Little Accident

Mom and Dad.

It finally happened. After many, many years of uneventful activities (which included weekly outings to the local arena in winter), my mother actually sustained an injury serious enough to require being put in a cast. Last Saturday she fell while skating and broke her wrist.

I got the call the next morning when I was getting ready to meet up with my friends for lunch. My mother phoned to tell me the news. After she fell she had called my sister to ask her to take her to the hospital. She would be required to wear a cast for six weeks.

Thank goodness the pain was limited to the evening of the accident. The awkwardness of wearing the cast is the worst thing so far. It seriously limits her ability to pick up and hold things. I'm sure that's for the best. It'll give her wrist a better chance of healing properly.

She's already had the cast changed once. The new one is a little less cumbersome, so that's good. Here's hoping for a full and complete recovery.

Hike at Cold Creek Conservation Area

Emily organized a hike for us last Saturday. Actually, it was just Janice, her and I who ended up going. We went to Cold Creek Conservation Area up around Bolton. It's not too far from Toronto. You just take Highway 427 to the north end and head up a little further along Highway 50 which brings you almost all the way there.

We arrived around 1:00 in the afternoon. They did some shopping beforehand for hot pot dinner. When we got there there was no one else around. I have to admit the temperatures had been very cold over the past week. This Saturday wasn't any different. I don't believe the high topped -10C. With the wind chill it felt even colder.

The visitor centre was closed. But, there was a park vehicle parked at the education centre which was open. There were bathrooms there and we found out you could rent snowshoes ($5) and cross country skis ($10). Emily and Janice rented snowshoes. I chanced it and hiked in my boots.

Their website says there are 6.6 kilometres of trails. We walked 6.8 kilometres over 2-1/2 hours. Emily had her hiking GPS app which told us so.

Besides the chill, it wasn't that bad out. There were intermittent clouds as we walked. The sun and blue skies appeared every now and then.

In certain areas the snow on the trails was packed down. In others it was fairly deep. That's when the snowshoes came in handy.

The snow-covered scenery was nice. I brought my camera along and took a fair number of shots. Catching up to the girls afterwards was pretty tough in the snow.

After awhile we did see others either hiking, snowshoeing or cross country skiing. So we weren't the only crazy people out.

In the evening we headed over to Justin's place for hot pot. Keith and Ken also came over. It was Justin's birthday the next day, so we had cake while we played Heads Up! on Justin's iPad.

Ottawa - Winterlude Pt. 2

Saturday was our first full day in Ottawa. We started off with a buffet breakfast provided by the hotel. They had things like scrambled eggs, sausages, diced potatoes, baked beans, pancakes, muffins, cereal, bagels, yogurt, and juice and coffee. Needless to say, I ate well.

As I mentioned there were a number of families who came. Some stayed at other hotels. We all met up at ours and after we ate went on our first outing. It was to nearby Jacques Cartier Park in Gatineau, Quebec. They had a snow park there. There were a lot of different activities for kids like big snow slides and tubing and different demonstrations and performances.

Sid, Pauline and I returned to our hotel a bit earlier than the others. They all had younger kids who could hang out and enjoy the age specific activities while Sid and Pauline didn't. I think they wanted to eat lunch. Since I had a big breakfast I wanted to get out onto the Rideau Canal for a skate while the light was still good for pictures.

Before I hit the canal I dropped by Parliament Hill to take some shots since the skies were relatively clear. There was some cloud cover, but it was still all right.

The canal was pretty busy by the time I got there. I was a bit surprised to see a number of people walking the route. Ice is quite slippery as I'm sure you know. I guess they just wanted to say they were on the canal regardless of their footwear. There were even some joggers I noticed.

Of course, most people were skating. People with babies or young kids would be dragging them along on sleds or pushing them in strollers or big red and white sleighs that you could rent.

Since I took so many pictures along the way, my skate along the 7.8 kilometres route took nearly two hours. I think the total distance would be closer to 13-14 kilometres (instead of 15.6 kms) though because it wasn't just a straight there and back route. At the end it split into a "Y".

The ice was okay. A bit bumpier at the start/finish where most people were. Not everyone skated to the very end where the ice was a bit better. I'd say it was similar to the ice at Toronto City Hall. Though there were places where grooves were gouged out. So you had to be careful not to trip on them.

