Monday, September 23, 2013

The Weather

So, it's starting to become Fall, I guess, and that is a very difficult season in Vancouver! Everyday when I leave for work, I usually have my running shoes (steep), a sweatshirt (cold), my shell coat (wet), a scarf (cold), my sunglasses (bright) AND my umbrella (wet). (I know that steep doesn't exactly describe the weather, but you try walking up that hill in other shoes . . . unpleasant.) Anyways, the point is, that is just ridiculous. The best part is, by the end of the day, I maybe need the sunglasses and the shell coat because the rained has ceased, the cold is gone and it's now blinding out . . . and maybe a bit windy. What?!

One of my colleagues sent me this video about becoming a Vancouverite and the weather is absolutely a topic in it!

In other weather news, I made a rainbow for Sparks! After unsucessfully going to two major hardware stores at my train station after work, I took the bus down to the small hardware store near my place. They had EXACTLY three pool noodles. I bought them and waltzed down the hill . . . and everyone probably thought I was a crazy lady carrying around my pool noodles in September.


Monday, September 16, 2013

What Happened?

So, yeah, I haven't really posted in a while. I blame the strike! Here's what's been going on . . .

The Strike

About three weeks ago, the union at the airport announced that they were planning a labour disruption for Labour Day weekend. As of Thursday night before the long weekend, I was going to be spending 36 hours at work in 12-hour shifts for the long weekend. Yikes! Luckily, they settled and I spent the weekend being as lazy as possible to make up for the fact I ALMOST had to work so much. I was a bit disappointed because I would have had a pretty cool job in operations (temporarily anyway).

Aritzia Warehouse Sale

Instead of making money that weekend, I went and spent some at the Aritzia Warehouse Sale. Aritzia was started in Vancouver, so I felt it was appropriate. Totally worth it too, $50.00 is not an acceptable price for a scarf. $14.99 is (especially when it was originally $50.00).


Boat Cruise

Although it might look like all of the boats were in that last picture, they aren't! Two weeks ago we had a "partnering session" with one of our contractors. When I first received the invitation, I thought I was being invited to a work meeting for four hours on a Thursday night. I was definitely not excited. Then, I learned out what a "partnering session" was. Luckily, I had also just received by brand-spanking-new British Columbia's driver's license. We started out at the River Rock Casino (where I needed my ID), then took a paddlewheeler down the Fraser River (where I also needed my ID).


School

I also started taking a Distance Education course. Yay for Introductory Marketing. I also have a very enthusiastic professor. He responded to one of my emails and every sentence ended in an exclamation mark. He's even more bubbly than me.

Tragically Hip

The boyfriend ended up getting some free tickets from work last Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre. We went with a few other lucky free ticket receivers from UBC. I didn't really know the Tragically Hip that well, but the lead singer gets a A+ for enthusiasm. He was very entertaining to watch! I also recognized a few songs, so I wasn't totally lost. We were right behind one gentleman that obviously loved them. He was SO EXCITED the entire concert. It was a great time (although Wednesday was a little tough to make it through)!

Lillooet

This past weekend, we went on another "partnering session" with my team from the airport. Seven of us headed up to Lillooet. It was a beautiful drive up and we drove through Hope, Hell's Gate and Jackass Mountain. The roads got a bit sketchy as we got close to Lillooet. In one section, they just keep cutting the mountain back because the road is literally falling off the edge of the cliff. Lillooet also has the Mile 0 marker of British Columbia, everything used to be measured from there! The house we stayed at reminded me of Girl Guide camp because it was a huge empty building (normally there are renters living in it, but they had recently moved out) and we just put our mattresses and sleeping bags down all over the place. We also made a giant screen out of paper and a projector. I spent the weekend watching kung fu movies and I finally stayed awake for Star Trek.


We went exploring the next day by the river that runs through town. It is like the desert out in Lillooet. There was no shade and just this stagnant heat. We skipped rocks, built rock towers and tested out the water temperature.


We also went and saw the "hanging tree" (which was used to hang people until the late 1800s) and the Chinese rock pilings (they were searching for gold). It was so desert-y that there were even tiny cacti growing!


Then, we headed down to the salmon spawning channels. There were fish jumping everywhere! There was also a floatplane docked and a small train going by (I love trains). The colour of the water was incredible!


Our last stop on the nature excursion was Marble Canyon. We met a duck!


By then we'd had enough nature and stopped by the local beer and wine festival. I had an "Old Jalopy" pale ale. It was actually so good! It was some sort of award-winner. I also got to use that ID again! After sweating way too much, we headed back into town for dinner at Dina's Greek restaurant. Yum!

On Sunday, there were some things to do around the house. On the way home, we stopped at Duffy Lake. There was a really cool log jam and more beautiful water. You could also see glaciers.


We also stopped at a few creeks on the way home (and there was more beautiful water).



We also came home though Whistler and Squamish, which I had never seem before. I'll be doing more exploring up that way when my parents are here!