Why stores may be low on stock this holiday season

House sitting in a city that's new to us often has us adopting new habits. On this house sit, I routinely read the Victoria newspaper, The Times Colonist, and I mean real paper. Most of my reading these days is online, so this is a pleasant change for me. Another pastime of mine here is to look out at the waters of the Juan de Fuca strait, which we can clearly see from our home. Let me explain how the two are particularly relevant today.

At the market today,
having a Pacific salmon burger for lunch

Greg took some photos earlier today, from a lookout point near our home. This is the Juan de Fuca strait, with Washington state below the clouds across the water. The photo below is looking to the left, where you'll see one of the many bays nearby.

The next photo is looking to the right, with yet another bay. We're close to the waterfront, and these bays are dotted along the coastline here.

Looking out at these waters, which I do often, I see a great variety of traffic, including paddle boarders, whale-watching tour boats, cruise ships, and container ships. On my first day here, I searched the name of a big ship and found it was from Taiwan. I thought about the "Made in Taiwan" label we see on so many things, and saw the connection.

The local newspaper has had a range of articles and opinion letters lately, discussing the increase in traffic to the port of Victoria. It seems as though the increased commerce is not without its drawbacks.

Today I read about the "historic bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping" of South Korea, which had 8% of the Trans-Pacific market. Apparently the ships are "marooned with their cargo" outside ports, as port authorities worry there will be no guarantee of payment for the work of offloading the cargo. Now let's move on to the photo I took this evening.

What do I see across the way from our home? You guessed it; a large Hanjin cargo ship! It may not look large in this photo, but it is. 

Every house sit and every new location has its own culture for us to learn, and this one is no exception. I'll be watching to see how long this ship stays there now!

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Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Weather: Sunny, High 13ºC (55ºF) low 13ºC (55ºF)