Rode my bike back from Don Mills and Lawrence today, for the second time. This time I tried using Google Maps' bike route, instead of Ride The City's, since that one had put me on Don Mills Road for 3km, well into the part where it loses the reserved lane and becomes a multi-lane highway. Not exactly bike-friendly. Oh, and then expected me to be able to turn left off it onto a side road, across six lanes of traffic, nowhere near a traffic light... Yeah. That was about as enjoyable as you might expect. The only good part was that I didn't die.

Google's route was considerably less life-threatening, although harder to follow, because it had a lot of twists and turns, and went through two ravine parks, one cemetery, and several small unmarked laneways. But the only bad part was being expected to turn left onto Leslie from a side street, across four busy lanes of traffic. Yeah, not happening. But at least I could see a traffic light off in the distance, so I went down there to cross, and back up again to the ravine entrance it wanted me to go into. Got lost and turned around several times, and at one point decided to hell with the route, I'd just ride around randomly in the Don Valley parks for the rest of the daylight hours because everything was pretty and both the clients I was supposed to be meeting with later today had cancelled. But I eventually thought better of that given how hot it was, and that I was really overdressed for a long bike ride in that weather, and still 20km from home or thereabouts.

All in all it took me about 2 hours, but it would have been less if I had (a) not gotten lost as much, (b) been dressed better so I didn't get overheated, and/or (c) been in a bit better shape so I didn't get tired and have to walk the bike for a bit at a few points (mainly when going uphill). Also, my left knee and I were not on speaking terms for some while after I got back, though it's finally starting to feel better now.

Still, mostly a good experience. But I am beginning to realize that if I want to keep doing super-long bike rides (and I do), I may have to invest in some kind of "proper" cycling clothing. Like things that actually wick away sweat and keep you cooler and drier than ordinary clothes. As much as I usually tend to disdain people who think that if you don't have all kinds of expensive specialized gear then you're not a Real Cyclist, some of that stuff probably actually helps on long rides. Also, a larger water bottle.

Tonight's highlights:

1. Met a science teacher throwing boomerangs in Withrow Park. He was happy to explain to the Lynxcub in detail the physics of how boomerangs work, and how they were traditionally used. And also informed us that kangaroos are one of the very few mammals that do not fart. The Cub was duly impressed.
   
   
2. I have two collapsible laundry baskets from Ikea, with a sort of spiral-spring structure to them. The Lynxcub loves to play with them, and tonight, his latest game involved crouching down inside one, on the bed, with it angled forward and mostly collapsed (he was holding the springy part down on either side with his hands) - then suddenly releasing it so that it sprang back into a cylinder shape, as he leapt out shouting "BOOM!" Apparently, he was firing himself out of a cannon at the circus.
   
   
3. Later, while getting settled down for bed, he claimed credit for having caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. At first, he said he'd only killed off the T-rexes, with a "fireworks gun", but then amended his claim to include all the other dinosaurs as well. When I asked why, he said "I just thought they were kind of... wrong."

On the streetcar platform in St. Clair West station, there is a pillar which obviously used to have a sign on it, but there are now only the four bolts that used to hold the sign, with a couple of broken sign-bits hanging from two of them. No way of knowing what sort of sign it may have been.

Since the Lynxcub was cranky and out of sorts, I decided to try and distract him by asking him what he thought the sign might have originally said. "I don't know," he replied, not sounding overly interested.

"Maybe it said 'Leash your hippopotamus'?" I suggested.

"No!" he replied, with a grownups-are-silly half-smile.

"How about 'Beware of dinosaurs'?"

"No!" More of a full smile now.

"What about 'All passengers must wear a wombat at at all times'?"

"Noooooo!" We were fully into the my-crazy-muime-is-embarrassing-me mode now, but this meant that he was forgetting to be cranky, so I pressed my advantage.

( Read more... )

When I was walking Kiska today, a very friendly, off-leash Siberian husky came bounding up to us in a nearby park and introduced himself to Kiska, nuzzled me to get petted, then wandered off.

