HEADING TO THE COUNTRY OF 123123

 POST # 580

The other day I was having a chat with Ollie, and I mentioned to him that this Friday I would be heading off to the land of 123123.  Now I doubt very much that Ollie, or any other furball for that matter,  has much of a grasp of world geography, but even if he did, I'm quite sure that he would have never heard of the country of 123123.  You can just tell by the shocked look on his face, that he had no clue about what I was talking about.

So what am I talking about?  Here is the explanation for Ollie and my blog readers.  A while back, I was having a chat with my friend Guy, and he happened to mention to me that the date of the last day of this year is 123123.  Of course, that is only true if you live in the USA, as for some reason, it is the only country in the world that puts the date in a month/day/year format.  It certainly is a unique date.  And because I will be heading to the USA after I leave here, I will be there on that date.  

Anyhow, I continued my one way conversation with Ollie, and the more he heard about my imminent departure, the more I could tell that he wasn't too keen about the idea.  In fact, after my talk had finished, he did the only thing that he could do, to let me know that he didn't want me to go. 

Nice try Ollie.  It's not that I don't want to spend more time with you, but I have another place to go on Friday, and besides, your owners will be back then, and you'll be able to settle back into your familiar routine with them.  Just keep in mind, that I won't be in the country 123123 forever, and next year I will be back to hang out with you for a week in February.  

Come this Monday, the country of 123123 will have disappeared forever, and it will just go back to being the USA.  At least on that day, it will have the same date as the rest of the world, 1124.   And what's in store for the year 2024 is anyone's guess.  But as always, I am happy to be participating in this thing called life, for as long as possible.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

MY JOURNEY TO SEE SIMI

 POST # 579

Without a critter to keep me company at my current housesit, I hopped on the Skytrain yesterday, and headed to Surrey to meet a brand new bonehead named Simi.  This would be our first meeting.  Her owners were having a little pre-Christmas get together for friends and neighbours, and I was invited to come along to join in the fun.  I was especially looking forward to meeting Simi for the first time.

As the sun began to set, on this, the shortest day of the year, my journey on the Skytrain crossed over a graveyard, which is the signal for me to hop off of the train, and board a bus to continue my journey to their home.

After exiting the bus, it was a short twenty minute walk to my destination.  When the door opened, there was Simi, standing next to her owner.  And what kind of reaction did I receive from her.  Nothing other than, bark, bark, bark.  Needless to say, I hadn't made a very good first impression from the looks of it.  And speaking of looks, I was expecting a much friendlier start to our relationship.  After all, she looks so friendly.

Here she is, even dancing with her owner, so she certainly has the capacity to be friendly.  Throughout my visit, I kept trying to make friends with Simi, but she didn't allow me to do so.  Ah well, you win some you lose some as the old saying goes.  Just when I thought that I could call myself the dog whisperer, here is one that is teaching me that I still have a ways to go in order to achieve that honour.

It was an enjoyable get together, in spite of Simi's reluctance to become a new four-legged friend of mine, but who knows, perhaps sometime in the future, she'll finally decide that I can be trusted.

On my journey homeward, I stopped to take a couple of photos of the Science World Pavilion, all lit up.

All things considered it was a pleasant evening, and I was happy to have been invited to be a participant.  Perhaps at some point down the road,  Simi will become a friend.  I look forward to that occasion.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

 

DOG POOP, SMARTPHONES, AND A TRIP TO GRANVILLE ISLAND

 POST # 578

Now that certainly isn't a typical photo for this blog, but it got me to thinking earlier today.  I was walking down to the Aquabus Ferry terminal in order to catch a ride to Granville Island.  Lately, it seems like almost every time that I come across dog poop on the sidewalk (which is often), most of it has been stepped upon by some poor soul.  This made me wonder about why that might be the case.  My hypothesis is that with the vast majority of smartphones in use these days, most people are more preoccupied with looking at their screens, instead of watching where they are walking, and as a result we end up with piles of squished dog poop.  Now, it's just an idea on my part, but I wouldn't at all be surprised if there's something to it.  I'll continue my research, each time that I go for a walk around here.  Maybe I will be lucky to witness a smartphone carrying, dog poop stepping human, which will help to prove my hypothesis, and if so, I'll mention it to them as they are scraping the dog poop off of their shoe.

My purpose for going to Granville Island today was to look for some $1 bags of fruit.  My trip was a success, and I arrived home with a bag of apples and bananas, enough to last me another week.  

And an added bonus, was that I ran into the only two people that I still know from my old Aquabus days, Congo Bob, and Logan.  It was just a fluke in timing, but I was happy to see them both.

After picking up my fruit, it was time to head back home, but not before I drooled over the baked goods at one of the stands in the market.

I didn't linger here for long, and wisely decided to head back to the Aquabus dock, and make my journey home.

Logan, mentioned above is the taller of the two people standing next to the Aquabus.  I saw Congo Bob when I arrived at the island.  

My journey home was uneventful, and without a smartphone in hand, I managed to dodge all of the dog poop that I came across on my way back.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

VEGEMITE, CONDO-VILLE, AND MY SAD MOOD FOR TODAY

 POST # 577

My niece Kathryn departed yesterday to the land of Australia, which is also the land of Vegemite, and as a result, Uncle Paul, aka The Thoughtful Wanderer is now camped out at her condo in Vancouver.  She must like Vegemite, because the small jar on top of the larger jar, is attached to her key chain.  Nothing like a daily reminder to get in your dose of Vegemite.  And because she has a large jar here in the condo, I'm sure that I will take advantage of that fact, and enjoy some myself over the next couple of weeks.  According to the jar, Vegemite is now 100 years old.  I wonder how much of it those Aussies have consumed in that time period?  Years ago, when I lived and worked in Melbourne, I actually did a sales call out to the factory where Vegemite is produced.  I probably saw more Vegemite in the couple of hours that I was at the factory, than the average Aussie sees in a lifetime.  It was an interesting experience.  Hopefully, the equipment that I sold to the company, helped them keep the Vegemite production line working in tip top shape.

So it's time to settle in to the land of condos here in downtown Vancouver, which is quite a change from the peace and quiet of Shelter Bay in Washington, from where I departed earlier today.

Condo-ville

As you can see from my ninth floor view, I'm surrounded by condos in every direction.  Hopefully, I will adapt to this new location fairly soon.

The journey northward this morning was grey and rainy, as the Amtrak train rolled its way to Vancouver.  The grey sky reflected my mood, as I always feel sad, when I have to say goodbye to Mary and Dora-dog.

  As the train sat on the tracks, waiting for other train traffic to clear on the other side of the Fraser river, I gazed out the window, and wondered just how long our delay would be?  Thankfully, it wasn't long, and within about ten minutes, we were once again on our way to the Central Pacific Station terminal in Vancouver.  We arrived about 12:30 pm, which was about half an hour behind schedule.  Thankfully, I didn't need to make any other transport connections, so I wasn't concerned about the late arrival.  Customs was a breeze for a change, and soon I was on my way to my new location, via my other niece's place, where I had to collect the Vegemite key for this place.

And even though I am now settled here in Condo-ville, my mind is still in Shelter Bay, where dear Mary and Dora-dog are now back at home.  Mary will now be the one who keeps Dora-dog amused, and I'm sure she does a good job of it.  After all, in Dora-dog's mind, Mary is #1, which is as it should be. But having said that, I am the one who will be missing out on the daily play sessions, like chase the ball.

But it is what it is, and there is a plan to be back there for another visit in the not too distant future.  I will hold on to that thought, as I settle into my pet free condo for the next couple of weeks, and work my way through that jar of Vegemite.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer