A Short Ride Report About a Short Ride - YYZ - Collingwood - Owen Sound - YYZ

Not a perfect day - but a darned nice day - coulda used a bit more sun- but no rain - and I was dressed warm so the temps between 10°C and 17°C were perfectly acceptable.

• Yer classic exit from the city - up the 427 over to the 401, then up the 410 and 10 to 89.
• This is when I found an old gem - go straight - do not turn on 89 - stay on Prince Wales Road to River Road and turn right. So pretty! Lots of curves and hills. Some 50 kph (which I closely obayed), the rest of it 60 kph (where I was more liberal but still rational as far as compliance). I ended up going north on 21,which turned to gravel, then 25 back to Airport Rd. Next time, stay on 20 to Airport Rd I think
• The 2nd old gem - from Airport Rd - west back through Creemore on 9 - then at Dunedin, north on Concession 8 until you pick up 124 - so pretty - a few curves that are fun - and nice terrain 
• In case I forget - this entire ride is very pretty - would have been even better a week or so ago when the colour was at a peak.
• Then, 124 to Collingwood, a smoke and a coffee at Starbucks and out 26 towards Owen Sound
• A new gem for me - just before Owen Sound - North on 15, which turns left to go to the edge of the sound, then left again to follow the edge of the sound down into town. Nice, pretty ride
• Fiddle around in Owen Sound, ended up southbound on 5, saw  sign for Inglis Falls, hard left, and BINGO! I had never even heard of this place, and it was super cool!

• While I was there, one of the signs pointed out some other waterfalls in the area. Did not have time for all of them, but I did have time to run over to Eugenia Falls - which was also very cool!

Then - back on to 10 - 410 - 401 - and bail onto sideroads to beat the traffic.

Really nice day!

I have the bike scheduled for an oil change on the 12th - then will put it to bed. maybe one more ride? Or maybe that was the last? If it was,it was  GOOD one.

Cheers,

Sandy (Alex)

The Mimico Manhatten

I thought that I had already posted this. BUT - I can not find it. So -here it is - the best Manhattan Recipe.

In an Old Fashioned Glass:

• 1.5 ounces of Forty Creek Copper Pot Canadian Whisky
• 1.5 ounces of Alberta Distillers Black Horse Canadian Whisky
• 0.75 ounces  Martini & Rossi Red Vermouth
• 4 Dashes of Fees Brothers Black Walnut Bitters
• 2 good large slices of Orange Zest 

Combine in the old fashioned glass the whisky, vermouth, and bitters. Twist the orange zest over the glass, and then drop the slices in to the glass. Fill with ice, stir with your finger.

This has been a favourite since about 2010. It all started a few years before - and I tried a bunch of different variations - red and white vermouth, both, cherries, cherry juice - they all have good aspects - but - this is the best.

Try it - I am sure you will like it.

Experiments with the Vesper Martini

I thought I would share some ongoing research with you. A couple of years ago, in a James Bond movie (one of the recent ones with Daniel Craig - I think it was "Casino Royal"), he mentions a Vesper Martini, and I twigged on that - because I vaguely remembered it being mention in one of the old novels - see  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesper_(cocktail). But, at the time you could not get Lillet Blanc (the replacement for Kina Lillet) in Ontario. So, I tried:

3 oz Tanqueray

1 oz Absolut

3/4 oz Martini & Rossi white vermouth

Shake well, serve in a martini glass, with two twists of lime peel, I always keep the glasses the vodka and the gin in the freezer, but still, I take one ice cube out of the shaker and add that as well.

I was pretty favorably impressed! Nice flavor.  

A couple of nights ago, Kim & I were out for dinner, and I got taking to the bar tender ( the place was full, and we had a really nice dinner at the bar), and he mentioned that Lillet is now available in Ontario! So, the next night I went to the big liquor store down on Queen's Quay and picked up a bottle. So along came Friday night, and I figured I better give this a try! That night's first martini was:

2 1/2 oz Tanqueray

1 oz Polish Potato Vodka

3/4 oz Lillet

Shake well, serve in a martini glass, with two twists of lemon peel. Per usual: using glasses, vodka and gin from the freezer,  take one ice cube out of the shaker and add that as well.

Yummy. The Lillet adds a certain sweetness not found in the Martini & Rossi. But - I was a little under-impressed by the lemon. 

So .... I broke the rule ... and had a second martini  - and went back to the lime peel. Much better! I would say that lime peel is the way to go - and if you can get the Lillet - it is better than the white vermouth!

I strongly recommend you give one or several variations of the Vesper a try!

ps - I think I may have perfected the Manhattan - notes to follow!

2011 Spring Grand Canyon

Just got back home from 5 great days in Arizona. We made some new friends (Hello Bob, Julie, & Leslie) and just plain ordinary had a great time. Click the picture above to see the photos.


Day 0
Well, we had a disastrous start to the Grand Canyon Trip airport morning - perfect storm - we had the  boarding time wrong by 30 minutes,  it took Park and Fly 45 minutes instead of the normal 15 minutes to get us to the airport, and I was resisting being in airport mode (getting there too early), and had scheduled us very tight. So - we missed the flight. We thought it was going to cost us an extra $900 each to get there, but a guy with AC who new his stuff got us to LA on AC, then Delta to Phoenix. For a total extra charge of about $770 - ouch - but better than what we thought.

Luggage made the connection OK, picked up the convertible Mustang OK, and the drive up to Flagstaff in the dark went fine! Wow - we were at 2200' in Phoenix and 6500' in Phoenix - what a change!

