Snow Casualties

The recent snow has wrought much inconvenience and a number of casualties including eight Snowmobilers who got caught in two consecutive avalanches. Seven of the party are still unaccounted for at the time of writing.

Fortunately our only local casualty was a young female Deer which had taken shelter under a bush and died of cold. Took a walk with Dog this morning to see the still deep frozen carcase emerging from a thawing snowbank. Venison anyone? The only human casualty in our little enclave has been the wounded pride of a number of 4x4 drivers who have come to grief in roadside culverts despite snow chains etc.

Driving in the snow is a skill and requires decent snow tires, steady and slow acceleration and deceleration. Oh yes, and migraine inducing concentration. Having driven vans, cars and ridden a motorcycle in snowy conditions, I know whereof I write. There are those who can put the hammer down, trust to luck and come up smiling every time, but I'm not one of them. The ditch would beckon strongly. As for indulging in festive cheer; I won't even breathe on a glass of wine within twenty four hours of driving because sure as shooting, I'd get pulled over and busted for drink driving if I did.

Thaw

We are undergoing a very welcome thaw at present. Unfortunately, thaws pose their own hazards. Packed snow and slush turns to ridges of hard packed ice that renders useless all your petty attempts at steering in a straight line. The first kilometre out from home at present is a real queen bitch to drive. After that the middle of the road is mostly clear and makes for easy driving. When the thaw finally reaches our little enclave I will be a very happy bunny.

In the woods the underbrush is surfacing as the tide of crystalline white recedes. For days the only tracks into the woodland have been those of Dog and myself. Only the Deer have ventured under the laden canopy of branches. When the paths are clear I might even venture down to the beach to see what else has arrived.

Well, that's my first White Christmas since the 1960's and as far as I'm concerned you can keep it. White Christmases are for kids.

Back to business

More snow. A fine dust this time, but thickening with every keystroke. Getting home last night was fun if you like that sort of thing; especially the last kilometre. Having abjured alcohol for over twenty four hours my reactions got us safely along stretches of road where far more well equipped vehicles had come to grief in the ditch. These were vehicles with 4 wheel drive, snow tires, snow chains, the works. Just like the one in the picture. Yet they were off the road and we somehow safely skittered past, up hill and down dale, jouncing over every icy slush packed rut. After we arrived home I slumped into a nervous collapse over a large, and well earned, glass of Malt Whiskey.

MSS revision day. Have already 'Murdered my darlings' and will resubmit MSS sample to publishers in the new year. The mini screenplay is done, and I'll get that out of the door in January too.

Get over it

My favourite Eagles track from the 'Hell freezes over' tour. Which funnily enough it feels like it might be doing tonight with a very un-Nanaimo like minus thirteen Celsius prophesised. Last I checked our thermometer outside the kitchen window it was minus five and sinking. Brr.

Great line in the song "I'd like to find your inner child and kick it's little ass." Oh yes.

Managed a trip into town for a 'Do' we got invited to although any sudden acceleration or deceleration threatened to put our little 4x4 into a tailspin (Despite good snow tyres). One pedestrian just stepped straight off the kerb on the other side of the road and made a rude gesture because we didn't pull an emergency stop to let him all the way across. I know pedestrians and buses generally have priority, but had I tried to stop quickly on that precise stretch of compacted snow and ice we would probably have broadslid across to the left hand side of the road and into him, there was that little traction. Not a happy thought.

All Christmas presents are wrapped and ready to be delivered. We have invitations for drinks and stuff over the festive season. Six days left to Crimbo. It could well be the first white Christmas I've seen since the 1960's. Yay.

Snow day

At the moment we're having a bit of a snowy interlude around Nanaimo, with an extra 10-12cm (4-5 inches) of snow at the time of blog entry to add to the foot or so outside the door. Van looks like a rather large snowdrift outside the back door. Had to drag Wife away from work as there was a significant risk that if we had waited until usual finishing time we wouldn't have been able to get home. Even our little 4x4 was struggling, the snow clogging our tyres and converting them to racing slicks.

