Winding down 2005

Yet another day off work, so M & I went to the gym this morning to work out. He usually works out just one muscle group per workout, and today was just chest and arms. I usually alternate between upper and lower body exercises, but i thought I'd try his routine for today. Best chest workout i've ever had...and working out with someone is much more motivating. I'll feel it tomorrow though. I also spent the afternoon overhauling my bike, and getting it ready for the new year. I won't make any bold new year's resolutions in terms of my fitness, but I'd like to get in shape for the Sun Run, and to look good on 'dem Maui beaches. hahaha ;-)

Before I run off the liquor store to stock up on booze for tomorrow night, check out these gems..

1. Wicked Video from the SAAB performance driving team. (Thanks to kurioso for the link)

2. Super hilarious digital short film by the folks at SNL, courtesy of Rafers. It's a spoof of the movie Chronicles of Narnia...rap-video style. These guys can really kick it.

Enjoy.

Million Dollar Homepage

Now THIS belongs in the "Why didn't i think of that" category.

Basically, this guy in England decided to sell pixel space on his website to advertisers, in order to earn money for school. In the process he created a virtual billboard, and is just shy of earning a million bucks.

Merry Christmas: To be Forgiven Is Bliss

After spending the better part of the week running around town doing Christmas shopping and errands, i was hoping for a change of pace today, so I decided to visit my Ninang (filipino for Godmother). My Ninang has known me since I was a baby having been spiritual parents since I was baptized. Her small, short stature belies her huge heart, maternal instincts, and caring personality. My Ninang and I were quite close in years past, but in recent times we`ve only talked maybe once a year (usually around Christmas time). This afternoon I decided to surprise her and dropped by her house (a short 5 min drive from my place). When she came to the door to greet me, she was so delighted to see me, and invited me into her house. We chatted for over an hour over some Root Beer and cookies, talking about her kids, and what she's been up to these days. We spent the most time, however, reminiscing about her late husband or my Ninong (Godfather) who passed away over five years ago after a long fight with cancer. Ninong was a man of great character, who never got angry at his wife and kids (even though she sometimes had a short temper). He was a quiet, respected, and humble man, who could never hurt anyone with his words or actions. In the years since his death, I could always sense Ninang`s profound sense of sadness and even guilt. Not only did Ninang miss him, but she felt guilty because she felt that somehow she was to blame for his death..somehow thinking that she didn't take good care of him. It was a sense of guilt and yearning for forgiveness that she couldn`t even begin to shake off until one day earlier this year...

Ninang woke up one day, knelt in prayer and "talked" to her husband - something she did almost every day since he passed away. She asked her husband if he could just give her sign that he had forgiven her, then she could be more at peace. She struggled for a bit to think of the right kind of sign. After a moment, she then told her husband that if he could give her a yellow rose, then she would believe that she was forgiven. She then went about her daily routine, going to the market, doing her volunteer work, and running errands. As the day passed, without the much awaited sign, she grew somewhat anxious. At one point, she tried to look for other signs, such as going to get her lotter ticket checked. She told herself, just before she had it checked that if she won $1, then that would be the sign. So she had the ticket checked, and sure enough she won exactly $1. But somehow it didn't seem right, it wasn't enough, and she carried on looking for the sign. Later that day, she visited her youngest daughter at her home. After a pleasant chat over snacks, it was time to say goodbye, but her daughter told her to wait before leaving saying she had something to give her. Ninang immediately refused...since she knew that she was might be trying to give her some money like she had done in the past. But this time, she came back from outside with scissors in one hand, and...a rose in the other....a YELLOW rose. Her daughter, said she wanted her to have it from her garden. By this time, Ninang was on the verge of bursting into tears, but managed to hold it back as she didn't want to make a scene. "How did she know?", my ninang asked herself. There was no way! She could not have known....UNLESS... By now, Ninang had said her goodbyes and drove home in earnest as tears as streamed down her face - she wanted to get home and talk to HIM. Once she got home, she said a prayer and said a few words to her husband....thanking him for his forgiveness.

