Words can’t describe how I feel right now. Recently my host had a couple of catastrophic hard drive failures resulting in the loss of my wordpress database. I have a not so recent backup which I’ll use to reconstruct the site from soon. Not so sure if I have a back-up after all.
In the meantime, enjoy my google shared items or my flickr stream.
It’s the end of the year! I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather over the holidays but I’ve had a wonderful time visiting my family in Medicine Hat.
I’m looking back over the last year and thinking about some of the things in my life that have changed.
In 2008:
Happy new year!
It’s a civic holiday this Monday, so I’m away for the long weekend visiting family in Medicine Hat. My sister and her kids are going to be there—hopefully I’ll get some nice action shots of the boys jumping off the couch.
Speaking of my sister, check out her site jackiehutch.blogspot.com new site Jackie Hutchinson photography.
Posting has been sparse lately so it’s probably not particularly surprising when I say I may not be adding a whole lot while I’m gone.
Here’s some video footage of me going over Lundbreck Falls on my last kayaking trip taken by my friend Janson.
Also, check out Janson’s enthusiastic report on the trip.
Yesterday I went kayaking down the Crowsnest River with a bunch of friends. It was a stretch of the river that none of us had gone down before, and frankly it was a bit boring with very little white water. At the halfway point we came upon Lundbreck Falls. The plan was to portage around it, but after taking some time to study it, I decided to go for it!
The adrenaline rush totally made my day.
Jeff Milner going over Lundbreck Falls.
Photo by Tom Buchanan (used on the web with permission). Here’s my Lundbreck Falls Run set on Flickr.
Update: You can see me going over in this Lundbreck Falls Drop video on Youtube, compliments of my friend Janson.
I’ve never considered myself a huge “Mad About You” fan, but I used to enjoy catching episodes on a semi-regular basis. One scene that made me laugh and sticks out in my mind, was when Jaime demonstrates to Paul exactly how easy it is to change an empty roll of toilet paper. The scene:
[Mad About You – Toilet Paper – YouTube]
Many times I’ve thought about reenacting that scene for my roommates who seem to like the class and convenience a freestanding roll brings to the operation.
Not too long ago I finally got through to them.
Shortly after that, my roommate came to me with some bad news. Apparently while changing the toilet paper roll he dropped the little plastic holder, the technical term is “insert”, while simultaneously flushing. In an instant it was goodbye insert; hello flooding toilet.
After some futile attempts at dislodging we decided our best bet would be to call Roto Rooter.
They came; they plunged; they charged $100 and left in less than 5 minutes. I can’t say I was overly thrilled about the apparent ease of running his special tools down the toilet, pushing the insert further down the line to become someone else’s problem, but who cares, the toilet appeared to be working again and what’s more the roommate paid me back.
However, even with the 24 hour guarantee on the work, I had a sinking suspicion this problem wasn’t completely resolved.
The next morning I left for my holiday to Punta Cana and returned Sunday afternoon—long after the 24 hours had expired—to discover the toilet having difficulties flushing and leaking water etc, into the basement bathroom on each flush.
I called Roto Rooter again.
Greeted by a pleasant voice on the phone, I explained the situation. She seemed pretty sure that I would have to pay for the clearing but conceded that if it was the same thing, then maybe they’d make an exception. She explained that they wouldn’t be able to tell what it was if they pushed it through. I asked about the use of a camera to check it out. Well, they had cameras, she patiently explained, but I’d be charged if they used them. So in order for me to find out whether or not I’d have to pay, I’d have to be charged. There it was, a nice little catch 22.
Later that day a new, but equally inspiring, Roto Rooter specialist showed up at my house. After a quick removal of the toilet and a little toilet water accidentally poured down the heating vent (I had to tell myself, just grin and bear it), the guy ran his toilet snake tool down the pipe where it “90s” and though he didn’t actually see that it was the same problem, he trusted my story and thankfully they didn’t charge me again.
Yay for Roto Rooter—though it did take two house calls to get it fixed.
Now I’m not saying this happened, but if you ever drop something in the toilet, don’t flush it. Be brave and pull it out, or failing that, get someone else to do it. Telling the owner of the house that it was dropped mid-flush is highly suspicious but I realize, not impossible.
P.S. Post vacation, where you might have accidentally drank the water, is a terrible time for toilet problems. Just saying.
I’m leaving for Calgary in about an hour and then tomorrow I’m off to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. There’s not likely to be much action around here in the meantime.
Update: I’ve got some photos from my trip up at Flickr.
I heard the crackling of a large truck on ice out my window this morning, and I knew my new computer had finally arrived! From what I’ve seen so far, the Intel Core 2 Quad really is all it’s cracked up to be—wow this thing is fast!
By way of a little self indulgence, here is a photo my brother took of me dunking the basketball last weekend. Does my long hair and beard remind anyone else of Teen Wolf?
It’s usually a good thing when someone says they just can’t eat another bite. That is, when you assume it’s because they’re full—not when you accidentally added 6 times too much salt.
So for the record:
Half a teaspoon ? 1 tablespoon
I’m going out for brunch lunch.