2004

15 days into this year I recieved and email that set the framework for 2004. It came in the form of an email from a very good friend.

It's that simple David...you're in love with the West Coast. It's OK the West Coast is in love with you too. I tried living in the East and it killed me. The air is different, the people, the pace of life...

I would like to see you move out West.
I would like to see you more often...
I would like to see you happy...

You're a good friend David, and I've never told you what to do, but damnit stop draggin your heels and get over here. It may soothe that spot that you just cant seem to put words to, the one you know is there but you seem to ignore.

Be happy damnit and dont give yourself the oppertunity to prolong it(is my plea working?)

I love you, and I hope to hear from you soon. I will be traveling for 2 months this summer with a car and maybe we can have a randevous (or however you spell it).

Till next time,
Brandy

I decided to leave the yard. This was no easy decision. I felt guilty leaving, after the Boss had done so much for me. However, I was becoming spoilt, and that is never a place you should stay long - or at all. When I told him I was leaving he said he supported me in my decision but would miss me greatly. I felt like I stabbed him in the heart. Looking back, I think he thought I would come back, and this is probably why he was so generous with me right to the end.

Outside of work I had started weight lifting with Peter to get my mind off of Melonie. I was very nervous at first going to a gym, but Peter helped me through my fear. I'm no muscle man, but I do have more self confidence now because of it.

My friend Aaron came to live with me at the Hess Street apartment. We shared the little room that I was staying in, and I felt like I was back on Plains Road again, except no one was sleeping in the kitchen this time. The picture above shows our last day in that room. Aaron slept on the right hand side of the room(you can see his mess on the floor) and I slept along the other wall which you cannot see. My fondest memory of living with Aaron was him playing the guitar softly while sitting on his bed as I fell asleep. He wouldn't play any particular song, he would just play whatever he felt like playing and usually the outcome was very calming.

I was able to get Aaron a job working at the yard as a tire monkey. He would soon become known as Lurch O'Hara, and you can check out his adventures here.

We fell into a nice routine of getting breakfast at Tim Hortons, working all day, and then going out for dinner and pints. We never once ate at home. Even in all this luxury I was still very excited to leave it all behind and hit the road.

Aaron and I decided to head for the N.W.T. It seemed like a worthy destination, and a direction the both of us had never really gone. About 5,000km later we did it. The picture abouve is the highway(the only one) that takes you into the N.W.T. After out brief time in the N.W.T. we drove over to the Yukon and visited my friend Mike in Whitehorse. All this time Brandy and I had been emailing about what to do for her two months off. We deifintly wanted to road trip together, and it was in Whitehorse that we finally decided on going to Texas to visit Angel who had recently moved there. Being so far North, Austin seemed a life time away.

I spent the whole month of June and a bit of July living in the basement of Brandy's house in Portland. It was a mini-dream come true for me, since I love the city so much. It was also a nice break before the mega drive ahead. The picture on the left shows you the road trip gang. On the left is Chelsia(Brandy's then partner), in the middle is Brandy, and on the right is ofcourse me. The picture on the right is the balcony of Angel's apartment in Austin. The trip would last most of July and pretty much all of August. I will detail the trip later on another site, but by the end I drove approx. 28,000km in 4 months.

I settled in Vancouver and it became my job right away to find a house to rent to fit Simeon, Aaron, Alysha, and Brenden. This was no easy task but I finally found the ultimate house. This pad became known as The Porno Palace, The Cornish Estate, and now is just refered to as the the Wall Street House. The place was huge and the previous owner(Norman Cornish) was rather odd. The inside had large mirrors everywhere, and outside there were three fountains, many, many statues, and a secret garden to boot. Wall Street is located in the East End of Vancouver. Our house overlooked the Burrad Inlet and the picture on the left shows you the view of it from the 4th floor balcony(the house had six!), which we called the "Crows Nest"

I found work as a Skip Tracer. My job was to find people who owed credit card compaines money. That job lasted 2 1/2 days. The term "business casual" was so forgien to me. I hated being trapped in an office, wearing clothes that I never would wear in the first place. I quit that job and found a job working for Fairlane Fire Prevention as a technician.

On top of a good job, a good place to live and being surrounded by some of my best friends, I also met a woman named Rachel who I started dating in September. 2004 was full of rich experiences, and the year came to a close with Christmas on the beach, and New Years in Portland.