We managed to avoid ending in the ditch like this guy above by the skin of our teeth, and a not a little intense concentration on the part of yours truly.

Above is the road home. Not quite white out conditions, but getting there.

Nanaimo Parkway southbound at around 1pm Pacific Standard Time.

Another section of the Parkway. This with the snowploughs on continuous duty.

Managed to finish my Christmas shopping today anyway. Presents will need wrapping, but for the moment I'm snuggling down.

Odd observation. Today at 3:13 PST this blog was graced with a visit from the web server registered to the Netherlands Ministry of Justice. That's slightly after midnight if I've got my time zones right.

A big hi from Vancouver Island to the guys in Tech support over there. Doesn't it get boring on the graveyard shift sometimes? Wet and miserable over there too if the local forecast is right. Despite all the current cold and inconvenience, I think I'm much happier over here.

Has Honda cracked it?

Perusing my reading list of blogs as usual and came across this little gem from the UK's Top Gear TV programme.
The item was about the Honda FCX clarity, a Hydrogen fuel cell car currently only available in California for 2009 under certain conditions.

*Subject to limited availability, in designated, limited California market regions, to approved lessees by American Honda Finance Corp. Closed end lease for 2008 FCX Clarity, for qualified lessees meeting specific use and operation requirements. Not all applicants will qualify. No purchase option. Zero capitalized cost reduction. Taxes, license, title fees, liability insurance extra. Monthly payments of $600.00 for 36 months. Total monthly payments $21,600.00. No mileage limitation or excess mileage cost.

As it says on Honda's own dedicated web site.

The video tells part of the story, but on the face of it this particular car may have part of the answer to the transport / emissions conundrum. The production of sufficient Hydrogen and development of a refuelling infrastructure may follow if the trial programme is practicable. The price of Hydrogen is the other matter. Can it be economically produced in sufficient quantity to supply demand? I hope so.

Another more cynical, thought emerges; will this category of technology shut the Eco freaks up? Personally, I think not. Certain of these guys want the whole concept of the car and the liberty it gives to the rest of us to die and be buried deep. They hate anything above the level of the horse and cart and subsistence agriculture. They hate liberating technologies because they do not understand why people need it, and what they cannot understand they fear. Simply cruise the Internet for any tin foil hattery about a specific technology. The lies are out there, and I regret to say they've got the facts outnumbered.

My predictions if this fuel cell technology takes off? There may be spurious stories about Hydrogen causing Cancer / Lung Disease etc bandied around by the media, perhaps even direct action against Hydrogen production facilities. Next thing you know, the water vapour from the exhaust of a fuel cell powered vehicle will end up in the same category as CO2, classed as a cause of 'Global Warming' (Some of which would come in handy around about now, it's minus six celsius outside my house, and that's without wind chill). No dopubt some future politician will build a whole 'Eco vote' campaign around it, similar to the one currently based around CO2 emissions. (Engage Sarcasm mode) We must 'save the planet'. Yeah, right (Sarcasm mode off).

I like the Honda concept, it has possibilities. Providing of course that the law of cock-up doesn't get in the way. However, Honda have a good track record of delivering technical solutions, so I will remain guardedly sanguine about the future. Even if it isn't going to become mainstream until 2018.

Snow on the road

Some quite heavy snowfall in town that is currently turning to rain. Got a call from Wife around 11am when the white stuff started coming down and so fired up the 4x4 and dashed off to the rescue. The Island Highway was quite greasy despite the volume of traffic, and the steering wheel gave a couple of minor twitches as we passed over some compacted slush at a couple of points. Local gossip reported a few people stranded when their cars couldn't cope with the compacted ice and slush. However, we didn't see anyone in obvious distress, so matters can't have been that bad.

Current conditions on the main routes out of Nanaimo are not too bad at present, although we heard a report of an accident near Terminal Mall on the radio around fivish as we made our way home. We elected to go home the long way and ducked out of town along Bowen and Pine down to Tenth Street. Sue, our little 4x4 (As in a boy named) coped easily with the conditions. Now Wife, Dog and I are tucked up cosy and snug at home. That reminds me, I was going to make a little mulled wine this evening. Good idea.

