Hollywood North

Vancouver is often called Hollywood North because they film a lot of movies and TV shows up here. Sometimes just walking down the street you can see trailers and offices because somewhere nearby they're filming. Usually, you don't see too much of what they're filming though. My parents saw something down by Granville Island when they were here, but I had yet to see anything. So, I thought it was really cool when we drove past filming at a nearby coffee shop on my way to work. They were still there on my way home, so I snapped these sketchy photos from across the street.

Since we were also in the spirit at my trailers near Halloween, we made our own "prop", so I could have a cubicle-mate. We named him Steve after the engineer that used to sit across from me and he even has real Steve's likeness (thanks to my artistic skills). Fake Steve is alright, but doesn't bring me snacks like real Steve used to.

Another (unrelated to movies thing) that I was able to do this week was go see David Saint-Jacques speak at UBC. He's part of one of the latest astronaut classes and has quite the resume. The boyfriend thought it was something that I would like and it was great! Right now, David is working for NASA, usually with robotics. Unfortunately, UBC is very far away from the airport (especially on transit), so I was a little late.

The Parents Visit!

My parents came out to visit me for ten whole days! (Which is why there hasn't been much action on here in a while.) I was a very happy girl to see them! I also ended up with tons of leftover butter chicken, homemade spaghetti sauce and M&M's food, since I was the one that had to work and they got all day off.

If I was to actually do a blog post about their visit, it would probably be the length of a small novel. Remember the Calgary one? That was only two days worth of blogging. Instead, I thought I would just do a photo blog of all the things we did and places we went. You will see a lot of "rainy Vancouver" because it rained probably 80% of the time they were here. Then, as soon as they left, it got super nice again and hasn't rained at all. Whoops.

Around Town

Whistler

Canada Place

Stanley Park

UBC

The Sunshine Coast (Langdale, Gibsons, Gibsons Landing, Camp Byng, Camp Olave and Sechelt)

Lynn Canyon

Steveston Fisherman's Wharf

Flight Path Park

Thanks for visiting! Love you guys!

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!

The Vancouver List

I'm sure you're all breathing a sigh of relief now that I'm posting again! Now you know that I was NOT, in fact, pecked to death by crows. You're welcome. However, I have been insanely busy between work and enjoying the wonderful weather we've been having! I thought I would share some of the reasons why I am loving spending my time out here (and the few reasons that I'm not).

Reasons Why I Love Vancouver:

1) The Weather

The weather here is pretty much perfect. It's been around the 20 degree mark since I got here, which means everyday when I get home from work . . . shorts! It's also not that stifling hot that Ontario gets in the summer. 40 degrees with smog in downtown Toronto on the 7th floor with no air-conditioning was NOT a good time. I've heard that they get a lot of rain out here, but that has yet to prove itself true. Especially since Calgary and Toronto have been getting all of that. Apparently there can be earthquakes too, but I guess Ottawa took care of that one earlier this year too.

2) My Security Pass

I definitely feel like I own the place when I'm walking around in my high-visibility vest and security pass. I keep hoping people will come and ask me for help or directions. I'm pretty much crushed on a day that they don't. Let me tell you, it was not an easy process to make it happen either! It took me 6 weeks to get the pass! Now that I do have it, I start preparing myself the stop before I get off at the airport. I put my book and cell phone away and whip out the pass, straighten it out on the lanyard around my neck and then sit up tall, in case anyone wants to know when to get off. To actually use it, pretty much like all of those spy movies. Biometrics are awesome.

3) My Job

My manager told me that he wanted to be the best manager I've ever had and so far, he's doing a pretty good job! His goal is to just expose me to everything he can at the airport, including fire extinguisher training, an architectural tour, design of the baggage system, health and safety (good thing I took that half-credit course . . .), project management, golf tournaments, contractors, bow-tie Wednesday (which I pay tribute to with a headband adorned with a bow), new software, work as a business analyst, the 4:30am clean-up walk, etc. It wouldn't be too bad either if they wanted me to bring all of my knowledge back next year, once I'm done school. Can I make that my sole co-op workterm objective? To be hired back? It's also pretty wicked that I can just see planes taking off and landing while waiting for my train to go home!

4) The Markets

When I first got out here, I was pretty unimpressed with the grocery stores. What is this world without Loblaw stores?? Now I've realized it's because there are way better places to get food at. There are small fruit and vegetable markets at every corner, where you can just buy grape tomatoes in bulk. It was awesome. The other bonus is that it's so cheap! Spending the time to go and pick out your fruit and vegetables like this definitely improves the price. It's also mostly locally grown. I know some of my Guelph friends would love that idea! I usually buy a whole backpack full of fruits and vegetables and it only cost me $8 to $9! You can also go and buy fresh-baked bread and bagels this way and get your meat right from the butcher. I still use the grocery stores for things like milk and cheese (weirdly milk is cheaper out here, but cheese is more expensive than Ontario) and pretzels, but these small markets are the way to go for most things!

5) The Festivals

There is always something happening out here. I've been to a couple of music festivals, including one right down the street from where I live and last week, the boyfriend and I went to the Gastown Grand Prix. People were racing bikes (ridiculously fast) around the streets of Gastown. For safety, all of the turns had hay bales!

