The bike in the picture above is a Hyosung GV 650. It’s taken about 2 years but I’ve finally got a Vetter trunk from a Goldwing, painted and mounted on the back which turns out to be so useful. I’ve ditched my Ford Escape and now use the bike for work. Having a trunk means I can strip off my waterproofs, helmet and gloves in a car park and then go into an office.

Or pick up groceries on the way home. And yes, by groceries I do mean beer.

I’ve also got 2 hard saddlebags I’m slowly working on the mounts for. Then I need to figure out what I’ll do with the indicators, but with those we’ll have lots of luggage space for touring. Though herself finds the bike too uncomfortable for anything other than very short distances. So it will be just me and extra beer.

We’re at the Cove Resort in Kelowna. Everyone agrees on one thing, this place would be great in the summer. 2 pools, on the lake, really really nice place. Unfortunately golbal warming isn’t working in BC and the local weather gods haven’t realised we’re well into June already. Some weather forecasts are hopeful for tomorrow though. We may see the sun yet.

In the meantime, I’m getting some writing done, some reading done and some serious coffee drinking.

I’ve also got some Nelson After Dark beer in the fridge for later, which I haven’t been able to find in Surrey in ages.

The famous person in question being Neil Gaiman. See, Ray Bradbury died and Neil Gaiman posted this quote on Facebook.

“Looking back over a lifetime, you see that love was the answer to everything.” Ray Bradbury.

And went on to write very nice blog about Ray Bradbury. However I’d like to find out where that quote is from. It does seem familiar, like it was in a movie, but I’d like to find out which of Bradbury’s books it is from, or was it something he said in an interview. But guess what happens when you Google it? Yes, you find that Neil Gaiman posted this on Twitter and the first 100 results are people re-tweeting this.

Anyone care to help out and tell me where this quote is from?

Update : It’s from an interview, not a book.

On Sunday we went to an info session on adoption. It seemed like time to find out more about it. Six or seven couples crammed into a tiny room with the smell of Hazelnut coffee masking the sweat. All faces trying to look composed, interested and calm. Just the hint of desperation showing through.

I always thought adoption would be an option. We’re not bad people. We have lots of offer, we live in a nice area in a great part of the world, have jobs, a decent size house and could be good for a child. We’re fun. I think. Two big kids really…. hey punch buggy….

Turns out it’s not going to be about what you can give, more about how much you want it. The interviews, the waiting, the costs, the tantalising semi -offers, the almosts. And then even the reality. As one couple who had adopted told us about having a baby for 5 whole days before decisions were changed and they had to hand it back. Or another told of months of waiting for an adoption to be legally finalized and then another 5 months of waiting on immigration Canada to get the finger out and approve a visa before they could meet their child.

We decided not to. Fair play to those who do though.

Lots of this weekend was given over to watching Season 1 of Game of Thrones and hitting the local cinema for the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The Best Exotic is one of the best films I’ve seen this year, so stop reading this and go see it now if you haven’t.

Game of Thrones is annoying, simply because I know the series of books isn’t finished yet, this could hang on and on for years and the tv series may never finish properly. Still though, it’s HBO (Huge amounts of Boobies Onscreen) and the story is excellent. Come on GRRM, finish the series. Or at least try not to die before finishing it.

There’s 2 things I saw this week that could be signs of impending doom.

1. People are now spending money on more and more ridiculous things. At the Farmers Market (yes, I know) there was a stand for dog and cat massages. In a time when personal debt is reaching an all time high, the best thing to spend money on is a feckin’ dog massage. Of course later we can blame the banks, the vets and farmers. I seem to remember stupid businesses like these popping up in Cork and Dublin before it all went arseways.

2. Vancouver has long been on the way to be the first city with 1 Starbucks per head of population. Today I saw… gasp… the local one is closing. Yes, a starbucks is closing. After an expensive dog massage one just can’t afford the mocha latte ‘spresso. If Starbucks is closing it must be a recession.

OK, time to panic.

We decided to not use the internet this weekend. Well apart from two quick changes for work that is, we did manage to stay off it. What I found out was;

• 1 engagement and about a million birthdays happened on Facebook. Possibly in real life too.
• It doesn’t matter if I missed George Takei’s updates because they’ll be reposted fifteen times this week.
• Arguments are left unsettled. Without Google we’re both too lazy to go check the encyclopedia. It turns out one or both of us doesn’t know everything afterall, they were just cheating using Google. I don’t think the answer is in the encyclopedia but it is here.
• I can’t spell encyclopedia without using a spell checker.
• The weather happened without been checked 15 times a day on my phone. Phew, that was a close one.
• Zombies are real bitches. News story here.

This is my fifth post and already have had 7 or 8 comments. Wow I’m popular. Ok, most of them were spam but still, even if it’s assholes that love the blog it’s still love, right?

We hit on Case Que Pasa in Bellingham yesterday and the sign outside said “Bellingham’s Best Burritos” so of course we had to test this claim out. Their claim to fame is the potato burrito, about 7kg of potatos, beans and who knows what shoved into a tortilla that must be half a mile in diameter. It’s frickin’ huge.
And it was tasty. They may be the best burrito in Bellingham but I’ll have to go back again just to be sure. Also, for 2 burritos, 2 pints of beer, chips and salsa was only $24. Ridiculously cheap for dinner. And for leftovers for lunch today.

No, I didn’t take this photo, I stole it from NASA.
Last night I went to see the Super Moon, the brightest and closest moon of 2012. I packed up my camera, and with great foresight even packed the longer lens to get a good shot of the moon. Down to East Beach in White Rock where there’s a little less light pollution and I found the perfect shot.
Looking out over the ocean, the moon just above the lights of the border, a long glowing path on the bay up to the few lights in the trees along the beach. Perfect.
Took out the camera, lined it all up, perfect zoom.
Battery dead.
Completely dead.
OK, well I have my phone as a backup.
Nope, the camera application from the latest ROM I’d downloaded crashed.
So here’s a photo from NASA for you to enjoy.