My Move To Vancouver - 2 Week Update
I've been living in Vancouver for about 2 weeks now. I completed my primary short term goals handily and have been working on the January ones. Telus is the old-school phone company in western Canada, and they have a store right near where I'm staying, so I got a cellphone with them. Give me a call if you want at 778-899-3040 (remember the time difference though, it's pacific time here: EST - 3 hours). I bought a (somewhat) cheap used bike, and it's taught me the importance of having a cover over the back wheel. My bike doesn't have one, which means I get a nice line of gunk on my back whenever I ride over wet or gravelly terrain. Which brings us to the topic of wetness...This month Vancouver was challenging an old record of theirs; the most days in a row with rain. The record is 29 consecutive days, and it was looking like 2006 would break it. At 26 days we fell short though (un?)fortunately. Still, 26 days in a row of rain is a lot. I missed the first 2 weeks of it, but just because there was 1 day without any rain doesn't mean it stopped. It continues to rain more days then not. The conclusion is that Vancouver doesn't have the most fun filled weather in January. It's still better then Montreal, right? I say yes. The temperature is much warmer here (although I have still donned my hat a couple of times). Still, I'm hoping that the weather improves in the next couple of months. I've been watching some of the Australian Open tennis tournament on TV, and the thought of heading out to see it in Melbourne next January has crossed my mind.
I've been exploring on my bike at every opportunity and it's been great. Vancouver has a ton of waterfront, which provides nice for pleasant bikery. The bike paths around False Creek and Stanley Park are both lovely. Downtown Vancouver is very bike friendly and I've been riding around getting to know the street layout and where some of the happening blocks are. There's still a lot of ground I haven't seen at all yet though. I've been focusing on the downtown, and there are lots of surrounding areas that are still totally unknown to me. Commercial Drive is next on my hit list. Even if I don't end up staying here permanently I think it's an excellent experience to live here for a while and get to know Canada's big western city. I bought myself a nice waterproof MEC jacket (hurray for the cheapness of the Salvation Army Thrift Store near where I'm staying), so I can still venture out when it's raining (or threatening to). I'm thinking about getting some waterproof pants though. Then I would be invincible!
Work on American History Lux is moving along. It's 90+% finished, which means the only things remaining are all the really uninteresting stuff that I've left to the very end (i.e. those $!#%ing bugs that only occur on Windows). I don't have internet access where I'm living, which is both good and bad for my productivity. There's a Starbucks nearby (and every couple blocks after that) that I bring my laptop to for my online fixings. They charge way more for net access then they should (it's a partnership with Bell). Lucky for them I'm desperate.
I've also been spending a lot of time reading, which is always nice. Sometimes I go through droughts without reading anything for a long time, but once I get my literary groove on I am a maniac. I've read 5 novels (plus a picture book of Vancouver) since I've been here. A supply of good cheap books seems to be the spark that sets me going (hurray again for the Salvation Army). I checked out the main public library branch yesterday and it's awesomely huge. I'm going to try and get a membership post-haste. Last year I said I was going to document all the books that I read for fun and informative purposes. I maintained it for about half the year but then I lost track. I'm going to try again this year, but in a simpler way; just keeping a list of "author - title" with little to no commentary.
The past few days I've started searching for a place to live. Before I came here I found myself a sublet for the month of January in Kits, right near the Burrard bridge, within easy striking distance of the downtown. There are tons of listings on craigslist vancouver, which I have been using. This is where the dirt cheap Montreal cost-of-living really becomes apparent. It's looks as though I will end up living in a place smaller then Summerhill and paying more money for it. Unless I happen to get lucky, but I'm on a pretty short deadline. The last time I was apartment hunting it was driving around Montreal with Nikki. Oh the memories...
| Posted by dustin on January 20, 2006 with category tags of Vancouver bikes |
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Written by dustin
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