All Things Considered

"Here we go." I thought, sliding groggily out of bed and stumbling into the bathroom.

Shortly after, having showered, eaten, and while heading out the door with a non-sealed package under my arm, I realised that this was a big moment, and almost took a few seconds to soak it up ...

- but the door clicked shut, a metallic grinding from my keys filled the silent hall for a moment, then I was off, out into the pacific-northwest chill to wait for the bus.

Downtown, I walked into Staples office supply centre, USB key in hand, smile on my face, package under my arm still unsealed.

"Howdy," I chirped to the girl behind the print-centre desk, "how do I print off a document from my flash-drive?"

The girl glanced up, blank expression, "Log on to our website, and submit the order online. It'll be ready about ten-ish." I check my watch. 8:23am. "Um... couldn't I just print it out here?"
Now she looked as if, ridiculously, I'd just asked a print-centre to print something.
"You'll have to submit it online."
"But it's only one page... it'll take twelve seconds, it's just a black and white text document. I'm kind of in a hurry."
"I've got orders that need to be in by ten. There's nothing I can do about it. Sorry." Then she goes back to shuffling around in a square between the copier and the coffee cup by the window, and I stand there awkwardly, the broken automatic front doors behind me opening and closing on their own.

I get back on the bus and head to work, where I use the printer there to print my one-page black and white document in less than twelve seconds, then I'm in a cab, heading back downtown again. This time it's a quick journey.

Reception is quiet, a group of people chat amongst themselves a few feet away from the main desk where an older gent sits, watching as I walk in. "Morning." I nod to him, and a brief conversation ensues. I leave my package - now sealed tight - there, knowing it'll get where it has to go, then it's back into the cab and back to work. I'm only five minutes late.

I didn't have a chance to think about it that day. I discovered hackers had broken into an account of mine, and 5 of my websites had suddenly became ads for middle-eastern war protests. Once fixed, it was right on to other matters. A project I had for a friend was looming and I'd been slack lately. I stayed at work after hours, then headed straight to a friend's place for Lost. After that was a few rounds of cards.

I couldn't sleep that night, and the next morning I could barely get out of bed, but made it slowly through the day with coffee and yogurt raisins (no, not together).

Now, here I sit in a cafe, realising for the first time that Frontier is officially out of my hands, and apparently under the eyes of the executive in charge of development and production at CBC.

Holy shmolee. I actually got this far.

It's quite a stretch from two years ago, from those first evenings sitting at a cafe under a caffeine haze, jotting notes in a small book and wondering where the project might go.

But despite the relief at finally having everything 'finished', despite finally being able to sit back, stop fretting, actually play my piano again, and despite knowing that I did the best I could, I keep saying the same thing over and over in my head. The same three words that remind me I haven't really gone that far at all yet.

"Here we go."

Jimzip :D

The Fog

For a whole week, the city was cloaked in grey, but it wasn't rain. Not this time.

In the morning, I wake to two o'clock darkness even though my alarm told me it was seven, and as I stepped out the front door the sounds of the city felt close, as if I had entered a sound-proof room. It's what a concert would sound like if you were underwater I imagine. The cold was sharp too, permeating through even the thickest, warmest winter jacket. My bus appeared from nowhere, headlights shining as long cones through the damp air and I stepped up into dry, recycled heat.

All together, it's a weird feeling.

Every year it seems, this city is covered like this. Usually the fog rolls in and vanishes within a day or so. This year it's lasted over a week. To see what the city actually looks like when it happens, a Google image search for 'vancouver fog' gives a fair idea.

It's amazing for a few reasons. Firstly, if you've ever wanted to know how the Care Bears live, well let me tell you it not nearly as bright and happy as they make out. Their fur is probably wet and matted, and I imagine that doesn't smell to hot... but hey, it's cool being in a cloud no matter how gross wet fur smells.

Secondly, you get some great photo ops. Actually I spent a whole night out and around the city taking footage and stills. It's so dramatic I couldn't pass it up! There's a couple of projects in the works which I'm sure the footage will be useful to have.

Thirdly, it gives me a great segue into my next blog post...

Stay tuned.

Jimzip :D

Welcome to 2009

Suddenly, the woman sitting to the right turns towards me and opens her eyes.

"It must be nice to be going home." She says in a mother-hubbard way, scaring the hell out of me as the plane hits the tarmac.

Home.

A flurry of friends, homemade breakfasts and -2 degree mornings.

Vancouver for another year.

It's weird to think of when this city became my home. I suppose it happened when I first decided to come here a few years ago, but it was just four weeks ago that I was getting all excited about heading back to Aus for Christmas. Melbourne is my real home after all, and I still get that giddy feeling whenever I buy airline tickets. Then again, I could be buying tickets to Tasmania and I'd still be giddy, I love traveling, especially by air.

The time at home flew by though, three weeks felt like three days, and I managed to squeeze in time with family, friends and even a LAN café. The suddenly I was back at security, being roughed up by a woman who reminded me of Oscar the Grouch - and not because of her personality.

Back in Vancouver, sitting and reflecting over a cup of ginger-mint tea (not a word...), I realised that my New Year's Resolutions were different this year. They weren't goals, they were reinforcements. After all, I'm pretty happy with how things are going, I don't want to do a 360 or drastically alter my situation. Not at the moment anyway.

So I picked things that would keep me on track. Things like: "For every stupid purchase you make, break one of your fingers." and so on.

Well ok, not that extreme, but you get it.

Already I feel this year is going to be a good one. In reality, I've got so many things to get working on that I can't really afford to think anything else, but I hope it's a great year for everyone else as well. We've all got some interesting challenges ahead, not limited to the job and financial situation putting a lot of stress on people. The key will be to think positive and keep smiling, and hopefully we'll all get something rewarding out of this new year.

From Jimzip to the world:

Welcome to 2009.