6) The Beach

This doesn't require much explanation. Beaches everywhere. That I can swim in (since they're salt water). Also, the seawall. So cool.

7) Transit

Transit here is actually really good. The pass is a bit expensive, but totally worth it considering how much I use it. It's cool that you can get all the way from UBC out to Surrey and down to Richmond and up to the mountains in North Vancouver all on the same transit system. They're also implementing a new fare system soon and will be doing a beta test of it in a few months. The engineer in me was excited (probably too excited) to apply to be a tester. I'll know August 9th!

8) The Buildings

There are cool buildings all over the place! From Canada Place, up at the waterfront, to the amazing airport (not biased at all here). That's only commercial too! Where I live reminds me of Florida, with its beachy houses. The buildings are all so different here too because of the climate. It isn't just row after row of identical bricked houses. There are even the hobbit houses!

9) The People

People just seem happier and nicer out here. Even though its such a big city, it seems a lot smaller. Everyone thanks the bus drivers when they get off the bus, just like in Guelph! They also say hi to you on the street. 

10) The Boyfriend

I guess it's also pretty nice that the boyfriend is out here. He can make the list too!

Reasons Why I Do NOT Love Vancouver:

1) The Crows

I think that I might actually be psychologically traumatized from the times that I've been attacked. Every time I see them while walking around Vancouver, I do a check to see if there are other people near me that can call 911 when I get attacked and end up lying on the ground bleeding. (That might be a bit graphic, but that's exactly what I picture happening when I walk past them. Psychological trauma, I tell you!)

2) Distance

My family is very far away! Personally, I think they should just move out here with me, so they'll be closer. I guess I still have to work on convincing them though.

I had also mentioned that I was going to try a yoga class. Which I did, a week later than I planned because of the bike racing. The (free) yoga class was in a store after they closed. It was pretty cool because they pushed all of the clothing racks and did it right there on the floor. I had bought myself a nice, purple mat to use. The instructor was great and even recognized that I was new! Now for a brief synopsis:

Wednesday.
Go to yoga for the first time in 7 years.
Pull out the purple mat.
Start the class.
Haven't stretched my hamstrings in years.
Think it's going well.
Haven't fallen over yet.
Instructor says we're going to try handstands.
Nope.
That's not going to happen.
Try it anyway.
Thursday.
Can't walk.
Takes twice as long to get anywhere at work.
Friday.
Can't walk even more.
Take 2 buses to work instead of one because it's less walking,
Also can't climb the baggage system.
Saturday.
Go for a swim.
Think it will help the pain.
Feels better in the pool.
Get out of the pool.
Nope.
Not better at all.
Ouch.

Yay! Fireworks!

I really like that these long weekend things happen pretty much every month! When you work a standard Monday-to-Friday-9-to-5 (well, I actually do 8:30 am to 4:30 pm) job, long weekends are the coolest thing ever!

I kept myself busy and spent tons of time outside because we almost had some Ontario-like weather temperature-wise. What I really liked was that this didn't translate to Ontario-like weather humidity-wise. Much easier for a person with cystic fibrosis!

Friday, the boyfriend and I had poutine pizza . . . our new favourite thing that we probably shouldn't have ever consumed more than once. It's actually so good though!

On Saturday, I decided we were definitely going to the beach. If I was home in Ontario I would be, so I was definitely going to be doing it here! Being by the water also made the temperature so much more bearable. There was a strong breeze (which was also good because there was no way I was staying in the water that long!) that kept us cool and we did try the water out once. I was also a big dork and had my hat, sunglasses and layers of sunscreen on. It wasn't fruitless though, I didn't get burnt at all! The boyfriend was not so lucky.

On Sunday, we decided to head over to UBC and wander around. We saw the flagpole plaza. It's such a pretty spot because the campus opens right up to the mountains and it's just like "Bam! Canada!" How appropriate for the Canada Day long weekend! There were also these super cool squishy seat things (also notice how they are white, so the glaring sun doesn't heat them up much and they can be sat on . . . science, friends). We also headed down to the rose garden where I decided to have a photo shoot since I matched the roses so well. I could even kind of smell them (like I'm pretending to do), unusual for me!

Here's the only bad part of the weekend . . . really, the only bad thing since I've been out here. You've probably guessed it . . . the crows. Yes, I am bringing them up again. This time, we were walking through UBC (not anywhere near where I live) and I saw one sitting up on one of the banners around the campus. I am legitimately scared of these things from my past encounters and the boyfriend was making fun of me and saying how it was going to get me. Obviously we didn't think it actually would, but just as we had walked past it (together!) it swooped down behind me and it's wing hit my back! Just like the other time! Except this time, I didn't have a jacket and was wearing a tank top. So, I started to cry. There's pictures. Yep, awesome. I'm convinced it was aiming for me because there's no way that it would have just happen to hit me instead of him! I'm also convinced that it likes my hair. It must be the same colour as some crow predator or something. Or maybe it looks like nest material. I don't know, but I've had just about enough! Fledgling season was supposed to be over! I'm also probably going to be known at work as "Crazy Crow Girl" or something.

