Farewell to Bardel

Today was my last day in the accounting department at Bardel Entertainment. Between working a summer during my diploma, and then returning after BCIT, I have spent five years there and am ready for a change.The hardest part of leaving after that much time is you know so many people that it's tricky to properly say goodbye to everyone - and it's important to remind some people that you're leaving a company, but not them. It's equally daunting to consume the sheer volume of calories that people offer you on your way out the door...

I have had a fantastic core of co-workers across Finance, Payroll, Operations, HR, and Production, so there were almost a dozen lunches, drinks, and coffees this week trying to fit in goodbyes with everyone. I feel incredibly fortunate to have met so many kind and hard working people over and hope everyone continues to succeed in their careers moving forward.

Anyone that has talked with me about work in the last few years has heard about my work-aunts and I was delighted that Sherna (who retired in December and never had to set foot near Bardel again) came all the way from Ladner for my send off lunch.

(L to R: Michelle, George, Sanja, Sherna, and Ethel)

 
I also made a point of taking the operations team out for beer and nachos since they work as hard as everyone else (if not more so) but are too often overlooked when someone leaves Corporate. I'm not sure if this is because specialized teams get insular or what, but I wanted to thank everyone that helped me succeed and you certainly can't work in finance without getting the mail and calls routed or having lights and locks.

I was very pleased that they were keen to spend time with me off the clock since I'm not sure I would have been thrilled about hanging out with a 40-something accountant when I was their age, but they were sincerely happy to visit and fantastic company with an energy an exuberance which was contagious.

My camera phone is old and a little blurry, but this photo managed to capture the primary character traits of the team in one go. They're a great bunch and I'm confident they'll do great in the future as they go on to bigger and better things.

(L to R: Sam, Kyle, and Andy) 

Purely by fluke, there was also a company town hall/Beer Friday on my last day, so I got a chance to see the whole team gathered one last time and signed up to work the keg filling pitchers for a chunk of time at the end of the day. There was something pleasing about having my last task for the company being bar-tending that I just couldn't turn down.

Overseas Visitor

 My cousin Simone and I have always gotten along and go way back. Unfortunately, being grownups in different continents, its hard to find time to visit as often as we'd like. In the early days of working in film I would have a lot of banked holiday time and go to Europe every year or two, but trying to fit all your family visits into 2 weeks a year gets a little trickier.

 Luckily, she was in town visiting our mutual friend Riley and we were able to find an evening that lined up in everyone's schedule to have a meal, a few drinks, and a chat. My how we've all grown :P

 Kathryn and I haven't been over to England since we got engaged, but we're hoping to make a visit next spring. With any luck we can have a bit more time to check in and chat in the near future.

Deep Cove Team Building

 The Bardel finance team typically has an outdoor social event each summer as chance to have a chat and get out of the office. This summer we did a pleasant hike in Deep Cove through the forest and out to a lookout. The trail is well marked and easy to follow, but has a few steep points that are tricky if you're not wearing good shoes or are a little uncertain of your footing.

 We ended up split into a few groups of different speeds of people, but all reconvened at the far side to enjoy the lookout and have a quick group photo. For those outside Bardel, from left to right: Richard, Dan, Michelle, Sherna, Sandra, Erin and myself.

 The interior of BC has been having a tough year for forest fires and we've been under a cloud of smoke for a few weeks now, so the view the end of the trail was a little yellowed and hazy, but still a lovely spot nonetheless. Luckily the smoke is not so bad that it makes outdoor exertion unpleasant in any way but it does limit the aesthetic for landscape photography.

Hiking Eagle Bluff

 My friend Laszlo was in town for a few weeks for work and I managed to monopolize a fair portion of his free time to visit, watch fireworks, and have a drink or two. Amongst that, we also managed to get well out of the downtown core and go hiking on Cypress Mountain out to a point called "Eagle Bluff." The hike was around 4 hours and the worst part was a bit of steep scrabbly gravel right at the beginning, after which it was a very pleasant hike through the forest.

 I shot some panoramas at the top, but they are all so wide (since the lookout had a pretty amazing 270-degree view or so) that I don't think they'd work too well in the narrow confines of this blog. Instead, I have included a "you can see my house from up here" photo of the west end and Stanley Park as seen from the peak.

 There were several nice points to get a bit above the trees and have a nice view, and this peak into Howe Sound was a pretty striking spot as well. There were lots of nice small lakes up there as well, along with very bold grey jays and chipmunks that will literally eat out of your hand given the chance. All in all a fantastic hike I would certainly recommend to everyone, although it is a bit steep in places and should be considered an intermediate challenge for those in doubt.

