Another trip though the Crowsnest Pass

This past Wednesday Trevor Flexhaug and I met up for a motorcycle ride, the first time we have been out since we bought our bikes in January. The main reason for that purchase, if we were being honest with ourselves, is because of our motorcycle camping trip planned this year. Last year's trip was on a pair of machines that were a little too small and about 30 years too old. It was fun but the bikes were so slow and so uncomfortable that we actually stopped at a dealership in Cranbrook to see what we could get if we traded them in (not much).

We met up in the town of Lundbreck because it's kind of central to both of us. After checking out the local water falls, we headed West.



It was a beautiful day and the stretch of road through the boulder field is one of my favorite rides.





We stopped in Blairmore and took some pictures and had lunch (I highly recommend the Kananaskis burger at Popiel's). We also took a short jaunt up to the Frank Slide interpretive center, which afforded a great view of the valley. I wasn't going to mention Frank Slide, because it might be featured in a blog entry I am planning titled, "CHEMT's Seven Wonders of the World". However, for those readers who haven't heard of Frank Slide, I thoughtfully plagiarized the following information:

Not far from Calgary, Alberta, and just east of the Crowsnest Pass, lies the small, bustling town of Frank, Alberta, nestled on the floor of a deeply-glaciated valley. Looming menacingly nearby is Turtle Mountain, and a scene of destruction that has never been equalled.

In the early morning hours of April 29, 1903, Turtle Mountain collapsed, resulting in the greatest landslide in North American history. In 100 seconds: at least 76 people were buried alive under tons of massive limestone boulders; three-quarters of the homes in Frank were crushed like balsa wood; over a mile of the Canadian Pacific Railroad was completely destroyed; and a river became a lake.





According to reports, the native people in the area avoided Turtle mountain and referred to it as "the mountain that walked". That legend came true when 82 million tons of limestone came crashing down. There is still an estimated 15 million tons of rock that geologists predict will collapse in a second "catastrophic failure". The provincial government has built an early warning system that measures every move the mountain makes with GPS, sensors in the cracks, seismic readings, and lasers which measure the location of strategically placed prisms. The mountain is only walking about 1mm per year right now, and hopefully the town of Hillcrest will have enough notice before the second land slide occurs. Hillcrest is also known for being the site of Canada's worst mine disaster where 189 coal miners were killed in an underground explosion on June 19, 1914... but that's another story.



This year's ride took place on modern, more capable mounts; however, that was the only real difference. It was still two friends on bikes. At the end of the day we again had to go back to the possibly-cursed Bellevue gas station for an unexpected complication. And, as much fun as the ride was, it was still even better to get home.




- C

To an Awesome Father!

Today was a bit of a crazy day for us. We have 11:00 church so we needed to be done our celebrations around 10:00! I always rely on Thai food when I need a quick special meal! We have Thai food often enough that I don't know if it is really special, but I think or at least hope that Chad likes it enough that it makes up for not having a super fancy Sunday meal. I know some people are eating steak as I write this!



Then we just had a quick easy dessert thanks to my sister-in-law Crystal. She gave me these super fun cake pans. We've had lots of fun with them and today we tried them with yet, another topping!



So, enough tooting my horn about what I did today! Today is Father's Day and I just want to thank Chad for being such an awesome father. I know that the kids truly love him and have so much fun with him and I do too! Thanks so much for everything!







Happy Father's Day!

- H

The Universe

Pretty ambitious title for a blog post right? Well, I've been saving these pictures for the past year or so because I think it's mind-bottling to see the relative sizes of the planets and stars, and to consider just how huge the Universe is. It borders on breathtaking. It would definitely be breathtaking to see these things in real life - like if you were standing on the bridge of a spaceship or something. Oh, and especially if, for some reason, everyone on Earth was counting on the success of your mission...

Sorry. This was supposed to be a serious post. I'll shut up and give you a chance to look at the following pictures and try to imagine what a tiny speck we live on. And then to consider that each of us living on this tiny speck are known, and loved, and important.
















Antares is the 15th brightest star in our sky. It is more than 1000 light years away.

If I had to select only three things that I thought were the most awesomest things ever, then "the Universe and everything in it" would definitely be one of my choices.


- C

Awesomeness Report

It appears there is an unspoken armistice between CHEMT and KJAMBD (or maybe I won). So, I thought it would be good to stick with neutral subject matter for this post. In light of that, I want to report on a few things that the readership might find interesting.
In no particular order:


Scaredy Squirrel




This past week I had the opportunity to thumb through the first two books in this series by Melanie Watt. They are really funny and I particularly like the second one, "Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend". In that book, Scaredy is looking for the perfect, safe, germ-free friend. On one of the pages is his friend questionnaire with has multiple choice selections for questions like "how many teeth do you have?" Another question showed an ink-blot silhouette of a squirrel and the caption "what do you see?" with a space to check either, "a friend" or, "something to bite".

Here is a youtube clip of someone reading the first book. As a narrator she is no David Attenborough or James Earl Jones, but you'll get the idea at least.




Home Star Runner





I have to credit my brother in law Kendall for tuning on to this goodness years ago. I realize that anybody who's everybody already knows about this but in case you don't, go to www.homestarrunner.com to begin your journey. It is good clean, sarcastic entertainment. There are a lot of references to Internet culture, 80's rock, and vintage video games. Use the "characters" menu to get to know everybody and then be sure to check out the Strong Bad emails. Here are a few of the ones that I picked at a glance - really, they're all good though.

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail44.html

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail58.html

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail143.html

This one isn't my favorite but I wanted to include it because the email came from a missionary who had just received his mission call. All we know about him is his name is Elder (not Endiment) Fullmer:

http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail85.html

Try rolling the mouse cursor over the text and photos after the email ends, there's lots of cool hidden stuff that you can click on.


