Don't Taze Me Bro, Eh?

One of the fun things about travel is the opportunity to see a wider range of proof of the idiocy of mankind. Here is a flyer that's posted on lampposts all over downtown Vancouver. It seems, the Vancouver Police tased some guy and he's hoping there are witnesses--with video.

Let's examine his case. He was at ground zero for the club scene. It was Saturday night. The death of the Polish guy who got lost at the airport, followed by the death of a guy in Montreal, followed by the death of an inmate in Nova Scotia has to make the police cautious about using tasers. So, I'll have to say that this guy was probably drunk, belligerent, and deserved to be tased.

Il Neige (It's Snowing)

It snowed last night. Schools are closed, trains are derailing, and traffic is bad. But victory is mine because Chapters was open and I got the latest l'Express whose cover story is about Barack Obama. So I'm off to read about Obama en francais.

The snow was heavy up in the mountains which affects me because tonight I'm heading up Grouse Mountain. Every year at this time there is an "event" called Dine Out Vancouver where dozens of local restaurants develop a $15, $25 or $35 fixed 3 course menu. Each course has a recommended BC wine. Tonight 8 of us will eat at The Observatory overlooking a snowy Vancouver at night. It will be wonderful. If anyone ever wants to come to Vancouver, the Dineout Vancouver is a great time to come--just make your reservations early because the places fill up fast.

Bon Voyage Party, Feb 9

Our party is decided. Elena and I will have a bon voyage party at a friend's house. It will be Saturday, February 9. If you didn't get an invitation, and you know either Elena or me (or someone else who knows one of us), then email us and we'll add you to the list. We're expecting a lot of people from the Greater Vancouver Area, so it'll be a good time.

Elevator at Elena's

One of things I get to look forward to over the course of my voyage is mechanical failures and breakdowns. "En panne" is something I expect to see and hear a lot in Africa. So in my first step on my journey to Vancouver, I get a taste of things to come.

I'm staying with Elena at the moment. Her building, is 12 stories high and has 2 elevators. Except, one of them is out of service and has been since I got here a month ago. So when you call the elevator, it can take a really long time. I've discovered that there is a lady on the 6th floor who has a friend on the second floor. She visits a lot.

Today, I went out to write into my journal over a beer and hamburger. When I came back, the elevator was on the 9th floor. I called it by pushing the button. I watched it as is slowly descended: 8........7........6........ Please 5! Please! No, stopped on 6. I figured there was a 50/50 chance that would mean a stop on 2. It restarted. 5.......4........3.......2........ Please 1! Please. Nope. Stopped on 2. It finally arrived. I got on and came up. I hope the fix the elevator soon.

Democrats Abroad

It seems that there is an organization called Democrats Abroad that will aid those of us who are abroad and would still like to vote. I looked into joining, but you have to choose a country and then you have to be approved by the local branch in that country. Well, I'm in Canada right now, but at the time of the election, who knows where I'll be? If Obama is the nominee, I'll certainly try to be in Kenya to watch their reaction to a native son running for the White House. On the more likely event that it's Hillary, I'll be anywhere. Who knows where. Ethiopia? Kenya? Still stuck in Cameroon? Maybe traipsing around a place I'm not even considering right now (after all, I might meet a woman during my travels--in Seattle I'm just another plain, boring software developer, but in Africa, I'll be a courageous, fascinating adventurer).

I would like to vote, not because I think my vote will affect the Presidential race (if a Republican wins WA, they won anyway), Senatorial race (after Murray and Cantwell, this is our year off), or the House race (Capitol Hill will never elect an elephant--and McDermott will run again), but because my vote could affect the governor's race. In the last election against Dino Rossi, Christine Gregoire won after a couple of recounts, starting from behind, by a mere 129 votes. It looks like Rossi wants to run again and I hope Gregoire wants to run again. So my vote might count in that. The thing I need to figure out is how to join Democrats Abroad when I'm traveling through multiple countries with only a vague idea of an itinerary.

Loonie vs Greenback

I'm glad I made a couple of purchases and withdrew a bunch of cash when I did--back when it only took about 97 cents to buy a Canadian dollar. Now it's almost back to par. Man, I picked the wrong time to travel. The US dollar is so weak. It does have the salutary effect of making me watch my budget more closely than ever. But, I suppose we are at a point where it can't get too much better, anyway. The American public has been consuming more than it produces and paying the difference with debt. Now they are all maxed out and the world can't find enough stuff to buy from us to make our dollars worth anything. I'm glad I'm getting out to see the world now. Some tough times are ahead.

Yoga "Goddess Pose" Mystery

As you know if you've been reading this blog, I started doing yoga at Yaletown Yoga. I've been doing "Power Yoga" and "Hot Yoga". I've noticed a few difference between the yoga I used to do at Samadhi in Seattle and the yoga at Yaletown. Some of the difference are nomenclature and some are operational differences. The heat at Yaletown is obviously one big difference.

One difference has been extra strange to me. What we call alternatively the "Exalted Warrior" or "Reverse Warrior" at Samadhi is not called that at Yaletown Yoga. Rather, they call it the "Goddess Pose". So I decided to google the terms and see if I could determine if there is any difference between these, and if not, what communities use each term with what frequency.

There seems to be a lot of support for calling the pose "Exalted Warrior" and "Reverse Warrior", but I was completely unable to find any google evidence of that pose being called "Goddess Pose". Maybe I just didn't look hard enough? Rather, I did find that "Goddess Pose" is an actual term for what we called "Supta Baddha Konasana". There is a lot of googly evidence for this translation.

So what's up with Yaletown Yoga's nomenclature? Is it a Vancouver thing? Or a Yaletown thing? Or a British Columbia thing? I'll have to dig deeper into this mystery.

Liveblogging the Packers vs. Giants

OK. The Packers are one win away from going to the Superbowl again. They are at home like last week, and just like last, there is a sea gull on Elena's balcony.



The kick-off is imminent. Terry Bradshaw is predicting the Giants will win. Hmm....

3:37pm GB took the field. I hear that my brother Tim and cousin Todd are there. I predict they will have major shrinkage for a couple of days.

3:39 OK, I decided to not crack open my last 4 beers until the Pack started. Well, I opened one during the pregame show at Lambeau and I'm already almost done with it. If I finish it before the first quarter, back to chardonnay.

3:43 Kick-off delayed by a falling ball. Interesting. What does it mean?

3:44 Pack now has the ball. Go Favre!!!!!

3:45 First Down on first play!!!!

3:46 First down second play!!!!

3:46 A run into a crowd. And I'm almost out of beer. Switching to chardonnay would be sacreligious. Almost intercepted Whew!!!

3:48 Well... Time to punt. Oh well. Let's see what happens.

