Medical Health

Winter Hiking on the Bruce Trail South of Speyside, Ontario

Click on the thumbnail photos (and then when you are done, click on the full size photos to close).

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Great Winter Softshell Pants for Hiking, Skiing, and Snowshoeing

The sun shines 288 days a year in Flagstaff, Arizona. I sweat on the trails, even while hiking out of the Grand Canyon through the snow on New Year’s Day. But when I’m kicking up powder, my pants get wet, and after dark my legs get cold.

My merino-wool socks and winter hiking boots are on standby near the backdoor. I keep a 19-ounce insulated jacket in my backpack. Now I’m hoping for a pair of REI Acme Pants for Christmas. The durable Schoeller® Dryskin fabric is warm, breathable and water and wind resistant, and the rip-and-stick tabs and ankle zippers keep the cuffs from sliding down over my heels.

Starting Early Gets the Prize: Kids Want Wisdom

Do not underestimate your child’s hunger for wisdom and capacity for boredom. Teach your children that earning, saving, and spending money is an adventure. Show them that starting a business or working for wages can take them up mountain trails. Tell them true-life stories. Let them know that it’s fun to aim for early retirement, for unencumbered bank accounts and long vacations.

Garneau Cycling Clothing and Gear Sales Event

If you are a cyclist and enjoy saving money, they you will want to take a look at this giant Garneau Sale, where you will find lots of 50% markdowns on helmuts, shoes, clothing, and other gear. The sale ends on September 30, 2010, and then the Nikita Outerwear sale begins.

Fabulous Outdoor Gear Sales Events

Buying a House in Arizona: Home, Termite, and Mold Inspections

First I’ll tell you about the information you can get from the Arizona State Government. Then I’ll tell you about my conversations with house, termite, mold, and fungi inspection companies in Phoenix and Mesa, Arizona.

You can phone the Office of Pest Management at 602-255-3664 (and 1-800-223-0618). Or go online to the www.sb.state.az.us web site, where you can use their “Consumer Resources” section to search for companies licensed for Pest Control, Termite Inspection, and Fungi Inspection (Mold Inspection). For termites, you are probably best off looking at companies that have both the pest control/treatment license (the B2 license) and the pest inspection license (the B8). For mold, the fungi inspection license (the B7) might only apply to the exterior walls of buildings–you’ll want to inquire with the inspection service providers.

Here is how to perform a license search on the www.sb.state.az.us web site in its present form:

1) Click on “Consumer Resources” in the menu on the left side of the www.sb.state.az.us homepage. A drop-down menu will open up.

2) In the drop-down menu, click on “Licensee Search.” A new menu will open up. Click on “Pest Management Company.”

3) You are now on a page called “Search for Pest Control Companies in Arizona,” where you can either a) type in the name of the company you want to know about, or b) just type in the name of the city where you want the inspections performed.

4) When all you do is type in the city name (and then click on the “Search” button) you will see a list of business names, their license numbers, and their statuses (expired or active). Click on a company’s license number to find out more about them.

5) Additionally, you can choose a “License Category” and then perform the search for your city.

Here is how I went about finding home, termite, and mold/fungi inspectors in Mesa (and Phoenix), Arizona:

First of all, I phoned Chemtec Supply (the phone number is 480-833-7578) and asked for Jack. Chemtec is a supplier for pest control and inspection companies. Jack recommended talking to Steve Schaeffer at Foothills Pest Control (480-759-8700) about home inspectors. Jack also said to talk to Scott Agee at Action Termite Control (623-780-3132).

Steve Schaeffer at Foothills Pest Control recommended two home inspectors: 1) Comprehensive Property Inspections, azcpi.com, and 2) Dan Harris, inspectaz.com.

The office manager (Jeremy) at Action Termite Control recommended Jason Bradley at Win Home Inspections Red Mountain (480-659-0895), www.wini.com. We spoke to Jason, and he does both house and termite inspections. His termite inspections are performed under the auspices of Action Termite Control.

