When crazy buys a coffee, anything can happen:
My big question is how can she have counted to 2,000 twice when the whole thing lasted only 26 seconds…
“And I think maybe I should faint, but I don’t”
“My amigos, my amigos”
Thanks to Andy or @ShinningCity on twitter for turning me on this infectious song (amazing photographer too)
My bestest computer ever is back home, the one I’ve name The Orca, in honour and reference to Jaws…
It’s so nice to have him back, all the nasty thoughts of replacing him with a bigger, better 27″ have gone (for now).
Since it’s been such a long day and I can’t decide what to write about first, I’ll write about some nasty people, it is something I know well, as I deal with them daily…
Yesterday, just before leaving work, I had to go and relieved myself. I always prefer the private washroom but the public one is so much closer that I’ll make the exception once in awhile…
I got in, no one else in there, I go to the urinal and unzip and go.
As one often does, when at the urinal, you start looking around, I mean, I’ve seen myself take a leak so many times in my life that it’s nice to find other distractions… and then BOOM… WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT???
CAN’T BE…
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…
Here.. see for yourself:
Just how freaking grossed out are you now…
What do you mean you don’t see it!!!
Look 3 rows of tiles up and one to the left:
What kind of people flick boogers on bathroom walls anymore…
Brrrrrr… it’s a cold world
Still no call from Apple about my precious iMac, tomorrow will be a full week. They anticipated 7 to 10 days, so could be anytime now.
I’ve been working on some little stories so that I’m ready to post again as soon as it is back, including another gross episode in public washroom with pictures, I know everyone lives that series.
Stay tuned.
This blog will be on a little holiday while Apple repairs The Orca. On the sucking scale, this ranks Empire State high. I’ll have it back in a week and will resume with stories about the amazing tickets we got for Priscilla, the latest Disney trip portion we booked, the new camera I’m about to buy AND the iPad I might get because DR will be so tired of letting me use his until The Orca is safely back in it’s rightful home.
I’ve put a Kleenex box in it’s place right now.
Tear.
I’ve had to deal with 2 very different people this week so far… One on the phone and one in person… It’s only Wednesday and I’m out of Aspirin Extra Strength….
Caller: Can you tell me directions on how to get to your office?
Me: Of course. Where are you coming from?
Caller: Close to the airport
Me: Take the 427 south, then the Gardiner East and…
Caller: Oh no, I don’t drive on highways
Me: Could possibly a family member drive you to our location?
Caller: No.
Me: Well, if you take a taxi, they’ll know how to get here easily.
Caller: You can’t tell me what streets I should drive on to avoid the highways?
Me: You realize you’re not calling the Ministry of Transportation or Google Map, right? If you take the subway, you will avoid all the highways.
Caller: The subway?? What?
Me: Ma’am, I realize you’d like me to go to your place, pick you up and drive you all the way here but it’s not going to happen. You have our address, how you get here is at your discretion. We close at 4:30pm.
And then after lunch, and after a conviction was taken off someone’s record, I printed a new court date for a gentleman. They are instructed to wait until the letter is personally given into their hands so they cannot say that the letter with the court date never arrived by mail. This is what happened after I entered the waiting room with the gentleman’s letter:
Me: Mister So-and-so?
Waiting room: *cricket sounds*
Me: Mister Something So-and So!
Waiting room: *more cricket sounds*
Me: Ok!
I close the door and go back to my work station. Then the door opens and this guy comes in and looks at me…
Me: Can I help you?
Guy: You just called my name
Me: Are you Something So-and-so?
Guy: It’s me but that’s not my name
Me: (with a perfect half-eye-roll) Huh?
Guy: I don’t go by that name, it’s my middle name, that’s not really me…
Me: Can I see your driver’s license?
Guy: (pulls it out and flicks it open with an expert wrist)
Me: The reason I called that name and that we have it on our records is because it’s exactly what’s appearing on your driver’s license, we HAVE TO go with that official information.
Guy: That’s the Ministry of Transportation’s fault, they’ve used my middle name.
Me: Ok, well, once you’ve changed this information with them and they issue you a new driver’s license, we will then gladly reflect the changes in our records as well, but it can only come with a new driver’s license. In the meantime here’s your letter with the new court date.
