Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Dave's LiveJournal:

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Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
1:07 pm	Biking Fun for Next Year I rode my bike from the apartment to the new house last night (mostly to get it out of the way for packing and moving). After not having been on my bike for a while, I did pretty good. My butt hurts a bit today, though. Anyway, part of the fun was the fact that McKinnon Ravine was pitch black by the time I got out. Like, blacker than black. And I didn't think to attach my bike light before I left. I had to go pretty slow just to make sure I wasn't about to run over any late-night pedestrians or joggers (and there were several). Things were better lit when I got to River Valley Road, but then when I got to the James MacDonald bridge, things got a little fuzzy. I was riding on the north-side sidewalk, as I was without reflective gear or proper lighting and I got across the bridge to find that the sidewalk ends on the east side, so I had to jaywalk across an exit loop, then ride on a rough sidewalkless curb until 96A St. There may have been an easier way, but it certainly wouldn't have been as direct. But that brings me to "the new hill." I'm no stranger to hills, but the hill up 98 Ave. leading to the new place is not just steep, but long. Really long. 10 blocks long. Even Jenn's car has to kick up a gear to make it up this hill. I had to kick down several gears just to maintain a slow but steady pace. That is going to make for a fun commute next summer. The routes into downtown from the new place look to be equally challenging: (Large) Don't let the map fool you...those street names into downtown that don't end in "Hill" are still hills. They are also shorter than 10 blocks, but also a fair bit more steep than 98 Ave. The two streets that the blue lines take are less busy, though, and thus less likely to get me killed by angry drivers stuck behind me. The red line may be the best bet, though, especially after noticing the roadway structures in the map - I would have to travel in the middle lane across the JMac bridge in order to take 98 Ave. to get back home. That would almost certainly get me killed by drivers. (Comment on this)
Sunday, November 15th, 2009
11:47 pm	A New Home! The house is ours now! For those of you just joining me because you read this blog without an LJ account, I've unlocked the following entries to help you get caught up (they were locked to avoid any possible legal or disclosure issues during the process), one of which includes pictures! http://raptortheangel.livejournal.com/246603.html http://raptortheangel.livejournal.com/246887.html http://raptortheangel.livejournal.com/247692.html We got our keys on Friday evening. We almost didn't though...we were supposed to meet the realtor at about 5:30 to pick them up, but got a call just before 5 that he wasn't authorized to release them yet...something about the bank not getting the paperwork from the lawyer. Friday the 13th strikes again! A very wonderful administrative assistant with the lawyer's office was extremely helpful in getting that sorted out right quick though, and we got the keys at 6:00, along with a very nice, colourful and exotic arrangement of flowers from our realtor. This weekend was spent patching and painting the former master bedroom to make it more palatable as a computer room/office (it was previously yellow, it is now "Raging Sea" - a nice bluey-grey colour more appropriate for a working environment, plus I would go crazy staring toward a yellow wall in a room where I spend much of my time) and cleaning the eaves of leaves and long-rotten apples (yuck) while Jenn raked up all the leaves from the yard, and as a plus we managed to move several smaller boxes of fragile stuff and mostly set up the upstairs bathroom. I felt really good about doing all this work. The painting in particular was important to help me feel like we really truly own the place, a feeling that is sometimes hard to come to grips with. It's amazing how motivated I can be when I'm really excited about something. Oh, we also looked at appliances while we were at Home Depot picking up paint supplies, and discovered they have some pretty crazy sales on right now - enough that we're able to pick up some slightly higher-end appliances than the ones we were originally thinking about. It's nice that we can pay for those pretty much right away, too. We've done very well at keeping our debt down, aside from the mortgage itself of course. Tomorrow the electrician goes to fix up all the deficiencies there and then some, and at some point I have to go back to finish the computer room - gotta finish painting and reintegrating the baseboards, and replace the power outlets with more modern (and grounded) modular ones - and maybe install and program the new thermostat. We make our official move in on the 21st. It's been such a long process, but it has been so worth it. This is such a great house and in such a great neighborhood, and I can't stop thinking about all the things I want to do. In fact, that's why I'm posting this right now - because I can't sleep again, even despite how much work we did this weekend. We're already thinking about things we can plant in the garden and around the backyard for next year - carrots, peas, potatoes, sunflowers, raspberries, rhubarb, dill, maybe garlic and tomatoes... Augh! So much potential for cool stuff! (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 7th, 2009