3:51 Drinking chardonnay. Giants got first down? No! I don't believe it. Well at least they threw it away to nobody on 1st & 10. Here is my chard. Does it go with Spicy Nacho Doritos? Giants not doing well. :) 3rd & 10.... Damn! Third down conversion. Damn!



3:54 You can tell my Doritos are Canadian, because they are in English and French. First down is prevented, I think. Giants are advancing. Hmmm.... Well, Favre's hands are warm....flag...Damn! 3rd down conversion on a penalty. Does that count?

3:56 Gee, another G first down. Pack, what's up? 2nd & 7...Another first down. Damn! Defense! Defense! They are close to the end zone...No gain....2nd & 10 on the 11 or so.

3:59 Incomplete in end zone. 3rd & 10 on 11. Stop em!!!

4:00 almost intercepted. Damn. Almost an automatic 3 at this point. Oh well. San Diege started out with 3.

4:01 3-0 NYG.

4:03 Almost outof Doritos. I guess that's OK because I'm eating too much oily food. The Pack is on, so it's OK, but my tummy isn't used to it. Been eating healthy lately. BTW, I hate the hip-hop Subway commercial. Do they have that in the US? I hate the Wal-Mart "It's True" commercial even more. I see this Nissan commercial where a guy puts his glass on his neighbor's new Sentra and the neighbor rips of his shirt to wipe it. I don't hate that one.

4:06 Favre is up. 2nd & 9... Errr what was that? Favre brain fart?

4:07 3rd & 12...damn. complete but nowhere. Damn! Punt. Not bad field position for NYG.

4:09 Elena is out shopping. I wonder what she's getting. She made a Costco run yesterday. The fridge is chock full. She made a sandwich with my ham and my brie. OK, I guess since I'm living in her place, she can eat my stuff. Still, I wish she would prepare it to be maximally tasty.

4:10 Giants dropped a gimme. :) 2nd & 10...NYG run goes horizontal... 3rd and 10ish. Complete. but no first. 4th and yards. Yay! A Punt, I guess...

4:12 Hahahaha, a 21 yard punt. Yay!!!! BTW, I have more chard in my glass. Next beer at the quarter.

4:15 GB 3 yard gain. 2nd and 7? Favre is using hand warmers...run goes not so far. 3rd &....end of quarter. Time for more Granville Island Honey Lager.

4:19 3rd & 5....incomplete. Almost intercepted. The precatch hit looked painful...damn. Punt. Damn. NYG is almost at the 50. Damn!

4:22 First down NYG! What's going on? Is GB jinxed because my brother is there?

4:23 Another NYG 5 yards. 2nd & 3. Damn! Drop--flag... on GB? Damn. Spot problem...flag. false start. Ref mike no working. Annoying.

4:26 1st & 15 on 22. Run to 20. OK, I can live with that. 19, I guess, incomplete. 3rd & 12...on 19,...timeout?

4:28 Just saw a Best Buy commercial. I know it's Canadian because they showed a menu on a LCD TV and the menu had "COLOUR". All the tricks I know. Like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are Reese Peanut Butter Cups up here. I guess so they can use "Reese" without having to Frenchify "Reese's".

4:30 Whew...incomplete by the end zone. Another auto Field goal, I suppose....yep. Giants up 0-6. Pack got stung with 2 scores last week though. It ain't over....

4:33 Whew! Pack almost lost the ball on the kick. Horrible field position...Need some Favre magic....

4:35 Yeppers. That's what I'm talking about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6-6

4:35 Pack up 6-7. Yes!!!!!!!!!! The Pack is Back!!!!!!

4:38 My Bro is one happy dude right now.

4:39 Impressive NYG run. 2nd and 3 midfield...Nice stuff...3rd and ?...3 .. Damn! 3rd down conversion. But the crowd is into it now. I hear much more crowd noise. They are excited. Elena's neighbors probably noticed me. ;) 2nd & 10...3rd & 10... Yes.... Time to punt!

4:42 OK, the Pack gets it at the 21 or so. Good thing he got it. Favre is up...First run goes nowhere...2nd & 8....out of beer...need chardonnay...SWEET catch. 18 yards!

4:45 Another 1st down. At 45 yard line....huddle breaks...so close. Ooshii!!! 2nd & 10...batted down.... Could have been intercepted, but not. Actuallty it was too fast for me to see...3rd & 10...incomplete! Damn. Punt. Down at the 7. OK good.

4:49 Got more chardonnay. NYG gain 9. Damn! 1st down--flag. But holding on offense. Whew! 2nd & 9....3rd and inside the PAck 10. Yes!!!! This can't turn out bad!!! 3rd & 7...flags fumble on snap? illegal shift on offense. 4th down on goal line? Yes!!!!

4:52 Pack fair catches just inside 50 yard line! Bodes well!!! Nice pack run, but no gain. You can really see their breaths. Wow! It's like fog on the line of scrimmage. Incomplete. That was really fast. Why? Oh well, forbeit from me to question Favre... 3rd & 10...incomplete...flag...on defense!!! auto first down!!!!!! Yay!!!!!! Whew!!!!

4:55 run picks up 1. That was so lucky. Does the NYG support the GOP? It must. SWEET complete!!! on 20. Wow!!!!

4:56 Run to 20. They show the streets of Green Bay. Don't give the burglars ideas. Even the cops are watching hte game. If there is 911 call, it'll have to wait. You can rob any store in GB and get away with it right now. ;)

5:00 Pass to end zone incomplete. Damn! 3rd & 8...not much... Field goal?

5:02 NYG timeout? Why? Was that a first down? No. FG attempt. 6-10 GB.

5:03 Pack up by 4. Can't complain...Ball falls again on tee. ..NYG down at 23. About 1:15 left in half.

5:05 Run for 9ish....DAMN!!!! NYG on 30 and about a minute left. Just used last TO. Pack needs to stuff them. Stuff em. DEFENSE. DEFENSE. ????????? Incomplete at 3? Yes, incomplete. Whew!!! 2nd & 10...QB tackled. no TOs for NYG. 20 sec left. incomplete. 4th * 7 :11 left and barely in FG range.....gonna play it.... loss turn over on downs...Pack will retire with 5 seconds. Will Favre kneel? Or Hail Mary?? ... Kneel. So it's 6-10 at the half. A nail biter. And I'm a nail biter. Not a high scoring game at all. Pack is not dominating. Nobody is. At this point it's all up to randomness.... Scary.

5:11 CTV news update. Shooting at Smithe & Howe. Just a few block from Elena's place. It was a targeted shooting though. Basically, in BC, if you don't deal drugs, you're not likely to be shot. Deal drugs, and you might.

5:14 It's getting dark. Here are some views from Elena's balcony:







5:16 Half time show. It's tough being up by only 4. Need more Chardonnay. Not sure where Elena went. I think she's sick of my football ways. She went out somewhere. BTW---the second tallest building in the last picture is the Sandman on Davie. Anyone who came to Vancouver with Margie Ye last year stayed there.

