Someday the mountain might get 'em, but the law never will

I haven’t been feeling focused enough to write in the blog lately. There was a great-but-quick trip to VA Beach with friends, where we floated in the ocean and came up with some good (and some not-so-good) literature-themed bar names, including:

• Fahrenheit 45Rum
  
• Tess of the Daiquiris
  
• Dom Quixote
  
• Pinot-nocchio
  
• A Cocktail of Two Cities

Oh, I’ve forgotten so many good ones already. We did decide that our bar would have a late night pizza joint next door called “War and Pizza.” On the downside, the name makes absolutely no sense, but on the upside…it makes me giggle.

There was Vancouver, which is freaking gorgeous. So pretty that I even dared to rent a bike…twice. Jeremy and I have decided that if we have a ‘President Perry’ or a ‘President Bachman’ (I threw up in my mouth just typing that), we’re moving to British Columbia, where the hoboes pick up litter and they sell earflap hats shaped like mystical creatures—one day you could be a unicorn, the next day a yeti! It’s a magical place.

One strange moment that I must share from our trip: I have started watching Supernatural this summer, which shoots in Vancouver and features a ’68 Impala. I saw that car on the streets of Vancouver (the actual one—they were setting up a shoot), and Jeremy admitted that it was cool—but not as cool as seeing, say, the General Lee. I held myself back from making cracks about the South Carolina native wanting to see a car with a big Confederate flag on top (OK, OK…I didn’t), and the debate continued over drinks at an Irish pub. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the live entertainment starts playing…wait for it…"The Good ‘Ol Boys," which is…wait for it…the freaking Dukes of Hazzard theme song. The musician couldn’t have overheard us. And so I reluctantly gave Jeremy the ‘win,’ based on cosmic intervention. Which I feel is kind of cheating, but whatever.

And now, there is my new job. Which is awesome. And my new home office, from which I work…every single day. Yes, that’s right…I have a ten second commute. Tilly is not so happy that I spent all of today upstairs in the office, but she stuck close by:

That’s the foot of my office chair you’re seeing. She stuck REALLY close by. Although she did move around a bit:

Those Canadian doctors bandaged me up, put my shoulder back in its socket, and reset my jaw, and they didn't even bill me. Idiots!

So I am in Vancouver, BC with Jeremy, tagging along during his annual “Geek Conference” (computer graphics conference). Yesterday was a loooong day getting here, but after a good night’s sleep and a plate full of fruit (to combat the complete lack of fruits/vegetables and all the beer from yesterday), I set off to explore the area around the hotel.

No exaggeration, there is a coffee shop on practically every corner. It’s also ridiculously clean. I saw one homeless man going through a garbage can, but I also saw him pick up litter off the ground and throw it away. In DC, if a homeless person is going through a garbage can, it’s usually followed by some kind of disgusting bodily function (peeing, spitting, etc.), not random acts of community clean-up!

There are dogs everywhere. I actually saw one dog walking itself – not merely off leash, but with the leash folded up neatly in its own mouth. Most dogs are just off leash completely, however. You can tell they’re Canadian, because they are so freakishly well-behaved and nice.

In short, I’m really looking forward to the next week and a half here. In other news, this will be my last “unemployment adventure” for a while—I start work on August 18. It was the first (and only) job I applied for, and it’s an educational consulting firm with a “virtual office,” meaning—I’m working from the comfort of my own home! Which was the dream all along, really.

I got the news about the job exactly 6 months to the day that I left my old one. A lot happened in those six months, both good and bad, and I feel blessed to have had the time and opportunity to travel a little bit, to say goodbye to a few loved ones, and to (as cheesy as it sounds) find myself again. I’m feeling stronger and happier than I have in quite a while.

Cheesiness aside, my main focus right now is drinking good beer and doing some quality people watching. I’m sure there will be some highly-mockable folks in town, so stay tuned!