Category: Blogger Post

I hate being sick. I hate it with a passion. Right now, I’m going through some sort of sinus, congestion thing. It started out yesterday as a mild sore throat with some sniffles. I thought it would be no big deal, but as the day went on, my head got fuzzy. Then a headache. I took a long, hot shower and felt a lot better. There is nothing better than just sitting under some hot water when you’re head feels like it wants to implode.

I had a fever that took ahold of my body last night. I tried to remedy it with some cold medication and tea, both of which are designed to make you sleep like a rock. I was able to get my body warm, but the combination of everything led to this maze of dreams that were so bizarre.

The mudslides had returned to North Vancouver, and for some reason, I was the one to blame. I did something or something happened where it was me that had to get the whole situation sorted out. I kept waking up in pool of sweat, wanting to get out of bed and go do something, but I could never recall what it was as soon as I made the motion to get up. There was this string of events that meshed, all of them ending with me. I had to do something about it. What that was, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say. A fever, nighttime cold medication, and sleepy time tea is a recipe for a near acid trip.

I passed out on the couch for a good portion of this afternoon while watching Canada: A People’s History. That was followed up but a documentary about Da Vinci. Granted that I wasn’t swept up in medication land, but it was another, strange situation. The mix of english and french in the background as I slept was weird. All I want to be able to do is think clearly and go for a nice, long run through the park. That’s also to say that I can’t even do a podcast with this crappy voice.

For a brief moment this morning, the sun was out. For twenty-three straight days, it has rained in Vancouver. I have to seriously say that I haven’t noticed that it’s been raining that much, or that I haven’t seen the sun in that long. This isn’t all that unusual for this area, but I think I had myself psyched up for this before I got here. Everyone would say to me that it rains a lot up here prior to when I moved out here. I think this just goes to prove it.

Now last I heard, we were somewhere around two hundred millimeters of rain. I’m not exactly used to this whole metric system, so that’s why I rely on my various widgets that I run on my computer to do the calculations into imperial units for me. It’s much more simple that way, but I’m left hanging when I’m away from my laptop. But that’s ok. I’m getting used to it.

Anyway, 200 millimeters is 7.87 inches, rounded to the nearest hundredth. The sun didn’t stay out very long this morning. And the rain is kicking up again soon, so the streak will continue. The longest, consecutive amount of days with rain is twenty eight. That was set back in the 1950’s. We’re also reaching the same amount of rain that fell last year that caused mudslides over in North Vancouver. The major difference this year is that it’s cold enough to have snowfall on the mountains. There was no ski season last year, so with hope, the coolness will keep the ground compacted enough, but that’s what happens when you build on the side of a mountain.

I’m still craving summer time though. I go running past beaches nearly every single day with the smell of sea water all around me. It’s hard to not crave some warmth and sun.

You are smack dab, in the middle of an all Rebecca weekend! A birthday weekend, at that. I think it is fitting that my first, real night of going out in downtown Vancouver would be now. The crazy part is that since we already live downtown, going out downtown doesn’t really seem like “going out.” More so, when you go someplace where it’s “happening”, but don’t have too far to go in terms of getting home, you don’t really feel like you’ve gone very far to have a good time. I’m not sure if that makes sense, but as much as we did last night, it was a far trip to climb into bed when all was said and done. Jen and Sean had a bit further to go, but at least there wasn’t much to worry about since they can count on a free place to park downtown.

We also went bowling. This wasn’t your run of the mill bowling that I’m usually used to. I had only heard of five pin bowling from Rebecca back when we first met. Yes, only five pins. The balls are about the size of softballs, but heavier. I could hurl them down the lane all too easily, rehashing the skill I once harbored during my bowling league days as a teenager. I still own my own ball. I think it still fits my hand. Regardless, five pin is a whole, new world. Fun, but takes some getting used to.

Fran wanted to take Rebecca out for lunch today for her birthday, even though it’s tomorrow. Since we had the car, we ventured over to the north shore and up to Horseshoe Bay. It’s an incredibly beautiful area. Tree covered mountains draped in clouds, reaching all the way to the water. People carve places to build a home where they can only to learn that bears were there first. I had heard of this area from Rebecca’s stories, but the only other piece of knowledge that I had about the place was about the ferry that ran amok during the summer last year. You could see where they had rebuilt docks that the massive boat destroyed. It was hard not to picture as we sat by the window at the Boathouse Restaurant, watching the ferries come and go.

There are parts of me that wonders about driving and missing that ability to get behind the wheel, but it’s a thought that seldom sticks with me very long. I love being able to stare out the window and see all these new surroundings go by. It’s just that fear that if you close your eyes, you’re going to miss something. Just wanting to take everything in that I can. There’s no way I can remember it all, or that I’ll even be able to recall what I saw ten minutes after the imagine hit the back of my brain. I’m just in a constant state of awe with this area. Even after this long, nothing seems old to me yet.

