A favorite quote:

Make play a high priority in your life for if you die tomorrow no one can play for you, but someone can and will do your work for you!!!" Ken Beebe (Dr. Play)

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Another update!! wow Neil…

Since I am sharing  my other blogo-life with campers now too, how can it hurt that I double post every once in a while.

I’ll make it OK, by giving an Andrew Update. He is a runner now!

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Ok, here is the post from over at my Running Blog…

1. I am still feeling worn down. Not really sick anymore, just tired. Going to try and get a good nights sleep tonight.

2. Over at Barefoot Neil Z on Facebook there is a BondiBand to be had. Like me first, then Like BondiBand. Then have 5 friends do the same and then put your name down in the comments of this posting. A BondiBand of your choice to the winner! I already gave one away today.

3. Ok, the statement below might come as a shock to some, as it comes from me. I am not a zealot when it comes to Barefoot running. I don’t preach to the masses. I answer questions when asked, I smiled when I get the funny remarks at races, I laugh with the jokes. I truly enjoy running barefoot and I do it for my very own reasons.

However.

You are not a barefoot runner, if you haven’t run barefoot.

And that's all I have to say about that.

I had this next photo queue’d up for the post yesterday, but I thought it might be too much of scenery overload, what with the Butchart Garden Photos. So here. One of my favourites of my favourites.

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And another… My 3rd favourite of all time… If you click on it, it will take you to the original size image, just because it deserves a good, close-up look. especially at the lightning in the middle. It is freaking AWESOME! I stood up on a hill for  hours snapping long exposure after long exposure, just hoping for something special. Success.

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There are many others from that night that are ridiculous, especially a series of pics that include a airliner making his way around this storm… here is a taste of that series of pics.

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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Reader Mail!

Sue and Doug are faithful followers here. Sorry I don’t post much anymore, but I will, I promise I will.

they introduced their lovely blog friends to my running blog because I run Barefoot, and said blog friend Nellie, has been dabbling in the Dark Art too! (barefoot running. keep up please)

So I thought I would post my Running post from today, as they are in here. Only fair I suppose and I get a toofer in posts! Good stuff!

Ok, here is the post, as posted at my Running Blog.

But first Funny Wednesday Foto…

This is actually the only good reason to own a convertible in Calgary:

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Ok, on to running. I’m not. Still weak and tired after my terrible night on Monday. I did eat a full compliment of calories today, which was good as I could only get up to a third (700cal) yesterday. I am down 8lbs in  2 days as of this morning.

The *wOoT* moment of the day happened when I got this facebook message from Melanie McQuaid.

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The *bOo* moment came when I was told they can’t ship Island Nectar to Canada, that I'd have to take a standard flavour. How can I argue at 96 Roctanes, really? Still, I thought this was my Loophole to get some of the tasty workout treats.

And my question is, who does the sour grapes award go to?

OK, on to Reader Mail:

Adrienne said...

Is Stanley park like the U.S.'s Central Park? Looks awesome!!

A: Yes, Stanley Park IS like the U.S’s Central Park. It is located in the City of Vancouver and is actually an Island and yes it IS awesome! It is not, however, pictured in the last post. The picture is of Buchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, Near Victoria. Here are a few other images from our visit there 3 years ago.

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It still baffles me how incredible the place is… that is the Pacific Ocean right there…

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Now, to get a little scale to the size of the place, see the people upper middle, left?

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These photos are untouched. I couldn’t make them any better.

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This one was ‘touched’ a bit… This one you can click on for larger, and feel free to take it! Let me know if you did tho, ok?

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-Nellie and Jonathan said...

Well, I'll be flummoxed! I found your blog through Sue and Doug (Big Dawg) when they saw my blog post today about my barefoot wannabe run today :) You wanna see a newbie hoofing it?
Here ya go!
http://midlifecruiser.blogspot.com

A: (not really a question, but a cool deal nonetheless) Many of you know that I keep many internet places to hang out. It is because I can’t typically keep friends for very long because I smell funny love to blog about stuff, but typically don’t cross blogospheres too much. This one did tho, cross blogs that is. My Andrew Blog, follows a lot of RV’ers and I have made some good friends there. One such friend has a friend that tried Barefooting recently and this such friend steered said friend to my camping site, and thus over here! Cool story hey? Nellies blog is very funny too! worth a read. (they sold everything and now live out of their RV full time) They are in their 30’s…

Shelley said...

Good luck with the weight loss - you've got a good plan. Just know that apparently most people don't tend to lose much weight when training for a marathon (or a half marathon, as I'm discovering). But hey, anything coming off will be great, right?

