Episode 3 - Money Trees

INTRO

Welcome back to the Parallel Lines Project - the podcast where I separate fact from fiction and hopefully tell you an interesting story. I’m your host Mark Moldowan.

Que Theme Music

On this week’s podcast, a warning. This topic is going to be a bit less light hearted than the last two and I’m sure I’ll get some angry emails but - Money Trees. We all want one. Fast cash. Easy income. A good way to make money for yourself. No one wants to work a dead-end, nine-to-five for a boss they hate - but is there really an easy way to make money? There’s a few companies out there that think so. And they want to share their secrets with you. Just be careful - if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

Then for the recipe - slow cooker butter chicken. This recipe is pure awesomeness. I usually make huge batches of this, freeze it in portions and use it as a quick and delicious dinner for lazy weekdays. Super simple too.

But first.

ACT 1 - CORRECTIONS, OMISSIONS AND GENERALLY SHOOTING THE SHIT.

Hopefully third time's the charm. I’m aware a rough cut was uploaded for the last episode - and I apologize. Hopefully the ghost of Harold Ramis won't take revenge on me. If I wake up and my phone still says November 23rd I’ll know I’m in trouble.

I also wanted to point out a few other cities that had some pretty cool underground city tours. Both Portland and San Francisco have pretty extensive underground cities as well that can be checked out. Again, never been on these tours so this is not really an endorsement so much as a general awareness announcement.

I also want to point out what one listener had pointed out to me - the Canada Post tunnel was actually from Waterfront to the old Canada Post headquarters that no longer exists - not the current location. As well, the tunnel was not built for the war in particular - though it was used extensively during this time - but as a quick and easy way for mail to be transferred to and from Waterfront while avoiding the Downtown traffic. Shit - traffic downtown must have been a nightmare even back then.

I’ve also had a couple of questions about the direction I’m going with this podcast. I really haven’t in tended to keep these stories local to Vancouver. The first rule of writing is write what you know and writing a podcast is no exception. Trust me, I’m not going to only do Vancouver stories, but it’s inevitable that they will show up from time to time just due to my geography. That and I fucking love this city and I think there’s a lot of people in the dark when it comes to local culture - and I’m including old-stock Vancouverites in this too. I mean, there’s a reason our city is used by Hollywood as a generic backdrop for multiple locations - we actually believe we have no history or personality here and it sucks. Some fucking cool shit has happened here and I love sharing it with people. End rant.

Now on with the show.

ACT 2 - MONEY TREES

So I may not have been truthful with you. I don’t actually technically live in Vancouver proper. I live in the GVRD, or Greater Vancouver Regional District. Basically, I’m a suburbanite. I live in Richmond to be exact - if you’ve ever been to Vancouver you have probably been there. It’s where the airport is.

Well, in my not-so-little suburb, just around the corner from my house there’s a small commercial block littered with warehouses, office buildings and a really terrible greasy spoon that I have shamed my body at way too many times. Shout out to the Golden Coin - you’re resturaunt may be dirty, your menu questionable and your patrons surly, but you make a mean wonton soup. Also they have a burger named the Royale with Cheese. They have no idea what the fuck a quarter pounder is.

Anyways, in this business block is the western headquarters for a company by the name of NuSkin. I used to work in that same block