We try to live relatively green all year round. We both walk or take transit pretty much everywhere, and I also cycle quite a bit. We bring reusable bags to the grocery store. And now that we both have real jobs we can afford to start paying more attention to whether those groceries are local and/or organic.

Sadly, I draw the line at composting in our one bedroom apartment! The city of Halifax has been doing “green bin” collection for years and I can’t believe Vancouver doesn’t offer the service yet.

And I had a dream it blows the autumn through my head
It felt like the first day of school
But I was going to the moon instead
Dar Williams – End of the Summer

It’s been a bit quiet around here lately because I’ve been enjoying the last of the summer and pondering some major life changes (I’ll be able to share more on those changes in a week or two, hopefully!). Right now, I’m nearing the end of 1.5 lovely weeks in Halifax, during which I’ve been fairly successful at crossing things off my “stuff I must do whenever I am in Halifax” list:

1. Visit with old friends
2. Eat a donair
3. Visit Lawrencetown Beach (I went twice!)
4. Martini Tuesday at Onyx
5. Go kayaking with my sister
6. Wander through the Farmer’s Market
7. Drink lots of beer
8. Take in some east coast tunes at a pub

However, as you can see, I have been shockingly unproductive in my beer-drinking and music-listening thus far! We have a night out on the town planned for tomorrow so that should be remedied soon.

While in Halifax I’ve also been enjoying free hot yoga classes courtesy of Moksha Yoga Halifax. The studio opened last Thursday, just two days after I arrived in town, and offered free admission during their inaugural week. This was a wonderful treat for me since hot yoga classes in Vancouver tend to run a bit on the pricey side and thus I don’t go to them very often.

On Saturday we’re off to Hamilton (my hometown) for a friend’s wedding, and while we’re in the area we decided to splurge and spend a night out in Toronto on Sunday. We managed to get a 4-star hotel for $60 on the always awesome Priceline, so we’ll be staying in style.

After that, vacation’s over and it’s back to real life in Vancouver. Ack!

This morning I was supposed to do the Diva’s Only Sprint Triathlon. I picked up my race package yesterday afternoon, I packed all my gear last night, I went to bed before midnight (which is early, for me) and set my alarm for 5am.

So imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning and looked at my alarm clock, which read 6:30am! The mandatory pre-race meeting started at 6:30am, the swim started at 7:00am, and it would take me at least a half hour to bike over to the race (probably longer) so there was no way I could make it. I briefly entertained the idea of calling a taxi but even if I made it in time for the swim start there was no guarantee they’d let me race when I arrived. After all, I was supposed to be there by 6:30!

I’m pretty bummed about missing this race. These things aren’t free to enter or anything, so I’ve just wasted a fairly significant registration fee. And it was going to be my last tri of the season (unfortunately I’ll be out of town during the annual triathlon in Stanley Park). Now I’ll have to see if I can find another race to enter, so my season doesn’t end on such a downer.

Also, thanks to Tracy Cooper for her very generous donation! Unfortunately I have no contact info for you Tracy, so if you want to be included in the tech support draw please contact me or leave a comment here.

1. Who is your favorite musical artist?
Oh man, this is a tough one. I have a wide range of tastes when it comes to music. I think I’ll have to go with Danny Michel and his totally fun pop/rock/folksy music. I get to see his excellent live show at least once a year, as he makes annual visits to the Railway Club.

2. Who is your favorite artist?
As a born and bred Ontario girl (granted, one who hasn’t lived there full-time for 10+ years!) I’ve always been partial to Brantford’s own Lawren Harris, from the Group of Seven. I did four co-op work terms in Ottawa and lived near the National Gallery during three of those terms, so was lucky to have plenty of opportunities to take in great Canadian art.

3. Who is your favourite blogger?
This is a tough call. I read quite a few blogs and don’t know if I could pick a favourite. One of my favourites, and the one I have been reading the longest by far (since before she got fired from her job for blogging!) is dooce.

4. If you could meet anyone (alive or dead), who would it be and what is the most interesting thing about them?
Hmmm. I think I’d like to meet Grace Hopper. She is one of the most famous female pioneers of Computer Science.

5. What did you want to be when you grew up?
I vaguely remember wanting to be a veterinarian, probably because it had something to do with horses. I was obsessed with horses as a child. I read books about horses (e.g. Black Beauty, My Friend Flicka), put horse wallpaper up in my bedroom, and even convinced my parents to let me go to horseback riding camp one summer!

