STAYING IN ONE PLACE FOR MORE THAN A MONTH; CALGARY, CANADA
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see the full size picture
During our summer of hiking through the mountains of California, we were faced with the dilemma of whether to head for Argentina or Japan in the fall, so we compromised and went to Calgary. We decided to leave the perfectly normal, nomadic lifestyle where everyday offers a new surprise to enter the mad, mad world and seek work. Yes, we are talking about the chaotic world of consuming, capitalism, commuting, cars, carnivores, coping, complexity, comfort, in the short the coop. Rather than remaining free range chickens, we have opted for the life of battery chickens; eat and produce!
We decided not to live in a tent or a yurt but instead, to live in an apartment. Rental units are relatively inexpensive in Calgary and we found a decent two bedroom unit, walking distance from downtown. Whilst the apartment is comfortable, it is no Vista Mar (the place we rented in Mexico). It does not have an ocean view, no roof top patio, no beach down the street, it does not come with built-in concrete furniture, Jesus is not the superintendent, and Corona beer trucks don’t make deliveries. We do have a good view of downtown and are perfectly situated to catch the Diwali fireworks display, er...wrong place, the Stampede fireworks.
Once we had an apartment, life was already starting to get a little more complicated. But, we felt if you are going to join the rat race, you may as well jump-in and buy a car. We ended up with a Japanese fuel efficient car made by, you guessed it, Mazda. We were not sure what to call the vehicle. Should it be the Persian God II? As you know, there is but one God, so we just call it “the car”.
Wheels provided more mobility and the opportunity to fill an apartment with “stuff”. Calgary boasts a vibrant Garage Sale or Yard Sale scene. We spent a couple of Saturday mornings stocking our place with just about everything we could ever need. We now boast a fully furnished apartment and more substantial tableware and crockery than our normal plastic bowls and spoons. Our “media room” boasts a TV & VCR that cost us the equivalent of 800 Bolivian bananas (20USD) sitting atop our 30 Thai banana TV stand. Our first ever CD player belts out tunes on CDs borrowed from the nearby library. Over in the office, our first ever computer offers internet access, though we have to admit it is not as much fun as some of the internet cafes we have visited.
Of course, this all comes at a price. Suddenly, we have overheads! A roof means rent, cars need car insurance, apartments like tenants insurance in case you burn the place down. Then there is health insurance, dental insurance, telephone, TV cable (we get a shopping channel!), internet connection, and we even have electricity. We could travel just about anywhere in the world on the cost of our overheads alone. Then, there are the keys, the addresses, phone numbers, postal codes and passwords. What did we get ourselves into?
To keep the household running, we have both gone out and found work. We heard people questioning our sanity, leaving the security of jobs to explore the world. On our return, finding work was not a problem and now we are questioning our own sanity, why are we doing this? Glenn found work as a consultant back at his old employer Shell. He figured that his post-PCT fitness would facilitate climbing the corporate ladder. However, the elevator is still faster than running up 18 floors. Not to worry, Glenn is now president. He is president of his one man and no dog consulting business, Ord Business Solutions Inc.; there is no BS at OBS.
Meanwhile, Sheila started her job hunt. She did her homework and studied up on interview techniques. She even read up on how to interview so she would know what the interviewer should be looking for. She bagged a couple of job offers, started at one of those and left after 3 days. Then she accepted her current job and they immediately flew her down to Houston Texas for training. Yes, we are a petroleum couple, Sheila works for Shell Chemicals. The company is moving their operations north to the Bangalore of North America (Calgary), because operating costs are much lower here than in the U.S.A.
Best bumper sticker: “Grow your own dope, Plant a man” (if we post this e-mail on our web-site, we are bound to get more visits as people search on “grow your own dope”!)
Indicators of how deep we are settled in:
We got a reaction to the above comments
I am very upset at the risk of no longer receiving your quarterly newsletter…. I expected you chickens to begin some sort of spiritual movement….Chickens, I hope you realize my disappointment in all this. Houston, Texas. P.S. Watch out for the hot fat!
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the more stuff you accumulate (including real estate and investments) the more complicated your life becomes and the less personal freedom you have. From Calgary, Alberta.
Everytime I buy something like a dishrack I feel a pang of fear because it symbolises the fact that I am going to be here for a while and that my travels are over...for now! Ottawa, Ontario
Oh, Say it isn't so!!!....The open road shall beckon, and these two free souls will answer the call to roam once again, free-range and wild. Seattle, Washington
I think that if you can fly the coop for a spell, as you have done, then coming home to roost occasionally is a not a bad idea - its only us old lags who get a bit stir crazy finally. London, England
Soon you will need a "personal video recorder" so you can tape up to 50 hours of shows at a time. You can get hooked on all the stupid reality shows like we are. Let me know if you want some recommendations. Montreal, Quebec
You're not alone in this swamp of obligation and mechanical tides--- after finally surrendering to the ebb and flow of the whims of the masses; a mantra has surfaced that is providing me w/ an uncomfortable sense of peace; hereinafter proclaimed: 'It is what it Is' nevertheless opportunities flourish in the land of X's and O's; of right angles and rank; of lanes and lard; of nuance and neutrality. Washington, USA
The very basic of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounter with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun...don't hesitate or allow yourself to make excuses. Just get out and do it.Just get out and do it. You will be very,very glad you did. Alex McCandless quoted in Into the Wild (Jon Krakauer). OK, Krakauer did not send this in, but we thought we would slip it in anyways.
