tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50777883211115921752024-02-06T20:29:09.240-07:00Where The Fuck Is Kyle?Kyle's adventures and travels.Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.comBlogger296125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-24071027349184471172016-09-21T12:41:00.002-06:002016-09-21T12:41:37.055-06:00Vegas Baby!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Thr past few days have been some on the most scenic of my life. After being punched in the face by the force of the Moab landscape we rode right into the heart of an iconic American landscape. You've seen Forrest Gump run in it and the Griswold's get lost in it: Monument Vallry. It is an absolute must see for anyone traveling this area; you would be foolish to miss it. The highway slopes down a couple mile long dip and into the vast stretch of rock spires that look like natures downtown. And we even got to see a couple giant eared desert foxes on the side of the highway!<div>
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The next day was an interesting one. First I'll start off with the Grand Canyon. Nobody that has seen it can imagine how immense it is. The sheer width, depth and length challenge the mind to come up with numbers to measure its volume or even comprehend how something so massive can be created by nature. Now I understand why everyone has always said it is a must to visit in a lifetime. And now Kyle has it checked off the list! Boo yah! </div>
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Now to describe the day's events. These first two things will be a testament to just how tiring all this riding (and a little bit of heat stroke) can be on the body and mind. We hit the showers first thing, followed by breakfast and then hopped on the free shuttle buses that take you to various stops on the South Rim Trail. After being dropped at the east most trail stop we hiked for about twenty minutes before I had an "oh fuck" moment and realized my wallet wasn't in my back pocket. We hoofed it to the next stop with a worried pace and waited for the bus to arrive. Thankfully the bus driver had it, and I threw her $60 for being honest. Then, if that wasn't enough, I realized I'd left my watch in the shower stall! I figured my luck was ran out, there was no way I was getting that back. I checked it off in my mind as a travel casualty and focused on the day. We continued to walk the rim trail for the rest of the day, which is a well maintained, paved trail that for the most part sticks along the edge of the canyon and leads to various viewpoints that offer incredible views. It was really awesome seeing the trail that descends into the canyon, watching the people turn to almost unrecognizable specs as they reach the bottom sections. One day I would like to do that trail. Later we stopped by the shower house and amazingly enough they had my watch! These two honest gestures shows how blown away I've been so far by the friendliness of all the Americans we've met so far this trip. They have truly been some of the best I've ever met, which has blown my stereotypes out of the water so far.</div>
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One thing I can't go without mentioning is the types of campers we saw at the campground. A neighbour a couple sites down for some unknown reason threw a butane camp fuel cylinder into their blazing fire pit, which caused an explosion that I'm sure the whole park heard. And then we watched an Asian tourist try to guide their friend who was backing their SUV out of a hiking trail they had started driving up, thinking it was a road. Priceless.</div>
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Yesterday we left Grand Canyon in the pouring rain, which continued to pour on us nearly the whole ride to Vegas, so needless to say our gear is drying out in the hotel as we speak. Rain, cold, we will not be stopped. And now we're in Vegas! Our original intention had been to go to Zion National Park but the rain changed that plan. I'm happy it worked out this way, having more than two days to relax and recharge is definitely what the doctor ordered. I plan on blackjack and drinking.</div>
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Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-83436716716411284642016-09-17T22:26:00.000-06:002016-09-17T22:26:02.700-06:00Amazeballs Views<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Moab in one word: amazeballs. The weather has turned for us and has become a balmy 28 degrees. This did become a temporary setback when we developed heat stroke from the very quick transition to hot weather. Riding on a motorcycle with the wind blowing can be deceiving as it makes you feel cool but in 28 degrees it's not really cooling anything. I started getting chills about 40 miles outside of Moab and by the evening it was clear we both were suffering from it. We turned in early after a healthy sushi meal and had a fitful, feverish sleep but it became a blessing in disguise when we were up early enough to head to Dead Horse Point to see the sun rise over Canyonlands National Park.<br />
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The view from Dead Horse Point is definitely in my top three, the others being the view from Kala Pattar in Nepal and the view from Healy Pass in Banff National Park. We got a head start on the crowds and arrived at 7:45, enjoying the serenity of the silence of the desert, which is only interrupted by a soft, calming breeze every now and then. Seeing the vast, canyon laced landscape of Canyonlands made me want to explore more of the park in the future.<br />
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That afternoon after a recharging nap we headed into Arches National park, which was a 40 minute drive through winding roads past some of the most surreal rock formations I've ever seen. We hiked the Devils Garden trail, which took us up along sandstone rock ridges that drop off on either side into narrow crevasses below and offered views of some of the natural rock arches that look like a feat of natures engineering. As we were still a little heat stroked we took it easy and didn't push ourselves too hard, choosing to do only half the trail instead of the loop, which was a good call because in the 28 degree heat and the dry desert air it's very easy to become quickly dehydrated. All in all I am in love with Moab and the surrounding area and really want to come back and spend some time here.<br />
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Tomorrow we're going to get an early start on the day and try to make it to the Grand Canyon by late afternoon so we can set up camp for our first days of tenting!<br />
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Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-1703436983189594872016-09-14T23:33:00.001-06:002016-09-14T23:33:15.256-06:00Riding of a Lifetime<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
These last two days can simply be described as amazing. When I was a kid we took road trips to Montana and Idaho, but I didn't remember how amazing the scenery is in those states. On the way up to the border we hit snow around Chief Mountain, but we were well prepared for the cold this time, and it didn't phase us. Instead, it became our ally. The mountains are immensely more beautiful and majestic when covered with snow, and contrast that with fields of green and autumn colours and you have an amazing landscape.<br />
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After eating a hearty breakfast and talking to an old guy whose retirement sounds like exactly the way I wpuld want to spend mine, wandering around the mountain forests taking video of grizzly bears, we hit the highway and made some serious miles, winding through the tight Montana highways that snake through the bottom of deep valleys and up over high passes that offer breathtaking vistas of the Montane wilderness.<br />
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Unfortunately the snow denied us our planned route through Logan Pass since the stretch after the pass was closed but we rode up there anyway and enjoyed the views. We took the southern route through Glacier NP, which was just an awesome. And it also offered a test of my motorcycle and a bit of a challenge when we couldn't find a gas station after my fuel light came on. With no other option, we pushed on, relying our 2 liter reserve bottle to take me the 55 miles to West Glacier. By 50 km of the fuel light being on I was sure at any moment my bike would die, but amazingly it went 86 km's on the last drops!<br />