My Ninang has now told this story to a few people, and some of them don't believe her (or at least show some skepticism)...and she understands, probably because she would have had a hard time believing it if someone else told her the same story in different times. I believed her. And even though, I don't think she deserved to blame herself for her husband's death, the guilt she felt was undeniable. Coincidence or not, the power of forgiveness is unmeasurable. Being forgiven after hurting someone is arguably one of the most profound and kind acts someone can do for you. But to forgive someone else, takes a lot more. So my wish for this Christmas is that each of us will think of someone that has hurt us (recently or in years past), and tell them that you forgive them. You might just understimate the power of such an action....

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The Most Memorable Gift - I never got.

While we're on the topic of christmas gifts, I must say thaat every gift I've received is special and cherished in its own way so there isn't a "best gift" - hahah, go ahead roll those eyes!! However, the most memorable gift I've ever gotten came in 1985 when I got a brand new spanking state-of-the-art Atari XT video/computer system from Santa. What makes it memorable is what I did NOT get that year. You see, the Atari came out the same year Nintendo released their popular Famicom video game system in North America - the NES. Well...to make a long story short, we all know how Nintendo did compared to Atari. Not only did Nintendo have better and more popular games (Mario Brothers), but they had those cool accessories like the Light Gun (remember Duck Hunt!!), the Power Glove and that little robot that could play against you. Plus all my friends were asking Santa for the NES. Now despite all that, I still asked Santa to give me the Atari XT. Why? Well, it could play games too...like Pole Position and Missile Command. But that wasn't the kicker. I asked for it, because it came with.....a keyboard, and it had an option for a magnetic tape drive (aka. cassette tape) and it looked more like a personal computer. And guess what......you could program it with a computer language called BASIC. I was such a nerd back then.

p.s. I finally got my NES about 7 years later in 1992, after Santa found it within himself to stop laughing at me and end the suffering.

All I want for christmas is my E-Class Benz

IMG_2681
Originally uploaded by JCee.

The last few weeks have been super busy with work, photo classes, all things x-mas related, and searching for videographers and DJ's. Last weekend I was up at Burnaby Mountain to take some winter pics. As you can see from the pic, some lucky gal (or guy) had their Christmas gift (or bday) wrapped, and parked outside the restaurant. I'm not a big fan of Mercedes but i wouldn't complain if someone gave it to me. ;-) So what's the best Christmas gift you've ever gotten?

Singapore Fling

I decided to stay in Beijing an extra day to finish some shopping, but by the time Saturday rolled around i was looking forward to leaving behind the pollution, traffic, and people horking (spitting) in the streets (among other things). Arriving in Singapore was a most refreshing experience. It was the first time i had asked for "Airport Pickup Service" from the Pan Pacific, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Upon disembarking the plane, I was immediately met by my own personal escort who walked me all the way through immigration, baggage claim and customs. I was then met by a limo (a Mercedes Benz E class i believe) and my own "driver" who then drove me to the hotel. Upon reaching the hotel, I was greeted by hotel rep who took me DIRECTLY to my room (didn't have to go to the front desk). Once I got to the room, she took down my credit card number, gave me my keycard and then she was off. It was the FASTEST check-in experience I've ever had...which is in contrast to the experiences i had in Beijing.

Today was our last day for client visits, so we hoped to make it a good one. You know the meetings being productive when the customer asks YOU if you have more time to stay and chat with them. In the end, the future business in Singapore looks promising so i hope to make it out here again soon.

We literally ended the night off on a high note. Our Singapore contact took us to the top of the Swissotel Stamford, the highest hotel in Singapore at 72 storeys high. The view from the restaurant up top was simply stunning. Singapore is such a refined and sophisticated city compared to Beijing, but it obviously can't compare in culture and history. Pssssht...who cares about the thousands of years of culture...just as long as the cabbies are honest!!! hahah.

Peking Duck!

After a productive work day, we decided to have dinner last night at a Peking Duck restaurant. It was a MOST exquisite establishment in the heart of Beijing (about 15 min from Forbidden City by foot). Apparently many famous foreigners and dignitaries have visited this place. Each duck is marinated and lacquered in a process that takes up to two days (so i'm told). In fact, the ducks are so famous here that each duck served comes with a Certificate of Authenticity with unique number which apparently is the number of ducks that have been served at the restaurant since it first opened in 1864. I wonder what number Donald and Daffy got. (sorry couldn't resist).

