Cityscape 8:30pm May 30, 2017

Sometimes you just have to hop on the motorcycle and take a ride. A quick zip into Calgary after work just north of the Bow River. I like the view. Taken along Samis Road NE and Crescent Road NW.

Off to the right is the Centre Street Bridge.

Centre Street Bridge in the centre of the photo. I love seeing all this green.

The footbridge in the lower right crosses the Bow River to Prince's Island Park and into the downtown.

Brush Hill School 1928 - 1952

This is a little north of Vegreville, Alberta. The school is brick, you do not see a lot of brick schools in Alberta. It looked to be in good condition. It is boarded up and unused.

Abandoned Alberta May 20, 2017

St. Georges Ukrainian Catholic Church established 1914 near Derwent, Alberta. 

Bell tower and church.

This is what is left of the bell tower.

You can see what is left of the onion dome on top of the church.

The interior is in much better shape than I expected. The altar is in the background.

This is what remains of the altar. The pews were likely removed long ago. This was once an important place. Sad to see it fade away.

Abandoned north of Vegreville, Alberta

One of the sights from the May 20, 2017 road trip. The church in the background is no longer in use.

Nothing ever lasts forever

Although we would like it to.

I previously posted this before:

everybodyhastobesomewhere.blogspot.ca/2015/02/mcdougall-memorial-united-church-near.html

It was one of those places I would look for on Highway 1A between Cochrane and Banff, Alberta. On May 22, 2017 it was heavily damaged in a fire, arson is suspected. It was built in 1875 and declared an historic site in 1979. I hope they can rebuild. I drove out after work on May 25, 2017. It was a beautiful spot. What is left is fenced off and there is crime scene tape and a warning not to trespass. It is sad to lose this. This is one of the reasons I try and visit places like this when I can. One day they might not be there.

Road trip . . . ?

Likely not.

Not even to Piney, Manitoba.

Sometimes you have to take care of other stuff.

Stone house near Tofield, Alberta May 20, 2017

I read that this was built in 1924/1925 and then abandoned sometime in the 1940's. You do not see many stone buildings in Alberta. It is a very tiny house and it has a staircase to the upper level.

A reader of my blog pointed this place out to me via email. As to the location all I will say is that it is a rural area north of Tofield, Alberta. 

Inside you can see the stairway.

This reminds me of a certain blogger north of me

Low key software rant

I would like companies at one point to just leave their stuff alone. I work with a number of computer programs personally and at work and I am constantly getting updates. Prior versions are usually fine however there seems to be this need for companies to constantly screw with their product when it works well. Most of these changes are not beneficial.

Apple is really bad for this. They constantly badger me to update the software for my itunes, iphone, and ipad. You can only ignore them for so long before they almost start forcing you to update. Most of the time they are making it worse and adding stuff that I cannot get rid of and do not want. I used to love itunes. Now I tolerate it. I still hate Microsoft for the tabs in MS Office that they introduced years ago. I am not anti-technology. I am more of the school of thought that if something works reasonably well then leave it alone.

The programs I use for work just got a recent change. Now it takes longer for me to deal with clients as I am trying to figure out how to deal with the goofy changes. For example I cannot enter an address, I have to enter a postal code which then brings up an array of address associated with that code, then pick the address I want from a menu. It was faster the old way.

If it ain't broke . . .

How can you not like spam?

Never have. Never will. 

I seem to be getting small amounts of spam comments.I am guessing that they are largely coming from India due to the grammar and syntax. I am certain that a few of my photos have been "borrowed" and ended up on a t-shirt over there. I find that kind of amusing. The spam comments are a minor nuisance for now as I just delete them as soon as they are posted. I fail to see what they are trying to accomplish, it is not like anyone is going to buy any of the garbage they linked.

Lather\Rinse\Repeat

Sometimes it seems like the days blend together. The weekdays can be one repeating cycle of getting up and going to work. There are times it feels like I am doing the same thing over and over again. 

I work at a kind of boring job. I am not going to say what it is as it is not that important. I am sure that everyone gets bored at their job at one time or another. I believe that you can be busy and bored just from doing the same type of thing multiple times. Most of us do not lead exciting lives. To be honest I kind of like the sameness of the days. It allows me to enjoy my weekends more.

Brisco, British Columbia church

Not able to find out anything about it. Definitely not in use. Across the road is the General Store. If I am back this way again I will have to stop and ask if anyone has any information on it. Took a photo on April 30, 2017.

There are days . . .