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We arrived in Missoula at 10pm and quickly realized, after checking the forecast, that our plan of heading to Yellowstone wouldn't work out; the forecast was calling for rain, cold temperatures and possibly snow in the evening, and after two days of cold riding it did not sound appealing to get in a cold tent after another day of cold, and now wet riding. Which was s good call, because we did get rained on. Our route down highway 93, opting for Idaho Falls, rain us right into steady, cold rain. And we pushed through it like fucking chanps. And our call to opt for that route was a good one; the stretch of highway was one of the best motorcycle roads I've ever been on; crossing a high pass, winding through low, beautiful river valleys and ending up on a flat scrub plain that looked like something straight out of No Country for Old Men.<br />
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And after all of this awesome riding we ended up in a hotel with a hot tub and a pizza delivery guy that picked up a case of beer for us. Life is beautiful.<br />
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I know you would like me to back up some of these descriptions with pictures but unfortunately we haven't had a chance to download them to our hard drive, but fear not, we will get it done and have some pictures up soon.</div>
Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-44387165057471064232016-09-12T23:36:00.000-06:002016-09-12T23:36:04.714-06:00Cold Blooded Lessons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So after the past however many years where it seemed like summer lasts two months longer than it should, it seems this year, the year I pick to do this trip, is the year we get an early fall. F you, God. However, we did luck out in the way that yesterday wasn't just cold, it was cold and wet, so there is that.<br />
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Today started out as a chilly ride, leaving around noon after working a night shift last night. I was also lucky enough to get hooked up with an electric vest that my uncle Maurice loaned to Curtis to use, but since he has a Ducati and the vest has a Harley plug, BAM, Kyle has an electric vest for the trip! And it is awesome. Since most of the ride was in the afternoon and we were pretty well bundled up, it was a nice ride. Fall is a great time to be in the mountains; the air is crisp and clean and it seems like the sun is at a perfect light intensity. Couple that with fall colours and the ride was amazing.<br />
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And then the sun went behind the mountains....and the temperature dropped to 4 degrees Celsius within ten minutes. And Kyle froze his balls off. So much so that I had to pull over and don more layers, but by then the damage was done and I was cold. So lesson learned, suit up early for a preventative measure. Which I will do tomorrow morning as it's supposed to be 2 degrees. I'm probably going to roll into the Montana border barely recognizable under all my layers...</div>
Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-12325721201798168942016-09-04T19:34:00.001-06:002016-09-04T19:34:49.985-06:00The List<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Ok, so I am days away from packing my motorcycle and leaving it all packed up and ready to go for the day we leave. My logic being that after working a night shift the night before I can wake up, eat, shower, hop on my bike and leave. No time wasted, no stress incurred. Obviously I had to make a packing list to ensure I don't forget anything, and here is what it looks like so far:<br />
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-Riding Jacket<br />
-Riding Jeans (armored jeans for motorcycle riding)<br />
-Long Underwear x 2 (might need to double them up in colder weather)<br />
-Rain Pants<br />
-Leather Gloves<br />
-GorTex three season riding gloves<br />
-Face Mask<br />
-Thick Wool Socks x 2<br />
-Regular Wool Socks x 2<br />
-Cooling Vest<br />
-Ear Plugs<br />
-Sunglasses<br />
-Clear Lens Goggles (for night riding)<br />
-Moisture Wicking Shirts x 2<br />
-Bandana<br />
-Leather Vest<br />
-Down Vest<br />
-Polyester Hoodie<br />
-Jeans<br />
-T-Shirt x 6<br />
-Underwear x 6 (yes, I will do laundry)<br />
-Regular socks x 6<br />
-Base Layer Long Sleeve Shirt<br />
-Thermal Layer Shirt<br />
-Sport Shorts<br />
-Trail Shoes<br />
-Sandals (which I will throw away after the Narrows Trail in Zion)<br />
-Watch<br />
-Tent<br />
-Sleeping Bag<br />
-Sleeping Pad<br />
-Jetboil stove and fuel<br />
-Headlamp<br />
-GoPro Camera (cables and memory cards too)<br />
-RAM Mount for GoPro<br />
-Canon 5D SLR Camera<br />
-IPod and Headphones<br />
-External Hard Drive (to back up pictures and video)<br />
-IPhone<br />
-Wheel Lock (security lock for motorcycle)<br />
-Tool Kit<br />
-Signal Light Bulb<br />
-Spark Plug<br />
-Microfibre Cloth<br />
-Multitool<br />
-Spare Key for Motorcycle<br />
-Duct and Electrical Tape<br />
-Misquito Spray<br />
-Nalgene Water Bottle<br />
-Spork<br />
-Travel Towel<br />
-Eyedrops<br />
-First Aid Kit<br />
-Matches or Lighter<br />
-Passport, Registration and all necessary papers<br />
-Zip Loc Bags x 2<br />
-Black Garbage Bags x 2<br />
-Lens Wipes<br />
-Toothbrush & Toothpaste<br />
-Razor & Shaving Cream<br />
-Deoderant<br />
-Sunscreen<br />
-Sun Burn Lotion<br />
-Soap<br />
-Lip Balm<br />
-Nail Clippers<br />
-Coffee Packets<br />
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So far that's what I have. I'm sure a couple things will get added to the list in the next week, but all of that has to fit on my motorcycle. Fortunately I am an expert at packing!</div>
Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-28153645486792430292016-08-18T21:10:00.002-06:002016-08-18T21:10:42.109-06:00Culmination of Gear<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's coming quick, the bike trip is only weeks away! Curtis and I have been slaving over our computers, ordering gear and back checking every little item that we think we may need, then ordering more. I budgeted myself $1000 for gear, and have reached that limit. The purchase list includes:<br />
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-Riding jeans that have sewn in Kevlar lining and inserted hip and knee armor<br />
-Throttle lock so I'll have cruise control<br />
-Down vest for cold weather<br />
-Wheel security lock<br />
-Saddle bags<br />
-Cooling vest for that hot desert sun<br />
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Over the last few days we've booked our accommodation for a bunch of stops, which was pretty much a necessity in places like Moab and the Grand Canyon, which is still very busy during September. We got the second last available hotel room in Moab on Hotwire! I've been hard at work researching hiking trails we can do in the national parks, and a few notable ones I've found are the Zion Narrows in Zion N.P., the Devil's Garden Trail in Arches N.P., and the South Rim Trail in Grand Canyon N.P.<br />
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Next week I take my bike for it's 8000km service, which will give me peace of mind that the bike has been completely checked over and will be good to go for this trip. Also next week I will do a dry run on packing the bike with everything I'll need. Shit is getting real.<br />
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As for the rest of my summer, it's been a lot of working on my backyard, which has produced amazing results:<br />
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My Uncle Maurice and I have been hard at work grading the backyard, disposing of twelve tons of waste soil, dumping another twelve of good top soil back in, tamping a pad of road crush which I laid my stone patio on, building a fence to keep the riff raff next door out of sight and out of mind (except for her barking ass dogs), and laying 1200 square feet of sod. After all of that, it's looking great! </div>