10:21 am	Ugh. Just Ugh. So I've been sick since Tuesday. And I mean really sick. I don't know if it was H1N1, a seasonal flu, or just a really talented rhinovirus, but it started with a cough, which wasn't too bad, but then Wednesday morning I was completely congested and had a pretty bad headache, and stayed home from work. I think I slept most of the day, and started to feel better toward the evening, enough to get a little bit of packing done. Thursday morning, though, it was back to square one - congested, headache, and now add sinus pain and runny nose to boot. I spent the majority of the day in bed, but it was off and on - I'd be able to spend about an hour out of bed at a time without feeling too awful, before feeling right awful again. Friday morning I felt much better, but decided to work from home since I was still coughing all over the place. I got through most of the day and even took a little bit of time to pack a few more things, until about 4:30 PM when I got hit with the worst pain in my head that I have ever felt. I'm no stranger to headaches and migraines, but this one was BRUTALLY painful, and very different from anything I've had before. Most of my headaches are just a dull pain, this was a stabbing, throbbing pain in my right temple and behind the eye. I took an Advil and laid down, and after an hour with no improvement I asked Jenn to take me to the hospital. I was in that much pain and I was that worried about it, especially after just being really sick. Jenn drove me to the Sturgeon up in St. Albert, the only hospital in the region that I know of has reasonably short wait times at Emergency. We waited just a few minutes for the triage nurse, less than 5 minutes to be taken to a bed in Emergency, and I think it was only about another 10 minutes before the doctor came to see me. They did a blood test, put me in for a CT scan, and then hooked me up to an IV and gave me lots of drugs (including a shot of morphine in the butt, funfun), which finally made the throbbing pain in my head go away (with the bonus side effect of making me all euphoric and tripped out, though strangely still able to hold a conversation). After an hour of utter discomfort in an Emergency bed with a hose in my arm, a blood pressure monitor on my other arm, a tender spot on my butt, and a surgical mask on my face (just in case I did have H1N1, though I did take it off for part of the long wait because it was so stifling), they finally came back and said my CT scan looked "perfect" as well as my blood work. Which was a relief, but still makes me wonder what caused me to get the migraine to end all migraines, and so suddenly. Another nurse (I think I'd met half of the Emergency staff by the end of the night) came by shortly after and unhooked me and I clumsily got dressed (whee, drugs) and Jenn took me home. Jenn was wonderful through the whole thing, and sat with me through most of it (except where pointy things were involved and once to go plug the parking meter), even though she hadn't eaten anything since lunch that day. After she took me home she went and bought some groceries (including some dinner for herself) and made me some tomato soup. She's such a sweetheart, I love her so much. She takes good care of me. So yeah, still feeling a bit woozy today, but my head seems to be not throbbing and I'm definitely getting over whatever it was that I had (no more coughing). But I think I'm going to need to wear long-sleeve shirts if I go out in the next few days...I have trackmarks from the IV. =P (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
12:17 pm	Sold! All conditions have been removed. That means the house is officially sold, and all that's left is the lawyer-y crossing of Ts and the dotting of lower-case Js...and of course cutting a bank draft for the largest sum of money I've ever had to move before. But the house is ours! Woo! Lifelong debt! But we get a house out of the deal! And an awesome house at that! Woo! There's been a few nights I've spent unable to sleep because I was thinking too much about all the fun stuff I want to do to our house. I think my first project will be to fix up the master bedroom which we're actually going to turn into an office. Mainly it needs some new paint, but I'm also thinking about ripping out the carpet to expose the original hardwood underneath. Ahh, even just typing this is distracting me. We're moving officially on the 21st of November. Anyone who wants to help is welcome to volunteer. ;) Time to start thinking about packing. And addresses changes. And service hookups. Man, this shit is a lot of work. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, October 9th, 2009
