Ashley’s Graduation and Will’s Birthday

It’s been a while since I’ve updated, but that’s because not much has happened up until the past couple of weeks.

Lately Will has made a few Irish friends and has joined their weekly poker tournament (he’s looking forward to the extra income!) as well as some casual summer rugby training.  Apparently the guys are not all that great at rugby, but Will is just glad to get his hands on a rugby ball again.

The week before last Will and I travelled down to Sammamish to spend some time with my family.  My younger sister, Ashley, just graduated from high school last Tuesday and we’ve been celebrating all week.  I saw her final dance recital, Will watched England draw against America, and Sarah, Will and I went Kayaking on Lake Union on the nicest day in Seattle thus far.

Last Thursday night we went to go see the Cirque du Soleil in town, Kooza.  The show was pretty spectacular.  The contortionists, we’re quite sure, were missing over half their rib cages and other various bones.  There’s something not quite natural about putting your head on your butt backwards and upside down.

The following day was Will’s birthday, happy birthday Will!

Later in the week we went for a spectacular hike to Bridal Veil Falls and Serene Lake up in Index, Washington.  The hike to the falls was quite easy, but the lake was another story.  We started to wonder if, once we got to the end, there would be a sign saying “You actually thought there’d be a lake at the top of the mountain, you idiot.”  It turns out there was a lake, and it was actually worth being dragged up a mountain for.

Last weekend was Ashley’s graduation party at which Will and I made “mocktails” for the teenagers.  There was a huge turnout, congratulations on your graduation Ashley!!

As for this week, Will and I have been working a bit, and then yesterday we decided to go check out something outside of the Vancouver area.  We headed over to Harrison Lake and the Harrison Hot Springs in the Fraser Valley.  Though we headed into the cloudy, rainy Eastern direction, it thinned out by the time we got to the springs.  The most memorable thing about a hot spring?  The “mineral” smell; I forgot from my junior high school experiments that sulfur smells very strongly of rotting eggs and this hot spring must have been full of sulfur.

From there we drove up around the side of the lake and over to a nearby lake, Lake Hicks, for some canoeing.  It was the first time Will had tried North American canoeing (apparently in England they call kayaks “canoes”) but he’s definitely warmed up to them.  It was so nice to get away from the city.  No cars, no planes, no people.  It was the perfect day out for us.

Today is Canada Day, so Happy Canada Day to everyone!!  We’re heading downtown in a minute to catch all of the day’s festivities!

Update from Canada

What’s new, eh?  Not much, honestly.  Work has been alright; Will went back to work at the outdoor apparel shop part-time and I’m still serving and bartending.

The new car has a name, Spartacus (Sparty for short ).

Today Will and I went up to Cypress Provincial Park, just west of West Vancouver, where the ski runs are.  Most of the snow was melted so it made for a great hike.  About an hour into our walk we heard a growl and low huffing noises up ahead around a bend in path.  Only something big and powerful could make a sound like that, and we’d been seeing bear tracks in the snow throughout the hike, so we’re pretty sure it was a bear.  Needless to say we quickly started walking the other way and out of the park.  Next time, I think we’ll take some bear spray (just to be safe).

We’re thinking about doing some traveling around Canada and the US at the end of the summer and we’ve been checking out help exchange websites where, in exchange for some labor, farms offer food and housing.  Basically we’d only be spending money on transportation, so it’s perfect for the traveller on a budget!  Let the planning begin.

The new car

Here are some pictures of the new (new to us) Pontiac:

And from the back

The Pontiac Grand Am

And a picture of the kind of car I used to have:

Ford Escort '95

A bit of an improvement has been made, please please please don’t die on me Pontiac!

My Ford Escort is no more

For those who don’t know, I’ve been driving a crappy little ’95 Ford Escort for the last 2 1/2 years, complete with sunroof, power windows, and even a spoiler (why the heck would anyone think to put a spoiler on such a weak, feeble, little car?).  To be honest, I’m surprised it’s lasted the past few months with all the terror that is driving in Vancouver among Vancouverites.  I think that the people of Vancouver, as a whole, may very well be the worst drivers on this entire planet.  They stop for no reason, pull out in front of you, don’t know who has the right-of-way, can’t tell what color the light is, and completely disregard any traffic signs.  Yield people!!! Ever heard of it?! It means you YIELD to oncoming traffic, not pull out in front of someone going 80 km/hr and then make them slam on the brakes as you slowly, over the course of the next 5 to 10 minutes, get up to 75 km/hr.  Come on!

Alright, so it did survive a few months up here in the treacherous driving conditions (not weather related, completely driver related), but Arthur, my Ford Escort, has finally given out on me.  

Will and I were driving down Saturday for Mother’s Day weekend, and it kept stalling when idled.  I have an automatic.  You know things aren’t going well when your automatic car is stalling on you.  We took it into a mechanic Monday morning, and $150 later, they said it would cost more to fix the problem than the car was worth.  Great.  Great!!  I was supposed to work that morning, not realize that I no longer had a car. 

After a few tears and heavy drinks, Will and I decided it was time to find another car.  We settled on a 2000 Pontiac Grand Am.  The girl who sold it to us has probably never sold or bought a car herself in her life.  Her original asking price was 1500 (it is blue booked for 4000) and then Will asked her how low she was willing to go.  ”$1400″.  Straight off the bat, she lowered her already low asking price by $100.  Will proceeded with $1300, and she said “You need a car, and I need the money, so why not”.  Needless to say, we were pretty pleased with ourselves (and at finding the most naive and unaware seller out there), until we discovered the coolant leak.

