Horseshoe Bay/Departure Bay Blues: Thursday, January 9th

It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. -Robert A. Heinlein, science-fiction author (1907-1988) 

Hi Aleteia:

Congratulations on assuming the Headship! Bravo! Onward!! Fight!!! 

Stats for today's ride: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/427731525#.UtBwkAgbo4A.email

[Simone-Lucie-Ernestine-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir, commonly known as Simone de Beauvoir; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986), was a French writer, intellectual, existentialist philosopher, political activist, feminist and social theorist. She did not consider herself a philosopher but she had a significant influence on both feminist existentialism and feminist theory. Beauvoir wrote novels, essays, biographies, an autobiography and monographs on philosophy, politics and social issues. She is best known for her novels, including She Came to Stay and The Mandarins, as well as her 1949 treatise The Second Sex, a detailed analysis of women's oppression and a foundational tract of contemporary feminism.]

On the ferry to Departure Bay. Cycled to Horseshoe Bay this morning to catch 12:30 sailing. En route to Parksville to house/cat sit until 27th. Cora Lee will join me on Saturday as she has meetings, meetings, meetings! She might as well still be working!

Not sure if I'll be riding from Nanaimo or not. Looks a little brighter ahead but still pretty grey and misty. My friend, Grogg, is to text me if weather seems suitable for riding from terminal to their place. I know the route quite well so would like to do it unless it is pelting.

Once again, congratulations on new job! Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hello Mainlanders!

Well, I made it to Parksville but not wiithout incident, of sorts. Left the Islay Inn shortly after 10:15 am and thought I was in for a rain free ride, at least according to forecast I had consulted. 

Encountered a light shower when I reached The Plaza of Nations/Edgewater Casino but this ended by the time I was in Stanley Park. Descent on Lions Gate was right into wind so even though the precipitation wasn't too, too heavy, speed accentuated drizzle. Once making for Ambleside I thought my troubles were over as not even a light drizzle. However, no sooner had I congratulated myself, my thermos fell out of the side pocket of my knapsack so I was forced to to touch the Sizzling Ground. (Normally "The Burning Ground" but with the on again off again rain the road surface was now sizzling, Dear Reader!) When I unclipped and turned around, to my dismay, nay utter horror, I saw that my laptop had fallen out as well. Had difficulty dismounting as the zippers to the large pouch, next to my back, which held my computer had unzipped, somehow, and this released the rest of the heavy, overstuffed bag to hook itself over one side of the cross-bar. The other bits and pieces I'd crammed in the same pouch were strewn behind me but I was focused on my MacBook Air, laying on the tarmac!

Two young women, one walking a dog, came upon my things and very kindly gathered them up as I was struggling to dismount and brought them to me as I propped my bike against a nearbye bench. This happened about 11:20 pm so I knew I needed to be on my way as soon as possible if I was to catch the 12:30 pm ferry. Thanking them, I redistributed some of the items to other sections, replaced the computer in the pouch and set off again. (I was almost afraid to try to turn on the laptop in case the fall had done some significant damage. I do have a "hard shell" for it so I was hoping/praying it had been protected.) Anyway, I was not particularly happy with myself but soldiered on, hurling self-recriminations as I made my way towards Dundarave Village.
 

As if things were not bad enough already, light drizzle soon turned into light rain and then that into steady rain. Now I had to worry about some of my electronic hardware getting wet, (I had put my camera, wireless mouse, and the like in Ziploc bags so I was reasonably sure they would be fine but one never knows), in addition to the very real question of what damage my laptop might have sustained. After a few minutes of self-flagellation, I realized I couldn't change anything so concentrated on getting to the ferry on time.

Must say that the remainder of the ride wasn't all that pleasant. I was heading right into the wind and the rain, while not torrential, was reasonably heavy and I was reasonably wet by the time I made it to HB. However, hills climbs didn't seem overly demanding, perhaps because my worried mind kept drifting back to the Open Knapsack Fiasco, in spite of my efforts to banish such non-productive thoughts. 

