Overdue

Hello there! I have been meaning to get back to the blog for a while, but as you know life happens and sometimes these types of things get set aside. With that said, it has been a very busy four months for myself, I took the summer off from the oil sands and worked for a new HVAC contractor back at home, I had the pleasure of meeting some great people and enjoyed my time with 21 Degrees Mechanical. I am grateful for the opportunity granted to me by Graeme and Doug and wish their business well in the future. For now I have retired from the residential constuction end of things and am going to focus most of my career on Heavy Construction and Mining. I feel much more comfortable behind the wheel of a massive mining truck than I do crawling around in shitty crawlspaces and attics. So that's that, and I am back up here in Fort McMurray for the forseable future. My local food initiative The Comox Valley $100 Challenge, has taken off, maybe a little slower than I thought it would, but the page is growing steadily and with a little fine tuning and some creativity I think the goal of 1000 participants is achievable. If you have not heard about it check it out, www.facebook.com/ComoxValley100. The local food and Paleo diet go hand in hand. We are so blessed in the Comox Valley to have a fantastic climate and decent enough soil to grow and raise all sorts of fine meats, veggies and fruit, and enough long beautiful grass to supply a dairy cow all it needs to produce a wonderful milk for hand crafted cheeses and yogurt. If you are struggling with your health, as was I, than I believe you have much to gain from sourcing your food from our local farms and avoiding factory farmed grains, corn, sugars, and meat products that are not fit for a dog. This summer I also re-learned the importance of preserving and prolonging the life of food and cutting down on waste from our homes. A trip to science world in Vancouver was inspiring. Anyway, I feel as I am rambling on here so I will leave it at that. I have a few ideas rolling around in this caveman brain and will be asking for some input from you to help make some ideas come to fruition, so until then, take care.

Are we there yet?

I am sure many of you have been on a long car ride when someone mutters the question "are we there yet?" in a whiny kind of voice. That is not the question I am proposing today. My question is not of a place on a map, some sunday drive to grandmas' house, my question is however about grandmas' house. In grandmas' kitchen more precisely, some where in one of the cupboards or perhaps spread open on the counter, pages with bronze corners and polka dots of tomato sauce, a patina of sorts earned over decades of christmas turkeys, sunday pot roasts and strawberry-rhubarb summer nights. So when I ask you "are we there yet?" I am asking you to go back to your childhood because some where along the way we lost sight of grandmas' house. We forgot about those tattered pages, handwritten reminders of measure and temperature, no pictures yet somehow colourful and lively. We forgot that butter is almost always the secret ingredient and that love is always the perfect medicine. Somehow we got lost and with all of todays technology and navigational aids at our fingertips many of us are having trouble finding our way. The answer is in those old pages. We need slow food. We need fresh food. We need to read grandmas' recipe book.I am often astounded by the number of young men and women that claim to have no culinary ability, that show no interest in where their food is grown or how it gets to their table(or sofa). In my opinion this is probably the largest problem facing North America today. Serious health problems run rampant, genetically modified cancer causing high fructose corn syrup is in almost everything that comes in a plastic bag, box or plastic lined aluminum can. Why can't we see the light? The answer is we are addicted. Addicted to wheat, sugar, corn and money. So before I get all political and scare you away I just want you to contemplate one thing. Are we there yet?

"change" for the better

Hello everyone! This morning I had one of those ideas that I want to throw out there and see if you and I can make work. The first thing I want you to do is take a look at your food budget. I am sure almost all of you know roughly what you spend on food per month, this is probably the one place where we all try to go as cheap as possible and will forgo our health and wellness for the sake of saving a few bucks alas I do not wish to go off on a rant about my views on nutrition for the sake of this idea. I am going to create a new facebook page, where we can document our local spending. My goal, a rather lofty one, is to re-invest 1.2 million dollars into our local economy (Comox Valley) in one year. All that is needed for this project is the dedication of 1000 Comox Valley residents to spend $100 of their monthly grocery budget at local suppliers or farms and of course farmers markets. You can also include the purchase of locally crafted soaps, candles, art and music as these are often purchased in the context of a big box store. The page will be called The Comox Valley $100 Challenge, membership is free, the only requirement for joining is that you stick with it and help us raise 1.2 million for local growers and artisans. The page can also be used as a forum for discussion on local accessibilty of produce in season and how shopping local has changed your life for the better. Lets do this!!

