Beach Walk

Well it is holiday time again and our travels took us to the Island to see family. My brother Shane was able to get out to Dad's so we went over to see him. It was good to see him and Dad and Carol. We did a beach walk at Parkville Beach and then a stop at the Shady Rest, my old work place.

Hum.....

The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy - I mean that if you are happy you will be good. - Bertrand Russell

Kris & Micah

Oh well there goes the secret. This is my unnamed daughter and her fellow. Snapped this at the wedding also.

Don't Touch The Bellybutton

One of my daughters who will remained unnamed had issue with my sandals and black socks at the wedding. I decided to get my attention by trying to put a finger in my bellybutton. Well If you know me I cannot let that happen. She still needs a bit of growing to pull that one off. ;-)

Daughters & Weddings

Jackie and I had the privilege of attending the wedding of my Godson Shawn Buekert. Somebody snapped this picture of me and two of my daughters. Kris and Jessi respectively. It was a great wedding and they are a great couple. I am a blessed man. We enjoyed our time there.

Harold At Hullcar

More From Hullcar

This is my friend Harold just as he tugs the "A's" to bring the wing up. You can see the rather rustic launch (read tall grasses and weeds). It seems like a nice morning site.

Hullcar Launch

My bother Derek and several of the Kamloops pilots did a road trip down to Armstrong B.C. To a launch site I had never been to. It's called Hullcar. Named after the small community that lies below the mountain. This shot is of Les Martin heading out after a fine launch.

Sunday Morning

The sun came up. Clouds began to form as it's energy warmed the earth. I could hear the tree leaves rustle as soft thermals let loose. The CBC filled my ears with the days news and I rolled over knowing I had that luxury. Coffee time! I nurtured a cup as I logged on to start my morning routine. I had spent some time the night before listening to some of Roseanne Cash's latest music. I have to say she has gotten even better with age. Very heart felt songs about life in all it's pain and glory. She has a way of bringing it to ya that makes you just stop and sit and listen. Thank God for the sweet gift of music and those who can say what we all think in such a satisfying way. As Harry Chapin once said in a song "music, it's been my greatest friend and my fiercest foe cause it can take you so high, and it can bring you so low".

I love these quiet Sunday's and my time spent with Jesus.

Well back to the dishes and laundry. And oh ya we flew yesterday but I have yet to retrieve my camera so more on that later

Mac's are just Macs

After a few more weeks with the Mac OS I have to say... well what a great job of marketing. I have used the mac daily for several weeks and I have to say it's like every other OS out there. It does some things very well and others not. I like the no anti virus no worries about spyware. That in it self saves a lot of time. But I can't see anything magical about it. Just a good solid OS. I guess what keeps coming back to me is that so is Linux. It also has the advantage of being free and offers choices no proprietary OS can. The Mac Mini on the other hand is quite a little enginering marvel. Quiet, fairly fast, very small. Did I mention it's small? Wel thats all for now.

Little things you find along the way.

I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions. - Augusten Burroughs

Mac OS X

The mighty Mini has been home with me for a bit now. It's a shame you have to spend all that money to get the Operating System. That was what I was interested in. I have become a big Linux fan and am running a dual boot system on my laptop with Vista and PCLinuxOS . I have spent a few days, well a couple weeks fooling around with Mac OS X and I have to say..... hum.... In some ways it's way cool but in others you gotta shake your head. After a long time with Windows and about two years with Linux I have to say besides the driver issues I would take Linux any day. I stand amazed at what the Open Source community has done in just the few short years. So while I am reserving judgment on this Mac OS until I have really gotten to know it.

Mac Mini

Well somehow I came home with a Mac Mini. Intel Core Duo 1.66 I matched it up with my 19 inch wide screen and started to get acquainted. Well you know me... I just had to tear it apart. I guess I should have taken pictures. Hum I guess I shall have to tear it apart again. Any way it became apparent that I needed more ram. It came with 512 so a quick trip to the CanadaRam and 2 gigs arrived the next day. Apple saw fit to put the ram under everything else so you need to really strip it down to get to the ram slots. Well after reassembly i realized I had not plugged the sound strip back in properly so it all came apart again. A quick reassembly and all was well. And the OS ran considerable faster. I will be spending the next few weeks getting to know it and will post my observations.

