Perspectives of a Canadian in the Old/Deep/New/Geographic South: This is where I ramble on about nothing in particular and post a few nice pictures.
We managed to sleep through a tornado that touched down just a few miles from us around 1:30 AM. No damage here (the basil plant sitting on the grill didn’t even get blown over), but there were numerous reports of downed trees and power outages when we woke up around 2:30 AM for unrelated reasons. Haven’t heard any reports of injuries or deaths, which is good.
Every thing here at the house is ok. Not even any branches blown out of the trees.
Poutine (fries and cheese curds covered with hot brown gravy) wasn’t something I grew up with in Edmonton. In fact, I don’t think I’d ever heard of poutine until I was in grad school. Maybe I didn’t get out enough to see it on menus, but poutine was never a thing at any of the places I did go to.
Now when I go back to Edmonton, it’s everywhere. Even Pizza Hut.
Fries and gravy, on the other hand, was everywhere. A plate of hot fries covered with a generous ladle or two of thick brown peppery gravy, or maybe on the side for dipping.
Ahh, comfort food.
We got back from spending the past week in a slightly cool but still pleasant Edmonton last night after a long day of flying.
Had a great trip out there, and Connie got to meet mom and dad. It was a busy and full week of driving around to visit people and seeing places.
On this trip, we also discovered that since our phones are on Sprint’s CDMA network (via Ting), they no longer roam while in Canada like mine did on my last trip (even then it was spotty). Future trips means we’ll have to pick up pre-paid SIM cards from somewhere for our stay if we want to stay in touch.
Didn’t go for dim sum quite as much as on my last trip in August, but we did make it out for dim sum at least once. My sister Sandi was able to join us in Edmonton for the weekend and Connie got a nice picture of us after we all went out for dinner Saturday night.
We made a couple of visits out to West Edmonton Mall, which we both enjoyed. It’s big, and while there are a few things that I remember, a lot of the mall has changed since I was last there.
The Santa Maria
The Mindbender
I even went skating at the Ice Palace which was probably the first time I’d been on skates in over 20 years. Even though the skates I rented could have used a good sharpening, it was still a lot of fun being on the ice again. Wasn’t exactly the most graceful of skating, but I managed to stay on my feet. Connie got some pictures of me on the ice.
While we were walking through the mall, we spotted a penguin walking around checking things out.
The penguin is part of WEM’s Marine Life aquarium exhibit and is named Taz. Cool random encounter.
We made stops at Tim Horton’s (maybe a few), A&W (mmm, Mozzaburger), a donair place and had a couple of lunches at The Old Spaghetti Factory in WEM. Made it out for beer and wings with the guys, and showed Connie some of the city. We didn’t get to see or do everything I was thinking about doing, but we managed to cram in a fair bit during our week there.
Also, Alaska Airlines might be my new favourite airline. They’ll be starting non-stop flights between Charleston and Seattle soon, which means it will be easier for us to make it out to that corner of the country to visit my sister and brother and their families. It also gives another alternative route home (CHS-SEA-YEG). Plus they still offer snacks.
It’s a little sad that a 14g packet of dried fruit and pretzels is something to get excited about when flying.
Made it back out to Dragoncon this year for another fun filled weekend of costumes, people and partying. Lots of people at Dragoncon this year, and it definitely felt like it too.
While Dragoncon was another great time, unfortunately this was also the first year I managed to pick up a cold (con-crud) while there, which was not so great. I missed out on the Saturday evening festivities but was feeling well enough to head back out on Sunday.
This year’s Dragoncon was (aside from getting sick) a different experience from the previous years. It was less about seeing the people in costumes and attending panels/sessions, and more about getting together with con-friends that I’d met previously and hanging out with them. The costumes were great, and watching them go by was pretty cool, but they weren’t the main focus for me this year as they were in the past.
Hung out with some old Dragoncon friends
and met some new ones
This was also the first year I got to stay in one of the host hotels (the Hyatt). Luckily, our room faced the street and offered a great view of the Saturday Dragoncon parade from the 12th floor.
After one of the Space track talks, I stopped by the solar astronomy setup at the Hilton to check things out. It was operated by the Charles Bates Solar Astronomy Project, and they had a pretty nice setup with 4 scopes each with a different filter. One of the things they do is bring solar viewing to schools, which I think is great.
Could be a while before I make it to another Dragoncon. The next year will be pretty busy, so I doubt I’ll make it to another Dragoncon until 2017 at the earliest. It will be good to get back when I do make it though.