Bible Quotes to Inform Christian Politics

     I came across this collection of bible quotes that I thought could really inform Christian voters on the ways they should be voting (if they're concerned about those corny things like, y'know, loving your neighbor and eternal life in heaven, or whatever). These quotes are pertinent for me because there are times my dad will defend policies that I find absolutely abhorrent. When I ask him if he is being a good Catholic, he says something along the lines of separating religion and politics. To which I say... if you can't walk the walk (live out the teachings of the Bible), then don't talk the talk (preach). In any case, here you go:

Leviticus 25:35 If any of your people become poor and unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner or stranger, so they may continue to live among you.
Proverbs 11:24 One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
Proverbs 13:11 Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.
Proverbs 15:27 Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live.
Proverbs 17:5 He who mocks the poor taunts his Maker; He who rejoices at misfortune will not go unpunished
Proverbs 22:22-23 Do not exploit the poor because they are poor, or crush the needy in court, for the Lord will plead their case, and exact life for life.
Proverbs 22:16 Whoever oppresses the poor for his own gain and whoever gives to the rich, both come to poverty.
Proverbs 22:26–27 Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge, one of those who is surety for debts; if you have nothing with which to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you?
Proverbs 28:25-28 A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched. Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered. Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.
Proverbs 29:7 A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.
Psalm 62:10 Put no trust in extortion; set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them.
Psalm 82:3-4 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the poor and afflicted. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do good; seek justice, fight oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.
Isaiah 10:1-2 Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.
Isaiah 56:11 The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.
Isaiah 58: 6-7 Is this not a better fast, to loose the chains of injustice and untie the burden, to free the oppressed and break every yoke? Or to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—to clothe the naked, and not to turn your eyes away from your brother?
Isaiah 58:10 If you break the yoke of oppression, end the finger-pointing and malicious talk, and work to feed the hungry and fight for the oppressed, your light will rise in the darkness; your night will be like the midday sun.
Ezekiel 16:49 Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and apathetic; they did not help the poor and needy.
Ecclesiastes 5:10-14 Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As riches increase, so do those who covet them. Of what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?
Zechariah 7:9-11 This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’
Jeremiah 22:3 Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood here.
Jeremiah 22:13 Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his neighbor work for nothing and refuses to pay his wages.
Malachi 3:5-6 "I will be quick to denounce sorcerers, adulterers, and perjurers, and those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.
Amos 2: 6-7 “For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed.”
Matthew 5:42 “Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.”
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Matthew 13:22 “As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of riches choke the word, and it yields nothing.”
Matthew 19:21 “If you want to be perfect, go and sell your belongings and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.”
Mark 8:36 “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”
Luke 3:11 “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and restore sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
Luke 12:48 “To whom much is given, much will be expected; and from whom much has been entrusted, much more will be asked.”
Acts 8:20 May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!
Acts 20:35 “In all I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of Lord Jesus himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
1 Timothy 6:17-19 Command those who are currently rich not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is fleeting, but in God, who richly provides for us. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will save up treasure for the coming age, so that they may have life that is truly life.
1 Timothy 6:9 But those who desire wealth fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, value others above yourself in humility, looking out not for just yourselves, but each of you for the good of others.
2 Corinthians 8:13-15 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you work hard, but that there might be equality. At this time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”
James 2:14-17 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and well-fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
James 5:4-6 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.
1 John 3:17-18 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Matthew 25:42-45 'For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you have me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I was sick and in prison you did not look after me.' They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
John 13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
     To cover some of these in a smaller set of more easily digestible bullet points:

• Help those who are poor and/or unable to support themselves
• Do not oppress each other (y'know, like voting against each others' civil rights, or something like that)
• We should be happier to give than to take (this one's tough for me because I want us to give with autonomy, not for the labor force to give up any/all leverage to employers)
• Don't be greedy (again, a tough one for me. I don't want people to be greedy, but in a democratic society that also includes checking others' insatiable greed - y'know, like folks pulling in billions a year [hate to say it, but most folks barely have a concept of how much a billion of anything is])
• There should be equity to the point where those at the top don't have too much (like, say, a megayacht that pollutes the ocean) while those at the bottom don't have too little (I would say lacking adequate healthcare, housing, and food qualify you as having too little)
• Faith without action is worthless (so NO, running your trap about being a good Christian or person does NOT count for anything!!

