Smitten with Squamish

One of the main things I wanted to do while out in Canada was go up the mountains and see some snow. That dream came true today with our visit out to Squamish. We caught the bus out of town and rode the gondala up almost above the cloud line into the frost dusted peaks. There were a multitude of view points and short hikes to go on, the latter of which took us along some fairytale looking routes through a snowy mountain trail. Rebecca wasn't quite wearing the right shoes for the trek though, so I effectively became one of those plastic penguins on skates that they give to children to hold into at ice skating rinks. I was her crutch for the slippy patches but she did really well considering. I was too smitten with the scenery to pay much mind.

Stanley Park

After five days of rain the weather finally let up so we ventured out into the mighty Stanley Park - a hunk of nature only a bus ride away from downtown. It's vast, wild and gorgeous. We took a walk up and through it before ending up on the Sea Wall. The views there were spectacular so we just kept on walking, marvelling the whole time about how one skyline could contain trees, a metropolis, mountains and oil tankers all in one.

We he back to the same bar as yesterday, the beer menu was longer than my arm so I still had plenty to choose from but we really wanted to try the food. I had a near religious experience with a burger in one hand and a dark IPA in the other. It set us up for a cinema trip to see Project Hail Mary - a book Rebecca and I have both enjoyed. This is also my first real movie-going experience in another country. Aside from the adverts, it was pretty similar as it turns out. I was low-key expecting more whooping from the audience, guess they used up all that enthusiasm for the hockey game. 

Go Cannucks, Go

With the rain reaching its zenith today, we decided to take it very slow - a kind of mini recharge day. We popped out to a trendy cafe for brunch and coffee then headed Downtown a bit later on to check out the library. That passed the time til the big ice hockey game in the evening anyway. We hit up a bar on the way to get some cheap happy hour drinks, that at least got me just buzzed enough to get hyped about eating stadium food. I was gassed for Poutine, but that's more of an East Coast thing we discovered so it had to be a hot dog for me. I was a bit nonplussed when they handed it to me, but then they gestured to the condiment bar where I rekindled my love affair for sauerkraut.

Going into the hockey stadium I was once again reminded that North Americans don't do sports in small measures. It was huge, with pumping music and a jumbo screen. The hype for the Home team was built up to legendary proportions, before the game even started we were treated to a massively overproduced video starring all the Vancouver players as they literally save the world from an alien invasion. Thank goodness I was half cut because I don't think my retinas could survive a sober eye roll. Then after witnessing all the hype and build up, the home team got totally glazed, losing by four goals. But they had a lotta heart and in my books that counts for something.

Another Big, Wet Walk

We naively thought we saw the last of the rain, but the weather instead doubled down, giving us a deluge just in time for another big outdoorsy walk. We caught a bus to the outskirts of the city to visit another suspension bridge followed by a mini hike along the river. By the end my jeans needed to be peeled off my thighs. I hung them up to dry and slid into my only other pair of trousers: my pyjamas. I had to slip my still wet jeans in once more though to head out for dinner for an Asian fusion place that provided the best meal of the holiday so far. Vancouver's weather occasionally leaves something to be desired, good thing the restaurants don't disappoint.

Vancouver Suspension Bridge

With the weather still being rainy in the Rainy City, what better place to spend the day than in a rainforest? The world famous suspension bridge was our daily destination, a chance to marvel at the engineering and to climb high above the canyons and the treetops. It's certainly a one of a kind attraction, at several moments Rebecca and I just had to pause to take it all in. Doing it in a raincloud kinda made the whole thing a bit more unique too, misty vistas and the constant downpour gave it all a tone I don't think you'd get on a clear day. Our clothes need a day or two to dry out but it was well worth it.

Fair Weather Ferry

The rain threatened our plans but we adapted and endured. The best place to be in a drizzle is down by the docks, so we bought a day pass on the City's ferries so we could spend some time on the water and visiting the places that would have otherwise been a mission to get to. We sampled the markets on Granville Island and took a rainy stroll along Kitsilano Beach. Back home we caught 40 winks then moved on to get a North American staple: a good old burger. Luckily we have a half dozen pubs in our area and finding a good watering hole was easy enough. Now we're both a mite tipsy, but that might help us sleep off the last bit of Jetlag.

