Things I've learned from the new camera so far:

1. How to take photos of nanking cherry blossoms in the middle of winter. Riiight. Of course this is still an old photo, people.

2. Subject is too dark is the camera's polite version of you forgot to take the lens cap off again, Dee. Sigh. It's been a long time since I've dealt with non-automatic lens caps, did I mention?

3. I've kind of forgotten how to hold a camera. I think it's going to take a little practice to get my hands out of point-and-shoot mentality, but I'm looking forward to it.

I'm also looking forward to having some actual subject matter. Geez, winter is boring for a person who likes spiders and flowers.

Speaking of winter, I just went out and plugged in the car. Now, for those of my two fans who are unfamiliar with Alberta (or Canada in general), plugging in the car does NOT mean that the car runs on electricity. One of my favourite -- and I suppose in a way unfortunate for the person involved -- plug-in-the-car stories goes back to when I was living in rez during my first year of university. I've probably told it before, but what the heck. Tis the season for repeats, after all. One of the guys on my floor was from California and had driven his car up to Edmonton for school. When the first cold snap was expected, he came up from the parking lot all excited and puzzled because he didn't realise that we already had so many electric cars in Canada. When we asked him what he meant, he told us he'd noticed that most of the cars in the lot were plugged in. That's when we broke it to him that it was going to get cold enough out there to freeze his engine block, and he'd better go have a block heater installed asap.

Having grown up with block heaters and the like, it's hard for me to imagine a the wonderful world where people don't even know that such a thing exists or is needed.

I probably didn't have to plug the car in today because it's only -17C at the moment (only -17C? Well, heavens. The past few days it's been in the mid -20s. -17C is balmy after that, isn't it? Hmm. Not so much, but let's pretend it is), but I figured I'd give it a warm since it's been sitting for a few days. Besides, I really hate the sound of an engine trying to start cold. Something about the mechanical strain makes me even more nervous about winter driving than I am anyway.

Oh, I should clarify that. I'm not so much nervous of the driving, per se. I don't find winter driving terribly pleasant, but I'm reasonably competent at it. No, what I'm nervous about is the possibility of mechanical failure or accident that might leave me stranded on the highway or something. Sure, the highways are fairly busy and it's not like I wouldn't be found if for some reason I couldn't just phone. Being stranded in the cold, though, can be dangerous. Doubly so for someone who's allergic to cold.

Of all the stupid things to be allergic to in Canada, cold has to be one of the absolute stupidest. And for anyone out there who doesn't know what I'm talking about, google it. I'm not in the mood to get into explanations yet again.



Aaanyway. The car's plugged in, and I'm planning to head home this afternoon. It may (for a change) not mean I'm disappearing from the blog, though, since I'm planning to go into work tomorrow. We'll just see how hectic work is, since I haven't been there for a while.

Later, all.