It snowed this morning. June 8th. Two days after I put my carefully coddled seedlings into the soil boxes that I will try to make into a garden. I suspect they are not happy. The ~5cm of snow stuck around for a while before it started to rain and washed it away (throw backs to Christmas time in Halifax). The daytime high today was about 6 degrees. On June 8th.
I love the Yukon :)
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Licensed to the Yukon
As part of this summer job, I will have to drive a 15-person passenger van and a heavy duty pick-up truck pulling a trailer full of canoes. I'll get to see a lot of the wild Yukon from these vehicles, but at 5-foot nothing, I'm a little concerned about how exactly I'll fit in one of these monster. It took me almost 3 weeks of diligent searching and testing to find a car that was small enough for me to comfortably drive, so I can imagine what a gong show it will be for me to drive one of these brutes. I should start scavenging pillows today...
I also have to take a Level 4 driving test, which unfortunately involved a written knowledge test. I'm not gonna lie- I failed my G1 knowledge test. There, I've said it. Embarassing but true. Likely the first milestone test that I had ever failed. And living in a rural area, the stakes were even higher for that almighty plastic piece of certified adulthood. So, you can imagine my anxiety over writing the Level 4 test.
You can also imagine my embarassment when I realized I had read the the Driver's handbook and Level 4 abstract over 4 full times, to write was turned out to be a 10 question multiple choice test in which you could get 2 questions wrong. But, in the end it didn't matter.
I passed theknowledge test! Hooray. No more reliving childhood scars of public shame. Instead, I can look forward to the soon-to-be-heckling I will no doubt endure from my co-trainees when I have to haul the three pillows I will need to see over the dashboard of Leonard the Passenger bus. Now graceful way to hide that. I'm not even going to think about what kind of contraption I'll have to rig up so I can reach the pedals. And the judging eyes of my road test examiner when I have to oh-so-gracefully climb up over my mountain of pillows to make my vehicle entrance.
Yeah, this is going to be fun.
UPDATE: Again, because of my posting delays, I can report that I've had a chance to drive in the 15-passenger van and it is NOT pretty. I'm not high enough up to see completely clear of the hood, but high enough that my feet dangle a little from the floor. The offset of the pedals creates a new challenge: when I get my seat far enough forward to reach the gas, then I almost can't get my foot around to get to the brake. Makes stopping and starting into intersections a little nervy. We'll see how it all pans out. Could be interesting. Luckily, I can take my road test on any car of my choosing (how wild is that...road test on a Echo and they let you loose to drive a 15-passenger bus?!). Maybe I will have to look into rigging up some kind of pedal extension and seat pillow....
Stop giggling....it's not funny...
I also have to take a Level 4 driving test, which unfortunately involved a written knowledge test. I'm not gonna lie- I failed my G1 knowledge test. There, I've said it. Embarassing but true. Likely the first milestone test that I had ever failed. And living in a rural area, the stakes were even higher for that almighty plastic piece of certified adulthood. So, you can imagine my anxiety over writing the Level 4 test.
You can also imagine my embarassment when I realized I had read the the Driver's handbook and Level 4 abstract over 4 full times, to write was turned out to be a 10 question multiple choice test in which you could get 2 questions wrong. But, in the end it didn't matter.
I passed theknowledge test! Hooray. No more reliving childhood scars of public shame. Instead, I can look forward to the soon-to-be-heckling I will no doubt endure from my co-trainees when I have to haul the three pillows I will need to see over the dashboard of Leonard the Passenger bus. Now graceful way to hide that. I'm not even going to think about what kind of contraption I'll have to rig up so I can reach the pedals. And the judging eyes of my road test examiner when I have to oh-so-gracefully climb up over my mountain of pillows to make my vehicle entrance.
Yeah, this is going to be fun.
UPDATE: Again, because of my posting delays, I can report that I've had a chance to drive in the 15-passenger van and it is NOT pretty. I'm not high enough up to see completely clear of the hood, but high enough that my feet dangle a little from the floor. The offset of the pedals creates a new challenge: when I get my seat far enough forward to reach the gas, then I almost can't get my foot around to get to the brake. Makes stopping and starting into intersections a little nervy. We'll see how it all pans out. Could be interesting. Luckily, I can take my road test on any car of my choosing (how wild is that...road test on a Echo and they let you loose to drive a 15-passenger bus?!). Maybe I will have to look into rigging up some kind of pedal extension and seat pillow....
Stop giggling....it's not funny...
The bell tolls for the bell
I've officially been in Whitehorse for over two weeks now and I've had a bit of time to see some of the sights. I had my first supper from the Whitehorse Fireside Market on Thursday night- a scrumption bowl of beef and barley soup with homemade sourdough bread. Quite delicious, although not quite a full supper :) I've scoped out a local buffalo burger stand for next week's Market supper. I've made friends with a gardener there too who has been schooling me on the finer points of Whitehorse horticulture, specifically concerning the tomato plants I purchased. I've got a few bean sprouting, despite the assault of the ground squirrel and some basil sprouts and tarragon (what do you do with tarragon anyway? Uncle Brian- I feel like l you'd know). Unfortunately, the two herbs that I am most excited about, my cilantro and peppermint (which is supposed to be super tough) are so far no-shows. I'll be chapped if I end up with a herb garden full of basil and tarragon. How much spagetti sauce and pesto can one person make?
