Tall Ships, Short Trips and Sunburn

Come One, Come All, to the Blog Of Stars.... !

June 23 - Dialing in the Cool

Ten-digit dialing started here today, so the old-style comfort of only having to remember seven digits while calling someone is gone. I knew it couldn't last, but I enjoyed the nostalgic feeling nonetheless.

Last night set a record for the coldest recorded temperature in June for Victoria - seven degrees. Yikes! With the window just a tiny bit open, the cool air is refreshing but not chilly. I still wear my cycling jacket to work in the mornings, despite the fact that I can't seem to get the knack of proper airflow through it. At least it's not that far to work, as I've mentioned before - fifteen minutes, even uphill. Nice!

June 24 - Healthy Happy

It's been a month now since I cut dairy products out of my diet, and so far so good - no stomach cramps or nausea. Though I still get them when I look too closely at my bills.. but that's normal for most people. I've just located a lactose-free milk product by Natrel at my local Thrifty's, so I'm going to give that a try this week.

Why? Well, Getting used to tea with soy milk is tough, as it totally changes the taste. I may end up just having small containers of fat-free milk on hand just for that purpose, on the theory that small occasional doses may not cause problems.
Larger problems may not wait. I have been having more and more gall bladder related twinges, so I have the feeling that it's going to have to come out before one of the what-feels-like-golf-ball-sized stones decides to plug up the works. But DAMN, I really hate the thought of surgery... though the scars could be cool. I'll have to do even more research soon into the long-term lifestyle impacts that its removal will have.

June 25 - Skip the CD's

I've brought my old 7-disc cd-changer to work, to give it a new lease on life. It's amazing to think that in its day, it was a wonder of technology, to be able to listen to seven different audio CD's at random. Now it is literally a clunky leftover from another age, with each disc changing in a rattling clash of gears. The age of the MP3 has all but killed the CD; even my alarm clock has an MP3 input, a sign of the times.

Yeah, that's it for today's entry - I had something, but then I lost it. Oops.

June 26 - Fry-day

After a pancake breakfast( remember the ones I made at the Blue Mountain Lodge Trip of oh-so-long ago, folks? )I worked on some story ideas this morning, based on some conversations from last night on NWN. One in particular was very amusing - I'm tentatively titling it "Dinnertime at the Dragon Sands."

I've also been listening to some new music of late, which may come as a shock to those of you who know that my CD collection could fit, with cases, into a size-6 shoebox with room to spare. One that I picked up recently was Resilience, by Annabelle Chvostek, whose song "I left my Brain" keeps popping up in my head at odd times. Well, maybe not all that odd, considering the title... and I am the first to admit that my musical tastes can be considered eccentric by almost anyone's standards.

June 27th - Ships Ahoy, lubbers!

Up early and out the door at 8am today for a semi-leisurely breakfast at Smitty's on Douglas St, all part of the Tall Ships Plan. First a stop at the bank, which was crowded of course being end-of-month and full of pensioners too boot... then to the harbour area for.... the Tall Ships 2008 Festival!

Amazingly, I ran into two of my friends from Victoria while standing in line to board the Bounty - they were dressed in Pirate gear, and gave me some swag of my own: a pirate eyepatch! We had a blast standing in line to the amusement( and entertainment )of the crowd around us. Never let it be said I'm too quiet.
The Bounty was HUGE... well, bigger than I remember from the last time I was aboard her, back in 1978. Which is odd, given that I was MUCH smaller back then. The smell of the varnish on the wood, the fresh smell of the sea, the gentle creak of timber and rope as the ship rolled with the occasional wave - it was swell!

All too soon I had to leave for work, but I took with me an inexpensive souvenir... a sunburn! I'd packed everything BUT sunblock into my bag early in the morning, and being too cheap to blow $40.00 on a HAT( yes, they really liked their profit margins at the Festival )I sucked it up and fried. Though I did stop at a Shoppers on the way for some Aloe... boy, was my face red! To add insult to injury, my co-worked exclaimed "Oh, if you wanted to spend another hour or two there, I would have said fine..." - so it goes.

Oh, and Martin called today. Uh-huh. Yer blogged dude; s'good!

June 28th - Tall Ships Part Duex

Again, I was up early to pack in as much 'ship time' as I could. Yet one look in the mirror convinced me to stay my trip until mid-afternoon, so that I could slather aloe on my face / neck / arms at least once an hour( with the occasional rinse of the layers )before I tempted fiery fate again.

I arrived at the Festival a little after three, and immediately got into line to see the Nina( yes, Columbus' ship )and a few other ships. Then I got out of line, just before boarding... as I'd discovered my KEYS were missing. After some quick questioning of festival personnel, it turned out that a passerby had found them at the entrance way and given them to a policeman directing traffic - whew! I wish the good Samaritan had left their name, as they saved me some major grief. First time in twenty years I've lost my keys... even if for a brief time.

The delay meant that I missed the final boarding of the last set of ships by five minutes... which really burned me, compounding my sunburn pain a bit. It was quite an impressive fleet of ships that were moored in the harbour, all of which looked impressive in the sunshine. I soothed my annoyance by sitting on the patio at Milestones Habourside and managing to secure the ONLY table in the shade. I sipped on mint iced tea and supped on a veggie burger while watching the crowd go by... and BOY was it crowded today.

After dinner, I cycled down to Ogden Point, where I set myself up to watch the Tall Ships Cannon Battle performance by a half-dozen vessels. The first roll of cannon fire made the entire crowd gathered along the shore jump and exclaim, it was SO loud - magnified perhaps by the open water and a little TOO much powder? ;-) I'll post some of the pictures on FB, which turned out very well despite my lack of a zoom lens. An amazing and majestic site, seeing the sailing ships of yesteryear plying the azure waters under the bright blue skies, puffs of cannon fire the only clouds visible and the only thunder the cries of those same shots echoing...

June 29th - Shaving Sunburns

Bah... had to spend the day working, which is a shame given that I had a weekend pass for the Tall Ships. Still, it meant I was out of the sun, and that I could slather Aloe on my face once an hour and enjoy the refreshing cool A/C on the burn... which doesn't look too bad now, given how often I've treated it.

I can hear the cannon battle of the Tall Ships continuing as I write this, around 8pm tonight. The echoing roll of charges firing is strange in this quiet neighbourhood of Fairfield, but oddly soothing.

For those of you in a piratical mood, you can walk the plank while watching the hilarious Bus Pirates episodes while you wait for the next Talk Like a Pirate Day to arrive. Sadly, it's AFTER I'll be back from my trip to Niagara... but hey, there's always next year friends!

And finally... it's HOT here now - what a change from Monday! I logged 31 decrees C here in the apt, even with the windows open and fans going. Guess I've been spoiled the last few years with A/C ... and I should be careful what I wish for. No sweat; I can sense the irony!


Look at that - not a single mention of Babylon 5, did you notice? I 've been watching an average of an episode a day, but I thought relating a play-by-play might alienate some of my readers... But fear not, for next week we have: alien hairstyles!