This vase from my mom works so well with my funky coffee table that I felt obliged to take a photo (thanks Mom!). Too bad the modern coffee table clashes with the traditional rugs that came with my place.

What’s the best purchase you have ever made?

The answer for me is a fully rigid steel Norco Bigfoot mountain bike that I bought in the early 90s for $400.  I rode it nearly every day for over eight years.  I used it for commuting, shopping (balancing grocery bags on handlebars), and transportation in general.  I used it for exercise, doing countless one to two hour rides in the UBC Endowment Lands and Stanley Park.  And yes, I used it for mountain biking in the local mountains, up in Squamish, and even for a jarring ride in the now famous Whistler bike park in its opening year.  

Cost per day:  13 cents.

Probably my second best purchase is my current mountain bike, a Joker that I bought in 2001.  It is the spiritual descendant of my Bigfoot, having served me just as well if not better for nearly eight years.

I bought the Joker from Speedgoat, a bike company that lets you pick all the parts and then builds the bike and ships it to you.  The have a gallery of bikes that they build with a short description for each that usually just lists the components.  My description starts like this:

5/17/2001
Bill’s Aeon Joker SL is just plain awesome…

I’ve always loved that.

Here’s how the Joker looked in 2001:

As you may have guessed, I’m in mountain bike nostalgia mode because it’s time to retire the Joker and find a worthy successor.  Stay tuned.

And the weather roller coaster continues.  It started snowing last night and it is still snowing now.

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning in Vancouver — nothing but blue sky and sunshine with crisp, clear air. The fog is finally gone. How bad was it? Up until last Friday (January 23) only 6.5 hours of “bright sunshine” were measured in January at Vancouver International Airport. The average for Vancouver in January is 60.