Friday Feel-good Moment

Now try and tell me this doesn't just melt your heart!

Still alive and kicking

Still hanging in here, even though I haven't blogged in about six months. I'll break back into it slowly with a small post but with lots of pics. We finally got a break from the deep freeze we've been in and hit some plus temps today. Along with the bright sunshine it was too inviting to stay inside, and I figured it would be a good time to take a couple of new lenses for a test drive. It's currently the camera's turn in my rotation of obsessions. American friends are always amazed at how close we are to the States here. I went down to the waterfront and got some great pics of Detroit, along with lots of people out walking, jogging, or bike riding on this gorgeous day. First up is the Detroit skyline with the ice chunks still floating down the river. The big building on the right with five towers is the Renaissance centre, home of GM World Headquarters. This was actually three pics stitched together. As usual, clicking on the pics should bring up a bigger version to look at.

This next one should give you an idea of how close we really are. The green bars in the forground? Thats the railing on the Canadian shore. Across the river is the U.S. Coast Guard parked in front of the Renaissance Center.

This woman was definitely making the most of the great weather. I love how this pic shows the blurred background from the narrow depth of field capable with the 70-200mm lens . If I were any good at photoshop I'd get rid of that tree. The rest are other people who seem really happy to come out of hibernating.
The new lenses are the 70-200m f2.8 IS L, and the 18-55m f3.5 IS. The image stabilization really makes a difference on the sharpness of the pics, especially when shooting handheld at full zoom like the one of the coast guard. I know it will take lots of practice before I'm regularly taking good pics, but I have to say that overall I'm very happy with these lenses.

Obsessive? Who, me?

Well I was doing really good riding the bike to work almost every day, and even using it to run short errands. But I was realizing that the gears weren't shifting as well as they should, and before you know it I'd made some more excuses and went out and bought a NEW BIKE! Obsessive? Of course. Crazy? You have to ask? Sigh.

So here it is; my new Trek Navigator. It was love at first sight. I've also given a lot of thought as to whether or not to wear a helmet. I prefer to ride without one, but I'm not the most coordinated at the best of times. I figure if I get slammed by a car a helmet isn't going to make a whole lot of difference, but if I just get knocked over or -- more likely -- fall over, it may save me from a more serious injury. Now if I could find one that's even remotely attractive I know I'd be more likely to actually wear it, and with that thought in mind I went surfing and bought this:

Made by "Nutcase". Kind of seems appropriate, doncha think?

Name That Bike!

I've decided my bike needs a name. I've been developing quite a relationship with it, and it seems too impersonal to just call it "the bike". So I need some help. Any ideas? Maybe Gretchen? or Gloria? Something else? Why don't I give you some background.

I used to have a really hard time bike riding because of my rheumatoid arthritis. It's mostly in my wrists, and the conventional way of bike riding where you are leaning on the handlebars just put too much pressure on them. It was too painful. So about ten years ago Canadian Tire came out with the retro cruiser-style bike and I bought one. The cruiser has you sitting more upright without putting all your weight on your hands and wrists. The handlebars are curved back towards you in a much more comfortable position (my wrists don't really bend) that regular straight bars. It only had six gears instead of the 21 that everyone else was riding, but I found the six plenty for the type of riding I do. The saddle is wide and has spring suspension for comfort. It has thick whitewalled tires that not only look cool but are perfect for city streets. I got a lot of funny looks when I first started riding this bike. Everyone else (it seems) was riding traditional racing-style bikes, but it allowed me to go bike riding with the kids when they were young enough to want to go bike riding with their mom.

Anyway, the bike got left out in the rain a few times, the kids didn't want to ride with mom anymore, and before you know it a few years had gone by and the now rusty old bike was relegated to the shed. A couple of years ago I thought I should ride it or get rid of it. DH tried to talk me into buying a new one, but I thought what if I don't ride it much again? What a waste of money! I tried to make some adjustments since it didn't shift properly and was now hard to ride. I didn't have much success with the adjustments. So late last summer I finally took it to a bike shop. I had them give it a good overhaul, tighten up the shifter, get it running smoothly for me. I took it for a few rides and then put it away again. It now rode very nicely but frankly it was embarassing to be on this rusty old bike.

