A Random Haiku

My poppies are in bloom in my garden (and I saw fields of them at van Dusen Gardens last weekend), and while I was at home today, this popped into my head.

Orchid's only rival
Poppy's red origami
Blooms make me happy

Phases of a Thesis

Tell me why I want to do thesis papers again?

My darling wife, who's been through both a MS and a PhD, told me that by asking that question I was at the "it looks like an insurmountable peak" stage.

I asked what the other stages were.

Apparently, next comes the "work like a demon" stage, followed by the "I don't care anymore" stage.

The weirdest one is the "I can't believe I got away with that" stage. That's the one that happens after convocation.

In between the "I don't care anymore" and the "I can't believe I got away with that" stages comes the "I'm too blotto to form sentences stage"...

... that's the one that happens after a successful defense.

I have lots of good wine in my cellar for that!

Fencing

No, not the fancy footwork kind with epee or rapier, the more banal kind with posts and cedar panels with latticework.

When we bought our place in 2003, the fence was given "a couple more years" by our realtor. Our neighbours to the north who own several properties in the neighborhood concurred.

Over the winter, our fence finally showed its age and one of the board kept popping out of its panel. I finally did some makeshift repairs to hold that in, which prompted the stress on the fence to show in another place and soon the side was sagging and looking disorderly.

We conveniently had a Home Depot flyer in our newspaper back in April that said they would come and give us a free quote, remove the old fence and dispose of it and then install the new one.

A brief digression - we have debated many a time to push the fence out closer to the sidewalk, but several things made us decide to replace the fence exactly in place:

• the Telus box that was in front of our fence was nice and small, but in February Telus came and replaced it with a huge box (for Telus TV among other things) about three times the size, which meant any previous plans for fencing around it would have to be redone.
• we would have had to move the garden over.
• any space we'd gain would not really be a net benefit. Notwithstanding that we have essentially a postage stamp sized back yard, we have several parks and playgrounds close to us, including one literally half a dozen houses down the alley, so any theory that the back yard would be a good play space for our daughter would not be fulfilled.
  

So we had AIM Cedar Works come out and give us a quote. We were technically too small a project (they wanted a minimum 60' of fence, ours was 54'), but they said they would do it anyways, and gave us a quote. 10% off if we booked by the end of April.

Well, we thought about doing it ourselves, but the price was very reasonable (much lower than we expected) so we booked it.

Yesterday, they came and installed the fence. It took them all day, as they hit a snag. The owner before the one we bought the place from had poured concrete in the back yard (torn out by the previous owner, and further reclaimed with a grass installation last year by us), which meant they had to jackhammer out and dig a trench to remove the gate posts. Lesson learned, aside from relief that we'd hired professionals, was that it's easier to install a new fence from scratch than to replace an old one.

The new fence is a thing of beauty. The old one was 4' tall and had a bracework of crossed bamboo poles for the Japanese hops we had to create privacy in our back yard. However, the hops are aggressive plants that in the spring grow as much as 6" a day or more, and further go to seed in the fall and die off until the spring, so there's always a mess to fix.

The new fence is 5' tall, and it's just the right balance between giving us more back yard privacy and less maintenance. I expect more back yard time this summer.

As a final comment - AIM Cedar Works rocks - they came when they said they were going to, did a great job of removal of the old fence, installing the new one, and cleaning up before they left. On time, professionally done, and on budget. I would happily recommend them to anyone.

$1.234

I bought my fuel efficient Tercel in 1998. At the time gas was $0.399/litre for regular gas.

Yesterday, I filled up and the price was $1.234/litre. It cost $42 to fill up, the most I've paid for a fill up on my car since I've owned it.

I'm glad I have a gas sipper rather than a gas guzzler!

Missing the Point - Incandescent Bulbs

The minister did not reply to me, but my MP did. Her reply was:

Thanks for your message about the proposed phase-out of incandescent lightbulbs.

The most common replacement for incandescent bulbs currently is the use of Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs). I recognize this is not always the perfect replacement for the phasing out of incandescents though.

I also want you to know that Paul Dewar’s Bill to phase out incandescent lightbulbs, as it is being drafted, does not specifically recommend the replacement of incandescents with CFLs. We recognize the new technology is being developed all the time, and hopefully we will soon have a solution that addresses all our concerns.

The phasing out of incandescent light bulbs is one of many alternatives that can help place Canada on the path towards ensuring environmental security and sustainability.

Thanks again for taking the time to write and share your concerns.

Sincerely,

Libby Davies

I did send a reply:

Dear Libby,

With all due respect, the point I was making, and which bears repeating, is that banning incandescent bulbs does not generate a desired result.

If the desired result is to reduce the power consumption of light bulbs, then the answer is NOT "let's ban incandescents", but rather "light bulbs must not consume more than x watts per y lumens".

To once again use the example of California, they did not ban internal combustion engines, instead they set emission standards.

THAT is what I am advocating our government do.

So don't ban incandescent bulbs, set power consumption standards. THAT will achieve the stated goal.

Thank you.

Will keep all y'all posted...

Risty's Redux

When I first moved to Vancouver back in 1998, I took a lovely one bedroom apartment in Marpole. It's a great neighborhood and between 64th and say 72nd on Granville, you can find pretty much everything you need - doctors, dentists, banks, grocery and produce stores, and last but surely not least, restaurants.

One of my first pleasant discoveries was a classic family diner called Risty's. It became one of my regular haunts and I'd go there at least once a week. Even after I moved near the Drive, since I worked in Richmond, a former colleague and I would go there regularly for lunch.

A couple of years ago, the family who'd owned it when I first moved into town sold it. The new owners were very nice, and the food was every bit as good. They even kept the original menu.

However, and this is not meant in an unkind way, the new owners had, for the kind of restaurant it was, poor English. I have countless times been in eateries in Richmond like at the food court Yaohan Centre where I've pointed at what I want, or been to a hole-in-the wall place where I've had the opportunity use what few phrases of Cantonese I know to order dim sum.

But for a classic diner, a burger and fries place with endless coffee, where the regulars are as white as the Wonder bread they make toast with, having to point to the menu to order a club sandwich is bad for business.

For me, having been a regular since 1998, loving the food, and being a little more flexible about language barriers, I was willing to put up with the minor inconveniences. However, as time went on, I did see fewer regulars, and for that matter, business seemed to be slow.

Just recently, someone else bought the restaurant, and they've now been open for a couple of weeks. Today was the first chance I'd had of going there.

The new owners, as with the previous two sets, are also Asian, but speak flawless English. Hopefully word gets around and business builds back up quickly.

Little seems to have changed at Risty's in terms of decor, which probably hasn't changed since the ... 60's? 70's? Certainly unchanged since 1998!

The menu has changed though. Gone are the salads, which were always a weak spot in the line up, and sadly, gone are many of the breakfast options (like the Denver hash and the famous Risty's omelette!). However, they have streamlined the menu and played to their strengths. A strong lineup of sandwiches and burgers, including the new "super burger" that has cheese, mushrooms, bacon, and... a fried egg. The soups are still home made and delicious.

The service was diner efficient - never did my coffee cup see its bottom, and the food was fabulous - hot, fresh, well prepared.

Risty's still strongly recommended by me!

Ratings:
Service: 4/5
Ambiance: 3/5
Food: 8/10
Price: $

Score: 15/20