happylife

Charts for flying

These are so called VTA charts we are using while flying. A VTA chart is the largest scale chart for aviation use which has the most detailed terminal information. The scale is 1:250,000 and it covers almost all the area where we are usually flying around, therefore it is the most important chart for us student pilots. The upper chart in this picture is the Vancouver VTA chart I had been using since this April and the bottom one is the latest version of the same chart which I finally got a few days ago. Between these two versions of VTA charts, there was another version but it was recalled as soon as it was published because of a lot of errors. Charts should be revised as soon as there was a big change in its information and it was this May when the control area of our airport was largely changed. Three months after the change, I could finally got the latest and current VTA chart which still has a mistake.

How many sunsets?

Although the air is getting cooler day by day in Vancouver, it is still fine everyday and I can see the sunsets almost everyday. When I watch the sun setting behind the mountain I often think how many times more I can see the sunset in my life? If I could live thirty more years I have a chance to watch it 10,000 more times at most, however I have to consider the weather, place, and my conditions such as health, work, and so on. I estimate the number of time I can see the sunset about 2,000. If I go back to Tokyo and do an ordinary job like most Japanese people, this number would be reduced to 500 or less. I hope I can watch the beautiful sunset as many times as possible.

A strange dream

I had a strange dream last night. There was a small, bottomless pond at the center of Downtown and a little elephant was drowning there. A lot of people were watching it without doing anything and eventually the elephant almost drowned just with his nose tip out of the water. Fortunately I came back from the dream before he died. I don't know why I had such a dream. More than ten years ago I was almost drowning at a broad of the Kushiro river when I was touring down the river by canoeing. When I tried to land at a river side and made a step on a land which was so wet and muddy that my body sank by my chest. I couldn't move at all and I was alone there. Luckily then I could hold my canoe and escaped from there after hard struggling. Although the dream must be related to this experience, it was a happening more than ten years ago and I have never experienced such a drowning since then. Dream is a strange thing.

Pumping up tires

At a bike shop on the way to Stanley Park, I pumped air into tires of my bicycle. It was for the first time in these three months. I pumped up a little bit more than usual to make them harder. After pumping up, my bicycle has totally changed in it's character; the harder the tires, the less the drag, the lighter the pedals, the faster the speed, and the more comfortable my cycling. I cycled around the everyday course in Stanley Park five minutes faster than usual. Only one problem of hard tires I recognized is that it gets slippy on rough roads. When I turned on rough roads I felt less grip and was within a inch of slipping down. Although it is a bit dangerous, I prefer hard tires.

Sweets not too sweet

In Japan it is not common for men to have sweets in public. Sweets are supposed to be food for children and women, therefore I often felt hesitation to order sweets at a cafe in Japan. On the other hand in Canada, fortunately there is no such discrimination. Both men and women, from children to old people, they all have soft cream on streets which looks like a paradise of sweets. Only one problem is that most of sweets in Canada are too sweet for me. I have a list of cafe which serves sweets not too sweet. I sometimes select one of them and order sweets not too sweet with a cup of black coffee. This peach tart is one of the sweets not too sweet.

Taking a nap

In this season I take a nap in the afternoon almost everyday. The daylight time is more than 14 hours here and it is too long for me to move around all the time. My body requires taking a rest and I obey with it. Usually I take about a one-hour nap between 1pm and 4pm. Today I went to bed at 1pm and it was very pleasant to take a nap listening to the noise outside the window; the sound of waves, hokey guys, seagulls, and even cars. Slight sea breeze made my napping more comfortable. And then, when I came back from the dream world, the clock told me it was 7pm. I have overslept almost 6 hours! Nobody can call it a nap and I felt myself rather tired because of oversleeping. I got up then and went cycling around Stanley Park because I had more than 2 hours before the sunset. Now the sun has set and I have taken a shower. I feel like it is in the early morning. This is just like a jet lag.

Fishing

I have little experience of fishing though I'm interested in it very much. There are quite a few good fishing points around Vancouver and I have a boat here, but I have no fishing rod. If I started fishing, I would be deeply addicted to it and I would spend much time for it. That's the reason why I don't do fishing. Flying, sailing, cycling, diving, taking pictures, playing the ukulele, and running a small business; I have now enough hobbies. I think hobbies are necessary for life but too many hobbies could ruin each other and the life itself.

Sea sick

I sailed in English Bay with my friend and his two girl friends who were not familiar with sailing at all. The winds and the waves were moderate and it was a very pleasant sailing at least for me, however, when I stopped my boat by heaving-to and taking a rest one mile off Stanley Park, one of the girls got sea sick. She seemed so bad that I decided to sail back to the marina, but it was supposed to take more than 15 minutes before arriving at the marina. There are some recovery procedures for sea sick and I tried one of them. I had the patient to take the tiller of my boat and control it. This method worked very well and she got recovered in a minute. My filthy boat was saved from the suffering of vomit in this way.

A huge buoy in English Bay

This is a huge buoy in English Bay which is used to tie temporarily a barge with. It is made of a large size drum can and fixed with a thick chain to the bottom of the sea, therefore it is never moved by strong wind or rough wave. Although it was an obstacle for me when I started learning sailing in English Bay, it is now very useful for me because it works as a land mark so that I can recognize the exact position. A lot of sailors sail around this buoy and it is a good practice for maneuvering sail boats. Furthermore, I often see seagulls or blue herons are taking rest on this buoy. It is a really useful buoy for many residents in English Bay.

The sunset

It is fine everyday in Vancouver almost for one month and I can enjoy the sunset from my balcony or on the cycling course in Stanley Park. It is interesting to watch the sunset because we can feel and recognize the motion of the sun. When the sun sets behind mountains, the motion of it is so obvious that in a few seconds the scenery changes dramatically. Soon after the sunsets, the sea which was shining changes its color into purple, the color of twilight. The sky color also changes from orange to blue. The gradation is spectacular and we can never see the same scene again everyday. The autumn is coming soon and the sunset point is gradually shifting to the left. By the end of this month, the sun sets behind the horizon.