Insane Surf

I found some sweet backgrounds for you on Transworldsurf.com. Here's a few of my favorite shots from Teahupo, Tahiti. I can't even imagine being in the water with one of these waves. Check them out and when you're done go to their photo page for more.

• Photo1: Waiting for a monster wave.
• Photo2: Corey Lopez in the belly of the beast.
• Photo3: Kelly Slater, world renowned surfer

Also, this weekend Derek's brother and a couple of Phil's friends come to town so we're throwing the first BBQ of 2005 at the Juanita manor. Here are some pics from last year to get an idea of what's in store. Let me know if you need directions. I helped Phil bottle his first batch of home-brew beer and the apple cider should be done by then as well. We'll see how it tastes. It should be interesting in any case.

Lucky Clover

I uncovered the St. Patties day pics from earlier this year. They're pretty hilarious, here's some of my favorites:

• In this shot Tom meets some drunken corporate lawyer who offers me his cellphone for a few green beads. I decided he could keep the phone but accepted a shot of scotch instead. Later he was escorted out by the bouncers for being too Irish.
• Everyone showed off their green including Cam and I and the girls.
• And everyone had the fighting Irish in their blood for the night!

Click here for the full gallery.

I also posted a couple of pics from Amanda's MSF course. Click here to see her and the 250cc Honda Rebel she learned on. Now she's an ultra sexy biker chick!

Back from the Netherlands

I just got back from a last-minute trip to see my Oma in the Netherlands. She had a heart-attack and required emergency surgery. They did a bypass and replaced 5 major arteries. I'm happy to say everything went well. I found out only a couple of days before her surgery and dropped everything to leave that day for Europe. Thanks to www.travelzoo.com and www.1800flyeurope.com I found a last-minute flight and arrived in time to see her before she went in. Afterwards I visited everyday as she recovered in ICU and then the cardiac ward of St.Antonius hospital in Nieuwegein. I have to say their staff was amazing and I am very thankful to the doctor and all the nurses that helped her through this incredible ordeal. She's back home now and my mom's helping to take care of her. I'm hoping to go back for Christmas to see how she's doing.

The one thing I learned from this trip was to avoid the ICU. Most people I saw were recovering from heart surgery. They were on respirators, catheters, morphine drip, needles every 1/2 hour and lots of IVs. It was a weird feeling being there and I want more than ever to take care of my body so that I don't have to go through that.

The trip wasn't all difficult. Once things settled down a bit I got to wander around Utrecht (interactive map). I met up with Indra and her roomates and we partied at the University with her friend Charlie and his basketball team and downtown at a few bars and clubs. I even got to ride on the old bicycles that they use to get around. I took full advantage of the great public transport system to get around and got to practice some dutch. I love it over there and can't wait to go back! One thing that I forgot in my rush was my camera... but I have some photos of Utrecht already in my gallery.

Lastly, thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers over this tough time. Especially George who battled traffic to drive me to/from the airport and my girlfriend Amanda who will hopefully get to meet Oma soon enough. I'll be trying to post more often again now that I'm back. I'm busy preparing for TechEd 2005 in Orlando. I leave June 5th for a week.

Still alive

Just a quick post for everyone that's been wondering when I'm going to update this site. Since I got back from Hawaii I've been very busy at work. I've been selected to attend Tech-Ed 2005 in Orlando, Florida. It's the largest Microsoft conference in the world and showcases all the soon-to-release software. I'll have a couple of days at the end of the conference to hang-out in Florida which is great.

My personal life has also been busy. I attended Shannon (Amanda's brother) and Vera's wedding last weekend in Victoria, BC. The whole family was present (including the 4 brothers!). We did family photos and the ceremony was in the Empress gardens. The after-party was great and George, Simone, and Christine came out to celebrate and meet her family too. We ended the weekend by renting scooters and blasting along Dallas road at 60km/h (top-speed, downhill). It's a little different than my R6. Pics to follow...

Speaking of motorcycles, Amanda graduated from the MSF course along with our friend Chris. Now they need bikes! My friend Brad bought a new VFR800 (pics here). I'm still looking forward to a track-day at Spokane Raceway later this month.

On the down-side I might be catching a last-minute flight to Europe as my Oma (Grandma) is ill. She's in my thoughts.

I'll leave you with an interesting article about the Myths of Global Warming.