Hike, bears, and snow

Yesterday was a day filled with friends, challenges, discoveries and lots of fun.

We had a morning brunch with Jenn, Dennis and Scott, yummy! Then, Tucker and I headed out to Point Grey to visit an apartment on behalf of Lara and Charles. We both thought that the place would be perfect for them, lots of room, nice neighborhood. After, we picked up Dennis and headed out to Grouse Mountain. We climbed the Grind, made record time (for me, it means 1h16m) in really cold weather, had some hot chocolates at the lodge, walked around the mountain and went to visit the bears (through a mini snow blizzard) who live on Grouse. That was the closest we ever wanted to come to grizzly bears!

Then, we drove down to North Vancouver and visited a new "village" mall that opened up not too long ago. Tucker and I bought some bedsheets and a pepper mill at Home Sense, then Jenn came to meet us and we decided to have dinner at Cactus Club. The wait for a table was a bit long, but the food was quite tasty. We waited just long enough to avoid being outside as a hail storm was hitting the city, and drove back to Vancouver. Needless to say that we fell asleep not too long after arriving home. It was quite the busy day!


Warming up after the Grind

Grizzly bears on top of Grouse Mountain

Aha!

I think I now understand why my washing machine is generating a minor earthquake through the apartment when it spins... it is not levelled.

The installers quickly played with the feet and said that it was levelled, and then tested the machine without any clothes. Well, the first load I tried shook my poor condo and made me doubt my choice of appliance. Well, on a user forum, people really emphasized the importance of leveling the washer and I used my own level (the girl has a few tools) to check that, indeed, the machine was a bit slanted. Quite a bit.

Sooo, when I pay $150 to get two appliances installed, I think that gives me the right to call them back and complain. Otherwise, I could have just done the job myself (they DID need MY power drill to do the installation), with a bit of help from Tucker for lifting, and would be no worse off.

Three loads later, I like the machines a lot more. I've turned off the Power Wash and picked Regular dry and wow! Things come out nice and clean! Now if I can reduce the noise level to below airport-runway standards, we're in business ;)

I can do laundry again!

And what a pleasure it is... especially after a couple of weeks without washer-dryer access.

Today was the day where the electrical problem was fixed and the new combo was installed by the technicians from Sears. At 7 a.m., bright and early, was the visit from the electrician who did a pretty quick and clean job, I thought, of replacing my three-hole 220V outlet with a four-hole 220V outlet and changing the breaker from 20Amps to 30Amps.

Then, around 12:30, two guys from Sears show up. One has installed Bosch machines before, the other one, never. At least it's not both of them who are clueless about the process. To stack the machines, there's a little stacking kit that requires you to drill holes IN the top of the washer (yes, sir), but my two guys don't have a power drill. Boy did I feel good handing them MY power drill, fully charged and ready to go. Silly guys.

Well, I've done a test wash and so far, I'm still warming up to the new machines. First, I started at 2:30 and at 5, the dryer is still going. The washer was the heavy time consumer, but I did make the mistake of having the Power Wash button on, which means the longest washing cycle. The dryer is supposed to have sensors that measure the humidity and stop the machine automatically when the load is dry. Well, when the clothes get all lumped together, the ones in the middle don't dry and the sensors think that the machine is done. When it's not. My load could have probably used the Regular Dry cycle instead of the Light Dry. I'm still learning.

What really feels odd is the vibration. Because the machines are on the second floor and the washer can spin to 1000rpm, the entire apartment shakes when the washer is spinning. It feels like a minor earthquake, I hope it doesn't freak out the neighbours. And my workstation is right next to the bathroom, so when laundry is going full blast, my screen is hard to read.

If I feel the vibration is out of hand, I might try to balance the machine, which my two Sears technician have not spent an enormous amount of time doing.

Design in no way you ever imagined it

Last Thursday, Tucker and I visited the Vancouver Art Gallery to see Massive Change, an exhibit that pushes the limits of what we consider to be "design."

The interactive and multisensorial exhibit explores many aspects of our every-day lives that Bruce Mau (famous designer) categorizes as design. Forget the funky living room chair and think highrises, Segways, GMOs, military equipment, and Aerogel. Look at what surrounds us and think how quickly technology is evolving and changing how we live and see the world.

Massive Change is also a movement (called The Future of Global Design) and you can read more about it on their web site.

For a good dose of reality, I recommend filling in the information to calculate your footprint. Your footprint is how much productive land and water is required to sustain your lifestyle. The result will shock you, guaranteed. The quiz also recommends ways to reduce your footprint and tells you how many Earths we would need if everyone in the world lived like you!