     So, there you go. If you wanna be a good Christian, uphold some of these beliefs. There's no 2 ways about it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Perception vs. Reality part 2 (police officers)

     Last I wrote, it was to defend the financial viability of the teaching profession. Do I still think teachers are underpaid? Yes. That's because I think most folks in the labor force are underpaid, though. We can't simultaneously be one of the wealthiest nations on Earth and have the housing crisis that we have without extreme inequality. What's that look like? People not being able to afford housing, families, and daycare, to start. & before you start - I am not even so liberal as to believe that people deserve all of these things as a right (in a better world, I might). However, it is my fundamental belief that people who work full-time should get to do those things, no question. & if you don't agree with that, then I have no issue saying you're part of the problem. That's a whole other post in itself, though, so let me loop back to this entry: the (myth?) of police officers being endangered on a daily or even regular basis.
     First, a few numbers: 30% of American adults have a gun. I'm sure there's quite a bit of regional and racial variance. In Rhode Island, the gun ownership rate is 5.8%. In Alaska, the rate soars to 61.7%. In California, we sit at 19.8%.
     Well, as I continued research, I found a page that was much more informative and relevant. I planned on compiling numbers and putting together some reasonable scenarios, but even that would have been guesswork on my part. Without further ado: the official data for assaults on law enforcement officers in California. I know clicking links is a hassle, so I'll def. run down some numbers from that page. Let's start at a serious bottom line - how many officers do you think were killed in the line of duty in California in 2018? The CA pop is ~39.5 million, and there are about 78,500 sworn officers (as in, that doesn't count civilian staff).

Waiting for a guess.
Waiting for a guess.
Still waiting for a guess.

     That's right, you guessed it - in 2018, a whopping 7 officers were killed in the line of duty. To add to that stat a little more - 3 of those 7 were accidental. 4 deaths of 78500 officers returns a .005% likelihood of death. As a comparison, you are MORE likely to flip heads with a coin 14 times in a row than an officer in California is to die on the job. If that doesn't impress you, you have a poor understanding of probability.
     You might be wondering - well, that's just deaths. Surely officers encounter danger otherwise? Before I talk about those stats - I want to underscore the fact that if you do something and are endangered .005% of the time, it is incredibly safe. You might not like that number because you're used to planes, trains, and other vehicles having a much higher threshold of safety, but in the historical scheme of things? It's incredibly safe to be an officer in California. Now, on to these other stats.
     In 2018, there were 11,148 assaults on officers. Eye-popping number, right? Well, let's pump the brakes. 9175 (82.3%) of those assaults involved hands, fists, and/or feet. So... I'm gonna go ahead and file none or very close to none of those as life-threatening, because you can damn well believe that someone would be riddled with a dozen or more bullets before they managed to kill an officer without a weapon. And please - if you pull up one counterexample where a cop is threatened, you are still ignoring the other 9174 cases. It's just a fundamental misunderstanding of numbers if you think that case matters to my overall argument.
     How about the other 1,973 assaults? 279 (2.5%) of them involved a firearm and 200 (1.8%) of them involved a knife. 1494 (13.4%) of them involved some "other" dangerous weapon. The word "involved" is tricky, because I'm willing to bet these stats are inflated by assaults that don't include the use of said weapon but merely possession. I wish I could have these stats boiled down more simply: # of assaults where officers were stabbed, shot, or bludgeoned. Why? Well, I just wouldn't want the numbers to include instances where cops are bruised or scratched up because... I don't really consider that dangerous. If you do count those instances, you have to admit that you are seriously lowering the bar for officer endangerment. It's also sad because we are at such a low number of "dangerous" incidents that you have to split hairs between what a reasonable person would consider dangerous compared to someone who is pro- or anti-cop (who are vested in inflating or deflating those numbers, respectively).
     So, there you have it. By the numbers, officers in California are not regularly putting their lives on the line. & if you really, for some strange reason are so vested in believing that throwing on a uniform to enforce the law makes you a goddamn hero - I have another number to soothe you. I don't know about the rest of the state, but officers in SJPD are well-compensated. If you don't click the link, it just shows that 19 of the top 20 highest-paid employees of the City of San Jose are all cops - and none of them took home a dime less than $300,000 (in 2017, at least). So you can rest easy knowing that those who patrol our streets are paid quite handsomely.

