I posted a picture a while ago of an eviscerated pigeon, I thought it was a cat that had done it. Jim Pantekoek pointed out that it looked like peregrine falcon kill, which I figure was way cooler. I'm now pretty sure it was a Cooper's Hawk. Kat spotted one around here a year ago and this weekend I spotted one 20 meters away from me on my neighbors lawn. When it took off it had a small bird in its claws. I watched it until it landed on a telephone post, then feathers flew everywhere. Yay for natural predators! Well, yay until it attempts to drag off my dog, then boo.

There was some unfortunate news on the motorcycle front, the battery died on the BMW. Dead, just like that. No warning. Happily I am still under the 'BMW roadside assistance plan' so I got a free tow to the dealership. It was just a truck with some gear on the back, pretty cool. Initially the mechanic was trying to explain to me that if I didn't have a trickle charger on the battery it may have died from lack of use. I then told him it was ridden five days a week, 35 miles a day, and there was no way I needed a trickle charger on it.

I guess I showed that I was annoyed with the battery dying, and kudos to the dealership, they comp'd the entire thing. So tow, battery and labor was all free. Well ... built in to the cost of the bike, so not really 'free'. That happened on Wednesday evening and Kat was forced to come save me in the car. I then drove the car in to work for two days. BORING. Luckily I had Kat's iPod which had Stewart Mclean's Tales from the Vinyl Cafe on it. That makes traffic so much more bearable.

I also talked some co-workers in to going body surfing before work last Friday, so I needed the car to carry the wetsuit, flippers and other junk. In the ocean by 7AM. It was surprisingly warm. I've attempted to put it on everyone's calendar, every Friday morning for the rest of the summer, we'll see how that goes.

This is going to be a busy weekend. We have a 'Murder Mystery' fund raiser for Moxie theatre this Friday. Kat has to play a successful actress (she wanted to be the oil barren) and I have to play her successful actor husband. Uh-oh. The husband thing I figure I can do, it's the successful actor bit that has me worried. I'm thinking my character just had a recent head injury and drinking problem, I can work with that. My motivation is going to be "Who are you people, and why am I here?". You know how hard it is going to be not to ask people what my motivation is? Must. Not. Speak.

Saturday is the 4th annual Testes Toss. I'd link the wikipedia entry for that but there doesn't seem to be one. Go figure. Oh, wait, one of the folks on my soccer team just got back to me with a wikipedia entry for Ladder Golf, looks like the alternate name is mentioned down at the bottom. I'll try to remember to take pictures so you can all enjoy it vicariously.

On a completely unrelated note, I saw an advertisement for the Nissan Cube on Hulu. Wow, that car is ugly. The part that truly struck me is it said "Professional driver, closed course" but I don't think that car goes anywhere that isn't computer graphic driven, and it surely isn't getting over 40 KPH.
Kat and I got new cell phones a week ago, I'm still working my way through it. So far it is pretty damn cool. One of the guys at work also picked up the same phone, he's doing far more with it then I am. For the geeks out there, he's set up his phone so he can SSH to it. How cool is that? I'll write more about it next time. The phone is the Palm Pre.

In discussions with some Indian co-workers it turns out that for some reason Americans don't shorten everything. They pointed out that some British terms are far shorter to say, but haven't been picked up here in the U.S.A. : apartment vs flat or elevator vs. lift.

The fact that nobody has picked up on those words goes against my theory, so I came up with a corollary: people have a 'invented here' bias for short words. Americans won't use slang that they didn't invent. No doubt I'll have more holes punched in my shortening theory, that is why it's called a theory.

Not really a surprise, yes Americans are getting fatter. Good to see Colorado holding out.

During the house warming party last week I found out that the house our friends bought came with a lawn mower for their four feet of lawn. Andy mentioned that he plans on never cutting it, so I volunteered to take the lawn mower off his hands (I'm nice that way). If you were wondering what the picture of the Smart car is doing on this post, that is a lawn mower in the back. It's amazing what you can fit in that car. The lawn mower was held in by a hammock and a bike lock, I get inventive at times.

Maverick had another I'm-not-a-guard-dog moment this week. As some of you may have heard before, the first time he heard our fire alarms go off he peed on the floor in fear. Any Lassie like "Little Timmy is down the well!" actions are not going to be forthcoming from him. He'd probably be more likely to be paralyzed with fear thinking "They're going to blame me!" and look guilty until Timmy's cries fade with exhaustion, then he'd furtively look around and slink away.

Kathleen was alone at home, and in the shower, when she heard a loud bang noise. A short time later Maverick forces his way in to the bathroom looking guilty and whining. Being alone in the house Kathleen's immediate thought was that somebody may have broken in to the house and Maverick was doing his "run to the alpha dog for security" bit. She wrapped herself in a towel and went out to investigate. She didn't finding anything, well, she did find a puddle of pee on the carpet downstairs. Maverick being true to form: Fear, pee, run behind somebody else.

I was on Salesforce training this week. Like most training I've had, a lot of it wasn't that useful. My department uses salesforce as a ticketing system to allow customers to open issues. The training was for potential contractors so it covered the sales and marketing capabilities of Salesforce. There were modules covering things that I've never cared about, and hopefully will never have to care about. I've never liked Sales/Marketing and even being tangentially exposed to them made me shudder. I hope I *never* have to do sales, I would so suck at it and I'd be unhappy the entire time. Just talking about 'leads' and 'converting leads' and 'opportunities' makes me uncomfortable.

I won't complain too much about the training because I didn't pay for it. If somebody else pays and 10% of the training is useful information I'm pretty happy. If I pay for it I want higher than 35% return. That means the information is 100% relevant and 35% new, or 70% relevant and 50% new or 40% relevant and 87% new. You math types can see where I'm going with that. This explains why I've paid for so little training. I've signed up for courses at work that are interesting in areas, like how humans perceive colours and light. Eventually that course went in to pretty heavy math regarding colour and image compression algorithms, but that is why I always carry my laptop with me, I just log back in to work while I'm sitting in the auditorium.

I have a training 'plan' at work that keeps track of all the courses I've been to, it must make for very confusing reading for HR.

I think I spent more time figuring out how to put padding around the images in this post then I did writing it. Luckily I'm a geek so I find that a good use of time.

Post Kat Arrival.

Kat is back in San Diego and all is well with the world. Her plane arrived early, but I was smart and checked the arrival on-line and showed up in plenty of time. I had a hell of time finding parking at the airport. I finally realized that if the massive Hummers are parking in the stripped 'do not park here' zones the Smart car surely should fit. It did.

While Kat was away I spent much money (in my head) redecorating. We shall see how much of that survives review by somebody with way better taste than myself. The couch still remains in the living room only because it won't fit in the back room without me ripping the legs off and I was wise enough not to do that. I'm still considering it, but more of a 'removal' than a 'rip'. I have to be careful with my verbs.

Why I get this urge to move everything around while Kat is gone is beyond my understanding.

I've unearthed the scooter from its dusty and unused state. The battery is dead but it started on the first kick this morning. I used it to drive around and check out furniture stores, which I love doing. Kat wasn't interested, so I was solo on the scooter.

So as part of the redecorating urge I'm looking for some shelves/storage that will go beside where the cat is fed. I had an image of some low white plastic cubes that would look cool, yet still not dominate the area. I swear I've seen them before, but I've had quite a time tracking them down. I finally found what I thought I was looking for at the container store (which is kind of odd) the Ladora style shelving. Sadly they are a little too high for what I was looking for, and the examples they had in the store didn't pass the Ikea test.

The Ikea test is something I came up with after buy lots of Ikea stuff, taking it home, building it, then realizing that it wasn't that stable (or just plain sucked). Now when I look at furniture I put my hand on the top and push down, then push left and right. If the furniture wobbles, it doesn't pass. If they can't build it stable in the store, it sure isn't going to be stable after I build it.

I also stopped off at the bookstore while I was scooting around and came out with two books, even though I have some already waiting for me to finish. The Road and a steampunk type novel The Affinity Bridge from an author I never heard of. If I've never heard of the author I read the first couple pages and see if I like the style, this one passed, I'll let you know. The Road was mentioned in an interview with one of the main game designers for Fallout Three, a game franchise that I've loved. He said most of the designers had read that book and it influenced the look and feel of the game. That's good enough for me!

Turns out there was a 'movie tie in' version of the book. I've hated those things ever since working in a book store, and from my conversations with the lady in the bookstore it looks like bookstore snobbishness is alive and well. I bought the original trade-paper version and, much to Kathleen's bemusement, scraped off the "Now a major motion picture!" sticker.

