So it's been far too long since we've posted on here! I don't really have any news. Our house is a little empty these last couple of days as we've sent Maggie home to Toronto early (there is a pet ban on over Christmas - no pets on flights - stupid airlines!!). So Grandma and Grandpa Masson have been nice enough to look after their grand-doggy for us. Apparently she's being quite the little suck and besides one tussle with a huskie in the park today, she's been very good for them so far.
In other news I'm done exams and am working as much as I can at the hospital before heading home on the 22nd with Remi. I'm tired!! I've got the next couple of days off though to sleep and finish my Christmas shopping. Remi and I are having a very hard time buying for each other this year! But we're heading to Peru in February for my reading week, so I guess we can call that a gift to ourselves ;) More on that trip later.
Anyway, as the old lady that I am, I believe it's time for bed. I'll see if I can find a couple of recent pictures to post with this blog. With my finals I've been living in the library, so we haven't been up to ANYTHING lately. Very dull.
I hope all is well with everyone :)
Sarah
(I've been through our pictures and I see that we haven't taken any recently. Here's an old video instead.)
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
More fishing
Our company has been getting lucky with contracts lately so I had the opportunity to go out fishing on the Rebecca Lor, a small vessel docked in False Creek, across from snobby Granville Island. The first couple of days were very long. We fished from mid-afternoon until late in the evening. After that a typical day began at 5AM and went on until 1 or 2, depending on the catch.
This is the Rebecca Lor as seen from the crow's nest. The design looks pretty simple but there are lots moving parts and odd devices to move heavy things around and crush unwary biologists.
Looking north towards the mountains over all the yachts and a few fishing boats. That's the Granville bridge; it's something of a landmark.
Granville Island in the background.
Out in English Bay for our first day.
The next few pictures were taken at sunrise. We left the dock around 5:20, so by this point we had already had time to do some basic sampling. This is Stanley Park with the Lion's Gate Bridge in the background.
Sunrise over Vancouver. The banks of fog hid most of the city which made it easier to imagine that we were out further away.
There are lots of big container boats in the bay, they can make fishing a tricky business in any number of ways. When they drag anchor they create huge hills and ditches that caught our net and filled it with mud.
Another morning in English Bay. You'll notice the weather has so far been perfect.
A self-portrait. In addition to helping set the net and hauling it back in, I was to sort, identify, count and weigh all the bycatch. It got a lot easier as I learned all the species.
The bycatch.
Sarah decided to skip a day of homework to come out on the boat with us. We figured it was worth it because she is probably never going to get the chance to see something like this again. It also allowed her to take some pictures of her man in action. Here I'm getting ready to do basic water quality readings on a sample taken near the bottom.
Putting the net out. It was tricky because the doors (those wooden things that keep the net open) had to be kept straight to keep the net from spinning and tangling. Even if we did it correctly we often ran into problems. As you'd imagine, the bottom here is littered with heaps of garbage. We caught: A large truck tire far too heavy to lift, bottles, plastic bags and bottles, glass bottles (mostly beer and booze), shoes, a gas mask, tonnes (literally) of mud, a metal railing, a metal palette, logs, countless abandoned or lost crab traps and their lines and miscellaneous junk from years of logging. In all we destroyed one net and tore a few in half. On a number of occasions we also had to fix smaller holes here and there.
A small crab... I forget the species.
Changing the net... We broke a number when Sarah was on board. Coincidence?
This was one of my favorite spots. It was quiet away from the engine and a good spot to wait out the haul. I had a nap here in the sun on one occasion.
The gulls loved us. Their noise was annoying, but they did clean up a lot of fish bits that were scattered about the deck.
My ersatz photographer.
On our last day out we sailed to the end of Indian Arm a few hours out of False Creek. For this trip we had to get out of the harbour by 3Am in order to be back on time for the lab biologists. We got to the site before sunrise so we could only do the basic water sampling. It did give us the chance to have a wholly unhealthy breakfast of far too much bacon and eggs, supplemented with potato chips, all provided for by the captain. In fact, bacon, breakfast sausage, English bangers, twizzlers, chips, pizza and MSG soup were regular fare aboard.
Your fearless narrator. Mike, a deckhand took the picture.
Shark. A small dogfish, but still a shark. It was pretty cool, but it didn't try to bite me much, so I was a little disappointed.
The mountains to the north. I think I've climbed this one... Or maybe the one behind it.
Leaving Indian Arm. This work was some of the most fun I've had at work since I started there. Fishing in freshwater is good, fishing in the ocean is better. So many more species to see and surprises at every turn. We may be going out again in the near future. Hopefully.
Rémi
This is the Rebecca Lor as seen from the crow's nest. The design looks pretty simple but there are lots moving parts and odd devices to move heavy things around and crush unwary biologists.