Perception Vs. Reality part 1 (teachers)

     I'm in summer mode and just felt like addressing some issues that I feel like could use correcting in society. This post isn't centered on a particular theme besides "These are things I think people misunderstand and I would like to shed some light on them."
     The items I'll be writing about are drawn from my experiences in San Jose/the Bay Area/California - they may or may not apply to positions out of state, region, or even city - but I'm willing to bet there's some (or considerable) overlap across these lines. Things I want to write about are:

• The feasibility of teaching as a profession
• The dangers of policing
• The economic status of servers (specifically them and not other restaurant staff)

     After spelling out the things I wanted to write about, I realized there is a common theme, and that is: people can be very vocal in tooting their own horn to create sympathy. Additionally (or alternatively?), they do not speak out against misconceptions that benefit them.

How do I mean? In brief, and respectively, a few commonly held ideas:

• Teachers are wildly underpaid
• Police officers put their lives on the line every day
• Servers don't make enough to get by

     Well, this post wouldn't be a thing if I agreed with those things, right? Right. In short, I think each of those points is, by & large, wrong. AS A REMINDER, I am painting in broad strokes - as in these ideas will not hold for every person out there, but that they apply more often than not (& hate to say it, but most of us are statistically NOT the exception so... keep that in mind).
     Although I'm not qualified in the sense of having a high-level overview of teacher pay throughout the state, I do have the power of Google at hand (here's the query, if you're interested: "district name salary schedule," e.g. "east side union high school district salary schedule" or "san jose unified salary schedule"). The salary schedule shows you how much teachers get paid according to their experience and education level and works for every local district I've tried. So, what kind of numbers am I working with? First of all, assume an 8-hour workday like everyone else. Assuming 5 periods of teaching (which is the norm) and 45 min to an hour for break and lunch combined - that's about 6 hours of work. Add on 2 hours for lesson prep, grading, and other responsibilities - boom, you've got your 8-hour workday. So how much do teachers get paid? Well, in ESUHSD, starting salary is 60k. For 182 days of work, that works out to 1456 hours worked, and.... how many dollars per hour? Do NOT calculate - just guess.

Seriously.
Guess.
Just do it.