After skating I returned to the hotel and took a nap. Normally I don't get up as early as I did this morning. Sid stayed in during the afternoon because he was sick. He had a persistent cough that just wouldn't go away. So we rested until dinnertime.

Even though our suite had its own kitchen we never used it. For dinner we went directly across the street to the East Indian buffet restaurant. It was just the five of us this time - me, Sid and Pauline and their son Nathan and his friend, Andy. It was the closest place to the hotel and it was relatively inexpensive. Dinner was only around $15 before tax and tip.

The food was fine. At that price you wouldn't expect anything fancy. For me it was about the volume. I figured I had done enough exercise during the day and needed the calories for future activities.

After we ate we went back to the hotel. A short time later we met up with the others to go back to Confederation Park. They had some musical and dance performances there.

I have to say, at this time of the night, it was freezing outside. During the day the high was about -5C. Quite pleasant. At night it probably dropped to around -15C or so. Some of the performers wore t-shirts. And there was one group of East Indian dancers that came out on the stage in traditional costume and bare feet.

After they performed they came back out to teach some of their dance moves. This time they had boots and shoes on. Smart move.

I don't know exactly what time the show ended. I left as it was winding down. I'm guessing it was probably around midnight or so. Time to get some rest and prepare for another fun day in Ottawa.

Ottawa - Winterlude Pt. 1

I went to Winterlude in Ottawa over the Family Day long weekend with Sid and his family. There were five of us in his minivan - me, Sid, Pauline, Nathan and Nathan's friend, Andy. Joseph was at home. He was supposed to go to Montreal, but his plans fell through.

We left on Friday afternoon. Traffic east out of Toronto was slow. We hit rush hour unfortunately. Things didn't open up until we passed Whitby I believe.

Our first break was at a rest stop in that general area. We stopped at a place for dinner. Most of us had Burger King. We saw Danny and Judy's family there. Judy is Pauline's younger sister. They were also going to Winterlude as was their other sister, May, and her family. There were a number of families and friends going in fact.

I forgot if this is where we changed drivers. After Sid, it was my turn.

We arrived in Ottawa fairly late. I'm guessing it was shortly after 11:00 p.m. I'm not sure why it was so late. I know they had to pick me up at my parents' place. Then we went to pick up Andy. Rush hour traffic was a headache. That probably had something to do with it.

Sid and Pauline had booked a suite at the Marriott Residence Inn close to Parliament Hill. Along with May and Judy's families, we were all on the 8th floor. All the rooms had a kitchens (we didn't actually use ours).

After we checked in we went out to nearby Confederation Park. Even though it was late the ice sculptures they had there were still lit. It was all part of the ongoing two week Winterlude festivities.

I hung out at the park for 1-1/2 hours taking pictures. It was pretty cold being out for that long. I don't believe the temperatures were that bad though. Maybe -10C or so overnight. Relatively warm compared to what we've had for most of this winter.

Everyone was back by the time I returned from the park. Nathan and Andy decided to sleep on the sofa bed in the living room. I guess they didn't plan on sleeping much at night so didn't want to share the second bed in the bedroom with Nathan's parents and keep them up. That's how I ended up with it.

End of first night.

Midas Auto on O'Connor Drive

I bought a voucher from one of those online companies for 3 oil changes for $35 (plus $5 disposal fee each time) at Midas Auto on O'Connor Drive in Toronto. As well as the oil changes you could have other inspections and diagnostic tests done (supposedly for free).

One of the extra services on the voucher was a free tire rotation. Since winter is all but over my sister asked me if I could go get her all seasons put back on. Normally I go to a Chinese place in Markham where they do it for $20. But I thought I might go over to the Midas Auto to see if I could get it done there since I had the coupon.

Now, technically, a tire rotation isn't exactly the same as changing winter tires to all seasons or vice versa, but, really, it's pretty much the same. Instead of taking the tires off and rotating them from front to back (or whatever they do), they would have to take the old tires off and put on the ones from the trunk of the car. Still, I thought I'd call ahead to see if they would do it.

When I got the guy on the phone there he told me there would be a $20 surcharge if you had the coupon or it would be $30 otherwise. He mumbled something about it being extra work saying they had to "take the tires out of the bag" (the ones from the trunk of the car) or something ridiculous like that. Are you kidding me? You're going to charge someone an extra $20 for taking tires out of a bag? I thought, if you're going to try and scam somebody like that then I'll just take my business elsewhere. So I went to my regular place and had it done there.

