Scotland?!?!?!?!

Well, as you may have read one of the comments to my prior posts, something exciting may be happening soon. A while back I talked to my boss about doing a bit of a secondment type thing in the UK, so that I could see some people and check it all out. This was back in March-ish timeframe. I hadn't heard anything since, and I really thought it had all fallen off the radar.

I got an email in my inbox this past Monday; there may be an opportunity for an assignment in Scotland for a few months, starting soon!! So I jumped at it. Its all happening at the moment, looking to be 70% certain that it will happen. I'm really excited, gonna be doing more travelling, seeing more of the world. Its the right time for me to do this, I dont have anything tying me down anywhere at this point! So in early September I'll probably be over in Aberdeen for 3 months!! There may be opportunities to travel to Norway and London too - we'll have to see!

Stay tuned for further developments! (I'm travelling to Edmonton in a week or so, so thats another one checked off on the list!)

San Fran Pics

These are a couple of sea lions just chilling down by Pier 39. Apparently this is a common sight, and something to see down at Fisherman's Wharf in San Fran. They started coming into the docs after an earthquake back in 1989 and have been a tourist attraction since.

This is a picture of a schooner in the harbour down at Fisherman's Wharf. I am not entirely sure of the details behind it, but I thought it was an awesome picture. Directly behind me in this picture is Ghirardelli Square, named after the world famous Ghirardelli Chocolate. There is a massive sign by the square which I found out later is clearly visible from off shore at night. Impressive!
This is me as we are heading down the road on Alcatraz island. That's part of the city in the background. It must have been terrible being in Alcatraz when the mainland, and freedom is so tempting and just out of reach across the Bay. Yeah I know I am terrible at posing for photos! No comments from the peanut gallery (Unless they are really humourous - keep it clean).

This is a really nice pic of the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance in the fog. This was snapped out the window of a moving cab, I was surprised at how well it came out!

Yep... me in another cheesy pose at the Golden Gate Bridge - I got one of the guys in my group to take the pic, and he cropped off the top of the first tower on the bridge... sheesh - we just can't get the staff these days!

This is a view of the dock at Alcatraz. Rather imposing at dusk, especially with the birds circling and everything a little dark. Actually really glad I did Alcatraz in the end - I wasn't gonna bother in the beginning! (All the rest of the pics from this series were really blurred coz it was getting too dark, and I was on a boat so it just didn't work!)

This is a panoramic pic of Alcatraz in the Bay. Same program on the computer (rather impressed at distance panoramas with it) The fog which you can see here is just amazing. Apparently its really bad in San Fran specifically is because the hotness of the desert draws it in from the Pacific ocean, and as San Fran is a low point it all gets funneled through the bay.

This is a pic of the Transamerica pyramid. Its a very distinct building, as can be seen, and its visible from a lot of the city, therefore had to take a pic of it!

For a lot more pics of my trip (not all of them though - you'll have to email me for those) click onto my Photobucket account.

San Fran conclusion

Well I'm back in Winnipeg now, and realised I hadnt concluded on my posts about San Francisco! Well the rest of the time there was basically spent in training, which was actually not that bad as training goes. I was relatively impressed with it overall. Oh and in case anyone was concerned, I got my bag back from Air Canada on Monday night, so everything turned out ok in the end!

On the Monday evening we went to dinner as a group to a "Hawaiian fusion" restaurant, which was actually really good. It is just across the road from the office. On Tuesday, a couple of guys from Calgary and I went to a really good sushi restaurant near the Golden Gate park. I am really beginning to appreciate sushi more now, even though I would still call myself an amature!

On Wednesday night most people flew out to their respective home cities, however there was NO WAY a few of us would be able to get flights all the way home leaving after 5pm on the West coast. So a few of us went to go and see the rest of the sites of San Francisco. We went to see the Golden Gate Bridge (which BTW is amazing when u stand on it - it is SOOO massive) the Bay Bridge (another of the big bridges around San Fran), Lombard street (the crookedest street in the world) and the Coit tower (a tower from which you can see most of the city, but it was closed by the time we got there - remember we did all this in ONE evening). I will have to post pictures, as those will definitely describe themselves better than I could with words.

The flight home, contrary to most people's expectations after reading about my trip there, was rather uneventful - no delays or lost luggage and generally no issues at all (its a good 7 hours on the plane, which most people would complain bitterly about, but I know better after my trip home to Zim).