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And for the rest of the house, I had some plumbers bust up the concrete floor in the basement to lay drain and water lines for the new laundry room, which will replace the old location so I can turn it into a second bedroom. And I had that old beast of a furnace replaced with this new, shiny Cadillac of a furnace that also blows cool air from my basement upstairs and makes summer nights in my house quite pleasant!</div>
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Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-73805151226915350582016-06-05T18:32:00.001-06:002016-06-05T18:32:20.655-06:00On a Steel Horse I Ride<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
And the official start to my summer is here! It would have been last month, but working 27 days of the month kind of limits how much a person can enjoy their free time. That doesn't sound like many days, but when you work 12 hour shifts, it definitely is. And now that I been makin Arab money, I can actually enjoy myself:<br />
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I had thrown out the idea of a motorcycle trip to a few friends, but nothing was able to be set in stone, until a couple weeks ago when I pitched it to my cousin, Curtis. He hummed and hawed about it, but finally gave me a solid "I'm in". The plan is a 23 day trip from September 12th to October 3rd, covering a ton of ground and seeing some of the most spectacular scenery North America has to offer. The maps I've posted are interactive, so feel free to explore.<br />
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The trip from Edmonton to Vegas:<br />
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I've noticed that the route from Moab to the Grand Canyon didn't set to the 163 through Monument Valley but we will be taking that way, in the footsteps of Forrest Gump.<br />
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Las Vegas seemed like a good place to call a halfway point, also due to the fact that Google Maps won't let me input any more destinations on the route, pfft. And since we're two single, handsome motherfuckers, it's a good place to chill for a couple days and do some partying. September should still be fairly hot in the desert, from what I've read the daily average high will be around 35, but it's really the sweet spot for this trip, since any earlier it would be too hot in the desert, and any later it will be getting cold in the Rocky Mountains on the way back home.<br />
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The return home:<br />
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The ride through Death Valley is a maybe. Why? Because they call it Death Valley for a reason. I was there years ago in July and it was 51 degrees at 9pm. I doubt it will be that hot in September, but it seems like every year we're breaking temperature records so if that's the case, I don't want to be sweating my balls off on top of a hot motorcycle engine at 51 degrees. We'll also do a couple day stop in San Francisco since Curtis has never been there before and it's an awesome city to spend a few days in. And then it's a few days of working our way up the coast of California and Oregon, which should be some of the best motorcycle riding in the world. That's right Bon Jovi, eat your heart out.<br />
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This trip is going to be fan-fucking-tastic, the first every long haul I've done on my bike. There will be a lot of preparation for it; I'll be putting an oil cooler on my engine to keep it cooler during the desert rides, and I'm going to buy a cooling vest for the hot weather, along with a pair of Rokker waterproof riding jeans. The money I will have to put into that will pay itself back tenfold in comfortability while riding. Curtis and I have also vowed to get ourselves back into good shape, which for me will include a combination of weight training and yoga, hopefully 6-7 days a week, as well as a regimented diet so I can gain back all the muscle I've lost from neglecting to exercise properly when I was renovating my house.<br />
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And now to that topic. I've decided to hold off my plans for registering a basement suite and opted instead to have contractors build the two bedrooms and bathroom downstairs so my room mate can take that part of the house. After working so much in May and realizing that if I keep going on the grind of dedicating so much time to this house, I'm going to miss my summer and wear myself out. Instead, this month I will continue on the landscaping that my uncle Maurice and I have been working on. We dug out the backyard with his tractor and laid drainage pipe under the new window wells on the west side of the house that drain to the street, and another one along the back of the garage to drain the backyard into the walking path next door. And in the next couple weeks we will build the steps coming down from the back door, lay a flagstone patio down and fill and sod the rest of the yard. Hopefully soon after that I'll have a fence put in so no more pesky neighbour dogs shit in my yard, and I can start building my garden!<br />
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Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-48271609291957099132016-04-04T13:55:00.002-06:002016-06-05T17:01:29.430-06:00Phase 2: Commence<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll start first with life:<br />
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During mid February I was beginning to feel really burnt out. I had went hard on this house for five months, dedicating a lot of my time and effort to working on making it liveable again, and dealing with a lot of stress from all the contractor bullshit that I've posted on this blog. Couple that with breaking up with a girl who I had the strongest feelings for of any woman I've ever dated, the result was I badly needed a vacation. A buddy at work, Jason, had been searching for vacation spots to spend a week in March, and was planning on going by himself. He had asked me before but due to money constraints I had said no. One day I asked him what the price difference between single and double occupancy was, and it turned out to be $500 less. I was in. Cancun here we come.<br />
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It was spring break in Cancun during the time we went, and just I remembered it twelve years earlier, it was insane. The clubs there are like none I've ever seen, and even though I'm not a big club guy, I loved it. We partied like it was the last big party we'll ever have in our lives. And that is the reality of the situation: I'm in my 30's and starting to wind down those parts of my life. I still like to go out and get wasted with friends, but the up until 7am fucked up messes we were every night was a magnitude I doubt I'll every be able replicate again. We did it and we did it hard. </div>
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And when I got back home it was back to business: get the house in order. And it's getting there. The upstairs is nearly done, all I have left to do is change some lights, plugs and switches, touch up the window trim, and hang the mirror and towel rack in the bathroom. I just had a lady come by today to replace blinds in a few of the rooms, as well. At the end of the month my friend (who is also named Kyle) will be moving in, so that extra money will definitely help finance the basement suite, which has the green light since I got approved for another $42.5k line of credit. </div>
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One of the most significant things I've done to make this house feel like home is hang the fridge magnets that I've collected on my travels. I swore I would never put them up until I had my own home, and now here I am: grounded. And speaking of my fridge, the original one already crapped out. After only three months of being plugged in, I arrived home from Mexico to find the freezer defrosting. Verdict: cracked compressor lines. Thankfully the new one is working just fine.</div>
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In the next couple weeks I will start doing the backyard, which will include putting up a fence between my house and the murder house, re-grading the yard to fix drainage problems, re-sodding the grass, building a staircase from the backdoor leading onto a new flagstone patio with a fire pit, and possibly putting in a hot tub that I might buy from my parents. Soon enough I will put some shelving units and a work bench in the garage, which has been drywalled! </div>