The week-end is here

Well my posts have been few and far but here I am on Friday night. Work has been very busy lately. Lots of new projects on the go as we scale up the new recovery model. Well lets see whats new? PCLinuxOS 2007 final has been released and I must say it is very nice. This post is coming to you from my notebook running PCLinuxOS. I have discovered how to dual boot Microsoft's latest offering Vista. I found a little program called EasyBCD. It's freeware and works flawlessly. So I'm running a sweet dual boot. Vista uses a new boot manager and when Linux is installed as a dual boot using Grub to the MBR Vista disappears from the boot. The secret is EasyBCD. When you install Linux just install Grub to the /root partition and then reboot to Vista. Start EasyBCD and follow the simple instructions and your stylin with all that open source goodness. Don't forget to check out the new Ubuntu 7.04 it's pretty cool also. If you have an average computer (1 ghz or better and at least 256 of ram you can run a nice Linux distro. Other distros I have tried and work well are Sam Linux, Open Suse, and the new Mandriva spring 2007 is looking good. I must say I ran Sam Linux on a Pentium 733 with 384 megs of ram and a GeForce 5200. It proved to be a very sturdy distro. I used it for my main desktop for 3 months with no problems.

Harold Gets High

May 31st A few of the boys got out for a flight and they got way up. This picture was taken by Harold. He skied out at over 2700 meters. This is the view from the seat of his wing looking back toward Valleyview and Dallas. this picture is at about 7800 feet above the valley floor.

Hummm.....

The second half of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half. - Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Missing Years

Well after a months absence I have returned. The gap was mostly due to a rather nasty Paragliding crash. Five broken ribs. I am here to tell tell you that broken ribs really do hurt a lot. A bad launch resulted in me being flung into three rather large boulders with considerable force. I am three weeks into my recovery and still feeling the effects. Six to eight weeks is the normal recovery time I'm told so a few weeks to go. More postings soon.

A little quote I found

Sometimes you find such clarity in one single sentence. There is an afternoon worth of discussion in these few words



Like so many folks, she was trying to construct a life that made sense from things she found in gift shops.

- Kurt Vonnegut

Wednesday Morning

It came as a quiet and subtle surprise. While talking with a friend my hand slipped down to grab a hedge in his yard. I felt the rough dimpled bark as I ran my hand up toward the tip of the slender branch. As I was about to release my grasp it came to me. Through my fingers up my arm and into my conscienceness. There in my finger tips was a bud, a young tender soft bud of leaves pushing thier way into the world. Spring has come to us winter has released it's grip. The cycle of life has once again come full circle. Amen!

One of the local pilots rippin over launch. Man these guys can fly.

Just having some fun. What a great day. The view was marvelous

And this picture is a few seconds later.

Another local pilot just a second before he turned and burned.

One of the local pilots settling his wing. This is such a great sport.

A picture of the lads setting up at Baldy. We had a ball.

Harold pre-launch. Readying himself for his first launch using reverse inflation and at a anew site with no view of the LZ

Les getting ready to launch at Baldy at Vernon

It's been awhile since I got a posting up so here we go. A bunch of Kamloops Paragliders dropped into Vernon for a little flying and a a reserve repack clinic. When we arrived it looked lousy but we hiked to Baldy (Vernon launch site) and waited for a break. After about an 1/2 hour we where rewarded with some good conditions. Les launched first in his usual clean and tidy style. Harold was next and this was his first launch from a reverse and after a bit of adjusting he got off. I was last which is a first for me as usually I am the wind dummy. But we wanted Les to let us know the wind conditions. I was able to get away on my first try. Tat was a relief as I have only done a few reverse inflation to launch. The flight was very nice, quite bumpy but a good learning experience. I landed within 10 feet of my target on my feet. And this picture was taken a few seconds later.

Xman gathering his goodies

Ah a day at the pool. During my visit to Quesnel I had a chance to go to the pool with my daughter Jessi and family. We had a great time and all enjoyed the pool. I got a little vertical to get this shot of Xavier.

My pal Xavier

This is my grandson Xavier showing grandpa his groovy trike.

Harold earns his wings

Harold called me the other day. We got together for a little kiting. In between inflation's I snapped a couple shots of him practicing the fine art of the reverse inflation

Xavier's Hotrod

My grandson was showing grandpa how it's done in his neck of the woods.

More Quesnel

It would seem the Cat was un impressed

Hey have you seen my new laptop?

Had a chance to get up to Quesnel last week-end to see my girls and my grandson Xavier. I was showing off my new laptop and well the picture tells the story. XGL on Mandriva Linux kinda blew every ones gasket. But I think the most fun was had in Winblows using the web cam. It has all sorts of funny addons and virtualizations to have fun with. As you can see they did.

