So, where have I been the last little while? I've been busy with so much stuff. I don't even know where to begin. Where am I right now? I am flying about 37,000 feet in the air on an Airbus A319. I am on my way to the HQ of the office, in Washington DC. How do I know how high I am right now? Well, the pilot announced it when we started.
Since then, I watched the Devil wears Prada, listened to Antonio Vivaldi and am updating the blog. How did I get here? Well, it started with me having to go to DC for meetings. I got this laptop last minute on Friday afternoon (the IT manager is a nice fellow when he wants to be) and have been doing very little to get prepared ever since.
I went to the Canucks game on Friday, surprise, surprise, against the Washington Capitals team thanks to a good chum of mine. He had tickets and took me along. We had a grand time. He got drunk. I had to drink half a sleeve of beer seeing as I started consuming alcohol in micro amounts. The Canucks won, in case anyone is keeping score. In a shootout. And Alexander Ovechkin missed. After the game, we went to the Lennox pub, met some charming Swiss folks and then we tried to get into a club. Realise that this weekend is the weekend before Halloween and we are not in the habit of dressing up. So... we did not get in and we decided to go home. We drink a lot of coffee together, so we went to the Blenz on the way back. My friend had to relive himself and since the lineup in the Blenz was longer than he could hold his bodily fluids inside, he decided to make for the alley to relieve himself. Not that uncommon on a weekend evening in downtown Vancouver: lots of alcohol, not enough public toilets (none actually) and weakened bladders. He was gone a good 20 minutes and I was wondering if he trekked back to the club to try and get in, or worse still, to make a point. He hadn't. Instead, he came back with a piece of paper held up.
I'll explain the piece of paper in a minute; let me give you an idea of what the area was like at that time. It was the Halloween weekend and cops were everywhere. There were lots of them and they were very visible. There were LOTS of women dressed in very little and looked sleazy, though I am not sure the word sleazy is quite what I am looking for. Vulgar is possibly more appropriate (I am listening to Bach right now and the crude party-goers are just that... vulgar and crude).
Anyhow, there were these lads outside the coffee shop getting a ticket for consuming alcohol in public. The 4 police officers were standing there whilst these 2 lads had to open every beer can they had in their possession and empty them one at a time onto the street. They got a ticket for that. The lads left, one actually said something like... 'well, thanks, I guess not really' to the police officer. The police fellows left, with the cans on the footpath. A few vagrant types came by and didn't bother picking up the cans (they could just have been dressed up as vagrants). The cans got dispersed by the busy foot traffic at any rate.
So, back to my friend and the paper. He comes back as I am about to ring him (20 minutes to relieve yourself is a bit excessive, especially considering that an alley usually does not have a line-up) holding up this piece of paper. I recall seeing a similar paper with the lads with the beer and I thought this fellow got a ticket for being inebriate in public or something like that. He comes by and says he got a ticket for a health violation: urinating in public. Poor fellow... I felt bad for him, but at the same time, it was funny. I laughed a bit. He was not amused at all. Poor guy. He has to pay $100 for that offence. When you think about it, that is probably the most expensive piss he has ever taken. Anyway, he said he tried to spit and they said that too would have been a health violation and therefore ticket worthy. In his state, I am surprised he did not try that just to push them further. Thankfully, he didn't. He was just livid with anger. I think the police had asked him some questionable things, like where he was from while writing a ticket. There really is no need to go after someone's origins when it comes to writing out a health code violation, anyway, that agitated the fellow more. He is from the former Yugoslavia if that matters to anyone.
Anyway, so after a lot of protestations and lectures from my dear chum, we walked towards the car. As we went on, we came across the fellows who gave him a ticket. He decided to clear his throat, as if about to spit and they jumped on that right away. They said they could write another ticket if he wanted. You could tell the police were enjoying it... a bit too much for my taste. Anyway, he did not spit, though he did flatulate a bit later... too late for the cops to be beside us. He thought it would have been funny had he been able to do that while they were close by, who knows maybe they can find a reason to ticket him for that. I told him to read 1984. Maybe he will someday.
Anyway, we went home, more stories along the way and finally I made it home. That was Friday. I had obligations to update a special someone on the events of the day and I got a chuckle the next day from said person on the public urination story. I have good stories.
