All settled in, with LOTS of places to go!

Well, I've moved in to my new place here in Rossland, BC, Canada. A little history of Rossland: It was apparently the place of the first ever helicopter flight in North America by Louise Gagnon in 1902; Rossland was home to the country's richest gold mine; There are over 200 mines dotted around the area of Rossland; It is home to approximately 3500 people.

Everything is super amazing at the moment. I'm confident that a job will come soon, and I'm even more confident that my photography skills can only improve by being in such a beautiful location. Rossland is only about 10kms from the US border, so if I felt like going for a long weekend to Washington, I could walk there. HA! Everyone that I've met in my short time here (and there's been quite a few!) has been super nice and helpful. Just yesterday I was given a tip off about two different job opportunities that look interesting!

The house itself is very cool, too. Two bedrooms, huge living/dining room, big kitchen where I can build up some culinary skills, massive bathroom with a kick-ass shower... It's very nice indeed. The tv only gets two stations that are always fuzzy, so I won't be watching it that often, but this can only be a good thing! Oh, and there's a huge, fenced backyard that I can go out and make snow angels in when the snow arrives.

Did I mention that last year (from what I've been told) there was six feet of snow on the ground at one point? Good things are going to come from this move to BC, I can tell...!

All settled in, with LOTS of places to go!

Well, I've moved in to my new place here in Rossland, BC, Canada. A little history of Rossland: It was apparently the place of the first ever helicopter flight in North America by Louise Gagnon in 1902; Rossland was home to the country's richest gold mine; There are over 200 mines dotted around the area of Rossland; It is home to approximately 3500 people.

Everything is super amazing at the moment. I'm confident that a job will come soon, and I'm even more confident that my photography skills can only improve by being in such a beautiful location. Rossland is only about 10kms from the US border, so if I felt like going for a long weekend to Washington, I could walk there. HA! Everyone that I've met in my short time here (and there's been quite a few!) has been super nice and helpful. Just yesterday I was given a tip off about two different job opportunities that look interesting!

The house itself is very cool, too. Two bedrooms, huge living/dining room, big kitchen where I can build up some culinary skills, massive bathroom with a kick-ass shower... It's very nice indeed. The tv only gets two stations that are always fuzzy, so I won't be watching it that often, but this can only be a good thing! Oh, and there's a huge, fenced backyard that I can go out and make snow angels in when the snow arrives.

Did I mention that last year (from what I've been told) there was six feet of snow on the ground at one point? Good things are going to come from this move to BC, I can tell...!

You CAN get something for nothing!

Well, that's a bit of a lie, or at least an exaggeration. If you read down a few posts, you'll notice that I had all my camera equipment stolen from an underground parking lot in Calgary (thanks again, fuckers). Anyway, after much wrangling and telephone calls between parents, insurance claim agents, etc, I have finally started to rebuild my stockpile.

Here in Vancouver, at a Best Buy, and via a telephone call back to London, Ontario, to a claims agent, with the help of Manager Michael, I managed to spend close to $3500.00 on camera goodies. The most exciting piece of all is a brand new Nikon D80 digital SLR, along with two lenses (18-135mm and 55-200mm). These two will pretty much replace the four lenses that were stolen, but I DO still wish I could have picked up a 50mm f1.4 prime. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers when you're shopping at Best Buy. I also picked up close to $350 worth of filters for the two lenses, which shocked Manager Michael. Also, I threw in a nice SB-600 speedlight flash for good measure. That's the main unit. I also got a Canon Powershot A710 for nights out.

It was fun and frustrating at the same time doing my shopping, and took over four hours to get it all done. In the end, though, I got close to the equivalent of what was taken from me by the Calgary Crackhead. Now I'm off to start making beautiful art. Can't wait to be in those mountains again!

Oh, did I mention that all of this didn't cost me ONE PENNY? No? Well, all of this didn't cost me one penny. There.

You CAN get something for nothing!

Well, that's a bit of a lie, or at least an exaggeration. If you read down a few posts, you'll notice that I had all my camera equipment stolen from an underground parking lot in Calgary (thanks again, fuckers). Anyway, after much wrangling and telephone calls between parents, insurance claim agents, etc, I have finally started to rebuild my stockpile.

Here in Vancouver, at a Best Buy, and via a telephone call back to London, Ontario, to a claims agent, with the help of Manager Michael, I managed to spend close to $3500.00 on camera goodies. The most exciting piece of all is a brand new Nikon D80 digital SLR, along with two lenses (18-135mm and 55-200mm). These two will pretty much replace the four lenses that were stolen, but I DO still wish I could have picked up a 50mm f1.4 prime. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers when you're shopping at Best Buy. I also picked up close to $350 worth of filters for the two lenses, which shocked Manager Michael. Also, I threw in a nice SB-600 speedlight flash for good measure. That's the main unit. I also got a Canon Powershot A710 for nights out.

