HIATUS WEEK

My week of hiatus has been quite busy. Sunday evening I was at a birthday party for a good friend who is much much younger than I am. It was in a cozy restaurant in Vancouver, The Cascade Room, that had a cool glass wall at the entrance etched with the old motto 'Keep Calm and Carry On' that was posted around London during WWII. I was a bit puzzled by the place - the decor definitely leaned strongly towards a British theme, yet 'Cascade' is very B.C. Regardless of the owners theme confusion, it was a lovely way to spend the evening with an intimate group of 10 or 11. One couple there had recently written their first screenplay, which they then raised the money to produce. My birthday friend, Laura, worked on the show. And it turns out part of the funding came from one of the owners of Club Penguin, where my youngest works. Small world.

I honestly can't remember what I did on Monday, but I know it was something (oh I just remembered - I updated this blog with a new look and spent a couple of hours finding my son-in-law his birthday present on line - a travel hoodie by BURTON. I had never heard of such a thing before... they have an inside chest pocket perfectly sized for a passport, the neck contains an inflatable pillow, the hood has built in ear-plugs and a piece that pulls down over your eyes so you can sleep. Ingenious!! Rob flies several times a year for his new job so is really coveting one. They are all sold out in Canada and really hard to find, on line even. But I finally found and ordered one in his size and, since the company wouldn't ship to Canada, had it sent to a post office box in Point Roberts which is just across the border from Tsawwassen. The PO Box belongs to a friend of my daughter's so Rob should have the hoodie in time for his birthday. And since I know that neither of them read this blog, I am safe in telling you). Tuesday I headed into Yale Town to get my hair done, with a stop at the Dermatologist to get the sun spots burned off of my face with nitrogen. But she said that, at this point, lazer treatment would do a better job. At hundreds of dollars more, I don't think that will be happening any time soon. So I left looking the same way I arrived. Before my hair appointment I had lunch with my daughter, Ashleigh, as she works right in Yale Town. It was great to spend some time with her. After another great hair color and cut by Isolde (Izzy), my son's girlfriend (and yes, I pay her - I was taken advantage of far too often by friends and family alike when I was a hairdresser) I met up with Tana, my movie make-up friend who hired me to work in the 'glam' department last summer, to get caught up. She has a new man in her life, he lives in Florida and she met him while on a work trip to Montreal, and he sounds too good to be true. Does he have a brother? A young-ish uncle? Can we clone him? How about a good friend who is just like him??? All kidding aside, it would be wonderful to meet a man like he sounds to be. I am very happy for her. And we had a great meal with one of the best desserts ever, at the Hamilton Street Grill. If you live in Vancouver and ever go, make sure to leave room for the Warm Gingerbread Pudding. It's very filling so definitely a 'share'.

Wednesday I cut a friend's hair (no she didn't pay me in cash but she and her family have done so much for me so I won't let her pay me) and then came home and crunched numbers for my taxes all afternoon. Now I just need my T-4's and I can take it to my accountant and - hopefully - get a fat return so that I can get lots of dental work done on my trip to Mexico.

Yesterday (Thursday) I did a whole lot of nothing much, and rested up a bit for a huge party later that night. It was for the launch of a new production company, New Image Entertainment. Raugi, who plays janitor Dang in our show, gave anyone on the crew who wanted them VIP tickets. I had two. I tried to get first my son and then Tana to join me but Tana was ill and Christopher didn't get back to me. So I dressed up and headed down early to meet said son for a bite to eat and talk about an online journal/newsletter he is starting. It was great to spend a couple of hours with him and I asked him again to come to the party. He said he would need to go home and change and he was exhausted from working a lot on some projects he has going and he had to be up early the next day so he didn't come. When I got there, there was a line up to get in and once I was finally inside, the place was packed. I tried to check my coat but they were charging $3.50 and I had no cash on me. I went to use their ATM machine but it was out of cash so I had to carry the thing all night. I went straight up into the VIP area and wasn't there a minute when an actress I worked with on jPod grabbed me with a cry of, "Oh My God! I don't believe it's you!" I was really happy to see a familiar face and really happy to see her again. She's a lovely person and I enjoyed working with her. We chatted for a while and she introduced me to her boyfriend, another actor, who said if he had a dollar for every time he heard "jPod".... Well, it was a pretty great show to work on with absolutely wonderful people. I can't blame her for talking about it all of the time. I consider myself very blessed to have worked on it, and I have made life-long friendships with others who did.


