After a tortuous night, I was better this morning. I was coughing all night long and worrying about waking up Elena. When I asked her if she heard me coughing, she said she slept like a log. And the door to her bedroom was even open so she should have heard everything.
So now I just have a headache and a cough. My nose is a little runny but not bad. The worst is over. Tomorrow I'll be fine--except I tend to get these lingering coughs after colds, so I might have that for a while.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Illness Update
I had a 103 fever (which Elena didn't understand until I converted it into Celsius). That is over and my throat doesn't hurt anymore. Now it's just sniffles, headache, and fatigue. At least, in my illness, I managed to see 2 episodes of Family Guy I haven't seen yet (among the several I had already seen). I love how the Canadian warnings call it "mature humour" in before the show starts and at the end of each commercial break. I wonder if they call South Park "mature humour."
So now Elena is getting miso ramen at Ezogiku on Robson for me to eat. She can be so sweet and thoughtful. I think I'll still have the cold tomorrow but it will be an immune system mopping up operation. I'm thinking that New Year's Day I'll be back to normal.
So now Elena is getting miso ramen at Ezogiku on Robson for me to eat. She can be so sweet and thoughtful. I think I'll still have the cold tomorrow but it will be an immune system mopping up operation. I'm thinking that New Year's Day I'll be back to normal.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Sick Already
Only a week into my travels and already I'm sick. I wish it were simply intestinal, but instead, it's at the other end of my gastro-intestinal tract--I have a sore throat. I guess the crowds on Robson included disease carrying vectors (aka school kids). So I had to cancel my snowshoeing plans and take it easy. I want to be well when New Years Eve happens.
I first felt a little bit of a chill when I did yoga at the West End community center. We then went to a party in Burnaby for the meetup.com Spanish speakers, and that's when I realized that the chill was the start of something bad. By the time I went to sleep, my throat was pretty scratchy. Then, overnight, it went to full blown, painful to swallow, sore. Seeing the snow out the window isn't exactly soothing either even though it isn't cold in Elena's apartment.
I first felt a little bit of a chill when I did yoga at the West End community center. We then went to a party in Burnaby for the meetup.com Spanish speakers, and that's when I realized that the chill was the start of something bad. By the time I went to sleep, my throat was pretty scratchy. Then, overnight, it went to full blown, painful to swallow, sore. Seeing the snow out the window isn't exactly soothing either even though it isn't cold in Elena's apartment.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Vancouver Downtown $5 Lunch Special Reviews
This post will be updated over the next month as I try to find all the $5 or less lunches in the rectangle bound by Robson, Denman, Davie, and Granville. Several places that have a lunch for $5 or less before any taxes will receive a visit from me.
First, this isn't a restaurant, but you can't beat the bentos at Kombiniya on Robson between Bute and Jervis. They're not hot, but they are probably the best value for your dollar on Robson. It's a bit of a secret from white people who probably avoid it for the almost exclusively Japanese writing everywhere. Even the name, "kombiniya" is Japanese--though it is actually Japelish. "kombini" is an abbreviation of the English word "convenience" and "ya" is a Japanese ending meaning "store". So it is a sort of Mom & Pop convenience store. I did see one other whitey in there--maybe she has the same advantage I have--namely having spent time in Japan and having the immunity to being intimidated by Japanese writing.
December 28, 2007:
Robson Teriyaki in the food court of Robson Market (Robson & Cardero)
Beef Teriyaki Lunch Special. $4.65 (4.95 w. tax). 3/5 stars
This dish was OK, but not great. The sauce could have been a tad zestier but it wasn't bad. There was a smattering of broccoli and carrot with some mushrooms in the meat. The grain was half rice and half noodle. The amount of beef was good. Cheap food court atmosphere.
January 2, 2008:
Falafel Town on Granville at Nelson
Beef Donair ($4.99) 3/5 stars
OK, I went at a bad time. It was the day's first beef sliced off the cone of beef on the gyro cooker and it was a thin cone, so undoubtedly left over from 2007. Instead of oozing yummy looking juices (like the chicken stack), it looked like a dry, hard, burnt rod of nondescript meat. Oh well. Next time I know better. I'm not sure if a donair is different than a gyro, but I was a bit surprized when instead of wrapping the ingredients in a flat bread style pita, the ingredients were stuffed into a pocket style pita opened up. There were 4 sauces--tzatziki, hot sauce, hummous, and ?. The veggies were lettuce, onion, tomato, and green pepper. It wasn't too bad, but not great. Maybe I'll try them again when the beef looks a little more appetizing. Another thing to consider is that they have a falafel donair for a mere $3.99 which could have tasted even better than the ideally prepared beef one. update: 6 hours later and I'm still not hungry. I guess my stomach acids are still busy trying to dissolve those veritable beef jerky strips. That's actually a plus.