So I decided the bike was worth keeping but I needed to "pretty it up". I bought new fenders to replace the rusty old ones that were on it. Then I rode it to work and decided I needed a way to carry my totebag and purse. You see how one thing leads to another? So I installed a basket, which I told my son is an "anti-theft device" (who the heck is going to want to be seen on an old-lady bike with a basket?! lol).

In order to install the basket I had to remove the headlight from the handlebars. DH then came up with a scathingly brilliant idea. He suggested I attach the light to some tubing, drill holes in each end of the tubing (to prevent it rotating) and attach it to the underside of the basket with zip-ties. Ta-da; brilliant! Another trip (on the bike) to Canadian Tire got me a rear rack which I installed last night.

But the best was delivered today. I ordered this set of panniers from Curbside Cycle in Toronto. They're Dutch from a company called Basil. I could have ordered it in red to match my bike, but I thought that would be too much red. There is also baby blue, pink, or orange, so I'm hoping I made the right choice. I have to give the credit to Steph who first blogged about them here. I can see myself making trips to the grocery store for small loads.

Now that she's so practical as well as comfortable (not to mention pretty!), I see the beginning of a long relationship. She definitely needs a name.

Turning over a new (green) leaf

So you see what happens when I quit blogging? All of a sudden I want to blog! lol

I'm addicted to my truck. Sad but true. While the rest of the country seems to be heading in droves to buy the latest in fuel efficiency, I've got absolutely no intention of giving up my Sport Trac. This truck was made for me. It's just the thing when I buy something fairly large and have to haul it home. Or when it's something dirty, like a load of compost, that you wouldn't want dumped in the back of a hatchback or the trunk of a car. I can toss bikes in there when one of the kids needs a ride home late at night. It's small enough to fit in my garage with all my other stuff in there. And, as of three weeks ago, it's all paid off. It's mine!

Dennis DesRosiers, the negative auto analyst who's always putting down Windsor/unions/the domestic auto industry, has just written an article (below) about how we Windsorites love out "gas-guzzling" SUV's. Well no kidding! There's a lot of reasons for that, including what I've already written. Do I need the extra hauling capacity of a small pickup all the time? Of course not. But let me tell you, it's sure nice to have it when you need it.

So I'm doing other things to be greener which just makes sense to me. I've been doing the "coasting" thing when driving in the city, where you try to keep your foot off the gas more to keep your rpm's down. I find myself watching the tachometer to make a conscious effort to keep it under 2 grand when accelerating away from a stop, and then once I'm a little over the speed limit I coast until I'm a little under the speed limit. I've only done this for one tank of gas so far but it's making a difference in the mileage I'm getting out of a tank.

The other thing I'm doing is riding my bike more. I'm fortunate enough to live fairly close to work, grocery stores, Canadian Tire, and lots of other places I may need to go. I even did a Timmy's run and managed to get two coffees home (mostly) intact! lol I've done some work on my bike (the subject of another post sometime) and I'm actually enjoying riding it! I think I've got the best of both worlds when I'm able to have my pickup for when I need it and also be able to go completely gas-free on my bike while getting some exercise for short trips. I think this is how the Europeans (whose gas prices have been double ours forever) do it; use their bike one day, public transit another, and their vehicle another as needed. It doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. It seems to me to be the perfect compromise, being kinder to the environment and my purse without having to go to a small vehicle that I absolutely don't want and won't meet my needs.

So what's everyone else doing to cope with the gas prices?

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Windsor addicted to gas guzzlers
BY CHRIS VANDER DOELEN STAR AUTOMOTIVE REPORTER
The Windsor Star
29 Jul 2008

Which Canadian city would you guess is addicted to buying the largest cars and SUVs in the country, the vehicles with the most horsepower, the largest engines — and the poorest fuel economy? It’s not oil-rich Calgary or Edmonton. Perhaps not...read more...

It's official:

I suck at blogging. I was going really good for a few years, but I just can't seem to get to it these days. It's not that I don't think about it. Almost every day, certainly a few times a week, something happens that I think "I should blog about this". It's usually something small and boring, but interesting to me even if to no one else.