Guy: Is this on a Wednesday?
Me: It’s the first available date the officer can to appear in court, we have no choice, we book the court dates based on their availabilty.
Guy: I’m a student with a grant and can only keep the grant if I’m in school everyday
Me: No problem, you can either file a motion to change that date to something that suits you but it has to be approved by a Justice of the Peace which would require you to go to court in the first place, or you can have a friend or family member represent you in court, or even hire an agent to take care of it for you.
Guy: Well, is this on a Wednesday?
Me: I’m sorry?
Guy: Is this court date on a Wednesday?
Me: Is that an iPhone? (pointing to the iPhone in his hand)
Guy: Yes
Me: They have a great calendar application, it will be super easy to check it out.
Guy: (as he leaves) I only want to know if it’s on a Wednesday
Me: (to my coworkers) Fuck I need some aspirins right now…
I was walking back to work after lunch, my iPhone blaring episode #160 of the WDWNT podcast. The boys were making me a bit angry with their jokes at Disney fans that are not as “elitists” as they are… I was about to make the decision to un-subscribe after being such a loyal listener when I suddenly noticed this woman walking straight at me while texting… I gave her a few more steps and when I realized she wasn’t going to raise her head, I stopped and got her attention with a loud “HEY”. She raised her head looked straight at me, made a quick step to my right where a woman was also walking and then came right back at me with a thud.
Me: “OUAH!!!”
Her: “I’m sorry… I saw both of you and I thought I’d hurt less bumping into you, teehee!!!”
Me: “So stopping wasn’t even an option? Let’s just ram into the fat guy, right?”
Her: “I’m sorry, ok?”
Me: “Yeah, me too. I’m sorry you’re a retard”
Her: “Aaaaarrrrgggghhh”
Me: “Pardon me?
Her: “You’re an asshole”
Me: “At least now you finally have a good story to tweet about… be sure to tell them you rammed into the fat guy on purpose…”
Her: “Fuck off, ok?”
Me: “…in less than 140 characters”
Then I realized that the WDWNT guys weren’t so bad and I should give them another podcast or two before giving up on them
From the very first episode we watched, both DR and I were sold on Mad Men. We loved the style of it, we loved the choice of actors, we loved the acting, but mostly, we loved the writing. When we first started watching it, it always seemed that each episode packed a major surprise or twist, and it definitely kept us coming for more. We couldn’t wait for the next episode to air, and when the season was over, we couldn’t wait for the next one to start again.
When Season 4 started a few weeks back, I wasn’t impressed, I thought for sure the show was done for. It seemed it had lost its wonder, it was suddenly sort of ordinary, too many changes had happened, although that can sometimes be a good thing, it didn’t seem to be for Mad Men. Episode 2 played with the same feeling… then episode 3 and 4 left me wanting to give up on the show entirely. I was done with Don Draper… But am I glad I stuck around for one more episode, something definitely happened and the show picked up much needed steam and it became, not just good, but amazing again.
And of all the seasons, I think last night’s episode was probably the best I’ve watched to date. It was made clear that if Don Draper is the main character, the show is not really about him in the end, nor is it about the crazy advertising world of Madison Avenue. This show is really all about the women in Don’s life, about their struggle for recognizance, their struggle for power, their struggle for love, their struggle for belonging. Without Don’s women, this show really wouldn’t survive… Last night’s episode was really an homage to all of them. From Sally, his very young daughter, to Mrs. Blankenship, his hilarious elder secretary, the women of Don Draper paraded in and out of his office or home all through the episode, taking centre stage, glowing. And at the end of the episode, all of them exited, one after the other, some alone, some together, but none more tragically than Mrs. Blankenship herself. I have rarely found the death of a likable character to be funny, but the writers managed to make us laugh out loud, and that’s really a testament of their talent.
This morning on my way to work, I found myself thinking about that particular episode and for once, I could remember some of the funny lines and smiled. I laughed when one of the partner felt heartbroken and wanted an obituary to match the secretary’s personality and went on: “She was born in a barn and died on the 37th floor of a skyscraper. She was an astronaut”. Or when Don asked a coworker to help him out and said: “I’d ask my secretary to do it, but she’s dead”. Or even when Roger exclaimed: “She died like she lived, surrounded by the people she answered phones for”.
