Here and There Blog

Carlsbad beaches are along cliffs and soil erosion is an issue. Wildflowers and drought resistant plants help with prevention. This time of year they start to bloom and brighten up the view away from the ocean. After a couple of weeks of snow and rain, this was a perfect welcome home.

The weekend wasn't all Star Trek. The TELUS Spark Science Center also has interactive rooms on science, nature, earth, human physiology, and more. At this point in my trip, my brain was on "shiny, pretty" mode and I was not up for complex thoughts. The water jars drew me in. Dozens of them were filled up by people, dated, and then left on display by the windows to show how the color prisms change over time. Even on this snowy, cloudy day, the light was reflecting differently off the water in the jars. No additives, only water and any minerals that are in the water, time, and light.  That's all. Enjoy.

When you're a small town in Canada, on a road to nowhere, and need some tourism dollars, make the most of your name! Originally named for the Roman god of fire, they've redone their image for Star Trek and now people stop and hang for longer than a tank of gas. The small visitor center has a shop and museum and around town are fun Trek things. Leonard Nimoy as Spock has his own tribute. I know this is Canada but it looks like Dorothy's house landed in the wrong place! No sign of the wizard or of Oz. Vulcan is a 90 minute drive south east of Calgary and once you are out of the city, this is the view.  Sunrise is still late in the winter, this was around 8:00 am. And even if you don't want to spend time in the Trek Center you can drive the few short blocks around town and find Van Gogh street art.

Against all odds, the Star Trek Starfleet Academy Experience was in Calgary the same time as me! It was interactive with games, Klingon language lessons, and the Kobayashi Maru exam. All of it is to test what area you'll be admitted into Starfleet. Entrances are timed to reduce wait time to do the activities and it never felt crowded. Here's my image getting ready to beam up. And if this plays correctly, it's my actual beam up. Turns out I'm Uhura and bound for Communications!

This year is starting off with an easy Canada trip to Calgary and Vancouver. The Vancouver airport was pretty cheerful and fun with the displays this month. Vintage Disney!  Mickey's and Pluto's were on highlight between the terminals inside security.  And lots of mini-models. I was on one of these Westjet planes.  Good cheer smiling down upon us.  Off to Calgary!

Tray 4 of Invisalign and I'm now graduated from novice to normalized wearer. The first 3 trays were easy affairs but T4 is upping up the ante with a determined fit to move the teeth. Some of those teeth I didn't think had any business moving at all but there they go. The first few hours were a stuttering, spitting annoyance (funny to the dental staff) and now it's starting to normalize.

Today's picture is courtesy of the hotel grounds at Disneyland hotel. I can't imagine any flower or plant looking like this in my hands. Good work grounds keepers of Disney! Home owner's mystery number 2 or 3. (1 has to be why something always breaks at the worst possible time. The next mystery is why are there so many businesses out there that don't really seem to want to do business or work at all? Last month in our most rare, rain fest, I found out that the patio sliding door was deteriorated enough that it couldn't keep the water out. Towel after towel went down and finally the whole lot of towels. After a couple of days of that I looked up businesses that specialize in sliding door repair and replacement and found one near me with a mix of mostly positive Yelp reviews.  I called, no answer so I emailed and got a reply a few days later. $45 to come out, deducted against work. Send your address and they'll schedule.  Great! Agreed to the fee and sent add...