Last Chance to Pack Blues: Monday, October 26th!

I have a trunk containing continents. -Beryl Markham, adventurer (26 Oct 1902-1986) 

Hi Karlos The Big Horn!Just a quick thanks for all the wonderful albums. Are the Big Horns from the Vasseaux Lake Herd? Exceptional shots! Loved the vineyards in Fall colours. Were these taken outside OK Falls, near Oliver Ranch Road/Blue Mountain? I gather that Henryk picked up the fridge about a week ago. Louise, his wife, mentioned this in an earlier message. Trust all went well.

Have had a more than exciting, extremely busy week at the Vancouver Writers Festival. [One of my excuses, legitimate, for not being in touch sooner!] Other than seeing and hearing a wide array of wonderful, wonderful authors, we have enjoyed a splendid time in the city, over the past ten days or so, visiting with friends and Chloë, our youngest daughter, who lives here. We are having dinner with her this evening, [along with another close friend, Wayne Sutherland, from St John's, who lives in Harbour Terrace, our former building], and she will drive us to the airport tomorrow morning. I've also managed to go on quite a few rides so it has been fun cycling many of my old haunts. Weather has been exceptional so particularly good as far as VWF went. Had hoped to take one last ride before we leave but it is raining on and off, so not sure if I'll be able to do so. Need to do some serious re-packing of the bag I'll take to India so plenty to occupy me if I can't get out. Might go to the gym across the way to use the elliptical machine I as used to do that in the event of rain when we lived here.

Unfortunately, poor Cora Lee chipped a tooth yesterday so she is away as I scribe. She managed to get an appointment with someone who was not our regular dentist as Diane, our dentist here for years, is off today. Great excuse to leave me to tidy up the apartment where we have been staying since Tuesday. Must away as I need to put in another load of sheets and towels!

hi Patrick, how is the rambling gypsy making out? OK i am jealous that it's not me who is doing the traveling. yes those sheep are from the vaeaux lake herd, they roam up and down the valley a bit, some shots were above okanagan falls close to the big horn estates and other shots were above vaseaux lake on the range road. some of the vineyard shots were taken between okanagan falls and vaseaux lake on the wild goose rd. a lot of the shots were taken between Oliver and osoyoos on road 22, there are a large number of big wineries in this area. with the big horn sheep just starting there rut and the fall colours in the orchards and vineyards , it's a great time for working your camera. the only problem is i am retired and find it hard to fine the time for priority's like photography. so any time i have you will find me hiking ,birding ,camping, kayaking and long walks with my camera looking for anything the Fly's runs craws or just looks pretty, i just gotta have a picture. 

we are hiking apex this week, i did not make it out for today's hike but stay tune for Thursday's pyx's. i have been encouraging henryk to start getting out for our Monday hikes with the guys and i dumped some of my pyx's on him to help stir some interest for hiking, photography and above all exploring our beautiful valley with a great bunch of guys. maybe some reinforcement or bribery might help. i have not met henryk yet as he picked the fridge up when we were away but chatted with him a number of times on the phone and i now have him in my google-plus circle but i do want to meet him, and meet him i will. trust that you and your wife will have a safe and enjoyable holiday. cheers karl ps we still have all the papers for the fridge i will do what i can to get the papers to henryk.

Hello to Patricia and greetings to all our fellow hikers. Have attached a few snapolas taken over the course of this year's Festival. Both Cora Lee, (aka Corinne), and I have been running the bar at Studio 1398, one of the VWF venues on Granville Island. The women in the pictures were our "Shadows", trainees of a sort, in case we are not able to continue to volunteer at festival, given our move, etc. First woman, Julia, was Cora Lee's boss, at one time, at VPL. We have been very good  friends ever since so it was terrific to have a chance to catch-up with her. Take care of yourselves. Cheers, Patrizzio! Pic: Patrizzio, The Iceman" going to collect buckets of ice for bar. 

Hello Hiker Photojournalist!  Just a quick note.Thanks for filling me in on the shooting details. Great idea to get Henryk out! Hope he will decide to join group on some of the hikes. Thanks, as well, for papers for the fridge but no rush, of course. Thanks again for good wishes. Cheers, Gypsy Patrizzio!

Hello Political Pundit! Trust all goes swimmingly. Just a quick note to say hello to you and Virginia, Jake! Cheers, Patrizzio!


Hello to my Darling Jos and Pearly Whites Banana Man! Thank you, finally, for the wonderful snaps from Orofino, as well as for the lovely wishes, and tips, (I've left extra space for a large bunch of bananas and many rolls of toilet paper!), on our coming trip. Take care of each other. Fondestos, in absentia, from Mdm Corrichi, (I love this new moniker!), to you both. Cheers, Patrizzio!