Saturday, what did I do? Well, for starters, I had to go get my eyes tested. They have this test for peripheral vision, to make sure I am not developing glaucoma. Why? Well, the pressure in my eyes has been consistently high (it was 23 this time around, I don't know in what units). They put you in a dark room, take your glasses off, put the prescription lens on this device and make you look into it. Inside, you see 4 red dots shaped like a diamond and a black spot off-centre and below from that. Most likely there to make your eye focus on the black spot, or perhaps give you a frame of reference. Anyway, you are also given a clicker. The object of the test is to look in there and pick out the pin-points of light with one eye at a time (the other one is shielded with an eye patch). The trick I learned from last time was that the intensity of the light varies. I did this for each eye for 8 minutes (though it felt a lot longer). I was trying to predict where the white dots would show up and had some success. It was fairly elementary after all; they are trying to see whether you can see from the corners of your eyes as it were and if I were to test that, I'd be testing for speed and accuaracy in the outer peripheries. Throw in different intensities of lights and we have a fun test. After a while, I would get confused and see white dots when there were likely none. The doctor did say afterwards that my eyes were fine, and that I didn't miss any light spots. I find that a bit hard to believe (the missing of lights part) but I'll take that kind of good news any day.
I then went to get my co-worker and friend's special moisturising cream. Apparently, the TSA in the United States confiscated it because he had it as part of his hand baggage. I found the correct 'The Face shop' (there was a shop called Faces with cream stuff too) and then asked for help. Thankfully, there weren't too many patrons. I felt a bit odd walking into a cream and make-up shop. The lady there was rather amused by the story of the TSA and how something is being taken from Vancouver to DC because it is that precious. Allegedly, you can buy their products in Vancouver (4 stores) and in Korea. Anyway, she tried to sell me stuff, and I politely declined. I am not in the habit of moisturising on a regular basis. Perhaps I should start though. We shall see.
Those bottles were expensive and made out of glass. I got them and she put them for me in a 'not-too-girly' bag and I was on my way to purchase birthday cards and stuff for someone. I spent a long time picking them all (I can never decide on what I want and am never satisfied, sort of like shopping for shoes). I think I got 2 good cards, of course the person who got them really is the judge of that. I had to write words in there... and I fail at that miserably. Anyway, got that and then I decided to go get my friend Steve and head off the Richmond to purchase a hard drive and external kit for it. Why? I am moving to DC and need to transfer a lot of data. It is far easier to do so via a disk and I wanted one of those drives anyway. So, there you go.
Steve and I got a funky drive at CanComputer and a 320GB Barracuda drive for $106! The case cost me over $40... and I am not impressed with it. It is sleek and fairly easy to assemble but a pain to put back properly. I didn't get the LED connector in properly either, I have to do that one of these days after unscrewing the case etc.
On the way back, Steve wanted to go to the liquor store, so we did. We stopped at Oakridge along the way, did a bit of walking, grabbed some food (as I hadn't eaten anything since morning and it was now past 4), saw the weather girl from TV (the South Asian one on CTV) and generally had fun. Got a box of truffles from my favourite choclatier (I am proud to say I picked the truffles myself), got a Happy Birthday ribbon on them and buggered off.
We went to the liquor store and I convinced Steve to get a bottle of Bowmore 12... he hates me for it. I gave some fellow looking for good beer some advice as well, though he didn't purchase the Orval like I told him. I did manage to get him to buy the Unibroue at least. They DO make good beer (and I have never tried it). After that, I dropped Steve off and went home in preparation for the evening. Got home, got dressed, ate some stuff and back to downtown to see the boys.
A couple of them got dressed, the rest did not. We got into Stone Temple quickly (surprising seeing as I wasn't able to get in the previous night with my chum). It was packed with all manner of crazily dressed people. I always feel out of place in those establishments and usually go only to see my friends, but tonight it was especially so. I spent my evening watching the crazy dressed folks and thinking how much better my time could have been spent. I was kept company by some good thoughts though...
Anyway, we got out fairly early (the fellow I drove there didn't want to stay too long), so I left. I got home and didn't pack again. Slept on the couch. Had to get up early to meet someone in downtown. I got a call in the morning, decided to meet at the library and off I went. It was pouring rain. I intended to do some things... but it never panned out. Anyway, I met the person at the appointed place a little late (I was early). I gave said person the cards (I hope they like them) and then off to lunch.
