Motorcycles…the fastest and funnest way to get into trouble!
Yup, I did it! I ended up getting my class 6 license. I took a motorcycle safety course over the June 18-20th weekend. Nice weather. Kind of sucks that I didn’t get any photos though! The course was excellent. It was put on by the Calgary Safety Council. They took me and about 20 others from never riding a motorcycle before to passing the practical part of the class 6 test. Plus the safety course give you a 50% discount on your insurance premiums ;0)
Needless to say, I need to get a bike. Doug (my brother) took the same course a few weeks before I did, he of course went whole hog and bought himself a new crotch rocket. Awesome bike. He’s been nice enough to let me run around a few times on it. I have to say that it has a LOT more power than any of the bikes the CSC had out. I’m still debating over whether I want to get a bike like his or a cruiser. Regardless, I’ll be waiting until spring before I decide.
Cheers,
Brad
A Lost Parent
My Father passed away on April 4th, 2004 from pancreatic cancer. It’s been a tough few months and I’ve only just begun to recover from the shock of loosing a beloved parent.
Last November, he began to feel ill and slowly became jaundice. The doctor discovered that there was a growth blocking off his bile duct which in turn was causing his jaundice. They put in a stint to keep the duct from closing - getting rid of the jaundice. Sadly, we also found out that the growth was cancerous and that there was not much that could be done. The pancreas, which is where the cancer was located, is in a spot in the body where you just don’t have easy access for surgery. The easiest way to get to it is to remove one of the kidneys - which causes it’s own problems. We were told that Dad had between six and twelve months to live. There was the option of Chemotherapy - but he felt that it would make him too weak to enjoy the time he had left. It’s sad to say this, but we all knew at some level that he wasn’t going to survive.
Christmas was tough - yet exceptional - this past year. We had a lot of family around, including my Grandmother who came in from Dauphin. Dad and I spent a lot of time together and had some great heart to heart discussions. They revolved around so many topics - but the core theme was him telling me it would be okay - he’d always be there in spirit.
In February we all noticed that he was getting more fatigued. He wasn’t eating - partially due to the the food and subsequent digestion causing him severe pain. He was on copious amounts of morphine to help with that and to dull his pain in general. He continued to go down hill through February and March. Near the end of March he was in bed most of the time and so frail that he needed help getting up just to go to the bathroom.
Mom made the impossible call that we should move him into a hospice. The ambulance came and moved him on Monday, March 29th. He was at this point very weak and found it difficult to talk. It was tough watching him try to speak because you knew that he was in there, and he was trying so hard to stay strong for everyone.
He spent the last few days of his life at the Rosedale Hospice. The nurses there treated him exceptionally well - and looking back I am glad we were there instead of in a hospital - the atmosphere gave us all room to grieve.
Edward (Ted) Michael Hafichuk passed away the following Sunday, April 4th at 4pm with his mother and his wife tending to him. We all love you and miss you Dad, and hope you’re out there looking over us.
Tags: personal
Grotto Canyon
A friend of mine, Craig, and myself went on a nice hike up near Canmore last Sunday. We were going to be heading further west, up to the Spray Lakes but nasty weather changed our plans. We decided to head over to Grotto Canyon instead. Over all, there are three things to see at Grotto Canyon (aside from the mountains that is).
The first site (which I’ll admit we overlooked on the way going upstream) are the Native drawings, which are quite faded from time. These are the only ones that are viewable from the ground. Apparently if you’re an avid rock climber there are other such drawings you can find.
The second site is a nice waterfall which feeds the creek. You can climb closer to the actual fall if you have the courage to do so. This is the end of the trail for most people.
Lastly, if you head up a dry creek bed (unless it’s spring runoff time) you’ll eventually come across a cave carved out of a sandstone hill. The cave is about 50 feet in the air, 12 feet high and maybe 30 feet deep. I was able to get fairly close to the entrance, but the last 5 feet caused me to rethink my priorities in life. Needless to say, I have in the past climbed into the cave and it is quite barren inside - it’s just sand and gravel.
Overall, this is an easy hike with lots to see if you want to take your time. If you love the site/sound of running water, I’d highly recommend this one.
Tags: hiking
What to look for?
Well what do you suppose this is? A weblog? Let’s just say that I’m going to be posting stuff about anything that interests me, or just stuff that I don’t want to forget about. I’m notorious for doing that. Forgetting, that is ;0)
Most of my posts will be about either technical issues I’m dealing with at work (computers suck, right?!?) or just rambling about my personal life that I want to share.
If you’ve found this entry, congrats! If you didn’t, well…