Interviews and Fireworks

Ok well first things first... I got an articling position. Actually, that should read I GOT AN ARTICLING POSITION. I interviewed at the firm on Tuesday, went out for lunch with them, went on a tour of their other office on Wednesday, and they made the offer Thursday. It's what I was looking for in terms of work environment (laid back) and articling program structure (hands on).

So when they made the offer on Thursday morning I had already decided I'd take it if they offered... so I said yes right away. It's out of the city but they matched the going Vancouver salary, which I hadn't exptected, so I'm pretty happy about that too. They're full service and I'll be able to specialize in what I want... uh... when I know what that might be. Actually, I know one thing I want... I want third year to be over, and it hasn't even started.

But... that's crazy talk. I should relax and enjoy my last year of school and stop thinking about graduation. So that's what I'm going to do. Starting now.

Wait. It's time for a last exam countdown: 270 days, 20 hours and 43 minutes.

Ok. Starting now.

Now, about the fireworks. I'm going tonight, because I haven't actually gone to see them in a long time. For the non Vancouverites out there, every summer there's a competition in Vancouver where 3 countries put on displays in English Bay, which can be seen from the West End, Kits, Point Grey, and the North Shore. Maybe other places too but yeah, you get the point.

They're HUGE, and not to be missed. Except I miss them pretty much every year. Why? Because they cause millions (okay thousands) of people to crowd into the downtown and South Granville areas and some (just a few) of these people are crazy. I mean bottle-thowing car-tipping window-smashing crazy. Ok, maybe that's not totally fair... there haven't been a lot of problems in the last few years and 99 percent of the people who go don't cause any trouble. But the fireworks still bring out enough people and traffic jams to make me think going isn't worth it.

But tonight, I'm going. I think. Either tonight or Wednesday for sure. So I'll take some pictures. I have a plan to walk out to the middle of the Granville Street Bridge and set up my tripod. I know, Burrard is closer, but it'll be too crowded.

I did kind of see them last year from the balcony of the studio I was living in... but I missed most of them because of the buildings that were in the way.... and I do always feel slightly guilty about not going, because I want to see if I can get some good pictures.

I'll keep you posted on that...

Random Pictures...

Taken in the last couple weeks...

Between the Burrard and Granville Street Bridge looking at the west end and Yaletown

Same thing, but only the Burrard bridge in this one... it was a lot brighter outside than it looks. And it was really hot...

Vanier park about 3 seconds after sunset. I had another one 3 seconds before sunset, but it wasn't good.


Another post sunset pic from Vanier Park...


Aaaaaaaand more Vanier Park.....


A church... St. Augustine's I think... I can't remember exactly where, but it was around Maple and 6th.


I had to go to Ashcroft a few weeks ago... This is it, the whole town.


I have relatives there, and this is the view from the back of their house.


On the way home we saw this lake, which I think might be Logan Lake. I don't know WHAT was up with it, but as you can see, something is clearly wrong here.


There was also steam or something coming off parts of it...


These pics aren't in any kind of order. A few weeks ago I helped out with a tea ceremony... so this is the ceremony.


Playland... I don't remember what day is was, but definitely early July.


As you can see, it wasn't busy at all. Well... this was in the morning. It got a lot busier in the afternoon...


Standard amusement park midway type things...


The Hellevator... I don't know what happened to this picture. Anyway I was on this ride about a million times... ok maybe not quite a million, but lots.


The Drop Zone. We paid extra to go on this one. There are people in this picture, but you can barely see them. They're suspended on a line that is attached to the front A-Frame part and pulled back by another line attached to the back pole. I hope that made sense. Anyway if you look at the back pole (which looks like it's in the middle), they're towards the top.


So here they are a couple of seconds later... when the back line releases they fall and swing forward like a pendulum.. this ride was great, but not as good as the Revelation. I've got a video of that I can post later...


And this ride... what's it called? I can't remember.

Hot!

