Apartments in Hell

Seems easy enough. Sell the house you're living in and rent 'an apartment' until you decide where you want to relocate. Nothing too fancy, just a place to hang out for maybe six months while you check things out and about. Grab the newspaper and go to rentals. Not much there because everybody has a program online to find your perfect spot:

gottarent.com
kijiji.ca
vivaliva.com
rentersonline.com
padmapper.com
rentspot.com
and of course .craigslist.ca everybody's favorite.
Confusing to say the least. Most are a jumble of rooms, houses, apartments, condos and basement suites tumbling one after the other. Minimal descriptions. Vague references about size and amenities plus indications that parking, laundry facilities etc.are an added cost.
The first few apartments looked at were at least clean. Very tiny one bedroom units and two bedroom units crammed into 600 square feet. Blurting out that the second bedroom makes for a good storage area doesn't seem to impress landlords.
Our last visit was the best. From the Google street view the older type building appeared reasonable and clean. After parking and approaching the rental office, the true picture began to emerge like a gathering tornado from afar and fast moving. The exterior of the building likely hasn't been touched in thirty years and the growing moss layers seem to hold it together despite the rotted out corners and missing siding. Stepping into the building was an assault on the nasal passages and negotiating a path along the carpet? - between unknown stains and the duct taped seams - required careful route finding. Most of the wall sconces were dangling but they at least distracted one from contemplating the the unwashed walls. Best one could say about the unit was the replacement wood floors as the original carpet must have deteriorated into thin air. Kitchen cabinets made in a grade school wood shop held together by multiple coats of paint. Back out to the hallway and the ever presence of mildew wafting through the air.
Time to go but wait there's more. Would you like a look at the indoor pool? Why not? Maybe an upside exists for this hovel. Not so easy to gain entry even for the manager as the keys stick and the combination key pad only deigns to work after the third try. Once in, lo and behold, a concrete hole in the ground filled with heavily chlorinated water (maybe) and not a lively color or decoration in sight. After a quick peak at the dry saunas, it's finally time to leave, except the door has locked and none of the keys work from the inside. Not to worry another exit exists where it still took a couple of minutes of jiggling keys to free us.
We took the proffered application just in case we need a scratch pad on the way home.

Norvan Falls

Pretty easy hike out to the falls - 14K return and about 200 meters of elevation gain - on a well maintained trail. So good in fact that you could cruise your Lamborghini up and down the first couple of kilometers on the gravel packed surface with no fear of bottoming out. An experienced mountain biker could easily make the next two kilometers rumbling over a few roots and cobbles; although, on this day there was a bike locked up to a tree shortly into the section from someone less than enthusiastic for a bumpy ride. From that point out to the falls the trail has roots and rocks plus a log bridge to navigate with walkways over some swampy areas. It is both a well worn path and well marked. Nice to see a signpost marking the trail off to Coliseum Mountain which was not there a few years ago. Worth wandering over to the suspension bridge for the photo opportunities before the last 200 meters up to the falls.

On a beautiful, warm sunny day (truth be told you don't get to see much sun) it is surprising to see only a half dozen other hikers past the debris chute. While the traffic is noticeably heavier on the first couple of beautifully manicured kilometers, far less people are willing to venture along the rougher sections.Got me to thinking about the amount of money spent on trail maintenance for a small number users. While there are trails with heavy usage e.g. Mount Seymour, Joffre Lakes, Squamish Chief, canyon trails at Golden Ears, most have very limited visitors. Reasonable to understand why those trails receive the lion's share of the funding while the others tend to narrow in with overgrowth, get blocked by dead-fall and have washed out bridges. Many in the outdoor community bemoan the lack of funding for their favorite outdoor areas but fail to appreciate the lopsided expense on a per capita basis. If you venture into the wilds, besides being experienced with maps, compasses, GPS and having  healthy respect for bears, you should not mind whacking through some overgrowth and doing a little trail finding.Not every path requires a city park makeover. Otherwise, enjoy the trip around the well maintained seawall in Stanley Park.

Urban Coyote

Interesting little fellow. Bit on the smallish size so I assumed mother may have chased him off to start a new life on his own. He spent a considerable amount of time wandering in circles checking up and down the block plus gazing longingly down the back alleys. Finally he curled up beside a small tree on a lawn across the street for close to an hour before heading south and disappearing.
Couple of days later it looked like the same coyote loping through the park with what appeared to be a meal in his mouth - about the size of a small cat - so his hunting lessons apparently kicked in before starvation. Been a few weeks without any sightings so either he moved on to a more promising territory or he too bit the dust.
Tough life living in the middle of a modern city!

