Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

I'm with TekSavvy as my internet service provider, and honest to God no past provider has sent me a letter that reads like this: Hello, We have some good news about your service with us. As you know, your current package with us for <masked> is Cable 10 Pro, with 300 GB of non-overnight download usage at a monthly cost of $34.95 . (Uploads, and overnight downloads between 2 and 8 am, are unmetered.) Well, starting with your first billing cycle on or after Monday, 16 January 2017, your package will become Cable 10 Pro, with 400 GB of usage at a monthly cost of $29.95 . No action on your part is needed, as the change will happen automatically. So, without me lifting a finger they've given me a fat discount. Thanks TekSavvy!

Lured down to Bogart's Bar and Restaurant by my friend for happy hour and found it nice and quiet at 4pm. We got our choice of seating -- normal tables, booths, and higher bar chairs around smaller tables. TIP: Some seats are close to the doors, and it being cold outside now, you may want to give those a pass if you can. Buffalo Cauliflower "Wings" ($8) buttermilk ranch sauce, celery sticks Wow was this salty. But the ranch sauce toned it right down so use it. Mildly hot with a heat that didn't linger in the mouth. Szechuan Brussels Sprouts ($8) crispy fried, spicy sesame dressing, toasted almonds NOT marked "V" for vegetarian, so there's probably something to the sauce, which had a meaty taste to it (borrowed from steak jus?) So salty! Maybe at one point it was crispy, but after being bathed in that sauce... not anymore. Veggie Burger ($15) house-made black bean, almond, and mushroom patty; aged cheddar; roasted tomato relish; cri...

Not really one for seafood but my friend picked Fanny Bay Oyster Bar for happy hour early dinner. Checking on Yelp, another friend gave it a good review, so I was game. Seating and table spacing felt kinda tight. Busy too for happy hour on a Saturday! Also, our server gave us a happy hour last-call warning, which was kinda nice. Pot of mint tea ($3) Looked innocent enough, and at $3 it's about on par with ordering hot tea at Starbucks. Hey look, it's Starbucks tea! Teapot of hot water had what appeared to be (and what I hoped was) leftover tea leaves. No way they didn't see that when they poured in the hot water. FAIL. Fried Oysters ($7.50 happy hour pricing) Deep fried Fanny Bay Oysters, house made tartar sauce, cabbage coleslaw Ordered this based on a friend's Yelp review, and price for value it's really decent! The sheer number of meaty oysters makes this more filling than a gourmet burger costing 50% more. Very crispy on the outside without...