Activesteve.com is Born…

I ask you this; Is there anything better than a nice relaxing weekend camping along a river in the summer? Well, although we only managed to get out for a single night of camping over the past weekend (and entire summer so far!), it was really nice. Jody and I headed out to Calabogie to camp on Jim’s property along the Madawaska river last weekend, with Jonah in tow. The idea was just to get away from the city for a quiet night on the river, with a nice campfire, some camp chow, and watery fun in the river. Mission accomplished. Although I had grander plans, which included night biking trips, maybe trail running, and hiking, we really didn’t move too far from our campsite. The only trips we made were up the hill to the cabin to visit our ‘neighbours’, Jim, Allie and Xavier. They were up for the weekend getting some additional work done on the homestead and just generally enjoying their property. Who can blame them? After his recent trip to Utah for Primal Quest, I would imagine Jim thoroughly enjoyed his beer, cigar and scotch under a starry sky by the campfire. I know I did 😉

Well, I know I keep talking about this wonderful Oak Bar that I’m building, and that I’ll update this as I go. Well, I’m telling the truth, but it’s taking me longer than I’d like to get rolling on the project. Everytime I start to do some prep work, something else seems to come along and interrupt my momentum. I can say this much for my current status. I have the wood. All the wood now. On Saturday morning, I went out to Adams and Kennedy Wood Source in Manotick to pick up the rest of the Oak wood bits. Man, 2×4 Oak sure is pretty (and costly). They had what I needed, and 9 pieces of wood (and $250) later, I was supposedly ready to go. Instead, I went running. Oh well. The plywood is mostly cut up now as well. What remains is ripping and cross-cutting all the oak planks to the proper dimensions. That will be my next step. I’ve also decided the best way to do this is try and stain and varnish the wood before putting it all together. That should minimize the mess in the living room, and make it easier to finish off. I also have all the odds and ends that I’ll need, like hinges, the sink, shelving, lighting, etc. etc. I really wish it was already done, in time for Christmas, but that is definitely not going to be the case. Rest assured, I’ll survive. But I’ve got to get this done, so I can get back to being lazy in the new rec room! More pics will be posted as I go.

Welcome to another edition of TardySteve, the new website that I should be starting up. As usual, I’m running several weeks behind in updating the World Wide on my happenings. Well, what do you expect right? You get what you pay for ultimately, and the cheques just haven’t been pouring in for all my hard work 🙂 At any rate, I’m sorry I’m slow to write, but between working, travelling, racing, and training, it’s just been a very busy time. But this isn’t a post where I do any complaining, this is a post about celebration and happiness! I’ll start right off the bat by saying a hearty congratulations to my father Robert on his marriage to Nicole a couple weeks back! Yes, it’s true, you don’t have to be a youngster to fall in love, and be a romantic at all. He’s living proof of it. That’s what this little story is going to be all about, my last-minute trip to Nova Scotia in order to attend a private little ceremony for those two love birds. If you’re interested in browsing all the pictures we’ve got from the wedding, head over to the flickr folder. If you’d like to hear more about it, read on.

Brace yourselves friends, for I am about to do something that I virtually never do. Those who know me will understand that talking about work is something that I rarely do, and usually only when prompted. The inevitable questions around ‘what do you do’ sort of bore me, because to me work stays at work, and when I leave the building, I don’t take it with me. However, in an unprecedented case of giving a crap, I’ve decided to venture out and post a little something about my current work stuff. Don’t worry, this site will not devolve into a diatribe about my daily grind. Trust me, both you and I are probably much more interested in my other life ;-). However, I’ve gotta get this off my chest, so please read on for a rare insight into WorkerSteve.