Mr Mean or Mr Stingy???

It turns out that Mr. Mean doesn't exist in Canada!

As the photo shows over here, there is some impostor called Mr Stingy.... not the same.

Merry Christmas to All

Just a quick blog post to wish everyone we know a Merry Christmas. Nancy and I finish work on Thursday 23rd December and head straight for the 7pm ferry to Vancouver Island. We will be spending the Christmas weekend with Wendy and Scott M.

We wish you and your family a happy festive season!

On a side note - good luck to the fantasy footy teams over the busy festive period. My team is only 2 points from the top of the league (come on Kris, you're lagging behind quite a bit now!)

A 'ickle Christmas Tree

Last weekend, we put up and decorated our Christmas tree, which is displayed in all its glory in the photo.

Let's just say that its not all about size! Small and beautiful.

First NFL Game in Seattle

I have been a bit slack when it comes to updating the blog recently as I was away in the UK having a great time and then a busy November month end with work, followed by preparations for Christmas and the baby training in early December. Anyway, no excuses I am back writing for the blog and just for Kris I thought I would write about my first experience of a live NFL game.

On Sunday 4th December, Scott Marks and I were up early and met at 7am to race across the border to get down to Seattle. The Seattle Seahawks were playing the Caroline Panthers and the Seahawks are having quite a good season with their new head coach - Pete Carroll. I am a big sports fan, but I've never really got into NFL football despite its huge popularity in North America and I was highly disappointed by CFL (the Canadian version), when we went to a BC Lions game last year. Back to the story, we crossed the border in good time and found a bar near the stadium, for a early beer and brunch. Half way through our meal the whole place was interrupted by the Seahawks own drum band, called the Blue Thunder. This was a fantastic noise that got all the fans and locals up for the game - great atmosphere. We then wandered down to the Stadium and tried to locate our seats, which turned out to be up with the pigeons in the rafters. I don't think we could have been any higher without requiring oxygen, despite this we did have a decent view of the pitch.

In terms of the game itself, I didn't fully understand everything that was going on but enough to know that Seahawks were rubbish in the first two quarters. The score at half time was 14 - 3 to the Panthers, then the third quarter happened and the Seahawks came out showing some fight. The turn around starting with an interception touch down and the points just kept coming with the final score being 31 - 14 to the Seahawks. The result was certainly what the fans wanted and it was first rate experience for myself.

Who Says Parenting is difficult?

I arrived safely in the UK on Friday afternoon, despite my flight being a hour delayed from Vancouver. On arrival I headed to Neil's house and was thrown in at the deep end as a make-shift babysitter, as Neil had to go to the airport with Lotta.

As you can see from the photo, everyone survived and nothing was broken. Who says that parenting is difficult?

The next couple of days have been great catching up with a variety of family members. More fun to follow....

England Home Coming. Wheels Up!

My trip to the UK is almost upon us..... my flight leaves Vancouver at 8.3opm and lands at 1.40pm on Friday. Currently I am sitting at the airport in anticipation.

Look out Friday Night Club, we are overdue a reunion!

See you all on the other side

Portland Road Trip

Over the past few days we completed a road trip to Portland, Oregon on the west coast of the USA. Nancy, Wendy, Scott M and myself crossed the USA border last Wednesday evening, after work and due to my British passport we had a forty minute wait to get my entry visa. We made our way down to a hotel Olympia for our first night. Next morning was when the real excitement started as we crossed into Oregon State and drove along the historic highway 30. The route took us along the Columbia gorge, river and we saw a number of waterfalls and view points. Lunch in a nearby town was followed by a drive on the mountain road of Mt. Hood, where we came into contact with snow.

One of the trip's highlights for me was a visit to the Nike Employee Store as the Nike HQ is based in the area. Huge discounts and great deals had by all, especially as there is zero sales discount in Oregon. After all the shopping we had a couple of enjoyable days in the city of Portland, seeing the sights, shops, riding the free tram system and visiting Powell's Books, which is the largest independent used and new bookstore in the world. This was my first visit to Oregon and proved to be a top trip with cheap shopping.

Portland, Oregon Road Trip Coming Up

On Thursday, 11 November is a public holiday for Remembrance Day in B.C. and so we are taking the opportunity to complete a four day road trip down the west coast to Portland, Oregon. This will be the first time that I have visited this part of the world and one of the trip highlights for me is the planned visit to the Nike Global Headquarters.

We leave on Wednesday evening to cross the USA border and so look out for a blog post and photos later in the week.

Canucks Hockey Games Galore

This week saw Nancy and myself both watch a Vancouver Canucks hockey game, but not the same one.... two different games on two different nights. Nancy saw her game in Vancouver with the Canucks playing against the Devils in a VIP box suite on Monday night. Whilst on Tuesday night, I saw the Canucks play the Edmonton Oilers in Edmonton with seats right next to the ice. I was sat right next to the away team's box (i.e. Vancouver Canucks) and so close to all their subs.

Credit to the Canucks for playing two games in consecutive nights in two different towns and two different time zones. Furthermore, they were playing on Thursday evening as well. As the Canadians keep telling me hockey is a tough man's game - I suppose you don't get the English footy teams playing back to back games.

Also, as a side note today in Calgary I met Stephen Ames who is currently the highest ranked professional golfer in Canada and plays on the PGA Tour. He was the at the dealership arranging his new car, my boss was star struck to say the least.

First Snow of The Season

A heavy Pacific storm dumped 30 centimetres of snow on the top of the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort in the last few days, raising the hopes of local skiers that weather climate patterns will bring plenty of snow this coming winter. The freezing level is expected to remain steady with more periods of snow forecast for this week on that mountain.

On Monday morning Environment Canada issued a weather warning for Vancouver, forecasting 50 millimetres of rain by Tuesday, this week. The heavy rain has already forced officials to close the popular Grouse Grind hiking trail on Vancouver's North Shore.

For me, I returned from Kelowna yesterday over the mountain pass and experienced my first snow of the season, which you can see in the photo.

English Bread & Butter Pudding - NO Tiramislop, thanks!

Today was cultural pot luck day at the office.... Yes, I hear you cry "what is cultural pot luck?". Well, it is where a bunch of people at work were invited to cook or bake a homemade dish from their cultural background (or a signature dish of their choice). The idea being that everyone could taste different foods from a variety of nationalities, especially as the office has people from at least ten different countries.

