Wet Coast, Ikea, Dumpster Diving, Pad Thai

New beginnings! A new chapter in my life here on the "wet coast." I sit here listening to the rain on the window. Yes, it really did rain all day today. My daughter laughed at me when I wanted to take an umbrella. It's just one more thing to leave behind. Apparently only the tourists take umbrellas when it rains. She said, "You'll get used to it!"

My stuff is still in transit so my living room looks very bare. I do have a bed and dresser which I and my daughter and son-in-law put together. It only took us two days! My daughter threatened to leave town if I ever buy any more furniture from IKEA. Why do they use such cheap screws? As soon as you try to tighten them they get stripped. There was much gnashing of teeth and a few choice words.

There is a whole new culture to learn here. I try to watch other people to see how things are done. The other day I saw an old lady put on all her makeup on a moving bus! I'm sure you can imagine how it turned out. I hope I never get that eccentric.

I am, however, turning into a Vancouverite. A couple of days ago, just as I was leaving through the back door of the apartment block with my arms full of garbage and recyclables my cell phone rang. I should mention here that on my daughter's advice I have decided not to have a land line, just a cell phone. So, there I am, chatting away on my cell standing by the garbage skip and the recycling bins and along come two men. One of the more interesting and colourful jobs here is dumpster diving. One can make quite a good living from soft drink cans and bottles; grocery stores give top dollar (five cents a can) for these items.

I realize as I am standing there that the two men are waiting for me to put my recyclables in the bins so they can get the cans and bottles. They were very polite, not pressuring me at all, just waiting for me to finish my phone call. One stood there leaning on the garbage skip looking as if he had all the time in the world. Well, the call got very involved and I started to laugh as I realized what was happening, so I just opened my arms and said, "Here you are," and the men took the garbage. They separated the cans and bottles out and put the other stuff in the right place. One said to me, "Have a great day." This is the standard greeting here. Back in Winnipeg and everywhere else it is Have a nice day, but here in the Land of Superlatives it's Have a great day and Perfect!

Note to myself: Don't go out to take out garbage after dark. Not all the street people are as nice as those two guys. It really is disconcerting to see all the street people here. It will take some getting used to. Such a desperate life.

My daughter and son-in-law and I had lunch with niece Lyn and her son Adam who were in town from Victoria to attend an information meeting about BCIT. He plans to take a software applications program there this fall. It was very lovely to see them and we had tasty Pad Thai at the Fish House in Stanley Park.

To all my friends and relations: Welcome to my new blog. I hope to keep you all informed of the process of adjusting to my new surroundings. I hope to add things to my blog as I go, just as Dennis had on the Prairie Dog Blog. Things like a hit counter and the time and local weather.

Tata and TAKE CARE and PEACE

Look, I don't want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you're alive you've got to flap your arms and legs, you've got to jump around a lot, for life is the very opposite of death, and therefore you must at very least think noisy and colorfully, or you're not alive. Mel Brooks