Looking north towards the mountains over all the yachts and a few fishing boats. That's the Granville bridge; it's something of a landmark.
Granville Island in the background.
Out in English Bay for our first day.
The next few pictures were taken at sunrise. We left the dock around 5:20, so by this point we had already had time to do some basic sampling. This is Stanley Park with the Lion's Gate Bridge in the background.
Sunrise over Vancouver. The banks of fog hid most of the city which made it easier to imagine that we were out further away.
There are lots of big container boats in the bay, they can make fishing a tricky business in any number of ways. When they drag anchor they create huge hills and ditches that caught our net and filled it with mud.
Another morning in English Bay. You'll notice the weather has so far been perfect.
A self-portrait. In addition to helping set the net and hauling it back in, I was to sort, identify, count and weigh all the bycatch. It got a lot easier as I learned all the species.
The bycatch.
Sarah decided to skip a day of homework to come out on the boat with us. We figured it was worth it because she is probably never going to get the chance to see something like this again. It also allowed her to take some pictures of her man in action. Here I'm getting ready to do basic water quality readings on a sample taken near the bottom.
Putting the net out. It was tricky because the doors (those wooden things that keep the net open) had to be kept straight to keep the net from spinning and tangling. Even if we did it correctly we often ran into problems. As you'd imagine, the bottom here is littered with heaps of garbage. We caught: A large truck tire far too heavy to lift, bottles, plastic bags and bottles, glass bottles (mostly beer and booze), shoes, a gas mask, tonnes (literally) of mud, a metal railing, a metal palette, logs, countless abandoned or lost crab traps and their lines and miscellaneous junk from years of logging. In all we destroyed one net and tore a few in half. On a number of occasions we also had to fix smaller holes here and there.
A small crab... I forget the species.
Changing the net... We broke a number when Sarah was on board. Coincidence?
This was one of my favorite spots. It was quiet away from the engine and a good spot to wait out the haul. I had a nap here in the sun on one occasion.
The gulls loved us. Their noise was annoying, but they did clean up a lot of fish bits that were scattered about the deck.
My ersatz photographer.
On our last day out we sailed to the end of Indian Arm a few hours out of False Creek. For this trip we had to get out of the harbour by 3Am in order to be back on time for the lab biologists. We got to the site before sunrise so we could only do the basic water sampling. It did give us the chance to have a wholly unhealthy breakfast of far too much bacon and eggs, supplemented with potato chips, all provided for by the captain. In fact, bacon, breakfast sausage, English bangers, twizzlers, chips, pizza and MSG soup were regular fare aboard.
Your fearless narrator. Mike, a deckhand took the picture.
Shark. A small dogfish, but still a shark. It was pretty cool, but it didn't try to bite me much, so I was a little disappointed.
The mountains to the north. I think I've climbed this one... Or maybe the one behind it.
Leaving Indian Arm. This work was some of the most fun I've had at work since I started there. Fishing in freshwater is good, fishing in the ocean is better. So many more species to see and surprises at every turn. We may be going out again in the near future. Hopefully.
Rémi
Saturday, November 24, 2007
FISHING!
I'll let Remi handle the bigger blog for this topic, but briefly, I got to go on the fishing boat today with Remi for his work! They're doing bottom trawling and I got right in there to help them sort out the catch (which was cool!). I'm going to try to upload a video of the net release onto the deck. Hopefully it works!
Sarah
Sarah
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Pharmacy Gala 2007
So a couple of weeks ago (Nov 9), Remi and I got all dolled up and headed out to the Pharmacy Gala. To sum up, bad food, expensive booze, but mighty good dancing! Here are a few photos of us and the pharmacy gang :)
This was after Remi spent about 30 minutes trying to tie his tie :)
Chris and Laura, our double date buddies.
Our table!
I think we were just arriving here, so I guess my pictures are out of order. But Blogger is hard to use, so they'll stay that way!
This was after Remi spent about 30 minutes trying to tie his tie :)
Chris and Laura, our double date buddies.
Our table!
I think we were just arriving here, so I guess my pictures are out of order. But Blogger is hard to use, so they'll stay that way!
I LOVE this picture. Gettin' our grooves on.
The robot!
Our sexy selves. The only full-length picture I have of us is blurry, so this is all you get!
A good time was had by all :)
A good time was had by all :)
Sarah
Monday, November 05, 2007
Mt. Harvey
Pour profiter des derniers jours d'été, j'ai décidé de monter le Mont Harvey, au nord ouest de Vancouver. À partir de Lions Bay, le sentier monte 1465m jusqu'au sommet en 6km. Ce n'était pas facile. Le chemin n'était pas très interressant. Il y avait une chute et un ou deux points de vue, mais la majorité était en foret.
