I’m down here in Punta Cana, drinking a few beers with my friend Dale. I saw on Twitter that my good friend Kasia is expecting her first child, and I wanted to share. There aren’t really too many aspects of my old job I miss, but Kasia is definitely one of them. Despite our best efforts, we haven’t been able to meet for lunch or anything since I left my job in January, but hopefully sometime soon. That said, I’m super happy for Kasia and her husband, Rob, on their recent announcement. I wish you all the best, and I’m sure you’re gonna make a kick-ass mom. ...

Today is day #13 down here in the Caribbean, and I noticed that the date was December 1st this morning. I gotta say, it’s pretty hard to take December seriously when the humidex is 40C and there’s not a cloud in the sky. This is probably the first December where I’ve ever been away on vacation, and it’s a bit surreal to be honest. After two weeks here, my clothes are starting to smell a bit like ass. I was hoping to use the laundry service here (where they pick stuff up in your room and bring it back, hopefully within a few days), but I just didn’t trust it enough. So today I filled ...

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been down in the Caribbean for 11 days now, but that’s how the math works out. I woke up this morning and spent a few moments trying to figure out what day of the week it was, since it’s pretty easy to lose track. Sara made it home ok, and Dale and I have been working on some BraveNewCode stuff since she left. Yesterday we spent most of the day in the room, Dale designing away and me coding away. We’re keeping the lid on most of the things we’re working on, but lots of cool things should be coming down the pipe. The wireless here has proven to be a pretty ...

Quick update. Right now Rebecca and John are in the air, or about to land. This is officially day 8 here for me, which means there are fewer days ahead than there are behind. We’re all having a great time here, and have spent most of our days reading and swimming by the pool. The other night I ventured off the resort and ended up at the Hard Rock cafe in Punta Cana. I met up with a few Vancouverites and we all went to a dance club until about 5am or so in the morning. I stumbled back into my room around 6am, and passed out for the better part of the day. That was the first night I hit the sauce, ...

I woke up late today, not that I’m really keeping track of the time or anything. I was originally gonna stroll down to the gym when I woke up, but slept a bit later than I normally do so I skipped the gym and the morning buffet. I met Dale and Sara by the pool for a few hours of reading, a bit of snack bar love, and then ultimately made it down to the gym for a bit of a mini workout. The days here seem to go fairly quick, even though we don’t really do all that much. Most of the time we all just sort of relax by the pool or the ocean, and the days are split up with a meal here and there or ...

What else can you say, really? It’s quite gorgeous here. Strangely enough, I’m sort of adverse to massive amounts of heat, but for some reason the temperature here seems about perfect. Sure, it gets a bit hot during the day, but nothing a few beers and a dip in the pool can’t fix. And in the evenings the temperature drops enough to toss on a pair of jeans and chill in the lobby bar for a few hours. I’ve been going easy on the alcohol since I arrived, partially because I haven’t been feeling 100%, and partially because I’m not 22 any more. But today was a fairly fun, alcohol involved ...

Dale and I managed to get an Internet stick down here, so hopefully I’ll have access to put photos up a little easier now. Here’s a shot from the pool today: You can view some more on my Flickr stream. ...

About half-way through my flight the other day I went to the bathroom and really wasn’t feeling good. I really have no idea what it was, but my stomach was pretty upset and I was feeling a bit achy. Shortly after writing my blog posting yesterday, I ended up feeling pretty worse, and went to my room to curl up in bed. I passed out around 8pm or so, and slept until almost noon this morning (unfortunately, a rather unrestful sleep since my stomach was keeping me up). So I’m not sure if I caught something on the plane, or possibly ate something that didn’t agree with me (which I kind of doubt, ...

Wow, I gotta say, flying at 1am is a massive downer. Not only is the airport totally depressing at that time, but it’s near impossible falling asleep on a big plane like that full of crying babies and what not. The stop in Calgary ended up being over two hours, which kind of sucked. I tried sleeping off and on, but I wasn’t very successful. But anyways, I’m here, and it’s hot! I haven’t found any wireless yet, so I actually paid for internet service in their little internet cafe here. So I don’t have access to my mail right now (if you’ve mailed me something, I probably won’t get ...

I’m a big fan of naps. In the summer, I love nothing more than passing out on the couch with a book, and sleeping passively with the sound of a lawnmower churning off somewhere in the distance. In the winter, I sometimes turn the fireplace on in the early evening and close my eyes on the couch. I don’t sleep long usually. 30 minutes sometimes, maybe an hour. Usually just long enough for the world to slowly dissolve into a dream. And in that brief moment when I wake up, sometimes it briefly feels like I’m in another place, or another time in my life. I’m often reminded how the smell of ...