mark it zero

Once again CBC Radio 1 has given me a fairly important topic of discussion. This one has a very obvious knee jerk reaction response, and also a more in depth, thought provoking side of the debate. From what I have gathered from the radio broadcast a teacher at an Edmonton high school has been suspended indefinately for breaking the schools' grading policy which states that teachers are not to mark a zero for any incomplete or missing assignments. According to the schools' policy the instructor may only make a written comment of the missing work, and must grade the students for work that has been completed and handed in. Now of course this has created an uproar in the Edmonton area and also across Alberta. The phone calls and emails to the radio station pretty much echo one another. "Zero mark for zero work", "How will students be prepared for college/university if they get a free pass in high school". Noone has really looked at it from the schools point of view. The school says that a zero grade will only deplete the students' self esteem and give them no incentive to try harder. They also believe that the repeated missed assignments may be an indicator of a behavioral issue that cannot be beaten into submission by poor marks. This is the sort of outside the box thinking that many school districts are missing. Let me explain from my personal experience why I think a zero grade is just a way of the teacher saying "if you don't care, then I don't care" and why low high school grades may actually help some students choose a college education. Now I know there's a bit more to it than what I am going to cover here, but some crumbs must be left behind for chewing on later. Here's a few numbers as well. 30% of high school students in Alberta do not graduate, of the remaining 70% only 30% of those will carry on to post secondary education. So does it seem like the system is failing to you? Or am I alone on this one. To me it seems obvious that some of these kids are not getting the attention they deserve, given too many zero's over the years and they just don't give a shit anymore? Maybe a bunch of those kids have not had a single nutritious meal in the last month or two and they just can't think from the lack of brain food. Maybe they have drug or alcohol addiction in their lives and show signs of brilliance at times, but just aren't consistent in their work. When you start to open up the pages of this book and read between the lines a bit you begin to notice how deep the wound is. The system is hemmoraging and we are in the golden hour. I did ok in high school, but I worked evenings and weekends at a local restaurant so I would blow off the odd class here and their to go fishing or hang out with my girlfriend. My grades suffered and I dropped Math 12 for lack of interest. I did well in shop and physics, leadership and social studies. After graduation I felt as though I was missing some valuable courses so I enrolled in the local college and took biology and math, both of which I enjoyed and my marks were much better than what they would have been in high school, so for me those low marks I got in high school gave me the incentive to improve myself, I don't remember ever getting a zero though, low marks were enough to keep me interested without the feeling like I had been given up on. If there is a single correct answer to this debate we would have found it already. Teaching methods vary as much as learning ability and readiness. I agree that hard work deserves reward and nobody should get a free pass. I also believe we need to invest a little bit more thought into the system before we start telling kids that we don't care about the real reasons why they are having troubles getting their homework done. I know I have probably left out a few key points in this issue so feel free to give a little input into this story as it affects all of us. Thanks for reading and sharing!!!

find yourself

The last time I found myself on two wheels on a island named Hornby was 1994. Driven by a teenagers' sense of adventure and looking to get lost in a haze of girls, bikes, beer and hash. Mission accomplished, I was convinced I had lived the ultimate Hornby experience. Little did I know, some 18 years later I would revisit this island oasis, this time with a different outlook. A lot changes in 18 years, the once shoulder length haired, squinty eyed, stoner has blossomed into a somewhat responsible, SOBER, loving father of two amazing children, eyes wide open. My love for mountain biking is stronger now than it ever was in the '90's and what better place to find yourself than this remarkable island. But this time it wasn't about me, it was about us. I was so proud of my 4 1/2 year old son as he peddled his way over roots, sticks, rocks and calmy stopped and pulled over to the side to safely let the odd vehicle pass on by. The whole time his 10 year old sister leading the way on the 4 km ride from Tribune Bay to Whaling Station Bay. Our riding was cut short by a blackberry thorn that punctured Haileys' tire, so we got to experience the fine art of hitchin' back to the Co-Op! Luckily, we got a ride back to our truck in no time and the tube was replaced at the local bike shop (fantastic little store!). We had alot of fun in a short amount of time and I look forward to many more trips, hopefully mom can tag along with us next time. I would also love to get over there for a dedicated day or two of mountain biking, this time I want to remember a bit more than '94!