Sushi was on the menu. That did not pan out. We couldn't find parking so we decided to go towards UBC. We went looking for this place that neither of us knew the location of. Of course, we didn't find it. We drove back to a place I knew of... and it was closed. Then I got the bright idea of going to Tojo's. Never been, always wanted to go, no better companion or time for it. Got there, parked... and then found out that Tojo's is closed on Sundays. Joy. We went to the Banana Leaf close by and we had a good meal. I hope it was good anyway.
Strauss is playing right now. Cheerful music. Anyway, I went to work after that and ended the evening working. Got sushi after all at Samurai on Davie and then back to work again. Finished work (printed a bunch of stuff and tried to work on things I needed to finish off) and then buggered off to my friend's place to see him. Then had dinner with my mother and instead of packing... once again, I went to sleep. Bugger.
Alarm went off at 6am... and I had a mad rush to get packed. Got things lined up, started packing. Realised I was short of socks, decided to do laundry. The taxi was supposed to be there at 9am. The mad rush had begun. My room was a dreadful mess. I'll have to clean up once I get back. I think I packed everything I needed (and cursed along the way and said I will never do this again), we'll see once I get to DC. The socks weren't fully dry at 8:30... so I just took them out and packed them. I hope it doesn't smell bad once it comes out. I hope I have enough clothes for 2 weeks. I tend to pack too much anyway. We shall see.
Anyway, got to the airport early (the cab driver was fast and efficient), there were no lines anywhere. I checked in using the machine, got my baggage tags attached and viola I was off to customs. There was a US customs bloke there sitting and waiting. Seemed a little intimidating to me, but whatever. He asked me why I was going and what I do. I said for work and that I am a software developer. He asked me again what the purpose of my trip was today and I said work. He said are you going to develop software there and I said no, I am going to meet people there. He said then you're going for meetings. So there you go. Next time the customs fellow talks to you about a trip to DC, you're going for meetings. And his name, assuming it is a first name and not the surname was a Scottish surname, McLean. Odd. Anyway, we chatted for a bit and I left for security. Again, no line. I had to sort out the laptop and the 2 bags and the other stuff in my pockets, took a bit. Once that was done, I got across the metal detector fine.
The plane left early. We had to use the South runway for some reason. That was a long taxi. We could listen in on the chatter on radio channel 9. That was awesome. There was more chatter than I anticipated. These fellows must be good at memorising things. When we were landing, I listened in for a bit. There are lots of things passing back and forth over the airwaves.
Well, I wrote most of the above on the plane. I don't have internet access on the plane of course... so I used notepad. Anyway, got my bags at the airport (no trolley, they make you pay for it and I couldn't figure out how to get it to work) and into a cab I jumped. Drove through the city, got to the hotel and checked in. Until then... life was good.
Taxi driver was polite and discreet. Seemed to be from East Africa, I'd say Somalia. He's got a bit of a Swahili accent (don't ask me why I say that... I just get that feeling from the few words he said). Hotel staff, not so much. A little too blunt for my liking. Hotel room... well, tiny toilet, decent sized beds (no king bed like it said in the paper)... crappy TV reception. High speed internet access... BUT... it won't let me SSH out. Now that is not on. Skype works, but my headset does not. I hate that. I need to phone people. No such luck.
Went by the office to get food. Nothing good around. I would hate this place by myself. I guess I would hate any place by myself. I hated Edinburgh the first 2 days I was there. Then I loved it. Fickle. We shall see. Tried to get VPN info from the folks in the Vancouver office... not very helpful so far. Oh well, will see if I can fix it tomorrow.
Had dinner at this place called China Palace by the office. I was the only one in. Kind of sketchy. Food was reasonable enough. Lots. And not cheap. Spoke to a homeless man. Walked by the shoe-shining couple. Left the homeless fellow all my American change (not that I had much). Somehow... it bothers me when I see people like that. I have seen LOTS of poverty in my time... in Africa, in India and even in Vancouver... but the lost and hopeless look some of the people here have is really a downer... makes me mad to see poor people in the capital of the world's richest and arguably most powerful nation.
