After yet another roller-coaster week, things in the Palace are looking up. All injuries seem to be making progress and, after some trouble with the landlady, we’re feeling pretty positive about our proposal for the remaining time in Whistler.
I can’t remember much about Wednesday 8th or Thursday 9th - I’m assuming that this is because recent days have all been so similar that they blend into one, but it’s quite possible that the partying has finally taken its toll on my brain.
Mack and Amrit came to stay again on Wednesday night, riding on Thursday and Friday. Bob didn’t ride with them on Thursday, as he and Stan had got places on a Freeride day, which was part of the Big Mountain Experience. The day was lead by a local pro, who showed them his favourite routes on Whistler Mountain. Although the snow wasn’t at its best, Bob and Stan had a great day and were both keen to tell Andy and me about it when we met them in the GLC in the afternoon. Obviously we were very happy for them.
After a few drinks we headed home, as Mack and Amrit had offered to cook for us, and we had invited Duncan and Etienne, two friends of Andy’s. We had a fantastic and very healthy meal: tofu stir-fry with black-bean sauce, roasted yam and sweet potato, and salad.
Patrick and Shannon arrived on Friday night with Emily, and the first part of our landlady drama began: as they walked in with their over-night bags and some groceries, Dawn looked out from behind a curtain and saw them. This may not sound like a big problem, but she’s never been in favour of guests, and especially not over-night ones.
The evening progressed, a few more friends turned up, and we decided to go out. At about 11pm we were just ordering the taxis when the phone rang: it was Dawn, to tell us that she was aware of the large group of people, and was hoping that we weren’t going to make too much noise when we returned.
The group set off in two directions - Bob, Mike, Emily and I went to Tommy Africa’s, and the rest of the group went to Blacks, then later on we all met up at a party in Amami, the Chinese restaurant next to Blacks. Patrick played a set there and Ingrid also showed up to sing at the party.
When we got home we were super-quiet, and all went to bed without making any noise.
Saturday began late, and didn’t involve any serious snow for anyone apart from Dave, who’d left the house at about 08:00 after an early night. The rest of us watched Spy Game on DVD, then went to the gym. I wasn’t keen on the idea of using the cardio-vascular machines or weights, so headed straight for the sauna. That and the steam-room got a bit boring, so I moved into the pool. Although I didn’t feel much like swimming I thought walking up and down might do me some good, and spent 20 minutes walking to and fro - my first exercise since the crash.
In the evening we were cooked for again: this time a lasagne cooked by Ingrid and Shannon. After that the group split up again, with Stan, Matt, Bob and me going to a big party at the GLC, celebrating the end of the Big Mountain Experience, and the others going to Moe Joes and then Tommy’s.
The party at the GLC was pretty good - it was invite-only and sponsored by Stella Artois, who’d been kind enough to give everyone a free drink. They’d also built several impressive ice-sculptures, some of which can be seen in the gallery.
We beat the others home from the GLC, and were sitting quietly drinking Stan's attempt at White Russians when the rest of the group re-appeared. We decided pretty quickly that the noise was going to be too much for Dawn at 03:00, so moved the majority of the group downstairs, as far away from her bedroom as possible. Those of us who'd been at the GLC started to flag soon after that, with Stan falling asleep on the sofa and Matt heading home.
I was woken at about 09:00 by loud rock music from next door. After a few minutes the phone rang, but no-one bothered answering it. Immediately after the phone stopped ringing, Bob's mobile went off. That too was ignored. Then the rock music started again.
After 3 more tracks the music stopped and the phone rang again. I wondered whether Stan would get it, then realised it would probably be Dawn, so leapt out of bed and answered it myself. Dawn was not in a good mood.
She asked me how many cars parked on the street were owned by people in the house, and I said I'd have to have a look out of the window. Before I had made it to the window I was asked how many guests were staying. After cranking my brain into action I decided that there were five, although it turned out I'd forgotten both Stan and Curtis. This didn't actually matter, as even five guests was too many for Dawn (despite the fact that we have sleeping space for eight). She told me she was going out but would return in the afternoon to talk to us and mumbled something I didn't quite hear about 30 days notice from the end of January.
I went downstairs to look for Bob and Andy, and told them we had a problem. Surprisingly quickly, the entire house was up, although few of us felt particularly useful. Even so, everyone helped tidy the place up, and within an hour and a half the house was spotless, and all visitors had left.
Andy, Bob and I were left in a clinically clean living room, wondering when Dawn would return, and what she was going to say. We planned responses to everything we could think of then sat nervously waiting, feeling like we'd been called to see the headmaster.
In the end, the cleaning was wasted. Andy became so frustrated sitting around waiting that he went to clear the snow off the Wagon, and bumped into Dawn in the driveway. Bob and I noticed, joined them, then the three of us headed back in to read the letter Dawn had written.
It was not very encouraging. Dawn complained again about the number of cars parked on the street, which was a little unfair since only three of the five were our responsibility. Regardless of this, we were told there were to be no more cars parked on the street after 23:00. This struck us as plain ridiculous, as anyone is entitled to park on the street, as long as it's legal, and none of our cars were parked illegally.
The main point of the letter was not the cars though. Dawn has never been very happy about the prospect of over-night guests, as we discovered fairly early on, and declared that five guests did not qualify as "casual" - a key word in our original tenancy agreement. In the letter, she stated that there were to be no more overnight guests.
We spent the early part of the afternoon in a state of panic, trying to decide on our options: agree to have no more guests, move out and have guests, stay and have guests, kill Dawn, etc...
Our panic subsided a bit when we discovered a leaflet explaining tenancy law in British Columbia, which stated that the landlord has no right to limit the access of the tenants or anyone invited by the tenants to the house.
When we joined up with our exiled guests for a big sushi party in the afternoon we were in slightly better spirits. After the sushi we caught the end a fire-jumping competition, then headed round to Mike D's to watch the Royal Tenenbaums.
On Monday Bob went up the mountain, leaving Andy and me to begin drafting our response to Dawn. Further Googling returned a couple of useful documents: a guide on BC tenancy law published by the government, and the Residential Tenancy Act itself. Both made it very clear that it is illegal for a landlady to restrict the access of tenants or their friends.
In the evening Curtis, Dom's girlfriend Jennifer and her friend Jeff came round for dinner, then we watched Airplane.
Today Andy and I have done more work on the housing issue, speaking to a lawyer friend in Vancouver and a tenancy adviser in the village. Both have agreed that we have every right to invite over-night guests. I've also spoken to a physiotherapist (about my ribs rather than the house), who told me that I can start doing any exercise that feels comfortable, and don't need to bother with seeing a physio, which was a relief.
We're now putting the final touches to the letter. Hopefully by the time of the next instalment we'll know where we stand.
This evening I returned to the gym with the boys, and had a go on a bike. Even after an hour of 70% heart rate the ribs felt fine, despite the fact that I haven't taken any drugs since yesterday morning. Things are looking up, and I'm hoping to be back on the slopes next week. | 