New Laptop

Well I sold the old laptop and my tower. I used the funds to purchase a new laptop. I bought an Acer Aspire 5630-6459. It came preloaded with Windows Vista Premium. I had a a look around the new OS for about a week and decided I was not willing to be a Microsoft Beta tester. I was amazed to find that MS's own messenger would not work. Each time I tried to start it I got a DEP error message. And several of the software programs I use would not work. So..... I did a reload with a clean re-install of Vista with all the stock software that came preloaded and burned a DVD image file of the setup. Then wiped the whole thing With Gparted and put a fresh install of XP did all the updates and loaded all the software I need for photography. Then I installed a copy of Mint Linux 2.2 "Bianca" in a dual boot setup. I must say this Bianca is a very nice distro. An off shoot from Ubuntu. Just full of Open Source goodness. I will re-install Vista at some time but not until the first service pack is released. Right now I am pretty happy with this setup. I am quite pleased with the performance of the Core 2 Duo chip. I have been a AMD guy for years but thought to try the new Intel chip. Time will tell. I am going to try setting this up as a complete tournament setup with a second monitor. I will keep you posted.

Oh Wind and Weather

Saturday has rolled around again. Derek and I took a drive to the "Dump" at Savona hoping to get a little ridge soaring. But alas we arrived to a strong 30+ wind coming in from the lake. So we turned around and came home. Ah para-waiting. I spent the rest of the afternoon doing those things that just can't be denied. You know dishes, laundry, that kinda stuff. While I can't say I like these jobs having them done gives a certain peace. Right now Jackie and I are watching an old 50's spy movie while Sammy sleeps on her lap. It's suppose to snow tomorrow but I hope not. I hope to do a little yard work.

Another Week Flies By

You ever have those times in your life when time seems to be accelerated. Every time you stop to rest you realise a week or more has gone by. For me it seems it's every winter. Christmas time passes and hockey season gears up (photography) and the week-ends just fly by. Add to that what seems to be an annual illness that lasts from Jan. to March and three months pass before I feel like I can breath. Figuratively and literally. So I look spring. I have been using the electric bike to get back and forth to work. It's a bit cold yet but not so bad. As long s it's above 0 I can live with it. Walking has been out since Dr. discovered the reason for my foot pain. It seems my right foot has a fracture that has never healed or re-broken and has been giving me fits trying to walk or hike any distance. I have been referred to a foot surgeon for repairs but as you know that takes months. I have been told 3-6 which is not so long these days. So I wait and just keep doing what I can to stay active. Job is going well, lots to do. Jackie is doing well busy with work and learning how to record the songs she has written using Garageband on her new MAC. I am still working with the open source community and the GNU/Linux operating system. I have purchased a new Laptop with Vista on it and took a look but stripped it off and did a dualboot with XP and PCLinuxOS and openSuse There are many great distro's out there but these two are the ones I am looking at lately. I have to say exploring Linux has been rewarding and frustrating at the same time. Some things that are not given a second thought in Windows can make you crazy trying to figure out in Linux. Command lines and the like. But the open source community and all the wonderful software they write is wonderful. Any way enough for now. Later Folks.

Just another view of the New Years Eve Launch. I'm slowly getting better at this.

Quiet Nights

It's Sunday night and the house is quiet. Jackie and I are just fiddling with our puters. I am patiently waiting for the stable release of PCLinuxOS I have played with the last two versions and the next one will feature Beryl and XGL These new desktops are very cool. 3-D with all the wow factor. I guess the difference with this and say Windows new areo effects is that it will run on older hardware. I have had it running on a Pentium 700 with 384 ram and an old Nvidia 5200 card with no problems. Not much else to do here in the Loops in winter. I am waiting for the weather to break so I can get a little flying in. It has been lousy for air time here but spring is coming and I think we are planning a quick trip to Mt. Woodside to see Jim Reich. I need to purchase a reserve chute and have it installed so perhaps in the next three or four weeks we will get down there. Other wise it's all quiet on the western front. Remember the three "L"s Livin, Lovin, Learnin. Buh Bye for now!

Friday's

My day began at 6:00am. I was standing at the bus stop by 7:15 and noticed the largest brightest moon I have seen in quite some time. I found myself staring at it for some time. Not even the -13c weather could break my gaze. One more day of work and then rest. I have been working for three week ends in a row and am feeling the crunch. The bus arrived as it most always does and away I went to work. My day has begun to unfold, full of promise, full of hope.

The death of the Sansa

Well I bragged the virtues of my Sansa Mp3 player only to have it die one month after purchasing it. I read mt receipt and realized that it must be returned that day. So off I go to Future Shop. They where out of the 6 gig so I tried a 4 gig Creative Ven Plus. I must say it works well the sound quality is better, the radio has better reception. It's smaller and does a better job with podcasts.

