One of the sure signs of summer in Vancouver is the holding of two major events - the Dragon Boat Races and 24 Hr Relay for Kids.
While I have done the 24 relay in previous years and sponsor one of the runners each year I have become attached to the Dragon Boat Races held on nearby False Creek - this event attractions large number of participants - over 100 teams and approx 20 per boat + backup and supporters and it is not hard to see how the organizers come up with a figure of over 5000 people.
There are two parts to the event - the Festival which is the public part - music, food, merchandise mart and the Races which is where I get involved.
Having done this event before I worked on Friday - helping to prepare the boats, and load and unload some of the visiting teams who wanted some practice time in advance of today's first round.
This event uses two types of boats - BUK and Gemini - don't ask me the difference I couldn't tell you.
On race day up to eight boats will take part in each race - alternating between the two types of boats - this event attracts all ages - from juniors to geriatrics - special needs - there are teams composed of vision impaired, mentally challenged and a special MS team who will paddle tomorrow.
I worked the early shift from the start to 1:30PM and will do the same tomorrow.
For our efforts we get a nice tech T-Shirt - lunch and pop and water + a windup BBQ next week.
These images are from my Blackberry - as it is too awkward to have my camera down on the docks.
This volunteer work has also brought me out of my shell which I alluded to in the last posts.
Tomorrow - another day of work on the docks and then a couple of Father's Day BBQ's to consider.
This post is going to be mostly text because I don't have the energy to spend the time to upload images - had a great trip up to Kelowna and did a couple of new hikes and trail rekkies.
Got a phone call just as I was leaving Kelowna from my cousin Connie who lives in nearby Penticton - I had emailed her earlier in the week but hadn't heard from her and with my Blackberry I would have gotten any emails etc. Short story - I detoured south to me her - had lunch at her place - spend a couple of hours talkng about family matters etc then hit the road for home.
Monday was a quiet do nothing day until the evening while eating a salad one of my front teeth that has been rebuilt fell out - just what I needed - so Tuesday morning I head to my nearby dentist office and got the bad news - because some of the old regular tooth had broke off and not just the new place falling out I would have to pay close to $300.00 to get a fixed - got the work done and do a slow burn because I have already used up by dental plan allowables for the year - just when I think I am getting a handle on my finances and starting to get some disposable funds this has all but wiped out anything special for the next couple of months.
Then I get a phone call from my Doctors office regarding the results of the xrays on my hands from my bike accident - as they are busy I will go tomorrow.
Then at supper as I was enjoying a legendary White Spot hamburger the new tooth came out again - by now my stress level was rising rapidly - I suffer from anxiety disorders and have for a number of years and meds generally keep it under control but incidents like this bring on fatigue and laziness which helps explain why I haven't been active on this blog this week.
So on Wednesday its back to the dentist office to get some more work done - free of charge - we have recemented the tooth and hopefully it will stay in place - I need to be careful on how I bite into things like apples etc - in the short term - some posts or a crown are the best solutions but that will wait until next year when the plan will pay for some of the costs.
I did get back on the bike but my hands are still huring and it wasn't all that enjoyable but I survived.
The Doc office was busy in the morning so I went in the afternoon and there was no wait - the good news is that there is no damage to the hands, palms etc but the bad news is that I have arthritis in both hands - mild and not surprising as Mom had it in the same place.
The Doc did clear me to return to exercising - bike riding etc as the hands will continue to heal but the pain is still there as I type this post - so it will be back to the pain meds for a few more days.
This weekend I have my volunteer jobs with the Dragon Boat races - I start this afternoon as part of the advance crew - we get to dress up the boats and then later in the evening watch as they are blessed for the event.
Saturday and Sunday I will be dockside helping to load and unload the various teams - if the weather holds it should be just about right for the participants but in Vancouver when you have had more than three weeks with little to no rain the odds of it staying dry aren't that great.
Now that I have posted my woes I am starting to feel somewhat better.
These images are from my Blackberry - as it is too awkward to have my camera down on the docks.