I received an unexpected message in my inbox the other day, from a Province reporter, looking for someone to interview for a story about CAN. I’m guessing my kitslinao.ca entry on car-sharing showed up in her google search.

In any case, it turns out that the Cooperative Auto Network has just been audited, and is facing the prospect of a very hefty bill.

Content skived from yesterday’s Province, since I’m too busy to write the story again:

Car co-op dinged for rental tax
Cheryl Chan, The Province
Published: Wednesday, September 12, 2007

The Vancouver Co-operative Auto Network is facing a possible car-rental tax bill of up to $300,000.

“This is a big hit for a very successful small business here in Vancouver,” said New Democrat MLA Gregor Robertson.

The provincial tax of $1.50 per vehicle rental is meant to charge renters, mostly out-of-towners, for the use of roads in B.C., said Robertson.

When the co-op was set up, he said, it was not directed to collect the tax.

The Ministry of Small Business audited the co-op and ruled in February that the tax is payable, retroactive for three years.

Executive-director Tracey Axelsson said the co-op is submitting documents for a formal assessment, which is the next step if the tax is to be paid.

“It could be an assessment of zero

. . . or it could be hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Axelsson. “At this point, there is no way of knowing which way it’ll go.”

Kitsilano resident Jennifer Wiederick doesn’t need a car, but as one of the 3,500 members of the Vancouver car co-op, she has access to one whenever she needs it.

“It works out great,” said Wiederick, 27. “I save money, mostly on maintenance and insurance.”

Wiederick said it would be “unfortunate” if the co-op was taxed. “The co-op was created with the spirit of reducing cars on the road, so charging them a tax for road infrastructure goes completely against the spirit of things.”

Car co-ops in Victoria and Nelson also may face the tax.

Susanna Grimes of the Victoria Car Share Co-op, which hasn’t been audited, said they are monitoring the case. “It’s a concern of ours, of course.”

Zipcar, a similar but for-profit private company launched in Vancouver last April, pays the tax.

chchan@png.canwest.com

The part I said that wasn’t quoted in the article is that since joining the car co-op, I not only pay less to drive, I drive less. Because I’d have to go through the issue of booking the car, walking to it, taking it where I need to go, parking, driving back and walking home again, short trips are rarely worth taking a car for. I carpool a lot more. I take the bus. I walk.

Belonging to the car co-op means that my driving activity (and impact on local transportation infrastructure) is reduced. I assume it’s similar with other members.

Also, the Hon. Mr. Robertson has it dead wrong when he says it’s a “big hit for a successful small business” because the co-op isn’t a business. Nobody is making money off of the use of these cars (unlike competitor, zipcar, which primarily operates as a short-term repeat-rental agency) - they are collectively owned by the members and shared. Any fees that are paid go toward the ownership and maintenance of these cars and any administrative charges to pay staff to look after the cars’ collective insurance and well-being.

Arguing that because CAN has staff to manage the fleet and members buy shares and pay fees it is a business that owes the rental tax is akin to saying that because I have a mortgage, and sometimes have friends and family stay over (and sometimes stay at their place, where they pay their mortgage) and we pay housekeepers come in to dust and vacuum every couple weeks (I don’t have that - wishful thinking - but if I did), I should be assessed a hotel tax.

I sincerely hope that the formal assessment results in the Ministry of Small Business pulling their heads out of their collective asses and reversing their decision to levy the rental tax.

Because if this action results in an unaffordable special assessment to members, or even the death knell of CAN, I’ll be purchasing a car again (because what I’d spend on Zipcar would amount to a car payment).

And that seems like a lose-lose situation for an already overburdened road and transportation infrastructure, CAN, the environment, my bank account, and my vote for the government who thought levying the tax on CAN was a good idea in the first place.

My mom will be most pleased to hear that Neil and I finally got our engagement photos done, so she can snag one to send in with the newspaper announcement she’s been itching to create.

We had absolutely stunning weather as we made our way to Granville Island yesterday with our photographers - the phenomenally talented Miranda and Reilly Lievers of Blue Olive Photography - and spent the better part of an hour giggling and smooching and snapping.

I’ll be the first to admit that I spent the better part of today obsessively refreshing their blog to see when the promised teasers would be up. Partly out of excitement, and partly out of photo-phobia.

