Wednesday, June 28, 2006

The State of The Female Future

As a teacher of high school children for more than 10 years now, it has been my observation that over this time, women (more specifically teenage girls I guess) have become more proactive, demanding, aggressive and most importantly, decisive in their academic career choices. Just look at the enrolment records for universities. Traditional male courses such as engineering, science, and mathematics, have, in most cases, now more than 50% female enrolment.

When I look at the teenage male population I see kids who are disenfranchised, lacking direction and generally downright lost in what to do with their lives. In general these males often have limited passion for anything academic and consequently have difficulty in reaching their full academic potential. In short, the new age male seems to have trouble defining what to do with his life and drifts around aimlessly whether it be in a job or at university. The only things that seem to motivate them are video games and sports.

I have often pondered over the direction our society was taking. What would the world be like when women are in the position of power that they seem destined to achieve? Originally I had thought that we would see this shift take place in 15 or 20 years as these current university graduates scale the ladders of the corporate and political worlds. Recently though, it has dawned on me that despite their recent advances and seeming decisiveness, women are destined to lose this advantage and will likely fail to achieve any significant power in the corporate or political worlds. What caused this shift in my thoughts? As I said, recent observations of women who upon reaching their early twenties are being held back from achieving their full potential by their own emotional baggage.

This is what I have seen. Young ladies do indeed have the passion and drive to succeed in high school and university but at some point early on their life (usually late teens or early 20’s) they decided that it is vitally important to have a companion in their life. This is not new - guys go through it as well - or at least we did. Unfortunately, when these girls choose a partner - more often than not they choose a guy who has very little passion and drive for success. Why do they choose such a person? That I can’t answer but to be fair, as I’ve stated previously, given the state of today’s male population, they have very little to choose from in the first place. This then is the problem.

The drive and passion that these young women had seems to be sucked from them by their lifeless partner. Young women who at first seemed destined for greatness begin to lose their motivation and much like their partner they start to drift about aimlessly, looking for that easy way through life. It seems the way of the world that the lowest common denominator always manages to bring the average down. I guess this makes sense - if you put a rose in a jar with dog shit you will never get a nice smelling turd. Have you ever seen a troubled kid fall into a group of highly motivated ‘good’ kids and get out of trouble? Need more proof - consider the number of examples you have heard about in which a husband actually demotivates his overweight wife from losing weight. It is out of fear. Even though he may complain she is too fat, he doesn’t really want her to change because it would threaten the status quo that has been established in their marriage.

So there it is. My theory in its early infancy. Today’s females, though seemingly more motivated than ever before, are doomed to failure because they can’t get past the need to have a unsupportive, demotivating significant other in their life. As I’ve said, I have seen it far too often over these last 2 or 3 years and it is troublesome. The old adage of “Behind every successful man is a good woman” seems to be changing to “Behind every potentially successful women is a slug of a man dragging her back to the kitchen”.

The Canoe Trip - Days 4 & 5

The fourth day started off a wee bit late and lazy. Floating down the lake at 1.9 km/hr while trying to ease my aching muscles back into paddling form after training them to carry a canoe the day before.


The fourth day consisted mainly of what is loosely described on the map as 'river' travel. As you can see this has to be the world's smallest river.


It was also filled with a number of obstacles such as this beaver dam which had to be carefully negotiated to avoid tipping over and smelling of swamp for the remainder of the trip.



Finally after several hours of following this meandering river I came to the second of the two portages, a beautiful little waterfall. An ideal spot for a late afternoon snack - call it lunch.

















After lunch and several more hours, I came to the last site on this trip. Tucking the canoe into the natural harbour, I immediately set about relaxing from what turned out to be a long day. Sitting on the rock, having a cigar and talking to my buddy - froggie.

















Froggie was not much of a conversationalist but after 4 days without talking to anyone it was amazing how much we had to discuss. Froggie even proposed a theory about lesbian canoeists always choosing yellow canoes, a theory which I am currently trying to validate. While I enjoyed a cigar, froggie snacked on a couple of spiders that happened to crawl by.

Later, as the sun set, I lit the last fire of this trip and decided to abandon the 'first star' rule and pour myself a wee one. After all it was a north facing site and the first star didn't come out until after 10 pm.






















The last day was pretty boring - three portages and finally home - here is a picture of the last portage. Ahhhh - memories. Just like this blog - the trip was over - much too soon.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

The Canoe Trip - Day 3

Either to rest properly, or in a lame effort to avoid the 2.5 km portage, I did not get out of bed until 11 am on Saturday. By the time I had breakfasted and loaded up the canoe it was past noon. It was a short 5 minute paddle across the lake to the portage point and the BIG PORTAGE began at 12:30 pm.

I had calculated that the portage should require 3600 steps so I originally broke it into 7 stages of about 500 steps each. Lug the canoe for 500 steps, drop it and return for the pack and lug that to the canoe. I also decided that I would take 5 minute breaks between each stage.

