Earlier last week, I sent out a message to the Vancouver Bloggers Meetup list-serve asking whether people would like to have an August 2008 meetup or wait until September 2008. As many of you may remember, the July 2008 Vancouver Bloggers Meetup was a resounding success. I want to keep it that way.
If you need a photographic reminder of how awesome our past Meetup was, you can look at Karen’s and Cecily’s Flickr accounts, as well as mine.
Now, here’s the thing. I am not in Vancouver, as most of you know. Therefore, I can’t physically organize the August meeting. I’ll be back in Vancouver around mid-September, but we also have BarCamp 2008 in September (you must have known about this as we all blogged about it!).
So, I did a tally of the responses. I clustered the No, Maybe and I Don’t Care responses into basically “Not-Yes” (e.g. a response that isn’t Yes — God, I’m such a Captain Obvious!). Anyhow, the email tally is completely tied. 8 people said Yes and 8 people didn’t. Colleen and Keith were Twittering last night about how it might be better to send this VBM to September (an opinion that Isabella shared, and a number of other respondents to my survey)
I recognize that this date may be a tad too close to BarCamp Vancouver 2008, but if you think about what the Vancouver Bloggers Meetup is, (and I quote), “over time it’s become a close-knit group of friends who enjoy each other’s company” (David Drucker on the Vancouver Bloggers Meetup site, comment for July 29, 2008), the VBM is basically us (friends) getting all together to geek out and talk about stuff (as very appropriately said by Jan Karlsbjerg). So, let’s take a relaxed approach and do it in September instead.
To try and incorporate the majority of the feedback I got from everyone who responded, I decided to organize it for September 25th, 2008. Before I get smothered (I know, we’re going to be super busy for BarCamp Vancouver), let me suggest that we do it as a casual get-together. If we need to talk shop and do some fine-tuning about BarCamp (most of the organizing committee is also on VBM), we could always do that. Let’s take it as a relaxed, friendly get-together, and thank you Rebecca for suggesting that something might be done and potentially associate it with National Digital Media Day.
Rebecca is co-organizing with Jon Husband the Blogging portion of NDMD. [UPDATE – Sorry Rebecca, I think I jumped the gun! Ok, so here is the link to the Save-The-Date for NDMD] [ SIDE NOTE – Rebecca, I don’t know how you do it, you’re also involved with New Forms Festival 2008! I have the feeling we’re going to have a VIDFEST 2008 redux 🙂 ] Isabella had suggested doing something at her house, but we can always fine-tune the details as we get closer to the date. One thing you can be assured: two words – LARGER VENUE.
I really hope I didn’t disappoint those who wanted a VBM in August, but honestly, the September date works much better I think (even for me). Feedback, as always, appreciated. And… I miss you guys, I really do.
After having dinner with IT, PT and my Mom last night at a local cafeteria style restaurant, Mom and I were talking abou thow very blessed I am to have the friends I have. On Monday, I saw my very good friend LdG who took me out for dinner and drinks. I also had a chance to talk to my friend AA who now lives in a different city. On Sunday, I spent a wonderful afternoon with my friend HZ’s parents and his brother and my Mom.
Every single one of my friends has offered his/her support during these particularly difficult times, and I am grateful for having such amazing extended family. And of course, I’d be wrong in neglecting everyone in Vancouver (both online and offline friends) who have all done their part in keeping in touch with me. I’m sorry if I’ve not been as responsive as I normally am, right now I have to focus on my family. But you, my friends, are the family I chose. Much love and I’m very grateful. Thanks!
It’s kind of nice to know that, even though I’m 6000 km away from Vancouver, my friends back home still keep me informed of events that are coming up, so I’m just going to write a quick roundup.
– Via Steve Jagger, I heard about Reachd’s upcoming (September) training package on SEO, Google Adwords, Social Media Guided Tour, etc. By the way, if you want to know more about Steve, you can read Rebecca’s fantastic Blogger Profile series. I had the pleasure of attending one of Steve’s seminars earlier this year — pretty awesome.
