Long time, no write

So I must admit, while breaking my back at work and with my bike group, I've definietly forgotten about this whole blogging thing. Instead of tossing in the towel, I will try to bust out a couple of these posts a month to keep things manageable.

UNFORTUNATELY, since my last update back in September, very little has been going on. Working full time as a nurse has a way of devouring your free time as a human. It's hard to even carve jogging/biking time out!
Went to my work's Christmas Party (x2) last week. Loads of fun were had by all! I was really happy that I didn't get sloppy/inappropriate drunk for the whole night. Instead I was a cool, calm and collected "business drunk" for about 4-5 hours overnight. At the end of the festivities, hopped a ride back home with Jenna. Which reminds me... I have to pay her like $15 for that cab... BLIMEY!

The Chronical Herald managed to squeeze out yet another superficial cycling story this week. This time, they centred it on probably one of the poorest examples of a behaved bike rider Halifax has to offer: The Bicycle Messenger! Cue the angry, sometimes life-threatening comments by online idiots. Don't get me wrong, I know a little bit about these guys in Halifax. Some of them have families, or are trying to support themselves, and I understand that they have to do what they have to do to take care of business. I'm just unsure why Chronicle Herald has to use these guys as the "prototypical Halifax biker" when around 90% of cyclists actually follow the rules while they are out there!

Lastly, I got some Monkeylectric wheel lights from my Girlfriend this year for the holidays. I think it's turning some heads! I wish I could see what the patterns look like.

Adios for now!

Eco-Expo and useless car things

So car makers have again stunned me by this move here. My friends rented a car for the weekend and there was a button on the console that lets you change the colour of the lighting around the car. I have no idea what practical purpose this option gives drivers. It seriously seems as though the car makers have designers in their teens thinking up useless crap to load into cars. I just uploaded two colours here, but there were like seven or eight options to choose from.

Other than that, my bike group hosted a booth at the Eco-Expo. What a fun time! There were a surprisingly diverse group there. Bike stuff, NSP, the EAC, but also kid/nick-nack stores like Plovers and Carbonstock. Cool exhibits too like the sea-creatures one that I took photos of below. You can actually walk into and through the whale!

All in all a pretty cool event, and we picked up a batch of new members who aren't really part of the crowd we would typically reach at other events.

That, and we have a new sexy banner. It was a pretty good day!

Work Schedule Waylay, Jersey Shore, Miscellaneous Photos

So my work has really cranked up my schedule over the next couple weeks. I'm essentially working 2.5 days on and 1 day off. I know that doesn't really add up, but they are all night shifts, which really blots out a great portion of your waking life. Oh well. Money in the bank, I suppose. On the bright side, I think I have the best commute to work ever! I go past the Commons, the Public Gardens, and just a whole bunch of great neighbourhood and greenspace!

Envy me!

Something in my life that is giving me a bit of a scare is I'm starting to watch little snippets of Jersey Shore on YouTube. I'm not exactly privy to why I'm doing this. One hypothesis is that the radiation emanating from the tans on these folks is somehow permeating through the TV and hypnotizing my brain. Also, I find the monicker Mike "the Situation" hilarious!

Went to the new market on Saturday. Although the space was being lauded as having a shit-load more room for vendors and patrons, this place was just as packed as the old market site. Just goes to show that if you build anything for the hipsters, they will bend-over backwards to fill it up with as many pasty-white, sweaty looking, Salvation Army thrift wearing bodies as humanly possible.

Holla at ya dawgs, everyone... holla at ya dawgs.

New Place, New Job

There's been a lot going on with my life recently.

First of all, I was able to get a job exactly where I wanted. Pretty stoked about that. It's a GI floor, so I get to see a lot stomach and intestinal problems. Some are quick fixes. Others... not so much. I've just completed my final day in training and will be flying solo from here on out. I'm very excited and ready for the challenge. Also, I get paid soon! I think it'll be the largest pay-check I will have ever made in my life!

I just found an apartment too. Moved in earlier this week. The place seems like a hole, but I've been working on it for the past couple weeks now and it's starting to really shape up! I can't wait to get it all painted (see below).

Also, the major working months for my bike group are around the corner. Very stoked to dig my heels into this season of cycling again! I feel a little like a lame duck being away from planning things and having those sorts of deadlines around the corner all the time. It's gonna feel good to be back in the saddle!

