The Washington Culture

It's been over three and a half years since I last lived (and even visited) Washington State, but let me tell you, there isn't a day that goes by when I don't miss it. Moving there for the first time was quite a profound experience and one that I'll never forget.

When me and my father first arrived in the small town of Port Orchard I remember feeling alienated. I absolutely hated it and the first thoughts that went through my head were: "what a slum".

You know that Joni Mitchell song displaying the lyrics "you don't know what you've got till it's gone?" That is indeed true. I soon learned to have appreciation for the place and am disappointed and slightly embarrassed by my previous actions/thoughts.

The fact that Port Orchard was so small was easily the biggest change for me. When I left Calgary, it boasted a population of nearly one million people, meanwhile Port Orchard had just a tad under eight thousand residents. Ironically though, despite the small amount of residences, five million people were right across the water (Seattle).

Honestly, it was like a completely different world over there. Admittedly it took me a while to appreciate the way things "went" - such as being treated like a child - you know, that small town mentality? If you haven't lived in both worlds, you probably won't know what I'm talking about, but it's always a result of a smaller population. I recall this one time myself and my father where in a Office Depot and there was one of those automatic "customer service" computers made purposely for the customer to tell how good the store operations were. While my father was off photocopying something, I went to the computer thingy and pressed a few buttons. Shortly after a women employee came over and started in on a lecture about not fooling with those things. I remember telling my father and he thought the whole thing was ridiculous. In fact, we never went back to the store because of that. Hard to explain, but all you need to know is that half of the people in Saskatchewan are like this.. Similar events of such nature and attitude were indeed frequent.

Oddly enough, it's those little moments which I remember. What I also remember are these two small Chinese restaurants which we used to frequent. They were so odd and I distinctly remember that one of the two restaurants had a family who was deeply religious and liked cars. We always used to read their car magazines while waiting for the food to come up.

Sounds like a small town, eh? Indeed, but the funny thing was that it wasn't. Yes, the population density named it a "town", but it had everything you could want. An: Office Depot; Home Depot; garden centres; automobile shops; car dealers; Wal-Mart; Fred Meyers (like Superstore); various restaurants and even a movie theatre (it was cheap too!)

Furthermore, it was clean and for the most part, up to date. I suppose this was because it was in between Seattle and another city with a population of around sixteen thousand, Silverdale. And if we had the desire to visit Silverdale, it didn't take a great deal of time to get there (about thirty minutes which was not bad at all). Great place it was.

Although I should mention what made those trips to Silverdale particularly memorable was the fact that this is where my father bought a Honda S2000. The example featured a Silvestone Metallic paint job, a black leather interior, with the addition of the optional body kit and the 6 disc trunk CD changer.

Man oh man we had some great times in that little car and we even had a "special route" to put the car through. The majority of this trip followed along the water's edges and eventually led to exciting, minimal traffic back roads. Top down the whole way and the best part was the trip was in town and very close to home. God, I loved that S2000. I remember my dad acting like a sports car driver (trite, I know), but that car could certainly take the corners fast. Not to mention I remember within the back roads where the tree canopy's completed covered the sky,tThe sound of the engine bouncing off those trees at nine thousand rpm's is truly unforgettable.

Many trips were done in that S2000, even one to California where we got up to 130mph.

Once back from an exciting S2000 trip (from anywhere), I had an nice home to come back to. Actually, it was kind of strange. It was a big, big house - but quite ugly. I remember my father saying: "ugly house", I laughed and said "yep".

Anyhow the reason it was bought was mostly because of it's size, but also because it backed onto the back of a Government protected wetland/park. Very hard to explain, but essentially beyond the backyard fence was a forest.

Speaking of which, the overall land scape and scenery in Port Orchard was very enjoyable. The shore lines were a little beat up, but still quite beautiful, meanwhile trees were a plenty and to cap it off, the weather was just amazing.

I miss it all. You know, I can't recall much of what happened in the last two years, but these years in Port Orchard are embedded in my memory as clear as a photograph.