Mid-Week Mornings

It's the middle of the week and much has been done. The mission has been busy place lately and the temperatures are going down. January is behind us so one more month of cold and we should see the turnaround. A dreary -7 this morning and already we have had to call the police to get a very intoxicated man off the road. Some time spent in prayer was much needed. It's good to get focused on what really matters. Loving and caring for the "un-lovely" can be difficult at times. At times it's hard to see the good in some of our people but I am reminded. "That to to the pure in heart all things are pure" Prayer helps remind me to look past behavior and into the heart. And those hearts are usually full of hurt. So off we go Living, Loving, Learning.

January Blues

I just finished a busy shift at work and am relaxing to a cup a Joe and a few flying video's. The weather has been lousy to fly. So I wait for spring. I have been trying to setup a Linux server for the Mission lately and I must say I know nothing. I have found it daunting. My Windows experience counts for nothing here. With a windows box I can set it up in an hour but I spent most of the day with Ubuntu and still have not quite solved it. Hum.... flying ya flying.... hum.

Sunday, Sunday

Well Sunday has rolled around again. It's evening time and I am chillaxin to a little tube while a reload my Sansa Mp3 player. I got a 6 gig. for Christmas and I have found it to be a great little player. Tons of features and good sound. I never though I would need a player with so much space but you change them much less often. I have found this player better than my ipod Nano in almost every aspect. I plan to walk to work in the morning hence the reload. The next few weeks will be very busy as I will be doing hockey tournaments every week end. We have settled in after the Christmas season. All is quiet on the home front.

Terry Paragliding

Launching for a a quick sled ride from the microwave towers here in Kamloops.

XGL + Compwiz = WOW

I have been fooling around with some new Linux distros lately. Namely Open Suse 10.2 and Mandriva 2007. Both ship with the ability to run XGL and I have to say it's very cool. I will attempt to post a picture of it in action but if you want to see the real deal go to Youtube or Google Video's and type in XGL and watch a demo. I have been having a ball with all the effects but I also believe that this can be a productivity tool as well. Having four desktops available to you and being able to use them with little effort is a time saver. I tried Mandriva 2007 Power Pack first and was delighted to have a painless install and when it came time to finish my setup it asked me if I wanted to install a propietory driver for my video card (Nvidia 5200) I clicked yes and off it went to find download and setup my card with Nvidia drivers. Wow that was easy! After my first boot into the OS a quick look around the menus brought me to a "enable desktop effects" button. One click later XGL was running on my old hardware. I spent a day checking it out then did the Open Suse install. It was a smooth process also but installing the Nvidia drivers took a lot more work. But I prevailed and then enabling the desktop effects was a one click affair. Both OS's are very nice but I think the nod goes to Open Suse for it's clean look and sharp clean fonts. Don't get me wrong Mandriva is very nice also. I will spend some time with these two and let you know how it goes

Something to think about

A quote from a song I heard on the radio.

"The more we take... the less we become."

I have thought about this a lot lately seems God wants say something and I have come to understand that when he speaks to me I need to listen, but more than that I need to act.

Saturday is here again

It's been a long while since my last post. Saturday afternoon is here and I am taking a break from chores. I just finished a little housekeeping, cooking and repairing our phone jack. The Internet has been making us a little nuts, one minute fast the other painfully slow. I found the phone jack was seized and the cord stuck. It would seem there was paint in the jack and hence problems. All seems well since I changed the jack out. The cold spell that hit us is over but we have a lot of snow left over. Derek said the launch has been plowed but only to the microwave tower. So.... still no flying. Perhaps in the next few weeks we can get a sleddy in. All is well here looking forward to Christmas. Just a few more things to get ready. Work is extremely busy but that is normal for us this time of year. Kris is coming to be with Jackie and I for Christmas and I am really looking forward to seeing her. We have been apart since she moved and I miss her. Thank God for the Internet and web cams I get to see my children and grand kids online. While it's not the same as in person it is nice. Jackie got herself a new laptop. This time she bought a MAC. I have looked at it a bit and found it similar to Linux but different enough where I feel lost. She is running Parallels software on it and is able to run windows at the same time as Mac OSX so it's kinda groovy. I am still playing with Linux and both my laptop and desktop are running dual boot with WinXP and Ubuntu. While the idea of a free OS and free software to run on it are appealing I think the average user will still find Linux a bit of a challenge. But with that said it is getting very close to being a viable desktop replacement in the very near future. Well the ham is bubbling in the pot and it's time to get some soup made.