Paimo Blogs

More hungry visitors....

The Jays are everywhere - and very noisy!

A visiting woodpecker clings on tight to reach the food

Now that the hot tub's gone.....

A start has been made on the dining room...... so that the view from the front door is a little more respectable!

The pantry awaits!

Looking back from the kitchen

It's an umbrella, you idiot

The thing about having dogs is that they really are your children.

If my dogs were actual little boys, Mr. Mop would be the popular and athletic one that is either (a) popular with all the other kids or (b) forcibly popular with all the other kids. He would be the one who is super smart, but doesn't really care about applying himself. And he would give me heck about eating his vegetables or trying anything new. Brooklyn would be the shy, geeky boy in the corner who tries his hardest to fit in with his big brother and friends, but is just too darn scrawny. Unfortunately, he would not be the brainy geek. My poor little muffin is just not as clever as Mop, but he really does make up for it in his easy and sweet temperament.

It's great that the sun is finally shining and we can spend hours together playing outside. I love being able to let them off their leash and watch them have a ball. I just wish one of them knew how to actually catch a ball. We went the other day to play fetch. And by fetch I mean: I throw ball, Mop chases it, carries it halfway to me, and then runs to bite Brooklyn's head leaving me to retrieve ball. Brooklyn has no interest in the ball. He spent the whole time barking at a newspaper that was sticking out of a bush.

Brooklyn has a fear issue, which is good when you are eight pounds. Really, if you are teeny tiny you should fear most of the world. He has no fear of crows or pigeons though, which is worrying. I am terrified that someday a crow is going to fight back. He is afraid, however, of umbrellas. Which is just super when you live in Rainy City. Today we met an umbrella sticking out of the ground to which he sat down forcing me to drag him along the sidewalk. Later we met a man carrying an umbrella, and again Brooklyn sat down and then skirted as far away as possible from the man.

He has no fear of drugged out crack whores though, which is just great (we come across them often in my neighborhood). I mean they will be walking (or staggering) around the sidewalk, yelling at God or whoever it is their meth-addled brain sees, and my little Yorkie will run to them wagging his tail as I force him back on his leash - making me look like a paranoid citizen (which I suppose I am).

I can't tell you the amount of times these words come out of my mouth in a day:

'stop eating his head'

'don't bite his bum'

'don't pee on his head'

'get out from under there'

'stop licking it'

Boys will be boys.

MV Quinsam to get passenger accommodation upgrade?

Nanaimo Daily News reports that once the summer ferry season is over, B.C. Ferries plans to finish upgrading the MV Quinsam. David Hahn, B.C. Ferries CEO and president, said the ferry to Gabriola Island has received a mechanical refit. "We have finished the first stage of a two-stage refit," Hahn said of Quinsam, which was built in 1982. "The next stage will be refitting the passenger accommodation area of the ferry."

Quinsam is among many smaller ships B.C. Ferries will refit in the foreseeable future.
"Once it is complete, I'd say it will be like we will have a brand new ferry on the Gabriola route," said Hahn.

In the same item, BC Ferries reveals that the economic slump could speed vessel replacement, as depressed steel prices may alter their fleet replacement plans. The economic downturn may have lowered the price of building new ships enough that B.C. Ferries Services Inc. may rethink its plan to refit a number of older vessels and instead replace them with newer ships.

The ferry corporation had planned to replace its aging fleet in several stages. "Over the next 15 years, we will replace 26 of our vessels with new, state-of-the-art ships that will bring an exceptional new level of service to our local and international customers travelling onboard B.C. Ferries," the corporation's website states.

Aboard Northern Expedition on Monday, Hahn said before his company embarks on Phase 2 of its renewal plan, it must consider changing economic conditions. "We've got to weigh whether it will be more beneficial for us to complete mid-life refits for a number of our vessels or build new ones," Hahn said. "It's something we will be discussing at future board meetings."

So maybe they won't finish Quinsam's upgrade after all?

Olympic obstacle hits local seaplanes

Sean McIntyre (Gulf Islands Driftwood) writes:

Security requirements will pose some major hurdles for seaplane companies serving the Gulf Islands during the 2010 Winter Olympics, local airline reps said Tuesday. Restrictions on the airspace in and around Vancouver mean all passengers will have to clear security before being allowed to land at any of the city’s airports or seaplane terminals. Since Salt Spring has no established security facilities, all passengers departing from Ganges Harbour will have to pass through a security check point in Nanaimo while en route to Vancouver. According to Philip Reece, director of marketing for Salt Spring Air, the detour will make the 24-minute one-way trip twice as long. Restrictions will be in place between January and March of 2010.

