Last weekend I drove up to Vancouver to kick it with the man who made me not hate socialized healthcare, theantix. On the way there, I discovered problems with my radio (the antenna wire slipped off). Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but since there was this light plum in the distance that looked either like a volcano eruption or a chemical plant explosion, I wanted some radio news. Instead I text messaged a dozen people, knowing that at least a few would already be staring at a net connected computer for assorted reasons. That was a surprisingly efficient way to get my news. It was like a google news page all my very own, since everyone was reporting from their favorite sources.

Getting into Canadia was fun, because I forgot to bring a copy of my birth certificate as proof of US citizenship. Yes, I know that's a stupid thing to forget. The Canadian border peeps questioned me a bit, made me park my car and wait in a long line so that a Canadian border agent could ask me "promise that you'll bring proof of citizenship next time?".

"I promise." I said.

"promise that you'll bring proof of citizenship next time?"

<sigh>
"I promise to bring proof of citizenship next time."

Then, magically, the border agent was all smiles as she handed me back my driver's license and told me to enjoy Canada.

Suckas!

I then proceeded to make my way into Vancouver without getting a bit turned around till the very end while trying to locate the correct building entry point.

Much fun was had with theantix. I stole copious amounts of IP in the way of Trailer Park Boys episodes (a truly excellent show that I now love). For some reason, I couldn't connect to a certain wireless AP with the (verified) correct WEP key, but luckily, unsecured APs abounded, and I was able to steal their bandwidth to access the precious life-giving Internet.

The CFL has some weird rules, but all in all, still produce a damn fine football game. In fact, the game I saw was likely the most enjoyable football game I can recall, save for the fact that you have to get out of your seat to get a beer instead of having it delivered via barker.

Vancouver is a very pretty place to live, and I'll be buying a condo with a view as soon as I win the lottery.

The drive back was uneventful, save for the long delay at the border, after which I was questioned as to how I could prove my citizenship. A bit of righteous indignation and carefully obnoxious blustering convinced them. Though the delay at the border did make it too late to stop at Ikea on the way back and pick up the shelf brackets I forget during my last trip.

All in all, I averaged 27.9 mpg after the 642.7 mile round trip. Much fun and thanks to theantix.

I have an important work question to ask, but this is a long diary, so I'll post an AskHuSi diary tomorrow. Watch for it.