The Meandering Thoughts of Cheryl

Yay Utah!

2006-08-20T19:02:00.000-07:00

Wow! Yes I have a new entry! It’s been TOO long. LOTS of stories to tell; however, for now I’ll just talk about my 3-day trip to good old Snowbird, Utah. I went with my supervisor, another prof from U of A and his research assistant. We were going for a conference on MUNE and QEMG. These acronymns stand for Motor Unit Number Estimation and Quantitative Electromyography. MUNE is a technique I am using in my lab on patients. Briefly, only about 50 people in the world use MUNE even though it started 30 years ago. MUNE is a method of quantifying the number of motor units in a specified muscle. A motor unit is the most fundamental component of the motor system-enabling one to contract their muscle. A motor unit, by definition, constitutes an anterior horn cell (cell located in the spinal cord), its axon (a part of the nerve that sends signals down from the spinal cord to the muscle), the nerve terminal (where the signal is sent) and the muscle fibers it innervates (comes in contact with). It is a very important technique because anatomically we cannot count how many motor units are in a human muscle, instead with this procedure we can estimate the number of motor units. The clinical significance is extraordinary! In patients with ALS (also known as Lou Gerhig’s disease or Motor Neuron disease) as the disease progresses there is a drop in the number of motor units. MUNE allows us to follow the progression of the disease, can hopefully allow us to understand the underlying mechanisms, and can be used for diagnostic purposes, and more recently allow us to determine if a drug is working or not in slowing the disease. Currently there is no cure for ALS. The patients often die within 3 years. The problem with MUNE is there are so many different MUNE techniques (5 major ones) and no one can come to a consensus on which one is the best. I use two. One is called Multiple Point Stimulation (MPS) and the other Statistical MUNE (based on the assumptions of the Poisson distribution). In a future blog maybe I’ll explain the procedure.
Anyway, the conference was exhausting! It was my first conference. From what I heard it was a very unique one because it was a focused group (about 45 people) and only the second symposium on this topic. Most of the participants were clinical electromyographers. I’m not, but hanging around my supervisor and his colleagues I have picked up on much of the medical jargon and was able to hold my own in the discussions. My supervisor presented one of my Master’s projects. We will be writing an article to be placed in a supplement of the Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology. The supplement will encompass all of the presentations and will result as a book. =) I’m still waiting on another paper that was resubmitted to the Journal of Physiology. Master’s has been crazy, but there has been some pay off.
One night at the conference, my friend from U of A and I decided to go have a drink with some of the participants. I learned so much from the experts. My supervisor went to bed instead. He doesn’t drink. I think that was my favorite part of the trip. I got to know people for who they were and learn a lot from their stories. I was pleasantly surprised to find a beer called “Polygamy Porter” lol =) The beer was disgusting; I had my friend finish it off. The logo was hilarious: “Can’t just have one. Take it home to your WIVES!” lol Good old Utaaaaah. Hahahah
I found out that people from Utah are called Utans (sounds like “croutons”). I was disappointed the Utans didn’t have a distinct accent. Oh well…
The trip was quick, but enjoyable. It was nice to get away and meet the amazing experts. I don’t know if I would visit Utah again. It was nice, but Salt Lake City appeared very small.

The Good Old Hockey Game...

2006-02-18T07:45:00.000-08:00

Come on Canada! I'm watching the men's hockey game- Canada vs Switzerland. We're going to lose because of all the penalties! Come on Canada smarten up!

Poker Champ!

2006-02-12T08:13:00.000-08:00

Last night I played Texas Hold'em for the second time in my life. The first time I played I was the second to lose all my chips. However, yesterday I had a strategy-fold most of my hands. I was so eager to play last time that I played every hand and of course my luck ran out. Well last night I won! Crazy! I won a huge package of chinese snacks! Yeah! :)

Squash and Karoke -What Night Could Be Better?

2006-02-09T22:19:00.000-08:00

Well, after a great day of experiments I went to play squash with Meghan for 2 hours. Afterwards I went to Ave Pizza for free pizza. It was my residence's night out. I stayed a while-mingling, gettign to know people. Karoke then started up and there I was singing 3 songs. Umm... I guess I'm more outgoing than I thought! :)

Skating in Heaven

2006-02-08T18:28:00.000-08:00

Well, I just got back from skating at Hawlawk Park with the neuroscience crew. I had a great time! The park is about a 15 min walk from the university.We've decided that every Monday and Wednesday we're goign to go skating! :) Skating under the stars and the moon was heavenly. :) I'm liking Edmonton more and more!

Glenrose What a Place!

2006-02-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

Every Monday I go to the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital to see patients with my prof. You never know what kind of day it will be. :) Last week the secretary found a bullet in the hallway and had to report it to security. The same day there was a patient in the waiting room who was high. Interesting day. Also the same Monday a 87 year old gentleman flirted with me as I conducted hand function tests. I told him that the next test would be fun and he replied "Why? Are we going to turn the lights off and shut the door?" He asked me if I was married. Haha Man whatz with guys asking me that?

Today I was asked the same question. I had just missed my bus and so decided to take another one and try out the LRT. Well, I ran down to catch the train and this guy and I both tried to open the doors, but the button didn't work. Alas...We started talking (of course I talk too much to strangers) and waited for the next train. He asked if I was on the phone. I was confused, and said "no". His English wasn't that great; he was from Nigeria. I guess he meant if he could have my number because he then said that he to meet me again on the LRT. Man... 3 times so far this month I have been asked if I was married. Funny thing is that I wear a ring that my Mom gave me. It is nice, but it is on my right hand. Guys who can't figure out that I'm not married aren't that bright and so aren't my type (wink wink)...My new logo :)

Today I saw wonderful, funny patients. My prof brought me in to see one gentleman who used to live in Greenwood, NS. He was so sweet. We talked and talked while my prof saw another patient. At one point he turned to me and said "Do you like what you are doing? I worked for 20 years at a job I hated, and when I finally retired I lived." At that moment I realised that I did enjoy what I was doing. Elderly people are very inspirational. It was a pleasure to meet him.

Today, I also met a patient who said he liked fishing. My prof replied that I should be an expert because I was from NS. I laughed and said that I've never been fishing. Kindda strange...Ummm I should get on that. :) Anyway, he then said his fishing buddy was the richest person in his town and that he was from China. He turned to my prof, who is chinese, and said "Do you know him?" My prof and I chuckled. "Surprisingly", he did not. :)

At Least Porter Won...

2006-02-05T20:39:00.000-08:00

Well, I just finished watching the Superbowl. Sigh...The 40th Superbowl with Seattle Seawhawks vs the Pittsburg Steelers. Unfortunately, I was cheering on Seattle. Some bad calls by the refs in that game. However, no excuse. In the end the Seahawks played poorly.

It was the first time that I was able to catch the commericals! Some were hilarious. :)

The half-time show wasn't so impressive. The Rolling Stones are getting a little boring. "I can't get no, satisfaction!"

Print How Many?

2006-02-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

This blog is way behind on my adventures...Sigh I will post them soon.

This week I am busy printing and stapling questionnaires for the neurophysiologists of Canada. My prof thought it was too expensive to have 600 packages(8 coloured pages per package)printed at Staples and so I am busy printing them. It takes forever! Honestly, I don't know how it will be finished by Friday. I started yesterday afternoon. I have 225 done! Woo-hoo. That's a long way from 600!

Today I learned that I hate printing double-sided. The papers began to stick to one another (too much static) and it messed up all the copies! I had to constantly go through the printed copies and disgard a lot of them. Now I'm just printing on one-side. Well, umm I wonder if the $1700 to print them at Staples would be worth it? To me it would :) I'm the one printing them. Back to stapling... I have to watch out for paper cuts! I already have two! OUCH!

Anyone Can be Friends

2006-01-19T07:21:00.000-08:00

Check this out:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20060118/ca_pr_on_od/oddity_hamster_snake_friends

I Scream You Scream We All Scream for Ice Cream!

2006-01-18T20:25:00.000-08:00

Yum! I love vanilla ice cream. I eat ice cream on average 2 times a day because the my apartment is always hot!

I never realised that I eat ice cream in a unique way until my roommate pointed it out. Since I was little I have eaten my bowl of ice cream in 9 steps. I am going to share them with you now. (Maybe you'll want to get a bowl of ice cream and try it out for yourself). (wink)
Cheryl's 9 steps to eating ice cream in a bowl:
1)With a spoon take some of the melted ice cream along with a tiny slice of the unmelted ice cream and eat it.
2)Squash the hard ice cream down (on the way to making it soft serve)
3)Then swirl the ice cream in a clockwise direction
4)Flatten the ice cream
5)Eat the ice cream layer by layer until there is just a thin layer covering the bottom of the bowl.
6)take the ice cream around the perimeter of the bowl and place the it into the middle of the bowl
7)Repeat step #6 except move the bowl around (changing the angle so more ice cream is placed into the middle)
8)Go straight down the middle of the bowl with the spoon and eat the ice cream
9)Repeat step #8 except this time go left of the middle and eat it, then go to the right of the middle and eat it.
Yeah you finished your first fun bowl of ice cream!

On My Anodal Break. hahaha

2006-01-16T21:38:00.000-08:00

Silly neuroscience joke. Anodal break excitation refers to an action potential generated by hyperpolarization.

Anywho..I'm quite bored, working on my lovely MATLAB assignment (MATLAB is a computer language). I'm definitely back to work. My supervisor returned today, after a vacation in Hong Kong, and we saw patients all day at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital. I conducted hand-function tests on patients with carpal tunnel syndrome.

I'm back!

2006-01-15T20:15:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a while since I've written in my blog. Ummm I have lots of stories... The next couple of days I'll post new entries.

A White Christmas...

2005-12-25T16:55:00.000-08:00

Last night my family and I went to church. Afterwards we returned home to warm up by the fire and the tree with hot apple cider. A relaxing night with the family.

This morning I woke up at 9am. There's no little kids around so we were able to sleep in. I received practical gifts. :) My grandmother made me a pillow set and dolleys. I love receiving gifts that someone has spent time making! The rest of the day I did nothing. We're watching "Doubt Fire" on TV. Not much to do here on the island. In a couple of days I will be back with the rest of my family in the valley.

Merry Christmas to everyone! It's been 5 years since I've spent Xmas with my dad on the island. Time flies...

I'll Be Home for Christmas...

2005-12-24T07:10:00.000-08:00

Well here it is Christmas Eve Day. I'm chillin' here in Summerside, PEI writing Christmas cards, and spending time with my dog Hollie. The house is beautiful. There are eight Christmas trees decorated. One tree is just for Hollie. It has doggie treats as ornaments.

It's a nice change to be home for the holidays. Last year I was in BC. I love BC, but spending Christmas by myself was difficult. I'll never forget it-watching "It's a Wonderful Life" and eating KD. :) Tonight we're off to church. My dad actually gets some time off work!