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Oh, and speaking of the murder neighbours, they moved out! The case still hasn't been solved, to my knowledge, so I'm assuming that's why they're leaving. The house still isn't for sale and there's a half jug of milk that's been sitting on the step in the warm weather we've been having for the past three weeks, but they're out of my hair. I'm assuming the place will be sold as is, since the dead vehicles and junk in the back yard is still there. I would never have wished them gone under the circumstances that forced them to leave, but it's definitely a relief to not have to deal with them anymore.</div>
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Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-58824949775274320902016-01-13T13:52:00.001-07:002016-01-13T13:52:48.347-07:00The Ball Is Rolling<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Nearly more has been done in these past two weeks than the whole time I've been working on this house. The tilers spent all last week finishing the tile on the floors and bathroom, tomorrow the counter tops and hot water tank will be installed, the plumber is installing the fixtures on Friday, and the carpets and baseboards are being installed on Monday. The ball is rolling fast, and is not stopping for anything. I already dismissed a sub contractor that my general contractor tried to set up, because they were holding up production (they took a month to give me a quote for the furnace and hot water tank). Production will not be stopped. I've been working on this bitch for almost five months now, and I want to move into it. My life has been complete chaos this past month, and having my home base intact will allow me to start reorganizing it again and stop stressing, maybe grow some hair back. Oh wait, that won't happen...<br />
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Here are some sneak peeks at the cabinets and flooring, which are both looking F'ing fucking awesome:<br />
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Tomorrow I'm going to work on getting the shelves painted so I can start storing stuff in them to facilitate some heavy cleaning that needs to be done. The doors are primed and ready to be painted, and I will start preparing the trim to be painted on sunday. And I will hopefully get my appliances hooked up that day.<br />
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Update on the murder investigation next door: I have been told that it was a home invasion gone wrong; someone had a personal beef with the neighbour's son next door. I'm not sure how it all went down but one of the home invaders is dead now, and I'm pretty sure my neighbours haven't been living there since, most likely in fear of retaliation. It does make me feel better with the fact that it wasn't a random murder, so I am 99.9% sure I don't have anything to worry about.</div>
Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-87736978732121578332016-01-07T22:07:00.000-07:002016-01-07T22:15:31.202-07:00Saga of the Neighbours<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So I had originally intended to write a post about the ongoing saga of my new neighbours, who happen to be the only ones I share a property line with. Well today something happened that completely overshadows any previous stories, so I'll sum them up quick. The past few months I have had some patience trying encounters with them: getting their two junk vehicles off my back pad so I could build my garage, their dog shitting in my yard, then the son talking shit about me for not giving them my old windows that I had replaced because they needed them to replace the broken panes on their basement windows, even though nobody had asked me for them. I did end up going over with the windows and calling them out on it, but the matter quickly was smoothed out and no more trouble ensued.<br />
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So today I get to my house around 8 am to do some work, and I find police cars lining the street and yellow tape all around my neighbours house. After asking the news crew that was parked out front I didn't get many details but enough to gather that it was a murder investigation. The police didn't seem to need any info from me about the neighbours, they only wanted to know if I had seen or heard anything suspicious, which I hadn't since I was not at home at the time.<br />
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The news articles haven't really shed much light on it, they basically say that police are treating it as suspicious. The real interesting details they have released are that a man was found dead inside the home, and there was another person inside the house at the time. They're not saying who or what gender, but I'm assuming it was the mom. The real big detail is one of the cars that was parked on my back pad during the summer was stolen from the front of their house, and police are currently looking for it. </div>
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This is definitely keeping up with the trend of experiences with this house that have been anything but normal. I'm not really too worried about it, I'm not a person that looks for trouble so I'm not worried about finding it, but that being said, it might not be a bad idea to hasten my plans for getting a German Shepherd named Floyd.</div>
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As far as the house goes, more to follow tomorrow. It's bedtime.</div>
Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-18056217705773492702015-12-03T21:07:00.001-07:002015-12-03T21:07:19.320-07:00Closer and Closer to a Finished Product<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I haven't posted in a while, so I have quite a few updates. First thing I'll mention is that I have almost all of my appliances! The only thing left is the fridge, which will arrive tomorrow!<br />
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The garage is still ongoing, and seems to be the biggest issue thus far. The subcontractor that was hired to build the garage still has not fixed the leaking and improperly installed eves troughs that he was supposed to weeks ago. And when I asked him to install the board below the garage door (which will seal the door to the floor until the infill concrete is poured in the spring) he instead adjusted the door to sit on the concrete, which presents two problems: it doesn't sit flush on the right side due to a grading problem on the old pad and when he lowered the door it bent the lower wheel off the track. Couple that with a garage that should have been done months ago and you can understand my frustration. Needless to say this guy is a total deadbeat in my eyes and shouldn't be allowed on my property. At least the other people working on the garage are doing their job: Don insulated and poly'd the inside, and the mechanical company should have installed the gas line and garage heater yesterday (I will check it tomorrow).<br />
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A couple weeks ago the contractors finished installing the new windows, just in time for the cold snaps that immediately followed. The insulating value of the new vinyl windows compared to the old aluminum ones are going to save me some money on my heating bill. And the basement cracks have been repaired! I did my best to follow that up by sealing around the beams that are set in the foundation with caulking, which made a big difference around the main beam, which had a nasty draft running in through the gap.<br />
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I've been plugging away on the painting, bit by bit. I never appreciated how long it can take to paint the interior of a house! The kitchen and master bedroom are finished save for one more coat on the edging, which should take less than half an hour to complete. The flooring company came to measure the floors for the tile and carpet, and said they needed the old floor tile along the perimeter of the room removed to fasten the carpet down to the floor, which could be a problem if those tiles contain asbestos, which is very likely given their age. I should find out tomorrow what is happening with that. I'll also be meeting with the electrician soon to figure out the particulars of wiring in pot lights and installing the new electrical sub panel.</div>
Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-82817993480191765542015-11-11T23:56:00.001-07:002015-11-11T23:56:25.298-07:00Leaky Toilet Blues<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Lately my work on the house has been mainly shifted towards painting the upstairs, which is sort of a time sensitive affair given the flooring should be installed within the next couple weeks (the sub floor is already in). My mom, sister and brother in law have been helping me, and their time has been invaluable. I never realized painting would take as long as it does. So far we have the master bedroom and kitchen painted, and the two other bedrooms are almost all primed and ready to be painted; I just need to choose a colour for them. The hallway will have to wait until the old phone alcove is drywalled and mudded.<br />
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This week had an unfortunate surprise in store for me: a leaky toilet. I had known it leaked before, but the contractors insisted on keeping it in the house for the guys to use, so they fixed the leak. Or so I thought. What the last people hadn't done prior to me discovering this mess was make sure it didn't keep running, which it had a tendency to do since the flapper wouldn't seat properly unless it was attended to. So it leaked all over the place, into the basement and down the outside wall. So far it doesn't look like there was any permanent damage done, everything should dry out fine. Disaster averted, but these can be the headaches of dealing with contractors. </div>
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As for other developments, I got a good deal on the dishwasher I wanted, so the only appliance I have left to buy for the kitchen is the microwave. I found a good deal on the washer and dryer combo I want, so I'll pick those out tomorrow. As for the garage, it's pretty much done! All that's left is for the electrician to hook up the power to the breaker, and the plumbers will hopefully be running the gas line and installing a heater in the next week! The company that is repairing the cracks in the foundation is coming on Friday, and I found ANOTHER one for them to fix, which brings it up to 4 cracks. </div>
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Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-15595075217335301062015-10-26T21:13:00.000-06:002015-10-26T21:13:37.945-06:00Prelude to Paint<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As of this weekend the upstairs will be good to paint! I don't know why, but I find picking colours for my walls the most stressful thing I've had to do on this house so far. Maybe it's the huge variety of decisions and the magnitude of the impact a wrong colour can have on a room. Or maybe I'm blowing it out of proportion. Maybe I'm losing my mind.<br />
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This weekend I sanded down the door frames so we can re-use them instead of spending extra money to install new ones. There is a good scuff on one and we may have to replace it, however, but one is better than all. I was going to keep the original door frames but a door style I saw at a show home caught my eye. I won't spoil it now with pictures; if I buy them, I'll post a few. The garage is going by a little slower than I thought, apparently the contractor has given his subcontractor shit, and when I showed up today the electrical outlets were wired in, but the one I wanted on the front of the garage was not installed, so I'll have to raise a little hell tomorrow. Such are the trials of renovations, I suppose.<br />
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The basement is coming along nicely. I have one small sheet rocked wall to remove and some small 2x2 framing, which will be replaced by 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 to accommodate more insulation, as well as pink styrofoam vapour barrier against the concrete so I can avoid moisture problems in the future. Once the contractors cut the water lines and install valves, that old shitballs shower can come out, too. Brian also brought in a mechanical company and they gave the furnace a tune up, so it can run for the meantime without the danger of sending my house into outer space.<br />
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When all of that is done, I will start chalking lines down for a layout, which will allow me to draw up a floor plan in order to apply for permits and start slashing that bureaucratic red tape with a machete. Or something more construction related, like a skill saw. No, sledgehammer. Smashing red tape, yep. I think the permits could end up being the most difficult part of this house, but I'm being optimistic about it and taking steps to bring the whole house up to standard before I even start an application. For instance, saw cutting out the windows in the basement to make them larger in order to meet fire code for a basement suite. Doing these little things now, such as while the windows are being replaced, could end up saving me a decent amount of money in the long run.</div>
Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-53121786942781277462015-10-21T16:10:00.001-06:002015-10-21T16:10:07.719-06:00Walled Walls and Singed Eyebrows<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The upstairs is starting to take shape. My friend Andrew and I ran some cable and internet wires into the upstairs bedrooms, and I wired in an HDMI cable between the office and master bedroom, so if I ever desire to have a TV in my bedroom, I can hook it up to my computer. The day after we did that, the contractors reinstalled drywall in the bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen and did the taping and mudding.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVkt6oGQe_nhLrfQgaz05k17orDPRoa_Y_hA0nyA6yU07W9v4TPMYi1the_mNWK9NbPKwihWVy9Qujjg1yshwrTBczAtGLkHmWZSsaGqXIVoUhsDs56LVjouWtFDcL1G9xHMZT4BA5lgRo/s1600/20072008+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVkt6oGQe_nhLrfQgaz05k17orDPRoa_Y_hA0nyA6yU07W9v4TPMYi1the_mNWK9NbPKwihWVy9Qujjg1yshwrTBczAtGLkHmWZSsaGqXIVoUhsDs56LVjouWtFDcL1G9xHMZT4BA5lgRo/s1600/20072008+001.jpg" /></a></div>
The interesting part of the week was when I went to light the old Airco furnace. You can tell by the photo (furnace in this photo is not mine), and even simply from the badge, that this furnace is ancient. Definitely the original furnace from when the house was built. Since I'd had the gas off for quite some time, I had to blow down the line to purge the air once I realized the pilot wouldn't light. I don't recommend anyone do this by themselves, you could potentially cause an explosion if you're not careful; I work in a refinery so I have experience with this type of work. Once the pilot was lit the burners kicked on fine and the furnace seemed to be working normally. I went upstairs and cranked the heat up to see how the cycle performed, and when I went back downstairs the burners were blowing gas but not igniting. And just as I said to the contractor <i>they're not igniting</i>, they ignited, and shot a fireball right into my face, which was still a good few feet from the furnace. My eyebrows and eyelashes are a little shorter right now. Needless to say, this old piece of shit is not going to be restarted again. After all this work on the house, I don't need it to explode.<br />
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So hopefully a furnace company will be coming in to look at replacing it ASAP, as the weather is getting colder by the day. This wasn't really a planned thing so it is a little bit of an inconvenience but hopefully it all works out. As for the rest of the basement, I removed the moldy wood and sprayed Concrobium on everything, so a couple days of being circulated with a HEPA air mover and it should be good to be called remediated!<br />
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On another side note, but yet an important event in my life, a couple weeks ago Leandra and I decided to go our separate ways. It's sometimes true in relationships that because they look good on paper doesn't mean they are meant to last, and unfortunately this was the case. We parted on good terms and are still friends, so I'm happy about that. And the silver lining is I'll have more free time to work on this house!</div>
Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-47487298709458718702015-10-14T22:06:00.002-06:002015-10-14T22:06:51.314-06:00The First Appliance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I don't know why, but above all other appliances, I have been on a serious hunt for the right refrigerator. Because it holds beer, maybe? I wanted a french door model, and had eyed up a good LG that was on sale, but alas the width wouldn't allow it to fit in my fridge space and open properly, because of the wall. So this morning I decided on a GE:<br />
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It's a new slate finish, which I will also buy other GE appliances in (I'll order the range tomorrow), in order for my kitchen to match. But as I'm in no immediate rush, I'll wait a bit to see if some sales happen. The fridge did happen to be on sale at Leons, so I took that back to Home Depot and got another 10% off the sale price! Booyah!</div>
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Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-25991049218821894532015-10-11T13:18:00.001-06:002015-10-11T13:18:24.472-06:00Taking Shape<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A LOT of work has been done this past week. First off, my man cave is taking shape. They have the frame up and had just started sheeting the exterior on Friday. I'm crossing my fingers that today's 100 km/h winds didn't scatter their unused plywood all over the neighbourhood. The garage structure should be finished by next week, and hopefully another week to have the gas line plumbed in, the 100 amp electrical wired from the house, and the interior insulated and drywalled. All in all, this 26 x 26 beauty is going to be one hell of a man cave!<br />
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The contractors also brought in a concrete company to remove the concrete foundation that supported the old deck. The way they had poured it back in the day was way overkill; a one foot concrete perimeter around the entire deck complete with six inch diameter footings. And it looked ugly as shit. But it's all gone now! The plan next year is to replace those areas (and the entire yard) with sod and build a flagstone patio. with a fire pit on the end. Another piece of good news is that the ground underneath the deck was layered with pebbled rock, so I can salvage that and use it as liner around the spruce tree, making it look a lot nicer than it currently does.<br />
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As for the interior, the contractors have demolished the bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen. The water damaged wall is a bit of a tricky issue: the rotted 2x4's cannot be removed because there is a layer of old stucco on the exterior of the house that was never removed, instead they installed vinyl siding over it, so the stucco is fastened to the house by staples in said 2x4's. If we were to removed them, it would mean another $5k of removing and reinstalling the exterior of the home. Instead, we're going to dry everything out, liberally apply mold killer, replace the crown and part of the floor, and reinforce that wall with new 2x4's, making everything guaranteed to be structurally sound. I knew there would most likely be complications, but 15 years of water leakage guarantees that.<br />
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As for this coming week, the concrete people are supposed to show up to fix a crack in the foundation, the granite counter-top company is coming in to measure the counters and give me a quote, and I should be finished the basement, which can facilitate finishing the mold removal in time to kick on the furnace just before mother nature brings the frost!</div>
Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-84219118698022729332015-10-08T22:07:00.001-06:002015-10-08T22:07:54.362-06:00Metal ConstructionI wish I had long hair for this project...<br /><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gPuI_pbCYOI" width="480"></iframe>Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-42244146866302321282015-10-08T22:03:00.001-06:002015-10-08T22:03:20.363-06:00FAST MOTION DESTRUCTION!! RAWR!!<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xbi-uPtTARQ" width="480"></iframe>Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-11303318455375626092015-10-07T20:43:00.002-06:002015-10-07T20:43:11.893-06:00Destruction<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The opposite of construction, which has been the definition of work at my house over the past few days. Not in a bad way, of course. On the contrary, destruction was necessary to facilitate construction. And that's what I've been doing. On Sunday, after a morning spent watching Rugby at the pint and drinking Guiness, my bro-in law, Scott, and I demolished the oversized, rotten deck attached to my house. When I say rotten, I mean it. Quite a bit of it literally disintegrated under the blows of a sledgehammer. So much so that my back yard is now covered in bits of rotten deck wood. It did, however, make it a lot easier to dismantle, taking us just over two hours instead of the four I figured it would. I took a time-lapse video, once I get it uploaded to YouTube I'll post it.<br />
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And as for the inside of the house, demolition revealed this nastiness:<br />
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The top picture is mold caused by water leaking in through a crack in the concrete foundation, which will be repaired hopefully in the next two weeks. The latter picture is what we found when the contractor removed the west wall that runs along the back of the two main floor bedrooms. While that wall is bad, and some studs need to be removed, it's actually better than I thought. No floor boards or joists will need to be removed, and the contractor is going to reinforce the wall despite being confident that it's still structurally sound. While the mold in the basement looks bad, removing it won't be difficult or problematic since the entire basement is being gutted anyway.<br />
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So progress is being made. The window company will be replacing the windows and cutting larger ones into the basement bedrooms to facilitate a secondary suite, I am supposed to be meeting someone soon to get a quote for granite counter tops, and once the mold is removed I can kick the furnace on and count the days until that ancient tank of a unit is replaced by a newer, high efficiency one!</div>
Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-11704029506732373012015-09-27T19:50:00.001-06:002015-09-27T19:50:17.808-06:00Asbestos Off!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The first week of renovations in the new home has so far went pretty smoothly. The contractors I hired to do the roof are almost finished. I did catch them nailing down the new roof to rotten fascia boards, but got on them about it, and they started replacing them. There was less water damage to the trusses than I thought there would be; a couple might only need an inch or two cut off the end, not a big deal.<br />
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I got to do the fun stuff this weeked: asbestos abatement! Being that the home was built in 1964, during the years that asbestos was not known to destroy your lungs and therefore was used in a ton of building materials, I have a lot of it in my home, ie the popcorn ceiling, drywall mud, linoleum flooring, etc. Luckily most of it is totally fine and avoidable; the linoleum can be floored over, but the popcorn ceiling and drywall in the basement had to go, mainly because of water damage. So in order to do that half of the basement needed to be contained with poly sheeting. I spent Thursday and Friday doing that.<br />
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I enlisted the help of my friend, Pete, who has worked for our friend Walter, who runs a contracting company in Vancouver that specializes in asbestos abatement, who hooked us up with a care package full of Tyvex suits, positive pressure masks with filters, and gloves. We spent all of Saturday and half of Sunday wetting down the ceiling, scraping off the popcorn material and ripping down the drywall ceiling. This turned out to be a really good move, given the shoddy orientation of the drywall layout, and it's removal allowed water that had leaked in through the roof and into the ceiling to dry out and hopefully slow down any potential mold growth.<br />
