So last week we got our election results. We're going forward with Justin Trudeau as our Prime Minister, winning with a minority government, and Marwan Tabbara, also of the Liberal Party, representing the riding in my area. I said I'd like to keep this blog politically neutral, so I won't go into my perspective on this turnout. I don't think any voters got exactly what they wanted this time around though, haha. Trudeau lost the popular vote and his majority government, and Scheer lost the election. NDP and the Peoples' Party both took hits. The Greens got an extra seat, so maybe they're the only ones celebrating. The attitude of the nation right now is kind of like, let's keep doing what we were doing before, but with less enthusiasm.
Since the election, my girlfriend had her convocation and we also celebrated her birthday. I got her flowers and chocolates and a gift, and I made dinner. Dinner involved the use of my charcoal barbecue, and I intended this to be its' last meal before being replaced. This intention was confirmed when, after picking the last piece of food off the grill, the whole thing collapsed, dropping burning coals everywhere. At least I got to demonstrate my attitude during a crisis for my girlfriend, which turns out to be an incredibly calm, borderline apathetic attitude. I just picked up the coals with my tongs, dropped them in a bucket and poured water on them until they were submerged.
I like that the barbecue managed to complete the meal before collapsing. Like it held on just long enough for a final performance. Really used that thing to its fullest extent.
Convocation was interesting. They modified the Canadian anthem. Instead of saying "In all thy sons command" they said "In all of our command". I've heard talk of modifying some of the lyrics, I know other controvesial lines are "Our home and native land" (some of my aboriginal friends think "Our home on Native land" would be more honest) and "God keep our land" (non-Christians sometimes feel this isn't representative of our religious diversity), but I'd never heard an actual modified version until that day.
...Actually, after doing some research, it looks like the anthem was officially modified in 2018. This is our authentic version at this time.
Two of the most influential people at The Working Centre were receiving their doctorates. The Working Centre is an organization focused on employment, inclusion, and community that has a number of different branches. Extend-a-Family is deeply connected with them, and I have spoken face-to-face with one of the people receiving their doctorates. As they made their speech, I felt very much like I hadn't left my organization.
Another person that was graduating was someone that I vaguely remembered as making waves back in the day. He was a gay student who wanted to bring his boyfriend to prom at a Catholic school. the school denied him, so he took them to court and won. I think it's this guy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_v_Durham_Catholic_School_Board
They made a movie about him too:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prom_Queen:_The_Marc_Hall_Story
There was someone who graduated posthumously, which means that even though they passed away, they still received their degree. I'm not certain the circumstances that lead to this conclusion. I can make assumptions, but I simply found it interesting that such an arrangement is possible.
As the graduates were marching out, they played an orchestral version of the Star Wars theme. This reminds me of when, as I was graduating from HSF and marching out, they played an orchestral version of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance. I wonder if it's some kind of tradition to make a fancy version of some pop culture piece as graduates are walking out.
After the ceremony, we went for lunch at a local diner that my girlfriend has fond memories of. The next day, I had dinner with her family celebrating both her birthday and her brother's, which are spaced pretty closely together.
Monday, October 28, 2019
Monday, October 21, 2019
Thanksgiving 2019
Well, I should get a post out before tomorrow, because I missed the Thanksgiving update and Canada's having a federal election, which will warrant it's own post.
So... Thanksgiving was a couple of weeks ago. I went up to Guelph and had the standard turkey dinner with my mother and brother. It was a pretty low-key event, but we had a more traditional family gathering this past weekend. Last Friday and Saturday, my grandparents, my aunt and my cousin all visited in Guelph.
If you don't believe I was in Guelph for some reason, here's some photographic evidence:
It's a Gryphon with a gryphon!
That's our famous gryphon statue, situated outside the University of Guelph. We paid some significant coin for that thing. Worth every cent, I say.
