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!