However, I just can't seem to make the time to get to it. I have the same excuses as everyone else; school, work, family, blah blah blah. But the blog has become more of an albotross hanging over my head than the joy it once was. I have that sense of obligation to post and then the guilt when I don't.

I find the guilt thing a little ironic since I've been working on a major mental cleanup to get rid of useless guilt. You know the type I mean, where we beat ourselves up over the simple mistakes we've made as we travel through life, or that our house isn't clean enough, or the weeds are overtaking the garden, or other useless mental clutter that we don't need. I've decided I don't need to feel guilty over the blog either.

So officially I am taking a hiatus from the blog. I may still pop in from time to time to post some excruciatingly boring Tabby pics or something, but I'm not going to put myself on any kind of schedule or obligation to do it. I'll still keep reading everyone elses blogs, and may even start leaving comments again since commenting will no longer bring me guilt over not having any new posts of my own! ;)

A new cat has adopted my Mom. Mom lives on a farm out in the country, so while I was growing up it wasn't uncommon to have abandoned animals show up. I'm not sure if Mr. Cat has been abandoned or not, he just started hanging around the house last summer. Now Mom doesn't want any new house cats at this time so she hasn't encouraged him to come in the house. Having said that he's super friendly, and she feeds him every day. He sits on the windowsill and looks inside. He's not even bothered at all by Max, Mom's brand new black lab (who will be the subject of another post). But he's not her cat. So she says. I think he actually has a circuit of houses he has adopted where he gets fed, particularly since she didn't see Mr. Cat much over the winter. We think someone else took him in.

Anyway I met Mr. Cat for the first time the other day. I pulled into Mom's driveway when this black and white streak jumped off the porch, ran across the driveway and immediately started rolling in the grass. You'd think I was his long-lost best friend! So of course I had to pet him... and pet him...

When it was time to leave this is what was waiting for me on my dirty truck outside. No, I'm not going to adopt him. Aside from the fact that Tabby is quite happy being the solo queen bee at my house, I think Mr. Cat would be truly miserable being stuck as a full-time indoor city cat.

I'm Sorry! :(

I've been SO bad, going MIA for so long. I apologize. It's been nothing huge, just the usual overload; family, school, work, travel, house, blah blah blah. Then I'm not very good (read not good at all) about telling anyone that I'm taking a hiatus. Even an explanation seemed overwhelming at the time! Taking three courses at once was probably not the best idea last term, and as always seems to happen everything else seems to erupt at the same time. Then once you get away from blogging it's so hard to get back to it. However, I have a new project on the go that I will share once I take some pics. I also spent a week in the Dominican a couple of weeks ago where my niece got married, so I'll have to upload some pics about that. In my usual feast or famine fashion I'll probably post a gazillion times over the next week or two! But to get you started I'll just share a link to a little eye-candy, for anyone that isn't already familiar with brooklyntweed. This guy is a creative genius!

The Money Shot

One of the most adorable things in my life is Tabitha curled up in a ball in her kitty-bed in front of the warm heating vent. Of course every time I try to take a pic of this she lifts her head no matter how quietly I try to sneak up on her. Usually I get something like this:


or this:


As I keep trying it inevitably leads to this:


But today I was FINALLY able to get this:


Finally. Now I think I need to go vaccuum that kitty-bed.

Girls' Night Out

DD and I went out and had a great time last night. We went to a "Pajama Party" fundraiser for the House of Sophrosyne, a women's addiction treatment centre, and let me tell you we had a blast! Anyone looking for ideas for an awesome fundraiser shoud take notes. It's a party for women only, and everyone wears their pajamas. You pay one price to get in ($50 in this case but I think they should be charging more) and you get to enjoy a whole host of donated services and food. Of course there's a d-jay keeping things hopping and a local radio personality mc's the event. DD and I took advantage of lots of the services including parafin wax treatments, manicures, pedicures, massages (twice each! lol), facials, and henna tattoos. There was also fortune telling and astrologers, hair styling, make-up artists, some body detoxing thing, and other stuff that I can't remember. Of course DD made sure we took advantage of the popcorn machine as well as the cotton candy machine. Oh, and because we were within the first 100 people there we got awesome goodie bags! Like I said, we had a blast. It was also a great opportunity for us to spend some quality mother/daughter time. I'm thinking we'll be making this an annual thing. :)