De-icing the plane

So our flight from Calgary to LA was an eventful one! We waited in long lines, went through regular customs checks AND secondary customs checks (Because apparently Jason is a terrorist), we got padded and prodded through security and our bags went through a serious strip search. After that ordeal we grabbed some lunch (last poutine and iced caps for a while) and then headed onto the plane. We had some awesome seats and got to watch the deicing fun! I want that job... seriously, spraying green and pink goo on planes? AWESOME!



If you look closely you can see the green wings on the other plane!


P.S.: Sock, say goodbye to Calgary.

Christmas Puzzle

For Christmas, Rowan and I received a puzzle from Bill. Rowan does not have an exceeding amount of patience for puzzles, so it was mostly up to me to get this finished before we left. If memory serves, we started the puzzle on Christmas day or perhaps the day after, and it was only just finished today. It is a 1500 peice puzzle and though I have not done too many jigsaw puzzles in my life, I would rate this one as very difficult. See for yourself:

Edit/PS: I should give credit where credit is due though: I did have help from all of the Martindales on and off throughout the course of the puzzle's construction. Often just a few pieces here and there, but sometimes they were pieces that had been eluding me for hours and hours :D

Calgary Zoolights!

Sleigh Bells Ring...

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
In the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight,
We're happy tonight.
Walking in a winter wonderland.

Santa stopped by the other day in a not-so-miniature sleigh and two not-so-tiny Clydesdales.

Boxing Day Quading

With the temperatures just around freezing, the sun shining bright, and some nice snow in the fields, Bill got out his quad. When offered the chance to ride, I couldn't pass it up and joined in the fun. This was the first time that I can recall driving a quad and it was a blast, particularly in the snow. I also tested out my new MEC sweat shirt and it performed wonderfully, blocking out most of the wind and keeping my body comfy and warm. The brain monster was also present to protect its source of nurishment.

Married!!

Hi everyone, Rowan and I currently in the UK, but my blog has been lacking horribly in updates, so I figured I'd start with something easy and work up from there. For those that don't know Rowan and I recently were married. Here's the full story in the form of a letter I wrote out soon after the event: "Greetings Friends, I have some very exciting and happy news to share, but it will likely come as a big shock, so you might want to sit down. As I think all of you know, I have been dating Rowan for almost 3 years now. During the past year we have seriously been discussing the possibility of getting engaged and hence married. Well, there have been some recent events which have sped up this entire process. I was visiting Rowan's family at the end of June and into the first week of July. On Sunday July 5, at the Calgary airport, heading back to Los Angeles, I was pulled aside to the secondary inspection point when going through US border security in the Calgary airport. After a fairly long wait, I was told I would not be allowed into the US, because I had been there for too many months out of the past year. The problem was that I had been staying in the US more than I had been staying in Canada in the last 12 months. Rowan and I have a very strong and dedicated relationship together. We maintained a "long-distance" relationship for a year when Rowan moved to Los Angeles to do her Ph.D. and I finished up my Master's. Having gone through that, we absolutely did not want to do that again. The very kind border security guard handed me a list of options that would help my case if I wanted to re-enter the US sometime sooner than 6 months from now. Unfortunately, none of these options were helpful or applicable to me. Further complicating matters was an upcoming trip to Austria in August that Rowan is in the midst of planning for her Ph.D. thesis. I am to be her field-assistant for the trip. All of these thoughts, pressures, and complications ran through our minds as Rowan, myself, and her parents sat down to figure out what to do. With surprising ease, it became apparent what the solution would be. We would get married. By being married, I can get a VISA that allows me to stay in the US with Rowan for as long as she is there in school. And so, with very little ado, Rowan and I were married on July 8, 2009 in the presence of her parents, younger sister, and younger sister's boyfriend. It was a time of great joy and happiness, as celebrated the joining of our lives and affirmed our love. There was also a bit of sadness as the situation and circumstances did not allow us to be together with all of our family and friends to celebrate this important event. We hope to find time to visit and rejoice together with all of you as soon as possible. Thankfully, despite the small group gathered, there were 3 cameras recording the event. Rowan and I have selected a number of our favourites, which you can view here. I also have video of the entire ceremony, which I will edit (it runs too long at the beginning and end) and post as well, when I have a moment. Finally, Rowan and I would really like to have a celebration/reception at some later date, when it will work for us and as many others as possible. This would likely happen in Kingston, but as everything has been moving so fast recently, much of this idea is still up in the air and we would appreciate any input on this. With love, Rowan and Jason"

 

 

 

 

Calgary Stampede 2009

Yesterday, I went to the Calgary Stampede for the first time. Definitely a great experience, with many interesting venues, events, and a lot of people! Here are some choice photos from the rodeo itself. We were up on the top level of the grandstand, but fortunately in the front row, so we had a pretty good view of the action. There were some new and different foods available at the Stampede this year: deep-fried jellybeans, deep-fried oreos, deep-fried coke, beef sundae, and probably some others that I am forgetting. We tried the deep-fried oreos. They weren't bad, but they were very sweet... I think I prefer my oreos "natural".

 

 

 

 

Calgary Zoolights

Last night we (Branwen, Logan, Rowan, Bill, and myself) went to Zoolights at the Calgary Zoo. Hopefully the pictures give you an idea of what we saw and experienced there. Essentially, a section of Calgary Zoo is decorated with Christmas lights and you can wander around there after nightfall to enjoy the sights. As one can imagine it was difficult to take photos under these conditions (nevermind the -10 C temperatures), but I think my G5 did admirably. For those that care, I mostly operated my camera on full manual: aperture at F2.0, shutter speed 1/40s, and ISO 400. All of the photos are direct from my camera.

Update from Calgary and walking with Rocky

Hello again astute followers of the Flamie Blog. Just wanted to let everyone know that life is proceeding very well in Calgary with the Martindales. It has been a wonderfully relaxing time with good company, food, celebration, music, and ofcourse lots of presents. No particular event stands out, but it has just been excellent here. During the giving and receiving of gifts I was blessed with a wonderfully warm and comfortable hand knit sweater from Rowan, lots of new music, some comics based on Firefly, too many other wonderful gifts to mention here, and an iPod Touch! Holy crap, I didn't expect to get that. It is amazingly cool. I suspect the initial fascination with the touch screen and the accelerometer stuff might wear off, but it is still an amazing useful toy. With wifi and applications available to do almost anything you could want, it is so much more than just a portable music device. Fun fun fun... Anyways, today I went for a short walk with Rocky (the Martindale's dog). There was fresh snow on the ground from this morning and it was very misty/foggy in the low areas. All in all, a very refreshing walk.