January 3, 2008:
Hot Dog Stand by Blenz at Burrard & Robson 4/5 stars
I tried to order a $5 sausage (jumbo beef, or beef/chicken jalapeno & cheese), but they were already sold out at 1:30-ish. So I just got the standard $4 hot dog. It was very tasty with a mound of saurkraut and a pump each of the ketchup and mustard. The biggest problem, though, is the lack of a place to sit and enjoy the sausage.
January 4, 2008:
Panago at Denman between Nelson and Barclay 5/5 stars
They have a $5 pizza and soft drink deal ($5.30 with tax). It turns out it would be a quarter cheaper if you left off the soft drink. I had the Panago Classic with pepperoni, green peppers, olives, Canadian bacon, and onion. It was, of course, yummy. The crust was good, too. Definitely a good way to use the $5. The only down side was when I ordered a rot beer, I asked if it was sugar free and the clerk said yes. I opened it without looking. So I had to pour most of it down the sewer (let the fish have the high fructose corn syrup). Other than that, a nice way to spend $5 for lunch. The seating is at the window, so you can watch the people walking on Denman, too.
January 7, 2008:
One Saigon at Nelson and Hornby 4/5 stars
OK, I went a little over the $5 limit, but I could have stayed within it. (It's just that I had just done hot yoga and was really hungry.) They have baguettes for $3.50 and salad rolls for $2.50. I had a chicken baguette and shrimp salad roll. Both were absolutely yummy. Easily the freshest and tastiest $5 lunch I had since I started. I only take off a point because there wasn't enough. The baguette had bits of chicken, lettuce, and carrot. The salad roll had noodles, shrimps, and was served with a peanut sauce. I'll go there again.
January 8, 2008:
Grove Inn Restaurant on Denman south of Nelson 3/5 stars
This place has 2 menus--one with American food and one with Japanese food. The Japanese food looked more appetizing, but there wasn't a $5 option. I got a hamburger with fries for $4.95. This is actually a cheddar cheese burger. While the cheese wasn't completely melted, the burger itself was OK. It came with what appeared to be salsa, sort of anemic looking tomatoes, and some shredded lettuce fairly brown on the edges. The tables all have a bottle of ketchup but no mustard. The fries were OK--I've had better and I've had worse. I left feeling that this hamburger would be sitting in my stomach for a while and would fight off the hunger for quite a while. So far (3 hours later) it seems that way. They also had CNN on their large TV. But no sound and no subtitles.
January 9, 2008:
Pacific Wok on Davie on Davie between Thurlow and Bute 2/5 stars
I got a sesame chicken and fried rice plate for $4.75 ($4.99 with tax). They advertise No MSG which means that the food will not be as tasty as it looks. And it wasn't. I went at 11:30 and they only had about 3 options for a meat to go with the rice. Maybe later they put more out. Anyway, there was too much rice--I don't need all those carbohydrates. I doubt I'd go again, but it was a passable experience.
First, this isn't a restaurant, but you can't beat the bentos at Kombiniya on Robson between Bute and Jervis. They're not hot, but they are probably the best value for your dollar on Robson. It's a bit of a secret from white people who probably avoid it for the almost exclusively Japanese writing everywhere. Even the name, "kombiniya" is Japanese--though it is actually Japelish. "kombini" is an abbreviation of the English word "convenience" and "ya" is a Japanese ending meaning "store". So it is a sort of Mom & Pop convenience store. I did see one other whitey in there--maybe she has the same advantage I have--namely having spent time in Japan and having the immunity to being intimidated by Japanese writing.
December 28, 2007:
Robson Teriyaki in the food court of Robson Market (Robson & Cardero)
Beef Teriyaki Lunch Special. $4.65 (4.95 w. tax). 3/5 stars
This dish was OK, but not great. The sauce could have been a tad zestier but it wasn't bad. There was a smattering of broccoli and carrot with some mushrooms in the meat. The grain was half rice and half noodle. The amount of beef was good. Cheap food court atmosphere.
