It snowed yesterday in Charleston. Snowmageddon 2.0. It was quite the news making event. Not what I would consider significant, but a few people posted photos of some pretty good snowfalls in other parts of SC. In Charleston, it was light flurries that just melted once they hit the ground. Not a whole lot at the house, but by the time I got to the airport in the afternoon, it was becoming a pretty good snow. Still light by my standards though.
Flight out of Charleston was a little delayed because of de-icing (who knew CHS had a deicing unit!) but the pilot was able to make up most of the time so we only got to Houston (IAH) a little bit late. No snow there. The 4 hour flight from IAH to YEG was mostly uneventful. Got into a good chunk of the 12th book in the Wheel of Time series. Flying is always a good opportunity for me to catch up on my reading.
Arrived in Edmonton to more snow, which I was mostly expecting. Heavier flurries than what was coming down in Charleston. A good deal more accumulation too, which was nice. As I recall from the last time I was here in winter, there was no snow on the ground. Will have to get lots of pictures to show people in Charleston what a real snow is like.
Ended up getting a little bit lost coming in from the airport. Wound up on Anthony Henday Drive instead of Gateway (what I used to know as Calgary Trail) so I took a bit of a detour around the east side of the city. I know my way around this city on a bike (used to anyway) but in a car, that’s a totally different story.
Didn’t have any problems finding the house Sandi rented. It’s only a block away from Kildare Elementary. With last night’s snow, I’ll have to wander over there tomorrow and play the intrepid explorer like I used to when I was a kid. That should be fun.
The house my sister rented for the week is pretty nice. She said the people that live here rent it out as a vacation home to others, and stay in a condo they own in Clareview. A pretty neat idea. It’s a pretty comfy place.
At $10/MB for data roaming, my phone is going to be off line for pretty much the entire vacation. Definitely won’t be doing much with the phone. I suppose I could have unlocked it and found one of those pay-as-you-go SIM cards, but I figured for a week it was more trouble than it was worth. I figure I should be able to find some accessible wifi around during my travels. If not, oh well.
Sending off The Pack
Time for The Pack to head off to its next destination in Georgia. I didn’t get a chance to take it around Charleston as much as I had planned, but at least I got to take it out with the dogs. It’s kind of neat. I’d think about getting one, but I’m pretty sure it would eventually end up in storage somewhere and be discovered again years later like this one.
One last inspection by Nala before I packed it up.
I also found a nice little pin at the bookstore to send along with the Pack.
Cliq: Month 12.5
I think I’ve found a solution to the performance problem with Contacts I’ve been having.
After doing some research and seeing some posts from Droid users complaining about similar issues, I removed Facebook and Twitter accounts in MotoBlur. Once they were gone, Contacts was fast and usable again!
Added my Twitter account back, and Contacts slowed down a little bit, but still functional.
Now to watch and see if it stays like this.
On another note, the much awaited Pimlical for Android is out! Sadly it requires Android 2.2 (Froyo) and I only have 2.1 on my Cliq. Signs are that the Cliq is going to be stuck there, so I’ll either have to get a new phone or root mine (although Froyo on the Cliq still appears to be up in the air).
Walking with The Pack
Finally a few free hours on the weekend to take the dogs out for a walk with the Pack
I loaded up the pack with my camera and a water bottle (for balance) and off we went. Nala wore the pack on the way out. She didn’t seem to mind it too much and didn’t really pay much attention to it.
Nala’s Story: Nala is a Lab Retriever and my very first dog. We got her as a puppy from a local breeder (after doing much research) who is active in showing and hunting with Lab Retrievers. She’s a really laid back kind of dog and can go from couch potato to butt-tucking wild dog in the blink of an eye. Most of the time she’s just a big couch potato. Nala loves to play with other dogs and loves little kids. She’s also a big help with showing the way of things to the foster dogs I take on for Wild Heir Lab Rescue. She’ll be turning 6 years old in a week.
We went on one of our regular long walks up to Plymouth Park and back home. It’s a nice spot to walk out to and the dogs like to hang out on the boat launch dock.
After hanging out on the boat launch for a while and watching the current sweep by, I put the pack on Simba and let him carry it on the trip back home. He didn’t mind it too much either, although he did shake a few times. It was probably ruffling his fur the wrong way while he was walking.
Simba’s Story: We got Simba as a puppy about a year after we got Nala, because we decided she needed someone to spend the days with while I was at work. He also came from another local breeder who was also active in showing Labs (she does the dog show circuit as a judge now). Personality wise, Simba’s pretty much the opposite of Nala. Nala loves to get attention, but when she’s had enough, off she goes to her corner by the door. Simba on the other hand, will take all the attention you want to give him and then some. He’s just a happy bouncy 4 (almost 5) year old Lab. He’s always smiling and loves to be around people. He’s on the small side of the Lab Retriever standard, and on one occasion I had someone ask me if he was a miniature Lab. Simba and Nala love to play together, and for the first year they were together, it was non-stop bitey-face, wrestling and playing. They still love to chase each other around and wrestle in the back yard. Simba’s also a big help with showing foster dogs the ropes around the house.
Now to find a suitable souvenir to send along with the Pack to its next destination.
MUSC Kids Help Portrait
Had the opportunity to help out with today’s Help Portrait event at MUSC’s Children’s Hospital. Much less hectic (and warmer) than last week’s event, but just as fun.
Joe did a great job photographing the kids and I had a lot of fun photographing the action.
There were 9 kids and some of their parents that stopped by to have their photos taken. That meant there was more time to play with the shots and get different poses. There was also time for photographers to play as well.
Thanks to Joe for setting it all up and to the staff in the Child Life center for letting us do this!