I don’t have much anxiety in front of a camera, but the results of the photos afterward generally send me screaming for the hills.

Well Miranda & Reilly were crazy post-heavy today (four blog posts in as many hours - seriously - I was going nuts over here!) and by the time our shots showed up, I didn’t even recognize myself at first glance.

Seriously.

I look…. good! This just does not happen in photographs. I am generally represented by a 6-chinned gigantic forehead. With eyes thrown in for good measure, if you look carefully.

And they made us both look absolutely incredible. Click through to their blog to see a few more of the teasers from the day.

Booking these guys (just in the nick of time, I might add) was definitely one of our better moves, and I can’t WAIT to see the rest of the photos, and what they manage to pull out for our wedding!

UPDATE: You can see a full slideshow of the images here!

I’m going positively squirrely lately with the lack of home-improvement/beautification efforts happening around my domicile.

Since we’re moving in a few months, all of that kind of stuff has been put on hold. There’s no point spending our hard-earned cash on things that likely won’t work out in a completely different space.

But who can say no to free!

Duane Storey’s giving away 8×12 prints of his beautiful photography to the first 20 people who post about his new photo blog.

So here I am!

We’ve got art in our place from Korea, Japan, China, England, Italy and Sweden (if Ikea prints count) - but nothing local so far.

I’m thinking this one would be a beautiful start to a local collection on our walls.

Go check him out - you’ll be glad you did!

Sitting at my desk, drinking coffee, chatting with colleagues about the long weekend past, and getting my workflow in order.

I feel proud that I managed to shake off a poor night’s sleep and get in to work without incident.

I smile at myself, take another sip of coffee, and run my tongue over my teeth.

And it hits me.

I totally forgot to brush this morning.

ew.

Other than the semi-regular dreams of wedding disasters that I keep having, everything for wedding planning was going fairly well.

Until now.

The dress. Or should I say dresses. The damn dress decision is distressing me. I need a deputy decision maker. Or a distraction.

There are two dresses that I’ve found. Both nice. Both make me look incredible. Both are similar in price. I can not decide.

Dress One is definitely more “traditional bridal” in fabrics and structure, though it’s still fairly unique in styling and a bit more dramatic than the average gown I’ve seen (and I should know - I swear I’ve tried on every damn dress in existence) in terms of styling and embellishments. It’s going to be hot and heavy in terms of wearing it for hours, but thankfully won’t require any extravagant or involved undergarments (if I were so inclined, I could probably wear nothing under it at all and still look great).

Dress Two is what designers are calling a “destination-style” gown. Tropical weight fabrics and much more informal styling. My Grandmother thinks it makes me look like Grace Kelly. The more modern among us would say it makes me look like J’Lo from the back (in her very, very best days). In fact, while the front has a very flattering line, the back of this dress is really what it’s all about (and isn’t my backside what people will largely be staring at for the first part of the day?). This dress will definitely lead to something “hot and heavy,” but be comfortable to wear all day and well into the evening. The seductive styling and sheer fabrics though, will require a modern miracle in foundation garments and double-sided tape to keep all my bits at a tasteful level for everyone involved.

Also, complicating matters, they are at different stores about 45 minutes apart - making it very hard for me to try them on back-to-back and have a reasonable means for comparison. And of course bridal salons don’t let you take pictures, so any images I have were taken clandestinely with half-done-up dresses in changerooms. In dresses where the sample-sizes are either too-big or too-small (or both, in different places, thanks to the awesomeness of being pear-shaped).

I’m so torn, that (as ridiculous as it sounds) I’m actually considering the budget busting move of getting both, and changing halfway through the event. My justification is that after the wedding I could totally have the train removed from the second dress, get it dyed a colour other than white, then keep it an evening gown. Because I totally need an evening gown, I wear them all the time - there was my prom, and my high-school boyfriend’s prom… and… well… nothing since then, but a black-tie affair could really leap up at any moment, right?

Clearly this issue has driven me completely batshit crazy. Save me from myself internets, talk some sense into me and start dispensing some sane advice. Before this dress decision dilemma drives me to drink.

UPDATE: (Sept. 1/07) Yes, I have made a decision. No, you do not get to know what it is. You’ll have to wait a few months for the pictures!

