Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Last night, I attended one of the Irish Heather Gastropub 's Long Table Series dinner (212 Carrall Street, half a block up from Gassy Jack ) through an event put together by the Vancouver Activity Group . Although it was all booked up even up to about a week ago, for some reason over a dozen people dropped out at the end, and we ended up with 44 out of 52 spots (helped no doubt by the waiting list that Sean Heather had on hand). All in all a fair showing for an event that's invariably sold out. (Special thanks to @HummingBird604 for helping out with a last-minute tweet on my behalf to try to fill up the spots. Honestly, I felt so embarrassed by the no-shows from the Vancouver Activity Group that I sent out a tweet at around 5pm.) If you're not familiar with the Long Table Series, the basic idea a one-course dinner and drink for $12 plus tax and tip ( roasts on Sundays for $15). Everyone gets the same thing. It invariably involves meat, but you can ask for a veg...

Hi Everyone! Awesome news! As you may know, I recently invested USD 5000 in TreeBanking LLC , a Colorado company whose primary business is reforesting rain-forests. Unlike other conservation efforts, this one is not a charity money sinkhole, but a sustainable business that will also capitalize on carbon trading. They were recently in Indonesia, and have been mentioned in Newsweek . It's just the beginning of extensive involvement in Indonesia. Very promising news for investors! If you're curious about them, you can chat with the company principals on Twitter at @TreeBanker or @TreeBanker2 -- they're flying home from Indonesia now.

My sister dropped by today en route to see my dad in Royal Columbian, and for a no-fuss lunch we ordered a Supreme! Supreme! from Little Caesars. There's an awesome $10.99 deal going on at their somewhat obscure Burnaby location . We ordered by phone and it was ready in about 10 minutes -- all set for pick-up when we got there! Anniversary Special! Any Size Pizza $10.99 Unlimited Toppings Original Round Crust. Plus Taxes. Extra cheese & chicken topping excluded. Pick-up only. Expires August 31/09. 604.432.7766 6681 MacPherson Avenue., Burnaby Sunday - Thursday 11am - 11pm, Friday - Saturday 11am - 1am Can't decide on the toppings? Try one from their menu .

Hi everyone! Just last Tuesday, my dad took seriously ill and ended up in Royal Columbian Hospital 's intensive care unit. Today, finally, he was more or less in the clear and was transferred to Critical Care. Which, to me sounds worse, but is actually a de-escalation from Intensive Care. He has serious diabetes and his illness was in part blood infection and in part some kind of cough or cold or other bug which showed up on tests on his sputum. Special thanks to the nurses at Royal Columbian for taking great care of him and being patient with our family's visits.