Carter's Last Basketball Game

As I look back on my failed attempts to get Carter into sports including soccer, judo and riding a bike, I'm glad I was successful at basketball. During COVID we installed a net because they had boarded over the hoops at the school. He had enough hours on his own that he was confident to try out in Grade 8 and he took it all the way through to Grade 12. Their last season had some success as they made the provincials but a single knockout tournament is a tough way to end the season. Only after the final buzzer goes off do they fully comprehend the end of five seasons. Hopefully he can find an intramural league in University.

Fan Fest 2026

My buddy Jeremy from University took participation at  Fanfest to another level this year. We have attended as participants a few times and last year he wore his Ghostbuster costume. This year he volunteered at the Ghostbuster booth. I'm sure there are other clubs but the most noticeable to me at the Ghostbuster and Star Wars booths. One day I plan to win the lottery and buy a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance for him to restore and transform into Ecto 1 to complete his ensemble. There aren't very many so it I'm sure they aren't cheap and I suspect most are at some stage of transformation.

The other reason I like to go is to check out the R2D2 builds. We are several years into our own build and it's nice to check out one that's already done, both for inspiration and to figure out specific details. We're working on the foot right now and I needed to know which parts were aluminum as well as how the hoses came together. The best part of the day was realizing that I had already over engineered our hoses and they were going to look better than the ones I was looking at. There is no 'accurate' version of R2 but we are aiming for it to pass as looking screen accurate.

Patullo Bridge Closure

Construction on the replacement for the Patullo Bridge has been underway for several years and was finally reaching the point where they were closing the old bridge. They had technically closed it to traffic for several days and it was open for bikes but they indicated they would leave it open for a few more days before permanently closing it and starting on the deconstruction. The final closure was February 17th but the weather looked better on the 15th so I got up early so I could get there before sunrise. I figured I'd get the best photos plus it might get busy later in the day.

Turns out I was right on both fronts. The lighting was perfect, the weather was perfect and it got so busy later in the day they had to have the police come for traffic control. When I got there, there was just a few people and there was a security car driving up and down indicating we shouldn't go on the road way. We of course ignored them and before I left they gave up trying. They eventually had to kick people off entirely because people were climbing up the bridge for pictures. 

I wouldn't say I was sentimental about this bridge but I do have quite a few memories. It was on my commute to work so I biked over it dozens of times each year which was a unique experience. There is only a single sidewalk and there isn't room for two bikes so I always joke that one person had to hang over the edge to let the other pass. The bridge also had a lot of flex such that when large trucks drove past you could feel it shake. It was originally only a single lane and was widened to two but big trucks always took up both lanes for safety. The new bridge is two lanes each way and can expand to three and has some very nice bike lanes.