I've ranted long enough. I've switched to my iPod and The Proclaimers. Scotland's story. Going to take a shower and hit the sack. Tomorrow is another day.
Since then, I watched the Devil wears Prada, listened to Antonio Vivaldi and am updating the blog. How did I get here? Well, it started with me having to go to DC for meetings. I got this laptop last minute on Friday afternoon (the IT manager is a nice fellow when he wants to be) and have been doing very little to get prepared ever since.
I went to the Canucks game on Friday, surprise, surprise, against the Washington Capitals team thanks to a good chum of mine. He had tickets and took me along. We had a grand time. He got drunk. I had to drink half a sleeve of beer seeing as I started consuming alcohol in micro amounts. The Canucks won, in case anyone is keeping score. In a shootout. And Alexander Ovechkin missed. After the game, we went to the Lennox pub, met some charming Swiss folks and then we tried to get into a club. Realise that this weekend is the weekend before Halloween and we are not in the habit of dressing up. So... we did not get in and we decided to go home. We drink a lot of coffee together, so we went to the Blenz on the way back. My friend had to relive himself and since the lineup in the Blenz was longer than he could hold his bodily fluids inside, he decided to make for the alley to relieve himself. Not that uncommon on a weekend evening in downtown Vancouver: lots of alcohol, not enough public toilets (none actually) and weakened bladders. He was gone a good 20 minutes and I was wondering if he trekked back to the club to try and get in, or worse still, to make a point. He hadn't. Instead, he came back with a piece of paper held up.
I'll explain the piece of paper in a minute; let me give you an idea of what the area was like at that time. It was the Halloween weekend and cops were everywhere. There were lots of them and they were very visible. There were LOTS of women dressed in very little and looked sleazy, though I am not sure the word sleazy is quite what I am looking for. Vulgar is possibly more appropriate (I am listening to Bach right now and the crude party-goers are just that... vulgar and crude).
Anyhow, there were these lads outside the coffee shop getting a ticket for consuming alcohol in public. The 4 police officers were standing there whilst these 2 lads had to open every beer can they had in their possession and empty them one at a time onto the street. They got a ticket for that. The lads left, one actually said something like... 'well, thanks, I guess not really' to the police officer. The police fellows left, with the cans on the footpath. A few vagrant types came by and didn't bother picking up the cans (they could just have been dressed up as vagrants). The cans got dispersed by the busy foot traffic at any rate.
So, back to my friend and the paper. He comes back as I am about to ring him (20 minutes to relieve yourself is a bit excessive, especially considering that an alley usually does not have a line-up) holding up this piece of paper. I recall seeing a similar paper with the lads with the beer and I thought this fellow got a ticket for being inebriate in public or something like that. He comes by and says he got a ticket for a health violation: urinating in public. Poor fellow... I felt bad for him, but at the same time, it was funny. I laughed a bit. He was not amused at all. Poor guy. He has to pay $100 for that offence. When you think about it, that is probably the most expensive piss he has ever taken. Anyway, he said he tried to spit and they said that too would have been a health violation and therefore ticket worthy. In his state, I am surprised he did not try that just to push them further. Thankfully, he didn't. He was just livid with anger. I think the police had asked him some questionable things, like where he was from while writing a ticket. There really is no need to go after someone's origins when it comes to writing out a health code violation, anyway, that agitated the fellow more. He is from the former Yugoslavia if that matters to anyone.
Anyway, so after a lot of protestations and lectures from my dear chum, we walked towards the car. As we went on, we came across the fellows who gave him a ticket. He decided to clear his throat, as if about to spit and they jumped on that right away. They said they could write another ticket if he wanted. You could tell the police were enjoying it... a bit too much for my taste. Anyway, he did not spit, though he did flatulate a bit later... too late for the cops to be beside us. He thought it would have been funny had he been able to do that while they were close by, who knows maybe they can find a reason to ticket him for that. I told him to read 1984. Maybe he will someday.
Anyway, we went home, more stories along the way and finally I made it home. That was Friday. I had obligations to update a special someone on the events of the day and I got a chuckle the next day from said person on the public urination story. I have good stories.