The duck was delicious. And unlike eating duck at home, its all cut right in front of you, and you don't have to worry about bones. I just wish i didn't stuff myself with the 10+ dishes that came before it.

Peking Taxi!!

Warning! This story will make me look a little naive, but i'm going to
share it in the interest of educating future travellers. If you want to laugh, just do it quietly, ok!!

Taking a taxi in a foreign country is always an adventure. In fact, the trip to the hotel from the airport is usually the "first taste" of the local culture. Not only do you get a sense of your surroundings, but you also get a taste of the character and methods of how the locals do business. In my case, upon arriving at Beijing Capital Airport, I got my bags and made my way out to the taxi waiting line. A bit of chaos ensued as I exited the terminal to a throng of people and cars all vying for their spots. As I strode out the exit, a man approaches me and says something in chinese along with the word "Taxi !!". I've seen these people come at you in other airports and they are usually private (more expensive) limo services, so I just looked at him, smiled and shook my head in refusal. He followed me for a few feet trying to convince me to take a "taxi" ride. I just kept shaking my head as I moved to the "official" taxi line. After a few minutes a uniformed official directs me to a waiting taxi -- and there are a LOT of taxis so its a confusing as to where to go. As I walk down the line of taxis, another man who appears to be a taxi driver, approaches me and get me to follow him to another line of parked taxis just across the road. As I follow, he asks me where I need to go, and I reply with my hotel name. He nods and shows me to the car -- at this point i'm getting a little suspicious since this other line of taxis isn't the same as the first one. We get to the car, he promptly opens my door puts my bags in, and then directs me to get in. He shows me a card that said "Beijing Capital Airport Taxi", along with some prices (ranging from 200-380 RMB for a ride to Downtown). I objected immediately because my friend had told me that the ride would cost no more than 100 RMB (~$15 CDN). I tried to explain my concern saying that it shouldn't cost that much. But I don't think he could understand. He just kept pointing me at his meter (which looked pretty authentic) saying "meter, OK? meter, oK?" Since I'm already seated in the car with my bags inside, i reluctantly accept and then we took off (i tried to reassure myself that the price he showed me was a maximum and that i'd pay no more than what the meter said......so i'm sure you all know where this is going)

My suspicion that this was not going to be a "normal" taxi ride started immediately, as we get stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on this two-lane country road out of the airport -- meanwhile I look off in the distance to my right and see an express freeway running PARALLEL to the road with traffic moving pretty fast. I ask myself, why the heck aren't we taking that?!?!?! Meanwhile...the meter keeps ticking by... on some stretches we moved one city block in 45 minutes. (Don't good taxi drivers know shortcuts?) Of course the driver remains very polite, yet apologetic throughout the ride. He even offered me a cigarette, but i kindly refused. But of course, he starts smoking....albeit with the window rolled down. Once the meter had passed 100 and it didn't look like we were anywhere close to where the hotel was i knew where this was heading. (But what could i do?) So i just sat and waited, and waited... watching the meter tick by 200, 300, 400...2 hrs later.. he stops at this street corner, gets out and points out the hotel (i found it kind of peculiar how he wouldn't drop me off in FRONT of the hotel). I see the name of the hotel and figure I can just walk the rest of the way, but before I go i have to pay what's on the meter...500 RMB (~$75 CDN). (Ding ding, ding! this taxi driver just hit the jackpot! -- and I can just hear the voices..."You were ripped off!!"). It was pointless to argue, since he couldn't understand a word i was saying. So i get my bags, and checked into the hotel. Later, I met up with my friend at the hotel, and when i told her how much i paid she was in shock. She asked a hotel employee to examine my handwritten receipt. Guess what? It was a fake. (And why not! After all I was in the land of fake Gucci bags and Rolex watches) Turns out the legitimate taxis, give computer printed receipts...and they showed me a sample of one -- noting that a ride from the aiport normally costs about 80 RMB!!! [jaw on floor] I was then told that you should always take the colored striped taxis (usually yellow/green)...mine was a plain burgundy. I was also told that these unscrupulous drivers have a special switch on the side which does something to the meter (like speeding it up by 5!!!).

Sometimes you learn your lessons the hard way, eh? So if you're in Beijing (or any other foreign country) always beware!!! Do your homework before you leave!!