Kathleen finally had to come save me. The scooter decided that it didn't want to kick start, and after 20 minutes of trying it (in the increasing heat) I called Kat. While she was driving over I became increasingly inventive in ways to get the scooter started. It's a pain to do because you have to hold the front brake on for it to start (the left brake). You also need to put it up on the center stand to stabilize it, and hold the back rack so it doesn't tip over when you try to kick start it. This means you can't get a really good kick, and you can't apply any gas. By the time Kat showed up I had a bungee cord attached to the front brake to keep it depressed, a really good leverage on the kick, but I still couldn't reach the gas. When Kat showed up and ran the brake and gas for me it started no problem.

Now if it ever stops working again I know to get a random person to help me. The Americans were friendly as ever, with two guys wiling to lend advice such as "Is the key turned all the way?" and "That's good cardio". They may have been willing to help more than that, but we never got that far. We just gazed at the dead scooter in a manly way while I dripped sweat on it.

It's a strange thing, but if I take the scooter short distances I jump on with shorts and shirt, if I take the motorcycle short distances I feel like I have to put the full leathers on.

Some updates for those of you who were worried:
-- I have a new helmet now.
-- The dog has been groomed and is no longer toxic.
-- My best of Groove Armada came in the mail, groove time baby! So far four of the songs stand out: My Friend (the reason I bought the album), Chicago, Easy and If Everybody Looked the Same. It's a win. I think that link will work, it goes to Pandora.
-- The pigeons seem to have given up. Woo!

July 4th weekend report. I was lazy and didn't do anything interesting, well not on the 4th anyway. Friday I did go surfing with Kevin, Kevin and a friend of Kevin's, Kymri. I was going to bore people about the boards I used and Kevin Six's surfing style but I'm pretty damn sure nobody cares.

Suffice it to say Kevin Six is a surfing daemon. That man can turn and catch a wave before I can get out the sentence "Oooh, that one would have been good". He even was complimented by some 12yr olds: "Look at that old guy go!". There is a backhanded compliment if I ever heard one. Kevin missed the comment so we had to make sure he heard *all* about it when he got back.

Standard San Diego weather, sunny in North Park, overcast by the beach. We surf in the evening, drive back up to North Park, it's sunny again. Some times I think living by the beach may be overrated. San Diego is the first place I've lived in where they have to give three weather forecasts, oops, just checked and there are four: Coast, Inland, Mountains and Desert. The moto ride last week differed by 12 degrees Fahrenheit, the ride Kat and I did to Anza Borrego desert went from comfortable (coast) to cold (mountain) to overly hot (desert).



Went for another Moto ride Sunday. Took the PoS GPS with me. It froze twice (as you may be able to see from the picture). It's time for me to post on the Delorme forums and see if there is some fix for this thing. I cannot believe it is so sensitive. Some very nice twisties and I'm still trying to figure out how to ride them on the BMW. It likes higher RPMs, but on the very tight corners I come out of them too slow for 2nd and have to downshift to 1st. I know you are supposed to go in to the corner in the gear you need to be in when you come out, am I supposed to downshift to first *before* the corner? Seems very wrong.

Kathleen is probably wondering why I'm doing all this riding while she is away and not while she is here. It's all about the practice. I want to make sure I know what I'm doing before I go two up on some of these roads.

Kat is still in Canada, she's back in Ottawa until Wednesday. If you want your Kat fix, and who doesn't, you've a limited time to get it. By the time I post this she'll probably be back. Too slow. I heard a group of them went to the Earl of Sussex, some things don't change. When I go back I'll make sure to head to the Manx.

I finally finished the body wash that I bought in France, no more smelling like a European for me. No, I don't know what that means, so don't ask me. The reason I mentioned it is because now I'm back to a generic body wash (whose make I cannot remember) but it smells clean. Not people clean, just clean. Who figured out what 'clean' smells like? Does it differ between cultures? I'm pretty sure a North America 'clean' isn't the same as a Japanese 'clean'. Where would you go to figure that out? How cool would a museum of smells be? -- Okay, I've thought more about that, I wouldn't go to either. -- We also have a dishwashing liquid that smells like lavender, which is something I normally associate with flowers and people. It took a little getting used to.

So I smell like clean dishes and the dishes smell like sexy people. I'm telling you, me and the kitchen are happening.

I'm posting this from the coffee shop, and some of the news is old already. I'm writing the next post and using older one. Now you know all your news isn't fresh.

**********

From the sounds coming in my back window either somebody is having epic sex, or they're cutting wood with a very dull saw. For everyones sake I hope it's the former. That's not going to upset people is it? Oh well, too late.

On to more pleasant things. The dog stinks and the cat should be bald and fat.

I pet the dog when I got home. Now I have an incense stick lit and I've washed my hands. Ugh. I fail to understand how he manages to generate that much pong by just sitting around.

Also, considering how much I feed the cat, and how much hair I find around the house, how is she not bald and fat? She's skinny and furry. I don't understand it.

I'd like to complain about a part of the health system. I can't complain about the U.S. health system in terms of availability for high cost items, they've got that covered. Back when Kathleen had inner ear issues they sent her from the specialist *directly* to the MRI. No waiting, off you go. How long is he wait for an MRI in Canada?

However, standard complaint about doctors coming up, the way they treat their patients seems far more conducive to "more money" than "preventative maintenance". To my personal doctors defense, he did tell me to wait until he got back from vacation to talk about my blood test. He mentioned that it wouldn't be analyzed very well. Kudos to him. I got a phone call on Tuesday from the receptionist that said doctor X had looked at my blood work and "avoid trans fats and exercise five times a week". Wow. He forgot to say 'eat your vegetables'. What the hell was that? Standard answer number five? Hopefully my GP will give me more useful information. I would assume that 99.9% of the U.S.A. would benefit from "avoid trans fats and exercise five times a week". Bah, humbug.

My friend Jim Collis and I went for a nice motorcycle ride last weekend. Woke early, good ride, some mistakes were made. Near the end of the ride I mentioned to Jim that I was going to run out of gas in 42 miles (yay for trip computers!). Three miles after that Jim ran out of gas. Amusing, yes.

I came to a stop, turned off the motorcycle, took the helmet and gloves off, and checked back to make sure he was okay. So there I was sitting on the bike with gloves in my left hand and my helmet in my right, next thing I realize the motorcycle is starting to roll backwards down the side of the road. I can't use my front brake because i have my helmet in my right hand, I can't use my back brake because that needs my right foot and I'm using that for balance. Down I go. So much for the new motorcycle.

Happily there was very little damage done to the motorcycle that super glue didn't fix (just the turn signal) but my helmet took a beating. Now it doesn't have a faceplate any more and the place where it is supposed to connect is broken. I put the helmet and sun glasses back on and took the highway. It took all of five minutes for a large and juicy bug to hit my cheekbone and splatter in to my eye. I can report that bug juice in the eye at 70 MPH isn't dangerous, but it is pretty damn gross.

Happy Canada day to everyone back home! I'm sure you'll all be sending photos of the celebration. From phone calls I had it sounds like Ottawa was rain free for the fireworks, woot! Okay, back to my previously written post ;) By the way, no photos for this post. Kathleen took off to the Eastern Townships with the camera so all I have left is the old Canon Powershot that is ... wow ... nine years old now. I think my phone takes as good photos. Of course this thing lasted many a mountain bike crash and still works, that is *very* impressive.

I finally went in for my '40,000 mile checkup' as the doctor's assistant referred to it. That would be the post-40 doctor's checkup. When the secretary asked me why I was making an appointment I told her I'd just turned 40 and figured I should find out if I was going to die. She took it in stride, I'm sure she's heard it all before.

I always feel like I'm getting short shrift from doctors when I go to see them, because I'm not sick. We go through a litany of questions:
Feeling sick? No.
Out of breath? No.
Dizzy?No.
Nausea? No.
Diarrhea? No.
Breathing problems? No.
Muscle pain? No.
Blood pressure? Fine, I guess.
Exercise? Yes.
Liver or pancreas pain? No. Wait, how would I know if those hurt? I don't even know where they are.

As a friend of mine once pointed out, healthy people should only go see specialists. With the GPs you are probably one of the few healthy people they see, so to them you are a picture of health and that slight knee problem is nothing to worry about.

At least they took blood. I don't think I've had blood work done in two decades.

Change of topic.

I have come to realize that people are essentially lazy in their speech, they want to get their point across with the bare minimum of effort. The most obvious of this is the use of shortcuts in texting and instant messenger. Nobody wants to text out the word 'you', so you get U. Wait gets turned in to 'w8'. I'm still fighting the use of 'UT' for 'You there' and I still type out 'yes' for answers instead of simply using 'y'. Interestingly enough simply putting UT in an IM *implies* a question, so you don't even need to put the punctuation in!

