Category: Uncategorized

One of the many unfortunate things about no longer working in downtown Vancouver is that I haven’t been able to watch the preparations as we approach the start of the Winter Olympics. Since I haven’t been downtown in about two weeks, I decided to head on down this weekend for a look.

Even before reaching downtown on Skytrain I could see many places were already ready for or very soon to be ready for next Friday. By Science World, I could see that the Athletes’ Village was already occupied by people as flags of many different countries could be seen hung out on balconies and in windows. The road closures by Canada Hockey Place which had begun several weeks ago were now fully in effect. Olympic fencing stretched around seemingly everywhere. I could also see some heavy-duty security checkpoints that police had setup.

Once in downtown proper, I decided to walk along Burrard, Granville, and Robson. It wasn’t difficult to see that downtown Vancouver is a major hub for all things Olympic. It appeared that every third person on the street had Olympic credentials around their neck. The Olympic volunteers were also everywhere, easily visible with their bright blue jackets. With close to 20000 volunteers spread between Vancouver and Whistler, they’ll be hard to miss for the next three weeks or so. I like their uniforms and I bet a lot of them will enjoy keeping them after the Olympics are over.

There also seemed to be a large number of tourists already in the city for the Olympics. I saw a lot of people decked out in gear representing their home nation, walking around and taking in the sights. I wondered where a lot of these people are staying and how expensive this trip must be for almost all of them.

I then wandered off to a few specific locations. I started off with the area near Canada Place because I used to work right next to it (and still have fond memories of working there). Canada Place and the new convention centre is where most foreign journalists and press will be working during the Games. Canada Place is home to the main press centre and the VCC is where the international broadcast centre is located. It was actually pretty neat walking around there. The streets surrounding the two venues have been closed to public vehicle traffic but if you’re just a curious pedestrian, you’re free to saunter right up either location. Getting into those locations is another story though. Entry to those places is access-controlled and I saw various checkpoints with heavy security. There was also a large concentration of blue jacketed people here.

Just for kicks, I went down into the food court in Waterfront Centre to grab a snack, just like old times where Black Box was downtown. Even the McDonald’s there got a makeover for the Olympics with all the employees wearing bright red shirts with “Canada” on them. Strangely, McDonald’s even had an “ambassador” of sorts, walking around chatting up food court patrons. Everyone else there seemed to be related to the Olympics in one fashion or another, either working as security, official, volunteer, or visitor.

My last stop was the LiveCity venue in Yaletown. There are two LiveCity venues and the other one is located near W. Georgia and Cambie. Each venue will be providing free entertainment each day and night while the Games are on. It’s a great way for people who can’t get tickets to events to experience the Games in a fun and free manner. The Yaletown venue is on the site of David Lam Park. There’s fencing around the entire park now and the venue isn’t ready until Friday. Nonetheless, I did a quick walk around the perimeter. I saw workers near the water setting up a water display. The venue looks to be quite large in size and I could hear music coming from the large tents that had been already set up. I think it’s awesome that there will be two large venues that will allow people to party each night of the Games.

From my observations today, a couple things come to mind. First, I cannot imagine the organizational power that is required to prepare and setup a major, epic event such as an Olympic Games. There literally must be a million details that must be accounted for and taken care of. I’m actually quite impressed with modern society that we’re able to pull off something this big without something major going wrong.

Second, I think that despite whatever anyone thinks of the Olympics being here in Vancouver, it’s too late to stop it. No amount of protesting or dissent now will make the Games any cheaper or divert any money to social programs or programs any sort. Sure, you’re free to protest it while the Games are on and if that’s your thing, you should have the right to do so. I would suggest though that everyone try to experience and enjoy at least one little thing about the next two and a half weeks. There are a lot of free events being put on in the city. Hell, if you even just talk to one person from another country, I think that would be worth it. The number of times an event of this magnitude comes to your hometown is small.

Last but not least, it’s clear to me that a lot of people are quite excited and ready for the start of the Games on Friday. Just from the vibe I was getting from being downtown on the weekend, it’s going to be a very interesting next few weeks.

It was exactly one year ago tomorrow that I took possession of my apartment. I could not have guessed that back then that in twelve months my apartment would covered in a layer of fine drywall dust. Time sure does fly.