San Fran - The Rock

Well I woke up late today, just coz I could! I noticed that I did not have any messages from the concierge service so I gave them a call - and still no bag. This was about when I started to lose my patience with Air Canada. I called their baggage claims department, going through machine message after machine message to get to speak to someone who advised me that it should be delivered soon. Unconvinced I wandered out to go and buy some clothes, and I bought a couple of things, went back to my hotel and called Angie (one of my friends from Calgary) and met up with her for lunch (the other two were watching the SF Giants play - and although it would maybe have been nice to go, it really is not my sport, and I would not have appreciated it enough for the price of a ticket.

We mucked around downtown for the afternoon and then met up with Kelly to head back down to Fisherman's Wharf, which is where you catch a ferry to Alcatraz Island or "The Rock". Its a great ride out to the island and you get some amazing views of San Francisco City. When you got close to the island it just has that ominous, imposing feeling. We were divided into groups of about 60 for the walk up to the cell blocks, and we were told some interesting tidbits about Alcatraz (or "Pelican Island" as its name means). We then were given headsets and were guided through an audio tour of the cellblock with tons of amazing and interesting stories. I actually went into one of the cells in isolation, and it was incredible - complete pitch black - I am really not surprised people went completely crazy in places like that. We then went for a short video documentary about Alcatraz, which was very interesting. We then meandered around for a bit before jumping back on the ferry to head ashore. Just a note for anyone visiting San Fran/Alcatraz - be prepared, it gets rather nippy at night and you will likely need a jacket or something to keep you warm.

We caught a cab back to the hotel, and I got back to my room to find - no bag and no message. I checked with front desk and still no word of my bag. It is now beyond a joke so I phoned the Claims department to be told that they still have it marked as "in transit" between Calgary and San Francisco. While restraining myself I asked what I was meant to be wearing tomorrow as I have training and need to dress accordingly. I was then told they would compensate me up to $50, at which I laughed coz this morning I had bought a couple of t-shirts and a shirt which cost $50!! So the assistant let me know that he could let me have $100, as if that was a *big* favour - but they have not delivered my bag more than a day and a half later - c'mon guys lets get serious! So none-the-less I'm going to go shopping tomorrow and buy some stuff (I have to furnish them with reciepts).

Its only about 10pm now, but its been a busy couple of days so I am going to sign off now, and I'll provide further updates soon! (I'll also try put some pics up here to see once I get a chance).

It continues... Saturday in San Fran

Well my flight from Winnipeg to Calgary ended up being 40 minutes late, so I arrived 5 minutes before boarding time in Calgary. I then had to literally run (like you see in the movies) from the arrivals gate to the US customs baggage claim, get through US Customs, drop my bag off, get through security check and to the departure gate. Amazingly I managed to do this, but I was running the entire time... It occurred to me when I got on the plane that the time between when I dropped my checked baggage in to the time when we took off was a bit too short for my bag to have made it, however I reconciled myself to the fact that my bag may be coming on the next flight. My suspicions were confirmed when we arrived in San Francisco, and I was informed it was on the next flight and would be delivered to my hotel.

We, and by "we" I refer to 3 of my colleagues from the Calgary office and myself, head straight downtown to our hotel, dropped everything off, and then went to the trams or "cable cars". We caught a cable car from the downtown "Market Street" station to "Fisherman's Wharf", i.e. from start to finish of the line. The entire experience was truly unique, being crammed into this little cabin, being joggled around as we went up and down all these hills, but altogether something that just *has* to be done in San Fran. Down in Fisherman's Wharf we just wandered around, and its a special sort of experience there, with the whole "docks" feeling, mixed with tourist-centric attractions, with lots of souvenir shops and restaurants. We ate dinner at a seafood restaurant at pier 39 (they have a number of piers all around the bay, all with specific numbers to identify them).We took a cable car on the way back and I got to hang on the outside of the car all the way, which really just made the entire experience.

We got back to the hotel at around 10:30pm, which is 12:30am Winnipeg time, so I was pretty beat, and ended up just going to front desk to check if my bag had been delivered or not; and it had not yet been delivered. I wrote it off to a mis-communication at the airport, and went straight to bed.

The time has come

So I'm waiting in the airport, its a beautiful Saturday morning, the weather is awesome, people are smiling, the squirrels are doing their thing, and I am heading to San Francisco (Yeah I know, I think I said I was going to LA in a previous post, but I didnt pay much attention to whether it was San Fran, LA, San Diego or Timbuktoo)

I have to fly through Calgary for this, and it I think the travel person at EY booked everything a bit too tight, as the flight to Calgary is running 10/15 minutes late, so who knows if I will actually make my onward flight... <sigh> Nothing to worry about, its out of my control, so going to get on board and enhoy the flight!

I just overheard some Canadians here who were complaining bitterly that they now had to use passports to travel to the US, because only recently did the US impose this requirement - before they just had to present their drivers license or some other form of identification... I really felt like tapping them on the shoulder and telling them all the hassle that I have to go through to travel anywhere! I didn't as they likely would not be able to begin to comprehend!

