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If you've been paying attention, you'll know that we've been down to a single car for the last month or so. Last weekend, after a good deal of discussion, we bought a new vehicle: an electric bike. The goal is for this to replace one car for my 4 times per week 20km each-way commute, thus saving 80-120Kg CO2e per month over taking my 2004 Golf TDI (the numbers are from this article). So, we made the trip to Victoria to Scooter Underground.

The situation with our car which I blogged about a couple of days ago appears to be getting sorted out.

Pamela talked yesterday with Gary Doolin, an instructor in the auto service training department at VIU who has been taking care of matters for the university, and Fred Macdonald, Dean of Trades and Applied Technology. They were very helpful, courteous and open with information. Pamela was offered the department's Toyota Prius hybrid as a loaner

It's one of those things you hear about but think will never happen to you.  This morning we dropped off Pamela's car (a '97 Cavalier) at the VIU automotive repair shop, which is run by the Automotive Service Technician programme at Vancouver Island University.   Like most schools of this kind, they encourage the public to provide vehicles requiring service, which is provided at cost.  We asked to have the oil and filter changed, and to have the brakes looked at.  A couple of hours we got a call... apparently some students were test driving the car, hit a patch of ice, and lost control of the vehicle, which ended up in a ditch.

It's been an exciting day - I was pretty nervous as I rolled into Campus for my first day of teaching - I'd prepared for two courses of two sections each, for a total of 6 hours contact time. Last time I stood in front of a classroom full of university students was at least ten years ago. As I stood waiting for students to arrive, I was wondering how it would feel to be teaching after having been away from it for so on.

It's been something over six months since Pamela and I packed up and moved to Vancouver Island. Sometimes it seems like it's been the blink of an eye, but on reflection we've settled into something of a routine, got stuff somewhat unpacked and set up, met some great neighbours, had friends visit, started exploring the surrounding communities.

I always enjoyed the coffee, friendly service, and "free" WiFi at the Serious Coffee locations in Victoria when I used to frequent that city. So I was happy to discover that a new location opened almost exactly a month ago at the South Parkway Plaza off of the Island highway south of Nanaimo.