Sarah tells me that I have to write in English too. Maggie and I decided to climb Mt. Harvey today. From Lions Bay, the trail ascends 1465m (many, many feet) in 6km. The trail was boring and gruelling, but there where some rewarding sights on the way.
Le sentier. C'est toujours beau, mais après quelques heures c'est moins drole.
This is what 95% of the trail looked like. Some parts were very steep, but I didn't think to get a picture.
Le premier point de vue. Il y a avait beaucoup de brouillard sur le Détroit de Georgie ce matin.
The first lookout. There was a thick bank of fog over the Strait of Georgia, which looked pretty cool.
Le sommet du Mont Harvey - 1705m
The summit - 1705m (many, many feet).
La vue du sommet. Ces deux montagnes (Les Lions) sont visible de notre rue.
The view from the top. These are the Lions. We can see them from our home. I'd climb them, but I'd most likely die.
Maggie aime voir les chose de haut. Içi ce sont les montagnes au nord de Vancouver et Howe Sound.
Maggie surveying her land. Here it's the Sunshine Coast and Howe Sound.
J'ai déjeuné au sommet. La vue n'est pas mal, mais il faisait un peu frais.
This was my lunchtime view. Not bad but a little cold.
La vue vers l'ouest et l'Île de Vancouver.
The view towards Vancouver Island to the west.
Un auto-portrait.
You can figure that out on your own.
La descente.
The descent. It was pretty scary, but perfectly safe. Mostly.
Pas mal pour une journée tranquille. Le sentier était désert, j'ai rencontré un autre type mi-chemin, mais sinon rien. Ca fais toujours plaisir d'éviter la foule de temps en temps.
All in all it was pretty cool. I only ran into one other guy, which is nice on a walk like this.
Rémi
Sarah tells me that I have to write in English too. Maggie and I decided to climb Mt. Harvey today. From Lions Bay, the trail ascends 1465m (many, many feet) in 6km. The trail was boring and gruelling, but there where some rewarding sights on the way.
Le sentier. C'est toujours beau, mais après quelques heures c'est moins drole.This is what 95% of the trail looked like. Some parts were very steep, but I didn't think to get a picture.
Le premier point de vue. Il y a avait beaucoup de brouillard sur le Détroit de Georgie ce matin.The first lookout. There was a thick bank of fog over the Strait of Georgia, which looked pretty cool.
Le sommet du Mont Harvey - 1705mThe summit - 1705m (many, many feet).
La vue du sommet. Ces deux montagnes (Les Lions) sont visible de notre rue.The view from the top. These are the Lions. We can see them from our home. I'd climb them, but I'd most likely die.
Maggie aime voir les chose de haut. Içi ce sont les montagnes au nord de Vancouver et Howe Sound.Maggie surveying her land. Here it's the Sunshine Coast and Howe Sound.
J'ai déjeuné au sommet. La vue n'est pas mal, mais il faisait un peu frais.This was my lunchtime view. Not bad but a little cold.
La vue vers l'ouest et l'Île de Vancouver.The view towards Vancouver Island to the west.
Un auto-portrait.You can figure that out on your own.
La descente.The descent. It was pretty scary, but perfectly safe. Mostly.
Pas mal pour une journée tranquille. Le sentier était désert, j'ai rencontré un autre type mi-chemin, mais sinon rien. Ca fais toujours plaisir d'éviter la foule de temps en temps.
All in all it was pretty cool. I only ran into one other guy, which is nice on a walk like this.
Rémi
Saturday, November 03, 2007
BOO!
So in the tradition of pumpkins, I'm writing our Halloween post in orange. Halloween night itself was extremely uneventful for us besides our landlord coming down to give us some candy and Remi watching Sleepy Hollow all by himself. I had to study for a pharmacology midterm (it sucked).
BUT, Saturday the 27th we dressed up and headed over to my friend Keith's for a fantastic Halloween party. It was blast and there was free beer!! What more can a couple of university students ask for??
Here are a few pictures from the evening.
We went to a parade before, but it wasn't much of a parade. This balcony was cool though!
We're so tragically sexy. Recognize us Megan? We're a romance novel couple ;)
I know the question burning on all of your minds and yes, this guy is in pharmacy ;)
This is one of the funniest, nicest guys I know, but did he ever scare me that night!
This Charlie Chaplin costume was AMAZING! He also gave me a paper flower, which was nice.
These guys look great, but kind of cheated. They're actually climbers ;) Although some drug addict downtown asked Duane if he was a fireman...
"WILSON!! WILSON!!" Another great costume.
The guy in the bunny ears was our host :)
Hope you enjoyed the photos and that all is well with everyone!
Sarah
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