Unfortunately, the good feelings of the visit were dampened a little by the fact that one of the Guelph cats, Luna, was sick. She had been acting a little odd, at first seeming a little uncoordinated, and then having a reduced appetite, and then seeming lethargic. So we brought her to the vet, and it turns out she has an anal abscess.
Turns out, having an anal abscess makes a cat not feel like drinking, so my mother had to learn how to force feed her liquids. She was also prescribed antibiotics, and last I saw her, she was active, sociable, purring, and eating and drinking voluntarily, which is great.
Did you guys know that I've been living with a Chilean woman for the past four months? Probably not, since I haven't mentioned it. This has more to do with my roommate than me, but she did make me a bunch of empanadas and gave me a reiki massage, and she has offered to host me if I ever choose to vacation in Chile.
I guess I'll also report in this update how my garden did this year, since we're past our first frost and the harvest season is basically over. Last I spoke to you guys, I said that my pumpkins had become huge and were bullying the other plants. I wasn't sure if I should be glad that they were as healthy as they were, or if I should be mad that they crowded everything else. Well, it's pumpkin season, and let me tell you, right when they were at their most glorious and had dominated the rest of the garden, they suddenly died. So I'm a little miffed at them, because they flourished at the expense of their neighbouring crops, then perished before giving me anything.
Wasn't a total waste. We got more snow peas this year than last. There was one day, where I was sitting by the garden, vaguely noticing that the snow pea plants were more full than usual, and suddenly realized that many of what I had taken for leaves were actually peas. Ate most of them fresh and gave the rest out.
The cherry tomatoes also eventually started producing on a regular basis, even though it was late in the season. The regular tomatoes, just like last year, produced but way too late, not giving them a chance to ripen. Looks like fried green tomatoes again this year.
The cucumbers didn't produce like they have in previous years, but I will give them this: I had taken all the crawling plants, such as the watermelon, honey dew, cantaloupe, and cucumbers to be dead after the pumpkins choked them out, but of all of them, the cucumbers survived, climbed bamboo stalks and flowered, even if they didn't produce.
But of course, my crowning achievement this year were the sunflowers. I've already spoken on it, but after a tough season and having failed twice before, I managed to bloom three Lemon Queen Sunflowers. The sunflower is an important symbol to me, and it made the entire gardening endeavor worth it this year.
And at the end of this season, I have today done my civil duty and voted. For some reason, I never get my voter card in the mail. My roommate got his, and I didn't get mine even though I'm the leaseholder. Wasn't much of a deterrent. Between my health card and some government mail, I was able to vote. I don't want this blog to become hugely political, so I won't speak on who I voted for. However, I already have a feeling that, no matter what the results are, emotions are going to run high, and when I speak on the winner, some of my views might leak out. This is a big election. Our neighbours to the south aren't the only ones with divisive politics.
That being said, anybody who knows me, my line of work, and my values wouldn't be too surprised by my political opinions, I don't think.
So... Thanksgiving was a couple of weeks ago. I went up to Guelph and had the standard turkey dinner with my mother and brother. It was a pretty low-key event, but we had a more traditional family gathering this past weekend. Last Friday and Saturday, my grandparents, my aunt and my cousin all visited in Guelph.
If you don't believe I was in Guelph for some reason, here's some photographic evidence:
It's a Gryphon with a gryphon!
That's our famous gryphon statue, situated outside the University of Guelph. We paid some significant coin for that thing. Worth every cent, I say.
Unfortunately, the good feelings of the visit were dampened a little by the fact that one of the Guelph cats, Luna, was sick. She had been acting a little odd, at first seeming a little uncoordinated, and then having a reduced appetite, and then seeming lethargic. So we brought her to the vet, and it turns out she has an anal abscess.
Turns out, having an anal abscess makes a cat not feel like drinking, so my mother had to learn how to force feed her liquids. She was also prescribed antibiotics, and last I saw her, she was active, sociable, purring, and eating and drinking voluntarily, which is great.
