It's been a couple weeks of non-stop action, and I've finally gotten a chance to catch my breath. Somehow I feel like I've missed the month of May. It's been 1 year, 1 month since I've moved to Vancouver and what a year it's been. My life has just been getting better and better - opportunities, experiences, friendships - they're all within easy arms' reach, or even fall into my lap. I just wish I had more of me to do all the things I want to do!
This past May alone I've had a friend visit Vancouver, with whom I road tripped down to Seattle and Portland. I've flown to England for several weeks to smooth over a project, driven to Edinburgh while I was there in the UK as well as going on a retreat camp with my church this past weekend.
A lot of people have been asking about England the second time I went; this experience was vastly different from the first time I went over. For starters, I was the only representative from my office and North America period. The maturity of the design and the manufacturing process was considered stable enough that a single person would be able to represent the interests of the design team as well as support the first build. I also would be taking care of myself, meaning I would be driving, route-finding, and deciding how to fill up my free time independent of any others. Driving on the left hand side of the road was quite the experience - I was initially terrified of damaging the rental vehicle or worse, getting into an accident or injuring a pedestrian or cyclist. Having one of the largest personal vehicles (Vauxhall Insignia = giant station wagon) on the narrow, winding lanes of English fields and cobblestone roads was also difficult to say the least. If you ever had the opportunity to drive on the left, keep in mind that your body is now on the opposite side of the vehicle, and your perception of "centered" is quite different. Several hedges and curbs back in England are now casualties of my driving.
While I was over there, it just so happened that the weekend I was staying over was a long weekend, or Bank holiday weekend. The extra day made it worth it to travel up to Edinburgh, Scotland (Ed-in-Bur-ah, not Ed-in-Burg) to visit my friend who's in school there. The drive up was a bit of a nightmare with the bank holiday traffic, but one section was particularly interesting - there was a "scenic" route that the GPS unit took me on, while it was pitch dark. This equates to rolling hills with a mind numbing number of blind curves and cliffs, all in perfect darkness. I've never had to be more alert while driving; it definitely pushed my limits, but was all the more rewarding because of it. I just wish I was able to drive it again in a more nimble vehicle.
more to come tomorrow....
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