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Category: New to Kelowna

An American in Kelowna – Sucked into a Hoover Vacuum

An American in Kelowna – Sucked into a Hoover Vacuum

Hoover – damn, you had our money but lost our confidence.   On a balmy February Saturday afternoon, Elaine and I were on the hunt for an easy-to-use house vacuum. We needed a super-sucker that would work on carpeting, laminate flooring, and hopefully in couch crevices. Our in-house central-vac contraption was outdated and clunkier than Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign. It was time for a primary update.     We zipped over to our Kelowna Canadian Tire to see what Hoover,…

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An American in Kelowna – Owl Be Back

An American in Kelowna – Owl Be Back

On the eve of Super Bowl 50, I took lovely wife Elaine out for a romantic evening that was filled with energy, passion, and a lot of heavy sweating. Did we go dancing – no?! Did we go ice skating at Stuart Park – no?! Did we go to the Kelowna Community Theatre for a Vegas-style live show – no?!           Mr. Romance took his bride to a secondary school basketball game. Whoa – slow down,…

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An American in Kelowna – Holy Mackerel, Driving Upstream to Salmon Arm

An American in Kelowna – Holy Mackerel, Driving Upstream to Salmon Arm

Allow me to explain that fishy headline.   A few weeks ago a select crew of Kelowna-based senior basketball officials were offered a two-day weekend (Friday + Saturday) assignment in Salmon Arm, BC. It was first come-first served at the 2016 Salmon Arm Nugget Invitational at Salmon Arm Secondary School high above Shuswap Lake.           Never in my officiating career did I imagine working games in an outpost called Salmon Arm?! Cool name. Cool chance to…

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An American in Kelowna – Heel of an Effort for Shoe Bank Canada

An American in Kelowna – Heel of an Effort for Shoe Bank Canada

In the candy-cane lyrics of pop-princess Britney Spears: “Oops!… I did it again.” Did what? Collected donated shoes (women’s, men’s, and children’s) on behalf of Shoe Bank Canada at various sites in Kelowna in our second annual Christmas Holiday promotion.     Based on last year’s benchmark of amassing 803 pairs of shoes, we had a tried-and-true formula for finding footwear by setting up Shoe Bank Canada donation bins in the following locations:  Kelowna General Hospital (three separate entrances), UBC…

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An American in Kelowna – Making the Sail at Okanagan Lake

An American in Kelowna – Making the Sail at Okanagan Lake

Aye Aye, Captain – should we tack the main sail, the fore sail, or the spinnaker?! Nothing better than spending the first Saturday of October out on Okanagan Lake’s whitecaps with two experienced sailors in Greg and Heather of Rutland, BC. They were kind enough to invite us out on this dreary morning for a cabin cruise to nowhere in particular. The Kelowna Yacht Club was our starting point. Around 10:15 AM, we boarded the Tommy Dog – a 25-foot…

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An American in Kelowna – Waving the Server with Volleyball Canada

An American in Kelowna – Waving the Server with Volleyball Canada

Thank You scheduler Hal for having faith, trust, and confidence in a border-crossing whistler from the Lower 48. There I was at Kelowna’s Immaculata Regional High School on Wednesday, September 23rd for three school-ball volleyball matches starting at 5:00 PM. It was A/AA/AAA girls on Court 1. Hal, the boss, had scheduled himself to work with me during my Canadian debut. He was the teacher – I was the student that hadn’t been between the VB lines since October 2013….

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An American in Kelowna – Csek this Out, My First Job Interview was First Class

An American in Kelowna – Csek this Out, My First Job Interview was First Class

Almost everybody remembers their first.   Mine was on Wednesday, August 5, 2015. I parked on Doyle, walked to Ellis, and climbed the stairs to the second floor of a downtown Kelowna office building. It was 2:00 PM on the dot. I was about to embark on my first official job interview in the Okanagan, a fact-finding face-to-face where a full-time position was on the line, with Jim Csek (pronounced check) at Csek Creative. Geraldine greeted me at front reception…

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An American in Kelowna – Surrounded by Champions-in-the-Making

An American in Kelowna – Surrounded by Champions-in-the-Making

Champions are Made. According to Gini Basketball, that was the T-shirt mantra of the week at the Ganon Baker Elite Camp that took place from August 17-20 at Okanagan Mission Secondary School in Kelowna.     About 120 kids starting at grades 6-7 and all the way up to the first year of university attended the four-day basketball bonanza. These wannabe champions had the chance to receive first-hand instruction from father-and-son camp directors Dino and Andrew Gini, as well as…

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An American in Kelowna – One Year in the “I Do” Books

An American in Kelowna – One Year in the “I Do” Books

July 31, 2014. I remember it like it was………365 days ago.     I had only crossed the border nine days earlier. Kelowna, to me, was a resort-town piñata filled with colorful lakes, mountains, and wineries. Sunshine and blue skies for everyone. Elaine and I were still learning the relationship basics – she liked Colgate toothpaste and I preferred Crest. Uh oh, she trended toward Twizzlers and I was red, white, and blue about Red Vines. Isn’t marriage about compromise?!…

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An American in Kelowna – One Year in the BC Books

An American in Kelowna – One Year in the BC Books

Stop the presses. It’s amazingly true.     July 22, 2015 represents ONE year for temporary-resident Jim in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. WOW – I could write a book about what I’ve experienced in 12 months. But I won’t. This post will do.         Thanks to the lovely and adorable Elaine, it’s been a wonderful and enjoyable ride. We’ve come a long way, baby. There’s much more fun to come under the endless Okanagan sun. Strap yourself…

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