Did you guys know that I've been living with a Chilean woman for the past four months? Probably not, since I haven't mentioned it. This has more to do with my roommate than me, but she did make me a bunch of empanadas and gave me a reiki massage, and she has offered to host me if I ever choose to vacation in Chile.
I guess I'll also report in this update how my garden did this year, since we're past our first frost and the harvest season is basically over. Last I spoke to you guys, I said that my pumpkins had become huge and were bullying the other plants. I wasn't sure if I should be glad that they were as healthy as they were, or if I should be mad that they crowded everything else. Well, it's pumpkin season, and let me tell you, right when they were at their most glorious and had dominated the rest of the garden, they suddenly died. So I'm a little miffed at them, because they flourished at the expense of their neighbouring crops, then perished before giving me anything.
Wasn't a total waste. We got more snow peas this year than last. There was one day, where I was sitting by the garden, vaguely noticing that the snow pea plants were more full than usual, and suddenly realized that many of what I had taken for leaves were actually peas. Ate most of them fresh and gave the rest out.
The cherry tomatoes also eventually started producing on a regular basis, even though it was late in the season. The regular tomatoes, just like last year, produced but way too late, not giving them a chance to ripen. Looks like fried green tomatoes again this year.
The cucumbers didn't produce like they have in previous years, but I will give them this: I had taken all the crawling plants, such as the watermelon, honey dew, cantaloupe, and cucumbers to be dead after the pumpkins choked them out, but of all of them, the cucumbers survived, climbed bamboo stalks and flowered, even if they didn't produce.
But of course, my crowning achievement this year were the sunflowers. I've already spoken on it, but after a tough season and having failed twice before, I managed to bloom three Lemon Queen Sunflowers. The sunflower is an important symbol to me, and it made the entire gardening endeavor worth it this year.
And at the end of this season, I have today done my civil duty and voted. For some reason, I never get my voter card in the mail. My roommate got his, and I didn't get mine even though I'm the leaseholder. Wasn't much of a deterrent. Between my health card and some government mail, I was able to vote. I don't want this blog to become hugely political, so I won't speak on who I voted for. However, I already have a feeling that, no matter what the results are, emotions are going to run high, and when I speak on the winner, some of my views might leak out. This is a big election. Our neighbours to the south aren't the only ones with divisive politics.
That being said, anybody who knows me, my line of work, and my values wouldn't be too surprised by my political opinions, I don't think.
Friday, October 11, 2019
City Developments
I was in Brampton last weekend seeing my girlfriend and her family, and I got to learn a few things about the city.
One is that they have a large Indian population. We were thinking about seeing a movie, so I went online to check Brampton's only local theatre, which was a Silver City (sounds untrue, and admittedly, I'm going off some stuff I heard, as well as a quick Google search). After looking through their options, I asked if they had a large Indian population, which caught a few laughs. More than a few of their featured films were in Hindi or Punjabi, and when we went to the theatre, we were definitely in a distinct racial minority. However, the film we wound up seeing (a movie-length picture of the television show Downtown Abbey, held in England about 100 years in the past) attracted a Caucasian majority. My girlfriend assured me that only this specific film could bring together so many white people in Brampton.
Honestly, the Indian/Nepali-to-European-Canadian ratio didn't really make me uneasy, as it pretty accurately reflects the population of my townhouse complex. Felt right at home. I also think it's kind of cool that even a large corporation such as Cineplex Cinema's Silver City will tailor their film choices to the preferences of a local community.
Another thing I learned is that a certain area of Brampton, called Bramalea, is sorted into even smaller areas based on alphabetical order. So it starts with an A-section, where all the street names start with the letter "A", then moves to a "B" section, and progresses all the way to "P". Outside of the letters they never reached, it seems they never made an "I" area.
While we're looking at city development, there are a few things happening here in Kitchener.