– Via Travis Smith, I heard about the Expression Engine Roadshow. In Travis’ words “It’s half a day, and would probably be useful for anyone who’s interested in learning more about ExpressionEngine, especially the upcoming EE 2.0 — Rick Ellis, the CEO of EE, is coming to talk about it.“. It was Travis who was kind enough to give me an interview when he was getting an iPhone. Travis’ blog is awesome too (and the layout is horizontal!)
If you have another event forthcoming that I should be aware of (or if I didn’t highlight it on THIS post), please drop a comment here (trust me, I have a great memory but things do escape me sometimes). In case I haven’t covered all the events, you can always check Rebecca’s weekly TechVibes column. The most recent one can be found here.
OH! And if you are going to Gnomedex, and would like to share some of your thoughts, let me know and you can either write a guest post or I can link back to you 🙂
My friends mean the world to me. One of the reasons why it would be so hard for me to ever leave Vancouver is because I have managed to create social networks that have become like extended families, and therefore it would really break my heart to leave all that behind.
One of my current off-line gangs (a group of close friends that has solidified through the past few months) got together yesterday to celebrate CS’s birthday (actually, make that Dr. CS). Not only is she the girlfriend and partner of one of my very closest friends (whom I call my adopted brother), she is also a very good friend of mine (and technically that would make her my adopted sister-in-law).
She’s funny, she’s witty, she’s warm, she’s sweet and more than anything, she is a very loving and caring individual. She has become one of US. She is not only my friend’s girlfriend, she has established a place in our hearts and I’m very proud of calling myself a friend of hers.
Congratulations on your birthday! Many happy returns to you, and we’ll celebrate when I get back to Vancouver 🙂
I think anyone who knows me at least a little bit knows that I love to spoil and take care of people. If we have been out drinking, I’ll force you to email me/text me/call me when you get home so that I know you’re safe. If we are downtown and you want to go home, I’ll insist in walking you home, even if that means backtracking for me. I enjoy being what I consider a good friend.
Now that I am in Mexico and throughout my visit, I think I’ve been spoiling my Mom rotten. I have been cooking, washing dishes, cleaning up the house, writing abstracts, making sure she doesn’t miss any appointments, inserting meetings into her Google Calendar, etc.
Right now, I’m Mom’s personal/research assistant. Of course, I am also encouraging her to get back to her normal routine, but if I can make her life easier while I am here, I am more than happy. I have been working semi-normally (my home office is fairly well equipped) while she is at the university or out doing errands, but the rest of the time, I try to spend it with her.
Yeah, I’m a spoiler. So sue me.
I have some more content lined up for today, but this can’t wait as these two lovebirds are two of the bravest, most courageous, sweetest geeks in Vancouver. Derek K. Miller and his wife Airdrie recently celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary, and they are off to a Seattle-based adventure. Yes, like any self-respecting geek couple, they are celebrating by attending a geek conference (Gnomedex)! To you, my friends, I raise a glass of… well, too early for tequila, but how about a glass of orange juice? 🙂 Congratulations!
If I got a dollar for each one of the many people who have expressed SHOCK when they hear that I’ve been working from home for the past few months, that I actually did that while I worked in Mexico, and that I do that now that I’m visiting Mom, I’d be a few hundred dollars richer.
Telecommuting is something that the research centre where I used to work didn’t mind because they knew I always put in really long hours. Therefore, they didn’t actually need me to “check in, check out”. Usually, I would work from home every other Friday. My brother (who is a civil engineer) oversaw the design and construction of my home office (he did the same with his, but somehow mine turned out prettier – according to him — I love his home office).
My home office at Mom’s
Apparently, in Mexico, telecommuting isn’t such a prevalent practice. But I DO know that A HUGE NUMBER OF my academic colleagues, and a substantial number of my non-academic friends can work from home with certain regularity.
Now the question is on to you. Do you telecommute often? Or if you can’t telecommute, would that be an option you’d like to explore or do you prefer regimented, 9-5, office stuff.
A significant portion of my traffic in the past couple of years has come from my restaurant reviews and from cross-linking with UrbanSpoon Vancouver. My page on UrbanSpoon has received about 4100 views (which has put me in the top 25 blogs worldwide).
