In a land of plenty, some bring none to the table.

Well it was a day for ups and downs. We watched the football this morning. Yay for Germany and boo for Italy. I can only hope that Germany kicks them out of the World cup.

The next upset was when we went to the bank and found out we had to make an appointment to do so. They originally quoted 2 weeks to do so, but we were able to get that down to a week. We're going to see if some of the other branches can help us out rather than going through the main branch.

We had a lovely lunch at Earls and we're very happy with out choices. Sadly we were not served by Crab man.

The final upset of the day (so far) was that we have been searching for an ethernet hub or switch so we could share the 1 port high speed modem shan's mum has for her computer and shan's laptop. Then once we got my PC and an appartment of our own, to use for LAN's, etc. However the only switches I could find required Routers to which I already have one coming via sea and would not need. Now that wasn't the worst part because the clerk at least told me it wouldn't work with a high speed modem, rather than letting me walk of with it. He also mentioned that they are phasing out hubs and it will be quite hard to get one.

So we were walking home and walked past one of the small computer stores where you can get single hardware rather than bundles. Great I think. I walked in and asked the kid behind the counter "Do you have any Hubs?". He blinked at me "Hubs?" "yes, ethernet hubs...for networking" "I've never heard of hubs, what are they". I thought, this is not so unreasonable, if there phasing them out he may not know. "Oh .. ok, do you have any switches" he looked to be of the age that would play computer games, LANs and such. "Switches? You mean like, for turning things off an on?". I stood there dumbfounded for a second. Shannon then pointed above his head behind him and stated "no we mean those behind you". He looked at them and then shrugged. I left very quickly before I started to yell. How can he work in a computer store and not know what a Switch is or if they even have any?! I ask you, what is che, WHAT IS CHE?!

Look after your planet and service with a smile.

I went and saw Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth today. I thought it was a well done documentary. Sadly, the message about global warming, while clear, is nothing new to me. The movie will most likely be seen by the masses who already believe and follow the "doctorine". Its also a little podiumish for Al Gore. Thats not doing him a disservice but it could be construed as a poster for Al Gore were he to campaign. Not that given the chance I wouldn't vote for him. That should not detract from the powerful message and the good work he is doing to make people aware of what is happening with Global Warming. The website for the film is also filled with helpful information in how to help combat global warming and inform others in what they can do. I strongly suggest either seeing the film or visiting the website.

On a more positive note, after the film we went up the road and had Mexican food at Las Margarita. I have to say one thing I love about eating out in Vancouver is that the service is almost always fantastic and should you have a query about the menu eg. "I was wondering if you could tell me how this is prepared and what this means" the waitress/waiter doesn't have to go check with the chef, they actually know their job. Also, table service for alcohol! Woo!

Insanity

I was just watching the news and a special article came on. Apparently Western Canada's temperatures having been reaching a high of 29 degrees and some people are having difficulty dealing with this. How on earth can anyone complain about 29 degree heat?! Oh well i guess they don't have to put up with 39-41 degree heats in their summers.

Sunchasers

With Vancouver in full summer mode we have truly chased the sun to its resting place like Anningan chases Malina (who is well and truly in control here). We have sunlight until 10:30pm last night which is a really weird experience but means you can have a lot more sunlight to do activities in the day. The temperature is perfect around 25 degrees and the sun doesn't tend to burn you to death. I've always been a very anti-sun person (what with my plans to pull the sun from the sky) but I feel my temperament cooling towards a more Vancouver temperature.

We walked around the city today and shan had a blast showing me around the place. A few sites i remembered from the last time we were in Vancouver 4-5 years ago but most places were new to me. We had some nice Japanese food for lunch and then went shopping.

It really feels weird to be living in a new city and a new continent. I like it though. I'll review that feeling after I've been here a while depending on my employment situation.

Nous sommes arrivés !

Shan and I have arrived after our 17 hour ordeal on the flight from Sydney to Vancouver. We are extremely tired but safe and sound. I will post more later when my brain is prepared to function at an acceptable level....zzzzzzzzzzzzz