Holla!

Valley Loop, Recharging, Jobs

Ever feel like you're being watched?

These gals were pretty interested when I went by the other day just outside of Port Williams. They started walking in my direction when I went by, so I went back and took some pics. Mainly becaue I grew up in Sussex, and find cows to be pretty neat.

Natures Rorschach cards.

My route was nearly 40km. I'd love to be able to know exactly how long I went and how fast and how long it took me, but some asshole ripped my bike-computer off my ride while I had it parked just outside of Bike Again a few weeks ago. But the route is below.

So I've been at the valley for the past two weeks now. Its nice to recharge the batteries for a while. Getting a lot of jogging and cycling done actually. Right now however, I am chomping at the bit to get back to the city and dig my heels into cycling issues again!

I've been to a couple interviews in the past week as well. I have a job --albeit tentatively-- at Shannex here in the Valley (nursing home). I also went for an interview at the Victoria General site in the city on a unit I would like to work at. I'm really hoping I can land the latter and move back to Halifax ASAP! Fingers crossed, but not very hopeful.

But I will keep this one short. Keep both wheels on the ground, folks!

Tee-Pees, Chickens, Car Shows and Herring Cove Road

Starting things off here. I've been away from Halifax for a while --spending some time in the Valley with the family. Before I left though, this Native Canadian meeting came to the Halifax Commons for the weekend. It was marked by these huge tee-pees which looked pretty cool! It made me wonder if tee-pees were really that big back in the day. At night, they lit them up with all sorts of different colours. It was really a magnificent sight!

For more info (and more cool pics) of this big meeting --dubbed Membertou 400-- click here or here!

It's been kind of weird to be back in the Valley so far this week. Right off the bat, I helped set up a chicken coup for my aunts father, and checked out a car show in downtown Kentville (see pics below). Aside from that, I've put about 70km into cycling this week. It's a lot easier to bike out here with less traffic lights and stop signs to hinder your ride.

Finally, last night a vote went to council to install bike lanes and reduce travel lanes on Herring Cove Road. I went in to check out the vote and see where the chips fell when it came to council support for cycling. Not only was the areas district councillor --Steve Adams-- against the idea, it became apparent that the business commission had been lobbying certain councillors for quite a while. Furthermore, Steve Adams seemed to have no problem flat-out lying to council and ignoring evidence indicating that lane reductions in Herring Cove Road would actually turn out being a good thing for local business. It's frustrating that benefit packed cycling still takes a backseat to the petty and baseless tactics of ignorant businesses. I hope this changes within the next couple years and we see real traction in active transportation in Halifax. If I had to based my hopes on the past performance of Halifax on this issue though... well let's just say I'm not going to hold my breath.

Big Question...

Hey all...

One burning question I have is in relation to the following photo. Can YouTube tech-heads really do anything with the message I received after the page failed to load?

That's just a little ridiculous.

If you can't open this screenshot, it says that a skilled team of monkeys is working on the problem, but you should probably give them the following text to help them out. The text that accompanies the message is just a quagmire of letters and symbols. Brutal stuff.

Does anyone really send that stuff in?

Sportsplex Bike Racks, Barrington st bike parking, HCC Ads

This guy really restored my faith in family and old people. This guy was at Sportsplex picking up his grand-daughter from gymnastics and his wife... by bike! He had a child seat on his bike and his wife had her own, very cute little bike for herself. He was SOOOOOO happy and excited to go biking with them! It really brightened my weekend!

Onwards. I took these photos last week of bike parking along Barrington Street. In all I counted 23 bicycles parked on Barrington. To date, there are zero bike racks of any type along Barrington street between Spring Garden Road and Duke Street. This is very unfortunate for the businesses in the area as cyclists (and pedestrians) are noted as being more frequent patrons and better spenders than motorists. Better consumers are something that Barrington Street really needs, as big box industrial parks like Bayers Lake and Dartmouth Crossing have been sucking business out of the Downtown core.

Why do they call it a business park anyways? It's not someplace I'd want to take my kids to or hangout at...

I finally got a chance to see my handiwork on the side of a bus! Keep your eyes open, folks! You're bound to see more of these babies around before the month is over!