Well my trip home began on Monday. I took the sky shuttle from the university at 5am. The shuttle was full. Some people had to wait for another shuttle. A guy sitting beside me had to catch a 6am flight! As I was going through security I saw him. He missed his plane by a minute, but Air Canada got him a new flight at no cost. While waiting I met a guy going to Vancouver for Xmas. He said he would switch tickets with me. He was so jealous- I don't think he realises PEI is ncier in the summer. Anyway, he turned out to be a funny guy. He told me this joke:
Forrest Gump goes to heaven. The angels welcome him, but Forrest is upset becuase he doesn't believe it's his time. The angels make him a deal... if he can answer three questions correctly he can go back to Earth. Forrest would be given some time to think the questions over. Question #1: How many days of the week start with "T"? Name them. #2. How many seconds in a year? #3 What is God's first name? The angels felt sure Forrest wouldn't get the answers right, especially question #3. A couple of days later Forrest returns to answer the questions. Forrest exclaimed that there were two days of the week that started with the letter "t" -today and tomorrow. The angels laughed and said "ok good one." They didn't think he would get the other two right. How many seconds in a year? Forrest answered "12." The angels snickered "But Forrest there are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour...How did you get 12?" Forrest replied "The 2nd of January, the 2nd of February..." The angels enjoyed the answers. That's fine. They knew Forrest wouldn't get the last question right. "Ok Forrest what is God's first name?" "Oh that was easy. I didn't even had to think about that one. It's in a song... "And he walked with me, and he talked with me..." lol Go Andy.

My plane was 45 mins late from leaving Edmonton due to all the luggage that had to be placed (or should I say thrown) onto the plane. I was supposed to meet a friend in Calgary, but unfortunately my plane to Halifax was already to go when I arrived. The plane had to be held for me and the other passengers. I sat in row 23. Now I should know by now what row 23 entails, but I didn't. Row 23 is beside the bathroom. I was in the aisle seat so I always had someone standing beside me waiting for the bathroom.

When we arrived in Halifax we were 45 mins late. Oh well... We didn't know there would be another snag- the bridge was working. The captain came on and said that we would have to wait becuase they couldn't get us off the plane. 20 mins later I was back on the ground. :) (Aside: Here is a silly joke told by WestJet: What did the father buffalo say to his little one as he was going off to school? Bison (Bye son). Lol just in case you didn't get it :)

My sister and her husband met me at the airport and we rushed off to my mom's for supper. The next day mom and I went to Costco where I had poutine. Suprisingly, they used real cheese curds and they gave me lots!

The next day I spent with my sister. We drove off to the valley to see my family! We spent the day with my grandparents and my uncles. A great day! The following day (I guess now Thursday) my sister and I took off to the Mic Mac Mall (not as big as West Edmonton Mall lol). In the bathroom I met up with a girl I hadn't seen since we graduated together. I always meet people in weird places. :) For lunch I picked up my old roommate Jill and we went to Cora's. Great to see good old friends.

Yesterday I arrived in PEI. My stepmom and I went shopping. Now you would think the malls would be crazy at this time of year, but because the island is so small there was hardly anyone out! We went and saw my dad on his coffee break and spent the rest of the night just chillin', watching' "Deal or No Deal." My dad is working again today, but he'll have some time off this week- before I return to NS.

Merry Christmas.

Xmas is but Once a Year!

2005-12-17T10:06:00.000-08:00

Off to NS on Monday. I can't wait! Time to relax and enjoy the holidays! I wrote my exam on Thursday and wrapped everything up yesterday. For the past two nights I have finally had time to go out with friends. Last night I went to an Irish pub called O'Brynes. Great music, great atmosphere, and great people. It really got me excited to go home. 2 more days! Yeah!

My Dentist Phones Me!

2005-12-06T21:14:00.000-08:00

Yep I'm special! My dentist called me tonight at supper time with the news that she thinks she found out my condition. Check this website out!
http://www.db.uth.tmc.edu/orthodont/sfrazier/default2.htm. Maybe I could be a subject. Anything for science. Umm genetic mutation-I knew I was a mutant! lol :)

Pretty Duckling Stage

2005-12-03T18:08:00.000-08:00

I have a space between my teeth. I always thought it was cool when I was younger because I could hold a straw there. lol I never minded it. I think it's terrible that this website calls it the "ugly duckling stage:"
http://www.doctorspiller.com/Children's%20Dentistry.htm#adult%20eruption%20schedule
I quote, "This stage of development needs special comment because so many parents mistake it for an orthodontic problem. It's called the "ugly duckling" stage when there is a space between the top central incisors. This is the norm between ages 7 through 12 years of age, and usually is not connected with a permanent space between the teeth." I can't think of me without my space. I guess my genetics are mixed up in this case too. The "problem" of the space is supposed to be filled in by age 14.

Special Dental Case-That's Me!

2005-12-03T17:09:00.000-08:00

I am very special indeed. Yes I don't have a palmaris longus, but that's not why I am so unique! I went to the dentist today to get my baby tooth pulled. It had a cavity and had a hole right through it. "Ouch" many would say, but it doesn't hurt that much. So the dentist looked at my X-rays and was shocked. She couldn't believe that I have 6 to 8 baby teeth! It's very rare! In fact she said I had a 1 in over 2 million chance of having that many baby teeth at my age! She kept saying that I should be a case study. She couldn't believe it! The dentist wondered who would be specialised enough to figure my teeth out. She thought it would be over the heads of dental students at the U of A. Apparently, my problem is genetic. My friend Audrey, who is studying to be a dentist, said I probably am missing my FGF8 trophic factor (important in molar development). The dentist said it appeared the first stages for teeth development was ok, and then it looked like my gene just shut off. Umm nice. Anyway in the end she couldn't pull my tooth. She wasn't surprised it didn't hurt that much. Because it was a baby tooth she thought that the nerve in the tooth must have calcified and died a bit. She cleaned my tooth and said I should see a prosthodonist immediately. I have two baby teeth that are now loose. Unfortunately, I will have to get at least 6 implants! This also can't wait. If I wait I may have to get dentures when I'm 30! Ouch! Each implant is minimum $4000. Yep I'll have to get a loan out to cover my new $40,000 smile. Man. I guess it's an investment. I was so happy to get rid of my student loans. Alas, genetics. The dentist said to inquire if medicare could foot some of the bill. I doubt it since it's such a rarity. However, the dentist said it wasn't my fault and that it was a defect, that the gov't pays for prothestic limbs, and why not prosthetic teeth for those who don't have the genetic make-up to acquire adult teeth. Ummm I don't think it will fly, but why not try? I think the toothfairy and I need to talk. Baby teeth should fall out around age 6-8. I think the toothfairy owes me interest. lol

Bye Bye Baby Tooth

2005-12-03T09:06:00.000-08:00

Yeah the dentist called this morning! I know usualyl I'm not excited, but I need this tooth pulled. Although I have had it all my life enough is enough. I think the tooth fairy should pay me interest. I still have 5 other baby teeth after this one is pulled. Hopefully I'll like this dentist and I'll stick with him for the next 3 years. Soon I will have two holes in my mouth. Another baby tooth had to be extracted two years ago. I have a feeling my mouth will cost me a lot. Sigh.. At least I have some dental insurance.

Ah the good old scales

2005-12-02T18:43:00.000-08:00

Well someone in this apartment building is playing a tenor saxophone. I can't concentrate. They are playing scales and random bits of songs. It's very nostalgic; I remember all the practicing I used to do. Ah the good old days. I miss my sax and piano.

It's a World of Wonder...

2005-12-02T18:39:00.000-08:00

Well, today I was talking to a Master's student, who works in the new lab I am in for my Neuro 500 class. After reminiscing about our undergrad she told me she thought I might know some people who went to Bishop's after they graduated from her high school. Indeed I know them very well. It's a small world after all... It's a small world after all. It's a small world... (Hope it's not in your head now :) ).

I have a baby tooth, I"m 24 long story...

2005-12-02T17:37:00.000-08:00

lol This is my new MSN name for good reason! I saw a dentist in BC last June and he said that one of my baby teeth (yes I have 6!) had a cavity and that I needed to see a dentist when I move to Alberta. He wouldn't fill it because he said the tooth would have to be pulled anway. Well I sort of dropped the ball on this one and have focussed on my Master's work instead. Unfortunately, my tooth is now starting to hurt and my final is coming up. I decided to give a dentist a call. I left a message on the machine that went something like this..."Hi I need to see a dentist as soon as possible. I have a baby tooth that needs to be pulled, I'm 24 and it's a long story." I got off the phone and relaised how silly that sounded. Man.

Wow! What a Game!

2005-11-27T19:34:00.000-08:00

Whoa! I didn't see that coming! What a Grey Cup! First time since 1961 that it went into overtime! Man... Did you see that fumble by the Alouette? He looked like he messed upa touch down and then we find out the ball was thrown twice by the same guy. Weird play! Man crazy! Anyway, I was lucky to be at a friend's house and watch the game ona big screen. The girls didn't like sports, but the dad did. He was happy someone knew a bit about the game. Crazy!

Grey Cup Time!! :)

2005-11-27T15:52:00.000-08:00

Ok. Who would have thought the Eskimos would make it to the Grey Cup? I certianly didn't! I went to a CFL game in Sept. Edmonton played Calgary. I routed for the Stampeders. I dunno it's goes back to the Doug Fluttie days. (Apologies for spelling his name wrong). Edmonton sucked! Well something changed and by some fluke the Esks made it to the Grey Cup. The Montreal Alouettes I guess also were a bad team this year. Oh well it will be a good game. Here is my prediction for the game: The Edmonton Eskimos will win 34-18. Umm yeah. I have to go with Edmonton now. I have no choice-the locals would hate me otherwise. lol :) Anyway I can't beleive I am saying this, but "Go Esks! Go!"

Life as a Student

2005-11-24T17:44:00.000-08:00

Ahhh Xmas just around the corner. Yeah! Just one final exam (3 weeks from today) and my semester is over. :) I can't wait to see everyone.

The Last Night of Fun

2005-11-20T08:59:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to a house party, hosted by my friend Zoe. As people were coming in Zoe was introducing me. At one point Zoe said "This is Cheryl" and one guy replied "Porter from Horton?" He was from my home town; it was Ernie Buist! I didn't know him very well. I knew his younger brother. But it was great to see a person from home! I always meet someone I know in unexpected places. Lol My life is interesting!

The Winds of Change

2005-11-19T14:19:00.000-08:00

Well, Edmonton's weather is certainly strange. One day last week it was
-15 C! Yikes! I was certainly glad to live across the street from work. Today it's 12 C. I think I'll take advantage and go for a walk down by the river valley. It's beautiful there. We have had many wind storms. Two days ago the wind was gusting at 70km/hr. It awoke many of us Edmontonians! lol

A month from today I will be flying home to Nova Scotia. I wasn't sure if I could this year, but I think it's important. I hope to have a relaxing vacation and return to Edmonton with a new perspective. Master's has certainly been demanding and I need to refocus.

What's green and says "Hi I'm a frog"?

2005-11-18T18:48:00.000-08:00

A frog. lol That's a silly joke I saw on the sitcom "Friends".

Smashing Windows...

2005-11-12T12:31:00.000-08:00

This past year I have changed from being a PC user to a Mac user. I enjoy my Mac much more than I thought I would.

Microsoft vs. GM

At a recent computer expo, Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated,

"If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving twenty-five-dollar cars that get 1000 miles to the gallon."

Recently General Motors addressed this comment by responding, "Yes, but would you want your car to crash twice a day?" And . . .

1. Every time they repainted the lines on the road you would have to buy a new car.

2. Occasionally, your car would die on the freeway for no reason, and you would just accept this, restart, and drive on.

3. Occasionally, executing a maneuver would cause your car to fail, and you would have to re-install the engine. For some strange reason, you would accept this too.