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So that brings me one step closer to having the basement completely bare. Next weekend I will work on ripping out more walls to expose the foundation and search for any more cracks that will need repair, and I'll most likely tear out the back deck. My contractor will start demolishing the wall upstairs to reveal the damage that is likely to be there, but given how things haven't turned out to be quite as bad as I thought they would, maybe I'll get lucky and just be dealing with replacing studs. Fingers crossed. Overall it was a very productive weekend, and I owe Pete and Walter big time.</div>
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Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-31429583119004930142015-09-16T20:05:00.001-06:002015-09-16T20:07:35.758-06:00Back By Popular Demand<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I haven't posted here in a long time. I had a plan to use my Tumblr account to create a professional looking travel blog for advertising my photos for my photography business. While it was, and still is, a good idea, I need this blog to be able to be myself. The stories of getting the shits or robbed by prostitutes must be told, and this blog will always be the place for them, a place where I can pour my vulgar thoughts on the world free from fear of ruining my professional image. Professional image, who would have thought I would ever worry about that? Fuck, I'm getting old.<br />
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Ok so update: so far 2015 has been a great year. And there's a lot to tell, so grab a drink. First off, I took six weeks off in February and March to do more exploring in Southeast Asia. I hit the mysterious Myanmar, did a short stopover in Malaysia, and finished the trip stomping around and scuba diving the islands of Indonesia. I won't spend too much time telling a story that has already been told, instead I will redirect you to my photoblog: <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/blog/kylerobertphoto">https://www.tumblr.com/blog/kylerobertphoto</a><br />
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While I was on my travels I received an email requesting an interview for a job I had applied for within my company. When they found out I was on holidays they waited four weeks until I got back home to interview me, and subsequently gave me the job. I now work in Fort Saskatchewan at a fractionation plant, which basically makes ethane, propane and butane from natural gas liquids. Taking this position has so far greatly increased my technical knowledge of oil & gas operations, and will be of great benefit to my career. And it has also allowed me to enrol in a 4th Class Power Engineer course through NAIT, the first half of which I completed last month!<br />
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In April I met and fell in love with a girl named Leandra, who has been a pretty great addition to my life so far. She has been to as many countries as I have, has live abroad for years, and has plans (also like me) to see a lot more. We've had a great summer of camping and hiking, which have included a short camping trip to Crescent Falls, a two day backpacking trip into Willmore Wilderness Park, and a recent long weekend camping trip to Rock Lake.<br />
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And now the most recent development: I bought a house! In July my Baba (grandma to you white people) ended up in the hospital after an infection drove her blood sugar through the roof. She had a quick recovery and was back to normal in a week, but it was obvious to her and the family that she couldn't live alone in her home anymore, which had fallen into serious disrepair. I had had it in my mind for quite some time that I may try and buy it with the intention of fixing it up and living there. So I hopped to it right away and had a home inspection done. The result: not good. My initial estimate of $100k of repairs all of a sudden became $200k+ with the discovery of the roof leaking into the entire side wall of the home and into the basement, creating a mould issue. With the house in that condition there was no way it could feasibly be sold on the open market, except for being listed as lot value only, meaning the house should be torn down. Given the neighbourhood and the current economic conditions in Alberta, it would have been a tough sell. Similar properties in that general area had been on the market for over six months.<br />
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I decided even though it was a daunting task, I was going to take it on. I agreed to buy it for a price that should put me in the average price zone for a home of that type, in that area, after the repairs. I set to work shopping around for a mortgage, and settled on Scotiabank, which seemed to have the easiest deal that was offered. Although it worked out in the end, it was not a pleasant experience. After three weeks of stress and yelling, I finally got them to approve the mortgage, and now I'm working on the house. I'm basically completely re-doing a home that has hardly been updated since it was built in 1964, so I have a huge job ahead of me that likely won't be completely finished until the end of next summer.<br />
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Today was the first real day of work on it. I tried removing the hot water tank, which had been leaking. I'm pretty sure it is original, and fifty-one years of use had made the fittings on it unmovable. It took me two hours, smashing my hand on the regulator (followed by some swearing), and some MacGuyverage to disconnect the gas line. After two trips to Home Depot I realized I will need one more tomorrow morning to buy a cutting tool to sever the copper line outlet. After giving up on that I settled for the fun stuff: tearing down walls with a heavy duty crow bar.<br />
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I will keep updating this blog with photos as the project comes along. Sorry in advance if this travel blog temporarily becomes a home improvement blog.</div>
Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-41970751294082942342014-09-19T18:30:00.000-06:002014-09-20T14:06:17.135-06:00Update: Serbia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Three photo shoots, four girls photographed. The photo below is from a shoot we did on Wednesday with Isidora, at the ancient fortress on the banks of the Sava River. Today we did a shoot with two sisters that turned out really well. I'm too lazy to convert and post them so you'll have to wait for those photos.<br />
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I had been looking at places to take off to for my remaining four days, but after much deliberation I decided against it. The weather in Montenegro wasn't warm enough for beach time and September sees a marked drop off in tourism in this area, which translates into many businesses closing up shop for the season. That, and combined with the model shoot we booked in for today, I decided to chill and hang around Belgrade for my remaining time. So far I'm very happy with my trip. I've built a decent portfolio that will surely aid in booking more shoots back home, and I've partied quite a bit and met some really great people.<br />
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And this is where I tell you about one of the greatest parts of it: a Serbian football match. The local team, Partizan, was playing an English team from Tottenham, which is a rare thing considering foreign teams avoid playing in Serbia due to the rowdy fans, i.e. tons of soccer hooligans. One of Jacob's friends is not quite a hooligan, but is pretty hardcore. You can look at this picture below and guess for yourself. When he shouts a slander at the opposing team or sings his teams anthem, you hear it reverberating in your skull.<br />