Saturday, what did I do? Well, for starters, I had to go get my eyes tested. They have this test for peripheral vision, to make sure I am not developing glaucoma. Why? Well, the pressure in my eyes has been consistently high (it was 23 this time around, I don't know in what units). They put you in a dark room, take your glasses off, put the prescription lens on this device and make you look into it. Inside, you see 4 red dots shaped like a diamond and a black spot off-centre and below from that. Most likely there to make your eye focus on the black spot, or perhaps give you a frame of reference. Anyway, you are also given a clicker. The object of the test is to look in there and pick out the pin-points of light with one eye at a time (the other one is shielded with an eye patch). The trick I learned from last time was that the intensity of the light varies. I did this for each eye for 8 minutes (though it felt a lot longer). I was trying to predict where the white dots would show up and had some success. It was fairly elementary after all; they are trying to see whether you can see from the corners of your eyes as it were and if I were to test that, I'd be testing for speed and accuaracy in the outer peripheries. Throw in different intensities of lights and we have a fun test. After a while, I would get confused and see white dots when there were likely none. The doctor did say afterwards that my eyes were fine, and that I didn't miss any light spots. I find that a bit hard to believe (the missing of lights part) but I'll take that kind of good news any day.
I then went to get my co-worker and friend's special moisturising cream. Apparently, the TSA in the United States confiscated it because he had it as part of his hand baggage. I found the correct 'The Face shop' (there was a shop called Faces with cream stuff too) and then asked for help. Thankfully, there weren't too many patrons. I felt a bit odd walking into a cream and make-up shop. The lady there was rather amused by the story of the TSA and how something is being taken from Vancouver to DC because it is that precious. Allegedly, you can buy their products in Vancouver (4 stores) and in Korea. Anyway, she tried to sell me stuff, and I politely declined. I am not in the habit of moisturising on a regular basis. Perhaps I should start though. We shall see.
Those bottles were expensive and made out of glass. I got them and she put them for me in a 'not-too-girly' bag and I was on my way to purchase birthday cards and stuff for someone. I spent a long time picking them all (I can never decide on what I want and am never satisfied, sort of like shopping for shoes). I think I got 2 good cards, of course the person who got them really is the judge of that. I had to write words in there... and I fail at that miserably. Anyway, got that and then I decided to go get my friend Steve and head off the Richmond to purchase a hard drive and external kit for it. Why? I am moving to DC and need to transfer a lot of data. It is far easier to do so via a disk and I wanted one of those drives anyway. So, there you go.
Steve and I got a funky drive at CanComputer and a 320GB Barracuda drive for $106! The case cost me over $40... and I am not impressed with it. It is sleek and fairly easy to assemble but a pain to put back properly. I didn't get the LED connector in properly either, I have to do that one of these days after unscrewing the case etc.
On the way back, Steve wanted to go to the liquor store, so we did. We stopped at Oakridge along the way, did a bit of walking, grabbed some food (as I hadn't eaten anything since morning and it was now past 4), saw the weather girl from TV (the South Asian one on CTV) and generally had fun. Got a box of truffles from my favourite choclatier (I am proud to say I picked the truffles myself), got a Happy Birthday ribbon on them and buggered off.
We went to the liquor store and I convinced Steve to get a bottle of Bowmore 12... he hates me for it. I gave some fellow looking for good beer some advice as well, though he didn't purchase the Orval like I told him. I did manage to get him to buy the Unibroue at least. They DO make good beer (and I have never tried it). After that, I dropped Steve off and went home in preparation for the evening. Got home, got dressed, ate some stuff and back to downtown to see the boys.
A couple of them got dressed, the rest did not. We got into Stone Temple quickly (surprising seeing as I wasn't able to get in the previous night with my chum). It was packed with all manner of crazily dressed people. I always feel out of place in those establishments and usually go only to see my friends, but tonight it was especially so. I spent my evening watching the crazy dressed folks and thinking how much better my time could have been spent. I was kept company by some good thoughts though...
Anyway, we got out fairly early (the fellow I drove there didn't want to stay too long), so I left. I got home and didn't pack again. Slept on the couch. Had to get up early to meet someone in downtown. I got a call in the morning, decided to meet at the library and off I went. It was pouring rain. I intended to do some things... but it never panned out. Anyway, I met the person at the appointed place a little late (I was early). I gave said person the cards (I hope they like them) and then off to lunch.