I think if we get good enough at simplification in communication we may manage to get all the way to just grunting at each other. Think of the time we'll save!

Laziness / simplification works on spoken language as well. It used to bother me that people used 'Where you at?' instead of 'Where are you?' when they both have the same number of syllables, you aren't saving anything by speaking incorrectly. However, If you try to move your mouth as little as possible, and say both those sentences you will find that pesky 'are' word requires you to move your jaw far more than if you simply used the 'at'. The 'at' is an easy tongue movement and takes less energy, mystery solved.

This phenomenon also helps me explain why, even though I cannot do accents well, I can do a Southern States accent. I figure everyone can do a Southern accent. Why is that? Don't try to pronunciate and do the bare minimum effort with your jaw, lips and tongue. Ta-Dah, a Southern accent.

Which brings me to an area where I see effort going up, IT buzzwords. The latest one to be doing the rounds by the IT Architecture group is 'space'.
- We need to investigate the Web 2.0 space.
- I know somebody who works in the LDAP space.
- This is targeted at the Corporate Social Networking space.
Every one of those sentences can have the word 'space' removed, and it still makes sense (to those of you who know what LDAP stands for). Somehow this meme has managed to bulk up sentences, going against the shorter/smaller tide. Sadly it hasn't added value, it's the written equivalent of empty calories.

I was sent a copy of one of the IT Architect presentations on 'Social Networking in the Corporate Space' and there was some text in there that made me giggle every time I read it. I'll try and remember to put a copy in here.

Well, it finally happened. After over a year of being 'on the list' the Starbucks that Kat used to work at has finally closed. From what we've heard it wasn't that the location was losing money, it just wasn't making *enough* money. I suppose that means another coffee shop could conceivably move in there and survive, except we have plenty of good independent coffee shops in the area which seem to be doing just fine. Oh yeah, we also missed the last day they were open, meh. California now has a 11% unemployment rate, closing that store just added a few more. To Starbucks credit, they did try to place as many people as possible in other locations.

Kathleen is busy getting ready for her trip up to Canada, flight booked, rental car booked. We went to the bookstore to get some books, Kat picked up one by George R. R. Martin and I picked up the latest from William Gibson and Peter F. Hamilton. A day later I'm halfway through Spook Country and Kat has already finished her book. If it was a race to get to the Hamilton book, looks like I lost and she'll be taking that one on her trip. I didn't link the the home sites for Martin or Hamilton, just the wikipedia pages, because the official home pages are UGLY. Why can't authors get good web designers?

Speaking of books, I finished the book Lincoln lent me while I was in the U.K.: 'The Judging Eye' by the Canadian author R Scott Bakker. That man's editors need to clean up his prose a bit. He gets too poetic in some of his descriptions and it puts me to sleep. Of course I'm not huge on poetry so others may find it appealing. He's got great ideas and I'll buy the next few books in the series, but I have to read them sitting up with lots of caffeine in me.

Ending on the fiction theme, I found a nice addition to the car. It's sure to confuse people and annoy religious types, so that's all kinds of good. It's a reference from the movie Serenity. If you haven't seen that movie and you like Sci-Fi or westerns, you owe it to yourself to watch it. Heck, buy the Firefly series while you are at it, brilliant stuff.

Ugh, nothing like phone calls from work on Sunday afternoons. Guess I should go see what they want.

Last weekend we gathered with some friends at the beach to do some surfing and some avoiding-the-sun. The sun is not your friend. In this case the sun wasn't as bad as the sand, there was a constant wind off the ocean pushing sand everywhere, I'm still finding it in my cell phone, camera and bags. For those of you who care, the surf was very choppy but I managed a couple waves. Kevin was giving lessons to people who have never surfed, he's big on that. Kathleen was using their video camera for a while, I have to check with them for interesting videos.

I'm going to try and head out again this weekend. It's overcast with showers, so perhaps there won't be as many people out.

Kathleen decide to be nice to our 14yr old cat and buy her some soft food to eat. Now I'm yelled at whenever I go near her bowl. Demand, demand, demand. She is currently sitting beside her empty bowl staring at me, meowing, staring, meowing. I went out and bought some more hard food for her, now she hates me.

The epic trip that almost was.

Kathleen has decided to head back to Quebec for the gathering / funeral for her grandmother and uncle. While trying to plan it she thought about driving up to Quebec in the Smart car. If I had the time I'd do it. The only really bad part would be the mountains, the little engine doesn't like steep hills. There were talks of getting insight from Paul and Mom, GPS buying, timelines and carbon offsets (well, not so much that part). Driving there would be an adventure! Driving back, she realized, would be a chore.

So Kat is flying. I so rarely look at the air mile points we get from the credit card, it turns out we can just squeak in a free flight. Well ... free other than taxes and airport costs. Has there been inflation in airmile points while I wasn't looking?

It's been a tough week for clarity.

I received an email on Friday afternoon from one of our internal customers that outlined two new reports they wanted. I literally had to read the email for 15 minutes, re-arrange the paragraphs and tease out the fact that they were talking about three different systems, mixing up which did what, and asking for things that wouldn't help them with the problem I think they were having. One email, 45min time spent understanding and responding and it'll spawn a meeting.

Earlier this week I sent an request for clarification on a business process. The response I received back gave no clarification, included two bug reports for systems I have no control over and an enhancement request.

GPS Update, after much fiddling, reseting and cursing, it's working again. The sad thing is that I don't know which of the many key presses I did cleared it. Frustrating.

I'd upload a GPS of my lunch ride this week but the damn GPS hung, how terribly annoying. The heart rate monitor said I had a max heart rate of 210 but somehow I doubt that. Doesn't 210 mean I'm close to death?

A week has gone by, and I'm unimpressed with the U.S.A. commercial model.

I bought a rear case for my motorcycle when I coughed up the cash for the purchase. Last week I took it in and they had ordered the wrong part. Fair enough. Of course I had to call them to find out they had the pieces so I could show up, so they could find out they had the wrong ones. Hmm.

I was back at their store on Thursday because a friend of mine is recovering from being unemployed by buying stuff, lots of stuff. Since I was back at the BMW store I asked if they had my pieces in yet, and yes they did. So now I have my rear case installed (which will hold my helmet, woo!). They installed it quickly, but I had to ask them about it.

I included a shot of the new profile. It'll make my mother happier because it doesn't look so race oriented any more ;)

Back to my point though. I took my iMac back to the Apple store last Saturday to get the video card replaced and by Friday I was wondering what was happening. So I call them and find out, it's been fixed. They charged me less labour than I was expecting ... but yet again I had to call them.

Why am I calling these people so I can give them money? I figured they'd be all hot and bothered to get my cash. Okay, the BMW guys had my money, but that's no excuse for the Apple people.

So now I have my iMac back perhaps I won't be as assiduous about uploading things to the blog, I do have loads of distractions again. Quake live comes to mind. It's like the early 90s again, just free and runs in a browser. Of course I could simply enjoy the sound of my own typing and keep it up. Who knows?

Update on the pigeon issues. I joked the other day that my neighbour doesn't have any pigeon issues because he has a one story house and the neighbourhood cats can get on to his roof to eat them. I was considering installing a feline highway from his roof to mine (read a piece of wood) so they could eat the ones on my roof. Imagine my surprise when Kathleen and I come home from the Gastro Pub (horrible name, good food, yes the German Riesling kicks ass) and find that somebody has left a present on the doorstep. Is it wrong to dance around the corpse? I'm thinking yes. I simply nodded my appreciation to the silent hunters and moved on.

In case you are wondering, yes, it is getting crowded in the garage. I've had some interest, but nobody wants to buy the Yamaha yet.

Another lunch ride, I just know people love GPS / Google Earth screen shots. Who wouldn't? One hour, 700 calories, top heart rate of 163.

Soccer: Everton lost the FA cup today. I'm sad. Barcelona beat Man U in champions league earlier, so that makes me happy. They are all over-paid, but I find Man U's players (the new breed, not Scholes and Giggs) to be pouty prima donnas. If I was paid £122,400 a week I'd be all smiles, all the time. I'd also work for two years then buy a small house in the tropics, sponsor a theatre company, surf and mountain bike until I dropped dead from old age, but that's just me.

I've discovered a new (to me) site that allows watching of television shows streaming to your computer( www.hulu.com, sorry, it only works in the U.S.). This has allowed me to watch some shows that I'd heard of, but couldn't be bothered to sit in front of the T.V. at the correct time to watch.

That has always been the downside to television, they expect me to work my schedule around theirs, that will never happen. Now with the DVR and Hulu I can catch some of the entertainment when I want to, that is a far better proposition. So far I've been watching old episodes of Stargate SG-1 and Legend of the Seeker (based on a Terry Goodkind book! edit: had the wrong author name, oops) on Hulu and Reno 911 on the DVR.

