Heating Up

The week has been full of warm weather and very blue skies. In fact, the forcast for the weekend is the same thing. It's been a super busy week for both of us. In fact, we haven't seen each other all week either. Let's just say we are looking forward to the weekend, and the nice weather.

With all of this great weather, I hope to be outside taking a few shots!

We Are Taking a Vacation

Since I'll finally be landing in early June, I also have to make a trip down to the states to package up a list of my belongings. Since P has never driven down into the states and I cannot fly yet, we mutually decided to make the best of it and drive down there.

Our travels are starting to pan out and I assure you, we won't be disappointed. We'll be stopping off in a national park presenting pristine blue waters and old volcano's. I definitely plan on taking lots of photos of the journey. Our vacation won't be that long but I'll certainly let you guys know when we are on our way.

For now, we are trying to catch up, clean up and be ready for summer. It's been busy lately but I'm sure it's all worth it.

Hope you guys have a wonderful week and I'll try to post soon but it's just a very busy week!

Helsinki Complaints Choir

I came across this amusing video yesterday...

Finnish artists Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen collected the pet peeves and angst-ridden pleas of people in Helsinki and then composed this choral work around the list of complaints. Music composed by Esko Grundström.

Those Finns... What a bunch of whiners! Hehe.

A Colorful Walk

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.

Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

This weeks Photo Hunt Theme is Colorful.

Posting early for the hunt..

Over the last weekend, we saw many beautiful colors.

Colorful Flowers from Colony Farms.



The colorful Wood Ducks which I finally got to see in person!

Hope everyone has a sunny and colorful weekend...

Cute Photos

So I finally had a chance to take a few photos. I haven't totally processed them yet, but I do have a few of my favorites.

We visited Colony Farms and Burnaby Lake Regional Park.

Here are a few of the adorable shots I got.

My first viewing of a wood duck pair. I think this is the most fascinating duck ever!

This beautiful little guy must have been about 1 or 2 wks old. All of the other ducklings were at least 3 or 4 weeks old and 3 times his size. He caught my eye and was the cutest!

Isn't that just too cute to pass up!

More photos to come possibly in Flickr...

What Flower Are You

It's a 3 day weekend, and I'm off to swim hoping the weather will improve for a bird watching/photographing expedition...

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

Last week I learned that there is in fact a great Tulip Festival in the Vancouver mainland area, and is best viewed during the month of April. IT's definitely on my too do list for next spring! It's a drive from Vancouver but well worth it I'm sure out in Agassiz. I can't wait to take photos of this event next year.

The fields are located on Chowat Rd just off Lougheed Hwy east of Agassiz, B.C.

Celebrating a Benchmark

As many people in Canada celebrate the long 3 day weekend, I wanted to stop and share a bit of our own news as a benchmark will finally come to a close soon.

The letter from Canadian Immigration for Decision Made finally came in the mail on Friday. Yes it took a whopping 4 wks and 1 day to arrive after they had posted the decision had been made into ECAS. We were not worried of any other outcome since I had already been given my work permit and my Approval in Principle back on Dec. 1st, 2006 (1 year after applying).

What was very fishy is that they told me the decision had been made back on Nov 28th, 2006, which is pretty impossible. Now anyone doing the math knows that a first decision can't be made after a second decision but they sure think they can time warp back into the past!

The interview is set up for the beginning of June so it's about 3 more weeks to wait. It should be very uneventful and take a few minutes time, I hope. After that point, I have to wait another month or so to get my permanent resident card in the mail before I'm aloud to travel via plane.

If I'm not mistaken, I'm aloud to travel via border crossings into the States. We will be making a trip down to California to get all of my goods to follow list ready since we do things backwards here in Canada and I can't go down there to take inventory before landing in Vancouver. Well technically I could, but I couldn't get back into the country.. We haven't decided our mode of transport yet but we are actually leaning towards driving instead of flying.. All depends on vacation days we will take.

So as Queen Victoria celebrates her birthday this long 3 day weekend on Monday for Victoria Day, we celebrate our good news of things to follow. Please feel free to see what I wrote last year for this holiday from the 2006 Victoria Day post.

Craving Cooked Muscles

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.

Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

This weeks Photo Hunt Theme is Cooked.

I just have to laugh at this post. Really I had to think hard on what I could post as a photo because I rarely take photos of what I cook. One photo I came across made me laugh and smile, so I figured that was my pick.

I've been dreaming of cooked seafood/fish!



Don't they just look happy?
(Jokes) - pic taken at Lonsdale Quay Market in North Vancouver
Does anybody know the name of this fish?
I feel like I want to go touch the mouth...

Speaking of cooking, this is the recipe I want to delve into soon!

STEAMED MUSSELS IN SPICY GARLIC SAUCE

2 dozen mussels
1/2 c. cornmeal
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. crushed garlic
1 tbsp. Tabasco
1/4 c. white wine (water can be substituted)
Pinch crushed red pepper
Pinch salt (if necessary)
1 tbsp. chopped cilantro

1. Remove string-like beard from mussel by pulling and cleaning outside shell if necessary discard any that will not stay closed.

