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Showing posts from April, 2019

Ladyhawke

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April 29, 2019. This is a merlin, also known as a ladyhawk (falco columbarius). No doubt attracted by all the birds out back, it was perched in one of our trees just as I got home from the office (I really wish I had a big lens and clear windows). All set for travel tomorrow. https://flic.kr/p/2fDCjFu

Grackles

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April 28, 2019. Spent the day working on slides for next week - didn't rush, just added slides in a leisurely fashion. Also watched the ball game, which was fun. Cold day outside, but the grackles are out doing their thing. https://flic.kr/p/2fHvCw8

Vladdy Weekend

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April 27, 2019. This is a blurry picture of Vladamir Guerrero Jr. as seen through my monitor, taken with my camera. I think it represents well the environment surrounding his first two games as a Blue Jay. I watched them both, both were wins, and I've been enjoying this. https://flic.kr/p/2fBWSSu

Stairs

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April 26, 2019. Pretty good day today. I got the next draft of my paper finished, and wrote a post. These stairs are tucked into a corner of M-55 -- they seem like nobody uses them, but someone must, because someone takes the time to post a 'closed' sign in winter. https://flic.kr/p/2eiDFqz

Bite This

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April 25, 2019. Living the Westboro lifestyle. I was in the trendy part of Richmond Road this morning for a client meeting and took some time to have a street-food style lunch (which was delicious) and to pick up an Ortleib bike bag. This afternoon I finished the draft of a paper and made a final push for some travel funding - I might have to have a public fundraising campaign if NRC won't pay the conference freight. https://flic.kr/p/254vve2

Vintage Iron

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April 24, 2019. A bolt in my office chair broke today and I spotted this bright pink threshing machine on the way to get a replacement. It's in preparation for threshing machine fundraiser slated for this August in support of breast cancer research. Good for them! https://flic.kr/p/RTLssF

Eye Exam

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April 23, 2019. I had an eye exam this morning and to my surprise my eyes are slightly better. That's because ageing changes the shape of my lens, but does so in a way that offsets the nearsightedness I was born with. https://flic.kr/p/RTLm9P

Milkweed

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April 22, 2019. One of a set of nine photos from my bike ride. All the photos from today were taken from the exact same spot on the road, where I took my break, nowhere near any town. Here's my biking set . https://flic.kr/p/Tug3Wd

My Mother

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April 21, 2019. In the aftrenoon I went for a bike ride - photos here and then in the evening got together with family - photos here . https://flic.kr/p/2fCir9H

Northern Flicker

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April 20, 2019. Spent the day indoors working on a scraper for gRSShopper and adding chapters to my upcoming ebook. Meanwhile, the songbirds are flocking to our backyard, joined by this Northern Flicker. https://flic.kr/p/2eekfGB

Alex Helps

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April 19, 2019. I finished a paper today with plenty of help from Alex. He wasn't as interested in the ball game after as I was. Still, he fits perfectly in my home office. (I like the light in this photo) https://flic.kr/p/RPX6TB

Ordinary

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April 18, 2019. I was sitting at the mall waiting while my snow tires were changed and I looked at the scene and thought "nobody ever takes pictures of the ordinary and mundane, like this parking lot." So I did. https://flic.kr/p/Ts4yqQ

Vine

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April 17, 2019. This is a vine along the fence-line on the train tracks in front of the house. You can see the trunk and branch structure really clearly - this is obscured when it has leaves. Wrote a scraper for gRSShopper over the last couple of days and am using it to create reference lists for my blog posts. https://flic.kr/p/2ebvUUr

Roof Repairs

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April 16, 2019. We had some patches applied to our roof in advance of what are likely roof repairs. You can see where we lost a large chunk of shingles. We're hoping insurance will cover it. A new roof, by the way, costs a *lot* of money. https://flic.kr/p/2fuKtKG

Controller

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April 15, 2019. Coming home from what turned out to be an unpleasant day at the office I spotted this controller (drone? racing car?) just sitting by itself on the cement wall. Nobody else in sight. https://flic.kr/p/TqP7hG

Monk

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April 14, 2019. Today's weather was cold and rainy, so no biking today - I stayed inside and wrote a couple of articles instead, one on the carbon tax, and another on the concept of value. Also watched the Blue Jays game, but we're not talking about that. This monk sits on my office desk at home and is my stern taskmaster. https://flic.kr/p/24Vy1HB

Spring Ride

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April 13, 2019. It was warmer and sunny today, so I was able to get out for my first bike ride of the season. It was also really windy, so it wasn't as pleasant as you might think. This is a scene from the ride to St. Albert and back - 14 km each way, though Strava recorded it as a 15km as-the-crow-flies trip (at about 250 km per hour). Having issues with my GPS, I think. My target for this year is, as usual, 2000 kilometers (I did 2100 last year and 1600 the year before). https://flic.kr/p/RKXUkD

Activité de réseautage

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April 12, 2019. I was up early for this networking event at Université de Montréal. It was, as the title suggests, held entirely in French - still a challenge for me, but I was able to participate OK, including giving a short impromptu presentation about my work. https://flic.kr/p/2fwc1vH

Snowbound

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April 11, 2019. I went to Montreal in the evening to be there for an early morning event. During a short walk around the hotel I spotted this poor gnome, head in hand, sitting and waiting for the snow to go away. https://flic.kr/p/Tnz8Qh

Domlasoul

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April 10, 2019. This picture is from York Street downtown where I ran an errand today. I also got a funding review completed and an ethics final report submitted. So, overall, a productive day. I think yesterday's baseball game (Lordes Gurriel stole *home* in a win against the Red Sox) just put me in the right frame of mind. https://flic.kr/p/2ep9dvU

Snow

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April 9, 2019. As I watch another snowstorm outside the window I would like to remind people that back on February 2, some 10 weeks ago, newspapers and media were reporting that a groundhog predicted a quick end to winter. Even the other groundhog that predicted 6 more weeks of winder was wrong. My first experience today was Alex whacking me in the eye, and it didn't get much better on what was overall a messed-up day. https://flic.kr/p/2fu3QH4

Freezing Rain

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April 8, 2019. The winter that Will. Not. End. has not ended. Today we got freezing rain. I retired my pepper plants today - they had basically been cooked by the malfunctioning radiator. Spent most of the day reading the ADL report on learning ecosystems. Great stuff. Also did my performance review self-evaluation (I did exactly what I said - don't know if I can do that two years in a row). https://flic.kr/p/TkBrT9

Blue Jays

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Aorul 7, 2019. The blue jays arrived in our back yard today. Not a very good photo, but they were far away and I shot it through a dirty window. Watched the ball game in the afternoon and had a birthday pizza in the evening with family. https://flic.kr/p/2enq7hw

The Neighbour Cats

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March 24, 2019. The neighbour cats have been skittish for the last three years but they've become comfortable on our back deck and made friends with our cats through the window. https://flic.kr/p/2e48xaR

Hunting

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March 31, 2019. This is the neighbour cat hunting in the snow in the back yard. Shot through a dirty window in snow or drizzle. Winter has been hanging on, making me depressed, and I've lost the will to photograph it. I'll get it back, but I've missed some days. https://flic.kr/p/2fs26t2

Di-Octo

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March 26, 2019. This is the Di-Octo Sculpture at Concordia University (Hall Building, the old Sir George Williams campus) in downtown Montreal. We were out shopping between ball games in the big city. https://flic.kr/p/2em57ky

Montreal Downtown

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March 25, 2019. This is downtown Montreal as seen from our hotel, looking straight down Saint Catherine Street. We were here for the two Blue Jay's spring training games. https://flic.kr/p/RFAuK8