Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 948: Vancouver, BC – STILL Too Hot

Curtis’ Day

It was never going to go away that fast, was it?

It was still super warm today, so another full day of trying to combat the heat, but at least we drink a good amount of water!

Curtis had a Norwegian lesson at 10:00 and that went really well! We’ve been watching a Norwegian Netflix show and Curtis thinks that has helped with getting his brain in gear, so he was able to talk right away and at a good level.

Once his Norwegian lesson was done, it was all go with tickets and messages coming in left right and centre.

Curtis then had the final workshop of the many he’s been doing recently and then he had a bit of lunch.

There were a lot more questions/tickets in the afternoon, plus a meeting to discuss a new integration as well.

Kim’s Day

Kim started her day on a call with a vendor and then joined a recruitment chat to discuss next steps on hiring someone new into a team. She joined the company wide meeting and gave the weekly update before having 1-1 with her teammate. After the 1-1 they had another teammate join the call so they could review a process that had been put together.

They then joined an interview review and set up the next interviews for a couple of candidates. Then she joined the finance meeting to give an update.

In the early afternoon Kim joined another recruitment meeting that discussed two new roles that have just started the hiring process. Then she had a quick chat with a manager to go over the attendee list for a few recurring meetings.

To close the day Kim had a process chat with her team to figure out the best way to display information to the company and then she joined a recruitment meeting with one of the department heads.

Evening

After Kim got back from pole, we just had cold showers and a bit of salad. It was still far too hot to eat anything else, really!

It was announced today that British Columbia is moving to stage 3 on Thursday, meaning that masks are optional (among other things) This is pretty scary for us, and we’ll be wearing masks for sure.


This Time Last Year


Mr And Mrs Hale

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Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 947: Vancouver, BC – Many Fans

Curtis’ Day

Curtis had a meeting at 09:00, to orientate someone new, but before that we both got all our fans and placed them strategically around the apartment as well as ensuring all blinds were closed so we could keep the apartment as cool as possible whilst we worked.

Curtis finished up his 09:00 meeting and then completed a rushed onboard for a contractor.

After that was done, Curtis had a team meeting, a 1 on 1 and then a LOT of tickets and messages from people to deal with.

He had one further meeting in the afternoon around a piece of software, but luckily that didn’t late too long.

Kim’s Day

Today was super hot, so Kim decided to drop a laptop off for delivery in the morning after she was able to get some admin done. Once she got back Kim popped to a couple of shops down the road to pick up a couple more drinks and snacks for the day.

Once she was home Kim joined a meeting to discuss how an interview went then that meeting turned into a 1-1. She then joined the team meeting and then had lunch.

In the afternoon Kim worked on a lot of admin and wrote up an invite for a picnic that will be happening in a couple of weeks. She had a quick call with her manager to discuss a few things then finalised the invite and sent it out.

Evening

It was far too hot today, around 40°C, so we didn’t really want to cook. Kim went to the coffee shop across the street and got us caprese sandwiches for dinner and we watched a bit of TV for the start of the evening.

When it began to cool down, we went for an evening walk, though it was still stupidly hot outside!

We got home and watched a bit more TV and tried to stay cool, before heading to bed and hoping we can sleep!


This Time Last Year


Mr And Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 946: Vancouver, BC – Staying Out The Heat

Kim got up and went to the cats again, and then got out to Apple and she got a new laptop for work there.

After she got back home, she had some breakfast (Curtis had some before Kim got back) and then we got ready and went out for the day.

The plan was to go to a mall and get some shopping done that we needed to do. Therefore, we drove out to Burnaby and did just that, getting some free AC!

We got there and went to a few stores to look for a few different items. Unfortunately, there wasn’t too much of use there, so we took a bit of a break and went out to the French bakery/cafe we went to the last time we were in Burnaby. We got a tiramasu to share, an affogato each, as well as a berry lemonade, which was a surprising delight!

We went back to the mall after that and we managed to actually get some new flip flops for Kim and a few clothing options! It became more successful the second time!

We then headed back home and stopped off at the cats, but the owner was home so Kim had a quick chat with her and then we went back home.

We had nice cold showers, to get out of the insanely warm heat, and then we relaxed a little before Kim went out to the beach with a friend and their dog!

The weather was still very hot at night, but it was lovely to get to put her feet in the water.

Kim got home and we watched some TV and chilled out, trying to stop it being far too warm!

Tomorrow is meant to be EVEN HOTTER so we have that to look forward to.


This Time Last Year


Mr And Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 945: Vancouver, BC – Barnet Marine Park, Sunset Walk & Fancy Nitro Ice Cream

Today was HOT!

The temperature got to around 38°C today, also know as far too hot, so we wanted to enjoy the heat but also not burn to a crisp, so we tried to find somewhere that was a little more shaded but also new and beautiful.

Kim first started the day by going to her friend’s place to feed and play with the cats before coming home and making some french toast for breakfast.

Once we got ready, we headed out to Barnet Marine Park, with a stop for some coffee! The first cafe we stopped at turned out to be a little rubbish, so we went to one down the road which turned out to be wonderful! We each had excellent (cold!) Coffees. Kim’s was like a coffee milkshake… Delicious!