4. You could only have one person in the car at a time, unless you bought "Car95" or "CarNT." But then you would have to buy more seats.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast, twice as easy to drive, but would only run on five percent of the roads.

6. The Macintosh car owners would get expensive Microsoft upgrades to their cars, which would make their cars run much slower.

7. The oil, gas and alternator warning lights would be replaced by a single "general car default" warning light.

8. New seats would force everyone to have the same size butt.

9. The airbag system would say "are you sure?" before going off.

Do you have a palmaris longus?

2005-11-09T14:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my prof and I were discussing an upcoming surgery on a person who required one of their tendons (palmaris longus) to be taken out of their arm and used elsewhere in the body. As we were discussing it he showed me which tendon. I didn't have it! That's right some people do, some people don't (13% of the population). It's a vestigal nerve muscle. Quite interesting. They told me not to get any nerve or spinal cord damage. You see it's easy to just take the vestigal tendon and use it in another part of the body, but if you don't have it too bad. This tendon is the most graft tendon for the hand.

For a depiction of this look at this website:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~anatomy/wrist-hand/surface/surface3.html
http://www.rad.washington.edu/atlas/palmarislongus.html
So if you can see two nerves running to your hand then you have a palmaris longus! Congrats! If you don't you can just smile and say that you are more evolutionally advanced than your friends who have it. lol

Cal-garrrr-eeee (garr is held for at least 2 sec, best with a drawl)

2005-11-09T11:26:00.000-08:00

I decided the title was appropriately spelled considering that's how a lot of the locals pronounce their city. Calgary wasn't too bad. Didn't see much considering I was working on my paper. Alas, the paper. Yawn... It's an interesting paper, but yet I'm getting bored of it. Fall break is quickly approaching. My break is only one day-Friday. Sigh.. It's different being a grad student- you hardly get time off.

This weekend I am again off to Calgary to hopefully see the city this time. I'm takign the Greyhound. It's about a 3 1/2 hour trip, but it goes really fast! I guess I'm used to wasting my time on buses due to last year's comute. The bus driver puts on two movies and this also helps to apss the time. Last weekend's bus trip was great. A Cape Bretoner (from of course Fort McMurray) sat beside me. Keith was a biker, going to ride his Harley one last time. His bike was being housed in Calgary. We talked the whole time. He scared at me at one point, telling me that Stephen Hawkings had died a year and 1/2 ago. I didn't beleive him, but he was insistent. I'm always reading the news so I couldn't see how such an event would get by me. It wasn't true. I think he mixed him up with Christopher Reeves. Anyway on my way home I met a nice woman from Saskatchewan. I love meeting people. The bus is the way to go!

Je vais voyager a Calgary

2005-11-04T11:12:00.000-08:00

If you can't get a hold of me this weekend it's because I'm in the cowboy capital-Calgary. Yee-haw! I'm hopping onto the Greyhound bus tonight after work. I need a vacation. Yeah I know I should wait until fall break(which is next weekend), but the vacation is desperately needed. I'll go to the mountains next weekend-perhaps Banff. :)

Did the Time Warp!

2005-11-01T07:17:00.000-08:00

I celebrated Halloween by going to a small get-together. We watched "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". Very interesting! It wasn't as bad as I thought. I didn't know it was a musical! I would never have guessed that Susan Surrandon would be one of the main characters. Overall it was worth seeing. Puzzling, bizzare for sure, but worth seeing at least once.

Pharmacology 371 is my Demise

2005-10-31T18:23:00.000-08:00

Well, well... Multiple choice tests are tough. I knew this one would be a challenge. I studied more than I ever had for a test-over 70 hours! I had a great study partner and felt confident I knew as much as I could. Unfortunately, I saw my mark today.. 54.5%. Very frustrating. Oh well, I guess the 60% final is my next challenge...

Reason #99 Why I Won't be a Doctor

2005-10-31T17:41:00.000-08:00

Well, today I took a carpal tunnel patient down to surgery. It's a simple procedure, taking about 20 minutes. She already had the surgery done on her other hand a month ago. She wanted me to go in and watch. I thought it would be really cool to see how it's done, but... So there were 5 of us in the small room-the nurse, doctor, student doctor, patient and me. I watched as he cut her wrist open... He was showing the student doctor and me what we were looking at. Now I have never seen a surgery before. It was neat... Although it was cool I started feeling light headed. I took a seat and turned my head away and started talking to the patient. The nurse saw that I was pale and asked if I was ok. Of course I didn't want to cause a stir. I said I was fine and just would sit down. She was scared I was going to faint. I put my head between my knees and had some water. I can't believe I am still queasy around things like this.

I remember in primary my class went to a hospital and the nurses were doing a demonstration. They used a tissue and a red marker, saying the red represented blood. I started coughing and had to leave the room to get water. I knew at the age of 5 that I wouldn't be able to work with blood, needles,... Lol I knew that 19 years ago.

C'est l'Halloween!

2005-10-30T17:50:00.000-08:00

Yeah Halloween is almost here! Tomorrow night I am going to a friend's palce to see the famous movie "Rocky Horror Picture Show" (or something like that). I've been warned that it's bizarre. Thanks for the heads up sis.

Here are a few jokes to amuse yourselves:

How much does a Pirate pay to get his ears pierced?
A buck an ear!

What do birds sing on Halloween?
Twick or Tweet

How does a witch tell time?
She looks at her witch watch!

Who won the skeleton beauty contest?
No body!

Why don't mummies take vacations?
They're afraid they might relax and unwind!

And finally...What happened to the guy who couldn't keep up payments to his exorcist?
He was repossessed!

My Eventful Day at the Thrift Store...

2005-10-30T17:43:00.000-08:00

Ok so the title of this blog doesn't sound very exciting, but trust me I have a story. I'm unsure why my life is never boring. Well, Saturday I decided to go down Whyte Ave to the Thrift store for some decorations. I was having a surprised birthday party for my roommate that night. Her birthday was last Sunday, but we were too busy studying for tests. Anyway, so I walked into the thirft store and saw a sign indicating that everything was 50% off. Of course the place was busy. I had just arrived when my attention turned towards the cash register. A woman (probably 60 years old, I'll call her "alien") at the start of the line started yelling at a woman behind her. Apparently, the woman behind her had placed her things down on the counter. The alien was outraged. She claimed that she felt rushed and this was poor service. The cashier (who was black-you'll understand in a sec why I have to say this) was ringing through the alien's objects. The alien then went on to say that she felt rushed, and continued to say that they were giving her poor service... Then she went somewhere I wish she hadn't... The alien stated, "I'm sorry I'm just a poor white woman who doesn't know what to do at the cash register!" I couldn't beleive it. The nerve of this woman (alien)! Anyway, the boss came over and told her that she needed to be more courteous to them. The alien just continued her craziness. The boss finally assertively asked her to leave and not to come back if she didn't like the service! I couldn't believe it. A woman beside me said, "She must be mad." Indeed..anyone that makes such a mockery of themselves is a nut (or out of this world, AKA alien).

Anyway, the rest of my day went well. Lily had a wonderful party. :)

The Olden, Golden Days

2005-10-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

Lol. Just for kicks I went to google and searched for Cheryl Porter and Nova Scotia, and up came a small picture of me in 1997 playing chess. Just go to pictures and scroll down. I'm wearing a blue sweater. :)

Happy Turkey Day!

2005-10-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

Gobble gobble... Yummy turkey. Wait... I wouldn't say that. Umm caught up in the moment. I am a turkey. Hey, what does a space turkey say?
Hubble hubble. heheh I remember a couple of Thanksgivings ago saying that on the radio at Bishop's. Oh, the good old days...

Well today (Monday) was pretty boring, filled with work..., but yesterday is when I celebrated the holiday. Meghan (a friend from high school) has a new roommate named Eric, who has a friend Dax (in the same Master's programme as him). Dax invited us all over for supper. The house was enormous. There were 15 of us seated around a huge table. Everyone had made something from scratch. I, on the other hand, brought some canned veggies. lol. No time to make something when studying; plus I can't cook. I was too embarrased to bring the canned goods out, instead I helped in the kitchen.

Anyway after we got to know everyone we went and played frisbee. It was great! A little boy named Destiny joined us and said he would rather us play sandbox tag. Ummm So he explained it. Kindda weird. Didn't really make sense. So it's playground tag, and one can go on the ground (the "sand")
or someone can call "sandbox" and you're auotmatically "it". Silly because all of us students are too big for the playground and if the "it" person sees someone they can tag them with no problem. There's no where to run to. Later on I realised that there was a slide and teeter-totter beside this playground. Some of us ran there and I hid on the slide. The boys teeter-tottered (I love that word) and beat the game. The "it" person came over and tagged them. When the person began to run away they just yelled "sandbox". The boyz became invinsible. lol Anyway it was fun to play on the playground. Never thought this is what I would do while meeting Master's students. ummm...

Hockey Night in Canada!

2005-10-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

Oh it's back! Yeah! So exciting! Just curious, where was Don McLean? Poor Maple Leafs. Actually they're a smart team, for they didn't waste their energy on the dire Montreal Canadiens team. I like that I live out west. Now I can watch all of hockey night at a reasonable hour. Oilers just won its game on a shoot-out against the Canuks! Great game, fast pace! Oilers came back with 20 seconds left in the 3rd period to then force a shoot out. Whoo-hoo! Go Edmonton Oilers. (Disclaimer: I am a true, and always will be, Maple Leafs fan. I am only celebrating the Oiler's victory because I live here).

The Brain According to Hippocrates

2005-10-06T14:56:00.000-07:00

"Men ought to know that from the brain, and
from the brain only, arise our pleasures, joys,
laughter and jests, as well as our sorrows,
pains, griefs, and tears. Through it, in
particular, we think, see, hear, and distinguish
the ugly from the beautiful, the bad from the good,
the pleasant from the unpleasant...
It is the same thing which makes us mad or
delirious, inspires us with dread and fear,
whether by night or by day, brings
sleeplessness, inopportune mistakes, aimless
anxieties, absent-mindeness, and acts that are
conrtarty to habit. These things that we suffer
all come from the brain, when it is not healthy,
but becomes abnormally hot, cold, moist, or
dry, or suffers any other unnatural affection to
which it was not accustomed. Madness comes
from its moistness. When the brain is
abnormally moist, of necessity it moves, and
when it moves neither sight nor hearing are
still, but we see or hear now one thing and
now another, and the tongue speaks in
accordance with the things seen and heard on
any occasion. But when the brain is still, a man
can think properly."
-From Hippocrates, Vol. 2.

My Piano Playing Cousin

2005-10-02T15:30:00.000-07:00

My cousin Lucas Porter has just returned from Japan. He was one of the Canadians representing Canada culture at the World Expo 2005 in Japan. He is an excellent piano player.

I forgot that I didn't have my blog when this came out. Lucas was featured on TV. One peice on him was on the Discovery Channel last year. It's quite an interesting. Lucas' teacher is not in Nova Scotia, where he lives, but in Toronto. Thus, they use technology that is astouding! Check it out:
http://www.exn.ca/dailyplanet/story.asp?id=2004030253

Here is Lucas' website: http://www.lucasporter.com/
Check it out!