10 Whole Years!!!

 In one of those wonderful "blink and you'll miss it" situations, Kathryn and I have been happily married for 10 years now. On the one hand, the time really does fly, but we've packed so many good times and travels into those years that looking back on it, they have easily been the very best decade of my life.

 We used this picture for the DVD case of our wedding video and it seems like a good one to share to mark the occasion. We're still a few continents short of a full set for our travels, but lets see how things stack up by our 20th and which gaps on the map we've attended to.

 We had a pretty small-scale celebration just the two of us with a nice dinner out and a bottle of sparkling wine and dessert at home. Tin is the 10th anniversary gift, and Kathryn very sweetly decorated a little can with some drawings of our first 10 years which was very sweet indeed. Looking forward to the next 10 years and the 10 after that, and so on :)

Sea Kayaking

Our itinerary included a sea kayaking/bioluminescence tour on the south-west coast and we were doubly fortunate in that outing. First off, when the torrential rain kicked up in the afternoon, we decided that you only live once and we aught to go regardless. Secondly, the other people that would have been on the water at the same time as us didn't make the same choice about the rain, so we had a private tour.

 There were frequently pods of dolphins in these waters and we had high hopes to see some, but unfortunately the passing storm had kicked up some chop on the water so it was a little difficult to spot a small dorsal fin in the ocean. The skies were striking and it had been ages since we'd been out in kayaks, so it was amazing all the same.

 The bioluminescence portion of the trip was too dark for any pictures to be taken, but still has a story worth sharing. After dark we were snorkeling about and told that there would be tiny plankton which would light up due to motion on the water, but were having trouble seeing anything. After 10 minutes or so of flapping around with my face in the water I was beginning to wonder a bit if it was like the story of the Emperors New Clothes and everyone just raves about the bioluminescence because they don't want to admit they can see anything. Fortunately, moments later everything changed and every motion of your body was trailed by an underwater fireball of glowing particles. It was truly an amazing experience and unfortunately, one of the few where you'll have to either take our word or go see for yourselves just how incredible it was.

Team and Transport

 Before we bury you all photos of birds and sloths, we think its really important to take a moment and thank the two guys without whom we wouldn't have seen a fraction of the things we did.

Our driver Nicolas (left) and our guide Mario (right) did everything they could, every single day, to make our trip unforgettable. They were both endlessly patient with our requests to stop along every roadside to take photographs and answer all our questions about nature, politics, geography and their country. Having worked together many times over the years, they joke around together like a pair of brothers and quickly got a group of strangers laughing and chatting along with them.

 Our transportation throughout the trip was this little while bus which are quite common sights as tourist vehicles in Costa Rica. It carried all of us, along with our assorted gear, up hill and down dale from the ocean shore to the heights of the cloud forest. Weirdly enough (though not shown from this angle) there is a driver-side door, but the front seat on the right has to be reached by getting in the side door and then vaulting over a platform and into the seat.

 There were 6 of us at our peak and there aren't too many photos of the lot, but I was very happy that Mario had a fellow guide take this picture of us all during our first hike in Cahuita national park. From left to right we have Lisa, Sue, Sam, Mario, Kathryn, Janet and George.

Lisa and Janet were a daughter-mother team from California and Michegan. Sam and Sue were a son-mother team from Montana. Both mothers were very keen on botany and knew a lot about the various plants and flowers of the country. Lisa and Sam were both young and funny folks. We had a great little group and each of them has a special place in our memories of our time in Costa Rica.

Awards season

 Each time I apply for any sort of scholarship/bursary at BCIT, I never hear a thing back, but every now and then the system gives me awards I didn't even know where up for grabs.  This was my 4th scholarship, and I was delighted to be one of six people in the part time degree program to receive it. Better yet, I was able to share it with several clever and talented people I have had the good fortune to get to know over the past 16 months.

My friend Julia (left) helped get me through tax, audit, and finance, and we're taking another course together in January before she finishes her degree entirely. Luba (right) was in one of my courses and is always outspoken and on topic. Derek (absent) has had a few courses with me and also do a great job of participating and generally keeping things moving ahead. We were all given our awards by Jennifer Kerr (centre) who has been an incredibly helpful and supportive instructor in both the diploma and degree programs.

Congrats to my fellow scholarship winners and thanks to the staff and BCIT and people who oversee the Linda and Allen Stefanson Memorial Awards for their support. I've been doing courses back to back this term and its been particularly exhausting when combined with a busy job, but moments like this really helps make it all feel worthwhile.

Beachfront in Kelowna

 On our drive to Vernon this summer, we took a break from driving to stretch our legs and enjoy the scenery in Kelowna. The downtown core beside Lake Okanagan is very popular and built up, with all manner of fancy boats and hotels, but they have done a good job of keeping the waterfront itself open to the public in large areas. This allows for some nice paths, food vendors, beach access, open-air piano spaces, public art, and a general feeling of community.