2. Place in large pot and completely cover with water.

3. Stir in cornmeal and place in refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours. (This will purge most sand from inside.)

4. Drain and rinse off mussels.

5. In a large saucepan heat oil, garlic and Tabasco until light brown.

6. Toss mussels in and stir until coated.

7. Pour wine (or water) in pot add red pepper and cover.

8. Bring to boil and stir occasionally until all shells open. (Some may not, but can be forced.) 9. Taste sauce and add season if necessary.

10. Remove mussels to large bowl, add cilantro to sauce and pour over top. Serve with bread or over pasta.

Canon Does It

I've been waiting for this update since before Ginnie came to visit us in Vancouver in October 2006. She has a Canon and I've been wanting to get a mini camera for those times I'm on the go (which is daily) caring my large backpack with me. I'm looking for something that is small but not too small yet somewhat state of the art so I don't miss taking shots...

I've still got my Nikon my old Finepix has seen it's day.

So the new Canon Powershot S5 IS is the upgrade to the current model. My hardest decision, is which camera do I get? Something smaller and more compact or do I just wait and get this model. At any rate, I love googling over it! check out the awesome Canon S5 camera here.

What do you think? I still have a list of other cameras on my mind too. Here are a few others.

Product

Panasonic Lumix Digital Camera - DMCTZ3K - Black

Casio Exilim EX-Z700

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon PowerShot G7

Canon PowerShot A710 IS Digital Camera

Canon PowerShot A640

I'm leaning towards a panasonic as it is japanese made and passes 8 tests before they release it for sale.

Inquiring Questions About Vancouver

I found this too funny to pass up!

I took this from Beautiful British Columbia's site because I thought it was so good yet so funny. Before you start laughing more, realize that many of my friends who live in California were actually asking me these same questions also!

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go?

Vancouver is hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics and people all over the world have questions. Believe it or not these questions about Canada were posted on an International Tourism Website.

Obviously the answers are a joke, and very funny; but the questions were really asked!

Q: I have never seen it warm on Canadian TV, so how do the plants grow?(England)
A. We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around and watch them die.

Q: Will I be able to see Polar Bears in the street? (USA)
A: Depends on how much you've been drinking.

Q: I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto - can I follow the Railroad tracks? (Sweden)
A: Sure, it's only four thousand miles, take lots of water.

Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Canada? (Sweden)
A: So it's true what they say about Swedes.

Q: Are there any ATM's (cash machines) in Canada ? Can you send me a list of them in Toronto , Vancouver , Edmonton and Halifax? (England)
A: What, did your last slave die?

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Canada? (USA)
A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Ca-na-da is that big country to your North...oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Calgary. Come naked.

Q: Which direction is North in Canada ? (USA)
A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Canada? (England)
A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA)
A: Aus-t ri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is...oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in Vancouver and in Calgary, straight after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q: Do you have perfume in Canada ? (Germany)
A: No, WE don't stink.

Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Where can I sell it in Canada ? (USA)
A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q: Can you tell me the regions in British Columbia where the female population is smaller than the male population? (Italy)
A: Yes, gay nightclubs.

Q: Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada? (USA)
A: Only at Thanksgiving.

Q: Are there supermarkets in Toronto and is milk available all year round?( Germany )
A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of Vegan hunter/gathers. Milk is illegal.

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Canada, but I forget its
name. It's a kind of big horse with horns. (USA)
A: It's called a Moose. They are tall and very violent, eating the brains of anyone walking close to them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA)
A: Yes, but you will have to learn it first.

It's warm today in Vancouver, reaching 25C.. Lol...

Needing a Vacation

I think I'm in desperate need of a Vacation! We actually haven't travelled outside our normal city limits since December now. I didn't even go skiing this year. And the snow was probably the most awesome it's been in years.

(pic of sunset Friday eve, west Vancouver)

So with the below post and people everywhere talking about vacations, I'm starting to get vacation fever. Now my biggest problem is being able to take one, and figuring out where to go. We are going to stay close to home but I guess the furthest we would travel is either Banff or California. I'd like to do both, but don't know what we will be able to do at this point.

That all depends on how fast this slow moving letter from CIC gets to me. It's been 3.5 wks (April 18th was when it changed on the web) and I still haven't gotten the letter. I've tried calling the call center but they weren't of any help. I tried to tell them I haven't gotten a letter. All they would tell me is "sorry I'm not able to give you any information about that"....

Well why don't you keep diggin Watson because if a DECISION MADE is what I see on the Internet, you'd at least think you'd try communicating with me on when my landing interview was... I'm not incompetent.

Oh wait, I forgot, you're too incompetent to put two and two together, but like to make people sit and miss their landing interview dates... Yup that's Canadian Immigration for ya.. Hard dumb ones at work...

