April 4, 2015
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| North Vancouver from VCC |
It's been a week since I sat down and wrote anything. It's not that I don't have anything to say all of a sudden. Not that I ever really had anything to say! I've never let that stop me before. My brain has gone to that place it goes to when something you don't want to do has to be done. What I once looked forward to doing every day has become onerous for me. It's not that I'm not doing things. I'm busier than ever. Maybe it's the fact that the end is near. Like when I quit smoking. I said "This is the last pack I'm ever going to buy! When they're done so am I!" I held onto that smoke for 2 weeks. Until my friends became so tired of me bumming smokes, they would run when they saw me coming.
The week started at 17:00 Sunday night. I was working Security at the Vancouver Convention Centre for the end of the Auto Show. I was working outside for the first time in my brief Security career.
It was raining lightly, as it often does at this time of year. The company provides us with good rain gear so I was dry. I was out in Jack Poole Plaza where the Olympic torch is.
The city isn't crazy about lighting it because of the cost. They don't want to drain any cash from the bicycle lanes or Trans link management salaries and bonuses!
I had a four hour shift and the first hour nothing happened because the Auto Show didn't end until 18:00. I wandered around the plaza, mostly under cover, until they started bringing out the cars within seconds of the show ending. For the the next 3 hours a steady stream of high end cars left the Convention Centre. Porches, Lamborghini's, Ferrari's and some I have never heard of or recognised.
There is no permanent ramp out of the plaza so they had one made of 2 x 4 and plywood that was crushed by a giant flat deck that was there to pick up a Rolls Royce Phaeton. Most of the company cars left on flat decks. A lot of the show cars are privately owned and driven off the lot by way of the ramps. For liability reasons I wasn't allowed to help them down the ramp. Every one of these cars has 3 inches of ground clearance and they are all different widths. Did you know that a Maserati is the same width as a pickup truck? There where 10 or so Mustangs going back to 1965. All of them beautiful. I'm not a car guy but you don't need to be to enjoy them. Oh yeah, and a Canuck Camero
The way they're playing it will be coming to a golf course near you real soon! At the end of my shift with all the cars safely off the property, I made my way to the Waterfront Sky Train Station 100 feet away.
The lovely Lisa dropped me off at work after I left my truck at the Lougheed Town Centre Sky Train Station, 5 minutes from home. We went to Tentatsu for an early Japanese dinner on the way.
The lovely Lisa has a 01:30 wake up time.
It actually takes me longer to go by Sky train than it does to drive at that time of day. It takes 40 minutes compared to 25 if I drive. $2.75 on the train $4.50 per half hour/ $12 maximum after 18:00 plus gas if I drive.
The lovely Lisa was in bed when I got home. I had a shower, crawled in beside her and was asleep in minutes. I was working a long shift in the morning. 07:30 until 18:00 loading in a fancy dinner in the Ballroom. That's like a Cinderella Ballroom, not a Chucky Cheese ball room. I meet the trucks on the loading dock and then escort them to the Ballroom with their equipment. They built a 50' by 30' stage and had three 20' TV screens behind it. Tons of sound and AV equipment made it's way into the Ballroom. By 15:00 everything was loaded in and I had 3 hours of nothingness to contend with. All the equipment was loaded in and no more trucks were scheduled to arrive. At least I have a view!
So I walked. I'm really digging the walking thing now that I have decent shoes and my blisters have healed. I put a pedometer on my phone and have averaged over 25,000 steps every day I worked a full shift. The first few shifts beat me up pretty good but now I look forward to it. I have my security stride down pat now and can walk for hours and cover a lot of ground. At the end of my shift I make my way to the Sky train and wait with the great unwashed masses for a ride home. It's still rush hour in Vancouver. In Vancouver they measure rush hour in Dog Hours. It lasts for about 7 hours! I was packed into the car with about a million other cattle, most of whom come up to my armpits. How nice for them. If I get on the Millenium line I don't have to transfer but it takes an extra 20 minutes as it circles through New Westminster. If I had a seat I would do that.
Instead I got off to transfer at Commercial/Broadway. The train pulled in just as I got to the platform and I squeezed myself in at the last minute. The tiny humans occupying the doorway scattered as I slid into a spot made for someone half my size! I would stand up all the way home but it's several less stops this way. Also if you go the other way and aren't paying attention, you end up in Surrey!
When I got home The lovely Lisa was still up. Her wake up time wasn't until 05:00. We had a nice dinner together for the first time in a few days. She was still in bed early and I watched the Canucks game I had taped. I was working a 12:00 until 20:00 shift finishing the Auto Show load out the next day. When I got to work I was informed that I was doing break relief. Something new and it has been an issue since I have been here. I don't know why? We work as a ten man unit. 7 Guards, 2 relief Guards and a Supervisor. The Supervisor and the relief can take their breaks whenever they want so between the two of us we have to relieve 7 people for a 30 and a 15 over 8 hours. We had nothing to do for the first 3 hours. No one wants a break right away. My relief partner went to relax somewhere. I walked. I like walking and I wanted to get in my 20,000 steps. That's my goal on days I work. 10,000 when I'm off. I was just getting into the break thing when the VCC manager Garth said they were ahead of schedule and would be done by 17:00. Cool. Off early with 3 hours of free money. On the down side I was back on the Sky Train in rush hour.
