Archive for December, 2007

30
Dec
07

New Years Resolutions

I know, resolution blog entries are like…well never mind what they’re like but everybody has one.  I’m going to have one too.  Overall, I feel like I’ve got things going pretty well and there isn’t much of the clichéd resolutions that I want to take on.  I am eating pretty much the way I like – no need for a diet and I’m getting a healthy amount of exercise (though since resuming cycling I haven’t been to a spinning class).  But I do have a couple.

The first has to do with, you guessed it, cycling.  In the past year I went from not cycling at all to a peak of about 100 km/week (and once as many as 200 km).  However, as work changed and I worked for other clients outside the area or from home, I went back to transit.  These past couple of weeks, though, have taught me that with the right gear I can be outside in more unpleasant weather than I thought and still have a good time.  I need to keep cycling as much as I can and not take the bus just because it is easier.  In most cases it isn’t faster.  The only challenge, other than the weather and possibly cycling infrastructure at whatever client site I end up at, is that I do have to travel with Sage and Paul sometimes.  Perhaps sometimes I’ll meet them at their destination.  After all, it’s probably no more than 45 min each way wherever they’re going.  When better weather comes and I can take some of the off-road paths, Paul can and have ridden together all over.  We did try cycling a little on the street after Bells on Bloor and it wasn’t bad but I found it extremely nervewracking.  Maybe after Paul takes a CANBIKE course I’ll feel a bit better. 

My second one comes from reading the 100 Mile Diet. Yes, part of the resolution is to eat more local foods – I am not ready for the full 100 mile diet plan, nor do I think Sage and Paul are ready for it.  I was surprised to see how many of the vegetables I bought at the health food store were from Ontario though.  Onions, jerusalem artichokes, beets, carrots, onions, and garlic all came from the area.  I figure next week if I can, I will stop by the Dufferin Grove Farmers’ Market, amd see what they have, too.

My third one is along similar lines to the last one.  I don’t know why it took me until today to realize what a waste letting food rot in the fridge is.  I guess in part I only thought of the one zucchini or bunch of broccoli that was left a little too long.  But for some reason I never thought about the further waste of all the energy to transport this bunch of broccoli by refrigerated jet and truck from California to here only so it can use energy in my fridge and then use even more energy to be hauled to the landfill where it won’t even be composted.  Rather disgusting, I think.  So I am resolving to do a bit better in cooking what we have in the fridge and not letting as much (and sometimes we let a lot) go to waste.  In many cases it is as simple as tossing produce whose days are numbered into the juicer.  Not doing so is true laziness. (Not that I’m not truly lazy at times!)


FYI – Update on the server transfer is that we are going to probably be moved on Wednesday. So we’ll be around until then. Not sure what will happen with email, etc during that time. If you really need to get in touch then, try facebook or twitter.

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29
Dec
07

Downtime coming

This site and all of the quirkynomads.com sites will likely be going down for a while soon as we migrate from this server to a Virtual Private Server as we’re using a bit more CPU than we used to. So don’t worry – we’ll probably go missing for a day or two but we’ll be back.

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26
Dec
07

Some of us are more grown up than others

Hey folks, download and listen to “Jim’s Real Christmas Message for 2007″ from the attached page.  Sounds like Jim feels a lot like I do about Christmas but was much more grown up in the way he expressed himself than I was.  Truly inspiring.  Thanks, Jim.

Audio magazines – Whole Wheat Radio Wiki

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25
Dec
07

Anachronism

Oh look!  An entry that isn’t trashing Christmas!  Lucky you!!

I am a bit of an anachronism. I would love to see the end of the private car. At the same time I watch a video like this

and something visceral happens and I want to go out, rent a car, and drive for a few days, probably undoing all the good I have done for the environment by riding my bike all the previous year.  I think I am not so immune to acculturation as I think I might be.

Probably the answer to this is to substitute a few different associations.  Maybe this summer is the summer I do a bit of bicycle touring and camping.  Probably a good start would be a trip out to Niagara Falls and maybe, if I’m up for it, the charity ride from Toronto to Montreal might be a good next step as well. 

Once again I’d just like to point out that there are whole sets of skills (bicycle touring, camping, woodworking, home repair to name a few) that you’re supposed to learn not long after you hit double-digit ages.  Once you miss that opportunity you’re out of luck.  Anyone know any books about dealing with the logistics of bicycle touring?  What do you pack?  Where do you stay?  Perhaps I should start with a paid tour and see where that gets me.  Any ideas?

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25
Dec
07

Linus speaks the truth

(obligatory NSFW and NSFReligious Folks warning…)

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25
Dec
07

It continues…

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25
Dec
07

Sensing a theme?

25
Dec
07

Christmas Greetings to One and All

Put another log on the fire, make yourself some hot cocoa and get comfy. It’s time for the annual telling of Fuck Christmas story as read by Sage. It’s about as work safe as a story with that name can be so consider yourself warned.

24
Dec
07

What was I saying about Copenhagen?

So frustrating…

Putting Cars Before People is One Big Snow Job : TreeHugger

It has been over a week since Toronto got hit with two feet of snow, but the bike lanes are still impassable. That’s because the city decided to plough the roads (pushing it into the bike lanes) but not remove the snow to save money and let mother nature melt it away, and while it was warm for a day or two, it is now cold again and the bike lanes are filled with ice.

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24
Dec
07

If the cycling infrastructure gets any worse

Check this out.  If the cycling infrastructure here gets any worse, we’re moving to Copenhagen… (And then they really did?)

Carectomy.com: Removing Cars from People – Bikes Stream by in Copenhagen

As the Cycle Copenhagen video shows [follow the link above], Copenhagen, Denmark is quite the place to ride a bike. The government imposes a 200% tax on cars and gives bikes the priority in city planning. There are no cars permitted in the city center, where people have to –*gasp*– walk from store to store. Bikes carry people everywhere, and cargo bikes haul everything from groceries to children.

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