• See the map http://www.nps.gov/grca/parknews/upload/FinSpGuide2011map.pdf  for an overview of the Canyon.
• Great info at http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/day-hiking.htm

Day 1

Grandview Trail - see the good info at http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=337436 - This was the most mentally and physically challenging day of the trip

Wow, what a great first day. We hiked down the Grand View canyon 3 miles to a place called Horseshoe Mesa. Got some great pictures - see the link above. The 3 miles and 2600' feet DOWN was a good days work. Unfortunately, in was only about 33% of work - the other 66% was the 3 miles and 2600' feet back to the top. By the time I got to the last mile, which is about 50% of the climb, it was just shear will power - pick a spot a 100 feet or so ahead, walk to that sport, take 10 deep breaths, and do it again. Man, I was exhausted at the top.

Kim found the toughest part up to be the middle third, and she had a hard time with that. Then, she got her second wind and topped out really well.

Even though we were both exhausted, we really enjoyed the day and were looking forward to day 2!

Ohh - did I mention how good Grand Canyon Ale is after a day like that? Yummy! Plus, Bob set up the propane stove and cooked us a genuine trail dinner! A perfect end for a perfect day.


Day 2

Hermit Trail to Dripping springs - see http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=533725 - This was I think the most rewarding day. Such beauty. We walked further than day 1, but we did less vertical, and were more confidence. So, even though my legs were more shot than at the end of day 1, I did not feel the same sense of total utter exhaustion.

When you see the pictures you will be amazed that we could walk around the edge of this canyon that looks so shear.


Day 3

Morning - South Kaibab trail to Ooh ah Point - see http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=337437 for map and info - If you had told me 3 days ago that i would be able to honestly refer to 1.8 miles and 880 vertical feet as a nice easy morning hike, I would not have believed you. But it was - nice wide trail - very smooth - none of the nearly knee-high steps and really rough ground of the first two days. Really pretty. I was stopping to puff for awhile several time on the way up, but was ready for more when we got back to the top.

Afternoon - Walk thru South Rim Village then do the top of Bright Angel  - see the info at http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&PageID=337435 - We turned before the 2nd tunnel because I do not remember a second tunnel. But, I think we must have been close - because I was guessing we hiked a mile. So, lets guess we did 0.6 or 0.7 for a round trip of 1.2 or so, and vertical in the area of 400-500'


Day 4

Spent the day doing a few different fun things:

• Went and saw the Meteor Crater and associated tourist trap
• Remember the Eagles Song "Take it Easy" - where they sing "I was standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona"? Well, we were there! See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPospvRqP_s
• Up to the Lowel Observatory for a really interesting tour of the two telescopes.
• Down to downtown Flagstaff for a wander around - a really neat town - they have created a downtown which preserved their history and still caters to tourists and the local students - a lot of fun!

After dark, back up to the observatory to have a look at Saturn through the 24" Clark Telescope - the original telescope placed there by Percival Lowell in 1895 - really cool!

Best meal of the day - great Mexican food at Bojo's Grill & Sports Club in Winslow!

Day 5


Spent the whole day walking the Rim Trail along the south Rim - took the shuttle from the parking lot to Hermits Rest, and then we walked about 8.5 miles back to the village. Has a good day. Had one nasty thing happen - my hands were starting to swell - I think because of the heat. So, I put my rings in my pocket. Must have accidentally dropped one = my family ring - when getting tissues or whatever out of my pocket. So, that is bad news - I need to arrange to get a new one made.

Day 6

The drive down  through Sedona and Jerome to Prescott Valley on Highway 89A was great - amazing pretty country. If you like to drive, you have to drive this road - really really nice!

Day 7


Home again! Boring trip - which is exactly the way air travel should be!

A Trip on the James Bay Road / Route de la Baie James

My friend Mike and I decided that this year the bike trip need a different destination, and so we decided to try the James Bay Road. All the pictures are posted at 2010 Summer - James Bay.

