Choir Performance

Last night I attended the RPC fall concert accompanied by the symphony. The program was titled "Joy to the World" and the concert started by the audience singing along in that Christmas carol. The acoustics are amazing in the large Knox-Met church building with the sounds of the choir, soloists, the symphony and pipe organ.

The program had two classical pieces both of with were "joyful" (not the requiems or funeral music.) They were Beethoven's Mass in C, and Bach Magnificat. Of course both were sung in Latin but I was following along in the translations.

The Mass in C had standard movements that I am getting to know from other classical pieces: Kyrie (Lord have mercy ...), Gloria (Glory be to God), Credo (I believe in one God ...), Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy), Benedictus ( Blessed is He ...), Agnus Dei (Lamb of God.) It was sung joyfully with some real life and power.

Bach Magnificat was quite appropriate for Christmas. It was based on the words of Mary in Luke 1:46 - 55 "My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. .... " The music director said it is one of his favourite pieces of classical choral music, and I can see why.

I really enjoyed this concert, and now a I am looking forward to the annual performance of Handel's Messiah on December 17.

Trach Change # 17

I just had a trach change for the 17th time (but who's keeping track?) since I was in the hospital early last year. At first I was having trach changes once a month, but now we have extended it to 6 weeks. I really like the Respiratory Therapist who does it now. The process to take one tube out and put the other one in only takes a few minutes. It doesn't usually hurt but does cause quite a bit of coughing.

I am still reusing the same 2 trach tubes. I clean the one that comes out, and have it ready for use next time. I just soak it in soapy water and then put it into boiling water to sanitize it. The trach tube is a Bivona Hyperflex Aire-cuf made of silicon with wire reinforcement to keep the tube from kinking when it bends. It is 11mm OD and 8mm ID and 95mm long.

These are two pictures of the trach tube that just came out. One with the cuff deflated like I have it during the day, and one with the cuff inflated like I have at night. During the day air can go around the outside of the tube through my vocal cords, and through my mouth and nose. With the cuff inflated at night the trachea is sealed off so the air from the ventilator goes directly to my lungs, and none escapes through my mouth and nose. Then I can only talk with a whisper. But I talk anyhow and make Elaine guess what I am saying.

All in all there are some inconveniences and irritation from having a trach tube, but there is no question it is helping me breathe better.

What was that in the sky?

I have been following the news reports about the meteor that was seen on Thursday evening November 20 in the skies across Saskatchewan and Alberta. Elaine's parents were driving near Canwood that evening and said the whole sky lit up brightly. The video below shows the meteor as seen near Edmonton. It is thought the meteor shattered into pieces and came down somewhere near the Alberta - Sask border.



CBC also had a video of the meteor as seen from Biggar SK.


Popular Science had an interesting article about the science of "shooting stars." Most people think the bright light is from the meteor glowing from the heat of friction in the atmosphere. But is is actually a process called adiabatic compression. The extreme compression of the air around the meteor causes the gasses to heat and glow brightly. The meteor would be travelling about 30,000 mile per hour heating the compressed air in front of it to 3000 F. (Sorry I didn't do the metric conversion from the US article. )

Now hoards of meteor seekers have descended on the area looking for pieces of the rock.

Update November 28: Scientists estimate that it was an asteroid weighing 10 tonnes and the size of a desk. It broke up into many pieces over a 20 square km area south of Lloydminster. It is a good thing something that large did not come down in one piece.

Gas Prices

I was looking at a web site that shows gas price comparisons in US and Canada.

After a high over 145 c/l we are back down to an average of 88.9 c/l where we were 2 years ago. It is interesting to see the trend in US gas prices in Cdn c/l. Darlene says their gas price is down to US$ 1.59/g after being over $4.00.

Ford Reintroduces the Model T

In response to current economic conditions and falling market share news site The Onion has reported that Ford is reintroducing the Model T that originally made its success a century ago.

Ford's market share has dropped to 16.7% and according to this report they hope that this move can get them back to the nearly 100% market share they originally had with the Model T a century ago.

Thinking About My Mother

I was thinking about my Mother today because November 10 was her birthday. I am posting a picture of her taken when she was 90 years old in 2006. She passed away about 2 months after her birthday on January 12, 2007.