If I could only sleep like this...

On Saturday, Nicole and I went down to Alana and Clayton's house to see their newborn son, Caleb. Since I had a photography assignment due this week, what would be a better subject to photograph than a newborn baby!! As you can see, Caleb was a darn cute baby. He was a natural throughout the entire shoot! I got kinda carried away and took over 150 pics (thank goodness for digital). I picked out my favorites, retouched some of them, and posted them on my Flickr! site. Hope some of you will enjoy!

School's IN!!!

The tribe has spoken. The teachers have voted to go back to work bringing nearly two weeks of strike action...errr...political protest to an end. Thousands of teachers and students will make their way back to school, and even though it may seem like business as usual, the battle may have only just begun. No one came out a winner..not the teachers, not the government, and definately not the students and parents. Many teachers were still unhappy with Vince Ready's recommendations, as they didn't provide any clear guarantees of changes to classroom conditions. However, since many teachers still wanted to go back to work, they held their noses, and reluctanly voted YES. But given how far apart the two sides were before the strike, accepting Vince Ready's recommendations and going back to work was the best thing they could do at this point in time. Staying off the job any longer would probably have meant seeing all that public support going down the drain, and created a huge backlash from parents. Since teachers still have much "negotiating" to do with the government, they needed to maintain public support. Even though Campbell and the rest of his "Dic-tater-tots" (as NL fondly calls them ;-) ) would not provide written guarantees to make changes by next June 2006, it would be political suicide if they renege on their verbal promises -- but of course this is politics after all. The public will now be watching the government closer than ever -- and the government should not expect the teachers and public to blink.

Clearly the government's strategy backfired. They miscalculated the resolve of the BCTF, and thought their illegal job action would be quickly put to an end by the court (I think even the court was a little sympathetic to the teacher's cause). They also thought the other unions would have little support for the BCTF since they also had to live with a wage freeze. It was a flawed strategy from the start, and in what might be a subtle twist of irony to this whole dispute is that while the die-hard union bashers--err..opponents :) will likely feel even more bitterness towards them, Gordon Campbell and his roving sidekick Mike DeJong has succeeded in galvanizing the union solidarity movement in BC - making them stronger than ever... which is good for the 100,000+ other public servants (BCGEU, HEU, etc.) who will have their contracts expiring next spring. Maybe it will be shortlived, but it certainly doesn't bode well for the Liberals if they were expecting to wag their big legislative stick and strong-arm the unions into accepting contracts. Hopefully Campbell has learned his hard lesson, and realize that all you have to do is play fair and just negotiate in good faith. And that's not asking much....

And for those readers still wondering how we got here in the first place, here's a bit of a history lesson.

School's OUT???

For the most part, I sympathize with the unions and for the principles they fight for, but with the recent job disputes we've seen with Telus and most recently the BC Teachers, you can't help but wonder what exactly are the union's motives. First of all. I have nothing against teachers themselves. I think that teaching is one of the most undervalued professions out there. Teachers across BC, in particular, have not gotten much respect of late from the government. Since province wide bargaining was brought into effect in the mid 90's the teacher's working conditions have steadily worsened. How can the teachers NOT complain? They have not had a NEGOTIATED contract in over 10 years, having been forced to accept imposed contracts, which stripped them of the right to negotiate things like class size limits, special learning needs, etc. When it comes to wages, how would you feel if you had just an average 1% increase in pay every year..that didn't even match the rising cost of living? Well, that's what the teacher's had to live with. Sure the current Liberal government gave them a 7.5% increase over the last 3 years but they only put up the money for the 1st year increase, and left it to the school districts to make up the rest. So how do the school districts find the money? Simple...close some schools, increase some class sizes and cut some programs. There's no wonder teachers are pissed off...and they have every right to be. The gov't had this brilliant idea a few weeks ago to appoint a fact finder to help find some "common ground" between the two sides. What did this fact finder find? That the teachers and their employer have gotten together 30+ times and each time they failed to come to an agreement. Brilliant findings ;-) . Would we NOT be in this situation if they had found some common ground? The teachers are totally right to say the bargaining process is broke. Of course its broke. By declaring education an essential service, the gov't is taking away the teacher's essential right to negotiate. After all, what incentive does the BCSEA (the teachers employers) have to sit down and negotiate when they KNOW the gov't will just force them all back to work anyways! NONE!!