Sinn UX



Who says quartz is not for connoisseurs? Who says Rolex is the only option? (actually comparred to those prices, this watch is an absolute bargain) Here is a quartz model from this German company that buys their metal from Germany’s North Sea shipbuilding yards where submarines are constructed from the very same steel. Because its case is filled with fluid, there is no air inside to compress under pressure. As a result the watch can go all the way to the bottom of the Mariana's Trench, the deepest water on planet Earth. How's that for water proof? They also make a GSG9 version with special dial markings and a relocated crown, designed for the elite German Grenzschutzgruppe (GSG9) special forces unit in underwater tactical operations. Here is some more info I copied from their sales page:

Because of the special steel used from the submarine steel manufacturer, and the use of Sinn's Tegiment technology, this bezel can be hardened up to 1500 Vickers instead of the usual 220 Vickers used on most watch cases. Further, the case resists the effects of exposure to salt water and salt water environments.

Unlike the Sinn U1 and Sinn U2, the Sinn UX features a quartz movement rather than a mechanical movement. This movement is a certified chronometer, and includes a rating certificate.

By using this type of movement, Sinn is able to fill the watch with oil, which has the double affect of greatly enhancing the readability of the dial and time from any angle (including under water), and increasing the water resistance of the watch even at great depths. The special battery used to power the movement has an expected life of seven years before needing to be replaced.

The Sinn UX is covered with a thick sapphire crystal for extreme protection. This sapphire crystal features a special anti-reflective coating that is virtually scratch-proof - the coating itself has been hardened to 1,800 HV.

The uni-directional ratchet operated rotating bezel is also milled from this submarine steel. The indices are machined directly into the bezel without the use of bezel inserts, which can corrode or come loose at deep depths. The bezel features Sinn's patented Tegiment technology.

This watch is designed for operation in extreme temperature variations - it operates in temperatures between -20° Celsius to +60° Celsius. This watch has been rated as waterproof according to the standards set under DIN 8310.

Matte black dial with date at 3, Super Luminova on hands and markers, and striking red seconds hand complete the design. Other features include sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, and stainless steel bracelet.


Digital Photograhpy




I know, this isn't a product or a new trend, but I've just been thinking about how convenient it is to be able to store image files on your computer. Instead of trying to keep track of proof sheets and negatives, you can keep your photos indefinitely and recall them at any time you might need them. We've already filled five DVDs with pictures we've taken since going digital. I don't know, maybe I should go through them sometime...

END OF REPORT

- C

Finer Things Club: Kris Kross

It would be impossible to feature Finer Things without also touching on musical culture. For some reason while I was reading Jewel's June 4th blog, this group just popped into my head. I don't think I'm misspeaking when I say that Mac Daddy and Daddy Mac may be the finest 12 year-old rappers that the early 90s had to offer.




Their manner of dress is a little more conventional in this video but it's one of the few KK videos on youtube that allowed embedding:




I hear that some people are trying to bring back the Kris Kross style. Is it the next big thing, or just a fashion faux pas. Time will tell, but I think the artists themselves said it best with:

"And everything is to the back with a little slack
'Cause inside-out is wiggida wiggida wiggida wack"


Well said, gentlemen.

Peace out


- C

Tragedy. Warning: Post contains graphic content.

I usually only post about good things that happen. This is partly due to the fact that it's hard to admit when things don't go right. It is also partly due to the fact that usually only good things do happen. Not this time though. This time I screwed up and I thought it would only be fair, albeit shocking, to share my mistakes.

On May 26, 2008 Whisper, our Betta fish, passed away.



I'm no marine biologist but I suspected that Whisper was in trouble because it never ate even a single pellet during the week that we had it. After it died, I told myself that it must have been sick even before I bought it from the store. So what did I do? I went back and bought a similar-looking Betta so that people would never know that I had killed the first one.

By the third day I noticed that W2 was less active, sat at the bottom of the tank, and clamped its fins close to its body. By the fourth day I saw that it had the same cottony growths that the first Whisper had. I was scared.

I had always thought of myself as a fish guy (in fact "Fish" is my nickname at work). When I was more involved with saltwater aquaria, one of my tanks was featured in the October 2005 issue of Reefkeeping online magazine. Once I phoned an equipment store based out of California (www.nanotuners.com) and as I described my setup to the owner, he stopped me and asked "are you Ninjafish?" (just a name I post under sometimes - long story). I told him I was, and he said, "I've seen your tank. It's great to talk to you, you're a legend". True story. A total stranger had referred to me as a legend (and dozens of years sooner than I'd always imagined it happening).

So that's part of my embarrassment. The other part is that I had gotten the idea for a Betta from seeing Jewel and Kendall's fish. And theirs had survived having its bowl filled with potato chips, and being left out on the counter without water! The fact that I couldn't keep my fish alive and theirs was just fine, was... well, frustrating.

Anyways, spurred by the fear of losing a second fish I did some quick research and learned that although Bettas are frequently left in room-temperature water, their immune system functions best at warmer temperatures (around 78 degrees Fahrenheit). I didn't know that (I doubt most people knew that, and their fishes are just fine). I also got some medication and treated the infection (a parasite called "Ich"). Here is a photo of W2 showing some of the things used in its recovery - bear in mind, this is a fish that you usually see sitting in just a plastic cup:




I'm pleased to report that W2 is now a healthy and happy fish and has been eating like a pig. I am still embarrassed that I broke the cardinal rule of fish husbandry and didn't do my research before visiting the pet store. But in the end it was an important lesson, and everyone is better off for it. Well... everyone except Whisper I guess...




- C