Sunshine after the Rain!

Last weekend, I had a chance to get out and take some pictures at Queen Elizabeth Park after the rainy storm on Sunday evening. It was a really cloudy day, we had lots of rain and it was also very windy too. I have uploaded the new pictures I took on my flickr page. Please feel free to comment on them and enjoy a different view of Vancouver!

Weather Cameras

Weather information has long been considered information vital to the well-being of the general public. Unfortunately, this information often goes unnoticed, and the severity of the warnings presented is frequently understated. Moreover, the manner in which much of the information is presented is difficult to understand and often uses unfamiliar terms.

Today, I like to feature a great weather website for the local Vancouverites. Vancouver WeatherPage has been around for a long time. On their website, they offer a lot of the different weather cameras taken around Vancouver on different high rise buildings. It is pretty cool to see weather change from day to night.

“Founded in 1997, the Vancouver WeatherPage’s primary focus is to bring accurate and timely conditions, forecasts and weather warnings to the general public residing in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. Our goal is to make weather information available to the public in a timely and efficient manner.

We also strive to promote interest in the weather and meteorology, and work closely with local weather enthusiasts to better our services. We routinely collaborate with amateur meteorologists and other enthusiasts to collect and archive weather information and document isolated weather incidents.”

http://vancouver.weatherpage.ca/wxcameras.html

Exotic Car Meet March 15th 2008

A friend of mine sent me a link on flickr today for a local exotic car meet event happened two weeks ago. This meet was located in Richmond, outside of Tim Horton on Bridgeport road. A lot of people showed up for this meet, about 12 cars attended.

Apparently, there will be an even bigger exotic car meet event in June. It will be in the 200 block at the Vancouver waterfront in North Vancouver. All the cars will be parked on the grass field there, from 9.00am-4.00pm on June 15th!

Click here for the event photos

Top crash locations in B.C.

On the way to the gym today, I drove by a very bad car accident scene at the intersection of 49th and Knight Street. The fire trucks and ambulance have blocked off the intersection completely. By looking at the position of the cars, it looks like someone was trying to making a left turn on to 49th and got hit by an on-coming traffic vehicle.

Knight Street has always been a very busy street connecting Vancouver to Richmond over the Fraser River. Especially between 49th and Marine Drive area, people always speeds trying to avoid traffic or beat the next traffic light. This article I read over the weekend was no surprise to me. Something should be done to these high crash locations to save lives and decrease accident rates.

Top crash locations in B.C.
Published: 3/19/2008
Source: The Province

HIGH-RISK CRASH TOLL
Crashes in 2006 involving high-risk driving:
Fraser Valley: 5,200
Greater Vancouver: 4,200
North Central B.C.: 2,000
Southern Interior: 4,900
Vancouver Island: 3,700
Total: 20,000

TOP CRASH LOCATIONS IN 2006:

LOWER MAINLAND

1. Trans-Canada Highway and Willingdon Avenue, Burnaby (352 crashes)
2. Knight Street and Southeast Marine Drive, Vancouver (304 crashes)
3. Knight Street Bridge, Richmond (257 crashes)
4. Brunette Avenue and Trans-Canada Highway, Coquitlam (222 crashes)
5. Lions Gate Bridge, West Vancouver (217 crashes)
6. Alex Fraser Bridge, Delta (203 crashes)
7. 152nd Street and Trans-Canada Highway, Surrey (201 crashes)
8. Gaglardi Way and Trans-Canada Highway, Burnaby (196 crashes)
9. 88th Avenue and King George Highway, Surrey (185 crashes)
10. Pattullo Bridge, Surrey (177 crashes)

VANCOUVER ISLAND

1. Hillside Avenue and Shelbourne Street, Victoria (82 crashes)
2 Patricia Bay Highway and Sayward Road, Saanich (63 crashes)
3. McKenzie Avenue and Trans-Canada Highway, Saanich (57 crashes)
4. Aulds Road and Hammond Bay Road and N. Island Highway, Nanaimo (54 crashes)
5. North Island Highway and Northfield Rd., Nanaimo (53 crashes)
6. Blanshard Street and Saanich Road, Saanich (52 crashes)
7. North Island Highway and Rutherford Road, Nanaimo (52 crashes)
8. Douglas Street, Gorge Road East and Hillside Avenue, Victoria (52 crashes)
9. 17th Street and Cliffe Avenue, Courtenay (50 crashes)
10. Trans-Canada Highway and Tillicum Road, Saanich (48 crashes)

Gyms in Lower Mainland + Free

So today I am on a quest to find a suitable gym. There are a lot of thoughts and considerations into finding an appropriate gym. At least this is what I think.

Several factors are taken into consideration when picking out a great gym:

1.) your dedication
2.) transportation
3.) volume of people
4.) fees
5.) equipment available
6.) environment of gym
7.) extra services or classes available or offered.

I came across this useful website here. It lists out most, if not all, of the gym in British Columbia.

After doing some quick research on gyms in the Lower Mainland, I have discovered that some fitness clubs offer different “free” items that may be useful to those in search of a gym.

I went to several websites and scoped around their gallery and links. This list is not exhaustive.

Here are some fitness clubs that offer free one week passes:

FitCity for Women various locations

Fitness World various locations

Just Ladies Fitness various locations

Sports Central in Richmond

Here are some fitness clubs that offer free one day pass:

Fitness 2000 in Burnaby

Gold’s Gym in Burnaby

Optimum Fitness Inc in Surrey

Women Zone Fitness in West Vancouver

Here are other fitness clubs that offer something for free:

Diva Fitness & Pilates in Surrey (Drop in for tour)

Fitness Unlimited in Richmond & Langley (Free 1 hour fitness orientation)

Precision Athletics in Vancouver (Free 30 minute personal training)

Ron Zalko in Vancouver (Free introductory class)