It was fun and frustrating at the same time doing my shopping, and took over four hours to get it all done. In the end, though, I got close to the equivalent of what was taken from me by the Calgary Crackhead. Now I'm off to start making beautiful art. Can't wait to be in those mountains again!

Oh, did I mention that all of this didn't cost me ONE PENNY? No? Well, all of this didn't cost me one penny. There.

I'm a Westerner -- It's Official!

Today I passed from mountain time (like I said before, fuck you Calgary. Mountain time is NOT my time!) into Pacific Time. I don't ever plan on going back. Sorry everyone. Pacific time seems to suit me just fine...

BC. What to say about such a place? Everywhere I look there seems to be something new and exciting and beautiful and amazing. I'm loving it so far. I'll let you know again when I actually decide on a place to stay, and start looking for a job. That could make or break this whole experience. The job hunt is one of my major worries right now, but I think I've come at a good time of year, so hopefully no problems.

We're in Nelson right now, which is apparently one of the sunniest places in BC. Even though we arrived and it was dark, I've got a good feeling about the place. I only noticed ONE Wal-Mart! Lots of coffee shops, street shopping, it's on a lake, and the air is clean.

About 10,000 people call Nelson home, but there's a good possibility it might be 10,002 by the end of this month.

Fuck You Calgary.

Last night as Stephanie and I were peacefully sleeping the night away at the Days Inn here in Calgary Alberta her car was broken into. I'm guessing that it was probably some kind of addict looking for some crap to sell. Thankfully the "crap" they decided to take was ALL OF MY GOD DAMNED CAMERA EQUIPMENT!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!! So not only do I not have a camera to take photos of the rest of our trip, but all the photos since Red Lake Ontario (about two weeks ago) and all the undeveloped/exposed film has been taken.

Thanks Calgary. I don't know if I'll be coming back any time soon...

Mountain Time is MY Time!

Welcome to Calgary, Alberta. The urban sprawl here is huge. I think we probably drove for about thirty kilometres before we got into the city proper. Absolutely crazy. The place is booming, but there isn't enough housing for all the people to stay in, so people are having to rent one bedroom apartments for $1000/month. Is it REALLy that amazing of a place? Sure, it's pretty sunny for most of the year, and those chinooks will warm you right up in the winter... But the COST!!! Think about it!

So off to Banff tomorrow or the next, and probably spend a few days in the surrounding parks area exploring and getting used to the mountain air. Hikes, bikes, and good ol' times...

BC is next, and off Vancouver to see a couple friends and an Uncle. Can't wait.

Beautiful Ontario, when will you end?

To anyone out there who has traveled the length and breadth of Ontario, Canada, WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME IT WAS SO DAMN HUGE!!!??? Holy crow, it's been ages. Since leaving London two weeks ago, we have already clocked up more than 2,600kms on the speedo, and we're only in Red Lake! Yeesh! There's still four more provinces to go!

Actually, we should be in Manitoba come Saturday, which will be very exciting indeed. It's time to get this show on the road and see some places I haven't been before. Mind you, I haven't seen Northern Ontario before, and have thoroughly enjoyed it, but there's something about getting out of the province you grew up in, you know? Also my excitement for getting to British Columbia is drawing me to get out there.

Does anyone out there know of any good, exciting, challenging car games to play? Steph and I have been traveling quite a bit lately, and sometimes the conversation in the car is a little quiet. Anyone? Anyone?

So Long Southwestern Ontario!

Notice I didn't say "goodbye", instead opting for the pleasant "so long"... I'll be back for visits, so it's definitely not a goodbye.

Yeah, in about 20 hours I'll be leaving London, Ontario, Canada, never to return to live again. At least that's the plan. My move to British Columbia is, at this point, being viewed as a long-term move, and as such I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that I am leaving all my good friends and family behind. So, to all those that have enriched my life beyond anything that you will ever realise, thank you SOOOO much. I value your friendship and love immensely, and hope that it will continue for many years to come.

Wow, it's really getting down to it. I still haven't packed my clothes, or even decided on which articles I'm bring with me. Nothing quite like leaving everything to the last minute, eh? Steph and I only just today managed to get the roof box strapped down to the car! Haha, its alright. Toronto is our first stop, and that's only a couple of hours away, so we'll have some time to organise things a little bit better when we're there...

So thank you London, and good luck for the future. Thank you to all my friends and family, and I'll be seeing you real soon. This is not the end, it's only the beginning of something beautiful...!

Four Days until Cashstrapsville.

In four days I will be unemployed and pinching pennies. Seriously. In eight days I start the move to western Canada.

