A travelling we will go...

School is finally out and to tell the truth it was about time. The year has been one of change, a reform of all the programs with people not exactly sure of where they were going, and a change of administration who needed to get up to speed. All of this contributed to more work and stress. But now it is over and Mrs. BB and I are off to the Emerald Isle. Yep, we are off to Ireland for three weeks which should be just the remedy for what ails us.

We'll be travelling around the the south and west of Ireland, the Burrens, Connemara, the Cliffs of Mohar, Kerry, and visiting the islands we didn't have time to see the last time, such as the Arans. We'll also visit the the South east, visiting Waterford with its crystal industry, and go hiking in the Wicklow mountains. It should be a well filled three weeks. I'll try to write a couple of blogs but I won't promise anything.
Here are some pictures from the last time we went. Enjoy, click here if you want to other photos.

End of year blues and word games

The end of the school year is upon us and it is that poor excuse has kept me from my keyboard these last weeks. It is amazing how much work there is to do before the end, exams to correct (a big box full to be exact), paper work to fill out, meetings to attend, special events to supervise. This all means that there is not much free time and when there is the ol' brain is burnt out. For example, in the next week, I have to finish correcting 130 exams, consign my marks to the computer register, go with the kids to their end of year excursion (leaving a 8:30am and coming back around 7pm) going to the graduation ceremonies on Friday night for my kids who have gotten through five years of high school, and the week after all the mind numbing meetings and committees. (Did you know that a camel is a horse designed by a committee?)

So in place of having to actually think long enough to write an insightful blog, here are a bunch of puns to keep you groaning.

• A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says: "I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger."
• Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says "Dam!"
• Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Not surprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.
• Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says:" I've lost my electron." The other says: "Are you sure?" The first replies: "Yes, I'm positive."
• Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.
• A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why?", they asked, as they moved off. "Because," he said, "I can't stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer."
• A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named Ahmal. The other goes to a family in Spain; they name him Juan.Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds: "They're twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal."
• A group of friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair . He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So, the rival florist hired Hugh Mac Taggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to 'persuade' them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he'd be back if they didn't close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that only Hugh can prevent florist friars.
• Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and, with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.
• An electrician was working on the wiring of an old house when he touched the wrong wire. He really found it a shocking experience but after it he was sure that the wiring was not up to the current building codes.
  

400 years

Québec city is having its 400th anniversary this year. In the year 1608, Samuel de Champlain set foot in the new world and founded a small colony on the shores of the St. Lawrence river under the towering cliffs of "le Cap Diamant". All of French Canada comes from that small step. At its height New France stretched from the shores of Hudson's Bay to the delta of the Mississippi. Voyageurs and explorers pushed ever farther into the unknown seeking new lands and people to trade furs with. (Greed is a powerful motivator isn't it) My family has been here since 1650 and we are all descended from one adventuresome man, who left everything in France and crossed the Atlantic to come and start afresh in the New World.
Have you ever wondered what it must have been like for our ancestors to leave everything and everyone they knew and loved to come to a new land where there was nothing, no roads, no cities, no European style civilization. It must have taken a lot of intestinal fortitude, because chances where that you would never see your homeland again.
Last weekend we went to Québec to visit my mom and my sister. It's funny because every time I go there I have a feeling that I'm home, even though I have lived else where for the last 24 years. Having been an airforce brat when I was young I never really had any roots, but when I arrived in Québec city, it struck me that this place was were my roots were, this was home. It may sound strange but it was a visceral feeling, way down deep and it was he first time that I felt that I really belonged somewhere. During the weekend we went wandering around the old part of town and I took some photos. So here is the city of my ancestors.

The Chateau Frontenac was built atop of the original governors residence, the Chateau St-Louis. The ruins are still under the boardwalk of the Terrace Dufferin.

