Edmonton and San Diego

Have not posted in awhile, at least not since I left home to go to Edmonton and apt/cat sit.  I had a good time in Edmonton, got to meet with lots of friends and family and catch up.  The time seemed to fly by.  I spend Thanksgiving with the other Sivaks at Deanna's house.  Everyone was there except Rod and Ali.  It was the first time I have seen Deanna and Rod's new place, and I was surprised at how spacious it is.  Certainly cannot tell from the outside.  I saw some pics from Nate and Lauren's wedding, it looked like the backdrop of the mountains was fake.  Haley and Matt's wedding plans are coming along, they have decided to get married in Edmonton, instead of Canmore, and have everything booked except for the photographer.  Not too much new with that side of the family, but it was really nice to see everyone again.

I met with a bunch of people who were or used to be from IBM, thanks to Vicky who arranged a supper get together.  Whenever I meet with ex coworkers I feel so happy in my decision to retire, same crap different day.  Two friends had just gotten back from a riverboat cruise in Europe, two different trips, they don't know each other and that sounded like such a fun way to travel, only 180 passengers on the boat, one went from Trier Germany to Prague and the other Amsterdam to Budapest.

I also got caught up with all my Edmonton Nieces and Nephews, which I always enjoy, nice to hear what is going on in their lives.  However I will not provide an update on their goings on, they must POST themselves.  The last couple of days I stayed at a downtown hotel, thought Allison would appreciate some alone time with Magda and Olive, and my allergies were acting up so a win/win for both.  Rocky has a lot going for it, but not too much in terms of ethnic food, so I really enjoyed eating out at restaurants, Italian, Indian, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Thai as well as a few delicious home cooked meals.  I also met Allison after she returned and heard all about her trip as well as seeing pictures, made me want to go to Machu Pichu.

I meant to get out and do some tourist things in Edmonton, but just did not get to them.  I did see a couple of movies Gone, Girl and The Judge, both good movies.

My flight left Edmonton at 6:30 am on the 1st, so it was an early start.  On the plus side no traffic to speak of.  Going through border security in Calgary was surprising good, I always feel nervous, but the agent I got was really nice and friendly, not mean at all.  When I got to San Diego, I had a 3 hours before I could check into my place, so spent it at the airport, found a nice quiet corner and read my book.

My landlady met me at my new home.  It is a restored Victorian Manor in an area called Sherman Heights. It has basically two rooms, a Kitchen/Dining room and a Bedroom/Sitting room and a bathroom of course.  It is in the corner of the building so windows on two sides, 10 foot ceilings which make it very light and airy.  I am very comfortable here.  Outside there is a putting green, as well as a lot of places to sit and enjoy the outdoors.  The neighborhood reminds me a bit of Allison's, a mix of older large houses next to newer houses, some with beautifully kept yards, others more run down.

There are a couple of grocery stores within walking distance, the closest is a Walmart, which I prefer not to shop at, the second an Albertsons.  I bought a bus pass for the month and I am figuring out the transit system.  On Monday I went downtown to the Mall, Theresa it has a Nordstroms.  Yesterday I was going to the Museum of Photographic Arts, but took a wrong turn and ended up at the Maritime Museum.  I enjoyed the museum a lot, it is several different kinds of boats that you can tour, a Soviet Sub, an American sub, The Star of India, a Ferry very cool.  One thing I learned was that on the passenger ships (Star of India) the first class passengers basically had to furnish their room themselves, however there were companies that would set up the stateroom for you and they guaranteed they could do it within an hour.  All the other lower class passengers made do with teeny tiny rooms (2nd class) with nothing but bunks, or in steerage in a huge room with row after row of bunks.

For lunch I ate at a seafood restaurant (Anthony's Seafood Grotto), and tried something new, a Squid Steak Sandwich with avocado and tomato on a toasted ciabatta, very tasty.

Weather has been perfect, low twenties, very good for walking around.

Here are a few pictures of my place.