January 2, 2008:
Falafel Town on Granville at Nelson
Beef Donair ($4.99) 3/5 stars
OK, I went at a bad time. It was the day's first beef sliced off the cone of beef on the gyro cooker and it was a thin cone, so undoubtedly left over from 2007. Instead of oozing yummy looking juices (like the chicken stack), it looked like a dry, hard, burnt rod of nondescript meat. Oh well. Next time I know better. I'm not sure if a donair is different than a gyro, but I was a bit surprized when instead of wrapping the ingredients in a flat bread style pita, the ingredients were stuffed into a pocket style pita opened up. There were 4 sauces--tzatziki, hot sauce, hummous, and ?. The veggies were lettuce, onion, tomato, and green pepper. It wasn't too bad, but not great. Maybe I'll try them again when the beef looks a little more appetizing. Another thing to consider is that they have a falafel donair for a mere $3.99 which could have tasted even better than the ideally prepared beef one. update: 6 hours later and I'm still not hungry. I guess my stomach acids are still busy trying to dissolve those veritable beef jerky strips. That's actually a plus.
January 3, 2008:
Hot Dog Stand by Blenz at Burrard & Robson 4/5 stars
I tried to order a $5 sausage (jumbo beef, or beef/chicken jalapeno & cheese), but they were already sold out at 1:30-ish. So I just got the standard $4 hot dog. It was very tasty with a mound of saurkraut and a pump each of the ketchup and mustard. The biggest problem, though, is the lack of a place to sit and enjoy the sausage.
January 4, 2008:
Panago at Denman between Nelson and Barclay 5/5 stars
They have a $5 pizza and soft drink deal ($5.30 with tax). It turns out it would be a quarter cheaper if you left off the soft drink. I had the Panago Classic with pepperoni, green peppers, olives, Canadian bacon, and onion. It was, of course, yummy. The crust was good, too. Definitely a good way to use the $5. The only down side was when I ordered a rot beer, I asked if it was sugar free and the clerk said yes. I opened it without looking. So I had to pour most of it down the sewer (let the fish have the high fructose corn syrup). Other than that, a nice way to spend $5 for lunch. The seating is at the window, so you can watch the people walking on Denman, too.
January 7, 2008:
One Saigon at Nelson and Hornby 4/5 stars
OK, I went a little over the $5 limit, but I could have stayed within it. (It's just that I had just done hot yoga and was really hungry.) They have baguettes for $3.50 and salad rolls for $2.50. I had a chicken baguette and shrimp salad roll. Both were absolutely yummy. Easily the freshest and tastiest $5 lunch I had since I started. I only take off a point because there wasn't enough. The baguette had bits of chicken, lettuce, and carrot. The salad roll had noodles, shrimps, and was served with a peanut sauce. I'll go there again.
January 8, 2008:
Grove Inn Restaurant on Denman south of Nelson 3/5 stars
This place has 2 menus--one with American food and one with Japanese food. The Japanese food looked more appetizing, but there wasn't a $5 option. I got a hamburger with fries for $4.95. This is actually a cheddar cheese burger. While the cheese wasn't completely melted, the burger itself was OK. It came with what appeared to be salsa, sort of anemic looking tomatoes, and some shredded lettuce fairly brown on the edges. The tables all have a bottle of ketchup but no mustard. The fries were OK--I've had better and I've had worse. I left feeling that this hamburger would be sitting in my stomach for a while and would fight off the hunger for quite a while. So far (3 hours later) it seems that way. They also had CNN on their large TV. But no sound and no subtitles.
January 9, 2008:
Pacific Wok on Davie on Davie between Thurlow and Bute 2/5 stars
I got a sesame chicken and fried rice plate for $4.75 ($4.99 with tax). They advertise No MSG which means that the food will not be as tasty as it looks. And it wasn't. I went at 11:30 and they only had about 3 options for a meat to go with the rice. Maybe later they put more out. Anyway, there was too much rice--I don't need all those carbohydrates. I doubt I'd go again, but it was a passable experience.
Boxing Day on Robson
As I observe the local Vancouverites in the natural habitat, I am shocked at what I see. Yes, it's the local festival of Boxing Day on Robson. People line up for a quarter of a block to get into Guess to get $5 off an item of clothing. I guess time is less valuable in some parts of the world that appear on my itinerary.