The Old Post Office: There is an interesting story connected to this building. According to legend there was a feud between two families that lead to love and death. (a bit like Romeo and Juliet) The Chien d'Or was put up by the aggrieved family to remind the other clan that one day revenge would come. When this post office was put up, they incorporated the "Chien d'Or" from the original building.

Old Québec as seen from the Citadelle.

There were at least four gates to Old Québec, two of them have been destroyed but two remain, this one, Porte St-Louis and the other is Porte St-Jean a little lower down. Québec is one of the only cities in North America that still has its city walls intact.

65 years ago, the Dambusters

Sixty five years ago, on this night, a group of gallant young men flew a mission from which only half would return. They were the 617 Squadron later to be remembered as the Dambusters. That night they flew Lancaster bombers from England to the Ruhr valley and bombed out the Moehe and Eder dams. They flew across Europe at an altitude of 150 feet to avoid detection and once there they had to fly straight and level at an altitude of 60 feet between craggy hills along the reservoir with German anti-aircraft fire zeroing in on them. It was said that they flew so low that some German guns could not depress far enough to fire at them. Of the 19 aircraft that left England that night, only 11 returned, leaving 53 dead aircrew behind.

This was the generation of my parents and it is hard to realize that the frail, old, white haired men were the young men who flew the mission. They were in their late teens or early twenties and had lived through the Great Depression and now they were risking everything to stop Nazi Germany. Their C/O, Wing Commander Guy Gibson, winner of a Victoria Cross, was only 25 years old and most of his crews were younger than him. Many of them after having survived the raid would never see the end of the war. In fact of the 133 who left 53 died on the mission and most of the others would be dead before 1945. Of Gibson's crew none survived the war.
What must it have been like during those dark days, going out in those aircraft and knowing that you might never come home. Yet all of the crews of those 19 bombers were volunteers and were willing to put everything on the line. We should never forget these men and women who suffered much and were willing to pay the ultimate price so we could have our freedom today.
Here is a short video excerpt from about the commemoration flyby at Derwent Reservoir in Derbyshire, which was used by the original pilots to train ahead of their famous raid.

Anniversary

Today I have been married to Mrs. BB for 32 years. I've been with her for 33.5 but officially it is 32 years. Seems like only yesterday. I remember my jaw dropping as I watched her come up the aisle in her beautiful white dress. I couldn't believe that this vision of loveliness actually wanted to live with me forever. Well we haven't gotten to forever yet but we are working hard at it. Both of us have a few more wrinkles and a few more grey hairs (quite a few more if truth be told) but you know it doesn't make a bit of difference, for me she's still the vision of loveliness I saw in that church and that will never change. After so many years we have become the subtle blending of two souls into one, and my life has been the better for it. It hasn't always been easy, but then again when is life ever easy, but it has been fulfilling, and wonderful and I wouldn't change those 32 years for anything. So here's to wishing for forever, or as close as we can get to it, together.

Late B'day

A week ago was my birthday and having been busy, busy, busy I didn't even think of squeezing out a blog. It was a quiet day and BBdaughter took me out to supper with her "significant other" (hereafter named BBbf = BB beau fils). We all went to a steak house called "Houston's" (I'm sure geewit that it's not in the same league as a steak house in Houston) The steak and wine were good and the company even better. They gave me a Fossil watch that has an animated Atari game as the watch face. Really nice, it brings back memories. The last time I had seen BBbf and BBdaughter I had admired his Fossil Matrix watch, so they found me one.
I bought myself a new car radio for my b'day, not that the old one had ceased functioning but I needed a radio where I could plug my iPod. I had one of those radio things, but the airwaves are so saturated here in Montreal that it is next to useless. So I finally bought a good radio and plugged in my iPod... BB music, all the time with no interruptions... yesss.
And last but not least, Mrs BB said that she would split the cost of a 70-300 mm zoom lens for my camera. The said lens having just arrived a couple of minutes ago by courier. I love taking pictures and the lens was something I had wanted for a while, so since we are going to Ireland this summer, I decided that now was the time to get it. (Income tax refunds are so much fun to spend)
So that was my B'day week in a nutshell. This b'day is a special, I was born in 1954 and this year I turned 54, so maybe it'll be a lucky year. ;o)

