Vancouver, day 6

The sun! It is out! Life is good! Oh my GOD you have no idea how much happier I am with blue sky.

Today was a short day... I took an early bus and wandered around Granville Island for a while - I found a place that does short ferry tours, which I plan to try (dunno why I insist on scaring myself like this) sometime next week. I packed some boxes at work and sent some emails (I type faster than my boss, so sometimes he prefers that I type), then read through some stuff for typos (I found two) and emailed more people.

Highlight of the (work)day: I read a manuscript the other day, and there was this one part we'd been working on that I thought would fit better elsewhere. I mentioned this, and my boss decided that it was a good idea and told me to email the author and editor. I don't know if anything will come of it, but I'll be way happy if I made a difference.

We left early, and I went down to Commercial Drive to sort out some bank stuff (success! I won't starve. Whew.) and walk around. I got some food - cheap cheese! Cheese is expensive here. There were also inexpensive grapes, but they weren't in the best shape. I'll try again some other day.On my way home, I was switching busses when I found this lovely used bookstore. I thought I'd get a DVD, but the guy at the counter discovered that it was scratched and told me to "just take it. If it works, it works, and if it doesn't... use it as a coaster." So I'll have to go back again and actually spend some money there.

Also: Yesterday there was a dead rat, clearly in rigor mortis but otherwise in good shape, on the way to Granville Island. Today the rat was still there, in less-good shape but still dead.

Also: Things that are expensive in Canada: books. Cheese. Cards. The bus (though, as CH busses are free, anything *not* free could be considered expensive).

One nice thing to note - so far I've been quite impressed with the bus drivers and passengers... the drivers have all been good-natured and helpful and most passengers are pretty quick to offer their seats to people who are older or disabled. Maybe I've just caught them on good days, but it's nice to see nonetheless.