Am I the weakest link?

I went out with the Africa Girls for Thai food last night. Sqrly couldn't join us as she was busy getting ready for Mexico. We went to Ruan Thai on 11 ave s.w. which is always good. The Rose Garden on the mall is good too. In fact I don't think I have ever met a Thai restaurant I didn't like.
We had stuffed chicken wings, spring rolls & chicken sate to start. Then we dove into pad thai, penang shrimp curry, yellow curry chicken, mixed veggies & chicken with cashews. Of course lots of coconut rice too.
After a few mouthfuls of Thai food, I went out night riding with the Mudrider. We had 2&1/2 hours of fun. The only downside I can think of to nightriding are the spider webs my face encounters as I hurtle through the woods in the blackness of night. I can't say where we were as that would incriminate us.
Then my chain snapped. Miles from home. The chainbreaker couldn't remove the broken link so the Mudrider biked back to my place, picked up his vehicle, & came back to get me & the bike. No one will want to go riding with me now if they know that my bike will break (or I will break) & they will be expected to come get me! I'm glad the chain didn't snap earlier in the night when we were lost in the wilderness & couldn't find our way out of the labyrinth. Are bears nocturnal?
It was 1 am when I got home & I realized I didn't have my helmet so I drove all the way over to where the bike broke to look in the darkness for my helmet which I guess I should have left on my head. Once I got back there, it only took a couple of minutes to find the helmet lying in some tall grass. I also lost a red LED light, but that was easy to find since it was flashing. I'm not used to going to bed after 3 am!

I won tickets to see Little Miss Sunshine in August & we finally went to see it today. Of course in the meantime I lost one of the free passes so I had to buy another ticket. The movie was ok. I laughed. I am glad my family isn't nearly as dysfunctional as the family in the movie was! Never having had grandparents, I couldn't imagine having a porn loving grandpa who got kicked out of the senior's home for snorting heroin! I haven't see Alan Arkin in a movie since I don't know when - the Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming maybe?
Steve Carell is very funny. That whole child beauty pageant Jon Benet Ramsay thing is sicko.

For dinner tonight we were going to stay in our quarter chicken-dark-baked potato-whole wheat bun rut at Swiss Chalet, but instead we went to EDO for terriyaki chicken & then a stop at My Favourite Ice Cream Shoppe on the way home which I said no to. I can't drive & handle ice cream at the same time.
Saturday evening was spent celebrating Shelley-Angel's birthday. We had Two-Bite brownies, whipped cream with whiskey & oats?, strawberries, chocolate sauce & a Dairy Queen log ice cream cake. I am never telling the people at the gym about this blog!

is gridlock the same as traffic calming?

Lane closures cause major back up
calgary.ctv.ca
pts
POSTED AT 3:24 PM Saturday, September 30
There doesn't seem to be an end in sight for Calgary's road construction.
But it's short-term pain for long-term gain.
On Saturday, traffic on Elbow Drive was reduced down to a single lane in both directions from 68th Avenue to Malibou Road S.W. creating a major back up.
Traffic police are out to direct traffic on Elbow and Glenmore. It is strongly recommended for motorists to use an alternate route until more lanes reopen.
By Sunday, at least two lanes of the Elbow Drive bridge over Glenmore Trail will be open. All four lanes are scheduled to be open to traffic by Monday morning.
But there will continue to be traffic woes on Glenmore Trail and area as the entire Glenmore Trail project is still a year away from completion.

September GE5 update

Glenmore construction on track
calgary.ctv.ca
pts
POSTED AT 4:50 PM Thursday, September 28
One of the city's biggest road construction projects is still a year away from completion but is on time and on budget according to Mayor Dave Bronconnier.
Parts of the Glenmore Trail corridor projects (GE5), which include Glenmore Trail, Elbow Drive, and the 5th Street interchange, are wrapping up with the Elbow Drive bridge set to reopen for traffic this weekend.
The bridge was once at the centre of attention when Ward 11 Ald. Barry Erskine had to convince council to spend an additional $12 million on it.
"What was going to go in there would have been an absolute disaster, it would have backed up traffic," says Erskine, "this is a functional interchange, I'll never second guess getting the dollars to make this work."
As for the rest of the GE5 projects, the mayor announced that construction on Glenmore Trail, between Macleod Trail and 14th Street S.W., should be completed by the spring.
After that, construction will begin on the section of Glenmore between 14th Street and 37th Street S.W.
Officials with transportation infrastructure says bridges will eventually be built across the causeway and by the end of 2007, Glenmore Trail will see free flow traffic from 37th Street to Ogden Road S.E.
The completion of the GE5 projects will cost $110 million and $59 million is being spent on reconstructing the causeway over the reservoir.

2 sisters at Sylvan Lake

Eunice & Alma














my cousin Bill & his wife Karen 

ele charge, Mana Pools, Zimbabwe, September 2001

This photo was taken by Africa Girl Sqrly & that is my elbow in the corner of the photo. Sure its easy to hide behind me to take good pictures. My pictures of the elephant came out blurry, I think I was shaking too much!
We had just had a roaring encounter with a male lion before the ele came at us.
Our guide Pat had a big gun & a persuasive way with wildlife so we made it back to the camp for breakfast. Pat did not use the gun on the ele, it was just for show. The hippos & crocodiles in the Zambezi river were more of a worry while we were canoeing.

kids learning to sail on July 31

  

Conall

the Prince of Bowen Island

Rescue Me!