We left here and headed to the park. All the main parking was full, but we were able to find the overflow parking and go there.

We got down to the park/beach area and it wasn’t too busy and we found a spot to sit and relax at, in the shade.

We dipped our feet in the water and walked for a while and then we headed back to the car as it got a little too warm and we started to get hungry!

We stopped off at the kittens to play with them a bit and also to feed them. Once we left there, we went home and had leftover Chinese food for dinner.

We got ourselves ready again, after doing a little housework, and went out for a nice night walk!

We first stopped at Mr Ice Cream which is a very popular nitro-frozen ice cream place that has different flavours each day!

Curtis got a crème brûlée ice cream (where they actually torched the top with sugar to create the crackable top) and Kim had an oreo smores ice cream bar! These were delicious. We sat in a park and enjoyed these before we went for our walk.

We walked down to the beach and the weather was hot but managable, as there’s no sun so it was quite nice.

We walked on the beach, went into the water a bit and just chilled out in general whilst walking around. There were quite a few people out, partying and having fun, but we just stayed away and relaxed.

The sunset was beautiful! We managed to see a lot of the sunset which was a really nice touch to the end of the day.

We got back home fairly late and watched a bit of TV, as well as trying to cool down the apartment ready for sleeping!


This Time Last Year


Mr And Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 943: Vancouver, BC – It’s Gonna Get Warm!

Curtis’ Day

Curtis didn’t have a meeting right away today, nor did he go to the office, so he was up at normal time and had some time to get adjusted.

A lot of the day was project work, getting something ready for a launch, but it was very fun! Curtis found out about more new features and just really enjoyed getting it setup.

He got some Norwegian homework done and a lot of tickets until lunch time.

After lunch, Curtis had meeting which was about a new potential software and gathering some information around that.

After that, Curtis did some admin and then had an impromptu meeting about ANOTHER software and a project has stemmed from that.

Kim’s Day

Kim was in back to back meetings today, but they were all super interesting and productive!! The first was to discuss a role and the next steps as it looks like there might be a candidate that people really like! She then had a quick check on with her teammate and then joined the department weekly update meeting.

Kim then joined a meeting to discuss another candidate in a different role and the next steps there before joining the weekly recruitment meeting. Kim then had a couple of IT style meetings, one where she was learning some really interesting stuff and the other was helping a teammate with a couple of systems. She then joined another recruitment meeting to discuss a role and how it might change going forward.

For the rest of the afternoon Kim had check ins with managers and employees who were reaching various stages of their probationary period and she had a call with a vendor too. To finish the work day Kim had a weekly check in with her teammate before having a chat with another teammate to perfect a LinkedIn post for a new hire within her team!

In the evening Kim did a little planning for an event and had a check in with a manager about their employees.

Evening

Kim har pole, so Curtis played some games and then made dinner. We had couscous with chicken, vegetables and feta cheese. A perfect combo for a warm day! Very Middle Eastern!

We ate that, watched some TV and relaxed. Crazy that it’s Friday tomorrow, it’s meant to start getting VERY hot, too.


This Time Last Year


Mr And Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 942: Vancouver, BC – TV Show Filming!

Curtis’ Day

Curtis had a very interesting company wide meeting to start the day and once that was done, he walked down to the office.

Once he got to the office, he setup a laptop and a few other things for a new starter, only for the laptop to not play ball so he had to mess around with it for a while.

After doing that, he was able to get some tickets done and he had some security work to do, as well.

Curtis had Subway for lunch as he forgot to take any food with him and then after lunch he walked up to the dentist. It was the first time he had been in a while due to COVID, so it was a long uncomfortable cleaning there, but felt great afterwards!

He was pretty much done for the day once he got back home, but on the way back he noticed the large amount of trucks around. He then remembered they are filming a TV show across the street from our apartment building, so it was cool to see that happening. They actually use that restaurant a lot for filming here, so we may see some cool stuff!

Looks more like a crime scene than a film set here!

Kim’s Day

Kim had a super productive day today! She started with a little admin, got carried away and ended up being 15 minutes late to her first meeting. She got an update on a candidate who is going through the recruitment process and they discussed next steps.

After that meeting Kim had a team meeting that really got into getting things done and a little training. It was awesome! She then did a quick laptop swap with a colleague. Once she got home Kim worked on organising access levels for the HR system.

After lunch Kim had a quick call with her manager to get a couple of updates and then she had a biweekly check in with a colleague, just to keep a few easy wins on the plate and things moving forward.

For the rest of the afternoon Kim had a chat and training with someone from the HR firm the company is working with. This was followed by a meeting with the development team to discuss career ladders within the teams.

Kim then had another mini therapy session and left it feeling like she had a much better direction in terms of next steps and what to look for in terms of support.

She spent some of the evening creating a quick survey buying a few things and setting up two laptops for new starters! A very productive time!

Evening

We had some pizza and then Kim had to do more work. Curtis helped her out a little with some IT stuff she needed help on and then he left her to get on with her work.

