So. Since we last spoke, I had "the boys" over for bridge. Tom hadn't been over since the renovations, so I got to "qvell" yet again. (Bonus points for those of you who know what "qvell" means.) So, sushi and bridge, and enough fun so that no one (that would be me) remembered to take pictures.
On Friday, a new adventure. Neighbor Joan is on her second career as a tour director (following a successful stint at the airlines). She asked me to join her on a Vancouver city tour. Those of you who have known me for a while may (or may not) know that I actually worked as a tour guide in a prior life. Back in San Francisco in the early 80's, I was feeling bored and at loose ends, and decided to do tour guiding, both to learn more about SF and to keep up my language skills (I was doing this in Spanish and German). I actually quite liked it. So, as I am once again feeling bored and at loose ends, I jumped at the chance to do it again.
It did not disappoint. We picked up out group of 31 (Aussies) from the cruise ship terminal, and loaded them on the bus, and off we went (I should say that Joan had provided me with an itinerary and some appropriate patter in advance, so I wasn't completely unprepared.)
It was one of those glorious, warm, sunny days in Vancouver, so, after a drive through downtown, we headed for Stanley Park...
...making several stops, including this one at Prospect Point. Here, our erstwhile leader Joan and intrepid bus driver David (I have trouble managing a car in Vancouver these days - how he managed to so maneuver that behemoth of a bus I don't know)...
There are some things you can say, of course, and some things you can't. You can say that the bridge was designed by the same fellow - Joseph Strauss - who designed the Golden Gate Bridge. You can say that it was financed by the Guiness people, because they owned a big chunk of land on the other side - now West Vancouver and noone would buy it unless there was a way to get there. You CAN'T say that British Properties, as it was later named, wouldn't - by covenant - sell to the Jews until after World War II. (In one of the ultimate ironies, of course, it is now in large part populated by Chinese....)
Then, after driving through Kitsilano and Kerrisdale, we landed in Queen Elizabeth Park...
.....and then to the airport, for their 14 hour flight home.
Joan let me do a bit of patter - and answer some questions - myself. I have to tell you, I had a great time. I don't, generally speaking, like Aussies all that well - too loud and beery for me - but this was a great group. It was easy to be gracious to them, and I enjoyed showing off Vancouver. I could do this again - and may get my chance. Joan is putting me in touch with several outfits who use independent guides, for either single or multiple day outings, both here and Alberta (think Banff and Lake Louise.) The pay is not bad either, and it will keep me off the streets. I am hugely excited, and hope it pans out...
Having left our group at the airport, Joan and I took the Skytrain home, seeing this creature on the way...
One of the nicest parts of the day was the opportunity to get to know Joan better. Turns out we have lots in common - including a mutual friend in Palm Springs - and a similar Weltanschaung. Perhaps the beginning of being able to wean myself off using my office colleagues as a substitute for real friends? Here's hoping.
I was exhausted at the end of the day, though - standing for two and a half hours at the cruise terminal was enough to do me in, not to mention the walking during the rest of the day, so I took Saturday off. Sunday, I was back to walking, though. There are four buildings and some town houses in my complex; that is my building on the right....
.......caught one of our many egrets taking a bath....
.....and the new family on the block settling in....
Beautiful place, no?
So, I promised you a review of The Immortalist. After a slow start - so slow I almost gave up - I got into is. I won't give it an unconditional review - a bit too predictable for me - but not a bad read.
As for D'Souza's The Big Lie, well, I think I mentioned that I got it by accident, thinking it was an anti-Trump screed. (It is pretty hard to read the subtitles when you are buying audible books on your phone...) It turned out to be just the opposite, basically accusing - pretty plausibly, I have to say - the Democrats of being the fascists in the picture, being the "big state knows best for you" people (as the fascists were) rather than the republicans. As a piece of right wing propaganda, I actually found it pretty convincing. Scary, really, but I am happy to have read it - or should I say, listened to it?
So, off to other things. I just started listening to Fahrenheit 451. I read it years ago, of course, but was reminded of it by a UTube clip I came across on Facebook (a place where I spend very little time - except for playing Scrabble). It showed a comedian on the streets asking young people to name a book - any book. The humour was in the fact that they couldn't. I, however, did not find it at all funny, and am beginning to think I should start memorizing my book for posterity. Ah, but which book, you might ask? I am taking suggestions.....
(You might remember that last year I was re-reading 1984, which appeared on the best-seller lists after Trump's election. That is another classic that deserves another re-read by us all....)
On a lighter note, my bedtime reading is currently "The Novel Habits of Happiness", another Alexander McCall Smith offering, This was is the latest in the Isabel Dalhousie series. So far, yet another thumbs up.