This presented me with a major dilemma due to my limited culinary skills, so I ended up resorting to the classic English desert of Bread and Butter pudding. One of two dishes that I learned on a cooking course two years ago with Nancy, Emily and Mr P. Apart from initially putting the pudding in the wrong glass bowl for the oven which would have created a disaster, all went well with the cooking part (as the photo proves). I was slightly worried how it was going to taste, but it seemed to be a big hit with everyone in the office and most of it was eaten with a number of compliments from the team. No reports of food poisoning yet, so an overall success.

Canadian Thanksgiving

This weekend is my second Canadian Thanksgiving in Canada, which is due to be spent enjoying the company of Wendy and Scott Marks on Vancouver Island. The plan is for turkey dinner on Saturday evening.

However, what are Canadians thankful for???? The American thanksgiving holiday is famous for the celebration of the Pilgrim Fathers and the Mayflower ship landing on the East coast of the USA. This was the much discussed question at the dinner table from the only Brit and the less than convincing answer seemed to be linked to harvest festival. On further research, i.e. a search on Wikipedia, I discovered that The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean. Frobisher's Thanksgiving was not for harvest but homecoming. He had safely returned from a search for the Northwest Passage, avoiding the later fate of Henry Hudson and Sir John Franklin who died.

Hey, whatever.... the important thing to me was that I get an extra day-off work! Here's to Canada Thanksgiving.

In concert with Jack Johnson

Last night was a night with Jack Johnson at the Rogers Arena and we (Nancy, myself and Wendy) sat back in our seats and bobbed our heads to the beat, while a giant screen projected images of churning water and waves. For those audience members who weren’t hard-core fans, the show was a nice change of pace but nothing special. They mouthed along to the tunes heard on the radio, but otherwise many just kind of stared and hoped he’d do a jig or something.

The marijuana cloud hovering above Rogers Arena was big and fluffy by the time Jack pulled out onto the stage. If the haze didn’t make you yawn, Johnson’s lack of interaction did. He zipped through his repertoire with little banter in between songs. There were a couple of songs that took Nancy and I back to memories of Manchester, especially banana pancakes and better together. Upside Down was a cheery number that made us smile with his relaxing voice. Still, I wanted more than what I could hear on my ipod.

Light the Night 5km Charity Walk: Oct 2nd Victoria

Well it's that time of year again! Nancy and I are asking friends and family to join the We're with Bob! Team for a 5km walk the evening of October 2nd to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada.

If you are unable to join us and would like to support our efforts by a donation, we would be greatly thankful for your support in the memory of Bob.

For those of you already signed up, see you next Saturday and if you've already donated and/or are fundraising, thank you so very much. So far the team has raised over $4000.

For event details and to donate: http://www.werewithbob.com
Your support is greatly appreciated.

I feel like Marlon Brando as the Godfather!

After much deliberation, I went under the knife to have my four wisdom teeth removed on Friday morning.

I am still of the belief that Canadian dentists use the extraction of wisdom teeth as a money earner. There never seemed to be a convincing reason to have healthy teeth removed, except that they MIGHT be a problem in the future.

However, as I managed to get the procedure covered by insurance and as such it didn't cost me a penny I had all the teeth removed. I'm hoping that this doesn't mean that I have lost any of my wisdom, similar to Samson losing his strength post a haircut. The painkillers are working a treat right now, but the discomfort is intense.

Dukes of Hazzard for Real

On returning from Vancouver Island last weekend, awaiting for the ferry we saw the GENERAL LEE from the Dukes of Hazzard.

In the TV shows the car had the doors welded shut, leaving the Dukes to climb in and out through the windows.

My childhood was relived in a moment!

With my continued learning and experiencing of Canadian culture, Wendy thought it would be an idea to invite us to the Sannich Peninsula Harvest Feast. This was the second annual feast, held at the Sannich fairground and turned into a fun Saturday night with the locals.

I discovered that the Sannich area is a traditional bread basket of the Greater Victoria area as it has the greatest concentration of active farms in British Columbia. At a time, when interest in "buy local" is growing and there's talk about a "100-mile diet", the event was able to celebrate food and agricultural heritage with a 10-mile harvest dinner (with the exception of dairy, coffee and tea). The dinner was a turkey and beef roast dinner, with all the trimmings and desert was a huge selection of fruit pies with ice cream.

Nancy also won a huge bag of local produce on the ticket lottery and so we got take home carrots, potatoes, leaks pumpkins, corn, etc. Although, I would have much preferred to have won the delicious lemon meringue pie!

Washington DC Holiday Highlights

It has now been nearly two weeks since leaving Washington DC behind from our very enjoyable holiday. I thought I would do a blog post with some of the highlights and photos. Nancy and I had a great time with everyone and the best times were had just chatting and catching up with the gang. So in no particular order, some of the events and fun times are below:

- Night time, Segway tour of Washington DC. Seeing all the monuments, museums, White House, Capital Building and the Mall in 2 hours was amazing. Easy on the feet, no other tourists getting in our way, plus we visited a couple of places that I had not seen in all my previous visits to the capital, including the Roosevelt monument.

- Driving range and batting cages. We have done this a few times, but the highlight here was seeing Anthony hitting a whole bunch of extreme, 90+ mph fast balls in the batting cages. All credit to him as the rest of us were unwilling to step up and face the machine.

- Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport. Having visited the Air and Space Museum in DC on a number of previous occasions with the all important moon rock at its front door, I never knew there was a second museum. There was a range of planes, aircraft, machines and space equipment and a viewing deck to see the nearby airport. We enjoyed an afternoon with Beth, Ryan and Kris there and saw the first Space Shuttle, the Enola Gay (the plane that delivered the first atomic bomb in WW2), Concorde (although it was a French one!) and a F14 Tomcat (the type of aircraft featured in the film Top Gun).

- Hanging out at the Swimming Pool. With the hot and humid weather it was a joy just to simply hang out at the local pool with the kids, especially in our matching t-shirts (see photo). Anthony developed a number of dangerous games as well, including Bravery Ball, to keep everyone entertained at the same time.

- Tennis after breakfast. On three mornings, post breakfast, a group of us would head to the nearby tennis courts for a couple of hours of hitting. Top fun had chasing tennis balls around and also seeing everyone's game improve. BSH - Big Sexy Hitting was certainly on display when Laura was on court.

- Sports and board games with the kids. Getting my arse kicked by Ryan over the board game of Trans America was humilating but good fun. Kicking a football around outside with random star appearances from Abi was fun to watch, despite the many bug bites. Then of course there was the 10KM run challenge (see the previous blog post) and seeing the ultra-competitive spirit of all the guys.

