It's Winter and Chinese New Year!

I try to keep up with the news in Toronto and the winter storms that seem to pound the city also come up to Newfoundland as well. There's almost a rhythm to the weather where you'll get hit with intense blizzards followed by calm periods of cold sunny days. Here's a shot outside my apartment during one blizzard:


It's actually worse than it looks in the photo. The high winds also create drifting snow which reduces visibility even more. Once when I was out driving the snow was so heavy and blowing so hard that the headlights of my car caused a reflective glare that you would see in thick fog.

Well, once the weather settles down, lots of people head out to ski. At the encouragement of my chief, I've taken out a yearly membership at the local cross country club. Here's a shot of me decked out with skis and poles and a picture of the ski lodge:


They say that cross country skiing ranks up there with running in terms of aerobic activity. It's not hard to stay motivated once you're out on the trails -- if you stop, you'll freeze. I'm also finding it tricky to dress appropriately as it is very easy to get drenched in sweat if you overdo it. Apparently, you're supposed to dress such that you'll feel cold and start shivering if you're just standing around doing nothing.

Unfortunately, my plan to buy skis backfired badly when I came back to Toronto for Chinese New Year. I went down to MEC on Sunday and, as bad luck would have it, they were completely sold out of ski boots in the price range I wanted. Without the boots there was no point in getting skis. They recommended another store in Toronto but it was closed on Sundays. I guess I'll rent skis from the local ski club for now and I'll buy my own set next weekend during a trip to Corner Brook.

I was back in Toronto briefly for the weekend to meet up with the parental units for the traditional family gathering for Chinese New Year. As usual, lots of dim sum to go along with the New Year's Eve meal with the extended family. Nothing else new to report besides the stereotyped conversations I tend to have with my parents of late -- I guess they can't seem to think of anything else to talk about and they can't help themselves. The only good news is that my Dad seems keen on going to China and he still wants me to go with him. I reminded him that as a new staff I don't get that much in vacation time and that I have toured China before. I'm also very leery about his ulterior motives. I keep encouraging him to go, even if by himself, because he shouldn't keep postponing this like he has for the past 20 years.

I'm quickly getting used to the unreliable nature of winter travel in the maritimes. My trip out to Toronto was disrupted when my flight leaving Deer Lake for Halifax was delayed 1.5 hours. Unfortunately, it was the last flight of the day and the delay also resulted in a missed connection. I chose to fly on anyway and to stay in a hotel courtesy of Air Canada. Fortunately, my flight back mostly worked out...just a 40 minute delay getting out of Halifax because they had to defuel the plane. The plane was originally fueled to go to Toronto but I guess they recruited it to go to Deer Lake instead and it was now too heavy given the new payload.

My winter driving experience continues to expand by leaps and bounds. I feel like I can handle anything Toronto winters can throw at me having lived here for the past few months. I even had 2 moose encounters on my way back to St. Anthony. The first really hammered home the point that the moose is a large animal with a small brain. As I was driving, I saw the car up ahead had come to a stop and so I slowed down to see what was going on. There was a moose blocking the lane and it was jogging up the highway. Now, I think moose are reluctant to cross the 2 foot high snowbanks left behind by the snowplows which would explain why this moose refused to leave the road. We followed it for a minute and then the moose...stopped. We stared at each other for about 30 seconds and I was wondering if this moose was ever going to get out of our way. It just so happened that a tractor trailer was approaching in the opposite lane. What did the moose do? Yup, that's right, it crossed the road into the direct path of the tractor trailer. The car in front of me flashed his high beams and fortunately (for the moose), the truck driver managed to brake in time. The moose started jogging back the way we came with the truck close behind.

I enjoy driving my car in the winter because it has a number of safety features which, combined with the AWD, turn it into a veritable snow machine. I'll admit I drive too aggressively for my own good but my car hasn't failed me yet. Stability Control is worth its weight in gold and it has saved me twice from going off the road whenever I run into an unexpected patch of deep snow. The second encounter I had with moose was halfway back to St. Anthony when I suddenly saw 2 moose standing on the highway. I braked hard and came to a stop less than 10 feet from where they stood, mesmerized by my car's headlights. Fortunately, the reflected light from the snow on the road plus the light reflected from their eyes made them easy to spot. After a few moments they turned away and ran back into the forest. Yeesh, I really shouldn't be rushing back at night!

Happy New Year!

Hey everybody. Once again I'm falling behind with the blog but with the holidays now over I can devote some more time to it. As a brief update, I was able to return to Toronto for a week off over Xmas. It just so happened that I flew into Toronto on the day a big storm hit (Dec. 19th). I looked at the schedule and the forecasts and I thought I was safe because I was going to arrive after the storm. Well, this winter taught me that airlines run lean, mean, operations and delays in one part of the country have a domino effect everywhere else. With Toronto being a hub city for Air Canada, it's not surprising the winter storm had a ripple effect on the entire Air Canada network.

All my flights were delayed, which is actually good because it meant I could still catch all my connections. At the last connection point I was stuck in Montreal. It took an hour to leave the gate and make it to the runway. Toronto wasn't any better and it took an hour after landing to make it to the gate. By the time I got home it was 3 AM -- better late than cancelled!

I enjoyed my week back in Toronto. As expected, lots of Chinese food, catching up with friends and family, and a little bit of shopping. Not much in the way of big news from my family. My dad says he is going to return to China for a visit in April some time which is good news. He has also resigned himself to the fact that I'm not terribly interested in going with him (see previous post) and I'll have trouble scrounging up the vacation time to go for very long anyway. He has also hinted at an impending retirement from the rental apartment business which is also good news as well. He's definitely the sort of person who would have a hard time retiring.

Unfortunately, I can still sense that my parents are both having a hard time adjusting to me being in Newfoundland and I still think they're being somewhat irrational. My mom just worries excessively about whether I'm getting the basic necessities of life (you'd think I was living at the north pole). My dad worries about the same thing but he never fails in bringing up the inevitable topic of my marital status. I would write more but I promised to tone this down so I'll leave this topic for another day.

Fortunately my trip back was somewhat smoother except I was delayed by about an hour in Halifax because the flight crew for our flight was delayed. By the time I arrived in Deer Lake, had a bite to eat, and hit the road it was 8 pm. This was when I made my next mistake while driving in Newfoundland.

Usually, a tank of gas will just get me from Deer Lake to St. Anthony during the summer. In the winter and with a load of cargo it won't be enough so I usually have to plan my fuel stops. I usually don't fill up when I leave Deer Lake to minimize weight when going through the hills of Gros Morne and that's what I did this time. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that gas stations along the Viking Trail close no later than 9 pm. This is what happens when a city boy used to 24/7 gas stations starts driving down a remote highway in Newfoundland.

It was with a slowly increasing feeling of dread as I passed through every town and saw only closed gas stations. I made it about half way before the low gas warning light came on. Fortunately, I was in Hawkes Bay which had an Inn I could stay at. It was also getting late so I didn't complain too much about the $100 fee. The next morning I got up as soon as the gas station opened and I managed to get to St. Anthony 2 hours later. Lesson learned!