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The melt is in full flow here on Denman Island. Our half-acre is on a slope with a good drainage ditch so we're not at risk of flooding here. Also quite close to a salmon stream, and the ocean, so the water is finding its way through the park instead of our yards.

We had our pipes freeze over the holidays, but it seems the system is working normally now. No broken pipes this time, thank goodness. Heavy snow sliding off the roof pulled the gutter loose on one side of the house (pictured), but it looks like a repair I can handle.

On to other things -- broadcast bitching, specifically. I was in the barber's chair down in Victoria a few days before Christmas, and saw something on his little TV set that really bothered me. He had CNN on, complete with their cluttered screen of crawling text, news, weather, and this time, something new (I think). Seems viewers were able to send in a text message to be displayed on CNN, just like they do on MuchMusic and MTV. When did this start!? The anchor's focus was on a Utah avalanche that had taken two lives, while at the same time, the graphics displayed bubbly messages with text-ese like RAWKS and LOL. What garbage! Totally inappropriate for a supposedly respected news channel.

On a more positive note, I was lucky enough to catch parts of the two biggest World Junior hockey games this year, on both radio and TV. The semifinal vs. Russia had an unbelievable finish -- I thought the game was over when Russia went ahead late, but I should have known better. That goal to tie it by Jordan Eberle was as historic as it was exciting -- right up there with Paul Henderson '72 and Mario '87. I love living those moments live, when you know millions of Canadians are experiencing it at the very same time. Also caught the end of the gold medal match -- that was great too, but not nearly as dramatic as the semi. TSN does awesome hockey coverage, they're better than CBC now I think.