2008: Week 35

It's been a while since the last post! With a lack of internet access (I was forced to pay for an hour in Starbucks - but I didn't drink their coffee), and Blogger not talking to my hosting service for a while, suddenly 3 weeks have passed!

After finishing work on August 15th, Matt and I headed to Vancouver to visit his sister, see Radiohead, and then go camping with friends at Tofino, a beach town on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Then it was back to Calgary to pack up our stuff, because tomorrow we head off to Ottawa for the next step of our adventure.

Best of the (last 3) weeks
- The end of work for a while.
- Radiohead (despite the rain at an outdoor concert).
- Finally driving from Calgary to Vancouver and seeing the much-talked-about BC interior.
- The sunset seen from the ferry between Vancouver Island and the mainland.
- Beer on a sunny patio in White Rock.
- The long-awaited arrival of Ethan - congratulations!

Worst of the (last 3) weeks
- Camping in the rain.
- Packing up a wet tent.
- Packing up a tent in the rain when it's 6C! What happened to summer?
- Leaving friends in Calgary.

2008: Week 29

Why do the weeks pass so slowly and the weekends so fast? This week has been one of frustration, trying to track down some documents I signed when I first started my job. Unlike Cornell where I used to work, the U of C do not treat post-docs as regular staff members. Instead, we are trust employees, contracted privately to the Professor who recruited us. We have University email accounts and library access, but we don't qualify for things like retirement plans. We do get extended health benefits (a bit like private health insurance in Australia), but it is administered by an external company. So I spent quite some time this week calling and emailing my way through the maze of uninformed helpfulness - "You're a trust employee? I'm sorry, I don't know who you need to contact, but try calling X (then Y, then Z etc.) and they should know". Aaaggghhhhh!!!!!

Outside of work, a large amount of my time has been devoted to cleaning. The time has finally come to leave our house, and I'm trying to be as organised as possible and move only the things I really need. The piles for recycling and Vinnies grow daily, and I'm constantly amazed at how much I've accumulated in the last few years, and how many of the things I "needed" at the time were just a waste of cash. Hopefully this exercise will not only lead to an efficient move, but also to some better purchasing decisions in the future.

Best of the week
- Being offered a hard-boiled organic egg (he had 2 to spare) by a guy I'm pretty sure was homeless. He spent the next 5 minutes telling me about his philosophy of passing gifts along and generally being generous with whatever he has. Amazing!
- Warm sunny weather, flowers, dragonflies everywhere (lots of black and blue ones this year).
- Confirmation that a few decisions I've made concerning work were right (more to come later).
- The arrival of some cool stuff from MOO - check them out if you need custom postcards, business cards etc.

Worst of the week
- Dealing with the bureaucratic black hole that is the institution where I work.
- A flooded basement due to a defective hot water tank. Fortunately the only lasting damage is to the landlord's pocket (well, not so fortunate for him, especially since he soon wants to knock down the house and build his dream home).

Sunny summer days

Flowers150707, originally uploaded by thegreendragonfly.

For a while I thought there wouldn't be any Calgary summer posts, but at last we are getting a few days of real summer. It's been in the high 20s to low 30s since Friday, and while the Canadians are fearful of melting, I'm happy as the proverbial pig in mud. As are the flowers on our balcony! They have a new friend today - I found a small pot of gardenias in the supermarket, and couldn't resist the reminder of Christmas in Australia. Any of you who have been at my family home at that time of year should understand why.

Summer Camping

Our campsite, originally uploaded by thegreendragonfly.

Last weekend was the Victoria Day long weekend here in Canada, which is the "official" start of summer. It's also the weekend where most of the campgrounds in Banff National Park open for the season. We found out on Friday morning that our Saturday French class was canceled for the long weekend, so we both left work early, ran around like crazy people for a few hours, and then headed up to the mountains to camp.

We had a wonderful weekend at the Two Jack campground just outside Banff, even though it was cold and wet most of the weekend. Having somehow gained a reputation for being a princess when it comes to camping, I managed to prove myself after surviving freezing temperatures (it actually snowed the last night), intermittant rain, and plenty of mud.

Highlights of the weekend included watching a huge bird scoop a trout out of a lake and eat it, climbing the base of Cascade Mountain to get a view of Lake Minnewanka, lots of wildlife, and the Ottawa Senators beating Buffalo on Saturday to secure their spot in the Stanley Cup Final.

Pictures are posted on Flickr.