Second Transit Adventure, Home Office acoustics, Toronto Water Conservation, and a Rookie Mistake

I know that you have been very curious to know: yes, the acoustics in my little office space with its gigantic tiled mirror in front of the desk are fun.  Very resonant in pockets.  I think this is why the very random songs my portable hard drive plays get stuck in my head.  Some veeery odd ones recently.  The thing that ties them together is that they are catchy but sort of nonsensical.  "Escher's World" by Steve Taylor and "Double Cure" by Vigilantes of Love.

December and January faked me out, y'all.  I was outside on walks all the time.  Very little snow that never really stuck, lots of rain and then lots of clouds (cloudiest January on record, with maybe 4 days involving the sun the entire month).  I figured we were done with winter!  February was like, "'Scuse me, make room, here I am!"  Snow.  Cold.  Wind.  Even some great fog one day!  So, winter is not over, which, maybe is a good thing (see cyclist fears in previous post).

At first, I kept forgetting to take a bag with me when I walked down the street to get berries.  Then I realized that if I stuff a bag in the hood of every coat I wear, I will always have a bag.

(Yes, Mom, I fold it up and hide it. :)

I hope the Air Canada Express video is on Youtube or somewhere else on the internet.  Friends, it is a trip.

Toronto is interested in water conservation.  Along with suggesting you turn off the shower while you use your shampoo, they have other thoughts on how to save water!  I figured this was because they are a big city and want to do good things environmentally, but I have noticed that everywhere I go that has automated taps and toilets, there is always one that is malfunctioning.  Whenever you go into a stall to use one, it flushes at random an average of 4 times.  So, Toronto, if you want to conserve water, that might be a thing to look at?

I made a rookie mistake.  I ended up with two books that deal with the evils of imperial colonialism in a row.  (The vagaries of the library app and a weird hold queue.)  That's just too much rage and darkness in a row.  Had to listen to some podcasts to give my despair a break.

I went on a second transit adventure!  

I went to the gelato place and the sushi place and got the pocket sushi (above).  It was tasty.  But it's basically served on a bed of inarizushi, so how could it NOT be great?

I stopped at the bookstore to grab the second volume of the series I got last time (support your small businesses!!!) before hopping on transit for an hour and 36 minutes to get to the Pacific Mall.  

It's huge, and there are very many shiny things and much food.  A good place to walk in the winter for sure.  I . . . overdid the walking, but was not in as much pain as I was the previous time and was also in . . . different pain.  Like maybe some different muscles and whatnot were being challenged instead of just the normal ones that are hurty.

Most of the second floor is this area with lots of even tinier spaces for so many different types of food.  Just across (or around) this bridge.  Good times!

So much to look at!

The Pool Was on Fire, I'm Glad I Came in Winter and More On Square Bowls

Lest you think I am just being cranky about bowls in a shape I am not used to using, I will point out that square bowls are even more perfect for projectile spilling!

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At first I wasn't thrilled about coming here in winter and having to drive in winter weather, but it's been a weird weather winter here, so snow and ice have not been a problem.  I am a tad worried about the warmer weather, though, because that is when the bike lanes will be occupied, and I am NOT good with seeing cyclists.  This is clearly a big cycling area, and that is something I don't have experience with, either.  

I was on a walk and was carefully observing all the street signs to try to get familiar with them.  I was in a bit of a daze and crossed a small side street without checking for traffic due to sign rubbernecking.  Oh, I thought, as I got closer to one sign I've seen around but didn't recognize, this one means vehicles have to yield to cyclists on turns.  Wow.  Okay.

In front of me, a cyclist crashed his bicycle to avoid being smashed by an SUV that completely failed to yield on the turn and also failed to slow down.  The guy's bike was wrecked, his leg was chewed up by the road, and he was obviously hurting.  The guy in the SUV stopped and got out.

"I slowed down and acknowledged you!" he said in an accent I didn't recognize, as he stood directly under the sign that said he had to yield.  Bike guy didn't want to make a fuss, even though his expensive-looking bike was toast, so I didn't  leave him my contact info in case he needed a witness for the police report.

It's so easy to miss people moving in different modes and speeds.  I need to be more aware when I'm crossing streets and super aware when I'm driving.  It's nervewracking. Way more potentially lethal than spilling soup all over the place.

I use the community therapy pools here a couple times a week.  Only 2 because they have weird hours.  I get that I'm not their target demographic, but some more reasonable evening hours would be nice.  And their schedules change at different intervals.  While I was checking for upcoming hours, I saw that a pool I hadn't looked at before had new Saturday hours starting today, and they were better than the other pool's Saturday hours.  I decided to give it a try.

When I pulled into the parking lot, there seemed to be a lot of people milling around outside, even though it was below freezing.  "Ah, these hardy Canadians just like chatting outdoors in February.  More power to them."  Then more and more people started coming out.  Then I saw someone waving people away from the building.  Then the first of the five fire trucks showed up and started connecting their water hoses, and I realized the pool was on fire and thus not available for therapeutic swim time.  As I drove away around the other fire trucks, I saw some ill-fated life guards in their sleeveless lifeguard tees and swimsuits standing on the grass.  25 degree weather.  No shoes or coverings of any kind.  Good thing I was not there earlier when the pool first opened up.  Also a good thing that the other pool's hours started later, so I was still able to get in some PT.  I probably should have offered them a place to warm up in my vehicle.