A: I know that it is a common thought that it’s hard to lose weight during a tough training cycle. I am proof positive that it can be done. I lost 40lbs during the 16 week training cycle for my first half marathon. I was on Jenny Craig and all I did was up my calories on run days to keep me fuelled. The insatiable appetite that comes with training was quelled with copious amounts of water and fruit! I suppose it depends where you are in your weight plan, as I know it gets harder to lose, the closer you get to your goal. I have given myself ample time to get off on the right foot, prior to the main part of the plan, so hopefully my weight loss will be a natural and sustainable journey!

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

Lose weight? What? Tired of being Ukrainian?

A: Never! I do love me a good perogy at Easter! (and why does the MS dictionary not have a spelling for perogy. Here are the solutions it comes up with. Spellcheck = Fail although ‘porgy’ made me laugh a little’

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And finally an answer to my Gnome Problem…

A: Comes in this blog post from Reader Tiina of One Crazy Penguin. Thanks, I sent them in a cab with 6 bucks, a couple sandwiches and your address, let me know when they get there. On second thought, don’t!

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And here, just because I’m feeling good today. Photo is Circa 1998. My wife is so proud…

Neil in Block Heater

Sunday, October 10, 2010

10.10.10 part 1.0+1.0

Well the day just kept getting better. I actually got a nap at about 1pm for an hour. I never nap. After that we got ready and headed over to my parents for Thanksgiving/ nutha b-day pour moi!

Turkey. I do love Turkey. But just a couple times a year. Otherwise I overdose and have don’t crave it anyway, so what the point of eating too much of it. My Mom and Dad make award winning turkey dinner. (I gave them the ‘versatile cooker’, for their prowess in the Kitchen!)  Dad also made his brussel sprouts, but instead of whipped cheeze from a jar, he made a cheese rue. yum. I’m not a big fan of the little cabbages, but smother them in enough cheeze and I am all over it!

Oh, guess what the theme was for my today party? uh-huh! M-I-C-K-E-Y  M-O-U-S-E… you know the rest. The boy had a hand in choosing the theme of THIS one too! haha!

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We opened presents. I got an Asian Cookbook, a cool fit foods book and some cash!! The cash goes along with my other B-day cash so I can buy a pair of winter running minimalist shoes. As of today I am hoping to not have to buy them… we’ll see… cross fingers.

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Andrew gets presents during other peoples b-days too… He digs it.

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We ate, yum… too much. then we had cake, pie and more cake. Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Cake.

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The boy sings the song really well now!

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After all the excitement I pretty much sat in the Lounger watching my new Iphone 4. We watched Football and pretty much just watched Andrew play for the afternoon. A perfect end to a perfect day.

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Oh, and remember the really messy Sky this morning. Well, Red sky in morning, sailor take warning. This came true and the wind has been howling for hours now. See the giant dog in the lower right corner. he wanted in out of the wind. he is a giant baby.

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All in all, my 10.10.10 has been everything I had hoped it would be. My Family means everything to me!

10.10.10 part 1.o

What can I say. I got up and went out to our meeting point for our run and was greeted by this. Like seriously… what did I do to deserve this.

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Here are a couple other pictures I took on the way over to the run. These next 2 were taken from the same spot.

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We finished the run, equalling 8 1.0k’s for a total of 8k. It was a perfect morning for a run, and a perfect morning for a barefoot run. These days are being counted as blessings as they will be done soon and I’ll be in shoes (of some sort). When we got done our run, the group had a surprise for me, as Marian had picked up a cake and candles!

How much fun can a guy on his birthday, really. I highly recommend the embracing of ‘your’ day, as it is WAY more fun than brooding and shying away. From this experience this year…. *WoOt!*

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Thanks Judy, Jamie, Mariea, and Marian for an awesome birthday morning run! It couldn’t have been nicer!

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I got home and Andrew JUMPED up and yelled HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY! woohoo! Traci had breakfast ready! what a day and it’s only 10am!!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

10.9.10

Was pretty freaking amazing for me. I can’t wait until 10.10.10. I know there are a lot of other people that celebrate a birthday tomorrow. Like. Probably, well easily, 18 million people ( 6,697,254,041 people in the world divided by 365 days in a year, rounded down to the nearest million for the sake of brevity, or is it too late for brevity?)

Another cool thing about this October. It has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. Only once in every 853 years does this happen.

Other cool stuff about 10.10.10 

The numerical form of a calendar date can create confusion when used in international correspondence, especially when the year is abbreviated into two digits. The numerical form of October 10, 2010 will be the same for all areas that read calendar dates by month/day such as in the United States, or day/month such as in Europe.

At the start of the new millennium, specific dates have become more popular and significant, especially as a day to get married. The abbreviated date of 10/10/10 or October 10, 2010 is believed to have more than just a meaning as a day to get married. There are other great significances to this date that can be somewhat surprising.


The calendar date of October 10, 2010 is believed to hold some significance because it has a numerical abbreviation of 10/10/10. We will have to wait another hundred years to write the date like this.