Once Kim was done with work, we watched some TV and relaxed. It has been very warm these last few days, with it expected to hit 40°C on Monday, which is FAR too hot!


This Time Last Year


Mr And Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 921: Vancouver, BC – We Can Now Use It!

Curtis’ Day

Curtis had a meeting at 09:00 to discuss a few things about the office and people returning post COVID and what his team needs to do to prepare for that.

He got some tickets done and then had a quick team meeting for 30 minutes to discuss projects.

Once the meeting was complete, Curtis had to disable and offboard an account so he got that done then he had to review some security documents.

Curtis finished up a project that has been active for a while, which he was thankful for, and then after lunch he had a quick team meeting followed by a meeting with one of his colleagues to create a document that is needed for a process.

Curtis got some mandatory security training completed at the end of the day and did some more admin, then he was done.

Kim’s Day

To start her day Kim had a quick check in with a teammate before joining two meetings with marketing. The first was general support and working on stuff together and the second was the regular recruitment meeting. She then joined her weekly team meeting before having another donut date with someone from another department.

Towards the end of the morning Kim joined an interview and then had a quick review and chat with the hiring manager. It was so great to catch up and just hang out for a bit.

In the afternoon Kim had organised a meeting with a couple of hiring managers to get her new team members up to speed on how recruitment has been for the past few months and just set aside time for everyone to meet, ask questions and hang out. She then had an end of day check in with a teammate and then joined another interview.

In the early evening she had a mini check in with a couple of her teammates and then that moved into a meeting with a department head which turned into a lovely chat and 1-1 catch up.

Evening

We had pasta for dinner and then we went for our usual evening walk. The weather was beautiful today, 28°C, so we made the most of that in the evening, when it was a little less baking warm but still beautiful weather.

We tested our enterphone setup and that seems to work, meaning we can actually get deliveries now, which is exciting!

We got home and just relaxed.

We have our first vaccine tomorrow! We have to be there for 10:00 so we’re getting up, having a decent breakfast and then walking down to the convention centre.


This Time Last Year


Mr And Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 875: Vancouver, BC – Busy Beaches

We had a nice lay in and slept very well laat night.

We had some breakfast and got ourselves ready, then had a chat with Kim’s family.

After this, we went out for a walk.

We stopped to get a fancy coffee Kim had seen online, which was honey comb and cream coffee. It was sweet but pretty nice! Kim also got a cheese tart to go with it, which was delightful.

We got that and walked for a couple of hours, down to the beaches. The beaches and around the beaches was VERY busy (you can be in a group of up to 10 outside here, at the moment, for some reason) so it was a little stressful walking around, but the weather was beautiful and hot!

We got pretty hungry and thirsty, so we got a lemonade each from a place near the beach and then we headed back home.

Once we got home, we ordered some McDonald’s because we really fancied it and we stuffed our faces with that.

We then, after rolling off the sofa, very full, went to the supermarket to do an actual shop as we’re basically out of everything now!

We got that shop done and on the way back we picked up a storage rack to put in our walk in closet for our clothes.

We got back home and were going to unpack, but it was 10pm so we just wanted to chill and will tackle that tomorrow.


This Time Last Year!


Mr & Mrs Hale

Virgin, UT

Place 85 – Day 2: Virgin, UT – 25 Hour Cycling Race!

25 Hour Cycling Race

We were up fairly early for Tom to get ready for his cycling race, which began around 10:00.

The weather was cold in the morning, around 2°C.

Tom went out to the briefing and we got ready.

The race was beginning at 10:00, but it was a running start to the bike, so Curtis walked down with Tom to the start to catch the beginning run.

After the run, Tom was on the bike and taking some laps.

We sat out in the sun and relaxed until we noticed we were very much on the way of the course, so when there was a break we drove the RV further down and out of the way.

There was some beautiful views and mountains around the place, too.

Tom did around 6 laps and then was done for the day.

Curtis watched hockey and then we sat and played cards for the rest of the night. We couldn’t even fire up the generator to charge devices as it wasn’t working for some reason, but that’s a tomorrow problem.

Up at a decent time tomorrow for Tom to do a few more laps and then off we go to another place!


This Time Last Year!


Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 120: Vancouver, BC – Labour Day

Labour Day

Today was labour day, which is a holiday here in Canada, so no work for us!

We planned to use it to relax and just go for a coffee and have a walk, which is exactly what we did.

Walk & Coffee

We had breakfast and then relaxed before we went for a walk, just to get out of the house.

We walked around to find a different coffee shop, as well as just to have a walk around.

We found a shop that was the same as one we had been to a couple of times in Victoria, called Milano. This was nice and the outside area was in the shade, which was a bonus as it was hot today!

We had our coffees which were really excellent and then we took a long walk back home.

KFC

Once we got back home, we did nothing for a few hours and then got hungry so went out for some KFC.

We came back and ate it whilst watching the new Peaky Blinders episode.

We just watched TV for the remainder of the evening and got ready for work by making lunch for tomorrow and getting a few things ready.


This Time Last Year!


Mr & Mrs Hale