	Mike traveled from Kingston to Toronto on the Friday, and we headed north on the Saturday morning with a planned short day ending in North Bay. We decided to run up Hw 35 and have look at the Hawk Lake Log Chute, and that was cool. Got to North Bay, and checked into a little hotel called the Sunset Inn, and had a really great meal at their restaurant called The White Owl Bistro. The next morning, we headed to Tim Horton's for breakfast, and ended up pulling on the rain gear before we even hit the Highway.
From 2010 Summer-JamesBay
We swung North-East on 63 a short ways, and crossed the Ottawa River into Quebec, where we picked up Hw 101. By mid morning we were out of the rain, and had a great ride up 101, which is a really pretty road, with a few sweeper, but mostly it is about the scenery, not crazy ridding. It just swings up and down over hills that peak out well over 300 meters, and then drop back down into nice little farming valleys. It was very pretty. Sometime that afternoon, we left the river valley and continued north on 101, then a short way east on Hw 117,  and then Hw 109 to Madagami. Had a rest stop and a great look at the country including all of the mining infrastructure from a really cool observation tower - I think we were on Hw 109 near Lac Malartic when we saw that - but not completely sure.
From 2010 Summer-JamesBay
	We spent a quite night in Matagami, at the Hotel Matagami, which was clean with OK food. Early the next morning, we gassed up, including a small Jerry Can, and headed out for the run to Radission. We expected that we had to make it to Km 381 for gas, but when we stopped and checked in at the Info Center at  Km 6, we found out a new gas station was open somewhere around Km 232. Since we already had the Jerry Can, we gave that a pass and made the run to Km 381. As it turns our the big old BMW had tons of fuel, and the 2000 VFR made it - with 2 liters to spare. As we headed north, the country changed a lot. From just south of Matagami, wow, do things change. Just watching the true north arrive over that 700 km or so makes the trip well worth it.
From 2010 Summer-JamesBay
Our first night in Radisson, we did not do so good for a Motel. The next morning, we check out, and checked into the Auberge Radisson - Bingo! For sure, this is the place to stay! Off we went for the bay - another good reason to stay at the Augerge is to get the good map - basically back to the Chisasibi road, 84 km to the end of the pavement, 3 km on gravel, turn left, 10-11 km of gravel - and Bingo - James Bay! Very cool - for me, the key reason for the trip!
From 2010 Summer-JamesBay
	Back to Radisson, and it turns out we were in time for the bus tour of the power station - in French, but most of it you can figure out without being fluent. For instance, according to Hydro Quebec, of the three countries in North America (Quebec, Canada, the USA), only Quebec is truly green - because they generate all of their power with Hydro! Vive la Hydro Quebec!
From 2010 Summer-JamesBay
The next two days were more great riding. Back to Madagami for overnight, and then down Hw109 to Amos, Hw 111, Hw 396, Hw 397, and then a long stretch on Hw 117. We got off of Hw 117 at Grand Remos, and picked up Hw 105 down into Hull. It turns out that Hw 105 is a fun ride - very scenic and a few twisty bits that are fun riding.
We stayed over at a Holiday Inn in Hull - worth mentioning because it was very nice and had a great view.
From 2010 Summer-JamesBay
So the next day, off we go headed for Kingston, where Mike lives and the official end of the trip. It turned out we needed to stop In Kanata and have a new rear put on the VFR. I guess all the construction on Hw 117 finished on the Metzler Z6 just a little sooner than planned. Had a good ride down through Smith Falls after that. Then, a nice dinner and a pleasent evening. Up bright and early on Saturday, go visit some friends in Kingston, and head home. Boom - 3764 kilometers latter, I am home. What a great trip. I recommend it!

A Trip To Paris

Kim and I just got back from a really fun trip to Paris. We both had a really good time, and enjoyed everything about the trip. Tons of pictures at 2010 Summer-Paris

The Flight

From 2010 Summer-Paris Air Canada did a good job. We were two hours late leaving Toronto for the the red-eye to Paris. That was just a good excuse to have a couple of extra drinks, which meant that I actually managed to sleep for a couple of hours. The trip back home left within minutes of the scheduled departure time, and the service was great. Between the two legs of the flight, I killed my iPod battery, and got to listen to a bunch of great music I had not had a chance to listen to for awhile. A funny think happened getting to the airport. The cab driver did not know how to use his terminal to do a credit transaction - he kept trying debit. So, eventually I am standing outside the cab with Kim inside trying to sort this out, the guy moves the cab, and drives right over my left foot. Thank God for high profile tires - while it hurt for a minute - no injury. I ended up running inside the airport and getting cash from an ATM.  One of several little technology glitches.

The Hotel

Kim spend hours finding a hotel that was "just right". I would have to say "Missioned Accomplished". We ended up at the Hotel Sevres Saint Germain, and it was great. Friendly staff, clean, good continental breakfast, perfect location, and a nice little air conditioned room with wireless and a little fridge. Perfect.

The Museums

Wow, what an amazing city for museums. You could spend weeks looking at museums. I am going to mention some highlights, but this list is far from exhaustive - there was so much to seee that impressed at all of the museums we visited.

We started out with a trip to the Musee d'Orsay. The architecture of this building is just amazing. It started its life as an old railway station, and has high vaulted concourses with tons of natural light. I think the highlights for me were Vincent Van Gogh's Self Portrait, and a statue called The Four Parts of the World Holding the Celestial Sphere by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux

From 2010 Summer-Paris Next, we walked past the Rodan Museem, and had a look at "The Thinker" in the garden. Just gorgeous. Unfortunately, we picked a day where the museum was closed, so all we saw was the gardens.

Then, we spent a few hours wandering around the Musee de l'Orangerie. Also very impressive. The ground floor is two galleries. Each gallery features 4 very large Monet painting of the famous lily pond and trees of his estate. For me, the lower level was the real treat. It features the collection of the famous collector Paul Guillaume. I really enjoyed that a lot

From 2010 Summer-Paris Last, and far from least, we spent about 5 1/2 hours doing a quick swing through about 50% of the Louvre. What an unbelievable place. Such a huge collection of amazing art. Tons of things to see and talk about. I guess, to pick just one - I have to mention Winged Victory of Samothrace. But, flick through the pictures posted - there are just tons of amazing things to see.

The City and its Landmarks What a great place to walk around. So much to see, so much great architecure. You see all kind of things that are just great, and it is so much fun to just walk - it is really a city built for walking.

From 2010 Summer-Paris The Tour Eiffel - well worth the 40 minute wait in line to ride up the elevator. I got some great photos - have a look.

From 2010 Summer-Paris The Arc de Triomphe is really impressive. After you climb the 284 stairs, you really appreciate the view.

From 2010 Summer-Paris Notre Dame is an amazing piece of architecture. Have a look at the pictures, but face it, you need to go there and see it to really appreciate it. Thank heavens, we decided to not climb the 400 stairs to the top of the stepple.

From 2010 Summer-Paris We went to Moulin Rouge, had a great dinner, and really enjoyed the show. Lots of fun!

From 2010 Summer-Paris Spent a few hours wondering around Montmartre - great places to see some art, get some food, and of course Sacre Couer

Food We had two really great meals, and one really good one. We also had some "Ahh" meals.

