April 3. Downes @[email protected] still has a blue check. I need to be clear that I did not pay for it, won't pay for it, and will shut down Twitter activity if/when it is removed.

Today is the day I've been waiting for my entire life, when I get to play this: m.youtube.com/watch?v=wUDRIC…

Soup. flic.kr/p/2orNajA April 3, 2023. This is some carrot-giner soup with added veggies, chili flakes and salmon. Delicious! We picked it up yesterday at the Farm Boy in Cornwall. Today was an indoor day - I finally finished my report and sent it in (no doubt changes and…

CSEC. flic.kr/p/2orQdFf April 4, 2023. CSECV building as seen on my walk to the office for my first day back in the office after the pandemic. I dropped my car off to have the tires changed (and to argue with them about the trailer hook they never delivered, and then abou…

Ice Storm. flic.kr/p/2orPtzV April 5, 2023. This is a view of the ice building up in the back before my window was covered with a layer of ice. We had thunder, lightning and freezing rain, the first instance of thunder-ice since 1985. It got worse and worse and then aroun…

The Storm. flic.kr/p/2orQr6j April 6, 2023. This is a red-winged blackbird departing the feeding area mid-afternoon near the end of the ice storm. Today was mostly the aftermath, with half an inch of ice covering everything and the power being out all day. Andrea and I sp…

Bunnies. flic.kr/p/2os2NU3 April 7, 2023. Yes, I had a chocolate Easter bunny for lunch. No, not one of these - a kilogram of chocolate is too much even for me. I made too with a 200 gram bunny. It was a stay-at-home and try to recover day today. I watched a couple of bal…

Curling. flic.kr/p/2osak8P April 8, 2023. Scene from the qualifying rounds at the world men's curling championships. We won free tickets from CAA and it was better than I thought it would be. We were seated in a 'loge', which is basically a private box with nice chairs, …

Bike Ride. flic.kr/p/2osrybe April 10, 2023. This is my bike[packing bike, out on it's first real run, a 45km loop on gravel roads south of town. Here's my recording on RideWithGPS.. ridewithgps.com/trips/117593465 I like the way it pits in the locations of the pictures. …

View From the Office. flic.kr/p/2ot6cTs April 11, 2023. This is what I'm seeing sitting at my desk in the office. Dead plants, blank walls, my own computer (because NRC computers aren't working properly). I'm posting this as evidence that I actually worked at the office t…

Birdwatching. flic.kr/p/2otBgm1 April 12, 2023. This is Julia (left) and Emma on the cat shelf in the kitchen right behind my chair watching the birds at the feeders. This is the first of three medical appointments in three days for Andrea, hopefully nothing major, but th…

Blowout. flic.kr/p/2otFd3r April 13, 2023. I was only 1.7 km into my ride when the front tire of my bike blew off the rim. I wasn't really prepared, since I was just planning a short ride, so I also took a 1.7 km walk. It shouldn't have blown out; I only had 55 pounds in …

La Bonita. flic.kr/p/2otEoWu April 14, 2023. This is a scene from La Bonita restaurant on Ogilvie Road where Andrea and I had lunch. Today everything came at once and everything went long - Andrea's appointment, three meetings, a trailer hitch installation, trip to the bi…

Along the Avonmore Road. flic.kr/p/2otFrCY April 15, 2023. Spotted this horse just north of Avonmore on my first road bike ride of the season (the gravel bike is in the shop to be inspected, have the tires reseated, and the dropper post lifted an inch). It was a beautiful…

Joey Vinegar. flic.kr/p/2ou1zCS April 16, 2023. This is Joey Vinegar and guests performing at the Ottawa Farmers market. We drove into the city to check out the Tamal fesitval (and eat some delicious tamales from various countries) and on the way checked the market; both …

Goldfinch. flic.kr/p/2ou6vbv April 17, 2023. The bottom half of a goldfinch is visible below the rain shield over the feeder. This was a quiet day - also cool and rainy, so I wasn't tempted to go outdoors - a nice break after last week's frenzy. Still it included a long m…

The problem with technology is people. The problem with people is technology.

Green Grass. flic.kr/p/2ouFTRo April 18, 2023. And just like that, there was green grass. I'd swear it was brown yesterday. I'm always amazed at how suddenly the grass returns. I went to the office to work today, a but tricky since none of my office computers is working p…

Squirrel. flic.kr/p/2ouDA46 April 19, 2023. This is a squirrel spotted just off Montreal Road as I was headed for lunch at Bobby's table (some delish smoked meat). The restaurant just happens to be across the road from where striking public service workers were picketing …

Bye Twitter. This account is now frozen; I am no longer reading or writing to Twitter. Please follow [email protected] or visit my web page at downes.ca to follow me or my writings and other work.