It's been really hot the last few days, and when it gets hot, it's even hotter in my apartment. How hot does it get in my apartment? Look what it did to my candle:

This candle used to stand up straight. Notice how it didn't just fall over... it actually melted into the other candle holder. Neat. By the way I'm not complaining about any of this. I love summer. I don't want it to end. Ever. Seriously. I hate it when I hear people say we could use rain. You know what? We've had enough. Now let's have sun. At least til Halloween, then we'll talk about some rain maybe.

Still Alive...

I haven't been posting that much lately... even though I've got a lot of stuff to say. I think because I have to blog a lot at work I'm all blogged out by the time I get home. So here's a quick update....

I registered for six of my third year classes and I'm going to register for the other four on Friday. Here's the third year line up, and read carefully because I'm going to be spending a lot of time complaining about these classes in the next nine months:

Trusts
Succession
Federalism
Evidence
Comparative Constitutional Law
Professional Responsibility
Administrative Law
Family Law
Real Estate Law
Immigration Law

I'm also learning how to deal with rejection. Actually, it might be more accurate to say I'm learning how to ignore rejection. I get letters every day from firms that say a lot of nice stuff which pretty much translates to "Take off! We reject you!" I average about two letters a day. Today, though, I was out at my parents all day. One good thing about that, I thought, was that it would be a rejection-free day. So I check my email, and some firm had emailed me a rejection letter. It's a good thing I can see the humour in all this. Besides, the rejection is probably good for me. Builds character and all that...

And it's not like I'm totally interviewless... I had one a couple weeks ago and I've got another one coming up on the 25th. And really, all I need is one position. So the rejection letters don't matter if I just get one.

Ok well enough about that.... I'm putting in an extra day at the museum this week, and that day is tomorrow. And that day will start early.... so goodnight...

Victoria

I went to Victoria for an articling interview last week. I didn't get the position, but it's ok. I don't think I was that convincing that I want to live in Victoria. Anyway here are some pics... taken with the old camera. And part of the time something was spilt on the lens so... yeah that kinda sucks. Anyway here they are...

Finally a real picture of my car...


And another one...


And thanks to this little connector thing I bought, I can listen to my ipod in the car...

This is a horse... they play up the old British feel of Victoria with a lot of British looking stuff.





The Empress hotel has been a famous Victoria landmark for millions of years.






This is where BC's Legislative Assembly works their magic. The building was built in 1897 and at the time it was the tallest building north of San Francisco. Hm... So I guess that means taller than anything in Seattle, Portland, or Vancouver. Or anywhere else. Hm... anyway, that's what the webpage says. It was also the first building in Canada to have electric lights.

I got there way early so I drove around a bit. This is somewhere close to the city... Beacon Hill Park maybe? Not sure... but it was pretty.




Same place, looking... uh.... the other direction...








After the interview I made a b-line for the ferry. Ok actually I took a wrong turn and ended up making a b-line for Duncan. But eventually I figured it out and turned around and then I made a b-line for the ferry. But... my detour had cost me about 20 minutes and I missed the 2 o'clock ferry by five minutes. So I had to wait for the 3 o'clock ferry... This isn't actually a picture of the ferry, but it IS a picture of the terminal taken by me FROM the ferry.

There are about a million little islands between the mainland and Vancouver Island. I don't know what any of them are called and I've never been to any of them, but I always wonder what the peoople live on them do. Do they have cars? Electricity? Anything other than the bare essentials necessary to eke out a living? Probably. Still, I wonder...

These people have a lighthouse and a flag. So they probably have some other good stuff too...






I don't think anybody lives on this one. I like it though...

By the way, the new camera takes great video BUT the clips are way too big to do anything with. I took a video that was 2 minutes and 30 seconds long.... 170 megs!!! If someone knows how to resize video please let me know, because I don't seem to be able to do it. And no, I don't have a mac :(

And I'm THROUGH posting little pics on the left and right side of the screen and trying to position them with the text. It's impossible.