Made it to the ticket booth at 12:17 pm and only had to fork over $2 for my bike, Me, Myself and I, qualified for the Seniors' rate upon showing our Care Card. While I was fumbling around for it the sympathetic cashier said my Driver's License would suffice so my age established I was handed my ticket and code for the gate used by cyclists. As I made my way towards the walkway, I heard the announcement informing passengers that it was last call for this sailing so I knew I had cut things pretty fine. 

Had to wait until the last vehicle, a huge semi, drove onto ferry and then I had loading platform all to myself. Locked my bike to a guard rail, left my helmet and gloves beside it and made my way upstairs to find a row of seats all to myself. Ferry was relatively empty so there were plenty of seats to be had. Once seated, I took off my my jacket and draped it over my knapsack to dry as best it could. Had brought along some of Clarisse's shortbread cookies so I snacked on those with my hot java and felt very much better after the liquid had warmed my insides and the oatmeal treats had fed my sweet tooth.

Sent a few text messages to let family and friends know I was safely aboard the Queen of Cowichan and then screwed up my courage and took out my laptop. Needed have worried as it came to life without a hitch and I was soon logged in to the BC Ferry network and was able to read messages. 

I had intended to send some as well but coverage seemed to wax and wane so I contented myself with catching up on simply reading some of my online backlog and before I knew it we were almost ready to dock at Departure Bay. Stowed what I had removed from my knapsack and made my way to vehicle deck. Once huge bow doors were opened I could see that weather looked even worse than in Horseshoe Bay. This being the case, I didn't think it would be a good idea to ride to Parksville so I phoned Groggenheimer on my new cellulare, (Cora Lee has alrady admonished me for making too, too many calls and is upset at this month's first bill!), to learn that he was already en route. He himself was quite surprised at the very quick change in the weather and when it took a turn for the worse, he headed out to meet me.
 

Walk from ferry deck to Waiting Area was a wet and cold one as wind was whistling. Grogg was parked next to Drop Off area and so he helped me put my bike into the car, (He'd already put the back seats down to accommodate my charge.), and we were soon on our way home. Lurch was out when we arrived. She was visiting her Mom, Sylvia, in Comox, so I made straight for the shower downstairs. I was a tad chilled from the ride to HB and just sitting in damp clothing for the crossing. Hot water felt glorious and I luxuriated it in until I was glowing.

Lurch arrived while I was changing and she had a quick nap. While she was snoozing Grogg and I selected tonight's wines. Lasagna for dinner. Must away as it is time to be sociable! Fondestos and Cheers , Dad/Patrizzio/Il Conduttore!

Pics: Pre-dinner preparations at Madroña Manor! 

How did this happen?

Too much inferior malt OR not enough high end, high octane hootch!

Hi Patrice,

Ouch! sorry to hear about the mishap and the rotten whether but I suppose it makes getting there and getting warm all the more pleasurable. At least you made the ferry as like you said it sounds like you cut it very close and wouldn’t that have been a super drag not to have made it.. always look at the bright side!,  BTW what was that saying that you told me about the coin? I quite liked it and would like to get the exact wording.

Say hi and bon voyage to Lurch and Grog for us and we hope to catch up with them soon. Cheers, Al

 

Glad you arrived in one piece. Was worried as it was really raining heavily here at around 11:30. Dinner sounds good. Give love to Greg and Fran, Love you Corinne

Dear Thick As A Brick:

Glad to hear of your enthusiasm re: the potential kitty litter box liner. However, it appears that you may have gone overboard suggesting that the NRBC read it as well. 

Too premature at this point as I intend to see it through publication expecting that my comrades at the NRBC would buy a number of copies each as I need the royalties to feed my other vices.