Jeremy at Action Termite Control also advised us to phone David Gilpatrick at Residential Environmental Services of America (RESA), www.resaaz.com, about mold and fungi inspections (602-230-9500). We phoned RESA, and David recommended hiring Kurtis Nelson at AJF Engineering, www.ajfengineering.com (480-661-8888). David said that Kurtis had taken his mold inspection training classes and that Kurtis had eleven years experience as a home inspector. Kurtis is also licensed to perform termite and wood destroying insects inspections and treatments.

The Fisheries Turnoff

I was watching David Suzuki’s “One Ocean” on CBC Television last night, and I was again struck by one fisheries biologist’s arrogance–his choice of words, his tone of voice, his meaning. When he spoke of forcing a smile onto his face at public meetings and inquiries, he was not only insulting his audience, he was admitting insincerity. And why would anyone want to cooperate with an arrogant, insincere fisheries biologist?

Fisheries biology is an interesting field of study, but it often attracts (and subsequently recruits) autocratic individuals who as teenagers and young adults failed to muster enough smarts to succeed at jobs requiring higher levels of creativity, originality, and diplomacy.

Related Posts:

World Health and Arrogant Ecologists

Science, Ethics, and Abuse

Global Warming and Publish or Perish

Toronto Waterfront, Leslie Spit, Cherry Beach

It was over 90 degrees in July, and with the humidity, that temperature had the effect of 104 degrees, but starting at 2 PM, I hiked from Yonge and St. Clair to the waterfront and then on to Cherry Beach and the Leslie Spit in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Then I hiked back to where I started on Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue. (Yonge is the longest municipal street in Canada.) Here are a few of the photos:

Toronto Skyline Under Reflections Through Cloud

Tall Ship, Cherry Beach, Toronto

Cherry Beach and Leslie Spit, Toronto

Cherry Road Drawbridge, Ship Passing

Ship passing from Lake Ontario, Cherry Drawbridge

Also see:

Hiking Photos from Bruce Trail and Grand Canyon

Here are a few of the photos I took on my hikes in Arizona and Ontario. I use a small Japanese-made Minolta. You will find more of my photographs on http://www.flixya.com/user/affiliatebin.

I took the Arizona shot on the Tanner Trail in the Grand Canyon and the Ontario shots on the Beaver Valley and Sydenham sections of the Bruce Trail (Maps 28 and 29 of the Bruce Trail Reference: Edition 25), about 10 km south of Meaford, Ontario. (Did you know that John Muir once lived in Meaford?). Compared to Arizona, the Bruce Trail does not present large elevation changes, but its moss-covered rocks and boulders are extremely slippery.

Colorado River, Tanner, Grand Canyon

Light in Forest — Photos from the Bruce Trail

Water Fall — Photos from the Bruce Trail

Rock Outcrop — Photos from the Bruce Trail

Bruce Trail Bumble Bee

Also see:

June 1 – June 10, Get 30% Off All GoLite Products

Update: Valid October 27 – November 7, 2010, 30% off all insulated jackets.

GoLite is celebrating National Trails Day by discounting all GoLite products by 30%: tents, packs, rain gear, running gear, and all the other hiking, camping and outdoors products in their collection. This site-wide sale is taking place from June 1 to June 10.

Use the coupon code “NTD2010″ at checkout on GoLite.com.

Flat Feet and Arch Supports

Maybe you visited your doctor after taking up running, and the doctor told you that your feet hurt because your arches fell. In other words, you have flat feet. Well the chances are that it’s your shoes, not your flat arches, that are causing the pain. The arch supports hurt your feet: You do not want humongous arch supports. You want shoes that are built with very mild (low) arch supports.

Both New Balance and Vasque make athletic shoes that fit flat feet and wide feet. Vasque even says that their Perpetuum last is “comfortable for people with flatter feet.”

So don’t quit running, walking, and hiking. Just buy the right shoes!