August 1st, 2006
It’s been hot. Really hot. Today the humidex sat well above 40 all day… It’s been like this for a good chunk of the Summer too, though not nearly as bad here in Montreal as it has been for other parts of the world. I’m glad I’m not in those parts.
The one nice thing about this kind of weather is that we’ve been getting some great thunderstorms! Almost every day, in fact. Today I attempted to take some pictures of the lightning. Here’s my best shot: (links to the rest of the album)
I think it’d be a lot easier to take these sorts of pictures with a darker sky. As it was, I really couldn’t manage much longer than 3 second exposures without the sky just turning bright orange, and then the lightning doesn’t really stick out enough. With a darker sky, I could have just left the shutter open for 30 seconds, or even more – it’d be much easier to catch the flashes, and they’d have better contrast. And I wouldn’t have so many useless empty pictures – I took almost 300 pictures tonight, and fewer than 20 had any lightning in them at all! Maybe the next storm will be a bit later at night. During a power failure. We’ll see!
July 31st, 2006
A lengthy (55km) bike trip along the lakeshore to Pointe Claire.
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July 30th, 2006
I went to see the fireworks tonight – the last ones of the Summer. They were ok: some moments – like this big huge white blob of craziness – were very exciting, but for the most part it was a little garish – they used all the silly tricks like heart-shaped explosions and the like, and while it was very colourful most of the time, the choice of colours was a little bland – lots of very bright primary colours, but not mixed together nicely. The Australian show last Wednesday was much better, in my opinion.
I took several pictures, but this is the only one that turned out at all – I got there later than I intended so I didn’t really have space to set up my tripod, and it’s not easy to get pictures like this to turn out at all without one. Without a rather long exposure, it just looks like nothing at all, because you don’t see trails – just points of light.
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July 24th, 2006
A morning jaunt down to the end of the Lachine Canal.
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July 24th, 2006
I’ve been upgrading and fixing my bike a bit in the past week. Nothing major, but I finally got a rack and a pannier! I highly recommend this to anyone that uses a bike much. It’s a million times nicer than a backpack, especially when it’s hot out. Much easier on my back too – a heavy pack puts all the weight into just the wrong places.
The bag I eventually decided on, after spending a very long time perusing bike forums and looking at the offering at MEC (they’ve mostly sold out this season’s supply, apparently!) and other stores was the Arkel Bug. It’s very nice. I particularly like how it converts to a backpack – most of the panniers out there are well-made, but they’re designed for people on long trips who leave the bag on the bike most of the time. For something that I’ll be carrying around to stores and work all the time, this is far better. It’s also just very well-made, and as a bonus, the company’s based in Quebec!
I also picked up a bike computer (i.e. speedometer + odometer) from MEC. It’s the cheapest one they offer, though now I’m thinking the next model up might have been nice to have. It’s no big deal, but it’d be nice to have it display your maximum and average speeds. But I just couldn’t justify the extra $2.
I also finally got around to adjusting the saddle a bit. It’s never been perfectly comfy, so I tried tipping it forward a little bit. It felt much better at first, but I think it was just a little too much, since it put much more weight on my arms, and my butt started getting sore after 45 minutes or so. So I reduced the angle a little, and also slid it back an inch or two, and I think it’s an improvement! Luckily, it’s a very easy thing to adjust. I think I’ll just keep some hex keys in my bag for the next little while in case more fiddling is warranted.
Finally, my chain needed some work after the rain on the weekend, so I cleaned it and squirted in some oil. Seems much nicer now!
So, with a functional bike, and all sorts of toys, I decided it was time to do some exploring around Montreal. Can you believe that I had never traveled down the Lachine Canal? It’s a really nice path, gentle, flat, with lots of trees. I stopped at the end of the Canal, but next time I might go further, and keep travelling by Lachine. Apparently that’s also very nice.
Posted in bike, Photos | Comments Off on Biking down the canal
July 11th, 2006
Don’t worry, it’s massively enlarged in that picture. Click the image for more interesting pictures of the bugs and the plant they’re living on.
Our lovely New Guinea impatiens plant (a housewarming gift from Tom and Lindsey – you can see it here) is not doing so well anymore. It appears to be infested with spider mites, and it isn’t much enjoying the experience…
I’m not sure what we can do about it at this point, unfortunately. Most of the remedies I’ve seen online seem more suited to outdoor plants, or large greenhouses. Things like “immerse the entire plant into 110°F water for 20 minutes” just aren’t feasible. Nor are spraying nasty chemicals around our living room, or spending 80$ on carnivorous mites to eat the naughty mites. Most of the flowers have fallen off now though, and many leaves are severely wilted… I hope it can survive!
July 10th, 2006
Two-spotted Spider Mites – Nasty critters! – infested our New Guinea impatiens.
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July 10th, 2006
A very summery supper! Fresh tomatoes – which were cheap even at that bastion of overpriced produce, metro – basil and rosemary that we grew ourselves, feta and romano cheese, garlic, lemon juice, olives and olive oil, chick peas, and probably a few other things that I’ve forgotten. Yum! And it’s so nice to eat cold food when it’s hot and sticky outside!
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July 9th, 2006
This afternoon, I watched the game at Bar des Pins. Oddly enough, it was half-empty, though any bar, cafe, or restaurant with a tv on St.-Laurent was packed. I can only imagine the chaos up in Little Italy! I did take several other photos after the game ended.
I’m also very glad that I’m living in a quieter neighbourhood now!
July 9th, 2006
The aftermath of the game, as seen in Montreal.
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