Climbing to the Top

2005-10-02T12:33:00.000-07:00

Meghan and I just spent an hour rock climbing at the Butterdome (yes this is the name of my sports complex). Well, what we actually did was boulder climbing. We didn't have harnesses on, and we didn't climb too high. We weren't allowed because I don't have very much experience. My arms are so tired. A good study break. :)

Arr Arr Matties Treasure!

2005-10-01T15:31:00.000-07:00

A month ago Lily and I had no furniture for our livingroom. About a month ago we found a mustard yellow chair in the hallway by the elevator. It remained there for almost a week. On the 3rd day we decided to confiscate the chair and leave a note on the bulletin board, just in case it wasn't meant to be taken. No one complained. Since there are a lot of graduate students in this residence people more out all the time and leave their stuff.

Yesterday we came across another chair. Very comfy. We brought it up to our apartment. (Aside: We do clean the furniture before we move it in). Then this morning I was taking out the recycling and I came across a huge mat and crutches. The mat was rolled up by the building, and the crutches were leaning against the garbage disposal. No one was using them. After cleaning them up we rearranged our living room to incorporate the mat. Hehehe... I definitely feel like a student again.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) = Ghosts?

2005-09-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm here in the lab trying to understand a new technique called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). Here is an interesting article I found during my search. Don"t worry it"s not technical. Check it out:
http://wired-vig.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,51699,00.html

President's Installation Concert

2005-09-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

Well thankfully Lily's boyfriend is in one of U of A's choirs and knew of the free concert tonight. The concert was to welcome the new female president to the school and to honor the Nunavut singer Susan Aglukark. I met the president of U of A at grad orientation. She is extremely bright, and kind. She is an eloquent speaker and has a lot of poise. The concert tonight was held at the Jubilee Theatre and was free! Yeah! Lily and I went and enjoyed the night rubbing elbows... lol Well not really. It was quite a swanky event. Well I guess others thought that. The entertainment wasn't bad, but it didn't mean one should wear a tuxedo like many did. Definietely a different feel here. I laughed when I heard the conversations surrounding Lily and I. Behind us we heard people eahc other that they were doctors, or they worked for the vice-president of the university..ooo Good they have a job. I don't know, there was a certain je ne sais quoi. A certain air about some of them. I laughed and said in the Maritimes our conversation may have been "How's it goin'? Who do you know in the concert? Are you going to Timmies afterwards?" I've been to many occassions such as this, but never felt so much snobbery. Oh well...I didn't feel out of place. The concert was free and we enjoyed ourselves. I was very impressed with the singer Susan Aglukark. She was very honest and cute. A great singer who is a role model for so many northern Canadians... She offers them hope.

My Neighbour

2005-09-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

I just got back in contact with an old neighbour of mine, Marc. He informed me of a commerical he was in. How exciting! Bam!

http://portfolio.iu.edu/mroland/Smart_Mark_MPG01.mpg

Feel Like Eggs Tonight?

2005-09-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks I just haven't felt like eating any my eggs. My roommate has constantly been at me to eat some eggs. I thought maybe it's because I have a flat of eggs taking up space in the fridge...Today I was on the phone with my sister and decided I would mutlitask and make an omelette. I opened the fridge, took out two eggs and cracked them. I decided I was especially hungry, and so I went back to the flat to retrieve another egg. This time I saw something green in one of the egg compartments of the carton. At first I thought it was some green pepper that had been cut or perhaps lettuce. I looked closer and it looked like a tiny embryo of an aligator. Very tiny, but you could make it out. It was curled up. I was trying to be logical and think back to biology. I put the foolish notion out of my head, but I still didn't want to touch it. I wasn't so happy about eating the eggs I cracked either. I then used some utensils to fetch it out of the carton. I looked it over. My sister was confused of my finding. Then it dawned on me that my roommate had been overzealous about me having to eat my eggs. I turned the thing over and it was made in China! Yep a hoax! Good one Lily! So I placed it back in the carton and will decide what to do to Lily to get her back. hehehe Too bad she wasn't home to see my reaction.

What is your color?

2005-09-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched a movie I didn't think I would like, entitled "The Village". Some people were watching it in the community center and so I decided to watch it until I got too scared. I'm not a fan of horror movies. The movie turned out to be a terffic psychological thriller. I have never seen a movie like it. I can't really describe it-I mean I could say it was "interesting", but it was better than that. It rose a lot of interesting questions about our society. Has anyone else een it? What's your opinion?

Lily and I

2005-09-20T22:44:00.000-07:00

My roommate Lily and I get along great. Every night we have story time. lol Yeah we may seem old for this, but it's a great opportunity to get to know one another. I am so lucky.

Neuro 500

2005-09-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

Well today I must choose two professors for my lab rotation in the course Neuro 500. After talking with other students I have decided on these two: Dr.Kelvin Jones, and Dr.Monica Gorassini. Dr.Chan and I decided that it would be beneficial for me to spend the time in labs with professors who work with subjects, their techniques or objectives are a bit of what my Master's is on, and yet broaden my perspective on neuroscience. The two professors I chose are said to be very patient and kind.

Dr.Kelvin Jones is a very young professor. He works with Dr.Chan a lot. Through him I can learn a bit about computational neuroscience. It's a little intimidating since I'm weak in the areas of math and computer science, but it will teach me a lot. Dr.Jones conducts a computational analysis of the sensory motor system in health and disease. To quote from the U of A's description of his work, "He uses experimental methods to measure the elctrophysiological activity in nerves of human subjects while they perform eye-hand coordination activities. These electrical signals are analysed to determine how the brain uses sensory activity when learning new tasks. To generate a greater understanding of activity involved, mathematical models of the nervous system and the ion channels responsible for electrophysiological activity are developed and simulated on computers." I will be in his lab for 2 months.

The other professor I chose, works just down the hall. She uses our transcranial magnetic stimulator (TMS) machine all the time. Hopefully I can become more efficient at it. She studies the recovery of motor function following spinal cord injury. She uses treadmill therapy as a form of rehabilitation training. It produces amazing results; 80% success rate, whereas convential techniques offer a 10% success rate. Her main goal is to "optimise general motor recovery following spinal cord injuries." I will also spend 2 months in her laboratory.

Well my semester has certainly begun. I'm studying with a friend this afternoon for our Cellular Neuroscience course. So far so good. I can tell things will pick up even more very shortly. :)

My Life With Doctors...

2005-09-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

I moved to Edmonton on August 18th and since then have tried to settle in. I have been sick ever since the day I arrived. I had pain in right ear when my plane was landing in Calgary. I'm drousy, have a cough and still have the problem with my right ear. So after a month of dealing with this I decided to see one of the university doctors. I arrived at the clinic at 8am and there was a huge line-up. I had class to go to at 9:30am and so I asked the receptionist if I would be ok. She said I would be fine. After waiting and waiting the doctor saw me at 9:10am. She looked at my ears, check my lungs, and blood pressure. I had some water in my middle ear, but not much, and it wasn't infected. She said that my dry cough may be related to my ear problem. She said that I wake up in the middle of the night because lying down causes a change in pressure. She also said that living in an apartment building, and having to go 12 floors up on the elevator will also cause changes in pressure and hurt my ear. So after not going to the doctor in so many years, guess what she tells me? Take tylenol! lol. She said there was nothing she could do unless I get a fever. What a surprise! She also said that chewing gum may help. The doctor said it wasn't uncommon to have a cough for a couple of months. Well that was fun. I raced to my class and arrived just in time.

It's been advantageous working for a doctor. I told Dr.Chan how the appointment went and he was a bit surprised. He said that he found it weird that I was still "sick" and feeling ok. He wrote me a prescription. I'll start it today and will be on it for 2 weeks. Yeah!

I'm working with ALS (Lou Gerhig) patients. Yesterday was an eye-opener. I met a 35 year old woman who is diagnosed with ALS. She probably has less than 3 years left. Sad. I met an older gentleman who cried because he was so depressed. It's a dreadful disease.

Last week I was unsure why I was really here. I didn't have as much confidence in myself as I know I should. I had a relaxing weekend and realised this is what I wnat to do. I knew it was going to be hard work.

My roommate is great! Her name is Lily. Please e-mail me your numebr and address. I'll give you a call.

Hope everythign is going well for you.
Cheers,
Cheryl

Reincarnation of Studio 54?

2005-09-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

Well this past week was definitely full of ups and downs. I spent most of my time in the lab with patients, trying to understand the techniques my professor employed. I'll explain more my thoughts on my Master's in another blog along with my exciting trip to Spruce Grove.

This blog is all about yesterday. Chirs, my BC friend, was still in town and so we spent the day together. We walked Whyte Ave, checking out the many artisitic shops along the way. Edmonton is a very artistic city. In one shop we saw a woman making a dress in the back office.

We went to a great Italian restaurant. The service was great and the veggie lasagna was excellent! It may become my favorite place here. We both noticed that the tables were unusually distant from one another in comparison with restaurants in other cities. Edmonton has so much land they don't know what to do with it!

For supper we decided to go to the West Edmonton Mall and check out a restaurant there. I wasn't really hungry, but it was already 8pm. We went onto Bourbon Street (this is a themed street in the mall) and went to a Mexican restaurant where we had nachos and Marqaritas. Not a bad little spot.

While in the mall I decided to show Chris the fire-breathing dragon at the movie theatre. Every half hour or so a dragon, which is suspended from the ceiling and is huge, starts to come "alive"! The lights dim and scary music begins to play. The dragon begins to move and eventually it breathes fire! You can feel the heat from the bottom floor. A must see if ever visiting West Edmonton Mall (Aka WEM)!

Chris and I decided to go to a club attached to the mall that he had checked out the night before. It was called Rums Jangles or something like that. We arrived at 10pm and were surprised to see there were people already there. I have never been to such a place before. You may not believe me when I describe the club. It reminded so much of the famous Studio 54. There were dancing cages, swings hanging from ceilings, huge screens, a gigantic disco ball,... When we sat down, we saw a guy going onto stage with a robe on. That was perculiar. He put on a sandman's hat and discarded the robe. He had boxers on. He proceeded to lie on a bed that was on stage and pretend to sleep. Later the guy played video games while lying in the bed on stage. So weird. I told you, you wouldn't believe me! Anyway all of the waitresses and bar tenders wore white, which glowed in the dark. They were all fanatstic dancers. At 11pm two girls were strapped to swings. The swings were raised to the ceilings and the girls in short skirts, stockings, and tight shirts swung for 2 hours over our heads! Freaky! It would be a good workout. So as the night continued more odd things occurred. The dance floor was packed at 11:30pm as Chris and I took to the dance floor. Girls danced in the cages on stage, which also went up to the ceiling and down. One girl danced behind a screen to the music. You could see her shadow. She was amazing! You could not be bored in a place like this! At 12:30am some of the girls then had a special stage performance. They were awesome! Chris and I left shortly after. It is by far my favorite club!

Chris Who?