From 2010 Summer-Paris For sure, our best meal was at "Le Petit Zinc". A great seafood dinner - expensive and worth it. We shared this gigantic platter of different kinds of shell fish - including some little snails in the shell, and another kind of big snail in a shell - we had not tried these before - they were great. Also, oysters, clams, crab, mussells, shrimp, and likely something else I am forgetting. Really, Really Good!

From 2010 Summer-Paris We also had a really nice meal at le "Relais de l'Entrecote". They serve one dish - beef tenderloan with an amazing sauce, served with french fries and salad. You pick the wine and the desert you want to have with it. It was great.

We also had a nice meal at a place called "Le Rousseau". I had s steak with another yummy rich french sauce on it, and Kim had mussells with a cheese sauce baked on them. We really liked our meals.

Vimy Ridge

From 2010 Summer-Paris This was a very moving trip. The only side trip out of Paris, and well worth it. Truley something worth seeing.

C'est Fini Hope you enjoyed reading about our trip. We had fun. If you get a chance - go to Paris

Basement Reno - The Beginning

Back in March, we got an energy evaluation done - as it turns out, about two weeks before the program got cancelled.  So, we have some government funding to help with a few things I really wanted to do anyway. My honey Kim is actively on-board - at least for the basic renovation package. So, the plan is to blow some more insulation into the attic, but an air tight insert in to the fireplace on the main floor, and insulate the basement walls and the headers. So, will make the phone call and get the attic insulation and the air tight installation started - will do that this week - right after Victoria Day.

This weekend, Kate and I - with big logistical support from Kim- got going on the tear down in the basement. Not sure what your basement is like, but mine is full of stuff - both good stuff and stuff that should have been thrown out. We made good progress. Step 1 was to get all the good stuff in the back room over to one side of the room, and create two piles of garbage in the backroom. Step 2 was to empty the front room - moving all of the good stuff to the back room. We got a good start - photos are at http://picasaweb.google.ca/sandy.alexcameron/2010Reno#

From 2010 Reno

Bone Suckin' Ham Stir Fry

A couple of years ago, my buddy Gary in NC gave me a bottle of Bone Suckin' Habanero Sauce, which Kim and I loved. We have been watching for it to show up somewhere here in Toronto, but so far no luck. We did get a jar of the Bone Suckin' BBQ Sauce, and have been keeping it around waiting for an excuse to use it. Tonight we did a strange stir fry, and I thought it was worth writing down - it was really tasty.

• Cube up about a cup of ham
• Cut up a head of broccoli. Small pieces. I always peal the steam and cut that into carrot sticks as well as using the flower
• Slice up about a half of a Spanish onion
• Slice up about half of a zucchini
• Slice up about half of a red pepper
• Crush about 4 cloves of garlic
• Slice up a big handful of mushrooms
• A nice big handful of bean sprouts
• Set the BBQ sauce handy
• Get whatever oil you like to stir fry with - I like grape-seed oil

Time to start cookin!

• Toss the crushed garlic, some oil, and the ham  in the wok, stir fry until it starts to brown, remove from wok and set aside
• Add a little more oil, toss in the vegetables - holding off the mushrooms and and bean sprouts - and stir fry until they are close to al dente - then toss in the mushrooms, and keep stirring until they are close
• Throw in the sprouts and the ham, and add about half of the 16 oz jar of BBQ sauce. Keep stirring for about a minute.

If you like spicy, then either spice up the above by adding something - or if your honey is in the mood for sweet - then leave like the above.

In my case, I then added a bit of Uncle Big's Killer Hot Sauce - just a bit mind you - to my serving, and that was the finishing touch!

So there you go! BBQ stir fry - for something a little different.

Mercury & Venus in Conjunction

From 2010 Spring Venus&Mercury

I got NASA - Sunset Planet Alert message the other day, and have been watching for Mercury. I have watched the stars all of my life, and have seen all of the naked eye planets before - except for Mercury. Mercury is tough to find for an urban guy like me - low and dim means invisible in the city unless you have a good marker. There is no better marker than Venus!

So Kim and I headed up Royal York, and stood on the overpass over the Gardner, where I knew we would get a good view to the West-North-West, and we waited.

From 2010 Spring Venus&Mercury

Once it started to get dark, maybe 20 minutes after sunset, we saw Venus appear. That is always easy to find in a city sky. The photo's do not really do it justice. As you already know if you watch this type of thing, I think you could see Venus in the night sky from the middle of the new strip in Las Vegas - it is that bright.

From 2010 Spring Venus&Mercury

Even though it was easy to find, I was glad to see that as per my sky map check earlier in the evening, we had good clearance above the horizon, and I was therefore very hopeful we would get Mercury as well!

So we waited awhile, and Bingo! Mercury popped out of the haze!

From 2010 Spring Venus&Mercury

We were very pleased. Lots more photos in the album - click below and enjoy. No doubt lots of better photos out there - but hey - we had fun.

2010 Spring Venus&Mercury

Mustang Gas Tank Filling Problem Solved

From 2008 Spring

I bought a 2007 Ford Mustang V-6 back in 2007, and I love the car. But, one thing that really has irritated me is that it can be a real PIA to fill the gas tank. The darned pump shut off will just start shutting off the pump, and you need to restart and fill at less than half speed. Just a huge pain.

I went back to the dealer, and I asked them to look for any recall notices, or a blocked breather tube, or anything like that. No Joy - nothing that they knew about. I noticed a number of articles on the internet, and even a review in the Toronto Star back in 2009 (sorry - can not find the link) where people complained about this, but I could not find a solution.