5:21 I hope that in 2 weeks I am able to ask myslef the question: do I want to see a team win a perfect season or see Brett Favre win a Super Bowl?

5:23 Look at all the stuff in Elena's fridge. It's packed. Unlike my bachelor fridge, nothing is past its due date, but it's packed.



5:25 Sounds like it's gearing up. NYG on 31. OK, let's stop them...Run for at most 1...2nd & 8...Nice first down for NYG. Not good for me, but nice play...

5:27 run for a yard...incomplete. 3rd & 9...Some pretty scary close calls...play clock expires--TO NYG. Nice way to waste a TO. Whew!

5:30 A nice commercial for Corner Gas. It's an OK show. Not as good as Trailer Park Boys or The Newsroom. But OK Canadian comedy... Game back...Inteception!!!...Err.. fflag?? Damn.

5:32 Damn!!! 1st & 10 NYG. Damn! 2nd & 8. Damn! I was so excited. Run for 3. 3rd & 5... But NYG good at 3rd down conversions...

5:34 pass batted down, roughing passer? Damn! 15 yerd penalty. auto 1st down. Damn!

5:35 NYG gets3 to within 30 yard line. Damn. Not good. Damn 1st down at about the 20. damn! Damn!...NYG at 7 on 2nd down. This sucks. Please keep to FG. Damn almost 1st down right by goal line....

5:37 Bringing in chains. just short. Chance to stuff em...3rd & inches....ball out.. looks like recovered by NYG.... Damn 1st & inches ot goal. Frak!

5:39 flag. Pack was fast. off sides. Half distance to goal, but that's like inches....again, stopped, but another offsides I think. OK another half inch...Damn!!!

5:42 OK, NYG TD. 13-10 with extra point pending. Commercial. For "Lost" I've heard good thingabout that show, but never watched it.

5:44 kick. Excellent run to NYG 39th Yard line.... Yay!!!! Time for some Favre magic...

5:45 Nice fist pass. Gain of 8. 2nd & 2. Come on Favre...First down???? Yes! Whew! Wait measurement. IS it really 1st down? yes. Whew! Go Favre...incomplete. Wow! You can totally hear Favre calling his plays. He's so loud. 2nd & 10...screen to 3? yard line? 3rd & 8. damn. Cought short...flag...crowd cheers. What penalty? On NYG. 1st down? Why? No Comprende. I guess God is pissed with NYG. Nice. For us. Touchdown!!!!!!

5:53 Sorry neighbors! Just scared you but GB is now up 13-17!!!!

5:55 Come back from bathroom to see NYG at the 40. Damn!... Commercial. Just a Budweiser commercial. They talked about the choicest hops. Makes me wonder. This is going to be a really bad year for people into beers made with hops. Horrible year for hops.

5:57 NYG to 50. 2nd & 2.

5:58 Damn. First down...NYG is doing well. another one. Damn. 35th yard. Damn. GB doesn't need this. NYG throwS AWAY. Damn CAPS LOCK KEY. Made?? Feet were in????? Wow! If so I'll be impressed. GB challenge.

6:01 Mac vs. PC commercial. Screw Apple. If they would make their iPod Touch use as much as 10% of the power it has, I'd be happy, but they barely let it do anything. Screw Apple. Screw Steve Jobs. I like my iPod Touch, but I'm 100% pissed off that it leaves all that unused potential. GB loses a TO because the Challenge failed. Damn.

6:04 Damn. 8 yards. Manning is doing well. Need to remove him and put Favre on the field. Damn! Not good. TD NYG! Damn! 19-17. About to be 20-17.

6:05 OK, need some Favre magic. Pack does OK with the other team ahead, right? Right? OK I don't know. But Favre came back last week when I started watching...Pack will start on their 20.

6:07 Damn, out of beer....Nice First Dpown... :)... 2:12.. next beer or chardonannay?? An othe first down. Yes!!!

6:09 Run for no gain. Need some Favre magic...incomplete. Time for beer.

6:12 C'est moi!



6:13 GB to 31 yard line!!!!!

6:13 More Favrre magic??? Intecept...fumble Pack recover...1st down!!!

6:15 SWEEEEET!!! OK I'm nervous. Typing instead of wathcing.....Pick up of 5. 5 to 1st down...

6:16 complete, but lost yardage......Frak!!! Trying to not offend my aunt who doens't like the F word...

6:17 Tied it up. tie but OK. Relief!!! 20-20

6:18 OK,I'm nervous. Damn. And I'm not even a true fan. Just a sort of fair weather fan. I don't really follow it until my hometown team does well. Hoemtown? Well maybe GB is not my hometown, but I still have some memories of my grandpa being a hardcore Packer fan with his beer belly down at the Jefferson Junction by Ladish Malt.

6:20 A NYG on the ground. 3rd & 2? #69. Wow! Does he get made fun of being #69?

6:25 caught? No way!!! This will be a close game. 2nd & 4...PaCKER DOWN. Screw the Caps Lock key.

6:27 I love they way the box of wine makes my wine swirl when I fill the glass....Elena just got back. Just got back from a walk with her friend from Mexico. I warned her I'm nervous....TO....

6:30 OK Manning called a TO. Elena is taking a shower. One TO for NY 2 for GB. Good....Incomplete...flag...YES!!! Offensive interference.... GB declines. 3rd &15th. 4th & 5 or so? Got a few yards? NYG will go for it? on 4th &5... flagg..... pass inteference but before 1st down.. Damn 1st down. FUCK!!! Incomplete in end zone...

6:34 to 25. 3rd & 7. Damn... Stop em. Stuff em. Damn GB TO. Damn.

6:36 This is not good. This is close. I don't like it. Damn! incomplete...4th down. FG 43 yard attempt...6:53 left...MISSED!!!!!!

6:37 OK that was a gift from God! We're still in it. Favre is in. incomplete. 2nd & 10....incomplete 3rd & 10. Damn!!!

6:39 5 yards. Damn. OK. Punt...at NYG 37

6:41 NYG makes a pretty god run Damn!...1st down???? Chains come out. Nervous. Should have hd an overtime beer...

6:43 3rd & inches...Damn looks like 1st down...incomplete...2nd & 10...gain of 1. NYG 3rd & 9 ith 3:40 to play.... Sack??? Looke dlike offside to me???

6:46 Punt. GB ball.. But why not GB offsides? Anyway, GB has the ball.....

6:47 incomplete favre... 2nd & 10....flag... false start..offense? OK we deserve it. 2nd & 15....incomplete...3rd & 15... Not good... NYG would have great field positons. Back to original line of scrimage. Damn. Will need to punt....

6:50 fumbles galoreeee but NYG gets it FUCK!!!!

6:51 NYG gets ball at GB 51. Damn. TD???? Holding NYG Whew!!!!!