On to happier things. Monday. The day I had been waiting for. Fireworks! Now, obviously you can't see fireworks during the day, so we had to do something. We went for a walk in Pacific Spirit Park! Most of it was okay, except for hills. I hate hills. We've also decided that the boyfriend must scare people off because every single person we passed said hello to us, but that never, ever happens when he's alone. It also happened at the grocery store before. Weirdo.

After cooling down from the walk, we headed towards the beach because we had a plan to be able to watch BOTH sets of fireworks . . . and also not get stuck downtown until 3:00 am. From the beach, you could see the high fireworks above the buildings and hear them too. Across the water, in West Vancouver, you could see the whole show because they were out on a barge in the inlet. Good plan too because transit was crazy that day! As we were getting to the beach, the bus stopped to let people off and then made a funny noise and shut down. We figured we might as well walk from where we were since we didn't know what was going on, but just as we stepped out, this river of green slime started pouring out of the bottom of the bus and running along the curb. That couldn't have been healthy. Also, for my environmental engineering friends, you might want to look into how great that is going into the storm sewers.

All in all, a great weekend! Yay! Fireworks!

The Past Week

I've kind of been slacking on the blogging the past week, so here's the recap.

Friday

A few friends and the boyfriend and I headed to Gastown on Friday night for the "Make Music" festival. It's pretty much an event open to anyone who wants to sign up. We got there at the wrong time though, apparently, because as we walked from tent to tent each performer finished a song and then packed up. Luckily, on the way back, the performers decided to do more than one song. We heard a drum circle, rapping, folk, DJing, contemporary, jazz and more! Gastown was also a really cool neighbourhood . . . although I don't know if I would want to go down Blood Alley. We also saw the famous clock (which I failed to get a picture of). It even had a souvenir shop at one point, but it looked like it had closed down.

Sunday

My boyfriend was running a half marathon, so I got up early to go and meet him at the finish line. The half marathon also happened to go down the street below me, on the way from UBC to Stanley Park, so I was able to watch the runners as I walked to the bus and then got to follow beside them as we crossed the bridge. At the bus stop I got off at there was a community garden. I thought it was so cool that it was just there, in the middle of downtown Vancouver. Finally, I made it down to the park, where I encountered these laughing statues, perfect for me since I love to laugh! Called A-mazing Laughter, by Yue Minjun, they were designed for the Olympics in 2010 and were supposed to be temporary, but the owner of Lululemon liked them so much, that he contributed to the cost of keeping them there permanently. As for the race, unfortunately, I left the finish line before my boyfriend crossed it because I thought he had passed without me noticing. Next time we need to coordinate what each other is wearing before we go, so we know what to look for!

Tuesday

I was "voluntold" (my manager's new favourite word) that I would be working at the company golf tournament, which is run for airport employees and contractors every year and coordinated by the director of engineering. I had a "Lauren Conrad" moment because it seemed like such an intern thing to do. (It also meant that I thought about The Hills and have started watching season one again, oops.) I started with unloading all of the door prizes from the van, later helped organize and label all of the prizes and finally, ended up tallying gold scores until halfway through dinner. However, I was wearing awesome floral pants that I was complimented on multiple times, so that was certainly a plus. I didn't make it home until 9:00 pm and was up bright and early for work the next day.

Friday

Yes, I know, it isn't Friday yet. I do know what's going to happen though. I was supposed to get a half day off because of the working late on Tuesday, but a check-in conveyor I'm working on needs to be up an running for the long weekend. Of course, the project is behind schedule, so I need to be there all day tomorrow in case "unforeseen events" occur. Lucky me! The good news: if you happen to be at the airport and flying domestic, you might be able to use my lovely new conveyor. Yay.

Fortunately, this weekend is a long one. I'm excited to see fireworks and do some exploring . . . as well as relaxing. I'm actually really excited for fireworks because they didn't have any here for the May long weekend. Apparently, that's not a thing out here, like it is back in Ontario.

The Space Centre!

Yesterday was the best day EVER. I went to the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre and heard a lecture about robots!

Dr. Elizabeth Croft from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia gave a lecture on human-robot interaction as part of a Women in Science initiative. It's almost like the event was made for me!

Not only was it really cool to hear about the kinds of things she was working on, but some of it is actually kind of relevant to my upcoming 41X project.

A few of the highlights:

• People understand the rules for sharing a space (i.e. what to do when both reaching into a bowl of popcorn) and how people have trouble responding to this when it happens with a robot. However, when robots are programmed to show hesitation, like people do, the people respond better to them. This personifies the robot and makes people want to work with them, like they would a person.
• A strong form of communication is gesturing and it can transcend language (or be useful in noisy industrial areas . . . or even underwater!). Her research has shown that if robots gesture properly, people can completely understand what the robot is asking them to do.
• Human balance is based on "sensors" and "actuators": vision, the vestibular system and proprioception, and muscles. The combination of all of these sensors allows us to balance and correct ourselves because it acts like a feedback system.

Before the lecture, I also got to check out a bit of the museum, from the Russian space shuttle look-alike  to the astronauts hanging from the roof.

This is my new favourite place!