Air Show

Summerside, PEI, is host to the Atlantic Canada International Air Show this weekend. My sister, father, and I went to it today.

The image below captures it perfectly: the kid in each of us wants nothing more than to see a plane do a stunt.



The biggest news is that there was no hint of rain (a common problem this summer and an inevitability from Irene, but not yet), although there was a major fire at a dairy warehouse on the west part of the Island.

The show was terrific. There were many stunt planes with crazy acrobatics. There were also sky-divers, a tank, a jet-powered truck, a wing-walking woman (is this 1920?), and the Snowbirds.

Too many highlights to list here, but in addition to just being home for such an event, I think I saw a T6 Texan do some stunts. I went up in such a plane, circa 2003 in Illinois. (You pay the company to go up with a real pilot.) There is a VCR tape of my exploits. I'll have to dig it out and fervently hope that it survived the move and heat of last summer.

CC

Phone Update

I've been running on a borrowed, pay-as-you-go phone for the last, well, year. This has not been tenable and due to a few recent incidents, I've decided to go cold turkey and return it to its owner.

In the short-term, I cannot be reached by phone.

Hopefully this will expedite my decision regarding phones. As readers know, I have been hung up on writing apps for an iPhone or an Android phone.

People think this is an easy decision, but it isn't, because the platforms are very different. Some wags joke that I should just buy one of each phone but I don't really want 2 data-plans, nor do I have the time to write apps for 2 platforms. I'm not sure I have the time to write apps for one platform.

However, what is definitely true is that if I keep waiting, the world will continue to pass me buy. I'm reasonably sure that I will be getting a new Android phone through Telus in the next 4-6 weeks. There is a snazzy new model coming out, and that will probably be the pick.

When the choice is final, I'll email/post my new phone number to the world!

CC

Stress and Personality

A cousin of mine recently went on an eloquent soliloquy about life. He said that he may not have "aimed high" but that he appreciates what he has, including a job with zero stress.

I wonder if it is the job, or if it is him. He is an unflappable kind of guy.

I had hoped to find a low-stress gig that was limited to the usual 9-to-5. It hasn't worked out that way, to say the least. Drama, pressure, and I am up at 6 am for a conference call. I don't want to admit when I came home last night.

Is it the gig, though? Or is it me? I'm not exactly unflappable. One mentor told me, "you are high-maintenance, but worth it". That was 11 years ago, I wonder if it has changed.

CC

Duathlon

I am a member of the PEI Roadrunner club. They have a website that lists events around the Island for fitness. I'm happy to report there is usually 1-2 races every weekend.

This past weekend, there were 2 races. One was a killer 25 km trail run. No thanks. The other was a duathlon: 17 km bike, followed by a 7 km run.

I was bummed. I've long sold the legendary race bike, Blackbird, and do not enjoy riding on my hybrid bike. I debated on possibly taking the bike anyway, but then I was faced with logistics of transporting it in my car (unlike Blackbird, the front tire does not pop off easily).

And so, I stared at the web page. To bike or not to bike. What to do? Then I noticed a "team division". Aha! Now I just needed someone who enjoys bicycling.

But who enjoys bicycling? I don't have many fitness friends here on PEI.

Again, I was crestfallen. Until it hit me like a bolt of lightning: my father.

It is no secret that my father is a rabid bicyclist. He patrols the Confederation Trail with other senior citizens, wearing daunting yellow jerseys and licensed to write citations on yellow pieces of paper. Last year, he logged a staggering 5000 km.

How perfect! I sent an email and before long, we were in Rustico together. He bikes; I run. Sounds good to me.

It was a fun event. It threatened rain but we got away with it. As it turned out, we finished 25th out of 37 entries. To be fair, many entries were solo efforts. However, our combined age is 112. (I'm fairly certain we were the oldest team.)

It was great fun and I hope that we can try it again next year. The duathlon is rare even in St. Louis but especially so here.

CC