I will really miss Mrs. Blankenship and her one liners, but I’m so glad she was sent off in style. I’m so glad she was part of a special group known as Don’s women.
Dear departed Mrs. Blankenship
Rigth now, Mad Men really is best on TV in my opinion, but watch out, Dexter starts next week, it will be a tie for the 3 weeks they’ll both be playing at the same time.
Today, DR and I registered and marched in the AIDS Walk for Toronto.
Crowd gathering before the start. Lots of politicians ready for any photo ops.
This year more than ever, it really felt like just another reason for banks and politicians to show their “concern”. All we saw was corporation logos and election banners. It really made me mad.
Ready, set, go!
DR and I don’t often sponsor events, but for some reason, after skipping a few years, I felt I really wanted to march in this years walk. I’ve lost many friends over the years, the late 80′s and 90′s were especially bad. And on days like today, I walk and reflect on all these past friendships that are not forgotten. So with this in mind, we set off on our afternoon journey, which took us through Cawthra Park where the Toronto AIDS memorial is located. People were given red carnations to be deposited at their will through the memorial:
This memorial is a work in progress unfortunately…
And, in 2010, there are already way too many names added to the list.
I’ll always remember an AIDS benefit I went to where we were given a pink ribbon and were asked to write on it the name of a friend who had passed from complications from AIDS. At the time, my friend Jacques had just died, so I wrote his name. I turned to my friend and asked who he wrote down on his and I burst into sobbing tears when he showed me, he had written all the letters of the alphabet because he had known too many people that had died and couldn’t just picked one…
So today’s walk was in memory of all these friends. You are not forgotten. We’re still fighting.
As the Summer comes to an end, so does this series.
#02 = Summer of 2007 & #01 = Summer of 2009
I love Disney, what can I say. I had been many times before 2007 and 2009, but these 2 separate trips rank the best. In 2007 I went with DR for the first time… it was also HIS first time. So I was able to enjoy The World through his eyes, like it was MY first trip there too. Seeing his face as we pulled the rental car into the parking lot of Pop Century was priceless, and it got better as we stepped inside our room:
But I knew the best was yet to come, he hadn’t been in any of the parks…
We made our first official visit to Magic Kingdom later on that afternoon. We passed the turnstiles as the Walt Disney World Railroad arrived at the Main St. station. Our first magical moment… and wouldn’t you know it that when we walked in was also the very beginning of the daily flag ceremony with an honour guard of the WDW security officers. It felt like the celebration was just for us… We took the train all the way to Mickey’s Toontown and walked into Fantasyland where we made the Mad Tea Party our very first ride together, of course that’s if we don’t count the bus from the hotel or the monorail to the park or the WDW Railroad to Mickey’s Toontown…
We spend 9 freakin’ fun-filled days enjoying all The World had to offer… YEH! The memories from that trip lived all through that Summer and beyond…
We made our second trip to Walt Disney World in 2009 and this time we were joined by my sister Syl and my nephew Shaun. Again, I had been to The World with them before but this time was even better as we really got along so well. I had created an excel sheet with a fake scheduled but once Syl saw it, she insisted we stuck to it and we pretty much did too. That year we arrived prepared too as we had made many reservations in advance to the restaurants we wanted to make sure wouldn’t fill up before we arrived. We left that vacation in need of rest as we didn’t stop very much throughout that amazing week.
It’s hard to really put in words how I feel but I’ll try anyway: I fucking love Disney.
We’re going back again soon, but this time it will be right smack in the middle of Winter. There will be 3 novelties to this trip:
1. We will sail on the brand new Disney Dream, it will be our first Disney cruise too.
2. We will spend one day at Universal Studios so we can all visit with Harry Potter.
3. We will be going with two of the nicest chaps I know: Grove of Blue & Fortress of Solitude. Can’t wait.
I’m only 10 minutes into the new season of Survivor and I must admit that they are FREAKIN’ BACK…
Not only are the players very easy on the eyes once again, but within just a few minutes they have already thrown in a couple of twists… And nothing beats this Medallion of Power. Pure genius. Let the fighting begin.
Medallion of Power… Why didn’t I think of that…
Great to see you again, Mr. Probst.