Incoming

I love the Internet. It's like having the whole world of knowledge at your fingertips. Been told something you consider a little far fetched? Google it and sift through the answers. All you have to be is a little sceptical and discerning.

Am currently tracking Wife's flight using this handy little tool. It tells me when the flight took off, when it's due to land, and there's even one of those handy dandy little graphics with a cute little aeroplane showing you the flights approximate position.
Brilliant. It takes all the worry out of the process. This particular tracker does transatlantic flights, unlike others that only track in US and / or Canadian Airspace.

Let 'er buck!

It's a long time since I was at the wheel of a 4x4. The last time was over fifteen years ago driving a Land Rover Defender in a sideways skid over a rain-slicked English meadow.

To put the previous paragraph in perspective; yesterday was spent driving up and down dirt roads and tracks in search of a suitable piece of land for us to build. We found a few, but some were priced way out of our budget. The property market over here in BC has yet to nosedive like in the UK and US but the cracks are already showing with a fair amount of US owned property going up for sale. Looks like we'll have to look harder and further than we thought.

However, Dog has claimed the back seat of the 4x4 for himself, it is his, and the moment we walk past it he is up and waiting by the passenger door. I'm surprised at this, because normally he hates cars and gets seriously travel sick. Yet this self same mutt hunkers down on the back seat while we're bouncing and jouncing over potholes and ruts like a Kangaroo on steroids. Go figure, as they say over here.

On one occasion yester'e'en, we'd found ourself at the bottom of a sixty degree slope, Dog was sitting up, eyes bright and happy. I took a look at the proposed climb and slipped the shift into four wheel drive. Wife looked sidelong at me as she understood what I was about to ask our little SUV to do. Then a broad grin cracked her face and she said quietly. "Okay Jones, let 'er buck." We surged up that slope like a mountain goat and bounced onto the track, whooping and cheering like teenagers.

What's even better is that we get better gas mileage with the SUV than our van. Damn. I'd forgotten how much damn fun this could be.

Wife, Pickups and Barack Obama's birth certificate

Wife is heading back to England for a spell to see youngest into her new University. While she is gone, it will be business as usual for me. I will pine terribly while she is gone, and be forced to talk to Dog who is not the world's most erudite conversationalist.

We're currently in the process of buying an additional vehicle to our existing van, and are opting for an aging pickup. A Ford 1990 F150 Pickup, we've both always wanted a pickup, with the earlier 2.8 litre engine and an extended cab for preference. Just a little something for negotiating logging roads while we look for a parcel of land up country. We did the sums and worked out that one of these earlier and smaller pickups delivers gas mileage equivalent to and better than the MPV we currently use. Our current vehicle delivers 28mpg per imperial gallon at best; according to our research, the desired 4x4 gives up to 30mpg per imperial gallon. This is only 2mpg less than a Honda CR-V or Subaru Forester, and costs a lot less to buy. Besides, reliability of the Honda's and Subaru's of this vintage can get a little ropey. While they are solid as a rock repairwise for much of their career, after fifteen years or so, they are definitely past their best. Pickups seem like tanks, to keep going even though resembling a leaky colander.

In addition, I keep on hearing a nasty little rumour which is doing the rounds, that the Democratic Candidate for the Presidency of the USA is not as required by US law, "American born and bred".

If the 'evidence' as portrayed in the embedded video is accurate and true, then Barack Obama should not have got the Democratic nomination, and even if the majority of voters wanted him to be President, he could not legally take the oath of office. Although I think the FBI or INS would have had something to say about it before now if it were really the case that Mr Obama's US birth certificate were a forgery, as suggested in the video.

However, this could all be just the usual dirty play of US politics, especially when the Democratic faction have gone straight for the low punches with Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin. Wasn't there some kind of convention where the children of any candidate are 'off limits'? Whatever happened to policies and 'substance over style'? It just reduces the race to an undignified scramble for power. Hi ho, glad I'm north of the 49th Parallel. I haven't dared ask our Californian neighbours what they think of it all.

