The Savvy Boomer

Vancouver Olympics manage to piss off several thousand, probably a few million

You'd think that the VANOC folks would expect a few hundred thousand hits on their servers when they put the final 2010 Vancouver winter Olympics tickets on sale this morning.  They failed, finally cancelling the sales for a week because of technical problems.  This Olympics has a budget of a few billion and they can't get something simple like online ticket sales right?  In the typical cavalier manner they have adopted to run these games, they didn't really even apologize for THE 4 HOURS I WASTED TRYING TO GET INTO THE WEBSITE.  Perhaps they knew I am leaving during the games because Vancouver is going to turn into a parking lot for 2 weeks and I really just wanted to scalp them like most everyone else who lives in Vancouver.

The sordid evidence of what the Vancouver Sun called the EPIC FAIL:

 

  

I thought I was getting somewhere here but the 1995 type web page below didn't give me much confidence.

  

  

The message below was a real piss off because it was up for a few hours and if you clicked on it, the page just re-loaded

 

This was the BS they posted on Twitter-nice apology

 

British Columbia finally bans cellphones when driving

I was driving out of a parking garage tonight when a car coming in oblivious to the fact that there was an in and out divider, came in on the out route.  You guessed it, the female driver was yakking away on a cell phone.   After a middle finger salute, I gave her a few more choice words but since she was the mother of one of my ESL students, I doubt she understood what I said.

A few minutes later, I was following another moron driving 1/2 the posted limit. Yup, texting on his cell phone.  Middle finger, horn and a few more choice words that rhyme with f+_(%^ing azzhole.

So when I got home and watched the news, I was overjoyed to see that B.C. has finally entered the 21st century and decided to ban cell phone usage when driving.

Sure, it will be difficult to enforce but I can't wait to take a picture of someone using a cellphone while driving.  Oh wait a minute, that too may be illegal.  Ahh, it'll be worth the expression on their face trying to cover up their criminal activity when they see my cell phone camera.

It's about time this provincial government that I'm ashamed to admit I voted for finally got something right.

Driving in BC can be (is) dangerous

If you drive in BC you know it can be dangerous but if you come from another province or state, you need to know the kind of bullshit drivers that can exist here.  Some immigrants seem to think that money will solve their inabilities to drive while others think they are invincible no matter how much they imbibe.

A Vancouver area winery with an outstanding restaurant

Although I am a big supporter of British Columbia, I have never really been on board with the BC wine industry.  The reason is simple; BC wines, while reasonably good are also reasonably expensive.  I find much better values in our local liquor stores in wines imported from France, Argentina, Chile, Australia and the USA in particular.   I like a lot of BC wines I have tasted but refuse to pay $20-$30 a bottle when I can buy as good or better tasting imported wine for $12-$20 a bottle. 

However, I do enjoy the restaurants found in some B.C. wineries.  If you are in the Okanagan, be sure to try the restaurants at Lake Breeze, Burrowing Owl and Gray Monk.  If you are in the Vancouver area, there is a restaurant in the Langley winery called Domaine de Chaberton.

We recently enjoyed a lunch there that rivalled any top quality restaurant I have eaten in for some time.  We started with mussels in a sauce that had us wondering if we had ever had any mussels this scrumptious before.  Superb does not adequately define them.  Our main courses of a curry roast lamb and a roasted double rack pork chop were not only outstanding, but were so large in quantity that we took home the dreaded doggy bags and had more than enough for dinner that night.  I can't even imagine how large the dinner portions must be.  A word of warning is that every entree seems to be served in the French style of a lot of rich sauce (guess that's because the winery has a French name) and while they taste wonderful, if you aren't a sauce person, you need to ask if they can cut it back.

Of course we also had a couple glasses of their wine which was very good but I'm sticking to my guns about BC wines being over priced.  I guess I didn't mind too much though since the food was great.  Our server, Beverly, was very professional and attentive and while the restaurant ambience is wannabe outdoorsy French, it doesn't quite succeed but is certainly adequate-and did I mention-the food was incredible and given the quantity, the prices are quite reasonable.