I'm looking forward to the latter of these. I'm not so looking forward to having to watch my wallet. It sucks, but can easily be done. I think after traveling the world for six years I've probably learned a few things about living on the cheap, so what's another two months, right? I'm excited to not work at this particular job... In particular I'm looking forward to not working with a couple people anymore. Don't get me wrong, there are a few people that I will genuinely miss from my work, but they are too few to keep me there.

Stephanie (my travel partner) and I have pretty much got everything sorted out for our trip, though. We managed to get a roof rack attached to her car, and the only thing we really have to get is the actually roof box to store our stuff in. This is very exciting indeed. Her little car is going to look pretty awesome with it latched atop the roof! I've already started to go through my stuff, and luckily I don't have much. Steph, on the other hand, has to have a garage sale this saturday to get rid of all her things!

When I get out west I'm living with nothing. A bed, a chair, and a dresser. That's all I need. Maybe some cutlery and food articles... I haven't decided yet.

The Good Ol' Garbage Sale.

It's a Canadian institution. The saturday morning garage (aka garBage) sale. If you're lucky and live on a street that's into this sort of thing, maybe you can organise a street garbage sale. That way people will come in, far and wide, to peruse yard after yard of useless crap that you don't want anymore. Hey, your rubbish could be someone else's disgusting table ornament, right?

Here's an example of what you could pick up at our house's sale:

- a white stain-glassed swan lamp
- a tv that gets three channels
- a VCR (doesn anyone use these things anymore?)
- musical tapes by the likes of C&C Music Factory, the Beavis and Butthead Movie Soundtrack, etc.
- a six speed bike with two working speeds.
- an orange fondue set.

If anyone is interested, there's heaps of other useless crap lying around that you're more than welcome to take off our hands. I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing at 8am on a saturday morning. Although, the couple beers I've already had are taking the sting out of it all...

Welcome to America... err, Canada!

For someone who's just arrived in Canada, it'd be hard to tell the difference between this country and our neighbours to the south. Hopefully my friend Tam, who's just flown in from New Zealand, doesn't think Canada is full of loud-mouthed, over-weight, intrusive people.

You see, we (being my brother Geoff and I) picked her up from the airport in Toronto on Saturday afternoon and drove in to the City to spend the night. Little did we know that Carabana was on (Toronto's massive celebration of Carribean culture). This is a huge event, with people from all over the states coming to blast reggae music from their "pimped out" cars and drink cheap wine.

The next day we attempted to drive from Toronto to Niagara falls (118kms away). In fact, we crawled there. Carabana was over, so the Americans had to go home in their Escalades and Crown Victorias. It took us THREE HOURS to drive the normal one hour drive to the falls.

I'm being all negative here, and I'm sorry for that because I'm really happy to have Tam here and I know we're going to have a good time. I'm just not a fan of crowds...

Vitamin C and a Cleanse.

I just finished an entire pint of orange juice and had a shower. Just thought you should know...

Alone in a house on a hill...

...Well, in a house on a nice, quiet street, that is. I'm taking care of a friend's house for a week while her and her parents are away in Ottawa, our nation's capital. It's been really nice to have the place to myself. Two down sides: They haven't got a shower, only a bath; They haven't got internet access. On the PLUS side, though, is that they stocked the house with snacks and beer! I think it all evens out.

What a hot, HOT week! I mean, I like being outside and active and all, but when it's 40+°C with the humidity taken into account it's not exactly the best of days to be active... Let alone WORKING IN! Holy shit, it's been hot. The best part is that for the next five days it's only meant to get hotter. Then, BAM!, Friday rolls around and it's meant to be 21°. Weather is a fascinating beast...

Tomorrow, Sunday, I'm breaking down and getting a mobile phone. It's hard to believe, and I thought that I'd be able to hold out until I arrived out west in BC, but I went to the stores last week and found a pretty good deal, so I'm going back tomorrow to seal the deal. Yeesh.

Welcome to the 21st Century, Adam!

Didn't you get the memo?!?

So there's a near war going on over in the middle east... I suppose you've all heard about it, right? Did you also hear that there was another tsunami over on the Indonesian island of Java? Yeah, that one sort of got lost through the cracks a bit.

What wrong with everything in the world? Why can't we all just "get along"? The ceasefire between the Palestinians and the Isrealis was going so well, and then all heck breaks loose just to the west with Lebenon and those ol' baddies of the 80's Hezbolla thinking they want to stir shit up. Apparently Iran had "something" to do with the initial attacks, according to words our of Isreal, which could really heat things up (remember when the Iranian hard-line president said something to the effect of "Isreal should be wiped off the face of the planet"?). Oh joy.

But on looking at the positives about this new war, at least it's taking away from the strife and violence that's STILL happening over in Afghanistan and Iraq. I mean, when was the last time you heard about a fresh bombing in Iraq? Probably the day before the first bomb dropped in Isreal, actually... Even though there are undoubtedly mass killings every single day. I bet Ol' Bush Baby is loving this!

