whirls

Pretty huh?

Dress and distress

I’ve been incredibly lucky so far in that I have only had to dress up once, and that was of my choosing for a party. Today is a different matter as I am attending a military change of command parade and a reception afterwards.

The military idea of a parade involves a bunch of people marching around, standing nicely and then listening to someone drone on and on for hours in the heat – today will be around 30 Celsius and very humid but at least I get to sit down and twiddle my thumbs in relative comfort. That’s the easy part.

The hard part is picking out something suitable to wear. I’ve got tons of casual stuff suitable for a BBQ with the troops and some after 8 clothing but this calls for an outfit that will meet with the approval of Squadron Commanders and their wives, yet at the same time meet with the approval of the troops and gather at least one angry glare from a wife or girlfriend.

My coffee is almost gone so it’s time to jump in the shower, get dressed and slap on some age and yuck defying chemical compositions that we refer to as cosmetics. Fun.

Now, where did I put that black mini-skirt?

Egads – my work is cut out for me…

If you understand small boats, well, this picture is worth a thousand words….

a mish-mash of hardware

Sailability day 1

Today should have been day 1 of working with Quinte Sailability, but in fact it was more or less day two as I spent part of Sunday looking at the fleet of boats, talking about my OPP screening and smiling when I was offered the position of maintenance officer.

Well now…

It was about 29 Celcius with a nice little breeze and for a change, the humidity was bearable. Nice day and other than me wrestling with a crew hoist while rigging a Martin there were no great causes for alarm – well, to be fair I’m going to try to convince people that tying a sailboat fore and aft to the dock works a lot better than just tying the painter to the dock and hoping people don’t fall out of the boat or off of the dock!

Day two tomorrow and it will be a afternoon and evening session – yay… twice the smiles on the faces of people who take the rudder, joystick, servo pod or blow into a breath tube to take command of a small sailboat on the Bay of Quinte.

Yup… satisfaction in the achievement of others

satisfaction in the achievement of others

Boldly going where…

A certain Charlotte Katherine find’s herself on the air force base. Ohhhh a smile comes in handy sometimes…

who me?

Little boats

Jealous of the Moon

Trying on a brand new dress
But you haven’t worn the old one yet.
You’ve come too far, to turn around now.
Giving up a good fight.
You’re as strong as anyone.
You’re back when you started from,
I see you’re back where you started from.

Staring down the stars, jelous of the moon
You wish you could fly.
But you’re staying where you are,
there’s nothing you can do,
if you’re too scared to try.

Drag your pretty head around
Swearing you’re gonna drown with a beautiful sigh and a river of lies.

Staring down the stars, jelous of the moon
You wish you could fly.
But youre staying where you are
there’s nothing you can do
if you’re too scared to try.

Why don’t you call me, I could save you.
Together we’ll find a god we can pray to that will take you by the hand.

I hate to see a friend of mine,
Laughing out loud when she’s crying inside,
but you’ve got your pride.

Staring down the stars, jelous of the moon
You wish you could fly.
But you’re staying where you are
There’s nothing you could do, if you’re too scared to try.

You’re staring down the stars,
You stay where you are,
You’re jelous of the moon, but there’s nothing you could do if you’re too scared to try,
If you’re too scared to try.

Nickel Creek – Why Should the Fire Die?

Just because

Just because I happened to be there, just because I happened to notice, just because I happened to have my camera.

just because it's beautiful

Of GPS and maps

I am quite fond of my GPS and maps.

I actually have a GPS attached to my mountain bike, which while it might seem a bit off the wall actually makes a lot of sense for me.

I’m still trying to figure out the roads around here – as this is a semi-rural area a wrong turn can be costly in terms of distance and time. The map feauture of the GPS is very handy as I can see where I am and figure out how to get to where I want to go. I could use a map just as well, except that a GPS does not flop about in the wind when I’m riding at 20 kmh.

I often wish that I had something like a GPS that could help me figure out where I am in life and show me how to get to where I want to go. There are no maps, no reference books with the definitive or correct path illustrated in colour.

Nope.

Gotta figure this one out the hard way.

A touch of legitimacy…

This afternoon I paid a visit to the Quinte detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police to submit the paper work for a background check. While the OPP look like storm troopers when they are wearing their Duddly Doright hates, they’re actually quite nice in the office.

you know you want me...

When I get it back I can be a volunteer with Quinte Sailability – a sailing program for people with disabilities.

How ironic and yet fitting that I should volunteer, after all, it could be argued that I have a few disabilities of my own.

At least I have a pretty nice smile – well, a nice smile and a few disarming smiles that I can use as needed.