10K Challenge - The Results

It has been nearly two weeks since the completion of the 10KM race challenge and five days since our departure from Washington DC back to Vancouver and Im still catching my breath. The final race and culmination of the challenge proved to be eventful on 29th August. The setting was a sunny, humid, Sunday morning with a strech of the Washington and Old Dominion trail in front of us.

Anthony surprised everyone by actually being in Washington for the event, looking fit and ready to put down a good time. Kris had a benchmark time already in the bag at 46mins 46 seconds, while my best time was 51mins 7 seconds from a previous 10K race. Ross had it all to do with no banked time, but had home court advantage on his side.

The final results were a testiment to everyone's competitive spirit with Ross winning the challenge with an amazing time of 46mins 36 seconds, beating Kris's best time by 10 seconds, Anthony crossed the finishing line in a very impressive time of 48 minutes. Leaving me with the position of last place with the time of 51 mins, as I couldn't improve on my best time on the day. Congratulations to the guys for achieving great times, all below the 50 minute mark.

However, the day was slightly tarnished by a trip to the hospital for Ross after he collapsed to the ground at the finish line. Usually this wouldn't be an issue and an opportunity to poke fun at him, but he did it in front of a passing police car and the cop called for an ambulance. They promptly treated Ross and forced him to the local hospital for rehydration. As you can tell from the photo of Ross in the hospital, he didn't care about consequences and was simply overjoyed at beating the rest of us in the challenge!

Where's Wally (AKA Anthony)?

Where's Wally?

Is Anthony in Woburn Sands or Ashburn, Virgina??? Mmm, we wonder!

Only a few days left until Nancy and I fly out to Washington DC to find out in person.

Ice Cream Heaven has been found in Vancouver

Saturday afternoon saw Nancy, Wendy and myself stumble across ice cream heaven, right here in Vancouver. Driving across the city we just happened to pass an ice cream store in an industrial area. Turns out, this place sold over 500 different flavours of ice cream with 218 flavours on constant display. It was mecca for an ice cream lover! Some of the numerous and exotic flavours included curry, wasabi, fenal, rhubarb crumble, cinnamon... the list goes on and on. Let's just say that all our future visitors to Vancouver will have this as a destination.

Also as a side story, our Sunday brunch was shared with none other than Joshua Jackson... famous from the TV show Dawson Creek and various movies. Mixing it with the celebrities.

Golf and Sunshine in Kelowna

It is about a year ago, that I was in Kelowna for the first time and Nancy joined me for a few days of relaxation in the sun and we visited the local vineyards. This year, my golf game has improved and I completed two rounds of golf in the last couple of days, as part of a Dealer corporate event. My golf score has improved, but I'm still somewhere off from being considered a decent golfer, but I did achieve my first birdie + a drive of over 250 yards.

The real highlight of the trip was an evening dinner at Summerhill winery, which is claimed to be the most visited winery in the whole of Canada. We took the dealers there for the last night dinner and it was the most spectacular view of the lake, west bank, downtown Kelowna and the night sky. We sat out on the patio, enjoying a mix of red and white wine, fantastic food, desert and iced desert wine. Topped off by seeing shooting stars over head.

On the last afternoon in Kelowna, I took the opportunity to spend Friday afternoon on a speed boat out on the lake and enjoyed the cool water for a swim. I know, I can hear it now.... tough day at work!

I didn't get any photos of my Kelowna trip, but I was back early on Saturday morning to Vancouver and received an invite by Scott M and Nancy to join them in the local park in Coal Harbour. I thought it was appropriate to illustrate the fine weather and view of our summer in British Columbia in the picture.

No Tennis, No Pink Laptop, but off to Kelowna

With a foggy, raining Saturday our plans to attend the Vancouver Tennis Open were washed out, so my planned blog post was scuppered. Emily's suggestion for the blog was a pretty picture of her new PINK laptop. I think not.

This week, I can look forward to a couple of rounds of golf in Kelowna as my company is holding its annual golf event for the MB dealers. This means I can get some sunshine and brush up on my golf game. I am also looking forward to having dinner at the Summerhill Winery, which is suppose to have amazing, scenic views of the Okanagon valley.

The England Boys

I have a great boss, Ted, but he is Canadian and he takes enormous pleasure in torturing the British members of his team with all sorts of stereotyping. Things recently escalated due to the England team's poor showing at the footy world cup and the devastating 4-1 defeat to zie Germans.

Today the four Brits in the office decided to take a stand and demonstrate a British stiff upper lip by wearing our England footy shirts to our monthly team meeting. All to the soundtrack of the Great Escape theme tune! Small victory for the British Empire.

Happy 1st Anniversary to Em & Kris

Many congratulations to Emily and Kris King on their 1st wedding anniversary. In the words of Emily herself, now they can officially get a divorce!

We wish them all the best on their happy day and look forward to seeing them in person at the end of the month.

The Adventures of Newdale

Nancy and I arrived into Winnipeg on Thursday in order to visit Newdale in Manitoba for the towns 125th anniversary. Why visit Newdale - a town with a population of 100 people, which is located over two hours drive west of Winnipeg. Some might say that Newdale is in the middle of no-where, I wouldn't say that but no-where isn't far away. Not only were we there to be part of the celebrations, but also to see the place where Bob was born and brought up.

Newdale was originally named by Edward Cook, the area's first postmaster and it's derived from "new" meaning new district and "dale" meaning the low ground south of the little mountain (mosquito hill). The CP rail line came through in 1885 and the town moved to its present location to be near to the railway.

With Wendy and Brenda, we arrived into Newdale on Friday afternoon and checked into the only motel. Lets just say it was not the Hilton, but it was all part of the experience. We also visited a number of Bob's relatives who still live in the local area, including some of the people that attended our wedding. A highlight being a visit to a farm, meeting the livestock and the biggest tractor that I have ever seen - check out the photo. We also saw the house Bob was born in and the old Marks family farm. Friday evening events included seeing a local band and the fireworks display, which was much better than expected - although our expectations started off very low.

Saturday we enjoyed the free pancake breakfast, homecoming parade and then in the evening the dinner/dance in the local ice rink. One of major highlights for me was playing Manitoba soccer, which involved two fire engines, long fire hoses and a football. Basically I had to use the water pressure to move the football across the opposition goal line and the opposition can spray you if you step over your line. My game turned out to be a goal less draw, but it was great fun and I got soaked. The downside of the trip was the bug bites and mosquitos, at dusk I was bitten to hell - they seemed to like my fresh English blood!

