We rode the TRAIN!

Yesterday was an auspicious day. First off, we all had a chance to ride the LRT.
Then we all had a chance to play on the teeter totters that light up and make music downtown.
Then it was date night at daycare (they took Lucy and Isaac).
Laura, Alice, and I enjoyed some food and drinks on a patio.

Then we rode the train again.

It was a low traffic time, going against the rush hour crowd. But... it was as fast and quiet as I hoped that it would be. I'm actually really happy about the train. (I'm not enthusiastic about the tunnel for us to get to the train, but...). I'm just hoping that it will continue to work and people in the city will start to really get a feel for fast, clean, non-bus public traffic. It's lovely.

Mixed feelings

Today was the first work day that the LRT opened. Fine-freaking-aly. We have not ridden it yet, but I'm sure that we'll have more than enough chances this winter. I'm excited to, but not actually going to skip a day of biking to ride it if I don't have to. Some co-workers rode it at lunch 1 stop for fun. Me, that'd cost like $3.45 so I'll wait until I have more time to do it better.

I love biking, I really do. At first it was just because it was fast, cheap, and convenient. Then because it made me feel so much happier with the little bit of exercise. Now as it seems like the world is heading towards climate disaster and it's starting to feel... required. It's something that we can do.

Then I think about what we can do more. Smaller car, use it even less. Then I think about my folks who I love very much driving around in their huge Dodge Ram 2500 truck where the hood comes up to my arm pit. Why do they need a big truck like that? Well, for hauling a 5th wheel like 2-3 times a year. A 5th wheel that's pretty much a second house that they drag around with A/C, satellite tv, etc. Honestly it just makes me a bit sad.

Thinking about these things makes me feel so helpless sometimes. But it helps, for a bit, to go ride my bicycle.

Achievement Unlocked: Biking with an Umbrella

I went slow, it was fine. My thighs were wet, but that's more to do with it pouring and it was windy. But I went really slow and got home eventually.

Oh, and it was at night too.

Cottage fun

As we have in the past, after the long weekend family get together we stayed up at the cottage for the following week. This week it’s just been us up here and it’s been really nice as a family. The kids play “coffee drive through” with the window between the dining room and sunroom. A little bit more each day, they seem to be playing better with each other. I’m not sure if this is a golden age that will last, or a brief window. I’m trying to enjoy it while it lasts.

We have new paddle boards. Alice loves the “see who can stay on the longest” game. Isaac is more cautious, but loves to paddle around in a boat on his own. He does well and has good control and acts as a good Captain Isaac when Lucy is on board. Lucy is learning to paddle, and her favorite boat to fall asleep is in Uncle Phil’s green kayak.

We’ve been playing a bit of Skip-Bo which has been interesting. Maybe a bit too advanced for Isaac just yet, but he will get better at it. We listened to Alice teach Isaac how to play war which was endearing. I love it when they help each other.

We are heading home tomorrow and it’s been a good time. It’s so nice to just hang out with the family without having to travel anywhere, even if it’s a local park.

I go back to work on Monday after being off for 5 weeks. They went by really fast. I still need to figure out how to retire right now and enjoy life with the family. This is really nice.

Waving at the trains

We now have a new MUP that can get us faster to downtown, safer, and I get to wave at all the trains. I think that the drivers enjoy the enthusiasm because they often wave, and sometimes clang their bell and beep too. It's great. The other day Laura even had them wave at her first. I have to admit that I start waving long before I can see if they are waving back.

I'm excited because this means that I won't have to stress taking the kids downtown and worry about them being run over going along Somerset. It means I don't have to worry about me being run over going along Somerset.

I do feel a little bad though. The other route that Lucy and I were taking had a lot more chance to see dogs, ducks, and generally have a nice time along the river. There's less things to point out and talk about, but that also means there are so many fewer conflicts points.

And you've never heard a perfect guffaw until you've heard a 2yo laughing at a train clanging their bell at you.

Twelve Years

It's been a pretty good 12 years. I couldn't really picture a better scenario (other where I rode a self-aware bike that had a built in coffee / stroopwafel machine).

I'm pretty damn happy.

Here's to many more.

Bulk convert iTunes m4a files to mp3's

I knew that I didn't have all my home music files on my work computer. I thought that something had gone wrong with the transfer, it didn't occur to me that it wasn't in a form that WinAmp couldn't read it.

Long story short:
find . -type f -name "*.m4a" -exec ffmpeg -n -i {} -codec:v copy -codec:a libmp3lame -q:a 2 {}".mp3" \;