The Aluminum Tree

Vancouver Aquarium

2012-02-12T21:37:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, Carmella and I went to the Vancouver Aquarium. We got there at about noon, so we had to battle kids, tourists, and impatient parents a times, but the place is big so it wasn't a huge deal.

There were three beluga whales there, and while the Aquarium talks about conservation and preservation, I still wondered if these animals would prefer to be out of the tank and in the wild. This one is swimming upside down. The whales were much whiter than I would have expected.

We also saw a big sea turtle, swimming with small sharks and manta rays. It was fun to see them, but I wondered if they also yearned to swim freely.

As far as I know, jellyfish aren't sentient, so maybe they didn't care that they were in this small tank. It was back-lit in a way that made them look really great in pictures.

These guys had a really big tank with real coral and regular feeding times. I'm sure they'd rather be in this tank than a small tank in someone's house, but they'd rather be on a real reef than here.

The Aquarium staff, programming and advertising are really good at forwarding an agenda of conservation and behavioural change that will benefit the world's oceans and sea life. And there are probably hundreds of people who wouldn't have thought about ocean conservation if they didn't come to the Aquarium, so maybe it's OK to sacrifice a few soulless sea creatures for the betterment of many.

Those thoughts aside, Carmella and I had a really great time. One of the highlights was the BC section, where they showed what kind of sea life is living in select regions of our province. I also enjoyed watching the dolphin show from the underwater viewing section. The dolphins would swim, jump up and out of the water, and be out of the water for a really long time. Then they'd suddenly re-appear and swim around a bit under water, and then do another trick.

The dolphins in the show were netted dolphins from fishing boats that probably wouldn't survive in the wild again, so they live in the tanks at the Aquarium. Maybe it's not such a bad life. They don't have to hunt for food, and they just get to swim around all day and don't have to worry about orca whales chasing them.

It was a fun day with Carmella, and I got some fun pictures of the sea creatures. The day made me want to journey to other spots in the province and experience the ocean and the sea life there. There is so much to learn about the different species and habitats, and it'd be fun to travel around checking it all out.

Sunday is almost over, and I'm not ready for the weekend to end. But I'm really tired, so I might as well go to sleep.

Snowy Owls in Vancouver

2012-01-28T23:45:00.003-08:00

Carmella and I stepped out of the car at the Boundary Bay Regional Park in Delta. After a 45-minute drive, we were happy to arrive. On this grey, overcast day, the pothole-filled, gravel parking lot was almost empty. A big full-sized pickup truck was there, the driver idly chatting on his phone. A few other vehicles were present, but not the numbers we were expecting. Where were the bus loads of kids, the nature guides, and the live-on-location radio station trucks?

Instead, there were a number of birds swooping around, a quiet construction site, and the cold waters of Boundary Bay. It was cold and windy, and very quiet. A few intrepid souls were out walking their dogs and toddlers, and a small disgruntled teenager stormed by. This seemed like a regular day, and we joined the locals on the trails.

Cold and desolate.

We came to this park looking for birds, because Delta is a popular bird-watching area. The Fraser River delta is globally significant for birds as it's on a major migration route, and a popular wintering destination. 250 species occur annually in the region. (Head over to Birding BC for more.)

While working last week, Carmella heard that there were Snowy Owls in the Vancouver area. Since this happens only once every four or five years, all the kids at pre-school were encouraged to see them. There was a poster showing where the birds were, and how to get there.

No Snowy Owls here!

We didn't have that poster with us, but there were no Snowy Owls here. I stopped a couple of septuagenarians who were out for a walk, and asked if they'd seen the Snowy Owls. They were happy to stop and chat, and said they've never seen them here, but they figured they'd be more north.

More north, as in the Arctic Circle? That's where Snowy Owls usually live. Their white speckled plumage blends in with the tundra, where they hunt lemmings and try not to lose body heat through their beaks.

Thankfully, more north meant just a few kilometers up the coast and we'd be able to drive there pretty quickly. We were told we should take 72nd Street, another entry to the Regional Park, and where you can access the dike. Before heading out to continue the search, Carmella noticed a few birds sitting in the nearby trees.

After a quick stop we were on our way. We found 72nd street, and also found that while we neared its foot, there were cars parked on the sides of the street. A tour bus was parked on the shoulder of the road, and people were walking along the gravel with big cameras. Thankfully there were no live on location radio trucks!

We knew we had come to the right place. There were lots of people walking along the dike, often clustering in spots. There were lots of cameras there that had lenses longer than my forearm, mounted on tripods and monopods. Success!

The Snowy Owls were in attendance too. They were just sitting on the ground, waiting until they got hungry I guess. Photographers trained their cameras on them, and the really serious ones banged off numerous rapid fire shots whenever the owls moved. Which wasn't very often.

It was an interesting how the Snowy Owls just sat on the ground, and also how their feathers contrasted with the surroundings. It obviously wasn't their normal habitat, but it made it easy for all of us to find them.

Two nice women with high-powered birding telescopes set them up, trained them on the birds, and invited Carmella and I to take a look. It was amazing! They were so close, and their feathers ruffled in the wind.

The women told us that owls can move their heads 270 degrees, and that's because their eyes don't move, so owls have to pivot their whole heads to shift their gaze. I saw the owl blink too. The owl's version of eyelids live at the bottom of their eye, and move like an upside down venitian blind when in action. The birds like to sit in wide open spaces that mimic the tundra surroundings. They also sit on the ground, because they're not used to the concept of trees.

Carmella asked if we could take a picture of the birds through the telescope, and they said we could, offering a few tips. We got some great pictures! I've decided to leave them as they are instead of cropping them since it reminds me that they were taken through a telescope. Carmella took the first, and I took the second.

The Snowy Owls come to Vancouver every few years, when their food sources in the tundra aren't reliable. While it's nice to have them here, I think I'd prefer if they stayed up north. If they come down here to eat, it means that things aren't going so well for them at home, and I hope climate change isn't the cause for their being here this winter.

It was an excellent day, and I'm so happy we were able to find the Snowy Owls. While heading back to the car, we noticed lots of BC license plates parked along the road, numerous Washington ones, and even one from Alaska. So the Snowy Owls being here are a big event, attracting people from everywhere. I'm glad we got to be part of the action.

The police came to my door today.

2012-01-11T22:17:00.002-08:00

After dismounting my bike and turning off my blinking safety lights, I went into our cozy suite and sat down after a day at work. Just as I picked up my computer, there was a terrific knock on the door.

I was a bit annoyed because our friends know they can walk through the first door and arrive at our actual door, and our landlords know this as well. Nobody else ever comes over, except for the Chinese restaurant delivery guy who came to the wrong house. He knocked very loudly too.

I got up from my comfy couch, and answered the door. As I opened it, a man and a woman were standing there. It's cold today, (2 degrees C) so the woman was bundled in a stylish black pea coat, and the man was in a more functional shell that was lined with some fleece. There was some sort of pin on the collar. They both wore toques.

The man held out his hand, and let his wallet fall open to reveal a badge. He calmly stated, "Vancouver Police. We're looking for Jonathan."

At that moment, I was a bit afraid that they were coming after me. But only halfway through the thought, I remembered that I had been a model citizen for the last few months. Just today, riding home from work, I had even given a friendly wave to the car that stopped for me at a crosswalk.

He then asked me if I was missing anything, and I looked down to see his other hand holding something. He then reached out, displaying my wallet! Oh happy day!

On Boxing Day, Carmella and I went downtown and did some shopping. Your dollar stretches the furthest in January, and even further on Dec 26th. So we took advantage. I bought two pairs of pants, and one fully leather belt.

I also bought a very large Neal Stephenson tome, called Reamde. It's 1050 pages long, and hardcover. If the need arose, it would pack a significant punch if hurled at an assailant. It took up most of my bag, while my keys, wallet, and phone were shoved into the leftover available space.

When I bought my second pair of pants, the cashier asked me if I wanted a bag. Instead of inheriting more plastic, I decided I was happy to carry the pants out. I did that with the receipt pinned under my fingers. I paid for the pants, but that was the last place I remembered having my wallet.

On the 27th, I woke up at about 5:30am to start packing for our snowboarding trip to Rossland. I noticed I didn't have my wallet. I looked all over, and couldn't find it. I called and visited the store where I bought the pants, but it wasn't there either.

Among other advantages, being married means that your spouse has access to the bank accounts. This means that you can go on a holiday without your wallet! Off to Rossland we went, and had a great holiday. On the way there, I cancelled my credit cards and debit cards, and didn't think too much of it again.

While on the trip, I got my license replaced, and got a bank card reprinted. The other cards would be replaced over time, but I was happy to have these important ones back.

Then, today, about three weeks later, the police came to the door bearing my wallet. What kind protectors of civil law and order! They said that someone dropped it off at the station after finding it downtown. Once it got to me, the only thing missing from the wallet was about $50 of Christmas money. I'll treat it like a finder's fee.

I'm not sure how I lost it. My bag was full of other things, so I may have decided to carry it out. I could have put it on the roof of the car and forgotten about it, letting it slide off the roof as I safely pulled into the street. I also could have left it at the till of the store, or it could have been squeezed out of my bag due to the huge novel taking up its normal space.

Whatever the reason, I'm happy to have it back! I'll be extra careful to make sure I have it with me, being even more vigilant in doing my three-check: wallet, keys, phone. I do that multiple times a day, because I'm so forgetful. Looks like on Boxing Day, I did it one time too few.

I was happy with the way I handled the situation. I didn't freak out (too much), and I didn't let it ruin our holiday. I'm pretty proud of my self, as I have a penchant to worry about everything, especially something like that. Maybe I'm maturing!

And the picture on my replacement driver's license is better than the one it replaced.

Christmas in Vancouver

2011-12-31T13:57:00.004-08:00

This year, Carmella and I hosted Christmas in Vancouver. Last year and the year before, we went to Maple Ridge, where we ate great dinners and visited at Catherine and Micheael's place. This year, we thought we'd host it at our new(ish) apartment in Kitsilano. Plus, this is our first Christmas as a married couple and we wanted to celebrate that by having the gathering at our house.

Carmella was excited to host Christmas because she could plan a fun menu, and I was happy to host because I could push a gaming agenda. I've always enjoyed gaming on Christmas, and hoped to play a few this year as well.

In the days leading up to Christmas, Carmella and I went on two shopping trips to get all we needed. Carmella made the lists, and sent me after specific items. This is a good way for me to shop, or else I end up wandering around the grocery store, forgetting what I need, or even what I'm looking for.

On Christmas morning, Carmella and I went to church, and enjoyed the empty streets on the way there and the way back. Broadway, which is usually two lanes of traffic and one lane of parallel parked vehicles, was three glorious, luxurious, open lanes in each direction!

I drove to pick up Catherine and Michael in Maple Ridge, and arrived back at about 2 or 3pm. Right when we arrived, Carmella served us a bocconcini and tomato salad. It was wonderful! Carmella was very creative in the presentation.

We enjoyed figuring out how to eat the salad, which was sitting in a bed of arugula, and had two basil leaves on the top. I found that cutting a section off the side, like you would if you were shaving the finest cuts of meat off a big spinning stick in a mall food court, worked best!

After the salad, Carmella was tired from spending so much time in the kitchen, and suggested we take a walk. It was a nice day, and a great idea. We drove to Jericho Beach, and enjoyed the ocean. There are only a few places in the world where you can enjoy the ocean on Christmas, so we wanted to take advantage!

It was very windy and cold, but we persevered. We walked out to the end of the Jericho pier, and it was fun because it was high tide and the waters were rough.

We got cold and returned home after about half an hour outside. Carmella holed herself in the kitchen again, and I began to game with Catherine and Michael. I would be taking care of the bird, but I still had time to game before I needed to do that. We decided to play the Train Game, since we've played that as a group in the past.

(Notice the fireplace. I searched hard for a Yule Log DVD, and found one created by a student in North Van. It has fun features like deleted scenes and closed captions!)

Carmella prepared all the rest of the dishes, and took over my turns when it was time for me to make the chicken. We didn't want to bake a turkey, because we figured they'd be really tough to do well.

Instead, I would prepare herb-glazed cornish hens. I'd made those for Carmella before, and they were a hit at that time. The recipe involves cooking the hens with a basting of sun-dried tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and a bunch of herbs like tarragon and basil.

Observe the almost finished spread! I decided to use one full chicken instead of two cornish hens. You can't see everything, but here's what Carmella made:

Baked candied yams (far left, under tinfoil). They are yams with marshmallows on top!

Pear and chauvre salad, in the middle. Very tasty! Notice our bear-claw salad tongs. They make it easy to get the big chunks, but very tough to negotiate the bottom of the salad bowl for the choice, small morsels.
Mashed Potatoes (still in the pot on the oven, but they would go in the pottery that Uncle Finn and Aunt Julita gave us, in the bottom right.
Bread left over from the reclette Carmella served us after the beach. It's a swiss cheese dish, where you cover bread, gherkin pickles, and potatoes. We had it at Swiss House during the Olympics, and Carmella wanted to try it again.
Finnish pirakke pastries. Carmella made them the night before, at 11pm so they'd be ready! She heated them up just before supper so they'd be fresh. You can see them in a picture before.
Mulled Wine. We put this in the pottery jug, part of the set from Uncle Finn and Aunt Julita's wedding present.

The meal was excellent! Alot of the food was new to us, so Carmella explained what was in each one, how we might eat it. It was a great meal, and we all enjoyed it.

Notice that there are no chickens in the picture above. This wasn't because they were so good they got wholly eaten, unfortunately. Even though I had subbed in chickens, I continued to follow the recipe for cornish hens. That means I cooked them for too short a time. Also, we were opening and closing the oven a lot, to prepare the candied yams and melted butter. All this meant that the breasts were cooked well, but the thighs were still bloody and not quite done. So, they are being re-cooked in the oven! I'll do a better job next year!

Luckily, the missing chickens didn't ruin Christmas because Carmella had made so much of everything else, so we were all very satisfied.

We exchanged gifts after supper. We gave Michael a game called Citadels, which we played afterwards. It was really fun, and Catherine dominated the rest of us.

After the game, Carmella and I drove them home, and returned to our house at about 1:30am. I opted to deal with the dishes the next day.

I attacked the dishes on Boxing Day, hitting them with two or three campaigns. I slayed the last ones under a dark sky. I was happy to be the sole commander of this operation, because Carmella had led the rest of night.

Without a dishwasher, it was a well-earned victory. I had to change water numerous times, but thankfully my brushes, soap, and cloths stayed true and didn't let me down.

So, Christmas was excellent! We've already planned to host it again next year, although it might be earlier than normal because of our trip to Ontario for Carol and Craig's wedding.

Next year I'll make a more successful bird. And I hope to unseat Catherine as reigning Citadels champ.

Carmella's work really made the whole day. She laboured so hard, and produced such great food for everyone. It may have started a number of new Christmas traditions.

Merry Christmas!

The limelight may fade, but it never disappears!

2011-12-28T19:21:00.001-08:00

We're back again! 8 years after the first round...

The Globe and Mail, Dec 28th 2011

The photo they're using is from a shoot they did, probably in September 2003. A different shot made the paper back then, one of us leaving the front door. The accompanying article was about crippling student debt facing students, and used us as examples. (For what it's worth, I've paid off my bank student loans in the meantime!)

I think Erik was the contact, when he was working in Toronto. The Globe and Mail sent a photographer to our house in Stratford, and we did a few shots of us packing, and a few of us leaving through the front door.

They probably searched their photo database for "university students" and for whatever reason chose us, again!

I've been away from fame for awhile now, so it's nice to taste it yet again!

Hat-tip to Kim for finding the picture!

10 times the profit?

2011-12-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

In the summer, Carmella and I decided to walk a few blocks to the grocery store. On our way, we found a garage sale that looked promising. There was an Aussie family moving back home, and someone else that was moving into a smaller house. These two families combined resources to create a solid garage sale.

I will probably never come across a better garage sale score, in theory: two pairs of Fluevog shoes, for only $5 each!

While the money was definitely well spent, I haven't got the use out of the shoes as I'd like. I think both models were from the 90s, a time when Fluevogs were made in Poland and Portugal (I think). Shoes from that time were tough!

I've begun wearing one of the pairs at work, and they are getting comments like Fluevogs usually do, except most owners probably don't hear "Are those shoes for golfing?" and "Are you wearing bowling shoes?!"

Oh dear. I'll still wear them though, because they're leather, unique, and a great price.

My second pair isn't getting worn because they're just too big. They're size 13, a size too big. They're the nicer pair too. Even if I put an extra insole inside, and tie them super tight, my heal still slips all the way out of the shoe.

I've decided to try and sell the size 13s. I think I can get $50 for them if I get the ad up before Christmas. It was abnormally sunny a couple days ago, so I took the opportunity to take these pictures, which I'll use in the ad:

Don't they look great? Hopefully there's a tall, size 13 musician or swing dancer out there who wants a pair of well-made, retro-twice-over shoes!

Carmella is enjoying Dec 1st!

2011-12-01T18:15:00.001-08:00

Here's why!

You'll notice I've got a bit of stray shaving cream clinging to my face, but that's alright. I washed it off afterwards.

Movember was fun. I never trimmed my manly mustache, so it looked like a hunk of whole-wheat Shredded Wheat by the end.

Our team at work raised just over $3000, which is pretty impressive. Click here for a link to the world-wide Movember fundraising totals. Canada has raised the most! Apparently a lot of hockey players participated, giving the movement (is it really a movement? Maybe. But the Olympics are definitely not a movement. In Whistler, I was always hearing about the Olympic Movement.) lots of exposure.

The worldwide total for Movember money raised is more than $100 Million! I didn't know I was involved in such a large event.

Thanks everyone for your donations! If you're still looking to get into the action, you can donate by clicking HERE.

Movember update

2011-11-22T15:24:00.001-08:00

Here's a couple of quick pictures of my updated mustache!Not much time to write about it, but more later!

My Movember mustache!