I glanced around to see where his owner was - you don't see too many off-leash dogs in that park in the daytime. And I realized I couldn't see anyone around who looked like they were paying any attention to that dog at all. I asked a couple of nearby people, and the dog was not any of theirs. One guy said the dog had been wandering around the park for a while, apparently all by himself.

( Read more... )
 
People, please put ID tags on your dog's collar! Preferably with your phone number.

I know, you'd never let your dog wander around on its own, but accidents can happen. Dogs can slip out when you're not looking. Leashes can break. Wouldn't you rather know that if your dog somehow does get out on its own, whoever finds it can contact you?

Actual conversation from earlier this evening:

Lynxcub (playfully, to himself): "1+1 is 2, 2+2 is 4, 4+4 is 8, and 8+8 is 16!"

Me: "Wow, you're learning math! That's great! Do you know what 16+16 make?"

Lynxcub (very excitedly): "No!"

Me: "32."

Lynxcub (eagerly): "And what do 32 and 32 make?"

Me: "64."

Lynxcub: "What do 64 and 64 make?"

Me (starting to contemplate trying to teach him binary): "128."

Lynxcub: "Is that how old you are?"

The new(-ish) Bulk Barn store at Yonge and Carlton is DANGEROUS. I went in there yesterday thinking I'd just check it out, maybe get one or two things I'm out of. Walked out with 19 different things, having spent about 6x as much money as I'd intended to. Too much awesomeness in one place!

On the bright side, my cupboards are probably now well-enough stocked with bulk staples to survive any coming apocalypse(s). With the possible exception of a zombie apocalypse, because I suspect you can't really fight zombies with whole-wheat couscous and hazelnuts. Except maybe by scattering them on the ground so that the zombies slip and fall, and that would be a tragic waste of hazelnuts.

In other accomplishments yesterday, I rode about 22km on my bike, including riding all the way downtown from an appointment at Don Mills and Lawrence (for non-locals: that is a not-exactly-downtown sort of location, and accounted for about 12km of that distance all on its own).

That portion of the ride was an... interesting experience, to say the least. ( City cycling as an extreme sport )

Hmm, what else? I finally contacted my local community centre to get the info on their membership rates, fitness facilities, etc. so that I can, hopefully, start working out again without spending as much as I was at Goodlife. It's $63.50 for three months, which covers access to their weight room, swimming pool, and cardio classes - and not just there, but at any community/recreation centre across the city. So even if I end up moving, it will still be useful.

( Further rec centre info/ponderings )

Me: What would you like to have in your bath with you, honey?

Lynxcub: The rubber duck, and lots of Lego - with missiles! And a speaker.

Me: A speaker?

Lynxcub: Yes. To blow bubbles with!

Me: Sweetie, that is not a good way of blowing bubbles. Electrical things don't go in the water, because water conducts electricity really, really well. So if you put something electrical in the water it will conduct the electricity right into your body and give you a really bad shock.

Lynxcub (thinks about this for a moment, then shouts out excitedly, flinging his arms up in the air): SCIENCE!

Me (alarmed): No, we are NOT putting anything electrical into the bathtub! Not even for science.

Lynxcub: Put it to the test! PUT IT TO THE TEST! (This is a reference to a They Might Be Giants song/video, from their "Here Comes Science" kids' album)

Me (laughing): Sweetie, I LOVE your science-brain - I really do. But there are some things that really don't need to be put to the test, because a, they are established scientific principles, and b, testing them would be a REALLY BAD IDEA. This is one of those things.

Lynxcub: (clearly disappointed) Oh.

About half an hour later, in a totally different context:

Me: ...But candles aren't really the best thing to use as a nightlight, because they can tip over and set stuff on fire.

Lynxcub (flinging his arms up in the air just like before): SCIENCE!

The Lynxcub had a big meltdown in a shoe store today, variously screaming "NO NO NO NO!" and that he hated shoes and hated trying things on (he only had to try on exactly one pair, so it's not like I had him doing it for hours), screaming that he would only try on size 4 and no other size (he takes size 4T in clothing, but size 8 in shoes - but he refused to accept this) and trying to punch and kick the saleswoman, knock the shoebox out of her hand, etc.

