W.A.K.

Being my brothers 31st birthday (Happy Birthday Warren!) I thought i would post some pics that either remind me of him or i took with him. He is also very much into photography as i am, so it is neat to see his stuff and see how we differ in the perspectives we take on different views.. He is very good at what he does with the camera, and i take a lot from watching him and seeing his pictures.

This is of Lundbom Lake, it is 30min outside of Merritt (Where he lives). It is a favorite camping spot of ours.

This is a picture Warren took at the top of a hill we hiked just East of Merritt. This is one of my favorite pictures (Don't usually like pictures that include me). But this one always reminds me of him.

This is a picture i took (with my phone) of Warren salmon fishing in the Thompson River in Spence's Bridge this past fall. It was amazing to see the amount of salmon in the river.

From Here to There.

To start off here is the underlining details to this trip. As most know I have recently started doing buying for a local family run office supply company Mills Basics. Being a Health Science and Psychology student for 5 years and coming from the labour industry the whole business world was, to say the least, out of my mind set. I have always wanted to be in the industry of helping people mainly in a health field, this has always been my passion.

Originally I had found it hard to find a passion in this new field. But thanks to a work ethic (which I can honestly thank 110% to my parents, with an emphasis on my father) I was able to still come in and do my job the best that my abilities and knowledge would let me; and learn from the people around me.

So when I was asked, 8 months into being a buyer, to go to Toronto for a national meeting and take part in the purchasing meetings. I thought it would be a good experience and a way to further find my way in an industry that was initially not that best fit for someone so quiet and shy (I would later realize I could not be this way to take part in these events)

Upon arriving in Toronto and at the hotel I immediately became nervous of what I had got myself into. If you know me you know socializing isn't my forte. But as I write this I realize it didn't kill me; it actually went quite well; I am probably a little changed in this aspect because of this (Success #1)

The first night was a small welcome dinner with all the groups (to give an idea the whole weekend event had 300+ people). This was simple enough, just a little explaining of why a 27 year old with a Kinesiology/Psychology degree who transferred from the labour industry, was a buyer of office supplies. Again, after the first few times, simple enough.

(To ease the stress this was followed by an extended stay at the hotel bar)

The next day is what I felt overwhelmed going into, group purchasing meetings all day long. Going into it I felt like everyone involved knows so much more ( understandable because I have only been doing for a few months). Again, it wasn't that bad; I survived; I have a greater respect for my ability to pick up something new and run with it (Success #2)

This was again followed by a dinner/cocktail event, which involved more business socializing although easier still brings up the normal anxieties of who I am. (This wasn't helped by the fact that my name was missed on the seating list). Again I survived; had a blast; met some awesome people; got to know some people for who they are outside of work. (Success #3)

(Again the stress was eased by another extended stay at the bar)(With some details that will need be shared) :)

The third day was which led me to start this whole post in the first place (my lack of a passion). It was a trade show in which all our vendors present new products. I took part in this event with the senior people which I work with. I was told. "we are going in here and only talking to people about Eco-friendly products" which I thought was cool; this is something I could get into. After making our way through most of what we thought would be viable Eco-friendly products we could buy we came across an ergonomics display in which my boss took great enthusiasm towards. Which again I thought was cool; being something I took part in school for years. The last event that stuck out was my boss bringing up a customer complaint that had been emailed directly to him, with one of the vendors. All he cared about was making the customer happy and not the money it would cost to fix the problem.

This all combine to make me realize a passion in this I could get behind. Working for people who care more about doing the right thing and for the people around, then for money. (Success#4)

So in a whole I'm glad, although all my initial angst to the idea, that I took part in this event.


And to make it even better I'm about to board a airplane to Saskatoon to see the woman who makes all this (everything) seem worth while.

On that I say goodbye!


- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Mississauga,Canada

The Long Way From Halifax to Halifax

Recently myself and my fiancee (Adriane) took a trip to the East Coast of Canada for a 2 week adventure, in which we rented a car, loaded it up with our bags, camping supplies, some maps, and our camera and drove around the Canadian East Coast.

Our trip took us across almost all the corners of Nova Scotia, through New Brunswick, and all over both PEI and Cape Breton. To put in perspective, we put a total of 3164 km's on our rental car.

This trip allowed for some amazing time, seeing some amazing sites/people and taking the time to enjoy every second without having a schedule driving you. This is an amazing way to view a part of the world that is new to you and personally let me find some beautiful sites to capture in picture.

Who are our leaders?

Just a quick blurb about this from the U Sask campus as I wait and over heard a story of this.

With the recent plane crash involving many high ranked Polish government figures, including former president Lech Kaczynski and his wife, it has made me wonder what kind of people are running our country.

Now when you see news coverage from Warsaw you see thousands upon thousands of people lining the streets in mourning of this man and his wife. They were loved by their country. This seems to be lost in Canada and where I live, Vancouver. We do not love our government figures this way; we are not connected to them personally. They seem to be above us doing us favours by "running" our Country/Province/City.