Celebration of Light - More Fireworks

Since 1990, Vancouver has been home to the Celebration of Light. This is an international pyro-musical fireworks competition that has attracted the world’s leading fireworks designers and is seen as a highly prestigious event. The fireworks festival creates an exciting display where spectators enjoy the latest explosive techniques and the most innovative fireworks materials are used as different country teams compete to be crowned the winner. This was an event that we attended last year and really enjoyed, especially as it was free!

After work and a dentist appointment for me, Nancy and I wandered up to English Bay to sit on the seawall with the ocean waves lapping at our feet and the smell of hash in the wind. Tonight it was the turn of the USA team to impress and attempt to win the fireworks competition. This was no ordinary fireworks display due to the scale, number of fireworks, noise and sound track plus the huge number of onlooking boats and yachts in the Bay. Great spectacular for no cost!

Calgary Stampede 2010 - Less Brokeback, more Clint Eastwood

Last week, I had the opportunity to experience the Calgary Stampede for the first time, which was a fantastic experience. For those of you that are not familiar with the Stampede, it is an annual rodeo, exhibition and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta. The ten-day event, which bills itself as The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, attracts over one million visitors per year. It features the world's largest rodeo, a parade, midway, stage shows, concerts, agricultural competitions and chuckwagon racing.

The city of Calgary takes on a party atmosphere during Stampede; residents don Western outfits and events are held right across the city, including barbecues and pancake breakfasts. To really fit in with the locals I purchased a custom-made cowboy hat, which you can see me sporting in the photo. I got the hat from the same company that George Bush gets his cowboy hats from, and so I was in good company. That evening we went onto see the chuckwagon racing, rodeo and then the show with fireworks, acrobats, brass-band, singers and flyer motorbikes. The highlight being the chuckwagon racing, which involved wagons, four horses per wagon and a bunch of outriders, which thundered around the course at over 70 km per hour.

On the second night in Calgary, I was out on the town with my new cowboy hat and another one of my sales managers. We were an interesting sight - the British cowboy and a Chinese cowboy eating out in a sushi restaurant! You don't see that too often, even in Calgary.

Summerfast 2010 - Another 10K Road Race

This morning was my last official 10KM road race before we fly out to Washington DC for the official challenge race on 29th August. Based on my previous race result my goal was to have a time starting with 50 minutes, which means a race pace of 5 minute per KM. An ambitious target indeed!

The start of the race was located 500m south of Ceperley Park on the paved path, directly across from the Parks Board Office. The finish line was also in Ceperley Picnic Area at Second Beach, Stanley Park. The Summerfast 10k featured a course that was very scenic and fast as it travels around the Vancouver seawall. The race course was completely flat and after the start, the race course headed east along the south side of Lost Lagoon and over to Mile Zero. Here the runners completed a short side loop along Coal Harbour, very close to our apartment building, before heading out onto the seawall. The race course then followed the seawall in a counter clockwise direction, where unusually there was not too many people in our way.

The race went well with regards to pace and I kept a steady pace of just over 5mins per KM and the conditions were perfect with early morning sun, but not too much heat. Although the pace took it out of me going into the last KM and I was certainly puffed out crossing the finishing line.

So what was the result? Was it a personal best or did I fluff my last chance? Well, according to my Ipod the time was 51 min 3 secs. However, the verified, official race time was 51 min 7secs and so it was a personal best but not quite what I wanted to achieve.... Conclusion is more training and practice to get my time down.

A Tough Day at the Office

I received a last minute phone call on Monday afternoon, which was an invite to the Mercedes-Benz driving academy for all day Tuesday. This was an opportunity to drive a selection of Mercedes product, including the high performance AMG models like the E63 AMG (0 to 60 in 4.4 seconds).

An early start from Vancouver and a hour and half drive to Mission raceway was followed by a driver briefing and some learnings on race car driving tips, including trail braking. Then we were relased onto the track to complete lap after lap of performance driving - great fun and like I say a tough day at the office for me!

Underwear Affair 10K Run

Last night was the Underwear Affair 10K run for cancer awareness and research. I raised the small sum of $325 for the cancer charity, but it was also my third opportunity for a competitive 10K run time. My goal was to break the 55 minute mark and get myself closer in time to Kris and Ross (especially with Mr P dropping out of contention for the challenge).

The event was well organised and there were loads of people in fancy dress or very little dress to raise the attention for the cause. Nancy and I are both commented on the fact there was a great deal of flesh on show and somewhat distracting.

Anyway, the race course was along the Vancouver seawall and so was flat, except for one incline at the 8.5K mark which led onto and up the Burrard Bridge. It was a warm evening and I needed a couple of water stops to keep going, but in this race I wasn't held up by other runners. My time, according to my Ipod was 51 minutes and 16 seconds, subject to confirmation from the official timekeeping from the organisers. This is easily my personal best time for 10K and beat my last time by over five minutes. As you can imagine I am well chuffed!

I have one more competitive 10K race planned for next weekend on 17th July before we fly out to Washington for the official challenge. So the aim now is to get to 50 minutes, which will be going some to keep a pace of 5min per KM.

ADDENDUM - Monday 12th July
My official race time has now appeared on the website and is 51mins 30 seconds.

127   51:30.62  5501  86/197  M    Scott SHEARS

Canadian Please!

Here is a funny video clip that has been sent to me by Wendy and I thought I would share on the blog.

A couple of kids from London, Ontario on a YouTube clip - anyone want to be Canadian now?

Click the link.

CANADIAN PLEASE!

San Diego Trip

The last four days for us has been mostly spent in San Diego, California - all thanks to the public holiday of Canada Day. 1st July is Canada Day and my second one since moving to Vancouver and it was a great excuse for a weekend away. Nancy's choice of city was San Diego as she wanted beaches and sunshine due to Vancouver's poor summer weather.

We arrived late morning on Thursday, checked into our hotel and then did all the usual things of exploring the downtown area, harbour and sea front. Also enjoyed a couple of gin and tonics on the roof top bar of our hotel with the sun setting - all in all a relaxing first day in San Diego. However, the next couple of days were full of tourist highlights including a free bus tour of the city and the Old Town - it wasn't suppose to free I should add, but we managed to get away with not paying. The Old Town was a mix of a western-style town and a mexican village, full of gift shops but it was pleasant enough. One of the main highlights for me was in the afternoon as I went aboard the USS Midway, which is the second largest aircraft carrier open to the public. This huge ship is moored in the bay with a array of fighter jets and helicopters stationed on its flight deck. Nancy was too busy sunny herself at the hotel pool to appreciate this beast of ship, but I thought it was pretty cool.

