The ride home yesterday and day 2

Cycling home yesterday afternoon was busier, traffic-wise, but the overall ride was good.

I picked a slightly different route than the one I took into work, so there was less fast traffic and less potholes. I was happy to see that Byron Ave no longer has construction and most of that road is a downhill coast. :) This allowed me to skip nearly all of the pothole-ridden Scott Street without much effort.

Riding through the downtown core was a little scarier, but not enough to make me want to change that part of the route. I heard that the city is putting bike lanes on Laurier, or maybe they've already done that. I might take that route one day and see.

This morning I cycled into work again. I rode most of the same route that I took home last night. I skipped Byron since it would likely be a long, gradual uphill ride, and rode on Wellington & Richmond, again skipping Scott Street.

The geek in me is thinking of putting a video camera on my bike and filming the entire ride to work and home again, just for fun. The only thing I'm a little worried about is how the crappy roads will affect the camera.

Weekday cycling

The weather forecast for this week looks pretty good. Last night I decided that I would cycle in to work this morning. I've done the route before on the weekend, but never during rush hour.

Aside from nearly getting clipped by a cabbie as he drove past me too close, it was much better than I expected. The downtown core was a piece of cake.

According to my GPSr, the route was 19.4kms and it took me just a little over an hour. That's better than my weekend test runs that took me about an hour and a quarter.

The worst part of it all was getting all my shit together to take with me, and then carrying it all in a backpack. I felt like I was packing for a vacation. It might not be as bad if I do this again tomorrow since most of it is ready to go already. I should really pick up saddle bags for my bike if I'm going to do this more often.

I'm looking forward to the ride home. I'm pretty sure there's going to be a lot more traffic after 5:00pm than there was between 7AM and 8AM.

It never hurts to ask

During the making of Samantha's video, I searched the web for music to use. I know from experience that YouTube can be pretty strict when it comes to enforcing copyright. In 2007 I created a video for our other cat, Quincy, and posted it on YouTube. Warner Music made a claim and YouTube stripped out the audio from the video. :(

They seem to be a little more relaxed now and add restrictions on where the "offending" video can be played, add a copyright notice, and prevent you from making any advertising money from them. I think that's a good solution. I wish they had done that with my other video.

This time I decided to look for something royalty-free and avoid the whole mess.

I couldn't find anything I liked, until I came across Joseph Akin's web site. While his music isn't free, I was instantly drawn to "Masterpeace". It was exactly what I was looking for. I thought about taking a chance and just using it, but I really didn't want to end up in the same situation as before. What were the chances of getting permission? I had nothing to lose. I found a contact email address and sent off a request with a brief explanation.

What I received later in the evening was not only permission to use it, but a recommendation of another song that he composed that he thought might be more suitable. He even sent along the MP3.

I had a smile from ear to ear. He didn't ask for anything other than the credit I said I would add to the video, and to let him know when the video was done. I immediately sent off a thank-you email.

In the end, I did use the song that he recommended — Spirit Touch — for the video.

Thanks again to Joseph for allowing me to use his music.

 

Bumpy — Week 29 and 30 progress

I didn't post an update on my weight loss progress last week. It was a good one too.

That makes this Week 29 and 30 progress. :)

Last week I weight in at 229.2 lbs. My new lowest-to-date.

This week wasn't so good. I gained a little back, putting me at 230 lbs.

That's what happens when I skip a few workouts.

It'll stop... eventually

I realized on Monday that this is the first time in 18 years that we haven't had a pet in our home. It is also the first time in over 30 years that I haven't had some kind of pet.

We adopted Sam in 1993, the same year we got married. We picked her, and her "brother" Quincy, at the Ottawa Humane Society. I'll be honest and say that she wasn't my first pick. I had seen a solid grey kitten but it turned out that she had ear mites. They said they would give us the drops for them, but because we were getting two kittens, we'd have to buy more to treat the other cat at the same time as a preventative measure. I continued my search and noticed a black and white kitten. She stuck out a little more because she was a little larger than the other kittens. In the end, she was smaller than most cats and I couldn't have chosen a better cat. Or maybe she chose me; that's how it works with cats, isn't it?

We picked the names for Samantha and Quincy while we sat in the car at the Blair Animal Hospital, when we took them for their first visit to get a checkup. I don't remember why I chose "Samantha". Perhaps because it could be shortened.

I had other cats when I was growing up and none lived as long as Sam. We had a famiy dog, Peanut, who also lived to around 18 years old.

I took a break from surfing the web on Monday night and got up to get a cup of water. Without even thinking, I glanced over to where she would normally be lying on the floor, waiting for that familiar little "Mrrr?" as she would get up to follow me. Her floor space was empty.

"Oh yeh... right."

In the kitchen, as I finished filling my cup, I looked down at my feet so I wouldn't step on her if she was sitting behind me, waiting to ask for food.

I then instinctively looked to where her bowls used to sit, to see if she still had food, and they weren't there.

I heard noises, again, later as I was sitting at my computer. Not imaginary noises. I'm sure it's just the house settling, but the first thing I assumed was that it was Sam hopping off the couch or the automan, or playing with a toy... and then I remembered. It gave me goose bumps.

The other evenings this week were more of the same.

I keep replaying Sunday's events in my head. It's like a bad dream. She has a problem with her foot. They'll fix it. We'll pay a big vet bill. We'll all go home. That's how it was supposed play out.

We had canned food and an unopened bag of dry food that we bought from PetSmart a week or two ago. Sandra called them on Monday and they let us return it. I went to the Humane Society web site on Tuesday morning and made a donation.

For such a tiny furball, she sure left a big hole in our home.