 The interior of the province also gets hotter than we are used to on the coast, but Kathryn was prepared (as always) and took the opportunity to go frolic and splash in the water.

 Jared and myself declined to get in the water, but had a nice wander along the lakefront and took a moment to pose for a picture with Ogopogo, the famous (however unlikely) lake monster of the Okanagan.

Hiking in Vernon

 We had a spare afternoon before the wedding in Vernon, and luckily Kathryn had booked a nice room at the Silver Star Resort. They cater to both the mountain biking and the snowboarding crowds (though clearly not at the same time) and have a rather vibrant colour scheme which Jared (as an art director) took a little while to comes to terms with. Kathryn and I expect that while its a little jarring in the summer, in the winter it must stand out for miles around in a sea of white and grey.

 The mountain bikers had lots of clearly marked trails to enjoy, but there were also some nice hiking trails from the resort up to the peak and back. After months of schooling and life in Vancouver, it was really nice to get away to somewhere wide and open for a few hours.

 There were several warnings about black bears and plenty of scat on the trails, but none to be found. Funnily enough, Jared carried a few rocks that he clacked together which he thought might keep the bears away and Kathryn and I worried would scare them before we could spot them. Then when we got back, people at reception told us that's a bad idea because territorial males will gnash their teeth and make a similar sound to show dominance. So we took a walk in bear country and worried we'd scare them off while simultaneously sending out a challenge call. City people, am I right?

A Few More Animal Encounters

 The Kangaroo Creek Farm had quite a few non-marsupial animals which you could spend time with depending on your comfort levels. Being a very tactile person who wants to experience everything, Kathryn waded through a scrum of children in order to be covered in birds for a few minutes. The grey parrot in the left of frame was particularly friendly and started nuzzling up to her right after this picture.

 A slightly more confusing encounter occurred shortly thereafter when this juvenile emu took a fancy to our friend Jared and began assuming a mating position. Apparently many emus go through a curiosity phase where they are more attracted to people that other emus. While its a pretty funny situation in hindsight, being pursued by an amorous 4 foot bird is a bit alarming at the time. Maybe its for the best that the dinosaurs are all extinct...

 Rounding out or visit with the most relaxed animal you could ask for, I was able to check an item off my bucket list and spent a bit of time patting a capybara. For those of you who are unfamiliar, they are the largest rodent in the world, hail from Patagonia, and feel quite a bit like a bristly inner tube.

Hands-on with Marsupials

 On our way through the Okanagan on our way back from the wedding, we stopped in Lake Country at the Kangaroo Creek Farm for some one-on-one time with a variety of marsupials and other oddities. Based on advice from both my boss and the people at the gate, we started immediately with the line to hold baby kangaroos. There were about 6 which ranged from 3 to 5 months of age since first coming out of their mothers pouch. They come wrapped in little blankets as shown, and are just about the cutest things you can imagine.

 Kathryn also had the chance to hold a sugar glider, which is another tiny marsupial similar to a flying squirrel. We learned quite a bit about them, the good pets they make, the long lives they have, and the trouble they can have at the vet (since their veins are too small to treat in any way). They are also ridiculously soft and very patient with the number of people holding and cooing over them.

 This albino wallaby was a little strung out from being followed around by small children most of the day and was quite happy to relax with me and have its ears scratched for a few minutes. It actually leaned against me and had a little snuggle before the next batch of jam-covered urchins started chasing it around again.

 Fun fact: kangaroos often have a life-long obsession with pouches, such that grown adults will try to get into baby carriages and juvenile animals will eat my ratty pants at the knee trying to make room to climb in.

Kalene & Blair Pt 2: The fun and games

 Blair and Kalene are both talented artists and know how to host a good party, so there was plenty of style and fun to be found at the wedding. The picture below is of a huge banner they had on the side of the barn as well as on a number of the take-aways from the event. Anyone with goggles on their cat is pretty awesome in my book.

 Speaking of awesome books, they had a little kiosk which would record 7 seconds of video and convert it into a flipbook which was printed and ready within minutes. To add to the fun, there were also silly costumes and accessories available. We did a few as a couple and part of a larger group and have to say that it was a brilliant and memorable little take away :)

 And after every wedding comes the dinner, drinks and dancing with a great mix of familiar friends and new faces. We were seated at a table with other visual effects people and a university friend of Kalene's. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable evening spent with the special new couple :)

Kalene & Blair Pt 1: The couple and the locale

 Our friends Kalene and Blair got married on August 27th and were good enough to invite us. Better yet, they were good enough to give us 10+ months notice, which ensured we had time off, a place to stay, and a car booked since they had their ceremony in Vernon, BC.