Day three was even more action packed that the previous day, as it started with a two hour boat ride around the San Diego bay. This included a tour of the local ship yards and naval ship yard with about fifteen different war ships, frigates and destroyers, a naval submarine base and even some sea lions! After a dash from the harbour back into downtown, we then joined a Segway tour for the next two hours. After an initial training session in a car park, we set off rather unsteadily through the city streets visiting the local sightseeing sites. We soon got use to the machines and even managed to get them up to their top speed of 12.5 miles per hour! The Segway proved to be great fun and the perfect way to get round the city - note to self, find out the price to buy one. Walking has just been made redundant in my opinion. Also something we should consider for the upcoming Washington DC trip.

Off to San Diego

We are off to San Diego in the morning for four days of relaxation and sunshine.

Plus its Canada Day tomorrow as well - my second Canada Day and even the Queen is in the country this year!

Day of Emergencies

Wednesday was a day of minor emergencies for me, with my first ever earthquake experience followed by a late night fire alarm in our apartment building.

I was in Toronto attending a training course at Mercedes HQ and a magnitude 5.0 earthquake hit central Canada, rattling buildings from Sudbury to Quebec City, and as far south as New York City. The epicentre of the quake was in Quebec, about 500 kilometres from where I was situated, and struck at 1:41 p.m. EDT.

There have been two recorded earthquakes with a magnitude over 6.0 in the Western Quebec seismic zone: a 6.1-magnitude quake in 1935 and one measuring 6.2 in 1732. An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.0 is considered to be a moderate one but it can cause major damage to poorly constructed buildings over small regions. At the most, it should cause only slight damage to well-designed buildings. As Scott M commented it was enough to rattle the ice in your drink. From my perspective, my chair and desk quivered with the blinds in the room shaking on the third floor, but what was interesting was that no-one reacted with an emergency procedure. So much for being prepared for earthquakes. Anyway I survived to tell the tale.

I then flew back to Vancouver that afternoon, returning home and that night we were woken by the building's fire alarm at midnight. This meant that we had to rush out of the apartment down eleven flights of stairs and stand outside in our PJs. As you can see from my photo, the fire firefighters turned up and soon realised that it was a false alarm, allowing us to return to bed.

Hollywood North - AKA Vancouver

In passing conversation the other day, Nancy used the term Hollywood North to refer to Vancouver and I gave her a quizzical look as I had never heard that before. Vancouver is a popular destination for movie and TV shows production companies and is used as a substitute location for other cities and locations. Mainly because it is cheaper than the real Hollywood. Nancy wanted to share this and so in the enclosed link is a long list of movies and shows that Vancouver and the local area appear in......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_filming_locations_in_Metro_Vancouver

Do Bears sh*t in the Woods?

As I type this blog post I'm sat on the sofa with an aching body, this is due to sending said body down the side of the mountain at speed on a bike. All thanks to my Scottish buddy, Stu, who arranged a trip to Whistler for spot of downhill bike racing. Being a complete novice I had no idea what to expect and within a few seconds of hurtling down the hillside I was crashing out - not once but twice. We soon realised that we were on an expert blue run and not a beginner green run! Once we made it onto a suitable route it turned out to be an adrenalin fueled speed ride and we completed six runs in the afternoon, followed by a couple of refreshing pints.

Apart from the adrenalin rush, the major highlight of the trip was seeing black bears in the wild and these were also my first bear sightings in British Colombia. We saw the first bear on our first trip up the chair lift, then a second bear on the ride down and then the pièce de résistance was seeing two adult bears grazing about 30 feet away from us. The photos do not do them justice. And in answer to the question, I can confirm bears do sh*t in the woods as it was everywhere on the mountain side.

The Agony and Disappointment of England Football

Nancy and I have just come back from a pub in downtown Vancouver after watching England Vs Algeria in the South African World Cup 2010. All thanks to my boss releasing me from a meeting.

However, it was one of the most depressing and disappointing moments while watching the England Football Team! Lacklustre and shambolic are probably the best two words to describe the England Team performance and I just had to share my frustrations with the world! ARRRGGHHHHHHH!

Come on England! It is very simple now... a win or bust against Slovenia on Wednesday.

Most impressive stat of the day - England have never won the World Cup without a Fulham player in the Team.

Weekend at the Canadian F1 Grand Prix

This weekend I spent watching race cars going round in circles in Montreal. Although the highlight for me was personally meeting Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, along with Mercedes test driver Nick Heidfeld.

I flew out from Vancouver to Montreal on Friday and arrived in the hotel late afternoon for a couple of drinks, followed by dinner with our group. Early on Saturday we headed over to the race circuit to watch Kart racing and the F1 qualifying sessions. The first thing to hit us as we got closer to the track was the immense noise of the engines, you could hear them for miles around. The hospitality tent was great, exceptional the complimentary Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, with a perfect view of the main straight and first chicane. This also happened to be where the first accident was on race day - with bits of carbon fibre spraying all over the track.

Lewis Hamilton qualified on pole position and on the Saturday evening we saw him in our hotel foyer, as he was staying in the same place. I spotted him and with persistence asked him for a photo (as above) - certainly not my most subtle of moments, but achieved the desired result. I congratulated him and wished him luck for race day. This was followed up by meeting Michael Schumacher (7 times winner at the Canadian GP) at the Mercedes-Benz party/dinner that evening. Not bad.... meeting two F1 World Champions in the same day.

Overall it was a great, fun weekend and managed to tick a few boxes - experience Montreal, visit a F1 Grand Prix, meet two of the best drivers and eat a bunch of free Ben & Jerry's ice cream! Oh Lewis won the race with his Mclaren, Mercedes team mate Jenson Button coming in second.

On My Way to Montreal....

As I enter this blog post, I am sat in Vancouver airport awaiting my flight to Montreal, as I head off to attend the Canadian F1 Grand Prix. I am hosting a Dealer event at the Canadian Grand Prix and so looking forward to a fun-packed weekend.

My only concern is where will I watch the all important England Vs USA World Cup match tomorrow. COME ON ENGLAND!

I would just like to thank....

is what I would have said if there was a winner's speech required at my playoff tennis final last night. Sadly, no speech was needed but I did take away the honour of winning the second group playoff in the UBC tennis league.

I have been playing in the league for the last 12 weeks and last night was the playoff finals. I beat two opponents (both 5-1, 5-1) to make it to the grand final and I won this 9-0 to take the title. The prize was simply an hour's free court time on the University courts, but the glory is what I enjoyed the most.