2005-09-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

Oh this is a perfect Cheryl story...
Yesterday I got a message from Chris, a BC friend, saying that he was in town until Friday. I called him back and we agreed to meet at his hotel and from there go for a late supper. I was so proud of myself. I took the LRT and found the hotel with 10 mins to spare! The hotel was upscale. I asked the bell hops how to call Chris and they pointed me to a telephone. An operator then asked me who I was calling. I said "Chris" and gave her the room number. She replied that Chris had left at 10:30am that day and was no longer a guest at the hotel. I exclaimed that it wasn't possible because Chris told me to meet him tonight and he just checked in this morning. She asked for his last name. I said "Ju." I was a bit fuzzy on his last name. Umm She asked, "Do you mean Chris Lu?"
"Yes, him." The operator continued to say that he had checked out.

So my friend wasn't there? Umm I decided to go across the street to use the Telus payphone. Ironically, as you'll see, Chris works for Telus. I forgot that in Edmonton to make a local call on a payphone it's not $0.25, but $0.35. Yeah in the richest province in Canada you get ripped off at the payphones. In addition, you don't get change back if you put too much change in. So I luckily found $0.40 among my pennies (yeah no nickel), put it into the payphone and dialed my phone card number. (Asdide: I was lucky I had remembered to bring Chris' cell number and my long distance phone card). The number wasn't dialed. The payphone ate my money. I thought it possibly was my fault because the payphone said to dial the number before inserting coins. I searched for another $0.40. My last coins other then pennies... This time I dialed the number and then inserted the coins. The payphone again ate my money. Urg... I looked around and there were no stores around to get change. I decided to head back to the hotel and try the front desk. I ask the gentleman at the front desk to see if my friend was still there. I explained what the operator had said. They agreed that he had checked out that morning. I told them that he had asked for me to meet him there at 7:30pm and that he was probably in someone's else room. I explained that he was with the company Telus. They asked if I knew his friend's names and alas I did not. I asked if I could sit in the lounge and wait. I think they thought I was weird. I decided to wait because Chris knows how punctual I am, and sometime he would get hungry and go for supper. While waiting I saw a guy who had tatoos all over his body. His old head was covered. Then I saw a dunken homelessman try to come into the hotel. At 8:05pm Chris sauntered down. I told him what happened and joked how he should talk to the front desk because he had checked in this morning not checked out liek they had told me. Chris then asked me what I said to the operator. I told him I had asked for Chris Lu. He said, "That's not my name!" Whoops! I had a friend in high school whose name was Chris Lau. I must have mixed their last names up! lol. The chances of someone with a similar name checking out that day was slim. Just my luck. lol.

Chris, two of his work colleagues, and I then went to unique, wonderful Indian restaurant. The decor was exquisite and I really enjoyed the food! I was glad that I didn't give up ealrier in the evening.

Party of the Century!

2005-09-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

Last night Lily, Michaeal and I took the LRT (Light Rail Transit) to the Alberta Legislature. I enjoyed being amongst the very proud Albertans. They celebrated their 100th birthday in style. I wrote my name in a time capsule that will be opened 100 years from now. Some Oiler's hockey players were signing autographs. I decided the line wasn't worth my time, even though it was only 10 mins long. I'm a dedicated Leafs fan! For the rest of the night we watched live music and a big video screen that featured the other concerts going on in Alberta. Kurt Browning hosted the show from where we were. I believe the party was being broadcasted across Canada. We saw some great eprformances, such as Bicholage (spelled wrong?) and a Canadian-born, Las Vegas singer who I guess was extremely popular in the 1960's. In Bicholage the drummer ressembled Ben Stiller! He was fun to watch, a crazy guy! The most moving performance was not even live at the Legislature. It was instead at the U of A, but you had to pay to get tickets. I never really like KD Lane all that much, but last night I finally began to appreciate her talent. She sang "Hallelujah" so emotionally, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Amazing performances. Tom Jackson sang well also. At about 8pm it started raining, but that didn't squash our cowboy spirits! At 9:55pm Ralph Klein pressed the button to set off fireworks simultaneously in 10 locations across Alberta. They were stunning! The night was just perfect! Yeah Alberta! Part hardy you're only 100 once! :)

Just in the US

2005-09-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that Katrina could cause such misery and choas in New Orleans. One news site quotes:
“This is a national emergency. This is a national disgrace,” he said. “FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can’t bail out the city of New Orleans.” I agree with this statement. I read an article today quoting a Western University prof who agreed the dire situation could have been prevented. This was a disaster because the state didn't plan ahead. It's tough to think that spending a few dollars to protect the city would be worth it in the future. As this example illustrates it is. I hope the many people stuck in the dome will be rescued soon. Hopefully people will realise that the police, ambulances, buses are there to help. No more shootings! It's amazing how evolved us humans think we are. When humans are pressed you realised what we're really made of.

Tea Time

2005-09-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

Meghan, a good friend from high school, had tea with me yesterday. We went to a cute place called Steeps. I tried cinnamon tea and she tried strawberry cream. They were both good. Yum! We caught up on each other's news. It's so weird to be in the same city as her. We had kept in touch over the years and are still great friends. We already have Saturday planned-Old Farmer's Market in Old Strathacona then the West Edmonton Mall. :)

Where Did All the People Come From?

2005-09-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

Newton Palce is bustling today. The three elevators of my residence are busy moving people and their stuff in. It's crazy. I would use the stairs, but I"m lazy-well I'm on the 12th floor!

I met our next door neighbour. He's from BC, taking law. Finally people are living on our floor!

Happy Birthday Alberta-A Century Old!!

2005-09-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight my roommate Lily, and friend Meghan are going to the Alberta Legislature to celebrate the 100th birthday of Alberta! Whoo-hoo! There will be a centennial fireworks display that is supposed to be the biggest in Alberta's history. Premier Ralph Klein will be pushing the button to set the fireworks off at 9:55pm. Within a span of 12 mins there will be 40,000 fireworks set off at 10 locations around the province. They should be so spectacular that they apparently will be visible from space! The best location to watch and participate in the celebrations is at the Alberta Legislature. I'll be there! I can't wait!!

A Week and University Begins

2005-08-31T12:27:00.000-07:00

Well the summer has gone fast. I feel it's already over, but I still have 7 days until I officially start my Master's. I guess it's because I have been here working since August 18th. Umm classes again. It will be a new experience-bigger classes, different professors lecturing the same course.

Today I am learning how to conduct TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) and tDS (Transcranial Direct Stimulation-I think). Preety interesting. I'm trying to get the procdure down. I'll explain the procedures in future blogs.

Blog I Haven't Forgot You

2005-08-30T08:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone. Life has been a bit hectic lately. In the past few days I've learned many experiments, met my roommate, canoed the North Saskatchewan River, spent a day working with patients at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hopsital, and watched two great movies. As I have time I will write more entries... Until then...

Ummm I Wonder If I Do

2005-08-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

I was just looking on the internet for various helpful neuroscience sites. I found this one for kids. There is a discussion on the myth of humans just using 10 % of our brains. Take a look:
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/tenper.html

And So I Begin...

2005-08-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

I met my professor Dr.Chan at 8am in his office. He filled me in with some of his expectations. That made me feel a bit better. He had a fun and productive summer with 5 students. A coupleof students will continue to work part-time in our lab during the school year. One girl, named Holly, is currently there and will be one of those working part-time. She has been very helpful in showing me around the lab and explaining some procedures. Holly is going into her 3rd year of undergraduate neuroscience. She wants to be a doctor and said volunteering is the best way to get in. She volunteered all last year with Dr.Chan.

I must go back to the lab. I'm just on my lunch break.We saw a patient this morning who has carpal tunnel syndrome. This afternoon we have another one. I'm trying to jot down as much information as possible. There's a lot of details. I'll explain some of the procedures in future blogs. Until then back to the hospital...

What Do You Do With Just the Left Shoe?

2005-08-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

Well I'm bored so I'm in the SUB playing on the internet. My day was pretty productive. Zoe picked me up at noon and we headed over to Greyhound. There were 8 boxes! We just had enough room to squish them all into the car. The rest of the afternoon Zoe and I drove around Edmonton finding her a PAIR of good cross trainers. We went to three different shoe companies. She finally found a sneaker she liked and in her size! Unfortunately the store only could find the left shoe! The salesman said it occurs often. They had no idea where the missing right shoe could be. He phoned another mall to see if they had the sneaker-both left and right. They did! Horray! :)

I just received an e-mail from my prof. It looks like I start with him tomorrow. I'm meeting him at 8am and seeing two patients in the morning. I can tell I'm going to have long days.

Think Inside the Box

2005-08-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

Well another day trying to hunt down my professor. I went again to his office-4th time so far. I just read my e-mail and found out he wanted me to see him at 7:30am this morning. I will tomorrow. Gee... A busy guy. I guess every doctor is.

Today at noon my new friend Zoe and I are going to Greyhound to pick my 8 boxes up. I hope the boxes fit into her car. We'll see... It's overcast and it may rain. If it doesn't I think we may go to the Fringe Festival.

I found my course book yesterday-$150! Yikes! I'm going to Chapters and see if it's cheaper. I hope.

I pretty much know my way around campus, but I booked a campus tour for next week. I just discovered that the student council is piloting the idea for the student union building and its labs to be open 24/7 this year! Yeah! I gotta love that!

Monday, Monday So Good to Me!

2005-08-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

Well today I woke up again at 6am. I haven't been able to shake off the jet lag. I ate my breakfast, read some more of my book, and then met up with the prof in charge of pharmacology 371. He added the course for me.

I went to the neuroscience wing and met up with Luke. I forgot to say in my earlier blog that I met luke on Friday when meeting the secretary. He overheard me talking and came into the office. He asked if I recognised him and I definietely did. He had gone to high school with me! 2 years older mind you (my sister's grade), but we went to a small school. We caught up on each other's lives and I found out that two other people I know from high school were here also. Today I talked to him for about an hour-and-a-half. He warned me of some profs and soem courses. he said my course killed him. Yikes!

I went to get my access code for the internet and was accepted unlike on Friday. Yeah! That's why I can blog right now! I'm trying to keep myself busy. Give me a call I'll be around. :)

Do Do Do...

2005-08-22T13:42:00.000-07:00

Sunday I sat around and read all day. I didn't even leave my apartment. Down time can be good. It's just a struggle with being bored. Anyone bored? Give me a call...

Fringe Festival Whoo-hoo!

2005-08-22T13:40:00.000-07:00

Well with a map in hand I was off to meet Zoe at the entrance of the Fringe Festival (the largest of it's type in Canada). It was a hot day 30 C. Just the day before it was 8 C! What a crazy, unpredictable place! I found Zoe and we watched some streetperformers. Later on I could tell I was sunburning so we went to Starbucks and talked.

That night I curled up and read soem of my John Griham's book "The Testament." When you have no TV, no internet, and know no one a book passes the time.

Finding My Way

2005-08-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

Friday I decided to explore the campus. I discovered that the student union building wasn't far from my residence. I went to the info centre and got a map. There are about 90 builidings at the U of A! A bit bigger than Bishop's! A girl was asking how she could get access to the internet. She was told how she could acquire it and I decided to try to amke a friend. I went over and said I was thinking of going there too. No response. Oh well..it was worth a try. Later that day I went to get my internet access code. lol and behold she sat next to me. We struck up a conversation and we exchanged phone numbers. She was a new grad student also and didn't know anybody. Unfortunately because my courses were not fully registered I was denied access to the internet. :( I had to wait until Monday. That night my new friend Zoe came over and we talked. We decided the next day we would check out the Fringe Festival!