In a little over 24 hours, I’ll be heading into Vancouver with my friend Tony, ultimately ending up at Vancouver International for a flight to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. This will not only be the first vacation that’s ever been longer than one week, but it’ll also be the first time really since March where I’ll have had a full week to basically kick my feet up and relax. While the last few weeks have been a bit light in terms of work, Dale and I have been going pretty much non-stop all of this last year, even working part of Christmas at the start of the year. That’s why this ...

I actually woke up last night and thought things were shaking a bit, but thought it was due to the wind. Turns out several earthquakes struck off the coast of British Columbia last night, the largest one being a 6.6 on the Richter scale. I’ve actually experienced a few earthquakes now, one in the lower mainland when I was about 17 years old, and another one when I was visiting Tokyo (which was a bit scary, given that I was on the 37th floor or something and my cell phone was bouncing around on the table due to the quake). Anyways, you can read more about it here. ...

First off, Seattle was a lot of fun, and it was great seeing Dave and Lauren tie the knot. The ceremony was really well done, and the venue was spectacular. I had a really great time there with my friend Lynn and everyone else we met on the dance floor. I haven’t been all suited up in a while, so it was nice to dress up for a change. The Alexis Hotel fireplace suite was really posh as well, and it was super nice of them to put me up in it for the weekend. This morning has been a bit of a bumpy ride. I had a longstanding photography client issue I’ve been dealing with that I thought was resolved ...

I’m nearly packed for my trip. Truthfully, I’m looking forward to getting away this weekend and relaxing a bit. The main reason I’m going is because Dave and Lauren are getting married on Saturday. That said, I’m hoping to meet up with a friend tomorrow night and maybe go catch a movie or go bowling or something. My friend Lynn is also coming along to the wedding on Saturday, which should be a lot of fun. The wedding is in a really cool location called the Herban Feast near Sodo Park. It looks like a really amazing spot, and I’m looking forward to shooting some photos in the venue. ...

It’s official. Sometimes I get harassed at the border, sometimes my car gets dented in a parking lot. But usually when I’m down south something happens that shows just how much the US hates me. Today I was driving along, having a pretty good time listening to music, when I looked up in my rear view mirror and saw the cherries flashing. Since it’s been about 12 years since I’ve been pulled over, I didn’t even really get that the lights were for me. I thought, “hmm, that’s peculiar, I wonder why he doesn’t just go around me.” Anyways, I pulled over to the side of the road, and ...

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It seems like it’s been raining out here forever. Maybe it’s because I spend so much time at home lately, and I can constantly hear the little pitter-patter of raindrops on the rooftop vents. Regardless, it’s making me more and more excited to be on the beach in about seven days now. Tomorrow I’m taking it pretty easy since it’s a stat holiday. That said, we’re going to push out some quick updates for WordTwit and WPtouch which should hopefully allow the two to start working together. If you use WordTwit, WPtouch will soon be able to show all your recent Tweets. It should be a pretty ...

It’s true, I hate going to the gym. Lots of people say they go and get this massive rush of endorphins and it makes them feel like they are on a high all day. I generally feel a bit more energetic when I leave the gym, but not to the point where I feel super amazing. I see some of the people who do hours at a time of cardio, and I just can’t imagine how they do it. The thing is, it’s not that I’m lazy. I love sports, and I’d like nothing more than to whack a tennis ball around now or play a game of badminton. For the most part though, I just find the gym super boring. Maybe I need some ...

I’m watching this video right now on YouTube. It’s fairly interesting, and I’ll place a few of my comments below: Around 20:00 the guy actually sort of destroys his own thesis statement by saying how much they should have lost based on the calories consumed. If that were certain, there would really be no point in doing a study on macronutrient composition Around 39:00 he mentions insulin resistance, which is what I talk about on here all the time (hyperinsulinema) Around 41:00 he has another important thesis statement, “reducing the glycemic load may be especially important to achieve ...

Hard to believe I’ll be getting on a plane in 10 days and heading on vacation for two weeks. Truthfully, I’m really looking forward to relaxing by the pool with a few books. Reading is something I get a lot of enjoyment out of, but for whatever reason I go through big periods where I don’t really read all that much. So I’m hoping to hit a Chapters store before I leave and grab a pile of books. Like most vacations, I’m debating whether or not to bring my digital SLR. Truthfully, I think I’m going to leave it at home this time. I love having it around, but it’s just a pain lugging ...