The blog is undergoing a long-overdue upgrade to the newest version of WordPress. If you experience any weirdness over the next couple days, that’s probably why.

The management thanks you for your patience.

Update: upgrade complete, and spanky new design now showing! It’s worth clicking through to my actual site to see the loveliness that Kyndra created!

(Already crossposted to facebook - with a couple comments there.)

So I went to BarCamp Vancouver 07 last Saturday. I was… underwhelmed.

Having never attended a BarCamp before, I was pretty excited, since everyone I know who has gone has always spoken quite highly of them. But I just wasn’t feeling the love and/or usefulness.

I suppose this makes sense if, like me, you actually enjoy traditional conferences. I like seeing the conference theme, session briefs, schedules. I like planning ahead to see what’s coming up and scheduling my conference experience. Hyper-organization thrills me in a special way.

BarCamp, being an “unconference” is the antitheses of this. While some sessions are determined ahead of time, much of the content and the entirety of the schedule is done up “on the fly” - set the morning of the gathering with the potential to change during the day.

I’d seen a couple sessions I was definitely interested in on the Wiki - but after the “scheduling jam” was held, they all turned out to be after 2:00pm.

Considering I’d shown up at 8:30 for breakfast, session and scheduling jam and introductions - by the time I found out what would be taking place when (settled at 10:00am), I wasn’t really in any mood to hang around.

I did attend one of the first presentations of the day and was mostly interested - but 11:00am - 2:00pm felt like a LONG four hours to fill. I could’ve hung out and tried to make friends - but I’m a bit useless in large groups like that. My socializing and networking abilities seem to dissolve in groups larger than about 20.

Also, generally when I attend a conference, the sessions and presentations are organized around a central theme. There are usually a few sessions I’m really interested in, and some that only tangentially touch on stuff I want to know. But at least they’re 90% relevant to the theme of the conference.

Since BarCamp is an all-inclusive unconference, the sessions only follow the theme of “are you interested/expert enough in something to talk about it? then do so!”

That’s a huge draw for some, but not really for me. It meant that sessions ran the gamut from social media to ADHD to Drupal theming, to open source business development to apple widgets to social responsibility using the web to mainframes to cameraphones to advertising.

And most of that stuff, well I just don’t give a damn about it. It might be interesting stuff to many attendees, but not to me. Actually, not true. Had there been an “intro to Drupal” session, I might’ve attended - but why would I attend a session on Drupal theming when I hardly know what Drupal itself is? Same with the apple widgets. Cool, but I use a PC/Linux setup.

So yes. I left. And didn’t return for the sessions I wanted to see in the afternoon, because by then I was tired and didn’t feel like the 30 minute bus trip back across town. I’m sure I missed out. But I’m not that worried about it.

I came, I saw, and I’ve decided that BarCamp just isn’t for me. Anyone else feel that way, or am I the oddball in this one?

So Neil and I went on a canoeing/camping trip.

Oh my holy hell.

Honestly, I had a good time - but I’m not particularly pleased with:

-the guy who rented us canoes
-the BC Forest Service
-those who use their campsites regularly
-mother nature

We did the Sayward Lakes canoe circuit, which has been advertised all over the place as perfectly suitable for novices. The recommended time for the journey is 3-4 days, and we allowed 5, so we figured we’d be good with the time and our levels of fitness and experience.

Boy were we wrong.

Well, not so much us - but this is definitely not a trip for novices to either canoeing or backpacking. Or those who have a strong aversion to poor planning, bad direction or piles and piles and piles of shit.

For those not “in the know” - canoes come with wheels these days. They fit nicely in the bottom when you’re paddling, and strap to the underside for portaging. So you’d expect that the person renting and instructing you on the use of said wheels would tell you the correct way to use them. You’d be wrong. We were told to put the wheels on the back 1/3 of the canoe and pull it along behind us. Because we’re bumping down root- and rock-covered trails, the wheels would bump bump bounce off the narrow back end. Not to mention the incredible amount of effort required to pull the canoe (loaded with our stuff) through the forest.

Thankfully we met another canoeist along the way who had his wheels right under the middle of the boat. After we tried that method we found the canoes were much easier to maneuver, dealt with the weight much better, the wheels actually stayed on and portaging was all around much more pleasant.

