It is a Pro-D day for the kids. I asked them what they would like to do. They requested:
1. Snowshoeing; and
2. Fishing.
Why can't they ask for something easy, like bowling or watching a movie?
I put on my research hat and set about fulfilling their requests. After looking into snowshoe rentals (Grouse Mountain, MEC), I decided that I don't have enough energy to do rentals and then drive up into the mountains.
So I went to #2: Fishing. We already have fishing rods, so this was a possibility. First, I bought a fishing licence from the Department of Fisheries. Children require a licence, but they are free (unless you want a salmon stamp for $6) and you can buy the licence online and print it at home. Now, how easy is that?
An excellent source of information is "Fishing with Rod." He lists the most popular fishing piers and does a write up on each one. He also provides information on how to do pier fishing. We chose the Number 3 Road pier in Richmond simply because it is close to where I need to pick up my licence... My printer is out of ink, so I have to get a friend to print them up for me!
If you would like to go freshwater fishing, you will need a different licence from the salt water one, but it is still free for kids. Here is a great website for figuring out where to fish. You will need to check the regulations for the area where you fish. I looked up the regulations to find out that we need to release anything good that we catch, like rockfish or lingcod, not that we would be able to catch them... There is a table of limits on the number of fish you can catch. I tried to memorize what they look like, but basically it will be catch and release for us.
You also need to figure out when to go. Mornings and evenings are the best time, but you also need to check the tide tables. High tide is a better time to fish. The best months are between May and October... oh well. Even if we don't catch a thing, the kids will have fun letting the line out.
Wish us luck...
Friday, April 15, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Chlorine Removal from Bathing Suits: Swimsuit Longevity
You know when your bathing suits start getting old. They become see through and you can see little white bits (disintegrated lycra) in the fabric, and when you come out of the water, the bathing suit droops, and the elasticity disappears. Ugh. What an environmental disaster, constantly buying new bathing suits before one season is over.
Solution? Buy a polyester-based fabric, such as Speedo Endurance, Tyr Durafast, Speedo Aquion, Arena Fabric Stretch 150, or H20Wear ChloroGuard. There are probably other proprietary names for fabrics that resist chlorine degradation--just check the material composition tag. The higher the percentage of polyester, the longer the suit will last. Unfortunately, polyester is just not as comfortable or stretchy as other fabrics so you have to be careful with sizing. A polyester suit will feel tighter than a regular suit, so you might have problems with bulging flesh...
The great thing is that polyester (chlorine resistant) swimsuits will last you... I've had a $20 factory outlet polyester swimsuit from Sugoi last a year, swimming in it two hours a week. Rinse your suit out right away in cold water and remove the chlorine as soon as possible. Regular washing doesn't seem to take the chlorine out, as the suit still stinks of chlorine after a handwash in Zero. I use anti-chlorine shampoo and wipe my shampoo hands on my bathing suit before rinsing, hoping that it will take some chlorine out. My "fashion" $100 swimsuits from Swimco don't even last a season of casual use (once every few weeks) without losing structural integrity, getting the droops. I guess they're good for nothing but tanning by the pool with some oversized sunglasses and a floppy hat!
The second thing you might want to consider is limiting the chlorine in the suit. You may want to shower and wet your suit before swimming to help prevent chlorine uptake... not sure if this really works, as suggested by another writer, but shame on you if you don't shower before you use a public pool! Ew! That is how harmful chloramines get formed, from unwashed bodies' sweat and urine mixing with the pool's chlorine. Chloramines create that "pool smell" and are also responsible for a possible link to asthma in children. Enough about that!
Some ways to remove chlorine after you have rinsed your suit in cold water after your swim:
1. Swimsuit Cleansers: Expensive, ranging from $6 to $18, and sold in small quantities of 4 oz or 8 oz. that last about 30 washes. You add a few capfuls of these to your washing water. There are many brands, including Speedo, Aqua Mate, Summer Solutions, Malibu Swim Wear Care Crystals. These work but the main complaint with these is their expense. Individual bottles are not expensive, but the quantities are so small. The main ingredient is usually sodium thiosulfate. You can buy these at any shop selling swimwear, as well as on online retailers like Team Aquatics or Swim Outlet.
2. Chlorine Remover: Heloise suggests adding to your wash water a few drops of chlorine remover available in pet shop stores. Now, I called a few local aquarium supply stores to find out what is available, and most have water conditioners, which have more than chlorine removing properties.
(Update July 2012: The local Petsmart carries a substance for $9.49 that is added to ponds to remove chlorine. The name sort of just rolls off your tongue: "Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Chlorine & Heavy Metal Neutralizer". I did not try this, but the price seems reasonable, given that it neutralizes 9,600 gallons of pond water! I would be very careful using the product for a use not anticipated by its manufacturer: if you look at the technical information sheet, it causes skin irritation, serious eye damage, etc. As I was warned by the pool chemical supplier, it is a hazardous product. You need to store this locked up and covered. This product is in concentrated form and contains 30.2% sodium thiosulfate and 9.8% EDTA tetrasodium salt. I might gather up some courage and try some next time, taking caution to first mix a couple drops with water before I plunge my hands and bathing suit into it).
