The road is calling...

I had some decisions to make recently. About where I want to live. About what I want to do with my life. I have made some decisions. I also had another decision to make. Should I buy myself a new toy (Nikon D90 most likely) or travel... and I decided to travel. While I really do want to buy the camera, I think I would be a little deflated with that purchase if I couldn't do much in terms of travelling for the summer. Because my discretionary funding for such things will not accommodate both.

Anyway, now that I have decided on travelling, I have a bunch of places to go see. I have decided to stay (for the most part) in the North-eastern United States (though I have been contemplating a trip to Nova Scotia for the The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo) and see what I can before I leave this part of the world. So, I am planning on going to New York city at the end of the month, Boston, Chicago, Miami, LA and Vancouver. I am sure there will be other places along the way... but that's on the agenda for now. I am also going to Austin TX again for work for 12 days... and I am thrilled about that. Lots of BBQ, good people to work with and the weekend to see Austin!

I'm looking for suggestions on what to see... so let me know if you've been there and what there is worth doing. I've been to both Boston and Miami in early 2008. I liked both but Boston is not meant to be visited in the winter... it was really cold. I want to go see Cape Cod etc... I haven't been to Chicago for 19 years or so (barring my visits to O'Hare airport). And as for LA... it falls in the same bucket as Chicago. Fun times!

Comments

Happy Birthday Canada

I have celebrated more than 20 Canada Days in Canada. While this nation is far from perfect and we have so much further to go, there is hope. We are a nation, at 153, looking at the future with a mixed record: we have immense prosperity, peace, safety and a relatively good standard of living for most . We are welcoming to immigrants, refugees and guarantee people with a wide range of rights. We are a leader in respecting people's human rights and punch above our weight internationally. We are also a country that is in the midst of a reckoning right now. We have systemic racism, we are at war with the environment - we are actively digging things out of the ground to sell to the rest of the world. Climate change is ravaging our country - we have floods, fires and drought. Our past and present deeds towards indigenous people is shameful. We have a long way to go yet, but there is hope. In the midst of a pandemic, with social upheaval to correct past wrongs, or at least make amen...

Thoughts on the new year

Summers are getting hotter in Vancouver

This shouldn't be a shock to anyone, but summers are getting a lot hotter here than it has been since I started living here. It used to be that in summer, it would be in low to mid 20s and reliably sunny between mid June to about mid August. Perhaps the sunshine stayed till September. Somewhere along the way, there would be rain as well. But that was 2+ decades ago. In the past few years, there has been many days where wildfire smoke dominated the skies and air. Rain is rarity now in the summer. And it has started to get hot. It is not unusual for days when the highs are over 30C. This is starting to cause homes to get very hot. Most apartment buildings in Vancouver are covered in glass. While it makes for great views, it also turns apartments into little ovens. My apartment faces West and it regularly goes over 30C by the end of the day. And it barely cools down overnight. The outside is a lot cooler in the evenings. A few years ago, we had something called a heat dome - ba...

Random Thoughts

Search This Blog