Open Street Party, Graduation, CRNE

So the Second Annual Open Street Party was thrown last Sunday! It was a great day of biking, roller bladding, skateboarding, jogging, face painting, food, races, capoeira, and just general fun! I wasn't able to make it to the OSP last year as I was in a duathlon, but this one was a blast to be a part of!

At the start of the OSP, there were a couple kids races. This was probably the coolest shot of the first race. Taken by yours truly! I was pretty stoked to see so many kids biking that I might have cried a little.

Graduation came the next day. Convocation didn't take long and in the end, I got a good $40,000 snippet of wallpaper. I'm really glad to be out of that school. The past 2 years there destroyed my confidence, and I've never been treated as poorly as I had by that group of people who call themselves "educators" in my life. Mind you, there are a batch of really great teachers there, but they are essentially eclipsed by the inbred idiots who have a surprising degree of power in that school.

Cool down big guy... it's over.

Wrote my National RN Exam the other day. Not feeling super confident... but I think there is a good chance I will pass. Will give a shout in three to four weeks to tell you how things went.

Nursing Reception, Critical Mass May

It's been a pretty busy couple days on this end. I'll start most recently and go backwards.

Had yet another nursing event last night. It was pretty good, but was lacking the "je ne sais-quoi" of the nursing ball I had about 2 or so months ago. The music was also sub par for the evening, with a few exceptions. Nevertheless, it was fun to get to hangout with everyone again for another night before we all splinter off.

Just to follow up, I think I am getting hired by a placement company that will send me all around HRM. Although it's sort of nice to have a job, I was hoping for something a little more permanent with a more predictable patient population.

It was also a stellar day yesterday, and despite my wine-induced hangover, I was able to take a walk with my ex-roommate and her boyfriend around downtown Halifax. Although I absolutely abhor walking, our little trip through the parks and around the hospitals were nice.

Finally on Friday night, we had our May Critical Mass bike ride. What made this one super special was some HRM folks, along with myself, mediated access to the MacDonald Bridge road/deck for cyclists to take to get to Alderny Landing. It was an amazing experience. What really left me feeling pretty low was the behaviour and general attitude of some of the bikers that took part in the ride this month. After having gone on this ride, more than any, I understand why a lot of cyclists don't agree with or participate in Critical Mass, and I have to say that I think I'm going to join the growing trend of staying away from the rides.

Regardless, it was still enjoyable, and riding across the bridge, epic! The hipsters once again strapped a speaker to a trailer and has music the whole way. This lead to an impromptu dance party on the pier when we got to Alderny.

Graduation is next on Monday. Jesus... I'm becoming an adult I guess.

Bike Commercials

Just in case I haven't mentioned it, the little bike group I've been with for the past two years has produced a series of biking advertisements for Halifax! This has been a project two years in the making, and I'm hoping it will encourage people to get off their behinds and start living more actively. Because hey... when I'm 40 years old and nursing, I really don't want to see a bunch of overweight/obese folks with like 20 comorbidities. It's not something that our healthcare system can afford right now.

I just thought I'd throw a couple photos of our shoot days. The videos themselves should be embedded further down in the post.

{{Just to let you guys know: The videos on this page are cut off on the right, so you're not getting the whole impact factor of each one. Please visit www.cyclehalifax.ca to link to the actual vids!}}

Other than that, nothing new to report. I've been slowly studying for my Canadian RN Exams, but my motivation is not as high as it should be for this. Nice to know that I will have something of a job when I get out though.

Also, next week is Bike Week! This usually goes down at the same place all over the world... so if you live in the UK, look into it! (hint) HRM Bike Week should be pretty phenomenal this year! I can't wait to actually be able to enjoy this years events!

Bike Summit 2010, Bike Commercials and a Rogues Roost Trivia Win!

So I've had a busy couple of weeks there. First off, I have to apologize for not posting in so long. Especially to my one and only official subscriber.

Sorry folks, sorry!

Went to the Nova Scotia Bike Summit a couple weeks ago. This gave a bunch of groups and municipalities all over the province the opportunity to come together and share what they've been doing, what has been working and what hasn't been working to get more people on bikes, or to maintain and expand the little infrastructure we do have.

In all there was about 60 people there from all over the province! It was great to put names to faces and great to see what major projects have been in the works for everyone over the past couple years. I had to present about a couple things we have been working on. FUN!

