An engineering professor at Simon Fraser University died yesterday morning of a heart attack while playing soccer. Through my undergrad and graduate studies, I have taken three courses with Jacques Vaisey, and he was always a professor who took the time to help out his students, although he did have some rigorous expectations of them. I will always remember Jacques as the closer talker who would go back and forth between tippy-toe and heel as he talked; curved his fingers like beaks with his arms close to his body like a bunny rabbit as he explained course material; and would pace across the front of the classroom bumping into chairs and projectors on each side, over and over. His antics will be missed, as well as his teaching.

The details...

A week and a half ago, I realized that I would need to take 10 vacation days before the end of the year, as they exceed my maximum carry-overable limit of 15 days. Due to personal reasons, my vacation would be restricted to November, so I fired off a few quick emails and settled on going to England and France. Only one and a half weeks later, I think I've managed a cost efficient 18-day trip that will force me into many new experiences, and I absolutely cannot wait. As my plane ticket states below, I'll arrive in London on November 8th (6 days from now), and my carefully plotted plan will unfold:

• Nov 8 - 12: In London seeing as much as I can possible see. I'll be staying at The Generator hostel in Russel Square. I'll be equipped with a 1-week Travel Card, enabling me full mobility over London's public transit offering... although with the dense web of Underground (Tube) stations, I can't imagine why I'd take the bus, other than for photo ops. I guess I'll find out soon enough. There will be likely meet ups with Andrew and Kevin during my stay.
  
• Nov 13 - 18: On the 12th, I've got a car rental (hire) reservation, and I'll attempt to find my way safely to the town of Islip, next to Thrapston, near Kettering and Peterborough (approx 1 hr North of London) where Krista lives. About 3/5 of the car rental cost is in insurance, which amounts to some 70 GBP (fully insured, excluding personal injury) because I am under 26 years old. For the cost of insurance, I question whether it would be more worth my while to turn my driving experience into a regular smash-em-up derby.... hmm... maybe on my last day. Needless to say, driving on the "wrong" side of the road will be an awesome challenge, and I'm hoping to not find myself in any fender benders or caught in their Round-abouts like Chevy Chase did in National Lampoon's European Vacation. From Krista's place, I plan to make day trips while she works and trips with her on the weekend, with Bath, Oxford, Derbyshire Dales, Birmingham, Nottingham, and Cambridge on my list of possible destinations. On the 18th, I'll drive back to London, possibly visiting Windsor first, and return the car.
  
• Nov 18 - 24: I have a flight from London Stansted to Montpellier, France at a few minutes after 6pm. I'll arrive in Montpellier at 9pm local time where Trish and Trevor will pick up me and take me to their place in Panzanas. Over the next 5 days, we'll have a car rental for day trips to Montpellier and Marseilles.
  
• Nov 24 - 25: Shortly after my flight back to Stansted nearing midnight on the 24th, I will hop onto my last flight out of London Heathrow.
  

With powerbars in my right holster and bottled water in my left, I've got just about everything ready, booked, and awaiting my arrival.

For the savvy traveller out there reading this:

• What other kind of light travel food should I bring in case I get hungry on day?


• What are the recommended must-sees in London or around the London area? Any of them require substantial admission I should be aware of?
  
• Cheap places to eat? Chains of restaurants? Authentic English foods? Others?
  
• Places I should avoid due to cost or any other reason?
  
• While Canadians are beloved all around the globe, do the British like us still even though we didn't participate in the war? Would it be wise or dangerous to tote a Canadian flag (pin)?
  
• Any other recommendations?
  

After two years of spending tireless effort on Halloween costumes and acts, I've taken a break. Maybe I'll pick it up again next year.

There's no turning back now!! I'm stuck with my decision. Poor me.

Fri 7-Nov-03
Vancouver (YVR)
Depart 6:35 pm Terminal M
to London (LHR)
Arrive 12:05 pm +1 day Terminal 3 7585 km (4713 mi)
Duration: 9hr 30mn


Tue 25-Nov-03
London (LHR)
Depart 1:30 pm Terminal 3
to Vancouver (YVR)
Arrive 3:15 pm Terminal M 7585 km (4713 mi)
Duration: 9hr 45mn

"He put something in my mouth, and I felt a little prick."
- My coworker overheard at lunch in conversation talking about her visit to the dentist.

I just finished watching the season finale of The Joe Schmo Show. I only saw the last 4 shows or so, but I will be completely honest when I say that it was the most satisfying finale for a reality show I've seen so far. I truly enjoyed it, and got some good laughs out of it. The concept of the show is much like The Truman Show in many ways, where everyone but the protagonist is an actor -- and I really liked The Truman Show. Matt Kennedy Gould was the perfect guy for the show because of his personality and demeanor. He's strange, he's out there, he's likable, and he's always got something to say. I think Matt will have his turn on some other TV show, perhaps as a host or correspondent. Anyway, it was a fun ride -- as much as I saw anyway.

I saw Ellen Degeneres' talk show yesterday for the first time, before which I hadn't even known she had a show. During the show, she had some conversations with some ladies in Marengo, Il. Apparently, in Marengo, they have "fast time" and "slow time". Fast time is one hour ahead of slow time, and is affected by Day Light Savings. After the time change this past weekend, both fast time and slow time are on the same hour. Otherwise they're an hour apart. But people in Marengo can work on different times as they see fit. School is on slow time, so the kids can get to class on time. Work is on fast time. So parents and children, from room to room in the same house, will be on different times. Anytime a person specifies a time (say, to start an event), they need to specify fast time or slow time. It's incredible. Incredibly confusing too! You'll probably find some hits on Google by doing a search on "Marengo fast slow time".

Suddenly, I feel more confident in clubbing than I have ever felt. All because I know How to Dance Properly. With these cool techniques in my pocket, I will no doubt be the focus of the evening. No girl will resist. Make sure you read the dance descriptions below the videos to truly understand the significance and history of each move.

I had an odd sleep two nights ago. Didn't sleep well at all. I woke up, and realized that my head was sleeping on my pillow, on my clock radio, and on my night table sitting next to my bed. I don't think I've ever done that before. I remember when I was younger, I would go down to my brother's room during the summer and sleep in his room (he had a queen-sized bed), which was cooler during the warm nights. I remember waking up once and not being able to find my pillow... it didn't occur to me that it was because I slept-walked in the middle of the night from my room down to his, and didn't bring my pillow with me. Weird. What kind of odd sleeping experiences have you had?

As I was out with a couple highschool buddies over the weekend, something came to my attention. I have never been hit on by a gay guy. Both guys I was with, neither of them gay, have gotten a certain amount of homosexual attention. I wonder if I should be concerned... or glad.