What a day!

Fridays are usually about winding down and getting ready for the weekend. My Friday was everything but winding down.

I had a technician from ADT (alarm company) scheduled to come in between 8 and 9 to replace the battery of my console. Last weekend, my alarm started beeping furiously and the only indicator that something was wrong was the word "BAT". Minutes later, I received a call from ADT telling me that my console battery was low and should be replaced. OK. But my console is locked and I don't have a key, so how am I going to do this? Well, you have to have a technician come in and replace the battery and yes, we do have to charge you for this. Did I have a choice? At 8:30 this morning, the technician calls and says he's been scheduled to do two battery replacements but has only one battery in his truck. Says he's going to call dispatch to see if another technician can drop by and change my battery. Goodie! At 11, I call dispatch, who hasn't heard from the technician, complain a bit and they send someone else to do the replacement. Free of charge. And while the guy was here, I also made sure he replaced the batteries in all the sensors. For free. Customer's always right, no?

Later in the afternoon (now, I was working from home today, due to all this servicing activity, but didn't manage to get much done because of VPN problems), my washer and dryer were delivered by Sears. Yay! They look great, I'm so excited, but wait, the power cord should plug into a four-hole outlet and my outlet only has three holes. I call Sears, they dispatch me to technical support to be told that my 220V outlet is not standard, it should have four holes (two grounds and two 110V), I need to get an electrician to get it fixed. Before Monday 8 a.m., 'cause that's when the service technicians from Sears are doing the installation. Goodie. I've been living without a washer/dryer for a couple of weeks now and the last thing I want to do is wait another week. So I get the directory I received from the Better Business Bureau and call the closest electrician. Fortunately, he can make it between 7-7:30 on Monday. So I'm still on schedule.

Now, I have to go visit Home Depot again to buy the flexible tube that connects the dryer to my dryer vent. It doesn't come with the dryer. And I should buy metal, 'cause the plastic ones tend to melt with the new dryers. Goodie.

Is it already Monday?

Sometimes, weekends just end up keeping you quite busy with chores and outings. This was one of these weekends.

We woke up to a sunny (and somewhat warm) Saturday, which was nice after a few days of rain. I had planned to start painting my washer-dryer closet and, with the help of Tucker, went through this task pretty quickly. Tucker is a real star with the roller! After the painting, we had a quick lunch and went shopping on Granville Street. I bought some clothes, a headset for my computer and some CDs, while Tucker bought a DVD. I then headed to the gym for a short workout. I am now training for the Fall Classic 10k run on November 21. I find that setting objectives really helps me progress. After the gym, I quickly showered and changed, and then headed out with Tucker and a couple of his friends. We had dinner at Hell's Kitchen (nothing too impressive) and dessert at Death by Chocolate (you can imagine the type of dessert). We were quite tired after the long, busy day and went back home, watched Jaws on CBC (they now have to fill their Saturday evenings with something else than hockey) and fell asleep one hour into the movie.

Sunday was not so nice, it rained the entire day. Tucker and I had a brunch at the Empire Landmark Hotel's revolving restaurant. This was a Canadian Cancer Society event organized to say thanks to everyone who helped with the Cops for Cancer tour. After (too) much tasty food, we came back to my place and painted a second coat on the closet. It looks so clean, it's simply wonderful what a bit of paint can do to a room. After painting, I went to yoga, which usually relaxes me but this time, I might have held a position a bit too long because I am really sore tonight. Back home after that for a bit of cleaning and picking up. Spent some time on the computer, installing Skype (see below), Windows XP SP2, and working on a presentation for work. I also had a call from Lara and Charles who had questions regarding their up-coming move to B.C.

Speaking of work, I just learned that I am finally going to visit the California office next week. It's a quick visit, but I am looking forward to putting a face on the many voices I deal with on a day-to-day basis. Two years with the company, it's about time, don't you think?

October in Quebec

Something I miss in Vancouver is the Fall foliage. The colors are just no the same here. We get some reds, but that's about it.


Lac McDonald in the Laurentians (Quebec)

The future is now

I'm sure Telus will forgive me for borrowing their marketing jingle, but I'm pretty impressed with this technology and wanted to share this with you.