UrbanSpoon recently launched their iPhone app, which I find very cool. However, people still rely on word-of-mouth (or word-of-tweet) when it comes to restaurants. Lots of people ask me “so what restaurant would you recommend for…”
Thus, I’m going to ask my readers to let me know what their favorite restaurant is. Go crazy. Don’t limit yourself. If it is an expensive restaurant, go for it. If it’s a hole-in-the-wall joint, tell me about it. JUST DO IT.
Oh and if you could visit my UrbanSpoon restaurant reviews about 400 times so that I can overtake Kitsilano.ca again, that’d be awesome 🙂 (just kidding!)
While covering EPIC 2008 as a FrogSquadder for HappyFrog (you can read all my content on HappyFrog here), I came across an eco-friendly carwash in North Vancouver, Easywash . Rebecca helped me set up an interview with Geoff Baker, the CEO of Easywash, around mid-July but unfortunately, I couldn’t interview him as I’ve been in Mexico (and under a lot of stress).
This weekend, I went to wash Mom’s car, and I used the same carwash she’s been using for years. I was reading some books on water while I was waiting for the car to be washed but I didn’t see a lot of environmentally-friendly features.
However, the funny thing is that I saw a sign that said “At this carwash, we don’t waste water, we recycle it”. But I couldn’t see where they recycled it, nor any type of water treatment. I didn’t ask, but I’ll be back to investigate.
[flickr video=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rolexpv/2773653784/]
In the meantime, I just thought I’d include a couple of photos and some video of the process (sorry if the music is too loud, but I was bored inside the car).
I also plan to interview Geoff Baker upon my return, once I get all my other interviews out of the way (I still haven’t interviewed Al Pasternak about Bokashi composting, and we’ve been trying to talk about this for months!).
As many of you may have read, I have new contacts and I’m putting them to good use. It’s still an adjustment, but I don’t like my current glasses and thus I decided to buy contacts again. As I am about to head out for dinner with a very close friend of mine, I was looking through my list of online friends, and just about everyone uses glasses. Is being a geek associated with some degree of normal vision loss? Do you wear glasses/contacts? What do you prefer, glasses or contacts?
Tourism BC asked me to forward a job opening to my blogging group (given that I’m the organizer of Vancouver Bloggers Meetup), and I decided to broaden the reach by blogging about it. Please read the tbc-field-reporter-job-description-1. If interested, you can contact Tourism BC directly. Cheers!
Laura asked me on Twitter what was so great about Rock Band (since I tweeted that I was longing to play Rock Band with my Vancouver friends). There are many reasons, but let me just focus on two.
The first one, it allows me to tap into my musical past. While I hate my own voice (even when I sing in English) and I have frequently asked Mom why I didn’t inherit her vocal abilities (Mom is a soprano coloratura and can belt anything from an aria to a bolero to a mariachi song effortlessly), I love music, and in particular, love singing. I play piano, and I’m a well-trained dancer, but mostly, I love singing. I’m the guy who will never say no to you if you invite me to sing karaoke (or play Rock Band).
The second one is the inherently social nature of Rock Band. I used to hate videogames, and never understood why my good friend JT was so into them. Until I was first introduced to Rock Band by my friend Tanya. She has this tendency to organize awesome parties, populated with lots of good friends. We frequently play Rock Band, and doing this kind of activity has actually allowed me to get to know friends of Tanya whom I would have probably not gotten to know any other way.
My friends NMcC and her boyfriend R, and my good friend AF (all of them civilians/offline friends) also enjoy playing Rock Band, and some of the most fun nights we’ve had in past months have been singing “Heroes” by David Bowie, “Wave of Mutilation” by The Pixies, “Roam” by The B-52s, “Orange Crush” by R.E.M. and of course, my favorite (’cause I can sing it well now) “Gimme Shelter” by
The song shown below is my nemesis, though. NMcC, R, AF and myself tried to do it but we couldn’t. Me on bass, AF on vocals (both beginner), R on expert drums and NMcC on guitar intermediate. The last time we tried it, we stayed up until 3.30am (we started at 8pm) and we tried to do this one (Foreplay/Long Time by Boston) but didn’t get it right.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qfFi7RBuQo&hl=en&fs=1]
Sigh. I look forward to playing some more Rock Band upon my return.