OK OK, I'm not much of a food critic writer, but this restaurant gets a 9 out of 10 from us and if they ever understand that their wine is overpriced by about 30% compared to their foreign competitors, they will get a 10.

Vancouver-the "easiest" city to live in the world

These days, we often think about the best place to retire but then I read in the Vancouver Sun about how Vancouver stacks up as 1st in the world and I wonder why we shouldn't just stay put.  The article doesn't really state what the discerning factors were in this poll.  What may be "easy" for some may be difficult for others.

I don't consider our winters to be "easy" compared to say Mexico, but then I consider the ability to travel around town without fearing for my life, to be much "easier" than in Mexico.  I don't consider our traffic congestion to be easy, but compared to Shanghai, I guess it's very easy.  I don't consider our health care system to be "easy" but then I think about Darfur.  House prices here aren't "easy" but then I think about Manhattan.  I don't think our government is "easy", but then think about North Korea.  I certainly don't think our level of taxation or economic environment is "easy" but then I think about Zimbabwe.  Our level of crime isn't as "easy" as it used to be, but compared to most large US cities, it still is.

What is very "easy" here is our lifestyle, environment, scenery,and our general enjoyment of life.  So, while life here may not be totally "easy", everything is relative and it's "easy" to understand Vancouver's ranking.  It's also interesting to note that Canada placed 3 cities in the top 6 with Toronto 3rd and Calgary 6th.

Does the Vancouver Olympic torch look like a joint?

I came across these stories in the Toronto Star, Maclean's Magazine and the Seattle Times about the 2010 Olympic torch looking like a doobie.  Given Vancouver's reputation for being the marijuana capital of North America, maybe they are onto something.  I saw a picture of it in the Vancouver Sun but never thought about it since it was held vertically, but as you can see in the picture here, there is a resemblance.  It's going to be hard for VANOC to spin this one but I'm sure they will come up with something given that they are spin masters.

 

You think your vote doesn't matter?

Next time you sluff off voting because you don't think your vote will matter, remember the graphic below.  22,000 votes cast and Wally Oppal wins Delta South in yesterday's B.C. election by 2 votes-probably himself and his wife.

Guest blog from B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell

The provincial election in British Columbia on May 12 is one of the most important elections we have had in years. 

I submitted a question to Premier Gordon Campbell of the incumbent Liberal party and he replied to me.  Below is the question and answer.

Q:  As an aging BC resident, I’m very concerned about the future of health care in BC, in particular, wait times for age related medical issues.  How is your government preparing for the coming heavy demands from the boomer generation on the health care system?  

A: We have taken a number of actions across the health care system to support our growing and aging population.  Surgical wait times for hip and knee replacement procedures are down 41 per cent and 33 per cent since 2001 due to record investments and innovations in care delivery.  Home support and home care investments which allow seniors to remain in their homes have increased by more than 60 per cent since 2001. 

 

By building almost 6,000 net new seniors beds and units we have reduced wait times for residential care to just 15-90 days now, compared to average waits of up to a year in 2001.  Twenty-five years from now, approximately one-quarter of our population will be over the age of 65.  That is why we are continuing to invest in acute and community care supports for our elderly. 90 per cent of all new budgeted spending over the next three years being dedicated to health care.

 

The new Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport encourages us all to lead healthier lifestyles and has created a nationally-recognized health promotion program. We’re encouraging children and seniors to be active through programs like Action Schools and Seniors Community Parks.   A healthy diet and 30 daily minutes of physical activity – like a walk around your neighbourhood – make an enormous difference in personal health. Healthy living can reduce the incidence of some forms of cancer by 50 per cent and significantly reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes. If B.C. were a country we would have the second-longest life expectancy in the world. We are striving to be number one!

 

I’m reminding everyone that Tuesday May 12th is election day but that you can also vote in advance polls which are open from Wednesday May 6th through Saturday May 9th.  Click here to find your riding and polling station.  You can vote even if you haven’t pre-registered.  Click here to find out what you need to bring to your polling station.