We had a big wind storm last night and sometime through the wee hours, the power went off and here it is 1 pm and still now power, and it’s getting mighty darn cold in here!
I’m writing this on battery power, for as long as it will last and then will post when the power hopefully returns soon!!
The wind was wild and it’s been very often these past few weeks. I haven’t heard any news reports, so don’t know what is going on, if it’s transformers, or lines down, or tree’s down.
Tom and I woke about 7:30, and it was cold in here then, so we decided to call the Aquatic Center and see if there was power there and if so, we’d go for our swim early. Confirmed power there, but it’s strange how, the lights are on, scattered in different area’s and not others.
We got ourselves ready and headed out, but had to walk down the 8 flights of stairs to get to the underground parking. My knee’s are terrible on stairs, and they had the shakes by the time we arrived at the car.
So, after the pool, we went for breakfast and oh boy, was that hot coffee welcomed!!! The city buses are running but being re-routed to the Sea Bus instead of going over the Lion’s Gate bridge and we overheard that there was tree damage in Stanley Park!!
As we sat eating our breakfast, we talked about what an inconvenience having no electricity is, and then compared this very minor thing, to what is going on in Haiti and it’s really impossible to imagine what those people are going through, and if it happened here, we’d all be totally lost on how to cope.
So, thinking this won’t last much longer, so climbed back up the stairs to our place, and by the time we got to the top, my lungs we’re screaming in pain and both of us huffing and puffing and stopping at every few floors to catch our breath.
Then we climbed under the covers to keep warm and revive ourselves from exhaustion!
YAHOOOOOO, THE POWER JUST CAME BACK ON!!
And I’m enjoying a nice cup of HOT coffee!! It just has to warm up in here now.
Life if good again!
On Saturday, Tom took, me on one of his mystery tours and we ended up at Vancouver’s Gas Town.
Here’s a little history on this very different place!
Into the 1920s: Gastown grew and prospered, as did the rest of the City of Vancouver. But good times couldn’t last forever.
Depression Years: Gastown fell on hard times and deteriorated into a stereotypical skid road area until the 1960s.
1960s: With talk of demolishing the area becoming more widespread, a group of dedicated citizens took it upon themselves to save Gastown’s distinctive architecture and character. The city rallied around them. Gastown was not just saved, it was reborn.
1971: The provincial government declared Gastown an historic area, protecting its heritage buildings.
Today: Gastown is a refreshing mix of old and new, downhome and upscale, a place for tourists, Vancouver residents and office workers alike. Various shops have the streets buzzing during the day. A host of restaurants and nightspots keeps the area humming into the wee hours. And, more and more, Gastown is becoming home to permanent residents…just like in the old days.
One September day, “Gassy Jack” Deighton arrived (he received his nickname because of his penchant for spinning tall tales and talking without end). He stepped ashore with a barrel of whiskey, telling the millworkers that if they’d build him a saloon, he’d serve them drinks. The saloon was up and running within a day…just across the property line of the mill. Gastown was born!
I love these light fixtures that are on every street in Gastown.
Gastown is steeped in history with many old buildings. Some are not so nice and derelicts have moved in and you see some very sad sights of homeless people that gather a block away, at the end of this street, shown on the right. They seem to stick to that one end of the street, and I believe they keep them out of this area as much as possible. But, other then that, most of Gastown is made up of some very wonderful stores for shopping and many souvenir store’s that are chuck full of everything imaginable for the 2010 Winter Games.
I was just snapping picture’s here and there. This picture above is how Tom looks in the morning and then myself!
Silly photo’s but they caught my eye, and I snapped them!!
Woodward’s Department Store
Vancouver seems to have a love for Woodward’s, and I do remember this store, when we lived here for a short time in 1965, but I guess not long enough to appreciate this old landmark. I can still remember the jingle “Dollar 99 day’s….Woodward’s”.
The building was built in 1903 by Charles Woodward as the second location for the Woodward's department store. Woodward's pioneered the concept of one-stop shopping; the store included a food floor which was at the time North America's largest supermarket, household items, men's and women's fashion, and provided cheque cashing, travel booking and other services. The store was well-known for carrying a large variety of goods that were not available anywhere else. The store soon became a feature attraction in Vancouver, and it expanded over 12 separate phases to a final size of 12 stories. It occupied approximately 2/3 of the city block. The popularity of Woodward's attracted many other businesses to the area. In 1944 the landmark "W" was installed on the top of the building on a 25 metre replica of the Eiffel Tower, replacing a pre-war searchlight-beacon which had until then been the building's hallmark. The beacon, which was visible at night from as far away as Abbotsford and Mission, was shut down at the beginning of World War II because of its potential use as a landmark for aerial attacks.
On the morning of September 30, 2006 all but the oldest original portion (1903-08 building) of the Woodward's structure was demolished with a "roll-over" implosion by Pacific Blasting which signaled the beginning of the construction of the new complex of buildings.
The "W" neon sign, which topped the building on the Eiffel Tower replica, was removed before the demolition and has been replicated and installed now that the new development is nearly complete This to me, caused a whole lot of hoopla here in the city, which to me, I don’t quite understand, but I suppose being from the East, I just didn’t appreciate the history and the love the people have for this store.
The Gastown Riot, also known as "The Battle of Maple Tree Square," occurred in Vancouver,Canada on August 7, 1971. Following weeks of arrests by undercover drug squad members in Vancouver as part of a special police operation directed by Mayor Tom Campbell, police attacked a peaceful protest Smoke-In in the Gastown neighbourhood. The Smoke-In, organized by the Youth International Party (Vancouver Yippies)[1] against the use of undercover agents and in favour of the legalization of marijuana. Of around two thousand protesters, 79 were arrested and 38 were charged.
Police were accused of heavy-handed tactics including indiscriminate beatings with their newly-issued riot batons. They also used horse-back charges on crowds of onlookers and tourists.[2]
A commission of inquiry into the incident was headed by Supreme Court Justice Thomas Dohm. The Inquiry cited the Yippies as instigators of the Smoke-In, calling them “intelligent and dangerous individuals,” but was highly critical of the police's conduct and described the incident as a police riot.[3] [4]
The Gastown Riots are commemorated in a two-storey-high 2009 photo mural by local artist Stan Douglas, installed in the atrium of the redeveloped Woodward's Complex.
Above information taken in part from Wikipedia
My pictures of this very large mural of photography, is very impressive and beautiful, and I’m sorry, the reflection from the lights inside the building caused a flashback. It’s very interesting to look at and with so many details, it’s very impressive.
Below, a poster of Woodward’s. We bought some of their “limited” famous peanut butter, shown on the poster.
More pictures I took as we strolled along the street.
I think the bird nest is also a great piece of art!!!
The END
I, too, remember the jingle from Woodward's but what is worse - I am not that old! Even worse - I remember taking my grandmother shopping at those special one day sales. I don't think my shins have ever recovered from the shopping carts being bashed into my shins!!
ReplyDeleteRick
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