Hurry up. Life is short (Rick Bloder 1955-2013)

Rick used to live in the basement of the house on East 10th Ave, where I occupied the top floor.  Some regarded him as just 'the boozer in the basement' but he always had a smile for me and a glass of his gullet-searing 'sherry' was always on offer.

And I will never forget what he had to teach me. All my decades of education taught me much, but most of it doesn't help in daily life. On the other hand, Rick was a limitless source of info & know-how on bicycle maintenance (my bicycle never went as fast as after we adjusted the wheel bearings ;-) and 'street wisdom', i.e. how the 10% at the bottom of Vancouver's income pyramid lives and thrives.

Rick had been a target of the nutty actions of the Landwitch as well and was evicted again after I moved out.  Having heard that he had found a new place on 40th Ave, I used Google to try to find his new telephone number or address.  Instead, I found his obituary.  Another reminder to not postpone contacting old friends for too long ;-(

Thank you for everything, Rick.