Ambitious as I was when I set out to complete the list of things to do before leaving Vancouver, I did have the expectation I would achieve more than the few items I actually completed. Things I thought were important became trivial when examined. What really mattered was saying goodbye to people, especially my family.

Vancouver was never meant to be a permanent stop for me, just like Whistler and Victoria, places I languished because I could never make a decsision to leave. I came here to be with a woman that I eventually married, so you could say the time was well spent. I worked for an incredible company that grew from $180 million to $1 billion in annual revenue.

I also started this blog, after being inspired by sylloge in the summer of 2001. Schoolboy77 was just a way for me to express my smartass opinion not be held accountable to it. For the few people that actually read it, I hope it has been worth the effort.

On this coming Friday, I will get into a taxi at noon, which will take me to Vancouver Airport. I will board a plane bound for Montreal, to spend Christmas with my family. From Montreal, I will leave for Dublin, Ireland. I do not know when I will return.

This reminds me of something I have always wanted to post, so I am going to say it here. On my wedding day, as guests were arriving in the minutes before the ceremony was to begin, I first met Peggy and Gary McShane, who were friends of Anya's mother.

Before I could introduce myself to Gary, he said to me:

You're about to make a huge mistake. I can drive you to the airport instead.
There is a 630 flight bound for Paris. From Paris, you can take a train to
Marseilles tomorrow morning. From Marseilles you can take a bus to
Aubagne. Get off in the city square, walk left past the church, turn right
and walk up the hill, where you will find the headquarters for the French
Foreign Legion. Don't say I didn't warn you.