     Works out to slightly over $41/hour not to mention some of the best benefits in the state (relative to other districts). At that hourly rate, and for some other job (depending on time off), that works out to anywhere from 75k/year (6 weeks off) to 82k/year (2 weeks off). Not bad, right? & that's just to start! If you get your Master's ASAP (which I really should have done if I wasn't busy taking my sweet time), the pay bumps get pretty sweet. I'm not at the top bracket of the pay scale and my pay is set to be ~$51/hour this year, give or take.
     Don't get me wrong - I still feel underpaid because I can't move out on my own without absolutely hamstringing my budget or living with more roommates than I think a contributing member of society should have to live with. That's besides the point, though - then we're getting into how I feel about society overall and how screwed we let ourselves get. To stay on topic, I maintain that teachers are not wildly underpaid relative to other professions (define "wildly" as you please). & there's something else I haven't even gotten to.
     Notice - I haven't even mentioned the breaks. The glorious, glorious breaks! To make a long story short, I feel like I work 75% of the time for 80% of the pay. I know that's not the truth of it (especially when compared to the engineers, financiers, and other white collar workers of Silicon Valley), but compared to ... everyone else? It's mandatory work-life balance, with an option to work OT if you're a go-getter (summer school, coaching, subbing for other classes). If that's not a hell of a trade-off, I don't know what is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
     Now my friends might not have summer off for us to enjoy together, but that's a workplace issue that y'all need to figure out - other folks in different countries don't let themselves get absolutely shafted when it comes to taking leave. Guess it's an American thing to be proud of letting your employer bone you? You can come at me and say anything you want about being entitled - and all I really have to say is, you're going to bat for a lower quality of life. In 2019, with the absolute laundry list of tech advancements since the Industrial Revolution (or how about just the past 3 decades?)?! I'm sorry, but if you want a hard life for yourself for the sake of a hard life, your vision is just too small for humanity. I see a world where challenge is self-directed, not society-inflicted.
     It may sound naive of me to say that, but take an honest look around - in a world where we can produce as much as we produce, and waste as much as we waste, do you really think the shackles that prevent us from living our best lives are not imposed on us by society (vs. natural resources and technological limitations)?
     That ended up being a lot longer than I expected, so I guess this will turn into a series. Thanks for reading!

Banff

Trip details

• Duration: 7/13/19-7/19/19 (originally planned for the 20th, but we returned a day early to make it in time for Toan's wedding)
• Flight: United (~3 hours, each way), $394 for the both of us
• Accommodation: Room 224 @ the Red Carpet Inn, in a King-sized (?) bed

 I will do this write-up in 2 formats: a brief overview of daily activities, then a more thorough look at trip highlights.

Day 1 (Saturday):

• Dad drives us to SFO at 5:30AM. We take off at ~745 and get to Calgary around noon. 
• Head out to Banff and get there around 6 or 7?
• Park it, check in, and grab dinner at The Bison

Day 2 (Sunday):

• Our first day of activity - Aylmer lookout (14+ miles) at Lake Minnewanka, starting at ~7AM. 
• We do 10 miles, but don't complete
• Lunch
• Hot tub
• Dinner at Chaya

Day 3 (Monday):

• Canoeing at Emerald Lake
• Lake Louise
• Hiked to Lake Agnes up to the tea house. Continued on to Little Beehive, then returned to our car.
• Dinner at Earl's happy hour

Day 4 (Tuesday):

• Aylmer lookout (Take 2) 
• Started the hike at ~11, didn't finish 'til ~6. 
• So freakin' pooped, we just got dinner then passed out.
• Dinner at The Balkan + pasta from Ticino and pizza from Bear Street Tavern (terrible, btw)

Day 5 (Wednesday):

• Via Ferrata 
• Lunch at Eddie Burger
• Midsommar
• Booked a photog
• Dinner at Sushi House

Day 6 (Thursday):

• Moraine Lake - Larch Valley to Sentinel Pass
• Consolation Lakes 
• Lunch at Park Distillery
• Photo shoot
• Dinner at Earl's (again)

Day 7 (Friday):

• Time to go home :(

Day 1 (Saturday):

• Dad drives us to SFO at 5:30AM. We grab breakfast at the SF Giants Clubhouse using our Priority Passes - we both order the same big breakfast burrito. We take off at ~745 and get to Calgary around noon. Have lunch at Alumni - we share the hot chicken sandwich, taco salad, charred broccoli, and the parmesan fries. It was a lot, but what can I say? We're on vacation ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
• Walk about the city some (the downtown area is so picturesque), hit up the mall (with a freakin' awesome garden at the top floor), then head out to Banff.
• Park it, check in, and dinner at the Bison (I get the steak with chimichurri, Daisy gets some kind of fish with pasta, and we share the elk poutine [which was actually gnocchi, oddly enough]). The "poutine" may have been my fav dish of the trip - it was mad delicious and I ate it before I was getting sick of American/bar food.

