bite out of the sun.  The moon was starting to nibble at the bottom of the sun.  I was amazed and fortunate to witness this in real time.

Totality - Montreal

T had called me just as it was starting.  I told her to hurry home.  But clouds rolled in and blocked out the sun, and was noticeably chilly about 30mins after the eclipse started.  I was disappointed that she wouldn't be able to see what I just saw.

I took my first photo at 2:20pm ET. I thought that was as much as we'd get to see as clouds came rolling in.  And felt lucky to get that shot.

But as totality approached at 3:20pm ET, we noticed how dark it got.  Even the street lamps came on.  

Totality - Brantford

And as the moon began to make exit from blocking the sun.  The clouds began to dissipate, we were amazed at how quickly it warmed up, and we could now see the sliver of the sun behind the moon. 

It was an incredible sight to see.  We called our neighbour out so she wouldn't miss out.

Photos came in on the chat of the total eclipse and it was crazy to see.  I was wow'd and grateful for the real time sharing of photos of the event.

We were glued to the phone to see what pics were coming in from all over the region.

TO - 3:32PM

I took some photos with my phone using the glasses as a filter.   It wasn't so easy as the camera would focus on the filter surface.  But somehow it turned out.  The ones that appear more reddish are using the glasses.

The ones that have more grey and brighter, were filter free, as the clouds provided sufficient shielding.  

As more of the sun appeared from behind the moon, a filter was needed again.

TO - 4PM

Friends and family were all sharing photos from their locations, it was a so cool to have so many people chattering and sharing in this event in real time.

We were showing couriers, dog walkers, neighbours that came by the photos.

It's amazing how a cosmological event can bring so many people together.  What a magical 99.7% day.

Even Kevin was out on the driveway to witness the eclipse.

3rd Times the Charm

We have a robo vacuum.  Actually we have 2, one the main floor and an older model in the basement.  The basement one was the first one I bought about 5 yrs ago.  It was a Black Friday special, pre-COVID.  I thought I'd try it out.  I called my cousin first if she had one.  And she said she's had 5.  She loves them!

It was good, picks up a lot of dust and crumbs.  Our house is all hardwood.  But these things were designed to go over multi-surface areas.  Carpet, tile, hardwood, rugs, cables, socks.  You name it.  It'll go over it.  And likely it'll get caught in the sweeper or the brushes.  What's really cool is that it goes under our stove and cleans up there too.  It works well, it picks up a lot of dust bunnies.  When I empty this the hopper of this unit after about 2 weeks, it's filled. 

This is the iRobot Roomba 671.  And I'd have it scheduled to clean 3x a week.

It's on its back cuz it wasn't working.   And I had to take photos to send to iRobot support.

This is the 3rd thing in our house to malfunction.  That's 3 appliances in our house in retirement mode.

This model used to be on our main floor.  We don't have a large foot print house so it would nearly clean the entire main floor, before it needed to go back to its base to recharge.

It's not an advanced robot.  In fact when I saw how it did its pattern.  I thought it was dumb, it would clean in this is a random star pattern.  It's not very efficient, but it does cover everything.  When it finds a wall though, it'll follow it.  And when it comes to a stair, it'll detect it and not go over.  These are 2 of the smart things it does.  Well a third is when it gets low on battery, it makes its way back to its base to recharge.

One Boxing Day a few years later, I ended up replacing this one on the main floor with another iRobot i3 model that maps the room and does a more linear pattern.  This unit has a hepa filter and is quieter and better suction.  I love it!  What an improvement.  I can schedule the various parts of the main floor to different schedules.  Hallway and Kitchen every day.  Living Room and Dining Room - M, W, Fr.

So I moved the less advanced 671 to the basement.  It's an easier room for it to clean.  It's rectangular and doesn't have many challenges to work around.   And it was effective there.

Recently I noticed it stopped executing it's cleaning schedule.  I checked and it was dead.  Battery wasn't charged.  I put it on the base and the light on the base would flash.  Great.  What did that code mean?

As a test, I put the unit on the upstairs base and it charged.  I put it back downstairs and let it run.  90mins it ran.  Battery was okay.  Turns out the unit itself is good,  It's the base.  Basically the non-robotic part was faulty. 

Not sure if my phone was listening to me.  But I found an i4 model on a really great sale.  So I bought it and if I couldn't get a replacement base 2nd hand, then I'd set up this one in the basement. 

We work out down there and for some reason dust seems to settle in the basement.  So eventually, I put this one on a cleaning schedule for the basement.  It's nice.  HEPA filter, and also a little tower that you activate and it tells the robot to keep away from this spot (2ft radius).  I didn't realize it would be included.

I'm not sure what to do with the 671, it just needs a base.  So I packed up and stored it in the garage and saved it from the rubbish bin for now.