As I type this, I’m sitting at my desk which is currently crammed in between my two closets in my bedroom. The builders of my apartment building sent in contractors today to start repairs as part of their obligations to the new home warranty.

While the builders have to fix certain items, you can understand they don’t want to do anything more than the bare minimum that’s required. They already said they wouldn’t fix a small section of my flooring that’s uneven and they don’t care about my blinds not blocking out all the light. What they do seem to care about are problems with my drywall which manifested itself as either cracks or uneven lines where the joints are located.

I had move a lot of furniture so that the contractors could get their work done. The living room had the most items to move, including my couch, coffee table, lamps, speakers, side table, and various pieces of plastic musical instruments. In my bedroom, I had to move my desk, my computer and all the wires that come with it.

Drywall repairs are never a small job, no matter how small the problem appears to be. I have nine individual drywall areas that they started repairs on. They’ll be back tomorrow and then again on Friday. To top if off, they won’t paint the walls when they’re done. Apparently, the “industry standard” is to just leave warranty repairs in a “paint ready” condition, which is just another way of saying, “you gotta paint it yourself”. It’s good to know Degelder construction is ok with providing just the bare minimum level of service in the construction industry. After all, going above and beyond what’s required might actually distinguish themselves from the rest of the builders in the city but they wouldn’t want that to happen. I bet this is just a ploy to make people think twice about wanting repairs.

Monday was an interesting day at work. First, I found out what game I’m supposed to be working on next. Of course, I was sworn to secrecy about what I was told. It’ll probably be quite a while before I can reveal that info. Second, I was told about some Olympic-related events at work. Again, I was told not to tell anyone else outside the company. The good news is, in about a week and a half, I can say what that is.

Now you’re probably thinking, if these things are all supposed to be hush-hush, why the hell am I writing about them now? The answer is that I have nothing else to write about tonight.

Loyal readers, I wrote this post for all those females out there who are over thirty years of age and still single. Ladies, listen up. You and I aren’t so different. Since our twenties, we’ve been looking for that perfect partner. The one person we were destined to be with. The one person you could spend the rest of your life with and be happy.

Let’s be honest now. You (and I) aren’t getting any younger. You’re over thirty now and your prince hasn’t shown up on your doorstep yet. While you were once in your 20s, those nubile and young ladies are now your competition. Do you have a checklist for your perfect man? Probably. Now every woman is different, so you could be looking for any combination of sexy, handsome, dependable, intelligent, funny, manly, large penis, good cook, rich, handy around house, thoughtful, eats cheese, has orange tan, and so on. I’m here to tell you, it’s probably time to be a little more realistic. The odds of you finding a man that fits everyone of your storybook desires is getting smaller and smaller. I’m not saying that to be mean or anything. Are you wondering where I’m getting such crazy ideas? That’s a great question.

I present to you one Lori Gottleib, author of Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough. Gottlieb’s book basically is a warning to women that are quickly approaching forty should take a serious and long look at how realistic their expectations are for a husband. She suggests that women settle for a relatively decent guy than holding out for an unrealistic expectation. Gottlieb cautions that the longer women wait before settling, the lower their odds are for finding anyone.

If you don’t believe me, read her book or this article about her. I’ll try to extract some highlights for you.

Gottlieb wrote of her “deep regret at having passed on all the nice guys in her thirties in the search for allconsuming love.” Sound familiar? Let me continue.

“many single women get to a state of desperation in searching for a husband because they don’t make wise decisions early on, such as dating dependable men rather than handsome cads” Oh dear, you mean bad boys aren’t marriage material? Groundbreaking.

“Based on my observations, settling will probably make you happier in the long run, since many of those who marry with great expectations become more disillusioned with each passing year.” That quote would make a great CafePress t-shirt.

“Feminism gave women this sense of entitlement that we deserve someone who’s perfect. And then we meet the so-called perfect guy and he’s out of our league and has no interest in us and we tell our girlfriends, ‘He must be secretly gay’ when in fact he’s just really not that into us.” Read that once more just so you understand that clearly.

Ok, I could quote more but then the whole article would be here. So ladies, I know a guy like me may not be perfect but you’re running out of options! It’s either me or start buying cats now. Hey, I’m not so bad. I may not look like Brad Pitt but we can watch his movies together. I also may not be rich like Bill Gates but I’d super-size your order, my treat, anytime we go for fast food (and that would be often). You can guarantee I would never cheat on you like that Tiger Woods dude did. Chances are you’d be out of my league in any previous situation so I’d feel like I’d won the lottery with you!