But in all seriousness, I don't get the Boxing Day phenomenon. Every year, the news interviews people and asks them how much they saved and it's always a really small amount. Hardly worth the effort of fighting the crowds and waiting in line. But I guess it's just one of the irrational traditions. Nobody in the world in any country is immune to the irrationality of ridiculous traditions. In the United States, people give worthless crap to their friends and family in exchange for worthless crap from their friends and family. OK, not all is worthless crap, but I'd still rather have the money and decide for myself what to buy.
Fortunately, Boxing Day is over, so I was able to actually get a seat at the Starbucks at Robson and Thurlow (the southern one) and read L'Express. I'm finding L'Express to be much more difficult than Le Point. I read an article about the internet in Africa. It's getting me excited because, I'm learning more about the places I'll be going. I know so little about Africa--which I guess is why I'm going.
I also found a cool site that has travel blogs. I'm starting to follow this one as she goes through some of the same parts of Africa that I'll go through. She would fit into my Seattle neighborhood very well--both Capitol Hill in Seattle and Kitsilano in Vancouver. Maybe she's from one of those... http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Kelebek/
But in all seriousness, I don't get the Boxing Day phenomenon. Every year, the news interviews people and asks them how much they saved and it's always a really small amount. Hardly worth the effort of fighting the crowds and waiting in line. But I guess it's just one of the irrational traditions. Nobody in the world in any country is immune to the irrationality of ridiculous traditions. In the United States, people give worthless crap to their friends and family in exchange for worthless crap from their friends and family. OK, not all is worthless crap, but I'd still rather have the money and decide for myself what to buy.
Fortunately, Boxing Day is over, so I was able to actually get a seat at the Starbucks at Robson and Thurlow (the southern one) and read L'Express. I'm finding L'Express to be much more difficult than Le Point. I read an article about the internet in Africa. It's getting me excited because, I'm learning more about the places I'll be going. I know so little about Africa--which I guess is why I'm going.
I also found a cool site that has travel blogs. I'm starting to follow this one as she goes through some of the same parts of Africa that I'll go through. She would fit into my Seattle neighborhood very well--both Capitol Hill in Seattle and Kitsilano in Vancouver. Maybe she's from one of those... http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Kelebek/
Monday, December 24, 2007
Invited by the Locals: Mini Quiches
One of the interesting things about traveling is getting invited over to people's houses. OK, I've been to Barbara's place for Christmas, etc many times, so it's not being invited someplace new. She's hosting a Christmas orphan potluck dinner for about 8 of us. Elena signed me up for appetizers, so after some looking on the internet, I decided to try little mini-quiche type thingies. I did a dry run today since my recipe is basically an untested amalgam of the recipes out there.
Using Tenderflake frozen mini pastry shells (18 per pack), I made 6 experimental Mexican-inspired quiches. I browned about a 1/3 pound of ground beef, drained off the fat, added some chili powder, salt, and cumin, and mixed in an egg and a sprinkling of shredded TexMex cheese. I mixed and put a dallop into each mini-pastry shell. I added the rest of the liquid from the bowl since I figured it was mostly egg and the egg is needed to set the appetizer. I baked at 375 (wild guess on the temp) for 17 minutes. Then I let them cool a little and added a spoon of salsa to the top of each one.
Results? Super yummy!!!
Tomorrow when I make the real thing, I'll make 8 of each of three types:
Mexican-inspired: ground beef, tex-mex cheese blend, cumin, chili powder, with salsa on top
Italian-inspired: chicken, parmesan cheese, oregano, with pesto on top
Chinese-inspired: chicken, broccoli, soy sauce, with hot mustard on top
And about 1 egg per 8 mini-quiches.
I only made one mistake. I forgot Elena works half a day and I ate my entire experimental sample run right before she got back and didn't save any for her.
Update:
Here are the pictures of the real thing out of the oven.
And close-ups of the Chinese-inspired and Italian-inspired.
Using Tenderflake frozen mini pastry shells (18 per pack), I made 6 experimental Mexican-inspired quiches. I browned about a 1/3 pound of ground beef, drained off the fat, added some chili powder, salt, and cumin, and mixed in an egg and a sprinkling of shredded TexMex cheese. I mixed and put a dallop into each mini-pastry shell. I added the rest of the liquid from the bowl since I figured it was mostly egg and the egg is needed to set the appetizer. I baked at 375 (wild guess on the temp) for 17 minutes. Then I let them cool a little and added a spoon of salsa to the top of each one.