I’m actually not sure if it’s belated or not, but I now recall that this morning/afternoon, a potluck was held in Kits Beach for the lovely Monica Hamburg! I am so sorry I missed it, but I’m sure lots of our common friends will have photos for your viewing pleasure.
Photo credit: Tanya on Flickr
Monica, I hope you know how grateful I am to have you in my life, how amazed I am at your talent, your sweetness, your intellect and your capacity to love. You are amazing, and no wonder why you have so many friends. You really know how to be one.
Much love always. Give my best to Chris.
Photo credit: Christian y Sergio on Flickr.
I’m heading to San Miguel Allende, one of the most beautiful cities in Mexico, in the state of Guanajuato. It’s about a 2 hour drive from here, and I thoroughly enjoy driving with Mom. When I used to work in Mexico, driving around and travelling with Mom would be just about the only times when we would be able to chat about important family stuff.
I have always led a really busy life, so quiet time to actually have in-depth family conversations is rarely a commodity. Therefore, I cherish these times as I am (obviously) concerned for how Mom is coping.
Moreover, we are enroute to visit my very good friend HZ’s family, which is going to be a blast. So by the time you read this post, I will be on the road or probably arriving into San Miguel. I’ll take lots of photos and videos and you’ll be able to check most of them on Flickr. The personal photos I might not upload them as I like to keep those private (well, if we are friends on Flickr I might).
Hope you all are having a great Sunday.
Yeah, there’s a bit of self-absorbedness in knowing your stats, your Technorati and your Google Page Rank are rising. Yeah, I really don’t care much about these figures. And yeah, as indicated by blogging Jedi Master Rebecca, I do talk about them even though I don’t like talking about MINE.
Why do you do it then, Raul? … you might ask. Well, there are several reasons. The first one is that I don’t actually know much about these figures. For all the blogging I’ve done, I read about a gazillion other things other than tech/blogging. Yeah, time to come out of the closet. I very rarely read about tech issues. Most of the knowledge I get is from people talking about something on Twitter or on their blog or when we have beers or go for lunch, or play Rock Band. I learn about social media by virtue of being IN social media. If I find something that piques my interest, then off I go and examine that particular issue (and read like crazy – just ask me anything about the Emily Gould debacle).
I know, shame on me. Up until earlier last year, I didn’t know how to find people’s RSS feeds, nor did I know that you could use a RSS reader client. Up until earlier the past month, I didn’t know that you could click on the RSS icon on FireFox and you’d get the RSS feed URL. Yep, a lot of things I didn’t know. I’ve learned them by asking, or by sitting side-by-side with people and doing them. As a matter of fact, I learned how to do side-bar widgets by virtue of sitting with Rebecca at the Blackwater Cafe. She patiently walked me through the process. Had she not shown me, I probably would have never gone and checked the WP Codex. Or maybe I would have. Well, actually no. I like it better when people show me how to do things rather than read about them. And Rebecca is a great and patient teacher.
Most of my geeky friends laugh when they see how gleefully I play with their iPhones and how proud I feel when I know how to take a photo. The truth is, bear in mind that, regardless of the fact that I’ve been blogging for 2.5 years, I am still a newbie. And I get excited whenever I accomplish something new on my blog. I am thrilled when I learn something new. Remember, I’m an expert in environmental issues, not a tech geek.
I am thrilled by all this new knowledge. Things that may be completely irrelevant to you (like finding out what Technorati does) are actually exciting to me. Why? Not because I want to boost my Page Rank. No, it’s because just the mere fact that I now know what Technorati does or what Google Juice is, makes me excited. It’s the learning process in and of itself that makes me happy.
When I get bored of learning about tech issues, social media and blogging, you can rest assured of one thing: I’ll quit. Yes, I will. Why? Because as many people have always recommended, I should do this because I am passionate about it. And I’m passionate about learning about social media and about making new friends. THAT is what I love doing. The rest, is just icing in the cake.
The best part of being a blogger for me is that I can still get excited by learning about something I didn’t know very much. It’s also exciting to see how fast-paced the tech world is. Environment still amazes me, but the speed of change is completely different. I know ten different methods to treat wastewater. These methods have been used for 50 years and entire municipalities still don’t treat their water (*cough* Victoria, B.C. *cough*).