So it may sound that I'm a bleeding heart union sympathizer. HOWEVER, i do question the tactics and strategy of the BCTF union exec. I mean, its sad...each side says they're trying to do what's best for the students, but it's the students who are suffering the most from this dispute. And by walking off the job, and breaking the LAW (and yes, even if its a law you don't agree with), it certainly does set a good example to students. It also doesn't help when you tell the media that students will NOT be adversely affected if they missed up to three months of school. Ummm...REALLY? So why am i paying taxes for 10 months of schooling when the TEACHER's UNION says that 7 months is all that is really needed to get an education. It doesn't make sense to me...and quite surely to a lot of the public.

I'm not a cynic, but i'm sure there are people out there who will be suspicious of the Union's motives. Unions are big business after all. The BCTF collects millions of dollars of dues from their members, to pay for their union executives and their modern and sleek Vancouver headquarters. How to pay for all that? Smaller class sizes = more classes = more teachers = more union dues. OK...maybe i'm stretching it there... but again, its all about public perception, and I think the Union exec has to be careful in the messages they send out...

If it was up to me, lets just go back to letting school districts negotiate their own contracts with their teachers. Education is not a one-size-fits all...it never has been, and never will be. The needs of students in Point Grey Vancouver will be quite different from the Whalley inner city school in Surrey. Let districts decide how best to allocate tax dollars depending on the student needs. Teacher salaries should be kept competitive, and at *least* in sync with inflation. The gov't brought in province-wide bargaining in the mid 90's because salaries were rising to high and the NDP was reeling from mismanaging the economy, so they thought they were doing the right thing...not knowing the long term repercussions. I don't mind if teachers get paid much more than they are now. And yes, those who know me know i am somewhat biased ;-), but there is a catch. And this is where some teachers might have my head -- ultimately a teacher's pay should be directly linked to a student's performance. They need to be accountable. If the student's perform well, the teacher should get paid well. Of course, measuring performance is the hard part. It can't be done by just standardized testing. Performance should be measured by a combination of student test results *and* feedback from students, parents, principals, and peers. This is how its done at my work, and in a lot of private sector companies...its called full-circle feedback, and i think it makes a lot of sense.

Both sides need to step back and realize that the current system is severely flawed, get back to the negotiation table and leave the students out of the dispute. But its not gonna happen that easily. I think both sides are in for a long fight. If anything, the whole thing is kind of entertaining at times... i think the funniest thing i heard today was when Gordon Campbell said that the teacher's are not setting a good example to the kids by breaking the law and going on strike. A caller into a CKNW talk show then made the comment that he's sure one to talk...considering he was caught drinking and driving!!! LOL.

Ed. Note Oct. 8 -
Here are so more articles i came across regarding this issue:
Canadared
Stress Kitten
Darren Barefoot

spring flowers in fall!!

IMG_2878
Originally uploaded by Soris.

Rays of sunshine interrupted what should have been a dreary, grey and wet Saturday (if the last couple days of rain were any sign..). So when the sun comes out, so do the shutterbugs,..and so do the real bugs. Can u spot one here?

2005 Grouse Grind Mountain Run

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Originally uploaded by jayc2005.

Having managed to do the Grouse Grind at 8+ times this past summer, i figured i might as well see how i stacked up against some competition, so i signed up for the GG Mountain Run. Of course, "run" is a bit of a misnomer since very few actually RUN up the side of a mountain. After a rather slower than usual start, i soon got off to a pretty good pace...although everyone was pretty much nose-to-arse pretty all the way up. There's no better motivation to go faster than by trying to chase or keep up with someone. By the last quarter, my lungs felt like they were burned to the third degree, and my calves were on the verge of cramping, but i pulled off a PB with a time of 46:41 -- A little ways off the winning time of 26:26... but I was still happy! And boy was the weather ever gorgeous!!! Until next year...check out the pics!

Funky SFU Lights

IMG_2739
Originally uploaded by jayc2005.