Walmart in the US sells Wardley's Chlor Out, which is used for aquariums. I could not find this product in Canada. I did find Haviland Chlor Out sold in 2 pound jars of crystals for $10 online. So I called some Vancouver pool suppliers, and they will not sell to anyone for any purpose other than as pool chemicals. Sodium thiosulfate is considered a hazardous product in its pure form. Another source of sodium thiosulfate is from photographic supply shops, as it is used in developing photos. I found a Canadian hand dye supplier for "Bleach Stop" (sodium thiosulfate) Harmony Hand Dyes, at a cost of $11 plus shipping of about the same for a total of $22 (includes shipping) for 500g.
There is some great stuff written at a hand dyeing site here, which was my source for the information below.
In addition to sodium thiosulfate, you can also use bisulfite and metabisulfite, called "Anti-Chlor" by dye suppliers. A good local source would be your local home wine brewing supply store, as sodium bisulfite is widely used for sanitizing the fruit juices to be used in wine, to stop yeast growth, and as a preservative. Locally, you can buy sodium metabisulfite at Wine Kitz, $12 for 1 kg.
You can also use hydrogen peroxide, which you can buy at pharmacies in a 3% solution. It is more expensive than the other options. I have tried using a small amount of Oxiclean, and it seems to work in removing most of the chlorine odour, but I am not a chemistry expert and I cannot attest to whether this actually works on paper, but I know that Oxiclean produces hydrogen peroxide when mixed with water.
Vitamin C
UPDATE January 2014: There is a product called Swimspray which is used to neutralize chlorine in your hair and skin. It is Vitamin C diluted with water. After rinsing, you spray it on your skin and hair, then shampoo. The cost runs you around $3.37 per ounce if you buy 12 ounces at a time, and at 0.3 ounces per use, that works out to $1 per use.
Naturopath Dr. Deborah McKay suggests making your own Vitamin C spray by dissolving 5 g or 1 teaspoon of crystals in 1 pint or about 500 mL of water. Note that Vitamin C degrades upon exposure to UV light, so if you need to make the spray and store it, choose the right container. Perhaps this solution could be used to soak swimsuits after rinsing in cold water first. I could not find Vitamin C crystals in Canada for any less than $44 per kg, but Dr. McKay writes that Trader Joe's offers the crystals for less than half the cost at $10 per pound.
As a final note, do not add vinegar to neutralize the chlorine... it will may destroy the chlorine but it may also create more dangerous chemicals.
Solution? Buy a polyester-based fabric, such as Speedo Endurance, Tyr Durafast, Speedo Aquion, Arena Fabric Stretch 150, or H20Wear ChloroGuard. There are probably other proprietary names for fabrics that resist chlorine degradation--just check the material composition tag. The higher the percentage of polyester, the longer the suit will last. Unfortunately, polyester is just not as comfortable or stretchy as other fabrics so you have to be careful with sizing. A polyester suit will feel tighter than a regular suit, so you might have problems with bulging flesh...
The great thing is that polyester (chlorine resistant) swimsuits will last you... I've had a $20 factory outlet polyester swimsuit from Sugoi last a year, swimming in it two hours a week. Rinse your suit out right away in cold water and remove the chlorine as soon as possible. Regular washing doesn't seem to take the chlorine out, as the suit still stinks of chlorine after a handwash in Zero. I use anti-chlorine shampoo and wipe my shampoo hands on my bathing suit before rinsing, hoping that it will take some chlorine out. My "fashion" $100 swimsuits from Swimco don't even last a season of casual use (once every few weeks) without losing structural integrity, getting the droops. I guess they're good for nothing but tanning by the pool with some oversized sunglasses and a floppy hat!
The second thing you might want to consider is limiting the chlorine in the suit. You may want to shower and wet your suit before swimming to help prevent chlorine uptake... not sure if this really works, as suggested by another writer, but shame on you if you don't shower before you use a public pool! Ew! That is how harmful chloramines get formed, from unwashed bodies' sweat and urine mixing with the pool's chlorine. Chloramines create that "pool smell" and are also responsible for a possible link to asthma in children. Enough about that!
Some ways to remove chlorine after you have rinsed your suit in cold water after your swim:
1. Swimsuit Cleansers: Expensive, ranging from $6 to $18, and sold in small quantities of 4 oz or 8 oz. that last about 30 washes. You add a few capfuls of these to your washing water. There are many brands, including Speedo, Aqua Mate, Summer Solutions, Malibu Swim Wear Care Crystals. These work but the main complaint with these is their expense. Individual bottles are not expensive, but the quantities are so small. The main ingredient is usually sodium thiosulfate. You can buy these at any shop selling swimwear, as well as on online retailers like Team Aquatics or Swim Outlet.
