Today the Zondervan wouldn’t start.  I think it had some issues since it was so cold.  It was pretty late since I had to get to campus at a certain time so I rushed back into the house and put on my winter biking gear and put some air into the tires and hopped on it.

Today the temperature in Ottawa was a high of -17C and right now it is actually -23C.  Insanity.

As Colin and I tried to figure out what was wrong, we put the jumper cables on and tried to start the Zondervan but it didn’t work.  The engine kept turning but didn’t start.  I realized that I didn’t have that much gas either, so we took his car to MacEwen and grabbed some gas in a jerrican (yeah that’s how you spell it, jerrican) and I also bought some fuel line anti-freeze.  That seemed to work as we pumped the accelerator a bit as we started the ignition.

So I guess I have to make sure I keep the gas tank at least half-full all the time.  I know I should but I didn’t know the significance of it.  And I should buy some jumper cables (I thought I said this last time) and a jerrican.

But I loved biking again.  I haven’t bike for about 1.5 months and it was nice on such a cold day to bike.  It makes me feel pretty alive.  People think you would freeze but I usually am wearing fleece-lined bike tights under my everyday jeans as well as a balaclava, ski goggles, and lobster gloves.  It’s actually easier to freeze when I’m standing at the bike rack trying to lock my bike up than it is to freeze while moving and pedalling.

I wish I knew more about cars.  It’s one of the things I don’t know much about that I would like more knowledge on.  I think they’re unnecessarily complicated.

Back in Toronto.  Lots of snow here.  Not quite what I would expect to be dumped on Ottawa regularly, but enough that the Zondervan got stuck on our street when I returned home.  However, that very night some plows came by and cleared our street.  Pretty fast eh?

So I drove for about 7 hours from Ottawa.  Usually it takes 5.  I was stuck behind a gang of highway plows for at least half an hour at one section after Kingston.  It made it safer, but much slower.  I would say the driving wasn’t too dangerous, just warrented caution.  Although I was driving straight into the storm, the roads weren’t covered in snow for the most part on the right lane.  The passing lane was a bit more treacherous.

Right about when I arrived home I started having a headache and as I went to bed early, I plunged into a fever.  Woke up midway through the night and popped some acetaminophen tablets.  I’ve been taking those every 4-6 hours since then.  I have never been a big proponent of pain-killers but the last time I was sick I refused to take drugs until a friend told me that the pain-killers will lower my core brain temperature and allow me to battle out the sickness quicker (I think that’s what it means!).

Went to a wedding for Elvin and Carol today, saw many supporters and friends, but didn’t really feel like had enough energy to engage much or even smile…. that part is a bummer.

I’ve slept most of the other hours of the day.  I’m quite determined that I get better soon so that I won’t be sick through these holidays and Winter Conference.