srobarts's Blog

Biking, or the love of motion on two wheels

srobarts — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 08:21:50 -0700

I have always loved biking, since I was a kid and it meant freedom, to explore my neighbourhood, to find new hiding places, to try and see if I could make that jump off the curb, usually with a resulting skinned knee. As I got older I graduated to faster and more expensive bikes, road bikes, mountain bikes. But always the thrill stayed the same; going places under your own power, unfettered by time, or money, or traffic. I would get to where I was going and think, wow, isn't it nice just to be here.

I don't bike as much as I used to, but still when I get on a bike it feels like the most natural thing in the world, like I was meant to be there. And always I feel better afterwards, there is something definitely cathartic to biking, maybe all the wind in your face blows the cobwebs out of your brain.

We all should try and bike more, for the environment, for our health, but also just for us, for our well being. There is always a place on the road for one more bike.

Deadly Antifreeze: Sign a petition to ban poisonous antifreeze

srobarts — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 15:08:46 -0800

Antifreeze is deadly to pets, thousands of animals have died from ingesting the liquid which is used in all engines. The problem lies in the fact that antifreeze contains ethylene glycol which is extremely toxic to both people and animals. Adding to the problem is the fact that to an animal antifreeze smells sweet and enticing, and they also like the taste. Even the smallest amount of antifreeze is deadly, and 88% of animal encounters with the substance will be fatal.

But it doesn't have to be the case.

Animal friendly antifreeze is readily available and costs basically the same as normal antifreeze. In addition, it is biodegradable, recyclable, and anti-corrosive. Quite simply, it is the better choice.

BC MLA for Alberni-Qualicum Scott Fraser is campaigning to have non-animal safe antifreeze removed from the stores across BC. He has introduced a private members bill to the provincial legislature that calls for the banning of poisonous antifreeze. And he is calling for concerned BC residents to download a petition which they can then get everyone they know who supports this initiative to gather signatures and then mail it back to him for submission. I am going to do this, and I encourage others to do the same.

Do it for your little four-legged friends!

SOURCE (Information!)

Did you know that wrapping paper isn't recycleable?

srobarts — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 17:08:57 -0800

I never knew that wrapping paper isn't recycleable. I assumed you put it in with the rest of your mixed paper and away it goes.

Tessa at Condofire.com found this out the other day and she found some suggestions on alternatives to using traditional wrapping paper. Among these the most obvious is to use other types of paper, like newspaper, or use reusable fabrics instead of paper. I think these ideas are great, does anyone else have any others?

What to do with the wood from Stanley Park? Darren Barefoot has an interesting idea

srobarts — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 11:42:12 -0800

Parks crews are harvesting a great deal of wood from Stanley Park, from the trees that have been blown down in the last wind storm. They are going to be selling this wood to fund the replacement of the trees. Vancouver blogger Darren Barefoot has a better idea though; he suggests selling it to local artisans.

Here’s my alternative idea: give the wood (or some of it, at least) to local artists and artisans. They make sculpture, furniture, knick knacks and so forth, sell their wares and share the profits with the park. There are two attractive points for the buyer: they know they’re supporting the rehabilitation of the park, and there’d be a certain cachet in owning something made out of Stanley Park wood. There’s only a limited amount of it, after all. I probably wouldn’t just donate to this cause, but I’d probably buy a cool picture frame on its behalf.

My wife has a piece of the Berlin Wall, which I think is great and it is interesting to preserve a piece of history. This would not be exactly the same, but I think that it that it would be special to have a piece of Stanley Park forest, without having to cut down a tree to get it. (Understanding as well that the tree had to come to an unfortunate, though natural, end to supply it).

LINK to Darren's Blog Post

Radio station has campaign to help rebuild Stanley Park

srobarts — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 09:47:44 -0800

Stanley Park was ravaged in the wind storm that we experienced last week; the park lost more than 1000 trees, some of them hundreds of years old.

Local radio station CKNW has launched a campaign to rebuild Stanley Park. Donations of $50 or more are tax deducible. You can replace an entire tree for $2000.

More Information

I know that $2000 is a little out of my price range, but I think I could come up with $50. I would like to hear if anyone knows of any other efforts to restore our beautiful park; I would like to volunteer or give toward some more grassroots efforts - actually get my hands dirty. Of course, first they have to finish cleaning up the mess, which some estimates have put at weeks if not months, before they can rebuild.

