Sustainability Eh?

So "sustainability" seems like the biggest thing to hit Canada since, well I'm not sure what. Anyway, I'm trying to come to terms with my distaste of the word "sustainability". It's a shame that politicians start using a word and all of a sudden I hate it. The fact is that one word does a pretty good job at getting the point across. Today Demitri was at a International tele-conference with other Architecture schools to get some momentum behind sustainable design. Apparently, architecture is one of the biggest sources of global warming because of poorly designed buildings. Think about it. Here's a link for all you keeners, http://www.2010imperative.org/onboard.html


In other news, Demitri beat me at scrabble last night 283 to 234. He took a commanding lead when he put down "cleaved" and used all his letters for a bonus 50 points. I on the other hand had 5 'i's', an 'o' and a 'y', which was obviously pretty sweet. Still it was better than being cloistered like last time he put down all his letters! If you loved the movie "Word Wars", you'll be interested to know that this guy (left) just took over number one spot as the US scrabble champ! Click on the pic for more info.

What gets me hot...

under the collar that is. So I'm riding home from work, it's minus 23 degrees outside and I'm crossing the 14th St. bridge on the Bow river BIKE PATHWAYS. There is a man and his dog walking towards me and I think I'll say hello because it's very Canadian to say hello to other people out in the cold suffering like you are. As I approach this guy he yells out to me "Get of the sidewalk please". I am taken aback by his comment as I think to myself that 1)I'm on a bike path 2)It has been snowing for the past 10 days 3)The streets don't get plowed in Calgary so it's too dangerous to bike on the street 4) I'm on a bike path 5) They do clear the bike paths in winter (probably to encourage bike communters not to ride on the street where they will likely be killed in minutes). 6) This guy is an asshole and 7) Did Imention I am on a bike path. Anyway, I thought I'd see what's up and what did I find out... 14th Street is a BIKE/Pedestrian Bridge as noted on the river pathways map no matter what the season, all pathways are shared use during the winter months, and that generally people who yell at cyclists are assholes. I really hope I get to see this guy again tomorrow..... (ps, yes, I even had to grow a beard like this guy to stay warm this winter and I don't have any arms either and I still got yelled at)

This is my friend Jeremy. It is his birthday today. He was born sometime in the late 1970's, as I'm sure you can tell by the sweet van he is posing beside. He is good at things like skiing, biking, scrambling, and making lunch. He's also very good at wiring dryers and electrical stuff like that. We all think Jer is pretty cool. Happy Birthday Jeremy!

The Volvo Express

That's right. The McWicz's bought a new car! Just as the Canadian Gov't seems like they may be doing something to get rid of old cars we bought a 12 year old swedish tank! It runs well and is "eggplant" aka "aubergine" aka "purple-ish" in colour. Better yet, it has now made it back and forth to the mountains twice! Mission accomplished. It seems I have a "Barcelona style" internet connection so I'll add pic later. By the way Julie, I've made two February resolutions 1) Blog more (not hard because I only blogged once in Jan) and 2) Not to talk on my cell while driving (started that one when I bought the car!). ~A