Lauren Takes to the Airport for the Last Time

Well, this is it. I no longer have my fancy security pass and I'm playing the role of passenger today. I've been at the airport for the past 14 hours, since I came in for my last day of work today and decided I wasn't going to leave!

We had our Christmas luncheon today, where we all dressed up in ugly Christmas sweaters, ate lots of tasty food and participated in a gift exchange. Since I had nowhere else to go, I got to spend time chatting with some of the other engineers, directors and even the vice-president of engineering!

In case you haven't heard, I was also selected as Co-op Student of the Year for 2013! I'm thrilled about this and I'm sure that the airport is breathing a sigh of relief that their experiment in hiring me worked out so well. I even got to chat a bit with our new CEO at the luncheon, since he had also heard about the award!

I have a replacement coming in for January, so hopefully the student will be able to find as much value in this experience as I did. I think that the biggest thing I took away was the confidence that was reinforced in me to actually believe that I'm ready to be an engineer (well, an EIT), once I graduate.

I spent my last few hours at the airport with a few of the (female) engineers that I had become close with. We sat around in the Fairmont lounge, which felt pretty classy, even though I was wearing a sweatshirt. I think my uncle would also approve of the beverage I enjoyed before heading to security.

So, you might have seen the WestJet video where they asked passengers for their Christmas wishes and then there were gifts waiting at the destination. WestJet also gave me a bit of a gift this evening too. Although I'm convinced that my stuff has been multiplying in my suitcase because there is just way too much of it, apparently I've just accumulated too much stuff since moving here. My three bags weighed in at 51lb, 58lb and 61lb. Since the overweight limit is 50lb, they were going to be nice and only charge me overweight for two of the three bags. Today was a pretty busy travel day (apparently the busiest of the year) and the payment system was on the fritz as I was going to drop my bags. So, the agent said "Merry Christmas!" and told me that I didn't have to pay because they didn't want to deal with it. Thank you WestJet!

What else have I been up to this week, other than packing? Well, I decided to go to the Hannah Georgas concert last night at the Commodore Ballroom (she's really great live!) and passed marketing with flying colours! I also made these lovely candy cane reindeer because I'm just so crafty (and really like glue guns).

So, here it is. This will be my final post, since I'll hopefully be boarding soon (since the unusually massive amounts of snow are melting just fine) and landing in Toronto in a few hours (if the freezing rain can hold off). I am taking to the airport for the last time . . . for now, at least!

Lauren Takes to the Air - Part 1

This past weekend, I didn't just take to the airport, I took to the air! I headed back to Ontario for a quick visit to attend my cousin's wedding. Even though it was brief (I was only in Ontario for about 41 hours), it was totally worth it! I loved getting to see my parents and extended family (even though there's a lot of us, we're very close!) and even my best friend! She normally lives pretty much in Manitoba, so this is only the second time I've seen her in the last year. We might have stayed up until 2:00 am talking on Friday night. Whoops! My cousin is also starting at my university in September, so we had tons to talk about. My voice is still recovering from the trip because there was a whole lot of talking and not a whole lot of sleep. I haven't had a normal voice since sometime on Saturday evening.

My adventure started on Friday morning. I had booked a 9:00 am flight with Air Canada (keyword: "booked"), but unbeknownst to me, the flight I booked on was a Boeing 777 that originated in Sydney, Australia. It stopped over in Vancouver, then continued on to Toronto. The problem with this is that if it's late coming out of Australia, it's going to be late leaving Vancouver. So, I got to sit around "the office" for a few hours longer than I planned. This also meant that my connection home? Not going to happen! So, after a painful, hunger-inducing time spent in line, I got the connection cancelled and finally had my boarding pass.

Protip: If you want your flight to be on time, maybe don't book that particular one. However, if you want a free $10.00 meal voucher, that's your flight!

Sadly, I didn't have a window seat on the plane. The girl who did though was kind of weird. I sat in my seat, staring longingly out the window because I wished I had a window seat. I also wanted to see my airport from views I don't normally see it from. As we're still taxiing on the runway, she folds her legs up, shuts the window, closes her eyes and starts meditating. I totally get if you're nervous and that helps, but first of all, why did you get a window seat? I would have totally enjoyed it! Second, your eyes were shut, you could have left it open for me and still been content. I didn't think this was very cool!

Long story short, I made it to Toronto and after locating my lost dad and my bag (which took way longer than it should have . . . ), we went out to the car where my dad had a whole bunch of my favourite snacks waiting for me! We talked all the way home and my best friend was waiting for me at my house.

Then, Saturday was the wedding. So much fun and yes, an open bar. Apparently, at weddings, getting an alcoholic beverage when you're underage is okay, if you're with your mom. The second time I went up for a drink, I got ID'd because my mom wasn't by my side!

