Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Yup, brrrrrr. I am in the Yukon for Christmas with my daughter. It was 11C when I left Victoria. It was -37C when I got here on Friday. Brrrrr. I refused to buy another winter coat, having one in storage on the other side of the country, and not needing one in Victoria. So I borrowed one, but it's a little snug so I have taken to wearing several layers instead. For just going from car to building it isn't too bad, but I would not want to be walking far with my layers of clothes. I remember this kind of cold, of course, having done 3 years in the territories and 5 in Labrador where the weather is even worse. The house my daughter is living in has heat included, but does not provide the renters with access to the thermostat. So when it gets colder, you can't crank the heat. It isn't freezing in here, but definitely chilly. I have 4 layers on at the moment...they have a fireplace but have been having difficulty getting any firewood delivered, as everyone is backed up on orders or out of wood altogether and not delivering until February. We've been burning pallets and buying firelogs at the store/gas station.


I am really enjoying spending time with my daughter. She is working today and tomorrow, but is then off until I go back. We want to go sledding in the Carcross Desert at some point when the temps go up to something a little more reasonable, like -20C or so. It is supposed to get up to -17C on Christmas Day - I can do that.


I had a potluck with some old friends on my birthday, just one friend with her kids came, but that was okay. It was great to catch up with her and she was taking off for Costa Rica the following day. The others I still have time to see. I'm going out for lunch with a couple of them today, along with my daughter. I drove my daughter to work in the cold dark morning so I could have the car.


The roads are completely covered in ice and snow, and won't see daylight until spring. They rarely plow and folks just keep driving over the new snow. They don't get much all at once, and rarely with any wind, so it is straight down packed snow. When they do plow, they scrape close to bottom, but just on some streets, so the rest you have a huge drop to the road, sometimes 6 -10 inches. The same from some driveways. I think the city is in cahoots with the truck and jeep sales to sell more 4-wheel drive vehicles, but that is just my conspiracy theory. My other theory is that they don't give a shit, and don't care if you do, and will tell you to go back to where you came from if you do. It was the same mess in Yellowknife. Someone I met who worked in that dept tried to convince me it just wasn't in the budget for snow clearing. Um, you  have winter 9 months of the year, and it isn't in the budget? What is? hedge trimming in the 6 weeks a year that something grows? Stupid answer.

Let's just say I am looking forward to returning to Vancouver Island to warm up again next week. I have to start packing right away to move into a cabin in the woods for a few months. I don't own much, so it shouldn't take too long. I am truly looking forward to the cabin in the woods, by a lake. It's in Sooke, which is a pretty area for sure. There is a natural hot spring nearby that feeds a 2-person hot tub out on the deck. I just turn on the taps to fill it and drain it when I'm done. I can't wait to soak in that under the stars at night. There is also a wood stove, something else I'm looking forward to. There are tons of windows in this place, unlike my current dungeon. It has been interesting figuring out what is important in a rental and what isn't, and how it differs between people, in different locations, and the place I am in life. I hated that I had no privacy at my current apartment, mostly because of the nosy Brit who gossiped, complained and smoked endlessly while she paced the parking lot, on the phone or talking to anyone who passed by. I also hated that I got almost no sunlight and needed lights on all day just to get around. The new place is flooded with light, and has an awesome view of the lake. Spring will be on its way before I know it, and flowers begin to bloom in February and March in southern Vancouver Island.


I have decided to hunker down in the cabin for 4 months while I hopefully await visa paperwork to go through on a job I am interviewing for next month. I have passed all of the rounds of questions and interview screening so far, and will do a full interview with the employer the third week of January, after which they will either offer me a job or thank me for my time. I'm hoping for the offer, of course.  There is a lengthy visa application to go through, so they guesstimated it might take 2-4 months.


For now, I am bundled up to enjoy winter in the Yukon. It could be a whole other ball game this time next  year.

Roger Waters: The Wall Live

As always, remember to click on the photos for a larger size to see more detail. Thanks!

Epic. Loved it. Sang my heart out. Spent the first half in my seat with my 8 friends scattered throughout the Wall-crazy crowd, talking to another guy who lost his 6 friends in the crowd. After intermission, two of my friends found their seats next to me, and we roared through the rest of the show. The getting home part is where things went a little crazy. We found ourselves separated but had planned for that or so I thought. There were 9 of us, two cars, two hotel rooms, 4 beds. We gathered at my place on Thursday to have a pre-trip meeting as it was a larger group and we had some border newbies we needed to tune up for the crossing. Apparently some were not listening and others did not share the information with those who did not attend. I even had a power point presentation on my big tv...it was fun and we all enjoyed it, had some laughs. In any event, we agreed we would each get a hotel card so if we were separated, we could just show a cabbie our card and ask to be brought back there.