I've always despised reality television, it's contrived and obviously very scripted. Reno 911 is shot to look like a reality t.v. show following a (very dysfunctional) police force around. In reality it is actors doing a whole lot of improvisation. It isn't, um, for everyone but there are some scenes of pure genius in it.

As some of you may know, I'm a big fan of computer games, and the last couple of years I've been playing a lot of World of Warcraft. Well, it finally bored me enough to quit, then my iMac died. I guess I worked the video card too hard and the ventilation wasn't good enough. One dead video card. Luckily the iMac I bought has a replaceable one, so rather than replace the entire logic board it will only be $400 for the video card and labour. Sigh.

Now that I have no games to play I have more time on my hands. I've mapped out new motorcycle rides, cleaned my old motorcycle, put a bunch of stuff on craiglist to sell, updated the blog, and done some gardening. It is freaking Kathleen out, mostly the gardening part.

I have been waging a war on some pigeons that have decided that the eaves in our house are a perfect place to gather, talk, raise children, and defecate. I take exception to all those things. In stages I have been introducing pigeon deterrents. I throw up blocks, they overcome them, I throw up more. Yes, it is as sad as it sounds.

My chicken wire blockades have been extended along the gutters now and I think I've finally managed to overcome them. Check out the confused look on that avian rat. While we were in Paris we had some pigeon pate, not on purpose, the Parisian waiter insisted that we have it. It was excellent, like most food in Paris. Now when I look at those annoying things I think: a few pistachios and you're edible, just ask your cousin.

Post Vacation Update
Well, we are back from vacation in France, have been for a couple weeks. Vacation was wonderful, a sub-set pictures are here. I was playing with geo-tagging the photographs (I bought a GPS), so you'll notice the fun little "Photo Locations" window in the Picasa web album. It wasn't as easy as some would lead you to believe, but now that the location is tagged on the photo I never have to worry about it again, which is nice.

Another fun part of owning a GPS is tracking the rides I do at lunch. Every Wednesday my boss has posted a 'meeting' consisting of a mountain bike ride. We try to fit it in to an hour. Who am I to say no to my boss when he calls a meeting?

The trail consists of heading down in to the valley next to work and taking a series of trails. The photo I'm hoping to link in has the standard run. There are some very nice downhills that we are attempting to work in to the lunch ride. Sadly our office is on the top of a hill so the start is downhill and the end is uphill. I prefer the opposite. The gap in the bottom left of the green track is my building.

As most of you know, I have a subscription to the Economist (this will get relevant to the vacation, give me a bit). The Economist will always take the time to trash the EU policies on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) saying it is a waste of money and messes up the proper economic flow of things. After traveling around the south of France I have to say Hooray for the CAP! We had all kinds of local cheeses and produce available, there were loads of lovely farms and wineries as we drove around, it was pastoral paradise. I'm sure that would not survive the advent of corporate driven agriculture. If well paid bankers all the way to ordinary people in Europe have to pay to keep the farms and small towns running, so be it. Perhaps with the beauty of the countryside and slower pace more people may migrate to the country and reverse the flow of people to the city.

Perhaps part of the fix for France is to move people out of the banlieue and to the farms of France. Yeah, that'll get me in trouble.

That being said, and all irony aside, we are back in the U.S.A. and I'm back at work. I now have zero vacation time left, so yay for public holidays (since that will be all I'm getting for a while). I think I can say without breaking any rules that this year will not be horrible for my employer. We've been forced to cut temporary and contract people, which I think it is good idea. The credit crunch may be mauling other companies (think automotive and banks) but we have no debt and oodles of cash in the bank, so the credit crunch has no direct impact. It has impact on our customers, but I think we will get through this stronger.

I have finally passed motorcycle puberty (as my friend Kevin told me) and moved to a real motorcycle. My initial motorcycle was a third hand cruiser that treated me well. It's acceptable and boring. I used to describe cornering with it as 'falling' in to the corner. You could feel the weight of the bike move around and settle. The new one ... carves. Of course the big yay for me is now I have a gas gauge. On the last bike I reset the odometer after every fill up and rode it to around 120 miles before I filled up again. As you can tell from the photo, it's a BMW F800S and it was a demo bike, so I still don't have a 'new' bike, but it's close. The exhaust is after-market installed by BMW and it sounds much better than the stock ones :)

I'll take another photo after the rear storage gets delivered and installed.

So now the annoyance of putting the Yamaha and the scooter up for sale will start. I've never sold a vehicle in California before, well, I've never sold a vehicle ever. I'm getting set for large amounts of annoying red tape.

That's it for now. Hope everything is going well for people!

 Happy New Year!

 According to the Chinese calendar, 2009 is the year of the Ox.  Well, after January 26th that is. In the meantime, we're seeing the  tail end of the Rat in 2008. Yes, the pun was intended... apologies.

 As I mentioned in my previous update, Phillip and I spent the holidays at home this year. It was a first for us: no plane tickets to buy, no car to rent, no packing, no travel. That part was nice. Less nice was not being able to see everyone, but now that we have our Green Cards, the hope is that we will be able to visit with much less fuss anytime we have a free week or so to do so.

I also mentioned that we were mostly just gifting each other this year. Phillip's “big surprise” was a wetsuit and surfing lessons with a buddy of mine and my “big surprise” was a pattern copied from my favourite skirt. I can now take it in to the designer, choose new fabrics and have as many versions of that skirt as I want. We were both rather pleased with the gifts and with ourselves. Christmas morning we had a delightful brunch with mimosas and even the pets got treats. It was a very nice and relaxing day.

The big news for January is that Joan and Paul are visiting us in what has become an annual tradition. The weather seems to be cooperating wonderfully for their holiday; it has been sunny and warm almost every single day, allowing long daily walks with Maverick (boy is he going to miss those) and enjoyable excursions to the local attractions.

Yesterday's outing was to the zoo. We were disappointed that the new Elephant Odyssey was not yet finished, but were soon cheered by the new “monkey trails” forest and the polar bears up to their usual rambunctious antics. I think we could drop Joan off at the zoo on any given morning when it opens and pick her up at closing and she would be perfectly happy! She and Paul were smart to purchase memberships this year, which will benefit Nick and Colleen and family as well. They are planning to visit San Diego in a couple of week, though thankfully, they'll be at a local hotel. I don't think they'd enjoy sharing a bed with Maverick in one of the rare empty corners of the condo.

Tomorrow I meet with Lotus Theatre Collective to discuss our upcoming production, and I may also soon be busy with weekly improvisation sketches. A buddy came into the store on Thursday and said her group was looking for another female for the group. Since there is not a lot going on the acting side of things for me right now, I accepted. It will be good to stretch those muscles again, especially since I'm planning to teach a mask workshop this year.

Quick note about my store; we're still open. At least for this month. I'm starting to hope it will stay that way since, out of the six-hundred stores in the U.S.A. that were scheduled to close since July, we are one of the last two still operating. The final deadline is March. The owners of the retail spaces around us are lobbying hard to get Starbucks to stay permanently of course, since it's good foot traffic for them, but Starbucks will only stay if there is good businesses around them. It's a circle of life, so to speak.

Hope the weather warms up a bit for you folks. In the meantime, stay cozy and safe.

K & P

Welcome to the U.S.A. or,
“There's a Dead Guy in the Restroom”

Big news! After almost five years, Phillip and I received a letter from the Department of Homeland Security, Citizenship and Immigration Services. We have been approved for Green Cards. Our first reaction was “Wow... really? Wow.... so... what does that mean?” For me, it means the joy of traveling without the worry of forgetting some important visa document or delays because a portion of a form that was retained by a border official that was SUPPOSED to remain with my passport. Oh, and not having to remember obscure codes like 'H1B, H4, EAD.... bonus! I'm already planning a visit to Ottawa... just not sure when!

Christmas is fast approaching! We're both as excited as children, since we've decided to spoil each other a bit with gifts. My boss is even in on it; Phillip came into the coffee shop for a drink while I was working today and she took him aside to find out what my 'big' present was. The injustice of it all! She'll be gloating until Christmas.

We have plans to have friends over for dinner on the 25th, and the joy is that one of the guests will be providing the roast beast, so we're just responsible for hosting and the side dishes, which suits me fine. Christopher and Nancy will well remember the twenty-two pound monstrosity I prepared for our little four-person supper. Tasty.. but after five days, enough is enough.

I'd also like to decorate this year, since we'll actually be around to appreciate it. A live tree and a few lights here and there might be nice. I bought a pretty wreath for the door and it feels quite festive. Now I just have to dig out our stockings and the ornaments we've received over the last several years and finally put them to good use.