Results? Super yummy!!!
Tomorrow when I make the real thing, I'll make 8 of each of three types:
Mexican-inspired: ground beef, tex-mex cheese blend, cumin, chili powder, with salsa on top
Italian-inspired: chicken, parmesan cheese, oregano, with pesto on top
Chinese-inspired: chicken, broccoli, soy sauce, with hot mustard on top
And about 1 egg per 8 mini-quiches.
I only made one mistake. I forgot Elena works half a day and I ate my entire experimental sample run right before she got back and didn't save any for her.
Update:
Here are the pictures of the real thing out of the oven.
And close-ups of the Chinese-inspired and Italian-inspired.
Computer Glitch--Lost Data!
Yes, I had a computer glitch. I left my contact list on the USB flash drive in the USB port on my desktop computer which is in storage. If you know me and you know my email address, please drop me a line so I can reconstruct my contact list. Now that I'm mobile, I use a webmail client instead of Outlook, so I have to add the contacts as I get them.
Such are the trials of homeless travel.
Such are the trials of homeless travel.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Final Move and Vancouver Bound
Friday afternoon Elena came. She is an extra pair of hands and a ruthless organizer, so it was nice to have her. On Friday, we had a final lunch at Broadway Grille, did a bunch of organization and moving. After a rough day boxing up stuff, throwing away stuff, and taking junk to storage, we had a final dinner (or so we thought) at Quinn's.
Saturday morning we woke up at 7:30, got coffee, rented a pickup truck at Enterprise, and moved all sorts of stuff to storage. Ugh!!! I'm sick of Public Storage. I've spent too much time there. We did that until 8:30pm. Then a truly well deserved final dinner at Kimchi Bistro.
After that, we drove up. I was wondering what would happen at customs when he asked how long I intended to stay. He asked about my job (none), plans to travel (plenty), plans to get a job in the near future (none), how much money I had (enough).
Well, now I'm at Elena's place. I'm dead tired. When I hit "Publish Post", I'm going to sleep.
Saturday morning we woke up at 7:30, got coffee, rented a pickup truck at Enterprise, and moved all sorts of stuff to storage. Ugh!!! I'm sick of Public Storage. I've spent too much time there. We did that until 8:30pm. Then a truly well deserved final dinner at Kimchi Bistro.
After that, we drove up. I was wondering what would happen at customs when he asked how long I intended to stay. He asked about my job (none), plans to travel (plenty), plans to get a job in the near future (none), how much money I had (enough).
Well, now I'm at Elena's place. I'm dead tired. When I hit "Publish Post", I'm going to sleep.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Storage Information
So all my stuff is in storage. I have an 8 digit secret code for the door to get in. Unfortunately, I'm likely to forget it. So I'm going to put it in my blog. Whoaaaaa Nelllyyyyy!!! you say? Oh don't worry. Try to crack this code. ;)
0: aku
1: blv
2: cmw
3: dnx
4: eoy
5: fpz
6: gq
7: hr
8: is
9: jt
Here is the floor it's on: First letter of the fifth grade teacher I didn't have.
Locker #: Last name of the guy who felt slighted because when he was looking for a job, the women got tons of offers and he didn't
Locker #: First name of girl at UW who is associated with an umbrella
Locker #: Last name of funniest professor at RH
Code #: First name of my first crush
Code #: Class where the teacher wore stockings whose weave let her legs show through about 3 inches below her hemline
Code #: First name of guy who thought gas in Texas was a nickel per gallon
Code #: First name of girl who came to Houston when I was at UW
Code #: Item that a very cute girl in Japan wanted to buy when we went shopping together (English)
Code #: City where we stopped on the road trip where I made the "shoe thing"
Code #: Fifth letter of teacher who massaged her breast during class
Code #: Myoji of my wrangler
0: aku
1: blv
2: cmw
3: dnx
4: eoy
5: fpz
6: gq
7: hr
8: is
9: jt
Here is the floor it's on: First letter of the fifth grade teacher I didn't have.
