Time marches on yet again...

I'm back to the usual 9-5 these days ... although it usually ends up being something like:

9 - 10 : morning meeting and work

10 - 11 : shower and brekkie

11 - 12.30 : work

12.30 - 2 : lunch (and obligatory walk outside to get myself a bubble tea)

2 - 7 : work

At 7pm, I'm so tired and I usually end up pulling out a bottle of Keiths beer, heading up to the roof and watching the sunset over the harbour.

So it never really is 9-5. (Although I always make sure to make up for the time I take off. Being the loyal worker I am!)

Problem is, I get distracted with the beautiful sunny weather we're having and watching all the people walking in the street below the window, peering over my monitor to get a better look at what they're up to; whether it be going for a drink by the water at the pub across the street ("Canoe"), or taking out a kayak at the rental place beside it.

The only time I get to enjoy the sunny 30C weather is the brief time I take off at lunch, and the weekends.

Although, by the time I've walked up to Chinatown to get my Taro Bubble Tea (evidently I'm now OFFICIALLY addicted to the stuff), my lunch hour is over.

Well, I'm planning to change all that.

I'm determined to get some sort of transport while I'm here so I can head off to various parts of the city and outlying nature park trails and really make the most of my time here.

So I've decided I'm going to get a bike.
I can then head off on trails each evening without having to worry about renting the bike (the rental place closes at 6pm anyway).

Of course I realise I've only got 6 weeks left here before I head back to Toronto for VFest, so I'm hesitant about the fact that I may not be able to sell it before I leave!

I hope I don't experience the same horror I had in NZ when I was trying to sell my car, and would rather the selling experience I had in Oz instead



In the meantime I've taken quite a liking to jogging the odd evening across the nearby Johnson St Bridge to Esquimalt Island. There is a beautiful paved path here that winds it's way around the island and provides for breathtaking views of Victoria harbour and visiting ships (the QE2 is here now) all lit up, with a backdrop of the snow-covered Seattle Olympic mountains in the background.

The trail itself has several wooden sections that wind around small harbours and petite cliffs, the gentle sound of ship bells clanging, while the air is abundant with flowery fragrances. They really did a nice job of it and it's lit up by small lanterns!
It almost has a surreal Disney "Pirates of the Carribean" feel to it.. and you could just as easily be jogging along a Carribean harbour in the year 1700!

Quite possibly the best jogging trail I've ever run on.



One thing has come to annoy me on a regular basis here though ... not the fault of Victoria, but rather my living circumstances: the bloody dustmen come by here every morning at 5.30 am and make THE! LOUDEST! POSSIBLE! NOISE! you can make while using the rusty truck to hoist the large bins overhead, emptying their contents into the back of truck.
The sound of metal clanging noisily together is REALLY unbelievable.

"Rude awakening" is too light a description.

How about: "feeling like your face has been ripped off and thrown to the dogs of Hell as a snack."

Somehow I usually always head back to "semi-sleep" until around 8.30am.



Other news....

I got a new laptop at the weekend since I require it for work! .. well not exactly "new", I got it 2nd hand, but it's a top quality machine only 2 years old.

I got it for 390 euros after I haggled the Polish guy I bought it from down from his initial 500!

The best part was, I got 420 euros in advertising revenue the following day which more than paid for the laptop and the celebratory Chinese meal I gave myself afterwards.

Ah the entrepreneur life. Tis great