I personally do not think I, or many around me would honestly react, like the people of Poland, if our Prime Minister passed away. Now don't get me wrong I would feel sorrow for a person dieing and the pain their families would go through. But I do not think my day would change much if I heard this news.

Just would like to know how others feel about this?


- Posted from my iPhone

Misrepresentation

Just a quick note as I watch sports highlights in the airport bar. After the under-achievement of Canada's downhill team at the Vancouver Olympics was so critisized Eric Guay comes back and podiums on the last three races of the World Cup downhill circuit. By doing this he wins the world cup title. This just shows you, although a big event, the olympics does not have much bearing on the skill of some of these athletes. Check out this article on Eric Guay and his new title http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Canada+Guay+completely+ecstatic+winning+season+World+super+title/2672052/story.html

On a side note look where Eric is from :) (Surprise surprise Quebec)

- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Canada

Quebec: Competing Under the fleur-de-li??

So it has come up, thanks to Quebec Premier Jean Charest, that Quebec wants to, by 2022, compete in the Olympics under the Fleur-de-li.

When i first heard this story i initially thought it was another separatist motion out of Quebec. But upon further research i have found out that it seems to be more so Quebec saying "we actually put an effort into the development of our athletes from an early age. Why would we want to team up with the other 8 provinces and 3 territories when they don't put in the effort we do?"

For this i don't blame them. Quebec puts the effort into developing it's amateur athletes. Foundations such as SportsQuebec have led the way in this aspect in Quebec. They have created sports centers that promote athletics/sports for amateur athletes; in Quebec they care about amateur sports. No other Province puts even close to the amount of effort they do in Quebec.

Only now has the rest of the Country started to realize this, and with the incorporation of the "Own the Podium" they have shown an effort, albeit a small one. It took Quebec born/raised athletes winning near 50% of the medals in both Salt Lake City and Lillehammer before Canada decided to develop "Own the Podium" before the Turin Winter Games. So it is no fluke that many of the medal winners here in Vancouver were French Canadians, it was directly related to this dedication towards development that this Province shows.

Only in Quebec do you see amateur sports taking the lead on sports channels, the headlines are filled with the feats of amateur athletes. Here in Vancouver you would have to push and pull to have amateur sports in the first few pages of the local/provincial papers. We would rather talk about millionaires competing in sports for a paycheck.

While the young men/women out there on their own striving for some sort of funding, can train and work and still bring home medals or even just make it to the Olympics, which has been lost in everything as a major feat in and of itself!

Except in Quebec. In Quebec Olympic athletes are the celebrities. They are supported and encouraged through everything they do, win or lose. Instead our support goes to the professional athletes who already have everything.

All i can hope is that the past 2010 Vancouver Olympics brings forth the amazing work amateur sports can do for this country, and we make an effort to support this lifestyle.

Heart of Gold

So the olympics were here, and anyone who knows me knows this was the greatest time ever. There was nothing that was going to stop me from taking part in this once in a lifetime event. Going day after day from my bed to work to olympic events/pavilions back to my bed, just to do it all over again the next day.

These were the streets of Vancouver every day it was amazing!! Everyone was so positive and just having a great time.

Everyone came together and enjoyed all the sporting events. It was an amazing feeling. (The notion of Vancouver being a "No Fun" city seemed to be lost). Inside the Canadian Pavilion all the earlier knocks it took for being "Ugly" and "Too Expensive" were lost. No one cared about that once inside, we were a group and we watched Canada win it's first gold medal at home!

No matter which country you cheered for you were accepted into the mayhem! Which took the biggest stand in the spot light during the final day as i watched the Canada/USA hockey game with a large group of Americans. After the game was over, fan upon fan come over to them shock their hand and said "Great Game!" This is what the Olympics are about.

Before they started i was beginning to believe that people had forgotten about what the Olympics really stand for. It's not about money, or government, or how much snow is on Cypress :), it's about competition, fair play, and positivity; it's about one Country inviting every other nation into its home, all current political angst aside, for an event that towers over everything.

Through the unfortunate loss of Georgian Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili and all the other ups and downs of this event. We have come together as a city, a nation, seeing the positiveness of strong human spirits. Individuals who show a generation in this city, how much you can do and how much you will be supported in your efforts, by family/friends, your city and the whole country.

So now that this event is over all the nay-sayers will still have their gripes about the cost of it all. But we have to look at these costs and see what they could do. Don't think of it as money wasted, think of the future, the kid who never knew what moguls were before this, the boy who now has a speed skating oval to train in, or the young girl who watched Joannie Rochette's heart felt Olympics and now want to follow in this amazing woman's path. This is what i see the Olympics doing for our community; it was The Greatest thing that will probably ever happen to Vancouver.

2010 Olympics Start

The night before the olympics start. Spotlights are up and Vancouver has never looked so alive!


People start to fill Granville. It will only get worse from here :)



Hudson Bay Company; the center of the madness of Olympic gear.

The beginning......

Where i currently live. North Vancouver. In the mix of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. What resurfaced my desire to capture the beauty that is this region of the world.
Taken from the bottom of Bute; above the Mill Marine Bar @ 9pm.