Locker #: Last name of the guy who felt slighted because when he was looking for a job, the women got tons of offers and he didn't
Locker #: First name of girl at UW who is associated with an umbrella
Locker #: Last name of funniest professor at RH
Code #: First name of my first crush
Code #: Class where the teacher wore stockings whose weave let her legs show through about 3 inches below her hemline
Code #: First name of guy who thought gas in Texas was a nickel per gallon
Code #: First name of girl who came to Houston when I was at UW
Code #: Item that a very cute girl in Japan wanted to buy when we went shopping together (English)
Code #: City where we stopped on the road trip where I made the "shoe thing"
Code #: Fifth letter of teacher who massaged her breast during class
Code #: Myoji of my wrangler
Packing Nitty Gritty
Elena is on the way down, I have a pickup truck reserved at Enterprise. Most of my food is thrown away. Most of my stuff is gone. Still, there is so much clutter everywhere. Will I ever get moved out by noon tomorrow?
All the dilemmas--take, toss or leave? Bicycle helmet? Leave. "Swann's Way"? Take. Half used toiletries? Toss.
I'll live in Vancouver for a month, do a cross country trip from lovely PNW to the icy Midwest. France for two or three months, then I'll be living out of luggage for half a year. How to pack for that? Oh well. At least I'm heading for multi-lingual adventure.
All the dilemmas--take, toss or leave? Bicycle helmet? Leave. "Swann's Way"? Take. Half used toiletries? Toss.
I'll live in Vancouver for a month, do a cross country trip from lovely PNW to the icy Midwest. France for two or three months, then I'll be living out of luggage for half a year. How to pack for that? Oh well. At least I'm heading for multi-lingual adventure.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Total Reclaim
Although many people in my apartment building furtively place their unwanted large trash in a common area by the parking garage pretending to think that maybe someone will want it, the reality is that the only proper thing to do with worthless junk is to throw it away. And when the worthless junk is electronic equipment, you can't just pop it into the dumpster. Sadly, our building manager has to deal with all this unwanted trash. I decided not to do this to her during my move out.
So I took 2 old monitors, my old 90MHz Pentium, an old TV, and a no longer working stereo down to Total Reclaim near the Port of Seattle. $43.70 later, my junk is gone and my conscience is clean.
It was fun to see the operation. Conveyor belts of old monitors going up to a disassembly area, fork lift carrying around pallets of computer cases, the industrial sounds, the factory smells, the grime, the dirt. It was nostalgic in a way. It's been a while since I worked in such a setting. Watching the counter woman drag the TV by the cord over to the scale was amusing. It is now trash, after all, no point in treating with care. I realized I had forgotten to take an old printer, so I'll make another trip with that and some other "misc electronic equipment" at $.35 per pound.
So I took 2 old monitors, my old 90MHz Pentium, an old TV, and a no longer working stereo down to Total Reclaim near the Port of Seattle. $43.70 later, my junk is gone and my conscience is clean.
It was fun to see the operation. Conveyor belts of old monitors going up to a disassembly area, fork lift carrying around pallets of computer cases, the industrial sounds, the factory smells, the grime, the dirt. It was nostalgic in a way. It's been a while since I worked in such a setting. Watching the counter woman drag the TV by the cord over to the scale was amusing. It is now trash, after all, no point in treating with care. I realized I had forgotten to take an old printer, so I'll make another trip with that and some other "misc electronic equipment" at $.35 per pound.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Le Point
OK, I gave up on blogs because I have to be by a computer to read them. Instead, I decided to head over to Broadway News and pick up something French when I saw a woman trying her hardest to get customers.
Broadway News used to be at the corner of John and Broadway between the American Apparel and Cafe Bleu, where there is a lot of foot traffic. A couple of months ago, they got bumped and went down to Broadway & Mercer where there aren't many people at all. Anyway, she was trying to give away coupons for a free cup of coffee with a magazine purchase while holding a sign. She was rudely ignored by about 6 people in a row and made some frustrated comment about the "friendly people in Seattle." I understood her frustration. It's tough to have your business moved from a high traffic area to a low traffic area. I respect everyone who tries to run a small business on Capitol Hill. Capitol Hill gets its character from the people who live and conduct business here. The people willing to try to eek out an existence rather than give up and let McChainStore move in are true heroes. Without them, Capitol Hill would be nothing special. The same goes for 4th in Vancouver, as well as Granville Island. State Street in Madison is still half way local. These streets with one-off businesses are dying, but they are tenacious (even when their owners get frustrated). Anyway, I figured if she was out trying to drum up business again (she did so for a while right after the move), I figured I could atleast do my part and buy something.