But she took it really well, and was actually able to work with him and distract him a bit. The shoes we wanted were not in stock in his size, but she put in a request to have a pair sent over from their other branch, and when he wanted to keep the box that the too-big shoes he tried on came in, she went and got him an empty box to play with from the storeroom.

While she was doing that, I pointed out to him (after he'd settled down a bit) what she was doing for us, and that she was doing those things despite the store being very busy. "That's very nice of her, isn't it?" I asked. He nodded agreement, so I said "And she's doing that even though you were kind of mean to her, with the kicking and everything." He nodded again, and then got this sort of big-eyed, worried look like he was starting to realize he might have done a Bad Thing.

He looked up at me anxiously, and I said "Are you feeling sorry that you did those things?"

"Yeah," he said sadly.

"Do you think maybe if you tell her that, it might help her feel better?"

"Yeah!" he said excitedly, immediately brightening up.

I didn't say any of this in an accusatory way, BTW - just in a fairly neutral, conversational tone (although I was considerably more firm with him at the time of the kicking/hitting, and physically restrained him as well). I don't like the way a lot of parents demand kids apologize - thereby making it empty words. But I thought maybe this was a good opportunity to help him understand why sometimes apologizing is a good thing to do.

Anyway, it took a while for her to get back to us, because the store was, as I said, very busy, so I thought he'd likely have forgotten the whole conversation by the time she did return. But no - almost immediately, he reached up and tugged on her sleeve, and then said solemnly "I'm really sorry I was mean to you before!" She seemed really touched, gave him a big smile, and said thank you.

So, even though shoes were not (yet) acquired, I think perhaps we got something out of the trip anyway... (And a certain salesperson at Get Outside should probably be nominated for sainthood.)

Scene: walking the Lynxcub home, along the edge of Withrow Park.

Lynxcub: Muime, when we get there, would you like to come in for a while, for some science? (he says this the way other people might invite you to come in for some coffee)

Me: I'm sorry, honey — we're already going back a lot later than I'd originally expected, so I really need to get going once I drop you off. Maybe another time?

Lynxcub: But I'm going to get an alligator, and...

Me: An alligator?!

Lynxcub: ...clip! An alligator clip! For science! Electricity science!

Me: Ah, I see. Not an alligator alligator. So what sort of electricity science will you be doing with this alligator clip?

Lynxcub: Well, I'm going to put it in a squirt gun, and then I'm going to fill it with red food colouring, and some copper wire, and add a plunger, and put electricity through it, and it'll be a food colour squirt gun! To turn everything red!

Me: I see. And how will the alligator clip and the electricity factor into this? Is it going to be an electric squirt gun?

Lynxcub: Oh, no. The alligator clips are going to be part of a big circuit, with some Styrofoam, and the copper wire, and a big chunky battery.

Me: But how does the circuit affect the squirt gun?

Lynxcub: It doesn't!

Me: (pauses to try and absorb this) So... the squirt gun and the circuit are just two totally separate things that don't actually affect each other?

Lynxcub: (happily) Yes! It's for science!

. . .

In light of the above and many other similarly entertaining things the Lynxcub has said lately, I am considering actually doing what a Facebook friend recommended a while back - starting a separate blog just for the Cub's freakish creativity and adventures in mad science. Do you think ThoseFoolsAtKindergartenCalledMeMad.com is too long for a domain name?

Alternatively, all the following are also available:

ThoseFoolsAtPreschoolCalledMeMad.com
ThoseFoolsAtKindergarten.com
ThoseFoolsAtPreschool.com
MadScienceKid.com
MadScienceChild.com
MyMadScienceKid.com
MyMadScienceChild.com
MyLittleMadScientist.com

Sadly, LittleMadScientist.com is taken. Open to any other domain ideas as well...

. . .

In related news, I really want to get him this T-shirt (yes, they do have it in kids' sizes - from their size chart, it looks like a Kids Dark T-shirt in XS would probably fit him, or the Toddler T-shirt in 4T, although that one only comes in light colours, and this design looks best on black).

Also, how awesome is this? And they have a Toronto branch! (and they're hiring - come on, someone I know has got to be up for that! I'd do it myself except that you need access to a car, and I don't even have a driver's license. Yet.)