Snow in Vancouver?

Yes, once a year, Vancouver does get some cold weather for a few days. This is that time of the year. Today, it snowed about 5cm and created havroc on the entire city. Think of it, drivers not used to the driving conditions, no winter tires and no salt or sand on the streets. Deadly combination! But the public transit system was working as usual. Good day not to have to drive around :-)

Almost one week that I'm back from Montreal and the living arrangements are working out fine. Lara and Charles and Puzzle the cat are living at my place until February 1. They have found a place, but it wasn't available until the end of the month. Let's say that it's really cozy! And Lara is cooking for us every night. It's nice to come home to dinner, what a luxury!

The first week back at work was quite hard, but the workload is lighter, fortunately. It's more about preparing for the next few releases, noting down a few things that we didn't have time to do, planning resources and schedules. Not too bad.

I was shocked when I received my property assessment yesterday. The value of my property has increased by 41% over the past year! Good thing is, city taxes are not increased proportionally. I think the city of Vancouver had to put a cap on property taxes collected a few years back. The value of land is so high that the city has been collecting more than it should. It's all good news, buying a condo here was a great decision! Now if all the snow can melt and winter go away... no, wait, that's February ;-)