Keira’s recent post about shoes got me thinking about a few things. Sure, I have more pairs of shoes than I can count on my fingers (and toes) but I don’t think I’m obsessive at all. I walk into a store and I know exactly what I want, ie. closed-toe, non-stiletto, non-chunk heel shoes that are not suede or velvet but easily waterproofable for Vancouver days.
Sometimes it’s tough to shop that way as opposed to “hello lover!” impulse buys, but our frugal lifestyle doesn’t always allow for such things.
One thing I do love though is shoe shopping with my husband (yes, we’re both comfortable enough with his sexuality that I can make that statement). He walks over to the men’s section and I head to the ladies’. We meet up a few minutes later with a couple samples and provide feedback for each other, and talk each other out of hideous decisions. His comments about his own selections are pretty priceless though: “…too biology teacher,” “too Chris Isaac,” “too clodhoppy.” His usual criteria for a pair of shoes is “useful and goodlookin,” after which I make a comment about him and give him a ridiculously cheesy smooch on the cheek.
Two things though about shoes in this city though.
Best place to shop for them? To quote Keira, ‘I’m not gonna lie’, I prefer Payless. I admit that I shop at a chain and yes, at a store on Robson Street. Scandalous I know. But honestly, you can’t beat BOGO – unless we’re talking about the shoe clearance section of The Bay.
Second, where can I get my busted up stilettos fixed? On my way to and from work would be ideal but I haven’t been able to locate a shoe repair shop in those areas. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Today, I’m going to wear flats. This means I’ll be 3 inches shorter than most people think I am, which is kinda fun but my feet will hurt at the end of the day.
It’s that time of year when you just want to overdose on Peppermint Mochas then curl into a ball and nap until March.
Photo credit:
kk+ on Flickr
Being in Vancouver, our sun doesn’t rise until after you arrive at work in the morning, and it sets well before you head out the door, bound for home. This leads to many of us becoming Gloomy Guses and Debbie Downers. The effect of the change of season, time and temperature actually has a name: “SAD” or “Seasonal Affective Disorder”.
“…also known as winter depression, is an affective, or mood, disorder. Most SAD sufferers experience normal mental health throughout most of the year, but experience depressive symptoms in the winter…” [wiki]
Symptoms could be: fatigue, increased need for sleep (I’m a total over-sleeper lately), decreased levels of energy, weight gain (where the Peppermint Mochas come into play), increase in appetite, and difficulty concentrating.
So just how do we deal with the SAD blues? Eat some protein, cause it makes you happy (ie. eggs for breakfast are tasty and contain 13 vitamins minus vitamin C), and try to get as much sunlight as you can or even turn on some more lights in the house (making sure they’re CFL‘s eh).
If your symptoms begin to seriously affect your everyday life, consult your doctor or mental health professional.
What do I do? Pretty much everything listed above AND I make sure when I get to work that I put on my headphones and crank some rockin’ tunes. The International Noise Conspiracy saved me today. That’s for sure.
Basically for SAD sufferers, try to sustain a well-balanced diet, work in some exercise during the week, stay involved with social activities, and get outside even if it’s cloudy (tanning beds are not helpful in this regard) – the effects of daylight still work wonders. [source: Cleveland Clinic]
Since DaveO bestowed $100 upon Keira and I to spend at happyfrog friendly and listed establishments I haven’t done much shopping. However, I bought something today and will deem is my first official purchase as a happyfrog tester, and it’s from a store you might not expect.
We’ve seen the emergence of reusable shopping bags around town, and there’s plenty of talk in the blogosphere as well about the important of reducing your plastic bag usage. (Metroblogging: Ban Plastic Bags Now and Plastic Bag Ban. Keira-Anne: Slopes and Totes).
John and I have cloth Safeway bags for our shopping, which are pretty great as they can hold the same amount of two plastic bags and are a lot more comfortable to carry on the long walk home. I now have something a little more universal which I picked up at Zellers. Yes, I’m mentioning Zellers in a eco-friendly blog post – here’s why:
Hbc is a recognized retail leader in sustainability practices in the areas of ethical sourcing, environment and energy, associate wellness and community investment. For the last five years, the Company has been one of the few Canadian retailers to issue a formal report on its progress in these areas. Going forward, all aspects of this program, as well as new policies and customer products will be part of the Global Mind brand…
…We will offer our customers environmentally friendly products under the Global Mind brand.Reusable shopping bags; Cold water detergent by Truly and Energy Star products will be available at stores across Canada. [Hbc News Release]
I picked up a nylon “Esprit Global/Global Mind” bag today for a whopping $0.99, which beats the heck out of some of those $40 designer go-green bags out there. I’ll toss this tiny, collapsible pouch in my work bag for impromptu grocery store trips on my way home, or for any time I just need something extra in which to carry items.
