Penticton With Family

Here goes an update on my time with family in Penticton. I spent the first few days in Oliver with friends (Aug 28-31), then the last few with family in Penticton (Aug 31 - Sep 1).

On the 31st just before noon, my parents along with my brother Ted, who'd already spent a few days in Penticton, arrived in Oliver to pick me up.

After saying goodbye to my friends, we left for Penticton. The scenery along the way was inspiring: dry, arid mountains along the metallic blue of the various lakes spanning the distance between the two cities. Along the way, luscious vineyards and dozens of fruit markets:

Once in Penticton, I put all my stuff in my motel bedroom (just around the corner from Skaha Beach), and immediately headed for the swimming pool. My nephews and nieces had already claimed virtual ownership of the pool, evidenced by their loud, boisterous, laughter and screams.

Late in the afternoon I went to play some tennis with Ted and Heinz at the tennis courts just by the beach.

For dinner, Ted made a kick-ass bbq. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the dinner. Too bad, as it was the highlight of our short stay there.

I was dead-tired, so after dinner I pretty much conked out and hit the sack.

The next morning I got up early and made pancakes for breakfast. Others also contributed, preparing toast, fried eggs, and various fruits.

After packing my bags and getting ready to return home, I went for a quick walk to Skaha Beach. Here's what I saw:




























































Upon my return to the motel, there was some serious packing going on!!!

Then we lined up for a family picture. I also took the opportunity to take a few more parting shots.

Around noon we left for home, taking the Coquihalla southwest. Here are some of the wonderful scenery shots I took between Penticton and Merritt.

Oliver With Friends: Part II

Saturday night was great. We had a bbq again (3rd night in a row!), and this one was the best one. It always takes a few tries before you get it right...

On the dinner menu: bbq steak, lamb, chicken, green and red peppers, and zucchini; thanks to Benja, we also enjoyed a great pure de papa, and Vero also prepared a green salad. All this food went down ever so nicely with the wine we'd purchased earlier during the tours.

For dessert I prepared coffee to go along with peaches and other fruits. Jen also bought a dessert wine.

After dinner we went to the beach, where Benja and Sanjit had prepared a bonfire. Amazingly, the wind had died down, so the night was truly pleasant.

As on all previous nights, we went to sleep after midnight. My clothes, hair, and skin smelt like smoke, so before going to bed I took a hot shower.

Damn! Sunday morning the wind returned, and it was even more fierce than the previous day. We had to wear caps or hooded sweaters while making breakfast!

The next picture shows the "whitecaps" on the waves. This was before 9am! Usually at that time during the day the lake's as flat as a mirror!

Then we took some group photos before packing up and getting ready for our journey. I would go north to Penticton with family, whereas my friends would first conquer Mount Oliver, then travel south along the 97, destination Osoyoos.

Some parting shots.

Note: not all of those empties were ours!

Oliver With Friends: Part I

As promised, here are a few notes (and pics!) of my trip to Oliver last week. There's so much to tell/show, I've decided to break it up into two parts:

Part I: Thursday-Saturday afternoon
Part II: Saturday night-Sunday noon

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Seven of us arrived Thursday night (Aug. 28), while 5 more arrived Friday night.

Thursday night was quiet and peaceful. Vero, Erwin, Juan, and I were the first ones to arrive, around 4:30. For dinner we cooked a bbq: burgers, steak, and corn. We also stopped by a wine store and picked up some very good local wine. Late in the evening, around midnight, Jen, Benja, and Alfonso arrived, exhausted. It'd been a long trip.

Friday was grand: the best day of my stay in the Okanagan. It was hot and sunny. No wind, very few clouds. After cooking a pancake breakfast (with coffee, of course), I parked myself at the beach, and except for a brief venture into the cool waters mid-afternoon, I stayed there, lying on my beach towel. I read, and I read a lot. I also slept. Below some pics.

Late in the afternoon Vero, Erwin, and I visited the Quinta Ferreira winery just around the corner from our place. I bought a dessert wine there, Vinho du Sol. Late in the evening, Hugh, Jana, Sanjit, Saranjit, and Nataliya arrived.

On Saturday the weather turned very windy. Still sunny, but windy. That was a downer, because it meant that beach-time was limited. Even so, we had a great day.

In the morning I took to the beach again, and read Thomas Merton's "The Seven Storey Mountain", a book I've heard so much about and finally got around to reading. It really is as good as I've heard. It's his autobiography of faith. I got hooked reading it on the way to Oliver in the car, and was keen to continue the read after arrival.

In the afternoon, we visited two more wineries: Burrowing Owl, and Tinhorn. The Burrowing Owl had the location (majestic views!) and atmosphere. In fact, if I ever want to get away for a weekend and exercise my vanity muscles, I think I know where I'd stay (the winery features a guesthouse)!

But Tinhorn definitely had the wine. In fact, I bought a case of their 2007 Gewürtztraminer white wine:

While at Tinhorn, I also took the opportunity to hike part of the Golden Mile trail with Alfonso. The trail passes right by the winery, so we hiked it for about an hour. It was spectacular. The earth is indeed God's playground!














































Upon our return to the cabañas, we braved the cool wind and went to the beach anyways. I brought out my book and read while walking along the beach, while the rest of the gang sat around and had a good chat.





































































That's all for today. Part II will include: Saturday night dinner and bonfire; Sunday breakfast and group pic.