Last August I was in Medicine Hat, Alberta heading out on a motorcycle trip when my Iphone 5c slipped out of my hand and hit the table when I was getting breakfast at McDonald's. I happen to like breakfast at McDonald's. Of course it had to hit the table with just enough force to crack the screen. It was a Saturday on a long weekend and I had to wait for two hours for stores to open. No such luck getting it fixed so I got a replacement Iphone 6. When I got back I replaced the screen on the 5c and left it in a drawer.

A few days ago my Iphone 6 decided it was schizophrenic and locked me out. When it would accept my passcode it would torture me further my activing and closing random apps. I managed to do a quick update and thought I fixed the problem. I woke up this morning, grabbed my phone to check the time, turned it on, and confirmed that I woke up way too early. Aboout three hours early. My phone then decided to dial my mother on its own. Of all the people it could have dialed it just had to be my mother who is slightly paranoid and convinced the worst is going to happen at any time. I just knew she would  think the sky is falling if she got a phone call at a weird hour. I frantically tried to unlock it so I could hang up before it started ringing through. No such luck. I managed to kill the power after two rings and I did not hear her answer it. Safe!

Not so safe. About an hour later after multiple resets I got in and noticed that my mother left me a voicemail right after that call and was concerned if everything was all right. Mom does not have call display so she must have dialed the code that tells you the last number that called. I managed to call her and convince her there was no emergency. At least I think I managed to convince her there was no crisis.

During my lunch I decided I had enough. I dug out the Iphone 5c and reactivated it. The Iphone 6 has been placed on hiatus for now. I am one of those who never backs up my phone (mainly since so few people call me and I cannot be bothered) and I gained some contacts since last August. Not to mention that I usually check my email through my phone. Trying to remember your passwords to set up everything again, especially since I changed a few passwords a few months ago, is a bit of a chore. Thankfully I have some of this written down. I just need to finish resurrecting everything. I am sure I missed a few calls or emails in the interim.

There are worse things that could happen.

It's so busy no one goes there anymore

I am paraphrasing Yogi Berra.

I will be doing my best to avoid the national parks this year. I love Banff, Alberta. I prefer Jasper, Alberta. Banff is closer to me. 

I took the motorcycle on a run to Banff and back on Victoria Day which was May 22, 2017. The weather was perfect. To celebrate Canada's one hundred fiftieth anniversay our Federal government made passes to the parks free this year. All you had to do was apply and get a free pass. This gave you free access to all of the National Parks in Canada for 2017. I like the idea and it is a way to get people out to see this country.

Banff National Park is getting crowded. Too crowded. You see people of all kinds just about everywhere there. Not just in the town of Banff itself but on the hiking trails as well. Everyplace there is jammed. I have mixed feelings about this. I think it is great that so many people will get out to experience the wilderness. The problem is that so many people are getting out to experience the wilderness.

I stopped in Banff itself for lunch on Victoria Day. Riding on a motorcycle meant it was easier to find a place to park. I had seen plenty of people in cars circling the streets trying to find a place to park. A motorcycle usually does not take up too much room. I almost felt bad that I could park my motorcycle in some leftover scrap of parking space. Almost.

I like to go to the Banff area for the scenery. I live on the prairie but I grew up in the mountains. In the background is the Banff Springs Hotel. There are lots of great views in the area.

Heading back home was not easy. From Calgary to Banff it is a four lane highway. Heading back home on the last day of a three day holiday weekend traffic was at a crawl for half of the trip. At least a quarter of the way my top speed was twenty-five miles an hour. It will be worse in July and August. I hope everyone that visits will enjoy their trip. I will be looking for other places to go.

School hunting May 21, 2017

This is near Thorsby, Alberta. Sometimes you drive by a place a few dozen times and not notice what was hiding in plain sight. The photo shows a school in the foreground and that certainly looks like a school in the background. I did a quick check and could not find any information on this school.

This is right in someone's farmyard. Below you can see the original foundation of the first building. I noticed the dandelions are out in full force.

The second building definitely looks like a school building. Mystery to solve for another day.

Not good at the vehicle shots

Old vehicles that look or are abandoned can make for some great photo opportunities. I saw this near Invermere, British Columbia on April 29, 2017. I like what they did with this and I wish I could have got a better photo.

Green! Glorious green!

Stellar Victoria Day Weekend. No matter where I was everything was nice and green. This is Burtonsville Road, not far from Tomahawk, Alberta where my mother grew up. 

St. Anthony north of Etzikom, Alberta May 6, 2017

Built in 1911, closed in 1991. Someone stole the cross from the top of the church a few years ago. It is boarded up and there is no access to the inside. It is one of those simple straightforward churches typical of rural areas. I hope it gracefully fades away over time.