A nice evening

Hi everyone!

Hope you liked the article about Harriet. I think her birthday was yesterday - I found the news story on CBC this morning.

Last night was very nice. I had gotten a ride partway with Chris (who lives in the north) and, since I had time to kill, I walked part of the way and searched the liquor stores for Kirsch. I needed some for a recipe I want to try this weekend. Four liquor stores later, I found it. I ended up missing the bus I needed (it was pulling away from the stop as I ran across the parking lot) so I ended up being late for my appointment. Go figure - I could have been over an hour early but I ended up being 15 minutes late. It wasn't a problem however and I ended up being the last appointment of the day. He also gave me a referral for a chiropractor that's actually close to me! The new chiropractor's office is at West Hills (a shopping centre) and is the terminal for bus 6 (the bus that runs close to my place!) I didn't even have to wait very long for my connections on the way back and I was home before 8pm.

I also got my gold master card in the mail. I had received a mastercard when I bought my piano using a payment plan. I had received a letter at the end of October say that I could upgrade to a "gold" card. They offered a 1.9% introductory rate for 6 months and then 13.9% interest after that. Annual fee is $15. This is a much better deal than my GM Visa (18.9% interest, $25 annual fee) so I transferred my balance onto my new card so I can use the money I'm saving in interest to pay off the balance. It has car rental insurance too! I'm not sure what to do with my GM Visa now. I paid the annual fee during the summer so I basically have some time before I decide whether to cancel the card or if I should pay $25/year for a card I won't use. I know it affects your credit rating if you cancel at credit card but does anyone know where I can find more information about this?

Also booked my airport shuttle. I tried to do it on-line but the system had a block on Jan 1 bookings. It makes sense because it'll be the busiest (or second busiest - it changes from year to year) day of the year for flying. The airport shuttle company will want to know that there are legitimate people booking rides - not just bored freaks with nothing better to do than book rides for fake names/addresses. I also found a coupon for 10% off so I'm quite happy with my deal. Taking a taxi would cost a fortune and transit is too awkward with luggage.

Forgot to mention that I saw a coyote on my walk to work yesterday. I made lots of noise going up the path so I wouldn't startle him. He heard me and trotted off in a different direction. It's fairly common to see them when walking - in the winter I'll see one about every month. I find them to be fascinating animals. There was a program on them during the summer so here are a few things that you might not know about coyotes:

They are one of the oldest, if not oldest, indigenous species to North America. This is why they can adapt so well. When prey is scarce, they can survive eating bugs.

Population control doesn't work. If people try to kill the coyotes in an area, they will breed more. If the population is healthy, they'll breed less. This ensures the survival of the population.

They showed a segment where some scientists set up a live trap. I think they were either collecting data or micro chipping the coyotes. Anyways, a pair (male and female) saw the trap and became curious. The male ended up in the trap. The female studied the trap He was eventually released after the scientists were finished with him. A year later, the same scientists set up the same trap in the same area. The female came over, sprung the trap and got the food. How clever!

I'll describe my walk to work and the neighbourhoods around my apartment. This will make it easier when I write about my adventures. I live in South Calgary (not to be confused with that I live in south Calgary - the city is set up in quadrants). Part of South Calgary (just south of me by 6 blocks) is Marda Loop. It's a trendy area connected with Garrison Woods - a townhouse complex that looks like the English villages in movies. The houses/condos are brick and start around $259,000 for a one-bedroom. As I walk to work (along 27 Ave - my street) I cross 14th Street and enter Mount Royal. It's an older neighbour hood filled with oil families and huge houses. The streets are lined with elm trees and the gardeners take good care of things. There are some gorgeous houses and I love walking through here. I walk down a pathway along a bluff (I think it's from the riverbed or the ice-age when the rivers were much wider) past the Glencoe Club (I was curious to find out about membership to this elite club - there website stated that they were currently not accepting applications. I guess if you have to ask, you don't have enough money to join). I skim into Rideau as I cross the footbridge going over the Elbow River. This is another ritzy area. I then take the paved pathway up the hill (there's stairs) and head into Parkhill (Stanley Park is just south of it). More nice houses. I then meet up with Mission Road (average looking houses, nothing special about them) and follow the road to intersect with MacLeod Trail (major road in Calgary - all the big multi-lane roads are called "Trail"). I cross MacLeod and the road becomes 36 Ave. I'm now in Manchester Industrial North. Blackburn Road (where my office is) is a couple streets down. It takes about 45 minutes to get there, 50 to go home (it's mostly uphill). If I'm going to be late, I can get there in 35 minutes.

My church (St. Matthew's United) is in Killarney (next neighbourhood to the west). If I'm going to Westhills (shopping, doctor, movie theatre, new chiropractor), I can either catch bus 6 from the next street over from my place, or I can walk (about 1h 15 min). To walk, I pass through Killarney and Glenbrook to head into Richmond Hill. Westhills is southwest of my apartment. You get an excellent view of the mountains from there. If I want to go to Walmart (located in Westbrook Mall), I head into Killarney and Shagannappi and finally into Rosscarrock. It's northwest of my apartment (about 45 min walk).

When I refer to the Red Mile (17th Ave). I zigzag through South Calgary and end up at the corner of 14th St (the one I cross when walking to work) and 17th Ave. This is where you are seen and go to people watch during the summer.

When I'm walking downtown from work, I'll backtrack along Mission Road and follow it - it becomes 4th St when it crosses the Elbow River. 4th St (at least in the Mission area) is a trendy place with lots of artsy stores and good restaurants. I can follow it right to Stephen Ave (8th Ave) which is a shopping street. Part of it is a pedestrian street and there are lots of restaurants/expensive places along there. Over one block is 7th Ave and is where the C-Train runs. You can keep heading north and go into Chinatown and Eau Claire. These border the Bow River and there are some nice parks and pathways to visit.

I don't travel across the Bow very often - most of my adventures are in the south but I will occasionally take the C-Train to go shopping in the NE and we (people at work) sometimes go for Dim Sum in the north. Chinook Centre (biggest mall in Calgary) is accessible by C-Train (it's in the south) although I try to avoid it because it's always busy. Ikea (the wonder store) is also in the south. I access it from the C-Train station at Chinook and take bus 72. Bus 73 (they're loop buses) will actually take me to intersect with bus 6 (my favourite).

Hopefully I didn't confuse you too much with my explanations. I find Calgary to be fairly easy to figure out. The only problem I have is some of the small neighbourhoods/'burbs where you can get it but never get out! They also name all the streets the same and just change the ending (i.e. Venture Lane, Place, Road, Terrace and Way are all different streets in the same neighbourhood). The quadrant system works well and downtown has all street numbers instead of names.

Have a great day!