The Main Floor Where the Riff-Raff Were (those without VIP passes); Raugi Yu and Me

Today I am going to lay pretty low again. Maybe go for a walk. Tomorrow I am back in Vancouver for brunch with the birthday girl I mentioned earlier, and one of her friends that I haven't met yet. Then the three of us are going to a play called August Osage County. It's supposed to be very good and I know at least one of the actors appearing in it, so am looking forward to it.

I woke up this morning feeling a bit anxious about the limited amount of free time I have before my trip and all I have to do for it before I go. One major thing I have to do is talk to a credit union here that offers re-loadable Visa cards. I don't have a very big limit on mine. I don't want to buy travelers cheques as they cost so much by the time you pay the fee to buy them and the fee to cash them. I don't want to be carrying a huge amount of cash - although I will have to for the first leg of the trip as the dental services in Mexico are strictly cash only. Apparently there isn't even a bank or an ATM to be found in Los Algodones. It's presenting a bit of a dilemma for me. Once in the BVI's I can go to an ATM and pull out cash but there's a limit on how much per day and I don't want to be having to go day after day to reach the amount I need for the hotels. And I don't even know if there is a bank on Anegada. So I am hoping that I can get this card, even though I don't have an account with them, and that it has no limit as to how much one can load on it, and that there is no issue with it being accepted everywhere. It's the only solution I can come up with at the moment.

I thought we were back at work on Monday to get a head start on the new banked episode, but I got the call sheet last night and we start on Tuesday. AND, as I knew would happen, my new glasses from Zenni Optical were attempted delivery yesterday. There was someone in the office Monday - Wednesday and I was hoping they'd come then or when we got back. It just figures they'd come one of the two days no one was there! (I have stuff I order online delivered there because I am never home to accept a parcel and then have to drive miles to pick it up at the depot on the weekend). Fortunately, Zenni doesn't use FedEx, because if they did, they would attempt delivery again the next day and then I'd be making that drive. They use a company that actually called me late in the day yesterday to ask what day would be convenient for them to come back with the package. WOW! So I told them Monday. Great. We don't start till Tuesday. BUT I just checked and someone will be there. YAY! I can't remember if I wrote about buying these glasses - I don't think I did -so I will do it now.

I have a pair of polarized prescription sunglasses that I bought about 12 years ago and I won't ever go back to non-polarized lenses but they don't come cheap; I paid $500 for them that long ago! Now that I am getting old (Bah!) I don't need my vision corrected for reading. I can see perfectly fine close up without lenses. (That's what happens to those of us who are far-sighted.) So when I am at the beach I have to take two pairs of sunglasses - my prescription ones for distance, and a cheap pair of drug store ones for reading. It's super annoying to have to keep changing back and forth, which I do a lot because I don't just bury myself in a book when at the beach like I do if I am indoors; I keep looking up to savour the location. So I have wanted graduated sunglasses for some time now. I recently went into my optometrist to price them, and they wanted $900 for polarized graduated lenses!!!!!! No way am I going to pay that. So I went online to Clearly Contacts, a company my friend uses and raves about the prices. But I found that they don't sell graduated sunglasses with polarized lenses. I was fed up. Then I decided to do an internet search and I found Zenni. Not only do they sell the lenses I want, but they have large frames - which I really want, to keep out as much sun as possible as my eyes have gotten a LOT more sensitive lately. I filled out the order and hit the button that would complete it and give me the total price. My eyes nearly fell out of my head. With shipping, $108.58!!! I felt that, at that price, I was taking a bit of a risk that they might be total crap. I read their terms before I ordered and wasn't reassured much when they said they do not guarantee anything; there's no money back, not even if they get lost in the mail. Clearly Contacts has a fabulous return policy, so I couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive. But I decided that the small amount of money involved was worth the risk, and I ordered them. The next day, a trifle late, I decided to search the internet for any Zenni reviews. There's lots - a bunch on YouTube, and they are all favourable. So I am really looking forward to getting them when I go to work on Tuesday.

