May 2008

As I’ve mentioned, I take public transit to work. I actually it take everywhere I go, but work is my most routine destination. I have a small luxury that many of my fellow transit travelers don’t have. Most days for me, it really doesn’t matter what time I get into work. That is just the nature of IT work, especially since I will usually be there well past “quitting time” anyway.

Likewise I have no reason to rush home by a certain time. Because of this, I have a very relaxed attitude about waiting for buses, trains, etc. I’m a patient person, and I’ve been known to wait long periods just to add convenience to my life. The point of no return I’m alluding to isn’t some point at which I can’t make it back somewhere, but is more like the point, before which, I am not willing to run to catch a bus.

Not that I blame anyone who does run to catch a bus. I certainly have done it. I did it last night in fact. It tends to happen a bit more at night when the buses are less frequent and the waiting is a tad less savory. But for me, especially in the morning, where I have to walk along the street the bus travels for three blocks before reaching the stop, there is a point where if the bus rushes by me, mentally I know that I’m not going to make it. You would think that for a regular commute I would have my timing set such that I wouldn’t just miss a bus, but surprisingly it happens more often than not. I know when the bus is supposed to arrive, I just have trouble with that last couple of minutes, getting out of the door in time. Perhaps I need to train myself to target a different time that will allow me to spend less than 15 minutes waiting at the bus stop.

The real question is, which half? The organized part of my brain tells me that I have been collecting cards a suit at a time, and that I’m up to two at the moment. Probably clubs and spades at this point in time, because I’m lacking some hearts and diamonds at this point. But in reality it is likely a mixture given my somewhat hectic and random life recently, what with living in five different countries in the past three years.

So if I had to postulate, I would say that I’m holding:

A♣ 2♣ 3♣ 4♣ 5♣ 6♣ 7♣ 8♣ 9♣

2♠ 3♠ 5♠ 6♠ 7♠ 8♠ 9♠ 10♠

3♦ 5♦ 8♦

A♥ 3♥ 4♥ 6♥ 9♥ 10♥

There is a distinct lack of face cards, but I suspect that my upper years will bring more of those. Thanks to everyone who has extended their wishes to me today. I truly appreciate it.

Also, I apologize if your browser or system doesn’t support the character entity glyphs that I have used above.

The irony would seem that the one browser which doesn’t seem to support card characters is Camino, the browser I use at home. Go figure.

Most unlike me to not mention upcoming things in my life, especially when they are interesting ones like a weekend camping trip to Vancouver Island. As it turns out, camping is a pretty common activity in BC, with the May long weekend being the point when most camping fans break out their gear for another season. I headed out with my friend and coworker Jordan and his girlfriend on Friday, and along with seven others spent the three nights in Green Point Campground, which is in the Pacific Rim National Park.

I will also quickly warn you that this is a long post. Lets just say I have written university papers that were shorter. It is pretty much a blow by blow account of what I did over this weekend. You may enjoy it, I tried to make it entertaining, but in reality it is mostly for me. A historical record that I can look back on in years to come and remember with fondness these good times. My desire to create and publish are the only reasons it doesn’t remain a file on my computer. All the best. :)
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For a long time, upper Canada — Toronto in particular — held the monopoly on Apple Stores in this country. I honestly never expected one to show up in Halifax, but I was surprised that my new city, Vancouver didn’t have one.

Well now it does. The new Apple Store in the Pacific Centre is right downtown, accessible via any number of buses and the Granville stop on the Skytrain. I suspect you will hear about my trip there in person sometime this week.

Last night marked The Cure’s Vancouver appearance in their current tour. And it was quite a show. I am admittedly not a die-hard The Cure fan, more of a casual listener to some of their more popular collection of songs. It didn’t detract from the great music and show put on by seeing the group live. And from a more sociological point of view it was interesting to see the potpourri of human society that the concert attracted. Let’s just say there was no shortage of black eyeliner and nail polish. The mohawk density was also pretty high.

That said, there was actually a pretty wide range of ages and backgrounds represented in the audience. At least from where I was sitting, up on the “Telus Level”. And I’m glad I was up there too, as from that distance, the volume level registered slightly under where it would cause permanent damage. At least I hope so. Despite my tongue-in-cheek attitude of this post, I enjoyed the concert immensely, both the music and the show.

I am currently sitting in a Chrysler Sebring convertible stopped admist miles of vehicles. I am waiting to get across the border into the US for our weekend trip to Seattle. I’m not sure how I feel about driving in the back of a convertible on major highways, but it is nice to be out in the open during this nice day just waiting in the car.

We are heading to a soccer game tonight between Canada and Brazil. And at this rate we might just make it. ;) Hopefully I’ll have some more photos when I get back tomorrow night.