Sushi was on the menu. That did not pan out. We couldn't find parking so we decided to go towards UBC. We went looking for this place that neither of us knew the location of. Of course, we didn't find it. We drove back to a place I knew of... and it was closed. Then I got the bright idea of going to Tojo's. Never been, always wanted to go, no better companion or time for it. Got there, parked... and then found out that Tojo's is closed on Sundays. Joy. We went to the Banana Leaf close by and we had a good meal. I hope it was good anyway.
Strauss is playing right now. Cheerful music. Anyway, I went to work after that and ended the evening working. Got sushi after all at Samurai on Davie and then back to work again. Finished work (printed a bunch of stuff and tried to work on things I needed to finish off) and then buggered off to my friend's place to see him. Then had dinner with my mother and instead of packing... once again, I went to sleep. Bugger.
Alarm went off at 6am... and I had a mad rush to get packed. Got things lined up, started packing. Realised I was short of socks, decided to do laundry. The taxi was supposed to be there at 9am. The mad rush had begun. My room was a dreadful mess. I'll have to clean up once I get back. I think I packed everything I needed (and cursed along the way and said I will never do this again), we'll see once I get to DC. The socks weren't fully dry at 8:30... so I just took them out and packed them. I hope it doesn't smell bad once it comes out. I hope I have enough clothes for 2 weeks. I tend to pack too much anyway. We shall see.
Anyway, got to the airport early (the cab driver was fast and efficient), there were no lines anywhere. I checked in using the machine, got my baggage tags attached and viola I was off to customs. There was a US customs bloke there sitting and waiting. Seemed a little intimidating to me, but whatever. He asked me why I was going and what I do. I said for work and that I am a software developer. He asked me again what the purpose of my trip was today and I said work. He said are you going to develop software there and I said no, I am going to meet people there. He said then you're going for meetings. So there you go. Next time the customs fellow talks to you about a trip to DC, you're going for meetings. And his name, assuming it is a first name and not the surname was a Scottish surname, McLean. Odd. Anyway, we chatted for a bit and I left for security. Again, no line. I had to sort out the laptop and the 2 bags and the other stuff in my pockets, took a bit. Once that was done, I got across the metal detector fine.
The plane left early. We had to use the South runway for some reason. That was a long taxi. We could listen in on the chatter on radio channel 9. That was awesome. There was more chatter than I anticipated. These fellows must be good at memorising things. When we were landing, I listened in for a bit. There are lots of things passing back and forth over the airwaves.
Well, I wrote most of the above on the plane. I don't have internet access on the plane of course... so I used notepad. Anyway, got my bags at the airport (no trolley, they make you pay for it and I couldn't figure out how to get it to work) and into a cab I jumped. Drove through the city, got to the hotel and checked in. Until then... life was good.
Taxi driver was polite and discreet. Seemed to be from East Africa, I'd say Somalia. He's got a bit of a Swahili accent (don't ask me why I say that... I just get that feeling from the few words he said). Hotel staff, not so much. A little too blunt for my liking. Hotel room... well, tiny toilet, decent sized beds (no king bed like it said in the paper)... crappy TV reception. High speed internet access... BUT... it won't let me SSH out. Now that is not on. Skype works, but my headset does not. I hate that. I need to phone people. No such luck.
Went by the office to get food. Nothing good around. I would hate this place by myself. I guess I would hate any place by myself. I hated Edinburgh the first 2 days I was there. Then I loved it. Fickle. We shall see. Tried to get VPN info from the folks in the Vancouver office... not very helpful so far. Oh well, will see if I can fix it tomorrow.
Had dinner at this place called China Palace by the office. I was the only one in. Kind of sketchy. Food was reasonable enough. Lots. And not cheap. Spoke to a homeless man. Walked by the shoe-shining couple. Left the homeless fellow all my American change (not that I had much). Somehow... it bothers me when I see people like that. I have seen LOTS of poverty in my time... in Africa, in India and even in Vancouver... but the lost and hopeless look some of the people here have is really a downer... makes me mad to see poor people in the capital of the world's richest and arguably most powerful nation.
I've ranted long enough. I've switched to my iPod and The Proclaimers. Scotland's story. Going to take a shower and hit the sack. Tomorrow is another day.
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