To Roof Or Not To Roof

This is Vancouver.
No matter how clear the skies, how warm the temperature or how awesome the meteorological forecast, expect rain at any moment. Try to remember we live in the Coast Mountains where the warning is to always be on the lookout for rapid weather changes.

Noticed this house on the way by about ten days ago. Some of the red, clay tile had been removed from the roof possibly to repair broken ones from a wayward tree branch or other mishap. Surprised me to discover the entire roof covering was gone three days later; especially since tiles should last forty to fifty years and these were barely on for twenty five. Looks to be some damage from leakage around the skylight windows because the dark areas my be due to mold. Without being able to climb up there. no way to assess what the problem may be. Judging by the new packages of insulation waiting to be install, it's unlikely the ceiling gyproc was damaged.

Since replacing clay tile is so expensive, perhaps the owners have opted for adding sheathing over the 1 x 4 strapping before installing asphalt shingling. However, other than the insulation no other materials seem to be present. Even more disturbing are the lack of tarps to protect the house in case of inclement weather. Wouldn't take much of a downpour to make a total mess of the interior before anyone has a chance to show up and cover the open roof.

So now every day that goes by seems like playing Russian roulette with the protection of the dwelling. Good luck with that!

A Touch of Amarillo

Rain or shine when you walk down Hornby towards False Creek, you're greeted with the strong flash of yellow from Bridges on Granville Island. Most of Vancouver tends to dull and washed out colors reminiscent of graveyards. Almost all the condominiums surrounding False Creek are the same pasty blue or green tinted glass towers pancaking into a solid mass of blandness almost as soon as the eyes perceive them. On sunny days you can sense some sparkle as the rays of sunlight bounce back and forth between the close knit structures but when skies are overcast or the rain teems down, all you see are clumps of grey. I've always wondered why houses and buildings are so muted the further north you travel. From the vibrant colors of Central America, all the bright lively hues are slowly extinguished as you head north until everything becomes the color of bleached out, caribou hide at the Arctic circle. I think it reflects the disposition of the populace in each region. Happy, lively and passionate in the South: sad, lonely and disinterested in the North. However, I've noticed most of the newer buildings in Puerto Vallarta destined as dwellings for gringos receive the dull, washed out facades. Must be the pervasive inbred capitalist outlook.
But the added bonus of today was the little yellow boat adding that little something extra.

Blue Screen of Rain Death

Yet another Vancouver condominium now under wraps undergoing remedial work due to water infiltration and damage. This one on Hornby has company, just around the corner on Beach its bigger brother has been completely enveloped in scaffolding and tarps. Since the early eighties watching Lower Mainland buildings pop in and out of protective cocoons has become commonplace with some buildings having already undergone a second rehabilitation. There has always been a lot of finger pointing at developers, contractors, municipal authorities and the National Building Code but the cost of repair always falls to the condo owners. Funny that commercial buildings, except for public schools, rarely have major damage due to water infiltration. Maybe poor design has been built into the plans! Having the building envelope fail every dozen years keeps the construction industry fat and busy - just another way to help the economy along.
After so many years of shrouding these buildings in white or green,  draping then in a nice bright blue certainly is an upscale design choice. Probably adds another 5% to the contract price but standing out and being noticed must be well worth the extra price.

Yet Another Dead Idea

Sitting around some time ago, I decided to start up a blog on Tumblr even though I have this one plus another on WordPress. The notion was to either alter photos I took of signs or caption them humorously. The swimming one was taken out at a beach in Richmond and there was no reason given for the warning; so I added one at the bottom specifying it was a Pacu breeding area. It was in reference to an article from Sweden about an Amazonian fish mistakenly introduced into the waters off the southern coast of the country. Apparently, the fish decided to harass male swimmers by attacking their testes which undoubtedly would prove to be extremely painful and debilitating. As usual, the story turned out to be an urban myth but probably caused quite a few chuckles as it went viral itself around the globe before being forgotten and swept away by the next myth. At first, it was easy to find signs to photograph and alter or just think of clever captions.

I had passed by this store many times before but once I had decided to do the blog the connection to Jung was obvious. Of course,  I assumed everybody would have enough knowledge to understand the reference. Likely wrong on my part. Might be the problem with the other photos: too much work to make the connection. Much of North American humor, especially television and movies,  relies on slapstick and crudeness. Subtlety falls flat. All comedy follows the doctrine of the lowest common denominator. 

Anyway, after posting a dozen or more times, ennui set in and I simply stopped looking for appropriate signage. Seems to happen to me a  lot. Get all fired up about something until the air slowly sizzles out leaving me with flattened out topics. So now I have a blog on Tumblr in a state of hibernation or suspended out there in the internet ether.