Greg's Transition

My old friend Greg Siemens recently graduated with his honours degree in electrical engineering. He busted his hump and did exceptionally well, finishing up with a fascinating thesis project that won a bunch of awards. They actually built a surveillance device that can detect people through walls using radio waves.

So now he's recovering from the school experience and looking for an engineering job somewhere in Canada other than the prairies, where he's nearly used up his quota of survival skills after living there for a quarter century. I'd like to enlist my esteemed readers in the task of helping him find good employment -- do you know anyone in the engineering field? Maybe an uncle or friend of a friend who might be able to point Greg in the right direction? Let me know and I'll pass the info along.

Blast Furnace

This is the first decent family photo we've got since Ella was born. I'm not sure why that took nine months to happen.

We had an excellent scorching hot day here today. I went for for my fourth ride this week before it got too warm this morning, just up to the top of Giant's Head. When I got back I popped Ivy in the backpack with her new helmet on and we rode down to Peach Orchard Beach to cool off. Tannis and Ella met us down there later with sandwiches.

After naps for everyone this afternoon, we headed up the valley for another one of Myron and Tracey's BBQ feasts -- it's so quiet and mellow up there. We played some pepper and lounged around in the warm evening air. It was still so hot when we got home at nine that Ivy and I cruised back to the lake for a moonlight swim. Still 29 degrees right now.

Summer Blast

When the forecast for the weekend looks like this, you curse your lack of air conditioning for sleeping, but thank yourself for choosing to live three minutes from a lake. In anticipation of the heat today, I got up early and did a pretty epic ride on Rattlesnake Mountain. It was cool at the start, and I tried a new entrance that requires a less-punishing climb. By the time I was riding north along the main ridge trail, with the lake sweeping out to my right, it was getting hot. I went further than I had before, but eventually ran out of gas before finding where the trail ends up. Peachland, probably.

Tour de France

My brother-in-law Chad got me all into the Tour de France this year. I've never really understood it, but he explained some of the team tactics, the stages and jerseys. Tomorrow they're doing a stage with 21 switchbacks called the Alpe d'Huez -- check out this unbelievable aerial shot of the climb. Last week I was entralled by the History of the Tour as well.

At the Beach

No time for updates these days, unfortunately. I'm due to put some photos up here at least, but it will have to wait for a bit. Not that we're so very busy -- we've been at the beach a fair bit.