Damian's Blog - General

Year 2007 in Review

nospam@example.com (Damian) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:21:54 -0700

The year 2007 started us off in Old Quebec City. That's where we rang in the new year and had an excellent time even though it was -20C. At that time we lived in Toronto, but 2007 was quite a year. It was a tough decision for us to move back to Vancouver in Feb and it's only now that we are almost getting settled again. That was one of our "choose your own ending" moves as we almost decided to stay put until the very last minute.

Through the year we traveled to various cities including, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, San Diego. Our plans for 2008 includes more traveling as we leave for Peru in a couple weeks. We already have plans for NYC, Las Vegas, and Whitehorse.

Poker was still profitable, but my play has slowed down quite a bit. I last played live at the Luxor in late November and last won a tournament in September at Planet Hollywood. I haven't actually played a live tournament since then.

Happy New Year for 2008!

Atlanta Trip Report - Oct 2007

nospam@example.com (Damian) — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 20:10:32 -0700

I was in Atlanta for business and at the same time got to visit friends. Atlanta was quite hot and humid when I got there. 30C during the day is not the type of weather we get in Vancouver on a regular basis let alone in October. My week started out great when the rental car company gave me a Mitubushi Eclipse for the week. What a fun car to be driving in this weather.

Since NHL tickets are a premium in Canada I decided to try to catch a game while in town. Atlanta Thrashers vs Ottawa Senators. The infamous poker writer Dan Katz (dlk9s) decided to join me off we were to the game using the Atlanta transit system called Marta. Looks like they use RFID in their tickets which is pretty cool. Just as a comparison using the same time at 6pm for the same distance:

Vancouver one-way transit ticket - $4.50
Atlanta one-way transit ticket - $1.75

It's amazing that you can walk up to the gate and buy NHL tickets. I guess this isn't a hockey town by any stretch since most of the lower bowl was empty. And how can you beat $38 tickets for great seats?

I also got to experience real southern BBQ. True hickory smoked ribs which also only cost $11.99 vs over $20 we'd pay in either Toronto or Vancouver. Now that the Canadian Dollar is worth more than the US Dollar this is a big difference.

As for Atlanta tourist attractions, there are only a few. I made my way to the World of Coke where they have a museum and a tasting area where you can taste all the drinks coca-cola company sells across the world. I also had no idea coke was invented by a pharmacist in 1886.

Next stop was the Georgia Aquarium. I've been to a number of aquariums, but this one is set up really nicely. There's a huge tank where a couple of whales live. Definitely a must see. Other than that, I wasn't interested in getting a tour of the US propaganda machine also known as CNN which is headquartered in Atlanta. I did take a walk through the Olympic Park which is famous for the Olympic bombing in 1996. Very nice park in the middle of downtown.

Atlanta was great, but I'm not sure I'd want to spend another 7h flying back just yet. Thanks to dlk9s for the hospitality. I'll return the favour should you find yourself in Vancouver.

Idiot

nospam@example.com (Damian) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 19:24:46 -0700

Sorry for the long delay since the last post. I've been extremely busy and now I'm out of town on business and finally getting a chance to make a post.... Don't worry a poker update will be coming soon for those who are interested.

How does this make any sense? A friend whines to his/her parents cause they want to move out with their boyfriend/girlfriend. They are in their late 20s. Parents finally agree... 3 months pass and they still haven't moved out. They finally say "I'm moving out at the end of the month". Of course I offer to help like any friend would. Even offer to pay for the moving truck. End of the month comes and goes... no mention of moving out. So you say to them "Why don't you just move out?". I guess offering to pay for the moving truck seems too pushy. And it seems the way you tell someone they should move out makes them ignore you for weeks.

So who's the idiot? Me I guess.... for befriending and encouraging such a person in the first place. Some people are just all talk... I only bluff at the poker table. Otherwise I do as I say.... of course, unless I'm drunk. BTW, I'm posting this from a bar using the free wifi.

Million Dollar House in Vancouver

nospam@example.com (Damian) — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 22:24:26 -0700

Many of my friends think I'm exaggerating about house prices in Vancouver. This is for those of you that don't live in this wonderful city. Many of you wonder what you can get in Vancouver for $1,000,000. Here's a house I found listed on MLS (V651106):

Only $968,000 and a huge 1700sqft of living space. What a bargain!

Ewww Gas Prices

nospam@example.com (Damian) — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 09:01:22 -0700

I've now had my car here for almost 2 weeks. I keep a regular fuel journal and can see my gas consumption throughout the years. In comparison between cities (Toronto vs Vancouver), there seems to be a difference in my car's rate of consumption. In Toronto I was averaging 7.1L/100km, but here I'm at 8.0L/100km.

So roughly a whole litre per 100km more. Why? Well here in beautiful Vancouver the residents love their scenery so much they like to take their time as they commute between home and work. There are no highways so while I was whizzing by on the 401 at 140km/h getting to work, my fuel economy was much lower vs the stop and go city driving. And not only are the mountains beautiful to look at, they are also a pain to drive up and down. I expect my brakes to wear out quicker too. On a positive note, I expect my car to not rust as quickly as it would in the east.

Just as another comparison, gas prices in Vancouver this morning average 112.8 cents/L while Toronto's average is 100.7 cents/L.

Settling into Vancouver

nospam@example.com (Damian) — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 08:23:00 -0700

I am just about to finish my second week of the new job. Time has been flying by quite fast. My car arrived on the train this week. Still a few things to do in order to get BC plates. Moving and changing addresses with everyone is hard enough, but then add on top the other things like health care, drivers license, car insurance, selling the house, etc. Right now things are still a big mess, but I'm sure it will smooth out soon. I'm just happy to have my car.

Everyone asks me to compare Toronto vs. Vancouver and for now I just say that they are two completely different places. Each has their own positives and negatives and perhaps I can sit down and lay them all out in a future blog entry. After 3 months of the unknown, we are just happy to now know where we are and start planning for a different future than we had planned for in Toronto.

New Blog and New Domain!

nospam@example.com (Damian) — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 17:23:00 -0700

Just registered our new family domain and have set up our blog sites. Will be playing with the settings in the coming weeks and will hopefully start directing traffic to our new site. Unfortunately I can't be bothered to import my old blog so I guess we are starting from scratch.