Naked bikers?

Thanks, Laura - you're right. I'm way overdue for an update!

Photos from Stanley Park - Patrick (German guy I met in NZ who was passing through Vancouver) and I rented bikes and pedaled around the park.

Life has been chugging along quite nicely here in Vancouver. Nothing huge or exciting has been happening, but my days generally pass quite pleasantly. I'm still enjoying, for the most part, the happy, stress free responsibility of serving gelato. And interesting things happen inside - and outside - those doors. We had a bride and groom come in one night, in full wedding attire, with their photographer (of course, I gave them free gelato!) I encountered my first regulars: Cindy and Jonathan, a couple I peg near my own age, whose first impression was made as they stood in front of the displays making out. They are very much in love, are not afraid to show it, and I tease them that they are melting the ice cream.

One afternoon, in response to the sounds of several ringing bike bells and some hooting and hollering, everyone turned to look outside and saw at least 100 people biking by NAKED. Now that's a jaw-dropping sight if I ever saw one. I think they were protesting oil wars - business pretty much ground to a halt for a few minutes...except for me and the little girl I was serving. She really wasn't all that interested in what was going on outside and it would have felt rude to ignore her just to stare out the window in astonishment. We also served gelato to Matt Frewer one day although, at the time, the only name that popped to mind was Max Headroom.
And I seem to be of interest to some of the male customers that pass through our doors - gotta love the ego boost!
I've been asked to be a shift supervisor. I start training next week.

Socially, I've become quite attached to my Vancouver friends - although, ironically, none of them are Canadian. They are from the UK, Australia, Mexico, Japan...and I will miss them greatly when it comes time to return home.

I'm moving to another apartment at the end of the month - my current roommate turned out to be too much of a weed-head for my taste. Plus, I got tired of feeling like I was under a microscope: Where are you going? What are you doing? What's that? Man - the guy even picked up my spoon and sifted through my cereal one morning to see what was in the bowl! Get me outta here! Strangely, in my search for a new place, I started becoming more and more selective, and began to wonder if none of them were reaching my standards because what I was really looking for was home...

Anyway, July 1st (CANADA DAY!!!) I will be moving into the furnished den space in a co-worker's apartment. The place is pretty sweet - including a pool and a gym in the building - and I have a better idea of what to expect from my roommate this time since I've gotten to know him through work. And he doesn't smoke weed.

Weed or not, my eyes have not been very happy here in Vancouver. I decided to pop into Emergency late one night after a movie and have my eyes checked. And the side story is that this movie was the setting of a date...which, yes, ended up in the emergency room. Ha, ha. So funny. Notice the lack of exclamation marks. Anyway, my eyes had been stinging, red, and extremely sensitive off and on all the prior week, and that night I had a hard time keeping them open, they were so sensitive. With all the strange flus and diseases around these days, I was worried I had contracted some strange infection as a result of working in such a public place. Fortunately, it turned out to just be a severe allergic reaction to a multitude of pollinating flora. So I've been stuck wearing my glasses until the allergy subsides. Don't get me wrong: they're nice glasses and I still get compliments on them, but I just don't see as sharply with them as I do my contacts. And I can't wear sunglasses!

I didn't get the MEC job. I was told that they were very impressed with me but decided not to offer me the position. No further explanation was given. Although disappointed, part of me was a bit relieved to know that when the summer ends there will be nothing to confuse my decision to return home. :O)

And home is calling.

_______________________

Darkness falls across the land,
the midnight hour is close at hand.
Creatures crawl in search of blood
to terrorize y'awl's neighborhood.

And whosoever shall be found
without the soul for getting down
must stand and face the hounds of hell
and rot inside a corpse's shell.

The foulest stench is in the air -
The funk of forty thousand years!
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb
are closing in to seal your doom.

And though you fight to stay alive
your body starts to shiver -
for no mere mortal can resist
the evil of the Thriller! (Can you hear the maniacal laughter...?)

RIP Michael Jackson