Photos

I haven't had much time to blog these last few weeks, since things have been rather hectic. On top of it all I caught a "man's cold" from the kids at school. I don't get them them often but when I do, I hate colds... (see Josie's blog about them...). So I'll post a couple of pictures I took the other day. The West Island is the western most part of the island of Montréal but what many people don't realize is that a good part of it is still rural. There are even working farms. Even in the suburbs themselves there are still the remnants that we call the villages and that is what they are, the remnants of the original villages that were there before the encroachment of the city. I'll try to get more pictures to document each of them when I have the time.
So here are a couple of pictures taken in the more rural aspects of my corner of the island of Montréal. The truck and garage/barn are taken on Senneville road on the way to Ste-Anne de Bellevue and the sunsets on the shore of Lac des Deux Montagnes.

History burns

Last week end, the Manège Militaire, a big part of Québec's military history burned to the ground. This building built in 1885 was designed by Eugène-Étienne Taché, the architect that designed Québec's parliament buildings. It was one of the city's most beautiful historic buildings, and in a city that was named a world heritage site that's saying a lot. Will it be rebuilt in all it's glory, only time will tell.
I hadn't thought about it in years, but watching it burn on television brought back many memories. I started my military career there as a private in the 58th Battery of the 6ième Régiment d'Artillerie de Campagne and finished it there as captain and commanding officer of the same unit. (We were housed in the square tower on the right of the 2nd photo) The 6ième Régiment is a militia unit and was a family tradition. My great-grandfather had been its Regimental Sergent-Major. I also met Mrs. BB there, when she was one of the first women officers to join a combat unit. (I always did like women in combats.:o)
Not only did Québec lose an important part of her heritage, but many of us who served in units based there, have lost a big part of our past.

Air Canada, got to love 'em

Air Canada announced a new program called On My Way today. This program will fix things for you if ever you are delayed by flight, traffic or weather-related delays beyond its control. Here is what is posted on the Air Canada web site.
"One call gives you around-the-clock access to a dedicated group of specially trained Air Canada customer service agents who will rebook the first available flight, on Air Canada or another airline," and "arrange complimentary hotel accommodations, car rental or other ground transportation and meals," if necessary. All of this for an extra $50 (round trip) for flights of less that 1000 km and $70 (round trip) for flights over 1000 km.
Michael Janigan of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa isn't impressed. "It's part and parcel of a continuing effort to try and make the service extended to you when you buy a ticket less and less. The expectation would be that if you paid for a flight, you'd be rebooked on the next available flight. I'm hesitant to figure what's next with the airlines. Maybe washroom privileges (for a fee)? We'll have to wait and see."
Makes you wonder what will happen to the poor schmucks who will dare not to pay the extra fee, will they end up stranded in the airport like the man who has been living in the Charles de Gaulle airport for many years. Seems to me that the service they now want us to pay for should be a normal service in case of delays and imponderables. When there are flight delays like the ones we had here not long ago because of the snow storm, will the people who paid jump to the head for the line ahead of everyone else, leaving everyone else waiting that much longer?
To say the least I am not impressed, who else but an airline could get away with something like that? Much like when the airlines quote a price, then when you come to pay, hike it up because of the fuel supplement, airport tax etc... Hey buy my ticket to Vancouver, it's only $300... ooops forgot to tell you there is a $200 fuel supplement and $100 airport tax.

20 x 2: What's the difference?

Found this while browsing the web... It depicts quite nicely that despite our differences, fundamentally we are all the same. It is the work of Rannie Turingan a Canadian photographer. A really nice piece of work.


20 x 2 : What's The Difference? from photojunkie on Vimeo.