Okay, so you're probably wondering about the “Dead Guy in the Restroom” thing. True story. My store is known for being a bit rough around the edges at times. While the majority of our customers are everyday middle-class folk on their way to work, we DO have a fringe community of homeless, pimps, prostitutes and downright crazy people. We know a lot of them by name and most of them are fine, however, the result of our 'open door' policy means that occasionally, we're cleaning up nasty messes in the washroom or swearing about stolen tips.

The pièce de résistance came two nights ago, with two experienced partners finishing the last shift of the night. The place was unusually busy and at some point, it was noted that the men's restroom had been occupied for well over half an hour. Since it takes a lot of running around for two people to serve a full store of customers, it was not investigated until nearly closing – when everything must be cleaned to Starbucks exacting standards.

The door was still locked and there was no response to knocks or requests of concern. Finally, one of the partners used a tool to pop the lock, and when the door was opened, they both froze in shock. The sight that greeted them was described as “a dead guy, face down in a Jackson Pollock of his own shit, piss and vomit”. There was a moment's stunned hesitation before he was checked for signs of life (no breath) and 911 was called. The ambulance arrived very speedily with several EMT's. They left behind a plastic bag full of his soiled clothing and messy footprints out the door. The partners stayed late to clean up and fill out an “Incident Report”. The icing on the cake; at almost the same time the first ambulance was summoned, a second call to 911 was rung for one our regulars, homeless Victor, having what looked like a heart-attack on the patio! The second ambulance was close on the tail of the first.

I haven't heard any news about the Dead Guy and can only hope he was helped. We'll likely never know, since no one knew him (he wasn't a regular) and the paramedics and medical staff won't release information to anyone non-related. Victor, happily, was fine and returned today for his usual small coffee. I think I'll give him a warm scarf for christmas.

After that drama, my recent performance in “Walls” seems so minor. Nonetheless, it was a great success. Only two performances, sadly, but both nights were full, with positive reviews and feedback. I've joined the Lotus Theatre Collective, who produced the show, and plan to help develop a new mask workshop in the spring. Right now, everyone is recovering from the frenzy of the first show and hunkering down for the Christmas frenzy. We've plans to meet and brainstorm in January. More updates then...

Phillip and I have both been very busy; Phil with a good deal of overtime and I with work and theatre and illness. Nothing too serious; a bladder infection, easily treated with antibiotics, and then a nasty cold, thanks to one of the other actors who liked to share. I'll be working the day after Christmas, opening the store (ugh, 4am is going to feel way too early), but we both have a bit of time off before the big day. We plan to rest, relax and enjoy the season. By the way, it's been positively nippy here the last few days, which delights me, since it feels so appropriate and justifies turning on our little gas fireplace for cozy snuggles with the pooch in the evenings.

I hope you are all having an equally happy season. We wish all our loved ones a safe, healthy and joyful season and hope to hear from you soon. Take care,

K & P

Hiatus Endus

There is an old Chinese saying – a curse some say, that goes: “May you live in interesting times.” I have always liked that expression. It speaks volumes, I think, and certainly resonates now.

As most of the world knows, the U.S. has a new president-elect. I confess to being much more interested in the leadership race here than back home, perhaps because – we have to admit – the American president's actions have much broader consequences in the world than our prime minister's.

But I'm not going to talk politics; I don't consider myself to be a politically savvy individual (just occasionally opinionated). I'm just more thoughtful about how we're here in this time and place during such 'interesting times' and only history will tell whether it was a curse or not.

At least one of our neighbours lost her home to the bank. Friends and former co-workers are looking for jobs with flagging optimism, the newspapers quote pundits that predict things as “getting worse before they get better” and even companies such as General Motors are taking drastic measures (pensioners recently had their once-sacred medical coverage slashed) to stave off ruination. The Federal Government is besieged by pleas for bail-outs and rescue plans at every level.

Yet on a personal level, I am very grateful for the soundness of Phillip's employment – Qualcomm has operated and continues to operate without debt and is therefore more secure than most large companies that employ thousands. They are not unaffected of course, and have slowed down hiring, among other measures, but selfishly, I am relieved that we are relatively secure where we are. We have discussed our lifestyle and habits, and perhaps it is because we have always made a point of living within our means that we have never suffered major setbacks. Even when my store closes and I'll join the ranks of the unemployed – hopefully for the short term - we will be alright.

I know there is more to individual situations that we truly see, but the most common criticism I have heard for those who have lost equity is that they were foolish to commit to debts they could not really afford. I am reminded of our first two months here; house-prices were astronomical and rising, banks were offering us over half-a-million in mortgage loans and we were left breathless and boggling at insane frenzy of consumerism. Luckily, we're both cautious people and have learned from at least one 'buy in haste' mistake. We stepped back, took a deep breath, then took our time finding a place that suited our needs. And since neither of us is terribly materialistic, our needs are fairly simple. Only in the last year, with dual income and generous bonuses, did we loosen our purse-strings enough to finally buy a wee car; it's been four years here, after all.

I guess the reason I'm saying all this is because it feels necessary to point out that even amidst the hand-wringing predictions of gloom, and the honest hard times of struggling households, things are still okay. Perspective is everything - that is another favourite expression of mine that I try to apply as often as possible in my life. I believe Obama's brains are his best asset and though no single person can fix this country's problems, he seems to be able to inspire those around him to do their best. One of the things he said in his victory speech was wanting to “bring back the notion of responsibility”. If he shows signs of doing doing that, here in these times, I will remain optimistic.

Peace,

K & P

March Lambs and Lions

I know the month has nearly gone, but there's lots of news to share, so I'll start with a Canadian's favourite topic: the weather! It definitely took a turn for the better this month, with weeks of warm, sunny temperatures and balmy breezes. We've spent many mornings soaking it up on the balcony, because we are well aware that May and June will be mostly gray. Since moving to San Diego, we actually looked into the “June Gloom” phenomenon and discovered that it is caused by rapidly warming coast – which has a good chunk of desert – pulling the marine layer inland from the ocean, which warms much more slowly. Voila! Clouds!

But that's really the silver lining. The cloud part is the dentist; March saw the renewal of my insurance coverage, so I got a call to remind me that I still had significant work to be done, and when did I want to schedule an appointment? Since I couldn't answer with “never”, I decided to beard the lion in his den and took the first available day off from work. We decided the bigger job needed to come first; two fillings side by side with a crown between – the result of very old silver fillings that had cracked and loosened. Unfortunately, by the time Dr Thompson got it cleaned out, she realized there was too little tooth wall remaining for a new filling – it would only crack the tooth. So now the plan was TWO crowns and a single filling. It took three hours.

Unfortunately, I have severe anxiety when it comes to dentistry and this time, it got the better of me. There were so many things in my mouth, and so much numbness that I started to feel as if I couldn't breath. When a chip of tooth landed at the back of my throat, my gag reflex kicked in and the anxiety spiraled into a full blown panic attack. I haven't had one since I was twelve and I could have happily lived the rest of my life without another. Dr Thompson offered to stop so I could go home, but I chose to finish and after I calmed down, we were able to go ahead. Since then, I've gone back for the permanent crowns, but I still have two more old fillings to replace on opposite sides of my mouth. I have yet to work up the courage to return, but I know I will have to eventually.

In happier news, my job is going very well. I'm normally a chatty, outgoing person, so working at a coffee shop seems to be a natural match. My friend Quentin dropped in one day and said that I fit right in, which I suppose is a good thing. My boss is a positive, hard-working person and likes to help out on the bar as often as she can. All the employees seem to really like her too.

As for my co-workers (“partners”), 90 percent of them are college students with tons of energy. That, or they are chronically under-rested. I swear, some of them don't sleep more than four or five hours a night, and then, not every night. I think this may be an epidemic among young people here, and possibly everywhere.

Meanwhile, at home, Phillip and I are still adjusting to my new working schedule, which is a bit tricky since I work shifts and get random days off during the week. This still allows time for auditions, but so far, this is theoretical, since I've had little luck in that area. We're making slow changes around the house, like painting and curtains, and after lots of consideration, we are planning to enroll in a martial arts program. This is mainly a new way to keep active, since running after being on my feet for eight hours has lost its charm, but recently self-defense has become a strong interest as well.

This was underscored yesterday after an encounter with a particularly foul individual during my afternoon walk with Maverick. Just half a block from our home, three people were standing by their car, chatting, while their two small dogs ran around without leashes. Upon seeing Maverick, they made a beeline for him and proceeded to tussle around in typical doggy fashion. Normally this wouldn't bother me, but one of the dogs was somewhat aggressive, so I paused, waiting for the owners to call them off. There was much in the way of “stop that, come here”, but it was completely ignored by the pets, so I decided to walk by as quickly as possible. I said nothing, hoping that as I passed the owners, they would pick up their dogs and allow me to continue unmolested.

