OK so this was a full week. Early in the week I proved my geek cred. You see we were watching TV and Star Trek, the original series came on. The intro scene opened on Spock and Kirk talking to Chekov. They asked him about Sherman’s Planet and Station K-7. Without pausing I said “Oh Good it’s Trouble With Tribbles”. Marsha just shook her head. Yes I had gotten it right. I can identify many Star Trek Episodes from just the very first line. 

I am a geek. 

On Wednesday we got up early and took the ferry over to Vancouver. But that wasn’t our destination. No, we were heading for Bellingham, WA. It was time for a run. We got Tillimook Cheese and Grape Nuts and then hit Target for assorted things we can’t get in Canada any more (~sob~). The highlight of the trip though was Mountain Bars. They’re hard to find. They’re as scarce as good drivers from Wisconsin. But they are only the best confection ever made anywhere at any time by anyone. What’s more, they were even on sale. 

I got two boxes of them.  (Yes - Doug is very excited and No - he does not share - marsh)

Then on Thursday we went to Vancouver. You see with the cancer in full retreat, it was time to deal with another old issue. Just before my diagnoses, I had cataract surgery in the right eye. Cataract surgery that didn’t work too well. Two years of fuzzy vision, various fixes, and annoyance they decided it was time to fish or cut bait. That is, they decided that the best strategy was to remove the cataract implant, clean up the vitreous humour that had leaked, let the eye recover for a couple of months, and then we can try again with a different artificial lens. They started that process on Friday by removing the old lens. For the moment I have less sharp vision on the right eye, there is no lens in that one. Rather the space is filled with saline and air. It’s really kinda weird watching the bubble move back and fourth as I tip my head. I can literally eyeball something and see if it’s level. Somehow when I was a kid watching The Six Million Dollar Man, I thought that by the 21st century we’d be a little more advanced than just having a spirit level in your eye. 

Still it’s sort of bionics, and that’s geeky.

While we were in Vancouver, though, we hit the pinnacle, for us at least, of geekdom. First as we drove around I had the iPad out and was trying to follow our course with Maps. I noticed that the map was updating and the dot showing our location was following along as we moved. I don’t have a cellular equipped iPad so it must have been finding open nearby WiFi networks and grabbing position and map data as we went by. That’s both cool and, from a security standpoint, a bit scary. Then on the way home we reached a geek crescendo.  While we were in the middle of the ocean, we used the cellular data feed from my phone as a WiFi point for the iPad so we could log into the Pizza Hut web site and place an order. Our lunch was just coming out of the oven when we got there. 

Welcome to Mordork.

Doug & Marsha

PIX: Dawn from the Ferry. Vancouver from our room. We feel like smugglers.