My Home Sweet Home

2005-08-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

I unlocked the door to my new residence apartment. The excitement was mounting! I walked in and was pleasantly surprised! It was bigger than I thought it would be. I went into my room and saw that Lily had set up a bed with sheets, a desk, and wrote a card to welcome me. :) I was a bit worried about the apartment because we are sharing a one bedroom apartment. Lily is living in part of the livingroom. Fortunately she put up drapes and she has plenty of room for her bedroom. We also have space for a small livingroom along side the balcony. The balcony is not that big, but it's nice to have. Pigeons coo there every morning. My residence is straight across from the hospital! That's where I'll be working. It's the perfect location. It looks like a good home!

Alberta Finally!

2005-08-22T13:19:00.000-07:00

Ok. No i didn't disappear off the planet. I just received my computer access code-finally the internet! I arrived in Alberta on Thursday. It was a long day indeed! My sister, dad and I left my sister's house at 6:30am and headed to the airport. I flew out of Halifax at 8:45am seated on a window seat. :) I sat next to a guy who just moved from Calgary to Halifax. He was going to see his wife (who was still living in Calgary), then drive to Washington (10 hours away) for a Dave Matthews Band concert. He was only going from Thursday until Tuesday. He was crazy! About 2 days flying, 2 days driving, 1 Dave Matthews concert (I guess) priceless... Lol

We landed in Calgary 40 mins late. Whenever I land in Calgary (well 2 times so far) I feel sick to my stomach my ears hurt so bad. Anyway...thankfully the airline held the connection flights for us. The flight to Edmonton was only 38 mins. A rude twenty-year-old sat infront of me. She forgot to turn her cell off, and as we're about to ascend she put her seat back all the way. I told her politely that for safety reasons the seat had to be in the upright position. She was not happy with me. 5 misn later she tilt her seat back again and put her hand up as to say "screw off." The rest of her row were inclined to do the same thing and all of them sat back. Moments later an elderly woman across the way took her seatbelt off and headed to the bathroom. The belt sign was still on! All we needed now was someone to light up a smoke. Geee. Some people I guess don't know how to fly.

I landed in Edmonton and took a taxi. Although I could have taken a cheap shuttle to my residence, it was raining and I had too much stuff. The Belgium taxi driver was very nice. He told me a bit about the city. I had to race into a hotel and pick up keys for my residence and apartment. My roommate was out of town until next week and her friend decided to leave the keys with the front desk. Suppsoedly I could buzz 100 and I would be able to get into the building, but that didn't work. I followed someone in and found the front desk. The guy was busy explaining something to a woman. My taxi was still running and I just wanted to get the keys and go. A woman came out and asked my problem. I said who iw as and that I ened to pick up keys. She couldn't understand why they would have the keys. What is the friend's last name? I had no clue. Does she live here? I don't know. I had to explain briefly my situation. She said she never heard of someone leaving keys like this. She said the receptionist would probably know where the keys were. I asked where the receptionist was. She said on lunch break. It was 2pm!Just I was at my witt's end she found the keys. Thank goodness! If she hadn't I wouldn't know what i would have done! I finally made it to my residence and took the suitcases up to the 12th floor. It was good to be home...

The Day Has Come!

2005-08-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

Tongiht I'm leaving Prince Edward Island with my dad and heading to my sister's in Nova Scotia. Tonight we're having a bonfire in celebration of my departing (that's how they probably look at it :) ). LOL Tomorrow I leave Halifax, NS at 8:45am and after 5 hours of flying will arrive in Edmonton at 12:30pm local time. I will then find the Sky Shuttle (the goes every 45 mins) and hopefully find my new home. I will be living in an upper-year undergrad/graduate residence right on campus. My roommate will be away until August 24th so I'll have time to scope out Edmonton and relax. I think tomorrow night I will decorate some of my room, locate a grocery store, and make some phone calls.

On Friday I must pick up some of my boxes at the Greyhound Station. I have a couple of boxes that have been for 26 days! Yikes! I hope they are still there. Then I will be meeting my new supervisor in his office. I think my Master's then begins. Scary. I enjoyed being on vacation, but I guess it's time to get back into a routine. I start classes September 7th-pharmacology. The course is an upper year undergrad course that covers some material of molecular biology. Yeah should be fun..ummm...maybe...tough-yes!

Well goodbye Maritimes. I'll be back sometime... Talk to you all on the other side (of Canada that is). :)

Joke #1

2005-08-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

My new-brother-in-law (Leonard) told me this one. hehehe...

Why do crows get hit by trucks more often than cars?

Because crows can go "caw caw", but not "truck truck"

Nova Scotia, My Home

2005-08-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

Well I'm here in PEI and am bored. So I decided to write a informative blog on my beautiful province. No not British Columbia (although it is beautiful), no not Prince Edward Island, no not Alberta (I don't even know it yet) and no not Quebec, mais je me souviens Quebec; my home is Nova Scotia.

Although I no longer live in Nova Scotia I still feel that's where I am from. I had a great upbringing there. This summer I was fortunate to spend three weeks in the Martimes. I had a chance to see the Buskers on the Halifax waterfront for the first time in over 10 years!

Here is some info. I picked up about NS:
"Nova Scotia (meaning 'New Scotland'), often referred to as "Canada's Ocean Playground", is almost entirely surrounded by water. Agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and oturism are the main industries of this province. The osprey is the provincial bird, the mayflower is the provincial flowerand agate is well known as the provinical mineral.

The Nova Scotia Tartan represents the flag of the province, which dates back to the Charter of New Scotland in 1621. The colors of the Nova Scotia Tartan are... Blue for the sky, sea and lakes, green for the trees, white for the rocks and surf of the coastline, gold represents the Royal Charter, red for the Scottish Lion on the shield of the provincial crest and flag. Nova Scotia has the proud distinction of being the only Province of Canada, and the first colony of Great Britain to possess (through Royal Charter) its own flag."

I recommend everyone to visit sometime in their lives.

Back on the Island

2005-08-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

I'm again on PEI's red soil. I'm visiting my dad and step-family. I'll be here realxing until Wednesday night. Thursday is my big move. I'm getting a bit ancy and nervous, but things will work out I'm sure.

Valley Girl

2005-08-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

Well I must catch-up once again on my busy travels...

On Friday, August 12th Heather, Leonard, and I went home to the Annapolis Valley in NS. I spent the afternoon with a bunch of good friends-Christina and Sarah. I saw my friend's little girl Sophia. She's 2. Very cute. The last time I saw her she was only a month old. It was a day that greatly resembled old times. I didn't feel rushed and I spent time with the people who mattered. I then visited my cousins, and stayed at my grandparents'. The next morning (Saturday) we saw more family and departed for Halifax. There we had fun once again at the fireworks! My last night in the city was joyful and relaxing! :)

Perfect Timing

2005-08-12T06:33:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday my sister and I couldn't be luckier with our timing. Here are my stories of the night...dun dun dun

We dropped her husband off to work and headed down to Midas ("that's the Midas touch"-Can't you just hear that jingle?) for an oil and muffler change. We weren't sure how long it would take. We thought an hour. So we sat down and started reading the newspaper. I was glad to catch-up on some world news. Across the street was the fast-food restaurant Arby's. Heather and I were thinking about eating there while waiting. Before we had a chance we saw a woman (in the Arby's parking lot) get out of her car and sit beside her rear tire. The car was smoking a bit and peopel rushed over to see her. She called 911 and was talking to the operator as she paced around the parking lot. She seemed ok. Arby's staff gave her a cup of water. A few minutes later a huge police officer (I mean built!) arrived on the scene with no lights flashing. He talked to the woman and then went over to the car to get her purse out of the front seat. I guess he wasn't very concerned with the car. He then called back-up. The fire truck came next, then the EMS (sort of an ambulance), then a real ambulance and more police officers. It appeared to be overkill. the woman now was sitting down. The ambulance took out a stretcher and put her into the ambulance. The ambulance didn't move for another 5 minutes or so. No real emergency. We (us and the Midas employeses) were all commenting about the crazy situation. We had a discussion about ambulances... The consensus was that if you called 911 even if you were ok you still would have to go into the ambulance. I still don't know if that's true. It just seemed weird that the woman was walking around before, but later she was placed on a stretcher. Then the consenus was that once you were rtansported to the hospital by the ambulance you would have to foot the bill. I thought our health coverage covered that. maybe not. Anyway my sister's car was ready to go just as the ambulance pulled out. Good timing #1 (I had free entertainment).

We then did some errands. Heather, being a teacher, went scoping out the back-to-school sales. Whoo-hoo! We decided o grab a quick meal at Wendy's down the street. I told Heather to take her jacket and umbrella because the dark clouds were rolling into the city. We were one step front the restaurant's door when a gust of wind came up and I said "Yep the rain is coming." We took our final step (which was under the door hanging) and it poured! Buckets of rain! We didn't get one drop on us! Good timing #2 However, it was bad timing for one gentleman. He was sitting in a convertible outside the restaurant in traffic. He saw everyone in the restaurant watching him and he smiled. He was laughing, but then as the rain poured his laughter turned to anger. Poor guy.

We were to meet Agnus and Pete (relatives of Devin) at 6:30pm. Heather had no clue where she was going and I didn't either. It was already 6:10pm. Good timing #3. We arrived at 6:28pm! Amazing!

We stayed at Agnus and Pete's for 5 hours. We could've talked way into the night, but Leonard (Heather's husband) had to be picked up from work at midnight. We didn't want to leave, but finally we left with little time to pick him up on time. The good driver that my sister is we got there with 2 minutes to spare. Good timing #4.

Yes it certainly was another lucky day for the two of us!

Fantastic Night!

2005-08-11T06:04:00.000-07:00

Last night was great! My sister and I travelled down to Halifax at 5pm and met up with an old friend from high school, Ceara. We ate at the Med pub and walked down to the waterfront. Two other good friends from high school were meeting us there-Josh and Aimee. great to see them all! We met Josh's fiance and Aimee's bf and then we all watched the Buskers for the evening.

The Buskers were fabulous! One act involved a competition between breakdancers and martial artists. They were all so talented! Then they did a spoof on Star Wars. The breakdancers danced with a blue sword, fighting against the dark side (who held a red lit sword). It was extraordinary! Then we watched an Australian guy who does everything with fire. He was crazy! The end of his act as he swung his poles of fire around he set fireworks off. Buskers rock!

My sister then decided to try her luck at Black jack at the casino. We had only 20 mins until we had to go. She won $30. Not bad.
Overall it was a fantastic night!!

Good Old Times

2005-08-09T18:28:00.000-07:00

Another hot day here in Nova Scotia. It was 32 C. I could have perished in my sister's non-airconditioned car. Whew... Last night my sister and I went with our cousin and her boyfriend to a house party. We met a lot of great people. It gave us something to do before we had to pick up my sister's new husband Leonard from the airport at midnight. Having one car sucks...

Today Heather, Leonard, and I stuck around the house until Leo had to be dropped off at work. Just before leaving I caught an old high school friend on MSN. She was in the area. Yeah! We all went to a nice Halifax pub. It was fun catching up on old times. Great to see old friends. :)

Tonight we're at mom's watching movies until midnight. She heads out to Nfld tomorrow morning. Another day gone... Edmonton shortly...

A Good Anchorman

2005-08-08T05:15:00.000-07:00

I just heard that Peter Jennings died yesterday. :( He was a fabulous anchorman.

