Wheels Of Freedom

Ada got her “big kid bike” with training wheels in the summer of 2020. Her two best friends both got bikes around the same time, and we went cycling several times a week together.

We’re lucky enough to have an old rail line bedside us that got paved over to become a wonderfully safe, traffic free and gloriously smooth and relatively flat pedestrian and bike path. All our kids learned to cycle on this, with the freedom to cycle far ahead of the parents. They knew even back then to stop far from the crossroads and wait for us to catch up. As they got faster and faster, we trained them to stop partway at key spots to let us keep within a comfortable distance. 

It wasn’t long before they were all cycling about 16 blocks up the walkway several times a week. As the walkway is at an angle to the streets, that works out to about 1.5 kilometres up and other back. The trip home was a breeze, as it was a gentle slope downhill all the way. 

Some time in August or September I think, Ada’s bike suddenly “lost” it’s training wheels. There was a few days of crying that she couldn’t do it, or was afraid she’d fall off, and then, without warning, one day she was off! Again, that wonderfully flat and safe walkway was so helpful. She never took anything close to a bad fall that I can recall, but did injure herself quite badly, though only scrapes and bruises, on a friends scooter, travelling much slower.

It wasn’t long before she was going faster and further than ever, and I was really struggling to keep up on foot. We cycled all the way up the walkway to the next big shopping street, 30 blocks away, or 3.5 kilometres, several times before she was even six. 

I learned to cycle when I was 12.

Four Hundred And Four

Incredibly, this is my four hundredth post on One Terrific Day! When I started all of this back in May of 2006, I never dreamed I'd still be using it this far along, over six years later, with 400 posts!

But while I might feel content with that anniversary, there's a far more important one that I celebrate on this same date.

Four years ago today I married my long time girlfriend, Claire, in an unforgettable ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada! I've described the day in a previous post, and still remember it today with perfect clarity. I remember how nervous I was at the time. I can still recall how amazed I was when the doors opened and I saw Claire standing there, even though I had been with her just moments before. And I'll never forget that first kiss as husband and wife.

To celebrate the day, Claire and I started out by heading into Downtown Vancouver to see the annual Gay Pride Parade. It was... colourful. In more ways than one! The costumes, floats and displays were fantastic. Everyone was having a great time and the sunshine was beating down as the temperatures reached 28 or 29 degrees! This allowed for some extreme costuming choices, such as the various girls that went topless, with just some bodypaint across their chests, or the one that we saw that could spin the tassels on her nipples by just moving her body in a particular way. Of course, the guys were just as free with their choices of clothing. There were unending displays of topless males, from chiseled chests to less than muscular bellies. There was even one guy who was just all out naked. Given his age and physical condition, it was an image I could have lived without seeing, but it did bolster my confidence in my own assets. Claire, thankfully, completely missed him.

After the parade we walked on to Stanley Park and found our way to the Stanley Park Bar & Grill for two of the most delicious burgers we've had in a long time. I got my usual, a bacon and cheese burger, and Claire got her own usual, grilled chicken. They were really yummy. Given that our wedding dinner was in Quarks Bar on DS9, which also consisted of burgers, I think we're building up a tradition. We cooled down a little after our time in the sun with homemade lemonade slushies at the restaurant too.

After feeding and watering ourselves we headed to the wonderful Vancouver Aquarium. Thanks to being friends with a staff member, we had two tickets waiting for us at the reception, picked them up, skipped the queue and headed in to the cool temperatures of the main building.

We got to see the belugas, the dolphins, the baby porpoise and the newest addition to the aquarium, the African penguins. The penguins were just as adorable as expected. The aquarium is also home to a cheeky otter who loved to show off and perform for the viewing public.

Apart form the aquatic animals, the aquarium plays home to several other animals, including snakes, bats, tropical butterflies, two large, beautiful blue parrots, several small monkeys and, according to staff, three sloths, though we only saw one while we were there.