6:52 1st & 20....omplete but knocked down. Damn..... 2minute warning.

6:56 Damn!Q Nce cathc be N YG... 3rd & 1... Actually 1st & 10... Booth review???

6:58 Hmm.... Is this good? I just went to the barthroom, so I don't know much...

6:59 3rd & 1/5 yard. OK Pack has a chance.....1st down to out edge of field goal range....

7:00 OK ball at GB 21 inside 20. FG is almost automatic. not good for GB. 4 seconds left and an almost auto FG for NYG. TO GB.

7:02 Please overtime..... please.... Missed!!!

7:03 OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!!!! We're still alive!!!!

7:04 GB gets the Heads!!! for overtime!!!

7:06 OK, Elena is worried aobut me bothering the neighbors. Idon't care. My brother and cousin are there. I want them to see the GB Packers win. I want to see a sudden death GB win!!! OK the kick has happended. ... I can't liveblog...gotta watch the game right in front of hte TV....ntereception.

7:11 NYG are stuffed....4th & ...FG or punt? FG? We lost.

Home Alone

Elena, who doesn't know a touchdown from a home run, decided she didn't want to hang around while I swill beer and watch the games. So she went snowshoeing. So I'm home slumming it.

First on my mind--food, of course. So I decided to make a sandwich. I toasted a bun, browned up some cubed chicken, and broiled them with brie and rosemary.



Oh yes! Unfortunately, computers don't have smell, so you can't smell the rosemary. Then I sliced up a 4664 tomato (the 4664's at QFC in Seattle are better than the 4664's at IGA in Vancouver) and put the slices between the two pieces of sandwich.



So, that's how I started my football Sunday--with a rosemary chicken & brie sandwich. OK, it's not a brat cooked on a tailgate grill at Lambeau. But, hey, I'm going to France. What do you expect? To add insult to injury, I also have 5 Honey Brown lagers and a box of Peller Estates Chardonnay chilling in the fridge.

Cooking at Home

I decided to try some cooking at home for lunch. Since I left my job, I have tried cooking at home and seeing how much I can save over eating out. The fact is, that I'm not sure I can save much at all. My daily grocery bill was usually about the same as a meal out. The portion of the meal I ate that day was a small part of the food I bought, but then I was also using stuff I had purchased before. So in the end, it wasn't quite a wash, but nowhere near the savings that people claim it to be--provided you eat with a little care when eating out.

Anyway, I decided to make a chorizo sandwich. I fried up a $2 chorizo sausage, toasted a $.90 bun, spread about $.50 worth of chevre on the toasted bun, and added about $.50 worth of roasted pepper. OK, that's only $4. My time is basically free (given my current state). There was a bit of electricity, dish soap, and water. So I saved about a dollar. Worth it? I'm not sure. If I eat out, I get to some people watching and support businesses that need customers. The business I supported today was IGA. Then I have the risk of spoilage. What if I don't get to all the food I bought today? I bought 3 types of cheeses so I can have a variety over the next couple of weeks. That has to be taken into account. The advantage to being at home is that I get to watch French TV (RDI). I don't understand much, but it's good to get some ear time--even though a lot of it is Quebec French. And it's fun to try read the news-ticker along the bottom to see if I can keep up.

At least I can say that my chorizo sandwich was really really good. Chevre and chorizo go together like TVs and couches. I just wish I had a more appropriate wine to go with it than my last glass of boxed Peller Estates Chardonnay (time to buy a new box--as well some beer to go with the Packers vs. Giants).

Shoulder OK. Yellow Fever No Longer An Issue For Me

My shoulder is back to normal. It was so nice to be able to sleep on my left side for the first time in a few days last night. Before I went to sleep I saw a news article about 5 Brazilians who died of Yellow Fever. Yikes--I bet there are lot of Brazilians sleeping on their right sides tonight. I didn't think I'd see Yellow Fever popping up in the media this soon after getting my jab.

Shoulder Update II

Another day has passed. My shoulder still has some soreness but the pain doesn't kick in until my arm is almost completely raised. Thank goodness! Other than the pain, no other adverse effects from the vaccinations. Hopefully I can go to yoga on Thursday. My opportunities to do yoga are slipping away. My $99 first month deal is up at the end of January. And that's it. I need a shoulder that works.

Shoulder Update

It's been 24 hours since my Yellow Fever vaccination and I can now bring my left arm up to horizontal before feeling pain. That's better than last night when I could barely even move it.

Electronic Security

I was in Starbucks and something happened that hasn't happened in a long time here in Vancouver. The sun came out. Yes, for the first time since I got here, I wished I had sunglasses. The weather forecast actually has no rain in the near future which is nice because there was nothing but rain in the near past. I was listening to an episode of This American Life and needed to restart it when I saw the grease spots on the screen of my iTouch. There was a smudge on the On Slider thingy and a smudge on each of the numbers for my 4 digit unlock code. Hmm.... It's a good thing the number is different from my PIN for my ATM card. I suspect that many people use their PIN since it both are 4 digits. Well, if you know someone with an iPhone or iPod Touch, I suppose you could look at the screen sideways and figure out which digits are in their PIN. Scary.

It got me to thinking about security in Africa again. The internet is a very bizarre thing. Passwords float around in plain text all the time. All the time! It's incredible. With a sniffer like Ethereal, you can just run it, and voila! Passwords. There are also places that send you passwords in via email. They don't reset your password and have you create a new one. No, they just send it in email. Incredible. So I have to be really careful in Africa. I trust no computers where my passwords are not sent in https. Just http, and it's out there for all to see and who know who's looking at it in Africa?

When I looked at Google to figure out what to do with keyloggers, I found many bits of advice. Some people ask in forums what to do and others make suggestions that are untested (use a virtual keyboard that converts mouse clicks, etc. But suggestions are worthless. These are passwords and security we're talking about. Why would people make suggestions without tons of caveats? But they do. I wish that web browsers had a much better security model. Browser security sucks. It's an after thought. Every website has it's own custom made security and most of it is worthless in contexts such as entering password on computers that are likely to have keyloggers.

Of course, maybe the concept of browser support is flawed too. I think you can download the source code of Firefox, modify it, and then compile it. Well, if you can do that, you can modify it to open a text file, and record all text entered into the address bar, and any text or password box. Something needs to change.

Sore Arm

Well, it's been a few hours since I got my jabs. My right arm is now OK. But the Yellow Fever shot is sticking in my left shoulder. I can't really move it. I was supposed to make the other half of the pizza dugh tonight, but my shoulder isn't up to rolling out dough. I can chop veggies and chorizo, but no dough for me.

Here is my Yellow Fever document that I'll have to show to gain entry into most African countries.



Here are my other vaccinations.



