some station stance

i used to go for walks around downtown for hours. it wouldn’t matter that i’d see the same streets or buildings or intersections again and again. i always found downtown vancouver to be kind of serene. it felt a little odd walking around watching the remnants of the olympics slowly being dismantled around me. watching all the energy on tv was amazing. walking along those same streets in relative quiet was strange, the serenity of the city was still there but i wasn’t the same. honestly, I think it was all the fencing and barricades. ask anyone in red deer and I still call vancouver my city. i think i deserve that after five years. and in that case, seeing the city partitioned off with no crowds to be kept was sad in a way.

some things change, some stay the same. i find this picture strangely comforting. after all the energy coming out of vancouver this grounds it for me. my city has its fanfare and it also has its problems. I don’t think you could live there without acknowledging both aspects.

ground zero.

the day before i flew into town i emailed the CFOX morning show to see if i could get some olympic swag seeing as how i wasn’t there for the whole show. friday morning after i spent about an hour walking around downtown and soaking everything back in i headed up to the 20th floor, six pack of diet coke in hand as per Captain Scotty’s instructions, and scored a Resist 2010 Bitches toque. some people might think it’s weird to be so happy to have a toque, but really, just holding that thing in my hands makes me incredibly happy. I know it’s not like there are only 10 in existence but to have something that my favourite radio station made in celebration of the olympics is fucking awesome.

no matter how you look at it, it’s the best place in the world.

i met up with yi hong for lunch that afternoon at metrotown. we spotted this cab driving around after. totally pimped out Sikh style with the techno going. it’s was horribly fantastic. usually if i say im meeting up with yi hong there people give me a funny look and say something like “what’s with you being friends with all your ex’s?” i dont know. i dont have a problem with it. she doesn’t have a problem with it. plus she can outdrink people based solely on being thirsty. beat that.

so dario now has his own place. friday night we had his housewarming party. in no particular order the following people made appearances and put up with him and i singing.

shaz modeling my new toque.

there were a couple of other people there but i didnt actually take that many pictures that night. go figure. really, it was a pretty tame weekend for camera action on my part.

on saturday i took danielle to the Roller Girl in store clearance. i may or may not have gotten us a little lost on the way. i blame google maps. but also her a little bit for not remembering she drives by the place everyday on the way to work pretty much. yeah, i went there. anyway, we had to stand in line for like an hour and a half cause it’s a small store and they were only letting in about ten people at a time. which was fine with me because i got to stand outside in a t-shirt being that i was not in alberta and it was not below zero, i chatted up a couple people from Terminal City and got to watch danielle’s reactions to the people lined up. im used to it by now. someone who hasn’t ever been to a derby bout or been around players or fans usually ends up staring at people. it’s funny to watch. i assure you.

i managed to find a full set of blue Radar Speed Rays with kiwk 7 bearings for $70. and they threw in a free set of new toe stops. schweeeet. considering those wheels can run $120 depending on where you find them that’s a good deal pour moi. plus an extra $40 for the bearings which just makes it better. only lame thing is i do not have a bearing press and cracked two trying to get them in to the hub today so i had to pull a set out of my other wheels. whatevs. not the end of the world. im stoked to try them this weekend. friggin fort mac got in the way this week…

danielle was hungry and tried to eat the sunshine. it didnt work so we went to memphis blues after i bought my wheels and had some UBER DELICIOUS SAMMICHES because that’s the only kind they serve there. true story.

oh Commercial Drive hippies, what would commercial drive do without you?

that night was our traditional dinner at chad and danielle’s where danielle makes loads of awesome food while chad sits, drinks and watches tv before we go to the cambie.

and then… OFF TO THE BESTEST BAR IN THE WHOLE WIDE EXPANSE OF EVERYTHING!!!!!

elise was traumatized because she heard people having sex in the bathroom stall next to her. we all had a good laugh at that. dirty? yes. kind of mostly expected there? fuck yes. hah. punny.

the skytrain tried to eat ryan on the way:

and then chad got beat up because someone accused him of pointing at a girl’s butt. at least that’s what the photographic evidence shows. see look:

“I did not! says he.

“you did WHAT? she asks as he feigns gas. ok, maybe not feigns…

BIFF!

POW!

ZOCKO!

meanwhile elise thinks: “i can still hear the moaning”

and after that we went to mcdonalds where we were all class as proven by danielle

oh right, and this

sunday at dario’s basically involved waking up, eating leftovers and watching south park.

and then i thought i had my timing right for the skytrain to get back to airport with plenty of time before my flight. i was wrong. not really exciting story because i managed to get on and my bags made it so whatevs.

so yeah. flew to edmonton, drove back to red deer, unpacked and promptly repacked to leave monday morning for fort mac for the week. which was actually pretty fun. i mean, we didnt actually spend much time in fort mac proper, and from what i did see it kind of looks like a complete shithole, but out at the scale it was pretty nice. plus i got to stop guys for overloads, do a few truck crawls and chase down guys who blew by the scale. now i am totally exhausted and really dont have any food here because i havent been home for almost two weeks.

so that’s my last week and a half.

next round on the coast comes in June for the second annual FUBAR camping trip, which i booked my time off for today. planning ahead five!