6. What is the most interesting piece of trivia you know?
I’m not a big trivia person. But I know the best places to get the cheapest flight/hotel/car-rental if you’re planning a budget vacation. Is that considered trivia?

7. If you could live in any point in history when would it be and why?
While there are obviously a lot of things wrong with today’s world, sexism and chauvinism is not nearly as bad as it was in the past. I don’t think I’d want to live in any other historical time because, as a female, I would have so few rights.

8. What is the most interesting job you have ever held?
As a teenager I managed to avoid all the typical service industry nonsense and scored a job working as an usher at Hamilton Place. My first shift ever was a Barenaked Ladies concert! I kept the job all through high school and got to work at operas, musicals, and tons of concerts. Hamilton Place staff sometimes got called over to work at Copps Coliseum if they had sellouts, so I also got to see my fair share of arena concerts. My current job as a grad student is also very interesting, but it never got me into a Tragically Hip concert for free!

As I’m sure several people will attest to, I have absolutely no trouble complaining to friends and family about whatever is annoying me at any given time. However, I rarely follow through with notifying the offending party – whether it be Air Canada mis-delivering my delayed luggage, or the server at a local restaurant bringing me an overcooked steak. But after two experiences in the past couple weeks I think I am going to start being more direct with my complaints from now on! I was pleasantly surprised to find that most companies are happy to offer appeasement to disgruntled customers.

Exhibit 1: I ordered moocards at the beginning of February in anticipation of attending Northern Voice later that month. I received a shipping notification on February 4th which estimated the shipping time for my order at 4-7 business days. Well, those 4-7 days came and went with no sign of my moocards. Then Northern Voice happened (more than two weeks after my order shipped!) and there was still no sign of my moocards. I emailed the folks at moo to express my displeasure and they happily refunded my money and offered me a coupon for a future order! While it still sucks that I didn’t have my cards for Northern Voice (they finally showed up on March 4th – a full MONTH later) it sucks less now that I am not out the money for those cards.

Exhibit 2: The NoodleBox is a new-ish restaurant here in Vancouver that boasts super-spicy food. This week Dan was home sick with a particularly nasty cold and I thought a nice spicy hot and sour soup might be just the cure for his ailment, so I stopped into The NoodleBox on my way home. When I ordered my dish “hot” the waitress asked if I was sure. “Have you *had* our hot? It’s really really really hot.” I assured her that was fine, and happily headed home with my takeout. When Dan and I finally tucked into the soup we were surprised to find it had not a hint of heat. Someone in the kitchen must have confused out order with a super mild one – Very disappointing! But I called the restaurant to complain and now I have a free meal waiting for me the next time I want some hot and spicy takeout. Hopefully the second try will be better.

Hmmm… I wonder if there’s a statute of limitations on complaint letters. Air Canada definitely owes me a free trip or two for all the lost luggage, delays, and cancellations I’ve put up with over the past 10 years.

A mathematician at Harvard has done a research study which appeals to my lazier tendencies. Have you ever waited for a bus and eventually given up and walked to your destination? Scott Kominers has shown that it’s almost always better to keep waiting at the stop. Yes! My lazy waiting strategy (often ridiculed by Dan) is vindicated!

And on the wine front: Researchers from CalTech and Stanford hooked subjects up to a brain scanner and had them taste wine at supposedly different price points. It turns out that people enjoy a wine a lot more when they’re told it costs $90, than when they’re told the exact same wine costs $10.

Why can’t my research be this fun?

In my searching I found the SimpleHuman Dish Rack, but at $80+ by the time you factor in shipping, I couldn’t justify it. So I went out and bought a $5 cheapo rack from the hardware store and it was alright. Then, I was wandering in Costco a couple weeks ago and what do I see but the coveted dishrack! And for half the price it sells for online! Granted, $40 is still extremely steep for a dishrack, but I couldn’t resist.

Now that the rack has been through several weeks of dish-drying action I have to say, it was definitely worth the money. It fits way more dishes than our old rack and I think it actually takes up less space. My favourite part, though, is the knife block in the cutlery drying tray. I never thought I’d be so excited about the design of a houseware item, but there you go.

Since I’m registered for Northern Voice and am using Twitter regularly, I figured I’d jump back into the blogging fray as well. We’ll see how long this lasts. I’ve set up IM-ified so I can post to WordPress from my IM client. So we’ll see if this works…