Just before we left, I got to go into the wetlab and watch the dissection of a herring and a squid, two of the foods that almost all the animals in the aquarium eat. Claire opted out of that experience!

Then it was a short walk to the bus and we headed back home. We had a cool shower to wash away the sweat and heat of the day, before settling in to watch some YouTube over dinner before experiencing part of Earth history: The landing of the Mars Curiosity Rover.

It has been a good day.

Four hundred posts, and four years of love, respect and happiness.

Fizzle, Flash, Bang, Boom

Last night myself and a friend went to see the final night of the Vancouver Festival of Lights fireworks display over the harbor by Kitsilano Beach. The ideal location is actually English Bay on the other side of the waters, but that would have been crowded to standing room only across the entire beach area, and also would have meant crossing the bridge both there and back again, adding a lot of time to our travels, especially with the crowds on the way back.

As I still don't own a camera, I don't have anything to show for it here. Claire stayed at home as we were house-sitting a cat for a friend, and she was feeling the effects of the days heat at that point anyway.

On the way to the beach, Jordan and I got lunch at a delicious noodle bar, and then I got a refreshing homemade lemonade from some young entrepreneurs on the sidewalk for just 25c. In a stroke of genius on their part, they had added mint leaves to the drink, and by the time I had finished my cup, I wanted to go back for seconds.

Instead we continued down to the beach and walked around for about 45 minutes before picking a spot, sitting on the rapidly cooling sand and waiting for the show.

The sun set over the waters, casting reds, oranges and yellows across the sky, and as the last bright rays of colour faded, the fireworks began.

There were massive spheres, small rockets, tiny pops, loud bangs, amazing ones that fizzled into smaller and smaller snowflake-like sparkles, hanging in the calm night air. There were twizzlers and spinners, and explosions of every colour! Reds and greens were the most popular, interspersed with blues, and golds. Toward the end there were heart shapes and disks, and even a very impressive set of staged rockets, that flared with each stage ignition, reminding me of the air distortion when a jet crosses the sound barrier.

In short, it was truly awe-inspiring. I'm  sure we missed out on some of the patterning from the angle we watched it at, but I didn't care. There was music to accompany the whole show, which lasted half an hour in total, starting at 10pm, but we could only hear hints of it from our spot on the beach.

Anyone planning a trip to visit us next summer should consider arriving for the start of August and getting to see one for the nights of fireworks. I'm glad I went to it last night, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again this time 12 months.

Post Script: This is my 399th post on this blog! The next is going to be legend... wait for it...

Missing, Presumed Left Behind

The last few days here in Vancouver have been glorious outside. The sun radiates warmly from bright, clear blue skies. Everyone is outside enjoying themselves and making the most of the early summer. From our apartment I can hear children playing in a nearby park, laughing and having fun.

So I went for a walk. A long walk.

I walked from where we live to Granville Street, putting me near the end of it, by 70th Avenue. I then walked straight up Granville as far as Granville Island. The last street number I passed before hitting the island was 4th Avenue. It took me about an hour. It was glorious. I wore my Rocketeer jacket because, despite it's weight, I was able to protect my neck from the sun beating down on my back the whole way up.

People have been telling me to visit Granville Island since I arrived, and I finally got to. The place was amazing. Markets of every kind sold everything I could need. There was delicious, ready to eat foods, fresh fruit and vegetables to take home, trinkets and kitschy junk to litter the house or send to friends.

There was an entire market called the Kids Market, filled with toy shops that sold all kinds of wondrous items. One sold the latest two Lego Mini-Figure series, from which I managed to get the pulp-era pilot and the awesome and much sought-after Hazmat guy thanks to the help of the staff. Another was filled floor to ceiling with puppets of every kind, from the simple finger puppet to the huge character puppets that made me long to have my Ernie to play with. They even had Fraggle Rock puppets! They had Mokey, Red, Wembley and Boober, but no Gobo. It took every ounce of will power not to buy any, especially Red or Wembley.

