What’s new? Well after looking at my last post, a lot. It’s well into the new year, Olympics have visited our city and left, I don’t think I even remember them. Most importantly I was given the task of running my own JJ Bean location. Talk about a whole new package of challenges and headaches! I’m learning a lot however, things nobody tells you about until it hits you in the face, unfortunately coffee knowledge is falling to the wayside, feeling a bit left out in that department. Every day something goes wrong, and I’m the one who has to fix it. When I can fix it, it feels great, but having to just wait on someone you called for an answer that you know isn’t going to rectify anything soon just drags your day into the ground. My time off becomes extra valuable now, but valuable in a way that I don’t want to do anything with it, just relax, and be useless. It’s kind of dangerous.

Maybe I need some time off soon?

Meet “Hubert” my new baby. He’s just over a month old now and is up to all sorts of trouble. I’d go into more details but then I’d just be bragging, and I don’t do that. *Ahem*

Nearly at the end of my guard duty down on Powell street. Ironically the knickers I mentioned in my previous post that I decided would be excellent as part of my cycling getup have yet to be acquired. In a strange twist of fate compounded by the generosity of mothers I was on the receiving end of not one, but two pairs of these elusive cycling shorts. However, I underestimated the girth of my gut and the sizing was highly inaccurate thus returning my gifts for exchange was the only option. Despite not having access to the shorts for the fall months I will still happily commute to my new position this coming January. Yes, another relocation, another store.

This time, instead of simply holding down the fort, I will be officially put in charge. This is both exciting and a little sad. I will miss working with the great people at both Main street and Powell street locations. My destination, come the new year, will be across only one bridge unto the edge of the downtown core along Davie street. I’m looking forward to the challenges (not including the 2010 Olympic chaos) and opportunities this will bring me. The most amazing part of all this? I don’t recall doing any ass kissing. How does that happen?

As for now I’m keeping focused on wrapping things up neatly where I am and looking forward to a more relaxed next month or so. My girlfriends’ birthday is fast approaching. I always have great ideas throughout the year for birthdays, then as the date itself draws near I draw blank. Maybe I should start writing things down. Speaking of my girl, I think I’ll brave the cold wet November Vancouver weather and visit her at work. The free dinner that comes along with the visit ain’t none too bad neither.

Since my commute has now tripled in length, and the weather is on a decline from the awesome summer we’ve had, my bicycle is in need of some upgrades. First step will be to re-install the rear fender to keep any and all rainwater from hitting my underside. There is absolutely nothing enjoyable about spending a day at work with bit’s of mud and grit stuck to your butt while your underwear below is still damp and clingy.

On that note my current riding apparel is somewhat lacking in rain protection. Weather proofing my ride to work is essentially my main concern. For this I’ll need a longer breathable jacket. My current rain jacket is a tad short for me when riding, I could get around this probably with just a longer shirt below that I’m willing to let get soaked. Next on the list would be some decent riding pants or shorts. I have a pair in mind that would be quite decent, pair them up with some warm socks on colder days, perfect.

Other improvements I’d like to have would be a new and better fitting helmet, replace my brake pads for when the wet weather hits, and possibly a rear wheel rack for saddle-bags. It will only be two months however, so purchasing a set of saddle-bags (or even just one!) is a bit of an investment when I already have a capable bag and I really don’t need to be hauling that much paraphernalia to work. On the days when the weather is really just too horrible that riding safely is questionable there is, thankfully, a rather efficient bus route that likely can get me there quicker than two wheels as it’s never quite busy that early in the morning.

I’ve been listening to this album on and off for the past month and every time it gets better. Some delicious brooding and sinister tones mixed with an eeriness reminiscent of film noir spliced into a documentary about things bad people do. It’s a very well produced release and I look forward to future releases from this project. I know there is one on the way.

August was a particularly busy month for me and my girlfriend. Beginning in July and into the next month we’ve been hosting visitors on our cat slashed orphaned piece of sectional sofa. Our first guest was my girlfriends best friend who not only spent her two weeks of vacation just to come visit, but traveled all the way from Atlanta, Georgia just to do it. That’s a special friendship right there. Myself, I was working a fair bit during this time thus enabling old the ladies an abundance of time to hang out and make the most of it.

My personal rewards for keeping my nose to the grindstone this summer was two separate trips to my family’s cabin on Adams Lake. The first trip I took was immediately after our first visitor said her farewells. Leaving my beautiful girlfriend behind, I collected my three best friends and we trundled up to the cabin with a trunk full of food, sleeping bags and beer. Essentially we spent the better portion of the week doing as little as possible, however, one feat of epic proportions was a hike we took up one of the nearby hills.

I’m not a hiker or any kind of woodsman really and the hill we chose to climb has defeated me in past summers, but this time we were ready.

Despite my smile in the picture, I was in most likely hood quite miserable and only smiling because of that fantastic hat.

My girlfriend has been handling a lot of cooking in our less than half a kitchen these past few days. Several amazing breakfasts have been prepared with spreads of scrambled eggs loaded with ham and cheese, stacks of fluffy little pancakes with or without fresh blueberries, expertly cooked bacon done en mass in the oven (way better than pan frying), and all accompanied with toast and fruits. I like breakfast.

Numerous stir-fries over rice were lovingly prepared, but so far the trio of oven baked pizzas have been the highlite for dinner time. Fresh ingredients sizzling on a crust sized just big enough for an individual (well probably too big), is a genuine treat. It’s rather expensive to make your own pizza at home in comparison with ordering, especially once you factor in the convenience of just picking up the phone, or even typing in your order! Yeah, I’ve done it.

Stack of Pancakes waiting to be devoured!

Myself, I tried to recreate a batch of quesadillas using a recipe I created a month ago. Here’s the breakdown.

• Chicken breast marinated in honey, garlic & onion barbeque sauce
• Carmelized yellow onions
• Smoked gouda cheese
• Avocado
• Red Bell Peppers
• Black beans

Combine all of the above in a flat tortilla folded in half and you have yourself a truly decadent pseudo-mexican feast. Unfortunately yesterday, when I tried to recreate this masterpiece, I forgot a few key steps like carmelizing the onions before hand, marinating the chicken so it would be more tender, and the gouda I chose wasn’t the same as before thus did not melt, instead remaining semi-solid. Next time I’ll get it right.