Vancouver

I went to Vancouver this weekend with Nabeel. I needed to get some paperwork done at the (US) border and it was a good opportunity to visit Ju-Lian.

The drive there and back was interesting. There is a "stagnant air" severe weather advisory in effect for the area. Consequently, there were many large patches of fog along the way and in (Seattle and) Vancouver. One minute you might have blue skies and, but a few minute's drive lands you in dense fog.

Ju-Lian is doing well. He's working at EA and has bought studio condo. (You know you are getting old when your friends own where they live!). We weren't in Vancouver long, but it was a nice diversion. We stopped by Simon Frasier University briefly, had dinner in downtown Vancouver, and went to see a comedy show on Granville Island.

And now a few random thoughts: (1) The blinking traffic lights in Vancouver are weird and freaky. (2) We found a Tim Horton's and bought some Tim Bits. (3) Su Doku is cool.

To Do List

I can't believe that 2005 is almost over. With work being so crazy busy, I doubt I'll be able to do anything big outside of work before Christmas. So, here are some things that I want to do in 2006:

• Learn how to ski: I use to live where there was lots of snow, but no mountains. Now I live where there is no snow, but lots of mountains. So I should take the opportunity to go skiing at least once. I've only been downhill skiing once and that was when I was in grade six and on a ski hill. (Emphasis on hill). Last year there was little snow in the mountains, but this year is suppose to be a good winter. (Some of the ski resorts are open already).


• Visit Europe: I haven't really gone on vacation this year. My masterplan is to visit Europe again next year. Probably Copenhagen, London, and a couple other cities.


• Learn how to scuba dive: One of co-workers goes scuba diving and gives lessons once in a while. I should join one of his classes.


• Go to another chess tournament: It's been a while since I've played in a chess tournament. (Although I'm playing a game every week or two at work and doing well).


• Visit Crater Lake: I read that Crater Lake has the deepest blue water in the World. It's in eastern Oregon and I'd like to going camping and hiking there some weekend during the summer.

Not Honest and Trustworthy

Does President Bush lie to the public or do his senior officials lie to the public behind his back?

Bush says We do not torture [1], but In an important clarification of
President George W. Bush's earlier statement, [US national security adviser
Stephen Hadley] refused to unequivocally rule out the use of torture [2] and White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan was browbeaten by the press because he was unable to explain why the White House is asking for an exemption to torture from the Senate if the US does not torture people. [3] He couldn't even answer whether or not the White House asked exemption. (Even though it is widely known. [4])

I think it's the former. Bush should just come clean and admit that they torture people and also imprison innocent people [5]. After all, the US is reversing 790 years of human rights (habeas corpus) [6] , so it's not like their prisoners can do anything. ;-) And, I'm sure, that coming clean would help lift Bush's record-low poll ratings, where a majority of Americans rate him as not honest and trustworthy [7].

Rattlesnake Ledge

Photos obtained after hiking up to Rattlesnake Ledge.

Woodland Park Zoo

It's been a really busy month - my project at work launched, my sister and brother-in-law came to visit me for our birthdays, (my sister's birthday is the day after mine), and my friend Martin was at a conference in Portland and came up to see Seattle visit me for the weekend.

So aside from all the crazy hours, I've been to the aquarium, the Space Needle, hiking, the Experience Music Project, and the Woodland Park Zoo. I'm still organizing all the photos that I've taken, but for a start, here are some photos from the zoo.

Roulette and Weather

Last week there was a three page article in the Seattle Times about global warming (basically stating that it was an undisputable fact). In yesterday's paper the letter's to the editor had eleven letters about the article - five were critical, four were supportive, and two were written by smart asses who had nothing of note to say.

Sometimes reading letters to the editor are funny, because people are so dumb. Take this except for example: How can anyone predict the climate over the next 100 years when today's experts are so often wrong about tomorrow's weather?

Um, maybe 'cause large scale tends are easy to predict, but the specifics are not. I have no clue what day in February it will snow in Ottawa, but I'm pretty sure that they will be at least a foot of snow on the ground there by the end of February.

Or better yet, to see how dumb their argument is, let's turn it into a gambling analogy - A casino cannot predict where a roulette wheel will land next, so how can the casino make money over the next 100 beats I place? Surely I can't loose any money if I bet on roulette!