January 17, 2010 - rest day

only managed to get outside for a short time today, and that's probably good as it was -11 and high winds. ran a token 0.5k just to say that i ran at all, then walked 1k on top of that, over to the river where i have seen ducks as of late. one duck had an icicle frozen to it's forehead.. poor thing!

watching NFL quarterfinals (aka divisional playoffs - not sure why they call it that when it is not really divisional anymore).

looking forward to catching some of the Australian Open tennis on tv over the next few weeks. 3 canadian girls have made the draw. the focus will definitely be on one of my all time favs, Justine Henin, as she makes a comeback after a 2-3 year retirement. should be interesting to see how she does..

big day tomorrow with a doc appt, a job interview, and a run with Kim over at the track.

Jenn

January 16, 2010 - weekly update

it's been a very busy week for me with 3 job interviews. all that went very well. all three were with government entities but 2 were with arms-length organizations, as opposed to direct department jobs, so the interview format was quite different. it will be very interesting to see how things end up with these ones.

not very much running for me this week. i ran every day but only 4-5k each day. i managed 2 swims, one of which was a long and strong 4k swim.

i am looking forward to getting in a couple of longer runs in the week ahead.

Jen

January 13, 2010 - brief update

been very busy this week preparing for 3 job interviews. haven't had time to post an update. but it's been a good week with a couple of short runs and one short swim.

my duck feeding video is becoming a real hit, with all my friends loving it. almost 100 youtube views already in just a few days.

the video is posted here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJEssXA_Bvg&

i recorded another one today, which is equally as fun, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2fU3L6kJUI&

Jenn

January 11, 2009 - update for the day

well, the snow storm finally halted but it was a very windy day here in St. John's. I decided to venture over to the pond with my video camera to shoot some footage. I just let the film roll with no planned script. I was so happy with the 9 minute recording that i posted it on my youtube site as is, with no edits. you can see the video here. I want to remind people that ducks are very precious and can bring so much fun and joy; and that we all need to do our part to ensure that the wildlife have a safe and comfortable environment to live in that is free of litter.

only a 4k run for me to and from the pond. i am saving my energy for tomorrow, which is likely to be a busy day with lots of errands to 'run'!

Jenn

January 9, 2010 - Mundy Pond Duck Dead - City officials ignore pleas to help

Well, a big shame on the City of St. John's and their team of wildlife officials in the Humane Services Division for failing this duck. They wouldn't even send one person out to help this poor suffering animal, who has starved to death due to being unable to eat for 2 weeks with a plastic ring jammed around its head and in its mouth? Whoever manages that program should be replaced with someone who actually cares!

...and shame on city officials who get paid to clean up garbage in our parks. You didn't do your job either. and shame on all you ignorant litterbugs that are ruining what used to be a lovely city.

Yup, Newfoundland! We litter our parks and ponds with fast food garbage, we pollute our harbour, we let our dogs poop everywhere, we don't recycle, we are clear-cutting our forests and parks to build more houses and more parking lots, we'd rather drive than walk or bike (who needs snow cleared from sidewalks anyway?), we kill our ducks, and we club our seals, for that matter too!

.. and this is supposed to be a prime tourist destination?? Gimme a break! No wonder half of the country is laughing at us and the other half is so upset with us. I am highly ashamed of our City tonight!

i feared the worst yesterday when i went over to Mundy pond Friday afternoon and didn't see that particular duck. i really wish this story had broken sooner. i have a great deal of experience studying ducks and i have managed to do a very good job at getting ducks at several different ponds to feel comfortable approaching me, eating bird seed out of my hand, and even letting me hold them. I went over friday with seed and scissors fully expecting not only to find the duck, but to free it.. but it was apparently too late.

..on a brighter note, we had a major snow storm here today, our second storm of the year. but that didn't stop me from having a wonderful swim at the pool and a nice visit at Burton's Pond, where i fed several hungry ducks, who probably didn't know quite what to make of the storm.

Jenn

January 8, 2010 - new video camera!

well, i finally opened up one of my little christmas presents, a very small video camera. the quality is not great, but this is going to be perfect for doing interviews and online blogging. I decided to have a little fun and create a short sports tv documentary special that features some highlights of tonight's big Atlantic University Sports conference Women's volleyball grudge match between the 0-8 Memorial University SeaHawks and the 0-8 Aigles-Bleu de Moncton.

The video is now available for viewing here:

Jennifer's MUN Volleyball news video

in other news today, i ran 17.5k, including another run to Mundy Pond to see if i could locate and help the poor duckie that was featured on the CTV news last night. The duck had an elastic band wrapped around its head! I had no luck finding the duck, but i was told by others that someone else was their earlier in the day trying to help, so i certainly hope the duck managed to escape the elastic band.

looking forward to a weekend of running, swimming, and watching some football on tv.

Jennifer

January 7, 2010 - duck needs help

sad news today as it was reported on CTV that a duck at Mundy Pond had somehow managed to get a thick elastic band jammed around its head and into its mouth, forcing her beak open. the duck is unable to eat and unable to use it's beak to do anything. local university wildlife specialists have been over there trying to catch the duck in order to help, but without success.

i hope this is a lesson to everyone out there who litters around places like ponds, parks, and forests that there are serious risks to wildlife animals from human behaviour.

i went over to the pond tonight to try to find her but wasn't successful. i will head over again in the morning daylight and see if my sweet charm and my birdseed is able to work.

10.5k of running for me today in what was a very busy one with lots of work. i am now preparing for 2 more government job interviews, which i will have next week. i'm also starting to plan out my trip in April to run the Boston and Big Sur marathons, which may very well be the only two i run this year off Newfoundland soil. then again, if one of these two jobs work out, i may be able to splurge and hit Mississauga and/or Halifax again. you never know! first things first though, i gotta get into better shape!

Jenn