I dragged myself away from the Kids Market to explore the rest of the island, finding food and entertainment at every turn. By the time I decided to move on, I was completely lost and wandered in what I thought was the generally right direction until I found familiar territory again.

Getting back off Granville Island, I headed right looking for a popular gaming store, Drexoll Games. I wandered until I got to the end of the line of shops and decided I was on the wrong street (checking when I got home, I was). But it was the best mistake I ever made. Walking along what I later learned was 7th Avenue, I glanced down a side street at a crossing to check for traffic and my eyes popped. My brain misfired and a I stood motionless for a moment. This was parked just a few feet down the street.

Now, for those who may not be aware, "this" is a Ferrari F430. It is one of the most beautiful pieces of engineering and design in the world. As I fell in love with Vancouver thanks to MacGyver, I fell in love with the Ferrari brand around the same age thanks to Magnum P.I. I walked over to it, looking around to see if the owner was nearby and discovered it was parked outside a very nice car dealership. A very nice car dealership. I spent a good ten minutes walking around and admiring this dream machine, taking a handful of photographs and even a short video.

But I never touched it. Not a finger. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Not that there were burly security men surrounding it, or staff from the dealership throwing me dirty looks. There weren't. I could have just reached out at any point and run my hand across the surface. But I didn't. Seeing it was special. Touching it was something beyond my comprehension. For me, that would be like touching the scales of a living dragon. This vehicle is a dream that I've had since I was a child. It held a magical place in my heart back then, and still does today.

So I just photographed it and walked away. Back out of the shade of the side street into the sun, now a little brighter, a little warmer, a little more awesome.

I headed south as far as Broadway and then walked that back as far as Granville. Once there, my legs finally gave up and screamed at me to take the bus home. I was honestly thinking of walking back still, but it was 6pm by now. I had been walking non-stop for five hours. The sun was still out, but low enough that cool shadows flooded the sidewalks. And so, a little reluctantly, I paid for the bus and headed home.

I got home and collapsed. I did laundry and started to organize my thought on my day and realized something.

Despite the sun, the markets, the toys and the car my day was missing something vital. Claire had stayed at home. I had no-one to share it with. I had no friends. No family. No-one that, in years to come, can say "Remember the day when we..." I miss my friends. I miss the times we shared. I miss barbeques on sunny days, walks in the park, coffee in town. I miss Sunday breakfast and hanging out.

Some days, I feel very alone.

Watch Out America!

This summer I really did do very little bar work and sit around at home bored. Oh sure, I spent three days in London with Claire and my family, which was simply awesome from start to finish. Even Spider-Man got to enjoy it! But other than that, I've spent the summer broke and bored, looking forward more and more to getting back to work in the preschool.

Worse, everyone else seemed to be travelling to far off lands in search of adventure and comic stores!! Cian spent a few weeks in Seattle (on business, but still awesome!), Jp hit the Big Apple and a variety of comic megasuperstores, Noel and Hazel visited Bob and Sinead in the gloriously futuristic city of Toronto, Colin saw NY and Boston, and Brian spent three months all over the United States. And they all seemed to get back around the same time, regaling me with their tales of wonder and mirth.

Well, I've had enough! Next year shall be my year of epic adventuring!! I shall start saving now, and embark on a journey northwards along Americas Pacific coast that will be truly legend- wait for it- dary!! Oh, and Claire is coming too.

The plan is to start just north of the Mexican border, flying in to San Diego and spending a few days seeing the sights and attending San Diego Comic Con, or SDCC for those in the know! We're not sure how long we'll have there, because we need to be in LA the following weekend to go to Blizzcon. Being a huge World Of Warcraft fan, this is one of Claire's life dreams, so I guess I have to put-up and shut-up! Heh. No. I'll have a blast there too, even if I just never leave the StarCraft 2 stands!

After that, things get really interesting, as we head further north to the great city of San Fransisco, and the bestest American we know; Karen!! Yay! We'll get to spend a week to ten days in the beautiful Bay area and hopefully get to see some of the sights.

