Bad idea

Partying like it is 1999 seemed like a great on Saturday. However, I'm paying the price this week. I started with my sleep patterns a bit confused (i.e. lack of), then hit the ground running as we are releasing tomorrow. No matter how prepared you think you are, every release I've ever worked on was always a mix of panic and long hours. There has to be a better way...

Added to the release frenzy are all the questions I am fielding from the documentation team as they are absorbing my former workload and from the product team as they are working on high-level design for our next release. Everyone pretty much knows I'm on vacation next week, so I'm booked solid until Friday 1 p.m., at which time I'm running out of the office, grabbing my suitcase at home and then heading out to the airport.

As soon as I possibly can, I personally plan to sit in one of the floating chairs we have at the cabin, a drink in hand, and pass out. Until I turn all pruny or the mosquitoes find me.

Yes, I'm off to Montreal to visit the family for a week. :-)

Happiness is...

1. Spending an afternoon at the beach, playing volleyball, hanging around with friends, waddling in shallow water because the tide is out, and NOT getting a sunburn.

2. Meeting up with other friends (James and his buddy from the navy, Anthony) for all-you can eat sushi, eating all the sushi you CAN eat and ending up with a bill that's less than $20 (per person).

3. Going dancing to some old-school house music that reminds you of clubs you went to ten years ago AND waking up early the following morning with some energy to boot, ready to enjoy yet another fabulous day in Vancouver.


Rafael

Too cool for school

Nobody says "too cool for school anymore", but this effect called "Contour" in ArcSoft PhotoStudio (came with my digital camera) is the perfect fit for some pictures taken by my good friend Raf.


Special effects (dancing at Sandbar)

You have to hit the clubs at 9:30 to avoid lineups

Welcome to Vancouver!

I'm not a big fan of clubs, but once in a while, it's fun to go out with a few girlfriends, maybe do a bit of dancing. On Saturday, Lara and I decided to have a night out and after getting a few recommendations about some good places from Raf, we picked Ginger 62 as our venue. By ten, we're both ready to go, waiting for the cab company to answer the phone, quite in a good mood. 10:25, the cab parks in front of the club and there's a lineup. Yes, lineup. OK, we're thinking it can't be that bad, so we go directly to the source and ask the bouncer how long the wait will be. 45 minutes. Right. Oh, you're actually serious. Ouch.

Neither of us has ever waited 45 minutes to get into a club and we're not about to start in Vancouver when it's cold and windy outside, and we're not dressed that well. So we walk to another bar close by, Bar None. Again, there's a lineup. Again, 45 minutes. They train you at bouncer school to answer pretty girls who are trying to avoid the lineup with the same line: it'll be about 45 minutes.

We're not discouraged yet, we walk to Lucy Mae Brown, also close by. Fortunately, downtown Vancouver is small, clubs are all within the same area. No lineup at Lucy, but the club (downstairs, the top floor being a restaurant) is full and hosting a private function. We ask if we can have a few drinks at the restaurant and the host is about to show us to the table when some other manager comes up and says we can go downstairs afterall. So, we crashed someone's birthday party and had a great time. Nobody seemed to mind the two strangers, and the two other who dropped by when Gerri and Joe came after the opera.

So, if we want to get into Ginger 62 and Bar None, what time do we have to hit the place? 9:30? That's dinner time, way too early...