Hi again, Aarturo! I forgot to forward this past week's selectionopf words. Thought that you might enjoy having your conviction that the Netherlands is the centre of the known Universe reinforced! Cheers, Patrizzio, Wishing to be Dutch!

Hey  Patricio ... my literachi amichi, Thanks for update, glad to hear you are having a great time. Yes, we love Vancouver also. And that you even got some cycling in ... you wunderbare Fahrad Hulk! I like the dutch thing, although, when Dutchland eventually goes under with global warming, 6 feet is not even close to enough to keep our heads above the water. We lived in Leiden for a while and that is something like 3-4m below sea level! We'd love to hear how you are doing. Keep those bananas safe, Mdm Coriandre might need them some day! Hug to you both. Cheers, Aart  

Hello Summerlandians!  Just a quick note to say hello and goodbye! Thanks again for good wishes. Take care of each other. Cheers, Patrizzio! 

Hi Patrick Was cleaning out the cupboards in the bedroom downstairs and found 2 white neatly folded shirts at the back of the shelf. Thought at first they belonged to Ross who had just left, but then Ted reminded me that you couldn't remember where yours were. So we're assuming that they are the ones you misplaced. Too bad your duties as bartender are almost complete and you no longer need them. So unless you plan to take them to India, we will add them to your pillow collection. Cheers Elaine 

Hi Elaine and Ted! Lovely to visit with you both this evening. Thanks for the latte, Theodorakis, and thanks, again, for allowing us to leave all our stuff with you. Certainly much appreciated. Must away as I need to put last load of laundry in the dryer. Fondestos, from Mme Coriandre who just turned out her bedside light. Will be in touch. Cheers, from Swami, ultimately aiming for Guru, Patrizzio! 

Patrick, Thanks so much for serving as a Food & Beverage Crew Captain this year; it's an important leadership and communication role and so you are all that more important a volunteer.

Let me know ANYTHING and EVERYTHING you thought went well, as well as anything that was challenging and did not go so well. Please include your suggestions for improvement. If there were particular volunteers who you don't think suited Food & Beverage, let me know. And if there were volunteers who especially impressed you, let me know that as well!

We really value your time, your experience and your perspective, and really look forward to hearing from you! I'll be drafting my final report next week, so anything you can share by the end of this week is very much appreciated. Kathryn

Hello to My Favourite VWF Babes! Trust you both survived! Another wonderful, wonderful festival so thank you both, and the rest of the crew, as well, of course, for putting together another superlative event. I decided I'd jot down a few things as am not sure how much time I'll have once we are really on the road.

First, with respect to Studio 1398 Bar: Both Cora Lee and I think all the liquor and other supplies, at least to start, are just about right, so no suggested changes there. We did order a bit more beer and wine but that is something that is fine as one never knows how much will sell, given everything from weather to a particular crowd. Only slight quibble is with wine glasses. Plastic is fine but paper isn't really appropriate. I know there was a need to clean-out closets so I trust next year's containers will be the same as most of the ones we had to use for wine. The paper cups, if there are more left, can certainly be used for water. People certainly appreciate this being available.

As far as the ice goes, I think that it is just fine to let the barkeep collect the buckets. Since it is available from Cat's Social House it is readily available at the start of each shift and that is more than enough time to cool things down.

The Shadow People were simply fantastic! We both feel quite guilty as we had little, if anything to do! Any one of them could easily run the show. It was a sheer delight to meet them and work with such enthusiastic, energetic individuals. Great personalities, all, for the bar gig, friendly, engaging, warm, helpful. In fact, we are wondering if there is a not so hidden agenda here. Are we being eased out? Guess we might as well stay in India!

With regards to Brunch and Tea at Performance Works, I think this year's set-ups and strikes went exceedingly well. All of the crews were simply terrific but I would single out Moira Wellwood, Laura Dochtermann and Simon Briault as they showed exceptional diligence and initiative. Willing to do everything and anything they accomplished the tasks they were assigned quickly and efficiently, usually with little if any supervision, all the while helping and directing others if this was warranted. Should I be given the heave-ho, any of these three would be far, far better Crew Captains. I think I'd prefer to be a lazy, late for shift volunteer anyway!

Again, not to say that the rest were not hard working and industrious. Everyone did pitch in and work very, very well together. I think final strike was over in record time, compared to last year, at least as I recall. That being said, those new to the game, as one might expect, often didn't have as much of a sense as he more experienced volunteers, to what to do next. I think that this will always be the case because of the very nature of the situation.

I do think the modifications to the instructions made this year were quite helpful, spelling out early assignment of volunteers to Heideh and Cathy and such. Lists of items for tables and order of placement is terrific, particularly for CC, as it easy to forget from year to year.

