keeping sane, one word at a time
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Male; Age 25; Likes Ultimate Frisbee;
Here's a favorite quote of mine from Tropic of Cancer p.99, "I have found God, but he is insufficient. I am only spiritually dead. Physically I am alive. Morally I am free. The world which i have departed is a menagerie. The dawn is breaking on a new world, a jungle world in which the lean spirits roam with sharp claws. If I am a hyena I am a lean and hungry one: I go forth to fatten myself."
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Saturday, December 03, 2005
The Budget Expedition:
I spent last weekend in Carmanah-Walbran (CW) Provincial Park. The park was formed through a campaign led by environmental activists seeking to save the 1000 year-old sitka spruces from being clear-cut. The only way into the park is via logging roads, and along the way you're constantly reminded of this age-old logging tactic.
The trees in this park are impressive: hundreds of feet tall and covered with a glowing green moss. I've attached some pics I found on the net because I we didn't bring a working camera with us.
We managed to flat one of tires in the car on the trip. Our choice of vehicles maybe not the greatest; a pontiac bonneville is hardly at home on these roads. Luckily we had a spare. Unfortunately, about a minute after we got it on, we flatted it as well. The spare had sat too long in the trunk, and the full weight of the car broke the seal on the already partially deflated tire.
So at that point we were stranded on a logging road, and we weren't expecting much traffic. We didn't really have time to come up with a plan of action, because soon after the second flat was discovered a truck appeared. We were introduced to a pair of trappers, who showed us their martin to suppress any doubts of their skills. Anyway, they had a tire plug and pump and 15 minutes later we were on our way. Because of this mishap and the maze of logging roads we spent much of our time driving to the park, instead of hiking in it, but it was still worth it.
12:29 PM
Monday, October 03, 2005
The beautiful and frigid waters of Arnica Lake, in Strathcona Park on Vancouver Island. Our campsite was atop a bluff which overlooked the lake. I haven't done too much alpine hiking, but I think this is the archetype. A lot of switchbacks (77 in total) to get to this height of 1100 m.
10:39 AM
Monday, August 15, 2005
Man, this blog is going to be orders of magnitude better with pictures! Here's a pic of my recent West Coast Trail hiking adventure. It's hard to summarize the trip with one shot, so here's two!
11:59 PM
Friday, July 01, 2005
The sweet, sweet power of a Manitoban storm. [Update: This picture is a fraud, it wasn't taken in Manitoba, but it still inspired this blog, so I'm going to leave it up until I can find something better] I've been living on the west coast now for over a year. The prairies, where I grew up, always seem to get the short end of the stick when it comes to the discussion of landscape beauty. My argument continues to be that while the mountains are amazing, they're pretty damn static. Also, you'll never see a storm like this on the west coast. The prairies offer a never ending canvass of scenes like this... okay it's true that we don't get tornadoes very often, but the thunderstorms are usually really rocking!
11:46 AM
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
So I've been sick almost continuously with a cold/flu since January 17th 2005 until the present. Based on a visit to a doctor a little over a week ago, I'm supposed to believe that this is just a series of viruses. After my visit, I was thinking of ways to improve the walk-in clinic system. I thought it might be interesting if doctors were to post diagnosis/prognosis info of patients for the day online. The posting would be voluntary and anonymous, but it could provide a valuable resource for those considering a visit to their local walk-in clinic. I thought I'd catalogue the symptoms of these various parasites to aid anyone who might be suffering this season:
January 17th, 2005
1st phase
General Classification: "Chest Cold"; overall weakness, developed nasty cough that would keep one up at night (cough syrup was nearly useless). Was bringing up a lot of flem during coughing. This lasted for approximately 2-3 weeks.
February
2nd phase
General Classificiation: "Head Cold w/ Sore Throat"; there was a period of about a week here where I had regained almost normal energy levels, but was still coughing. After that week I caught something else, it caused a mild fever and seemed to be focused in the head. A sore, scratchy throat accompanied it, that was mainly focused to one side of the esophagus. The sinus pain was pretty spectacular.
Last two weeks of February
3rd phase
General Classification: "Head Cold w/ Earache"; another period of a few days where I thought I was recovering. The cough is still around, but a shadow of its former self. This new virus seems to be focused in and around the jaw, ears and back of the throat. Glands, sinuses are definitely swollen in those areas (I'm not sure what exactly is there, but it's swollen). For example, it's painful to lay your head back against a pillow. One of the reasons you wouldn't want to do that anyway, is the large amount of saliva being produced in your mouth. You basically need a bowl beside you at all times. I'm talking 50 - 100 mL per hour. A reasonable amount of thick flem is coming from your sinuses. It's March 1st and there's no end in site baby! Bring it on!
5:48 PM
Monday, February 14, 2005
Green 3
We had a speaker from AECL (Atomic Energy of Canada Limited) in last week. He spoke of "NuWind", that is, a wind-nuclear hybrid system to produce electricity for the grid and hydrogen (through electrolysis) for vehicles. I was always a firm believer in nuclear energy, and I will try to become even more knowledgeable in the field and praise its pros when I get the chance...
9:38 AM
Sunday, January 30, 2005
My favorite desktop. 
7:32 PM
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
There's no room in my life for minimalism:) I've purchased a "Lifetime" brand folding 5 foot collapsible table for a desk.
7:17 PM
Sunday, January 23, 2005
I've recently been left without bed and desk. This has got me asking myself whether I really need replacements. Yes, unequivocally. I was considering playing up the minimalism in my life, but it's already quite barren, in terms of material goods. Plus the ergonomist would have a heartattack if she/he were ever to stumble into my room.
The futon mattress is looking like a reasonable choice - without frame of course. And I was thinking of a door, bridging four ABS pipes, for a desk. Or maybe just a folding table: big and cheap.
5:10 PM
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