Apparently this did not occur to them and as I got further away, the dogs simply followed, continuing to harass Maverick. I stopped again, looking towards the owners and waiting for one of them to do more than call after their ill-trained dogs. When one of the dogs got aggressive again, I pushed him away with the side of my foot, off Maverick.

Immediately, one of the owners, the man, screamed at me, cursing and accusing me of kicking his dog and threatening to “punch in my face”. I was rather shocked, but calmly approached him, pointing out that I had NOT kicked his dog. He reiterated that I had kicked the mutt, and when I again pointed out that his dog had not been hurt, he got very close to my face and threatened me again. At no point did he pick up his dog or otherwise check to see if I had indeed hurt the animal, which convinces me that he was well aware that his loose pets were an annoyance and provided the perfect opportunity to pick a fight with anyone who protested.

Rather than curse back or raise my voice, I told the man that he dogs should be on a leash, to which he responded with many repetitions of the “f” word (I imagine vocabulary is a stretch for him). So, I asked if he would rather I just call the police. More cursing, so I simply turned and walked away. A neighbour witnessed the whole thing and asked if I was alright – she actually looked like she relished the idea of getting into a fight with the guy, but I told her not to get involved and insisted I considered the whole thing over. When I got home, I reported the incident to the local police, was told that no officer would come unless I felt that man was truly going to follow me and attack me, but that the phone line was recorded, so it might count as a record of the whole thing. I was somewhat disappointed, since I'd rather hoped that a police cruiser could simply pass by, or be in the area. The man remained on the sidewalk with his friends, where I'd left him and I'm guessing the next person who passed by with a grievance about his annoying pets got a similar dose of his pathetic personality.

The whole situation really bothered me; not only the threat of physical violence, but the attitude of WANTING to fight with someone. Not only the jerk with the dogs, but the woman who'd witnessed the event. Why are people so ready to be so hostile? When you hurt someone, no matter the situation, you can't take it back. People can be so small-minded and short-sighted, it's disheartening. So, in addition to improving my health and fitness with Kung Fu, I'm hoping to gain some confidence in my ability to defend myself. If the jerk had gone so far as to carry out his threat, he really could have put me in the hospital with broken facial bones or worse. Despite my calm response, I was frightened and stressed, and later discouraged by the police response. Apparently, one can indeed threaten a person with violence without consequences. Maybe that's why he was so eager to do it and others so eager to participate.

News from Canada has been bad and good. I recently lost my uncle John (my father's younger brother) to pancreatic cancer. He was diagnosed and died within three weeks. It was so shocking and sad and my heart goes out to his sons and girlfriend. My grandmother, who has been so strong throughout, was holding his hand when he died. Bon nuit, mon oncle. Je t'aime.

But, it seems to me that whenever one soul leaves, another takes its place. A happy announcement from my youngest sister followed shortly afterwards, letting us know that she is expecting again and hoping for a new addition to the family in November or December. I'm hoping to be present for the birth this time, so family and friends in Canada may see us sooner than we anticipated.

Lions and lambs, good and bad, life takes all manner of twists and turns. Despite the ups and downs, I am nonetheless grateful for my ability to experience it all, possibly learn from it and gain perspective and grow. Learn something new today, tell someone you love them and be well.

K & P

February Rising...

Hello folks! Since last I wrote, Phillip and I have come and gone and much has zipped by. I recall stating that I was looking forward to a bit of snow and cold weather for the purpose of winter fashion, but having experienced it most recently, I was surprised to realize that I have been California-fied. Yep. My blood has thinned and when Father Winter touched his cold finger to my cheek, I shuddered.

Perhaps that's why we Canadians celebrate Christmas and New Year's Eve and Winterlude at all; we're desperate for a little joviality under the long blanket of snow and cold. We were no exception this year and looked forward to seeing everyone with happy anticipation. Visiting to and fro was a breeze – we managed to avoid driving any time there was a heavy snowfall and zipped from place to place during the lulls. Chaffey's was a delightful winter wonderland and Phillip and I walked to the lock with all the enthusiasm of new tourists.

The Eastern Townships were also an easy drive this year, with clear roads all the way there and a long, relaxing visit to rest up. Phillip and I became god-parents to Brianna Kathleen Gaulin on the 22nd of December, which Brianna took in stride with a grin and a quick spit-up during the prayer. That's my niece!

Little did we know what was waiting for us back at the party; someone, I won't name names, was carrying an evil little stomach-flu virus, and twenty four hours later, by the time Phillip and I had returned to Ottawa, we were struck down. At first, we wrongly thought the culprit was salmonella in the form of leftover chicken chili – being predominately vegetarian means meat is always the first suspect. However, on the fourth day of violent nausea, stomach cramps and general misery, I got a call from my sister, telling me how almost everyone at the baptism celebration party had come with the stomach flu. Ah ha! The leftovers (not to mention Joan) were vindicated and Phillip and I settled in for an even longer haul. As a result, Christmas was much subdued for us this year, even though presents were lovely and seeing everyone was still a treat. We even managed to drag ourselves out and about for proper catching-up with friends, which made it all more endurable. Let it be stated here; a sincere thank you is in order to Christopher and Nancy, who were gracious hosts, despite the fact that we were about as entertaining and lively as a couple of zombies. Kind of a downer at the dinner table, you know?

We returned to San Diego feeling wobbly-legged and worn out. Phillip even lost weight! We spent the rest of the week recuperating in the familiar surroundings of home and got well before the arrival of Joan and Paul. Unfortunately, Phillip's weakened state probably made him susceptible to the nasty cold he brought home and this month has been one of loud sneezes, much coughing and nose-blowing and general muttering. After the stomach flu, it's a cake walk, of course, but we'll be glad to have some really hot weather back. It's been surprisingly wet and cool here.

Our guests have nonetheless enjoyed themselves, as you can read for yourself on Paul's new blog, and we have really enjoyed having them here. They'll be off to Texas and Florida next week as I prepare for another big change in my life: I got a job!

Yes indeedy. It's all very exciting, even if it's just working in a coffee shop (Starbucks). It's literally five minutes walk from my house, which is fabulous, and the pay is nice for doing what is essentially a fun job, in my opinion. When I last worked in a coffee shop, I really enjoyed it – I met so many interesting people and even made a few long-term friends. The perks are really nice: a week of training, including a chance to sample new coffees and treats from all over, a free bag of coffee to take home every week and a great discount year round (even greater during the holidays). Many of you can expect coffee-themed Christmas presents next year! This job will be ideal simply because the hours will allow me to continue auditioning and rehearsing for theatre. I'm really looking forward to it!

In other news, we've re-finished our floors, which is wonderful, since it's been a “project” since we started over two years ago. Now both upstairs and downstairs are clean, smooth wood laminate, with no trace of the thin, gray, dingy carpet remaining. Pets make carpet a nightmare.

Speaking of pets, ours are doing really well. Maverick has been spoiled with attention since Joan and Paul arrived. He loves his new extended “pack” and cries if they go out for a few hours. He'll miss them a lot when they leave. Scuttle likes having a few extra servants around the house to do her bidding, and she's even trained them to respond to specific commands, such as “let me out” or “feed me” or “why is this door closed, I need to take a nap in here”. Par for the course, really.

February, as I've said before is the armpit of the year, but I have no doubt that, with my gainful employment and more plans to spruce up the house, time will fly by. I hope we have more visitors – I know of at least one person who should have a school break... Don't be strangers.

K & P

The North Wind Blows
Or so I'm told. It's been a while since I've actually felt it myself. I'm really not rubbing that in - I'm actually looking forward to donning my favourite long black winter coat and traversing frozen ground that squeaks when I walk. But, I also have to admit that the longer we live here, the more I appreciate the temperate climate. I love that I can drive my scooter year-round. To use Phillip's favourite axiom "we can always visit the cold."

Of course, we could have used quite a bit less heat here last month; as most of you are aware, San Diego county and surrounding areas was ablaze with several wildfires for about a week after October 21st . We were grateful for the concern you showed us, but Phillip and I were never in any serious danger, despite the unprecedented extent of the fires and the resulting evacuation of about 500,000 people! The photo above is taken from the corner by our house, looking South, where the fires may have been closest. Compare the sky to the one looking North.

Qualcomm Stadium and even some offices became makeshift evacuation and volunteer centres. Phillip and I wanted to help, but there was some mixed messages going out from the volunteer organizers - we were told that help was needed, but then when we tried to organize dropping off some supplies (cat & dog food, children's books and toys, for example), we learned that there were too many people crowding the drop-off areas and that the best thing we could do was stay off the roads and out of the way. Phillip's office sent out automated pages (emergency services urged people to restrict their cell phone usage) to the effect of "don't come into work until we tell you it's okay". So, we stayed home and kept an ear out for news and watched the skies. There are updates of the aftermath here.