After the summit, everyone got together to do a smooth 25k ride out to the Habitation, which is a historic site not far from our meeting place at Annapolis Royal. The ride itself was nice, but I was the only person on a mountain-bike, which made it pretty tough to keep up with everyone.

Apparently, when I was passing people, the knobby tires I had on made me sound like a truck.

Right after the summit, I had to switch gears and work on a project that I've been developing over the past two years. I'm essentially making biking commercials that I hope will encourage more people to start cycling as a mode of transportation. The shot below is from Idealbikes (one of Halifax's best bike shops) while we were in there shooting some footage at their shop. I actually just saw the post-edited versions of these commercials and they look pretty incredible!

Finally, I finally won a round of trivia at the Rogues Roost! I've been going on and off for about 3 years and have never won. However, me and my friend Sarah (and two of her co-workers) went the other night, we tied another team, and I had to win a game of rock-paper-scissors in order to get our trophy (gift certificates). So essentially a double-win for me that night!

Biking is going to be really cool this summer! Get your helmet on and that 10-Speed dusted off tout-suite! Bike Week 2010 starts with a Critical Mass ride on the 28th, with a route that I don't think anyone will see coming! HOLLA!!!!

Operations, a little bit of work and Contra Dancing

So I was able to drop in to the OR this past week to see a few surgeries. The very first one I saw was a Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG --yes, pronounced cabbage). This surgery is required when the coronary arteries (the blood vessels that provide blood to your heart) build up so much plaque from poor diet and/or low activity levels, that they are simply rendered useless. When this happens, a vein from your leg and an artery from your chest are transposed to bypass the clogged areas of your coronary circulation so that your blood can still make it to the important spots of your heart. It was pretty wild! Open-heart surgery! Blood spurting! Heart stopping! Literally!

I'm not particularly squeamish, so I watched bright eyed for the whole event. Oddly enough... I'm missing a Junior Mint...

The next couple procedures I got to see were a lot more bloody, and a lot louder. I essentially got to see three total hip arthroplasties (total hip replacements) back to back. This is a pretty gruesome procedure, even by my standards. All the great tools are there! Saws, drills, graters, hammers, screws... what a wild ride! I'm sure if you check out YouTube, you'll be able to find some pretty gnarly footage of this one! Hip arthroplasties are typically needed when there is some sort of structural problem with your hip joint. This can be due to a fracture of your femoral head (potentially due to osteoporosis) or it can be due to arthritis.

Quick note! Poor diet and low levels of physical activity can also lead to both of these conditions!

All in all, my days in the OR were just the respite I needed to finish off the rest of my shifts for this bloody clinical. 360 hours of unpaid work for the province (of course we have to PAY Dalhousie to do it). I hate the way this system works.

I had a couple days off shortly after this stint to fester around, and boy did I ever fester! Had a couple drinks and supper, courtesy of my friend Jabes; ate an entire box of Mr Christies Choc-Chip Cookies in one sitting; rolled around on my futon for hours on end. It was a pretty good time! A new friend and I actually took my last night to explore what I consider a very hipsterish trend that's been circulating around the North End for the past 2+ years: Contra Dancing. This is virtually identical to line dancing, step dancing or square dancing. Some pics are below.

One of the major functions of Contra Dancing (according to the caller) was that through the contact and proximity of you and your partners during the dance, the concept of community is really fostered and promoted. Judging by the diversity of the crowd, I'm going to have to agree. There were young and old, tall and short, skinny and not so skinny. This is also the first place I've seen North-End hipsters hanging out with older adults that seemed to have careers. I will have to study this intermingling in greater detail at another Contra Dance in the future.

Other than that, work is going smoothly. I now have about 120 hours left. People are still breaking bones and requiring hospitalization. Arthritis is still going on and requiring treatment. People come in sick and leave... well they are usually still sick in some way, but I'd like to think slightly better than when they came in.

Circle of life.

Workshop and Biking to work

So my bike group --the Halifax Cycling Coalition-- threw a major workshop over the weekend. Pretty well attended by people from all over the province who are seriously interested in getting youth to be more active through cycling.

Pretty great to see some new faces interested in cycling! The major result was that more people want to see a social marketing spin used to get people to cycle. That's pretty awesome since I've been working on this sort of project for the past 6-7 months.

