Such was the scene at the Aberdeen Mall in Richmond foe the Chinese New Year countdown. Little hard to see, but that is part of the dragon dance performance. Tricky to get a good shot without elbowing the necks and…
Remember how the temporary place I was in last year flooded, and how I had to start looking for an apartment sooner than expected? Fast forward a year, and switch out “apartment” for “house” and that’s about the only difference.…
House hunting, it turns out, is more taxing than apartment hunting but also more fun as there are other with whom to share the experience. You can collectively laugh at the absurdity of a neighborhood as you drive out without…
So far this winter has been the opposite of last year. It was colder in #vancouver than it was in #chicago! And it rain. Every. Day. Made me wonder if I had made a mistake. Sure, Chicago is miserable in…
There was this tweet yesterday: Just realized tomorrow is my one year anniversary as an actual @goclio employee. — Gwynne Monahan(@econwriter5) January 31, 2013 And then this amusing Twitter exchange on “fake” v. “real” employee. So today officially marks my…
You know those days, those bad days where almost any other job seems more appealing? Or even just walking out in the middle of the day, heading to the airport and taking the first flight that is available? Yeah, I…
Once the weather turns “cold” in #vancouver, some friends of mine decided I needed to experience something called hot pot. Doesn’t sound like much and I actually thought it was a Canadian version of fondu. Not exactly. All of this:…
At the Canadian Customs border crossing yesterday, which, by the way, even if you are a work visa holder, you have to go through the Visitor line now, NOT the Canadian Resident line, and if anyone can point me to…
So here it is, 5:30am, on this third day of 2013. I’m standing in the kitchen of the house in which I grew up, listening to the ticking of one of Mom’s clocks, the chime of the half hour from…
The Year of New Experiences was quite the year. Some good, some bad and in the end: a foundation on which to build for 2013.