2011-11-14T21:48:00.001-08:00

Hey Everyone,

Look at my ugly mustache!

There are a few of us at work who are growing mustaches to bring funds and visibility to mens cancers. The others have been working hard at raising funds, and I need to do better.

I'm hoping you'll click this link, and consider donating. It's getting kind of itchy and really ugly. I'd like to make the ugliness and itchiness worth something!

Click here, My Movember Page! and donate if you'd like!

Here's some progression of my mustache. We're two weeks in, with two weeks to go!

Carmella loves it obviously ;)

Guest Blogger: Mom!

2011-11-07T10:51:00.003-08:00

Hi Family!

I am having a wonderful holiday here ,with Jonnie & Carmella in beautiful British Columbia and send each one of you much love.

My love goes out to you all across the provinces, the countries and across the continents!


Here we are Saturday morning on the boat to Bowen Island. We had a great trip. You can see that the weather is absolutely gorgeous.

The scenery is breath taking and the weather bright and sharp. We spent four hours on our trip; riding the local bus, hiking a bit,talking, mellowing and exploring and then running like crazy to get the ferry back!

Jonnie took this. He has been here once with Carmella so wanted to show me the island.

I found the biggest maple leaf on our hike! Oh Canada! I have never seen maple leaves so large! I thought I could bring it home for the scrapbook but it is now dry and crunchy keeping company with a red gerbera on the dining room table.

This is Snug Harbour, Bowen Island. I have been paying a great deal of attention to the natural beauty all around; especially the plant life. I have seen holly bushes and even Holly trees.

Here I am taking yet another picture! You all know how I love taking pictures!

Jonnie & Carmella went to a a Novaween party at Cyndi's. Carmella is applying make up to Jonnie's tiger face.

Here they are ready to go. I stayed home and watched two episodes of the Passionate Eye. I believe you will recognize Vincent Van Gogh's self portrait painting. Jonnie makes a cute tiger don't you think? He even had black and white shoes.

Here is Wes dancing with the painting. They are dancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller".

It was a fun party. You can get more detail from the previous blog. I enjoyed myself here at home reading and munching on coffee crisp chocolate bars.

Carmella and I went for early coffee Sunday morning before church. We had a good long walk afterwards. Here she is at Kits beach which is probably only ten city blocks from home.

Inside of one week I have seen one of the seven wonders of the world with Jean and now one of the home wonders. Notice that the sailboats are even out!

I love this picture. Carmella gave me a small pill box and I put some of Kits beach sand in it to bring home.

This hydrangea reminds me of our home.

After church on Sunday we went to Acadia Beach where Jonnie & Carmella got engaged about one year ago. Here they are looking out on the water.

We searched for just the right log that they sat on to eat their special buns. We believe that this is it because Carmella put a stone inside so that they would always know. I enjoyed hearing the stories once again.

There were many logs on the beach. Just behind us you can see three hikers and their dog having an open fire picnic. the weather was cool and they were very warm. They had packets of food ready to put in the fire.

Jonnie & Carmella are pointing out the natural features as they try to pinpoint exactly the place where they got engaged.

The apple blossoms is still out

We watched two seals! Perhaps you can see a dark spot. If you can, you know what it is! I found this very exciting!

That is it for today! I am off to the children's bookstore and a great cup of "Australian" coffee somewhere.

I love you all!

Lykke/Mom/Moeke/Ma/Mrs. Van Drunen/Mormor

Novaween

2011-11-06T00:46:00.003-07:00

Every year, we go to a Novaween party that was invented by our friend Cindy. She felt that on the regular Halloween weekend, everyone is busy jumping from party to party to party. She wanted hers to be well attended, so she decided she'd have one the next weekend.

It's usually very well attended, and people get to wear their costumes again. This year, Carmella and I didn't go out for the regular Halloween weekend, but we did attend Novaween.

Carmella was thinking about her costume all year. Last year, she had the idea too late to put the required effort in, so she made sure to do it this year. It took her about a week and a half to finish it. Here are some pictures. She did it all herself, after starting with a blank canvas.

He we are ready to head out. Carmella made my costume too...I borrowed her striped hoodie, her zebra ears, and she painted my face. I'm your standard zebra from the savannah.

Here's Carmella with Wes. He's Mad Max, and Carmella has her drop sheet on to complete the costume.

I think Carmella's costume was one of the best. While others were more elaborate, none were as original and home made as hers! She got many comments and congratulations on the great costume.

Wes and Carmella enjoy dancing to Thriller. Carmella took a course at the Harbour Dance Centre to learn the moves, so she was centre of the action!

A great memory: Bali in 2008.

2011-11-01T23:46:00.000-07:00

I think I'll harken back to 2008. July and August were great months that year! I had just finished eight hard months in China, where teaching was new, the language was still foreign, the culture was confusing, and English conversations were scarce. Carolyn was there with me, but she went home to Canada to have an ear infection dealt with. I hacked it alone for the last bit, and it was one of those growing experiences people talk about. You know, character building and all that. Sounds great when it's over, but in the middle, times sure are rough!

July and August were great months because I was in Bali. I had been planning the trip for much of my time in China, and it would be a celebration of my completed teaching contract. I envisioned surfing, secluded beaches, seaside fires with guitars and drums. Only the surfing happened, but it was still a great time.

Carolyn was supposed to join me, and Kirsten would meet us there. It would be a sibling excursion, but without Erik. Kirsten met me in Hong Kong, and we toured there for a few days, then flew to Bali on Air Asia. Air Asia is like the airplane equivalent of a Greyhound bus. It's cheap, and people run across the tarmac to secure themselves a seat, because you don't reserve spots. You just put out the elbows and fight for them!

So, Bali! I enjoyed it because I learned to surf, I wasn't teaching in China anymore, and I had Kirsten to keep me company. Here are some photos from that glorious time.

Kir and I rented bikes on a small island in Hong Kong, where the locals fish and enjoy rural living. We pose in front of the main attraction, a waterfall.

The narrow streets! It was fun exploring this little fishing village. Bikes were everywhere, and so were small vestiges of English colonization.

Macau is a short ferry ride from Hong Kong. It was a Portuguese colony in the same way Hong Kong was an English colony. Now, Macau is known as Asia's gambling destination. There is more than gambling though, including this fun architecture.

Carol was supposed to celebrate her birthday with me in Bali, but didn't get to because of her ear infection and resulting trip to Canada. So, I made this picture! I'm on an ancient bicycle that I rented, and a coolie hat I bought to keep the sun at bay.

Here I am in the villa. Kir and I rented this room for $10 per night. It was deluxe in that it had its own toilet and shower, but you had to fill the toilet with water from the sink, using a yogurt container. It was pretty awesome. I spent a lot of time reading and browsing the used bookstores.

The professional surfing tour, the ASP, had a competition in Bali while I was there, at Uluwatu. The waves were small, but they surfed them anyway. Here are a few photogs capturing the action. If you look closely, you can see a surfer in the wave.

Here I am getting ready to surf. I'm using a rented 7'6" Mini Malibu (that's a shape) surfboard and a swimmers cap. I had ruptured an eardrum a few days prior, when I got attacked by a wave, so I'm protecting it with silicone ear plugs and a swimmers cap. I got lots of strange looks!

Best shape of my life! After a month of paddling into waves, I felt really strong. You may not be able to see them, but there are some muscles in those shoulders and arms!

Occupy Vancouver

2011-10-30T00:54:00.002-07:00

The distinct, pungent smell of marijuana is in the air, cutwith wafting, homemade aromas from the open kitchen. The air is brisk for this time of year, so the few peoplestanding under the tarpaulins hide under toques and hoods, stuffing their handsdeeper into their pockets. Theychat quietly among themselves, occasionally pawing at the ground with theirfeet.

In the hands of participants, the onion-rich Greek saladbeing doled out in the food tent makes its way to the open area where the majorityof protestors have congregated. They’re standing in a wide circle, two or three people deep. Instead of waving signs and chantingslogans, these dissidents are taking orderly turns talking. When something agreeable is said, outstretchedfingers mime the actions to TwinkleTwinkle Little Star. Disagreement is also silently voiced, this time with the classic thumbsdown gesture. Other signals appearless frequently, including, among others, those indicating a point of processor an irresolvable contention.

The group is varied; twentyand thirty-somethings in pea coats and black leather shoes stand along side thosein beards and dreadlocks. Despitethe cold, almost everyone is focused on the discussions taking place. This is the General Assembly at Occupy Vancouver, a movement that stands in solidarity with the original Occupy WallStreet protest in New York. With afree library, food tent, workshop areas, family tent site, and lots of opendiscussion, this is unlike any protest Vancouver has seen, having more incommon with the Habitat ’76 meetings at Jericho Beach than the Stanley Cupriots of 1994 and 2011.

As the Occupy Vancouver protests enters its third week, it will be interesting to see how things progress. Will the occupation lose its appeal and novelty, or will Mayor Gregor Robertson bow to pressure to clear out the tent city? Will it end with not a bang, but a whimper? Or will it keep going strong, and become a tourist attraction like the New York edition? It doesn't matter what happens with it now, since it stands to be a success in that it will very likely influence policy with the mayoral elections upon us. And people will continue to congregate in front of the Art Gallery. After all, they do have free food and books to borrow!

This entry started as an assignment in a writing class I'm taking. The point of the exercise was to describe a scene, but not to include ourselves in it. We were encouraged to make our scenes strong by using smells, textures, sounds, and feelings to appeal to the reader's senses. Doing this engages the reader and makes the writing more interesting.

My Long Run

2011-09-10T01:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was Labour Day weekend, when everyone celebrates the last extra day off in the summer. For Carmella and I, it was a chance to do things we talked about all summer, but hadn't done yet.

Carmella went for a swim in Kits Pool, which is a large outdoor, heated saltwater pool right by the ocean. It's 137m lengthwise, so each length is a long one.

It was also a chance for me to go for a run I'd been thinking about for many months.

Whenever I'm driving across the Lions Gate Bridge connecting downtown Vancouver to the Northshore, there are always walkers, bikers, and runners on it. I wanted to run it too, and I wanted to run there from home.

The route would about 20K if I went the most direct route, more if I wandered a bit. It seemed like a good thing to do. Since I wasn't really training or racing, I brought my camera along and took pictures along the way.

The run ended up being about 25K, and took me just over three hours. I spent time resting, eating, taking pictures, and walking. The last 40% of the run was painful, but I slogged through.

I'm very happy with my run. I hadn't run in about 4 months, so was proud of myself for running 25K off the couch. It hurt though! Here are some pictures of my route.

This is Kits Beach, about 3K in. I decided to run along the water. You can see Downtown and the North Shore.

Lots of rocks. I heard they trucked in the sand to Kits Beach. It's usually nice to run on, but after about 10 minutes my knee began to hurt, so I had to walk for awhile.

I walked until I got to the Burrard Bridge, then ran again. This is taken from the highest point. My route would follow the water, where you can see all the ant-sized people.

This is the Sea Wall. It was packed! There were hundreds of rocks carefully balanced along the way, and little stations where you could donate money. Kind of like busking, but using nature.

I came across the artist. He has gloves and a very still hand. He's balanced hundreds of rocks today I think.

Here's more Sea Wall. I'm getting closer to the North Shore, and the Lions Gate Bridge that will get me there.

My goal! I'll have to get to it though, which means running under it first.

I've made it to the bridge! It's quite a bit noisier than the Sea Wall.

Always look where you're going on the bridge! This guy didn't. He was probably tempted by the mountain scenery.

I am mid-span!

I was really nervous taking this shot. I don't like heights, so I shot this quickly and kept on running.

Another shot, mid span on the Lions Gate. I can ride any chair lift in Whistler with the bar up, but get nervous looking over the railing on the bridge! You can see on the left the Sea Wall, where I had recently been.

I complete my mission, and am on the other side of the bridge. Motorists wait as four lanes merge into one.


On my way back, I found some low hanging fruit. Blackberry vines are invasive, but deliver wonderful fruit. The ones that come off the vine easily are sweet, but if you have to yank and pull, it'll be disappointingly tart.

Biking with Children

2011-08-31T18:32:00.000-07:00

Last week, Erik sent along this picture of a bike trailer he bought for Anakke. He's excited to take her on bike rides in the cool fall weather.

His email made me think about a story Carmella told me a few months ago. To understand the story though, you need to be familiar with the various types of child carriers that bikes can have.

When I was little, there was just one type of child carrier, pictured below. Dad had one on his bike, but I don't remember riding in it much. It still got use though, because he'd wedge his briefcase in there and pedal off to work.

There are newer ones which mount on the front of the bike. Last week on my bike into work, a guy riding a bike with an empty one joined my street from another, and I couldn't help thinking that his seat was like the minivan of the bike industry. I couldn't let him pass me with that contraption hanging off the front!

Now, to the story. A few months ago, Carmella was driving through Vancouver, and came to the intersection of 16th and MacDonald. This is a pretty busy intersection, with two lanes in each direction joining. 16th has a boulevard, so it takes quite awhile to cross 16th if you're on MacDonald.

Carmella was waiting at the intersection, and saw that there was a mom on a nice cycling trip with her young son also waiting at the intersection. Carmella was in the car, and this mom had her son in one of the rear-mounted child seats. When it was time to cross the street, the mom began to bike, and carmella waited for them to pass.

I've read that the rear child seats sit quite high up, skewing the centre of balance of the bike making it difficult to ride. This would be even more difficult when starting from a stopped position. If you're a regular or casual rider, you know that you're at your wobbliest when you start riding from being stationary. The city of Portland also knows this, and allows cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs, recognizing that most bike incidents in intersections happen when the rider is just starting up, wobbling all around the intersection before able to ride quickly and confidently.

The woman that Carmella was watching cross the street also knows that bikes are at their most wobbly when starting from a stopped position.

As she started to ride, her bike leaned way over to one side. It leaned way over, dumping the young child into the street! She didn't realize it, and kept riding away. The child, just a bit past walking age, stood up in the middle of the street and began crying. Carmella and the rest of the vehicles didn't move.

The child kept crying, but realizing that his tears would do nothing to improve his situation, decided to chase after his mom instead. She'd crossed the intersection and turned the corner, still riding. Her son is chasing after her into the intersection, which is larger than normal due to the boulevard. He's running and crying, and has his arms stretched out toward his mom.

His mom hadn't realized she'd dumped her child into the busy street yet, and wondered why all the cars were honking at her. When she drove by, Carmella gestured towards the empty baby seat. The neglectful mother looked back, noticed there was no child on the bike anymore, and got really worried!

By that point we can only assume that the mother collected her child, told him she loved him and wouldn't ditch him like that again, and carried on with her motherhood. Carmella drove by, with only the regret of not having a camera to catch the whole thing.

So, if you're buying kid bike seats, be careful in the type you choose! Safety first! And don't neglect your children!

More pictures!

2011-08-31T07:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures. These have a Van Drunen theme. I chose random ones without too much thought towards blinking, etc.

Marlene gave us 6 identical CDs, and one cd with all 803 will live at Mom and Dad's, so everyone can see all of them! I'll also work on emailing relevant pictures to everyone too.

Carol readies the tables!

I blink as Er helps with my tie

Carol!

Carol looks on as Er shaves my errant neck hairs.

Dad yawns

We wait for guests to arrive

Carol and Minke are disappointed that their trivia answers aren't right, and they will pay by waiting a bit longer to eat!

I hold court!

Some teaser wedding photos!

2011-08-31T00:21:00.000-07:00

Marlene did a fantastic job on our wedding photos! I'm pretty sure they're better than anyone else's, ever!

Not really much else to say, other than a huge thank you to Marlene for her time, effort, and expertise! Here are a sampling.

Weekends in Vancouver

2011-08-23T23:03:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of things that people can do on the weekends in Vancouver, and one of my favourite is going to the beach. This past weekend, Carmella and I went on both Saturday and Sunday.

An interesting thing about going to the beach in Vancouver is that it doesn't always involve sand and water; it can simply mean sitting in a park that's close to the beach. Here are a couple pictures.

On Saturday, we went to Kits beach. Douglas Coupland, in his book City of Glass, explains that all the beautiful people in beer commercials must come from somewhere, and that somewhere is Kitsilano. Volleyball! Tans! Smuggled booze!

I didn't really see that part of it until this week, but you can see it if you look. I'm sure people work out all year so they can parade through Kits Beach. Some people walked by on the path a great number of times, and many of these people also had great numbers of muscles and at least a few tattoos.

The grass section in my picture still counts as Going To The Beach. You can see the beach proper in the distance, and downtown.

On Sunday, we sent to Trafalgar Beach, which is less than one km west of Kits Beach. It's a natural beach, so there's driftwood, seaweed, and rocks. I like it better than Kits Beach, as there are fewer people there. Also, the sand is really nice because it's natural. They trucked the sand into Kits Beach, so it's kind of dirty and feels like an ashtray. Aussies may think the sand at Trafalgar is simply dirt, but we like it!

Sunday was great. Our friends Wes, Cindy, and Corrina were there, and we spent about four or five hours just sitting on the blanket, tossing rocks around, and doing exactly what you want to do on Sunday afternoon, which is pretty much nothing.

It's quite nice the way a whole afternoon can be spent sitting in the sand. For the first few minutes I find it hard to settle down, and I feel like I need a soccer ball or a frisbee. After about half an hour though, I'm ready to simply enjoy the surroundings.

Going to the beach is a great thing that we're able to do in Vancouver, and it's really close to our apartment too. I have to remember to enjoy the beach while the weather is nice!

Our new couch!

2011-08-19T22:27:00.002-07:00

As a wedding present, we got money towards a couch from many sources. We got some from Mom and Dad, Carol and Craig, and also Carmella's grandparents. It was a team effort!

After a long, hard search, we found just the couch we needed. This one turns into a bed, has a chaise lounger, and was a sectional that needed to be put together, which meant it would be able to enter our apartment. Our basement suite has awkward doors and hallways, so getting something inside, and being able to move it out when the time comes, was a huge consideration.

Ikea was charging $200 to deliver the couch. I thought there had to be a better way, like renting some equipment from UHaul. I tried to get the same 4'x 7' trailer that I got to transport gear to our wedding, but it was rented already. I went with a cube van instead, and still saved about 75% compared to the price of having Ikea deliver it.

It's a good thing we rented the van though, because the boxes almost fill up the whole cargo area! It wouldn't have been possible with the small trailer. Good thing we upgraded.

Carmella and I lifted the four boxes into the house. This was quite the process, and included dragging them along the grass, struggling down stairs, and negotiating doors and hallways. The smallest ones were the heaviest, which foiled me when I thought taking the big ones out first would save the easy ones for last.

Michael was staying over, and he helped us build the couch. It was quite the process, and took him about four hours. I was there for the last two. It was great to have him do a lot of the work before I got there! I didn't think to get any action shots of the build process unfortunately, because we were so focused on the task.

Michael had an appointment here in Vancouver today (Friday) and would need somewhere to sleep at our house on Thursday. On Tuesday night we realized we had only one day to buy the couch, and that would be Wednesday. It was the week of the couch! We could have had Michael sleep on one of our new camping sleeping pads, but we felt getting the couch would be a better idea!

Here, Michael enjoys the fruits of his labour on the chaise lounger, while Carmella demonstrates the pop-up bed. What you can't see is that the chaise lounger also pops up to reveal a hidden storage space for blankets and pillows! This couch delivers!

Below is our living room! The venerable Hunter sisters, Tina and Cyndi came over to christen it, and to have a great dinner that Carmella made in the Crock Pot, (another wedding gift).

Look how cosy and social it is! We had a great game of Ticket to Ride, which Carmella won. I wonder if I shouldn't have introduced her to gaming, because ever since I did I can count my victories on my fingers and toes.

Also note our new TV. It was a fun project to buy that, also with money we were given on our wedding. We wanted something that wouldn't be a trophy in the living room nor dominate the space. I felt that something 26" would be ideal, and found a set at Best Buy or Future Shop or somewhere else that would work well. Carmella told me it was too much money, and slashed my budget by 33%!

I realized I had to change my game plan, so I then looked into what Craigslist posters had to offer. I realized my co-worker Wes was right when he said that LCD flat panels rarely show up there. But, to my luck, the perfect set appeared! It was a 26" Toshiba Regza, with good sound and HDMI ports, for a great price. The other TVs on the used market for the same price were much older and didn't have the good features that this one does.

I bought it from a friendly 20-something guy who lived downtown. I showed up at his appartment, and he buzzed me up. His parents were watching a massive wall-mounted set in the living room. We talked for about three minutes, and he showed me that everything worked. I decided to buy it. I tried to bargain, but he wasn't into it.

(I just realized I spent three paragraphs talking about buying a TV. The good thing is we'll only use it for DVDs, and have no plans on getting any kind of cable package, so we won't be addicted to it.)

We now have a great little living room, perfect for friends and family to share. It's cozy and great for our little space. Also, look at the painting Michael gave us for our wedding. You can't see, but there are thousands of little snowflake dots on it, that he did one at a time with a pin-striping brush. It would have taken him hours. Or days.

Thanks for the couch everyone! And if anyone wants to stay over, we now have a place for you. The couch creates a double bed, so we have lots of space!

More photos than words!

2011-08-19T21:38:00.003-07:00

Here are a few photos from the last few weeks. When Carolyn came back from Australia for my wedding (which I'll have to post about at some point...) she gave me her old camera! It's a Cannon PowerShot Digital Elph. She bought it just after our China experience, and I bought the one she used until then. They've both been great so far, and I'm happy Carol thinks of me when she needs to unload her electronics!

My new camera in action:

Here's the flag we had on our car for our honeymoon. I still got a speeding ticket near Nakusp though.

Our little suite we rented outside of Whistler. We were there for our friends Christine and Jeremy's wedding.

There was a small pond behind the house. No wildlife noises that I can remember though.

We're ready for the wedding! Carmella wears a new dress, and I wear a shirt and tie I got with a gift card from Erik. Carmella gave them one of her paintings! At our wedding, Jeremy said it was his favourite, so he gets to keep it! The Claw makes a cameo.

Carmella enjoys our seats at the wedding. There were three rows of chairs, and the rest of the guests were on the balcony.

Christine reacts to the baby in the front row, beginning to cheer! It was actually very cute!

5 bridesmaids! The one on the far left is expecting, which caused some minor stresses leading up to the day, because she wouldn't fit the dress anymore! They had a good solution.

I liked the colourful bouquets. Excellent planning by someone, having water glasses all ready at the head table to hold the flowers before dinner.

I liked the lanterns and puffy decorations that hung in the tent.

We had Carmella's mom over for supper this week, so thought it was a good time to bring out the fancy tablecloth, candle holders, and vases! Carmella also grew that sunflower outside, from a seed. Everything in this picture came from our wedding in some way.

Christine and Jeremy's wedding was great, and my first Jewish wedding. Jeremy stomped on a glass, that symbolizes the fragility of love if you don't care for it. I am curious why people tend to focus on those things at weddings.

It was fun to see that tradition happen in real life. Here's the real live action!

Another fun tradition they had was the Chair Thing. They both sat in chairs, and then the groomsmen lifted both chairs up and danced around, while the bride and groom sat high above everyone, bobbing and swaying in their special seats. No pictures of it unfortunately, as it was the highlight of the wedding for us!

It was fun to go to another wedding, and look for little details that didn't look like much, but likely took a tonne of time. Like tying 80 wedding programs into a roll with ribbon! That would have taken forever!

I'll try to take more pictures with my new-to-me camera and post them. I've been slacking a bit lately!

Pit Bull attack in Mount Currie!

2011-07-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, Carmella and I were married in Mount Currie, just north of Pemberton BC.

While we were there, there were lots of dogs running around. According to this article in the Vancouver Sun, a man was attacked by an unleashed pit bull. Good thing it wasn't two weeks ago, and good thing it wasn't one of our guests!

I'll post of wedding pictures soon!

A Question of Ethics

2011-07-27T22:48:00.000-07:00

The study of ethics presumably presents its students with the tools to react to and engage in a changing world.

I present the following to you, dear reader, as a case study/question in doing the right thing.

Let us pretend that a respected member of the university community woke up in the morning, put on a stylish v-neck sweater, and trotted off to work.

Let us also say that in his haste, this respected member of the university community happened to put the aforementioned sweater on backwards, so the stylish V was prominently pointing down his back.

Did this community member mean to do this? Was he sporting a fashion-forward design? Was he in the midst of a study on social norms? Was he enjoying his cramped adam's apple? We will never know.

What we do know is that a certain fledgling university employee, known for occasionally and innocently making inappropriate comments, (eg, making conversation at the company christmas party with a co-worker about her Christmas Sweater, assuming she was wearing it in sport, when she actually wasn't) noticed the backwards sweater after a round of inconsequential small talk with the community member.

This university employee weighed the alternatives. He thought about his place in the university eco-system. He thought about his role in the niche.

He, a very casual ethics student, studied the situation, weighed its complexities, and decided on a course of action.

He said nothing, sat back, and enjoyed the emperor's new clothes.

Just as nobody likes to be the person to comment on spinach in another's teeth, he figured there'd be someone else to yell, "But he's wearing his sweater backwards!"

We're married!

2011-07-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note from Kelowna, where we're on our honeymoon.

Carmella and I got married on Saturday, Jul 9th. It was a great wedding, and we had the help of so many people to make it happen. Many months ago, Carmella gave the wedding a Swing Era theme, and invited guests to bring costumes and learn to swing dance. It worked out fabulously!

There were so many highlights: Carmella's homemade name cards, seating chart, wedding favour bookmarks; our first dance, which was a secret swing dance we created after taking lessons for three months; our friends writing songs for us and performing them; our families helping to make things go so smoothly; touching speeches by our family and friends.

The wedding made us feel very loved by our friends and family, as everyone put in lots of effort and time into the event. Thank you!

Hockey Riots

2011-06-15T23:57:00.001-07:00

Tonight, the Canucks lost game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Carmella and I watched the game at a Point Grey pub with her friend Tanis. Point Grey is a neighbourhood near UBC and near Carmella's work. It's on a hill, and you can see downtown in the distance.

As we were walking home, we saw a column of black smoke rising from the downtown area. We thought it was either fireworks or riots.

When we got home, we turned on the live news feeds and found out that it was in fact another round of hockey-related riots. In 1994, there were riots when the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup to New York in 7 games.

It's 11:15pm right now, and we've been watching since the game ended at 8pm.

We've seen footage of at least five or six cars on fire (two police cars, a BMW, a Hummer, and one or two others we couldn't identify), stores being looted (Coach, London Drugs, Bank of Montreal, The Bay, Sears, and Chapters), and lots of fights. The police have riot gear, dogs, and horses.

A major theme that has come out of the coverage is the stupidity of all the people that are standing around, taking pictures, filming, cheering, talking on phones and waving at news cameras.

There were reportedly 100 000 people downtown watching the hockey game on closed streets, watching huge screens set up in designated fan zones. When the game wound down, people threw bottles at the screens, got into fights, and tipped over port-a-potties, and threw rocks, bricks, and bottles.

Words like Chaos, Stupidity, Shock, and Embarrassment have been used. The newscasters have had trouble keeping their emotions out of it, being so disappointed and surprised with the events, especially after a successful Olympics and playoff run up until today.

There have been stabbings, fights, fires, vandalism, and looting.

Right now there are a lot fewer people downtown by the looks of the live shots and reports. It was a problem getting everyone out of downtown because transit was slowed and stopped, and also because people were enjoying being in on the action and being entertained by the mobs.

The major call right now is to get people out of downtown and to go home. Everyone has seemed excited to take pictures for their Twitter feeds and Facebook statuses, egging on the violence and vandalism.

Any police force I've seen on has been entirely necessary and justified. The bulk of the damage has been done by a group of people wearing black with balaclavas, possibly tied to the group in similar attire that tried to stir up dissent during the olympics.

We have the worst hockey fans in the league. It's disappointing that things went this way. The reporters talked about this being a blight on Vancouver's image, and I think they're right.

We'll see what happens when the sun rises on this city tomorrow. The streets will be messy, there will be lots of repairs needed to shops and businesses, and we'll hear about injuries sustained.

Carmella is seeing an event being organized called Post-Riot Clean Up: Let's Help Vancouver. That's something positive coming from all of this.

I think we've seen the end of Fan Zones, Fireworks Nights, and any sort of public celebrations downtown.

It will be interesting to see and read the analysis of the unrest as it comes out. Was it a bad idea to try and rekindle the Olympic spirit by inviting thousands of people downtown? Were the police prepared enough? How much damage was done? How severe were the injuries?

I'm off to bed now. The Canucks lost, but life carries on. These riots put perspective on everything, in a way. It really is just a game, and not worth fighting about. Life goes on . Our wedding is happening in just over three weeks, the longest day of the year is still ahead of us, and it's not raining every day anymore!

Running along the ocean

2011-06-12T09:53:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I went out for quite a long run. I didn't have any knee pain, and I've been taking it easy to try and keep it that way.

I ran most of my run along the ocean, running in the sand or on the rocks when I could, but going to inland trails when the water levels were too high. There is about 7 or 8 K of continuous beach and I ran almost all of it.

At one point, I saw two seals! There were three guys fishing for crabs, and the seals would pop their heads up and check them out. They'd slide under the water after a few seconds, and appear in a different spot a little while later.

It was an excellent run, and I'm happy to have gotten out there. Vancouver is quite nice in the summer, and likely one of the only spots where you can see a seal during an afternoon run!

Hockey Hockey Hockey!

2011-06-11T12:37:00.001-07:00

Vancouver is very excited about hockey these days, and now the city is one win away from a Stanley Cup!

Here's a shot of the doughnut selection here. You can't buy that other type of cream-filled doughnut anymore!

The news said that almost 100 000 people went downtown to watch the game at multiple Fan Zones. Carmella and I will join the throng on Monday, and hopefully celebrate a Cup victory!

Camping!

2011-06-05T22:58:00.000-07:00

Carmella and I went camping this weekend! We have some plans to make use of this tent in July, so Friday was a good time to try it out.

Mom gave us our tent for Christmas, and it was great! We camped in the Whistler campground. Because the campsites are set away from the parking lot, there are wheelbarrows to help you bring your gear to the site.

We were only at the site for a few hours. (We arrived after our anniversary dinner at the Rim Rock Cafe, where we shared our first date, first anniversary dinner, and now the second anniversary dinner.) It was an adventure to put up the tent in the dark, but we did just fine. We left the site early in the morning. Carmella had a hair appointment and a yoga class, and I went for a run.

We also found some time to visit James, a little boy Carmella took care of a couple years ago. He was nine months old at that time, and he's really grown. He can run and talk, and likes to pretend to make food with his little cookset.

I asked him to make me some eggs, and said I would like extra shells so they were crunchy. Then, I got James to give some of these imaginary eggs to Carmella, and I asked him to tell her about them. He ran over, and presented them to Carmella.

"Here are some eggs with extra shells. They're crunchy."

Hahahaha! Was I abusing my adult influence on the young child, making him believe that extra shells and crunchy eggs were desirable? Maybe, but it sure was funny! Carmella thought it was hilarious, but his parents didn't see the humour.

Here are a few pictures of James from almost two years ago. It seems like a different child actually. He used to be a tub, but now he's normal size. I wouldn't have recognized him at all.

It was a good weekend. It was really fun to camp, and it'll be even better when we get proper sleeping mats and warmer sleeping bags! It was so cold, and the ground was hard. We spent a lot of time outside, and it's gotten us excited for the rest of summer. When it's not raining, there's so much great stuff we can do!

A very significant day!

2011-05-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a very significant day in my life. First, some context.

The year is 2004. I have just finished my undergraduate degree in Anthropology, with a minor in Environmental Studies. My university career ended differently than I expected, and it turned out to be a great time.

I did my first year at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. I enrolled in a program called Outdoor Recreation, Parks and Tourism. We were affectionately called "Reccers" and there was a traditional rivalry between us and the engineers. We had songs about how they did lots of homework, and we went camping. I was going to get a degree in playing in the outdoors! And get a job too! And those engineers, working much harder, for no real gain! We had songs we were made to sing during Frosh Week too:

"I'd rather be a Reccer than a f*ck*ng engineer,
We never do our homework because we're always drinking beer.
Our underwear is dirty and we don't care, *something about tent pegs in eyes, but I can't remember now*."

Halfway through the first semester though, I realized the program wasn't what I wanted to take and that Thunder Bay was not the city for me. During reading break, Dad and I met in BC and explored the big three schools here. First, we looked at Simon Fraser, but it didn't fit. Then, UBC. It was a whole city, and was too big. Dad suggested we go across the water and see UVic, and that's when I realized I had found my future school! The idea was to get a "real" degree, and still do the fun outdoors things I wanted in my spare time.

At UVic, I could bike all year long, run through the winter, and live by the ocean. I applied to transfer, and was happily accepted. I moved to Victoria with a hockey bag and a bike box, graduating three years later with an extra bike box, and a few more clothes.

When I graduated, I needed to find something to do. I was a bit tired of school, and decided to pursue my dream of opening a bike shop. I started this by working at a shop in Whistler, so I could ride all summer and break into the bike community there. I moved into a house with a tarp on the roof, and yoghurt containers on the floor to catch leaks. I paid $450/month.

Just look at that tarp, flapping away in the breeze.

Turns out I liked Whistler, but didn't make a career at the bike shop. I got lots of biking and snowboarding in, and enjoyed the outdoor lifestyle.

Helibike trip on Rainbow Mountain, across the valley from Whistler and Blackcomb.

A River Runs Through It, Whistler.

I put 66 days on the mountain that year, my highest total.

Erik and I at the top of Whistler.

I left Whistler after two years, finding myself in Winnipeg, Ontario, and China, and Bali, Indonesia.

A bright, sunny winter day in Ontario. I wish Vancouver had those.

The Settlers of Catan Canadian Championships. I made it to the final day!

Planting seeds with my Chinese kindergarten class. I wonder if they remember me. That's Lilly (I think!)

Me and Bruce in Hong Kong.

Carol waiting...

Carol preparing...

Carol running!

Suffocation seems imminent. Good thing they only let you be out there for a couple minutes.

My friends on the beach. I rented a surfboard from them every day, and shared their shade.

Best shape of my life.

I found myself in Whistler again, once I was back from China. Almost everything was the same; same people, same job, same expensive lift tickets. One thing was different though, and that was Carmella! We knew eachother the first time I lived in Whistler, but really started to enjoy our time together in 2009, and got engaged last October.

Carmella gets the radio controlled airplane stuck in her hair. This was our first real hangout time.

I'm still in my work uniform.

Stocking Stuffers!

We got engaged on the beach!

So, back to the significance of yesterday. There's one background activity that I've been begrudgingly doing during the time all these pictures were taken.

Since graduation in 2004, Whistler v1.0 until 2006, Ontario in 2007, Asia in 2008, Whistler v2.0 in 2009, and now in Vancouver in 2011, I've been paying off my bank student loan. Yesterday, I completed the last payment over the phone, and stopped the regular automatic payments.

It's been a tough slog in some places, but it's done!

It took 7 years. I remember thinking, in 2004, that I'd likely be 30 by the time I had it paid off. How futuristic! Now I'm 30, and I do have it paid off. When I started, the interest accounted for 1/3 of the payment. In the last few months, the interest totaled less than $10. Now, there is no interest, and no more payments to the bank. Celebration!

This guy shares my name.

2011-04-19T16:31:00.001-07:00

When I get self-absorbed and google myself, I occasionally come across someone who shares my name. I've never found a picture of him before though, so I was surprised. I thought he'd be 9 years old.

Here he is. He has dark hair and looks to be fairly tall. He runs (I'm faster though, at least for now) and attended a Christian school. At least he lives in Georgia and probably has an interesting drawl. I think my individuality is safe!