Jetlagged to the Max

Day 1 in Vancouver was a real 'get to know the place' kinda day. We started off with coffee and a pastry from a place just a few doors down from our Air B&B. From there we caught the Sky train to Downtown, we stood along the seaplane strip, watching them take off and land while quietly processing the fact there's mountains next to a metropolis. 

I firmly believed I could best jetlag, yet I found myself at its mercy halfway through the day. I couldn't quite muster a nap in the afternoon but an early night should help me recoup. We both had ambitions to head into a bar for happy hour, but after dinner we both just wanted to crawl into our pajamas .

Vancouver Day 0

Can't believe I woke up in London and will be going to sleep in Vancouver. Rebecca and I travelled 4700 miles today over 12ish hours, 1 bus, 3 metro trains, 2 planes and 1 of them little runway bus things they always fit too many people onto. We did a brief change at Reykjavik, alas, not long enough to see the Northern Lights, nor long enough to really warrent going in the country's gift shop (I mean we did anyway). I packed my Kindle with a 800 page book loaded up, I locked in pretty hard on the flight and already took a big chunk of it out. We arrived in Canada feeling somewhere between jetlagged and jazzed. We checked into our Air B&B and took a stroll up our high street. A late night pizza filled our bellies and now we're ready to hit the hay.

We did just travel 4700 miles after all... 

Packing Light as a Feather

The final push before the big holiday. Rebecca and I have checked if we have our passport two dozen times already, you know, just to make sure. Aside from clothes and toiletries, the only fun things I'm packing is my notebook, my kindle a d a very small Gameboy/emulator device. Bag feels approximately light and I'm ready to roll onto that plane tomorrow.

Before all that though I waltzed up to meet Louis to discuss his new game. I read his script and we went through the beats, blow by blow. It was a really positive meeting I thought, good to share notes and to hopefully be of some good use to him. 

Emergency Packing

The most stressful part of going on holiday is emergency purchasing all the bits you need. I've told everyone I'm packing light for this holiday which is still technically true, but now I have a sleep mask, ear plugs, portable lunch box... Basically a lot of extraneous stuff I hadn't fully factored in. But I got it all now, all that's left to do is cram it all into a bag.

Script Nodding

Still chipping away at some of the residual work that creeps in at the end of a big job. But in between that I had a superb day in. I read the script for Louis' new game which is in a much better place than he lead me to believe. I'm writing up my notes on it all now to hand over soon. I needed to catch up a bit on my movie watching quota so I caught It Was Just an Accident on Mubi which was well worth my time. While Rebecca was out doing yoga I headed to the digital mines and hung out with a few chums online. 

Now that I'm unemployed, I don't know how I'd ever find the time to do my job! 

D&D

I put the F in Funemployment this afternoon. I drummed up some enthusiasm for a cowboy themed Dungeons and Dragons campaign that I've been working on for the last couple of days. Working on it was like cramming for an exam, I did my best to flesh out the world and the people, I prepped answers for any rouge question and planned rewards and outcomes for any scenario. My over-worrying paid off though, I sat down with my old coworkers (who are out of work now, just like me) and we had a whale of a time playing through my little scenario. I mentally locked in, and before I looked up from my various notebooks I noticed that three hours had gone by. My first every lengthy TTRPG campaign completed!

Opportunity comes with Freedom

First day of freedom! Aside from the stint of work I did this morning to mop up my lingering to do list. I suspect there'll be a few more odd jobs and bills to settle as the dust settles, but I'll take those as they come. In the meantime, I noticed just how content I felt. The days are getting longer, my obligations are only to myself and the horizon ahead feels vast in an inspiring way. I've got a small hit list of activities to crack on with before my holidays, the most important being having Dan over for some games. So I messaged him out the blue with the offer of dinner and beers but he honestly didn't need persuading because we had a great time hanging out in the evening. 

Mr Popular

Took our guests up to North Street where I was spotted by not one, but two other groups of friends. My network of Bristol people is clearly growing, nice to know that there's a small chance of always bumping into a familiar face. Rebecca and I bid our guests farewell as the Sunday scaries started to set in.

I mean, they should have done, but I'm free as a bird! Monday tomorrow will just be an extension of the weekend, no obligations, no stresses, no income... But I'll be more than fine til the next one rolls along, just got to enjoy the time I got, it'll be over before I know it. 

