Vancouver

It's been 3.5 years since I was last working. That's a long time. I had forgotten just how much time 8hrs a day is. It's not that 8hrs is long, but 1 hour to get ready + .5 hour commute + 1 hour lunch + .5 hour commute +8hrs is a long time. I usually am awak 16 hours, which means I only get 5 hours to myself, and most of that time is spent relaxing after my bike ride home and making dinner.

I don't want to make excuses about why I can't write in my blog, but... I'm just so suprised at just how less personal time I have in my life.

I don't always look forward to season changes, but this year I do. I can't wait to snowboard. I'm working on the North Shore, which means I'm all that much closer to ski hills. I can't decide what kind of pass to buy. If I get the usual, it's one night a week and 7 times on any day. The one night a week is great, but what about when I'm at work and it's just snowed 20 cms?! I'll really want to be there. But the tradeoff is that means I would have to drive everyday to work to "be ready" for snow. That goes against what I've been working towards, which is getting in shape and psyched for commuting on my bike all winter. Hmmm. I've already decided that I should really pick one day a week to drive over to North Van and then snowboard that night. The other factor to consider is that on days it's likely to snow, I probably won't want to bike anyway (but I was going to take the bus).

The real dilemma is that driving from Kits to North Van stinks. Bad. Sitting in traffic. Dealing with traffic. Sitting in traffic. Crazy drivers. Sitting in traffic. Bleh.

Biking is awesome because I'm always moving. Even if it takes me longer (and it isn't that big of a difference 30min compared to 20 min for driving.) I still get the high from getting good solid exercise. Although today I got squeezed a little by a big truck. Pounded the crap out the side of it and I still don't think he heard me. He did when I passed him tho. No profanity, but I yelled a piece of my mind. It's funny. I think I was less mad and more scared.

So anyways. Do I buy a 1 night, 7 lift pass for $280 or a full privilege pass for $520?

Randy...

I am the liquor.

So we hada fanatastic night tonight. After a brutal round of bocche ball and beers we got home watched an episode of Trailer Park Boys ansd then I called my Dad and Step mom in Australia. It's wierd ya know. I never expected my dad to move to Australia.

There was a massive slaughter in Stanley park this morning. The recent rain brought out numerous slugs, which chose to cross the sidewalk. Unfortunately, few made it. Bicycles were largely to blame, either the sharp slice of a road bike tire or a the unescapeable crushing force of a mountain bike knobby.

Waking up must truly be complex. When I was back in SD for the summer I would pop awake at around 7am most days, regardless of the nights activities. However, back home I'm grumpily getting out of bed at 7:30 or later. It could be the night time activities, but the biggest difference I notice is lack of sun. While I was traveling in SD, I slept in rooms (or a tent), which received a LOT of sun. I would tend to wake up with the sun beaming in. What a pleasant way to start the day! So Dori and I are looking for a new apartment and that is the criteria. It must have lots of sun. At least in the bedroom and at least in the morning.

TFS has stuck again. TFS, or Task Fear Syndrome, is a condition that I named. The symptoms are anxiety, depression, anger, remorse, guilt and sadness. It is caused by avoiding important tasks that need to be done next. There may or may not be a written tasklist, but irrespective it is usually the "next" thing that needs to be done in life. The task is often one of two types:

1. A very large ambiguous task with no clear beginning, end or milemarkers. Common tasks are thesis, re/design projects, new ventures (like a business or lifestyle change).

2. SImple tasks that require an action which is emotionally uncomfortable. Common tasks are making certain phone calls (calling someone you are worried about what they think), paying bills (when it raises other financial issues), cleaning (when the stuff will reveal uncomfortable issues or when it's "not fair") and writing in your blog.

Yep, this is an emotionally challenging task for me. I'm always worried about what people think. A normal thing, but it causes me to avoid certain tasks. Since I've started working, I haven't written in my blog because I felt I didn't have anything "good" to say. The truth is that I was avoiding the task because I was afraid to stop and say something. Anything.

The last time I had a serious case of TFS was during my thesis. I would avoid the entire project because I was afraid of doing the "wrong" thing. The thing is, doing nothing was worse then doing the "wrong" thing. Often times the "wrong" thing is just a deviation from the optimal course. If we use the analogy of driving, the optimal path is the shortest path from the current location to the destination. The "wrong" thing in this case could be an error in driving through a wrong turn, or finding out that there was a shorter path. However, it is rarely the case when timing is so critical that losing a 15 minutes when driving will ruin your life. But, not driving at all guarentees that you wll never make it to the destination. So what's worse? A scenic route that makes you an hour late or not ever leaving?

This is the reasoning that I use to overcome TFS. When I'm confronted by a task that I don't want to do, I now evaluate the stakes and recognize that I have more to lose by doing nothing then taking a "Wrong" path. Moreover, I think back to other emotionally difficult tasks I have recently done and recognize that they were not nearly as difficult once I actually started "driving".

I made it through my first week. Here's the highlights:

I had to install Gentoo Linux. This is the first task they give you. It's turns out to be a task that kinda seperates those who can and can't. Gentoo is a tweakers Linux distribution. This means that the amount of gory details you have to wade through should not be legal. Apparently I did pretty well for speed. Possibly, one of the fastest installs yet for a new employee.

We also have a dart ladder. So in order to move up your dart ranking you must challenge the person about you ont he darts ladder. To be fair to the new employees everyone starts at the top. I managed to defend my top ranking position twice before being badly beaten the second time around. This means I now hold third place.

The coffee there is strong. Very strong. Wonderfully, soothingly strong. I like the coffee.

We're right next to Capliano Mall, so over the next year I predict that I will eat a large amount of mall food. Which in this case isn't too bad. There are a couple of chain restaurants, but the one I like is a mom&pop mediterranean place. Last week was spinach and feta lasagne with a cold chick pea and cilantro salad. Mmm.

I work with a great bunch of guys. A lot of them are quite senior, with people from Convedia, Trillium and Intel and the former-CEO of Infowave who was also vice-president of HP/Compaq. I think this company is going places! I hope. After my last startup experience I'm a little less positive....

Ok. this is just too much... www.baitcars.com heh. This is reality tv at it's finest.


So for those that don't know, BC has a program called IMPACT. The idea is that they setup cars around problem areas with video cameras, GPS locaters and remote engine disabler. So a theif steals a car and immediately the police are notified and dispatched. The camera inside films it and they post them on the above website. Wow. Talk about funny. Like the one where the girls get in and say, "I hope this isn't a fucking bait car." Heh. So she knows about it, but, heh, why not steal a car anyway?

And I don't mean that in a abstract way. We actually went to Hope. Chris and Browyn invited us to spend the weekend with Chris's parents at their beautiful home in Hope, BC. So we spent a night in their guest cabin and then headed out to Manning Park. We chose to hike the Skyline II trail to Mowich camp for an overnight trip. What a fabulous trip! The alpine flowers were in bloom and the weather was superb. If you have never seen subalpine meadows in bloom, then it is a worthy destination. The only thing I would have done different is made time to visit Mt. Hozemeen in Washington. The views of it from the trail were spectacular. Here is a sample of one of the many flowers we saw. In the vista above, we hiked around to the backside of the mountain on the right. The trail to Mowich was about 12.5km of superb fun!