 
 
 

is a good tv show! Actually that is the official rescue boat going by...
 

wisdom from a Saint

"Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."
~ Mother Theresa

- I share my birthday with her!

yes I like using the self-timer on the camera

 
  

the pedestrian bridge to nowhere on 14 st sw

 

end of the trail

 


dust hanging in the air from a car driving down a dirt road in the T'su Tina Nation

going around in circles with good vibrations

As I was biking around with my iPod on, I realized that I felt like I was travelling in an inpenetrable bubble. I could see the outside world, but I couldn't hear it. It was like the outside world couldn't talk back to me.
Every song that played seemed to have meaning. Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys came on & I couldn't help but think it would be hard not to have good vibrations on such a beautiful day.

Then Eleanor Rigby came on. I was feeling very Eleanor Rigby-ish in my iPod-induced splendid isolation at that point & began wondering what old Eleanor what do if she had an iPod & 123 channels on her TV & internet. My guess is she would feel lonelier & more isolated than ever & her cell phone would never ring & her in-box would be empty of emails.

new office building on Glenmore Trail S.W.

This office building is going up where the big pentacostal church used to be. I can see the crane from my place.
I should have had my camera on Wednesday night, but the battery was dead. Oops. I went to the grand opening party of a new tailor shop downtown where Charmaine works. It is called 3D Tailors & they have a high tech body scanning machine to take all the measurements & then the data is sent to Germany where the clothes are assembled & then sent back. They have a tailor here for any final alterations if needed. I immediately was drawn to a beautiful black suit jacket in Italian cashmere. It felt so good, but when I saw the price was $3,500, I didn't even bother trying it on.
One of my best scores ever shopping for clothes was at Eaton's. I miss them. I found a black Italian cashmere long winter coat on clearance for $55 reduced from $300. It is probably 12 years old now but it is a classic style so I will keep it forever.
Anyways, after filling my face with yummy food catered from Sorrenti's at the tailor shop ( no I didn't wipe my greasy fingers off on the Italian cashmere or the $600 brown suede coat), we went on to the new Oceana. They used to be on 4 st sw in mission but have now moved in to the former La Caille on the Bow space in Eau Claire. It has a very classy ambience for Calgary. It seems the new thing is varying shades of beige, chocolate & black because the newly done Earl's Tin Palace on 4 st sw & every Moxies is done that way. It works for Oceana. We sat by the double-sided fireplace. There are different seating areas including a patio overlooking the bike path (& maybe you can see the river), raised areas & a private dining room.
I had arctic char with greek lemon roast potatoes. Everything was done perfectly including the carrots & broccoli.
There is another restaurant on the 2nd floor called Q haute cuisine I think. Char knows the owners.
It must be great to live in the condos up above & either take the elevator down to have dinner or even better have them deliver dinner up to the condo!
There is underground parking which will be good to use in winter.

Thursday night I was out for dinner at Oriental Phoenix on 58 ave south with Andrea. It was good to see her after her month long trip to the eastern provinces.
I love Vietnamese & I'm never disappointed with OP, especially their salt & pepper prawns. I haven't been to their downtown or NE locations so I can't comment on them. It is usually very busy at OP, but it was quiet when we were there.
A neighbour phoned me in a panic this afternoon. She had water spraying out from behind her toilet. I phoned the plumber & then went over to see what was going on. The bathroom & hallway & the basement laundry room were flooded. There was water dripping off the bathroom ceiling. What a mess. I shut the valve off behind the toilet. The plumber came right away & fixed it & I went back to eating my leftover butter chicken & basmati rice from Costco.
I had to phone the plumber last week at night for a couple who didn't have any heat in their apartment. I wouldn't have been concerned about them because it wasn't that cold, but they have an infant so that made it a priority. Again the plumber arrived promptly so we certainly get good service from them.

LM is back from her trip to Provence, but their rental car was broken into & their 2 cameras & everything were stolen. She hopes to get a few photos of the trip from the couple that cycled with them.

LJ&F's puppy, Sally, went to doggie heaven. We'll all miss Sally because she used to come hiking with us. Happy trails Sally.
Home Maid in Calgary's little rat dog Willowmena also went to puppy heaven. Although Willow bit Sheila through the hand a few times requiring emergency room visits & antibiotics, little Binky always liked me, but the threat was always there that she might bite with those razor sharp little fangs!
Willow is survived by Stanley, Zen & Harry the cockatiel who says a thousand times a day: "hello Willow"!
Suzie O. says the next dog she gets is going to be a cat!!! (one as nice as Taz!)
If Bellsie kicks it, then I'm changing the name of my blog to the deaddogblog.

Rockyview Hospital

making room for more illness & accidents

Banff - Mount Rundle from Goat Creek

 

Banff - Bow Falls

new Alberta Children's Hospital

The Children's Hospital owns 2 original tapestries by my sister Jane. They just had them framed and they are now on display in the reception area of the oncology department on the second floor. The hospital opened in late September 2006.
Jeff DeBoer, a talented Calgary artist, who is on the Jane Cameron Archives Committee and a Director of the In-Definite Arts Society, designed the medal for the Jane Cameron Award to the outstanding Down Syndrome artist of the year in Canada. His art will be the central installation of the new hospital. http://www.jeffdeboer.com/ Congratulations Jeff! http://www.calgaryhealthregion.ca/ACH/

Rafter 6 Ranch

 

Calgary

 

Glenmore reservoir & Elbow river

Kananaskis - doing the Terrace loop

with Laurie, Laurie ( 2 of my Africa Girls) & Mike