Monday, January 19, 2009

Middle of Foguary

Returning home from Akumal (temps in the mid 30's) to Denman in the month of Foguary and near freezing temperatures is shock enough to forget to blog. A prearranged webcam snap (at the Lol Ha, Akumal Bay) did not go exactly as planned however here's the result (that's me front and center) and no, I wasn't looking at the girl in the bikini.... Honest !!













The highlight was diving with the turtles in Akumal Bay.

More pictures of our Yucatan adventures can be seen here.

It's been so foggy here..... how foggy is it? It's foggy enough that the ferry must blow it's horn every few minutes while crossing from 6:40 a.m. til 11:10 p.m. Coincidentally this has also been my exact sleeping time in reverse. The temperature in my woodshed on Sunday morning was -2c. At the same time it was +13c at Raven Lodge on Mt. Washington.... a major inversion.

The first structure fire since I joined the fire dept. was last week. Thankfully nobody was injured. The home however was likely a write-off. The response time of the department was second to none with the first equipment on the scene in nine minutes. I was on the pumper truck which arrived in fourteen minutes. (the drive from the house site to the hall is seven minutes, but seemed much longer at the time.)

Straw Bale House Update: After 3 weeks off, it's been a butt dragging time at work. The interior wall framing is almost complete and it's time to get back to the beam work. It's been a little hazardous as the fog condenses on the concrete slab of the house and then freezes creating an unwanted skating rink. This week I'll insulate the garage so that there will be a nice warm place to work (and the stain on the beams will actually dry). There's still about 16 posts and beams to plane and sand before help arrives next week to begin the assembly.

I was just saying the other day.... Obama should have a quiet lunch with spam and cheese whiz sandwiches to celebrate his inauguration. It would have sent quite a different message than the $125 million (projected) expenses planned. ($75 million for crowd control and security alone). But we can top that with our estimated one billion for Olympic security. I'm hoping the whole thing (Oh-My lympics)can be paid off by tolling the Sea to Sky Highway.... you know, that whole "user pay" thing.