It's all gone, but must I never look back? Truthfully the occasional item sparks my memories, like for instance, The English Beat (it was there where I first heard them). When ever I listen to them It's like looking through a picture book of my memories, some which invoke a smile, some which invoke tears.

I hope there's a day when I can not only revisit the place, but live there once again.

Vancouver vs Calgary

If you haven't followed my blog since my first post, or aren't a GermanCarZone member - you wouldn't know that I recently moved from Calgary, Alberta to Vancouver, British Columbia.

So then, how does Vancouver compare to Calgary - and how do I like it?

The cultural differences between the two are bigger than most would expect (not me though ;-).. I'm used to "cultural shock"

The people of Vancouver all appear as if they have a very layed out, cool vibe. When in truth, they are just as, if not more so hectic and insane as people from Calgary. It's quite a bullshit vibe actually, but then that isn't hard to pick up on.

What I've also noticed is that despite the massive Asian influx which Vancouver had in the 1980's, more racism exists here than it does in Calgary. The hostility still exists and it doesn't stop at out of country immigrants. They tend to have a strong disliking for Albertans ;)

I was recently at a store when I was required to show my Identification and said, here's my Alberta's licence - she remarked, "they have those up there Alberta"

I remarked - "yep and so much more."

Whether it was intended as a joke or not, it pissed me off. Oh, and don't worry, I'm not some shit kicking Albertan.

Also worth noting is the daily newspapers. They are much different than Albertan ones, in fact, unlike Alberta papers they most always feature an article on global warming.

Conservatives vs Liberals!

How the hell is this turning into a politic war? Well that's the truth, ain't it?

Actually I'd rather see articles about global warming than articles about Ralph Klein's ball cap. Which leads to the next question, am I Liberal or a Conservative? Well I believe in Kyoto and other actions inforced by the Liberals, but I'd say I stand by a few of the Liberal actions.

So I'm a: Conservalib

Vancouver

Stores:

One thing that really pisses me off about the big V is that the cost of land is so high that 80% of the people here are renting. The cost of land is way, way to expensive.

What's also very different from Calgary - is that stores of any sort are the size of a closest. Because the land is too expensive and the land space limited, Home Hardware (a Home improvement store) is forced to rent out 1600 square feet, rather than the 5000 or so square feet which they'd usually rent in Calgary. Everything is like that. Mind you, Starbucks tends to have some of the bigger lots and holy smokes, they've got many, many stores.

Weather:

Weather has been quite fantastic. When I first arrived it rained like a mofo, in fact - it rained for five days straight which in turn caused floods downtown and everywhere else. Even I had terrible internet outages and issues. Over the last couple of weeks it's been great though. Currently into spring, Vancouver's sunny days rarely get hotter than 25 degrees Celsius. The last weeks have graced with 20 degrees - perfect for shorts and t-shirts.

One thing that severely annoys me is than when it rains, I seem so depressed. Same with everyone else I suppose, but I must be honest, that's where snow is better. It's nice and white (or muddy) On the other hand, I hate my hands freezing.

Cars:

Calgary has a lot of expensive vehicles, but Vancouver blows it away. From my current housing location I've seen two Bentley Flying Spur's (following each other!!) and more than twenty 911's (all generations)

Everyday you're guaranteed to see something awesome.

Despite some of the ranting, I like Vancouver and can't wait to see what else it has in store.

Today's Updates

What does today's updates consist of? Well, for starters - I'm nearly recovered from a bad cold which has restricted me to my computer chair for two days.

Rush announced tour dates and none are in Vancouver. One show in Seattle and Oregon and then they skip Vancouver and go to Calgary (lived there one month ago..) Pisses me off, but there is the chance of getting tickets for the show and flying down to Calgary. It's not a very high chance though..

Lastly, I've been working with different video developer systems and have created this video to hallmark some of my favourite gals. Enjoy!

BTW, as I right this, it's 3:38 AM. Been a long time since I've done anything like that.