 Vernon is just a little north of Kelowna in the Okanagan, and was a new place for us both. They chose a lovely spot with sprawling wheat fields up to gentle mountains under striking skies. The weather was rather variable on the day but they had gorgeous sun for the ceremony and reception, with only a little wind and rain later in the evening.

 The reception and dinner were held inside a barn, which comfortably held the entire group and was very charmingly decorated with family photos and mementos of their adventures together. Just beyond the door was a saloon for refreshing beverages and a wide open field. There was a very nice buffet dinner with pie for dessert and lots of dancing to round out the evening.

Thanks again to the happy couple for including us on their special day, and we wish them years of happiness to come :)

Convocation and Valedictorian Speech

After 2 very stressful (but in hindsight very quick) years, I graduated from the BCIT Accounting Diploma Program. Both sets of parents came out for the ceremony along with my lovely Kathryn, which really reinforced what a special event it was for me. I have several years of part-time schooling to go before I complete my degree and then my designation, but this certainly marked the cut-off point where I quit worrying about returning to VFX and officially began my new career.

The ceremony was in a church near the BCIT campus which comfortably sat the board and top instructors from several programs along with 230-ish graduates and 1200-ish guests, so that seemed like a good excuse to try out New Professional George and deliver the Valedictorian address. A few years ago I would have hidden in the back, but now I am quite comfortable talking infront of large groups of people, so long as I have time to prepare.

Since BCIT was very clever and recorded the whole ceremony, I have easy access to my speech, and to save anyone else from having to sift through 2+ hours of people in funny hats receiving awards, I have edited out just my speech below:

Family and Friends to be Thankful For

 With our health, happiness and loving marraige, we both have a lot to be thankful for. Most of that is difficult to express in a quick trio of photos, but we also had visits with dear family and friends this year which are much easier to summarize in a blogpost as people who most certainly help us through the years. Kathryn's parents shared a nice week with us earlier in the summer, allowing for some nice excursions from the city along with an overdue visit. They are an excellent example of how to be married for decades and still be very much in love.

 My cousin Simone and her husband Robbie were in town for a visit this summer as well, and we had a surreal crossover with them and my old friend Riley from Manitoba and the long long ago. It was really great to catch up with people I hadn't seen for years and pretty much pick up where we last left things off.

 Rounding out the summer, my dad came along with us to Telegraph Cove for some wildlife viewing and good company. As always, our friends at Stubbs Island Whale Watching were incredibly generous with their time and we had a dinner party/barbeque pretty much every night we were up there.

 

 There are many more dear people in our lives than we have quick reference photos of, but to everyone that is a part of our routine in Vancouver or elsewhere, thank you for being in our lives and we are no doubt past due for a proper visit.

The Ordeal of Finals and the Catharsis of Bowling

 So last week was the end of first year and concluded with a battery of 5 finals in 4 days (2 having been written the week before) to wrap up the current batch of courses. All 5 were written in the gym and given that you can probably all visualize a school gym full of desks, I decided to skip a picture of it entirely as part of the healing process.

 On the friday after the last exam (Working Capital Management) a group of the people from my set headed out for some bowling and escape from the financial education system. After a week of quickly trying to retain information to churn out answers, having a chance to drink beer and lob heavy objects around to knock down pins seemed like an excellent idea. I had never done 10 pin bowling before and did alright considering.

 Below is a picture of everyone that came out, given that our set had only 26 people or so we had a pretty good turnout and it was nice to visit and joke about with people outside of school and without the spectre of exams hanging over us any more.

The Polar Bear Swim

Alternate title: The stupidest thing we've ever done.  10,000 years ago the area was covered in ice.  Apparently it melted December 31, 2013.  Almost every year since Geordie and I moved to the English Bay area we have gone down to witness the annual January 1st Polar Bear Swim.  You can 'officially' sign up and there are relays and prizes but many people just go in unofficially.  The beach was particularily crowded this year as there was no rain and pretty decent cloud cover made for an air temperature of about 5-7 degrees.

George, Anne Kim and Ginna Berg and myself did the swim after alittle Dutch courage.  I was in first.  A fit of madness took me.  I made a point of not looking up the ocean temperature.  It was probably around 5-8 degrees Celsius. You can see there are lots of boats in the background. Mostly gawkers but the dragon boats and the cop boats are there to help if anyone gets into trouble.  Below we are screeching 'Oh My FECKING GAWD IT'S COLD!'.  Except for Ginna in her adorable swim cap who is just prancing in.

Now we are out and warming up and huddled together.  We scurried back to our apartment where we all piled in the shower and than had rum.  Our skin felt amazing and tingly after the feeling came back.  The next day we found that they had pulled a manky body some where up from English Bay in False Creek in one of the marinas.