Walk on the Beach

I had an hour to kill on Sunday afternoon after visiting the boarding home and before going to Tony and Iris' place for Seungchan's birthday dinner so I took the opportunity to visit the Beaches. I hadn't been down there in awhile.

Since the weather was so nice it was absolutely packed. I was lucky to find a parking spot not too far away on Coxwell.

The beach has changed since I was last there. I believe it's gotten a lot larger. I was surprised at how far out the sand goes now. I'm not sure what happened, but I'm guessing the city filled a lot of the shoreline in.

I walked to the eastern most point to try and take some photos. My plan was to start there then head as far west as time permitted.

They bike path was full of cyclists, joggers and inline skaters. The beach had people playing all sorts of sports like volleyball and frisbee. But, of course, most people were just lying around getting a tan.

I didn't get too far taking pictures before I had to leave. In the time I was there I believe I got a few good shots though. It was a bit tough finding open spaces to shoot since so many people were around. Oh well, what can you do?

How to Unclog your Sink

Over time gunk builds up in everyone's household drains I'm sure. It happened to me with my ensuite sink recently. Hair and other bits of glop make their way into the drain and slowly begin to block the flow of water from exiting.

At first I began trying to pick the stuff out with a Q-tip. That didn't work very well. So I moved onto a screwdriver and a pair of pliers which didn't fare much better. The space was just too tight.

Being the impatient guy that I am I decided instead of trying to pull the stuff out, I'd push it through the drain and just get it over with. Well, that didn't quite work. For all my effort I just ended up completely clogging the drain. That was a dumb move.

My next bright idea was to unbend a coat hanger and force it down the drain to remove the obstruction. That didn't work either. The coat hanger was too stiff. It wouldn't bend at the elbow part of the drain pipe, so I couldn't push the blockage any further.

I then remembered seeing an ad on TV for a can of pressurized air or something that you could put over the opening of the drain and release the gas and it would clear the obstruction. Since I didn't have that handy I decided to make my own.

I looked around my place and found an empty Keri hand lotion bottle. I unscrewed the top and filled it with water. Next I half filled the sink with water and quickly flipped the bottle upside down into the drain and squeezed forcing the water out. After a few more squeezes the blockage was completely removed and the sink drained as if it were completely new.

Now I don't know if this technique will work in all cases. Perhaps if the blockage isn't too severe it has a chance. I can say it's probably safe because it's a low pressure technique. So it most likely won't damage your pipes.

Water, O how I take thee for Granted

Not my photo

After playing floor hockey at Cornerstone Sports Night a couple of Mondays ago I arrived home shortly before 11:00. Instead of jumping straight into the shower I returned a missed call to one of my friends. We ended up chatting a bit longer than both of us probably intended. After hanging up I went to wash up.

I went to my ensuite shower and turned the tap and... nothing. No water... not a drip. That's when I remember... they turned off all the water in our condo for maintenance at 11:00 p.m. and weren't going to turn it back on until 5:00 a.m. the next morning. Oh my goodness!

After the feeling of self-pity dissipated, I started thinking about how much we take having running water for granted. When you don't have something, that it is when you really value it. I couldn't wash my hands, brush my teeth, flush the toilet... nothing. And I was only inconvenienced for a few hours.

I thought about the folks in New York and New Jersey that were affected by Super Storm Sandy. They were without water and power for days. I thought about people in developing countries who have to walk great distances to wells or rivers to get their water. It's such a precious commodity to them while we just flush it down the toilet without giving it a second thought. How crazy is that?

Water Main Break

Late last week I was walking along the sidewalk on the south side of Eglinton near Yonge when I saw a small fountain of water shooting out from the ground. I thought it was odd, but didn't think too much about it. It wasn't a lot and it just flowed into the sewer on the street.

Well that small leak turned into a torrent by Friday evening. When I returned from hockey early Saturday morning Eglinton east of Yonge was blocked off. The water shooting out of the ground there flowed onto Eglinton and the overflow went south on Yonge past Sudan (the set of traffic lights).

I was a bit concerned that my condo might be affected in some way. But, when I got home my water was still on and I didn't have any other issues. After putting my stinky hockey gear in the washing machine I headed downstairs to take some photos.

By this time the police had blocked all traffic going both east and west on Eglinton between Yonge and Holly. There were a few news vehicles there too. I stayed on the north sidewalk and snapped some photos. No one bothered me there.

I overheard the TTC subway was flooded. The buses had to be diverted down Holly while they looked into fixing the problem. Surprisingly, the street was opened not long after.

I didn't hear anything else regarding the break until Monday when I was doing deliveries up Yonge for Sid. Dr. Soll's office (in the new Minto south tower, a minute or so from my building) was still without power. They had some extension cords hooked up to the hall outlets in the building to supply their computers and other things. But their unit was basically off the grid. Hopefully it didn't take too long for Hydro to restore their electricity.

A Day without Water

Not my image.

We take a lot of things for granted living here in North America. We have religious freedom, schooling for our children and many social services to name a few. But, here's one thing we may not have thought about - clean, potable water piped straight into our homes.

A few days ago they were fixing something with the water connection at my condo. The water was shut off to the whole building from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Think about it... no water for 1/3 of the day. Think about how many times you use water a day at home. When you wake up to go brush your teeth, wash your face, take a shower, flush the toilet. No tea, no coffee, you can't boil rice or pasta or eggs. After you eat breakfast or lunch and you want to wash the dishes, wash your hands, get a glass of water to drink or try to do your laundry... and nothing... nothing comes out of the faucet.

Try living without water for a day. Each time you go to the sink just pause and turn away. How long do you think you'll last? Not long I'm guessing. Try it and you'll see how many people around the world live. Where there is no running water and they have to walk across their village to a well or a kilometre or more to the nearest river to access it. Where they have to lug a heavy container back with them in the hot sun, the pouring rain, the cold, the dark of night... whenever they need it.

Think about it the next time you turn on the tap to brush your teeth and let the water flow down the drain. To many people that's life flowing down the drain. And we don't even give it a second thought. I suppose maybe now we should.