A sunny April day

2011-04-18T00:36:00.003-07:00

Here are a couple pictures from today, a rare sunny day. It's April, and still it rains. I think the moniker Rain City is more appropriate for this town than Van City, which seems to get thrown around a lot more often. I've seen a bike shop called Rain City, and a tradesman's truck with Rain City Cement or something similar on it. I guess Van City is more neutral, while Rain City could be seen as negative, but only if happen to feel that continuous and unrelenting grey, cloudy, rainy weather is negative.

Today was sunny and great, and therefore could be seen as positive! The tide was out at Locarno Beach, and the actual ocean was further away than I'd ever seen it, which was exciting for me. Carmella says that it happens all the time though, and wasn't sure why I was so impressed. In the summer, people buy skim boards and shred the puddles and little rivers that a receding tide leaves behind. Maybe I'll buy one and get into it!

Next up is a picture of a BBQ we went to. It was put on by an Aussie friend of Carmella's, and it was fun. It was still quite cold, but sunny. We sat around and chatted, enjoying the sun.

It's been a busy weekend! I had a too-long Sunday nap, and still find myself awake and it's now Monday morning. Time to go to bed!

Oh, we are taking weekly swing dance classes, and our first one was on Saturday night. For me, it was successful as I wasn't the worst in the class, and left knowing the steps we were supposed to know. We'll see if I can continue to keep up! We're taking the classes from Rhythm City Productions, who I bet will re-name themselves Rain City Productions soon.

April Fool's Half Marathon, Gibsons to Sechelt

2011-04-06T22:48:00.001-07:00

On Sunday I ran the April Fool's Run on the Sunshine Coast, a 30 minute ferry ride from Vancouver. It's a rural area, with lots of friendly people and a ferry to keep people from the city away.

It was a good race. I ran the same race last year, and was hoping to better my time this year. I ran it off the couch last year, but had a few weeks of training this year, so I was feeling confident.

It's great to be running again; if only I can make the time to train as much as I want to! The last time I felt racing fitness was in China when I raced in Hong Kong. My training was rewarded back then, as I felt strong in the races and had some good results.

Carmella came along for the trip, and she wished she could be involved in the race, instead of "just" cheering. But I was happy to have her waiting at a few points along the course to keep me going.

The race is a tough one. The first 5K or so are fairly flat. The next 9K are flat to downhill. Then, from 14K to about 18K, it's insanely uphill. This course gives me a false sense of speed until 14K, then make me feel like I'm running through wet concrete. Training more would cure that I think! Here's an elevation profile, from RunningAHEAD:

Last year I finished in 1:36:00ish, and was looking to better that this year. My ultimate goal for a half marathon is sub 1:30:00, so in the back of my mind I was hoping for that. Again, training regularly would help with that!

The day was overcast and a bit cold, so I decided to run in my tights and a long-sleeve shirt under my lucky yellow race shirt. I got pretty warm around the 5K mark, and tossed my long sleeve shirt to Carmella who was cheering on the side. With my temperature better regulated, I was ready to race!

Here are some pictures from the event, taken by SiPhotography. They had a photographer take shots at various spots along the course, and then they publish their photos online in the hopes that you buy them.

I didn't even know the photographer was there!

It was an easy part of the race, as it was mostly flat and there was a water station, and Carmella was there to catch my shirt and cheer me on.

The next photos come from the 15K mark or so. Here I am going up a lonely hill, with a bunch of hills behind, and many hills ahead. I'm in pain!

When looking at the pictures, I'm happy to see that I've improved one aspect of my form, even if others have fallen by the wayside. I used to flap my hands around, cupping them like I was swimming or something. Now, I've got neutral hands, so that's positive.

My core isn't as stong as I'd like it to be, so I want to work on that. That will help me keep my shoulders up and back. This was on a hill though, so there was a bit of necessary forward lean.

Because I ran this race last year, I knew to expect these hills so they didn't feel as terrible as they did last year. They ended my race just like they did last year though! Once things flattened out with 2 or 3K to go, I just couldn't keep my pace up, and got passed by everyone. Last year at the same point in the race I got passed by a guy wearing a Darth Vader costume, so happily that didn't happen this time around!

I finished in 1:34:40ish, which is about two minutes faster than last year, and only two minutes slower than a half marathon I raced in 2004, when I was a bit faster, and running more. So that's positive! I'll be able to break 1:30:00 this year if I can keep running and training.

The most positive aspect of the race is that I didn't feel any knee pain for the whole 21.1K. I switched shoes, and that seems to be the solution.

Carmella is thinking about running the Sun Run in Vancouver, and that race is touted as the biggest 10K in North America, or something like that. It's big because they get big corporate turn-out, with many teams entering. People say it's not a race you run to get a good time, but a race you run for the experience. So many people run the race that apparently you never get any space to yourself. We'll see how it goes! I may register for that race, and see what all the fuss is about.

Now it's time for bed. Work wakes me up early, and I have to wake up even earlier to bring Shiffy into Midas, to get a new muffler. It fell off yesterday. I'll be bringing it in before work, and picking it up after.

Keep training everyone!

My great meal I just made

2011-03-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

I just made a great meal!

Carmella is cooking on Monday and Wednesday, and I'm Tuesday and Thursday. We're very progressive.

I wanted to make something fun, and I found a recipe that looked pretty easy and had a high rating on allrecipes.com .

It was going to be rack of lamb!

I went to Safeway to get the meat, knowing that I only needed some breadcrumbs because we had everything else already. They didn't have any lamb at all, so I walked a few blocks up to another grocery store, who only had frozen racks. I needed to make a quality meal, and frozen just wouldn't do.

I then went to Choices, a Canadian chain of organic stores. They had what I was looking for! I purchased a rack, and brought it home. Carmella was working out at the gym, and would be home at 8. I started cooking and preparing around 7pm.

I seared the lamb in olive oil first, then coated it in a bread crumb mixture that had rosemary and garlic in it. I put a layer of dijon mustard on the meat to get the bread crumbs to stick.

It was excellent! I was very happy it was successful, and Carmella really enjoyed it too. Our oven is gas powered, and it's hard to get an accurate reading on the temperature because the knob is all scratched off. But, we have an oven thermometer and I used that, and preheated the oven to 450F.

Here it is! The meat was so tender and great, and I think it's one of the best meals I've made. I used a new steamer insert we got to steam the asparagi. The meat may look pink, but that's the way it's supposed to be.

Yum!

An excellent pizza cutter, and other pictures.

2011-03-12T22:33:00.001-08:00

It's Saturday night, and I'm sitting in a Blenz Coffee on Broadway and Bayswater, in Vancouver. I'm two thirds of my way through an over-priced hot chocolate ($4.50! For a small!) that comes in an underwhelming glass mug.

As Carmella is doing bridesmaid things and our house doesn't have internet yet, I figured it'd be a good idea to come here, log on and post. Possibly I can win back some readers that I have lost recently, due to my sporadic posting.

It's been quite a long time since I posted anything, so I think I'll just post some pictures from the last little while.

Here are three from a few weeks ago in Whistler. The lines were pretty long, because there was lots of snow, and it was a Saturday. Carmella and I enjoyed the Blackcomb Glacier, and then some glades.

The next day, Carmella and I drove up to Pemberton to investigate some wedding details. It turned out to be the last day of the Pemberton Winter Festival, and the annual Polar Bear Dip was the marquee event of the day. The kids got to go timidly first, before the attention-seeking adults were allowed to show off.

Last, Carmella stands facing the dipping pool, with her back to the rest of the very-frozen lake. The lake is a shortcut for residents, a hockey rink, and xc skiing circuit.

Next, it was on to wedding research. We tried to visit our caterers, but they were skiing for the day. We were successful in visiting the church. It's full of character, and surprisingly we are the first couple to want to get married in it! I guess all the other couples were nervous it would collapse on them mid-ceremony. Where was their sense of adventure? It's so small and quaint. We'll dress up the outside somehow, with flowers likely. It even has a wedding bell, which we hope to ring a lot.

Flashback to New Year's at Capilano Suspension Bridge! They had it all lit up with special lights, and activities for kids. Carmella and I asked if we could get in on the gingerbread men decorating, and we were accepted. Carmella was very proud of her gingerwoman, and the scarf she added.

Late Christmas present from Carolyn! Mom tried to bring a deluxe pizza cutter onto the plane with her (at Carol's suggestion) when travelling from Australia back to Canada, and it ended up being confiscated. It was later replaced with a Canadian model, which preforms most excellently. It has a great handle and removable circular blade, which allow easy cutting and simple cleaning.

Today was the St Patrick's Day 5K in Stanley Park. This is the third year I've run it, and the third year that I've been disappointed with my time. This is also the third year I've run it Off The Couch, so that could be a major factor in my disappointment. Carmella came to watch, and we met some friends (well, our friend Jenn (on the right) and two of hers) near the start. I'm quite a bit bigger than them! I wear my trusty racing shirt. It's polyester and is probably 7 years old, and I'm glad it's not showing signs of slowing down!

The race was a motivator, and I have pledged to get out the door and run more often. I've struggled with knee problems this year, but was happy to find that I didn't feel anything after the first kilometer of this run. I think I'm on my way back.

My probable race calendar has me running a half-marathon on April 3rd, and then possibly the Vancouver Marathon on May 1st. It's $100 to enter the Marathon, which is silly. It's not only houses that are expensive in this town!

I'll try and post more often, but we'll see. The internet man is coming to hook us up next Saturday, so until then I still have an excuse!

Snow

2011-02-17T12:25:00.001-08:00

This morning while biking to work, I was happily enjoying the sun as it gently caressed my face. I understood the benefit of a south-facing house, and how nice it is when morning sun streams through your windows and lands on the floor in a pool of liquid positivity.

Now it's snowing, and I am disappointed! It probably won't stick, but I'd still rather see an invitation to spring instead of a return of winter.

A small update (that got a bit longer as I kept writing).

2011-02-12T15:03:00.000-08:00

Hey Team,

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. By way of excuse, I'll briefly mention the balls we have in the air at the moment. (I heard that writers should avoid cliches like the plague, but I haven't quite decided that for myself yet.)

Work.

Unfortunately, I found out that my afternoon job, where I run the employee bus pass program, is being cut due to new budget restrictions. Fortunately, I work for a great management team who procured me a job in the campus sustainability office as penance. Wooo!

It'll be a new job, which is welcome but also disappointing as I was just getting good at my old job. This new job aligns with my interests and education more, and I look forward to working hard and proving myself capable.

Housing.

Carmella and I have found another place to live. While it wasn't the best situation living in the two-bedroom place with her roomate, it was livable for the short-term. Carmella's roomate didn't like the situation, and found a cheaper place to rent for herself and her boyfriend. Carmella and I had to either break the lease and find a new place ourselves, or swallow the price of the whole two bedroom appartment.

We opted to break the lease, and found ourselves a great little basement suite with 8-foot ceilings and lots of space. It'll be a great spot, and we're looking forward to having control of our own affiars in our own place. We've found all the furniture we need for free, including a large tube TV which promises to take up more space than we'd like! Oh well.

Wedding Stuff.

Plans are going well, and we're getting the ceremony venue and the food sorted out. We're still planning a short honeymoon in Tofino, but haven't made a decision about that quite yet.

So far we're avoiding the acute stress that people feel when they plan their weddings, but maybe that will come when things get closer, or when we realize that all the small details need to be addressed, not just the big ones.

I'll attach a couple random pictures to end the post.

While moving out of my last place (where I had a passionate roomate who was very hard to deal with) I decided I didn't have room to keep this great armchair that I was given in Whistler. I put an ad on Craigslist, in the Free Stuff section.

I got a few calls, and they were really annoying. I had to answer questions like, "Is it more brown, or green?" "Has it been in a smoking environment?" "Are there signs of wear on the arms?"

It's free! There's a picture! You either want it, and take it away and don't have to pay me anything for it, or you don't want it, and stay home!

Here's Carmella dominating a Train Game session, back in Whistler. We'll still playing a lot, and have recently bought a 1912 expansion for the Europe board. It's pretty fun, adding routes and depots. The Europe board is way better than the original USA board.

When I moved out of the place before this one (the same place I mentioned while talking about the chair, above) the roommate in charge of finding a replacement put an add on Craigslist and got no responses. She then became very mad at me for choosing to move out when I did, and threatened to bring me to court over a breach of a verbal contract, because I didn't stay six months. There was no lease. It was silly.

Anyway, this a picture of my room that I took. My other roommate, a nice guy, wrote up a friendly ad for Craigslist, and I took pictures. We joined forces to create a successful ad, and suddenly there were lots of people interested in taking my place.

I am sure happy to be out of that living situation. I've moved so much lately though, I'll be nice to have a home base for more than six months!

So that's the way things have been over here, and I'll try to post more, and take more recent and relevant pictures! The next big thing happening is actually moving, which will happen sometime between the 15th and 28th of February.

The Emperor's New Clothes

2011-01-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

People often refer to the classic Hans Christian Andersen story when they're getting deep into a discussion about Vancouver real estate. Unfortunately, I still don't really understand the allegory. Is that something I'm allowed to admit, as I approach my 30th year?

Anyway, this blog isn't about real estate or an Emperor, but about me. I just bought some new clothes! I was out and about looking to buy some more running gear (tights, specifically) and found myself in a mall that had great deals on button up shirts and nice pants. I ended up not buying any tights, but leaving with some more clothes to add to my often-used work rotation.

I'm proud of myself, because I think shopping for things you need anyway is best done in January. I got this great green shirt for more than 50% off, and these pants, with subtle plaid design, for about 40% off. I'm proud of my purchases, so here's a picture!

The shirt is great because the colour is nice and bright and reminds me of granny smith apples. It's also great because the sleeves are long enough for me, which is always an issue when I go looking for a shirt.

The pants are great because they're not dress pants, but are more classy then denim. I'll be able to wear them at work and also outside of work, because they're not too formal either. I'm a fan of the plaid design as well, but it's so subtle I don't anyone will notice it. But that's OK.

Christmas!

2010-12-26T00:43:00.002-08:00

Carmella and I shared a wonderful Christmas this year, and a lot of it had to do with the generosity and love we felt from our families.

Everyone back in Ontario got presents together before Mom and Dad left for Australia in November, and we received a hockey bag full of the wrapped gifts before December even started!

Once December 15th rolled around, we opened the hockey bag and put the presents under the tree. Here's Carmella with our natural tree, with Nisse!

And look at all the gifts we received! We felt so happy to have them all, as we felt loved and appreciated (I know, I know, Carol said the same thing about her presents she was brought in Australia!) even though we're in a different province.

There were so many things we received that we can't list them all, but you can see in the picture everything that fit into the hockey bag!

In the picture you'll be able to make out a tent from Mom (wooo! Carmella was really excited, as she's never had a tent before and always had to borrow them), a shirt from Kir to me, a Finnish shirt from Mom to Carmella, a sunflower calendar, a collection of exquisite teas from Minke to Carmella, a Risk Management world map (rating both security and political risk across the world from Erik), a number of gift cards, two beautiful decorative balls from Kirsten and Peter, loads of druppies and peppermints, bookmarks, an Olympic book from Mom, and Christmas ornaments.

Carmella and I were both very happy to receive a gift from Mom and Dad that was a donation to Haiti in our names, represented by the postcard in the middle of couch.

Not pictured is the wonderful pizza cutter that Carolyn sent from Australia with Mom and Dad. It got confiscated at the airport. Apparently it was a really good one, and has no doubt been re-gifted by the airport staff, and is in the hands of a (hopefully) grateful punter who has been tired of ripping their pizza apart more than we were. I bet those airport security check staff don't ever buy things they want, they just confiscate the items they're looking for then take them home!

Thanks everyone for being so thoughtful and generous! Carmella mentioned during our present opening that she's enjoying the thought of having another family who cares for her, and she loved getting presents from everyone even though we're not married yet!

Today was Christmas, and Carmella made cookies in the morning, and then in the afternoon we went to Maple Ridge and had a wonderful meal with Carmella's mom and brother. As always, we were treated to a great turkey, lots of mashed potatoes, Finnish casseroles, lox, squash, and many other things!

We then had a rousing game of Settlers that everyone enjoyed (especially me, as I was victorious, winning 10-9-7-7) because we all built a lot of cities and the Longest Road card was traded around a lot. Everyone had good numbers and the opportunity to build, and we were all competitive in the game.

It was a great Christmas, and Carmella and I are so thankful to our families for their generosity and love!

Merry Christmas everyone, and thanks again for all the wonderful gifts!

Awkward Bus Ride!

2010-12-20T17:17:00.001-08:00

So I'm going home on the bus, and there was a girl w blonde hair sitting alone. There were three of us on the bus.

The other passenger, a random guy sitting beside me at the back of the bus, suddenly stood up, went over to her, and started an awkward conversation.

"Hi! Are you a UBC student?"
"No, I'm in my last year of highschool..."

I thought the guy was working for a survey company or something, polling UBC students about transit or Christmas spending. I looked for a clipboard that he might be using to record responses, but didn't see one.

They continued on for about three minutes, talking about stuff like they were on a first date. He chatted about the sports teams he played for, and said he had "fond memories" of that and that high school when he attended there.

Then, expectedly, the girl suddenly stood up, said it was her stop, and got off the bus.

I guess I have to give the guy marks for having the courage to go up and talk to her, but I think he needs to work on his delivery! I was grimacing to myself at the awkwardness of the situation he created, and I bet the girl didn't find it any more comfortable.

She handled it politely, so that was good.

I just got off the bus and the situation is over. I bet the girl is now on a different bus, and the guy is wondering how another one got away.

In a bar, drinking alone.

2010-12-11T23:49:00.001-08:00

I'm not there anymore, but I was earlier tonight. And it's not as bad as it sounds.