First off, I'm not sure if I've already mentioned this some time back, but they're tearing down the Sears building that used to connect to one of our largest malls. I wouldn't have expected this to be controversial, but apparently a number of people considered this to be a heritage building, which commemorated "50's Shopping Culture".
The 50's still feel a little too early to be historic, but I guess historic things only get to be the way they are because nobody tears them down when they are only slightly old. I wouldn't have thought that "shopping culture" was something to protect, or on the way out, but I guess online shopping is now currently endangering the mall experience. It doesn't feel like it was too long ago that everyone was against Wal Mart for choking out local businesses. Now it seems that Amazon gets all the attention.
They are putting in a new Conestoga College campus where the old Market Square used to be. Market Square was this old shopping centre that used to be an Eaton Centre (Old Quebec Street Mall in Guelph apparently was also an Eaton Centre, so I feel like the age of Eaton Centres is passing). Because I have lived near, and have provided support close to this area, I have some knowledge of what remained of Market Square before these current events. When I subletted near it five years ago, their food court was full. Since then, everything except Mr. Wok and Grill Inn shut down. Two restaurants inside an otherwise empty food court.
I always wondered how the food court did so poorly when they were basically the cafeteria for Trios College, which is a little, less-renowned college that still seemed to hold a consistent attendance. They also had a successful and attached Goodlife Fitness gym, but those guys are never hungry.
On the first floor, there used to be an athletics shop that closed down and was never replaced. Otherwise, there was a spa, an electronics store, and a watch store.
They are calling the new Conestoga Campus "Kitchener Campus". Despite my school's building falling inside the borders of Kitchener, it is called Doon Campus, because "Doon" used to be it's own place before Kitchener absorbed it.
At Frederick Mall, they are closing Imagine Cinemas, which isn't a huge surprise to me, just because I couldn't see how they were possibly pulling a profit to begin with. They sold the cheapest tickets in town, at like, $7 a piece. They had two screens, and more often than not, I would have the theatre to myself. One time, they forgot to turn the lights off 20 minutes into a movie because they forgot anybody was in the audience. Somehow, they managed to keep themselves open since long before I arrived in Kitchener, but I guess it couldn't be sustainable.
Charles St Terminal has finally closed. I've felt pretty strongly about keeping you guys informed on this, even though it is completely uninteresting, just because this terminal was a place that I have spent a lot of time in over the years.
After the terminal stopped being used for local transit, they left the Transfers cafe and bar, and the information desk open. At this point, I really wondered if these businesses could remain open without the main local service running. Then, the information desk relocated to a nearby hotel, but the bar and cafe were still open, and business was better than ever. I guess just because of sentimentality as everyone knew they wouldn't be around for long. Then, the desk and bar closed, but they still had security custodial staff, working bathrooms, and a working drinking fountain. The homeless people that used hang around the terminal were also still there. However, this past month, they closed their doors entirely
Not everything is being torn down. In my neighborhood, they just opened a shawarma spot. Shawarma has become a popular fast food option in Kitchener, and I'm really glad that it has. However, somehow down the line, shawarma joints all decided to adopt poutine onto their menus, with "shawarma poutine" as a local, expected fusion food. I just wonder how Canadian Soul Food and Middle Eastern Cuisine managed to merge together so consistently in my area.
I mentioned in the past that Guelph paid big money to have these giant cement pigeons built near their bus terminal, made intentionally old-looking and with the same material as the city's Church of our Lady. Here is one of them:
I guess when building the new bus terminals to accommodate our Light Rail Transit, KW decided to take a leaf out of our book and decorate one of their main terminal with its most prevalent pest.
They don't get their own perch in the sky, but they are more vibrantly cloured! And for some reason, they put mulch under their feet, as if they are expected to grow like a plant. I'll let you guys decide which city has the more iconic representation for this common pest.