2. Chlorine Remover: Heloise suggests adding to your wash water a few drops of chlorine remover available in pet shop stores. Now, I called a few local aquarium supply stores to find out what is available, and most have water conditioners, which have more than chlorine removing properties.
(Update July 2012: The local Petsmart carries a substance for $9.49 that is added to ponds to remove chlorine. The name sort of just rolls off your tongue: "Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Chlorine & Heavy Metal Neutralizer". I did not try this, but the price seems reasonable, given that it neutralizes 9,600 gallons of pond water! I would be very careful using the product for a use not anticipated by its manufacturer: if you look at the technical information sheet, it causes skin irritation, serious eye damage, etc. As I was warned by the pool chemical supplier, it is a hazardous product. You need to store this locked up and covered. This product is in concentrated form and contains 30.2% sodium thiosulfate and 9.8% EDTA tetrasodium salt. I might gather up some courage and try some next time, taking caution to first mix a couple drops with water before I plunge my hands and bathing suit into it).
Walmart in the US sells Wardley's Chlor Out, which is used for aquariums. I could not find this product in Canada. I did find Haviland Chlor Out sold in 2 pound jars of crystals for $10 online. So I called some Vancouver pool suppliers, and they will not sell to anyone for any purpose other than as pool chemicals. Sodium thiosulfate is considered a hazardous product in its pure form. Another source of sodium thiosulfate is from photographic supply shops, as it is used in developing photos. I found a Canadian hand dye supplier for "Bleach Stop" (sodium thiosulfate) Harmony Hand Dyes, at a cost of $11 plus shipping of about the same for a total of $22 (includes shipping) for 500g.
There is some great stuff written at a hand dyeing site here, which was my source for the information below.
In addition to sodium thiosulfate, you can also use bisulfite and metabisulfite, called "Anti-Chlor" by dye suppliers. A good local source would be your local home wine brewing supply store, as sodium bisulfite is widely used for sanitizing the fruit juices to be used in wine, to stop yeast growth, and as a preservative. Locally, you can buy sodium metabisulfite at Wine Kitz, $12 for 1 kg.
You can also use hydrogen peroxide, which you can buy at pharmacies in a 3% solution. It is more expensive than the other options. I have tried using a small amount of Oxiclean, and it seems to work in removing most of the chlorine odour, but I am not a chemistry expert and I cannot attest to whether this actually works on paper, but I know that Oxiclean produces hydrogen peroxide when mixed with water.
Vitamin C
UPDATE January 2014: There is a product called Swimspray which is used to neutralize chlorine in your hair and skin. It is Vitamin C diluted with water. After rinsing, you spray it on your skin and hair, then shampoo. The cost runs you around $3.37 per ounce if you buy 12 ounces at a time, and at 0.3 ounces per use, that works out to $1 per use.
Naturopath Dr. Deborah McKay suggests making your own Vitamin C spray by dissolving 5 g or 1 teaspoon of crystals in 1 pint or about 500 mL of water. Note that Vitamin C degrades upon exposure to UV light, so if you need to make the spray and store it, choose the right container. Perhaps this solution could be used to soak swimsuits after rinsing in cold water first. I could not find Vitamin C crystals in Canada for any less than $44 per kg, but Dr. McKay writes that Trader Joe's offers the crystals for less than half the cost at $10 per pound.
As a final note, do not add vinegar to neutralize the chlorine... it will may destroy the chlorine but it may also create more dangerous chemicals.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Renting a Condo vs. Staying in a Hotel on Oahu
Last weekend we returned on the red-eye from Honolulu. We had spent the first four days in a condo-hotel on Waikiki Beach, then the last five days on the North Shore in a little town a few miles west of Haleiwa called Waialua. I knew I wanted to split my time between Waikiki and the North Shore. We had never taken the kids to the Polynesian Cultural Centre because it was simply too much a drive, and had never explored the North Shore for more than a few hours.
There are very few hotels on the North Shore. Accommodation is your choice of beach bungalows, a few B&Bs, and the Turtle Bay Resort at nearly $200 a night, and... privately owned condos. The price for privately owned condos started at a low of around $100 a night and ranged up into luxury beachfront five bedroom estates for nearly $1000 per night. I scanned VRBO and Home Away. Some of the search engines were really annoying--the engine would not remember your previous search parameters and you would need to keep repeating your requests to narrow down the listings by availability dates. For March Break, I started searching and booking for a place two months in advance which was, I found out, not nearly soon enough. Many places were already booked. Still, I had a choice of a few condos for around $105/night.
