And That is True!

I have the plague. It started on Tuesday, a little cough at the office, chills at the restaurant. I went to bed and couldnt get warm. Now, 2 days later, I am worse, not better, than yesterday. I know I am pretty lucky; I honestly cant remember the last time I have felt this sick before. Now J-M has it too. We are collapsed on our couches. This has been going around the office, so at least my employer is sympathetic. Later I (we) will venture out in pursuit of a thermometer. Hopefully I make it that far.

This is a story of a friend we all know and love. She shall, however, remain nameless.

She has two jobs. The idea is to work an average of 40 hours a week. She knew there would be long days in there somewhere. A couple of days ago, on her third 12 hour day in a row, our friend was working at her chicken restaurant job. It was busy, really busy. She was tired. She was in a hurry. She was entering the kitchen with a tray full of glasses and a handful of dishes. And then, all of a sudden, she felt her feet slide out from under her. She briefly saw a flash of the yellow wet floor sign. Shoot. Should have seen that sooner. She hit the floor with a crash of dishes, and to the shock of all her coworkers. Laying on her side on the greasy floor of the chicken restaurant, she thought to herself “I give up”, and rested her head on the floor for a brief second.

Then she jumped up, tried to start cleaning her mess, and tried to hold back the tears that of course sprung up immediately. Everyone told her to sit, but there was no where to sit. Someone gave her a clean, dry cloth, she cant remember who. She took it to the bathroom, had a bit of a cry, and washed her face with cool water. Then, she went to face the music. The mess had been cleaned up, so she just went back to work. She tried to ignore the funny looks from customers. Our friend has pale, pale skin that turns REALLY red when she cries.

What a stupid night it was. Good thing that her coworkers are all really nice, and even shared some embarrassing stories of their own.

She got off of work, and walked to the local 24 hour coffee shop for a latte to make her feel better. Then she went home and laid on the air mattress in the living room (did I mention she’d beeen without a bedroom for 3 nights) and watched TV until her hubby got home at 11.

In the movies, Ive seen skateboarders grabbing onto bumpers of cars and hitching a ride. I am sure you have too.

The other day I saw a skateboarder hitching a ride on an electric wheelchair. Yup. Thats right. A wheelchair towing a skateboarder down the sidewalk.

Now Ive Seen Everything

Today, as I was waiting for the bus, I saw something funny. Something that made me think to myself – “only in Vancouver”. That is why it qualified for Now I’ve Seen Everything (NISE).

I know, I know. What did I see?

I saw a cement truck.

A cement truck advertising Granville Island Public Market.

A cement truck with its drum painted like a giant strawberry, advertising Granville Island Public Market.

I just shake my head.

I guess others have noticed the uniqueness of the truck. I didnt have a camera, but someone else did. Here is a picture:

…my poor body is trying to get used to all of this change.

A month ago, I worked regular hours, slept at the same time each day, and ate 3 meals and 3 snacks a day.

Lets move to the present, shall we? I work 1-5pm on weekdays at the accounting firm. Then, I work a few evening shifts at Swiss Chalet, and split shift Saturdays. Oh, and the cat (love her to bits) wakes me up at around 3 or 4 each morning, sucking on my ear lobes. And she is relentless. This goes on for the rest of the morning, usually.

So with work all over the place, J-Ms schedule even more wacko, and lack of deep sleep, I am tired, either hungry when I shouldnt be or not hungry when I should be, and I feel like I could just fall over and sleep. So I will… just as soon as J-M gets home.

Sorry I am complaining, but this is my blog, and I’ll complain if I want to. Right? Right.

Goodnight!

Okay. So, I am pretty sure no one saw me do this, but if they did…. they probably got a pretty good laugh.

I consider myself to be good at parking. Parallel parking has always been pretty easy for me. But for some reason, I have trouble parking underground at our new place. It is pretty tight under there, and our spot is barely big enough for our car – our little car. Ive only actually had to park there a couple of times, because we rarely use our car anymore, and when we do, J-M almost always drives.

BUT, on Tuesday, Maisy (the kitten) got a cold. When we took her home the first time, her sister had a cold already, and they told us to watch and see if she got it, and then to bring her in if she did. So, because I start work at 1pm these days, I took her into the SPCA on Tuesday morning, while J-M was at school.

So, we just get home, and I pull into the underground, and I start to back into the stall. Except, of course, I line up wrong. No big deal, except it is so tight in there that i dont have much room to correct. I ended up going back and forth maybe 15 or 20 times before I finally made it into the spot. Oh brother.

Do you remember this part of the movie Austin Powers? Thats what it was like.

How embarrassing. Fortunately, I pull in just as a car comes. I would have hated to have had an audience for that one. So, I get out of the car, and walk around to the other side to get Maisy. Then, I stop. And look. Something is wrong. I AM IN THE WRONG PARKING SPOT! John-Mark’s bike lock is dangling in the spot next to the one I just parked in, mocking me. Great.

So, I get back in the car, start the engine, and do it all over again. This time it went a bit easier. Marginally easier. Okay, it was a disaster as well. But I finally did it, and am humbled. Apparently, being a good parker in Abbotsford means nothing. This is the big city now.

And we love her! We dont have a name yet, so for now she is just kitty. She likes to keep us up at night, and this morning she used my stomach as a climbing post. She likes to play with shoelaces and she likes to cuddle and purr!

Now Ive Seen Everything!

Living in Vancouver has taught me one thing so far. There are some weird people and things to see out there. I would like to hi light some of thee best things I see for you. (I feel as though I am free to do this because I contribute to the strangeness at times, too.)

So today!? The Wham-bam-bulance. I discovered this one while on a run the other day. It is an old ambulance that has been converted to a party wagon of sorts. The message on the back? “Thank you ma’am”.

I dont think J-M believed me on this one until he saw it for himself. But its true. And ridiculous.

As a general rule, I dont like mini golf. But yesterday, the hubby and I went on a date . To Castle Fun Park. And we mini golfed. And it was actually kind of fun. I have been trying to figure out what was different about this experience . I think it is because this time I left my purse in the trunk of the car, so I didnt have to lug it around 18 holes. I think that is the worst part. I am still thinking this through though. And, we did the outside course. Outside is way better than dingy basement.

Im not sure about this new discovery: that I dont hate mini golf. I dont really like it or anything; but I dont hate it.

Who am I?