10/10/10 Significance

The date of October 10, 2010 (10/10/10) has become a widely popular date to get married because it only consists of the number ten. It is even more significant that the date 10/10/10 at 10:10am (10:10) or 10:10pm (22:10) to be a very lucky time. One reason for this comes from the story of George Inmad who had been deaf since birth. On 10/10/1910 at 10:10pm (22:10) he suddenly was able to hear with no explanation from the doctors. It was a medical mystery and the only conclusion they had was that he was very lucky. From then on, it is believed that you will have good luck if you touch your ears at 10:10am or pm.

Many organizations are using the ease of remembering this date of 10/10/10 to host large events so that people will associate the date to the event. The psychology of the number ten seems to give people a nice and comfortable feeling where many use the number ten as a reference or limit such as Top Ten lists.

Coincidence or Prophecy?

There are many coincidences and prophecies that are involved with the date of October 10, 2010. In mathematics, the date of 10/10/10 or 101010 is divisible by the number of days in a week, which is seven (7), which is considered to be very lucky. However, the date also appears to have a yin and yang situation where the date is also divisible by the number six (6), which is considered to be very unlucky.

Most predictions and opinions concerning the date of 10/10/10 are based on its mathematical uniqueness as a number. Some believe that on this day something either good or bad has to happen, however there is no scientific or logical basis for this belief. The belief that something good or bad will happen is based solely on faith and/or natural belief because we don’t know what the future entails.

While some believe that something good will happen, there are others who believe that nothing will happen, which is most likely the scenario.  This is not the first day that the date has had this type of sequence or significance. In the past couple of years, we have faced different dates such as June 6, 2006 (6/6/06), which is a very negative number sequence, and August 8, 2008 (8/8/08), which is a very lucky sequence to the Chinese culture. However, nothing significant happened on these days and will probably be the case on October 10, 2010.

Global Events on October 10, 2010

Many organizations are taking advantage of the significant date of October 10, 2010 (10/10/10) by creating global events such as the Global Work Party, World Homeless Day and the 10-10-10 Initiative to help create awareness for their cause.

The Global Work Party is a time for people around the world to participate in an event that will help deal with global warming issues in their area. The day will join together thousands of communities to celebrate climate solutions by putting up solar panels, planting trees, cleaning up trash, installing wind turbines, digging community gardens, and more activities that will help deal with global warming issues.

On October 10, 2010, the Netherlands Antilles will be dissolved, with the islands being split up and given a new constitutional status. (ed note: Awww)

World Homeless day hopes to draw attention to the needs of homeless people by making the 10th of the 10th in 2010 to become an international day that provides opportunities for the community to get involved in responding to homelessness.

Whether the date is used to create more significance to its cause or by coincidence, the date of October 10, 2010 (10/10/10) will surely be a date that people find amusing and significant.

What did I do today, the day before 1o.10.10? I started off by looking up IronMan live and finding an app for my New Iphone 4 so I could stay up to date on IMKona while out delivering Fruit Baskets for my DW’s company Getta-Gift gift baskets.

Don’t tell Traci, but I had to rebuild a basket through the cello-wrap as it tipped over in the car. In my defence it happened as I was turning into the gas station to fill the empty tank on her car. If you read this Honey, I promise you it looked AMAZING. Once I got done rebuilding it. Man those baskets are top heavy aren’t they? Whew.

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I drove ALL over the city delivering today. the first loop was 110kms. the second was only 60kms. So 100miles of fruit basket deliveries. That drive was a lot less fun mapping in Map My Run than I thought it was going to be. Belch. I think next time, I'll just bring my Garmin and set it on the dash.

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It’s 1 hour until 10.10.10 starts. and about 1 hours and 2o minutes until 10.10.10 10:10:10. Cool huh? And did you know that 101010 is the binary digit for 42, which is kms for Marathon! great stuff!

I had a Surprise B-day party today from Traci and Andrew when I returned! Decorations, Balloons and it was Mickey Mouse Theme! Gawd I love having a 3 year old in the house! I got some Lightning McQueen Lego, some Injinji Socks and a GC for a sports massage from my awesome family. (2 guesses who the Lego was from?) We are over to my Parents tomorrow for Thanksgiving Turkey and another Birthday for me! Here are the photo results of all the love I get from my Family. You 2 are freaking amazing, and I might be the luckiest guy on earth!

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Random awesome Pug Shot.

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Andrew and I then went for a 2 hour walk/play around the neighbourhood as we are finally getting incredible summer weather here, and if we don’t take advantage of it, winter will be here and I’ll just be bitter.

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Thursday, October 7, 2010

Prayers…

For Tioga George.

And how was your day?

Traci choked on her coffee and spit a mouthful out all over the dash and windshield of my truck. Think: blueberry pie eating contest in the movie ‘Stand by Me’

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She never got a single drop of coffee on her, as it was a very purposeful/ directional choke/spit because she was making a big delivery of 150 Thanksgiving treat buckets to a corporate client. Yep, not a drop on her tho….

