2010 In Review

I figured I had better get a December post in before the entire month was written off.  The wife and I have not had a whole lot of free time now that we are a family of three; though, as we move into 2011, I'm hoping to find time to post regularly again.

Anyway.

2010 was an excellent year.  Early on, I was still living and working in Vancouver (oh, how I miss Vancouver).  On February 12th, after a period of steadily increasing rage, following a change in management (this happens often), I stopped working for my then employer and embarked upon a 30-day retirement trial period.  This was doubly interesting, as Michelle had accepted a job in Alberta back in December of 2009, and we were living apart while I lazed around and negotiated terms on a new job in Alberta.

So, with a one-last-chance-for-bachelorhood opportunity staring me in the face, I spent more than four weeks sleeping in until the late afternoon, playing video games, watching television, and consuming copious amounts of beer and pizza with friends.  It was the most amazing time in my entire life.  In the words of Peter Gibbons from Office Space, "I did nothing.  I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything that I thought it could be." 

Another noteworthy event that occurred during this period was the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, which I simultaneously viewed on television and lived vicariously through Jason, who came down in February to attend a bunch of events, whilst enjoying the free accommodations at my place.

My main memory of the Olympics is having never seen so many people in one place at once.  It was utterly impossible to get downtown from the North Shore, where I lived, or anywhere else for that matter.  The SeaBus was lined up all the way to the mid-Lonsdale area, and it took me 3 separate attempts to get downtown on the one day I tried.  On my third, and only successful attempt, I took the usual bus I previously would have ridden to work, which was packed to the brim with society.  The bus driver bluntly declared over the intercom that the only way the bus would continue to move is if every person at every stop was able to successfully board.  I have never seen -- felt is more accurate, given proximity -- so many people on a bus in my life, and I have a picture somewhere of this, though I can't be bothered to find it right now.  I remember conducting a headcount and stopping around 90.

Sometime before March 13th, Michelle came back down to Vancouver, and we packed up and embarked on a trip to Airdrie, Alberta, near Calgary, where I had taken a new job.  My retirement ended and work began again on March 15, 2010.

Most of the remainder of the year was an uneventful blur of Michelle's progressing pregnancy, work, and, of course, trips to Wal-Mart, with the exception of an awesome long-weekend insanity trip to Osoyoos in May (with Jason, Erik, and Karyn), a trip to California (with Jason) to ride every rollercoaster at Knott's and Six Flags Magic Mountain in August, and a trip to the Big Island of Hawaii with Michelle in September.

I don't feel much like elaborating on these trips right now, except for mentioning the part where the 5 of us rented a 21-foot jet boat in Osoyoos and took turns submerging ourselves in the barely thawed lake water.  While my reaction to the freezing abyss was loud and profane (as expected), the best one occurred when Erik jumped in.  There was a brief moment of silence as his head disappeared beneath the surface, and then returned with a face consistent with the color of Papa Smurf.  He declared that the water was "COLD".

Finally, on December 2, 2010, after 2 solid days of hospital trips and labor (for Michelle), our son was finally born.  Cedric Leonidas.  For a long time I thought about writing the events of this in detail, as it was quite the adventure, but I'm pretty lazy and there is pizza nearby with my name on it.

As I slide my chair out to enjoy said pizza, I was just thinking to myself that if Vancouver wasn't horrendously overpriced and filled with idiots (the friends I have there are excepted, of course), I'd probably still be living there.  However, I traded a city of 2.5 million idiots for one with just one million, and a significant reduction in cost of living.

What does 2011 hold in store?  I don't want to make any announcements just yet, but a further reduction in idiot population is in store, along with another decrease in cost of living.