Blair's Blog

Yes.  It’s like Zeno’s paradox – the number of plates left to find keeps going down, but the end remains stubbornly remote.  The CNPS game continues at a slower pace than ever before – this year a miserly 35 plates were added to the total.   That’s half of the long term average since starting in 2003. After 13 years the total is now at 900 (previous years are recounted in posts linked by the CNPS tag).  The overall rate has been drastically affected by not just the transit-based commuting, but also the significant reduction in driving generally after moving into the city.  Last but not least, six months of unemployment is really not helping (and it’s not just the CNPS that is really hurting…).The alignment with St Patrick’s day may not be just a coincidence – the lack of progress is like being pinched and it could drive one to drink!

Speaking of St Patrick’s day – there is not much green about today.  We got up to a nice fresh dump of snow – last week I was marveling at the tulips sprouting in the garden and today I shoveled the sidewalk.  Brenda has had the better day – she is off to the west coast today to attend Fibres West with our friend Karie who runs Big Blue Moma, a retailer of amazing jewelry made from glass beads, woven baskets and fabrics – all sourced from Ghana. While Calgary was overcast with cold wind, Brenda and Karie were driving through the spectacular Rockies. Fibres West runs Friday and Saturday in Surrey, BC – if you are in that area be sure to look them up and buy a basket – or two.

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Christmas day has come and gone; the new year is just around the corner. It seems that this year has just flown by! The week leading up to Christmas Day was full of family activity; we hosted Brenda’s two brothers and their families on the 23rd and had twenty-one cousins, aunts and uncles over for dinner to celebrate Barry’s birthday and it wasn’t even a major milestone (unless you are counting in hexadecimal, then it’s 40). Barry and Breana and their 6 kids headed home on Christmas eve (after an all-cousins laser tag outing), then on Christmas Day we gathered with my side of the family at my Mom and Dad’s on Christmas Day.
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We were at a nice little cottage last night just over the the German border into Belgium.  Unlike Holland, where it doesn’t matter what your destination is because you are practically there, in the Ardennes it’s a long way to your destination no matter how short the distance.

The other thing we have noticed is that Europeans rarely have any useable counter space in their bathrooms. It seems you are constantly juggling toothpaste and razor and soap and comb and anything else you need. The other odd thing was a lack of a mirror in some bathrooms.

And then there is the autobahn, what can you say? Even in a wacky French mini-minivan:

And, that wasn’t even the best road. That honour goes to this bit of highway:

This is a road near Monshau in Germany, near the Belgian border. It was fantastic, both going uphill and then back down. It would have been outstanding on the motorbike.

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Finally, I spotted the first robin of the year! Spring must be here. So, where’s the best place to celebrate such a momentus occasion? Why Banff of course! To prove it here is what our car registered at the outdoor temperature on the road to Banff.

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