Today has started off much better than last week. I'm not as tired and I'm definitely feeling a fair bit happier. I'm starting to think that I may just have been exceptionally tired. I skipped a couple of pre-planned events to just lounge around the house and relax which was one of the best things I could have done. I even managed to watch a movie on TV without falling asleep!

I missed breakfast this morning and I'm starving right now so I'm having my lunch early. Thankfully, I have some instant chicken noodle in my desk that I can eat for lunch!

I hardly pick up the freeby papers in the morning but once in a while I see a story that catches my eye and that was the case this morning. Most of you probably know that Vancouver is the host city of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Before we were selected, living in Vancouver was already expensive but since we were awarded the games, things have quickly deteriorated. Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels in the Downtown East Side (one of if not North America's poorest neighbourhood) were the source of most of the housing. One by one, these hotels are being sold, residents evicted and hotels upgraded into boutique hotels. The government has failed to create additional low income housing and so hundreds of people are put on the street every month. Unfortunately, this isn't just a problem with low income individuals but rather, it's happening all over. In generally affluent downtown neighbourhoods, long time residents are being given eviction notices. Property managers are removing tenants, refurbishing apartments and re-renting for, sometimes, 70% higher rent. A girlfriend of mine recently found out that her building was being renovated and she'd have to move out for 3 weeks while her apartment is fixed up. She thought this was very nice of the property managers considering that generally, the tenants get booted for good. What they didn't tell her right away was that if she wanted back into the suite after the renos, she'd have to pay the boosted price of $1400/month. That's $700 more than she pays now.

This is turning into a massive problem everywhere and I'm starting to fear that D and I aren't going to be able to move away any time soon and we may have to settle for living in my parent's basement until we're ready to buy a place of our own. It's a bit disappointing but I can't complain too much. It's either this or move away which is something I certainly don't want to do. It's getting to the point were Vancouver is just not affordable to live in anymore.

I blame this deep fall on the Olympics. Vancouver isn't ready to host this event. We have a government that doesn't listen to the people, social programs are non-existent, housing shortfall for both low-income and mid-income individuals not to mention some serious health care problems. This was all pre-Olympic bid. These problems have just gotten worse and NOW they're talking about giving back the games??? Well, I say give them back. Might as well try to salvage some of this nightmare.

Sorry for the rant. I needed to get that out. I really, really hope I don't have to leave Vancouver. I'm not sure where I'd go.