Has anyone seen those beams of light piercing the night sky towards Burnaby Mountain? Turns out that its coming from the AQ at SFU. I have this hunch that its part of their 40th Anniversary celebration ;-) I think the lights are pretty cool, and I managed to capture this photo on Sunday night (thanks to Mr. Canon Digital Rebel XT, a tripod, and a 30 second shutter!)

Sorry Got to Go!!

We've all run into them. You know. The types of people who just love to hear themselves talk, either that, or they think that your time is THEIR time and so they just talk and talk and talk. Take the office for example. How many times in a day does someone drop by in your cubicle who starts chatting away, and you're in the middle of something important or are just not in the mood to talk. What do you do? "Sorry, love to chat, but I have to get ready for a meeting.", "I was just gonna head down to the bathroom, would you like to walk with me?" Then there are times when you go ask someone a question, wanting just a simple answer, but they just can't stop rambling and justifying their answer in 20 different ways.

Or how about on the phone. What do you do about those annoying callers? The telemarketer? The clingy friend? Girlfriend? Boyfriend? The in-laws? You could always go to this site for the easy way out!!

Who's on First? Bush Style.

This has to make you laugh. (Thanks to StumbleUpon for the link).
------------------------------------------------------------
George: Condi! Nice to see you. What's happening?
Condi: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China.
George: Great. Lay it on me.
Condi: Hu is the new leader of China.
George: That's what I want to know.
Condi: That's what I'm telling you.
George: That's what I'm asking you. Who is the new leader of China?
Condi: Yes.
George: I mean the fellow's name.
Condi: Hu.
George: The guy in China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The new leader of China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The Chinaman!
Condi: Hu is leading China.
George: Now whaddya' asking me for?
Condi: I'm telling you Hu is leading China.
George: Well, I'm asking you. Who is leading China?
Condi: That's the man's name.
George: That's who's name?
Condi: Yes.
George: Will you or will you not tell me the name of the new leader of China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir? Yassir Arafat is in China? I thought he was in the Middle East.
Condi: That's correct.
George: Then who is in China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir is in China?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Then who is?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Look, Condi. I need to know the name of the new leader of China. Get me the Secretary General of the U.N. on the phone.
Condi: Kofi?
George: No, thanks.
Condi: You want Kofi?
George: No.
Condi: You don't want Kofi.
George: No. But now that you mention it, I could use a glass of milk. And then get me the U.N.
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Not Yassir! The guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi?
George: Milk! Will you please make the call?
Condi: And call who?
George: Who is the guy at the U.N?
Condi: Hu is the guy in China.
George: Will you stay out of China?!
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: And stay out of the Middle East! Just get me the guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi.
George: All right! With cream and two sugars. Now get on the phone.

Lost Lake

Just got back from a great mountain biking day-trip to Whistler, with Nicole, R & W, C & W and R & V. Rather than spend $45 to get into the mountain bike park, we decided to stick to the FREE trails around Lost Lake, and to much of our surprise we were all quite impressed at how well the trails were groomed, and the terrain variety. The first part along the Tin Pants trail, started as a steady, but easy, climb upwards towards Lost Lake, before slowly descending down back towards the village. Caught some great sceneary, and a few, single-track downhill paths -- that challenged Nicole (a first time downhill biker) with her 10+ year old, almost-on-the-verge-of-being-a-classic, purple, Norco bike...but she made it. I think she deserves a new bike though -- maybe Xmas will come early, and Santa will buy one for her.

We also came across a nice "trick" park, where we could try different kinds of obstacles, including skinnys, ramps and a teeter-toter (sp??), which as you can see, I was able to do...but due to the beauty of digital pictures, you didn't see any of my two nasty falls. Ha ha. Makes for a sweet photo-opp though...eh?

R & V have been in training for this adventure race this September, from Vancouver to Whistler, consisting of biking, kayaking and running. Sounds like so much freakin' fun...and it just might be the one thing that could start motivating me to train on a more regular basis. I just might start training for something like this race in October, and then go for something like the Sea2Summit. We'll see...