On Sunday, my second and last morning in Ontario for the trip, we went over to my aunt and uncle's new house because I hadn't seen it yet. They had a pool, but I didn't think it was quite warm enough for me to jump in. Actually, Ontario was rather disappointing on the hot, swimming weather front. After that it was time to head to the airport. I was making a connection in Toronto this time, so my parents didn't have to take the long drive. Since it's a small airport, it doesn't take long to get through security, but I went through a bit early, just to be safe. Since I obviously hadn't spent enough time with my parents, we mimed back and forth through the windows until I had to board. Pretty sure everyone else thought we were crazy.

On both flights, I got a window seat! My first flight was very cool because I was sitting RIGHT NEXT to the propellor. I loved watching it start up because it was so huge!

My second flight, from Toronto to Vancouver, I sat next to a lovely gentleman. During the second round of drinks, he toasted me with his orange juice. How lovely! One of the movies I watched on the plane was called "Lunarcy!" It was about people who are convinced that we are going to colonize the moon. As we were landing in Vancouver, I still had one of my my earphones in and about 10 seconds before we touched down, someone in the movie said "I didn't think there was anything wrong with the flight." I pretty much had a heart attack because I didn't realize it was in the movie, but thought it was someone on my plane. (They were recollecting when they heard about the Challenger explosion.) It was not, though and I landed safely. We came in over the water and it was still light, so I could see UBC, downtown, islands and my airport as we came in!

Stayed tuned for Lauren Takes to the Air - Part 2. This time I go to Alberta!

Fireworks and Fireworks and Fireworks (And Some Other Stuff)

It's been a while! I'll keep this post mostly to pictures, since a lot has happened.

I mentioned last time that I was going to help set-up a food bank in Burnaby with some people from work. It was a pretty fun morning and I think I've had my fill of retail for now. I'll stick to engineering. It turned out that the manager of the store was having his first day of work when we were there, so he was very grateful for the help. We spent the morning cleaning, unpacking items and then stocking the shelves. The manager explained that they call the store a "hand-up", not a "hand-out". The purpose is to make everyday food and groceries more accessible to people without being free. A pretty cool idea!

Saturday night was the first night of the Festival of Light fireworks competition in Vancouver. It's an annual event where countries from around the world compete for the best fireworks show. First off was the UK with a James Bond theme. The boyfriend and I decided to check out the view from Kits Point this time. Even though it wasn't the actual venue, it was packed with people out to see the show.

On Wednesday, the second fireworks show was scheduled. This time, for the full effect, I went all the way down to English Bay. After yoga, I went for a 40-minute walk to the bay since transit was wonky because of how many people were in town for the fireworks. If I thought Kits Point was packed, it was nothing compared to this venue! Luckily, I was by myself, so it was easy to find a spot. This was definitely the best view of all three shows. The fireworks were loud, the music was blaring and the fireworks were exploding right above my head. There was also a bit of the show on the barge, which I couldn't see from the point. Wednesday was Canada's entry by a Calgary group. They did a tribute to the Calgary flood. They were also making hearts with the fireworks, which I liked a lot!

On Saturday, I asked the boyfriend to go with me to try out a fish and chips place that I had heard about down in the Granville Island area. Go Fish! was a cute, little stand that looked out over the water and into downtown. Of course, the friendly neighbourhood crows were there. They're everywhere! Fortunately, they let me eat my meal in peace. It was pretty tasty, I think I'll have to take my parents here when they come visit!

Then, we took a walk through Granville Island, with its markets and waterfront views.

Saturday was the last day of the fireworks competition and Thailand was competing. The boyfriend and I decided to take in the show from Point Grey. We also got a recommendation from the 5-year-old upstairs from the boyfriend about the best place to watch it in the park. It was a little far, but there were a couple of gentleman behind us that had a radio, so we could still hear the music. They also sounded like they were quite the fireworks aficionados because they were giving each other commentary the entire show. We had a pretty good time listening to it! Thailand totally won me over with their happy face fireworks! Unfortunately, I'm not a great photographer and couldn't snap a photo, but it was sweet! Probably for the best because after a few happy faces, they changed to sad faces and no one wants to see that.

I think people at work must think I'm the crazy fireworks lady because I was really excited about all of them. Way more than anyone else.

Somehow, we also totally lucked out with all of this. NO RAIN. I don't even understand it, but in case you hadn't heard, Vancouver broke records for having no rain. There was no rain for the entire month of July. Totally weird.

Finally, yesterday, we went to check out Vancouver pride. We decided to go for the parade, and stopped around the end of the parade route with perfect timing. We saw the groups and floats go by, including a TD float with some very enthusiastic dancers and a hockey float that I thought my parents would like. Nearby, in one of the main intersections in the area, the city had painted a permanent rainbow crosswalk. Very cool! After crossing there, there went to La Belle Patate for poutine. It was delicious and the poutine had squeaky cheese!

It's back to work tomorrow, but I have a super short work week because I'm headed back to Ontario early Friday morning for my cousin's wedding. I'm excited to see my parents and family after so long! I think it will be weird to go to the airport to get on a plane though, instead of for work. I'll also get to see my best friend who I haven't seen since Christmas. Postcards are great, but they don't quite cut it after that long. Yay!