Victoria

Day trip down to Victoria yesterday. Wife had an evening meeting to go to, so we thought we'd make a day of it. Left Dog with friends around nine, and headed south down the Island Highway. It rained all the way down until we crossed the Malahat, then all of a sudden, no rain. This sort of thing often happens when you travel through Vancouver Islands many micro climates.

We began the day off at the Maritime Museum, and a surprisingly spooky experience. On the third floor of the Museum is the Assizes room, where felons were tried, and sometimes sentenced to death. Now I didn't know this at the time, and just popped my head round the door and stepped in to the old court room. As court rooms go, this one looked pretty average for a Victorian court room. Having done jury duty (Twice!) I'm fairly familiar with the layout of a courtroom, including how hard those bench seats can be on your arse after two or three hours. The furniture and panelling was all built from the same gold coloured timber, with a raised bench at the back for the Magistrates / Judge to sit at, framed by heavy velvet hangings, stepped seating down both sides of the room, an enclosed witness stand by the court recorders bench in front of the judge, and a raised dock about a third of the way in to the court room from the rear. As I stepped level with the dock my back muscles knotted a little, and a vague sense of unease made me look up and around the plain panelled room. Looked behind the judges bench to see a fire extinguisher and old plain wooden chair. Passed by the dock again, and felt the same tightening. Very odd, seeing as I was the only person on that floor at the time. Not just the room, the entire floor. Rejoined Wife down at the gift shop and mentioned that 'you can feel a sense of history' when you walk in the old assizes. She pointed out an article about ghosts and what have you that we had missed on the way in. "You felt the ghost then?" She smirked at me.
"Don't know. All I know is what I felt." I said, so she wrote down that I had 'felt the ghost' in the visitors book, a thinly disguised expression of glee playing about her lips. Sometimes I should think very carefully about what I say to my better half.

Today we didn't head down to the Empress for tea. At sixty five bucks a head they can go whistle, but instead lunched at one of the many coffee shops in town. I chomped into a very nice Chicken and Mushroom Calzone with Olives, and wife had an Italian salad. After that, we spent our time visiting the Market Place and a number of stores around town. The dread 'shopping' experience was ameliorated by the various sales people, who lightened our path with friendly banter. We tried on hats, shopped for stationery and art materials, Wife looked at necklaces while I found a chair to lounge in. It could have been worse. Supper was at the Four Mile Bar and Grill over towards view Royal. Great chairs, guys. Terrific Garlic Chicken wings and vegetable dips. Wife went to her meeting around seven, and I took an hours snooze in the car when it became too dim to read. Drove back to friends to pick up Dog at twenty past ten, then Wife drove the last ten klicks home for tea, and a couple of episodes of 'Yes Minister' before bed. All in all, not a bad day.

Staying away

Glad I'm no longer living in Britain. According to the on line papers the economy is on the slide, rail chaos, a thing called a Norovirus has laid over 2 million people low. Add to that the loss of civil liberties and rising cost of living, I reckon we're better off out of it.

The only thing that bothers me is that our girls have gone back to that mess. Despite the fact that we had a very crowded Christmas and New Year which sent me crawling up the nearest vertical surface, I am mildly concerned for their future; although they are as capable as we could bring them up to be. On the other hand, they have travelled half way around the globe without us fussing over them, so perhaps our anxiety is ill founded.

Have spent the day dodging back and forth on ferries to Vancouver airport and back. Wife was a bit tearful, but I leant her one of my broad and manly shoulders and let her have a little cry. Despite what all the radical feminists would have us believe, most women seem to like a good cry now and again. It seems to come more readily to them than us mere males. I don't hold with weeping just because you've seen some family off on a long flight, although I get a bit of a catch in my throat sometimes. I am concerned for their welfare of course, and overjoyed when we get notice of their safe arrival at journeys end, but tears aren't a big part of my emotional response. My own take on the matter is that if I dissolve into puddles at the drop of a hat, I'm no good diving into a phone box for a quick change into my hero costume when the need arises. Someone has to be ready to pitch in if it all goes pear shaped.