VANCOUVER IS ALIVE

I picked up Guy and another bus driver I haven't met, Michel (pronounced Michelle) at their hotel just at the other end of Walnut Grove, Langley from me. We drive to the SkyTrain and park at the mall. We park in the parkade and pay for 9 hours - $22!!! At least I won't get a ticket this time. Last time I went downtown, with Olga, I came back to a ticket for $59 on my windshield. I had no idea a mall had time limited parking.

We walk around the waterfront and go to Quebec House. What a waste of time. The guys were so looking forward to it and then all it held was a stage and a cafeteria. Quebec is whining about not having enough representation of their French language and heritage at the games and then do nothing with their house. Do they want everything done for them? The guys are so disappointed and I don't blame them.














Guy and Michel


We walk around the seawall and get some good photos of the Athletes Village and False Creek. The shore down to the water is very rocky and people have built dozens of Inukshuks with the rocks. It looks great. Near the Edgewater Casino there's dozens of tents set up with a market inside. Most of the goods look cheap and we pass them by but we find a row of stalls selling ethnic foods. It smells divine and we stop to buy some samosas.

There are long lineups for everything that's any good to see. We walk up to the downtown stage for Live Nation where Christopher, my son, is doing sound every day from 8am to 1am. The lineup to get in is 45 minutes long. The guys don't want to wait. We walk to the back entrance and try to use our accreditation and the fact that my son works inside to get in that way but we don't succeed.

Olga calls to say she is arriving at the Stadium station which is right close by so we wait for her and scan the huge crowds everywhere until I finally spot her. We walk to the Bay so that the guys can buy souvenirs but the lineup there snakes around the block. We give up on that idea and walk down to the Sears tower and take the glass elevator up on the outside of the building to the observation deck. It's a gorgeous day and so have clear views to Mount Baker in the south-east and Vancouver Island in the west. The north-shore mountains are sharply outlined against a blue sky, and the ones in the distance with snow look spectacular. We can see the Olympic rings in Coal Harbour. The guys love it. When we come down in the elevator, there are two athletes with us from the Czec team. I don't know who they are though.

We head into Gastown so they can see the steam clock and here they buy their souvenirs. We walk down to the very end where the statue of Gassy Jack and the flat-iron building is. They take lots of photos all along the way. My knee and feet hurt and it reminds me of walking all over London with Ashleigh. Five days into that and I was barely able to walk.

We walk (I sort of limp) down to the Olympic Torch at the foot of Thurlow. It's a shame how it's all fenced off. People are really upset about it and there is a petition on line to 'free the torch'. We take lots of photos and, thankfully, whoever put the fence up thought to leave a space where you can take pictures without chain-link obscuring the view.

We hop onto the crowded SkyTrain and get off at Granville so that Olga can try again at the Bay and then go home. She is exhausted because she worked today so has been up since 2am. The guys and I continue on to Yale Town and stop for dinner at The Hamilton Street Grill. I order the wild salmon and when it comes, it's raw in the middle so they take it back and bring a new one that is cooked all the way through. When we are done eating, they bring us a huge dessert - gingerbread pudding with caramel sauce and home made ice-cream - one scoop of pumpkin and one of ginger. It's an apology for my meal being raw. It's divine and, although I was full to bursting after the salmon, I manage to eat several spoonfuls. While we are eating dinner, the TV screens show Maelle Ricker receiving her gold medal for Snowboard Cross. The whole restaurant bursts into cheering and applause. So great.

The sea of red clad people with their Canada scarves and touques is so exciting to see and gives me such a charge of patriotism. There's also a lot of white cowboy stetsons about and they look fabulous. People burst into spontanious cheers for Canada constantly. We also see a lot of people in outfits for various other countries. A few times I am sure we are in the presence of athletes by how they are dressed and the people they are with, not to mention how fit they are but I can never be a hundred percent certain because I just don't know them anymore. I used to know almost everyone competing. That was when I was at home all day with little kids so could watch all the events. Not now.

The guys have to be up early to drive their buses to Whistler so we head to the SkyTrain right after dinner; it's about 8pm. I am worried it will be crammed like it was when we rode it from the waterfront earlier, but I needn't have bothered... it's almost empty and we all get seats.

When I get home I discover I have walked a hole in my new socks and have a big blister on my left sole at the heel. Well worth it!