It may not seem like it, but I do have interests other than LEGO® 

For example, I've got three hundred DVDs in my collection, and I have strong opinions on 

important issues - please visit the Focus On The Family website (for my position on moral issues).

A few years ago I got the "sign from above" in the second thumbnail below.  I needed a better income than I was getting helping people with their computers, so I've been working as a professional driver - operating semi-trucks up to 125 feet long. 

The first blast of winter 04/05 hit the first weekend of December 2004.  I had picked up 20,000 litres of apple juice from SunRype and slept by the lake shore in the Okanagan valley - the kilometer increase in elevation to Rogers Pass ahead of me.  I awoke Saturday to falling snow - over a decimeter had already fallen on the twisting mountain road ahead of me, and it didn't stop till Monday morning.   The trip home was only 550 miles, but it took me 13 hours.  The worst point for me was climbing the hill out of Cochrane - as it got steeper the slippage got worse until I was almost in my lowest gear, balancing the angled spinning against the hill and road crown.  The worst for three other drivers - a west-bound tanker, a west-bound double and an east-bound single - was the mountain curves.  (I don't think the east-bound driver survived.)  Click here or above for a collage - there's links to dozens of my trucking photos below.

The moose in the photos above ran into my truck in mid October of 2004.  That week was a major milestone for me - not so much for the moose, but because of the stock sale I made within the RRSP first home buyers' plan.  After two decades of renting I own a condo!  I found a developer that uses top quality construction, landscapes the way I like, and - most importantly - doesn't use a common air hallway like everywhere else.  Having basically first pick, I got the best unit in the complex, which is in an excellent south-central location.  It's a unique equilateral triangle layout on the top floor - one of a minority with a view.

It's been over a decade since there's been a new car I'd like to buy - one that has the right blend of reliability and performance and price.  For the last few years the only serious contender has been the Subaru Impreza WRX (wagon - more practical and better profile).  The horizontally opposed turbocharged four with all wheel drive allows it to dominate its competition, and the reliability is on par with Honda and Toyota.  The Mazda 3 likewise has recently demonstrated excellent reliability and last year was my top pick in the low price range (the top model with a 2.3 litre engine is about Cdn$23K).  The Impreza WRX STi is my pick for the high (Cdn$50K+) price range, out-performing cars double and even triple its price, but even Cdn$40K or so for the mid-price WRX is still a bit much to spend on a new car.  While lacking the intercooler and turbo of the faster versions, the base Impreza has the same 2.5 litre "boxer" engine and symmetrical full-time all-wheel drive.  (In fact it's the lowest priced 4-wheel drive available from any automobile manufacturer.)  The base engine generates 173 horsepower and 166 lb-ft of torque while the WRX boosts it to 230hp & 235 lb-ft and the STi puts out 300 of each!  With a curb weight under 1400Kg that makes for some impressive acceleration.  "Power-assisted, dual-diagonal system ABS 4-channel/4-sensor/4-wheel EBD disk brakes" on all four aluminum 205/50R16 five spoke wheels give equally impressive deceleration.  Made in Japan reliability and economy - I more than doubled the all-inclusive warranty to seven years for an extra $27/month.  All the "stuff" you'd want/ expect on an expensive new car - A/C, alarm, a nice AM/FM/CD, projector beam halogen lights, power windows/mirrors/locks, tilt, cruise, even heated mirrors.  Compared to other manufacturers, one would expect the price to be $33,500 (maybe even $43,500) not the $23,500 that it is, so when I was approved for their 2.8% financing, the only reason I had to say no was my Honda not being a viable trade in.  I paid $8900 for it five years ago and promptly sold it for $4900 June 5th.  Now all I need is to find an intercooler and turbo from an STi...

I love flight - especially space flight.  My father was a pilot in the RCAF, and I might have followed in his foot-steps, but I lack perfect vision.  I can still get a commercial or private license though, and with sufficient time, funds, etc., I would like to buy and build a 'Berkut'.  The Berkut is a composite canard "pusher" named after a subspecies of golden eagles bred for hunting wolves.  It's a two-seater based on Rutan's 'Long-EZ'.  The name Rutan may not be familiar to you, but you should have heard of 'Voyager' - the first aircraft to circumnavigate the globe non-stop, without refueling.  Rutan's famous flight began on December 14, 1986 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and ended nine days later (at the same location).  More recent and more famous is SpaceShipOne - the first non-government craft to fly to low Earth orbit twice within two weeks, winning the X-Prize.

I have yet to visit "Edwards", but I have walked under 'Voyager' - it's hanging above the entrance to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C.  I was finally able to visit the museum - including the Star Wars exhibit - in January of 1999.  I wasted most of my shots on the Washington Monument the night before, but did take some photos of the exhibit. A few photos are nothing compared to what I "wasted" on my hotel room that same night though - check out my view and you'll see why.

I decided that, since it's increasingly unlikely I'm ever going to have children of my own, I should support children whom are in need of it.  I decided to start with a little girl named Marlina from Indonesia, since it was the worst hit by the Tsunami three years ago.  So far I have been able to add a child per year- a little boy named Jose from Colombia, and then Jeremy from Peru.  Update:  Jeremy's family is doing well enough that they don't help anymore, so I transferred sponsorship to a "Millennium Baby".  Madhabi was born January 1, 2000 in Bangladesh.  Not only has Bangladesh been hit by two devastating cyclones in as many months, Madhabi had been without a sponsor for over a year.  Please visit Compassion Canada's website and consider sponsoring a child yourself.

I got to be a shepherd again in 2003 - Here is a collection of photos from Sunday School.

You probably think Canada is a free country - It is, only in the sense you're free to do whatever Ottawa wants you to.  The prime example would be the Liberal's most infamous piece of legislation, C-68.  The former "Alberta Report" magazine's April 24/95 cover article "Minister Of Injustice" described C-68's atrocities - it was their most widely read/referred to article ever.  While it's doubtful that many Canadians - particularly C-68's supporters - recognize the discarding of fundamental freedoms that it represents, they've at least heard about it.  Perhaps even more pernicious is the virtually unknown C-22.  Here is a letter to the editor that I wrote back in May of 2000, here is a good editorial from a year and a half later, and here is two pages of quotations from the bill itself, which I compiled to raise awareness of it.  

 Updated:   December 2007