A Blue Sky Holiday

2005-08-07T17:39:00.000-07:00

Well I guess it's time to catch up on my blogging...

Today my mom and I went to Mahone Bay, Bridgewater, and Lunenburg in Nova Scotia. It was a beautiful, sunny day. I hadn't been down the coast since I was little. It brought back a lot of memories. These historic places are among the most photographed places in Atlantic Canada. In Lunenburg we went and saw the historic church that was rebuilt after a fire burned the structure down in November 1, 2005. The church just re-opened last month.

Yesterday my mom and I went to Point Pleasant Park, Halifax Waterfront, the casino, and The Old Triangle. Point Pleasant Park is a place where many people go walking to get away from the "busy" city. Unfortunately, this was the first time I visited the park since before Hurricane Juan. There were hardly any trees left standing. It was sad. No one alive today will ever see the park like it was before. Still the park was nice-worth taking a stroll through. In the park we saw a historic sight-Prince of Wales Tower. We learned that the first asphault floor in North America was placed there.

We then went downtown to the Casino. If you spend $20 at the casino you get free parking. My mom felt that was a great deal so we stayed there for over an hour. I was asked for ID numerous times. The restriction is 19. Man I guess I look young even with my new hair cut. We then got to the Waterfront in Halifax and watched the Buskers (street performers). One guy was hilarious! After a few hours we walked uptown to a pub called the Old Triangle. So many people in the pubs and so many bands. It was awesome!

Finally we went home and watched "Unfortunate Events." Funny enough I didn't like it very much. Jim Carrey did a wonderful job, but what an odd movie. I'll give it props for being odd, but that's all.

Anyway tonight after a long day we're watching another movie-this time "Guess Who" with Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher. Yawn another big day in NS.

Summerside-"Where the Only Thing We Overlook is the Water"

2005-08-02T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well lots to write about... (sigh). My sister's wedding was three days ago. I'll blog about all the events when I have a chance. For now I'll talk about my day. Currently I am in Prince Edward Island, specifically Sumerside (the smallest city in Canada), staying with my step-mom and dad. We have a family from Scotland staying with us. This tripo was the first time I saw the new house. I'm here for a couple of days before I return to Nova Scotia. My sister joined me today. She's sort of on her honeymoon, but her husband is in New Brunswick with his dad and she is here with me. lol

Today my dad and I went to the store to buy some bee repellent. When we returned to the van we saw our headlight on the ground. A woman from Ontario hit our parked van and scratched the whole front of the van. My dad's insurance company was just across the street so off we went to figure the logistics out. She was very nice. She was surprised we were not upset; we weren't paying for it, her insurance would. Her husband was away playing golf and she was showing her 14 member family around when the accident happened. She was scared what her husband would say. The rest of the day dad and I went to get damage quotes. Dad called the cell number we were given and talked with the husband. Funny enough, 4 hours later, the woman still didn't tell her husband about the incident and my dad mistakenly called him up and confused him. Dad explained what happened. The man was very nice and said that maybe he should call his wife. lol

Tonight we all went to walk the boardwalk. A ncie, relaxing day.

Science World and Beyond...

2005-07-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I was awaken by my alarm clock at 5am. Yep my last free day in BC. I had lots to do so I had to get up early. I packed until 11:30am. My work supervisor (Sarah) then kindly picked both me and my heavy boxes up. We went to Langley and dropped the boxes off at the Greyhound Station. I was pretty impressed with the service!

Sarah and I then rode to Vancouver to meet up with Kimberly and her friend. We were going to Science World for the afternoon. Science World is one of the main BC attractions. It is hard to miss, being a huge globe. I almost wasn't going to go because it's apparently geared towards kids. But hey, I'm a kid at heart.

The place is enormous! Three floors full of scientific activity stations. It was unreal. We went to the IMAX-I mean OMNIMAX. Yes there's a difference. The screen in the Omimax is the whole ceiling. The chairs tilt so you can see all of it. We watched a film called "The Nile." It was extraordinary. The film visited the various sites along the Nile-from Ethiopia to Sudan, to Egypt. It explained traditions and myths of the Nile, the danger of the powerful river, and its importance.

Next we headed downstairs and watched an air show. Yes the show was all about air. Very interesting. I discovered that I'm full of hot air. hehehe... For the rest of the day we ran from exhibit to exhibit. I made a sun dial and a rocket ship! Finally we watched a movie on the lives of famous physicists (Galieo, Newton, Einstein, Hawkings). Very entertaining. I learned that historians believe that Newton was gay, and that most of them had social issues. The most surprising information was that Stephen Hawkings suffers from ALS or Lou Gerhig's disease. This is what I will concentrate my Master's on. It was surprising because he was diagnosed with this motor neuron disorder when he was only 21! Usually it affects 40-60 year olds. Also once diagnosed one seldom lives past 5 years. Stephen Hawkings was among the 5% who lived a longer life. Funny how he only began to become motivated to work once he knew about his disorder. He finally realised he wanted to do more with his life. A very interesting man indeed.

The Freshest Cinnamon Bun in the World!

2005-07-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

Kimberly and I once again got together after I was finished work. We had no idea what to do so we hopped a bus downtown. She had to be back to work at 5:30pm so we had a little over 2 hours. I thought about what I wanted to check off my list of things-to-do before leaving BC and I realised that I had yet to take a sea bus. As we were waiting for a sea bus a strange girl interrupted our conversation. At the time I was explaining to Kimberly how my plans to hike Grouse Mountain had fallen through 5 times because something came up with my various friends. The girl said that she would ditch her friends and go anyway. She continued to say that she just went to Stanley Park and 8 guys just came up to her out of the blue and gave her their phone number. We found that hard to believe. 8 guys? Please... She told one guy that she didn't want his number and that if it was meant to be she would meet him again in the future. She claimed the guy walked away and ran back and said it was meant to be. This girl was strange. She might have been on something. Who knows out here. She would have talked all day had the sea bus not interrupted our conversation with the random girl. We boarded the sea bus and I was kind of disappointed. It wasn't that exciting, but the view of North Vancouver was nice. The sea bus landed in North Vancouver, at the Lonsdale Quay (pronounced as "key" not quay). Various palces around Vancouver have these quays. They are like flea markets. We roamed around and came aross a bakery. The smell was breath-taking. Yummy! Maybe it's just because we were hungry. We both bought a cinnamon bun and sat down by the water. I'm telling you this cinnamon bun was the freshest, tastiest bun I had ever eaten. (yes I said bun :)). Kimberly and I took off once again and she went off to work. I decided to explore a bit. I came across Spanish Banks. It was a further walk than I thought, but worth it. The Banks is a beach over looking the mountains and the city. Gorgeous view.

Later I went to the Waterfront St. Cafe in Gastown directly infront of the famous steam clock. My work going-away party was set for 7pm. It had a wonderful, relaxing ambience. Most of my co-workers came. The food was good-being mostly Italian food.

It was another great day.

Wreck Beach = Everyone Excluding their Dogs

2005-07-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday my friend (Kimberly) and I decided to venture down to Wreck Beach. For those who don't know-this is a nude beach. Well it's your choice if you want to keep your clothes on or off. This may sound exciting to some of you, but really most of the people that take it off are old, and/or really obese people. The last time I was there, in the winter, there were few people, not Thursday- the beach was bustling. Kimberly and I caught up on our news. We had such conflicting schedules we hadn't seen each other in 7 months! Wow! At first I thought I wouldn't be able to handle Wreck Beach. Public nudity was new to me. I could careless. I think if people want to take it off they can. No tan lines. :) I just wish more hot guys would hehe...

Taking a Break

2005-07-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

Well I just banged my elbow so hard I almost got sick. Ouch! At least it's my left arm. Still I think I'll take a break from lifting objects. I don't think it's that funny of a bone.

Well I must catch-up on my blogging. I have been very busy this past week. Only three more days of work after this, and 4 days until my trip to Nova Scotia! My packing is all done. My boxes were sent yesterday. I used Greyhound. A very good, cheap service I must say. Now to start a new phase in my life... days away

Workin' It

2005-07-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

Yep I'll be working everyday (except Saturday) until I leave for Nova Scotia. That's in 8 days! I have a lot to do, such as packing, sight-seeing, and meeting friends,... It's hard to believe the year went so fast. In some ways I'll miss my 3 hour commute per day. I actually had down time for myself and met many nice people. Many friendships here flourished. I finally feel a bit at home. I will return someday soon. Another funny thing that I will miss are the mice. Yep-I worked this year as an animal health technician II at UBC. I worked closely with researchers, profs and of course the rodents. In Alberta I will be working with people. In some ways it will be avantageous, but I will miss my furry, smelly, little friends. (Aside: my favorite strain of mice is the nude mouse. Nude mice = aliens- I swear. They look so freaky!) Farewell work -3 years back to school.

Quote #2

2005-07-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

"Not all who wander are lost." -J.R.R.Tolkien

Tony n'Tina's Wedding

2005-07-17T18:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday night I went to a musical theatre entitled "Tony 'n Tina's Wedding." I certainly hope my sister's won't be as crazy! There were strippers, fights, guys kissing,... It was awesome! My friend Trudy and I decided to go when we discovered the tickets were half off. Yeah! Melissa (my roomie) went with another party to the event-a stag party. lol We met each other on the dance floor. Right when we arrived all the actors were in character. Trudy and I were escorted to a terrific corner table. The Italian wedding began. There was a very pregnant bridesmaid who couldn't stop kissing the bestman. Hopefully he's the father. :) The whole wedding ceremony was hilarious. The bride's father came with his date-a stripper. The ex-wife (bride's mother) was constantly pinched by her ex-husband. It was the priest's frist wedding. He was odd. As the night went on he became drunk with the nun. Michael (as actor) sat at our table. Poor Michael was not invited to the wedding, but showed up anyway. He wore jeans and a shirt (containing a picture of a happy face with a bullet through its head). He told us his sad story. He had dated Tina for 5 1/2 years. Last year someone pushed him into Tina and gave her a black eye. Tina's family claimed it was Michael's fault. She dumped him and started dating Tony. Michael was there to get her back. Throughout the evening actors were coming to our table saying that he needed help and that we should watch him. As the night wore on Micheal kept getting closer to Tina. Finally a fight broke out between Tony and him and Micheal was thrown out. :( I liked him. Throughout the night, in every corner of the big room, there was something goign on. There were guys kissing, the boyfriend of a bridesmaid was kissing another girllater they became engaged, the pregnant bridesmaid became drunk, married Las Vegas singers sang (the wife kissed another guy). Trouble was all around. It was a fun night. Great entertainment. All the famous Italian songs were sung, and we danced a little. There was also an Italian buffet. Yummy-my favorite! The muscial theatre certainly got me in the mood for my sister's wedding (on July 30th). I'm so excited! Hopefully it won't be as dramatic as this one was!