I’m trying everyday to understand more about the elections going on here in Canada. It’s not so much as figuring out the whole process as it is to decipher the messages coming out from the parties involved here. There’s the first hint. “Parties.” There are four, main parties battling for what’s at stake. Then it becomes a matter of figuring out what the messages are. The American mind in me has a slight problem with this. You get so used to black and white. This party or that party. Sure, there are other alternatives, but not like this. Now there is all sorts of colors that it’s tough figuring out the dividing line between them. Well, it’s not that apparent, but the fact that you have that many choices is very interesting to a newcomer like myself.

Personally, I fear what it would mean with the conservatives in power. There is already mention by their nominee for prime minister, Harper, as to a build up in the military. This idea feels unsettling. Sure, there is the notion of having the ability to defend yourself, becoming a recognized power in the world, and protecting the natural resources your country produces. At the same time, I can’t understand the reason for Canada for having to build their military more than it already is. This is just a single, sliver of an issue in the whole election, but it’s just a gut feeling. Hell, my opinion really doesn’t even count, but just watching all of this unfold causes me to have some thoughts.

The Bush administration would probably love to see a conservative led government to the north. Paul Martin (for those of you who are lacking in world knowledge, he’s the current prime minister of Canada. Got it? Ok!) hasn’t had kind words for the U.S. in the past few months due to the whole softwood lumber dispute, but can you blame the guy? NAFTA setup laws that made the tariffs that the U.S. was putting on Canada’s softwood exports to the states illegal, but the American government kept doing it, declaring what we were doing was not wrong. It took far too many rulings by the NAFTA board for the U.S. to back down and remove the tariffs. So was Paul Martin wrong for his harsh words? I don’t think so.

So yeah, here’s more of that change I was talking about. I’m trying to be more open with my ideas and speaking more of my mind, but I’m not the best at it when it comes to political issues. I have opinions. I think too much. I feed my mind, but do little with what I learn. Don Deeley has been the best at getting these types of things out of me. For one of the first times, I’m bringing it to the surface. More so, I took one of those quizzes that helps determine your political views. I turned out to be socialist. Rebecca was pinned as being democrat. I’m still trying to figure out how that happened. This might be a start.

It’s hard to explain why it is that I like hockey, but I do. It makes more sense to explain it now that I’m here in Vancouver. The thing is, I’m from Iowa. Hockey isn’t apart of the vocabulary though. To most Iowans, hockey is an extreme form of football. It’s on ice, moves back and forth far too quickly, and requires less pads. It’s the skating part that gets a lot of people.

Until the invention of rollerblades, the only skating that ever occurred was usually with roller skates down at your local roller rink. The one in my hometown was more barn-like than an actual building. I think it might still be there, but it’s no longer in operation. For the most part, it was where the kiddies went and “hooked up” with their respective boyfriend and girlfriend. That alone was able to create a lot of gossip regarding who was skating with who. Skating with someone other than your significant was considered cheating.

It was totally NHL ’93 on the Sega CD… yes, I was one of about fifteen people who owned a Sega CD… *cough*… that got me to fall in love with the game. This was when I discovered that this guy, Patrick Roy, was unstoppable if you played against Montreal. To combat my frustration of always losing against the Habs, I became them. I ruled season after season. It was amazing, and I got so into the game and learned all of the little tricks that even Roy had a fair number of assists and a handful of goals on the season. It wasn’t cheating, but my friends thought different.

Why hockey never caught on where I grew up, I’ll never be able to really say. Iowa isn’t devoid of the sport, it’s just not a priority. I like football, love baseball, and have little interest for basketball, unless it’s the Iowa Hawkeyes of course. A small group of my friends from my hometown got together in the summer of ’98 to play a reckless form of rollerhockey from time to time. We were never that good, but we loved it. Dying in the sweltering heat, it was fun… for the twenty minutes it lasted and until someone felt like they were going to pass out. I wouldn’t say that any of us were in shape at the time either.

From what I understand, the summer after we stopped playing in the church parking lot across the street from my house, a group of teenagers tried to keep up with what we started. For the most part, I heard they were successful. That was until they busted a window in the priest’s house. After that, all hockey was banned from that parking lot. I like to think that I had a hand in that, but not in the part that includes me with the guilty party responsible for breaking the window. The other part. The one where I kinda started something. Yeah. That one.

A new year in the new country. Rebecca and I have an affinity for watching programs that not only entertain, but educate. One of those have been this ongoing documentary, Canada: A People’s History. I only want to learn more about this country. It seems like I have so many questions every single day. I know that some of them are down right stupid, but if you don’t ask, you’ll never know. I find it’s better to never assume or act like you knew something. I know that I can’t always ask the right question, but the point is to try.