As it turned out the path was easier than I had originally assumed and after the first stage I decided to alter the plan to 6 stages each of 600 steps. That might not sound like a big difference but when you are being buzzed by deer flies, horse flies, and mosquitoes while lugging a canoe on your head - those extra 100 steps are huge. I had also included a mandatory 20 minute lunch break at what I assumed was the halfway point.

To make a long story short, the path did get a bit worse but after almost 4 hours I made it to the end looking a bit worse for the wear but extremely proud of my accomplishment. Other than a quick picture to record the occasion, I spent little time congratulating myself and instead loaded up the canoe and headed for the middle of the lake to get away from the bugs.


After 4 hours of continuous buzzing around my head the quiet of no bugs was almost orgasmic.

The site I had chosen to stay that night was short paddle away and I quickly set up camp and awaited the first star of the night. Luckily I was again facing south and at 9:35 the fire was lit.

The Canoe Trip - Day 2

Watching the beauty of the stars, I didn't haul my butt to bed until 1:30 am - big mistake! At 5:30 am I was rudely woken by the howling of a cold (8 degrees that's 46 Fahrenheit) north wind . The wind was so strong I feared that my tent would be blown away and it was impossible to get back to sleep. So a tired Bob wandered about the camp site with nothing to do because the wind was so strong that it was impossible to launch the canoe let alone make any progress paddling into that headwind.

So wait it out I did and finally at 9 am the skies began to clear, the wind died and the temperature rose. It was a beautiful day and I managed to get across Ralph Brice Lake, a 450 meter portage to Little Trout Lake and lastly a 175 meter portage from Little Trout Lake into Little Queer Lake where I found a site near to the long portage I would undertake the next day. I must say that in looking at the map I don't see a Big Queer Lake so I resume the 'little' refers to the lake being just a little bit strange - though I'm not sure why.

Anyway, I set up camp at 4 pm and then went down for a wee nap. I was tired, my right leg was cramping and my back ached beyond belief. Things were not looking good for the next day's portage of 2.5 km.

At 6 pm I awoke feeling a bit better and decided to go fishing. I was about 0.75 km from my site when I heard from the near shoreline what sounded like two cats fighting. I remembered seeing something about the presence of bobcats in the park so I headed closer to shore for a better look. The animals making the noise came out of the bush onto the shoreline and I thought to myself - beavers? Did beavers make that sound when they were fighting? So I put on my glasses for a better look (all the while chastising myself for not having brought my camera along) and in a single instance (with my glasses now on) it became obvious what was going on. The two beavers turned out to be bear cubs and momma bear wandered onto the shore to have a look at me - who was now within 100 meters of her. We looked at each other for a long while and without knowing why - I slapped my paddle onto the water. This caused the bears to immediately bolt for the bush and the two cubs went up the nearest tree in lightening speed. I never did see what happened to the momma bear but I was filled with relief that I could scare them off so easily - after all there were only a few hundred meters from where I was camped.

Back at camp I brought in a new rule - no fire or first drink until I could spot the first star of the evening. Luckily I was facing south and at 9:36 pm the fire was struck and the whiskey poured. I sat on the rocks and yelled long into the night testing the echo factor. It was a pretty amazing location as I was able to produce 9 distinct echoes! But I did learn my lesson of the previous night and went to bed by 11:30 - after all tomorrow would bring the much dreaded 2.5 km portage.

The Canoe Trip - Day 1

I must admit that in the morning, as I prepared to leave my apartment, I was beginning to have reservations about the canoe trip. First, I'd never gone on a solo trip for 5 days before and secondly I had never undertaken a 2.5 km portage by myself, let alone 10 portages in 5 days.

The drive north to the access point on Magnetawan Lake, took about 3 hours and gave me a lot of time to ponder the intelligence of my decision. In the end, it was the lure of the wild that propelled me forward and the journey was officially underway at 1:50 pm Thursday under clear skies, low winds and warm temperatures.

The first portage, a small one, was reached six minutes later and by 2:20 I was paddling through Hambone Lake onto the second portage of the day - also relatively short at 300 meters.

The second portage went well and by 3:10 I was in Ralph Bice Lake and beginning my search for a site to stay for the night. Since this was the first trip of the year I knew I was going to be sore and wanted to get established early so that I could begin to administer liquid medication to those muscles that haven't been used in a year.

I found a nice site by about 5 pm and immediately began to set up the tent, found a suitable spot to hang my pack the required 10 feet off the ground, as well as spend a few minutes properly organizing the medicine table.


By 6 pm, Bob was finally able to relax on the rocks with a cigar and drink in hand. I spent most of the night in this position while watching the southern stars rise (the first star coming out at 9:36 pm). Life couldn't have been better ... little did I know what Day #2 would bring.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

The Kit List

This post is mainly for H and J, who are learning what to and what not to, take on a canoe trip. Here is my kit list.

First, we have the medicinal supplies including bug spray, water purification chemicals, assorted pain relievers - including a 2 liter canteen filled with liquid pain reliever. The nicorettes and cigars are optional but don't forget the sun screen!

