I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

Argh! I just finished writing a brilliant paragraph and then WHOOSH!! All gone, and so this next entry will be a shadow of that stunning diatribe. Alas... Yes, I have returned. Like a Gen. MacArthur to waiting masses ESL students, I have returned from a tactical retreat. Where did I go? Back home to Canada. But why? Taxes, student loan b.s., and visiting family. Overnight stop in L.A. Visit the oldest bro in Venice Beach. Not much time to stop and check out the Baywatch senery this time, unfortunately. Back on an airplane at 7 in the morning. Grumpy tired brother drove me to the airport. Thanks dude. One week in Vancouver. Stayed with brother number 2 and niece number 1. Spent most of my time trying to finagle a new visa for Taiwan as well as a new passport. No go in Vancouver so I had to get back to Edmonton (see below). Drunk lots of booze as a witness to the setting sun on Oiler ambitions. Sigh. Back to Edmonton. The parents drove into town in their new Audi mega-mobile. Oooooweee! Talk about fancy pants driving...except my old man wouldn't let me get near the steering wheel of his new toy. Sigh, just like good old times. The drive back home was delightful. We stopped en route to the Coquihalla Highway and I smelt air that was not compressed industrial ashtrayed rebreath of 23 million people jammed onto an island the size of Vancouver Island. Sniff...aaaahhhh. Back to Edmonton and a crazed mix of my sister undergoing and recuperating from an operation, my Vancouver brother and niece coming to Edmonton as well as my oldest bro from Venice Beach...all staying together at various times at my parents' place...along with me. The other big event in Edmonton was my Grandmother's 90th birthday on Canada Day. Relatives from all over the world descended on my uncle and aunt's historical house near Whyte Avenue. I think I spent most of my time talking in French to the children of my francophone cousins. Suffice to say that their soccer skills are far superior to mine. THEN! Back to Vancouver...gots me the travel visa, new passport, a new airline ticket...and away I go. A word to the wise, Singapore Air and Cathy Pacific are the way to go for trans-Pacific flights. Very comfortable. Forget about the luxuries if you decide to fly with EVA or China Airline.