Samantha (1993-2011)

On Sunday morning Sandra noticed that Sam was walking funny. She said it was if her left rear foot was "inverted", like she was walking on the top of her foot.

I went downstairs and found Sam lying on the kitchen floor. She looked up at me and meowed as if to say "feed me". She didn't appear to be in any pain or discomfort. Her back leg look ok. I got out a bag of cat treats and tossed one in front of her. She got up and limped awkwardly to eat it, just as Sandra described.

At first I thought maybe there's some kind of paralysis on her rear leg. Then I thought that perhaps she had an accident during the night and broke her foot. Regardless, it was painful to watch, despite the fact that she didn't appear to be in any pain. She even hobbled off to the living room and hopped up onto the couch.

We decided to take her to the Alta Vista Animal Hospital Emergency Care.

We woke up Kyle and Kaitlyn and told them we were taking Sam to the vet. They gave her a hug and Kyle loaded her into the carrier.

Sam really dislikes being in the carrier, and being a house cat, the outside stresses her out. She panted for at least half the ride to the animal hospital, which we had never seen her do, and she meowed the entire time — that was normal for her.

The vet was actually more concerned with Sam's breathing, even though this was the first time we had seen her like this. After the assessment, examination, a mild sedative, and chest x-rays, it turned out that the problem she had with her foot (he called it "knuckling") was due to a blood clot in her leg, which was caused by a heart murmur that she had been diagnosed with years ago. The labored breathing was caused by fluid in her lungs, as shown on the x-rays. All of this was leading to eventual congestive heart failure.

Back when she was diagnosed with a heart murmur, it was explained to me that this day could eventually come, but today this was totally unexpected, which makes it more difficult.

Two options were explained to us. The first was treatment which would have been extremely expensive with about a 50/50 chance of recovery, and yet there would always be a chance of more blood clots in her future with potentially worse results. From what I recall, the existing blood clot in her leg would also remain because the repair could do more damage than leaving it. The second option was euthanasia.

Given all of the facts, the decision was pretty clear.

Saying final goodbyes to pets is not new to us. We'd had to make this decision four times in the past. It's never been easy, but for Sam it was really difficult.

Up until a few years ago, Sam had always been the quiet one. Timid and shy. She was always wary of our kids and anyone else who came over. A few years ago, we believe that she lost her hearing. As strange as it sounds, this was probably one of the best things to happen. Without hearing, she was a calmer cat. She didn't startle.

She opened up a lot to Kyle and Kaitlyn. She let them hold her. She actually seemed like a much happier cat. She started approaching them for attention. She hung out in the den with Kyle and I while we used the computer. I have to admit that I was actually a little jealous of Kyle because she would willingly sleep on his lap as he used the computer. She didn't like my lap.

She also became very vocal. She'd often wander around at night talking to herself and anyone who would listen. Thankfully, this happened for only a few minutes at a time.

No matter where she was snoozing at night, which was usually on the floor near the den closet, when I got ready for bed she'd wake up and follow me to the kitchen and ask for food. She sensed it. I'd pour a little bit of dry food in the bowl, add a little water to it, she'd be content until morning.

By the time I was in bed, she'd start meowing in the dark in the living room. Perhaps she was saying good night, like they did on The Waltons.

It's almost sad to think of how much attention she missed out on in her life because she was so timid and shy for most of it. For the last 4 or 5 years of her life, there was certainly no shortage of attention and she enjoyed every minute of it.

Tonight, for the first time in 18 years, our home has no pets.

I keep expecting to see Sam sleeping on the floor when I turn around. Or as I walk into the kitchen to get a drink, she'll meow at me for food.

All there is is silence, and it's eerie.

Rest in peace, Sammy.

Mid-life crisis?

Yesterday Groupon had a really good deal on a Chironex Tuxedo 250 Maxi Scooter. $4200 value for $2500. My wife and I had been looking at electric scooters a few weeks ago for short trip errands, etc. and they're pretty close to $2000, although you don't need a licence or insurance to drive one unlike this Chironex one.

Anyway, that's not really the point.

I don't have my Class M licence to drive a motorcycle, but if I did it would have been extremely tempting to take advantage of the deal.

That got me thinking seriously about getting my Class M licence. I joked that I'm having a mid-life crisis, but I've always thought about one day getting it, and picking up a second-hand motorcycle to use for a commute to work or just go out for a ride in countryside on a sunny day. I'm not looking for a "crotch rocket" or some big-ass cruiser — just a decent sized, nice-looking, street bike. I know my limitations.

I've never driven a motorcycle. But 25 years ago or so a friend of mine had a bike and we used to go out for rides, with me on the back. I loved it. Seeing the road whizzing past. Feeling the wind. Freedom? It's hard to describe.

I am also well aware of the dangers of riding a motorcycle. We got in an accident once when a car turned left into a laneway in front of us. We couldn't stop or swerve out of the way, and ended up hitting the front left corner of the car, catapulting both of us over the hood of the car. Miraculously, I landed on my feet beside the car after hitting my knee on the handlebars. My friend landed on his back beside the car. Aside from a few scrapes and bruises, we walked away from it. I know not everyone is that lucky.

I dug around the web and found an old version of the "Official MTO Motorcycle Handbook" that someone had made into a PDF. I read through it and was surprised that I knew almost all of the correct answers to the sample questions in the book. Some I knew because my friend had told me them 25 years ago, and some are basic common sense.

I decided to order the current (and hardcopy) version of the book from the Service Ontario Publications web site yesterday.

If I do decide to get my M1, I also plan on taking an approved course. I took drivers ed for my car licence, so there's no reason why I wouldn't do the same for a motorcycle licence. (aside from cheaper insurance rates)

We'll see how it pans out. :)

(P.S. I still think those electric scooters and pretty cool...)