the truck story

Hello loyal readers! I have really been slacking on the blog lately, just haven't really been in the mood I suppose. Anyway things are going well. We decided to trade in our old 5th wheel and pick-up truck on a new truck, I am going to miss the trailer this summer, as I was anxiously waiting for the cold, grey winter to lift its' chilling grip and allow us to enjoy our wonderous habitat without first wrapping up with multiple layers of wool. We will still spend alot of time out and about, but may have to haul the big tent out of the closet and go back to roughing it for a couple camping trips this year. This should give us the motivation to pull out all of our old camping gear and decide what needs to be upgraged, and what needs to be tossed or recycled. I have restored our old 12' aluminum boat, it has a fresh coat of paint, new wood in the transom and I replaced the rotting plywood seats with some knotty pine that I clearcoated. I also replaced all of the rusted out bolts and screws. The boat looks looks much better and will get alot more enjoyable use in its' refurbished condition. So what about that new truck you ask? Well most of you might know that I am a pretty loyal GMC fan as three of my vehicles have been GMC, the other being a Chevy. For those of you that don't know my previous vehicles have been as follows, '86 GMC s15 Jimmy 4x4, '88 Chevy Scottsdale 3500 regular cab long box 4x4(i loved that one!), '98 GMC Sierra SL 1500 reg. cab short box 4x4 and a '91 GMC Sierra SLT 2500 ext cab short box 4x4. All of these vehicles served their purpose quite well and I must say they were mostly reliable for the crap that I put them through.This time around I decided to broaden my research base and gave the other manufacturers a look. I knew that with the higher payload and towing capacities out there in the half ton pick-up sector I no longer had to look at purchasing a three quarter or even a one ton. We can easily tow a new 23' travel trailer with any of the new light duty trucks and the HD models are a little more money than what I wanted to spend. I had already driven the new chevy, and the dodge, both trucks were comfortable but their options packages didn't really fit my needs and the salesman at the chev dealer was uncertain of the towing capacity of their truck. The new f 150 was a nice driving truck, with plenty of power and good numbers, except for the price tag, and it lacked a few important features, like a bed liner and the stock tires were crap. I knew some of the guys at the local Nissan dealer so I took a trip up there to see what they had to offer. I was on my way to the airport and didn't have much time so Brandon was quick to grab a D plate and introduced me to the Titan. The truck we took out that day was a 2012 Titan SV crew cab long box 4x4. I had been attracted to the Titans stocky stance and brawny design since they were first introduced in 2004, but never really saw myself ever driving one. This truck impessrd me right away. It had all of the features we need as a family and it handled very well for its' size. The test drive was short and sweet. A great truck, however not the one for us on that day. A month or so passed, Was this something we really needed to do? Well the old truck was almost at 300,000km, it had no modern safety features and the lack of rear doors was getting very frustrating for everyone. Yes, it was time. So, on another trip to the airport I stopped by Comox Valley Nissan to see what was on the lot, by this time I had already given their service department a trial run with our Honda Civic, just to see how they handled their customers and to get to know the staff. Turns out one of my high school buddies is still turnig wrenches in their shop! They met all of my expectations. This time Brandon had a used model to show me. This truck looked really nice, a 2011 Titan Pro-4X. It was also a crew cab model, but had almost every option. Power heated leather seats with red stiching and embroidered badging, and new BFG all-terrain tires, a Reese brake controller and tube steps. The stock 350 watt Rockford Fosgate 10 speaker stereo is awesome. This was the truck for our family. I have to thank the love of my life for doing all the paperwork and cleaning all of our gear out of our old truck and trailer while I was away at work. I was totally surprised when she texted me the news that it was ours. We took it done to Victoria for a day trip last week and it was an absolute pleasure. The kids don't even fight in it! I am looking forward to many new adventures in Titan, and will keep you posted as they happen!

my semi-paleo diet, and stuff

As I type, a snowstorm whisles outside my window. -21 windchill, three days ago it was +11. Alberta is a land of extremes this is certain. Anyhow, I haven't had a sandwich for over two months, no cookies, cereal, pastry (a couple pieces of birthday cake only), pasta, crackers, basically anything wheat based. Also very little refined sugar. I have not been pushing myself in the excersize department, just a few good mtb rides so far. I eat a large breakfast and a large dinner. Usually no lunch, as I don't really build up an appetite at work, just an apple and some nuts to keep the growlies at bay. I have lost 14 lbs in two months and I feel pretty darn good to boot. I no longer find myself craving food throughout the day, nor do I worry about portion control or counting calories. So, for now at least I shall stay the course on my semi-paleo diet, and will do my best to buy more locally grown foods, luckily the "Land of Plenty" has an abundance of selection.
Life has a funny way of keeping you humble if you pay attention the the cues, it seems when things have been going real good for a while, you will undoubtly lose someone or something near and dear to you, when this happens there is always a lesson to be learned. Things have been going well for myself of late and for that I am grateful. I owe alot of my new happiness to a very special man, he is my inspiration to live my life to the fullest and to love and care for my family and friends the best way that I can. Thank you, Grandpa. You will forever be in my heart.
So, what else is there? I really hope we all sit back once and a while and give thanks, I try to at least once a day, this world changes so fast it's easy to get caught up in the race...personally I'm in no hurry to get to the finish line.