Reece said Salt Spring Air does not intend to increase prices on its routes to make up for the extra expenses.

Randy Wright, senior vice-president of marketing and communications for Harbour Air, said his company is considering its options. Seair owner Peter Clarke, on the other hand, said he anticipates no changes in the level or quality of service to his passengers. “It will be a big pain, but we are planning on digesting most of the costs to maintain uninterrupted service,” he said.

[Note from Island Blog - there's no news yet on how this will affect Tofino Air flights to and from Gabriola.]

Low passenger volume and increasing competition has forced Richmond-based Harbour Air to suspend all flights between the Gulf Islands and Vancouver International Airport. The airline continues to operate flights between the Gulf Islands and downtown Vancouver. Daily service from the Gulf Islands to the Vancouver International Airport’s seaplane terminal is available on Salt Spring Air and Seair flights.

Guest suite progresses!

With the temporary wall in place, the guest suite is almost ready!

Now all it needs is a door at the other end....

Hot tub on the move - phase two

The hot tub gang have performed, and the tub is now in position under the arbour,

ready to be panelled in.....

..... just outside the sitting room window

leaving the best view in the house below..... !

British hybrid bus technology hits Victoria's streets

The first hybrid double-decker bus in North America - an English-built Alexander Dennis Enviro 500H - hit the streets of Greater Victoria this week. The $1.2-million vehicle will be used on several of the region's busy routes over the coming year as a pilot project to test performance and reliability, fuel savings and greenhouse gas reductions, B.C. Transit officials said during an unveiling ceremony. It will be added to a stable of 51 double-deckers now used by transit in Greater Victoria and the third hybrid vehicle in the region's fleet now at 268.

Victoria has long been used as a testing ground for new bus technology as B.C. Transit introduced the first double-decker in North America a decade ago and the first hybrid single-floor bus in 2005. That made it a no-brainer for English bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) to use the Garden City as a testing ground for a hybrid version of the double-decker.

The hybrid bus uses a smaller engine -- nine litres as opposed to its conventional 11-litre counterpart -- and saves the most fuel in the startup mode, from zero to 24 kilometres per hour, when the electric cells power the bus. Steve New, vice-president operations and chief operating officer for B.C. Transit, said the bus service is still "in the testing mode" with its hybrid buses -- which now number four in Victoria and three in Kelowna. Hybrid varieties are considerably more expensive to purchase, so increasing the numbers of this kind of bus isn't in any immediate future plans as transit is still crunching the environmental benefits with the fiscal bottom line. "We still haven't got to that sweet spot yet," said New, where ridership, fuel costs and emission data would cover costs for the new technology.

The unveiling came following public transportation professionals from Canada and the USA descending on San Diego for their tri-annual convention and exhibition, Expo 2008.

“With fuel prices, traffic congestion and greenhouse emissions at the top of the transport agenda, now is the time to take hybrid technology to a new level,” said Colin Robertson, ADL’s Chief Executive Officer, as he launched the Enviro500H, a revolutionary hybrid bus that is expected to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by over 25%. Robertson also revealed that his British-based company, which exports to over 20 countries, expects to be building double deck buses in the USA by the summer of next year.

He commented: “Over the past five years we have steadily increased our presence in Canada and the USA with double decks now running in cities such as Vancouver, Toronto, New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Washington DC and Seattle, and we expect demand to remain strong as more and more transportation authorities recognize the benefits of two-tier buses.“In short, we have proved the point that double decks make sense. They have the same footprint as a standard single deck, are more fuel efficient, more maneuverable and can carry up to 100 passengers, almost twice as many as a conventional bus. It all adds up, particularly at a time when cities worldwide are facing increased traffic congestion and clean air issues.

ADL has now signed a collaboration deal with ElDorado National, which is part of Thor Industries. By the summer of 2009 ADL double decks will be coming off the production line at their state-of-the-art facility in Riverside, California. The deal will give us full Buy America Compliance and access to their 33 dealerships across the USA and Canada, broadening our sales and marketing opportunities in North America.