What really bugged me was that sometimes it filled just fine, and other times it was just terrible. I also noticed that it did not matter which gas station I stopped at - the same station was sometime OK, and sometimes it did not work.

Then, one day, I happened to notice that at most gas stations, the "pad" by the pumps tends to be just a touch higher than the tarmac leading up to the pad. I also noticed that when I park with the rear wheels on the pad, and the front end sticking our on to the tarmac, I always get a good easy fill - no screwing around required!

I figured this out back in the late fall of 2009 - and decided to wait to make sure I had it diagnosed correctly. It sure seems like I do. As long as you park to fill with the nose just slightly lower than the tail, it fills perfectly.

I have no clue why this is the case. But, it sure works for me. I hope this tip helps someone else.

QC Ski Trip - Le Massif for two more days

From 2010 Winter

We enjoyed Le Massif so much on Tuesday, that we ended up back there both Thursday and again today (Friday).

Thursday was without a doubt the cream day. The weather was perfect, no crowds to speak of, and bright-bright sunshine - perfect!

From 2010 Winter

Got on the mountain fairly early and had a couple of great runs before we stopped for coffee. After coffee, Kate feel hard enough that she hurt her right shoulder. But she sat out one run, and then skied the rest of the day - way to tough it out honey!

From 2010 Winter

Friday, we woke up with a couple of inches of fresh snow on the ground and a forecast that said to expect more snow through the day. That made the call to go to Le Massif again really easy - we had thought about Ste-Anne for a 2nd day, but the possibility of more new snow at Le Massif was to much to resist! So, off we went for a 3rd day at Le Massif. Today, Feb 19th, is the fourth anniversary of the day I shattered my leg at Fernie, and that thought was with me off and on through the morning. In fact, after really screwing up one run, I said to Kate, "Coffee time", and declared a break. After that, I settled down and skied well. We skied a few short blacks both Thursday and Friday, but we were content with the blues and the greens for the most part.

From 2010 Winter

A great trip, I am sure we will be back, and the next time, I think we will plan the trip with the view of spending most of the time at Le Massif. We talked to a couple of people who mentioned that Baie-Saint-Paulis a great place to stay, close to the moutain, and some good package deals!

From 2010 Winter

QC Ski Trip - Stoneham

We had a nice quiet morning, I posted about yesterday, and we punched out for the short drive to Stoneham around 1015, and were on the hill by about 1130.


I clearly felt this was the third place mountain, and after thinking about it, Kate agrees. We were staying off of stuff posted black, and that might have been a mistake here. I think this was mostly "Ontario Black", which we are both comfortable on, and if we had tried some of the black earlier in the day, we might have opened up part of the mountain, and been a little less bored at the end of the day.

All in all, a very pretty mountain, and worth a look if you have time. But Massif is where we are headed back to tomorrow, and I doubt we will see Stoneham again this trip.

From 2010 Winter

QC Ski Trip - Le Massif

Tuesday morning started a little slow. We were both tired after the first day at Mont Ste-Anne. So, we left the hotel a little late, and the drive to Le massif was a little longer than expected. Light snow falling for most of the drive - I bet that the scenery would have been amazing with better light.

From 2010 Winter

We arrived at the mountain around 1015, and were skiing before 1100. It was covered with really nice snow. We both commented that it was the best snow we had seen all winter. The mountain is advertised as having four tows - but one of those is just a short t-bar at the summit between two of the chairs. The chair on the west end was serving all blacks, and neither of us was up for that, so we skied the other two chairs.

From 2010 Winter

We had a really great time. Some really great long blues and even some greens that were OK to finish the run on, or coast down on for a change of pace, or a bit of a break. All in all, just a great day. I think we will hit that mountain again before the end of the week.

From 2010 Winter

After we got back to the hotel, we rested up a bit, and then went downtown to the old city for awhile. Very pretty. It is nearly 30 years since I was in QC, and I enjoyed wandering around - although the drive in was a PIA - we were not really sure where we were going, and for sure a tough city to drive in if you do not know where you are going. We had a great dinner at a little pub where we could watch the Olympics while we ate, so that was nice as well.

Wednesday morning, we are both stiff. So, we are going to rest this morning, and then head to Stoneham to get there for noon - and ski a half day!

QC Ski Trip - Mont Saint Anne

Sunday 2010-02-14 was a travel day. Kate and I hopped in Sally, and away we went - off to Quebec City for a weeks skiing. The drive went smoothly, and we make the trip in about 9 hours - good weather, good traffic, and not many stops.

Just past Montreal, we went past Monte Saint-Hiliare, which is a neat looking mountain in the middle of a plain. Besides, that not much to report about the drive.

We checked in to the hotel I had booked in QC, had a quiet evening, and we were up and at this morning and off to Mont Saint Anne! We were on the mountain about 0915, which is a good early start for us. Based on the weather forecast, we had been expecting fairly warm, and maybe a bit mushy! But - what we got was pretty much perfect - I would say about -10° C, and nice and crisp!

From 2010 Winter

So, off we went. We started on the south chair, and had a really great morning. All blue, and really nice. Then, over on to the north side for a few runs. Some nice terrain, but it was icy - so we really did not stay there for long. Then back to the south side, and over to the gondola at the west end of the south side. Some nice stuff over there, and we skied that for a fairly long time - in particular, we really liked Le Gross Vallon - a really nice blue 2327 meters long, with 625 meters of vertical
As we started to get tired in the mid-afternoon, we moved back to the south-east end where we had started, and did one last tough run right down the chair line on La Tourmente, then switched out to some of the easy green and blue off of that chair.
Last run of the day was about 1430. Kate ended up on her butt a couple of times, and I was also fading. So, we called it a day and headed for the barn! That was a great mountain. I expect we will need to get back before the end of the week!
Lots more photos at:

2010 Winter

Rest In Peace Scott Hartley

I found out a few hours ago that my friend Scott Hartley drowned last night in a snowmobile accident at Redstone Lake.