For a few years, I've had this romantic idea of sitting in a dimly lit bar drinking neat scotch, watching blue smoke float its way past the dying lights. I've imagined the kind of establishment that gets momentarily bathed in light when someone walks in the heavy door, but is quickly returned to its pupil-dilating sepia ambiance once the door closes again.

I've wondered what one must be thinking when they find themselves in this situation, and I'm certain the thoughts aren't the most positive. Loneliness, self loathing, boredom, and emotional pain are topics that I'm sure find purchase at a time like that.

In a weird way I've wanted to find myself in this situation, just so I could feel the deep, rich emotions that would go along with it. They'd be tough feelings to deal with, but at the very least I'd find yourself experiencing the most that life has to offer.

Today in the bar was not one of those times, as it was only depressing in that it was raining and already dark at only 5pm.

Carmella was staying over in Whistler teaching a weekend snowboard camp, and I was walking home from the bookstore. We hosted a successful engagement party last night, so I wasn't feeling like being social for two nights in a row. I felt like watching the hockey game, so I ducked into a White Spot family restaurant that has a lounge section. Being alone, I was guided to the corner of the bar where two others were already sitting.

I had a beer and a burger, and watched a period and a half of hockey. During the first intermission, I took Douglas Coupland's Player One out of my bag and began to re-read the first chapter.

I was alone in the bar, but wasn't depressed. I was somewhat bored, but not bored enough to dig up some social times for myself, and not desperate enough to head back to my house, not wanting to run into my roommate who I seem to always be at loggerheads with.

It was fun for about half my burger. I was enjoying my alone time as I always do, but realized I enjoy it more if I'm reading, writing or running. It's not that fun to sit in a bar alone, even if you're not depressed.

I listened in on the conversation the two other alone people were having. One was a somewhat overweight 32 year old male, wearing a plain blue t-shirt. The other was a 35ish female, wearing a sweatshirt that reminded me of Dad's Overland Express shirt; something that used to be stylish but because of its utility, never got thrown out or retired even ten years after its purchase.

The guy was quite intelligent yet had some social challenges, speaking more slowly than I was used to. He was talking to the girl, who predictably brought her fiance into the conversation, saying that if he were here instead of Taiwan, he would eat her leftover yam fries.

I was hoping the guy would ask why he was in Taiwan, and he did. Apparently he's a PhD geneticist creating strains of white rice from native brown rice.

I was also hoping the guy would ask if she goes to visit him much, and he did. She just returned from a 5-week visit over there, but that was as long as she could afford to stay.

I was hoping that the guy would ask if there were plans for him to move back, and he did. There were no concrete plans, but she was hoping soon.

I wondered what kind of relationship would require both parties to be so far away from each other, even through engagement. I thought maybe they had careers that required them to be apart. It fit for his case, but not for hers. Staying behind for a career that allowed for five weeks off in October and November would fit, but then I couldn't quite think of what kind of career would have such a plastic work schedule.

My second thought is that they were believers who didn't feel comfortable making a living commitment before they got married. I was soon proven correct, in at least half of my guess. She mentioned they met at church, but didn't mention the reason they are living apart.

The Canucks started losing and I was no longer engaged in my eavesdropping, so I finished my beer, paid my bill, and walked back out into the rain. I was happy to leave, because it meant I didn't have to endure the awkward stabs at conversation that my server/bartender thought were necessary. It also allowed me to leave the conversation the two others were having, which had turned into a discussion about Chinese writing and language. I wanted to jump in and correct both of them on numerous occasions, but resisted.

My night alone in the bar wasn't the emotional garlic press I've been waiting to have, probably because the bar was full rather than empty, well-lit instead of dark, and non-smoking instead of heavily socked-in. I also wasn't soul-searching, but was instead quite content.

It was still an interesting experience, but didn't quite sate my desire for the dark, empty, smoky bar environment and the accompanying mental unrest. Maybe I'll never have to experience that though, and I'll wager that will be a good thing.

DecapiCone

2010-12-11T12:23:00.000-08:00

I've come across some interesting things while working in the Pharmaceutical Sciences faculty. Here's what holds our pens.

What I do at work.

2010-12-01T14:34:00.002-08:00

Here's an example of what I do in my afternoon job. I've begun to see it like a challenge, collecting arrears payments from people. Here's an email I wrote yesterday, that ended well for us as the client will be bringing in her cheques tomorrow.

Hi X,

I looked into you file, and I have some unfortunate news, but maybe some you were expecting about your EPP payments.

You received your pass on January 1^st, 2010. Your payments were good until May, 2010, when we only were able to deduct $35.25. You gave us cheques for May’s balance of $35.25, and also $70.50 for June’s payments. Unfortunately, we didn’t get cheques for the remainder of the year. July, August, Sept, Oct and Nov payments are missing.

Your arrears account is now sitting at $352, as we paid for you pass during that time. If you’d like to continue in the program for 2011, we’d need a years worth of post-dated cheques that we’d cash one month at a time.

We’d also need to recoup the missing payments, and we could arrange a payment plan with you if you’d like. An example of one such plan would be paying an extra amount on each of your 2011 cheques (and 1 Dec 2010 cheque) that would slowly but surely chip away at your amount owing.

Tomorrow, December 1^st is the last day that I can terminate EPP members for the start of January 2011, meaning that your pass would be good until Dec 31^st, but not for Jan 1^st, 2011. If you choose to terminate, we’d only have to work together on your arrears payments and not the 2011 pass payments. Please let me know by tomorrow if you want to be in the program for 2011 or not, and how you’d like to proceed.

So, this is what I do. I like it because I get to interact with people from all over campus, and there's a challenging aspect to the work. Not all I do is about collecting money, but it's a major part. I enjoyed this interchange because it ended well (if she does actually come and bring in her cheques!)

Rock Show

2010-11-23T22:12:00.001-08:00

I'm at a small pub in East Van, waiting for a friend's band to play. They're not on yet, and all I want to do is read my book.

Oh dear. I have a bunch of friends here so the Social Potential is high. However, I'd rather know how the siege in my pirate book is going to shape up!

I guess it's a good sign that my book is engaging, but I must learn to separate my reading life from my social life!

A venue is in the works.

2010-11-17T11:16:00.001-08:00

Life has been busy since my last post, as there are lots of details about our wedding to figure out. We've got the main pieces mostly sorted, which include a venue. Until things are 100% firm I won't give details, but here are a few teaser pictures.

It's rural setting, and we had an adventurous time getting there and away.

On the way there, we hit a deer! I was driving, and I saw a shape moving to my right. It bounded out in front of the car, and I had to quickly stop. I didn't stop fast enough though, and delivered a hard blow to the poor fawn. I did eventually stop, and the fawn rolled out from under the bumper, looked at us through the window, and then bounced away, apparently no worse for wear. We were happy the deer didn't die, and happy that the car appeared unscathed.

When we were leaving, the deer still fresh in our minds, a huge cow wandered across the road. Not a dairy cow, but a huge meat cow that probably weighed more than my car. I quickly stomped on the brakes, and the was able to miss this moving bovine wall. He continued to amble across the road.

Carmella and I were discussing wedding food as we made our way to the possible venue, and thought it would have been cheap and easy to simply serve fresh venison. The problem was that our venison got up and ran away.

On our way back from the venue, reflecting on that missed opportunity, we were almost provided with another quality meat option. Again, we weren't able to take advantage of another free meal, as my instincts to stop were greater than my desire to butcher, transport, and store a few tonnes of sirloin. Also, the cost of a new vehicle would put a larger than expected surcharge onto the initial cost of the meat.

We've got our venue mostly sorted out, and have had a few meal ideas slip away. We'll have to firm up the menu later, but until then, I think the best thing to do is attach a trailer to the car (which already has a trailer hitch, thanks to Grandpa's driveway paving business) and drive on dark roads a lot. With the trailer, transporting fresh, quality meat will no longer be a problem!

We're Engaged!

2010-10-24T18:38:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was an exciting day because Carmella and I got engaged! Here are some quick pictures to share while things are still fresh.

We made a nice picnic, and brought it to a nice natural beach. We found a log, and set out our things. We had root beer, a thermos of hot chocolate, and some great sandwiches. We made them brimming with roasted chicken and other toppings.

After I began to eat, I told Carmella I wanted to transfer some of my ingredients to a spare bun I happened to have with me. Since my hands were full, could she tear open the bun for me?

She began to open up the bun, and was confused why I had an extra bun with me. Then she noticed that the bun had a big hole in it, and wondered why I'd bought a faulty bun.

Then, she said "There's something in here..." and then pulled out the ring in its jewelery box.

Here, Carmella re-enacts the moment:

The ring is small, and fits very well on Carmella's small finger. The diamond is a Canadian one, which was important to us.

We had been pretty open with each other about our plans, but Carmella didn't know when I would ask her, and didn't know when I had bought the ring. Apparently she'd been expecting the question at almost every fun date we've been on for the last eight months! The walk on the Sea Wall, the dinner at Modern Burger, the time we jogged around the block...all were cause for Carmella to wonder if she'd be given a new piece of jewelery. But no! I kept her guessing, and eventually hid it in a bun!

It was a fun afternoon, and we stayed at the beach for a few hours. Since then, there have been lots of phone calls to make, stories to tell, plans to think about, and congratulations to accept.

I have some more material to post, but I'll do that in the next few days.

And we don't know when or where it will be yet, and we're not even sure what the ceremony will be like.

Thanks for the kind wishes everyone!

The UBC Apple Festival

2010-10-18T01:03:00.000-07:00

Today was the UBC Apple Festival, held at the botanical gardens on campus. Carmella has been to this event before, but it was my first time. It's a family event, and there is an area for children with apple-themed games and face painting, apple presentations and displays, apple tasting, and other apple events. There's also a place to buy apples and apple products, like pies, juice, and cider. You can also buy an apple tree.

Even though there are other events, the main draw is the opportunity to purchase apples that you can't find at the grocery store. These are heritage apples, new apples, rare apples, and apples with names you've never heard of.

The Apple Festival is an annual event, held over two days. We tried to attend it yesterday, but got there just as they were closing, and we weren't allowed in. So, we went back today, early enough to get in. Carmella knew they'd run out of apples at the end of the day, so we made sure to get there early.

Here's the sign, pointing the way to the apple trees. You can't really see it, but there's a list of the type of apple trees you can buy. Most of them are sold out.

Here's a list of the apple varieties you can buy. There are probably more than seventy there. If you look closely, you can see names like Kent, Lord Lambour, Marigold Splendour, Jonathan, Sundance, Wolf River, and Carmella's favourite, Ambrosia. If you look even closer, you'll see there's a Sold Out sign on every variety except one or two.

This scene greeted us as we entered the sales area. Only a few types of apples left to buy!

The market area was a sad site. Everything sold out on Saturday except a few varieties, and the selling area was empty. I heard people talking about how busy Saturday was at the Festival, because it was sunny and a weekend. At this end of the country, those two things don't usually happen at the same time in the fall. All those Saturday people bought up all the apples, leaving a scant few for the Sunday Stragglers.

I think I heard crickets chirping, and saw a prairie ball roll by.

Carmella and I rushed to the sales place to get some apples, as we knew they wouldn't last long. Carmella bought a bag of the green ones, called Bramley's Seedling and a bag of red SPA 493. The SPA 493 is a new strain of apple that doesn't have real name yet, just this identification code. It sounds genetically modified, but I'm pretty sure it's natural and good. They wouldn't sell us genetically modified apples at an earthy apple festival, would they?

After she bought them, we checked out the rest of the festival. While the market area is the most popular section, it's not the only part of the Apple Festival.

Here, a friendly volunteer talks apple with an interested onlooker. On the tables are something like 200 different types of apples. There was a placard by each with a small blurb about each one, including its various characteristics: taste, size, crispness, harvest time, and how long they'll last in your cupboard.

Before today, I thought there were maybe five different apple types; Granny Smith, Delicious, Empire, McIntosh, and Crab. Now, I know that list is missing about 195 names.

The UBC Botanical Garden is a big place, and we had to walk through it to get to the next section of the festival. They had big apples hanging in the trees to mark the way. Carmella is happy to find a sign representing the bag of green apples she bought earlier.

We noted that the Botanical Gardens usually cost $12 to enter, so we decided to check out the grounds, since we only paid $2. In the Asian Garden, Carmella found a bamboo plant. She nuzzles it like a panda.

She then took this picture, which makes it look like a much bigger tree than it really was!

Here's a tree that was actually really big. You could crawl into it, as Carmella demonstrates.

She's stuck!

Free at last!

After the Festival, we went over to Carmella's and made this pie. Carmella did all the hard work, like sorting out the crust, filling it, making the apples ready to put inside, and getting the amounts of sugar and cinnamon right. I did the grunt work of peeling and cutting the apples.

The pie was excellent! My favourite part, other than its great taste, was the little apple Carmella carved into the top of the crust.

The Apple Festival was a great event. Next year, I'm going to aim to get there early on Saturday, and I'm going to try and buy a bag of Jonathan apples. I read they're widely used in breeding programs because of their great taste.

And those SPA 493s? They are crisp and sweet, and a great eating apple. I would recommend them!

Douglas Coupland's Massey Lecture

2010-10-13T00:24:00.002-07:00

Today, Carmella and I went to the Chan Centre at UBC, for the first stop on the Massey Lecture cross-Canada tour. Douglas Coupland was reading.

I bought our tickets a few weeks ago, and picked them up today. I was expecting to have a discussion with the lady at the ticket booth about Carmella's student-priced ticket, as I didn't have her ID with me. Turns out she didn't even notice, or probably didn't care. I've come to realize students get a lot of perks, and if one was surly enough to fib student-dom, many discounts could be had.

Carmella was working in Whistler today, and left work there right away to make it back to Vancouver in time for the show. She got to my house at about 7pm, and we would travel the short distance to UBC for the 8pm show. I had a homemade pizza almost made, but not quite because I realized I should cook the sausage before putting it on the pizza.

We brought the finished pizza along in the car, and ate on the way there. We also brought two glasses and a jug of apple juice, so I made sure to drive in a manner that wouldn't cause a massive apple juice clean-up.

We got there in good time, at about 7:45. The tickets were General Admission, so we just found our own seats. There were two at the very front, so we took those as I wanted to be right in on the action! Here's Rick Cluff from Vancouver's CBC morning show, introducing the evening. It's an interesting experience seeing someone talk, when you're used to only hearing them. He was older than I imagined.

Douglas Coupland appeared on stage, and began to speak. It was great. He decided to write fiction instead of the traditional non-fiction lecture, and read us the first of a five-part novel that deals with what it means to be human.

His reading was punctuated by several "minefields", a word he used to explain the kind of sentence he trips on for no reason; the kind of sentence that requires extra care to navigate. He asked us who put the comma on the page, when obviously it needed a period. Then he remembered who wrote what he was reading. It was funny, and provided a short mental break from the text. I wonder if he did it on purpose, to keep the crowd engaged.

After his reading, he sat down with CBC's Paul Kennedy, who hosts the radio show called Ideas. There were a few questions from the audience, and some from Paul Kennedy. Again, it was interesting to watch someone speak after only hearing his voice in my car. Like Rick Cluff, Paul Kennedy was a surprise; he had more years and less height than I expected.

Vancouver's literati were in attendance, and people wore business suits and tried to look fancy. I didn't have time to look around really, but the average age was older than Carmella and I although there were a few teenagers in the seats.

It was a different crowd from the one Kirsten and I were a part of in Victoria, around 2003 when we heard him read from Hey Nostradamus!, my favourite Coupland book. That crowd was full of art students, hippies, and colourful characters who enjoy his style of writing.

The audience questions at the 2003 reading were very light, and delt with his past books, the characters in his books, future plans, and other random, fun topics. The questions from the crowd tonight were a bit more wordy and the average syllable count was likely higher than in 2003. It made me wonder if people put their syllables in their back pockets and take them out when necessary, perhaps when the CBC is recording them for a nationally broadcast show.

There was a good balance though, and not everyone was out to prove themselves a literary pundit. One girl asked a great question, but prefaced it by saying she recently earned her PhD by writing a thesis on Douglas Coupland. She was star-struck, and the crowd enjoyed it. Her question was good, and I figure it won't end up on the editing room floor when the talk gets aired in November. It was about when she teaches his material, the students feel he's not analogous to the rest of the CanLit authors.

It was a great show, and ended with both Carmella and I wishing we wrote more. We agreed it was an inspiring event, as it made us want to write in our spare time. I hope I can do that!

There is a book with the complete set of talks already published, and the CBC will be broadcasting the shows near the beginning of November. Make sure to listen in! It's very entertaining and enjoyable.

Thanksgiving

2010-10-11T23:04:00.001-07:00

For the past few years, Thanksgiving has taken on a different feel for me. When I was in Whistler, I wouldn't often celebrate Thanksgiving, since I usually had to work. Thanksgiving was a holiday in which to earn overtime pay.

In Whistler, Thanksgiving is also identified by the annual Turkey Sale, an over-hyped and under-delivering ski and snowboard equipment sell-off. WhistlerBlackcomb enjoys advertising and promoting it as an event not to be missed. It's a good time to buy ski and snowboard gear, but in my opinion it's nothing spectacular. You can find similar deals elsewhere at different times.

This year, Carmella and I journeyed to Maple Ridge to her mom and brother's place on Sunday. Carmella's mom really looks forward to Thanksgiving, and makes a great meal for us. She made a turkey, yams, some Finnish casseroles, gravy, cranberry sauce, and potatoes. It was excellent! Because most of Carmella's extended family is in Ontario, our meal was small with only four of us there. The meal could have fed ten though, for sure!

Today, Carmella and I attended a gathering of friends without families, and it was fun. There was excellent food and good conversation. Cindy, whose house it was at, is really social and has tonnes of friends. There were lots of people there, and I only new three of them. It was at the end of the weekend, and I was feeling a bit socially maxed out. I was happy when Carmella wanted to leave earlier than the others, because I was ready to go too.

Before we went to that dinner though, we took a walk along the sea wall around Stanley Park. It was raining, but we went anyway. Here are two pictures from today.