1:28 pm	More House Fun Taken in Winnipeg last month, at Jenn's cousin's wedding reception. I finally got those photos processed and maybe that means I'll actually finish the rest of the Vancouver/Seattle and numerous other photos I haven't got around to yet... In house news, this week was a bit annoying and stressful. If you'll recall from my last post, we were trying to negotiate a price reduction and/or a holdback for the critical items that need looking after right away. We asked for $5000 off the agreed price, and settled on $4000 after some short negotiation. On top of those issues, though, a review of the Real Property Report also found that the brick wall/gate, the sunroom/gazebo (I call it a sunroom, everyone else calls it a gazebo, but really I think it's a bizarre hybrid of the two), and the shed were built too close to the property line (almost abutting it...heh, heh, "butt"...), and no permit was ever requested for these structures. The shed isn't a big deal, it can be moved if needed, but the sunroom/gazebo (sunzebo?) would be a teardown if the neighbor complained and/or the city decided to pursue compliance. For whatever reason, the sellers decided to try to get the permits for these structures, even though their proximity to the property line makes it extremely unlikely. The sellers are bizarrely confident that the permits will be granted, however. Despite that, they were very reluctant to accept an additional $2000 holdback that would either go to them if by some miracle the permits are granted, or to us to cover the cost of moving/demolishing these structures if required in the future should the request be denied. We weren't hearing from them for much of this week, and started looking at other potential properties we might pursue should we have been forced to back out of the deal altogether. These are not minor issues, though, and they seriously affect the saleability (oh, that is a word) of the house. Either they had to capitulate to us, or force us to back out and still have to deal with these problems themselves or try yet again to pin it on a future potential buyer. In any case, they finally accepted our terms, and so we're back in motion now. Whew. What a week. (Comment on this)
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
5:26 pm	Inspection and Preview So the inspection went pretty well I think. Uncovered a few items that will need to be dealt with such as inward sloping around the foundation, lack of vents in the bathrooms, possibly a kitchen vent that simply empties into the attic (I need to double-check this though as my own photos show that it may in fact vent outside), and some electrical work needs to be done (new electrical box with 100A main and some GFCIs n the bathroms, kitchen, and outdoor outlets). On the other hand the foundation is solid, the furnace and hot water tank are new and in good shape, and the electrical wiring is copper, which is good. We're going to try and work out a cashback deal in order to fix up some of the major items. And we're still pretty excited about it! We even stopped in to Tin Box for some decorating ideas. So, here it is, barring any unforeseen problems with the deal, our new home: ( More! ) Before anyone asks, we'll probably be having a housewarming sometime in January, rolled up with a birthday party for Jenn. Man, I'm so excited about this. I know it's a lot of money and will need a lot of work, but I can't wait nonetheless! (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, September 26th, 2009
5:37 pm	Phase Shift I don't want to say more and give away the game before everything is finalized, but I think we can safely say we've moved from the "finding a house" phase to the "buying a house" phase, as it looks like the seller is set to accept our offer. I'll post as many details as I can once I have confirmation. EEEEEEEEE! (is for "Exciting!") (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