The final leg of our journey brings us just south of the Canadian border, nicely mirroring out starting point, as we end everything in Seattle. As well as being home to our favourite comedy series, Frasier, Seattle is the location of Microsofts head office and, most importantly, PAX! Yes, Penny Arcade Expo is held close to the end of August, and next year, we intend to be there! Also, conveniently, Cian might be living there by then... hint, hint...

And as much fun as this stellar road-trip sounds, it's made all the more exciting by the friends we'll have along the way. Some, like Colin, will be meeting us for SDCC, some for PAX, like Jp, and of course we'll have Karen in SF, so while we'll have lots of time to ourselves (Blizzcon. Who would have guessed only Claire would be interested in that one?!?!), we'll also have lots of shared adventures with people we know and love!

So watch out America! Claire and Denis are on their way, and they expect a party, a celebration, a legendary five(ish) week epic adventure across three States and three conventions, over 1,292 miles, four (possibly five) important stops, two great friends that we won't have seen in such a long time, thousands upon thousands of photo opportunities, and infinite possibilities to make new and exciting friends!

It's going to be the kind of summer they make movies about, and we're the stars!

I Claim Sole Credit

Purely on the basis that my blog is the only place I've seen it complained about, I'm taking all the credit for this one! What am I talking about now? Read on.

Not too long ago I posted about the pilot of Burn Notice, my summer viewing for 2007 (along with the second season of quirky mad science based series, Eureka). In it, I lamented the physical pain and suffering the pilot induced in me any time Michael Westens ex-girlfriend Fiona appeared on screen. Her voice was unbearable!

Well, thanks entirely to the work of this very blog, I no longer suffer! As of the second episode, Fiona speaks like a human! Her first appearance in this episode had Michael question the new accent, to which Fiona replied, "Well, I'm in Miami now. I can't very well be talkin' like a friggin' leprechaun, now can I!"

Woo-hoo! No crappy Oirish! And the show gets infinitely better! Well, a bit better anyway. It was great to begin with. All that small change really means is that Fionas scenes are just as enjoyable as the rest! Feel free to use the comments section to shower me with praise and worship.

Sure, she's still an ex-IRA girl, but they don't make much of an issue of it. I'm guessing it's just their excuse for having her good with guns and gadgets.

While I'm back on the topic of Burn Notice, let me point you to Micheal Westens Ask A Spy Video Tips, fun little weekly extras for the series. Less enjoyable, but still kinda interesting to browse across is Fionas Blog! There are lots more on the main site, so check it out if you get the chance. I'm a big fan of the Sams Stash area of the site, even if it is bandwidth heavy, and I can't figure out a single item match up, even after years of point'n'click adventuring.

Use "box" with "melon". No. Use "knife" with "melon". No. Use "knife" with "box". No. Use "melon" with "lightbulb that I can't even see, but I can still click on because this is a stupid game!". Oh great. That worked. Now what do I do with a melon with a lightbulb screwed into it?!?

London In July: Day 3 of 3

Note: The entire day is summarised at the end with just the highlights. These might get long.

Because we wanted to make the most of our last day in London, as well as get to the Eye before the queues got crazy, we were up super early on Sunday. As we'd seen the sights on Saturday, we took the underground into the centre and walked to the Eye. Claire headed of into the city to meet up with some of the Warcraft guys again while Karen, Jp and I joined the much shorter queue for the oversized Ferris wheel. We were in a pod in about 15 minutes, while the ride itself last about half an hour for just one revolution. It was great fun, if a little expensive at £13, about €20.

After the Eye the party was split again. Karen wanted to go see Camden Market while Jp and myself headed for Picadilly Square and Hamleys Toy store. We got there before noon and the store had yet to open. Two staff in pirate gear were outside with bubble guns entertaining the children, both young and old.