She had said the car had a small leak, but when we realized that a full tank of coolant barely lasted us from Seattle to Vancouver, we knew we’d need to check it out.  To make a long story short, we got it fixed for $250, so hopefully we now have a decent car now, and all for $1550, fingers crossed!!

Ashley, Will, and I cooked a three-course dinner for my Mom and Grandma on Mother’s Day and I enjoyed getting to spend some time with the family (again, happy Mother’s Day mom!)

Today Will and I took our newly-fixed Pontiac up to Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver and spent the day hiking and taking in the gorgeous sunny day.  The old growth forests there were incredible!  I’ve never seen such enormous trees in my life!!!!  I hope this weather continues throughout the week, and that my car can hangs in there!

Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge

Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge

Cleveland Dam

A day in Central Park

Waiting for a diagnosis on the car

Will also waiting for the car diagnosis

Next to an old growth tree ring

A tree

Will, on a rock, again

A view of the city

The beach

The maple leaf

Canadian Business Tutorial:

If you want to make an American company logo appear Canadian in Canada,  just insert a maple leaf.  For some inspiration, see the examples below:

Subway

 

IHOP

Denny's

McDonald's

These are just a few examples, but it is most common (and perhaps effective) to just dot all your “i”s with maple leaves, and replace any apostrophes with maple leaves.  Simple!

In other news, work has been picking up slightly; the girls say that summer is usually quite busy there.  Will is finding his new job to be different from past jobs in hospitality, as it is extreme fine dining.  Everything has to be perfect.  Most of the staff is French, and apparently that makes it a bit… stuffy.

Not a whole lot more to mention than that.  Mother’s Day is this Sunday (for anyone who forgot) and my sis and I are making dinner for our Mom and Grandma.  I still have to think of what to make!

Events from the past week

This past week I’ve:

-Crossed the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge

-Seen the Cleveland Dam 

-Visited the base of Grouse Mountain

-Watched Avatar

-Drove back to Seattle

-Worked a busy Saturday brunch shift at work

The Lynn Canyon park and suspension bridge were gorgeous!!  Will and I decided to get out of the city a little ways and visit this beautiful wildlife area.  We had some time to hike through a few trails and cross the bridge, with a crazy view of a deep canyon and waterfall.  We got some great photos from our little excursion, which hopefully I’ll get around to uploading soon.

Avatar was a disappointment.  Where was the depth?  Where was the fresh new story?  It was Pocahontas, except the natives weren’t natives of America, they were natives of a distant planet.  Oh, and what were the people from Earth trying to obtain?  Not gold, ladies and gentleman, but “unobtainium”.  Wow, can’t get less original than that.  Mining for gold would have actually sounded better than “we’re here for the rarest most unobtainable element known to man…. unobtainium”.  However, it was a gorgeous film to watch, the graphics did live up to the hype and for that, it was worth seeing.

I worked my first somewhat busy shift at work, finally!  Saturday brunch was full of soccer teams from a tournament from up the road, it was nice to finally make some tips. 

As for my weekend in Sammamish, Will and I enjoyed my family’s company, and Will cooked a few of his famous meals including a pork tenderloin roast, coq au vin, and homemade pizzas.  Yum.  

Will got offered two jobs today, one at a tea cafe and one at a fine dining French bistro; he starts his trial shift for the bistro tomorrow evening!

The “express” self checkout line

People who are technologically challenged or stupid should NOT be allowed to use the self checkout line. Period.

The last three times I’ve used the “express” self checkout line at the supermarket I know I have waited over twice as long than if I’d chosen a regular line because some people just can’t seem to get the hang of it.

First of all, there is actually an item limit.  I think it’s something like 15 items, so if you are trying to buy a year’s worth of anything, don’t do it in the express checkout line!!!  If you’re trying to buy enough food your weekly extended-family barbeque, don’t do it in the self checkout line!!

If you don’t speak English (or in Canada, French) and are trying to use an English (or French) checkout machine, forget it!!  Pressing random buttons for 10 minutes, looking confused, and doing it while there is a long line is only going to get you yelled at.  A lot.

If you have never used a computer in your life, don’t try to start at 6 o’clock on a weekday evening in the, you guessed it, express self checkout line.

Phew, okay, done ranting.  This weekend my friend Kira came up from Seattle to visit Will and I.  I don’t think any of us have had that much to drink in a long time.  Good times though  Will cooked a great pork tenderloin roast and then we took the skytrain into town to find a pub.

Work has still be quite slow, but it’s better than nothing at the moment.  Hopefully things pick up soon, or else it’ll be back to the good ol’ job hunt again.  The weather has been nicer and I can’t wait to start planning some summer excursions in the Canadian wilderness!!

Twenty-three

 

Birthday cake!

 

Will and I went down to my parent’s place for my birthday and had a nice relaxing weekend.  My Dad cooked his famous crab cakes and Will and I enjoyed some wine.  Why does Canada have to make it so difficult to enjoy wine with their crazy alcohol taxes? WHY?!?

Now it’s back to reality; back to hourly jobs.  Working at the bar and grill hasn’t seemed to be very profitable yet but hopefully things pick up.  I made my first authentic Canadian Caesar (a Bloody Mary with clamato juice… I don’t get it, but the Canadians love them…) and everyone gets excited when they find out I’m American.  

I got made fun of for calling “cutlery” silverware.  We roll forks and knives into napkins at work, and I called it silverware and got laughed at!  And apparently appetizers are usually just called “appies” and breakfast is called “breaky”.  Oh these crazy Canadians.  I am a little bummed that I don’t hear the word “eh” as much as I’d hoped.  Maybe I just haven’t noticed.  I work an opening shift tomorrow and have to be at the restaurant at the ungodly time of 7:30am!! Wish me luck!

Will and I went for a walk on the beach near Burnaby Mountain