April 29, 2022. This is a large tractor coming down the street in St. Albert, where I am on my normal 25 km training ride. Warmer today, but still pretty windy. Definitely not nice summer conditions. Still working on data literacy, though I made much less progress today. I’m really…

April 27, 2022. I don’t know what it is about cats and cardboard, but they are unnaturally attracted to it. Working on the appendices of my data literacy report today – a sign that it’s almost done! https://flic.kr/p/2nhC1t8…

April 26, 2022. Living with four cats means that your every activity is monitored and timed. Cats crave routine, and part of the daily routine is string time, after supper around seven (if I’m late for supper, or late for string time, I hear about it). A couple of meetings…

April 25, 2022. I’ve been completing an expedition in No Man’s Sky this week – there’s a full playlist of video recordings if you’re interested (though I can’t imagine that you would be). Otherwise, it’s all data ethics all the time. https://flic.kr/p/2nhsssN…

April 24, 2022. We saw rows on rows of turtles sunning themselves in Mer Bleue today. WE also saw garter snakes mating, a wide variety of birds, and all sort of plants springing back to life. It almost feels like spring. Almost. https://flic.kr/p/2nhsfUD…

April 22, 2022. This is a field between Casselman and St. Albert. It was cool, but I did the 25km route today after work. Most fields aren’t showing a crop yet, but you can tell everything is ready for another growing season. https://flic.kr/p/2ngENE5…

April 21, 2022. This is my view from the exercise bike in the morning. I toggle back and forth between CNN and Breakfast Television. Last week I took a week off to rest my sore obliques, but I’m back at it this week, gingerly. Today was another full day of…

April 20, 2022. Happy 4-20. This is the parking lot at the Costco. I took it thinking how everything seemed blue, black and white. Such odd spring colours. Aside from picking up groceries, I spent the entire day (once again) on data literacy. I know; same thing every day, day…

April 19, 2022. I was thinking today what a world without plastic would look like. This is my sink in the downstairs bathroom, and almost everything on it is plastic (just the Gold Bond is metal). Some meetings today, but otherwise totally focused on data literacy. Almost done; making the…

April 18, 2022. These new Ravager tires arrived from Amazon and will hopefully be the answer to my tire needs for my Anticosti Island bikepacking expedition. This Easter Monday was spent working on data literacy and playing No Man’s Sky (which I’m streaming live on YouTube). https://flic.kr/p/2nggL7m…

April 17, 2022. We spotted this deer while hiking in Guindon Park, near Cornwall. It was a bit cool and the ground was *very* soggy. Still, the Jays won and the sun came out for a bit and we saw deer and snakes and birds and squirrels, so overall it…

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April 15, 2022. I thought I might go out for a bike ride but we had gale force winds all day. It blew one of the bird feeders off the stand. Tried to play (and live stream) video games instead but the power cut out several times. Basically a rest…

April 14, 2022. This is the optometrist in Embrun. I drove Andrea here today so she could pick up her new glasses. The frames are dark and they make her look a bit Ingrid Michaelson. I also went out for a ride today but didn’t take any pictures (I did,…

April 13, 2022. This print by Jason Carter was part of my gift from the NRC for 20 years of service; it now hangs on my home office wall. I also received a really nice 20-year pin. I actually passed my anniversary date last November and had given up on…

April 12, 2022. This is my typical everyday lunch. On the left, some squash and some warmed up tuna. On the right, some Babybels, an eff, two wheatabix patties (I pout the tuna on them ) and some bread (I put the egg on it). https://flic.kr/p/2neJ3Lu…

April 11, 2022. This is one of the many many painted cows dotting the region around St. Albert and Casselman, all celebrating the dairy industry here in eastern Ontario. This one is right at the St. Albert cheese factory (home of world famous cheddar and curds), taken on one of…

April 10, 2022. This is wintergreen, spotted on our walk in Pine Grove Forest today. It was new to me; Andrea pointed it out and told me some about it. I did a TikTok video about it, and as of this writing (a few days after the fat; I’m lagging…

April 9, 2022. This is an image taken with the new camera of a nearby creek swollen from spring runoff. It’s actually a v-shape about 10 feet deep in the middle, and is usually just a little stream at the bottom. This was taken during a quick 25km bike ride…

April 7, 2022. We took the kittens to the vet today for their 1-year booster shots. It took two shifts, as Julia decided to elude capture for an hour. I otherwise had a short meeting, did work on data literacy, and as usual did the newsletter. https://flic.kr/p/2nehFBb…

April 8, 2022. Today was opening day, a day that every spring brings a renewal of hope and happiness, not just for the upcoming baseball season, but also for the upcoming spring and warm season. Made good progress on data literacy today. https://flic.kr/p/2nehp2L…

April 6, 2022. Testing the new camera at the junction of the Nation River and the Castor River near Casselman. More meetings, and I had to go into the office to get my green computer replaced. On the way back I decided to drop in on Bernie (not expecting he…

April 5, 2022. This Easter bunny is on a porch on the main street here in Casselman. Day of three meetings. In between, worked on the newsletter and tried to sort out an email bug. https://flic.kr/p/2ndT3eb…

April 4, 2022. I took Andrea to the optometrist today; this is brush just behind their parking lot in Embrun. As usual, new glasses cost an arm and a leg. Today starts a week with a lot of meetings, and between meetings I’m working on my data literacy paper. https://flic.kr/p/2ndVsAR…

April 3, 2022. This is a white-breasted nuthatch, observed during our walk to the Upper Canada migratory bird sanctuary today. Large parts of the trail were flooded, but we were still able to walk a bit more than 5 km along an often muddy (and sometimes still frozen) trail, spotting…

April 2, 2022. This is a typical early spring scene around here. I took the new camera for a jaunt to St. Albert and back again on the gravel bike. The new wider tires take a bit more effort (this will be repaid with better performance on gravel). The quality…

April 1, 2022. Here I am in a food court opening and testing out my new Fujufilm X-T200. Not the greatest of shots, but that wasn’t the point. Why this camera? It records video quite well, and will also take decent photographs, allowing it to fulfill multiple roles on bikepacking…

March 31, 2022. This is a view of my ship flying past a space base on a small moon near a giant planet in No Man’s Sky. Thinks like this (if we can get more comfortable headsets) are the real killer app for VR. Some meetings today plus work on…