Two Years and Counting

Today is our two year anniversary of our wedding at Poet's Cove, Pender Island.... how quickly times goes by. As I type this I am also staring out of our apartment window at the Vancouver mountains and Stanley Park and so we have come some way in two years. Although I also notice that the weather is poor in comparison to the day we got married; there is no way that Emily or Scott M would get sunstroke with today's rain.

We celebrated our two year wedding anniversary in two ways. Firstly, we spent the weekend on Bowen Island, which is a 25 minute ferry ride away from West Vancouver. A place that I visited last year for a day trip and where, Nancy's grandfather has a street named after him, from when he was the Vancouver Mayor in 1930s. We borrowed a friends holiday cottage for the weekend and enjoyed a very relaxing weekend. The highlights of the trip included a long hike around the local lake, dinner at a little restaurant called Blue Eyed Mary's and a couple of drinks at the local pub. We even had a wild deer visit the cottage's garden for a feed. Bowen Island is very picturesque and the countryside was scenic beyond belief, we certainly felt isolated from civilisation which heightened our relaxation.

Secondly, we have a table reserved, this evening, at the Teahouse Restuarant which is situated in Stanley Park, upon the hill overlooking English Bay. This is a place that Nancy has wanted to eat at for a long time and we just needed a special occasion to be a reason. Not sure it will be the Birch in Woburn, but I'm sure it will perfect to celebrate our first two years of our marriage (with many more in the pipeline). I better sign off and get ready to leave, so here's to the future.

Countdown to the Washington DC trip!

Even though Washington DC ranked ONLY 43rd in the world for the best cities to live, Ross is convinced that it is the best place for fun and entertainment. So at his request and in light of the two challenges having deadlines for the 23rd August, I have created a new countdown clock for everyone's arrival into DC. We can all literally count down the days and hours until the fun begins.

Check out the countdown clock, just underneath the comments section in the right-hand column.

Vancouver is the 4th Best City in the World!

Nancy has been saying it for some time, but now there is real evidence that Vancouver is one of the best cities to live in, in terms of quality of life.

Mercer’s Quality of Living index is completed on an annual basis for 221 cities around the world and the ranking helps governments and multi-national companies compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments. The rankings are based on a point-scoring index.

This year, Vienna retains the top spot as the city with the world’s best quality of living, while Zurich and Geneva follow in second and third position, respectively. Vancouver and Auckland remain joint fourth in the rankings. Canadian cities actually dominate the top of the index with Vancouver (4) retaining the top spot, followed by Ottawa (14), Toronto (16) and Montreal (21). Calgary ranks 28 on the overall quality of living ranking. In the UK, London is the highest-ranking city at 39, followed by newcomer to the list Aberdeen (53), Birmingham (55), Glasgow (57) and Belfast (63). Milton Keynes didn't even make the list!!!

The top fifty ranked cities are on this list:
http://www.mercer.com/qualityoflivingpr#City_Ranking_Tables

The May Long Weekend - Victoria Day

This May weekend is a long weekend for us in Canada and all thanks to the Queen of England. This is because today is a Canadian statutory holiday in honour of both Queen Victoria's birhtday and the current reigning Canadian sovereign's official birthday, and is also considered an informal mark of the beginning of the summer season.

Nancy and I have taken the opportunity of the extended weekend for a number of activities and fun stuff. Friday evening involved dinner/drinks followed by a night with Eddie Izzard, as we saw him perform live at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. He was certainly funny as you would expect, but many of the topics were very random indeed. Saturday AM was a morning of cleaning the apartment and watching the European Cup Final, while the afternoon we drove to the wilds of Chilliwack to have dinner with friends.

Sunday was a trip across the USA border to Seattle for a Seattle Mariners baseball game with Scott M and his friend Ryan. Although the baseball match was a white wash to the team from San Diego (score 8-1), it was a enjoyable day out with an awesome view of the field. We followed this up with a bit of shopping at the outlet mall and dinner at a highly-recommended Mexican restaurant.

This leaves Monday free for a relaxing day in Vancouver - all thanks to the Queen!

Another 10K - This Time for Charity

In the last couple of weeks I have completed two 10K runs (Vancouver Sun Run & Victoria Times Colonist) and now I have signed up for a third run on 10th July. The reason is that it keeps me on-track with my run training, ahead on the weight challenge AND I can raise some funds for cancer research at the same time.

The attached link has all the details and so please check it out. As you will see from the link, I’ve joined BC Cancer Foundation’s Underwear Affair - a 10K run to uncover cures for cancers below the waist. It’s not only fun, but it fights cancer. I’ll be just one of thousands of people gathered on the streets of Vancouver this summer in the biggest Affair this town has ever seen!

What can you do about it? You can donate to me - even if it's only a small amount! So please help me in my efforts to raise money for care and cancer research.

http://va10.uncoverthecure.org/site/TR/Events/Vancouver2010?px=1790465&pg=personal&fr_id=1170

The Em & Kris Vancouver Visit

It has been a few days in coming, but I finally found the time to reflect on Emily and Kris's visit to Vancouver in the last week. Let's just say that it has taken some time to come to terms with the empty feeling that has remained, since their departure. Mmmmmm..... anyway enough of that touchy, feelly stuff what did we get up to on their Vancouver holiday.

Well, with the majority of the Friday Night Gang in the same city for once, we certainly made the most of the local bars and restaurants. On the first night in Vancouver, freshly off the plane, we headed to the roof top terrace at the Keg in Yale Town. Everyone enjoyed the good food, awesome views and a very pleasant evening of pickling our livers! One of the major highlights of the Emily and Kris trip, especially for me, was a trip on the Vancouver Harbour Paddle Steamer, in the bright Spring sunshine. Nancy and I never quite managed to get on the boat last year and it continually goes past our apartment building. On the 2.45pm sailing, we had a hour tour of the Vancouver Harbour in great sunshine, albeit a bit a strong cross wind. We took some great pictures of downtown Vancouver, Stanley park,various seaplanes, etc. The evening involved us watching theVancouver Canucks hockey playoff game in a local bar, with some more drinking - much fun was had by all, including a sing-song to Anthony's voicemail!

With our hangovers on Sunday, we had a lazy morning watching the Vancouver marathon runners go past our window and the most it inspired us to do was to get up out of bed and opening presents for Nancy's birthday. Kris and I went off to the golf driving range, while Nancy (as a birthday treat to herself) took Emily to the nail saloon for treatments. Later in the week, Emily, Kris and myself went up to the top of Grouse Mountain via the cable car and then onto the Capailano Suspension Bridge. This was made even more impressive by the fact that Kris overcame his vertigo.... the white knuckles and fake smile were signs of it, but he was very strong and both feats were achieved in style.

