Personal

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Living in a Gangsta’s Paradise

Since moving to Surrey, there has been almost daily news about new gang-related violence and mayhem and more murders than I am accustomed to hearing about in a whole year!

I was warned before moving here that Surrey is renown for its crime rate. As I expected, the violence is pretty much localized to a particular part of town. I am glad that I made the decision to remain in the southernmost part of Surrey and do not believe I would feel quite as safe in a ‘mid-town’ RV park such as Peace Arch, but I don’t feel threatened. That said, I am very aware of where I travel and at what time, and I have to confess that one of the reasons why I’ve decided to stop taking public transit is that the Skytrain Station is located in gangland and waiting for a bus in the dark made me nervous. Petty crime is also a major problem all through the GVR, so I am doubly cautious when parking the car, taking the GPS with me and leaving the trunk cover (I have a hatchback) open to make it obvious that I’m not trying to ‘hide’ anything. A BC politician recently stashed all her personal gear (passport, Blackberry, wallet, etc.) in her trunk and lost it all, so I’m not being overly cautious!

What is sad is to listen to how hopeless people feel about the violence in their city. Neighbouring Abbotsford is facing a similar challenge the police have admitted their powerlessness to deal with this growing problem. There is also the concern that the perpetrators are getting younger and younger. A boy of 13 was arrested this week after stabbing a man on the Skytrain!

Despite all of this, I am getting less and less timid about this place that scared me so much. The next nice weekend (definitely not this one 🙁 ), I am going to downtown Vancouver! I’ll just make sure I stay on the west side of Hastings!

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Dumbfounded

I walked into the pool building this evening to find in the hot tub four incredibly attractive guys my age.

!!!

And there I was, looking like a clown in mismatched, over-sized pyjamas and huge duck shoes.

How often is this going to happen in a world filled with coupled 50+ retirees? Not very. This was my one in a billion chance to meet some guys my own age in this world and all I could do was smile and squeak out a not particularly cool ‘hi’!!!!

Evil duck shoes!

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RV Packing and Organizing Tips

Second only to Eureka, Peggy McDonald’s RV Packing Tips is a fantastic resource for full-timers trying to organize their couple of hundred square feet into a home! It is chock full of tips from real RVers for making the most out of the little space you have. In my case, I’m not desperate for space, but I’m desperate for ideas to better organize the space I have.

But this great ebook isn’t just about organizing; it is also filled with really useful RV tips. For example, the writers explain how to turn a broken fridge into a fancy icebox, information that I used in my early days on the road when I couldn’t get the fridge to work because of battery issues.

What I like best is the amount of life experience that is expressed in this e-book. The author isn’t afraid of sharing her mishaps so that others can avoid making the same mistakes. At only 12.95$, it’s a bargain, and it once saved my car.

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What Price for Joy

It’s my third night here and I’ve already got ‘Going to the pool, YAY!!’ down to a science. Sometime between seven and eight, I put on my bathing suit, throw my jammies over it, and schlep over to the pool building with my bag holding toiletries and a towel. This way, I don’t have too much ‘stuff’ (ie. clothes) to deal with at the pool and I can shower right there.

I don’t believe there is anything in the whole of the universe that gives me as much joy as does swimming. Just doing laps doesn’t satisfy me. Soon as I hit the water, I have to play, turning somersaults and spending as much time under water as possible. There is no more glorious feeling than that of being completely submersed. I must have been a fish in a past life. No, make that an otter!

In 2009 I have already swam as many times as I did in 2008 and I plan to make up for 2007 when I didn’t get to swim at all.

So, what price for joy? I’m stretching the budget by staying here, but I have yet to feel that the price I’m paying is too much. 😀

For those who are curious about what this paradise called Pacific Border RV Park looks like, the park website has lots of good photos… just add a generous amount of snow to them. 😉

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Paralysed

In my (albeited limited) world view, Vancouver is the Los Angeles of Canada, the dark, nasty, don’t get off at the wrong exit or risk a violent death, city, the Gotham of Tim Burton or Chris Nolan. I’m not that timid. I’ve survived Chicago’s South Side, New York’s Washington Park at midnight, Ottawa’s Market after dark, riding the Montreal métro with skinheads, playing chicken with Hells Angels in Gatineau, getting lost in downtown Baltimore, even wandering around the bad parts of Calgary (Calgary has bad parts?). Hell, I’ve even survived a trip to Los Angeles… and that’s what’s not helping the Vancouver situation!

Surprised? 😀

Like with Los Angeles, I know there is a lot to see and do in Vancouver, but, like with Los Angeles, getting around is the issue. In LA, I was advised to not walk around, drive unless I knew where I was going, or take public transportation. I think this left taxis? I wound up driving straight to my hotel on Sunset Boulevard and walking between it and the famous Hollywood sites like the Kodak theatre (even though I’d been advised to not even walk those twenty or so blocks). After less than a day there, I was so exhausted from being on my guard all the time that I just left without going beyond Hollywood (nasty place) when I would have enjoyed doing a studio tour or even just visiting the Griffith Observatory. Looking back, I realise that I would have needed a native guide.

Same thing with Vancouver, it seems, and especially Surrey! Surrey gets a very bad rap; you wouldn’t believe the number of people who told me not to go to Surrey and to especially not be out in Surrey after dark! Last night, I did go out, taking two main streets to go to Walmart and back. Tonight, I’d like to go to a movie, but I have no idea which theatre is in an okay part of town. I’ll need to speak with the very friendly camphost here and ask her what her recommendations are.

Also like in Los Angeles, traffic is absolutely terrible here, maybe even worse than Toronto, but, of course, not nearly as bad as Montreal (because no place in the US or Canada has traffic worse than Montreal).

So, I’m here and really excited and happy to be here but shocked to discover that here is just as scary as I expected it to be!

At least, the RV park is a lovely, non-threatening, bubble. 😀

My first order of the day for tomorrow, then, is to have a chat with the camphost, descarify myself, and come up with one activity for each of  Saturday and Sunday that will get me comfortable with this city!