My stats, Technorati and Google PR are really irrelevant for what I do, since as I have told my friends, I blog for myself. I don’t get business out of blogging. I won’t get a job as an assistant professor at a university because I am a blogger. I *might* get freelance writing work because people read my blog. But right now, I don’t get any $$$ out of it. But I want to be able to have the right tools SHOULD I WANT TO monetize my blog or use what I’ve learned in a professional environment, or become a professional blogger. And THEN, I will actually care about my stats, Technorati and Google Page Rank. Until then, I just want to know what they are and how they work.
And this was a really long winded post to explain something really minor 🙂
No, I didn’t go to WordCamp San Francisco, but two friends of mine (Duane and Andy) did. As a matter of fact, Andy gave a great presentation on BuddyPress. I didn’t get to see it (obviously), but I know the project, as we’ve talked about it over beers. Duane liveblogged it (not sure if this is your first liveblog, but it was really good!) and apparently they’re now downing beers at the WordCamp SF social (why am I not surprised?). Congratulations to Andy on a good presentation and to Duane for a great liveblog. I’ll see you guys when I get back, and we’ll chat about all things WordPress.
Better known as Uncleweed or DaveO, Dave Thorvald Olson is one gem of a human being. Thanks to Rebecca (who wrote one of the sweetest happy birthday posts I’ve read in a long time), I met Dave, first through our blogs and then in person at EPIC 2008.
Dave invited me to be a guest blogger on HappyFrog, a FrogSquadder. Dave has provided me with much needed sage advice and comfort words when I’ve been down and wanted to quit blogging. And it has been Dave who has always encouraged me to branch out, become a podcaster as well, etc. He has connected me to many social media for social change folks. One of his most inspiring roles as a moderator really had me at “f!ck stats, make art!”“.
Below you can find one of Dave’s appearances at The Lab with Leo Laporte.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPQgJhmFMPk]
As very appropriately indicated by Rebecca, DaveO is an inspiration, a friend, a brother and a champion to many of us. To you, my friend, I raise a glass of tequila. Happy birthday Dave.
Beth Snow is witty, smart, funny and has a heart of gold. We are similar in a gazillion different ways: we are both Geeks-In-Training, we both spent a humongous amount of time and dollar$ in graduate school (leading to PhDs) and we both love our duality (academic/blogger). Ah, I almost forgot… we both NEED MacBook Pros. In addition, Beth is a great friend and I’m very happy I have her in my life.
If you read her blog frequently, you’ll know that the beautiful blue eyes of Dr. Beth Snow no longer wear contacts. Yes, you read right. Dr. Beth Snow has a 20/20 vision now. She even liveblogged the event! Congrats, Beth! Soon as I make enough money to pay for my eye surgery, I’ll follow in your steps!
Totally irrelevant, totally self-absorbed, and totally awesome. I decided to go to a local optometrist (Opticas Devlyn) upon a recommendation from a friend of Karen Hamilton’s, and now I have six pairs of contacts. Had a full check of my vision, got my interpupilar distances and now can order cheap inexpensive glasses thanks to Karen Parker. And I have a new haircut, so if you’re friends with me on Flickr, you’ll see the new haircut and new eyes soon(ish). Now, I’m off to have the car washed and do some writing. I’m writing a journal article on water governance and privatization. You’ll have a full blog post soon(ish).
Since I’m only doing actual work while Mom is away doing her stuff, I am betting my progress will be very limited. My very close friend HZ is in SMA, about 2 hr drive from here, so I am going to go visit him, his brother and his parents down there. Family reunion! I consider HZ like my brother, so his parents are technically my adoptive parents. My Mom also has always a great time with them, so this should be really fun. Photos forthcoming after tomorrow.
I took Mom tonight for dinner and she wanted tacos, so I gladly obliged. “Tacos Don Luis” is a chain of local “taquerÃas” that has provided much needed comfort food to lots of Mexicans, including highly prominent politicians such as former President of Mexico, Vicente Fox (there is photographic proof, I kid you not).