At noon the store opened and in we went. Starting in the basement we worked our way up through all the floors, each one having a different focus. The basement was computer games and gadgets. Four consoles were set up to play a variety of games including a PS2 with two guitars for Guitar Hero.

We avoided the Girls Toys and Preschool floors and skipped right to the Boys Toys section, including radio controlled cars and miniatures. The very top floor was entirely action figures.

After wandering the store for over an hour and a half Jp bought some stuff but I resisted the urge. By this point in the weekend I was all but broke, even owing Karen £20 already.

We texted the others and decided to all meet back at Trafalgar Square. When we got there an anti-war rally was in full swing, so we waited for Claire to show up before heading to a nearby pub for a snack. We headed back to Trafalgar Square after to meet up with Karen, who I'm sure only left Camden because she was running out of money. We sat out in the sun under Nelsons column for a while before Karen reappeared, gushing over how awesome Camden was. I would have loved to go, but there was no way we could all have done everything. Maybe next time.

Grabbing the underground back to Victoria Cross we got some food in a Japanese restaurant. It was one of those ones with the plate all moving around on the counter-top and you just grabbed what looked nice. At the end of your meal the bill was totalled based on the colours of the plates you have left! Very cool.

Next it was on to Gatwick by train and into the airport. I took a nap on the train journey and felt much better afterwards for doing so. Check-in was painless and departures was huge, filled with all kinds of store, from Boots to Dixons. Upstairs there was even a food court and a small arcade! Once our flight was eventually assigned a gate it took us about 10 minutes to walk from the main departure area to the gate itself. A very short wait and we were onboard the flight home. Once again I enjoyed a window seat, this time beside the engine. We lifted off around 9:30 and including a quick cab ride, were back in our own homes by 11ish.

While I can't speak for the rest of them, I slept like a baby that night!

In Brief:
Got up early, went to Eye, had a blast. Went to Hamleys, hung out in Trafalgar Square, got Japanese food in Victoria Cross. Took train to airport, flew home safely, slept for 10 hours straight.

Read London In July: Day 1 of 3
Read London In July: Day 2 of 3

London In July: Day 2 of 3

Note: The entire day is summarised at the end with just the highlights. These might get long.

Saturday started early. A quick shower to freshen up and then a beautiful walk into London's centre. We passed Buckingham Palace, through a gorgeous park, stopped to enjoy an almost pigeon-free Trafalgar Square and reached Leister Square around 12. We hung out in China town for a bit and had a snack in a delicious Japanese place called Samurai Sushi. We picked up the tickets for Avenue Q from the theatre before we split up the group a bit. Claire had organised to meet with a huge group of people she games with on World of Warcraft, so we dropped her off at the pub she was looking for before the rest of us started into a busy day.

Karen, Jp and I immediately headed in the direction of the London Eye, an attraction all of us were interested in doing, except Claire who is nervous about heights, so this was a great time to do it. Along the path to the Eye we saw a bunch of Living Statues, so we took our time. They were great to see, with some looking better than others, but all entertaining. There was a tin man that offered a cup of imaginary tea when I gave him some change and this incredible bronze looking statue that had us debating the state of his eyes. I still say they were closed and painted to look open.

We got to the Eye around 1:30 and the queue was just crazy. In fact, there was a queue to get tickets that allowed you to join the queue that was queueing to get into the queue to get on the Eye! Too complex for us, so we decided to come back early on Sunday. While walking around I saw loads of Stormbreaker posters and banners everywhere, as the Eye features in the big finale. Since then, I've really, really wanted to see the movie. Probably go see it this weekend.

With the Eye now relegated to Sunday morning, we headed off to the British Museum and spent some time educating ourselves. The central reading room was our first stop just inside the main door. It was awe-inspiring to see, and while the rest of the museum proved to be full of the hustle and bustle of tourists and scholars discussing the artifacts on show, this area was refreshingly peaceful. Continuing into the rest of the museum we got to see the Rosstta Stone, something I've wanted to see for years but never realised it was kept so close. Other highlights included the rather creepy mummy exhibit and a cool Japanese and Asian cultures exhibit, though the majority of the Japanese section had yet to open.

