since the Spanish Lieutenant Jose Maria Narvaez first (Captain George Vancouver arrived a year later) sailed into the mouth of the Fraser River in July of 1791, Vancouver has been on European’s charts and radar...settlement began in 1827...soon after climatic observations began...but today, 29 July 2009, has been officially designated Vancouver’s hottest day ever...33.8C at the airport (on a breezy island atypical of the region's actual conditions) weather station...yet clearly even hotter on the city’s west side…in suburban Dunbar the heat was berserk...the back porch thermometer this evening reads 39C/ nudging 102F...sleeping is out of the question...chilled Pinot Grigio is an option...water even moreso...only cucumber is on the menu...and the mercury is still rising