So now that we’ve figured out the wheel situation, you’d expect that an advertised canoe portage trail would be suitable for the wheels that everyone is allegedly using. You’d be wrong again. In various places there are logs over the trails (unstrap the wheels, lift the canoe, strap back on), the corners are too narrow to get the canoe around, there are dangerous downhills (tricky to walk down, let alone wrangle a canoe on wheels without letting it go). In one shining example, we canoed down a canal, only to find that there was a giant log at the output to the next lake! We had to precariously get out of the canoe onto the log, drag the canoe over some bushes (growing out of mud) around the log, and put back in (covered in mud of course) without falling in the lake and/or tipping the canoe.

But we made it. Because at least the trails, while difficult, were well marked and the map was easy to follow, right? Oh no - wrong again. Trail markers were mostly nonexistent. When they were visible they were in stupid places (like 6″ off the ground), or faded out to grey so they were nearly impossible to see from any distance. One part of the trail (Twin Lake and Swamp Channels) had very little direction on the map or trail (we were “lost” for a good 2 hours), and finally sent us over 3 beaver dams to get to the next lake. Sorry Beavers. Nevermind the danger of leaving people to “find their own way” in the woods, the destroying a dam thing just can’t be ecologically sound…

At least the camping was nice, though! Except, not so much. I understand that part of the allure of visiting a BC Forest Service campsite is the fact that they’re a) usually fairly remote and b) usually free. The downside to that is the fact that they rarely had any facilities. No worry - people will just dig a hole. Except they don’t. The campsites are COVERED in landmines. People seem to just shit where the urge strikes them. It’s completely gross. Add to that the fact that our dog fancies herself a turd-burgler - we learned pretty quick we had to keep her tied up in camp, or risk having her run off and return with an upset tummy and some VERY bad breath.

So the canoes sucked. The trails sucked. The campsites sucked.

At least the weather was nice? Hahahaha. Of course not. There was rain on the first night, and record breaking rain on the 2nd night. Raindrops falling so hard and thick that they hurt.

So is it any surprise that after night two, Neil and I bailed? The entire group decided to cut across a logging road that bisects the circuit and head back to the starting point. If the weather improved or the group was up to it, camping would continue at sites on the lake where we initially put in so at least we were somewhere familiar, shit-free, and within reach of the cars should the situation not improve. Neil and I took that opportunity to finally escape the rain (which it did for one more night) and actually ended up spending the next two days at his parents’ lodge instead of camping. That was entirely pleasant and relaxing. The rest of the group had a great time on the last night as well - the weather cleared right up and the lake itself was gorgeous.

So while I’m definitely still a fan of camping, and definitely still like canoeing - I have a strong suspicion that in my world, never again shall the two meet.

Camping Gear

Originally uploaded by peechie.

In anticipation of our upcoming canoe/camping trip, Neil and I went out this past weekend to stock up on supplies.

We’ve both done our fair-share of camping, though it’s all been car-camping - the backpacking thing is pretty new to us. Of course, that meant we have gotten away with owning bulky, heavy camping stuff and reappropriating household goods to see us through the trip.

Luckily, we’re going with a pretty large group (Neil’s family), so we didn’t have to equip ourselves with an entire backpacker’s arsenal of necessities. His parents are taking care of food, and have all the cooking tools, plates, utensils and dehydrated foodstuffs we’ll need for sustinence over the five days.

It also helps that we aren’t strictly backpacking, we’re canoeing, so things that would normally be a very bad idea (a regular-sized tent and sleeping bags) aren’t really that big a deal.

The big “areas” we’ve taken responsibility for, for the group, are clean water, first-aid, and ropes (this whole hanging food from trees thing should be interesting).

And between equipping ourselves with that, the necessary technical clothing (I may be okay with not showering, but I am NOT okay with not having dry socks or clean underwear) and a few other convenience accessories - holy crap it starts to add up.

And so, to lessen the burning feeling as funds leech away from our bank accounts, I figured I’d at least get some joy out of it by opening up a wee contest for my entertainment and yours!

Guess how much all the stuff in the picture cost!

If you click through to the flickr photo, there are notes on the details and quantity of each item.

