Found a Number

Gave my apartment a very good cleaning this evening. While doing so I found a phone number of a woman with a Japanese sounding name. I had no memory of who this could possibly be so I called the number. Nobody home. Later this evening she calls me back and we talk for a few minutes. I was convinced we had met. She was convinced we hadn't. I started asking her all these snippets of lives I recall crossing paths with over the last six months. 'Do you have the Korean friend with the weight problem?' She replies no. 'Did you have that really bad toothache, I called a dentist and made you an appointment that time? No again. 'You had the visa confusion and I walked you through the whole process?' Sorry. 'You really hate your crappy restaurant job at the Japanese restaurant?' No again. And on and on it went until we both figured out that we hadn't in fact met. There are tentative plans for coffee this weekend with whoever she is. I'm curious as hell.

Very Stormy

The severe winter stuff continues here. Vancouver residents are very unprepared for this type of thing compared to the rest of Canada. The second large snowfall of the week goes on as I type this. Transit has huge delays. Many people leave work early or are not required to show up at all. Driving is even crazier than usual. Very different from all points East where they're used to a few snowfalls a week for the winter season.

So, I'm in a public washroom this morning. I wash my hands. I dry my hands with paper towels. I check my bald head in the mirror and then I go for one of my famous sideways slam dunks to put the paper towels in the garbage and BAM! I slam my fuckin head into the towel dispenser. And I mean I NAILED the fuckin thing. I'm staggering around in circles in the bathroom. I'm a little dizzy. If I close one eye things look a little weird. Eventually it all settled down and I just ended up with a very sore neck. Not my finest hour.

Quick Changes

Life can change so quickly. Vancouver itself went from weeks of non-stop rain and don't drink the tap water to the most beautiful snow covered city. Tap water is fine again as well. My work situation went from postal to fantastic. My personal life seems to have finally evolved past women who only know 11 words of English. It's always nice to be able to have an actual conversation once the post coital energy abates.
Almost exactly one year ago now a Japanese woman I was involved with decided to terminate a variety of different circumstances. My strong feelings for her and the situation aside, I can't help but think I dodged a pretty large bullet in the end.
Someone I'm still in touch with in Japan has a friend who just got word that his 'hostess' friend is pregnant with his child. The poor guy got a hostess pregnant.

Let it snow

Vancouver is having a snow storm tonight. I went out and walked in it for a long time this evening. Very beautiful.
The worm has certainly turned for me as far as jobs go. I will start a great job shortly. I also got another call recently regarding another really good position that I had applied to. I have worked some less than ideal gigs over the last 6 months. Some were a lot of fun. Some were not. And this week I get two really good offers in a really short period of time. When it rains it pours.

Vile

I have just removed myself from the most vile employment experience I have ever had. I've worked a ridiculous number of jobs in my life. Sometimes you will get a job that is less than pleasant but the people are great so you tough it out. Other jobs have been enjoyable but the people were not so you continue until it's time to move on. This last little experience involved some of the most vile people I have ever met and a work environment that could not be tolerated. Thankfully, I lined something else up very quickly after starting the nightmare I have just escaped.
Speaking of nightmare. It has been a non-stop torrential downpour for weeks here in Vancouver. The water is currently not fit for human comsumption in good old Van. They found e-coli in one sample they recently took. Not a very pleasant place to be at the moment in some ways.

Sports Museum

I went to the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum today. Fantastic way to spend a day. All the history.
Also saw the movie 'Babel' yesterday. One of the best dramas I have ever seen.

Send in the Celts

I watched a Remembrance Day parade go by today. Those bagpipes always get me. There were a group of current soldiers followed by a group of former soldiers followed by a group of future soldiers, all marching in unison and led by a group playing the bagpipes.



IN FLANDERS FIELDS

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lonely Little CousCous

I checked out another art gallery today on the way home from work. Their current exhibit is an Italian painter named Alessandro Papetti. This guy is good.

http://www.buschlenmowatt.com/Artists/Painting/Alessandro%20Papetti/2/

As soon as I walked in the door I heard something clicking on the hardwood floor behind me. When I turned around there was a large dog standing in the gallery doorway. We regarded each other in silence for a moment, this dog and me. More clicking behind me on the hardwood and I turned around to see an employee of the gallery standing there. Now we looked at each other in silence for a moment, this woman and me.
"She's not mine," I said, turning to the dog.
"Belongs to the owner. She's lonely for her," Gallery Woman explained.
"Who?" I asked.
"Couscous," she said. "The dog is lonely for her owner who also owns this gallery."
"She's got lab in her," I said.
"Part lab, all mutt," she answered. "You can wash your hands through that door."
I had been petting Couscous and now had wet dog smell all over my hands.

...

'The World Needs More Canada'

I spent a very rainy Saturday today with a bunch of Korean kids visiting the home of a very friendly Hindu Indian family. We do this with the kids to afford them some more cultural exposure then they would ever get in their own countries. Me, the Koreans, and the Hindu Indians sat around drinking tea and playing Indian board games while we chatted and shared. Nice day.

Holy Christ it rains in Vancouver in winter. I may break down and buy a pair of those duck boots. Otherwise you spend your entire work day in soaking wet feet.

Who You Know

My neighbour informed me in the elevator this morning that he did the lighting on 'Alien Vs. Predator'. He is heavily involved in the lighting industry in Vancouver. You don't say.

Never Shall I 'Shush'

My young neighbours have decided to, 'fuckin' party, Dude!' tonight. Young males who are into KISS music seem comical to me. It all has a very Wayne's World feel to it. As their evening progressed and they loudly declared along with the music that they want to rock 'n roll all night, and party every day, I momentarily considered asking them to keep it down a bit. The horror. The horror. I almost shushed my young drunken neighbours. No way in hell is that going to happen. I don't care how late they go.
You can see a sprinkle of white on the peaks of the North Shore mountains.