Pit Stop X Pub Stop

I don't even remember closing my eyes yesterday but I slept for a good long time, finally catching up after the end of the job. So I felt rested, better yet having house guests over (Matt and Ben) meant we had an excuse to cook an all-out breakfast which really brought me back to life.  

We took a walk into town for coffee, cookies and charity shops... Plus a few pub stops along the way. A Mexican place I was at the other week was on the ticket for tonight too and lighting did strike twice because it was a huge hit. We rounded the evening off with a final cute pub stops alongside some dice games which got us whooping. Just a lovely Saturday all in. 

See Ya Production Office

 Work drinks are fun, but boy you gotta pace yourself. My sleep was interrupted by my survival instincts telling me 'something is wrong', turns out that was my gut churning out the booze, never quite deciding if it'll come up or not.

Thankfully it didn't, and I wasn't alone in being in hungover so we commiserated together with a McDonald's breakfast than got to work on the big push to clean out the office. I had to really dig deep at times, moving bags of rock salt and peeling off hazard tape off studio floors was not on my mental agenda for today. But we got it done, or there's abouts.

We packed it all down then all just quietly took in our office one last time. The space we worked, laughed and panicked together. A lot of memories in that space, and it was bizarre to think that after just over a year it's all over. I'm officially unemployed now, but I already cannot wait for my time off. 

Work Drinks...

Every job must come to an end. 

But before that must come a bit meal. To be exact, one that starts at 3pm then goes on til 10pm. 

All paid for.

Including drinks.

You do a lot alof crazy stuff on a job but it's occasionally worth it for a mad one. 

Pontoon Pub

I recently adopted using a standing desk at work, not only are my legs getting a real workout, but it's gotten to the point where sitting down just feels wrong. I mean, now that I've been sat at home for a bit it's felt extra nice, but now my thigh muscles have all seized up a bit, guess that's a sign of my legs getting stronger but it's crazy to think how quickly I've acclimated to standing and working.

Back at home I returned to Minecraft and spent longer then I'd care to admit to make a pub on a pontoon. I really wanted to make some pirate looking lanterns that require iron to make, which only spawns in the dark, dangerous depths of the world. Cut to me dying multiple time in trying to get some, every time I do die the server let's all the players know that I succumbed to a terrible fate and everyone laughed at me...

They won't be laughing when I refuse their bar tab at the pontoon pub.

Return to Minecraft

Been a while since I've had such a physical day at work which makes a nice change. I broke down about 60 costume rails and shimmied a whole bunch of stuff into our shipping container to go into storage. There's been a big push to clean out the office today so it looks nice and clean for the team coming in tomorrow - more and more it's looking like a blank canvas of an office once again.

In the evening I hopped onto a Minecraft server with a bunch of friends online. I heard stories of how impressive some of the builds were there but nothing quite prepared me for when I logged on for a 'house tour' which lasted about half an hour. I saw windmills, underground sushi restaurants and frog sanctuaries. Grand temples and mossy grottos. Boats, castles, market streets and their shady back alleys. After devoting most of my life to exploring digital worlds, this one blew my socks off because everything was wonderfully curated and bespoke to the person. It was a dozen visual styles and stories all coexisting in some kind of harmony.  

Skipping around Skips

A colleague has left the job a week ahead of the rest of us so a bevvy of their old jobs landed with me. The chief one being in charge of skips which really blew up in my face first thing this morning as I scrambled to understand then resolve the situation. All the while we continued to slowly load bits into our storage crates and finish up the online paperwork. The clock is ticking now and I'd love nothing more than to close the door and walk away on Friday... But a niggling feeling tells me there'll be some bonus bits.

Earplugs or Nay?

Did the last few bits of prep for our Canada trip, booked a hire car, ferry and our US visa. Rebecca's attention is now turning to 'how to sleep best on the flight'. We're talking earplugs, sleep mask, compression socks etc. I'll probably just tilt my neck to the side and suffer in silence, but I should probably invest in some goodies to make the trip a little more comfy. 

One more week at work now too. Lots to polish off but it should all be achievable. With any luck it won't turn into a photo finish and we can continue gliding over the finishing line. I'm ready for a break now though, I'm already planning all the things I want to do while I'm off. One way or another, it'll all be over soon.