Work Trip to Victoria

In April I had to be in Victoria for work. It was during the week with an afternoon session on one day and a morning session on the next. This gave me the opportunity to do a few Victoria tourist items that I hadn't done in a long time. The first was a trip to the BC Museum. This is the one that the government has deemed in desperate need of replacement and proposed a 1 billion project. Unfortunately the project was shelved as it was just not palatable to people to have to spend that much. The issue is that it's difficult to continue to retrofit the existing structure and do it incrementally. I hope they sort it out though because it's nice having a high quality museum in BC.

Next up was a quick visit to Beacon Hill Park. Apparently this park has two faces and I don't know if I've ever seen both versions at the same time. I started on the hill where I found the familiar peacocks and petting zoo. The peacocks are wild and not part of the zoo and I don't think I would want to get in a fight with one. I also don't know what reason I would have to get into a fight with one but I'm sure they could do something to piss me off. I walked around the petting zoo and through some open meadows and flower gardens and then noticed that it was possible to go up and over a hill towards the ocean.

It was at this time that I realized there was another part of the park that seemed familiar to me but I think when I've gone to each side we've  parked in different locations and not done both locations at the same time. The ocean portion of the park is quite wild considering it is just a short walk from the parliament buildings. The oceans cliffs have been left natural, there are some totem poles and walking trails to allow you to go right down to the beach. I imagine this would be a fun place to visit during a wind storm. It's nice to see we have so much land in the public domain rather than having houses trying to own their part of the beach. 

Fan Expo 2024

I think Fan Expo in Vancouver will be an annual event for Jeremy and I, especially as we try to advance the work on R2D2. We've only been twice and I'm not sure if they purposely try to have a theme each year but I did notice there was a lot of 80's nostalgia going on. There were booths for Star Wars, as I think is standard, but there was also a Ghost Busters booth and an entire booth dedicated to 80's movies and TV shoes like Ghost Busters, Back to the Future and I think the couch from Rosanne or maybe it was Married with Children. They had a DeLorean as well as the Ghostbusters car. I've done a bit of research on the ambulance used and apparently it's very rare.

Jeremy managed to get the majority of his Ghostbusters costume done in time for the expo. I think he probably has plans for a trap and like most cosplayers I'm sure his costume is never completely done. I was interested to learn that a number of the other Ghostbusters costumes were at least partly kits where Jeremy did the majority of his from scratch via a 3D printer. I'm sure the kits are cheaper but I personally like the idea of building from scratch. The only item I saw in other costumes that was a bit more detailed was that the backpack on some actually opened up and showed inner workings. I would still vote for Jeremy's. 

The other highlight of the show was that Adam Savage was a guest speaker. If you follow him online you'll know that he spends most of h is year travelling to different Fan Expos, Comicon's etc. I don't think he dressed up for this one but he was available for pictures and signings, which are not cheap for any of the celebrities. I briefly considered getting in line to ask him a question as I was a bit disappointed that the vast majority of questions were related to his time on Mythbusters where I was more interested in his knowledge as a maker. I chickened out though as I figured there was probably some process for getting in line that I didn't understand. 

Hallmark Christmas Town

On November 26th I sent an Instagram post about Martini village to Callie and walked into the family room to tell Kerry about it. Somehow this was forgotten and I get no credit for suggesting we go check out Martini village in Abbotsford. It's a fake movie town set up for filming Hallmark movies complete with store fronts and a gazebo. This year they decorated it with Christmas lights, had food trucks and hot chocolate and you paid an entry fee of $26. I spent most of the time knocking on things to see how real things were. There was a stone bridge on the way in that was just wood painted to look like concrete. I'll have to ask how they keep it water proof.

The streets were all paved with asphalt and concrete and the buildings all had window scenes despite only being a few feet wide. They supported everything with wood telephone poles from the back. There was also a few food trucks and a craft market. On our way out we saw Corey and the family. Corey insisted it wasn't his idea to be there. Carter had his first brisket on a bun and was very happy he ordered it. I went with the pork ribs. I don't think we'd want to go here every year but it's definitely an interesting experience. Lots of photo opportunities and even some fake snow flowing from the roof tops. 

 

Christmas

Christmas started in late-November. Callie, Carter and I were out and stopped off at Home Depot and Carter and I found a 12 foot snowman. At $8 a foot it was cheaper than our Christmas Tree. We bought it and snuck it into the back of the car without letting Callie know. In early December when the family was all out at the mall I set it up so they saw it as they got home. Kerry was not impressed which was exactly the reaction Carter and I were going for. It's a blow up  one so I set it on 'Always On' electric wise as it's just as much fun to look at during the day as it is to look at in the evening. I noticed a 20 foot one was available after Christmas. Might have to check it out.