Not pictured

I walk into the #1 gift shop in Toronto.

I inhale.

I flee, unable to breathe.

Definitely the #1 most fragrant gift shop in Toronto.

: )

My First Great Toronto Subway Transit Adventure, Part 2

There should be a rule that if you are a museum, you should have postcards of every piece of art in your collection, so that I may grab those instead of crappy photos.

This one felt like some sort of Pre-Raphaelite Impressionism.

So this one cracked me up.  Monet apparently stole the door out of his room at an inn and painted on it.  I'm imagining the innkeepers talking behind his back about needing to get half their wardrobe doors replaced after he's been through on a tear.

 

This one really needs to be seen.  It's stunning.  With lots of creepy elements thrown in.

There were ships!  Not the wooly kind.  : D  

My left foot was SO MAD at this point.  NO SITTING, NO STANDING, NO STRETCHING, JUST ANGER.

Went the wrong way.

Grabbed some yuzu tea and Hiroshima-style buns at Hattendo for Lunar New Year consumption.

Rested the foot.  The foot continued to be unimpressed by these efforts.

Went the right way.

Visited Anime Extreme.  Wow.  Got Myne to keep Natsume, Ed, and Al, and the other random clearance figures from my Borders days company.

I don't know why this cracked me up so much, but the attention to detail in the height differences was great.  Poor Tsukishima is the only one not in a standard-sized box.  : D

Went the wrong way.

Visited The Beguiling.  Books are more expensive here, dagnabbit.  Also, I'll have to transport them home. Must . . . Resist . . .

Went the right way. Unfortunately, I think this is near the college area, and everyone and their grandmothers were smoking.  Literally the first time I have been around anyone smoking since coming to Canada.  Did not miss it.  

Passed this bike shop.  I have questions.

Tried out the pocket sushi place where I . . . did not get sushi of any kind.  I wanted some salmon donburi (usually rice with some kind of protein and mayo-based sauce.  I got . . . something that was as much like actual donburi as their pocket sushi was like actual sushi.  So I shouldn't have been surprised, but my plan to eat half and take half home for lunch the next day was totally foiled.  The vegetables no doubt did me good, salted with my disappointed tears.  (I jest.)  The honey garlic karaage was outstanding, and I did not burn myself on it.  However, they mistakenly made twice as much as they were supposed to, and it wouldn't have survived a trip home.  So I ate way more than I was intending.

I stretched and rested my leg, which continued to be completely unappeased.

At that point it was only 5, and I got out my phone to see if any other places I had marked were in the area.  Several food places were, so NOPE to those.  "I could ride somewhere else on the subway to see some of the other places I wanted to check out," I thought with adorable enthusiasm.  Then I moved my leg an inch to test it.

"OW.  OW.  OW," throbbed my left foot in a very scream-y register that promised dark vengeance.  "Ha, ha," I thought, feeling a bit green and wondering if I would be able to walk to the streetcar to go home. "There is always next time!"

Limped slowly past a gelato place still serving gelato in February but didn't want to eat ever again. : D  Maybe next time.

Made it to the streetcar station and then onto the right streetcar!  Forgot to scan phone, then machine didn't want to scan phone, limped back to seat being held by scruffy, unkempt man who was feeling very chatty, which helped me take my mind off the official agony going on in my left leg.  

Eventually got onto the right subway train.  If anyone was giving me the stink eye, I sure didn't notice because the pain was at worrying levels.

Limped home to wash off, ice, and collapse.

Success?

My First Great Toronto Subway Transit Adventure, Part 1

I DID TRANSIT.

It was not without it's problems, but I did, eventually get on the right train legally where this lady gave me the stink eye for 10 stops.  I couldn't tell if it was my mask or my hair (greenish and very enthusiastically curly that day) or my bright green knee brace in an area where disability is generally not allowed to be visible or just ME, but every single time I looked around, she was glaring at me with displeasure while writing something.  I may be featured in an opinion piece somewhere about the downfall of western civilization in Toronto sometime soon.

I (eventually) transferred to the right street car.  Probably legally.  I read the fine print, and you only have to scan when getting on the streetcar on the street.  I'm still not sure how the transfers work, so mission not accomplished there.

Walked the wrong way.

The answer to the question where do you find postcards in Canada is Chinatown.

Chinese Bakery.  So much variety. So little cost!!!

Fueled up for art appreciation.  Then Appreciated some art.

Perfectly depicted sunset over water!

These guys behind Jesus look like real people!  Probably the painting's patrons?

The toenails!!!!

I'm a sucker for the dramatic thing where the characters in the foreground seem to be inhabiting another world.

I hope there is a Tumblr or something out there that collects awkward baby Jesus art from the middle ages, medieval, and renaissance pictures.  Some of these painters had clearly never seen a human child, and I love it.

You can't really tell, but the artist captured the woman's hair perfectly.  Let's not talk about the child.  (See above where we reference how many artists seem to have never seen actual human children.)

Your periodic reminder that masculinity is socially constructed!  : D  Also, that fabric.  Wow.