Found on Craigslist: Single mom needs help at Christmas

srobarts — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 21:53:50 -0800

I found this posting on Craigslist this evening, I thought it was touching:

" I am a single mom of a little girl, I am on disability income assistance.
This is difficult, asking for help at this time of year. I just don't have enough money to make a Christmas for my daughter. We don't have any family. I would be so grateful of anything anyone can offer as help towards making Christmas special for my baby, I want her Christmas to be happy. I don't want any gifts or anything for myself. Please help. Merry Christmas "

I have requested more information from the individual. And will post more information as it becomes available.

This item on Craigslist got me to thinking that I would like to do more to help out families in need this Christmas. I know there are many charities already doing this, but I personally want to do more to try and make sure that this is a happy Christmas and no child has to go without. If anyone has any suggestions on how to carry out this Change, please let me know, in the mean time I will do my own research.

Petition to Promote Cycling in Canada - Please Sign

srobarts — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 23:13:19 -0800

A commuter who states on his blog that he is "willing to bike/public transit from Toronto to Oshawa (130km round trip- 45km by bike and 85 by Go Train) to get to work, in order to save afew polar bears". Has prepared a petition which he will present to the House of Commons to promote cycling as a solution to Canada's climate-change problems.

More information is on my blog HERE.

Or go directly to the petition HERE.

Gordon Campbell looking at privatized water treatment for lower mainland

srobarts — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 20:46:20 -0800

My co-author at IndieScribe has written a post about how Gordon Campbell is trying to push privatized water treatment facilities onto British Columbians, and how is going to have a hard time of it because we don't support it. LINK.

Is it not true that our tax dollars pay for clean water? And if the city, district, province or whoever cannot provide this sufficiently then it is their failing? I know that they cannot control mother nature, but come on - shouldn't they have anticipated something like this could have happened? I mean, boohoo we got a lot of rain - we live in a rain forest - it isn't much of a stretch to think that it is a possibility that we would get this much rain, therefore fowling our water?

I hate to get my back up, but I think some question need to be asked, and some answers given.

Boil Water Advisory Lifted for parts of lower mainland

srobarts — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 13:24:28 -0800

The boil water advisory has been lifted for all areas of the lower mainland with the exception of Vancouver, North Shore and Burnaby. Too bad that is most of the lower mainland.

FROM THE GVRD:

Medical Health Authorities have advised that “at the recommendation of the Medical Health Officers, the boil water advisory is lifted for all areas except Vancouver, North Shore and Burnaby. Turbidity levels for all other areas is at acceptable levels, because they are being served by the Coquitlam water source. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

GVRD staff advise that turbidity levels in the GVRD’s Capilano and Seymour reservoirs are declining but remain above acceptable levels. The region is currently discharging water from the Capilano and Seymour lakes in an effort to release as much of the turbid water as is possible. Inflow to the reservoirs is, at the moment, experiencing much lower turbidity, although additional impact may be expected from storms forecast for this weekend.

Disinfection of the source water has been increased, as has sampling and testing.

For more information go to: GVRD Website

Boil Water Advisory - Day Two

srobarts — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 11:01:19 -0800

It's day two of the boil water advisory, and I almost had a panic attack this morning when the radio which was waking me up announced that Starbucks and Tim Hortons would not be open because they have no water. OH MY GOD, NO COFFEE!

What would I do? Good thing my wife is a genius; she had boiled some water the night before and was using that to make me my morning coffee. The world would be alright after all!

Truth being told, on my way into work this morning I noticed that many coffee shops were open, mostly the small independent ones. I suspect that they were up early this morning or late last night boiling water in great quantities in order to create a supply for the crush of caffeine starved Vancouverites they would face, never a pretty sight.

This whole incident (and it is still continuing, it may get worse) is an eye-opener. We are not at all prepared. As part of the many things I do that results in me being so scatter-brained, is that I volunteer with the North Shore Emergency Social Services, and I have taken training in disaster preparedness. Despite all this training my wife and I too found ourselves at Superstore desperately buying up the last case of nasty-tasting no-name Perrier rip-off water the other night. What would we do if this were an earthquake?

At lunch I am heading out to the sporting goods store to see if there are any water purifiers left, the kind that you use for camping. I have done a lot of camping and know that you can drink the most turgid water as long as you purify it to get rid of all the nasties, and in the end all you will be left with is brown water that tastes terrible but wont make you get "the trots". Let's see if I have any luck. I noticed one enterprising soul was selling his water purifier on Craigslist for $100.