Well, some folks lost their card. and we separated into several small groups. I was with 4 after the show, but lost two on the way from the dome to the shuttle pick-up spot. So then I was with two, one of whom was pretty out of it, and we waited for about 20 minutes, no word on the shuttle, no cabs, and the roads were parking lots with traffic clogging them. So I suggested we hit the road and try to walk to somewhere traffic was flowing and empty cabs might be as all of the ones near us were full, and we were on a sidewalk with hundreds of other people looking for a cab. My amigas did not agree in the pissing rain, so I headed out and walked about 3 kms in the pissing rain and finally got a cab. I went in the totally opposite direction, and didn't even THINK about looking at my blackberry maps...got on a street with no exits until about 2kms down, and that was only through a pedway that was about 200 steps above the road...pant, pant, pant. I met some folks along the way - some Californians waiting for a ride from the Glass Museum, which I passed, wishing it was open! I finally climbed up the pedway and got a cab about 5 minutes later on a busy street. It was not easy. I had seen about 5 pass me down on the lower Dock road, but no one would stop. They all had their lights on, and no one inside. Jerks. I called a few cab companies, no one had a cab free and the wait was 2 hours...WTF? So that's why I kept on walking. Flagging one down was probably going to be the only way to get one.




I was drenched, and arrived back at the hotel wondering where everyone else and found 5 of them in one of the hotel rooms. 4 had gotten home after waiting an hour for the rest of the crew (dumb idea) in the pissing rain, when our friend M. finally flagged down an empty school bus and paid the driver to take them home...as 30 other people crowded onto the bus behind them. The bus was apparently some kind of shuttle, but couldn't get to any pick-up points in the traffic. So picked them all up and off they went. The 5th one that was home waited for an hour for a cab too, and finally got a ride with someone else who she was chatting up after the show. They got home about 10 minutes before I did. About 5 minutes later two more showed, up, having gotten in with a shady crowd for a ride and having to ask them to let them out again, then finally hailed a cab home. The final gal made it home when one of the security guards at the Dome saw her quite out of it and packed her off in a cab for the hotel, paying the fare. How we managed to all get home within just a few minutes of each other is beyond me! We were just happy everyone made it home safe and sound, albeit SOAKING WET.




After some hotel room partying, gambling in the casino downstairs, we eventually all turned in, 5 and 6 am for some. We hit the road just before 10am, without the second car who wasn't ready when we were, stopping at Burger King along the highway for hangover grease, and made it to the Port Angeles ferry right on time. The other car just made it by about 10 minutes, having taken the highway the wrong way, headed through Seattle and then crossed on the small ferry west to the highway that took us to Port Angeles. Smooth ferry crossing, everyone was tired, but wired, and shopping in the duty free liquor and cigarettes. A 40oz gin for $9.99, and a carton of cigs for $15...criminal what we pay in Canada.




And then we landed in Victoria and got flagged at the border for a code 7 again - DRUGS! Which we didn't have any of as that was well covered in the pre-trip meeting, and included in the power point. I refuse to take anyone across the border who tries to take weed or other drugs with them. I can't have a criminal record to do my job, and they all know this. So we were pretty relaxed about it as none of us had anything on us, knowing the risk. Maggie the search dog had a sniff through my van, but came up empty for anything currently there. She did however, smell an older smell of herbs from days gone by....the border guard was really nice, and gave the gals a break on the duty free liquor they brought as we hadn't been across for 48 hours, which is required to bring it back duty free. He packed up Maggie the dog and we were on our way. Tired, wired, but intoxicated with such inspiration from the fabulous show we all experienced together. Thank you Roger Waters, for bringing us The Wall. I had an amazing time.

a surprise

A good friend of mine for many years sent me this today in the mail. Thanks D! I love it!

Road Trip On The Horizon

The gang is about to hit the road again on Saturday - this time bound for Tacoma, Washington. We leave on the morning ferry to Port Angeles and then drive straight to Tacoma. The show is Roger Waters: The Wall Live. There are 8 of us confirmed to go and one ticket left. It's going to be an amazing show, as someone from Pink Floyd certainly knows how to do. More when we get back.