I’ve started more than a few posts and they just seemed to fizzle.

I haven’t been super busy, but I’ve been... active. I have spent the last few weekends camping out at a lake in BC and pretty much having the time of my life. Every Friday I leave work as soon as possible and drive almost 5 hours out into the middle of nowhere and just bask in the joy of being away from civilization.

This past weekend, not so much.

It rained. It rained a lot. Thunder, lightning, the whole thing. When it wasn’t raining the campground that I was at (a BC forestry services site) was overrun with people with generators (that ran all night long) and satellite radio. When did camping become an alternative living room rather than an escape to the great outdoors?

I moved campsites, went a little further out, and I found a great spot that I plan on visiting again, but still, satellite radio. But the couple that was camped there were nice, and they didn’t have a generator, so I was able to enjoy a quiet night.

The thunder storm was pretty impressive. It rained so hard that if I stepped out of my tent I was soaked through almost right away. It was so wet that when I woke up in the middle of the night and had to go to the bathroom r e a l l y badly, I decided that clothes were useless. I didn’t want to get what was left of my dry clothes wet so I just stripped, ran out, used the outhouse and ran back, towelled off, got back into my dry, warm clothes, and was so snugly I wished I had done it earlier.

Things I learned this weekend:

• I have retained a large number of song lyrics from 80’s hair bands. I learned this thanks to listening to Hair Nation most of the weekend.
• There are people that are very proud of being rednecks
• Logging roads and migraines don’t mix
• After talking to somebody long enough it’s possible to forget they are missing their front teeth

I’m sad that I’m not going back out this coming weekend, or the following, but I am spending the next week on Vancouver Island, so I really can’t complain.

SmartWool Rocks My Socks

For reals.

I love their socks, but, as I mentioned in my previous post, I'm allergic to latex. And the older I get, the worse my allergy gets. Now I can't even wear stuff that has elastic in it that has latex in it, even though it's wrapped in cloth. I used to be able to get away with it, maybe some minor swelling with prolonged contact, but no more.

Anyway, I digress.

I need some new socks (actually I need A LOT of new socks, it seems all my socks fell apart at the same time) and I adore SmartWool socks. They are comfy, they do a great job, and they last forever.

Of course their socks contain elastic.

I emailed them, and less than 20 minutes later they emailed me back and let me know their sock elastic is latex free.

They just made a loyal customer out of me!

Where the Rubber Hits the Road

As somebody that is allergic to latex, I try my best to be aware of the things that contain latex. This is made extremely difficult by the lack of labelling on things. There are some things I just avoid all together because I’m not sure if it contains latex or not.

This is not easy to do.

Take a pen for example. They have these lovely pens with ‘comfort grip’. We use them in our office all the time. Most people love them, and most don’t give them a second thought. I, on the other hand, have to check the packaging to see if it indicates anywhere that the product is latex free. If the packaging has no such indication, I don’t use it. I have no way of knowing if the pen has been made with natural rubber (bad for me) or synthetic rubber (okay for me).

I also can’t use rubber bands, but my job requires some materials management that requires rubber bands, which means I have to get some help when packaging up my stuff. Again, it’s because I am unable to find out if the rubber bands are in fact made of rubber, or are synthetic.

Try looking for a first aid kit that is latex free, that’s fun.

My wish is that if things are latex free they be marked as such. Rather than just label something as being made with “rubber”, is it too much to ask that things be labelled as “natural rubber” or “synthetic rubber”?

Theory of a dead nickle

I tend to avoid commercial radio. At work I share an office so every so often there is a musical compromise and we listen to a local "alternative" commercial radio station.

I am stumped as to how anybody is able to tell Theory of a Deadman and Nickelback apart. They are the same band. I refuse to believe otherwise.

Summer time

Summer is flying by! I've been so busy I feel like I haven't had time to actually enjoy it!

Mum's visit was short but sweet, I've been to my first and last Stampede, and a couple of BBQs. Now I just need to get some quality hammock time in, and a little camping, perhaps a book or two read, and my summer will have been a smashing success!

Now here's hoping the weather will co-operate!