Nancy also completed a skydive on Friday lunchtime, as it was cancelled on her birthday due to the poor weather. The weather was perfect with bright sunshine and limited wind speed. We were all impressed with Nancy, as she has a bit of vertigo as well and showed great confidence when getting in the plane and jumping at over 10,000 feet. Check out the numerous photos from the Em and Kris holiday.... a couple of these pictures might even be Shears 2011 Calendar worthy!

Vancouver Sun Run 10K in 57 Mins

Last Sunday was my second attempt to complete a 10KM run in as many weeks and put in a decent time to beat Marlboro Man, Bill Murray and "I'm afraid of heights" Kris in our run challenge.

The key difference this time compared to the previous run in Victoria was the overwhelming crowd that was running with me..... over 51,000 people. As you can imagine I spent a large proportion of the race jostling other runners for space. Apart from one trip I managed to run the whole distance and achieve a decent time of 57 minutes.

Admittedly, this was a minute slower than my previous time but still an achievement. I am convinced I can run 10K faster and certainly break 55 mins, so I will be signing up for a third 10KM soon. Details to be announced.

Check out the photos that Nancy took plus once again she managed to capture video footage of me crossing line. Very impressive considering the number of people around me at the end of the race. In order to spot me, look out for the runner with a bright blue top with a grey runners hat.

Playoff Time for Canucks

At this time of year, the NHL ice hockey playoffs begin and the Vancouver Canucks have made it once again. When I moved to Canada last year, watching the Canucks, on television, in the playoffs was my first experience of ice hockey and the start of my learning curve of the sport. This year, Nancy and I have been lucky enough to see a couple of games live and in person.

We went to see the last regular season game for the Canucks, which was against the NHL team from Phoenix. The arena, GM Place, was packed to the rafters with people including some strangely dressed fans which you can see in the photos. The atmosphere was great and the Canucks won 4-1.... a joy to watch.

At the time of writing, the Canucks have just won game 6 in the series of 7 to beat the LA Kings and reach the next round of the playoffs. The Canucks struggled in part against the LA Kings, but overcame to win through with a game to spare. However, Ross's team Washington Capitals (aka the Caps) are struggling to get past another Canadian Team - Montreal Canadians. The Caps have to play game 7 as the decider! Anyway, thanks to my boss I managed to see the first game of Canucks playoff series in a luxury box suite and I chalked up another great experience watching hockey. GO CANUCKS!

Em & Kris in Vancouver TODAY!

Yes... this pair of drinkers will be touching down in Vancouver today (aka Thursday). I have warned Vancouver Police and the local liquor stores that the Kings are coming to town.... everyone is on high alert for drunken behaviour!

Friday Night Gang reunion here we come.

Challenge On - First 10 KM Run Under My Belt

Today, was the Times Colonist 10KM run in Victoria and this annual event achieved a record turn-out, breaking the 10,000-mark for the number of runners completing the race with 10,850 tallied up by the noon. More than 13,500 had registered. The previous high was in 2009 when 9,484 ran, walked or rolled through the TC 10K.

As competitor 3599 I was one of the many runners with this being my first competitive 10K run, as part of the run challenge. My overall objective was to get through the race without walking and lay down a decent time, which ideally would be under an hour. With so many people at the start of the race, it was difficult to manage my own pace, especially as I was more concerned about not being tripped up by other runners. As the race wore on there was increasingly more space and actually the other competitors kept me motivated to keep my pace up towards the end of the race. I even saved enough energy for a sprint finish, which was heightened by the public address system announcing my name as I approached the finish line. Check out the video that Nancy took which captures my finish and name announcement.

So most importantly, what was my time.... well the unofficial time according to my ipod was 56 mins, 40 seconds. However, the official time according to the race sensor was 56 mins, 48 seconds - see below for the confirmation and also available on the website. Over to the rest of you now.... aka Bill Murray, Marlboro man and "I'm afraid of heights" Kris.











Check out Nancy's finishing line video with my announcement at 27 seconds and crossing the line at 40 seconds.

Curling - First Time on the Ice

In the past I have been a major critic of curling, based on the fact that it is perceived as a boring sport for old people with many connotations related to housework with all the sweeping. However, many Canadians take curling very seriously as a sport and with the Winter Olympics recently bringing the game to greater prominence more people are getting involved.

For those you are unaware, Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ices towards a target area, also known as the house. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones with eight stones for each team. The purpose is to accumulate the highest score for a game, points being scored for the stones resting closest to the centre of the house at the conclusion of each end, which is completed when both teams have thrown all of their stones. A game may consist of ten or eight ends.

Having never been on an ice rink before, this was certainly a night of firsts for me. I was also slightly nervous as Nancy's first attempt at curling, last year, resulted in her going to hospital with a damaged wrist. The evening started with coaching from the Vancouver Curling Club Ice Technician, called Don. He was very obsessed with his ice in an enthusiastic style and provided us with the basics and general insights into curling. We were then released onto the ice for some "rock chucking". It turned out, curling is enjoyable and we all had a right laugh, mainly taking the piss out of each other. My team lost 4-3 and I didn't really help the team, as I never actually managed to get a stone to stay in the target area. Oh well, at least there might be a next time!

Palm Springs & Indian Wells Tennis

Still in catch up mode with the blog and thought that I would write about our recent holiday in Palm Springs, California. One of the benefits of living on the West Coast is that California is within easy reach, similar in flight time as flying from the UK to Spain, but a little more glamorous in my humble opinion. Betty, Nancy's Grandmother has a winter home in Palm Springs and we were privileged to be invited to stay.

To save some cash, we drove across the US border on a Tuesday evening, stayed overnight in the small town 0f Bellingham. Next morning, up early, we took a EasyJet style flight from Bellingham to Palm Springs in about two and half hours. We landed in bright sunshine, clear blue skies and 80 degrees heat.... it was very enjoyable weather for mid March. We only had a few days and we made the most of it with numerous activities including shops, bars, restaurants and dips in the swimming pool. The two main highlights of the trip were the Living Desert, a local wildlife park and a couple of days at the Indian Wells Tennis tournament.

Firstly, the Living Desert was a great experience to get up close and personal with some interesting wildlife. As you can see by the photos we saw a number of animals, including giraffe, buffalo, goats, snakes, leopards, antelope, giant tortoise, zebras and various birds. We also had a wander into the nearby desert and saw the famous San Andreas fault, which is a major tectonic plate of the earths crust.... aka the reason for local earthquakes.