It's exciting for me. This is another step toward my trip. I have to make sure I don't question my sanity until it's too late. As soon as I cross the southern border of Morocco, it'll be too late. Then I can ask myself "what the hell am I getting myself into?" Until then, I can't ask myself that. I hope all goes well with the vaccination. Before the consultation I had to sign a paper saying that if I wanted to sue the Vancouver Coastal Health Travel Clinic, that I'd do it in Canadian courts rather than US courts. Interesting waiver. I sure hope I don't have to do that.

Sharp Pointy Things--Round 1

Today I went to the Travel Clinic. And there's only one reason for that--to get injected with all sorts of stuff. I started out with a consultation. We looked over the list of countries I will or might visit. So he basically recommended everything except Japanese Encephalitis. The Hepatitis B vaccine is a 2 course vaccine so I have to return in a month. The merciful thing about that is that we got to spread out the other jabs over two times. Yay!!! That meant I only had to have 4 injections today.

So I sat there in the waiting room dreading the moment they would call my name--like a prisoner on death row. It only takes 3 injections to kill a prisoner--I was getting 4. It finally happened. I went in and sat in a nice comfy black chair. There laid out on the desk were all the shots to be administered. Yikes. They looked so menacing. The nurse asked how I am with shots. I said I don't like them but can deal with them. She asked if I'd eaten. No not at all. Hmm... Wrong answer. It turns out I should have eaten. Oh well. (I didn't tell her I did hot yoga and only had one cup of water since last night.) I presented my dehydrated left shoulder.

I got the first one. I barely felt it. Just a mosquito bite of pain. It was over in about 2 seconds. Then before I could act, the second one. This one hurt a little more. It was for Yellow Fever and the nurse said this one might sting for a short time. The nurse got up and said she was going to get me a juice. I didn't know why. Then I started seeing blackness and stars. She came back and I said "I feel a little light headed." She had seen me turn white, so she knew before I did what was about to happen to me.

Then I found out the comfy chair is also a recliner. She put a cold towel on my head. After about a minute I was fine. She came around to the other side and gave me little ice packets to hold. The next two shots were like the first two-just in the other arm. That is to say that the first one was barely felt and the second was a little more painful.

Then I paid my $280 ($40 consultation, $105 for Hep A and Typhoid, $80 for Yellow Fever, $35 for Hep B, and $20 for Measles, Mumps, Rubella). In a month I'll get my second dose of Hep B, Meningococcal Meningitis, and Tetanus).

I have to find out if they have Dukoral in France or Morocco. They apparently have it in Canada but not the Unites States due to licensing issues. That would protect me from Cholera for 2 years, but also confers about 3 months of traveler's diarrhea. So if I take it, I want it as close to possible to my travels in the less sanitary regions.

I also now have a Canadian Yellow Book to go with my US passport. :) I need this to enter most countries in Africa because they need proof of the Yellow Fever vaccinations.

Liveblogging the Seahawks vs. Packers

12:34 OK, it took me like 10 minutes to figure out what channel the game was on. Am I turning stupid? This morning I bought 6 bottles of Granville Island Honey Lager and it's chilling in the fridge. Elena is out on a walk--she got some injections in her leg and can't do anything to strenuous which is hard for her because she needs strenuous activity to remain sane. So while I'm waiting for the festivities to begin, I can finish the Le Point article about Benazir Bhutto's assassination or practice conjugating Arabic verbs. Oh and for the record, I'm cheering the Pack--sorry Seattlites--I am a Pacific Northwesterner, but I still identify myself as a Wisconsinite.

12:43 The beer is cold, but I decided to start with a pull from the box of wine--Peller Estates Chardonnay. I'll break out the beer when the players start to take the field. In the meantime, I'm seeing if I can still count to 10 in Arabic. sifr, waaHid, ithnayn, thalaatha, arba'a, khamsa, ??, saba?, thamaniiya, ??, ishra?. OK, I still know about half of them at least.

1:22 Why can't languages be easier? Why does Arabic have to have separate verb conjugations for dual amounts. There's not just 'he', 'she' and 'they', but also 'two guys' and 'two girls'. Soon it'll be time to crack open a beer. I wish I could have found Alaskan Amber, though. It's my favorite beer. Elena is still out on her walk. The sky is clouding over. It's mild, but misty. Well, the Packers are taking the field. Time to get a beer.

1:33 More jokes about "We want the ball--we're going to score". I imagine Hasselbeck called George W. Bush and said, "Hey George, I'd like to make a donation to your campaign. How about you give me something to say at the OT coin toss?"

Hmmm... Bad kickoff "return" by GB.

1:37 Injury already. That's what SH get for raising $$ for Bush. Interception. Yeah, the Pack has some Republicans too. :/ OK 20 seconds into the game and SH have scored. I used to call Favre "Turnover" I watched his game where he either tied or broke the NFL record for turnovers after I started calling him that. Of course, I know nothing about football, so what do I know?

1:42 Now that's a much better return. Errr.... Fumble and recovery by SH? Hmm...

1:46 Another SH injury? Will the obese ambulance guy drive out again? Yep, that's Lambeau--probably the fattest NFL city--or is it Houston? They were the fattest city in according to Supersize Me!.

1:49 There's a seagull on Elena's balcony. And SH TD. Well, there's still 56 minutes left for the Pack to catch up.


1:57 Yes!!!! The Pack finally moves the ball!!!

1:58 Packer Touchdown!!!!

2:01 Here's a picture of my (Elena's) bachelor(ette) pad.


2:03 Opened the beer (observant reader may have noticed the cap is on the pic above). And snow. Finally, God is starting to see what's going on at Lambeau. I guess He was out partying too much last night and just got up.

2:11 Ever wonder what "lambeau" means in French?


2:13 Challenge of the spot of the ball. Or 4th and inches? (Bite finger nails...)

2:16 A respot....a remeasure...and...and...and...1st DOWN!!!!!!!

2:20 1st and goal!! Stopped. :/ 2nd down.... Touchdown!!!!!!!

2:22 Hmmm.... Tied a record for most first quarter points in playoffs--set when I was 1 year old.

2:28 The kickoff roles are reversed!!!! Fumble SH recovered by GB!!!!!!

2:29 First down! TD in reach...2nd and 3....TO SH. OK back from comercial break....TD!!!!!!!!!!

2:36 I want a brat. Sadly, there are no brat buns in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, when I told the natives here that there are no brat buns, they all thought I was crazy for thinking there would be special buns just for brats. Like, how would they sell before they got moldy on the shelves. I live the Pacific NOrthwest, but they don't understand brats. In fact, one day when I was listening to KPLU (NPR) they mentioned that there would be somewhere a "real Wisconsin brat fest". Only they pronounced it like it rhymes with "rat". Blocked punt? Flag? What happened? Personal foul GB? Dammit! What the hell is that?

2:41 Hmm... nice catch by SH. Stuff'em Pack!!!