Here, Carmella points to the spot where either an otter or a seal used to be, seconds before. We saw him swimming, and I got out my camera. When I looked for him through my viewfinder though, he was gone! He'd taken a dive, and we didn't see him again. Oh well, very few people get to see otters or seals on Thanksgiving.

After the otter, I turned the camera around and took a picture of the both of us in the rain.

Observe my yellow umbrella. I'm trying to find a way to start a coloured-umbrella campaign in Vancouver. I'm of the opinion that it's dark and grey in Vancouver for the whole winter, so plain black umbrellas should be banned. It should be a Vancouver mandate to only allow coloured umbrellas within city limits.

This initiative will bring colour to the streets, and cheer up the perpetually sombre citizens. I need a catchy name though.

Colours Up!

Colour-plui Vancouver!

Parapluie arc-en-ciel (the rainbow umbrella)

I think I just thought of a name for my blog. La Parapluie Jaune. The Yellow Umbrella. I think it fits, because I have a yellow umbrella and I'll likely be using it often. Plus, jaune brings a fun cross-language homophone into action, since it sounds a bit like my name.

Or, maybe I'll just use the English words. I don't know, maybe I'll try both and see which seems to fit better.

Or maybe I'll just call it the aluminum tree, like the background picture.

A single picture.

2010-10-08T19:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture to look at. I've been trying to spend my time online more productively, so I've been blogging more, and looking at funny pictures and watching videos less.

Here's a picture I took in Whistler, in the summer after a ride. Whistler had a really cold spring, so the snow didn't melt. Then summer came along, and all the snow melted too fast for the lake to handle.

Usually I could ride right out onto the dock, but on this day I had to pedal through some water first.

My dirty laundry is out to dry.

2010-10-08T00:27:00.000-07:00

I'm struggling in my new living situation, and I wonder if writing about it will help me think it through.

I'm living in a three bedroom suite, on the top floor of a house. In addition to me, there is a 30-something woman living here, and a 20-something grad student.

The girl has been living here for five years, and she takes care of the bills. She's not the owner of the house though, as we all pay rent to the landlady who lives next door.

Joe is the grad student. He's originally from Calgary, and is very friendly. He's in microbiology.

The girl is very passionate about turning the lights off in the house, which is an environmentally sound and economically smart hobby to have. I've had her scold me a few times for leaving the lights on in rooms I wasn't currently in, which I wasn't so happy about. She has done the same to Joe.

Today, we both received the following text:

"I have to say that I'm not used to people being home all the time with gf's included. Used to be a much quieter place. Not so much anymore."

and

"Tonight if you don't mind."

Joe's girlfriend was here for five days or so at the beginning of the month. Carmella has been over for dinner three or four times now. We're all quiet types; Joe played Ticket to Ride with us last night. We make dinner, play games, and have conversations. There is never music involved, never yelling, never any heated disagreements. Nobody throws plates against the walls. Carmella has also enjoyed the house for studying.

When I was speaking to the girl about moving in, she said she'd be happy to have Carmella over to visit, and seemed to promote a healthy, happy living environment. I do not feel that way anymore. I found myself leaving the house today and not wanting to return. Carmella isn't as interested in coming over anymore.

I'm wondering if I should start looking for a new place, and have a tough discussion with the girl about what her expectations are for her roomates. Are we supposed to avoid the house because she doesn't like it when people are home? Or is she just crabby because she's got an exam coming up or something?

It's fairly frustrating. At least I didn't sign a lease.

Carmella's Dress

2010-10-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

Back in July, Carmella and I visited Ontario for Kir's wedding. While we were there, Carmella and I visited the local shops. I returned home with a few t-shirts and Carmella came back with an empty coffee cup. She had considered buying a new dress she saw, but decided against it because it was just too expensive.

Mom and Carol then conspired to purchase this dress for Carmella! While we were back in BC, they found the dress and bought it. I was in on the action, receiving pictures from Carol's phone and confirming the dress was the correct one, and helping them decide on a size.

Mom had originally thought the dress would be a Christmas present for Carmella, but since it was a summer dress, and it was nice and summery outside, she decided to send it along early.

Carmella was so surprised! The package arrived at my work, and I pretended I didn't know what it was. I opened it, and it said "For Carmella. Not for you, Jonnie!"

Carmella came to the hotel, and opened the package. Out flopped the dress that she figured she would never see again!

When she tried it on, the size was as good as it could have been, but she'd need to take in the seems at the top. Carmella found a seamstress, and she did a great job.

We had one last sunny day a few weeks ago, so Carmella and I walked down to the beach to celebrate a successful move to Vancouver, and a new job for me. Carmella wore her new dress. Here are some pictures of the final product!

Let's see if I can blog more!

2010-10-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

Alright, I'm going to try and encourage myself to keep up on this blog. I'll start by introducing my new design!

The background is a picture I took in New York, on the top of the MET. It is a large aluminum sculpture, and it reminds me of a tree.

This weekend is Thanksgiving, and happily I get the Monday off. Carmella and I will go to her mom's house in Maple Ridge. Before that though, we're going to visit the Body Worlds exhibit at Science World. And maybe before that, I'm going to try and by myself a new bed.

I bought a bed, but it's terrible. Being my thrifty self, I purchased a used one from a used furniture store in Burnaby. It's creaky, and is so old that the box spring actually has a spring system in it.

Vancouver is struggling with a bedbug epidemic, so you can't give away a used mattress here, but for some reason I decided to pay money for one. I'll minimize my losses and buy a new bed in a few days.

Today, I woke up feeling sore. My back hurts, and my sleep wasn't deep because whenever I moved around, the box spring creaked and woke me up. Very unfortunate!

This weekend, I'll also renew my vehicle insurance. I may save some money because I won't be using the car to go to work, and will just use it for leisure. I will likely have to pass an emissions test though, so I'll have some preparations to do for that.

I hope to have many pictures to share in the next few days, as I've got lots of things to document. Visit often, because I aim to keep this blog humming along again.

Massey Lecture!

2010-09-28T08:45:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I bought two tickets to the 2010 Massey Lectures stop in Vancouver. This year's speaker is Douglas Coupland. I'm looking forward to it, and I'm excited to experience the venerable Massey Lecture series.

I hope the evening is different from a normal Coupland reading on a book tour. The event is happening on Oct 12, at the Chan Centre @ UBC.

A nice comment card from work

2010-08-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

When guests check-out of the property where I work, they're sent an email comment card. They're asked a lot of things about their stay, and one category deals with the Overall Experience.

The following was sent to in yesterday, and forwarded to me by my managers today:

This facility is located in a great place and convenient to many attractions and outdoor recreational opportunities. All the staff and resort manager were extremely nice and helpful. Of particular note, Mr. Jon Van Drunan (sic), was very helpful to us in explaining the sites to see in the area, printing directions for us, and greeting us every morning and evening. He made it seem like we had known him for a long time, and is a wonderful example of why I purchased, and have continued to increase my credits with this time share, due to the quality people that are hired, like Jon.

This was nice to receive.

I may use this in my job search. You can't argue with such superlative performance!

Ok, Canadian outerwear company, call me back for another interview!

The Memory of Running

2010-08-02T16:05:00.000-07:00

Kir gave me this book awhile ago, and I've just started reading it. It deals with an overweight man who loses his parents in a car accident, and previously lost his sister to a mental hospital.

Today is my day off, and I enjoy reading books on days I don't have to work. I also like running. I was about to do both today, but I had to stop my run about thirty metres into it, or less.

I experienced extreme pain in my right knee, and could no longer run. I've never had a pain like that before, and I am a bit concerned about it.

The only thing I've changed in my life is that I started biking to work. It's a long way, so I try and go as fast as I can. I try to push big gears, because I don't want to admit to myself that I'm in worse shape now than I was a year ago.

So now I've got extreme pain in the anterior portion of my knee. I needed to find out what it was, so I googled it and came across some interesting information.

Cyclists often experience either hip pain or knee pain, and they're the two most common injuries that plague those on two wheels. These injuries are most common during the early season when the rider's body isn't used to riding, especially if the rider tries to ride big gears too often and tries to push too hard before the body is ready. The article also mentioned that inflexible lower extremities can add to the problem.

I am guilty on all counts. I try to ride as fast as I used to, and I try to ride big gears because I assume they're more manly. I also have inflexible lower extremities.

I'm happy that this preliminary research points to it not being a permanent injury. I wouldn't want to only have memories of running as a result of a serious knee problem. I'll have to find other ways of getting exercise for a bit, and with running and biking seemingly out, I'll have to try something new.

ANOTHER fire on Blackcomb?

2010-07-31T22:02:00.000-07:00

Rumour has it that Blackcomb is on fire again. Last year, apparently on this date, it famously caught fire for everyone to see. It created a burn zone that made for some pretty surreal tree skiing.

Here's a webcam shot, taken this evening. Is that fire, or something else, top right?

Today around 4pm we had a big lightning storm that included torrential rain and hail, so at first I was skeptical that a fire was brewing on Blackcomb. Confirmation reports seem to be coming in though, so possibly it's true.

Gas prices rising drastically!

2010-07-31T19:19:00.002-07:00

I'm working at the hotel tonight, and have been very busy. Families are arriving for their summer vacations, single people are coming to check out our little town, and couples come to enjoy eachother's company.

Once such couple arrived from California, and recently came to me to get their keys. I noted that the girl had a newish-looking wedding ring on, and they were both fairly young.

As usual, they had some questions about Canada, including gas prices. They said they saw a sign that said gas cost $1.18/L. I told them that the conversion was about 3.75 litres to a gallon.

The girl then asked me, "So, it's one hundred and eighteen dollars a litre?"

Hmmm. I'll throw her a bone here and blame this comment on newlywed euphoria, where presumably common sense is absent.

I think they'll need one of these while they're here.

Biking to work

2010-07-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

I've begun riding my bike to work again, and I'm happy about that.

It's taken me awhile to get my 98 Schwinn Moab back in commutable condition, but I finally finished the job yesterday. I needed a new drivetrain (front chainrings, chain, rear cassette/sprocket) and a new front derailleur, and it was a challenge to find the low-end parts I wanted in this town of high-end rides and wallets.

My commuter was the third bike that I've shaped into rideable condition this summer; I got my downhill bike ready to go so I could lend it to a friend, and I got Celeste primed and ready as my own trail bike. All the bikes needed attention, and it's a burden that's now lifted to have them all somewhat rideable again.

I rode into work this morning, from Emerald to Creekside. According to google maps, it's about a 13K ride. I'm feeling out of shape, but that's OK. I hope to cultivate a set of iron lungs before the summer's over! I left my house at 6:15am, and arrived at work at 6:45am. I had hoped to have enough time for a shower, but that didn't happen so I settled for a shave. I'll leave earlier tomorrow.

I feel like I still haven't woken up though. I was hoping to feel invigorated and fresh when I got to work, but instead I feel tired and it takes me longer to do everything. I look at all my keys and can't remember which one I need to open the front door; I stare at a blank sheet of paper fresh out of the copier, taking longer than normal to realize what I want is printed on the back.

It feels good though, and I'll make it habit to ride into work. I'll use my car for sundry trips in the evenings.

I fixed my car!

2010-06-28T16:03:00.003-07:00

Shiffy wasn't running well, and then not running at all. I wasn't able to get it started, and was worried that I had an expensive repair on my hands. I did some research, and found out it was likely a battery issue.

Today, I went to the auto parts store in Whistler, bought a battery, and installed it myself. I'm quite pleased, as I saved myself some money by not taking it to a mechanic. It was really easy to do as well.

After I completed the installation, the car started easily, with the confident engine growl telling me I had been successful. It was really satisfying to be able to do it myself and achieve a good result.

The battery was more expensive than it would have been at Canadian Tire in Squamish, but I was happy to get it right here in Whistler, saving myself the time and gas of going down there to get it.

Shiffy's back up and running! Happy days!

No goal!

2010-06-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

Germany vs England, June 27. Looks like the refs made the right call after all!

Carmella sets up her paintings for the ArtWalk

2010-06-15T00:44:00.001-07:00

Today Carmella set up her paintings for the ArtWalk, Whistler's annual showcase of local artists. Art is featured in various venues around Whistler, like restaurants, bike shops, banks, and hotel lobbies.

She's being featured at the North Shore Credit Union. She didn't have to hang her art, as there were existing shelves that she was supposed to use. The bank has an area that was probably put into their new renovation with the purpose of displaying art. The finished display has a small bio, and little placards stating each painting's name, dimensions, and price. Here she is in action.

I like the business cards she's made. She took one of her old paper paintings and cut it into business card sized sections. Then, she jotted on her information in handwriting.

It's been an eventful few days for Carmella. The job market is tough at the moment, and it's been discouraging for her. She accepted a job at the kids carnival that gets set up at the base of Blackcomb Mountain in the summer. She would be working at the bouncy castle, life-sized maze, space-age spinner, and other small attractions. She would be making a lower wage than she would have liked.

Training happened on Saturday. Carmella was not 100% excited about the job for a number of reasons, but knew that it was necessary to keep a roof over her head and food on her table. Halfway through the afternoon of training, she began to feel nauseous and started shaking and trembling. She was sweating, and had a feeling that she was about to black out. Her stomach suddenly became upset as well.

Carmella was experiencing a panic attack, and she decided that the job wasn't for her. Her mind was willing, but the body would not co-operate. She left the training day before it was finished, dragging herself home to bed. She spoke with the boss, and explained that the job wasn't for her.

However, she's now becoming a woman of business! She's decided to go after the kind of work she wants to do. She put an ad in the paper advertising childcare, and put the word out that she wanted to have more Conversational English students (Carmella and I currently tag-tutor a co-worker of mine for Korea, named Sunny).

Now, Carmella has secured herself almost five full days of work a week, all on her own. She has another English student, and another childcare gig. She's going to advertise English lessons in the paper next week, and will get a bunch of bites there too.

I think it's pretty great. Carmella's very satisfied because she will be able to do work she enjoys, and have variety in her week. Also, since she's not tied down to any of these jobs, she'll continue applying to positions relating to her psychology degree, and will keep working towards getting accepted into a post-degree counselling psychology program. She'll also likely be doing volunteer work for the area Woman's Shelter, doing both research and working with the women. Busy busy!

So it's pretty great, and she can teach me a thing or two about getting out there and making things happen.

The Vuvuzela

2010-06-14T23:54:00.000-07:00

The Vuvuzela has gotten a lot of heat from World Cup players and fans over the past few days, with some people calling for its ban from games. Players say that it makes communication hard, and armchair fans say that they prefer more traditional singing in the stands.

Here are some quotes from players, found in this Globe and Mail article.

"My kids have been on the phone [with me], and they want two.” – England defender Jamie Carragher

“It is impossible to communicate; it’s like being deaf.” – Argentina’s Lionel Messi

“The problem is you just can’t communicate. You really have to use eye contact.” – Denmark goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen

“This is our culture. This is how we create our national rhythm and dance.” – Lucas Radebe, captain of South Africa’s World Cup team in 1998 and 2002

“Vuvuzelas are here to stay and will never be banned.” – Rich Mkhondo, a spokesman for the local World Cup organizing committee

“To be exposed to this type of volume raises the risk of immediate inner-ear trauma.” – Christian Gelis, a professor of biophysics at the University of Montpellier

I don't mind them. I'm more interested in the action on the field, although I wouldn't mind hearing the traditional football songs from other nations too.

Carmella's Art

2010-06-09T12:20:00.002-07:00

Carmella has set up a blog to show her art! You can find it here. Remember to bookmark it!

It's a pretty exciting month for Carmella. She's been accepted into Whistler's annual Art Walk, a showcase of Whistler's artists. Different artist's art is displayed at various Whistler businesses, and people take self-directed tours of all the various venues. The art will stay there for the summer.

Carmella's venue is at the North Shore Credit Union. She has official looking painting tags, and a good bio too. She had to order them ahead of time, and they're all printed out on official Art Walk paper.

It's very exciting! We'll post pictures of what they look like later.

Congratulations on the Art Walk!

My favourite blog post of Carmella's is this one. It's got an anteater in it.

"You know, you don't have to...

2010-05-31T17:02:00.003-07:00

stay in your room whenever I'm here you know."

That's what my landlord Darryl said to me today after I began packing up my things and retreating to my room when he got home today. Well, that's what it looked like I was doing, but I really wasn't. I was just about to pack up my cereal and milk when he pulled into the driveway, so I thought to myself that I better hang out longer so it didn't look like I was trying to escape him. Evidently, I failed in that.

There's a grain (or maybe a pebble?) of truth in what he said. I don't spend much time downstairs when I'm home because it's awkward and we have nothing to talk about, so I just read my book in my room. Plus, if he's watching the TV in the living room, I have no reason to be there. Why not go where it's quiet?

It was a fair comment. I'll put a bit more effort into being social I guess.

Here's what my house looks like. I live in the three-bedroom upstairs. Currently it's just Darryl and I living there, and he's still trying to rent out the third room.

Scud missiles

2010-05-28T16:05:00.001-07:00

Remember Scud missiles? They were used extensively in the first Gulf War.

Apparently the Playstation 2 video game console's marketplace debut was delayed because its internals could be used to deploy Scud missiles.

That's the kind of thing that is too strange not to be true!

The face of the hotel.

2010-05-28T15:57:00.001-07:00

My boss recently got a new Blackberry (Bold 9700) from Telus as a reward for starting a new contract.

She knows that I'm a blackberry fan and that I know how to use it fairly well, so she asked me to point out a few things. I showed her how to move icons, to use Blackberry Messenger, and to set pictures as caller ID.

She then took a picture of me, and was happy to tell me that she was going to add it to the hotel's number, "so whenever the hotel calls me, I'll see your smiling face!"

Odd. A nice gesture to be sure, but one that I'm not entirely sure how to respond to.

Identifying yourself through your kids.