Summer Bliss: Oliver, Penticton

I spent the last 5 days away from Vancouver, and good thing I did, because it's been raining here way too much for the month of August.

Parts of the Okanagan Valley are technically a desert, but I think a more appropriate name for the region should be oasis, for the simple reason that it's not that hot there, but it is dry. Compared to the bloody rain we see on the west coast, the OV is an oasis of sun and warmth. I'm ready to pack my bags and move....

Anyways, I'll share a little more about the excursion in days to come, but for now, here's an appetizer. I spent the first few days days in Oliver with friends.

From left to right: Cub, Nataliya, Saranjit, Alfonso, Sanjit, Jen, Benja, Juan, Erwin, Vero.

Then, I spent the last few days with family in Penticton.

From left to right: Mom, dad, Tanis, Terence, Melanie, Heinz, Cub, Derek, Ralph, Neal, Dylan, Karin, Natasha, Ted, Priscilla.

Weekend's Here!

Another week of work's done. I'm exhausted.

Horrible

Three days ago Paraguay beat Brasil: 2-0.

So everyone's happy, of course. "Historic win", said the newspapers.

Today, Bolivia beat Paraguay: 4-2.

Horrible.

A New Job?

My boss Andreas today said that someone in the Supply Chain Management (SCM) department was impressed with my work and asked if I was available for permanent employment.

I agreed to an interview, but have yet to be officially asked by the SCM Manager.

How ironic. When I went looking for work, I couldn't find it. When I stopped looking, it found me. I think there's a sermon illustration here somewhere.

Visiting Parents

After my massage therapy today at noon, I went to see my parents.

I had lunch there: Spätzle and salmon, and for dessert, my favourite: Blitz Torte.

Usually I take very little food home with me after visiting parents, but today I took a lot. I'll take it for lunch at work next week.

After the meal and a nap, I hung around a bit and caught up with my parents before taking off to Melanie's place to pick up Ralph. He's going to California tomorrow morning and is staying the night at my place tonight.

In the evening Ralph and I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. Waste of time.

Tomorrow morning I will go and watch the Spain - Sweden game (EURO Cup), and after that I'll drop Ralph off at the airport. In the afternoon I'm playing soccer, and in the evening I'm attending a Volunteer Appreciation Dinner for the OOC volunteers.

Damn I'm Sore

But oddly enough, it's not my back muscles: I'm tiger-balming the hell out of those....

It's my legs. Lifting with your legs sure helps protect your back, but it gives your legs a helluva workout.....

Tomorrow I'm going to see my massage therapist, who's been working on my back since January. He's done great work, and I'm glad I went to a "therapist" for it.

It's Parmesan Cheese!!!

A few days ago I was miffed because I'd tried to make alfredo sauce for the pasta I was cooking up, and the sauce I'd made just would not thicken!

Well yesterday I tried it again, and made one small change: I added parmesan cheese to the cream and butter as it was cooking up in the pot, not afterwards when serving the plate. And voila, the sauce thickened. It was an epiphanic moment.

So, there it is. Parmesan cheese is the thickening agent.

Aching Muscles

I've worked 3 days now, here.

I like my job, actually. It's physical work, which is something that I'm not used to, but which is something very good, especially for me, since my idea of physical work until this week was moving a pen from left to right on a sheet of paper.

My muscles are sore, especially my back muscles. Because my job entails a lot of lifting, I have to be very careful and make sure that I use my legs, and not my back, when I lift stuff.

My job is to detect defective solar panels, produced by the assembly line process. After I check for panel quality, I move it to a specific "pile", usually located in another part of the building. Each panel is 14kgs, and I estimate that so far I've lifted at least 500 of them. Marty, my working partner and fellow soccerino, has been very gracious and taken the brunt end of lifting duties. Thanks be to God for friends like him.

My boss is from Germany, Freiburg. Actually, there are many Germans at this company, maybe because the company has a subsidiary there.

Anyways, it's good to be working again. It's "brainless" work, so I'm not sure I could do this "long term", but for now, I'm very content to be working again.

Solar Panels

I got a job today. Starting tomorrow morning I will be working in the quality control department at a company that makes solar panels.

It's a factory job. Physical labour: inspecting flawed panels, determining the cause of defect. Not my dream job, for sure, but a necessary measure nonetheless. It's a 6 week job that will prevent my work-ethic from rotting while vocationally-undecided. There's only so much internet surfing I can handle.....

I have a very negative impression of factory jobs, because very often the dignity of people is taken away in these contexts for the sake of efficiency and profits, but anyways, that's not the topic I'm on about tonight. And even though I wont be working in an assembly line per se, it will be an industrial context, a world I'm very unfamiliar with. My point is that working in a factory context will be good for me, as it will either confirm my preconceived notions, or challenge them. My guess is the latter, because as is so often the case, our preconceived notions and ideas are simplistic.

In the meantime, I've emailed the bishop of Jerusalem to see if there's any work in the Anglican Church in North Africa or the Middle East. Let's see what he says....