Top o' the day to you!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all. Have yourself a nice pint o' Guinness (my favourite alcoholic beverage) and forget all your woes. Mrs. BB and I loved visiting Ireland. It really is a bit of paradise, with 10000 shades of green. Of all the countries we have visited it is probably the one that I wouldn't mind moving to. (Mind you I'm very partial to Guinness and their Guinness is even better than ours.) In fact we have just bought our tickets to return there on vacation this summer... There are still some places that we haven't seen and we want to return to Achill Island, County Mayo, a bit of paradise on Earth, to relax.
Did you know that almost half of all Québecers have Irish blood flowing in their veins, must be why we are almost as fun loving as they are.

So let us try to forget the tons of snow that are still around, raise up our pint of Guinness and all yell "Slainte" before downing the pint.

Achill Island, Co. Mayo, Ireland

Buried under snow

We are in the month of March and we should be seeing the first signs of spring. Instead we are seeing the start of a new ice age... In the last week we have had two major snow storms. On Wednesday we got 25 cm of snow and yesterday over 30 cm and it isn't finished yet since the weather man is predicting another snow fall on Tuesday and four more days of snow before Easter. Right now we are officially at 350 cm of snow, that's 3.5 meters, or for our American friends 11.5 feet of snow that has fallen since the start of winter. The record is 385 cm in 1971-72 which will surely be broken soon. Will we hit 400 cm? Most probably since in the last week we accumulated 55 cm of snow and there is now sign of it slowing down.
The cities and towns have busted their snow removal budgets for 2008, which means there is no more money for snow removal till the end of winter (if ever it comes) and also no more money for snow removal in November and December 2008. They'll surely continue their snow removal but I think that we are probably either going to lose other services or our taxes are going to go up. Many companies that clear driveways will also be going belly-up since they charge a fixed rate and with the snow that has fallen most of them are working at a loss.
Here are a couple of pictures I took to illustrate just how much snow we've had...

New Status

Comes a time in ones life when something happens that changes all the parameters. As of late last Tuesday, there are two new members of our family, Zoé and Allison... These two bits of human fluff, weighing in at less than 10 pounds for the both of them, have changed the parameters.

Yes I'm a grandfather. My son has two brand new twin daughters. It has taken me a bit of time for it to sink in, I don't feel old enough to be a grandfather but there we are. It's hard to describe the feeling. In my heart I'm still too young to have grandkids, but the evidence is there. The girls have already taken up a place in our hearts and even tiny as they are, it is a very big place. So I guess I'll have to get used to being "Papi" and submitting to the whims of my two little granddaughters.

I'm back, I think.

Well the trip is over and we landed at PET airport at 23:45 on Thursday night. We had left Guayalquil at 10:30, stopped over in Miami, where we had to go through US customs, get our baggage, recheck it in and then go back through security. In every other country I've travelled to they keep the baggage and you can stay in the secure departure area so you don't have to go through customs and security. Go figure.

The trip started on the February 7th from PET airport and we landed in Quito around 10 pm. From the airport we went to a small hostel. The next day we visited historic Quito in the morning and the National Historic Museum in the PM. Then we left by bus to go up to the native village of Chilcapamba where we stayed for two days. On the way we stopped at the geodesic point that shows 0˚0' 0" latitude. I stood there like a giant with one foot in the northern hemisphere and one foot in the southern hemisphere. One really interesting little factoid. At the precise point of the equator you can balance an egg on its end since the centrifugal force of the earths rotation is perfectly perpendicular to the ground. It is the only place where this is possible.

At Chilcapamba we got to know the villagers and how they live. We also participated in a "Minga" (the name given to a community project where everyone pitches in to help for the good of the community) There had been a landslide that wiped out the canal that carried water to the village for irrigation etc. So we helped them dig it out and get the water flowing again. The students were really proud when the water started flowing again. That night we had a cultural exchange where they sang and played typical Andean music and the students sang and played typical Québecois music.

