Tim Hortons

Yesterday I went to Tim Hortons for lunch (first time) and discovered why there are fat Canadians. Obviously, there are fat Americans because McDonald's asks everyone, "Would you like fries with that?" After ordering my sandwich at Tim Hortons (which was on the list of low-fat sandwiches), I was asked, "Would you like a donut?"

Well, I thought it was funny. And no, I didn't get a donut.

Art of Procrastination

I thought I had some pretty neat ice cubes today.

Witty's Lagoon

Today Lior took me to a very neat lagoon/beach (depending on the tide) that is very close to Victoria with views of the Olympic Mountains. I've added some of the photos I took to Winkflash. There were some quite spectacular views, like these:

Anyone else care for a swim?

I like the color of the wood of the Pacific Madrone:

And this drinking swan was pretty neat:

I got some other pictures of swans that were landing on the water. They are loud as they slap the water with their feet (to slow down?) and run on the water a bit before floating.

Isn't Victoria short compared to the very distant Mt. Baker?
(Sorry it's grainy--I accidentally left my camera on ISO 400.)

Bunny Hunting

In the true spirit of Easter (cough, cough) and to recognize the plethora of bunnies on the UVic campus, today I went bunny hunting.

First I went to London Drugs, but the only bunnies they had were "Milk Chocolate Flavoured Confection." I bought one to see if they were any good. They were not.

Next I headed to Wal-Mart which turned out to be a war zone. I'm sure that they were over the fire code for capacity. Plus, the Easter candy shelves were completely raided and stuff was thrown everywhere.

Then I headed to Zellers, and on the way there must have been a fire at one of the Traveller's Inns because they had Douglas blocked off both directions with fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars. Anyway, once there they had some real chocolate bunnies for 25% off. (Fake chocolate was 50% off.) So I bought all the ones that weren't decapitated. That was 6 (total of 2.1 kg = 4.62 lb). Mmmmm.

Saanich Centennial Parade

Today was the Saanich Centennial Parade, which just happened to be on Easter and happened to be filled with people saying "Happy Easter." What a coincidence.

Have no fear, I was there with my camera to capture all that was tacky. I'll just start off with the best.
Then there was the police race car with a great tagline.
Many animals had to suffer, like this bunny horse. It was so ashamed, it saw me put my camera up to my face and it hid behind that girl.
This was the slowest moving parade of my life. There was even an intermission. A really slow group of people caused a huge gap in the middle of the parade (so huge you could not look down the straight, level street to see the group). It was a group of Chinese kids that would take a few steps then stop and do a dance that lasted longer than the time spent walking to get there. Thankfully there was enough overall tackiness to make the parade ok.

April 14

So I was remembering what else happened on April 14th in the past, and recalled that it is a day of impending doom. Just look at what has happened:

• 1865, Lincoln is shot and dies the next day.
• 1912, Titanic hits the iceberg and sinks the next day.
• Any year, U.S. income taxes are due the next day.

Thankfully some happy things happened as well

• 1981, The first space shuttle (Columbia) lands for the first time.
• 1993, The human genome project is completed.
  
• Some crazy duck rider was born.
  

Widespread Hockey

In order to prepare the meal mentioned in the previous post, I had to purchase a bag of Sunkist oranges. Now, considering the title of this post, you are wondering, "What do oranges have to do with hockey?" Well, I asked myself the same question. Inside my bag was a wrapped hockey card. I opened it when I got home to find a Yvan Cournoyer card. Having no idea who this guy is, I looked to the back of the card. No mention of his team. On the back is only a 1 line summary of his 16 years in the NHL and a reminder of how awesome fruits and vegetables are for growing kids!

NZ Crew

Last Sunday through Tuesday, my aunt, uncle, 4 cousins, and aunt's mom all came to visit me! (Only the 2 guys stayed in my apartment. Do you have any idea how long it takes 5 females to get ready in 1 bathroom?) All but my aunt's mom live in New Zealand, but are currently in Portland for a few months and decided to drive up here to see Victoria and this beautiful island.

Sunday they got off the ferry in the afternoon and I met them downtown. We wandered around and saw some of the cool things like the inner harbour, Bastion Square (where they used to execute people), Market Square, and the narrowest street in Canada! Then we all came over to my apartment where I fixed maple ginger salmon, poutine, carrot salad, and peanut butter chocolate pie. It got rave reviews.

Monday we spent exploring the island by looking from the top of Mt. Douglas and driving to East Sooke Park on our way to Botanical Beach near Port Renfrew. I think I wore a few of them out, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. There was some debate as to whether or not this island looks like New Zealand, but the majority said no. I think it's because of the trees that it is different.

Tuesday the females took over and we went shopping around the city. This was probably because one of my cousins has her birthday today, which caused no one to want to shop with her. Then they got in line at the ferry at about 2:15 and found that they had to be back by 2:45 for their 4:00 departure, due to customs. That took away almost an hour that we thought we had, so we just walked to Laurel Point Park to view the city across the harbour.
It sure was a fun time and a lot of planning went into it. But, I became too tired to plan any party for my birthday this weekend. Oh well.

Another note is that from Mt. Douglas, we spotted a sphinx and pyramid. I'll have to figure out where it is exactly and go there. That's just way too tacky to miss out on.

01:02:03 04/05/06

Don't worry non-Americans. You'll have your chance in about a month.

Paperwork

Today I was very excited. After applying back in the dark ages (AKA September, 2005) to make my car legally in B.C., I finally got all of the paperwork settled and my permit arrived in the mail! I was so excited that I opened it up right away, only to find out... it expires on Apr. 30, 2006. Now I have the pleasure of filing more paperwork to renew it.

My past few days have been full of paperwork as well. I have the joy of filling out tax forms for 2 countries, 1 province, and 1 state. Through this suffering, I have come to appreciate Canada more. The tax system here is easier, as the instructions are more readable (provided you have already determined if you live in Canada or not).

Furthermore, being a poor student in Canada is a much larger savings than being a poor student in the US. Plus, in Canada you don't have to pick between a standard deduction or itemizing deductions, you get to do both! This means even poor people can get a deduction for giving to charity (not that that's why someone should give). Seriously, with the amount of deductions you get in Canada, I have no idea how the government has a surplus (probably has something to do with the military...).