I am still awaiting feedback from a friend out East who was an editor at McClelland & Stewart. The silence is killing me. Your friend, Jethro Aqualung 

[During October 1929, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir became a couple and Sartre asked her to marry him. One day while they were sitting on a bench outside the Louvre, he said, "Let's sign a two-year lease". Near the end of her life, Beauvoir said, "Marriage was impossible. I had no dowry." So they entered a lifelong relationship. Beauvoir chose never to marry and did not set up a joint household with Sartre. She never had children. This gave her time to earn an advanced academic degree, to join political causes, to travel, to write, to teach and to have lovers (both male and female – the latter often shared)

Sartre and Beauvoir always read each other's work. Debates rage on about the extent to which they influenced each other in their existentialist works, such as Sartre's Being and Nothingness and Beauvoir's She Came to Stay. However, recent studies of Beauvoir's work focus on influences other than Sartre, including Hegel and Leibniz.

Beauvoir was known to have a number of female lovers. The nature of some of these relationships, some of which she began while working as a professor, later led to a biographical controversy. A former student, Bianca Lamblin (originally Bianca Bienenfeld), in her book, Mémoires d'une jeune fille dérangée, wrote that, while she was a student, she had been exploited by her teacher Simone de Beauvoir, who was in her thirties at the time. In 1943, Beauvoir was suspended from her teaching job, due to an accusation that she had, in 1939, seduced her 17-year-old lycee pupil Nathalie Sorokine. Sorokine's parents laid formal charges against Beauvoir for abducting a minor and as a result she had her licence to teach in France permanently revoked. She and Jean-Paul Sartre developed a pattern, which they called the “trio,” in which Beauvoir would seduce her students and then pass them on to Sartre.]

Hi Patricio and Corinne,

Thanks for your e-mail from the rainy Vancouver

Greetings from warm but overcast Cape Coral.  As you gathered, we were indeed affected by the mighty polar vortex.  Three days ago we had a high of 13 degrees.  Undaunted, we used that day to drive north to St. Petersburg to visit the Dali Museum.  The museum houses the largest collection of Dali outside Europe, based on the private collection of a couple named Reynolds and Eleanor Morse. Fortunately, Florida weather returns tomorrow, with sunshine and expected highs around 28C for the next few days. We've also during our stay had a visit to the winter residences of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, which are side by side on the waterfront of the Caloosahatchee River.  We went there after dinner in the last week of December when they had a wonderful Christmas lighting display.  Our outing two days ago was to an Audubon reserve of cypress swamp, where a two mile boardwalk takes you through a swamp with 500 year-old bald cypress trees, with wonderful wildlife including alligators and all sorts of wading, swimming, diving, carrion-eating and other birds. 

We've just said goodbye this morning to Anne and Byron Stewart, your fellow False Creek residents, who have been with us since Dec 30.  Byron and I have had a long time golf rivalry, so we got in 5 rounds while they were here.  I was victorious in our 4-round match play contest, closing out the match on the 15th hole of round 4.  We had a 5th round which I also won.  It was good to get back the cup which we have exchanging for the last 20 years.  We are quite comfortable with Anne and Byron but they are excessive drinkers so it will be good to get back to our more moderate lifestyle.  We were also constrained in visiting with our other Cape Coral family and friends, Lynne's sister Sue and brother-in-law Denis, and friends Karen and John Brennan, while the Stewarts were here.   Sue and Denis, from North Bay, own a house nearby where they spend the winter months.  Karen and John own a manufactured home in a golf retirement community in North Fort Myers, about 30 minutes away.  I've also been golfing with them.  Next week Lynne and I are going with Karen and John to Palm Beach where we're going to overnight in a lovely boutique hotel.
 

I went over the Luxe India website this morning, Corinne.  They certainly look like a first class organization and have posted a lot of positive testimonials.  I'm not sure they're up to our standards, though, as it seems they will take any riffraff - "Luxe India has had the privilege of offering its services to eminent personalities from across the world. Esteemed guests include the rich and famous, corporate honchos, film producers, actors and fashonistas."  Seriously, I think they would be worth talking to.  Do you want to approach them to get tentative suggestions on a tour itinerary and sound them out on what sort of costs we might be looking at?

Have a great time at Madrona Manor - too bad we can't join you. Cheers, Peter

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