Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
Im currently in Vancouver, Canaduh.
This is the departure point for the honeymoon cruise Im taking up to Alaska. Thus far I’ve been rather unimpressed with Vancouver. Its crowded, noisy and looks like what Id imagine Hong Kong looks like – tall, outdated glass buildings amongst crowded rundown streets. Perhaps Im just in the wrong part of town.
Thus far I’ve not seen a single Canuckistan authority figure (cop, airport security, etc) who a) had anything more potent than an ASP baton on them and b) didnt look like they’d be an easy mark anywhere else. This is my first trip to a Second World country. The homeless people here look exactly like the homeless people in the US…right down to the cardboard signs with their hard-luck stories. I wanted to ask why they were homeless and sick since this country is supposed to be so morally and socially superior to the US with its socialized medicine and whatnot but I didnt ask…mostly because I dont care. If I were going to care about the homeless, I’d start with the American homeless since that is, after all, where Im from. Other nationalities of homeless people are way down the ladder for me.
On topic, I took my Kifaru Marauder bag and used the detachable E&E bag for my carry on. Worked exceptionally well.
As I mentioned, this is a honeymoon trip so unless something really noteworthy happens in the world I probably wont be posting much until I get back around the 7th.
anywhere you go
you got homeless and those whom pretend to be homeless. so do ignore them as the con-artists got their spiel down tight while the real homeless try to find decent work and a place to live in. meanwhile hope you have/had a nice trip. Wildflower 08
Homelessness is so common in Vancouver (or, Hongcouver, take your pick…) ’cause it’s the mildest winter in the country, so, if you’re gonna be living on the street, well, you see where I’m going with this, right?
And if you didn’t see any cops etc armed with anything more serious than an ASP baton, you didn’t see any actual law enforcement officers. VPD and RCMP are both armed with pepper spray, tazers, glock .40, and shotgun or rifle in the car. And wearing bullet-proof vest is mandatory. I was at a seminar by the RMCP (on an unrelated topic) and the Mountie doing the seminar was wearing her vest in a classroom.
The reason we don’t have armed security guards is that there just aren’t that many firearms in Canada. Besides, you seen the average security guard around Vancouver? You wanna give that guy a firearm?