One is that they have a large Indian population. We were thinking about seeing a movie, so I went online to check Brampton's only local theatre, which was a Silver City (sounds untrue, and admittedly, I'm going off some stuff I heard, as well as a quick Google search). After looking through their options, I asked if they had a large Indian population, which caught a few laughs. More than a few of their featured films were in Hindi or Punjabi, and when we went to the theatre, we were definitely in a distinct racial minority. However, the film we wound up seeing (a movie-length picture of the television show Downtown Abbey, held in England about 100 years in the past) attracted a Caucasian majority. My girlfriend assured me that only this specific film could bring together so many white people in Brampton.
Honestly, the Indian/Nepali-to-European-Canadian ratio didn't really make me uneasy, as it pretty accurately reflects the population of my townhouse complex. Felt right at home. I also think it's kind of cool that even a large corporation such as Cineplex Cinema's Silver City will tailor their film choices to the preferences of a local community.
Another thing I learned is that a certain area of Brampton, called Bramalea, is sorted into even smaller areas based on alphabetical order. So it starts with an A-section, where all the street names start with the letter "A", then moves to a "B" section, and progresses all the way to "P". Outside of the letters they never reached, it seems they never made an "I" area.
While we're looking at city development, there are a few things happening here in Kitchener.
First off, I'm not sure if I've already mentioned this some time back, but they're tearing down the Sears building that used to connect to one of our largest malls. I wouldn't have expected this to be controversial, but apparently a number of people considered this to be a heritage building, which commemorated "50's Shopping Culture".
The 50's still feel a little too early to be historic, but I guess historic things only get to be the way they are because nobody tears them down when they are only slightly old. I wouldn't have thought that "shopping culture" was something to protect, or on the way out, but I guess online shopping is now currently endangering the mall experience. It doesn't feel like it was too long ago that everyone was against Wal Mart for choking out local businesses. Now it seems that Amazon gets all the attention.
They are putting in a new Conestoga College campus where the old Market Square used to be. Market Square was this old shopping centre that used to be an Eaton Centre (Old Quebec Street Mall in Guelph apparently was also an Eaton Centre, so I feel like the age of Eaton Centres is passing). Because I have lived near, and have provided support close to this area, I have some knowledge of what remained of Market Square before these current events. When I subletted near it five years ago, their food court was full. Since then, everything except Mr. Wok and Grill Inn shut down. Two restaurants inside an otherwise empty food court.
I always wondered how the food court did so poorly when they were basically the cafeteria for Trios College, which is a little, less-renowned college that still seemed to hold a consistent attendance. They also had a successful and attached Goodlife Fitness gym, but those guys are never hungry.
On the first floor, there used to be an athletics shop that closed down and was never replaced. Otherwise, there was a spa, an electronics store, and a watch store.
They are calling the new Conestoga Campus "Kitchener Campus". Despite my school's building falling inside the borders of Kitchener, it is called Doon Campus, because "Doon" used to be it's own place before Kitchener absorbed it.
At Frederick Mall, they are closing Imagine Cinemas, which isn't a huge surprise to me, just because I couldn't see how they were possibly pulling a profit to begin with. They sold the cheapest tickets in town, at like, $7 a piece. They had two screens, and more often than not, I would have the theatre to myself. One time, they forgot to turn the lights off 20 minutes into a movie because they forgot anybody was in the audience. Somehow, they managed to keep themselves open since long before I arrived in Kitchener, but I guess it couldn't be sustainable.
Charles St Terminal has finally closed. I've felt pretty strongly about keeping you guys informed on this, even though it is completely uninteresting, just because this terminal was a place that I have spent a lot of time in over the years.