So I bought a copy of Le Point. It's like a French "Time" or "Newsweek". I had a very hard time reading an article about Sarkozy's appointments, but I could read about 2 paragraphs before needing to resort to the dictionary on an article about the Central African Republic (I think I won't go there). So I read that magazine today at Cafe Ladro and Smith. Certainly easier than Lord Jim. And it's starting to get me acquainted with French society. I had never, before today, even heard of the UMP or PS. Oh sure I was awakened one night when I left C-SPAN on by the rising intensity of the debate between Segolene Royale and Nicolas Sarkozy (the debate was almost erotic when she attacked him--is it a pan-French thing or Royale's smouldering eroticism?) when Sarkozy suggested cutting special education budgets or something. But that debate was all I knew.
Anyway, hopefully, Broadway News makes it. I assume the rents are lower over there. And the store actually is quite nice--nicer than the previous store. When I return and can read French sans dictionaire, I hope to start buying Le Point there on a regular basis.
Broadway News used to be at the corner of John and Broadway between the American Apparel and Cafe Bleu, where there is a lot of foot traffic. A couple of months ago, they got bumped and went down to Broadway & Mercer where there aren't many people at all. Anyway, she was trying to give away coupons for a free cup of coffee with a magazine purchase while holding a sign. She was rudely ignored by about 6 people in a row and made some frustrated comment about the "friendly people in Seattle." I understood her frustration. It's tough to have your business moved from a high traffic area to a low traffic area. I respect everyone who tries to run a small business on Capitol Hill. Capitol Hill gets its character from the people who live and conduct business here. The people willing to try to eek out an existence rather than give up and let McChainStore move in are true heroes. Without them, Capitol Hill would be nothing special. The same goes for 4th in Vancouver, as well as Granville Island. State Street in Madison is still half way local. These streets with one-off businesses are dying, but they are tenacious (even when their owners get frustrated). Anyway, I figured if she was out trying to drum up business again (she did so for a while right after the move), I figured I could atleast do my part and buy something.
So I bought a copy of Le Point. It's like a French "Time" or "Newsweek". I had a very hard time reading an article about Sarkozy's appointments, but I could read about 2 paragraphs before needing to resort to the dictionary on an article about the Central African Republic (I think I won't go there). So I read that magazine today at Cafe Ladro and Smith. Certainly easier than Lord Jim. And it's starting to get me acquainted with French society. I had never, before today, even heard of the UMP or PS. Oh sure I was awakened one night when I left C-SPAN on by the rising intensity of the debate between Segolene Royale and Nicolas Sarkozy (the debate was almost erotic when she attacked him--is it a pan-French thing or Royale's smouldering eroticism?) when Sarkozy suggested cutting special education budgets or something. But that debate was all I knew.
Anyway, hopefully, Broadway News makes it. I assume the rents are lower over there. And the store actually is quite nice--nicer than the previous store. When I return and can read French sans dictionaire, I hope to start buying Le Point there on a regular basis.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Apartment to Storage--20 Minute Turnaround
Start: (tick tick tick tick)
(tick tick tick) Stop.
Only 20 minutes.
- Put my boxes on a dolley
- Go to the elevator
- Go down to the upper parking level (which has elevator access)
- Open the garage door with the button on the inside
- Open the lower parking level with my remote control
- Move my stuff down into the lower parking level by going outside and down (with heavy stuff on the dolley, this would be dangerous in the rain)
- Load the stuff into my car
- Drive to the storage place
- Load my stuff onto a dolley
- Enter my security code into the freight elevator keypad
- Go to my storage unit
- Unlock the storage unit
- Unload my stuff
- Lock the storage unit
- Go down the elevator
- Drive home
- Lug my dolley from the lower parking level up the stairs to the upper parking level
- Take the elevator up to my apartment
- Enter my apartment with the dolley
(tick tick tick) Stop.
Only 20 minutes.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
I <3 Packing. NOT!
Is there anything worse than packing all your belongings into boxes? I wish books came in standard sizes and that boxes designed to hold books came in multiples of those sizes. But somehow it seems that every book has it's own unique size and shape--kind of like women, I guess--(and they don't fit together, either).