Lillooet and Joffre Lakes

With our camping gear in the trunk, Backroads BC Mapbook and Camp Free in BC book in hand, Nicole and I set out on a three day camping/hiking trip through the Lillooet Lake area last week. We left on a Tuesday so we could beat the weekend traffic and crowds. However, the drive up Hwy 99 took longer than usual because of the road construction. We were in no rush, so we didn't mind and just took in the sights along the way. (By the way, the Hwy 99 is becoming a much nicer and safer highway with all the improvements). About 15 min past Pemberton, we took off on to a forest service road that meanders tightly along the coast of Lillooet Lake. According to the books, the road was passable by 2WD, but it was a dusty, and bumpy ride. Definately the most abuse I've put my little Civic through. We set up camp at Lizzie Bay, which the book described as the nicest one around. And it was...except that the bugs were out in full force. Wasps, Mosquitoes, Flies...you name it. Our defenses were futile at best, as the Citronella candles warded off the mosquitoes, but seemed to attract the wasps. Anyhow, we made the best out of it, enjoyed a nice BBQ dinner, and then were treated to a show by the campers next door who went skinny dipping in the lake, not realizing that we could see them through the trees.

The next day we drove up to Joffre Lakes, a provincial park which features a few glacier topped mountains and three picturesque lakes. We originally set out to see the first lake (Lower). But the first lake was like a movie trailer...it just gave a small hint of what was to come, and we pushed on to the upper lake (5.5 km). As you'll see from these pictures the scenary was awesome, especially at the upper lake where you could see the melting glacier waters flow down the mountain side into the lake. The hike back got a little hairy at times, as the thunderstorms loomed in the distance and the rain steadily came down on us, making the trail quite slippery..which isn't all that great when your legs are on the verge of turning into jello. Fortunately we made it back in one piece. The following day we decided for a complete change in pace and vegged out at Alta Lake to work on the tan.

Yah gotta love BC, eh?

Buy high, sell low

Nicole and I signed up for our Gift Registry yesterday. We both went into the store pretty pumped up to do some "shopping", and after filling out some forms, the lady handed us Mr. Scanner and away we went. It was damn fun and frustrating at the same time. Fun because i'd go around to each item and scanning stuff like it was a game of laser tag (I'm sure Nicole thought i was a goof.). Frustrating, because, it's so freakin' hard to decide on what to get, as I already have a lot of stuff already (might not be best quality stuff though). So when I came across the Potato Masher - which I don't have - , i was all over it. So I scanned it in. Later that night, we checked the list online, and lo behold..it was there. But upon closer inspection, we discovered that '# desired' was 19. Our shock turned to laughter, when we imagined getting *19* potato mashers. Anyways, thanks to the wonders of online shopping, I corrected our mistake - must have been a little too trigger happy with that scanner.

On a somewhat related note, if I'd ever want to sell stuff I don't want, I could always go to eBay. But of course, I'd be up front and honest. And here's an example of honesty to the extreme.

Grindin' away.

Working from home today. Except for my birds, its pretty quiet and i seem to get a lot more done. In other news, in what seems to have become a Canada Day tradition for the past two years, i made my annual pilgrimage up Grouse Mountain on July 1st. I finished it in a record 1hr 56min, my slowest time ever. But that's OK, i had a good excuse :P I redeemed myself and did it again last night in 49 mins thanks to some guy who made a race out of it as we kept passing each other a couple times. I bought a Summit Seeker card this year so i can get my Grind times tracked. I officially reached Kosciuszko status having climbed the equivalent of Mt. Kosciuszko, the highest peak in Australia, which probably doesn't say that much since Australia is considered the flattest continent on Earth.

hAngOvEr

Today i experienced the worst hangover EVER. I woke up feeling as if someone had chained an anchor to my brain and chucked it over the side of a ship. I was not a happy camper. I got out of bed (actually it was a mattress on a floor in someone elses house), and tried to find a washroom. As I tried to maintain my balance standing at the toilet, i had this feeling of dejavu...as if i had seen this very same toilet the night before, but from a slightly lower vantage point. The tile floor seemed strangely familiar..then it dawned on me that it was one of the last things i saw before i passed out. Hmmpphh...

damn frickin' thieves

So my car got broken into AGAIN a couple nights ago, this time while parked in Surrey. It happened to be the one night where i didn't turn on the alarm. This time around, the bad guy (or girl) took my deck. Ironically, I had been thinking of replacing it, since it doesn't work very well any more. But they took my new jacket too....argghhh. The bad guys could have at least coordinated their efforts.....cuz now i have to make two separate claims for insurance, which means two deductibles. At least this thief was smarter, since they didn't leave behind any fingerprints. Nor they didn't leave as big a mess as the first one. Sigh....