All goods were purchased at either 3Vets or MEC. I can also tell you that the most we paid for any item on there was $75.

Leave your guess in the comments. All guesses must be in Canadian dollars. Winner goes Price is Right style - closest without going over.

The prize will be either a $10 MEC card (locals only, and you must give me your mailing address) or a $10 online gift certificate to Amazon (.ca or .com - depending on where you are).

I’ll post the winner when we return, on August 16th.

Happy guessing!

UPDATE: And the winner is Yvonne with a guess of $900, closest to our astronomical total of $987.50 (after tax). I couldn’t believe it either - everything we purchased fit into a single laundry hamper - but I think Neil’s $41-per-pair fancy-schmancy underwear might’ve had something to do with it…

Thanks for playing along - and it all did come in pretty handy on the trip, which I’ll get to in the next post.

You can’t imagine how unbelievably sad I am to be writing this entry.

Ending any relationship is hard, but this one meant more to me than most. It’s seen me through so much, been with me through good times and bad, and its warm, comforting embrace has been the one constant I’ve had to rely on when nothing else was going right.

My friends, I am off coffee.

I’ve been pretty ill for quite some time. Since late March I’ve been dealing with being completely irregular (varying widely from one end of that particular spectrum to the other), and random attacks of nausea. It’s gotten to bad that I’ve had to walk out on dinners (because just being in the presence of food is enough to trigger illness) and have bolted from a cab, upstairs to the bathroom just in time to hurl. I have spent more nights than I care to admit to myself curled up in the fetal position waiting for the sweet release of sleep - or death - or anything to make me stop feeling like my torso is being turned inside-out.

Now I’m at a point where I don’t like going out much, because I have no idea how I’ll feel or what might happen (it tends to come out of “nowhere”). I’ve lost 5lbs - but not in a good way. I’ve actually mostly abandoned any sort of serious exercise routine, because on a daily basis I’m never sure if I’ll be able to consume enough calories to make it through a workout without fainting. And of course, the lack of exercise means my energy levels have gone waaaaaay down, and I’m mostly tired all the time.

It was clearly time to do something about this, and I’m already familiar with the processes of dealing with GI distresses - so I started paying really close attention to everything I do and eat.

And one constant I’ve found is coffee.

I’ve not had any for a few days (or the couple cups I have had made me pretty sick) - and I’m already starting to feel better.

I almost wish I didn’t.

But for now, coffee is dead to me. Really rich foods (especially dense, dark chocolates) and wine are on notice.

Of course, if I actually have to move either one of those to the banned list, life may not be worth living anymore.

At the moment, though, things are slowly getting better - and Neil has switched from delivering java in the mornings to tea instead.

Oh gentle readers, I am stymied!

Neil and I are heading off on a canoeing trip next week, and are trying to figure out exactly how we’re going to get from Point A to Point B with as little hassle and expense as possible.

I’m convinced there must be a reasonable way to execute the plan - but I’ll be damned if I can figure it out! So I thought I’d turn to y’all and see if the collective Watercooler readership is smarter than I am (which I figure is highly likely).

Here are the details:

We must get from our apartment in Kitsilano to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal with ourselves, 2 backpacks, 1 suitcase and the dog.

–> A taxi is going to be about $60 - I know it’s a long-ass ride, but it seems like there must be a better option

–> We can’t take the bus with the dog (unless someone knows some dog/bus-fu they can share? At 75lbs she is just slightly too big to stuff in a carrier and haul onboard)

–> We could get a co-op car (round trip costs about $30), but one of us would have to return it to its original location, then bus back to the ferry (probably 4 hours of driving/bussing all together - and our time is worth a LOT more than the cab-fare to avoid that)

–> Renting a car and paying to leave it at the ferry terminal for a week is just dumb and far more expensive than $120 in taxi rides. Can you do a 1-way rental from Vancouver to West Vancouver?

–> We can’t think of any friends that live nearby who
a) have cars or access to cars;
b) are available midday on a Wednesday;
c) are in town next Wednesday;
d) would willingly drive from our house to Horseshoe Bay and back for the price of gas and a bottle of wine.
(If you are such a friend, please let us know - we haven’t asked because we didn’t want to impose!)