After spending a few hours in the museum our group split again. Karen continued on to the British Library to oogle some more old books while Jp and I headed to our own library, the Forbidden Planet comic store. Thankfully, we didn't spend to much in there.

Karen met us outside Forbidden Planet and the three of us headed back to China town to pick up Claire. We all got a great meal in a nearby Chinese restaurant (what else!) before going down to the Noel Coward Theatre for the show.

Avenue Q is the first show in the theatre since its refurbishment. The theatre was amazing, with comfortable seating and great air-conditioning. The lighting, sound and effects throughout the performance were great. The only thing about it was there was no legroom what-so-ever, thought that's probably mainly because we got the cheapest seats in the house! Whatever. We didn't mind, or even notice once the show started. Because we booked so far in advance we got the best seats in our section, front row, dead centre.

The show was astounding. Better than I ever could have expected. It was funnier than all heck, and the performers were simply amazing. The voices for the puppets were very close to the ones I heard months ago on the original cast recordings, even though these were a different set of performers entirely. The effects were superb and unexpected. As this was my first taste of any theatre on this scale, I was blown away by some of the pieces. The giant head of Kate Monster looming over the building was inspired and had me rolling with laughter. The TVs showing Sesame Street style animations were ingenious and a great touch.

There isn't much more I want to say about the show. I'm not going to describe any of it, as this is definitely something you have to see for yourself. It is incredible. I want to go see it again before it leaves the theatre, but I doubt I'll get the chance. I picked up a "I'm not wearing underwear today" t-shirt which has become my prized possession for a while. Ironically, I also picked up a pair of boxers that say "I can make you feel special", another Avenue Q quote.

Despite all the other cool stuff we did in London this still stands as the unparalleled highlight of the weekend. Heck, this stands as possibly the highlight of my year! I still get emotional thinking about it, especially the fact that I may never get to see it again.

After the show we just went back to the hotel and crashed. Saturday had been a busy day and we wanted to get going extra early to cram everything we could into our last day in London.

In Brief:
Walked into city centre. Claire went to meet WOW friends. Karen, Jp and me went to British Museum. Karen went on to British Library while we went to Forbidden Planet. Met up again to get food. Saw amazing, incredible, stunning and awesome Avenue Q. Collapse into bed once back in hotel.

Read London In July: Day 1 of 3
Read London In July: Day 3 of 3

London In July: Day 1 of 3

Note: The entire day is summarised at the end with just the highlights. These might get long.

Last Friday my darling Claire, my not-quiet-as-darling friend Karen and my totally-not-darling-in-any-way friend Jp and myself all went to London for the weekend. Our main goal was to see the excellent Broadway production Avenue Q, but we packed in a lot more besides.

The weekend started Friday evening with the flight from Cork to Gatwick. While the others had all recently flown and spent the trip reading I had not been flying since I was 14 or 15. Because of this I was fascinated with everything! It was such a thrill feeling the power of the engines, the sudden acceleration and the take off, as well as the landing. Claire and I were in the front row and the two stewards at the front of the plane got a kick out of seeing my face on take-off. I was like a baby! It was awesome.

We arrived in Gatwick after a 45 minute to an hour flight and got a train into Victoria Cross. Due to a mistake entirely my fault we ended up getting the underground from there further into the city only to realise that the hotel we were in was back near Victoria station. We got a taxi back to the hotel, passing the station on the way. Once we got checked in we popped out briefly for food and brought it back to the room to eat. Tired and full we collapsed into the beds, with Jp taking the sleeping bag and none of us stirred until the alarm clocks rang the next morning.

In Brief:
Flight from Cork to Gatwick was great. Got to hotel after a minor misadventure, had food and slept.

Read London In July: Day 2 of 3
Read London In July: Day 3 of 3