I always buy a ticket. Not always the right ticket but always a ticket! There was a line up at the only functioning ticket dispenser and I almost skipped buying one. I didn't . I would be so embarrassed if I didn't and then got caught, even though I have never seen anyone check anyone's ticket. So I waited in line. The train was half full as I got on followed by 2 Transit Police. They asked to see tickets from a woman in a business suit and me. No one else. I was on the phone with the lovely Lisa at the time. "I'll call you back, I'm being hassled by the Fuzz!" I said into the phone as I dug one handed through my numerous pockets looking for the ticket I had just purchased. When I found it he took it and asked me "Where are you going" I wanted to say "What are you, a Cop" but he was, so I said "home." " No, what Station?" then the door beeped and they got off the train before I could answer. I only bought a 1 zone ticket and I was going 2 zones. I am such a Scofflaw! Take that Trans Link!
The lovely Lisa's last day on Once Upon A Time is today. It's also a night shoot so her call time is 10:00. My day is full of Mama Lee. Today and tomorrow Mama Lee has Dr appointments and I am her driver. It's one of the reasons we bought the Rav 4. It's easiest for Mama Lee to get in and out of and is big enough to hold her wheelchair. Her appointment was at 10:30 at Metro Town so I was there to pick her up at 09:30. We got there at 10:00. Way too early. As it turns out this Dermatologist is one who fills his waiting room with patients then lets them sit there for an hour. We saw the Dr. at 11:15 and he said "Not medically necessary and $250 if you want me to proceed. Make an appointment with my receptionist." I had Mama Lee home in time for lunch.
I had an appointment down town at 14:00 went home and changed my clothes grabbed the Rat dogs and headed into town. I had a good meeting and left feeling positive about my presentation. On the way home I stopped at Trout Lake to let the Rat dogs run around. It was a another gorgeous day on the Left coast and the park was full of dogs. Mostly big dogs. That always freaks out Nutmeg. Elvis doesn't care. The bigger the dog, the bigger the Jerk Elvis becomes. We moved away from the majority of the dogs to the quieter side of the dog park. It's a nice walk but no Como Lake that's for sure. As we came back towards the busier side of the lake Nutmeg saw 2 big dogs wrestling and took off for the truck. Walk over!
The next day Mama Lee had an appointment with the Speech/Swallowing therapist at Burnaby General. We arrived at 10:00 for our 10:30 appointment. I took Mama Lee to the same place we always have gone too and we were sent to the waiting area we always go to and waited, and waited, and waited some more. I was just about to go out front and find out what was happening when my phone rang.It was the lovely Lisa wanting to know where we were. The Therapist phoned her looking for us. The next call was from the therapist. We were in the wrong part of the hospital. They were having Mama Lee swallow things while they x-rayed the procedure. It took all of fifteen minutes and we were on the way home.
At 15:00 I went down to the mall and had a pedicure at Professional Nails. I have been getting my Pedi's there for a year or so and have a different girl every time. They all did a good job. Thursday I had Helen. It was amazing. She did a great job on my feet. They were pretty beat up from work. She took her time and when she was done my feet were like brand new! I'll never let another tiny Vietnamese women do me again!
We were sitting in bright sunshine out here in Coquitlam so we decided to take the Rat dogs down to Spanish Banks for the sunset.
Like the Rat dogs care. They don't go in the water, seldom go more than 10 feet from us and the sunset means it's dinner time!
The lovely Lisa likes it and that's enough for me. One thing that you can be sure of is the weather is unpredictable. We drove out of the sunshine and into the grey.
True Wet Coasters we weren't going to let a little grey keep us from being in position to see the sunset if by some chance the sun became visible. Didn't happen. It was cold and grey but it never rained. The sun melted into the grey without casting so much as a shadow. We packed up the Rat dogs while there was still enough light to see them and headed to Tentatsu for a late dinner. Chicken Teri dinner, Favourite roll combo and wild Salmon Sashimi.
So good.
We woke up to bright sunshine on Good Friday. It seemed to us that it would be a good Friday to play golf! I went on line and booked a 12:30 Tee time at Musqueum Golf on Marine Way. We had a bite to eat and loaded the clubs into the car. It was starting to sprinkle when we turned down towards the golf course at 12:10. It's an executive course, par 60. We had a great time.
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| Having a great time? |
We were meeting Gord and Penny at the Rivers Reach for dinner at 17:30. We got cleaned up and out the door and had a table at The Reach by 17:15. We were quite pleased with ourselves. We are always the last ones to arrive so our friends always end up waiting for a table and we wander in and sit right down. It's good to be king! Today when we got there we had our pick of tables. I had lettuce wraps and chicken wings, we shared a Calamari with Gord and Penny and the lovely Lisa had a prime rib dinner. Too much food as always. Duffy joined us as we finished up dinner. We watched Canada/ Norway curling. I was speculating on what a performance enhancing drug would be for curlers? Valium? I know that would help the audience! We said our goodbyes out front. We will see them again on Sunday.
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| Elvis on Squirrel duty. |
That's all I've got
Till Next time
Peace out Y'all
©2015 Dave Squatch Ward
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