New Years was good. Just a small gathering of Rebecca’s siblings, some margaritas, games, and laughs. For the most part, Vancouver doesn’t have a major gathering spot to ring in the year. On the other hand, the whole town was alive when midnight rolled around. There was just this noise all over the city. People yelling, noise makers, horns honking. It was pretty nuts, but incredibly remarkable. Everyone seemed to head to their balconies to check it all out. Very very cool. I couldn’t have asked for better.

With the new year, there is so much going on that reflecting on the year that was and the year coming up is a nearly violent thing to do inside the deep crevasses of my cerebellum. Just the fact that I’m here in Vancouver is the beginning. I left behind everything that I knew to explore a life unknown. That’s huge, but incredibly selfish once I consider all the rest. Both of my parents have had a brush with cancer within the past few months, both of them taking the surgery option and, so far, evading the worst. People have come and gone from my family in acquaintance, near and extended, that it’s almost like trying to keep up with the roster of the Chicago Cubs for the upcoming season.

I was in Lawrence, Kansas celebrating at Muffin’s this time last year, working more hours than I was paid for, listening to promise after promise of a full time slot at the radio station only to see absolutely nothing happen as each deadline passed, and stuck in limbo of being a full time worker in a lush of a college town. Rebecca came into my life, and slowly that gap between us wore on me too much that something needed to change in my life through drastic measures. Albeit crazy, I’m here. I left Iowa behind and am setting out on something I could not even begin to guess what the result will be. Vancouver is an amazing city, and there is a lot for me here. This is where I want to be. It’s not about having more things to do. It’s about expanding the horizons of my career.

A year ago, I was complaining about resolutions. Perhaps is the amount of free time I have, but I think I have things that I need to think about. I still won’t call them resolutions. I hate that term. I’m just saying that I feel a need to be more of myself through this outlet than I have been in the two years that I have been working on this blog. This is what is, and I can do what I want, when I want, whatever I want, and so on and so on. It’s not a resolution. It’s just more of me being me.

Merry Christmas. I’m a little late to the wishing party, but right now, I have a headache subsiding and a cup of green tea cooling on the counter. This is most of what remains from the flu that has infested our lives around here. Rebecca took it full throttle on Boxing Day. I picked up where she left off the following day all the way up to right about now. And believe it or not, I’m actually feeling good. My belly is quiet, doesn’t hurt, and is retaining what is going into it. I took a short walk with Rebecca to kinda get out a little bit but also pick up some take out from Hon’s. I felt good, but just walking around made me aware of how weak I am. This is what happens when your body choses to not absorb the nutriants that you keep shoving into your body in a nearly constant basis. I miss running so much right now.

The one thing that I have discovered about Boxing Day is that it is perhaps the busiest shopping time of the year around here. There are after Christmas sales in the states, but the deals here are nuts. Take the day after Thanksgiving sales there and stretch them out over a whole week. Of course, there are much better deals on Boxing Day itself, but it seems to last even longer here. And if you think that’s nuts, I might go join the crowds this afternoon depending on Rebecca getting off work early. Being this time of year, it’s quiet around the office. I love shopping, but hate people.

We have the windows open in the apartment right now. It’s amazing that today, it’s supposed to be nearly sixty degrees on the fahrenheit. I know I mention the weather here a lot, but it’s just that nuts. This is my first Christmas away from home. It’s tough no matter how far you are away from your family during the holidays, but it’s bound to happen at some point. Being this close to thirty, I’m kind of surprised it hasn’t happened sooner.

My first major holiday that I spent away from my family was the Forth of July. Perhaps that’s not major to you, but I was in Japan at the time. The heat was there for sure, and I was on a U.S. military base. I was even in the parade, so it wasn’t all that much different. The fact was that I wasn’t back home at the time. It wasn’t the same, small town Iowa parade that I was used to with the tractors and horses pooping on the street as they went by. It was still good though, just far from home. You can’t replace being with your family, but you can still have something just as good.

There’s an election brewing in Canada right now, and I have really no clue how it works. Well, I guess I have a general idea, but the election process differs quite a bit compared to the states. The first, clear as day difference is that there are not two, not three, but four different parties running for the prime minister seat. The four candidates are not trying to get you to vote for them. They are trying to get you to vote for their party. You have the Liberal Party, Conservative Party, New Democratic Party, and the Bloc Party. Those are just the participating parties when it comes to debates and such because there are about ten various parties across Canada. In the last debate I caught, Jack Layton of the NDP did a hell of a job trying to brainwash the viewers with the constant ending of every statement to vote NDP. It was quite erie.

The Liberals have the PM slot right now, but it was the Conservatives who have forced this vote due to some shenanigans that went down under Jean Chretien’s time in the PM position. That’s the easiest way to explain it because I don’t understand it all and the story is much more in depth than that. And I like Paul Martin, not that I can vote for his party or really am that knowledgeable about Canadian politics, but as a prime minister, who else would you rather see on Corner Gas? Stephen Harper? I don’t think so.

Have you ever seen Village of the Damned? Tell me he doesn’t look like one of those kids, but grown up. Creepy.