I have know Scott Hartley since sometime in the very early 1970s. By the late 70s, I was in my early 20s, he was in his early teens, and we had become friends. One of the first times I remember hanging around with him, I had taken some vacation and was at my parents cottage at Redstone Lake cutting down a big old maple tree. He would come over and hang around with me and help while I worked away on this project. I can tell you a lot of good stories about hanging around with Scott. For several years, Scott, Blaine "Tiger" Kocott, and I had a lot of fun together - both summer and winter.

I can remember a lot of sled rides, boat rides, campfires, and four-wheeling which involved a ton of fun. Unfortunately, I can also remember more than a few times when we were all involved in some fairly unsafe behavior.  I think that this is the time to remember a good friend, and to remember that all of us who were friends over the years have exercised bad judgement. I for one can not help thinking that many of us from those days dodged a few bullets, and that this could have been any of us.

When I think of Scott, I remember a guy with an infectious laugh, and a guy who was always willing to kick in on a job that needed to get done. I remember him grabbing chain saws, shovels, buckets, or what ever other tools were needed and getting it done. I remember some good times working on the road to the cottage together.

One time, in the mid 1980s, me and two friends (Brian and Gina) skied into the cottage in the dark (full moon) on a Friday night. This was before the day of the groomed trail into the cottage, let alone a plowed road. I had arranged with Scott to meet us with his sled and pull in a sleigh full of stuff for us. Scott was there, and made it happen. By the Sunday morning, we had a full blizzard going. Scott showed up with a buddy, I forget who, and helped us get back out of the 3 1/2 mile cottage road in a ton of new snow. Without his help, we would have been in a bit of a mess. I can tell more stories like that - about a helpful friend - those are the stories about Scott Hartley I want to remember tonight.

Some time in the mid-1990s, we started to drift apart. I was not going to the cottage quite as much, and we just did  not see each other anymore. When we sold the family cottage in 2000 and stopped going to Redstone Lake except for the very occasional trip, I don't think I saw Scott again.

But, I still think of him as a friend. I was very sad to hear about his passing. I wish his family and close friends the best in this sad time, and I hope we can all remember the good things about Scott.

Rest in peace Scott Hartley, you were my friend, and I am sad to see you go.

Sandy Cameron
2010-01-02

Learning Ubunto #9 - Upgrading to 9.10, using lsb_release, and installing Virtual Box

Hi there fellow Ubuntu users. I have not posted about Ubuntu for awhile, but I continue to use it as my daily OS, and it works well.

Not long after 9.10 (Karmic Koala) became available, I went ahead and installed it. The install was painless, and since I did it a few weeks ago, I really can not remember any detail worth mentioning. It was a non-event for me. Also worth noting is that there were no features in 9.10 that have jumped out at me. But, hey, I am current.

At some point also a few weeks ago, I found out about "lsb_release -a" which is a really handy way to tell exactly which release of Linux you are running. The one weird thing is that it includes a message stating "No LSB modules are available" - spent a couple of hours trying to figure out what the heck this means, but can not tell. Anyway, the command - as well as just looking at the /etc/lsb-release file is handy.

I spent some time looking at installing KDE in side-by-side mode with GNOME,but the more I looked at that, the more it looked like trouble. Back in about 2000, I did run a version of RH with GNOME and KDE both available, and it worked OK, but it just looks like trouble with the current builds to try and get that to work, so to heck with it.

On the other hand, I have spent a little time looking at virtualization for a desktop, and I am fairly sure that VirtualBox is the best solution for desktop virtualization. My objective is to run Vista in a VM, so I can access the few Windows applications which do not work well under Linux.

Stay tuned.

Windows Live OneCare has changed to Microsoft Security Essentials

This post is mostly for my family, since I am the official family computer geek, with my daughter Kate as the Heir Apparent.  Before we start talking about MSSE (Microsoft Security Essentials), let me declare my biases.

1. I have been using mostly Ubuntu for about a year, but I admit that for my family and non-geek friends, Windows is the way to go.
2. My wife Kim and I both ended up with new Toshiba laptops about 1 1/2 years ago. And, when we did this, we ended up with Vista which works OK. To secure them, I decided at the time to go with Windows Live OneCare (WLOC)
3. I am pissed at all the various flavours of Norton. I think it is too expensive, plus I have seen at least three case of computers which appear to run really really slow because of Norton
4. Like I said, WLOC has been installed for over a year on two computers at home, and so far so good.
5. About two weeks ago, I bought a new Vista computer for my Dad, and decided to install CA Internet Security, which has also succeed in pissing me off in record time. For one thing, I left it to do a scan for over 48 hours, and it had still not finished. WTF!

So, of the Windows Security products I have had hands-on with, so far WLOC has pissed me off the least. It integrates well with Vista, as well as successfully keeping adware and viruses off of both my machine, and more importantly my wifes machine.  That is, for both a geek and a non-geek, it has exhibited a sufficient degree of easy-to-use, and enough control and info. I will say, as far as being a useful backup solution, it is completely lacking, but I was looking at it for adware and virus - and it seems to do that.

