TOPIC:

Wow are things that bad in BC lol

scotch wrote: I was going to buy these to put on my cats collars

Here kitty kitty !

A couple of these , around the bike, should do the trick !

Stan, are you posting selfies again. Geeezzz !!

Nope Kawboy, I don't have this many teeth anymore!! hahaha

My plan is to keep a bunch of these under the bike cover:

Stocktoy, not all is bad, but some things are really bad. Canada is a beautiful country, huge, rich with so many natural resources, and a population equal to just two cities - Tokyo and Shanghai. The problem is it's mismanaged and governed without any responsibility and consequence. It's difficult to feel it by many people who have roots here and had a chance to set themselves up well in the 'good o'le days'. You could easily afford a house 30 years ago. Of course, far away from any city prices are much lower. But there is no work there! And outside Vancouver, everything gets frozen for many months in winter. I've a chance to see how the country is changing thanks to leaving and coming back over the past 30 years, I could have a fresh look and see things with more contrast. Vancouver is a very tough city to live in, huge gap between the well off and the lower income. It's very hard to have a normal life on a regular income, many people can't pay for a small apartment and share. I think that's why so many people here don't smile back when you smile at them. Just carry a coffee latte cup with a blank stare forward, hahaha Afraid of contact or getting involved. How many times I've been ignored, by a woman, when I tried to ask for directions!

I usually have been staying in hostels when coming to Vancouver for a few short months at a time. A few years back a just retired guy from Montreal put all his belongings in a van and drove across the country to settle in Vancouver. First night he parked his car - boom! Stolen! Left with a pair of socks, toothbrush and a towel. The laptop I had stolen probably got sold for 20 bucks for a quick fix, and passport probably went straight to garbage. Very hard to make real friends here, people don't express emotions and so it comes out as anger and aggressiveness after bottling everything up. It's just very sad overall. But don't take me wrong - if you have cash, it's a good place to visit for a week or two. Beyond that, there is really not much here. People say oh, but the mountains, it's so beautiful here! Sure, when you look at the postcard it is. But I can tell you, after visiting 70+ countries and living in a few, I've seen some really impressive scenery. And of course, there are people who love living here. If you have a 5 million dollars house in the West end on the hills, it's clean, quiet, and the views of the ocean are fantastic. If you can travel around, British Columbia is beautiful. Overall, Canada is a beautiful country. Unfortunately, for people living here, very expensive to travel. A friend from Seattle said he paid for one night at a hotel outside downtown the same what he paid for two nights in New York! I just filled up my Honda Goldwing tank with ethanol free gas - $25 even.

Anyway, we are getting off topic too far here... To finish, I must say I've had some good times and experiences here as well. It is just getting tougher almost by month. It's not my favorite place to live, and I will eventually leave. On the bright side, the 'Raincouver' has been dry recently, and not much snow in winter, so I can ride a bike. Add to this cheap fresh sushi, and these would be the two reasons I am fine for now I can keep my chin up! haha

Now back to the bike!

Stan what drew you to your current place, did you grow up in Canada?

It's a result of a chain of coincidences, circumstances, and of course many decisions that had to be made. My father immigrated to Canada, later family followed, and eventually I followed. But actually my kind of a dream was to live in Australia. I grew up in Poland, then spent a few years in Toronto. Then, went to Japan and spent even more years than in Canada there, slowly forgetting freshly learnt English! haha Then, came to Vancouver because it was the warmest place in Canada and the ticket from Asia was the cheapest. New beginning, but just after a couple months got a very serious back problem, and had to put all plans aside. Finally, picked myself up, but work accident put me on the sideline again for a long time. Just unfortunate. Along that time I tried many things regardless, and many things happen. Well, eventually after getting well but tired, put my things in boxes and left backpacking throughout the world for many years, coming back when money ran out to replenish. This time after spending a month in Taiwan taking care of an art exhibit, one of the places with the nicest people I've met, I had to come to Vancouver just to deliver the artwork and was supposed to leave after a week or so. Well, 5 days later someone spiked my beer and my small bag with all my documents, along with other precious things, got stolen and I got stuck here. It took a long time to have any documents back, and it is much more complicated than people think if you have no ID. So, I started working, and eventually got myself a motorcycle for fun and independence. Then came the KZ1300 along, and some business plans that were supposed to pay for restoring it fell through, more other circumstances and this is where I am now - simply due to finances mainly. Otherwise, I'd be back on the road following my dream of joining the Travelers Century Club, and eventually finally getting to writing my photography and my adventures books, and getting back to fine arts. Truly, I still don't know yet where I want to live.

Hope this personal introduction hasn't been too long! Well, it puts a bit of light on the man behind the bike, hahaha