2:43 SH driving hard. Merde! Close to the end zone....and 4th and 7. I guess they'll try a field goal

2:45 OK SH made 3. At least not 7. Fucking penalty!

2:47 OK beer #3. I only have 6. I hope I don't run out.


2:50 Elena is taking a nap. Do I have to be quiet? I think she can put up with a little excitement even though she doesn't get it. Oh nice catch for a first down Pack.

2:52 First down! I'm trying to be quiet. Hmm... Why does Elena have to take a nap now? Another nice advance...2nd and 6...3rd and 6--got pressured.

2:54 First down on 15th yard line. 2 minute warning coming up. :)

2:58 It actually took my longer to go to the bathroom than the commercial break. 3rd and 8 from the 14. Please Favre-do something magic....looks like...........I don't know what the fuck that was but it was magic!!!!!!!!!!!!

3:00 TD!!!!!!!!!! After the goofiest thing I ever saw. Was that a forward lateral? What is an underhanded pass after being knocked off balance?

3:02 Canada has different commercials than the US. I think this is the Seattle Fox affiliate, but there are ads for The Amazing Race (which is CBS in the US, I think) on CTV. OK 15 seconds to go in the half. Will SH try something? Or just kneel? Yep just kneeling.

3:19 Kickoff. What's with this SH handholding? Are they from Capitol Hill?

3:21 4th and 7. Nice job Pack!!!!

3:25 3rd down conversion. Favre is on fire!!!!!

3:26 Excellent run to the 12!!!!

3:27 Another TD!!!!!! Wooohoooooo!!!!!!! (Must be quiet...Elena is napping.) :) :)

Oh here is my car--the green one.


3:31 Time for beer #4. BTW, Why the fuck is there a CAPS LOCK key? I hate it. I never use it. It just causes nothing but problems. It's the stupidest thing ever. Fuck the Caps Lock key.

3:32 The announcer just said Hasselbeck is frustrated. I hope he's even more frustrated in November of 2008 when Hillary or Obama runs against Romney or McCain.

3:34 Two holding calls on Pack declined. Hmmm... I don't like Hasselbeck doing well. Not good. But holding on offense. Now that's better. God is angry with the GOP for voting for Hickabee--after he claimed his meteoric rise was divine intervention. God doesn't like candidates who free rapists because their victim was a 5th cousin of Bill Clinton. Asshole!

3:38 GB had an illegal substitution. Hmm... Not good.

3:38 Nice hit by GB to prevent first down. But 2nd and 1...Merde!!!!!

3:40 Nice big flakes. Huge flakes. God is angry with the SHs. Incomplete in end zone. Snow!!!! Thank you!!!!

3:41 Look at that snow. It's like whiteout conditions. Field goal?........Good. Oh well. At least not 7.

3:45 It's totally like the snow increases in intensity only when the SHs start to do well. Nice. They have commercials for Corner Gas. I bet they don't show that in the US. Not as good Trailer Park Boys but OK. Of course the best Canadian comedy series ever--as well the best world comedy series ever--is The Newsroom.

3:48 3rd and 4 to.......... well he got tackled. But the Pack is back!!! I smell a TD???

3:49 First down on 4th yard line!!!!

3:50 Later tonight we eat pizza. Elena got some dough at Caper's and well roll it out, top it, and bake it. Yummy!!!! I'm starting to get hungry. LAst night we went to a place called Sanafir. They have Asian/Mediterranian/Indian inspired tapas. It was soooooooo good. Then we saw a show at the Vogue called Umoja. It's a dance troupe f.rom South Africa. They were really good. Well game is back....

3:52 First play went nowhere...Come on Favre....incomplete....merde. Flag. Personal foul on Seattle!!!!! First down again!!!! :) :)

3:53 Stopped at 1 yard line...Touchdown!!!!!!!!!!!! The Pack is going to win!!!!

4:00 Elena woke up. Here she is. SH are trying to drive.

SH going nowhere! They can't connect. I missed most of it while Elena and I figured out which picture to post of her.

4:05 Nice run!!!! Elena thinks I'm crazy for cheering!!!! Excellent run. Final nail?

4:07 Let's see the clock run down.... Bwahahahaha!!!! :) Yes run the ball. Eat time. My friends in Japan were shocked to learn that the English for "jikan o tsubusu" is "to kill time" "Kill"! It was shocking to them. LOL.

4:10 SH first down. But too little too late. I hope....Yes they run. tick tock. flag? Personal foul again? On GB! Merde!

4:12 Almost a Pack recovery of SH fumble... Err incomplete? Whatever. I'm looking at my screen. Dammit--almost intercepted. Would have been so sweet. 3rd and 10....8:14 left...incomplete. Yes!!!!!!

4:17 Gee I come back from the bathroom and I hear the Pac will take over on downs? I guess 4th down means "go for it" when you're at this point. Yes!!!! Pack driving hard!!!

4:18 Pack run stuffed--but clock keeps tick tick ticking away.

4:19 ditto.

4:20 Long bomb.....incomplete. I guess they punt. With 5:35 left, I doubt the SHs can get 22 points, though.

4:21 Nice nice nice sack!!!! 2nd & 22!!!

4:22 3rd & 25 clock at 4:10 at the snap. Oh why do I even continue. It's over. Nobody could beat the Pack in this game now. What's the point? It shold be like baseball where they don't bother with the bottom of the ninth if the home team is ahead.

4:25 My mind is moving to the pizza Elena and I will make later tonight. It'll be so yummy. I love homemade pizza. It's fun to make and fun to eat. :) And after the Pack wins I'll be in a good mood. I could feel sorry for Seattle, but Seattle is used to losing. The PNW is used to it. Vancouver lost the Grizzlies and Seattle is about to lose the Sonics. But we have the best revenge--this is the best place to live. We don't care much about sports because our quality of life is too high to have time for spectator sports.

4:30 Less than a minute. First down SH. But what's the point? :28 left. :20 left. :14 left. :10 left. The clock is gone. When's the 'F' coming? Now.

Madrassa?

I soon plan to restart my studies of Arabic to prepare for my travels in Morocco, Mauritania, and Mali. When I was studying Arabic before, I came across the word "madrassa". This simply means "school". Nothing more. Just "school". So what's with all this Obama and the "secular madrassa?"--a term used by Bob Kerrey? I'm ashamed to say that I was home and Tucker Carlson was on the TV and I heard him say "there's no such thing as a secular madrassa". http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22326849/ In fact, the term "madrassa" defaults to secular in Arabic--just not in English where it defaults to "radical Islamic". So I guess you could call it a secular madrassa if it is a non-religious school.

Anyway, I have to recreate a few grown over neural ruts so that I can say "wa alaykum as-Salaam" when someone says "As-salaamu alaykum", and exchange "ahlan wa sahlan", and "tasharafna" and "kayf al-Hal?"