Having more disposable gloves was essential so that was a significant improvement. Also, dish detergent and more garbage/compost bags should be on hand. Two large green compost bins would make things easier and more efficient as well. Larger, sturdier cardboard boxes for the two-tiered table trays are needed. I assume these could be found, probably for free, over the coming year. A number of the trays had to be placed in plastic garbage bags after the strike was over. This worked but it would be more efficient to have them stored in right-sized boxes, for more efficient handling.

Perhaps a similar check-list could be made with respect to supplies, such as creamers, for example, as not enough were delivered. To my mind, fridge storage is an issue and the size of box used for food items, (grapes, jam, Devon cream, etc.),is critical otherwise spillage can be an issue, as well as simply getting boxes into and out of fridge. There was quite a bit of confusion about where used dishes, and the like, were to be stored after first strike so this needs to be addressed just to make things easier and more efficient when time is of the essence. I realize things happen on the fly and there is often a lack of communication. Not the end of the world but it is always better to have things run more smoothly.

Preparation of tea and coffee always seems to have glitches of one sort or another. Probably not really anyway to foresee most of these things other than to have enough volunteers to help with process. A number of pairs of oven mitts to use when handling urns would probably be useful. I'm sure volunteers, or others, would be pleased to donate used pairs. Another instruction, to volunteers, might be to bring an apron, depending on particular tasks assigned, of course. Both Cora Lee and I wear them at the bar, per esempio, and we are happy to bring our own.

I know that brushes, etc., are available, in the facility, but I think at least one large, dry floor mop and two sweeper-pans/brooms should be part of the set-up/strike equipment as it is very handy to have these items readily available to keep the place tidy once certain stages have been reached. Two of the latter would allow volunteers to work from either side of the room and make sure the floor is clean. A mop wold be very useful for larger aisles and certainly after final strike. A certain amount of time was unnecessarily wasted looking for these items.

Well, that is about all that comes to mind, at the moment. Don't want you to think that things did not go well or that we didn't have a lot of fun as we certainly did. I think I can speak for all of the volunteers I worked with, on this. So thanks again, to both of you for everything. Sorry to be missing the Volunteer Party as would dearly love to visit with everyone. Need better planning with respect to our travel plans next year! Please send me a list of do's and don't's! Cheers, Patrizzio! Pics: Moira and Cécile; Strike Crew with Hurricane Heideh; Croissant CathyA; Laura and friends!

Hello Radison Blu Hotel GRT, Chennai-- Yes, the information below is correct for the arrival of Peter Lighthall. Lynne Lighthall will arrive a day later (28th October) on Air India flight AI 42 from Delhi at 8:00 p.m. Corinne Durston and Patrick Dunn will also arrive on the 28th on Lufthansa flight LH 758 from Frankfurt at 11:50 p.m. Thank you, and best regards. Lynne

Hi Travel agent Lynne and Madagascar Pete! Trust you are both well. Sorry we didn't call to say a brief hello and goodbye before we left Penticton but we'll make up for it in Chennai! Thanks for hotel reconfirmation, Lynne. Cheers, Swami, ultimately aiming for Guru, Patrizzio! PS: Have included latest tips from Janet.

Hi fellow travellers,The excitement is mounting for sure. I'm in Abu Dhabi airport, my Chennai flight boarding in 45 minutes. All is well so far after a long and tiring 8 days in Madagascar. I just picked up a nice bottle of Balvenie Triple Cask for our end-of-day reminiscences. Hope all your travels go well and I look forward to seeing you there. Great suggestions from Janet re tipping, peeing and eating! Peter 

Hi Naramatians, soon to be living in Inja! Had a great evening and wonderful meal with Sarge and Prince Valiant. Flamin' had a meeting so she couldn't stay for meal but Chloë was able to join us. Cora Lee was off to her book club afterwards and I "muled" stuff we are leaving here, back to the Keatings. Had a lovely, if brief visit with them before I headed back home. Had hoped to have a snort of malt with Sarge but all the lights were out when I tried the door at 10:30 pm.  Busy day tomorrow before we drive to over to Chloë's place to leave our car before she takes us to YVR . Fondestos, from Mme Coriandre. See you both soon. Cheers, Patrizzio! 

Hello Prince Valiant!This is the email address I have for Gregg Bush. Cheers, Patrizzio!Hi Sarge! Thanks for the great evening and wonderful meal. See you both soon. Take care of each other. Cheers, Patrizzio! PS: Do you have another email address that i can send pictures to?
 
Stats for Elipticizer! 3.37 miles over 70 minutes for an expenditure of 1047 calorifics, climbing 14,397' on the stairway to Heaven!