I had not planned to take my iPhone on the trip to Europe as my phone is locked to Rogers. The roaming rates are too expensive to use the phone in Europe. But we needed the phone in Montreal to call our travel agent to help book the connection in Madrid to catch up with our tour. So I had to bring the phone.
While I could not make any phone calls, it has served as a way to send and receive emails and surf the web using Wi-Fi in airports or hotels.
It also came in handy to type in our travel journal each day. This way I can import the journal as soon as I get home. It is better to write notes each day than trying to remember it later. Typing it on the iPhone each day is much better than trying to transcribe my hand-written notes a few weeks after we return.
Last month, I decided that I should visit a museum or other interesting site once a month. There are many sights and attractions here in Ottawa that I have never visited. After living here for 13 years, it’s time that I take in all that Ottawa offers.
Before I went there, I wanted to stop in Chinatown to see the new gate that was opened earlier in the week. It was such a beautiful day, I didn’t mind walking around.
The gate looks fantastic. The colours are very rich, and the detail is very intricate.
I walked around Chinatown, then down Bronson and finally back to my car. I left for the museum, using my iPhone to provide directions.
Panorama of the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum
Some of the exhibits are the same as when I was here over a decade ago. The nose of the infamous CF-105 Avro Arrow, the huge BOMARC surface-to-air missile (which was part of the replacement for the cancelled Arrow), the various passenger planes that opened up the remote areas of Canada, and some of the early planes in Canadian history.
I was pleasantly surprised to see a full-scale mock-up of the new F-35 fighter that Canada is apparently purchasing.
I am not an accountant, so I cannot comment financially if it is the correct time to be replacing the older CF-188 Hornet. But I am not sure if this particular plane is right for our military. The combat range is longer than the ‘short-legged’ Hornet, but has only a single engine. Originally Canada only used twin-engine military jets as it offers redundancy over the very remote areas of Canadian territory (or over the ocean that is so critical to Canada). With only a single engine, any engine issue means that the plane has to be ditched (total loss) if it cannot glide to a landing location. I am concerned about the costs (I am assuming that other reasonable alternatives could be cheaper); we are replacing the 80 Hornets with only 65 F-35’s.
F-35 mock-up
The new fighter would provide a significant increase in other respects, such as stealth (the Hornet has very little stealth) and increased range. I think selecting the F-35 was a foregone conclusion many years ago when the Canadian government invested $160 million to be a level-3 participant. I know that eventually the Hornets need to be replaced, and it is important that Canada continue to have an air protection and force projection capability. We need to protect our sovereign territory. Russia in particular is looking to increase its reach into the Arctic region. Interception of Russian bombers is increasing in frequency. So even though at this point in the 21st century we are not faced with large military manoeuvres against a great enemy (we are faced with an insurgency armed with goats), we need to plan for what cannot be foreseen – the world in 2030, not 2010.
Captain Marc Garneau's flight suit
On the upper floor of the museum is the Space section. There are fewer items on display here, as Canada is not really a space-faring nation. But there are uniforms, spacesuits, notebooks and other smaller memorabilia on display. There are more Canadian astronauts that I though, although not all of our astronauts have made it into space.
This evening, I joined a group from the RA Photo Club at the Mackenzie King Estate in Gatineau Park. We were there to learn about night photography and painting with light.
I met the group at the parking lot of the RA Centre. From there, we convoyed to the estate. I unloaded all the equipment I brought and put the spare battery in my inside coat pocket – coldness decreases the capacity of a battery – and headed into the estate grounds.
I have not been to the estate before. William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada’s Prime Minister during World War II, had a long interest in architecture, and he brought examples to his summer residence in the Gatineau Hills. There are various imported ruins on the grounds of the estate.
When I arrived at the first ruin, everyone was trying to take pictures of the same thing, and I felt it was too crowded. We started the evening learning to paint with light. Mount the camera on a tripod and set the exposure to be a few seconds. Focus by using a flashlight, although apparently a red laser pointer also works, and then set the focus to manual (so that the camera wouldn’t try to refocus). Trigger the shutter with an external shutter release cable (so that the camera doesn’t shake) and then while the shutter is open, use the flashlight again to paint the area with light.
A few of the experienced people in the group also brought coloured gels for their flashlights to add colour to the photo.
I wanted to find an area that had fewer people, so I went further into the grounds and found a few interesting locations where I could experiment. Working by myself, I was able to figure out how to effectively paint with (a flash)light. After each attempt, I would check out the results on the back of the camera and then try again.
I followed a small group to another piece of architecture with columns. In a smaller group, I could get in and take a few pictures too. With an open shutter, you can take pictures while someone else is painting – i.e. sharing their light.
Painting with Light and Stars (f/2.8, 17mm, 20s, ISO800)
I broke off from that group to work on some more experiments on my own. I am very pleased with the results – the evening clouds parted enough to see the stars.
Lastly, I set the tripod down in a field, pointed it towards Polaris, and tried to get star trails. The first few (shorter) attempts were ok, so I set up for a much longer exposure – 30 minutes. I was glad to have my iPhone – it gave me something to do while I waited – play Angry Birds and surf the web. The trick to good photos of star trails is to include something in the foreground. In my case, I used the tall trees around the field.