Anyway, I have finally started the laborious process of getting all my earthly belongings into boxes for transport to the storage place which is mercifully close. I can easily make multiple trips to get all the small stuff there. Then I just have to figure out a way to get the big stuff there without spending too much money. Most of the movers seem to charge a lot and have minimum prices. Tomorrow I'll take 10 boxes of books to the storage place and buy 10 more empty boxes. That should just about cover the books.
Then I have all sorts of stuff I want to throw away. You'd think that there would be much more information out there about how to get rid of the old generations of electronics I have. And I have an old vacuum cleaner I want to get rid of. You'd think in a world where thieves are stealing a yoga studio's prayer wheel for the scrap metal, that the copper windings in the vacuum cleaner would be something people would want. Funny world we live in.
Anyway, I have finally started the laborious process of getting all my earthly belongings into boxes for transport to the storage place which is mercifully close. I can easily make multiple trips to get all the small stuff there. Then I just have to figure out a way to get the big stuff there without spending too much money. Most of the movers seem to charge a lot and have minimum prices. Tomorrow I'll take 10 boxes of books to the storage place and buy 10 more empty boxes. That should just about cover the books.
Then I have all sorts of stuff I want to throw away. You'd think that there would be much more information out there about how to get rid of the old generations of electronics I have. And I have an old vacuum cleaner I want to get rid of. You'd think in a world where thieves are stealing a yoga studio's prayer wheel for the scrap metal, that the copper windings in the vacuum cleaner would be something people would want. Funny world we live in.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
French Blogs
I started looking at the Next Blog feature of my blogs. It is a link to some other blog that someone else has created. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to what the next blog is. There were a few blogs in Spanish and then voila, a blog in French. So I spent this morning and this afternoon reading French blogs (and writing my horrible French into my little French notebook). The first blog was by French person living in Japan, so I read blogs by French people living in Japan.
My favorite so far is: http://suppaiku.blogspot.com/ by a guy who works for Nova which is a language school in Japan (there are 3 big ones: Nova, ECC, and Geos). I have known quite a few people who worked for these language schools, so it's interesting to see another take on working there--and of just living in Japan.
It's helping my vocabulary. Blogs use real everyday language, so each new word I look up is a word I'm likely to encounter in my everyday life. Better than word lists. Unfortunately, there are still sentences that I can't make heads or tails of. It's an uphill struggle. But more fun than working.
My favorite so far is: http://suppaiku.blogspot.com/ by a guy who works for Nova which is a language school in Japan (there are 3 big ones: Nova, ECC, and Geos). I have known quite a few people who worked for these language schools, so it's interesting to see another take on working there--and of just living in Japan.
It's helping my vocabulary. Blogs use real everyday language, so each new word I look up is a word I'm likely to encounter in my everyday life. Better than word lists. Unfortunately, there are still sentences that I can't make heads or tails of. It's an uphill struggle. But more fun than working.
Monday, December 3, 2007
A New Method To Study French
Yes, I have a new way to practice my French. I bought a little notebook and I write into it anything and everything that comes to my mind--in French. This forces me to learn and reinforce my vocabulary in those areas where I would naturally converse. For example, I was sitting in one of the local pubs last night and I wrote "J’aime à venir ici car les serviteuses sont très jolies." I don't know if the grammar and word choice are as correct as the content. Writing it was slow. I had to look up waitress and that took as much time as it took to write the rest of the sentence. I probably should have looked up ici because I think it might have an accent mark on one of the 'i's.
So when all was said and done, I wrote 5 pages of French. Bad French, to be sure, but it got my mind functioning. It forced me to think in ways I'll have to think when I'm in France. And I learned a few new and important words like 'serviteuse'.
So when all was said and done, I wrote 5 pages of French. Bad French, to be sure, but it got my mind functioning. It forced me to think in ways I'll have to think when I'm in France. And I learned a few new and important words like 'serviteuse'.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
30 Days' Notice
It's official. I am now on a 30 day countdown to moving out of my apartment.
I have so much to do. I need to pack, move my stuff into storage, throw away all the junk I've collected, give away all the old clothes I bought when I was fat...
Well, I better get busy...
I have so much to do. I need to pack, move my stuff into storage, throw away all the junk I've collected, give away all the old clothes I bought when I was fat...
Well, I better get busy...
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