And that is about where we left off.

Anyone out there have any brilliant ideas, or are looking for something to do next Wednesday midday?

If you know me, you know how much I love Love LOVE food and wine. And the absolute highlight of the trip was dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. It’s one of few restaurants where the quality of the food is not inversely proportionate to the quality of the views. We were incredibly lucky to get a reservation there - I called from the Airport on Friday before we left, and the caller before me had just canceled their Saturday reservation. Otherwise it’s generally weeks to get a weekend sitting.

We had the tasting menu and accompanying flight of wine - and let me tell you, there are only a few things in this world (which I won’t mention, since my Mom reads this, but you get the idea) better than the taste and mouth-feel of amazing food with perfectly paired wines.

I’m mostly posting this so I can go back and reminisce over the menu at some point, but for the curious (because I know there are at least a few food/wine nerds reading), here’s what we had:

Amuse Bouche: Tomato Gaspacho, Rabbit Confit on Crostini, Crab Cake
Champagne - estate and vintage long forgotten

Cold Foie Gras Torchon, Duck Prosciutto, Fig Compote
Trimbach Reserve, Pinot Gris 2003, Alsace France

Maine Lobster, Fennel Remoulade, Herb Salad
Schafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay 2005, Napa

Braised Filet of Halibut, Artichoke, Basil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pascal Jolivet Sancerre 2005, Loire Valley France

Roasted Rack of Lamb, Confit Eggplant, Tomato Tart, Tarragon Jus
Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon 2002, Alexander Valley

Crispy Michigan Farmstead Artisanal Camembert, Almond Apricot Petite Salad
Wedell Pinot Noir 2004, SantaRita Hills California

Eiffel Tower Dessert: Neil had the Apple Strudel, I had the Chocolate Sampler
Clos Uroulat Jurancon 2004, France

It was all just as good as it sounds - possibly better.

In point form, because I am still damn dehydrated, the plane was very delayed last night, and I’ve got lots of work to do:

Destination: Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada! (but oh the desert is dry! I feel so, so crusty)

Airline: West Jet - Captain Dave missed the runway on the first approach in, so we got an extra roller-coaster ride and some sore ears upon arrival (can we say 1,000-10,000 feet in 3.6 seconds?)

Hotel: Planet Hollywood (Formerly the Aladdin) - yay for the birthday upgrade! We got a junior suite on the 50th floor

Shows: Random comp tickets to Jay Leno at the Mirage on Friday (6th row centre) and bought tickets to Blue Man Group on the 28th

Sights: It was too damn hot to walk around much, so we pretty much stuck to the Centre Strip - Bellagio, Paris, Bally’s, Flamingo, Mirage

Shopping: Oh the shopping! I can’t wait to go back in November (work-trip for DevConnections) to load up again!

Fooding: Amazing Birthday Dinner at the Eiffel Tower! Six course tasting menu with accompanying flight of wine and beautiful views.

Relaxing: I’m glad we brought the bathing suits anyway, because we spent most of Sunday in the hotel pool before heading to the airport.

Gambling: we watched lots of tables, but with minimums starting around $10 and my severe lack of any skill at card games whatsoever, I figure I’ll practice at the casinos here a bit longer and try gambling on the next trip. We did hang out at the penny slots for a while to take advantage of the free drinks though!

And that’s all she wrote folks - I’m in love with Las Vegas, it really is like Disneyland for grownups, and we’re already planning our next trip!

To Me!

My one and only Champagne Birthday is coming up in two short days!

I’ll turn 27 on the 27th. Even cooler (at least I think it is) is that I’ll turn 27 on 27-07-2007.

I was going to throw a big party!

Until I was informed that there is something else in store.

All Neil would tell me is that I had to cancel the party, since I won’t be home Friday night (or all weekend at all, actually).

Other details I know:
-I should pack “airplane friendly”
-Dinner attire is required
-A bathing suit is not required

Anyone want to hazard a guess on what could be up?

Update: (July 26, 8:30am)

Because Neil is a horrible secret-keeper, and I am a) freakishly observant and b) a bit of a pest I can add the following two details:

-We are leaving the Country
-We are not leaving the continent

So uh… what are your votes for American or Mexican cities that I could be visiting?