Next comes the cooking supplies. Here we see a single pot for dinner and coffee as well as a frying pan with utensils. Note the pliers for that tough piece of fish that I just may catch. Also, fire starter stuff, a sharp knife , a mini-tooth brush - I canoe alone so it really doesn't matter about the toothbrush. Just don't forget the coffee mug!

For breakfast we have tortillas spread with Peanut butter and / or jam as well as coffee and bacon - mmmm. Obviously all of this stuff has to be removed from the original packaging - glass is not allowed in the park! Oh - the crystal light is to mix with the liquid medicine later in the evening.

Dinner and lunch - pretty self explanatory here. The only thing missing is a big hunk of pepperoni - forgot to get it today.





Now for the gear - the clothes are in the drypack in the background - a few unders and socks and an extra shirt. Knee pads for canoeing and water shoes are optional. Not so with the axe, and rope. You can't have too much rope! The gloves are needed to keep the bugs from biting your hands while portaging and two canteens are needed for water on those long hot portages. Of course the micro-stove is essential for that first cup of coffee in the morning.



Next - the fun stuff. Note the first aid kit of a few bandages in case you hook your finger while fishing. Anything more serious than a pricked finger and you are screwed anyway when you are canoeing solo so why bother to take the extra weight. Don't forget the map and flashlight. The GPS is optional but a fun toy.

Finally - it all gets crammed into a single pack. 46 pounds of crap strapped on your back. The sleeping bag is at the bottom of the pack. The tent needs to be carried by hand along with the paddles. You can wear the life vest when you strap the 48 pound canoe to your head. All in all - FUN!!!

Ooops - I almost forgot one of the most important items. A roll or two - baby wipes work better but too heavy!

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

The First Canoe Trip


Finally, meetings are over and CanoeBob is set for his first solo trip of the year. A journey into the wilds of Algonquin; from Hambone Lake, north-east through Ralph Bice Lake (the big one on the map), Little Trout Lake, Queer Lake, Little Misty Lake, and then return along the Petawawa River to Daisy Lake and back to Hambone.

I calculate a total trip of 30 km including 10 portages, of which the 2.5 Km portage into Misty Lake looks like the worst. Tomorrow it is time to get the shopping done and do a few push-ups to get in shape.

Monday, June 19, 2006

The Prom

One step closer to the freedom of summer. The last official school function of the year, the school prom, was held on Friday. As always, the prom is a fun evening especially since I get to make fun of the graduates. In short, we laughed, we danced, we had a few drinks and then went home.

I now have three days of meetings but come Wednesday it will be all over - including the crying!

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Day #3 & #4 - The Boat

Well I finally made it out on the boat in anticipation of an almost full moon - missed it by two days. First Corona heading down the river - can life get any better!


As the sun was setting a nice BBQ of pork chops. This is the last picture of the old BBQ. It gave up the ghost after this & was retired at sea several hours later.

Finally, at 12:45 the moon was up and Houseboat Bobby was crusin' the waterways at breakneck speed (4.7 mph) - GPS system in full navigation mode. A most spectacular night - warm, no wind and most importantly, no other boats for Bobby to pile into.

Day #3 - Megan's Face

Day 3 began with report cards at 9 am. Finally finished them at 2 pm and headed off to the houseboat for 22 hours of sun & fun - more later. First, I had to drop off the report cards where I was able to have a look at Megan's softball face. It doesn't look that bad - but then again, Megan was never that tough! None-the-less I wouldn't want it to happen to me - I'm not that tough either.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Day #2 - Busy Bobby

Ok - I didn't accomplish that much but it seemed like a busy day since I did not get up until noon. Kinda feel bad that I didn't get up early to go help pick up my friend Megan who was in pain in Kingston with a broken face from playing softball. Hopefully, once the wires come out of her jaw in a month, she will still be on speaking terms with me.



Let's see - what did I do today? First, I took the truck in to get my cruise control replaced. That was pretty exciting - need the cruise for those upcoming summer road trips.




Next it was off to Zellers to buy new pillows. My old ones were a bit torn after a bitter fight several weeks ago - or was that in my dreams? Anyway - new pillows for Bob today.





Then I came home and jumped on the computer to catch up on some research. Did a lot of 'googling' today, so much so that I feel the need for a wee nap. Hopefully tomorrow will be less stressful.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Great Commercials #5

Ok Ok - One more commercial before beddies.

The Man Has His Priorities Straight

Day #1 - I Wouldn't Call It Boredom

Finally - the first day in a long time in which I felt that I didn't have to accomplish anything. I think I shall call this the first day of summer vacation, despite a few days of meetings scheduled for next week.

Yesterday, I thought I might get out on the boat today and take advantage of the almost full moon tonight but NO - the weather forecast was wrong again and it was cloudy all day. Though it MAY clear tonight, the temperatures are cool and I'm tired of freezing my ass off in a north wind on a lake.

So today - well I spent most of it in this position. Love this teaching stuff. Got to get back to bed ... too tired to write more....