Cloudy, drizzle, and dreary

That about sums up Vancouver weather in the Winter.

You do get the odd clear  sunny day, about once every 2 weeks. I am off to South East Asia on March 24th so I will miss the first 6 weeks of Spring which is unfortunate. It is about 8 degrees today and Ottawa is scheduled for 20 degrees this weekend. Go figure, Ottawa is supposed to be a much colder city.

I was out looking at motorcycles on Saturday and it brought back the usual spring itch to get back on my motorcycle. I will have to go visit Ottawa when I get back from Bangkok. I don't know if I would use my bike in the winter in Vancouver as I am mostly a fair weather rider. Why punish yourself, riding should be enjoyable. Definitely not the commuter by bike type.

My gym workouts (Steve Nash Gym) are going really well, and I am in even better shape than I was in Malaysia. I am 30 seconds from my building to the gym so I don't even have to change and can wear my workout clothes. The gym is also much larger, so there are more opportunities to people watch and there are lots of strange characters.

Apart form my upcoming travel I have not done much except for walk around the various neighborhoods in Vancouver. It is quite an eclectic city.

That's it for now, ttyl

Jim

Tuesday - February 28th

This is usually the end of February but we are in a leap year so we get an extra day in February tomorrow, the 29th. That means an extra day of Winter and brrrrr, it is chilly here in Vancouver with temperatures hovering around a high of 2 or 3 degrees. The good  news, is that the colder it gets, the sunnier it gets. Go figure, rain and warm or cold and sunny :-)

I am sitting in Starbucks as I type this as I usually go to Starbucks around 11 am and program until about 4 pm. For some reason, I see to work best in that atmosphere as the distractions are less than home and there are quite a few people working away on their laptops, so it is kind of like being in a office. The coffee (Americano with 2 brown sugars and half and half) is always fresh.

There are only 25 days left until I fly out to Bangkok, and eventually one week in Subang Jaya in Malaysia.

On another note, it has been 1 year since my official separation date in my marriage. It has been an interesting year with many ups and downs as I adjusted to my new life, new jobs, new friends, and a new life style. People often ask me if I am happy and the answer is yes. I do not wish to live my life in a rear view mirror when the vista out in front has so many possibilities and roads ahead that I can take.

I have decided to continue this blog but it is in need of a new title as it is no longer about Malaysia and my teaching experience. It will become more a blog on my new lifestyle and the road ahead.

So, if you have a name that makes sense, drop me a comment and suggest it. Possible titles are:

The Road Ahead
Dale's Diary of Adventure
Where in the World ...
The Scarlet Pimpernel (They Seek ...)
Jimbo's Travels
Monkey's Meanderings
Any Monkey Can ... But Not Many Do
The 4th Monkey
Monkey Tales
...

I really don't know where I will be living in a month and that would have scared the hell out of me 2 years ago, but now, I find it exciting and liberating ...TTYL,

Jim

2 Sunny Days in a Row!

Great news, the sun does exist and I have now seen it for 2 days straight. It really makes a difference in my mood and I I face the day.

Other than the sun, programming and maintenance of my programs is going well.

Take care, ttyl,

Jim

Vancouver Rain

I have had 2 days of real rain now. Up to now, it has only been drizzle, but I have found out that Vancouver can get real rain so I guess it is time to purchase an umbrella. It is the weekend, but I have quite a bit of programming to complete by the end of February so the rain will not bother me much. I have taken to programming in Starbucks which I have actually found been more conducive to getting work done.

I also purchased my ticket to Bangkok and I fly out March 24th which is a Saturday. With the international dateline, I arrive on February 26th. I am flying Air Canada to Seoul Korea and then Korean Air to Bangkok. I will be in Bangkok for a week and then I have  a week of work in Malysia and then back to Bangkok for 5 weeks.

I also had to apply for a new passport as I managed to fill my previous passport and was out of room for stamps. I have no idea what would happen if you arrived in a country and there was no room for a stamp, never mind the full page required for a visa.

I had best get back to work, so TTYL,

Jim

Monday Morning Sunshine

I woke to the sound of jack hammers outside my apartment but the sun was shining so I headed off to Starbucks to get some sun and do a little programming. It has since clouded over but I am looking at a high of 11 today and a high of 10 tomorrow so that beats sun and cold in my weather book.

I am thinking I should book my flight to South East Asia early this week. That means notifying my landlord that I will be leaving, as well as finding a place to store my belongings and a place to store my car. I suppose I could simply pay for the apartment for 2 months while I am in SE Asia but that would be $5K and it is quite possible I could end up in Ottawa when I come back, if I come back.

There are many unknowns at this point in my life. I can live very well on my pension in Thailand and if I stay in Canada, I have to augment my pension with some kind of income to live in the manner that I am accustomed to; decisions, decisions, decisions :-) At this point my life is planned up to the end of April and then I don't know what will happen. However it is nice to have choices.

I am hoping Jaime finds some time to visit me in Thailand for a weekend. It would be fun to show her around and introduce her to my friends.

TTYL,

Jim

Sunday at Starbucks

Sometimes it is a little boring programming at home, especially when it is monkey work. I have started getting into the practice of programming monkey work at Starbucks. It is a little more expensive when drinking coffee but I like the working atmosphere and seem to get more work done. There is not a lot of distractions and I find the few there are keeps me entertained when often I would get bored at home.

The Starbucks I frequent has a decent internet connection and I am using it at this moment to post this blog entry. I am into my 4th day of cloud and drizzle. We seldom get rain in Vancouver and I would characterize most of the precipitation as drizzle.

I think I will take a side trip to White Rock this afternoon as I have a hunger for some fish and chips and White Rock hass some nice outlets, right on the water that are inexpensive and tasty at the same time. I know they are open in the summer time and I hope the fish is as fresh and the outlets are open at this time of year. If not, it is still a chance to get out of the city into the country.

I am hard at work programming the SPA (Staff Performance Appraisal) software for the public school board in Ottawa. I am please with the user interface and the core code and how it functions. I have one module up and running and I am now engaged in monkey work, completing the other 5 modules. At some point I will have to go to Ottawa to integrate the software into their active directory to control access to the appraisals.

Time to logoff and head to White Rock,

TTYL,

Jim

TGIF

Yes, there is still TGIF when you are retired. Today I have to go to the passport issuing office and apply for a new passport. My passport does not expire until 2014 but it is full and there is no longer any space for visas or stamps. This time around I will ask for the larger version just in case I continue to travel as much.

I have also decided to go to a UBC basketball game for a basketball fix. UBC is a short 20 minutes away and it is an easy drive to get there so it should be fun.The other thing I have been meaning to do is buy a one day pass and travel around on public transportation and see where that takes me. However, I will wait for a bright sunshiny day.

I also have to book my flight to Bangkok. The cost with Air Canada at this moment is $450 one way which is awesome. I must check to see if April and May is starting to encroach on the rainy season in Bangkok. I think not but need to know whether to pack my brelli :-)

Must remember to file my income tax before leaving as it is due April 30th.

TTYL,

Jim