I'm going to have to deal with this Midas service centre again for the oil changes. I just hope they don't try to add on all sorts of mystery surcharges charges or recommend any unnecessary work. Stay tuned...

Winter Walk

Last Friday we had a huge snow storm. The forecast was for 25 centimetres of snow to fall. To me, it seemed like a lot more. I was on the road that day and traffic was a mess (to put it lightly). There were many, many cars stuck in piles of deep snow which snarled things up everywhere.

While tonnes of snow is a pain to drive through, it's certainly pretty to look at. On Sunday (after church) I thought I'd go for a walk through Mount Pleasant Cemetery. It was the only place near my condo I could think of which had a park-like setting.

It wasn't as much of a "winter wonderland" as I was hoping for. The roads inside had been plowed and most of the snow which had covered the trees had fallen to the ground.

I eventually made my way to the ravine behind the cemetery (on the south end). Part of it runs south and eventually connects with Mount Pleasant Avenue. You can also head west up the hill to St. Clair Avenue.

It was nice down there. Fairly quiet. Not too many people. A few joggers and some dog walkers. That's about it.

My Toronto - Skating at Nathan Phillips Square

This is a photo of the skating rink at Nathan Phillips Square looking east. I took it in the middle of December, 2006. In the background (behind the arches) is Old City Hall. Beyond that is a shiny, glass office tower by the Eaton Centre.

This is one of the larger outdoor rinks open to the public in downtown Toronto. The other one is by the Harbourfront. It's quite nice down there because of the view overlooking Lake Ontario. Though that can also be a problem because it can be windier and colder there. So there's a trade off that's for sure.

I have to say, skating outdoors is much more enjoyable than skating indoors. Who wants to look at grey, concrete walls when you can look at endless, blue skies and enjoy the wind in your face? You have to make sure to bundle up though. Mittens, a scarf and hat are a must. And though it's forbidden, you can always bring your hockey stick and pass the puck around with whoever else has theirs after the ice has "officially closed" for the evening.

Olympic Torch Relay

Vancouver, British Columbia will be holding the 2010 Winter Olympics next February. Currently the world's longest torch relay (at 45,000 kms) is going on across Canada. Yesterday, day 49 of 109, it passed through my hometown of Toronto. The final stage of the day was held at Nathan Phillips Square at Toronto City Hall.

Women's Hockey gold medalist winner, Vicky Sunohara, was the final torchbearer of the day. She brought it in and lit the cauldron on the stage where the performers had been. The wait was way too long. According to the schedule I found on-line the ceremony was to have been at 7:00 p.m. In actuality it didn't happen until over an hour later. I'm not sure if it was planned this way or if the protesters along the way delayed them. At one point, at Yonge and College, there were about 300 native protesters (according to news reports) blocking the route. The flame had to be split into two to keep on schedule. Originally it was to have gone to Sick Kids Hospital first before coming to City Hall. It was reported they had one torchbearer bring it there and another continue on to City Hall.

My day began when I met my friend Gabe for lunch in Chinatown. After that I went to the library at City Hall to kill some time. At about 6:00 p.m. I made my way out into the frigid night air to stake out a spot to see the flame as it passed by. I was hoping to leave not long after 7:00 because I had to go to gym night. Well, that didn't quite happen. They kept on with the performances and shameless, self-promotion from the sponsors until my fingers and toes were about to fall off. The torchbearer finally entered the square at a few minutes after 8:00. I was so happy to finally see her. Mostly because I wanted to get my shots and get my butt out of the cold. I know it was probably a once in a lifetime experience. And though I had been quite looking forward to experiencing it, I wasn't so cheery after that.

On the plus side, since I missed gym night, I was able to visit a few of my homeless friends around Nathan Phillips Square afterwards. They weren't very happy about the sub-zero temperatures to say the least. Anyway, I hope they enjoyed the chat. I believe they did. And I enjoyed talking with them. Afterwards I had to take a pee. My hands were so cold I couldn't undo the top button on my jeans in the bathroom. I had to wait there a few minutes until they regained feeling. Luckily for me it wasn't an emergency or else you wouldn't be hearing about it ;-)