Halloween came and went with friends who shared their own stories and then before we could blink, November was upon us. I went through more dental hell (I know, you're probably wondering if I still have my own teeth!) and we had our "biometrics" appointment with our local government office. What that means is we, as aliens to this great nation, needed to be fingerprinted and put into a federal database as part of our whole immigration process. It was an interesting and thoroughly modern experience - it's all digitized now. No more ink stains. That done, I eagerly awaited the arrival of my "employment authorization card", which in turn, would allow me to apply for a social security number. I received it about a week ago and this week worked up the fortitude to wait in another government office for over an hour to hand in my forms and identification in person. I should receive my number in another week or two and by the time we get back here from our trip, I can actually apply for a job - like serving coffee.

Of course theatre is still my priority, though I just had an unhappy experience in that realm. As I'd mentioned before, I performed a show called "The Collection" at Sixth @ Penn theatre for the Resilience of the Human Spirit Festival this summer and most recently, I auditioned at the same place for a brilliant show called "Anton in Show Business". I didn't get the part I wanted ("Casey"), but I was asked to be Assistant Director and understudy the role, so I accepted.
It started off well; I like the director (who happens to also be the theatre owner) and I think we worked well together, but I quickly learned that the show was plagued by problems. The original director left, and then "Casey" followed. The audition I had attended was in fact a re-cast of the role. A woman by the name of Gail was cast instead and we had a first rehearsal with an almost-full cast. The second rehearsal resulted in a phone call from Gail saying she was leaving for a huge real estate commission (acting was something she "used to do" before she started making money in her new career). As understudy, it meant I had to step in and pick up the reins. I was happy to do so, even though it meant our director needed to find a new assistant. After all, I wanted to act.

Right away there were problems that made me uncomfortable. The director told me "be better than you are" and "be like Meryl Streep in that movie..."! Umm... okay. Sure, let me pull an Oscar-calibre performance out of my ass in my first rehearsal. No problem. I voiced my concern to Phillip that perhaps the director was expecting me to fail, since I wasn't his original choice. I spoke with a cast mate that I knew and respect (she's older, wiser and a lot more experienced, not to mention talented). She gave me a great heads-up about the fact that the director was in the hot-seat with a show that was already behind schedule and I was expected to pick up the slack as "Casey". It helped me look at the bigger picture and stop worrying about myself.

The problem was, the director didn't share my epiphany. By the fourth blocking rehearsal, and the day before Thanksgiving, he fired me. I told him he was being hasty, explained that I recognized the difficulty he and I were having (we had different interpretations of the character), but that I was willing to do it his way. His response? "You can't be Casey." I told him he was wrong, that I could indeed pull off the role, but he insisted I wasn't right for the part. He'd obviously made up his mind (I think BEFORE I even started rehearsals...) but what was I to do? I couldn't change his opinion of me without proving myself, and he wasn't willing to let me try. He did have the nerve to ask me to return as Assistant, but I told him it was a demotion after a lead role. I'm an "all or nothing" kind of person. Either I'm the best damn Stage Manager I can be, or the best damn "Casey", but I can't be sorta one or the other. I had to walk away. He asked me to reconsider, but it's too humiliating to return to former cast mates in the guise of a stage manager (which is what he really wants, not an assistant director).

The upside is that I burned no bridges and despite his ways (or perhaps mine), we can still work together in the future. Sixth @ Penn is an important small theatre in San Diego, and I'd like to direct my own show there for the next Human Spirit Festival. I've been told that is still a distinct possibility. We'll see. Now that I'll be able to legally work here, I can start auditioning to the professional houses too. The stakes have gone up, but I think I'm game.

Thanksgiving was the next big social event, which was a great way to take my mind off my unhappy failure. We joined friends for their annual pot luck, contributing my now-favourite homemade cranberry sauce and a scalloped cauliflower dish that was less popular. Everyone really does such a great job on the food; there was a turducken again this year, as well as a regular turkey and lots of potato choices. Green beans, broccoli, and other greens rounded out the meal nicely, and we ended with spectacular desserts of the chocolate, pumpkin and pecan variety. Phillip and I were very good and ate moderately, though of course many celebrated in true gluttonous fashion and stuffed themselves silly. We didn't bring home leftovers.

Even bigger on the American calendar is Black Friday. I keep forgetting about this strange phenomenon, perhaps because it is so disturbing, but I'm forcibly reminded every year that consumerism is not just a hobby here, it's a blood sport! Happily, I read no reports of injuries or arrests this year, although according to friends, some people have died in frenzied mall mobs. Remember Furbies?

I really don't understand it. According to articles I've read, Black Friday (and the relatively new "Cyber Monday") are not truly accurate barometers of a store's year-end sales. That seems to be the reserve of those few days directly leading up to Christmas. According to Time online, the whole concept of retail sales tallies going into "the black" as a result of one day's frenzied shopping is a myth. Even with online sales beefing up the bottom line, retailers don't necessarily make it big because of Black Friday. So I have to ask, why? I mean, why do people line up the night before, why do malls open at 6am, slash their prices and suffer the hordes of cranky, insane shoppers if all that madness doesn't really do what it's supposed to do? I really don't know. And I have no desire to be a part of it.

What I am looking forward to is our visit to Canada in December! We'll be arriving in Ottawa on the fourteenth, and driving directly to Elgin to stay for several days before driving in the opposite direction to spend time with my side of the family. Phillip and I are to become godparents at my niece's baptism on the 22nd , which will be a new experience for both of us. We'll return to Ottawa on the 23rd and spend time with friends and family there before wooshing away, back down south again. We'll be in Canada for a total of two weeks, but already if feels too short. I hope we'll have a chance to see everyone, even for a bit, especially since this is Phillip's second-only visit back since we moved here. Until then....

Travels, ho!

We have returned, flush with newly-broadened horizons and tales of our exploits to share. As mentioned in the previous update, our canceled plans for Italy resulted in an impromptu itinerary for San Francisco and Oregon. Given the "substitution" nature of this trip, we couldn't have hoped for a better outcome. We had a great time.

We arrived at our hotel in Japantown on September 29th after a $40 cab ride ride from the airport. I commented on the heavy traffic and was told that it "wasn't that bad"; it looked like rush-hour to me and our progress slowed to a crawl for a good part of the ride. The driver was excited when we told him that it was our first visit to his town and happily started playing tour-guide, pointing out landmarks and commenting on the city in general. It was a fitting introduction to SF, I thought.

We were hungry by the time we settled into our room, and after asking for recommendations from the staff, we made our way to a sushi restaurant just down the street from our hotel. It was a busy, family-run place with good food and friendly service. We ended up visiting it twice during our stay, despite the wide variety of restaurants that San Francisco has to offer. I especially enjoyed the number of choclatiers in the city! These people have their priorities right.

We attacked the hilly streets of the city with a gusto, walking our feet off for miles and hitting the usual tourist attractions first. Pier 39, among the most famous, was enjoyable even though it was very crowded. I couldn't resist a peek at the sea lions and really enjoyed the San Francisco Harbour Aquarium. It was small, but the underwater tunnel made up for it. Our tickets included a ship-board bay tour, but we decided to delay that for later in our visit and continued walking all along the piers. Our visit to the Automaton Museum was really fun, like taking a walk back in time.

Another enjoyable diversion in SF is the shops; Pacific Heights and Filmore street were my favourite. I found a lovely new necklace and unique ring and Phillip finally bought a leather jacket that he liked. We could not do any wild shopping, given the limited bag space for the flight back, but it was fun to browse. The consignment stores are even better than the ones here or in Florida's wealthy Watercolor neighborhood. But that's not surprising, considering the quality of living in SF; it's more expensive to live there than here!

As for culture, we took in an exhibit at the Metreon, downtown, called "Da Vinci; An Exhibition of Genius". They focused on his notebooks (replicas were on display) and a wonderful exhibit of machines that he had conceptualized and sketched. The machines were all wood, metal, and cloth - materials that would have been available to him at the time, and were painstakingly built by a team of architects, artists and others who have studied Da Vinci's work for decades. Most of the machines were "hands off", as expected, but some were able to be manipulated so that one could watch the result of a pulley, for example, or a water screw (a concept still used in pumps today). He was very interested in the measurement of time and there were several very intricate working clocks, one of which was my favourite piece in the exhibit. There was also an octagonal chamber full of mirrors with a peep hole that he designed to study a subject he wished to draw, as well as several improbable, but nonetheless conceivably workable machine guns. One of the questions raised by the exhibit was "How would the course of the history of warfare have changed if Da Vinci's machines and tanks been used in early wars?" Fascinating and well-designed exhibit. If it ever arrives in Ottawa, I highly recommend it.