9:55 pm	Morning Commute, Hopeful House I've been thinking about something a friend said on his blog about how he wonders how many drivers can honestly say they enjoy their morning commutes as much as he enjoys his bike commute. I agree with the sentiment completely - I love biking to work in the morning, and one of the reasons is this scene above. I love that I can stop and take in the scenery before I head into the valley, or stop along the riverbank halfway along and ponder how some pioneering visionaries of the past looked at this same place and built a city perched above this beautiful valley, leaving the valley itself almost completely untouched for future generations to enjoy and share in equally. If that isn't the definition of stewardship, I don't know what is. So with that in mind I brought my camera and took just a few shots to show what I'm talking about when I say I love my bike commute into work, and because I can't stress enough just how friggin' lucky I am to live in a city like this. ( Three more ) Jenn and I have been feeling a bit frustrated by the house hunting...few good houses in our price range and in the areas we want to live in with the features we want. We didn't think we were being too picky until our options started drying up quickly, and houses we thought were ok and then wanted to reconsider were getting sold. We did make an offer on one house where the asking price was already pretty high, and they came back with a counter offer that was still too much. Wasn't meant to be. We started considering lowering our standards a bit, but it's hard to judge what sacrifices you want to make. We looked at a house in Sherbrooke, a neighborhood we hadn't considered before, and almost wanted to put an offer on it. It was nice, but it didn't wow me, and the location was...tenuous for me. But we eventually realized that what they say is true: location, location, location. I had too many doubts about the location, and feared that I wouldn't be happy living there long term because of it. So yeah, frustrations rising. But...BUT! Tonight we looked at another house, in a neighborhood we both like, close to downtown, decently close to transit. It's fairly "vintage," but well maintained vintage, and doesn't need major work that we can tell (except for new appliances maybe). We both like it. We're going to sleep on it and look at it again tomorrow, and if we still feel the same way, we're likely going to make an offer on it. Eeee! Crazytimes. (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, September 21st, 2009
12:20 pm	Weird/Annoying Morning I'm having a weird/annoying morning. First off I missed the two faster buses going downtown (109 and 112) by about a minute. Then I waited about 10 minutes for another bus (and it was cold out this morning). Finally a #2 came,...in the form of an old, old GMC bus (I thought we were done with those?), packed to the gills. Fortunately another 2 was right behind that one, which was far less packed. Then traffic was just crawling on Stony Plain Road between about 130 St. and 121 St., thanks to the lane closure around 121 St. apparently due to a watermain break that remains unfixed. Finally the bus gets downtown and stops at Standard Life Place, where this rough-looking fellow gets on and flashes a ragged transfer at the driver while standing there ranting about how he's Mexican, not Native (I actually couldn't tell, but I think he really was Native), and how "Alberta bus drivers" "hate natives and brown people." The driver asked to see the transfer more closely and he goes off on a tirade about how she's being racist and how a white passenger wouldn't have been asked (incidentally, the transfer wasn't valid). The guy rips the transfer from the driver's hand (after one failed attempt to snatch it after which he says "whaddya think you're doing??" and to which she replied "nothing, you did that."), and he sits near me and continues his loud tirade about how all Albertans are racist and hate brown people etc. etc. Oddly enough, he then gets off at the very next stop, still going on about racist bus drivers even though the driver had been extraordinarily patient with him despite his loud and obnoxious behaviour and invalid transfer. After he got off, the driver pulls away and shakes her head saying, "he has issues." To which I replied simply, "yup." Lesson for the day: loudly and pre-emptively playing the race card in order to score a free ride on transit all the while ranting about racism is probably the real reason people don't like you, not because of racism. Work has been a gong show so far. I'm honestly getting tired of how what my department does (build, configuration, and deployment management) seems to be an afterthought, even though almost always we end up bringing up several issues when change requests come our way less than a week before the cut date. It's frustrating that we aren't consulted far earlier in the process in order to help flesh out these issues rather than be expected to deal with them at the 11th hour. I've brought this up several times, and I'm going to bring it up yet again. Think anyone will listen this time? Some of these issues, though, are the kind that should have been fairly apparent to the people in charge of these projects though, too, which is even more frustrating. Argh. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
