Blog entries:  Dec  |  Oct - Nov  |  Aug - Sept |  June - July  |  April - May  |  Feb - March

We'll be hanging out in the forum from time to time over the next couple of weeks, but for now, putting a hold on projects so we can enjoy the holiday season. Still no snow yet! Yes, the Meridian and Bandito projects will be available in January.

Have a safe, happy and excellent holiday, and a very Happy New Year!! We'll see you back here soon!

This week hasn't been very productive thanks to technical issues and the flu. We've both been battling the flu and fatigue for most of the week, but things are much better today. We're trying to get the Meridian and Bandito recumbent downloads ready before Christmas, but no guarantees. Work has been extremely busy as everyone tries to wrap up various commitments before the end of 2006. Too much on the go and little sleep thanks to software upgrades on our site that suddenly had to be done. Technology can be such a time consuming pain!

We will have a new forum launched in a month with lots of cool features. We're working on that right now whenever we have some "spare" time.

I decided not to embark on my shopping journey last weekend. I went out one evening this week and it was pretty uneventful. No horror stories of psycho shoppers, no long lines, no grumps - nothing! The stores we went to were surprisingly quiet. I know it's only the beginning of December, but this was quite unusual for this time of year. I'll bet that Wal-Mart was crazy, though, despite the frigid temps -28^○C.

Yep, welcome to winter in Northwestern Ontario. Only 3.5 more months of winter to go! Actually, if you dress appropriately in layers of clothing and keep yourself covered, especially while outside, it's not really that bad. Getting into a frozen vehicle isn't fun, though. It sometimes takes 10-15 minutes before the heat begins to kick in. Makes defrosting the windows a challenge. Those of you who live in warmer climates must shake your heads in disbelief. Why would anyone want to live in this frozen wasteland?

Well, the standard of living is pretty reasonable, compared to large metropolitan cities. Lots of housing that's reasonable in price (for the most part). We're a few minutes' drive to parks, camping, lakes, rivers and awesome outdoor activities. It takes only 35 minutes to drive from one end of the city to the other. We don't have hurricanes, avalanches, or volcanoes. Earthquakes, tornadoes and flooding are rare. Excellent health care system, compared to many parts of the world. Excellent post-secondary education - Lakehead University and Confederation College. Lots of outdoor and indoor recreation, year 'round events. Great summers for camping and gardening. The list goes on and on. I guess it's not so bad living here. It's just hard to remember why we choose to live here when the temp is  -35^○C and the car won't start.

Today was amazing!  +4C and sunny all day. Went for a long walk, shoveled some snow and helped with some garage cleaning. All in all a great day.

Need to do some upgrades, so the forum will be down for most of today.

Eek! It has finally arrived. The white stuff is on the ground, I repeat, the white stuff is on the ground. This spells the end to the biking season of 2006, well, for most of us anyway. There are some brave souls who do bike during the winter. My hats off to them, but to me it's not worth putting one's lives at serious risk, especially here. Even walking can be treacherous on any given day. I'll be looking forward to my walk tonight, though. A fresh snowfall is great for walking. However, what I'm not looking forward to is a trip to a few stores this weekend.

I haven't ventured to the city's main shopping area yet this season. It's going to be another interesting experience, as it is every year. Here's my plan of attack.

First, get my butt out of bed bright and early tomorrow. Since some stores open at 7 am, it will be an early start. No, I definitely won't be motivated for 7 am, but maybe 8:30 is more realistic. Then, it's off to select an appropriate parking space, not too close to the buildings, but close enough to exits to make a quick escape when the hoards of shoppers invade the property. It really is a game, isn't it? Get there early enough to beat out the crowds, choose a parking spot strategically, plan out the shopping route in the store and proceed to checkouts in efficient, but orderly manner. Then, get outta there without bruises and high blood pressure. Why do we do this to ourselves every year? I'll never understand it.

Whenever I'm in a lineup and people start complaining, you know the signs - mumbling to themselves or to others in line hoping to share their misery, constantly shifting their weight from one leg to another, constantly checking their watch, sighing loudly so that everyone can hear - I start whistling. There's nothing more annoying to a grumpy person than an overly happy person. So, the next time you're around grumps, try to act exactly the opposite and eventually you'll annoy them enough that they'll give up their complaining, at least while you're around them spreading good cheer.

Once I get my shopping done, I like to grab a coffee and watch people. It's a hobby I've always enjoyed. Man, the holidays sure do bring out the grumpiness in some people. They change into nasty, pushy, obnoxious beasts! Bah humbug, indeed! Christmas should be an enjoyable time of year, not stressful, rushed and overwhelming. Just think of all of the credit card CEOs wringing their hands in delight during this time of year, just like the Grinch when he gets the idea to steal presents, decorations and Christmas feasts from the Whos.

I'll venture out tomorrow with a positive attitude and just hope for the best. Brad will be writing the Meridian and Bandito recumbent projects all weekend, so I'll be puttering around keeping quiet so he can get finished this weekend. I know how easy is it to get distracted when you're trying to concentrate on something. Writing is an art that demands concentration, which means blocking out everything and everyone around you. Creative people tend to need alot of space, mentally and physically, to do their craft; it's something that alot of folks don't understand. That's probably why some people think that artists and writers are antisocial. Maybe some really are, but it's really because they need to be left alone to focus on their craft. Researching, building and writing are very time consuming and deadlines are always looming, so it's important to be organized and focused at all times to get things done.

That's why we haven't been overly active in the Forums lately. We really do try to be there every couple of days to post, but hopefully, membership will grow to the point that everyone can help each other out. That's already been happening more often, and it's great to see. That's why we started the forums in the first place. There are some great projects by members going on right now - choppers, DeltaWolf trikes, recumbents, SpinCycles. Kudos to the AZ krew members who are making some very cool designs and builds, even in parts of the world where cold temperatures and snow have already set in. Our little building community is really growing into a great social networking and information site. We tip our welding helmets to you all! Thanks for being cool. There will be some exciting forum updates and member perks coming in early 2007. Stay tuned.