We also took in a comedy show at a downtown comedy college, which turned out to be the semi-finals for a competition among the students. Most of the comics were very good and it was almost as amusing to see how excited they were that we had shown up as "real guests" rather than as people who supporting their friends on-stage. Phillip said it was like going to see a show at Ottawa University when the audience was full of actors watching their classmates perform. There was a vote at the end of the competition to choose three favourites, and while the two men we liked were picked, Phillip and I were both disappointed that the woman chosen was one of our least favourites. We guessed that she had the most friends in the audience.

By the fourth day in San Francisco, both Phillip and I were footsore (despite the wonderful, deep soaking tub in our room), so we were slowing down, but there was still so much to see! We had done the bay tour, visited Nob Hill, the piers, and the downtown district, and we debated about going to the de Young Museum versus a long walk in Golden Gate Park. Deciding we didn't have the strength for the "museum shuffle" (if you've had the aching feet after visiting a museum, you know what I mean), we decided to walk as far as we could through the park. The sculpture outside the museum and the Japanese Garden were particular hi-lights, despite the fact that, in my usual "head in the clouds" method, I took an ungraceful tumble which gave me some colourful bruises. The botanical gardens were wonderful (I couldn't resist the flora / fauna pictures), though the squirrels were scarily bold. One of them actually nudged Phillip's foot with his nose, as if to say "Why aren't you feeding me?"

We flew to Portland on October 4th and rented a car for the drive to our friend, Amanda's, neighborhood. It's called "Nob Hill" as well, and while very pretty and one of the most expensive parts of the city in which to live, it doesn't quite seem a fitting name. Not after visiting San Francisco. Our hotel in Portland was decidedly "funky", with green, purple and orange dominate colours and cheerful, modern surroundings. Our room was really like a bachelor apartment, including a full kitchen, which supports the "green mentality" of the business. We could only stay one night, since the weekend was booked for a wedding, but we took the opportunity to visit with Amanda and her new beau, ate wonderful Indian cuisine and sampled some of Oregon's microbrews at a local pub. It felt like we were back in Ottawa!

We left the next morning for the drive to Columbia River Gorge Hotel, and the route was scenic, to say the least. We stopped every few miles, it seemed, to appreciate some natural splendour, a waterfall, or a state park. A very friendly Oregonian in the park (transplanted from Hawaii) gave us all kinds of great advice for what to see and where. Despite the cool weather and overcast conditions, the drive was spectacular and the sights unbeatable.

The hotel is as historic as the scenic drive - the whole thing was planned and built around 1912, and we found the surroundings decidedly different from Portland. When we checked in, we were informed that the "champagne social" was in the drawing room (yes, it had a fireplace and chandelier and cushy chairs). We enjoyed free champagne while we chatted about what to do for this portion of the trip, and when we returned to our room (furnished with antique-style bed and furniture), we found truffles and glass bottled water on our nightstand, with turn-down service complete with music and robes laid out for us. Very posh. Too bad the building still has all the failings of older architecture; we heard people in nearby rooms quite clearly and were woken frequently during the night by the sound of the waterfall behind the hotel, as well as the train which passed at regular intervals. We were not unhappy, however; because we ate in Hood River at the 6th Street Bistro that night and I had one of the best meals of my life. Breakfast at the hotel was also very good - the dining room had beautiful views and we enjoyed a walk around the grounds before we left.

As you can see from the photos, Oregon is absolutely beautiful. The drive to Parkdale was simple and we arrived earlier than expected, so the hostess of the Old Parkdale Inn gave us plenty to see and do while she cleaned the rooms and after dropping off our luggage, we set out with plans in hand. Our timing couldn't have been better if we'd planned it beforehand! The Fruit Loop, so called because it is a round-trip of the majority of orchards in the area, was an excellent diversion because it is harvest season. One can just pull into the driveway at any of these farmhouses, most of which have attached stores for their wares, and sample the apples, pears, jams, jellies, cookies, honey and more. I had an excellent apple turnover at Apple Valley Orchard (naturally). Their shop is reminiscent of an old "general goods" store, and we bought a few fruit / pepper jellies and some dark honey to take home.

As if that wasn't enough, it is also "Crush" season for the local wineries. I had raved about my Sauvignon Blanc to our waitress at the bistro, so she explained in amazing detail, the winery that made it and how to find it. That information, added to the map given to us at Old Parkdale Inn, was enough to convince us that we couldn't leave Oregon without a quick drive through wine country (which included a bit of Washington) to sample the local flavours. After three.. or was it four (?) stops, Phillip had to be a good driver and cut himself off - we learned that these wineries snub the "taste and spit" mentality, so we were a bit buzzed by the time we got back to Hood River. And guess what was going on there? A Hops Festival! Yep, a celebration of micro-breweries! We decided to skip a sit-down restaurant supper and bought tickets to the festival instead, which included souvenir mugs and an opportunity for several samples. I only rejected one of them; it got dumped, but I gave Hood River Brewery two thumbs up for some truly unique pale ale. We ate, and drank our samples slowly, but Phillip again stopped before he really wanted to because I was already too happy to drive.

The band oddly stopped playing at nine o'clock, which took some of the life out of the party, so we decided to head back. We had a pleasant surprise on the way; a huge elk and her calf crossed the road in front of us. We crawled under the duvet back at the Inn wise with new knowledge: Oregonians love three things above all others: good wine, good food and good beer! Three cheers!

Breakfast at the Inn was at a big communal table and very pleasant. The harvest season is very busy for the area, but apparently it gets very quiet in the winter, when its mostly weekend skiers. Our hostess recommended that we take a different route back to Portland so that we could drive around Mt. Hood and stop off for a visit at Timberline Lodge, a National Historic Landmark, built in 1937. It is a classic example of whole log and stone construction and quite beautiful... once we actually found it.

The fog conditions were such that, after driving up the mountain along snow-flanked roads and arriving at the ski lodge parking lot, we were a little disappointed. After the hype about the lodge, we expected something more traditional and dignified than the concrete and wood building that had all the character of an elementary school. It smelled and felt just like my old primary, with lockers and everything. We walked through it, underwhelmed, then came out on the opposite side expecting to find little else. Only about a hundred meters away, invisible through the white mists, was the actual Timberline Lodge! Good thing we decided to explore a little! As it turns out, the newer building was created to reduce wear and tear on the original lodge, and is used mostly by day-trippers who come to ski. The Lodge is for people who are staying for a visit and includes nice historic displays that tell about early explorers on Mt. Hood; two of the original five were women!

The rest of the drive, through small community towns, one of which was aptly named "Boring", was uneventful and we were happy to return to our funky hotel in Portland. Amanda, who had run a marathon the day before, did not come out to see us our first day back, so we explored on our own and, in the spirit of wishful thinking, even looked at a few condos during Sunday open houses. Keeping with tradition, something came up back home and I got a call from our neighbor telling us that our fire alarm kept going off in our apartment. I gave her the number for my friend, Kristina, who was looking after Scuttle and then received a panicky call from Kristina saying she didn't know what to do. There was no fire, but the stupid alarms were going off because the batteries had died! In the end, she called the fire department who came in and changed them. This sounds drastic, but we have fifteen foot ceilings and it was better than having Kristina climb a too-short ladder and hurt herself. We keep expecting a bill in the mail from the fire department!

By Monday, we were all vacationed out. We went downtown for a while, visited a bookstore (an amazing, four-story independent with new and used books side by side!), but were happy to relax and do little more than read and drink lattes at a local café. Amanda mustered her strength to take us out for a short tour of the city that night and had dinner with us before we said goodbye. I bought some Oregon wines to supplement the drinking chocolate and coffee card we had purchased for our friends who were pet-sitting for us, though Kristina has since told us that she is officially off the list as a cat-sitter. She's had too many mishaps to comfortably do it any more, poor woman. I don't blame her.

It took me a few days to sort through, clean up and label our vacation photos. They're uploaded now and hopefully will give you the complete picture (pardon the pun) of our adventures. The second part of our aborted trip to Italy is the tickets which were transferred to a Canadian flight. We've had progress reports (of a sort) from the lawyers, saying that the visa papers are to be expected soon. So far so good. We hope to receive them soon so as to confirm that we will definitely be "home for Christmas". You'll hear from us as soon as we get any news - especially if we're expecting to stay with you!

This was a long one, but I wanted to cover all of our trip in one go. We hope you are all happy and healthy and we look forward to seeing you soon!