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On the way back from this delivery, we stopped at the Italian Bakery Deli for a fresh sandwich for lunch. As we are finishing lunch outside on a picnic table, I watch a elderly lady walk into the bakery, then walk back out. She heads back to her car but as she steps off the curb she trips. With a sickening thud she falls onto the road.

I Bolted over to her to help and this poor woman was just crying and crying.

‘Ok, ma’am, we’re going to look after you. We’re right here. Tell me what hurts’ – Traci, call 911 right now.

‘Ma’am, try to relax, you have taken a pretty good spill, we have called 911, tell me where it hurts’

‘My arm!’ still crying she tries to show me. keep in mind she is face down on the rough asphalt kinda twisted. At this point some dude says, ‘lets roll her over’

‘No sir, we won’t move her’ - ‘please just support her leg, DO NOT try to move her’  - ‘Ma’am, does it hurt anywhere else?’

‘My leg’ she shows me (near her hip, obviously). She is still crying, but gathering herself as we talk.

‘Ma’am, I know its uncomfortable right now, but we are going to wait until the paramedics get here until we can move you, I'm going to put my hand under your head, and take your glasses off. I've set them right by your purse and keys, what is you name ma’am?’

‘ Mary Theresa ‘

‘Hi Mary Theresa, I’m Neil. I saw you go into the Bakery and come out with nothing, what were you doing here’

‘I wanted to pick up a loaf of bread, but the line was too long’

Meanwhile, I had kind of checked her out, no blood, she had stopped crying, seemed to be gaining her spirit. Another guy showed up with a blanket and a pillow( a really cute little embroidered pillow) and we kind of supported her where we could.

‘Mary Theresa, you are doing ok, but we are going to wait for the help crew before you can move. Is there anyone you want us to call.

‘ummm… uh… my son’

‘One sec Mary Theresa’ – I scan the gathering crowd ‘YOU with the phone! (Traci was still on with 911), come here!’, ‘You are going to call her son’, the dude *snaps* to attention, OK!. She gave me the number (good sign for Mary Theresa, no bad head knock), there was no answer, ‘Is there another # we can call?’, there was and the helper dude left a message. I had noticed a ruby ring on her finger with a ‘50’ on it. ‘Mary Theresa, can we call your husband?’

‘He’s in a nursing home, that’s why I wanted to stop here, I was going to see him and I wanted to get him a loaf of bread’ (I know, heartbreaking)

‘ Can we call the Nursing home?’

‘Yes, but don’t tell them I fell, just tell them’ – she stops short of finishing the question and lifts her head up, twists it around very awkwardly and seemingly painfully)… to look at her watch ‘ Oh, it’s only 12:30, just tell them I can’t make it for my 1:00 meeting’

‘Mary Theresa… (I say in my best school teacher tone) the next time you want to know the time, please just ask me…’

She actually laughed.

‘What’s the phone number to the nursing home’

‘Oh dear, that’s a tough one, I don’t know.

‘what’s the name of the home?’ – she tells me, and I scan the crowd again. ‘YOU, is that a blackberry?’ – yep- ‘ Look up the xxxxxxxx nursing home, then call them, but don’t tell them she fell.

So she was feeling more comfortable, Traci went in and bought her the loaf of bread she came for and before the Paramedics could arrive, a Fire Dept Hazmat truck arrived and lent their assistance. I gave them all her info, then told Mary Theresa she was going to be looked after by the pros now and said goodbye. She kind of waved her hand at me and so I grabbed her hand and got the nicest little ‘thank you’ and little hand squeeze.

They had her on the stretcher by the time we left. I wanted to jump in and go with her, but there wasn’t anything more I could do. She had a pretty good sense of humour, at one point she says “oh my, we need to get off the road, we’ll all get ran over” I replied, ‘no ma’am, if they want to get to you, they gotta go through me, and that ain’t happening because I am a big man and they don’t want to wreck their car’. She got a chuckle there too. Oh, and Mary Theresa turns 77 next Monday (Thanksgiving up here, btw). Happy Birthday Ma’am!

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That was it. I got a few compliments on how I handled everything, and one guy says ‘You’ve done this before’, I replied ‘nope, first time’, ‘You obviously took the class’… I did take the class, 3+ years ago, it was Baby CPR, but it had a basic component on first aid. It got me thinking about the incident in Fish Creek this spring and how there was a good team captain (a nurse out for a run) on that emergency, and I was glad I could help on this one…

I guess I listened well enough in that class! Amazing how having a kid will snap you to attention, because I never listened in school. Took me a few hours for the adrenaline rush to subside and even now, recounting the story, my heart rate has gone up…

Take care everyone!