So how about it ladies? That baby-maker of yours has an expiry date and it ain’t that far away. The sooner we have little Obi-wan and Jenny, the sooner we can think about our retirement cruise. Let me know if I can buy you dinner at Uncle Willy’s!

I know any discussion about taxes is inherently boring but I’m appealing to my Canadian readers to see if they can answer a question I have. I wondering if anyone has used a tax-free savings account and transferred common shares in that account. I know it’s possible but I’d like to know the exact process in getting that done.

Specifically, I’d like to transfer some of my EA stock into a TFSA. It’s my understanding that any money that comes from selling my shares is not taxable. I think. The thing that might complicate this is that EA stock is not Canadian. It’s traded on Nasdaq which is an American market. I don’t know what the rules are for foreign contributions to a TFSA. Also, I wonder if E*Trade, being an American company would even care if I wanted to transfer some of the shares over to a Canadian account. Can they even do that?

If anyone can answer even just a few of my questions, I’d appreciate it. I promise tomorrow I’ll find a way to bore you without resorting to financial talk.

Despite all the massive news coverage from just a few short months ago, you don’t hear or read about the H1N1 flu virus anymore. While the virus was certainly deadly and was spread worldwide, it appears that the common flu still had a much more devastating effect on people. New pandemic or not, the common flu regularly kills thousands of people a year, all over the world.

During the holidays, I found out that I was exposed to the H1N1 virus. A friend of mine had been carrying the virus for weeks and was sick. I had dinner with him a few times. He even came over to my apartment to trade quiche recipes. He only found out later that he had the virus.

Despite being exposed to the now-famous virus, I never did get sick. I wonder if I actually carried the virus but didn’t get any symptoms. Hmmm… all this virus talk makes me want to ensure my zombie preparedness kit is in good order.

When I bought my apartment last year I knew the developers wanted to build a huge retail space underneath the three towers that comprise the residential portion of the project. At the time though, there were no confirmed tenants. I was afraid of two things. First, with the economy the way it was and still is, I became concerned they might not actually finish the retail part of the project. Second, even if they did go ahead, I was afraid they’d get crappy tenants like a crafts store or something.

Even as the third and final residential tower was completed, I’d heard very little about what was happening with the retail part. This week, the developers finally released more info about what is to be built in the next few months. So far, the big name tenants will consist of Safeway, Shoppers Drug Mart, Royal Bank, CIBC, and Landmark Cinemas. The movie theatre development is what I’m excited about the most. Apparently it’ll be a ten screen complex. The surrounding area has no movie theatres so it’s almost guaranteed to be profitable.

The only other apartment complex that I can think of that has a movie theatre below it is the one downtown, above the Scotiabank Theatres. Now keep in mind that I’m not under any illusion that my apartment, located in New West will be anything similar to those apartments located along Burrard. Downtown Vancouver will always be more upscale and desirable but I’m really looking forward to having this retail space finished. It’ll bring convenience to the area. Also, though I’m not counting on it, I’m hoping this will increase the property value of my apartment too.

The one drawback I see is that the whole retail spaced won’t be finished until 2011.

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If I could be so bold, I’d like my readers to consider a new app for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. The app is a game called WordCrasher. WordCrasher was developed by independent game developer Kevin Ng Games. It might not be a surprise that the man behind Kevin Ng Games is Kevin Ng. I had the pleasure of working with Kevin over the last few years at EA on the skate franchise. Kev is a talented and knowledgeable software engineer who was a real asset to our team.

A few months ago, Kevin decided to strike out on his own and go the independent games route and WordCrasher is his debut title. I maybe biased but everything about the game and the way he’s marketed WordCrasher has been quite impressive. While a lot of iPhone apps are crap and are presented in a crap fashion, you can tell Kevin has the experience of being a real game developer that sets him apart from many others. If you don’t believe me, just read this review, which is just one of several positive ones.

If you’re looking for a new game for your iPhone, please consider WordCrasher. At less than $2, it’s well worth your money!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5pAbEqw7U8&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

I was at the Canucks game tonight, so I got nothing. Instead, enjoy another installment of Big Red.