I got a letter in the mail demanding that I pay an infringement from the 27th of July, 2005. It said the due date was the 17th of November, 2005. It's now January 25th, 2006.

And I'd already paid it!

I checked my online banking records and couldn't find it. Doubt sets in... maybe I didn't pay it? It was around the time I sold the car, so maybe that messed things up. Then I see the entry! You buggers!

So I get on the phone, but before I chew any heads I think "maybe this letter's been sitting on my desk for two months?" I told her the day I'd apid, she confirmed they had it in the system and that there was an error somewhere. No hard feelings.

So I check with Mags - she got the letter out of the mail box today. I can't find the envelope to confirm the date it was processed, and Maggie's word is good enough for me.

So City of Perth, screw you. I just feel sorry for the peeps that don't remember making the payment, or are not smart enough to fight it, or just assume that the "system" doesn't make mistakes. Damn the system.

Dec 24 - We arranged our lift tickets and hired our gear, and hit Sunshine for some snowboarding. Mags was great at snowboarding, and picked it up really well. Gemma was a really good teacher, so I think that helped. Dunc and I took off down the mountain and when the girls caught up, Mags had had enough. She just didn't like it, so we we did a few more runs and she waited at the bottom for us.

After dinner we were treated to some free deserts - "Merry Christmas" the check said. Our waitress, Vanessa, received a big tip instead.

Dec 25 - Christmas day! We went out to Lake Louise and spent the day in the snow, building a snow man (Simon) who was the hit of the town. Everyone wanted their picture with him, and we could have made a fortune of the merchandising. If only we were more marketing minded...

Back to Vanessa's restaurant for dinner, then off to the local church for Midnight Mass (Debate). We finally opened our presents that night.

Dec 26 - More snowboarding, this time at Lake Louise. Mags stayed at home, which meant I didn't have to worry about her. I mean that in the nicest way... but it was great to be able to go up and down the mountain as many times as I wanted without having to wait at the bottom like a good husbandboyfriend. You know what I mean.

I did 6 runs in total and was exhausted on the bus ride home.

I'd been keen to catch a hockey game on TV (at one of the local bars) but because I didn't check the local time I missed it. With the game being live in Vancouver, and us being one timezone across in Banff, and the whole live vs. delayed telecast thing we only caught the last 10 minutes of the game. Argh, atleast Canada won. Roll on Winter Olympics, I say.

Dec 27 - We took our snow gear back and caught a Greyhound bus at 9:00AM. I was stuck next to a crazy old man called James. The bus started in Calgary, then came to Banff before continuing on to Vancouver. As such, we didn't get spare seats next to each other, so that sucked. This dude was so damn annoying, but I felt bad for him so I didn't slap on a choke and knock him out. He was lucky. At the first stop, the one person getting off the bus was sitting next to Mags - about a 2% chance. Maybe my session at church on Christmas night paid off?

After the bus we checked into our hotel and slept

Dec 28 - We did the mad tourist thing today, visiting the Vancouver Space Museum, the Generic Ol' Stuff Museum and the Maritime Museum. In the morning, and again at night, we went up a huge tower in the city and saw a 360° view of Vancouver. That was really pretty, especially at night.

Dec 29 - We went to Granville Island, which isn't really an island, and spent the day looking around. It's kind of like Fremantle Markets, but bigger and not so crap. The fresh food there is amazing - so much fruit, meat and tasty treats. Though my apple was shit.

We hopped a flight out of Vancouver and into LA. Oh boy. LA sucks.

Dec 30 - Disneyland, the Happiest Place on Earth©. It sure is. I felt like a kid, lining up to see Whinnie the Pooh and Tigger, and Mickey Mouse.

Disneyland really has to be seen to be believed, and I'd love to go back sometime, especially with kids. The attention to detail is amazing, and they don't screw you once you're in the park. I expect a hotdog to cost US$40, and you'd pay it because... what other choices do you have? But I was wrong. The prices were very reasonable.

It was the second last day of their 50th anniversary so everyone was hyped that worked there.

The only disappointing thing was the lack of hot princesses - I wanted my photo with Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid and Snow White, but they weren't around when I looked. Next time Gadget, next time!

