I worked overtime today, I was supposed to work till 4, but after 5 hours, I had enough. It is sunny out and windy. The leaves are all changing colour. Is it any wonder Fall is called Drop in Alberta. Soon as the leaves change a really strong wind comes along and strips them bare.
Which is why you have to get out and enjoy it. Yesterday I did. Warren, his son and I went on a bike trip (I hope the reverse chronology is ok). We were going to see odd things, you have to have a theme for a bike ride, right?
Warren is the guy that lead us on the Big Things Tour. That had 12 riders, this one had two. It was an ok day. It wasn't hot, just ok. There is a chill in the air and you notice it on a bike. Atlas, Warren's son was frozen when we stopped in Red Deer.
We started off at a Tim Horton s in Sherwood Park and took a longer route (via Camrose) to Red Deer. We wound up on 2A, which meanders along parallel to highway 2. Highway 2 is like a race track, 2A is scenic and heads through small towns. I was thinking as we rode along that a trip from Edmonton to Calgary in the old days would have taken almost all day on 2A. Nowadays there is a lot less traffic, so it wasn't too bad.
We got to see Hobbema, a troubled Indian Reserve. It was something, boarded up houses and businesses. My speedo cable is broken, so I trusted Warren for speed, he appeared to be going too fast, so I was aways behind. Didn't want to get busted by a Tribal Cop for speeding. Especially when I wouldn't be sarcastic saying 'No Sir, I don't know how fast I was going."
The ride from Hobbema South to Red Deer was nice though, winding roads, Ponoka is a nice town, it's claim to fame is a Mental Hospital, but there is more going on than that.
From Red Deer we headed South to 'Jungle Farm'; this is off Highway 2 (Yeah, we took the race track). The GPS said it was a gravel road. This was funny, it was gravel for about 300 metres. Soon as you were out of sight of the highway it was paved. And newly paved, really nice and smooth. This would be a road bikes could go really fast on. But we are good bikers :)
The farm was packed. There were lots of families there and 2 bikers. We parked and chatted with one of the owners. She could not explain the paved road 'to nowhere' nor why it didn't join the highway. We came to see the Pumpkin Cannon, she was the operator, she said it would be firing in about 15 minutes. We had to pay admission to the farm. So we did and took a tractor/hay trailer ride to the Pumpkin Cannon. We got there just in time, it was warm, I was wearing a bike jacket and started to sweat. I was nervous about taking it off as my t-shirt said 'If I were you, I'd have sex with me' Not something you'd wear with all these kids around....but who knew!
The cannon went off as scheduled, about four pumpkins were fired. After that we went to a slide, Atlas wanted to go down it. It was fast. This farm had a lot more than just a Pumpkin Cannon. There were wooden vehicles, which kids could climb, a small zoo with farm animals. A Labyrinth, which is not the same as a maze. Two mazes, on e was made with round hay bales, it was difficult for kids, but not for people that could see over the bales.
There was a corn maze, in this you had to find a pirate flag, walk a plank, and find 5 colours to go to a board that would tell your future.
The corn was high and we walked all over the maze. No, we didn't have to call the Fire Department to rescue us. We were pretty warm after we were done.
We took the tractor/trailer combo back to the entrance, I was thirsty. When in the trailer I was cruised by an obviously married guy. He was good looking too. He had a stroller with a pretty small baby in it. When they got off, I saw the wife with two other kids. There was no mistaking the cruising though. Oh well, he may have to look for another 18 years - lol.
We left the farm and then headed North, I said I wanted to go to Bentley. Warren didn't know why. About 5 years ago I wrote a book, it took place in Bentley and Lacombe. I had driven to them in the car before, never on a bike. Wow - I might have gotten inspiration to write the second book.
We got back to Edmonton about 5:30 and it was getting colder. I went for supper with my son and then headed home. I was nervous about the trip though, it was dark, it is deer season and I'd already encountered one on a bike this year. Made it safe.
Last weekend I headed to Calgary to go on a date with a guy who lives there. I had seen the guy around for years, he hit on me and he is damned good looking. So we hung out. No details are included.
We did go to a movie though, I am including this tidbit as advice more than the details. We decided to see Avengers at the cheap theatre close to his place. It has been out for a couple of months - it wouldn't be busy, right??? It was packed! Adults and kids, everywhere. We sat in the back in a corner. People don't normally sit in the back corner - they did this night. There went the subtle contact stuff. In front of us were some native people, they were Hulk fans, as they cheered and talked loudly every time he was on the screen. They didn't care about anyone else....this is because they brought their own drinks. Not alcohol, but products that contained alcohol. It smelt pretty there after awhile a blend of lysol and perfume. It was sickening.