So many books, so little time....
On Friday, a new adventure. Neighbor Joan is on her second career as a tour director (following a successful stint at the airlines). She asked me to join her on a Vancouver city tour. Those of you who have known me for a while may (or may not) know that I actually worked as a tour guide in a prior life. Back in San Francisco in the early 80's, I was feeling bored and at loose ends, and decided to do tour guiding, both to learn more about SF and to keep up my language skills (I was doing this in Spanish and German). I actually quite liked it. So, as I am once again feeling bored and at loose ends, I jumped at the chance to do it again.
It did not disappoint. We picked up out group of 31 (Aussies) from the cruise ship terminal, and loaded them on the bus, and off we went (I should say that Joan had provided me with an itinerary and some appropriate patter in advance, so I wasn't completely unprepared.)
It was one of those glorious, warm, sunny days in Vancouver, so, after a drive through downtown, we headed for Stanley Park...
...making several stops, including this one at Prospect Point. Here, our erstwhile leader Joan and intrepid bus driver David (I have trouble managing a car in Vancouver these days - how he managed to so maneuver that behemoth of a bus I don't know)...
..... and pointed out the Lions Gate Bridge....
There are some things you can say, of course, and some things you can't. You can say that the bridge was designed by the same fellow - Joseph Strauss - who designed the Golden Gate Bridge. You can say that it was financed by the Guiness people, because they owned a big chunk of land on the other side - now West Vancouver and noone would buy it unless there was a way to get there. You CAN'T say that British Properties, as it was later named, wouldn't - by covenant - sell to the Jews until after World War II. (In one of the ultimate ironies, of course, it is now in large part populated by Chinese....)
Then, after driving through Kitsilano and Kerrisdale, we landed in Queen Elizabeth Park...
.....and then to the airport, for their 14 hour flight home.
Joan let me do a bit of patter - and answer some questions - myself. I have to tell you, I had a great time. I don't, generally speaking, like Aussies all that well - too loud and beery for me - but this was a great group. It was easy to be gracious to them, and I enjoyed showing off Vancouver. I could do this again - and may get my chance. Joan is putting me in touch with several outfits who use independent guides, for either single or multiple day outings, both here and Alberta (think Banff and Lake Louise.) The pay is not bad either, and it will keep me off the streets. I am hugely excited, and hope it pans out...
Having left our group at the airport, Joan and I took the Skytrain home, seeing this creature on the way...
One of the nicest parts of the day was the opportunity to get to know Joan better. Turns out we have lots in common - including a mutual friend in Palm Springs - and a similar Weltanschaung. Perhaps the beginning of being able to wean myself off using my office colleagues as a substitute for real friends? Here's hoping.
I was exhausted at the end of the day, though - standing for two and a half hours at the cruise terminal was enough to do me in, not to mention the walking during the rest of the day, so I took Saturday off. Sunday, I was back to walking, though. There are four buildings and some town houses in my complex; that is my building on the right....
.......caught one of our many egrets taking a bath....
.....and the new family on the block settling in....
Beautiful place, no?
So, I promised you a review of The Immortalist. After a slow start - so slow I almost gave up - I got into is. I won't give it an unconditional review - a bit too predictable for me - but not a bad read.
As for D'Souza's The Big Lie, well, I think I mentioned that I got it by accident, thinking it was an anti-Trump screed. (It is pretty hard to read the subtitles when you are buying audible books on your phone...) It turned out to be just the opposite, basically accusing - pretty plausibly, I have to say - the Democrats of being the fascists in the picture, being the "big state knows best for you" people (as the fascists were) rather than the republicans. As a piece of right wing propaganda, I actually found it pretty convincing. Scary, really, but I am happy to have read it - or should I say, listened to it?
So, off to other things. I just started listening to Fahrenheit 451. I read it years ago, of course, but was reminded of it by a UTube clip I came across on Facebook (a place where I spend very little time - except for playing Scrabble). It showed a comedian on the streets asking young people to name a book - any book. The humour was in the fact that they couldn't. I, however, did not find it at all funny, and am beginning to think I should start memorizing my book for posterity. Ah, but which book, you might ask? I am taking suggestions.....
(You might remember that last year I was re-reading 1984, which appeared on the best-seller lists after Trump's election. That is another classic that deserves another re-read by us all....)
On a lighter note, my bedtime reading is currently "The Novel Habits of Happiness", another Alexander McCall Smith offering, This was is the latest in the Isabel Dalhousie series. So far, yet another thumbs up.
So many books, so little time....
Don't know whether this will get through as I'm new at it. The comment about using office colleagues as a substitute for real friends struck me. The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The people with whom you've made friends at work ARE real friends.
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