Roule ma poule. Or not.

~ Lkvy ~ Leave a comment

Last Friday, I did a 7.5km road run. Saturday was project day: I continued working on my cross stitch project and started sewing an oven mitt. Sunday, I did a 73km ride outside (average temperature 4°C/39°F). Yesterday, I finished the oven mitt and then ran up a mountain (9.5km). This morning, I raced in virtual France with the RIOT ladies (31km).

My crowning achievement over the past few days, however, was mailing my AFI card application. The only envelopes I had on hand were cutesy stationery envelopes featuring cartoon cats navigating a tiny pirate ship, or neon yellow card envelopes, both of which were too small for my needs. I stopped by a Canada Post outlet to pick up the proper #10 envelopes and noticed they offered ones with built-in postage. After I’d paid for those, I ripped off the plastic wrapper and wrote my address on the upper left corner of one of the envelopes. As I unfolded my application to find the mailing address, I discovered that the destination was a mere ten-minute walk from where I was.

Oh boy.

Perhaps that’ll count as bonus proof of my disability.

Continue reading “Roule ma poule. Or not.” →

Loose lips sink ships.

~ Lkvy ~ 1 Comment

Thought of the day: We have collectively decided that screen addiction leads to brain rot. But, how come audio addiction is not a concern? I’ve met individuals who always seem to be tuned out, no matter the activity: driving, cycling, or even hiking. Evidently, there are people with the desire to drown out the horrible sounds of nature. 

“Ugh! The birds always sing off-key, and squirrels have no rhythm. And, that babbling brook won’t SHUT UP.”

I don’t have that option. My deafness has robbed me of the joy of having Taylor Swift accompany me on my walks in nature. For this reason–among other less comical reasons–I am eligible for several subsidies. Among those is a card that grants me a 50% discount on the standard passenger fare for BC Ferries. These savings amount to between $7 and $12 each time I take the ferry, unless I get hungry and blow said savings on a stale Bread Garden cinnamon knot from the ferry cafeteria.

For 30 years, I’ve used the same card: a piece of cardstock with the BC Ferries logo, my name, my address (from the mid 90s), and my signature from when I was 10 years old and therefore still had the energy to get through my long name in cursive. Although I’ve kept the card in a plastic sleeve since the beginning, it has yellowed and begun to disintegrate along the edges.

From what I understand, BC Ferries changed the design 15+ years ago, and it is now a plastic card that includes an ID photo. Even so, the majority of ticket agents want nothing more than to keep the line moving and honour the discount based on my papery relic.

However, if I’m early and the only one in the line-up, it’s a crapshoot. Twice now, I’ve had the same ticket agent give me a print out of the application for the current Accessible Fare Identification (AFI) card. She was kind, so I couldn’t even be mad about it. The second time I encountered this agent, I lied and said I’d mailed my application a few weeks ago.

Well, now I’m trying to catch up to that lie and get my new card before our paths cross once again.

Continue reading “Loose lips sink ships.” →

Spring in the Winter

~ Lkvy ~ Leave a comment

On January 19, I woke up at 7am to find the campsite enshrouded in fog so thick I couldn’t see Burger’s or Yann’s tents in the distance. It was much too chilly to leave my tent, so after putting on a fleece jacket and activating a fresh pair of hand warmers to put inside my sleeping bag, I tightened the drawstring around the hood, leaving only my nose poking out. I stayed in my warm cocoon for another two hours before emerging from the tent to find that the fog had dissipated. The boys were up and around, boiling water on camp stoves for their coffee.

“Sleeping Beauty,” remarked Burger.

I’m glad he and Yann didn’t end up scraping my frozen corpse off the tent platform at Montague Harbour Provincial Park. I’d survived my first ever winter camping trip.

Continue reading “Spring in the Winter” →

Ridiculously Assiduous

~ Lkvy ~ Leave a comment

False Spring has arrived! The weather forecast through Tuesday looks so promising that my plan to go on an overnight cycling trip tomorrow night has been met with encouragement rather than bafflement from those I’ve shared it with. This won’t be a repeat of October’s Hell of the South Island ride, as Yann, Burger, and I are expected to reach the campsite well before dark.

My adventures in 2026 continue to be a series of anomalies. Today, I combined two uncharacteristic activities: ice skating and interacting with the local deaf community. I was more successful with the former, accomplishing about 30 laps around what looked like a giant planter box. When I first saw the ice rink, I got excited about the strip of ice that stuck out of the circular rink, thinking it’d join up with a second, larger rink–the adult rink. But, no, that strip led to the Zamboni garage. This rinky-dink ice rink was about 1/3 the size of a standard ice rink and teeming with deaf kids pushing around skating aids. Barely big enough to wow anyone with my mediocre ice skating skills. Even though I didn’t “find my people”, I didn’t regret going.

Even on the mainland, where there’s a much larger community of like-eared folks, my childfree status has kept me from re-integrating in the deaf community to which I once belonged. I’m also not quite old enough to get amped for Bingo nights with the deaf empty nesters. Maybe in 2046?

I have committed to attending a Heated Rivalry-themed party in March with one of my favourite deaf people, Zoée. It’s not a deaf event, but a dance party at a queer bar! I think I’ll dress like Scott Hunter when he tried to go art shopping incognito.

“Where’s all the heteronormative art at?”

That reminds me, I haven’t yet shared the screen print I did over the holidays.

Continue reading “Ridiculously Assiduous” →

Icy hot.

~ Lkvy ~ Leave a comment

I’ve had some luck with solutions presenting themselves after I’ve complained about something on my blog.

Case in point:

There will be no DIY calendar this year. My 2026 Aurora Borealis calendar ensures I can focus on steaming my hams to perfection.

My first road run in Victoria was a success and didn’t result in a route that resembled a white power symbol. Despite that, I’ve chosen to keep my runs private on Strava for now. I’d rather be sure it’s an activity I can commit to doing with some semblance of regularity. Love me for my mind, not my ridiculous lactate threshold.

In the same vein, I wasn’t about to declare myself a fan of Heated Rivalry after the first episode.

(It is about to get hot in here.)

Continue reading “Icy hot.” →