It’s great to shop local and at mom n’ pop places but when you can find that the big wig department stores are also making an environmentally conscious effort, it’s worth noting as well. I found out that Hbc actually has an entire website dedicated to social responsibility [CSR] and better yet, they have added incentives for using your cloth bags when shopping at their stores.
The bags are available in select stores with broader distribution to all Hbc locations scheduled for November 1, 2007. Customers will receive 1,000 Hbc Rewards points when they purchase any of the Global Mind bags, and 100 points every time they use the bags while shopping at an Hbc store. [Hbc News Release]
I forgot my points card today but I’ll make up for it in the future when I whip out my Global Mind pouch for my next commercial excursion. And since the bag was so cheap, that means it’ll get a lot of use. Now, just 99.01 happyfrog dollars to go!
Keira and I will be blogging all of our happyfrog purchases. You can read our posts in our “happyfrog” categories:
Keira-Anne.com/category/happyfrog
and
Miss604.com/category/happyfrog
Cool trains, nifty buses running us all over town, happy little sea buses carting us over to the mountainous North Shore, why wouldn’t we have a TransitCamp in this town? I think for the most part though, the main issues raised at TransitCamp were more buses, more scheduled times, more access and more info is needed.
This wasn’t a day to rant about Translink (for some people) but it was a day to talk, discuss, brainstorm, address hot-button issues and make some cool art. Some of the session titles were: Ask the Gurus, Best Practices, Car Free Day/Events, Transfers, Building a Community within the Community, Social Media for Transit, Wireless Everywhere Transit… and more.
Roland captured most of it on his UStream, and John was able to make some really great summary posts.
Here’s a short summary from the two sessions I attended:
Session One: Care Free Day & Safe Route Tsawwassen
Evolving from the free day we get on New Years, the topic of encouraging others to take transit instead of their cars generated much discussion.
Should a group of individuals sponsor a pro-active campaign, handing out cards and fliers to riders to promote another “free day” of transit? Something like this would certainly be at a cost to Translink and offering pamphlets to commuters wouldn’t be very effective.
The thought I shared with others in the room was to get Translink to participate in events instead of actually being the initiator ie. there’s a community festival out in Tsawwassen, and all those who attend are encouraged to come by transit. You could even have prizes for those who submit their fare stubs for added incentive. Translink could then be a PARTNER in the event alongside cycling coalitions or other societies and groups.
We also had a brief presentation from Carol Vignale. Along with Ruth who is an Elder with Tsawwassen First Nation, Carol’s group partnered with a member of the CNIB, and the Delta Police/Community Police Station to create “Safe Route Tsawwassen”. The goal here was to reduce numbers of cars coming to schools, provide information about safe routes to schools (new lines, remove shrubs, crosswalks etc.) and to build up the community shuttle program for Tsawwassen.
Carol, who was also on the GVTA committee and helped with the community shuttle bus initiative, offered up some great information about their group. She was also a part of their local cycling initiative [Canada.com Article]. Carol’s initiative really provides a great module that other communities could put in place and build upon.
A few more topics that came out of this session were: Getting better access to community data, an increase in dialog between riders and Translink, a summarization policies on their website ie. “What is Bill 44?”, and more communication about what resources are available, how they’re available and how Translink actually connects communities.
Session Two: Unwiring Transit and Other Public Places
Topics for discussion: Why is it so hard to get wifi in public spaces (not just cafes or apartments)? Most are City, Translink owned spaces so herein lies the problem. Are we getting wifi on buses? No, a recent article in a local paper basically made it seem like it but this is actually an internal communication system for operators, which won’t be for the public. However when they implement GPS tracking for the public it will work hand in hand with their new scheduling system, which you can text to get ‘next bus’ information for the stop where you’re waiting.
Back to the wifi discussion: Who would provide the blanket bandwidth at transportation hubs/stations? Who would provide the support? Where would it be, places you wait, places where you spend the most time?
What about bandwidth hogs? Where would the hot spot be? Could Translink partner with local shops as access points? Dave points out that in all these scenarios the biggest costs would be tech support and bandwidth.
This particular discussion seemed to really promote FreeTheNet Vancouver, then it turned into something about social networking and media then veered in all other directions before the conch blew announcing time was up.
Things got a little scrambled in a few of the sessions, which mostly consisted of pockets of people in deep discussion, but for the most part things stayed on track. I ducked out before the arts and craft fun times but still got to experience some great conversations. I’m sure more summary posts will pop up, but here are some samples from my photo-documentation this afternoon – the rest are in the Flickr Set.
View more in the Flickr Set.
