Hydro THIS!

A few weeks ago I was asked to go to an exploration camp in northern BC to install some stream stations for a co-worker who was no longer available to head to site. I had never been to the Rocky Mountain Trench before and was pretty excited to get back to camp, even just for a week. As it turned out, the camp was made up of ATCO trailers so we all had our own rooms, laundry, wireless internet and cable TV IN EACH ROOM. I don't even have half that stuff in my own apartment.

Once I got the freakin' dataloggers working, everything was a piece of cake. It was an all-girl crew and we rocked! We had a helicopter dedicated to us so we could come and go as we needed, we found good stream sites and we got every type of weather possible every day so even if it was raining in the morning, you could be pretty sure it would be sunny by noon and thunder and lightning by three. The first pilot was a real gentleman, he held the doors open for us and made sure our seat-belts were on properly and was super nice. His shift ended after I was on site for a few days and then an Aussie pilot came in who was a super fun flier and could land anywhere. He referred to us as "the girls" and when asked if he was available for a pick-up from the drill guys on the radio, would respond, " I have to do some girl trips and then I will be up". One night we went out sampling and he flew us up to the ridge top across from camp to watch the sunset.



In the end, we got all the sites in way ahead of schedule, had some laughs and I got more bruises and bug bites than I care to count, but it was a great trip.

The best Prince George has to offer

I was lucky enough to get to spend the night in Prince George before heading up to site last Thursday. I hadn't been back to PG since I spent the summer there in 2002 and, while I had an awesome summer and really like Prince George, there were a few things I had forgotten about. I am not making fun of PG - after all it produced Hayley so it has to be pretty fantastic - but here was my hotel, promoted as "an oasis in Northern BC". It was pretty ridiculous and while having the pool in the middle of the hotel looks kind of pretty, it means you wake up in a hotel room reeking of chlorine. Nice.

And then there was the bathroom. I actually gasped when I flipped the light on the first time. WHO WOULD ACTUALLY CHOOSE THIS COLOUR??? This colour is not a good way to start the day. This colour hurts my feelings.

Here are a few things about PG that really hammered home that I was out of the lower mainland:
- country music playing in Save On Foods
- taxi drivers are older white men
- everyone was SOOOO nice to the point that the waitress asked why I hadn't finished my dinner, was I just full already?
- stir fry is served on fetuccini noodles
- the airplane pilot loads the luggage onto the plane heading north
- big bangs still rule with a certain group of women
It would have been nice to have had more time to get downtown and to visit with a few people but I had to be back at the airport early. It was nice to get back to see how much things had changed, all the new drive through Starbucks and Tim Hortons and gas stations. Brought back some good memories.

What's the dizzo?

This past weekend I drove up to Kelowna with my friend Patrick to visit Dale and to get some cherries. I haven't been in town during the summer for about 4 years now so I was pretty excited to get to the Okanagan to get some fresh fruit. And for the hell of it, we drove to Revelstoke on Saturday just to see the dam and to get some good driving in. The best part of the weekend was that we got to visit with my old friends Hayley and Matt. This is me and Hayley.

The highlight of the evening, besides the amazing salmon BBQ Hayley and Matt whipped up, was the show Hayley and their dog Tux put on. Hayley took up the drums after Christmas, and she has taught Tux to play the highhat along with her. It was HILARIOUS, especially because he was on the beat most of the time too.



Totally ridiculous....
SO Thanks to Hayley and Matt for an amazing evening! more photos from the weekend to follow once I get them developed!

I think about you everyday

....especially when I drink with shifty eyes.

Thanks for the salmon Hayley!!

Full weekend redux to follow.

I think about you every day

It was L'il Rere's FIRST birthday this past weekend and I would have loved to have been there. I cannot believe he is already a year old! That sweet face just kills me anytime I look at his picture. I love you baby boy!!

And they wonder why I never come to school....

ROADTRIP!!

On Thursday Dale came down to Vancouver on the bus from Kelowna, and then we drove back up to Kelowna on Friday night in order to see how my new car does on the highway. The car ran great and when we got here this is what was waiting for us:
Willard has gotten so big and is awesome although he looks like an overly concerned old man all the time. Super cute!

Baby Girl Take Three

Sorry for the long delay - here is my new baby! I settled on a 2003 Hyundai Accent as my new car. I had 2005 Accent as my rental car and I liked it well enough so I picked up one with 72,000km. I was excited to get power locks and windows but during my testing of a few of the Accents on the lot, I didn't check the details on all the cars and assumed they all had power windows. And they did - except mine! Boooo. What 2003 car doesn't have power windows??



I got a pretty good settlement for the Suzuki (babygirl v.2.0) but the clincher was that ICBC actually paid for the total price of the brake bill. Which I was assured was unprecedented and they just don't do that but one of the adjusters made that decision and probably got a bit of heat because of it. The strange thing was that they just tacked that amount onto the amount for my car and cut me a cheque for the whole thing and left it up to me to pass on the money to the Firestone.... which I did but I thought it was pretty trusting of ICBC to do this without requiring me to prove that I had indeed paid the brake bill.

While I do not appreciate having to pay for the new car, I do appreciate driving something a little nicer and less starter car than the Suzuki.

And as for the BMW which has been rusting in my mom's yard for the past three years, I finally made the decision to part with her. I was going to donate it to the Kidney Foundation for a "valuable tax receipt" until I found out that the receipt was for $60. That will get me far with the tax man. I found a much more fitting alternative for my baby - I am donating the car to the Mill Bay Fire Department for their highway rescue exercises. The BMW is going down in a blaze of glory! I just wish I could get pictures....