A t 10 o'clock in the morning, Markus Frind leaves his apartment and heads to work. It's a short walk through downtown Vancouver , British Columbia , but somehow the trek feels arduous. This is not because Frind is lazy. Well, Frind is a bit lazy, but that's another matter. The problem is that he is still getting used to the idea of a commute that involves traveling farther than the distance between the living room and the bedroom.