Day 2 (Sunday):

• Our first trail was to Aylmer lookout at Lake Minnewanka, starting at ~7AM. We wanted to get our biggest hike out of the way and spend the rest of the week cruising on smaller ones.
• After 5 miles (and an additional 45 min of waiting for another group to show), we turn around after the scariest warning sign of bears - it's an area where people have been attacked before, so they require hiking with bear spray (which we had) and in a group of 4 (we were only 2). The walk back is disappointing, but when we get back to the trailhead, we see a goat standing (quite majestically) atop a rock at one end of the bridge.
• The goat ends up crossing the bridge to reach her kid - all of us make way so the goat can cross, and she passes close enough where we could reach out and give her a pet (but we don't).
•  Also spent 15-20 minutes hanging out on the lakeshore, skipping rocks and just enjoying the setting.
• Lunch was at Indian Curry House (the lamb madras was alright, but the garlic naan was particularly choice) & dinner was at Chaya - I got the Tan Tan ramen and Daisy got the katsu curry with an extra serving of katsu. Surprisingly, one of the best ramens I've had. The katsu curry was delicious as well. 
• Afterwards, we strolled along the main strip and came across a BeaverTails. They sell dessert that's basically a fried slab of dough slathered with your choice of toppings. It smelled like sweet heaven, so we made a stop and bought one that had Nutella and banana. It tasted as delicious as it smelled - a killer dessert, for sure. 

Day 3 (Monday):

• Some context: we started our previous hike at 7AM and when we were waiting for some company for us to continue the hike with, we did not see another group until we were well on our way back to the car.
• We assumed that people in the area just got a late start, so we left to Lake Louise at about 9AM, which was about 45 minutes away from our hotel. Unfortunately, it was stupid packed. We wasted 15-20 min driving up to (then immediately out of) the parking lot
• So, we drove another 15-20 min to Emerald Lake and spent ~2 hours canoeing. Before we left, we grabbed some parm fries that would've been killer if they were hotter :( . But they were well-seasoned with a ton of cheese so that was nice.
• By the time we got back to Lake Louise, people were starting to leave and parking spots were slowly opening up. We were fortunate to get one and not just be sent back out of the lot.
• At Lake Louise, we took a few photos before starting our hike. At the end of our initial trail, there was a tea house where we ended up sharing a pot of tea and a serving of an apple crumble. It was cool because chipmunks were getting all up in the mix scrounging around for scraps. They were super adorable and not shy at all.
• We continued on to Little Beehive trail, took in some more amazing views, then returned to our car.
• We grab dinner at Earl's happy hour - from what I can work out, it's a Canadian Yard House with a better happy hour. We get the dynamite roll, buffalo cauliflower, Santa Fe chicken salad, and their crispy ribs. The crispy ribs were like salt and pepper style, but lemon pepper flavor. Definitely my favorite item of the meal.
• After dinner, we talk about our plans: to sleep in and do one or 2 short hikes tomorrow, and to give Aylmer Lookout another try on Thursday morning. We would go later and hope to run into another group that we could tag along with.

Day 4 (Tuesday):