Interesting Piece :)

2005-07-12T08:06:00.000-07:00

Found this on canoe.ca. Ummm I wonder which will be missed more banannas or men? :) Check it out:
http://lifewise.canoe.ca/SexRomance/ValerieGibson/2005/07/12/1128018.html

2 Weeks...

2005-07-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

Yeah! Two weeks and it will be my last day of work! :)

Bishop's Grad on "The Hour"

2005-07-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy the CBC news show "The Hour." Unfortuantely it's currently not airing, but it will return in September. One of the last shows this season closed with John Horn-a Bishop's grad. I thought he looked familiar. (He own a contest to close the show. Take a look at the video clip. Go to www.cbc.ca/thehour/ and on the right hand side click on the closer. Then go to Closer contest Winner: Jobs for Grads? ) I thought John had a great message and was an excellent speaker. Take a look. Bishop's grads are everywhere! :)

Friday Night/ Saturday Morning Girl

2005-07-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

Friday I was busy running errands all day. I started packing a bit. The days are going by so quickly. Melissa and I were picked up by Sarah (my supervisor) and driven to downtown Vancouver for supper with my work colleagues. We were going to an Iranian resturant because one of my co-workers is Iranian and he wanted us to learn a bit about his culture. The restaurant manager phoned Sarah's cell and said she was only holding the table for 15 more mins. It was 7:30pm and we were supposed to be there at 7pm. Surprisingly, no one (out of our party of 16) was there yet. We then got a phone call from a co-worker saying there were no reservations. He had already ordered a beer and was waiting for us. He was at the wrong resturant. Lol Everyone went to the wrong restaurant except my Iranian friend. The address on the website was for the old address. We all finally sat down about an hour-and-a-half later than expected. I tried eggplant for the first time. It's not so bad. I'm presuming it's pretty bland. I couldn't really tell with all the added spices. Yogurt is a big deal in Iranian dishes. They add spices to it and use it as a dip for almost anything. It was a good dinner. I was finally able to meet everyone's significant other. I brought Melissa (LOL). The new guy Kevin didn't have supper, but instead had three beers. He had to leave quickly and left without paying his bill. Whoops! The waitress scurried over and demanded that his bill be paid. We turned to our boss and said it must be on him. Someone paid for him in the end. :)

After dinner Melissa and I went off to Foggy & Dew (yep that's the name of the Irish pub) to meet up with her birthday friend. Our friend told us to look for the pink hotel beside the skytrain. He had forgotten that we were coming at night when all the buildings of course looked black. We finally found the direction and headed towards the pub. A taxi full of guys pulled up and asked for us to join them. Melissa rudely said "Not in your life time." :)

It was a great bar! Reminded me a bit of the Lion back in Lennoxville, but bigger and classier. There was a band that played oldies. It was a fabulous dance night. At one point (while I was dancing)a guy grabbed my arm. He was weird. One of those guys that just stare at us girls when we're dancing and think they can touch. I was exahusted around 10:30pm. lol Usually my bedtime is 9:30pm because I usually get up at 4:15am. Unfortunately we were getting a ride home so we had to wait. At 2pm the bar closed and I thought "thank goodness." However, then Denny's (the all-night breakfast diner) called to our friends. I had a milkshake at 2:30am. I was home in bed at 4:30am!

I Didn't Shoot the Sheriff, but...

2005-07-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

Well I have to get my blog caught up with my life. Last Thursday exemplifies my random world. Trudy and I decided to go to the East end of Vancouver to drop off a police check form for Trudy. She needed to pass it into the Main Street station, but was scared to go to that part of the city by herself. So off we went. Across from the police station was a film shooting. They were filming a spin-off of "Davinci's Inquest" called "Intelligence." I took some pictures. he he...

We waited in line for an hour and a half at the police station. While waiting we had some entertainment. One man came in and the woman behind the bullet-proof window asked him what he was there for and if he had all the documents. He said he was from Edmonton -yeah Edmonton (maybe a new friend?). Anyway he was coming in for a pardon. Unfortunately he didn't have the required documents from Ottawa as to what his crime was. With this news, he threw his papers down on the ground, swore, and yelled, then left.

I thought that was pretty fun, but that wasn't the highlight of my police trip. A man was standing in the police station -just hanging out I guess. Another woman behind the window asked what he was there for. The guy replied that he was waiting for his friend. The woman came out of her office and asked the other man if he was indeed his buddy. No such luck. So again she turned to the man and asked his business. He said it was none of hers. The situation continued to escalate and the woman said that she would get security. He called her a pig and a troll and ran out of the building laughing. Apparently the guy was on some thing. Ummm good Vancouver drugs in this part of town-no surprise.

Random, Wonderful People

2005-07-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

I commute 3 hours every day on the bus. I've realised over the past year that this isn't completely, necessarily a bad thing. I have met a lot of people on my travels. A lot of interesting, wonderful, and weird people. When someone sits beside me on the bus I turn to them, make eye contact, and smile. I never realised I did that until my roommate picked up on it. I enjoy talking to the seniors going on their day trips to the big city.

Yesterday I met a 77 year young woman (Patricia) who reminded me of my own grandmother. She had just travelled to Scotland once again to search her ancestry. She travels all the time-her and her identical twin. The woman was going for a long walk once she retunred home with her suitcases. She truly exemplifies the old adage: You're only as old as you feel. She was a sweetie.

Today I was waiting for my bus and a man with dark glasses asked when the bus would be coming. We continued to talk until the bus came. He said that I looked like a 10, but that his eyes aren't that great. Lol I said that I would take anything I could get. We laughed.

Just a Few More Weeks

2005-07-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

The day is almost here-July 28th. That's the day I'm leaving British Columbia and visiting Nova Scotia. It's certainly a mixed feeling. I'll be so glad not having to get up at 4am, not working and not commuting! I'm excited to go home for my sister's wedding and see my family for a couple weeks until I move back west. I've made some great friends here, and I'm sure I'll make even more in Alberta. The countdown begins... 24 days and counting... 17 days left of work...

An Unforgettable 24th Birthday!!

2005-07-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

I began my 24th birthday with the Live 8 concert (on TV). It was truly remarkable. It was wonderful to see talented musicians playing for a great cause. Melissa and I were planning on going back to Granville Island, but sadly she didn't feel well.

Friends of mine in Vancouver asked if I wanted to go for a hike and I happily agreed. We drove up Mount Seymour and met up with some of their friends. The "hike" was 15 minutes long. No comparison to my hike in New Hampshire. lol As we were going up the trail a black bear stumbled upon our path. It was far enough away that we were safe, but close enough that we knew what it was. Amazing animal. I took some pictures of course. :) For a moment I was scared because we were sort of cornering the bear. We were walking towards the bear (from the trail below) while some hikers were descending towards it. We yelled for them to stop and wait. They didn't hear us at first and kept on walking. Thankfully they finally stopped and we all admired the bear from a safe distance.

At the top of the trail was a beautiful, placid lake. It was so calming. Many people took a dive into the cold water. I sat back and laughed at the shivering idiots. lol At the end of the hike our new friends said "happy b-day" to me and offered me a granola bar as a present. How thoughtful! :) They were all sweet.

Following the hike I made phone calls so everyone could meet for supper at an Italian restaurant. We weren't sure where. We went onto the internet and picked the first one in Yaletown. I didn't know this, but Yaletown is pretty posh. Hence the restaurant was posh. I laughed when we sat down. There I was with my bookbag. When I mean posh...I mean $300 wines. If the stem of my spoon touched my plate a waiter would come over and adjust it. Yep posh! Thankfully, we all ordered tap water and a $20 meal. Not bad. The mood wasn't as laid back as I would have liked though.

Many people left as we strolled over to a pub called the Atlantic Trap & Gill. I always thought it was just a seafood restaurant, but it's actually a pub. Not just any pub-an Atlantic pub! That's right! I was home! There was a Newfie singing Maritime music. We sat on couches in the corner and downed some good old Keith's beer. Flags from all the Atlantic provinces were hung around the room. The pub was small, but had a relaxing, friendly feel. The waitress didn't ask us to pay right away. I forgot about that. People trust one another in a place like that. Melissa courageously sat with some older guys and motioned for me to join them. We sat in the front watching the Newfie do his thing. The guys were hilarious. They were trashed. One of them asked to take a picture of us with our camera. No harm. He then said on the count of 3 to lift our shirts. Yeah right buddy. lol We took it in stride and told him maybe in his dreams. Melissa told the singer that it was my birthday. In the last music set he sang the b-day song to me as I stood up and waived and drank Keith's in a toast to everyone. For the rest of the night I was the "birthday girl." I was wished "happy b-day" in the bathroom and even at the bus stop while waiting to go home. It was a fun-filled day-one I will not soon forget. I will definitely go back to the pub. I discovered that there is even one located in Edmonton. Yeah! I know where I'll be Saturday nights.

Canada Day -The Search for BC Pride

2005-07-03T18:38:00.000-07:00

My first Canada Day on the west coast. Melissa and I dressed to the 9's in red and white and hopped the bus to Granville Island. (Aside: My poor NS sister was afraid that I may have to take a ferry to get there. I assured her I would be ok and that no ferry was involved in our travels that day). Surprisingly, not many people were wearing the Nation's colours. Weird. I was complimented on my Canadian Leaf bandana. The woman said she always wanted one and asked where I got it. I told her that she would have to travel to the otherside of Canada-I bought it in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. lol. Granville Island was a hot spot. Maple leaf flags were given out left and right. There was lots to see and do. Melissa and I took in some music from the jazz festival and watched some buskers. Buskers = street vendors. BC people don't know what a busker is. lol

My San Francisco friends (Aaron and Jenn) joined us for the day. It was nice spending it with them because they were so happy that they will become Canadians shortly. We went to a nice lounge and sat back and chit chatted. Aaron asked a waiter what the soup of the day was and he smirkly replied, "It's carrot and something soup, but it's not my fault." With a wink he left. We laughed. A good guy to ask what we should get.

Following our time on Granville Island Melissa and I jumped back on the bus and headed home. We were lucky-only then did it begin to rain. We strolled down to the White Rock pier to meet up with a friend of Melissa's. We listened to some bands as we ate gelato. Yum! At 9:15pm it was still July the 1st in BC, but in NS it was 1:15 am July the 2nd. I then officially turned 24. Whoo-hoo! I downed a root beer. yes a root beer. We weren't allowed drinking out on the pier. Thirty minutes later we watched the spectacular fireworks over the water. Just for me-well for Canada's 138th birthday and my 24th birthday.

Queen of Oak Bay

2005-06-30T16:52:00.000-07:00

Poor ferry passengers. People have been aboard the ferry named Queen of Oak Bay in Horseshoe Bay (off the coast of BC) since 10 am this morning. They are getting off the boat shortly (it's around 5pm). Almost 9 hours since the incident. The ferry lost power and went into the dock. It gently glided into the marina boats. There were no injuries reported. There are 544 passengers aboard. Unfortunately this may affect travel for the long weekend. The ferry has only been back in order for a couple of weeks now. It had a 30 million dollar refit lift (mainly cosmetic). Ummm always excitement. 1 hour and 30 min ride turns into 10 + hours. Sad...sad... Let the long weekend begin.

Birthday Weekend! Who-hoo!

2005-06-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

It's the weekend! Tomorrow is Canada Day so I and a bunch of friends will be partying it up on Granville Island. "Celebrate good times! Come on..." My two friends from San Francisco just moved here and they're super excited for the day. I am too. Yeah the 4 hour time difference (from Nova Scotia) means I technically turn 24 years old at 9:30 pm. Then Saturday, July 2nd (my actual b-day) I'll be spending time in Vancouver watching some bands at the Jazz festival! Should be a good time!