Gosh Bless those American Politicians. Don'tcha just love a good international conflict?

Thinking of subject headings is the hardest part!

What's going on people? Anybody out there? No? Okay then...

The world cup is over. I read on the news today that the English fans, who's team were eliminated in the quarter-finals, were estimated to have spent some 235million POUNDS on beer alone since their team went out. That's pounds STERLING. In Canadian dollars that equates to roughly half a billion dollars. More than, actually. Imagine what that much money could do for some poor, starving nation in Africa. Oh how many people it could house in war-torn Afghanistan. OR think of how loaded you could get all in the name of competition! WOOHOO!

Speaking of money, it's a rain day at work today. I woke up at about four in the morning to a massive thunder and lightning storm thinking that there is no way I was going to be able to work today. After a bit more sleep I woke at my regular hour of six-to-the-a.m. and it was still raining. Half an hour later my boss called and told me to go back to sleep. All these rain days are making it hard for me to save money for my move to Western Canada...

On the other hand, I've got the day off! Enjoy working for the "Man", suckers!

The End is nigh.

Welcome back to "A Modern Day Hobo". Lately there hasn't really been that much hobo-ing, as any of you who read this know.

England are out of the world cup, as are Brazil. I went to a local pseudo-english pub here in London, Ontario with my brother and two of his childhood friends and watched on disappointedly as England went out 0-0 (3-1 on penalties) for yet another year. It was thoroughly enjoyable being in that environment with all those English football fans, but bitterly disappointing when they lost.

I just woke up from a nap to see that Brazil lost 1-0 to France. Thierry Henry apparently scored the winning goal, but I was asleep when he did. He is an outstanding player, and I couldn't be happier that he re-signed with the team I follow in the English Premier League (Arsenal).

The world cup is one of those special sporting events that only comes around every four years, so I have been trying to enjoy as much of it as possible. So far is has lived up to every bit of it's expectations...

I am like a hurricane...

Well everyone, the wait is over. After some grief and aggravation, I have recieved my birthday present of one brand new Art & Lutherie Folk Cedar acoustic guitar in Antique Burst finish. It's honestly a thing of beauty. I had to wait two weeks for it, and in the end I didn't get it through the store I had originally ordered it from, but at least now I have it.

I've wanted an acoustic guitar for a while now, and after selling my electric guitar and amplifier I paved the way for this acquisition. It will be much easier to transport it across the country than my previous guitar, and MUCH easier to play around the numerous campfires that I'm sure will be lit on the trip. I'm hoping that my Neil Young repertoire grown substantially by the time we leave...

Another beautiful day here in South Western Ontario. Pretty sure it's great barbeque weather, and with the folks on the way out of town tonight it'll be the perfect atmosphere for a couple beverages and a couple veggie burgers. All are welcome, but if you're coming from out of the country you might want to hop on your horse pretty soon... It's meant to rain in a couple days.

See you then!

25+3+2 has arrived!

Ladies and gentlemen, I am now twenty eight years old. Does anyone realise what this means? I have arrived in my (put on a deep, booming voice here) "late twenties"!!! When people ask me how old I am, I can say "I'm late twenties".

I think it's going to be a great year. Will it surpass my best year yet at the age of twenty five? Only time will tell. I have a feeling that great things will happen! Already this year I have got a new guitar, plans to make a move out west and live a proper, healthy life according to what I believe is neccessary for me, and an urge to start something of a career when I get there. From here on in only good things can happen...

If anyone wants to come along for the ride of a lifetime, you know where to find me!

Big things are a-comin'...

Today is the 3rd of June. In eight days I will be 28. Mark it on your calendar, because it's going to be the start of a great year. So far my best year has been my 25th, but the next year for me might just eclipse that.

So the folks are away this weekend, which means that the kids can come out to play. Those crazy "weather-people" have been calling for a 90% chance of rain today, but as I look out the window beside me the day is screaming "BARBEQUE!"... and that's exactly what's going to happen today. Brother Geoff is having a few people over, and I'm going to prepare some baked potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, and maybe some veggie skewers to go along with it all... Throw in my FREE 12 pack of bottled Sleeman's Cream Ale and you've got the makings for a delicious and nutritious meal.

And I'm off to Niagara Falls tomorrow for the day to meet up with a friend I met in Australia. She's been nannying in Florida for the past few months, and the agency she's with is sending a whole bunch of people on an "educational" trip to the Falls. How it is that going for a ride on the Maid Of The Mist and drinking in seedy downtown Niagara Falls bars is educational I'll never know, but there you have it. Should be a nice day...

Hopefully those "weather-people" predict another rainy day so I won't have to worry about bringing my raincoat...