The lesson here is, we could have gone and seen an Italian movie with subtitles, it was an art film. I bet that theatre was empty, we could have probably ......and no one would have noticed. That is why there are art films, next time don the berets and go there.
What else....big bosses came out from Ottawa. I think I made a good impression. Maybe made a good one on a boss which approves positions overseas. There is an opening in Australia.......I can dream.
Not much with the Fire Department. It is a slow time of year, I am sure it will get busier.
Turning to the news, what the hell is going on?
I'll started locally and work my way up.
The owner of the Oilers decided to blackmail the city into a new arena. Last October he had a deal, it appears that wasn't good enough. I don't know if he has been talking to the 1% too long, but this billionaire decided to take the citizens for a ride. He wrote a secret memo to City Council and was really upset when it was leaked. He wanted $6 million a year in additional funding. I guess he wanted it kept secret from the people that would be paying it. Then when this blew up, he decided to bluff us, he went to Seattle and pretended to feel out moving the team there.
Yesterday he apologized, but there was a catch, he appeared to be sorry he got caught. This is ongoing and right now the fans are pissed off - see tag #yegarena on Twitter.
Last week on the way back from Calgary I took the long way home, by the dinosaurs in Drumheller and then East to Hanna. Hanna is North of Brooks, Alberta. I drove that road once, it only warrants a 'once'. There is a power plant, no wait two, one on each side of the road. You can see these mega-plants for about 50 miles in either direction. You have to drive about 40 miles to be with in the 50 miles to see the plant. Anticipation grips you for an hour. Oh, the reason you can see them for that far? It is flat, extremely flat, with tumbleweeds and antelope. Yes we have antelope in Canada and they live in the most desolate place in Alberta.
So back to the point. Hanna, Nickleback are from there. Brooks, one of the largest meat processing plants in Canada is there. In the governments budget for 2012 they reduced a lot of civil service jobs. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) was hit pretty hard. The Minister decided that the companies processing our food were honourable and grown ups, so they could monitor themselves. So they are.
At the meat plant in Brooks, they had an e-coli breakout. They didn't report it as they said none of the affected meat left the plant. We believe them, don't we. 9 people have got sick due to e-coli poisoning so far. The US, who were informed, have destroyed 890,000 pounds of meat from this plant. CFIA decided not to warn anyone as they were told there was no issue. Last Thursday, the plant was closed as after tests were done, the e-coli issue was still there. The meat that caused the sickness was processed in the last week of August and first week of September. Thursday was the 27th, how much meat was processed and shipped in that month? I had a steak on Friday night, which may or may not have been processed there. Thats part of the problem, the meat packaging does not say where the stuff was processed. Maybe a change is in order.
The NHL players are still locked out. Apparently the owners want a bigger cut and they want to reduce the players cut. The owner of the Oilers is holding a gun to the fans at the same time there is no hockey. The air IS think in Billionaireville.
Mitt Romney is having the time of his life. His name will go down in infamy. If he wins the election, the US will have no credibility whatsoever in the world. This guy basically is only looking out for the rights of the Billionaire Boy's Club and no one else.
His running mate is now calling Mitt 'The Stench' this was a joke by a New York columnist, but now it is sticking. Ryan, who may want to run for the Big House in the future may be irreparably damaged by this association.
I really think that the Big Guy is pissed off. I don't think he is ready for the End of the World as we know it and is preventing it. The above souls are capable people, they didn't make all this cash as they were idiots. But looking at them makes it appear they did. It is almost like they want you to feel sorry for them. I don't.
Speaking of idiot things, the speedo cable is broken and so is the odometer. So I really have to be on top of gas on the bike. Last week, I thought I filled the bike up with gas. I was in a rush to get to the meet-up for bike ride. So I went on my assumption that there was gas. There wasn't, the bike started to stutter and then stalled about 10 kilometres from the East gate to Elk Island Park. I had to stop to switch on Reserve as my gloves were too big. I knew the closest gas station was about 22 kilometres away. I started bike and made it! Whew!
Brooks/ Hanna has a connection too, the distance is about the maximum you can go on a bike, the time I did it, I just made it!
Later on, as if fate wasn't tempted enough yesterday. I was on the Anthony Henday after dropping my son off, stutter stutter. I had to switch to reserve. Then I had to figure out where there was a gas station. Just made it.
One other thing, I got a mount for the iPhone for the bike. I took pics, one problem. The iPhone is not immune to bugs, so there is some blu, to the bottom.
No comments:
Post a Comment