9:24 pm	New Route (View large) So I discovered a much faster "express" commute home now - see the yellow line on the map. By taking 100 Ave. from 102 St. to 121 St., I bypass a great deal of lights and stop signs. Traffic is a bit heavier along this route, but the lanes are wide enough to pass on the right when needed. It takes just 15 minutes to bike home via this route. I haven't tried biking to work this way yet, but I'm not sure I would want to - traffic along 102 Ave. is much heavier and trickier. And I still like taking the valley route and "lungbuster hill" in the morning. Jenn and I did a short stint of house touring on Sunday. Nothing really "wow" yet but one house was pretty promising. Another one would have been promising, too, if not for a giant horizontal crack in the foundation... We're going for another round on Saturday. Fun times! (Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
10:30 pm	Winnipeg, Weddings, Mosquitoes, Old Cameras, and Large Investments We (myself, Jenn, and her parents) spent the long weekend and then some in Winnipeg for Jenn's cousin's wedding, in case I forgot to mention it. A lot of that time was spent on the road. We drove to Yorkton on Thursday, where we stayed the night, and in the morning Jenn and I took a short drive up to see my grandparents' old house, where my dad grew up. It looked just as a I remembered it. We got into Winnipeg on Friday afternoon and unloaded the car at Jenn's aunt & uncle's place, then Jenn and I headed off to Osbourne Village to wander, shop, and eat. ( More on Winnipeg and Weddings and Mosquitoes ) ( More on Old Cameras ) Jenn and I are starting our house-shopping this Sunday. It's hard to believe we're going ahead with this, it's exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. But we've found some really nice houses in our price range on MLS recently and figured we should start the ball rolling in case any of them end up working out for us. It's weird to think, it wasn't that long ago for me that I quit what had become a horrible sinking ship of a job, was flying halfway across the world (after busing across a quarter of it), wondering what to do with myself and making myself broke in the process. Now I have a decent job that I don't hate, a lovely lady who I will marry, and I'm about to wade into the biggest investment that most people ever make in their lives, and settle into someplace we can call our own home. It's just amazing what can happen in just four years and change. (7 Comments |Comment on this)
1:06 pm	Caturday Some weirdos out there think that today (9/9/09) should be a "Day Without Cats on the Internet." To that I say... ...screw you guys. The Internet is nothing without the cats that rule it. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, August 31st, 2009
10:07 pm	The Skyline Looked Beautiful on Fire X-Posted from the edmontonphoto community, because it is awesome and because it made page 2 of Explore for the day it was posted! That's the highest any photo of mine has ever gone on that list! I love it, I'm so proud of this one. Also, just for fun, I updated the map from the last post to add my commute to Kung Fu, to further visualize just how much biking I've been doing: (view large) Refresher: Red line = Usual commute; pleasant but vigorous, lots of hilly parts. ~6.6km Blue line = Express commute; usually faster (not always), but more starts and stops due to stop signs and lights and has some bridge hazards. ~ 4.6 km Green line = Kung Fu commute (how I get to Kung Fu class twice weekly); follows the LRT path mostly and is otherwise pretty easy. ~5.6km. Summary: Mon-Tue-Wed and Fri, (weather permitting) I commute about 13.2km daily on hilly terrain (red return). On Thursdays I commute about 22.4km (red+green return + blue), and Saturdays I commute about 20.4km (blue + green return both). Whew. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
9:57 pm	In case anyone was curious... ...this is what my bike commute usually looks like: (view large) Home is approximately the area on the left, work is on the right (Manulife). The red line is my usual commute through the valley, which is very pleasant and involves few stops and enough hills to get me in good shape. The switchback path in the middle is a particularly nasty lungbuster of a hill on the way to work. The blue line is my "express" commute, which is a little faster (not by much and not always), but also involves far more stop signs, lights, and two hazardous bridge crossings. The green area is a neat little ravine I checked out last week. It's very cool! Just felt like sharing that. ETA: According to Google Earth's ruler, the "red" route is a little over 6.5 km, the "blue" route is over 4.5 km. Two klicks difference, yet only maybe 5 mins longer taking the red route. Amazing what a difference it makes not having to stop every two blocks downtown. Also, that means I do over 13 km of hilly cycling almost every day. Oh, also, last weekend Jenn went to do a photoshoot with gambitsworld at the old Griesbach shooting range, and I tagged along to carry stuff and hold reflectors and flashlights and otherwise be a good lackey (while secretly observing his techniques for later study). Anyway, the amazing results can be found here. Dude's a friggin' awesome photog. And why yes, that is my black-painted Nerf gun in those shots. Worked really well for this! (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, August 14th, 2009