Anyhow - after a week of sunshine, all spirits around here are much higher. I'm going to try bringing out my camera more on my travels as I've had some awesome views and keep missing the shots sans camera.

Happy Mother's Day

Hope Everyone get's to at least make a phone call to their special Mom today. I can only guess that many of us are a bit too far away to enjoy the day together. I'm lucky enough to have my brother close enough to cover for me.

So I found a really cool site this morning. Ended up being able to make my own super cool collage of photos with it. You should try it, here's mine below.

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

I've taken a few pics since we have had 7 days of sun now. Let me see what I can do to publish them.

Five Awesome Photo Spots

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.

Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

This weeks Photo Hunt Theme is FIVE.

I couldn't really think of a photo I had five of, but I could certainly think of something with five great places to visit and photograph. So here are a few random picks where if you go during the perfect time of the year, it's absolute paradise.

(click links to view larger)

1. Lost in Paradise, Views of English Bay/Kits, Vancouver from a 13th floor building.

2. Penticton After Sunset, During the summer, the sky is incredible, full of life and much like it is in Switzerland during July and August when there are lots of thunderstorms and so much to watch outside by night.

3. Enjoying Summer Weather, Summer weather of Montreux. What more can you ask for with a view like that! I might add that it looks a lot like West Vancouver.

4. Sunset, off the Washington Coast. These types of views go all the way up to BC where whale watching and sunsets come hand in hand.

5. Lausanne Harbor - One of my favorite towns to walk around, go shopping and watch the incredible sunsets. Take a boat across the way, and you will land in France...

So there you have my five random picks of great places to photograph...

Happy Hunting!

We have had sun for 5 days in a row! I plan on watching the sunset and taking more pics this weekend..

Change of Habit

So it's been almost 2 wks of a change. I've gotten my butt up too early to even admit. It's so early that I only see my normal 6:30am training group on my way out the door. Yes I'm crazy but the birds are awake, so is the sun, and P and I get out the door together..

I'm hoping to take a few more pics this weekend. Short winded and dead tired...

Looking on the Bright Side

Today was supposed to be rainy, with changes in the afternoon. We were all hoping for this since the weather changed on us this weekend and was not as nice as they predicted. Wouldn't it be nice to have a job where you could be wrong 90% of the time and still keep your job!

So we actually had sunshine and warm temps this afternoon. Yeah! We also had a lot of vancouver mist, which I don't mind much.

But I was so tired today, I napped for 2 hrs this evening. I guess the lack of sleep is catching up to me. I'm crossing my fingers for a good sunny weekend to snap some new photos.

Allusion in Immigration Canada

Allusion With Canadian Immigration...
The Saga... The more I learn about CIC incompetence...

I'm really tired of the crap CIC tries to pull on people. Well it's been well over 2 wks time and a good 10 plus mailing business days and it's still a no show for the "decision made" letter that has supposedly happened. As I mentioned first, I wouldn't be holding my breathe for this since I have absolutely no faith in their incompetence. I couldn't call this week but P tried for me. What a waste as he's not aloud to do anything even after answering all security questions.

To top things off, their website is so inaccurate it really pisses me off. Why CIC Immigration do you have to allude and lie to people??? Don't put inappropriate information on your website when you know it's completely false..

And anyone if you actually happen to try want to call CIC for information they claim you can attain via the phone, stop wasting your time. It doesn't work.

Here's the detailed Call Centre link which is a waste of time.

Our automated telephone service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you have a touch-tone telephone, you can

• listen to pre-recorded information about Citizenship and Immigration programs,
• order application kits, and (Sorry can't do that unless you speak to an agent.)
• check the status of your application. (Sorry can't do that unless you speak to an agent.)

Don't bother Calling CIC unless its a week day! I'll update you when I have something better to say but sorry guys, since waiting from October 2005, I have a reason to be impatient...

The Child Menu

Grab the Scavenger Hunt code.

Join the blogroll. Visit participants.

This weeks Photo Hunt Theme is Childhood.



This is a pic of my little buddy while were on a hike at Lac Tannay.

He was playing around and talking to me at lunch when I captured this photo.

I'm hoping to go back and visit him again in Switzerland, but next time he'll be all grown up. Well not that much but enough to be a lot bigger than the "little man" that he was back then.. In fact he now has 2 younger brothers who are about the age he was in this photo now.

Lac Tannay, Switzerland

Where in the World?

This is my favorite week of the year on the NBC morning show. Why do you ask?

This week Matt Lower is traveling the world, and traveling to many places I want to visit. Matt is off on his world wind tour, with the famous Where in the World is Matt Lower song, keeping us guessing on where he will be next. He already visited us near Seattle Washington and then was off to Ireland.

I don't have the time to follow him this week but you bet I've been checking in as I can. I think the sense of adventure is what gets me excited and wanting to watch. Check out where Matt is going on his website.

Unfortunately, I've been re-arranging/flipping my schedule upside down and of course my body is rejecting these crazy changes. Try not swimming for a week and see what your body thinks...