Someday Me Talk Pretty

I spend my days reading French but I also, once a day, I download an episode of This American Life on iTunes. Today I listened to the episode about Americans in Paris. It made my want to buy the book of David Sedaris who wrote a book about his experiences in Paris(Someday Me Talk Pretty). This problem with buying books in Canada, though, is that the back of the books have the two prices--American and Canadian. The last book I bought was US$13 or CAD$18. Yikes! It made me decide to buy no more books in Canada. So now I'm torn. Oh the trials of currency movements!

Update: Turns out the title of the book is "Me Talk Pretty One Day", the part of it that takes place in France is rather small, and it's US$14.99/CAD$18.99. I didn't buy it.

Reading more Le Point

Everyday I go out, order a cup of coffee or two or three, and read one of my French magazines. I'm getting much better at it. The articles are either really easy--I'll need to look up one word every three paragraphs, or really hard where I need to look up multiple words sentence after sentence after sentence. I keep looking up words I know I have looked up many many times. Oh why am I learning a new language at the old age of 39?

I spent a long time on a sentence about upper end real estate in France. The problem was with the word "disposer". I was taking it to mean "dispose of". The guy who runs Sotheby's International Real Estate Group wants to "dispose de 50 agences" in France. But that wasn't making sense in the context of everything else he was saying. Well, it turns out he wasn't saying that he want's to dispose of 50 agencies, but rather have at his disposal 50 agencies. Opposite meaning altogether.

Besides that I learned that my iTouch is a "baladeur", that legs can be described as "galbée", and pet custody is becoming an issue for divorce in America (one guy was feeding fatty sausages to his dog who has digestive problems right before driving the pooch to his ex-wife every Sunday night).

One of the benefits of being in Canada is that I have several channels in French I can leave on in the background. I get bits and pieces--in a Quebec accent, I suppose. But I still can't get much. The movies we rent are nice because there I'm getting better and better at connecting the subtitles to what I just heard. I hope someday I won't need the subtitles, but that's a long way off.

Well, off to read more Le Point--today I want to finish the article about Bhutto's assassination, the new anti-smoking law (thank you France!), excerpts from a book on Hillary Clinton, and the reviews of the latest cellphones.

Telephone Problems II

So, I left off yesterday frustrated. Today, I had to run an errand at 39th & Cambie, so since I was in the car anyway, I decided to visit my old neighborhood and see if I could get a cheap AC adapter at PC Galore on 4th Avenue. PC Galore is an odd place. It is a computer consignment store that uses the Dutch auction technique. They take computer equipment that you want to get rid of and start off with a high price. Then they drop the price over time until the item sells. I don't know what happens when it gets to $0. Anyway, I figured they'd have a box of AC adapters. Sure enough. I asked for an AC adapter and out came a box with about 20 various shapes and sizes of 12VDC adapters. I picked one out and asked how much. $10. OK, I wished it were $5, but I can can deal with $10. I took it home and plugged it in. It didn't work. Dammit!

So I went back--this time with my little Vonage unit. I was going to make sure the LED turned on this time. We dug through the box again and found another one. The LED turned on! Yay!!!

I came home and plugged it in. Once the Ethernet cable was plugged in, the connection to the Vonage network was soon established. I plugged in my ugly green phone and picked up the receiver. There was a dial tone! So I made all my necessary phone calls.

I canceled my cable, finally. Then I called a place for my bon voyage party. Then called my parents. Finally, I made an appointment at the travel clinic to get all my painful and expensive shots so I don't die of some African disease. I'll post about that on Monday when I return from the clinic.

Telephone Problems

I have telephone problems. When I packed, I made sure to bring two things with me to Elena's place so I could use my Vonage service. My Linksys router and my Vonage unit. Today I decided to hook them up because I have to make some phone calls.

So it turns out that Elena doesn't have an old POTS style phone handy. OK, no problem. I remember buying one for $5 at Radio Shack several years ago. So I head over to London Drugs. They have some old POTS phones, but they are $15 and super ugly. So I head down to "The Source" at Burrard and Davie. They also have nothing cheaper than $15. Their phones are burgundy and ivory, but neither model is in stock. So I head up to Future Shop. Of course, they don't dabble in such low level crap that you could buy in a pawn shop--they're Future Shop. I make one more stop at Sears--same stuff as Future Shop. Oh well. Back to London Drugs where I have a choice between girlish pink, baby blue, and pastel green. I get the green.

I come home and look for the AC adapter for the Vonage unit. Well, it seems that when I packed the router and Vonage unit, I only packed on AC adapter because both are made by Linksys. So now I only have one AC adapter--though it would work in either unit. So I decided to try to connect the cable modem straight to the Vonage unit. The power and internet LEDs just flashed. I'm not sure what the problem is, but when I hooked up the router, I had to clone the MAC of Elena's computer. OK. So I'll need to go through the router. Dammit. That means I need an AC adapter and an ethernet cable which I don't have--though I could use the one that goes to Elena's computer. I looked for another AC adapter that's 12V with the - on the outside and + on the inside that's the right radius. No luck.

I give up for today. I'll have to buy an adapter and that means maybe a run to either one of of those computer consignment stores or to London Drugs/The Source again.

Why can't I just use my cell phone? Well the roaming is like $0.90 per minute. Damn corporate cellphone pirates!

Beer in Vancouver

Somehow the beer situation is worse in Vancouver than I remember. The biggest problem is the Byzantine liquor board system and their loosening monopoly on alcohol in British Columbia. Seattle is a haven for beer. My usual grocery store has, like, every beer under the sun. My favorite is the simple Alaskan Amber for about $14 for a 12 bottle box.

You'd think that since BC is closer to Alaska than Washington, that you could find Alaskan Amber here. But no! Even with the Canadian dollar at par, there isn't an influx of delicious PNW microbrew. Rather there is corporate beer and only local microbrew. I do like the Granville Island beers, but at C$11 for 6 bottles, I feel like I'm not getting my unemployed savings dollar's worth. So here I sit drinking a bottle of Granville Island Honey Lager (almost as good as the Alaskan Amber but not quite) thinking that this bottle costs almost $2.

The worst part is that the various pubs in the Robson area don't have happy hour. There are 2 approaches to bringing in the customers--happy hour or hiring only drop dead gorgeous girls--and the Robson bars take the second route. Moxie's has $3.99 pints on Monday (all day), but I'd rather have a happy hour.