Try this maze!

Geez...i'm such a sucker for these kind of skill-testing things on the net.

CSI: Burnaby

This past Saturday morning, i discovered my car had been broken into and vandalized while parked in my underground parkade. It appeared they had gone through the car to find nothing of value inside, and then decided to scratch up the hood. I was pissed, but hey...its not the first time its happened to me. Anyways..what made this experience kinda different was that there were fingerprints all over driver's window. And since i had just washed my car, they were so obvious. So i did what every good citizen should do, and i called the RCMP. The first time i got through to the RCMP and reported the crime, they gave me a file number and said i'll need for insurance purposes. I told them about the fingerprints but they kinda brushed me off at first. FINE! at least i tried! Anyways, they call me back in 5min to say they had just received 6 other reports of vehicles broken into, and they decided to send a car out. In about 1/2 hour two RCMP officers arrived, to meet me and some other residents. Turned out that 12, yes...12 vehicles were broken into in one night. On the scene were Constable G and his rookie partner, Constable K. It was fun watching the two, both took their time examing each car for evidence...and found a screwdriver, a flashlight and some rubber gloves.... When Constable G looked at the prints on my car, they reacted as if they hit jackpot cuz he said the prints were "beautiful", so he got on the phone and called the Ident Team, the RCMP equivalent of CSI for these property crimes. A couple hours later, another female constable arrived with all her gear, dusted the window and lifted some finger and palm prints. They took endless pics of my car, and did all sorts of measurements. It was like CSI....without the crime scene tape, the dead body, and the snappy music. In one hour, any crime could be solved in CSI. In reality, it took 3 hours just to lift prints and gather evidence from my car.

happy belated birthday to me

My blog recently turned 1 year-old. According to Blogger's stats, over the course of the year i've made 56 posts or 20,297 words of sometimes insightful and sometimes mindless chatter. All of which has been indefinately etched into cyberspace. OK...maybe I'm giving myself too much credit. There are definately more dedicated bloggers out there. At first, i tried to post something every other day, then it became a once a week deal...until its reached its present state....uhh...maybe once a month??? Occasionally, I get comments from a few (err..couple of) dedicated readers like KK and NK. To those people who do read, even occasionally, I'd love to know who you are.... in fact, I know at least one person who reads, but doesn't leave anything behind....but no names here, WW :) hahaha.

Party like its year 4703!!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!!

In the lead...

What does it take to be a good leader? I was recently assigned as the lead System Engineer on a major project, and while hesitant at first, i've enjoyed the role so far (although i may think differently once the deadline nears!!). As the lead technical authority on all aspects of system development, my role is fairly well-defined on paper...but HOW to do the job WELL is not always so clear. I've come up with a few tips, which can be applied to any position where you have to lead a team. Some of them are common knowledge, but are sometimes hard to put into practice....

- Know your people. Understand what makes them tick. What motivates them? Understand their personalities. Some people are NATURALLY loud and outspoken. Make sure you understand their message. I've seen two people who were in agreement, but left a meeting in apparent "disagreement" just because they were offended by how each other spoke to them.

- Know yourself. Don't try to be someone you're not. People will notice. Some people think that being a good leader means being kinda loud and outspoken. I'm a fairly "quiet" person...in the sense that i don't have the loudest voice in the room. I like to listen, but I will express my opinions when necessary.

- Boost people's egos. People like to know their suggestions or opinions are valued. Something as simple as "That's a very good point, i didn't even think of that" goes a long way. But be SINCERE. If you don't agree with them, that's OK...just be prepared to say why you don't agree. This really helps when you have to say no to someone.

- Take a position, even in the face of uncertainty. Rarely do you have ALL of the information to make a decision - so why sit on the fence? Take a position and be prepared to defend it with reason. However, this doesn't mean you shouldn't be open to feedback.

Of course this list isn't the be all end all. Heck...there are countless books and people who claim they KNOW what it takes to be a good leader. But what can you say from your OWN personal experience?