After the terminal stopped being used for local transit, they left the Transfers cafe and bar, and the information desk open. At this point, I really wondered if these businesses could remain open without the main local service running. Then, the information desk relocated to a nearby hotel, but the bar and cafe were still open, and business was better than ever. I guess just because of sentimentality as everyone knew they wouldn't be around for long. Then, the desk and bar closed, but they still had security custodial staff, working bathrooms, and a working drinking fountain. The homeless people that used hang around the terminal were also still there. However, this past month, they closed their doors entirely
Not everything is being torn down. In my neighborhood, they just opened a shawarma spot. Shawarma has become a popular fast food option in Kitchener, and I'm really glad that it has. However, somehow down the line, shawarma joints all decided to adopt poutine onto their menus, with "shawarma poutine" as a local, expected fusion food. I just wonder how Canadian Soul Food and Middle Eastern Cuisine managed to merge together so consistently in my area.
I mentioned in the past that Guelph paid big money to have these giant cement pigeons built near their bus terminal, made intentionally old-looking and with the same material as the city's Church of our Lady. Here is one of them:
I guess when building the new bus terminals to accommodate our Light Rail Transit, KW decided to take a leaf out of our book and decorate one of their main terminal with its most prevalent pest.
They don't get their own perch in the sky, but they are more vibrantly cloured! And for some reason, they put mulch under their feet, as if they are expected to grow like a plant. I'll let you guys decide which city has the more iconic representation for this common pest.
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Solo SMG and Creepy Doll
This past weekend, I was asked to lead a Safe Management session. It was a recertification (people doing it the first time have to do 12-hours between two sessions, while people recertifying only have to do one six-hour session). There were only four people attending, which is the smallest course I've ever taught, and so far as I'm aware, there has never been a course taught with lower attendance.
I guess because of the low number, it was decided that only one facilitator was necessary. Normally, sessions are co-facilitated, but maybe because of the last-minute call to have me do a solo-session in June because my partner was sick, and because I did relatively alright, this has resulted in the organization having faith in me to lead my own sessions.
It helped that I knew most of the people in the course (I'm trying to be ambiguous, but "most of" four has to be three, so I knew three of them) and also, because the board room and I guess the resource room at the main office were booked, this means the session would be taught at WALES. My home turf.
During the session, we went over the Functions of Behaviour, abbreviated as SEATC (Sensory, Escape, Attention, Tangible, Communication). These are the five basic motivators for anyone to take action. It's not impaortant, but I feel that they missed out on the opportunity to use the abbreviation SCATE or STEAC.
I used the example of smoking as being a behaviour that serves multiple functions, being a Tangible (something physical) and also Sensory (release of tension). From there, it was brought up that it also serves as Escape (being able to take breaks from work), Attention (having a support group that comes together during smoke breaks), and Communication (having a group to bounce thoughts off of). From there, I had to concede that smoking apparently meets every function of behaviour.
At work, we found this creepy little doll attached to a magnet on our refrigerator. Here's a pic:
I later found it in our tuck shop cash register with a note attached to it "Hide me".
So I put it in our safe, which holds some of our members finances. Since then, it has been hung from a hook on the ceiling, it's been attached to our fire safety policy, it's been put in a glass cabinet beneath our TV, and it's been assimilated into a wall hanging, which is where I last found it.
In the past, I hung it from a bird feeder in our laundry room. This time around, I can't tell you
I guess because of the low number, it was decided that only one facilitator was necessary. Normally, sessions are co-facilitated, but maybe because of the last-minute call to have me do a solo-session in June because my partner was sick, and because I did relatively alright, this has resulted in the organization having faith in me to lead my own sessions.
It helped that I knew most of the people in the course (I'm trying to be ambiguous, but "most of" four has to be three, so I knew three of them) and also, because the board room and I guess the resource room at the main office were booked, this means the session would be taught at WALES. My home turf.
During the session, we went over the Functions of Behaviour, abbreviated as SEATC (Sensory, Escape, Attention, Tangible, Communication). These are the five basic motivators for anyone to take action. It's not impaortant, but I feel that they missed out on the opportunity to use the abbreviation SCATE or STEAC.
