happylife

In a fog

It was foggy day today from morning to night. I was staying in my room all day long and sometimes looked out of the window, but nothing could be seen except the fog. I heard some foghorns which were romantic in tones. Fogs are quiet and they seem to be peaceful, however, they are very dangerous for both sailors and aviators. In terms of aviation, there are clear rules which all pilots have to comply with. VFR(Visual Flight Rules) is effective only within the VFR minima and we can't fly, if the weather was less than that. On the other hand, in the world of sailing, there is no such rule about weather. Sailors can sail whenever they think they are safe, even in a thick fog just like today's one. Actually some sailboats went into the fog this morning. As I have sailed in a fog a few times, I know the feeling of sailing in a fog. We can see nothing except the boat cockpit. In a thick fog, we can't even see the sea water. It's a feeling just like floating in clouds. It is a completely white-out situation and we can't move anymore. Of couse there are some usuful devices like a rader and a GPS, but they are not always reliable. I prefer staying at home to sailing in a fog.

McDonald's logo in Canada

As you know this is the McDonald's golden arch logo. We can see it everywhere around the world, but please take a close look at this picture. There's a small, red maple leaf. When I first found it a few years ago, I thought that someone made a piece of mischief on the logo sign. I was wrong because almost all the McDonald's have this small maple leaf at the center of the golden arch. I don't know the reason for it, but someone said that this is the Canadian's self-assert that they are different from the U.S. I don't want to say anything about the Canadian's assert but what I want to say about this logo is that it is not a good design. The maple leaf is too small and looks unbalanced.

A bottle of water

This is my day-pack which I carry everyday when I go out. It has a special pocket for a bottle of water. Carrying a bottle of water is pretty common in Vancouver especially among young people, which I think is rare in Japan. Why do they carry a bottle of water in Vancouver? Of course they have no risk here to get lost and die of lack of water even in Canada, but it is rather difficult to get free water in the city. In Tokyo, we can have a drink of water for free almost anywhere; there are lots of cold water servers in public space like in the stations, in the banks, and in the park. On the other hand in Vancouver, we can't see such machines, and most washrooms are for the customers only and are locked to anonymous people. There are few vending machines which we can see every where in Japan. I think all these things are the biggest reason for that Starbucks are so popular in Vancouver. If they felt thirsty and they had coins, they would go into the cafe without a question, however, if they had no coin or they didn't want to spend money for just a drink of water, they would carry a bottle of water.

Free papers

In Vancouver we can get many kinds of newspapers for free. They are called free papers and there is no difference between the free papers and pay newspapers except for that the free ones have more advertisement and less pages. This "metro" is one of the free papers. I read it almost everyday because I can get it from the box just in front of my apartment. It has a rather easy sudoku puzzle game and I feel happy as I am evaluated as "genius" for sudoku almost everyday. It is quite different from the five-star sudoku puzzle in the Vancouver Sun, which is so difficult that I can't often solve it after hours of struggle.

Too comfortable

My room is messy but very comfortable to live in. Everything I need is equipped; I can watch the TV or DVD, I can play the ukulele, I can listen to the music, I can enjoy the spectacular view through the window, and I can connect to the Internet as much as I want. I can go to bed which I think is the most pleasant bed in the world and I can take a hot shower whenever I want. Even free coffee is served although it is self-serve and not actually free. What else do I want? But too comfortable environment doest not always make a good result. I can't concentrate on what I should do for the first priority because there a too many things which draw my attention. I sometimes go to a cafe to do work or study because some restriction is there, which is not in my cozy room. If I had a book which I have to read, I would go into a cafe only with the book. I can concentrate on it because I can't do anything except for it. I think this is the most popular reason for paying for an expensive cup of coffee in a cafe.

Sunny Monday

After the strong wind last night, it was beautiful sunny Monday today. There were no clouds in the sky except for over North Vancouver. I drove to the airport with sunglasses. I think I have never worn sunglasses for months. After finishing the check ride with the class-one instructor, I was pointed out a problem about my flying; that is I have to trim the airplane to keep the constant altitude. It's a basic and important point. If I can trim successfully enough, I can get the PPL which is very close I feel. After coming back home, I went cycling to Stanley Park. It was rather cold in spite of the sunlight and I felt I can't ride a bicycle with only a T shirt any more. The shower after coming back from the cool cycling was very hot and pleasant. I went to a Malaysian restaurant and had a delicious and reasonable dish, and then went to a bookstore and stood reading there. I can do lots of things in a sunny day, but I'm afraid the weather is getting bad tomorrow. It was just a lull in the rain.

A rift in the clouds

It was rainy today and I was doing something in my room all day long. When I was reading some documents about aviation, I felt warm sunlight in my back of the head, which I had never felt for several days, and I came across this spectacular view of the sky. I almost forgot that there is always blue sky above the dark clouds. The sunlight and the blue sky made me happy although they had gone away after a few minutes. After I went to bed at night, there was strong southerly wind which always blow the clouds away. I anticipated that tomorrow would be fine.

Sudoku for Palm

As I mentioned before, I'm now addicted to "Sudoku," a Japan made, simple, numeric crossword puzzle. I bought one of the sudoku books which has 125 puzzles, and finished them. I mean I have solved all of the 125 puzzles. It's rather ridiculous because it takes 10 to 60 minutes to solve each puzzle. I did it in these three weeks while preparing for the PPL written exam. I know I had to spend all the time for sudoku to prepare for the PPL, but I couldn't. The puzzle game is so addictive. After finishing the book, I've got great software for Palm, which generates new sudoku puzzle games as many as I like. It is almost a black hole for me; all of my time and energy are pulled to it. How can I escape from this strong temptation?

Ice cream

In the freezing compartment of my refrigerator, there is a barrel of ice cream. Whenever I like, I can scoop a spoonful of it and enjoy the sweet, cool, and creamy taste. This is an eternal dream for little children and I had the same dream in my childhood. Now that I am old enough and the dream has come true. Lots of people pursue dreams which can not easily turn into a reality, however, there are lots of little dreams which are easy to get just like this ice cream. Anyway, I like this so called "Neapolitan" ice cream which is made of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate flavors, because the taste varies according to the angle and point of the spoon when I scoop it. It is such good taste that I can hardly stop at one scoop. I get this gallon ice cream almost every month, and I'm gradually getting fat. That is the only problem.

Weather forecast

When I came to Vancouver, I was disgusted with the inaccuracy of the weather forecast. It often misses, almost every two days, that is to say, 50 percent of probability, and the five-day forecast is rather worse, which is just like a fortune-telling. I can guess the reason for that; the weather in Vancouver frequently changes, the limited number of observation points covering the vast area, and so on. This is a weather chart called GFA which is for aviation use. It is rather precise and updated more often than the general weather forecast because it is critical for pilots. I'm checking this chart almost everyday these days. There are lots of unlucky symbols on it; The character "L" means low pressure which is coming close to Vancouver, the red arrows like "R" indicates thunder shower, and "EMBD TCU" means embedded tower cumulus. I wish if this forecast would miss as usual.