2010-05-22T09:12:00.003-07:00

I'm working, and there's a guest who needs to say, every time he talks to me, that he has kids.

"Can I have a couple maps? The Boys will need them to plan the route, and will each want their own."

"Is this open today? The Boys probably won't be sitting still much today."

"I woke up early this morning because I have kids, and found that there's glass outside the door across the hall."

"How long will it take to get from there to here? The Boys and I are planning to walk."

I think he's either feeling really burdened by entertaining his kids all day long, or he just wants everyone to know that he has kids. Maybe someone in his youth told him he'd be a lousy father and should never have kids, and he's been trying to rebuke that person every day for 5 years now. Who knows.

Some birthday gifts

2010-05-17T16:38:00.004-07:00

I got some fantastic birthday gifts! Here they are.

There's a card from Grandma, which I received a day after my birthday, but should have got on my birthday. I checked the mail at about 1PM, and it must have come after that. Thanks Grandma!

Carmella gave me a great hand-painted card, depicting me riding my bike with trees and mountains nearby. It's great! Usually she does acrylic paintings, but this one is watercolour and it turned out great.

She also gave me another free lift pass, and new bindings! Carmella had some Mountain Money which she earned by referring her snowboard school clients to buy gear at mountain-run snowboard shops. She gets a certain amount of money depending on how much the client spends.

She decided to buy me new bindings with her Mountain Money, which was really touching. She knows I've been looking at a new pair, but also knows that I wouldn't buy them for myself!

I was very touched by her generosity. Carmella is great.

Here's the card. It even looks like me!

And here are the bindings, with my boots. They're so great! They fit my boots perfectly, and they look great. I've been mounting them to my board, and making little adjustments here and there. It's been fun.

More photos will soon be posted of my birthday celebration, and some other gifts.

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone!

Lobster!

2010-05-13T18:54:00.006-07:00

A few weeks ago Carmella and I made lobster! It was a fun experience. Here are some pictures.

We had to thaw the lobsters before we ate them, which we didn't know until we took them out of the freezer. Because hot water can ruin the meat, we were supposed to thaw them under cold running water, or let them sit in the fridge for a day. We didn't have a day, so we decided to thaw them under water instead. It took two hours!

Those wily crustaceans turned out great! We had some wine with them, and it was all very classy.

We bought them from the grocery store from the frozen entree aisle, and they came in a box! They were a reasonable price too. Since we're in BC and not on the Atlantic coast, the box had illustrated directions on how to eat them. I wouldn't have known otherwise, and we followed the step-by-step instructions as we ate.

I bought a nut cracker on my way over to Carmella's, and it came with two picks. It turned out we definitely needed the picks and cracker. It's made for nuts, but worked really well for our lobsters and we wouldn't be able to eat them effectively without the picks.

It was really fun, and Carmella recently bought a couple more boxed lobsters when she was getting groceries. We won't need the directions this time hopefully, and we'll know that we need to devote significant time to thawing before we prepare them.

Uncle John and Marlene come to visit!

2010-05-13T17:47:00.002-07:00

Today as I was busy slaving away at the front desk, I saw two familiar faces approach. Uncle John and Marlene!

It was a surprise visit, and I had a very good, lengthy chat with them. As luck would have it, I was shirking the Standard Operating Procedures of my workplace and had taken my computer in and was speaking with Carol on Skype when they arrived. I put my machine on the counter, and we had a little impromptu family reunion. Good times!

Uncle John and Marlene are on two weeks of holidays. They stayed with Neil in Alberta for a few days, and then travelled to Vancouver, where they are going to stay with some of Marlene's family. Today they decided to come up to Whistler for the afternoon, and that's how they happened upon my fair place of employment.

It's the shoulder season here in Whistler, so I'm not very busy at my desk. We weren't inturrupted at all during our conversation, save for some of my coworkers leaving and coming.

It was really enjoyable, and I'm glad they stopped by. It was made extra fun with Carol on Skype. We all agreed to meet again at Kirsten's wedding in July.

Hockey Players receive media training.

2010-05-02T21:28:00.003-07:00

With the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs in full swing, players in the world's most elite hockey league are beginning to see why they were made to participate in media training before the NHL's second season began.

Hockey players have always been known as solid communicators, but the pressures of the postseason create problems for most. No longer can they rely on their twelve years of formal education, as most of their mental energies must be focused on chasing the rubber puck around the frozen surface.

The new media training teaches the players to answer questions about the game and their play, while still being able to focus on the task at hand. Every player wants to hoist Lord Stanley, hockey's biggest prize, and minor things like interviews should not get in the way of that dream.

"We just have to go out there and play our game, play our system" is what centre Lars Hundrick had to say when asked how the media training has helped his post-game interview skills. When asked whether the whole team had to attend the special seminar or whether it was just for rookies, defenseman Hugh Wittenbore replied, "We've got a special group of guys this year, and everyone wants to do what they can to contribute to the success of the team."

Into the second round of the playoffs, there are only eight teams remaining. Some players of the eliminated teams are relying on their unique training even when their season is finished. Clay Smith, a left winger whose team was ousted in the first round, provided insight into whether the team will be changing their diet or sleep habits during the off-season. "We've got to concentrate on going hard into the corners and getting pucks on net. At this time of year, there's no excuse for not playing with heart and making sacrifices."

Sports writers of the nation's major newspapers also attended the media training, knowing that hockey fans will be reading their columns in greater numbers because of the increased attention given to the playoffs. Writing in Saturday's weekend edition, vetern columnist Richard Kelly opined "The playoffs are a time when every player has a role to play, and there's no place for individualistic thinking or ego-driven breakaway moves" in his column titled Where Are They Now? Five Cities That Have Lost Their Hockey Teams.

As the second round progresses, it's becoming more important for members of the hockey community, both players and writers, to remember that there are thousands of fans hanging on the results of the games. "We've got to play hard, and take it one game at a time" is what goalie Oleg Smoleskiov had to say when prodded about the growing popularity of the sport in non-traditional hockey markets.

The new media training is likely to be an influence in other sports as well, as football and baseball teams are slated to attend the seminars in the coming months. Angelica Moore, CEO of Sports Talk!, the company providing the media training, says that the success of the hockey seminars has her phone ringing almost constantly. "You know, they were in a must-win situation in Game 2. Their best players had to be their best players, but that third goal really took the steam out of their sails."

With this new direction in hockey journalism, fans will be treated by more solid, in-depth coverage of the game they love. Happy playoffs!

Birch Bay, Washington State

2010-04-26T19:56:00.003-07:00

In the past month or so, I had been organizing a trip to Birch Bay in Washington. I was able to get a great deal at a hotel using an employee discount, so I took advantage. The trip happened last week.

I booked a two bedroom place for two nights, which could fit six people. It is near the water, and only one hour south of Vancouver.

Carmella and I invited some of her Vancouver friends along. Because it was so close, they could come for only one night if they wanted, which is what ended up happening. Work schedules and some flight schedules were able to be worked around, so we had lots of good times.

The hotel we were at was pretty much exactly like the one I work at, from the types of vacuums in the units to the brand of laundry and dish detergent supplied. It was hard to be on vacation when everything was the same as my workplace! My familiarity came in handy though, when my friends would ask if the unit came with this spice or that type of cup. I knew exactly what was in each unit, and had a good idea where to find it, even though I was three hours away from home.

Our two bedroom place had a balcony and bbq, so we used that liberally. Our friend Ty likes to cook, so he took leadership and made lots of meat.

Birch Bay during the off-season, midweek, was a dead beach town. I think the summer there is hopping, but at the moment it's pretty quiet. I'm pretty sure I saw a few prairie balls rolling through the streets, and I heard lots of crickets. There was a waterslide park with grass in the parking lot and a Waterslides For Sale sign out front. There was a Miniature Land too, where the only thing open was a pizza place housed beside the box office. The annual Christmas mini-train ride had been cancelled.

We made it fun though! The first night we had good times making and eating food, using the hot tub, and then sampling the local watering hole, called Bobby's Place. The sign was hand painted, the roof was low, and there were wires hanging out of the ceiling. The bartender was grouchy overweight woman who was skeptical of young tourists and exerted her authority over us by asking for and then overly-scrutinizing our Canadian ID. I was the youngest in our group, and I'm almost 29.

The second night we just made food and enjoyed the hot tub. I was really tired because we had been Outlet Mall shopping. I got lucky and found a pair of running shoes that should work for my needy feet, and saved about 80 dollars in the process. We'll see how they work out though, since they're not the regular shoe I usually buy.

When we came home, I was happy to cross the boarder back into Canada, and then begin to see the scenery that I'm used to on the drive to Whistler. Vacations are great because they're fun in and of themselves, but they can also make you appreciate your regular life too!

Mosquito Lake trail run, Pemberton

2010-04-18T16:12:00.007-07:00

Today I ran the Mosquito Lake trail run in Pemberton. It wasn't very well advertised and I wouldn't have known about it, but my roomate knows I've been running lately, and saw the run advertised in the paper, and passed it on.

It's a trail run, and the length was "about 10K." There was no online registration, no web page, and no directions about how to get there.

I figured it would be very grass-rootsy, and I was right! I got there, and found that you can park right near the registration tent. I wouldn't have found it if I hadn't sleuthed it out online before hand. I think mostly locals go to this race, and everyone knows where Plover Rd meets Reid Rd! There was a flimsy sign on a hydro pole though.

Looking around, I didn't see too many serious runners. Most were women over thirty wearing 3/4 length yoga pants, and many had dogs along. A true community race! I really liked the feel of it.

I had forgotten my watch, so was disappointed that I wouldn't know where in the run I was, and how time was progressing. I was also wishing they had a timing system, which they didn't seem to. At the start though, they mentioned the timing method.

When you cross the line, you are given a popsicle stick that has your placing on it. When you finish, a volunteer holding a stopwatch calls out the time to another volunteer who writes it on a poster. There would also be prizing for the top three finishers, courtesy of a nearby B+B who helped with setup and food.

The race turned out to be very technical, and the course was a killer! Huge hills, technical downhills, and lots of trees. With a bit of advertising effort, this run could turn into a classic suffer fest.

I started well, and was running with a friendly woman who had good gear and good form. I think she's sponsored in some way as well, since most of her gear was all one brand.

I suffered through the hills, and was reminded that I really need to work on my hill training! This run was tough, and I wasn't feeling 100% limber. It could be I'm still recovering from last week's half marathon, or it could be that I've only run once since I finished it.

I did well in the technical downhills though, so that was fun. Usually I struggle in those situations, but not today.

Here I am with my placing popsicle stick, by the offical results table! A very solid finish, and I'm quite happy with it.

I'm really enjoying running this season. These past two races have taught me that I need to work on my hills, and my staying power late in races. So, I must do hill reps more and also not shy away from LSD runs (Long, Slow Distance) which I find a bit boring and time consuming. I prefer to do intervals! I also need to keep working on my core strength, and improving my running form.

Here's my prize! It's a hat. I'm standing with the owners of Drumkeeran House, a Celtic B+B on the water. They were very friendly, and completed the run together. Head to the Drumkeeran House for all your event and hospitality needs!

Race pictures

2010-04-14T15:16:00.003-07:00

Follow the links to a couple race pictures. I decided it would be a good idea to wear my Supervisor, which I won as a draw prize last year. I figured it would be good since it has a sweat wicking material in the headband. It was a mistake, and the Supervisor annoyed me. I tried to minimize its bad aerodynamics by putting it on backwards towards the end of the race.

Picture from somewhere near the middle of the race.

Picture from somewhere toward the end.

Half Marathon today

2010-04-11T12:57:00.003-07:00

I ran the Sunshine Coast April Fool's Half Marathon today, and decided to write on update on the return ferry ride. Here it is!

It was an early morning, as I had to catch a 7:20am ferry from West Vancouver, requiring me to wake up at 5am, and be out of the house by 5:30 so I'd have time to go to the bank, get gas, and drive from Whistler.

I was in good time, and parked at the ferry terminal. The race organizers had buses to pick us up at the terminal and drive us to the start line. This enables racers to pay $12 for a round-trip walk-on fare, instead of taking your car on and paying at least $60.

I had a good warm up, and was feeling mentally strong. My goal was to run a 1:30:00 over the 21.1KM route, which is about a 4:15/KM pace.

I was on pace until 14K, when we began a large series of hills that lasted until about 17.5K. By 18K, my race was over. I could barely keep moving, and knew my goal was unattainable. Other runners were picking me off with ease, and I was powerless to stop them. As Kir would say, my eggs were cracked. I was passed by so many people in the last three K!

I crossed the line in 1:36:02, which I'm still quite happy with. I was focused for the whole race, and kept my pace where it should have been for two thirds of the distance. I wasn't physically or mentally prepared for the massive hills, and they were my undoing.

My splits were:

5K-20:33
10K-41:47
15K-1:04:31
20K-1:29:52
21.1K-1:36:02

My first 5K was run in about the same time, or faster, than I ran the St. Patrick's Day 5K a month ago, so I'm quite satisfied with that, as it shows I was running well at the beginning. I ran my last 1.1K in 6:10, which shows how I was feeling by the end! There was nothing left at all, and I tried really hard not to stop and dive into the bushes for a wee snooze.

It was a great race though, and all the runners were really friendly. Three people came up to me at the end of the race to see how I did, as they passed me in the last 5K. They all liked my yellow shirt as it gave them something to focus on.

This race reminded me why running is so great. There's no attitude, everyone's friendly, and things aren't very competitive. At my level, everyone is competing only against themselves, and enjoy talking running after the race.

I'm going to drive home now, and have a long nap! My body hurts, I have a headache, and I'm tired.

Winter Wonderland. Still.

2010-04-09T07:23:00.003-07:00

This is how it looked this morning as I left for work. People on the radio are talking about outdoor furniture, planting season, and all those spring-y things.

We've been getting snow for the past week and a half, and it's April! I guess this is a ski town, so I should expect it. I'd rather have nice weather to run in though! I've got a half-marathon coming up on Sunday, and it feels like the middle of February instead of April.

This morning I had to get out my scraper and really get at my windshield. My hands were cold, and snow got up my sleeves. Booo!

Published!

2010-04-08T21:09:00.002-07:00

In the company-wide travel magazine. The umbrella company I work for is called Wyndham, and I'm in the Wyndham Vacation Ownership division. My piece will be sent to all the people who have bought shares in the timeshare division.

Typically, the magazine will feature a property or two, and tell you why you should go there. It will outline inventory discounts, and also have some stories from happy vacationers. There is also news from Annual General Meetings, photo-contest winners, and that sort of thing.

Olympic Piece.

They asked for pictures, but I didn't really have any that were good enough to send.

The publishers were really excited to have my piece, and as far as I know didn't do much editing on their own.

The company puts a magazine like this out every month, so I imagine finding material is always a task. They also published my co-worker Jeremy, who volunteered.

This magazine used to be published in paper every month, but recently they've gone to publishing electronically every other month.

So, I've been published! Wooo! Good thing too, since I took the initiative and have been claiming it on my resume for a few weeks now.

Haircut!

2010-04-07T14:10:00.002-07:00

I've finally found a good hairdresser! The last one I really really liked was Meghan at Fish in Victoria. Every time I walked out of there I felt confident with my haircut.

Since then, I've had good haircuts, but nothing was ever consistently good. Until now!

My friend Jess cuts hair, and I got her to do it yesterday, as well as about two months ago. Her cuts last a long time, are a good price, and look good as they grow out.

Yea for Jess!

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-04T14:11:00.004-07:00

I had to lead an Easter egg hunt at work today, for the kids staying at the property. It turned out better than I expected, and my co-workers were surprised how well I did managing and interacting with the 3-8 year old kids. I didn't mention I had lots of practice in China.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, I think mostly because it mixed up my day.

Happy Easter everyone!

April 1st

2010-04-01T11:24:00.003-07:00

In the spirit of today, I wrote the following on my Forecast/Events board today at work:

Exciting News! Whistler to host 2014 Olympics! Sochi has pulled out, so we're doing it again. Excited!
Extremely hot weather in the forecast. Today could be the last day of skiing of the year.

I've tricked about four people. Some people stare at the board, and then walk away with a smile. One guy said "Hot weather? Is this some sort of joke?" He was upset that I would put an untruth on the board like that. I asked him what date the board said, and he said "Thursday, April 1st..." and then understood.

So that was funny.

Half Marathon coming up

2010-03-27T10:51:00.002-07:00

I've got a half-marathon coming up, in April. I'll be running the
Sunshine Coast April Fools Run, from Gibsons to Sechelt. It should be a good time.

I ran 20K yesterday, and was happy with my performance. It was just a training run, but I was able to run it reasonably well. I stayed focused the whole time, and am confident I'll be able to have a good race in two weeks.

My goal is to go sub-1:30, but I'll have to be very focused and fast to do it. We'll see how it goes!

Some recent and some not-so-recent pics!

2010-03-26T18:05:00.011-07:00

Here I am! I've been up to quite a lot in the last little bit, but just haven't felt the urge to blog too much about it. Here are some pics. They're mostly from a day last week that both Carmella and I had off. We rarely have the same days off, so it was nice to get out and have a day full of activity.

It was a nice day, so Carmella and I decided to go snowboarding. I didn't buy a pass this year, but have used free passes that Carmella gave me instead. She gets a number of them from her work, and I am the fortunate recipient of most of them!

Carmella is ready for a fun day! She's wearing the Roxy outfit she got for free, since she was a Roxy Camp coach this year. A bunch of girls get together and snowboard, and talk about girly things like feelings and waterproof mascara. Carmella tends to get stuck with the never-ever beginners.

I am also happy to be out on the mountain, but obviously not as happy and bright at Carmella. I am wearing the snow gear I bought in June 2004 when Helly Hansen was having a 70% sale. It's ripping in a few places, but it's lasted quite well.

Here, Carmella explores the side of the run and is rewarded with a small hit. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we spent most of it looking for fun things to ride. There wasn't any fresh snow, so there was no hurry. It was a relaxing and fun day of riding.

