Imagine

Hard to believe that 30 years ago, John Lennon was murdered.

I was never a Beatles fan, but I can and do appreciate their music.

What makes this event significant for me is that it was one of the first major news story's that I can remember where I was when it happened.

I wasn't born when JFK was assassinated, or even a gleam in my mother's eye when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, nor was I around when Neil Armstrong took is first steps on the moon, but I was around when John Lennon got gunned down on the front steps of his apartment in New York city.

I was 10 years old and I was driving in the car with my mom when the news came on the radio, and I remember thinking this must be something big because they were making such a big fuss about it. This was in the days before CNN, so it wasn't until the next day when I saw it splashed all over the newspapers and on TV did I only begin to realize the significance of the moment I had experienced in the car with my mom.

Of course there would be many more significant moments in history to come, but for me, this one moment will remain one of the first that I can sit back and say I know where I was on the day that this happened.

Dyson In The Beach

Back in August, I was walking the dogs down in the beach and I came across this couch on a rug set up in the middle of the sand on the beach in the leash free area. Naturally I went up and checked it out and found out it was Dyson Vacuums, promoting their new pet friendly vacuum. They were taking pictures of all the dogs and of course Hobbes and Calvin had to get in on the action. Here are some of the shots from the event. Thanks to Dyson's promotions dept. for the cool pix!

Cancer Sucks

Well, what can I say?

I has certainly been a while, now hasn't it?

Long story short, my mom recently passed away after her long battle with cancer. Pretty much all my time from the beginning of September to mid November when she finally passed away was spent with my mom. It wasn't pretty at the end, but at least she was at home with her family by her side.

My family and I were humbled by the amazing turn out at her funeral. Its nice to know that she will not only be missed by her immediate family but also by all the many friends she made along the way.

Its been a tough couple of months, I'm not going to lie, but I'm glad my moms suffering is all over. I take faith in the fact that she is in a better place and she got their on her own terms.

Thank you to all my extended family and friends for the support and love you showed me and my family in our time of need. Its nice to know my mom will be dearly missed by not only us, but by her many friends as well.

Rest in peace mom.

I'm Watering A Shoe...

An Airline With A Sense Of Humour

My sister-in-law sent me these shots of a budget airline company that flies out of South Africa called Kulula Airlines. Check out the paint scheme on one of their planes, pretty funny stuff. An airline with a sense of humour, who would of thought it possible?

Biking Update

Stats for August

330 kms road bike

o kms mountain bike

1981 total distance so far

Average speed 26-27 km/hr

best time for 2okm loop -- still 45:21 from July

rode 16 out of 31 days in August

What Happened To August?!

September first already? What the hell happened to August?! It seems like it was July just yesterday and here we are already in September. August seemed to flash by like it always does and it certainly kept me busy as well.
I just downloaded shots from my camera of stuff that I did in August, here for your viewing pleasure, are some of them...
An old friend from high school, Dave Shacket, who now lives in Vancouver was in town and I took him and his girlfriend on a convertible tour of the the waterfront, stopping at the new Sugar Beach along the way. It was Dave's girlfriends first time in a convertible, and we could not ask for a better day.Some family on my mother-in-law's side, her second cousins, I believe, were in town from Italy and we met them for lunch in Little Italy. My mother-in-law, Mannie had to translated for us. My niece Samantha came by to show off her new bike and I took her on a tour of some of the bike trails in my part of town. How hot was it? Africa hot! I know this because my car told me so. And finally, a couple of shots of the beach,on the very last day of August, talk about the dog days of summer.