I haven't had a chance to get away from the city to do much hiking yet. In fact, being that most people drive an average of 2hrs to get anywhere (kids from Kluane will drive the 2hrs to come to a movie without thinking twice), I may not get to see too much for a while. I have had a chance to roam around a lot of the biking trails on the east side of the Yukon River though. There's a bit of all types and levels of trails and I am being challenged by most of them. In fact, I'm getting schooled regularly. It started out with the usual Tera-falls: not quite unclipping before my bike teeters over. Such a battle between getting a few more pedal strokes in and not being able to unclip in time to get a foot on the ground before my bike topples me over. Embarassing when it happens on the street. And it does. Often. I blame Steve for talking me into switching to clips. Yes, it does make hills a whole lot easier and stops you from bouncing off your pedals causing your bits to crush onto the top tube. But, so not elegant when you fall over in the middle of the intersection when you just didn't quite get your foot out in time. People stare, to stifle their giggles and your pride takes the bulk of the road rash. Awkward all around.
However, I have officially graduated beyond just the beginner's tip-over bruises and odd tree head-ons. I had my first "epic" crash last week. I was getting a little too cocky going downhill around a hairpin turn, going a little too fast in ground a little too deep and my back tire washed out a little too much. I slapped the ground mighty hard- enough to bounce. But, other than a little brain rattle and whiplast, I now had a much better, exciting story to explain my bashed and bruised body. Oh yeah, I'm a mountain biker (although I'll never own up to what a Granny I was riding the rest of that trail...).
And this week, I've uped the ante with my new best epic fall. This time, I was being very responsible going down the hill and I've sufficiently scared myself that as soon as the ground starts getting deep, I Granny up. But then I spotted the lung-screaming hill just on the otherside of the downhill and thought I'd better let go a bit to get up enough speed to make some feeble attempt at the uphill. That's when my front tire washed out. My first ever over-the-bars somersault, followed perfectly by my bike doing likewise overtop of me, was textbook. Oops. Luckily, my well padded frontal took most of the impact. As did my poor little bell.
I haven't had a chance to get away from the city to do much hiking yet. In fact, being that most people drive an average of 2hrs to get anywhere (kids from Kluane will drive the 2hrs to come to a movie without thinking twice), I may not get to see too much for a while. I have had a chance to roam around a lot of the biking trails on the east side of the Yukon River though. There's a bit of all types and levels of trails and I am being challenged by most of them. In fact, I'm getting schooled regularly. It started out with the usual Tera-falls: not quite unclipping before my bike teeters over. Such a battle between getting a few more pedal strokes in and not being able to unclip in time to get a foot on the ground before my bike topples me over. Embarassing when it happens on the street. And it does. Often. I blame Steve for talking me into switching to clips. Yes, it does make hills a whole lot easier and stops you from bouncing off your pedals causing your bits to crush onto the top tube. But, so not elegant when you fall over in the middle of the intersection when you just didn't quite get your foot out in time. People stare, to stifle their giggles and your pride takes the bulk of the road rash. Awkward all around.
However, I have officially graduated beyond just the beginner's tip-over bruises and odd tree head-ons. I had my first "epic" crash last week. I was getting a little too cocky going downhill around a hairpin turn, going a little too fast in ground a little too deep and my back tire washed out a little too much. I slapped the ground mighty hard- enough to bounce. But, other than a little brain rattle and whiplast, I now had a much better, exciting story to explain my bashed and bruised body. Oh yeah, I'm a mountain biker (although I'll never own up to what a Granny I was riding the rest of that trail...).
And this week, I've uped the ante with my new best epic fall. This time, I was being very responsible going down the hill and I've sufficiently scared myself that as soon as the ground starts getting deep, I Granny up. But then I spotted the lung-screaming hill just on the otherside of the downhill and thought I'd better let go a bit to get up enough speed to make some feeble attempt at the uphill. That's when my front tire washed out. My first ever over-the-bars somersault, followed perfectly by my bike doing likewise overtop of me, was textbook. Oops. Luckily, my well padded frontal took most of the impact. As did my poor little bell.
A fatal blow I'm afraid. I tried to piece it back together, but no luck. This would be my second bell in not even a year. My first bell was a fatality in one of the aforementioned intersection tip-overs in the fall. At least this guy had a much more spectacular demise. Luckly for the bony bits of me, I'm still in tact. Some sore ribs and new bruises to add to the collection but more importantly, bragging rites that I am now a bonefide mountain biker.
I am now however, scarred with fear of downtown intersections, deep sand, hairpins, downhills and following uphills. Not a whole lot to work with. Maybe I should learn to crochet in my spare time instead. Dee assures me it's a workout and I don't think you get as many bruises...
UPDATE: Since it's taken me over a week to post this post, I've antied up with a newer, more epic crash. Again, escaped with minor bruises and rash, but definitely knocked me down a few pegs. No more epic crashes for a while. I've officially switched to the Granny perma-brake riding squad. I hear it's much less epic.
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