Only 2 days left for March. Yay! I have nothing against March. However, after this mostly sunless winter I am looking forward to some warmer days. We've had a few here and there, but it's just a tease. Please make it stop!
Also, the daughter-unit turned 18 this month. That still terrifies me. I joined the old AF.net when she was 5; where did the time go? I swear, all I did was blink...
It's also been a fun month for work, specifically my truck. From a front-passenger side blowout to a wheel bearing failure to parts breaking on the front end, causing me to go into a ditch and rolling the truck.
I've had some interesting dreams at night lately
On Saturday I picked up a new Ford Ranger at the local dealership. Monday after work, back it went. The screen in the cab gets insanely hot, and the battery was showing in the red. Wow. So I now have a "spare" 2011 Ranger from work with 450 thousand KM's (280K miles) on it. It creaks a lot, but it and I are kindred spirits in that way...
This morning I was off to Hamilton, Ontario, which is about 150KM's (95 miles) from where I live. Got to my first call at 7:30, dropped everything off, and then to my next one which is right on the shore of lake Ontario. Before stopping off at that call, I pulled into a parking lot on the shore, and walked down to see the Sun rising.
It was warm (6C, 42F), serene and so peaceful. It felt nice to have sand under my feet instead of snow. You might notice the halos around the Sun; I knew the weather was going to get worse as the day went on.
I do love this shot though
This is to the left of me, facing north. The city of Burlington is pretty evident.
And this is to the right. Those two dark towers are a lift-bridge for the canal to let ships out. You can be stuck waiting for a half hour, trust me. There is also the Skyway bridge a bit to the right, a scary item in the winter sometimes....
Here's one of the "power-towers", they look like huge insects guarding the beach
Took some pics and got back to it. Did that call, then went west to pick up more pet groceries. After that, it was back to the city of Hamilton. Hamilton is in a "valley", so to speak, as is evident in this photos.
Going there:
I'm there!
The city has been around for a long time; most homes are pre-WW1. One thing Hamilton was known for was bricks, at least according to this:
Hamilton Pressed Brick was founded in 1907. In its first 13 years of operation, the company baked more than 45 million 5 pound clay bricks. Eventually the brickyard used all of the clay excavated on its site and started to bring it in from outside the city. These bricks represent a city built with resilience. The Studebaker factory constructed with Hamilton bricks produced classic Studebaker, and was used as a weapons factory during World War I and II.
And here you go, some genuine bricks from that era:
I also met a random
My second to last call in Hamilton, and here's a pic of my skies, taken about 11:30ish. Not looking good.
I left Hamilton and made my way to Oakville. At least I was out of the city and had roads more my taste.
Got there at 1PM, and did the three calls as the temperature noticeably dropped. According to my phone, it was now 1C (33F). Yup, I can agree with that!
I left and headed up Ford drive (Ontario's Ford plant is up that road obviously) and that when it started.....
First it was freezing rain.
Then it turned to snow, and that's when I heard the rumbling... I rolled down the window, and could hear the low rumbling of it as the snow was coming down sideways. Supposedly a rare phenomenon, according to Wikipedia:
Thundersnow
I bet you thought I was making that up
I would have taken a video so you could hear it, but with the high winds (80K, 50MPH) I had to concentrate on not rolling the truck again
Going up Ford drive, I had to make a decision. Take the 401 (Trans Canada highway) or the 407, which is a toll route. Google maps was telling me that the 401 was over two hours to home, and the 407 was 46 minutes.
I call the shots on my job, and I never get an argument. At least the 407 is not used that much, and I was still only doing 100K (60mph), usually this is good for 140! High winds, the freezing rain/snow... It still took me over an hour to get home.
And now? The skies have cleared, still cold, and it might even be a clear night. Bino's might be good for a few minutes, what with Venus and Mars up. I'll see
Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed my day!
All the best everyone,