Ah well I think I am being called to board now, so I'm going to sign off for now!

Unhappy Planet

Some academic tree huggers have put together an interesting scale that was done showing a "Happy Planet Index". This was calculated by looking at the combination of how satisfied people are, the life expectancy and how well managed the ecological aspect of the country is.

Hardly surprising is the fact that Zimbabwe comes last in the list of 178 countries with a Happy Index of 16.6. Other "happy countries" like Fiji, the Philipines, Argentina come in with a Happy Index of over 50. The "happiest country" was a little island nation called Vanuatu. Perhaps it is time to ask for a transfer...

The link for this scale is here: http://www.happyplanetindex.org/list.htm

Vancouver eh?

So as you read in my previous posts I was in Vancouver last week - and I love that city! It has an awesome vibe, and is very much geared to residents and the tourists that flock to the city.

It is a port city and as can be seen in this pic there are cruise liners docked beside the rather impressive convention centre. There is construction going on on the other side of the convention centre to expand its size to nearly half a million sq metres.... Which is HUGE!

I did a lot of walking around the city and some select pictures have been uploaded here.

One of my favourite pics was a panorama that I stitched together of the city. I used a program called Interactive Studio to do it and it worked really well. I have included this below:

There is also a massive state park right near the downtown core of Vancouver called Stanley Park. I didnt get the stats for it, but it is incredible and I included some pics I took in the link above.

I got it, I got it!

Its as if I won the lottery, well not quite... But close! I got my US Visa, and lo and behold I check it to see the number of entries, and I dont see a "1", I see something that I had to confirm with the security guard - a "M". That means I can come and go to the "land of the free" (sic) as much as I like for the next year... I think the Visa guy must have been charmed by my *unamused* conversational skills at the interview, where after getting to the consulate at 8:30am I eventually got into my face to face interview at 12:26, which lasted a total of 4 minutes, most of the time of which I was explaining how to identify controls in an IT environment (hey he wanted to know what I did...)

So I'm going to LA next week-ish, more on that in later posts!

Travelling to the US... Is it worth it?

So I have training that I have to attend in the US, and because I have the notorious green mamba (the Zimbabwean passport) I obviously have to get a Visa to travel there. I had to go last year and went through this process in entirety, from having to fill in complicated, convoluted forms, get a letter from my work to say that they are keeping me as an employee in Canada, paying USD100, proving that I have a valid work permit for Canada. To top it all off I have to travel to another major city for a personal interview as their is no US consulate in Winnipeg. It really feels like you are going through the 3rd degree, and all for a 3 or 4 day trip to the US for training, which although its likely to be interesting, could really be held in Canada somewhere.

The crazy thing with this whole situation is that I have training again in the US in August. So I will likely have to go through this all again in a few weeks, as, because of my passport, they are unlikely to grant my request for a "multiple entry" Visa. I'm really going to try and convince them that I need this tomorrow in my interview, however the bureaucracy which these Visa agents follow could quite easily compare to most African countries (at least the waiting conditions in the consulate are better though).

I'm telling you all this because I am on a flight to Vancouver right now. My flight was delayed and I am sitting next to a rather inebriated man, so this is all adding to the whole annoyance factor.

Canadia day

Well it was Canada Day this past weekend. Everyone here seems to really take advantage of long weekends, and they certainly partied this one up. The street by my apartment actually closes down a few blocks for an all day/night street party which is pretty well attended. They have street performers singing and entertaining the crowds. I'll be updating this post with pictures when I have some pictures on this machine.

There is also a big festival which takes place at the heritage site in Winnipeg called "The Forks". The Forks is actually just the place where the two main rivers running through Winnipeg join, and this is of significance because of this was a meeting place for fur traders of old. So the forks is also a family event where they have various different entertainment things going on from concerts to clowns and magicians. This past weekend was also the first weekend that they opened the new skate park there, which apparently is one of the best facilities of its sort in North America.

They also have a fireworks display on Canada day night, which everyone and their dog seemed to come to. I went to that, and it was pretty impressive, I was trying to take photographs of the fireworks, which just wasn't working without a tripod, but it was worth a try none-the-less.

As Canada day occured on a Saturday they declared Monday to be a public holiday, which meant a long weekend. In addition, because of the close ties with the US the Tuesday (4th July) was also taken by many businesses as a holiday.

As a note for all those wondering why the title of this post appears to be mispelt - this was intentional. Canadia is the "backformation" of the word Canadian which describes people from Canada. Back formation works for America (American) and Africa (African) - why did Canadia have to be different?!?