A Few Changes...

...might be coming to this blog in the coming months. You see, I have been 'planning' on doing another big backpacking trip to Asia for years; ever since I got back from my trip through Europe actually. Well the day has finally come: April 9, 2010 I fly from Edmonton to Tokyo to start a 5 month adventure through 12 countries. My rough itinerary is looking like this:
Japan, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, India and Nepal!

So anyways, back to the changes. I plan on using this site as a place to dump ideas, stories, photos and everything else that comes up during the planning of and the trip itself.

Oh right, I almost forgot: With the exception of Japan (and my lovely girlfriend) I will be travelling alone for the majority of the trip. So I just thought I would open up an invitation to the blogsphere to come and join me in exploring temples, riding elephants, relaxing on pristine beaches and everything else that makes Asia so amazing!

Plastic > Paper

When it comes to a container for bagels at least. I woke up this morning eagerly anticipating my breakfast bagel only to be sorely (literally) disappointed to find my last bagel had turned rock hard while sleeping in it's Walmart paper bag home overnight. Normally I don't buy my baked goods at Walmart, but I was rushed last week and they didn't look too bad (note: they were).

But stubborn old me, I still craved that bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, so I pulled out my trusty Miracle Blade III and attempted to cut that brick in half. I figured, if this knife can apparently cut a shoe in half then surely a tough bit of dough should be no challenge! How naive...

...now I have a nice-sized gash on my 'mouse' finger which does not make it easy to waste time blogging here at work. Oh and the bagel? Still in one piece, however it now lives in the garbage can.

When I am President of Canada

First of all, yes I know Canada doesn't have a President. I say 'When I'm President' because obviously I would never get voted into power, and would therefore have to create my own leadership role somewhat sneakily. The details of which are far too complex to get into here, but suffice to say the wheels are in motion as we speak.

I actually think about this often; the small tweaks and changes I would make to the everyday portion of society today that would make life so much easier. One of the first changes I would make would be the immediate removal of all perpendicular parking spaces. How did these ever make any sense? And it's not like changing over to the "angled lines" model of parking lot parking would decrease the amount of spaces available by more than one or two spots. Those one or two spots of 'lost' parking revenue would be more than made up for by the significant savings in time and effort spent by parkers of, what I like to call the 'official vehicle of Alberta', trucks and SUVs who struggle to fit their rides 90 degrees to the road on which they're driving.

And just think retail bigwigs: happier drivers entering your stores more often than not equals more purchases made in your stores! It's win-win! If you're still not convinced, I welcome you to witness this phenomenon at work in the parking lot of one of North America's largest retailers: Costco. Yes that's right, the company that is built upon needless over-spending currently employs the great 'angled lines' parking model in their parking lots. You gotta admit, if it didn't make sense economically then Costco of all places certainly wouldn't be using it, now would they?

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a 20L container of ketchup to load into the back of my truck. Only $4.59 at Costco!

Favorite Song This Minute...

...is Leave a Light On by The Wooden Sky. Thanks to the girlfriend for getting me hooked!