Onto the tennis tournament, for those who don't know the Indian Wells Tennis tournament is the fifth largest tennis event after the four major grand slams. Fantastic venue, stadium and well attended by a huge number of people. We had tickets for two days and managed to see the Mens singles quarter finals, Womens, Mens semi finals and some doubles matches. Although our seat allocation was up in the "bleacher" seats we a great view of the stadium court, plus we managed to swap to closer seats during the event. Highlights of the tennis was watching Nadal, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray play, although Murray was not on best form and lost his quarter final match. Suffice to say, Nancy and I both had an enjoyable time and planning to go back next year for more sunshine and tennis.

The Merc named after me!

After 13 years working for Mercedes-Benz I never thought the company would name a car after me. But it's true... the new SLS was officially launched this month with a price tag of $200,000. It is also the re-introduction of the gull wing design.

The first SLS appeared (pictured here) in Vancouver three weeks ago in preparation for the Vancouver autoshow and I was lucky enough to drive it into our training centre. What a sound from the engine!

I just need to scrap a few pennies together to buy my own.

One Year Anniversary in Canada

A little late I know..... however, 5th March 2010 was officially my one year anniversary of arriving in Vancouver, Canada. Amazing how quickly a year can pass on the other side of the world.

We celebrated this momentous event by having a party with friends, Jessica, Paul, Gina, Stuart and kids. We all had a top time eating and drinking, including Nanaimo bars and ice cream! The main attraction of the evening involved me working how to dress up as an ice hockey player in the fastest time possible. Let's just say I refused to wear the jock-strap and it took me far too long to work out shoulder pads. Many laughs were had at my expense and so I'm sticking to being a tennis player.

Here is me celebrating my final success with a beer... very Canadian!

This one is for you... Emily.

It has been a a few weeks since my last blog post, this has not been due to a lack of activity or content in our lives rather a lack of motivation on my part. Bob was an avid reader of the blog and it has proved difficult to get back writing posts again, despite this in the last couple of days both Nancy and Emily have specifically asked for an updated blog. So here I am thinking of what I can say.....

The last couple of months have been busy, even hectic, for myself and Nancy with a number of trips away, attended sporting events, my one year anniversary in Canada, skiing, work stuff, house hunting, running in preparation for my two 10km runs and driving a Mercedes-Benz that is named after me. Not to mention the pending visit from Emily and Kris to Vancouver at the end of the April. So where do I start updating the blog.... where it would seem sensible with the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

It was a fantastic experience to have the Olympics literally on our doorstep with the flame only two blocks away on the seawall, Olympic rings in the harbour outside our window, street parties all over the city and people from every nation wandering round the city. Nancy and I went to a couple of medal ceremony concerts with the Stereophonics and Bare Naked Ladies, with one highlight being the only British gold medal being handed out to Amy Williams for Women's skeleton. Now that is one sport you wouldn't catch me doing, a metal tray going at 90 miles an hour! Another major highlight was watching the ice hockey and I was lucky enough to see one match in person..... the Germans had their arse's handed to them by the Finns 5-0, in a group game. However, it was serious stuff for the Canadians who made it through to the gold medal game against their arch rivals USA. This hockey game had everything, but most importantly the Canadians won 3-2 in overtime with their captain Sid Crosby scoring the goal. I think I heard most of Canada screaming when that last goal went it. Certainly the streets of Vancouver were full with celebrating people that Sunday night.... the only comparison would be if England won the football world cup. A few photos are enclosed.

Bob Marks

Bob (Robert) MARKS passed away at home with his family and friends by his side at the age of 68, on February 14, 2010 (b. November 8, 1941).

He is remembered lovingly by his wife Wendy (nee Miller), son Scott and daughter Nancy (Scott) as well as many close friends and family who proved their mettle in past months.

Bob is survived also by two brothers, three sisters, and their families: Leona (Jack) Foster, Stan (Ann) Marks, and Lawrence (Joyce) Marks, all of Winnipeg; Marge (Bob) Drysdale of Brookdale; Barbie (Greg) Graham of Wellwood and many nieces and nephews. Bob was predeceased by his parents, Frank and Elsie (nee Hanson) and his brothers Orville (Rhoda), Lorne (Eleanor), Doug (Gaynor) and Raymond.

Bob was born and raised in Newdale, Manitoba. After a short stint in Winnipeg, Bob moved to the West Coast in 1967 and soon after began his career with the BC Government. Wendy and Bob married in 1969 and moved to the Saanich Peninsula, where they have lived for over 40 years. Bob was a father and friend to his children and participated in their lives, giving generously in so many ways, but most importantly with his time and support.

Bob enjoyed staying active with yoga, pilates, running the lakes and was a common sight at Saanich Commonwealth Place and at Mattick’ Farm, for a Sunday walk, coffee and banter with the gang. Activity was a staple of Bob’s life so much so that he never felt himself unless he had been active each day. Bob participated in his community by coaching Little League, volunteering and serving with the Central Saanich Lions Club.

Bob made small and grand expeditions –the West Coast Trail, Tofino, Parksville, camping trips en route to Manitoba, baseball games in Seattle, repeated trips to Africa, South America, Asia, Scandinavia, England and his annual visit to the beaches of Maui. He enjoyed discovering the local birds and exploring nature wherever he visited. Bob experienced peace and beauty through nature whether on one of his many trips or in his backyard dozing to the birdsong or gazing at the swaying Douglas Firs – except when he was cursing the thrice-shedding Arbutus tree or chasing the neighbour’s cats away from his bird feeders!

Bob's sense of humour, quick wit, kindness and love of life defined and served him. Bob was always willing to lend a hand or give a word of encouragement or congratulations, unless you were a lottery winner from out East! Bob relished his time with all those that he befriended or simply encountered. Bob knew that life was not a solitary endeavour, but rather a team pursuit and that a sunset or, better yet, a sunset and a gin & tonic is always more enjoyable with a friend at one's side.

We miss him deeply.

A celebration of Bob's life will be held at McCall’s Floral Chapel at Johnson at Vancouver Streets in Victoria on February 27 at 2pm. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to: The Mount Newton Centre (Bob volunteered here and we used their resources to care for Bob at home) or the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada (this is the charity that Bob's friends and family raised over $10,000 for in 2009).

Three Years Today!

Today (18th Feb 2010) is our three year anniversary since we got engaged in Hong Kong! So just a quick blog post to thank Nancy to agree to marrying me and becoming my gorgeous wife exactly three years ago today.

Somthing that gets you thinking

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approximately. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

The questions raised:

*In a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

*Do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.

For the full story, click on the article link.