The morning after we were off to Othavalo a small town not too far from Chilcapamba. Once there we hiked around lake Cuicocha, a beautiful blue lake situated in the crater of an extinct volcano. The hike took us about four hours as we climbed around the rim of the caldera up to an altitude of 3900 meters. That afternoon we visited local artisans who make many beautiful woven goods and a local instrument maker where I finally found an instrument that I can play, a rain maker, just tip it upside down and listen to the rain... ;o)

The next day we visited the local market where you can buy just about anything under the sun. There was a tourist market but the other teacher and I went exploring and soon found the regular local market. A very interesting experience, you could buy fruit, vegetables, just about anything you can imagine. There was even a meat market although that really left nothing to the imagination...

That afternoon we left for Aloasì where we slept in a really nice inn. The next morning we left to go climb Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano in the world. We left the bus at 4500 meters and then hiked up to the shelter at 4800 meters, where we had some hot chocolate and then we hiked up to 5000 + meters to the glacier and the snow pack. Best way to go is to put your body in gear and turn off your brain, kind of like a Zen thing, but we all made it to the snow. (At 5000 meters there is only about 50% of the oxygen available) We even had a snowball fight and made angels in the snow. It's strange to be at the equator and still be in snow. We could also see the effects of global warming as we could see that the glacier was melting at a very rapid pace and retreating up the mountain.

The next day we travelled from the snow to the humid heat of the Amazonian rain forest. What a contrast. To be perfectly frank, I much prefer the cold, dry, oxygen starved atmosphere of the Andes to that kind of humid heat. It was like being in a sauna. We lived in typical amazonian huts up on stilts with a thatched roof made of palm fronds. We visited he jungle with a native guide where he pointed out the different plants used for medicinal purposes. There are a lot of them and they work quite well. I had a really bad headache and the guide picked some leaves from a bush and told me to make a tisane with them. As soon as I got back I did so and it completely cured my headache. We also got to ride a a pirogue (dug out canoe), tried a blowgun (they are about 6 feet long and very accurate once you get the hang of them), and visited a centre where they help animals captured for the black market and try to re-introduce them into the wild. The last morning we did a minga and helped with the construction of a house before leaving for Baños.

Baños is a small town at the foot of an active volcano that in erupting ant the moment. If the mountain ever blows its top the town will be wiped out much like Pompey and Herculeum. (You can see the plume of ash to the right of the summit in the picture. ) There is a hot spring there and we spent a couple of hours the next morning early (around 5 am) soaking in the deliciously hot water. The towns people say that they are protected by the Virgin, let's hope she continues to do so.

Then away we went again up to a small native community at Casa Condor. This small village is at 3900 meters and it is really cold up there. The village is very primitive and people still live in small houses dug into the mountain side with thatch roofs. They have no running water or electricity and their heating and cooking is provided by a fire in the hut. There is no chimney so the smoke trickles out thought he thatch.. We stayed at the community hall where there was dormitories, toilets but no heating. Believe me it gets really cold at night.

We left Casa Condor, which was the highest altitude that we slept at and drove down for 6 hours to Gualyaquil. What a contrast. We were now at sea level and the temperature was in the 30˚ to 40˚ Celsius (85 to 105˚ F) with a relative humidity of over 100%. It was hot and humid and every night we had tremendous downpours (we could have taken a shower it was raining so hard) There was major flooding in all of the coastal region. I read in the newspaper that they had over 355 mm of rain in the first 19 days of February. (That's 14 inches of rain for our American cousins). We went to an
orphanage-day care run by the Sisters de la Miséricord from Québec. They are in Pasquales a small barrio to the west of Guayalquil. I have never seen such poverty as this. The picture is taken from our hotel window in one of the richer parts of town. A tourist can't stay in Pasquales unless he has a death wish, for there is at least one murder each week there and robberies and highjackings are common. I think it is the contrast, in Guayalquil there are only two social classes, the rich and the poor. A teacher there makes around 150 dollars a month and the average daily wage is about 2$, yet we saw mansions and there are huge houses with armed guards. There is no middle class since the world bank forced Equador to adopt the American dollar, this literally wiped out the middle class, their savings disappeared, their salaries dropped drastically. The poor stayed poor and the rich stayed rich , but the middle class was hit hard and disappeared over night. I'm kind of surprised that there wasn't more civil unrest than there was. I guess the people were too busy trying to stay alive.