So, I think MSSE is worth a try. It claims to give you:

• Comprehensive malware protection
• Simple, free download*
• Automatic updates
• Easy to use

Hey - sounds good to me - stay tuned -  I will by trying this when the WLOC subscriptions are up. And like I said, to my dear family - if you are on - the next time your AV software wants money, I am on for helping you try to switch to free.

My Rib Recipe

Had not done this in awhile. Then, cooked in for Mom & Dad on Sunday, and took Dad for his surgery on Monday. Ended up talking about this recipe with some people (Hi Dawn) we meet at the hospital, and I decided to post it. This is the perfect way to do ribs!

Bone Dust
½ cup paprika
¼ cup chilli powder
3 tbsp salt
2 tbsp ground coriander
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp hot dry mustard
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp cayenne pepper

Give a good mix. I had an old quart sealer which stays nice and airtight, so I have stored for a month or more, because this makes a lot of rub. But, keep in dry and in a dark place, and it stores well

What is Brazing

The way I do it, to braze something, you need a pan you can put your fluid in, then a cooking rack to go in the pan, and meat goes on top of the rack, above the fluid. I looked around, and could not find exactly the pan I wanted. I ended up with two really large cookie sheets which were the deepest cookie sheets I could find, and cookie cooling racks which were big enough to “fill” the cookie sheet and act as cooking racks.

So:

• This works best if you start first thing in the morning, get the oven part done, let the meat cool right down, and then finish on the BBQ latter in the day. Read on.
• Get your ribs out, and rub them down, both sides with bone dust
• Slice up an onion, and toss it in the brazing pan.
• Take out a head of garlic, cut off both ends, strip away the easy to strip-away stuff, and then crush, and toss that in as well. I always just use the flat of my big knife to crush, and usually hack at it a bit as well just so the flavour gets out good.
• Add tequila, orange juice, and pineapple juice.  With my pan, 1 cup tequila, 1 cup OJ, and 1 cup pineapple works perfect. Make sure lots of juice, but not so full the pan is a PIA to move around, and not enough to come over the rack. Which, by the way, is the reason I wish I could, find a better pan than a cookie sheet. A big cookie sheet works great as far as size goes for two racks of ribs, but it could be deeper.
• Stick the cooking rack into the pan, and place the ribs on the rack, with the meat side down.
• Slice up lemon and orange, and cover the ribs with them.
• Cover up the whole thing with aluminium foil, so that the moister stays in.
• Now, my oven cooks cold, so I set the oven to 275° F, but if your oven is accurate, try 250° F. Try 275° the first time, and if the ribs could be a little more chewy, then drop the temp the next time.
• Cook for 4 hours, until meat is very tender, and starting to come off the bone, but everything is still holding together. Once they cool, they get back a bit of ability to hold together
• Set aside, and let cool, right down to room temp is best if you have time
• Cut into the size to want for BBQ – 2-3 ribs per section works good.
• Get the BBQ up to about 350° - 400°F, slap the ribs on, about 3 minutes then flip, cover the upside with Dianna’s Chicken and Rib sauce, turn the BBQ down a bit, cook about 2-3 minutes, flip them, sauce the other side, give them another 2-3 minutes, flip them, 2-3 minutes more, and voilà

Credits

• Got started based on a recipe I got from Dave McConnell
• He got the bone dust from Ted Reader’s book “Hot, Sticky, and on Fire”, which also has a great coleslaw recipe in it.

Variations

• Try Guinness instead of tequila & fruit juice, then just lemon so not so sweet - Yummy.
• Bourbon and fruit juice also works
• I bet slices of fresh pineapple would be yummy.
• I have tried a couple of different home made BBQ sauces to finish with, but have not got anything I can recommend - post a good one if you have a good one!
• Rum? Hmm………..  

Klean-Prep Was Invented by a Devil Out of Hell

The good news is that that the colonoscopy itself was a piece of cake. The bad news is that Klean-Prep was invented by the devil out of hell.

A couple of weeks ago, I did my yearly physical and heard those words that all men over 50 will eventually hear - time to have a colonoscopy. Well, I thought I knew what there was to know about a colonoscopy - after all, 2 or 3 years ago - I saw Billy Connolly describe his colonoscopy at Masey Hall here in Toronto. I damn near died laughing during his routine on this nasty little procedure. When I just viewed the clip again on YouTube, I was literally crying, I was laughing so hard. Well, I thought, anything that funny can't be too bad.

So, modify my diet for a few days leading up to the big day, then fast all day the day before. Get home after work, rip open and mix the first 1 litre out of 4 of Klean-Prep. No problem I think, drink 4 liters of this shit between 6PM and 11PM. I chug back the first 250 ml glass, and think Christ, nasty stuff. A few minutes latter, I start to drink the second glass and the gag reflex kicks in. I think it took me at least 15 minutes to force it down. After that, it got even tougher. I have never had to drink anything like that. It just made me gag. About half way through the second litre, I puked up about 250ml, and then had to clean up the mess in the kitchen, and start drink this crap again. Can you imagine? Just nasty! By midnight, I had got down 3 1/2 litres, I was shivering and woozy, and really at my wits end. At that point, I really no longer gave a damn. I tossed the last half litre out, and headed to bed.

If you already watched the Billy Connolly video, then there is no need for me to describe the bowel activity which had been going on since about 7PM. If you want to know - listen to Billy describe it - he tells it better than I ever can! Suffice it say, all night I was in bed for 15 minutes and then off to the can again. By around 5 AM, I was at the oily discharge state Billy describes so well, and fricking exhausted.