We ordered 7 tacos each (“al pastor” and chorizo). While we were there, we were recognized by lots of patrons, which was kind of cool (even though I’ve lived away from Mexico for so many years, I still get recognized here!)…
A common drink in Mexico is natural flavored water (in this case, I drank lime water with my tacos)
As I mentioned in the title of my post, tacos are really a social equalizer. People of all social strata eat tacos: rich, poor, well-off and struggling. Everyone enjoys a great taco, and the awesome thing is that just about everyone can afford at least one.
Every time I come back to Mexico, I am thrilled to spend time with my family, and when it’s having Mexican food and real tacos, it’s total bliss 🙂
Poverty is one of the societal illnesses that occupies my mind on a regular basis. Not because I live a rather frugal life and I’m on a budget. I’m actually talking about REAL poverty.
Photo credit: DTES.people on Flickr.
While I realize that there are many measurements and definitions of poverty, I was kind of shocked to find out that the World Bank doesn’t have specific pages to analyze poverty in North America. Is the belief that poverty does not exist in North America (USA and Canada, as Mexico is included in their Latin America dataset) so prevalent that US and Canada don’t warrant their own country pages?
Anyone who knows me even a little bit and who has taken the time to read the more serious, less fluffy posts in my blog will know that I’m a big fan and promoter of social activism, particularly in issues of homelessness, poverty alleviation, sustainability and HIV prevention/treatment. This time, I’d like to draw your attention to Blog Action Day 2008’s theme – Poverty.
What is Blog Action Day?
Global issues like poverty are extremely complex. There is no simple, clear answer. By asking thousands of different people to give their viewpoints and opinions, Blog Action Day creates an extraordinary lens through which to view these issues. Each blogger brings their own perspective and ideas. Each blogger posts relating to their own blog topic. And each blogger engages their audience differently.[Blog Action Day site, About Page]
Last year, I participated in Blog Action Day 2007, as the topic was sustainability. This year, I am even more motivated to participate given that my readership has increased, I am much more socially connected (through Twitter and many other Web 2.0 methods) and therefore, my blog may be able to make more of a difference.
So, how can you get involved? You can check the Frequently Asked Questions section of their site. In my case, I will be doing 1/4 of a Blogathon (e.g. only 12 posts) but all of them will be focused on issues of poverty. You are more than welcome to guest post if you feel like it, or link to any of my posts should you want to, but more than anything, do something. Get involved.
I don’t think I should try to coerce people into promoting Blog Action Day or doing something about it, but I am passionate about poverty alleviation, so if you could spread the word, that would be super awesome. Even better… if you can engage in doing something to alleviate poverty, that would be even more awesome.
Thank you.
August 15th, 2008 in
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public policy issues,
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poverty,
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My brother S is definitely a Mexican food/drinks connoisseur. He always knows where to go when we are back at our childhood home. He decided that before he returned to Canada (which he will be doing tomorrow) he had to take us for drinks and “botanas” (tapas) at “El Panteon Taurino”. This hyperlocal, ultra-well known restaurant bar is famous for being a bullfighting-themed watering hole.
The food here is excellent, but it is not the main actor in this movie. The real star here are the drinks. I had two margaritas (one with Herradura Reposado and one with Patrón). You can’t be Mexican and not like tamarind and mango, so I ordered my margaritas with those flavors, respectively. WHOA. MargaritaCamp for one, thank you very much.
We had shrimp soup, guacamole, carne tártara (tartar meat, I guess would be the English translation), and lots, and lots of tequila. Mom is a tequila snob and thus she won’t drink hers mixed so she prefers a tequila puesto (tequila with a glass of lime juice and some sangrita).
To end a meal with a Mariachi serenade is a treat, in my opinion. My brother hired a Mariachi band to sing a number of Mom’s favorite songs. Given that I’m rather private with my family, I set the vast majority of my Flickr videos to private, but you can see a snippet of a song here.
[flickr video=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rolexpv/2764983328/]
I should also add that ever since I got a Flip camera and I learned how to embed videos and photos, I have started carrying my digital camera and the Flip. I almost feel like I’ve learned a totally different way of documenting my life. Anyways, family time is always awesome.
I have a long history of wanting to solve the world’s problems, the top one being poverty. Every since I was able to walk and talk, I remember that I always was amazed at the stories my parents would tell me. Being lawyers, they always worked really hard to stand on the right side of the law, and to protect those who may not have had the money to pay them (pro bono), if they believed that their cause was just.