9:06 pm	Lower Mainland BC In other news, 3.89%! I don't think anyone can beat that. Not that I won't try, but still, that's pretty darn good. It's a tiny bit discouraging looking at MLS, though. While there are lots of decent little houses in our price range, most better-than-decent, more-than-little, or otherwise awesomely-located houses are JUST out of our price range. They said prices have come down in this slump. Compared to what? The peak of the boom? There's not a lot that's under $350,000, not even much that's under $400,000. Unless we want to look at Parkdale, Cromdale, Alberta Ave., or other equally sketchy areas. Which we don't. Bleh. We'll find something ice, though, something that will work for us. It's just hard to see from here. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 9th, 2009
10:46 pm	Like a Lion (Comment on this)
Saturday, August 8th, 2009
11:54 pm	Watchful Not much to report, but wanted an excuse to make a photo post. The new bike is working great so far and I love it; since the weather sucked last weekend, I'm hoping to take 'er out to the trails tomorrow. Jenn and I are going to look at getting pre-approved for a mortgage this week...whew, big step. But the idea of owning a house is pretty exciting, challenges and all. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
11:23 pm	Lake Photo, Late Photos, Chubbo Salamanders, Moon, Clint Mansell, and a Kenyan Sand Boa Sunset at Mink Lake, June 27 2009 Still haven't processed Vancouver photos. If I can get it done tomorrow, though, I will reward myself with a nice long bike ride through the river valley on Monday, and hit up some trails I've never done before. I fed my salamander a fuzzy mouse today, because the Kenyan Sand Boa didn't seem to want to eat it. Have I mentioned the boa yet? I will talk about that in a moment I think. Anyway, the thing had to be 1/6th the weight of the salamander, but he happily snapped at it and carefully and slowly swallowed it whole. I think it took him about 15 minutes to get it down. And after that, he sort of lumbered away and hid under his rock with a look of "oh god, you guys...I can't believe I ate the WHOLE THING..." Probably won't need to feed him for a couple of weeks after that, though he was still snapping randomly at fingers just a half hour later. What a chubbo. Jenn and I went to see Moon this afternoon. It was an excellent movie, though it made me feel lonely, depressed, and a bit of despair toward the end. But I think that really means it got in my head, which is what any good movie should be able to do. Plus Clint Mansell did the music. Brilliant man, brilliant score. I have a Kenyan Sand Boa still, which was mentioned in this post. The Duméril's Boa is long gone to Nanaimo, and somehow I ended up with the task of finding the KSB a good home. If anyone reading this who lives in the area is interested in a small boa as a pet, I'm selling her and her 10g enclosure for about $100, but I'll take offers. Drop me a line if interested. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, July 25th, 2009
11:12 pm	I'm on a Bike, Muthafucka! (Title Reference) My wonderful and lovely Jenn drove me around the city today to help me shop for a new bike. Incidentally, the first place I went is where I am ending up buying one. We started at River Valley Cycle. The location is in an industrial park, which seems odd for a bike shop, but their store was well laid out and had good selection. We were helped immediately, and the guy was very knowledgeable and helpful, including helping me determine what size of frame I should be using. ( Details, possibly boring ) So in the morning after brunch, Jenn is driving me back out there to pick up my shiny new Rocky Mountain Vertex 10. I can't tell you how excited I am and how much of a good mood this has put me in. My old POS Norco is going to be donated to Edmonton Bicycle Commuters' Bikeworks program. Hopefully they can salvage some good parts off of it (I think the frame is still in excellent condition at least, as are the wheels and brakes). Next challenge: buying shoes for and learning how to use clipless pedals. I'm totally going to fall over at least a few times while I learn this shit. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
8:37 am	Vote for Us! Jenn and I need your votes! ETA: Tip: It seems to be based on average number of stars, not number of votes. In other words, it also helps to vote on the other entries with a lower number of stars. If you do this, at least try to be fair! (2 Comments |Comment on this)