I used the example of smoking as being a behaviour that serves multiple functions, being a Tangible (something physical) and also Sensory (release of tension). From there, it was brought up that it also serves as Escape (being able to take breaks from work), Attention (having a support group that comes together during smoke breaks), and Communication (having a group to bounce thoughts off of). From there, I had to concede that smoking apparently meets every function of behaviour.
At work, we found this creepy little doll attached to a magnet on our refrigerator. Here's a pic:
I later found it in our tuck shop cash register with a note attached to it "Hide me".
So I put it in our safe, which holds some of our members finances. Since then, it has been hung from a hook on the ceiling, it's been attached to our fire safety policy, it's been put in a glass cabinet beneath our TV, and it's been assimilated into a wall hanging, which is where I last found it.
In the past, I hung it from a bird feeder in our laundry room. This time around, I can't tell you
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Bus Crash
Let's start this month right... with a blog post.
Last weekend, when I was coming back from Guelph, I was scheduled to have a meeting with the initial member of the Community Men's Group. I was going to catch a Greyhound bus at 2:00 and my meeting was at 5:00. The bus from Guelph to Kitchener is often an hour late (no exaggeration) and travel time is about half an hour. So even with an hour and a half buffer, I'd be getting in at 3:30, with the meeting being downtown, so I could attend it without going home first.
Predictably, the Greyhound was half an hour late. Unpredictably, on our way over, we were in a roundabout, and someone with a trailer swung out and took out our side mirror.
Trailer guy took off, but our driver had to stop, ask us to fill out some paperwork, contact local police, and get a new bus to pick us up.
I was unharmed. I'd heard the screeching of metal against metal, and that caused me to look up. I don't know who was at fault, but the fact that the guy with the trailer didn't stop is not a good look for him.
So they manage to have us get picked up by the next Greyhound passing us. At this time, I haven't eaten all day. I'd hoped to do so when I got to Kitchener, but by the time I arrived, I'd had just enough time to make it to my meeting.
The meeting went well, and we made plans for next week. However, it turns out that the place and time we held our meeting transitioned into an Open Space group, which is a spot where people come together to chat and play board games (mostly Uno). It's meant to be a spot where everyone is invited, but it has a bit of an emphasis on people with disabilities.
This particular night was Open Mic Night, and it turns out that I know a ton of people who perform on Open Mic Night. I didn't want to dip on anyone, so I wound up staying until 9:00.
Wound up ordering a pizza as soon as I got in, and that was my one meal for the day.
Last weekend, when I was coming back from Guelph, I was scheduled to have a meeting with the initial member of the Community Men's Group. I was going to catch a Greyhound bus at 2:00 and my meeting was at 5:00. The bus from Guelph to Kitchener is often an hour late (no exaggeration) and travel time is about half an hour. So even with an hour and a half buffer, I'd be getting in at 3:30, with the meeting being downtown, so I could attend it without going home first.
Predictably, the Greyhound was half an hour late. Unpredictably, on our way over, we were in a roundabout, and someone with a trailer swung out and took out our side mirror.
Trailer guy took off, but our driver had to stop, ask us to fill out some paperwork, contact local police, and get a new bus to pick us up.
I was unharmed. I'd heard the screeching of metal against metal, and that caused me to look up. I don't know who was at fault, but the fact that the guy with the trailer didn't stop is not a good look for him.
So they manage to have us get picked up by the next Greyhound passing us. At this time, I haven't eaten all day. I'd hoped to do so when I got to Kitchener, but by the time I arrived, I'd had just enough time to make it to my meeting.
The meeting went well, and we made plans for next week. However, it turns out that the place and time we held our meeting transitioned into an Open Space group, which is a spot where people come together to chat and play board games (mostly Uno). It's meant to be a spot where everyone is invited, but it has a bit of an emphasis on people with disabilities.
This particular night was Open Mic Night, and it turns out that I know a ton of people who perform on Open Mic Night. I didn't want to dip on anyone, so I wound up staying until 9:00.
Wound up ordering a pizza as soon as I got in, and that was my one meal for the day.
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