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Due to the fact that international teams avoid playing in Belgrade because it isn't safe, we dressed in Partizan colours, black. And yet we were still asked twice (obviously looking quite foreign) if we were Tottenham fans. Once we teamed up with Milos and his band of hard looking friends, the questions stopped. We met up in the courtyard of an apartment block near the stadium that his friends live in and pounded back a few beers. When we lined up at the entrance to the stadium, the crowd instantly turned the line into a most pit, jumping up and down and singing like we were at a rock concert. There are no age limits to be involved in this. Young, old, grey hair or not, you can partake in the madness.<br />
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We enter the stadium, where seat numbers are meaningless, you simply find a chair and stand on it. There is no sitting down, this is Partizan. We were "seated" in the middle of the stadium, in the first two rows. Looking down at the one end of the stadium, you can see where Serbian fans get their reputation. Literally the entire section, and I mean every swinging dick in the stands, is either jumping up and down, waving a flag, or singing, all on que of the conductor who is in charge of the section. That section is packed to the nuts with people. And that same section on the opposite end of stadium is nearly empty. Belgrade is not the place to be a Tottenham fan. If you want to cheer for them, you do it at home in front of your TV. It was a great game, scoreless, but Partizan kept the action in Tottenham's end most of the time. We sang, we shouted, we laughed, and I got knocked on my ass (along with others) when everyone tried to grab the ball that was kicked into our area.<br />
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I've never seen any sporting event as intense as that match, and it wasn't even an important game. And I know I'll never see anything like that at any game in Canada...</div>
Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-23729140731424727162014-09-15T15:44:00.001-06:002014-09-18T04:14:42.019-06:00The First Shoot<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Here's a sample from my first photo shoot. Behold, Dejanaa:<br />
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Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-61762274387877179922014-09-14T16:20:00.001-06:002014-09-14T16:20:22.405-06:00Party Rock All Night!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've been in Belgrade for four days now and have decided that I love this city! The vibes are great, the women are absolutely beautiful, and everyone speaks English! Part of me wants to keep this hidden gem to myself to avoid it turning into a tourist madhouse, but another part of me cannot help revealing how amazing this city is. I could totally see myself living here for some time, and I'm sure summertime and the beautiful weather would even amplify that feeling.<br />
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So far daytime hours have been few and far between. Partying until 5-7am every night makes a person sleep a decent portion of the afternoon away. On Friday we met up with Chris, a friend from the US I had met a couple years ago in Hawaii (see <a href="http://bestiuk.blogspot.com/2012/05/turtles-turtles-turtles.html">this post</a>), who had been traveling through Eastern Europe and heard I was going to be here for two weeks, decided to fly down and hang with us! We cruised to a concert in an old converted warehouse, which was delayed when the band asked if the crowd wanted to wait until the semi-final game for the World Cup of Basketball was over, which Serbia and France were duking out on the big screen behind the stage. Because basketball is HUGE here, the crowd overwhelmingly chose to watch the game, which ended in a victory for Serbia and the spot to play the US in the final tonight. More on that later.<br />
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One thing I definitely have to mention about Serbian culture is the sports betting. Gambling houses are EVERYWHERE, and they're all full of Serbian men that like to bet on any sporting event they can. Since moving here Jacob has become quite involved in it, making decent amounts of money that could be considered a second bonus income. And to show how deep it is really ingrained in the culture, imagine some mafia-esque betting tips that get shared between friends about an Italian B-league game "that will be one point ahead in the first half, then will become tied in the second half". Yeah, it ended like that.<br />
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Last night we had some drinks with Jacob's neighbours at a local bar owned by their brother, which was a really chilled out, trendy place. Then we cruised down to the Sava river where there are rows of boats moored along the shoreline that serve as popular nightclubs and are ram packed with drunk people. The beauty part of the this city is that everything is walkable, even when you're drunk, so pizza is never far away from where you drink. And because the clubs stay open until around 5am, we didn't get back to the apartment until 7:30am.<br />
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Obviously today was a relax day. I'm getting too old to be pulling a four night bender, especially when I'm partying until these hours. Which worked itself out because there weather went for shit and started pouring in the evening. It didn't, however, stop us from watching the Serbia vs. USA basketball match at a bar along the walking streets. I could actually call it a Serbian slaughter, the USA destroyed them. Perfect time to be hanging out with two Americans. They did take it like champs, though, still celebrating a good game with a flare-fueled party in the main square:<br />
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The next few days are work time. Jacob has lined up three photo shoots, so if the weather cooperates, I should have a portfolio by the end of the week. Again, weather cooperation will dictate what I do with my next weekend. Maybe Montenegro? Maybe somewhere else?</div>
Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077788321111592175.post-55483779648464768222014-09-12T04:58:00.002-06:002014-09-12T04:58:28.279-06:00Bag Woes In Belgrade<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This marks the first time I've arrived at a destination without my checked luggage. I never like to put my trust in checking my luggage through on a multi-flight itinerary, it seems like trusting too many people to do a good job, when these days there are quite a few people that don't do just that. On the way down to South America I had taken all of my things on carry on just to avoid this situation. This time, however, Jacob had me carrying an electronics store worth of equipment to resupply him with some up do date camera hardware.<br />
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After finishing off a night shift at work I grabbed a couple hours of sleep, got ready and took off to the airport for a 17 hour journey to Belgrade. I managed to sleep an hour and a half on the way to Chicago, another four on the way to Zurich, then another hour on the way to Belgrade. When I arrived, I was feeling a little off, but good to go. Not arriving with my luggage was a bit of an annoyance, but hey, I'm in Belgrade, and I have a friend support system to have my back.<br />
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Jacob hooked me up with some clothes to replace my attire that had become quite ripe from the flight. Taking a flight is the weirdest thing. You're basically doing nothing but sitting there, yet when you arrive at your destination you want a shower more than if you just busted out a marathon. We cruised around the streets of Belgrade, hitting up a delicious dinner of stuffed pork, a quiche-like plate and Serbian salad (quite similar to what I had in Turkey), then stopping off for coffee and a couple drinks at some various spots. I haven't snapped any pictures yet, but this city is quite beautiful and well laid out. There is a a core of walking streets lined with outdoor bars and cafes, which is totally in my cool books.<br />
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That night we cruised over to a party hosted by a two Serbian sisters that are friends of Jacob's. And we partied until 5:00am. My first night in Belgrade and we pulled an all night bender, a job well done! And when I woke up this morning my bag arrived! Good vibes are happening!</div>
Bestiukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16128517901553691471noreply@blogger.com0