One For The Books

Ok, so I had a 9am flight this morning. Last time I flew the the US, I got there 1 1/2 hours early and they laughed at me - the gate agent laughed, the security people laughed - literally laughed, I am not being facetious. With my Nexus card, it's just not necessary to be there that early.

Since 4 days of parking is cheaper than 2 cab rides, I figured I'd save my company some money on this trip. I left my house 2 hours before my flight. I got to the airport with 1 hour and 40 minutes to spare. I go into the wrong parking lot. I get out and then try to find the correct parking lot. Which is a maze of roads and wrong turns. I finally get there, get a spot and stand at the shuttle bus stop. I am waiting, and waiting. Then I notice no one else is waiting. Turns out they no longer use the shuttle bus. You have to walk to the far end of the poorly lit parking lot to the train.

So, I finally get into the terminal. It's a big, beautiful terminal, with rows and rows of counters. Which one? I get into one - wrong line. I'm sent to another. I get into that one - wrong line. I'm sent to another all the way at the other end of the terminal. I finally get up to the counter, it's now 45 minutes before my flight and at 60 minutes, they cut it off. I cannot get on the plane.

As the agent told me, Air Canada does things differently than every other airline and, even though none of this information is on your ticket, you are required to know it and adhere to it. You must be through 2 complete lines and check ins prior to 60 minutes before your flight, or you not be allowed to continue with the process. So, I missed my flight. And it looks like my Nexus card does not save any time on Air Canada. So, after my rescheduled flight this afternoon and my flight home, looks like I will not be flying on them again.

Oh, and it took me 45 minutes to get back home because I was now in 9am traffic.

Absinthe, Fur, Dancing and Snow

I went to the Gourmet Food and Wine Show. I assumed I would be eating all day. Boy, was I wrong. It was the wine and alcohol show, with a little bit of food if you could find it show. I started double-fisting at the second booth. They had some $80 bottles of scotch. Very nice. The one I had was aged 10 years in port barrels. They also had one in sherry barrels and others. Naturally, I could not chug the fine scotch (it was only 11am), so I had to get another glass so I could sample other things. I had wine, port and absinthe. Yes, the stuff from wormwood that the bohemians drank in the 18th century that made them go blind and crazy. They assured me the refining process has improved since then and there is no more chance of turning insane. It comes out green. You add equal parts water and it turns cloudy. Didn't taste nearly as strong as it was. It was only later I found some food.

I have been taking private dance lessons to learn Viennese Waltz and they have been going well. I covered the entire bronze and silver syllabus and most of the gold in my first 2 lessons. Now it's just technique and trying to remember everything once I am there.

I bought a fur coat. M and I spent the day shopping and we each got one. She took hers home, mine is being custom made. I should have it shortly. I cannot wait. People are laughing at me because I am wearing 2-3 layers now and they say this is nothing. I will be prepared.

It snowed on Thanksgiving. We got a few inches. It was nice. I was brave and walked around doing errands for over an hour. It's gone know, but supposed to snow again later today. I was impressed - they had new industrial-strength carpet installed in my lobby and the elevators by 3:00 that day. (We have tile floors and it would be too slippery if left alone). Oh, and I finally turned my heater on Thanksgiving. It got down to 71, so I turned it on.

I went out for dinner with friends on Thanksgiving. We had turducken! These Canadians actually think we gluttonous Americans eat turducken. I explained it's more of an urban legend than a meal. It was good. Personally, I would have liked more duck in mine. For those of you who don't know, it's a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken, with stuffing in between each layer - turducken.

I baked all day Friday, then we went to a place that's famous for their burgers. Really good, creative burgers. I had blue cheese with walnuts and roasted garlic. Saturday we went to a Sex And The City party. It was run by 2 groups. After the show, they had a discussion about the topics brought up in the show. Then they had a hugging lesson. No, I am not kidding. A woman wearing braided pigtails (yes, a grown woman wore braided pigtails in public on a Saturday night!) and started to teach us about the different types of hugs. I say started because it was at that point me and my friends left.

So that brings me up to date. I leave Thursday to NC for our office holiday party. Back home Sunday. But only for 1 week, as I am off to Florida the following Sunday.

Hope ya'll had a good Thanksgiving!

Oops

I FOUND SOMETHING CHEAPER IN CANADA!!!!
My second electric bill has come in. $120 for 3 months. That's right, $40/month. Woohoo!

Now, for the other highlight of my week.......
So, there's this copper pipe in my cabinet that's to nothing. I am assuming it's from the old dishwasher when they redid the kitchen. Why did they run new pies instead of using the old one? Why did they leave this pie 3/4 of the way into the cabinet? Why did they make a hole in the new cabinet and not just cut the pipe off?

I do not know the answer to these questions, but the heating guy was here and I figured he'd have a copper pipe cutter. Which he did and graciously let me borrow. This should take no more than 5 minutes. So, I look at the pipe and notice there's a valve. Now, I KNOW that you always cut AFTER the valve. I know this. And started to cut there. But I want to get rid of this pipe, as it cuts my limited cabinet space. And this is a pipe to nothing, so I cut before the valve.

Suddenly, very hot water starts spewing out. Cuss words quickly follow. I grab a towel and a phone. I call the office and tell them I need the Super immediately, as I have broken a pipe. He comes running - literally. He tries turning off the water at the valve. I tell him it will not work, but he knows better. So, he ignores me. Finally he realizes that I am right and takes my ladder and disappears for 10 minutes. Comes back - he's turned the water off for the whole building! He calls the plumber and tells me he'll be back in about an hour. Plumber arrives and caps off the pipe properly (see I did get my way afterall, with the pipe is now close to the cabinet) and he replaced my other shut off valves.

6 soaking wet towels, many pots of water, and a few hours later, all is well. Now, I'm just waiting to see if I get a bill from the plumber.

Happy Halloween!

So, I went to Church and Wellesley for Halloween. That's the heart of the Gay Village here. There was a huge street party and for the first time I did not see a single naked man. There were more drag queens than usual, but that's to be expected with it being Halloween. There were some amazing costumes. The 3 flamingos were the best. The 3 of them painstakingly glued individual feathers into themselves to create those beautiful costumes. My friend took pictures, so I hope to add some soon.

It was cold by my place, so I dressed in my ski pants, ski jacket, goggles and went as a skier. But with all those people, I was hot. Speaking of hot, I still have not had to turn on my heater, despite it being around freezing at night. It stays a toasty 74 degrees in my place. In fact, I have the windows open right now because I'm hot.

They had 2 snow plows out yesterday morning. I have no idea why, maybe to service them and get them ready? There's certainly no snow and no forecast for snow, but I was a bit concerned.

Dance class tonight, shopping in the US tomorrow. Have a great weekend everyone!