A Visit To Canada

I have been busy getting ready for a very important visit. My good friend Pflight2000 turned blogger will be visiting North America for the first time. I do have a lot of plans for us among the many other things which have been keeping me busy.

I seriously doubt I'll be blogging much, but I will be trying to post photos as much as I can...

I leave you to reflect in the sunset from the weekend as Le Tour De France has again left us. What a different tour and a sign that summer is half over once again...

Hanging Flowers

This weeks Photohunt Theme is Hanging

I did not have much time to think of the photo hunt but came up with something always dear to my heart. I had some good ideas, like watching a person hanging or a hanging animal from a tree, but I can't think of any recent photos which I took with something so interesting.

This photo was taken in Interlaken in August 2005 when P and I first visited Switzerland together. These flowers I adored and walked past them several times because they were all so beautiful and so unusual, hanging down even..

Happy Hunting!

The 4 Hour Tour

On Saturday morning, I was tired enough to sleep in until the 8 am hour. We decided to head out to breakfast and then to Thetis Lake. Here are a few impressions for the day.

I walked what seemed to be about 18km in total and a few blisters to prove it!
I drew my estimated walking route minus my 2 hour park walk on the above map.

Ducks doing the moon walk.

Lilly pads everywhere, dragonfly heaven!

A hot expat, mug shot.

The Climate is much dryer compared to North Vancouver.

Alpacas at the petting zoon

Mama and Baby - too cute!
Lifesize watering can

Wandering Peacocks

And hopefully I will have one more set to end the trip!

My first Visit to Victoria

After living in Canada for over 4 years now, I can't believe I didn't visit Victoria, BC. I've gone over to the island about 3 separate times, but never that far south. I had the pleasure and opportunity last weekend to finally visit Victoria for the first time.

The trip started off with 2 big luck drops in one night. Thanks to those birds. Everyone in Canada counts this as a sign of good luck, do you in other countries say this too? But 2 times in one day? Sheesh - this was my second time ever being hit!

The weather was absolutely incredible!

This was another ferry just like the one I was riding which passed us by.

Sunset was just incredible in Victoria.
I love being able to see all of the buildings too.

The lights really light up the photo.

I think this was totally planned! Green bag, green car.

And that was the end to the evening for us.

My first impressions were for the most part a photographers paradise. Next I'll take you with some impressions of the day in Victoria.

What is That?

This weeks Photohunt Theme is What is that?

At first I did not have a clue which photo would make you think, but I found one. And of course it just so happened to be in my set of Switzerland photos.

So here it goes.

What is that exactly? You either know it or you don't. (Chris answered correctly first, Zhu you were correct too!)

One big hint. The company's headquarters in on the shores of Lac Leman.

Answer: Nestle, Nespresso cartridges for Coffee. They are very popular in Switzerland and as I've found out from many of your comments, not popular at all in North America. You can read about the cartridges too.

I hope I didn't spoil it for those who just visited. Happy Hunting!

back up and running

Do you know how good it feels to be back on the normal new computer?

Really darn good.

The Wireless connection was not recognizing my wireless connection and I kept on only being able to access the network connections. I finally rebooted (after not using the computer for 2 days) and I found the connection to appear in the lower right hand corner. I knew this is what I was looking for last Sunday, but the connection just didn't appear. After disabling and finding the wireless network, things are back up and running well, back to normal once again.

And back to a happy expatraveler!

See -

Great Out of Office Replies

Best 'Out of Office' Automatic Email Replies:

1. I am currently out of the office at a job interview and will reply to you if I fail to get the position. Please be prepared for my mood.

2. You are receiving this automatic notification because I am out of the office. If I was in, chances are you wouldn't have received anything at all.

3. Sorry to have missed you, but I'm at the doctor's having my brain and heart removed so I can be promoted to our management team.

4. I will be unable to delete all the emails you send me until I return from vacation. Please be patient, and your mail will be deleted in the order it was received.

5. Thank you for your email. Your credit card has been charged €5.99 for the first 10 words and €1.99 for each additional word in your message. (love this one too.)

6. The email server is unable to verify your server connection. Your message has not been delivered. Please restart your computer and try sending again. (The beauty of this is that when you return, you can see who did this over and over and over...)

7. Thank you for your message, which has been added to a queuing system. You are currently in 352nd place, and can expect to receive a reply in approximately 19 weeks. (love this one.)

8. Hi, I'm thinking about what you've just sent me. Please wait by your PC for my response.

9. I've run away to join a different circus.

10. I will be out of the office for the next two weeks for medical reasons. When I return, please refer to me as 'Lucille' instead of Steve.

I think I need one of these until the weekend since I haven't been able to process any of my photos yet. Maybe tonight, but I'm not holding my breath.

Back From Victoria

It's been a busy, sunny weekend for me...

(Thetis Lake, near Victoria BC)

Empress Hotel and Victoria Harbour

See what I mean, it was just a great weekend for being outdoors...

My laptop doesn't want to configure the internet once again. I've tried all of the troubleshooting and normal problems, but it just won't recognize anything. Any emails or tips to get reconnected via the PC would be appreciated...

Needing Support - Photo Hunt

This weeks Photohunt Theme is Support

It's quite ironic that this photo hunt is on Support, as P and I are going through a really rough time in our lives and we both need a lot of support.

You will find so many things in this photo that symbolize support ironically. The most notable, the Lions Gate Bridge span which has supporting cables holding it altogether. Secondly, the shadows of P and I leaning on each other. There are many supports in the habour along with all of the lights which support our eyes when it is dark at night.

I probably won't be around most of the weekend. I'm off to photograph. I'll try to check in as I can. Whatever information I can, I will pass along to P.

Ah Le Tour

Today is the beginning of Le Tour De France. It runs from Saturday July 5^th to Sunday July 27^th 2008, being the 95^th Tour de France with 21 stages, covering a total distance of 3,500 kilometres.

There's something about Le Tour that draws me in, every year. I love watching it just as many European football fans love watching their football.

This is a different race entirely this year. There's more biking in Italy, 2 timed stages and a counter clockwise route. Lovely... I'll be trying to follow along as much as possible in what should turn out to be a very different year.

Interesting Facts

These 21 stages have:

• 10 flat stages,
• 5 mountain stages,
• 4 medium mountain stages,
• 2 individual time-trial stages.

10 new stop-over towns

Auray, Aigurande, Brioude, Prato Nevoso (Italy), Cuneo (Italy), Jausiers, Embrun, Roanne, Cérilly, Étampes.

Very cool!!!

Pointed - Photo Hunt

This weeks Photohunt Theme is Pointed

Canada Place has lots of pointed sails which go perfect with the point on the cruise ship which was docked there last weekend.

Wishing everyone a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

Canadian embassy in Washington apologizes for controversial Canada Day invite

There was a bit of an uproar on July 1st regarding the Canadian Embassy and Quebec's 400th birthday which is celebrated on July 3rd. Apparently Poutine is a lot more contraversial than one might think!

Canadian embassy in Washington apologizes for controversial Canada Day invite - Yahoo! Canada News

Happy Canada Day

Today is a day that many things happen. The first being the early morning parade nearly right outside our front door. This is the second of three years living at our place we have seen this parade. Last year we traveled to California so I could immigrate.

Happy Canada Day 2008