TGIF!

It has been a busy two days. I have been trying to get the new receptionist trained but unfortunately she is very slow to catch on to using a Mac computer and understanding when to use an internet base password and when to use the computer program password. There have been a few other interesting problems that have been making us wonder what her mental capacity is.

I took out my new kayak out yesterday on the Thursday night paddle. It has been getting dark much sooner lately and it is now standard fair to have a headlamp on. I did have a stylus light with me which really came in handy as we almost ran into some rocks. Good catch on my part as I would not have been too happy ramming my new kayak into some rocks.

Today was a TGIF Happy Hour event. The beer in the kegs are starting to go down but turn out has been a little low. I haven't been getting much in the tip department so I have been wondering if I should keep doing this or slowly let it die down. I have been working with someone else in trying to set up a beer tasting event that seems like it would be more interesting and likely the tips generated would be better and definitely pay off each beer batch. It would likely happen less often meaning less effort on my part freeing me to get other things done. I could also make smaller batches which requires less effort to do too.

Dietary Issues

I have been having a very hard time with food over the past few months. The doctor claims I have lactose intolerance but after going for several weeks without any milk products and still not feeling well, I have gone back for further testing. After a blood antibody work up, as suggested by my boss, the bad news is that I have to go in for an intestinal biopsy to confirm the positive blood work up. If the biopsy comes back positive, which is normally a given as the blood tests are 90% accurate, then I will have confirmation for what ails me. Which will be good as it is highly treatable but I will have to avoid that food for life. I will have further news when I get the biospy but I am not sure when I will be able to get the biopsy done. I have to wait for a referral to arrive in the mail then make an appointment. In the meantime, in order to not throw off the results, I have to continue eating what is making me sick. I still have to keep avoiding milk for now as that is a bad trigger. Another spot of good news is that once my intestinal tract heals from the major intolerace, I will be able to go back and slowly introduce milk into my diet.

Brand new Kayak

I finally took the jump and got a really nice kayak on Saturday. I am thankful to a friend for letting me borrow two of his kayaks so I could get a feel for different kayaks. I am also thankful to another friend for making the very long drive out to the store to look at and pick up the chosen kayak. After trying about three different kayaks, I decided to get an Impex Force 4 kayak. This is a very good kayak and is a bit more than I can handle right now, but I am looking forward to learning the skills that will allow me to roll and play with this kayak.

I took the kayak out earlier today to christen it. It was a dream to handle and very smooth to paddle. I am looking forward to many more trips with it. At first I didn't want to get it dirty or scratch it but I can't let that get in the way of my enjoying it, so out we went. I am a little sad that the season is ending soon, but that did allow me to take advantage of the end of season sale. I picked up some more gear that will allow me to paddle later into the season, but I don't think I will be paddling that much later as I really don't know how to roll and wouldn't want to have to bail in really cold water. I also have more hiking gear to be tested so I will be hitting the trails hard again.

Driving into summer

As I drove back from Montreal, I was struck by the feeling that I was driving into summer. The leaves on the trees along the highway went from very colourful up in the Adirondacks to
mostly green by Delaware. The temperature also increased dramatically to the point that I checked, several time, to make sure I didn't still have the car heater on. While the temperatures in Montreal had been on the cool to cold side, the temperatures back in the DC area were quite warm, especially given the cooler weather I just came from. Best to enjoy the heat while I can as the temperatures will be dropping sooner or later. As it stands, the evening temperatures have been getting lower, making for really good sleeping weather.

Short week, Long drive

This week is a short work week for me as I took Thursday to Tuesday off to enjoy Thanksgiving with the family. But that did mean a long 10 hour drive up to Montreal. I managed to get on the road just after midnight Wednesday night and arrived around 10:30. While I like the lack of traffic that comes with a midnight drive, especially around the NYC area, I don't care for driving at night. I did get about 5 hours of sleep before I left and that makes a difference. But I did end up having a nap after lunch. I hope I can sleep tonight.

It was an interesting drive up. I packed up some last minute items and hit the road at 12:30 but once on the highway it was a mix of fog and mist almost the whole way up. Even when I hit the Adirondacks around 7:30 I was still encountering ground mist. It burned off shortly thereafter but it make the drive up somewhat ethereal. Everything was surrounded by halos and was indistinct.

Although I am back home, I am a little sad to be missing a Thursday night paddling. I have really come to enjoy getting out with the group. I think they are slowly coming around to my presence and I have been getting longer conversations from the various people. I am hoping to be getting a new and improved kayak soon and that will greatly improve my enjoyment of getting out. I am really looking forward to that day.