We also went to beach which the students really liked, a final relaxing day before departure. Plenty of sun block, T shirts on and still we were rather red at the end. ;o)
And finally, the airport, takeoff at 10h30 and home we came. Tired (exhausted more like) but happy to see our loved ones once again.

Awards yet

Looking over my blog I've realized that I've been blogging for two years now. The whole concept started out while joking around with my sister Jazz, (even my avatar is a joke with the concept of being her big brother) and I kind of figured that it would peter out after a couple of posts, but here I am two years later still posting. Ok, I admit I'm not as prolific as Ian or CS but I am still posting. Speaking of Ian and CS, they have both given me an excellence award. (How's that for a segue? ) Coming from them, that means something.
Cs is an intelligent gutsy woman, for whom no obstacle is too much. If I had to make a team to climb Everest, I'd bring her along because I'm certain that, come hell or high water, she'd get me to the top. She is also a super mom and being a teacher, I can tell. I've seen more than my share of less than optimal parenting, so I know good parents when I see them.
Ian is a professional word smith. He is literate and thoughtful and I never go away from visiting his blog without something to think about. His life experience is vast and varied and it always shows in his work. The man knows about what he is writing. I only wish I had his ease with a pen (or in this case a keyboard) Getting an award like this from him makes my day (or in this case rather stormy night).
It says in the award that I must name 10 bloggers. That'll be tough since most of the bloggers I follow have already been nominated. (As they say I don't know anyone and my friends all hate me.)
Well here goes: first of all a bit of nepotism: I'll nominate my lil sister Jazz. Although it is not my wont to go out of my way to praise her (lil sisters get a swelled head so rapidly) I hereby freely admit that she kicks ass. Her blog is irreverent , funny, iconoclastic and her sarcasm makes me proud. (I taught her everything she knows.)
Then I'd give it to CS and Ian for the reasons mentioned above.
Voyager would also get one, I love reading her blog and I know that she'll get back to it one day when her trials and tribulations are under control.
Geewits... the texan gal would also get one because of her humour, and also because she is a very caring human being, as well as being a carpenter and a plumber. ;o)
Choochoo definitely, I love her weird sense of humour from Hellhole. She hasn't blogged much lately but if my microbiologist daughter is any example, splicing and dicing genes (it splices, it dices and all for only 3 easy payments of $19.95) really takes up a huge amount of time.
Tai the traveller. Hey anyone who can back a luxury car into a container and then get out through the sunroof has my vote. I always look forward to reading about her trips or her musings on just about anything.
Evil Spock who has been off in the twilight zone for a while. He is the only person I'd vote for in an American election. Too bad he didn't get into the primaries this time.
Josie writes her blog like I imagine people used to write letters to each other. A cozy, thoughtful little blog. She is also so very prolific at least a blog a day.
Dr. Deb give us insight into the latest news about what goes on between our ears, (and she's way better looking than Dr. Phil) , There is an eclectic mix of seriousness and humour and you are sure to learn something.
Hey I actually did it...I got all ten. Youpiii!

On a different note I won't be able to blog or read about your adventures for the next two weeks, since later this week, I'm off with another teacher and our students to do some humanitarian work in Ecuador. We'll be visiting the country, staying in local villages and helping out at an orphanage. Never let anyone tell you that kids today are all selfish and egotistical. These kids have been working on this trip for over a year and I am always amazed by their commitment.