Contests Where I like Both Sides

American Primaries: It's a bit frustrating to not have MSNBC all day while the primaries are going on. But it was enough to get Elena to upgrade to the $40 high speed internet from the $25 slow--but always on--cable internet. I want analysis. I get some from Talking Points Memo, but I want to veg in front of the TV and have it fed to me. I'm happy with what's going on so far. I'm happy with either Clinton or Obama. The nice thing about Obama for me would be traveling in Africa while a recent African descendant runs for the office of POTUS. I am in some ways still a "participant" in the election. I get several phone calls each day. In the United States they were almost all "unknown" but a significant portion of what would be "unknown" actually turn up as 604-519-0215 in Vancouver. Why? No idea. When I google that phone number, it seems that a lot of people get "unknown" calls from that number as well. So visitors to Vancouver--if you get 604-519-0215, that means unknown. One of these days when I'm bored, I'll enter that number into my phone so it shows some meaningful word.

The Dem primary is not the only contest where I'm a bit indifferent. This coming weekend the Green Bay Packers play the Seattle Seahawks. So who to cheer for? Hmmm.... I'm torn. I guess I'll have to go Packers since the QB for Seattle helped raise money for Bush and the Republicans a few months ago. The most important issue will be can I drink beer during the game? Or will Elena make me not drink beer? I do wish I could get some Alaskan Amber. Maybe I can...

Update: I added the 604-519-0215 number to my cell as Dalai Lama.

Elena, the Socialite

A typical day in Seattle for me included only talking to people to order food, specify the material of my grocery bags, and....well not much else really. I'm a man of few words and I didn't know many people on Capitol Hill.

Now I'm living with my traveling companion, Elena. She is always making plans to meet people, to do stuff, to have dinner or coffee, or go shopping, etc. So last night we went over to Steve's place for potluck dinner (of us in all--each a traveler). Steve was one of my traveling companions in Eastern Europe. The evening before, it was dinner at Saltaire with Barbara. Tonight it is dinner with Cecilia. I've never been so busy.

I'm curious how things will go once I'm in Africa. When I lived in Japan, I could go out to a local bar by myself, and I always knew something interesting would happen. It's part of the novelty of being white in a land without many white people. That will happen in Africa. I'm not outgoing and gregarious, but I am open to new experiences when I'm out unwinding with a beer. Well, off to Cecilia's place...

Sleeping In

I guess the yoga last night knocked me out. Usually when I wake up when Elena is getting ready for work because she's moving around making typical morning noises like preparing coffee, running water, jangling hangers when she gets her coat, watching the weather report and local news. But this morning, I woke up at 9:33. I panicked and went to wake up Elena because she must have forgotten her alarm or something. But she wasn't there. Then I noticed that the TV remote was in a different place from when I last set it down. I had simply slept through it all. So I missed my desired 9:30 yoga. Then I missed the 4pm one because I got caught up with new internet stuff surrounding events in my Capitol Hill neighborhood.

I spent most of today reading the latest Le Point. There was even an article about the upcoming IA and NH caucuses and primaries. Tomorrow I'll read bits of their extensive in depth reporting on China which is their cover story this week. I learned such interesting terms as "gueule de bois", "pomponner", buveur", "illico", and "autochtone".

Yaletown Yoga

I started my $99 1 month of unlimited yoga today at Yaletown Yoga (YY). I have been there before about a year ago, but they moved in the interim into a new building. It's in a sort of district of startups and small high tech companies. It is Yaletown, after all. To those not familiar with Vancouver, Yaletown is the gentrified section of Vancouver where all the hip yuppies live. You have to be social (i.e. like to party), have a nice job with a nice income (anything computers will do), and be willing to live in a tiny condo where the space under a flight of stairs is considered a "den" and where any TV other than a flat one will take up most of your living room. While the housing is ridiculously small, there are benefits. Simply close your eyes, spin 10 times, walk 10 steps, and heave a rock--you'll hit either a drop-dead gorgeous woman or smash the window of a restaurant which offers a gorgeous dining experience. Now you know Yaletown.

So I signed up for yoga. It was funny entering the studio. It felt like going to work. The environment is "high tech startup" rather than my Capitol Hill Samadhi Yoga (SY) experience of "old warehouse made spiritual". In fact there is a completely different spirituality between the places. Samadhi has an altar in each of its two studios. I've only seen one YY studio so far, but I don't believe there was an altar. We started out with 3 oms, but no intention setting. The title of the class was "Power Yoga". My SY Wednesday class is "Jen" and once you've taken a few of Jen's classes you know what you get.

YY keeps the room very warm. The Power Yoga classes are 30C and the Hot Yoga classes are 40C. To convert from Celsius to English, that's "hot" and "fucking hot." I was slipping all over my mat. I noticed that most students only seem to do about 80% of the entire session, often retreating to Child's Pose. I did a little bit, but I managed to keep up fairly well. Next time I'll take a towel and maybe some water. At one point we had to do a 5 minute shoulder stand. The instructor told us to endure it. I figured it couldn't be worse than some of the bush taxi rides I have waiting for me in equatorial Africa in the summer, so I endured. I hope for the sake of the Africans on the bus with me that I don't sweat as much as I did today.

Murder in My Seattle Neighborhood

Last night there was a stabbing murder of a 31 year old woman in my old neighborhood of Capitol Hill. It was at an intersection I don't go to often, but I cross it sometimes--usually when going to Madison Market, the very store she was returning from when she was attacked. I'm about to go off the the Dark Continent (with election violence in Kenya, genocide in Darfur, and chaos in other countries), so I am taking on a bit of additional risk in exchange for adventure, but events like this drive home that even people living normal lives in my wonderful neighborhood are at some risk. Capitol Hill does have more than a few people who are mentally ill. As a result of this event and the blogging around it I learned the name of one particularly annoying ill guy who has problems shouting obscenities at the top of his lungs. This guy was half a block behind me one day shouting about being used for sex or something. I crossed the street because, to an observer, it would look like he was talking to me. He just continued with his raving looking straight ahead even though there wasn't really anyone anymore.

The news at this point make it look like a random killing by a mentally ill person. That is scary. Random killings are random. Since I'm not into drugs, gambling, cheating with married women, etc, I have to reason to fear a targeted killing, but random? Could happen to me. It's such a tragic way to bring in 2008 on Capitol Hill.

2008

2008 has arrived! It is officially my year of travel. Last night Elena had her meetup.com hiking group New Year's Eve party. There were about 100 hikers there having a good time. There was Garland who also took some time off and plans to travel, Darrell who recently came back from a year of travel. Joanna and Dan weren't there because they are still on their year of travel. It's nice to know that what I'm doing isn't strange. There seems to be a bug that bites people at about this age in Vancouver that makes them want to take some time off and see the world. Maybe it is a product of prosperity and the security it provides. Back in the days when you worked for one company and retired with a pension, you couldn't really just take off. But now, we change employers and control our own 401k's. Today our skills--not our employers--are the guarantors of our futures. So if we want to take a year off and see the world--we can. And for me, the year of doing it has arrived.


Also on the plus side, I'm entering 2008 healthy. My cold is over. My sniffles are almost over--just the residual sniffles. I haven't coughed since 2007. :)