So we're on the right track, as far as public participation is concerned.

I've started my clinical rotation at the hospitals again. Last... one... ever! Thank God because I can't afford to take out another loan! Nothing too too crazy or funny to report yet. One thing that brightens my day is the sheer amount of bikes at the racks at work in the morning.

Other than that though, I feel as though I am a little overworked. Three days on and two days off, when you're working 12 hour shifts feels draining. Thank God I'm in love with this career-path I've carved out for myself.

Hoping to post later in the week. Holla!

CBC Information Morning, Steve Brockley, Pacifico, Waverly Loop, the Market and Biking in Bedford

So a lot has been going down recently. My in-hospital clinical sessions have re-started. Just seven more weeks until I get paid for doing this. Needless to say, I'm working the equivalent of full time and am getting paid $0/hour.

This feels like post-modern slavery.

Meeting a lot of people at the hospital though. Couple major cuties that I am working with! But let's keep this professional. One of our patients came back from the Operating Room the other day. It was obvious that this person was still a little loopy from the drugs as they were talking in a very convincing Australian accent (not from/never been to Australia). When they saw me lurking in the room cleaning things up, they proceeded to blurt out (to one of the other nurses): "Who is that? Why... why it's a little digeridoo!" Aussie accent all the way. In this case, I was the digeridoo. I thought it was hilarious!

Will keep you posted on other school-related going's on.

My bike group and I have been circulating a petition for an Active Transportation corridor that would span the Halifax Peninsula. It's been a lot of work to go around and collect signatures. We have over 500 now, and it's climbing slowly everyday. To help promote this, we I did a brief (maybe too brief) interview with the CBC Information Morning folks. It was pretty cool to be on the radio, and they had a good view of where our proposed corridor will end up! However, I would have liked to get to the kernel of the issues surrounding the benefits of cycling. Not enough time to do so however.

Here is a picture of CBC radio's inner lair!

A few days ago, my new roomates took me out to see one of their friends perform. This guys name is Steve Brockley, and I thought he was pretty great! Kind of reminded me of Timber Timbre a little bit (slightly Macabre). The three of us drove our bikes to Just Us! Cafe on Spring Garden Road to watch the show. I bought a steamed milk with a shot of caramel. It was a pretty radical evening.

Last weekend, I went to Pacifico for the first time in maybe four or five years. To be honest, I was having a good time... until some skanks and their fatass boyfriends told the bouncers I was dancing next to them and got me kicked out. What a bunch of assholes! So after spending like $40 there through the night, I was just tossed out, no ifs, ands or buts.

I am never going back to Pacifico again. Neither am I going to suggest it to anyone considering going.

The weather has been pretty great recently! I took this opportunity to take my bike out to do the Waverly loop, which is a 50k run around the Harbour (through Bedford), out to Fall River (nearly) and back through Dartmouth via Waverly Road. It is my favourite route! I've done it in less than 1:30 before, however the head winds on this day made the entire trip VERY rough! I was not the only one on the roads that day though. A good 20 cyclists were out enjoying the great weather! It was nice to see them passing me by (going in the opposite direction).

Here is a shot taken from Lake Banook in the Dart.

Jabes and I spent the day together trying to collect more signatures for our petition today. We had a great time! The market was bumpin, as usual, and we got a lot of support. I hope these folks start writing in to their councillors about this!

Outside the Market, this trio was casting a spell on folks! They were pretty great!

Finally, Jabes and I went out for a nice bike ride today! It was a 30 min ride not very far, but we took our time, as Jabes was still getting used to the bike we made together last summer. It still rides like the wind!

We found that a TON of people in Bedford were out enjoying the weather today! It was really great to me to see so many people being active. Thank God car culture hasn't completely choked us out! More people need to enjoy the outdoors though, or else my job is going to get a hell of a lot more difficult.

This park in Bedford (pics below) was pretty amazing. It has a good 1.5 km trail right next to the water, a nice playground area for the kiddies, lots of green space. Would definitely recommend that everyone in HRM spend some time in Bedford checking this place out!

Sometimes HRM staff can design and plan for very awesome green-space! This is something I think we should thank them for a little more. I think I will write a letter to the Coast about this.

Sorry to make this so long and neglect you, my darlings! I will try to make more posts, and get batteries for my actual camera (right now, I am using my iPhone).