• After sleeping in 'til 9 or so, Daisy says we probably have to give the hike a try today because there was snow in the forecast on Tuesday. We hop out of bed, get dressed, pack up, and head out. 
• At the trailhead, we see.... a bunch of older folks (8-10), some of whom were reading the warning sign and clearly not moving on. There was only one other couple that looked like they might have been heading out the same way - we approached them, and after some chit chat, they decided to join us (they weren't planning on hiking much that day, apparently). Jess & Blake from Ohio - I couldn't be more grateful for anyone else on our entire trip. They made it possible for us to hit the trail comfortably and to completion, even though the whole trip took us about 7 hours. The longest hike I've ever been on, with the most gratifying view of the trip. Through the sprinkles and more serious rain, the mosquitoes, the bear taking a deuce in the woods ~25-30 feet away, I enjoyed it all.
• We got back and shared a lamb skewer at the Balkan. Then, we grabbed a pasta dish from Ticino on our way back to the hotel. Lastly, we grabbed the Hawaiian pizza from Bear Street Tavern - I'm not sure there was any meal more disappointing. This spot had 4 stars on Yelp and came recommended to us by a number of people on the trip. The crust was legit frozen-pizza quality, toppings were scarce, and it was just a disappointment overall. We crushed the whole thing 'cause that's what you do when you skipped the rest of the day's meals and went hiking for 7 hours. But sheesh that awful meal capped an otherwise terrific day.

Day 5 (Wednesday):

• We had signed up to do a Via Ferrata route at 8:30 on Mt. Norquay (which, surprisingly, is pronounced phonetically lol). We hopped on a free shuttle, got there, and spent the next 4 hours in a group of 8 climbing up to a particular viewpoint then back down. They offered 2 longer routes of 5 and 6 hours - I'm glad we didn't pick those because I felt like we had to travel slowly to accommodate the entire group, which would have been annoying if we had to do that for longer than we did. Awesome experience climbing up and around a mountain.
• We grabbed lunch at Eddie Burger - another highly recommended spot. I thought it was alright, but the burger was def overcooked :/. 
• We went to the theater to see Midsommar - it was about as weird/creepy as the trailer made it out to be. Daisy went shopping for a lil bit since we set up a photo shoot for the next day. I browsed the bookstore for awhile. I don't think either of us was particularly hungry, but neither of us wanted to head back to the hotel only to go back out later, so we headed to dinner. 
• Dinner at Sushi House was great. I am definitely surprised that we enjoyed the 2 Asian spots the most - I think we both thought that such a touristy town would have terrible Asian food (and indeed, the Vietnamese and Chinese spots were both rated at 1-2 stars). It was a small restaurant and there were just 3 people running the show, just like at Chaya. It was a sushi-train style restaurant, and the chef was just working to perfection, pumping out really good sushi and managing everyone's requests.

Day 6 (Thursday):

• We are going to see Moraine Lake. Unfortunately, it shares the same area as Lake Louise - i.e. it's gonna be similarly packed out. We leave at 5AM to get to the lake at 6. By the time we get there, the parking lot's still got spots (fortunately). We get started on the Larch Valley Trail to make it to Sentinel Pass.
• It sprinkles on our way up, then it starts to rain. We hike for an hour or so when... it starts snowing. Hard (to us, at least). We turn around and make our way back down, and hit up another trail.
• The 2nd trail we go on is to see, appropriately enough, Consolation Lakes. It's a nice hike, not very crowded, and just absolutely beautiful at the end. We clambered over a good deal of rocks to get closer to the water.
• We hang out for a good while at the lakes, then head back.
• We head back for lunch, which ended up being a cod chowder at Park Distillery, along with a brisket sandwich and the rotisserie chicken. 
• We chill out for a few hours, killing some time before heading back to Moraine Lake for our photoshoot. 
• It was supposed to be for an hour, but ended up taking 2. The weather was freezing, and we spent a lot of time putting on and taking off extra layers. Our photographer was very chatty, which helped to loosen us up. For something that we booked last minute and for our first photo shoot, I had a load of fun, freezing weather notwithstanding.

Day 7 (Friday):

• Time to go home :(
• I hate it when a vacation ends. We grab another Beavertail in Banff (potentially my favorite item to eat all trip) and do some last minute gift-shopping, then head back to Calgary (bout an hour and a half from Banff).
• We grab lunch at Charcut which was just alright. Grab some final snacks at the local Shoppers (which is like... Walgreens or Rite-Aid) before heading to the airport.