Wednesday, January 13, 2010 – 3:22pm – NALH Office, Burnaby, BC

I’m always noticing things when I’m out and about and I thought it would be neat to start to mention some of those things when I make new entries in my journal. Instead of just an account of goings-on, maybe I’d like to try to have it be more of an account of observations, too.

Earlier this morning when I was waiting for the bus on my way in to work, I noticed that nearly everyone I saw walking down the various sidewalks was carrying an umbrella. Not surprising. I mean, come on – it’s Vancouver, it’s winter and that nearly always equals rain. What I thought was interesting, though, is that very few of the umbrellas I saw people carrying were black. There were reds, blues, purple, dusty rose…a rainbow (no pun intended) of colours trotting up and down the sidewalk, held close by their carriers.

The house on Portland Street that is being built now has begun to have its siding installed. It’s a tan colour, which seems rather bland. I am interested to see what the final structure will look like, as it started off with plywood walls and tar paper when I first started taking the bus down that street.

I was thinking recently about something funny I do every time I take an airplane. I get on the plane, stow my carry-on in the overhead compartment, take my seat, buckle my seatbelt and then commence my ritualistic performance of adjusting the little air vents above my head. It takes scientific precision to get it positioned in just such a way that it will actually blow directly at your face and I can regularly be seen tweaking it, then sitting back, reaching up again to give it a gentle nudge and sitting back again. It’s quite comical to witness, if one is so bored as to notice in the first place.

First day back at work today. I’m sleepy (surprise, surprise) because I was kept…ahem…awake til the wee hours and then disturbed by alarm clocks and cell phone alarms 2 1/2 hours before I had to get up. GRRRRR!!! My email inbox here wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected it to be. I’ve been catching up on reading newsletters, sorting emails and handling other assorted tasks to get a to-do list together and get some traction on checking some of the items off. Leaving in 2 hours. Going to see Avatar (again) with Laina, Tamara and Rachel.

I still need to catch up my entries from when I was in Louisiana. Hopefully, I’ll find time to do it before I completely forget everything!