Whilst I didn't keep an online journal (that's the last time I travel without a laptop) I did keep a record of what we did each day. Here's that record:

Dec 17 - We left from Perth Airport. My folks and Maggie's mum came to see us off which was nice. The flight was a killer - first into Singapore, then into Hong Kong, then into San Francisco. We caught the train from the San Fran airport (BART, very handy) and dragged our suitcases through the rain to our hotel. I got some pizza for us while Maggie had a shower and settled in. The news was filled with fear, and we began to understand American's immediately.

Dec 18 - We caught the hotel's shuttle into Union Square and did some shopping. We had lunch at an Irish-baseball themed restaurant, which was different but enjoyable. We went back to the hotel and packed our bags, ready to catch the train to Vancouver.

The train started at Emeryville, which is across the Bay, so a short bus ride was needed first. The train to Seattle (which was where the train stopped, and we needed a bus to Vancouver) was late, and we didn't board until around midnight. I raided the Borders bookshop and claimed some delights. I was especially happy that they failed to scan two books worth US$80!

Dec 19 - Today was spent on the train; the whole damn day. The countryside was quite pretty, and we saw the snow falling on the landscape for the first time.

It was a long ride (over 30 hours from start to finish) but I'm glad we did it. It's not something I'll do again in a hurry, but the memories are nice.

Dec 20 - After checking into our hotel in Vancouver we got some well needed rest. The day was spent shopping, but we went out at night. At dinner we heard some cool tunes that the waitress said were being spun by a local guy - Nicky Delgado. We filed that info away for later use.

It was a Tuesday night and surprisingly busy out. First club we tried was closed, second one was packed with all the people from the first one, third one was a winner. They were playing R&B and Hip Hop, which isn't our thing, but we had a good time. $5.00 double-shot drinks got us drunk quickly, and we left at 2:00AM.

Dec 21 - I got up early (damn jet lag/train sleep) and posted my books back to Australia. I also got a ticket to the hockey game that night - the Vancouver Canucks vs. the Edmonton Oilers. I went with two guys I'd met the night before - Shane and Brian. We lost, but the game was close. I met another guy who works for a snowboarding label, and was going to track down a Gnu t-shirt for me. The people in Canada were really friendly.

After the game Mags, myself, Shane and Brian went to Tribeca, a club/restaurant about 50m from our hotel, and saw... Nicky Delgado. Mad that he was playing on our doorstep the night after we found out about him. The four of us chatted, and Nicky gave us some VIP tickets to his next gig (whch we missed because we slept through it).

Dec 22 - On Shane's advice, we visited Travel Cuts and arranged our airline ticket from Vancouver to LA. We'd left it late so the prices were not fantastic, but there's no avoiding it.

We hit Stanley park and went to the Aquarium. The otters were cool (they always are) and whales are interesting.

At 4:30PM it was dark, so we walked back into the city, stopping at some snow boarding places on the way. Mags got some hot snow bunny pants.

Dec 23 - We got on a bus at 6:00AM and began the trek to Banff. After 13 hours we saw Duncan and Gemma and settled in to our new lodgings. We all chatted for a while and everyone was excited to see each other.

Your results:
You are Iron Man

Iron Man 90% The Flash 75% Batman 70% Supergirl 65% Superman 60% Green Lantern 60% Spider-Man 55% Wonder Woman 55% Hulk 55% Robin 52% Catwoman 45%

Inventor. Businessman. Genius.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Your results:
You are Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)

Malcolm Reynolds (Captain) 90% Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic) 65% Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command) 60% Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic) 55% Jayne Cobb (Mercenary) 55% Wash (Ship Pilot) 55% Inara Serra (Companion) 50% River (Stowaway) 50% Derrial Book (Shepherd) 45% Alliance 20% A Reaver (Cannibal) 15%

Honest and a defender of the innocent. You sometimes make mistakes in judgment but you are generally good and would protect your crew from harm.

Click here to take the "Which Serenity character are you?" quiz...

Summer's a month late, so I'm having my birthday celebrations a month later too. It has nothing to do with being in Canada on the 31st of last year, honest.

Details:
My place on Saturday 28th from midday onwards. I'll fire up the BBQ and we can have a swim and drink some beers.

Side note: It was Tommy's birthday then too, and Radford's the day before, so feel free to wish them a happy birthday when you see them rocking out.