Here are general things that I found were different about renting condos, versus hotels:
1. Payment: I was asked for 50% at the time of booking and 50% on the first day of my rental. So little flexibility if you need to cancel or get cold feet. I paid with my credit card, which made me uneasy, giving my credit card information including security code to a stranger over the telephone. The bad thing about paying half so far in advance, is that if you arrive and find out that the condo is a dump, you may already have run out of time to dispute the charge for the initial deposit if you change your mind. For a hotel, you could upgrade or change to another suite, and you could also receive a full refund with at least two days' advance notice.
2. Cleaning Fee: In addition to hotel taxes, you need to pay a one time cleaning charge, ranging from $70-150. I paid $90 for mine. Unfortunately, when I arrived, my condo was not cleaned. Apparently the cleaning crew claimed that they were not expecting us until the next day. So, while we ate our dinner, they cleaned around us. For the record, $90 pays for less than an hour of cleaning. They changed the sheets, vacuumed, and wiped down the bathroom and kitchen, but it seemed to be an excessive amount for the work done.
3. No Maid. We are responsible for cleaning, doing dishes, and taking out the garbage. We were given a supply of sheets and towels. We ran out of toilet tissue and since it was our last night, we didn't bother asking for more. We ended up using a kleenex box instead.
4. Neighbours. Our first night sleeping in the condo, we heard a loud rapping on our ceiling at 1:11 am that woke us all up. It went on for a few minutes, then stopped. The next evening at 9:40 pm, the neighbour living upstairs knocked very loudly at our door and told us that our air conditioning was so loud that it kept her up at night. The loud rapping was her attempt to communicate this fact to us. Strangely enough, she had never heard the air conditioner before with other renters in before us, so she claimed that the air conditioner must be broken. My husband and I did not find the air conditioner to be excessively noisy and we easily slept through its sound even though we were sleeping right beside it! I am a light sleeper, which made the complaint even more strange. The next four nights we slept without air conditioning, which made it a little uncomfortable for us. I emailed the owner, who replied that we should refuse to turn off our air conditioner. I can tell you that I was in no hurry to fight the neighbour on my vacation. I go on vacation to relax, not to get into confrontations with the locals.
Also, after we had rented out the place, the owner told us that his condo rules did not allow a rental, so we were to claim that we were his friends, staying for free. There were also extensive rules sent to us stressing the need for quiet hours, and to avoid running up the stairs and on the roof. In these types of conditions, we could not relax and *not* think about the neighbours. In a hotel, we would not have to deal directly with neighbours. The front desk would deal with complaints like loud air conditioners.
5. Flexible Rates. As with hotels, there is sometimes room for negotiation. I contacted two condo owners, who both agreed to lower the cost to what I considered reasonable, getting a discount of 17% on one and 20% on another.
6. Parking. By staying on the North Shore, we saved on parking fees. Waikiki parking fees for our condo-hotel were $22 a night. All condos have free parking.
7. Shampoos and Soaps. You need to supply your own, although previous renters had left behind an interesting selection of Pert (an extremely drying shampoo that is usually the cheapest name brand shampoo) and Head & Shoulders! What was nice is that someone had left behind Calamine lotion, Isopropyl Alcohol, and Hydrogen Peroxide.
8. Fridge Leftovers. This was the weird part of the experience. The previous renters had left behind an assortment of open sauces, a margarine tub (I've never bought margarine in my whole life!), an open milk carton, and an open orange juice carton. Not knowing whose these mysterious previous renters were, we did not dare using their food. What if they were direct spout carton drinkers? Ewwwwww! So we ended up throwing out their extras so that they would not get mixed up with ours.
9. Dishes. To re-wash or not to re-wash. We ended up re-washing most of the dishes in the cupboards that we wanted to use. What if the previous renters did not do a good job washing? I suppose I should have this same concern if I went to another person's house for dinner. What if they didn't do a good job washing their dishes before serving us on those plates? Hmmm. Also, let me say that the next time I rent a condo, I *must* have a dishwasher.
10. Breaking stuff. One of my biggest fears is that I will be charged for damage that I did not cause. What if I did not notice something that the previous renter broke? Would I be held responsible for it? In this case, the top shelf of the refrigerator was missing (!), as was the fridge handle, the TV remote control was not working properly, and there were not full sets of dishes (4 of each thing, for example). So it would be hard to know what was missing. Well, so far, we haven't been charged for those things, but I haven't seen my latest credit card bill yet... I made a point of emailing the owner to report the problems.
There you have it. We *might* stay in a privately owned condo again, but I will have to let the trauma from this last experience mellow over time. I read the reviews for the condo and they were all positive. I would like to write a review outlining the problems I experienced (uncleaned room, complaining neighbour) but I can't decide whether I should. I suspect that people write reviews when they are very happy or very unhappy. I'm in between. So take reviews with a grain of salt.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)