Star Trails (f/8, 17mm, 32 min, ISO 200)
Around 10pm, it was starting to get cold and late. After the last long exposure for star trails, I packed up and headed home. I am very satisfied with the results and want to try it again sometime. I’ll go to Henry’s and see what sort of coloured gels they have.
After a team lunch today, I drove to Kanata Centrum on a physical hunt for an iPhone. Even though I wasn’t expecting to find anything, I thought that if I found a store that had some, I could get in line.
I tried the Rogers Wireless store, then Best Buy. Of course, neither had any. I was about to leave and thought, well maybe Future Shop might have something. I should stop there just in case.
Success! Future Shop had two iPhones. I almost started jumping with joy! I got the 32Gb and bought an LG KM555R for Rosa, as we are moving from Telus. The wireless salesgirl also moved the phone numbers over too, so we didn’t have to get new numbers.
I’m still looking for a RogersiPhone. I’ve been calling all around the city. Two stores said they just got some in but both already a lineup of people waiting.
I call everyday. Today, I figured I needed to get better organized. I created a spreadsheet of every location that carries the Rogers iPhones. Then I called all of them (of course none had any in-stock) and asked what days they normally receive shipments and what time of the day the shipment usually arrives.
Now I have a spreadsheet with all the delivery times and phone numbers. I’ll keep cycling through the list each day, focused on the stores that are likely to receive a shipment that day.
I went kayaking today for the first time in about 11 months. The warm 20+ degree weather will not last much longer this year. I was out for over 3 hours, including the stop detailed below.
I decided to go up-current (meaning south) on the Rideau River today. I knew from Google Maps that there was another stream that joins the river, and I wanted to see it.
After I left the dock, and rounded the first bend, I saw big cranes just ahead. I wondered what it was for. When I got there, I realized it’s for the new bridge that is being built. It’s less than 500 meters from our house but I didn’t realize they had started the construction.
I continued upriver until I found the stream joining the Rideau. There wasn’t much to see after all. I couldn’t explore, as the stream was too shallow.
From that location though, I could see something strange further up ahead. I didn’t wear my prescription glasses in case I loose them. So I was not able to tell what it was. It looked like a wall or cliff blocking the river. On the top, there appeared to be boats.
Curious, I went to investigate.
When I reached the area, I discovered it was a dam. I paddled around the base. Then I heard a heavy stream of water, so I went to investigate that.
This part of the Rideau River flows around Nicolis Island. Looking at Google Maps, it appears that one side are rapids (which I did not see as I missed the entrance to that part of the river). On the other is the dam and a set of locks for raising boats over the top of the dam. The sound of water came from the locks, which were being used to raise three boats. The water was cascading over the top of the lower lock door. I got closer to investigate. I thought it would be interesting to go through the locks myself in my kayak.
But I was too late to join the boats already in the lock, and I didn’t want to wait for another opportunity.
As the lock was full (water pouring over the top of the door), the lock workers opened underwater doors at the bottom of the lowest locks, which stopped the overflow, but created a huge, churning, foaming swirl of water. I paddled a little closer to see, but tried to stay away from the center of the disturbance. The swirling water started to rotate my kayak. I paddled backwards a little, but it was not enough and the kayak continued rotating. I leaned back to stroke backwards again and turned around to see how close I was to the wall. This put my center of balance too far to one side and over I went.
Upside down, I immediately grabbed the front handle of the kayak skirt, yanked on it to release and then rotated out of the kayak. I had not practiced it since my school. I go over the procedure in my mind every time I prepare to get in my kayak.
I popped up to the surface. I grabbed the side of the kayak to prevent it from floating away and threw my paddle in the cockpit. I started a strong side stroke to swim away from the lock and to try to find a place to steady myself. My goal was to try to get back in the kayak, although this was not something I remembered very well from my school. I got up sideways on the kayak easily enough, but attempting to rotate around to get my legs in only dumped me overboard a second time.
I gave up on this approach. By this time, the two workers from the Rideau Locks were on the shore next to me to help me out. Although I just wanted to get back in the kayak, I didn’t protest their help.
They bought up the kayak and I climbed out of the water myself.
A few people joined the two workers and they all asked me if I was ok. I laughed and said I was fine. I was happy because I remembered my training, and also laughing at myself for making a mistake like that.
Still wet from flipping the kayak
One very nice lady offered me some food – nuts and raisins trail mix – and we talked about kayaks and canoes for about 20 minutes. I thanked her and put my kayak back in the water on the other side of the wharf. I had to go retrieve my hat, which was still floating in the water, a little downstream.
The paddle back to where I had parked my car was uneventful. I passed some other people in open kayaks (not quite canoes), paddled past some fishermen, and quietly drifted by a gaggle of Canadian geese.
Once back to my car, I spent a few minutes attempting to get a picture of myself and the kayak. I used my car as a tripod and set the shutter for a 10 second delay.
At home, I checked Google Earth and I found I had paddled over 3km each way during my trip.