On the surface all of us seemed congratulatory in the face of your blissful nomadic travels, but in reality, we, the dispossessed, secretly fantasized for the day when one of your trusted modes of transportation would develop mechanical problems (directly related to mysterious, illegal additives contained in your Shell-refined "petrol") and would beg to be rescued and be brought back to the welcoming, pragmatic, predictable arms of consumerist civilization. This outcome, however, is even more poetic. Could a toaster oven be far behind? Seriously,folks. I hope that not too much time goes by before I can once again bitch about people I know who live a romanticized existence on $4.89 (Cdn.) a week. Montreal, Quebec
I'm horrified to hear that you have not as yet named your vehicle. This situation must be immediately remedied. These things have a soul, you know! My "Sparky" has been so good and kind to me. Even Wayne has "Tacoman" (I keep telling him to get married and buy one for his wife - "Tacobelle"). I, myself, would try to name your car, but I haven't met it or experienced it's essence. This you must do alone… Number of "member" cards owned and bursting your wallet at the seams: 20. Vancouver, British Columbia
I am getting tickets for the Jerry Springer show, so watch for my ass on TV. Wisconsin USA
Imagine, Calgary, apartment, snow, fireworks, cozy TV-shows, nice music to the volume of your choosing in one word ----- the works ! Whereas myself sitting somewhere on noisy beach with sand getting at you from all sides, even inside, no decent claret to be had for months, no juicy steaks and no way to turn the heat off. Sweden (on the way to Thailand)
What are we going to tell people now? I used to love telling people who moaned at work that there was another way. Our Canadian friends have sold up and will spend the rest of their lives travelling the world.......none of those dreary office politics for them.......and then look what happens! Please confirm that this is just an interlude and the adventures will continue. The Netherlands
So disappointed that you are not picking scorpions out of your boots or filling the bike tyre with grass (lawn type) to get you to the next cycle bush doctor. Having to work ungodly hours - staff appraisals - currying favour with those you would not chose to share an Andean bus with - so much to savour . Woking, England
Actually the rumour i have been spreading is that you did the whole trail in the RV. I hear the only tough times on the trip occurred when you either a) ran out of ice or b) couldnt find a campsite with Power, so you had to suffer without A/C for the evening. I have yet to see any verifable "documentary proof" that you actually travelled in a non-motorized fashion. Toronto, Ontario
Captivity Continues…….
Calgary May 2, 2004
Click on the photos to
see the full size pixs of our chicken coop
It has been over 8 months since we moved into the coop. We admit that the novelty factor was huge. We invested in chairs and lamps. We sleep in a bed and we can have a hot shower whenever we want. Out home entertainment system offers 36 channels, including a steady diet of “Reality TV”. Out on the balcony, we can fire up the propane barbeque for a real taste of the wild.
Despite promises of frequent business travel to the northern frontier city of Fort McMurray, Glenn seems grounded to Calgary. Sheila by contrast trained for her job in Texas last year and later grabbed a one-dollar flight to Montreal. More recently, she set off on a one week business trip through southern USA (Oklahoma City and Chatanooga in Tennessee were the star attractions): she flew 11 times in 7 days. International flavour has been limited to the supermarket shelves, particularly the produce section; Mexican mangoes, Argentine & Ozzie pears, Chilean & South African grapes. Sometimes we seem to eat more fruit than a pair of lemurs in a Malagasy lemur rehab centre.
In our long ago days of freedom, we used to arise early and watch the African sunrise and nocturnal creatures wrapping up the night shift. More recently, our pre-dawn starts allowed us to zip through 25km of desert hiking on the PCT, before the heat set in. Now, we jump out of bed, tingling with excitement; we can add value to industry! It’s not how fast we can knock the tent down and hit the road, but how fast we can get to our desks. We are on the cusp of breaking the 45 minute bed-to-desk barrier. Who needs the sound of a howler monkey when the lure of a day selling solvents or analyzing discounted cash flows is just a logon screen away? It is no wonder we find ourselves at our desks by 7:00 a.m. each week-day!
We used to be Thank-God-It’s-Monday people, but now weekends are suddenly important to us. Whilst we have skied through the winter, camping has become more of a challenge. We went winter car-camping one week-end and filled the car with pillows and bedding. We aimed for a particular campground that features electric outlets, so we hauled a microwave along (why didn’t we think of that on our cycling trips?). When we opened the tent, we discovered that we had brought the wrong poles, so we packed everything back up and returned home. We might be city people.
Desperate to prove to ourselves that we were still capable of an overnight camping trip, we made an assault on Castle Mountain on skis. We practically froze to death. Freeze-dried food comes into its own on winter camping trips; just add boiling water, then eat it. While waiting the required 10 minutes of re-hydration time, Sheila tried out the James Bond technique of “shaken, not stirred”. The package exploded in a rather spectacular fashion in the tent. The result was frozen beef rotini on North Face Harrier tent: was it art? Suddenly, we are in crisis. Are we really city people?
That puts us at the crossroads. Should we admit it, sell our car and buy a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV)? Why should we leave our comforts when we could adventure everyday on our drive to work or to the shopping mall? We have to admit that all those SUV TV commercials have us interested. But it’s the SUV names that perk our interest: Trailblazer, Explorer, Pathfinder, Escape, Discovery, Expedition, Freelander and Frontier to name a few. We are in need of an image make-over!
And finally, to demonstrate the depths of despair that these battered, battery chickens have reached, Glenn spent a beautiful, sunny afternoon indoors doing our Income Tax returns.
FOR THE RECORD
Click on the photo to
see the full size picture of Wayne and Sheila on Christmas Day 2004 (Assiniboine Provincial Park, B.C.