The good news in the rest of the story is straightforward. Arrive at the clinic in the morning, lay down on the bed with my pants down to my knees, joke with the doctor about Lou Rawls Colonoscopy Exam, then the anaesthesiologist stuck me with the magic needle, and the next semi-coherent thought I have is as someone walks me to the recovery room from the little room where I guess my anal cherry had been successfully popped! Note how Klean-prep changes your perception? After Klean-Prep, laying on a table with your pants around your knees while three people, one of them female, work a meter and a half of tube up your ass is just not a big deal even after the happy needle wears off.

A half hour latter, we take the elevator down to the ground floor, and walk outside into a sea of police barricades and cameras. Christ, I think, it was big news to me, but I did not expect my colonoscopy to make the news. Turns out, it did not - the building where the clinic is, is also the one that many of you in Canada will have heard of because of the fact that Toronto Cops Had to Capture Doe a Deer the other morning.

By mid-afternoon, I felt fairly recovered. Like I said, the colonoscpy itself is not too bad. But I will never again willingly drink that horrible Klean-Prep shit.

Klean-Prep was invented by a devil out of hell.

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It's Not About the Bike, It's About the Journey

I waited a long time to buy my first motorbike. I turned 13 in 1969 and remember it well – not so much for Woodstock – but for the Lunar missions, and the fact that my family moved from Edmonton to Scarborough. Throughout high school in the early 1970s, I watched the Honda revolution occur – the invasion of the CB-750. Although I never owned one, I have friends who still ride them.

High-school, college, job, get married, and have a daughter named Kate in 1984 – still no bike. My daughter Kate – the best thing that ever happened to me. We cottaged, snowmobiled, went on road trips, canoe trips – we just had a great time. And we still do. I could spend a long time talking about Kate, but this is about bikes.

Along came 1995. I wanted a bike, I was in a marriage crisis, and I thought that if my first wife and I both got motorbikes, it might help us build some bridges. My brother Scott called me with a line on a beat up old Honda Nighthawk 450 – so I bought it.

Off we went for a couple of years – she on her Harley Sportster, and me on the old Nighthawk. We had a few good rides together. But you know something? There is no magic “re-united by the love of biking” story here. We continued to drift apart. There is a long story about the complex nature of relationships between man and women, but even assuming I could tell it, I wont - this is about bikes.

Towards the end of the summer of 1999, I bought a 1996 Yamaha FJ1200ABS. What a great ride. That same fall, a young friend of mine was badly-badly hurt in a bike accident. Jordan, at least a part of Jordan, is still with us today, and I wish him and his parents the best. This is a story about bikes – and Jordan's accident is a sad part of the story.

Latter that fall, I decided to take the FJ to see my buddy Gord in Boston. Since my sister Cheryl lives in Jacksonville, Florida – I thought I would stop in to see her on the way to Boston. This was a great idea – it was my first long ride, and I truly fell in love with the experience of riding a motorbike. I was inexperienced about planning a long ride - for whatever reason, it seemed to me that I could take off for a 4500 km ride, and not take chain lube with me. When I got back to Toronto, the chain and sprockets were shot, and needed to be replaced. A much cheaper lesson about the cost of a mistake on the bike than the one Jordan learned. A much cheaper lesson than my buddy Gord learned about the effect of years of alcohol abuse – rest in peace Gord – hey – lets talk about bikes.

Yup – 1999 was a heck of a bike year. It was the evening, of Nov 17^th, northbound on Bathurst, just after sunset – a lady in the solid stream of southbound traffic decided to turn left in front of me. My only option was full on the brakes, stand up on the pegs, watch the front end of the bike disintegrate into her front bumper, hit the hood, the windshield, black out for a 1/10^th of a second, and come to on the southbound side of Bathurst thinking, “Damn, know I'm gonna get run over”. But, everyone stopped, along came the ambulance, the police, the fire department, off to the hospital, and you know what? I walked out the hospital that same evening, glad to be alive.

Fast forward – spring 2000 – separated from my first wife, living on my own and loving it. Nearly getting killed really makes it clear that you never know when it is going to be over, and decisions get easier. As the weather warmed, I knew I needed another bike. By May, I was the proud owner of a brand spanking new 2000 Honda VFR – the bike I still own and ride as often as I can. The rest of 2000 was great – tons of little rides all over Ontario, including a day on the track at Shannonville. I managed to get good enough that I actual found out I was still a real beginner with a lot of skill development to come.

Summer 2001 was my best bike season to date -I road to Vancouver where my honey Kim meet me for a few days of R&R, then she headed home, and I headed south down the coast into California, before zigg-zagging back across the content to Toronto. To this day, when I have 1000 KPH brain at bedtime, I can still “count sheep” by remembering a bunch of different sections of that trip in particular detail – mountains, rivers, corners, hills, prairies, oceans – the geography of a content. That is what I want to talk about – the bike journey. That is what it is about.

Since then, I have put a ton of kilometres on that bike – short rides, long rides, just running around town. I have fast friends that I occasionally ride with, who wait for me at the corners where we change roads. I have other friends I ride with, where I am one of the fast guys in the group – it is all relative. Mind you, none of us is fast in Ontario anymore – not worth the risk. Wow – a place where the punishment for speeding is likely a little more severe than what you might be able to get away with for a gun - Brrr. A few days on the track, and lots of days on the backroads, man do I love that bike.

But hark, what is this I see at www.feelv4.com? Honda has a new 7^th generation VFR – in time for a spring 2010 roll out. Hmmm, could my 10 year love affair with a 5^th generation model be nearing its end? The bike journey will tell.

Alex, “Sandy” Cameron

Etobicoke, November, 2009