The rest of Christmas was pretty typical for us. Barb and Reg came down just before Christmas and we had our Christmas fondue on the 23rd. Ronnie brought his latest girlfriend and her daughter so with all family members attending we had 16 people and four dogs in attendance. It was a lot of dishes to clean up but was still fun. The tree was fully decorated with about 5 generations of Christmas lights and dozens of decorations collected over the years. There were lots of presents under the tree that I got to see opened, not knowing what they were. Even the kids knew what they got before I did. The day of Christmas was a bit odd this year. School got out on the 22nd and with the fondue on the 23rd, all major events were done three days into the holiday. I go back to work on January 2nd but the rest of the family is off until the 8th. Not sure what they're going to do with all that time post Christmas. Best that I go into work all next week.

German Christmas Market

Carter was upset that we didn't do enough Christmas last year. We had two big trips planned so we softened the spend in 2022. This year he wanted to make sure we hit all the important points for his Christmas traditions including the German Christmas Market. It's located downtown so it's a bit of a trek for us but still worth it. They keep it to a rather confined space which I guess adds to the ambiance but I would prefer if there was more room. It worked out well for us because we got there right when it opened so there was lots of room to move around. It was during the day but the weather was nice and there were no lineups for food.

We bought a few treats for family members for Christmas including 'Those Pretzels' which were definitely the best pretzels I've ever had. They are the ones in a bag and they were a bit software and had a distinct flavour to them. We discovered they are made in Surrey and sold at some local stores so we will have a source even after Christmas. For lunch I had a smoky and some Black Forest cake. I was very impressed by their ketchup and mustard dispenser. Easy to see when it needs to be filled, always ready to squeeze and at the perfect height. A few drips on the floor that people walk through was the only issue. Otherwise every place should have these. 

 

Christmas Tree Hunt

The first weekend for our Christmas Tree farm at Dogwood was November 25th/26th. We like to make sure we go the first weekend because they have a limited number of trees and will sometimes close after only the first few days. The weather was perfect for getting a tree as it was below zero meaning that the ground was frozen and not muddy. We tend to search the same area every year though I really feel we should just get one of the trees that are already cut. They were a bit small this year so we ended up cutting our own. I was mildly annoyed with the family as I have to crawl in the dirt to do the cutting and all they have to do is lean the tree in a way that the way doesn't bind. They failed this year.

We've been cutting our tree here for several years but I'm irritated at the inflation price. We were up to $20 a foot for our preferred tree type. Noble or Fraser Fir. We like these because they have lots of areas for hanging decorations. $20 is getting pretty steep especially since we have a vaulted ceiling and can handle a 9 foot tree. I was able to lean the tree a bit and Kerry knows the person doing the measuring so she was able to distract him. We ended up with an 8 1/2 foot tree. At $170, those $69 dollar trees at Rona are looking more appealing. I'm still in favour of a real tree but at these prices we could get one of those auto-raising trees from Costco.

This year we named our tree Katniss Evergreen in honour of the latest Hunger Games movie that was out just before Christmas. 

 

Halloween

We're not too many years away for skipping the pumpkin patch completely at Halloween. The last two years we've gone to the local patch in stead of Aldor Acres and this year it was only Kerry, Carter and I. Carter is very particular about his pumpkin so he likes to have a selection that's bigger than what you would get at Safeway or Superstore. Port Kell's is a good clean alternative to a full on pumpkin patch. I think they grow some of their own pumpkins but I think they buy some as well. The patch is just an overflow parking lot with lots of selection and there is no mud. There's also a covered indoor area for the kids to play.

I was considering not doing a Halloween decoration this year but I had a project in mind for the past few. years and decided at the last minute to see if I could pull it off. It starts with two 5x5 pieces of plywood cut into 30 inch squares. I then used the CNC to create four sections of each of Kang and Kodos. Once they are cut to shape and the lines are carved in 1/8 of an inch deep, it's a simple job to paint them. It has the appearance of taking talent to make with the reality of being veery precise due to the CNC. They turned out quite good. I had practiced with a Maggie. At least this year, I created things that store fairly easily in the shed.

I got lucky with the weather again. It was nice for a full week leading up to Halloween. This meant I could get everything out a few days in advance without having to worry about rain. The rain even held off until the day after so it was a clean job putting everything away. I don't plan on adding any more big items unless I win the lottery and can afford a storage unit. I may decide to continue to improve on certain things to make them look good during the day and allow them to get wet. Right now everything looks good in the dark but not great during the day and most of it can't get wet. The neighbourhood always has good things to say and some kids stick around for a while to take everything in.