VoIP (voice over IP) has been there for some time now, but this little piece of software makes it really easy to call friends and family over your Internet connection. Skype is free, easy to install, and if you have a VoIP headset or speakers and a microphone, you can call people anywhere in the world for free (well, the high-speed Internet connection is not free, but you're already paying for it, so why not take advantage of it). I have an account with Skype, my user name is the first letter of my first name, the first letter of my family name and my second family name. If you want to try the service, give me a call, I'd love to chat! The quality of the sound is quite impressive.

Inevitability

There's a proposal on the table to raise the transit fees in January. The Greater Vancouver Transportation authority has already tried once this year to increase fares, without success. This time, the cost of my monthly 2-zone pass would go from $87 to $95. Not happy about this.

I'm seriously thinking I should get myself a bike and ride to work...

CIBC Run for the Cure in Vancouver, Melissa before the run 

CIBC Run for the Cure in Vancouver, Sherri and Melissa after the run 

Even better

I hope everyone has had a pleasant and filling Thanksgiving. Ours was quiet. Tucker and I were supposed to go over to a friend's house on Saturday for a turkey dinner, but their cat fell really ill and they cancelled. Fortunately, the cat is feeling better.

This past weekend was mainly about shopping and relaxing. On Saturday, we drove to Whistler for their Turkey Sale (nothing to do with turkey, it's a big ski and snowboard sale). Tucker picked up new boots and bindings and I picked up some boots. I will try snowboarding again this year. I've been a few times last year, did not really succeed at controlling the board, but I don't give up that easy. Since I don't have my own equipment, I will continue renting, but there's something about renting boots that is not appealing. I did it last year and most of the ones I ended up with didn't fit properly and were always a bit smelly. The boot I bought fit like gloves (or slippers :-))...

On Sunday, we didn't really do much. Slept in, read, played on the computer. We saw Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow, a fantastic film. 1930s almost cartoon-like adventure movie with Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Angelina Jolie, very entertaining. Today (Monday), Tucker helped me clear the washer-dryer closet of the old appliances to get ready for the new ones. The floor was gross, but we made a fortunate discovery: my old dryer was already plugged to a 220V outlet, which means that I don't have to get an electrician in! Then, we made a trip out to IKEA, Tucker was looking for a smaller TV stand, and I, for a storage unit and cable rail to tidy up my work area. No TV stand and no storage unit, but a nice duvet cover for my bedroom... You always find something at IKEA.

Time for bed soon, another busy week is about to start.

Done and done!

I've finally picked the washer/dryer model that I want to buy and have placed my order with Sears. They matched prices I found elsewhere and offered me a 25-month financing option with no interest and no admin fee. Definitely makes it easier to purchase the very eco-friendly Bosch stackables I chose. I am scheduled to receive the new appliances on October 22, which leaves me two weeks to get an electrician to convert the old 110V plug into a 220V, and to clean and repaint the washer/dryer closet in my bathroom (now's the time, right?). For the past year, I've had no dryer and a temperamental washer, so I am very excited by this purchase.

Off to yoga now...

Fun Book to Read

I recently finished Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I have no idea how this book ended up in my bookshelf (gift left behind from someone visiting?) but when I find out, I'll have to thank them. I enjoyed the book.

The story is basically about good and evil, the good going through hardships as they struggle to stay good and the evil... being evil. The setting was interesting, in the early 1100s, in England. Lots of mysteries, struggles, battles and churches. A great distraction during my daily commute :-)

Race Report

Well, I don't think I could have asked for a better challenge. This morning was the Run for the Cure and, along with 170,000 other Canadians, I took part in this exciting event. Did you know that this year, 19.2 million was raised for breast cancer research? That's really fantastic. Our group, Fit City for Women, managed to raise $10,870, $450 of which was thanks to your generous donations.

The race went well. It was sunny and cool-ish, great conditions for running. I was waiting for the race to start, when Sheri, a friend of Tucker, came to join me. She had spotted Tucker in the crowd (he was my supporter and did a really good job of it), nothing surprising ;) Sheri and I ran together and we were a pretty good team, pacing each other in some spots, challenging each other in others. We finished the 5 km in 32:35, and raced to the finish line. It felt really good. We then stretched a bit to avoid getting sore muscles tomorrow and entered BC Place where they were giving out snacks (bananas, yogurt, cookies, water and coffee) and keeping people entertained with bands. Felt really funny to sit down on the green, Tucker and I had just been in BC Place the night before to watch the BC Lions (they won!) play against Winnipeg.

I had a great time preparing myself for and running the 5 km. Sheri told me there is another 5 or 10 km race at the end of November, for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. I'll spare you another round of fundraising but will sign up for this one ;)

Thank you everyone, you were great supporters!!