I drive therefore I am

Day trip out to Victoria today with a vanful of five females bent on shopping. Age range mid 80's to late teens. Driver, age 50, male. State of mind; sarcastic, irascible and tiring rapidly. Weather conditions deteriorating. Navigation skills of co-pilot negligible.

The run down from Nanaimo was a bit damp and dreary. There was noticable sleet hitting the windscreen until we cleared the Malahat. By the time we arrived in Victoria, it was dry but as grey as an English summer day.

The next four hours were punishment detail, being taken from one clothes store after another. On the bright side, I did get a brand new leather car coat out of the trip which cost CDN$225, marked down from CDN$680.

One thing that puzzles me about my little clan; how on earth do they find so much to bicker about? It's like English winter drizzle, it gets worse, then it slacks off, but it never stops altogether. Even when everything is laid on to perfection, all they can do is whine at each other (And me). Home is set in minor piece of British Columbian paradise. All in whinge mode. DVD's are exactly the ones they wanted to see. Continuous state of discord. What is wrong with these people? Wife is like a Tiger bumping the bars of a cage, Stepdaughters are as querulous as a troop of chimpanzees, mother in law playing the victim card at every juncture like it was some kind of trump for all life's problems, sister in law as bad as wife. Me keeping my head down and wishing for a flak jacket and kevlar helmet.

This isn't the family Christmas I signed up for. I think the coat was the consolation prize.

Sweet and sticky

One of the things I recall from my youth was the toffee apple. One particular shop in the small place I grew up in sold them, but after the mid 1960's they seemed to disappear off the shopping map. In Victoria the other day I came across this shop that makes a speciality of Toffee Apples. Holy Calories Batman! It was like hitting a mental timewarp sideways at lightspeed. What can I say but "oh my".

I really love this place. It's both old and new. Both stepdaughters are coming over for Christmas and they will love it too. Especially shopping in Victoria. We're going to have trouble getting them on the flight home. The RCMP may be needed to get them back on the plane.

Day out in Victoria

Wife is still jet lagged, but not a little jubilant today, having closed most of our affairs in England down. To celebrate, we took a little meander down to Victoria. As we have now sold the house (We hope) we purchased some winter headgear (Stocking cap, Breton peaked cap)and for me some boots for when the snow starts to fall, which some have claimed will be Tuesday.

Victoria is a very nice looking city of Victorian pedigree, rather like the city fathers of Birmingham seem to aspire to. Very clean, full of polite Canadians (There are impolite Canadians but they are thankfully a minority). Have decided to do Christmas shopping here instead of going over to Vancouver. This will mean more money for presents, and hopefully more fun all round when stepdaughters and Mother in Law descend upon us on the 21st December.

Cool tool

Wife is back home. Kaloo Kalay! Oh frabjous day! House in England is sold (Finally we hope). Oh yes, and I've found this really cool little flight tracker tool which gives you close to real time information on flights over Canada and the USA.

I had it running and keeping track of where the plane carrying my love was all the way in from where it crossed into Canadian airspace somewhere around Baffin Island all the way to touchdown at Vancouver at 5:39pm Pacific time. What was even better was that Wife managed to get on the last plane to Vancouver Island from YVR which arrived at 19:55. There was me going to tell her to catch the 9pm ferry to Swartz Bay where I would pick her up when there was no need.

I am a very happy bunny right now.

BC Ferries

Waiting for wife to get home safely and just checked the ferry schedule to the island; her flight arrives at 6pm and she will probably clear customs and baggage before 7pm. The trouble is that the next ferry leaves for Vancouver Island at 11:30pm. The journey is 2hours, which means she doesn't get back to Duke point and me until at least 1:30am Sunday morning.

Oh stuff it. I will just be happy if she gets home safe and sound.