A quasi-Vancouverite visits Vancouver.

~ Lkvy ~ Leave a comment

I can feel my eyes burn from the exhaustion that comes with being three hours behind psychologically. I am jetlagged, yet refreshed.

Yesterday concluded an 11-day visit to southwest BC. Last year I took Yann with me and got to show him all my favourite places and eateries. This year’s trip was more focused on reconnecting with friends, which started off rather poorly when the first friend I had arrangements with attempted to postpone our plans as it no longer worked for them.

“Oh yeah, sure, I have less than 11 days here but let me work around *your* schedule.”

…Is what I would’ve said if I had a little more sass.

I spent the morning of the 11th visiting my grandparents in Surrey and then finished the day looking through old photos at Dad’s place in rainy Maple Ridge. I was trying to find the most awkward photo of myself to share on Instagram but my goofiest-looking era happened to coincide with when glossy photos were at the height of popularity. All attempts at taking a photo of said glossy photos resulted in a present-day visage within the photo.

Fortunately, my awkward years continued well into my late teens when matte photos had made a comeback:

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Exposed specs.

~ Lkvy ~ Leave a comment

Don’t print the fucking specs right on the top tube.

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Would you wear a t-shirt with the tag info printed on the front?

100% cotton
Size Small
Made in Czechslovakia
Use for: Torso

…because I kind of think it would be mildly hilarious. Just a trifle. Also, I really need new t-shirts.

Superfood for thought.

~ Lkvy ~ Leave a comment

Are posters no longer popular or have I just fallen out of that age group? I’m no longer a poster child for posters? Have posters simply been rebranded as “prints”? Are Millennials to blame? So many questions?

Poster stores were definitely a thing when I was a teenager. In fact, I would make a point of visiting the local poster shoppe whenever I found myself in a mall. Where else could I have seen a vast collection of large-format images quickly, and for free?

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“Why can’t people just buy nice bikes?!”

~ Lkvy ~ Leave a comment

This is an actual quote by Yann who has been a bike mechanic for so long, he’s forgotten what his hair feels like when not caked in bike grease. He has forgotten that most people barely know how many wheels their bike has.

Did you know that the tire size, 700c is the same as 622mm? 3 years ago, I didn’t. I remember my cluelessness very well. While Yann’s the all-knowing bike wizard, I’m the empathetic mechanic.

When I made my very first bike purchase 10 years ago, I had access to a special deal that allowed me to buy any bike from a certain brand at wholesale price. At the time, I thought $500 was a considerable amount for a bike; after all, there were box stores retailing bikes for under $200.

After 3 years of working in a bike shop, seeing and touching hundreds of different bikes, new and used, I can say with confidence that one should not consider buying a bike that retails for $500 or less. A literal steaming pile of shit would be easier to deal with.

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Too distant to be relocated.

~ Lkvy ~ Leave a comment

When I was a preteen, my parents gave me the “gift” of being relocated to Langley, the town where my school and friends were. Prior to moving to Langley, I lived a 30-minute drive away from a normal social life.

This meant, between the age of 5 to 11, I would have to head home on the school bus immediately after the bell rang. At home in the faraway land of Surrey, BC, I had the company of two cats and, if he felt like it, my much older brother. I also found entertainment in cartoons, the entire Babysitters’ Club and Little House on the Prairie series, art supplies, and sometimes a blanket fort. If I wanted to see my friends on the weekends, though, I had to trust my parents to make arrangements with my friends’ parents that involved motorized transportation.

I know moving to Langley was a sacrifice for my parents, but it wasn’t my fault the schools my older siblings had attended weren’t set up to accommodate deaf students. It wasn’t my fault there were no other deaf kids my age in my neighbourhood.

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