There were three of us riding, the third being our friend Judy. I don't see Judy unless Carmella is around, so I guess she's more Carmella's friend than mine. Here, Carmella and Judy look for fun things to ride. Judy can't find any.

I had to stop to tighten up my binding, and Judy stopped close by. I bought the bindings in Victoria in 2001, and they've lasted me until now. The bolts come loose quite frequently, so I carry a tool so I can fix them. The bindings are still working, but I think after nine seasons it might be time for a new set. We'll see what comes on sale in the next few weeks.

A highlight of the day on the hill was getting waffles at the Crystal Hut, about three quarters of the way up the mountain. When Blackcomb was on fire this past summer, many people were worried that the Crystal hut would be consumed, and nobody would be able to buy waffles there ever again. Obviously, the fire was contained and the Crystal is still standing, with waffles being doled out by curiously-happy Australians with goggle tans.

Here's that picture of Carmella again. If you forgot last time, click on it to make it bigger!

We finished snowboarding then went to a new pizza place in town called Creekbread. They make organic pizza in a big brick oven, and have local ingredients, and all those sorts of things. I had received a coupon for a free pizza through work, so Carmella and I ate there. It's the best pizza there is, and the restaurant smells like a camp fire. If you're in Whistler, you must go there! It's great.

After the pizza, we quickly went on to our next activity, which was going to a new spa in town. I had been given some Christmas money, and we used it here. It's not a traditional spa where you sit and get a massage and leave; instead it's a collection of saunas, steam rooms, cold baths, hot baths, and relaxation stations.

The idea is that you follow a routine of Hot, Cold, then Relaxing activities. You're supposed to do it for about three hours. Carmella and I would only be there for two hours, since they closed an hour too soon.

Carmella and I head to the hot tub first. It has a waterfall in it!

Here, I test the waters of another tub. We got there at about 7pm, so while we were there it got progressively darker. I really like the colour of sky in this shot.

I jump into the cold plunge pool! It also has a waterfall in it. I think the key to a successful spa is an abundance of waterfalls. I would say this new spa agrees with me, since they were everywhere!

Carmella enjoys a relaxation station. There were indoor ones and outdoor ones, and all of them had those small pictures you can see behind Carmella that tell you that no talking is allowed. This place is for relaxing, not socializing!

It was a great time, and we both really enjoyed it. I could have stayed for another half hour at the most, so we were there for a good amount of time. I wasn't bored when we left, but instead I was left hankering for more.

It was a great day, and most of it was free! I got the mountain pass from Carmella, the pizza dinner from work, and the spa time from Mom and Dad at Christmas. Thanks everyone!

Here is a picture of my new shoes that I bought with some money I made during the Olympics. They're velcro! Wooo! It's hard to find the Adidas Stan Smith CF, but I was able to find them in Vancouver. The CF stands for comfort, which means that there are velcro closures on the shoe.

I'm quite happy with them. They're from a special Adidas collection that is inspired by Tokyo fashion, and my pair is in the spring 2010 line. Fancy!

Maybe some more blogs to come in the future. I'll see if I can keep you all up to date a bit better than I have been!

Bobsleigh dumps

2010-03-06T22:04:00.002-08:00

I was at the Olympic bobsleigh competition sometime last week, and happened to have front row seat to the Japanese team flipping their sled. Here's a picture my friend Victor took, who was right beside me.

The sled dumped in the last corner, and then continued on its side up the incline after the finish. The track crew is seen with hooks, which they stick onto the capsized sleds so they don't slide backwards down the track.

All four Japanese guys were OK. I also seem to remember that your sled is only DQ'd if it doesn't cross the line with all members aboard, regardless of whether it's on the runners or not.

This blog has moved

2010-03-06T17:20:00.001-08:00

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My Olympic experience

2010-03-01T22:17:00.004-08:00

Ok, this really isn't my Olympic experience. I was asked to write up a blurb about what it was like to live and work here during the Olympics, and send it to the company. My hope is that it gets published in the company magazine, that gets sent to all the properties, across Canada and the US.

I had to self-edit a bit, and write what they wanted to hear.

The Olympics were a good time though, I just left out the parts that were't 100% positive. I will write those here later, and you can know what it was really like. It wasn't all rainbows and butterflies, like I make it seem. There were a few thunderclouds and bee-stings along the way too!

This is a first draft, and I will look at it again tomorrow and edit it a bit. So, it's not a final product really, but a pretty solid start. It's dry, and devoid of any real personality. I think that the format and style will work, considering the magazine I hope to get it in.

My name is Jon, and I live in Whistler, British Columbia. For the majority of the years I’ve lived here, I’ve worked at both the Sundance and Cascade Lodge properties.

I have been fortunate, living and working in this little mountain town this year, as Whistler was the Official Mountain Resort of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. We hosted the alpine skiing events, Nordic skiing events, and the sliding events, which include bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton.

It has been a great experience living and working in Whistler during this exciting time. While we’re used to tourists up here, we weren’t used to the number of tourists who came, and the varied cross-section of people who visited our town.

The Village was packed every night, full of people taking in Olympic events, free concerts, and simply drinking up the Olympic atmosphere. Athletes, journalists, fans and locals all mingled together, watching, talking, and experiencing the Olympics. Everyone was friendly, and the majority of people had flags, face paint, or national gear from their home countries with them. Strangers laughed together and high-fived each other in the streets, and everyone was excited to be experiencing this once-in-a-lifetime, seventeen-day event.

For me, along with most of the country, the highlight of the Olympics was watching our men’s hockey team take the gold medal in an overtime thriller. Every bar and restaurant was packed, and giant screens showed the game in the Village. When The Goal was scored, it seemed like the whole town started to shout and celebrate at the same time! If Whistler ever experienced a single unifying moment, it was then. We were all Canadians, all hockey fans, and all super excited to see our players establish world hockey supremacy!

The Olympics served to unify Whistler in a way that we haven’t seen before. Everyone in town was brought together as one big mob of people, happy to cheer on athletes of every nation, no matter what their passport said. The Olympics were an excuse to have a big block party, and everyone was invited. Every day was busy, but never overwhelming. Friendships were made, good times were had, and memories forged. No matter where I find myself living in the future, I’ll never forget living and working in Whistler during these Olympics.

Shameless self-plug

2010-03-01T22:01:00.002-08:00

At the hotel, when guests leave, they are emailed a comment card that asks them various questions about their stay. Here's a bit from one that came back today:

What one thing would you like to tell other owners who may be interested in staying at this resort?

We stayed at the Cascade Lodge in Whistler, and the young fellow Jon on the desk was very very helpful and I can't say enough about him, it was a true pleasure to meet him and he made the difference in our stay at Whistler during the Olympics. Thank you!

Woo! I'm young!

Also, it's nice to be recognized for doing a good job.

I feel able to post this, since everyone is saying that these recent Olympics enabled Canadians to be proud and vocal about their achievements!

Mostly though, it'll be nice to keep this in mind as I begin another bout of job hunting. It will remind me to go into interviews with confidence, knowing that no matter what the job, I am able to do it well.

Spine!

2010-02-19T10:13:00.004-08:00

I've been quite busy here during the Olympics, occasionally working full days at both my jobs, driving and hotelling.

Yesterday was a day where I did both jobs. I had a trip down from Whistler to the airport at 6:20am, and then picked people up at 10:30 and brought them up. I had to work at the hotel at 3, and had to run through the village from where I parked the work truck to the hotel, so I could be on time. It's too much! I'm going to avoid doing that in the future I think.

Once I got to the hotel, I was a bit tired and as a result, was a bit snippy. One thing I have to deal with a lot at the hotel is people complaining about their room location, and it's one of the things I loathe most.

I checked some people in, and here is the exchange we had. It was a really busy time, and there was much hubbub in the area.

Guest: So, what is our room number?
Me: It's XXX, on the 2nd floor.
Guest: Which way does it face?
Me: Pardon, sorry?
Guest: Which - Way - Does - The - Room - Face.
Me: My first language is English.
Guest: *flabergasted*

Oops.

My co-workers loved it, and for me the guilt has passed.

I guess I can't be going above and beyond, providing great guest experiences, and *insert random hospitality/service industry cliche here* all the time!

Fun Day: Feb 14!

2010-02-15T08:03:00.002-08:00

It was a really enjoyable Valentines Day for Carmella and I. Here's what we did.

I worked until 3, and Carmella left a bit early to catch a free concert in the Village. It was Matisyahu, a practicing Jewish reggae/rap artist. Carmella's had his music for quite some time. He raps and sings about Jewish things, world peace, and Jerusalem.

The fans were into it, and the atmosphere was great. There were toddlers and girlfriends on shoulders, and Israeli flags in the crowd. It was a good time.

Carmella and I then went to Swiss House, a restaurant that has been taken over by the Swiss for the Olympics. You can get food inside in the restaurant part, or take-out outside and sit on their patio, next to their TV broadcast pod. Carmella bought us Raclette, which is melted cheese over bread and potatoes, with some pickles beside. It was really tasty!

We were happy that Swiss House is open to the public. Most of the other houses in Whistler, like Austria House, Canada House, and France House, are only open to the athletes and dignitaries of that country. Those houses seem elitist, and I'm not a fan. Swiss House is open to all though, which is great.

Carmella and I then went into the Roots store, as I bought her a great hoodie for Valentines Day. The mogul final was on, and the store filled up with people coming in off the street to watch it. It was a very unique atmosphere, and I'm happy to have seen it where I did. Great fun!

There was another concert on in the village at the time, so the big screens were showing them. As a result, Carmella and I were some of the first people in Whisler Village to know that Canada had won a gold in the Moguls.

I was quite impressed with Alexandre Bilodeau's handling of his win. He thanked the crowd, and was very humble in victory. I think we as Canadians like our athletes to be humble and proud at the same time, and Bilodeau was a great example of a class act.

Here's the hoodie! Valentines Day was a great excuse to buy this for Carmella. It's great because it's a classy hoodie that won't expire when the Olympics leave town. I think Carmella looks like quite the Finn in it!

Olympic Event!

2010-02-14T16:25:00.001-08:00

Here's an email I sent to Er, talking about the biathlon event I went to yesterday.

I'm really enjoying the Olympics, and all the action! I thought it was going to be all hectic, but it's good times.

Here's the email, so I can give you all an idea of what's going on. It's easier to copy and paste, and go see a concert!

Here's the unpolished email:

I liked the moguls coverage, although I didn't hear that comment bc Carmella and I were in a pub that didn't have the announcers turned on. It was a good atmosphere though, with everyone cheering loudly when the canadians were up.

The event was good today, but a bit underwhelming. We got the tickets for free, so it was a last minute thing. It was the women's 7K free biathlon, and there were 80 skiers starting in a staggered fashion, so some were finished before the last ten or so started. There was no drama and no way to know who was winning, other than the scoreboard, which wasn't really helpful anyway. We didn't see any replays on tv later either, so tht was disappointing.

The top 40 women qualify for the pursuit, which I have tickets for. That will be a more fun event, because the girl that got first will leas out of the gate, and then the others follow depending on their time. It'll be easy to follow because the first to cross the line wins.

It was good to go to the event today though, and scope our spots for the next event, and figure out the way the whole thing runs. We had to wait for at least an hour in the rain on the way out, which was unfortunate. They really need to work on their transport strategy for fans exiting the venue.

The vibe in the village was really fun, and it's a different crowd than is normally in town. It's more fun, and a real mixed bag of people.

The event itself didn't really have any sort of olympic feel though, just another race and a lot more flags in the crowd. Lots of foreigners in town too, so that was fun. But if it wasn't for the big set of olympic rings in the back of the shooting range, I wouldn't have known it was any different, so that was interesting.

Time for bed, I have an early day tomorrow. I took some pics (it was foggy and rainy so they're nott he greatest) so ikll hopefully get them up tomorrow.

Biathlon!

2010-02-13T09:42:00.001-08:00

Carmella's friend whom she nannies for (and who was a torch bearer too, on top of the Grouse Mountain tram even!) has given her two biathlon tickets! With an unexpected day off and unexpected Olympic tickets, it's going to be a fun day!

I'm wearing my Denmark soccer jersey under my China zip up, and have my Danish Dynamite shirt with me to wave around.

If you're watching the event, look for Carmella's yellow coat, and my burgundy one.

Go Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, and Canada!

A good driving day turns ugly.

2010-02-12T23:24:00.001-08:00

I had a good, long day of driving today. I had been worried about it, but it all turned out well.

I found myself back in Whistler earlier than planned, and decided to stop on the way back to the garage and watch the last bit of the opening ceremonies at Carmella's.

I didn't know the truck was needed again tonight, so took my time eating pizza and talking Olympics.

When I was just about back, I got calls from my boss, my manager, and a coworker, all very upset with me for not bringing the truck back in time and not telling anyone.

My co-worker was mad because the truck wasn't there waiting for him, my manager was mad because it was one more thing he had to deal with, and my boss was very upset because he had a very important client arriving earlier than expected, etc etc.

So I had to eat generous slice after generous slice of that pie that nobody likes, knowing I had made a big mistake.

I will need to be on my game for the rest of the Olys so everyone forgets about it. On a good note, both my clients were loving me today, and one wants to request me for their trip down. If the office finds out I was doing such a great job, maybe they will be faster to forgive me for today's blunder.

Does Vancouver finally have Olympic spirit?

2010-02-12T16:54:00.001-08:00

On the day of the Opening Ceremonies, some think that Vancouver finally has Olympic spirit.

To darken the mood unfortunately, an athlete has died training for the luge. He was from Georgia, a product of the USSR's break-up. The story had John Furlong CEO of VANOC, in tears as he announced the happening to the press. Flags are flying at half mast around the city as a result.

It will be interesting to see how the Opening Ceremonies change Vancouver. I was in Guangzhou, China during the opening of the Beijing games in 2008, and was very surprised how empty the streets were. The usually snarled traffic was non-existent, and Guangzhou's main thoroughfares felt like Highway 7&8, just outside Stratford.

I'm driving some clients around tonight, and am just outside downtown Vancouver at Granville & 11th, and traffic doesn't seem bad at all. I'm only eleven blocks and one bridge away from the hub of the Olympic world, and nothing seems too out of the ordinary. There seem to be fewer cars on Granville, a main artery into and out of the downtown core. Possible we'll see some of the same traffic patterns as I saw in China.

The CBC is telling me about delays downtown, due to protesters and the pure volume of people. It's interesting how my main concern these days is traffic while I'm driving, and parking while I'm working at the hotel.

My clients are having dinner, and I forgot my book. I'm driving them from here to downtown for some partying, then they're heading up to Whistler.

I'm still here, waiting. I'm a bit bored and forgot my book.

Stay tuned for more Olympic stories.

Driving again!

2010-02-11T11:53:00.001-08:00

I'm sitting in "The Weeds", the taxi and limo holding area at YVR. This lot got the gardening moniker because it used to be really far from the airport action. Over the years it's been absorbed and is right in the thick of YVR.

It's here in The Weeds that I check in with airport dispatch, telling them my name, company, and vehicle number. In about an hour, I'll be picking up my first drive of the February 2010 season.

I've decided to drive again while the Five Ring Circus is in town, so I can shore up my bank account and shake up my Games experience. I'm still working at the hotel full-time, but felt that a change in scenery will be positive.

I'm driving up and down to Whistler twice today, so it'll be a full day. Traffic has been OK though, so that's a relief. I may run into the Torch Relay tonight, which is famous for gumming up the transportation works wherever it goes. The relay will culminate in rainy downtown Vancouver tomorrow night.

Getting back into the driving scene has been easy, as I already had my uniform, business cards, and driving skill from last year.

I'm happy with my decision to drive again, for a number of reasons. One reason is that it will provide me with an inside view of the Games (if I use the O word, the IOC might slap me down! They've imposed rules on bloggers, and I don't want to let the whole team at jvd.evenflow down by getting kicked off the interwebs!), which will be different and less layered if I was only driving the desk in Whistler, answering panicked calls about parking passes and venue directions.

I hope to post a lot in the next couple weeks, giving The Faithful a unique look at what it's like to live and work in a town where The O Show is being filmed.

Set your bookmarks here, and check back often!

Two Links

2010-02-02T00:24:00.001-08:00

Here are two links to pass on to the faithful.

Carol's in Australia for school, and has once again taken pun in hand and blown the dust off her long-dormant blog. You can find it at www.cvd.evenflow.ca and relive our China experience in the Archive section.

Here's a link to a small piece I wrote and submitted to Craigslist in the Tickets section, in the hope of getting some Olympic traffic. It was fun.
http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/van/tix/1581976776.html

Good night!

Two Links

2010-02-02T00:24:00.000-08:00

Here are two links to pass on to the faithful.

Good night!

Olympic Transit: Day 1

2010-02-02T00:13:00.000-08:00

Today is the day that the Olympic Public Transit system was rolled out in Whistler, and what a failure!

The system, which will be in place for February, adds many buses, routes, and stops to the existing public transit network, in the hope of efficiently moving Olympic guests around our fair mountain town.

It would be doing the word 'mild' a disservice if used to describe the kinks in the system today. The whole system was one huge cluster of chaos, a knot of failure and confusion.

BC Transit brought in many extra drivers for the Olympics, and unleashed them on their new routes today. All these new-to-town drivers had were timetables and little, hard to read maps that looked like they were printed on a low-on-ink dot matrix printer from 1992.

They couldn't figure out where to go, where to stop, or where they were supposed to be. They relied on Whistler's seasoned bus-riding locals to guide them through town, telling them where to go, stop, and wait.

Routes were forgotten, people were stranded, and everyone was frustrated, especially the new crop of drivers who were being fed to the wolves as a result of inadequate training.

I guess the whole system is being tested from now until the 11th, and the hope is that by the time the world comes, everyone will have figured out what is going on. They have only a small amount of time to make the whole system run like the engine on my 98 Cavalier!

We'll see if we can pull this off. By the way today went, it doesn't look like it!