I'm confused, are you a woman?

We're looking for a new apartment. I was working and Luis was off for the day, so he looked on his own. He saw a beautiful apartment.
Just look at this kitchen...
This is an apartment in a home. An Iranian guy owned the home and arrived here about five months ago.
Luis kept "my husband."
Finally, the guy said, "I'm confused. Are you a woman?"
And Luis placed his two index fingers together, and said, "No, we are together and we are both men."
This part isn't as funny because the guy was reluctant to rent to us. He said he had to talk to his wife and mentioned he had an 8-year-old kid. Luis said he wasn't nasty; he was ignorant at worst and naive. Our current landlord is Iranian and was actually relieved when we told him we were getting married, I guess figuring it showed some stability.
Oh, and did I say there's an ISLAND in the kitchen??? OMG!

Vancouver stars in The Bachelorette

ANCOUVER STARS IN ABC’S THE BACHELORETTE ON JUNE 8
Bachelorette Jillian Harris invites 13 lucky guys to her hometown of Vancouver

Tune into The Bachelorette on City TV, Monday, June 8 at 8pm PT & ET / 9pm MT / 7pm CT

VANCOUVER, BC: Tourism Vancouver and The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver are proud to announce that Vancouver will be featured in the June 8th episode of the ABC primetime hit The Bachelorette.

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Luis during a day trip we took to Whistler.

on the subject of medical mishaps

Last week I prepared some delicious lentil soup with carrots, celery and garlic. It smelled so good. But when I got near it, part of my gums in the front of my mouth got a little tight. That night, Luis prepared rice with sausage. When I ate some, it had the same effect and then two glands under my chin started to grow and grow and grow. They were bigger than a Lindt truffle (yummy) and smaller then a plum with the consistency of plums. I didn't have to tell Luis what was happening; he could see them growing bigger and bigger.
I went to the hospital. It turned out that my salivary glands in my mouth were somehow blocked, and so the saliva was building up in my salivary glands.
So just the smell of soup set me off as my salivary glands starting producing saliva.
I have to have a scan Friday to see if I have a stone in my salivary glands. The docs said it's not dangerous.

A little accident

I had a little accident on Monday with a mandolin slicer. I was slicing a cucumber and I accidentally sliced off a piece of my finger.

I never knew that a piece of skin could actually look like a tiny piece of ginger, but that's exactly what it looked like.
The bleeding just would not stop, so I went to a nearby medical clinic. The doctor put on a bandage, and as he was cutting the tape he also cut my finger with the scissors.

Luis, being a medical technologist who has seen a lot of bacteria under the microscope, really freaked out upon hearing that a doctor's scissors pierced my skin. So, on Luis's advice, I called up the doctor and asked him what precautions I should take. He was really trying to say that I shouldn't have to worry. I told him I would really like a hepatitis B shot. So I had to go to a nearby hospital's emergency room to get a hepatitis B shot. They also gave me a tetanus booster.
The doctor at the hospital told me that the doctor who cut me was totally irresponsible in not explaining to me the risk factors. But the hospital doctor also explained to me that the risk of contracting something from a scissor that's mainly used to cut tape is as close to nil as possible.

Fortunately I have voice dictation software because it is very difficult tight with a huge bandage on a finger. But if you do you see some strange words appearing on my blog it's because I'm using this voice dictation software that sometimes makes mistakes.

Documentary; Whistler

Luis and I were filmed yesterday for a documentary about same-sex couples from the U.S. who go to Canada because one partner can't sponsor the other for U.S. residency.
Then in the afternoon our friend Ken, Luis and I drove to Whistler for the afternoon and evening. It was so beautiful. The entire ride up there is gorgeous. It really is the case where the journey itself is part of the trip.
We'll post pictures soon.
I have been so busy with the follow-up for my career planning class. I narrowed the careers down to a career in radio (probably starting as an associate producer and then reporting and eventually hosting a program); author and professor.
I've already begun research for a book. I'll give more details another time.
I worked at the local public radio station for two days as a freelance associate producer, but then the company announced massive layoffs. I might get more work there this summer.

New York comes to Vancouver

A TV show called "V" shot a pilot in Vancouver, around the corner from us.
Click on the photo below, and see if you can spot anyone you know in some the photos...

A pilot

Separation Anxiety

What a great editorial in the Washington Post ...

Separation Anxiety
Gay couples should be allowed to stay together in the United States.
Monday, March 16, 2009; Page A16

THE UNITING American Families Act would allow gay and lesbian Americans and permanent residents to sponsor their foreign-born partners for legal residency in the United States. The bill, introduced last month in the Senate by Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and in the House by Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), would add "permanent partner" and "permanent partnership" after the words "spouse" and "marriage" in relevant sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act. If passed, it would right a gross unfairness.

Read more...

Vancouver Pics

We are really close to snow-capped mountains, lovely fjords and beautiful islands.
Here are some pics we took yesterday. It was just a matter of a half hour to an hour to reach these places.
Here's a map where we took the pics.

Blame Canada

When the plane had to land in the Hudson, Canadian geese were blamed for the crash. Now, with the crash in Buffalo, a Canadian plane was at fault. What is this? "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut?" Blame Canada!!!