Thus, I grew up with the firm belief that I (and my four brothers) could make a difference in the world. That we could indeed help solve some of this world’s problems. The one that still I find myself struggling with is poverty. If instead of doing a PhD in environmental studies I had done one in social policy or public policy, I guess I would feel that this inner desire is more fitting.
Today, I became fascinated by a really small business (in Mexico, the actual denomination is “micro-firm”). I love these micro-entrepreneurs. This (elderly) woman established a tiny workshop where she sews buttons, does hemming, iron pants, etc. She is the micro version of a laundry shop, I guess. But the most important thing to me is that she is fighting to stay afloat, and instead of resorting to begging and/or welfare, she is working. I admire people like this, and I wish I could find ways to help the poor in both countries. I hope I will be able to do so, maybe using this model.
August 14th, 2008 in
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Being in Mexico to visit Mom and our family has meant both for my brother and for myself a slight shock and adjustment. We both have grown so used to having the technological tools that we need for our day-to-day lives that when we have been faced with problems, we’ve struggled not to scream with frustration.
The other day, my brother needed to print a form, sign it, scan it and send it back in PDF format. Normally, it would take either of us about 45 seconds to do this. However, since Mom refused to get a laser printer or a multi-purpose printer/fax/scanner (she didn’t think she’d need it that much), we have had to visit a few internet cafes. None of which actually had the right equipment.
My Mom’s computer is pretty robust since my brothers A, S and myself made sure she’d have a pretty good system so that she could GMail, GTalk, Skype and do other type of video-conferencing. We also have ensured that she has relatively fast internet (cable). But none of us really thought much about getting her a multi-purpose printer, so when my brother needed the equipment, we didn’t have it and had to scramble to get this done.
Normally, we would have gone to an Office Depot and done that, but in Mexico, internet cafes have proliferated like you have no idea. There is almost one in every corner (well, not quite). There are a couple that are located near my Mom’s house. The thing is, not many of them are very well equipped, and that’s somewhat frustrating.
For example, today I needed to work on a presentation before 9 am. Our internet at home was down, my Mom doesn’t have MS Office and thus I needed to find a net cafe. I found one that has good speed (internet) and printer, and it’s going to cost me, all in all, about $6 dollars Canadian (not taking into account my time) to submit this presentation. Of course, I’ve already read blogs, responded to tweets, responded to emails, etc. So, the cost waas 2 dollars for equipment rental, 3 for printouts and 2 for parking. Plus the cost of gas, and without taking into account my time. GRRRR. I NEED MY EQUIPMENT!
And because of that, we are going to go buy a multi-purpose printer this week. Simply because we don’t like to depend on someone else to get our stuff done. And no, I didn’t bring my laptop (which is also frustrating). So I don’t have the equipment to insert references into my journal articles, nor do I have STATA or SPSS, nor any of my other software. GRRR. I need my MacBook Pro!
I had been thoroughly disappointed with Browns Social House (the Kitsilano location) that I swore I would NEVER eat there again. So disappointed that I actually wrote a scathing review (by the way, I stand by my review). But the West Vancouver location more than made up for the Kits faux pas.
After the Future Shop Park Royal re-opening, a bunch of us went to Browns Social House for dinner (I think the original thought was just a drink, but we ended up eating there). I am glad we did. It was really good fun (as you can see from my videos!)
On to the food – their menu is really good and the prices are affordable. I ordered a Carbonara Linguini (Arieanna ordered the same thing) which was REALLY good. I have no complaints. The service was excellent, and if I hadn’t been that full, I would probably have ordered dessert.
So, Browns Social House (the West Vancouver location) is definitely in my good books. The best part was hanging out with my friends, as I knew that I would be leaving for Mexico and it wouldn’t be in the best of circumstances. I always try to live my life as normally as I can, so this was a great chance. I should thank Darren for organizing the field trip to Future Shop, and also Derek as I think he was the instigator of drinks after the FSPR opening.
UPDATE – Since I now can insert the videos I record using my Flip camera, here is a quick view of the Village at Park Royal in West Vancouver.
[flickr video=http://www.flickr.com/photos/rolexpv/2741064454/]
