A historical point of view

We had gone on a hike to the tracking station some months ago. I had seen an old photo in a magazine of the tracking station when it was operational. It made me curious - could I find the same spot the photo was taken.

I went back today to see if I could find it.  The array on the left was dismantled years ago but the concrete bases were still there.  The vent boxes seemed strange but when I went for a walkabout in the area, it turns out the photo was taken from the roof of a building about 200 metres from the dish.

There was an exterior set of stairs on the building and I went up to the roof.

Now the roof of an abandoned building may not be best place to stand but it looked quite sturdy and I was able to find the same spot (more or less) where the photographer stood 50 years ago.  The roof was overgrown but some of the vent boxes were intact.

It was pretty cool to find the same spot.

Inside the buildings there was lots of graffiti including this classic Trini pic - in the Trini flag colors. In case you didnt know, 868 is the area code for Trinidad. 

B.

I got to meet the new guy

I was able to get back to Calgary for a quick trip and got to meet Kieran.

He has got the napping thing figured perfectly.

B.

Tarpon Sunday

I had the opportunity to go fishing for tarpon yesterday. We went out on the Pick ll.

We only went for a couple of hours and did very well. We hadnt been out 15 minutes when the first tarpon hit.

It happened to be 'my' turn. O lucky me.

After 20 minutes of fighting this guy - I had to surrender. I couldnt reel it in any more.

I turned the rod over to a friend, Ken who took another 10 minutes to get the fish to the boat. It was (they said it, not me) a 140-160 lb tarpon. 

This was sport fishing - catch and release. We got him to the boat, removed the hook and let him go. It was either that or I was eating tarpon every night for the next 3 months!

The second one was for Ken.

It was only a 60 lb tarpon but it looked spectacular when it came out of the water.

The final fish was for Ray, who after bragging about his P90X strength training program, proceeded to snap the end off of this rod right after this picture was taken. 

The tarpon got away.

We had used up all of our bait at this point so we drank the rest of the beer in the cooler. 

These two looked as tired as I know I am. I am so going to feel it tomorrow.


But you will not be able to wipe the smile off of Ken's face. Nor mine.

Although I may need to do some upper body strength training to avoid a repeat of surrendering to a fish.

B.

These are the days when you feel far away....

Meet Kieran Joseph Henderson.

Kieran is our grandson, born today, Tuesday, May 29th at 11:26 am in Calgary.  He came into the world at a trim 7 lbs 7 oz.

His father Jake, mother Kelli and big sister, Sienna are all doing well as is his Gran (Mimi).

I celebrated by having bubbles with Kieran on the terrace here in Port of Spain. 

When asked what she thought of having a new baby brother....

Sienna Grace said 'More waffles please'.

I am blessed to share the same middle name as Kieran.  Such pride and such joy!

B.

Lunch with the GG

I was invited to a luncheon with the Canadian Governor General, the Right Honourable David Johnston.

The invitation came from the T&T Prime Minister....

It was pretty cool to be included.

B..

Signage

This sign as written says '10 km per per hour'. 

You get the point but no one drives that slow here.

B.

The commute

My commute to work is 75 minutes each way. I spend a lot of time on the highways and in traffic.  There are 1.3 million people in Trinidad and there are about 800,000 (registered) vehicles here. That is a lot of cars in a small place. 
There are speed limits here but they are rarely enforced. It has some downsides. There are some horrendous car wrecks here.  


This one was on the way home last week in 'rush' hour. 

There are public service messages along the roads but they regularly go unheeded.

This sign was 10 metres from the accident site.

B.