Solstice Morning

This morning I had a 5:30 am start at work. (the first such early start I have had in months)

I decided to avoid the "Zoo Bus" entertainments for the morning and I took my bike to work. I left the house at about 5:00 am and the sky was just starting to lighten. It was cool and fresh and there were almost no cars on the road, so I cranked up to a big gear and zoomed down town.

My cycling computer is not working so I'm not sure how fast I was going but I suspect it got up to 35+ KM Per Hr.

As I headed down Spadina towards Bloor in the distance I could hear singing, and As I passed the Native Canadian Center Of Toronto I saw two native men preforming a ceremony on the lawn. Together they sang a native chant while one of them beat on drum and the other tended to a small fire. As I passed them I could smell the burning wood and sage, and It made me absurdly happy I was smelling those sacred things instead of the usual down town stench.

I did nothing to officially mark the solstice yesterday, but even though it was a day late my sweeping by the Native Center Shamen made me feel like I acknowledged it today.

whats your pirate name?

My pirate name is:

Dread Pirate Bonney

Like the famous Dread Pirate Roberts, you have a keen head for how to make a profit. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

There but for the grace of god go I.

The Starbucks I work in is in the middle of down town Toronto, in, what is occasionally a dicey neighbourhood. There are a lot of homeless people about, and the close proximity of an off track betting facility makes for a constant stream of shady characters.

Our Garbage bin is located in the back of our building in a carport. The back of the car port had become a cardboard and scrap wood home to some of the homeless people in the neighbourhood.

Yesterday I was on Garbage Duty and was ferrying numerous bags to the dumpster in the back of the building. During my trips I could hear the voice of a woman in the back of the building. The woman’s voice was not distressed, so I paid little attention to it and went about my business, until the woman peeked at me over the edge of the rough cardboard shelter and said something to the effect of “we’re just leaving.” I wasn’t sure what she was doing back there, turning a trick or sharing some drugs, but with the next load of garbage I found a young woman about my height in front of the garbage bin. She was filthy, wearing a tee shirt and underwear with her shoes, pants and purse on the floor next to her. She looked to be heavily under the influence of something.

I asked her if she was alright and if she needed an ambulance. She told me that she was fine, but could I possibly find her some food, as she was very hungry. I went back to the store and rummaged around in the fridge. (We keep out of date, (but still good) pastries for shelters to pick up.) I realized that for someone who was drunk or high, her stomach was probably rolling and pastries might not be a good plan. So I grabbed my wallet, told my shift supervisor I would be a moment and found the closest barbeque restaurant. I got a big plate of rice and roasted pork, (simple carbs and some protein) a can of gingerale (always helps my belly when it rolling) and a bottled water. I brought those back to her and she hugged me.

(A hug I must admit I did not return too enthusiastically as I was afraid of picking up lice.)

I wish there was something more I could do for that poor creature.

Ah.. and just as a reminder of how fortunate and lucky I am. I got news from Elmcreast today. I needed 75% to pass my test and go to school in September.

I got 85%.

Feeling just a bit in awe of just how lucky I am.

Tests, Pirates and Bikes

Riding the median
Originally uploaded by igal_lel

The weekend was an interesting roller coaster.

Saturday morning I was supposed to have my test at Elmcrest fist thing in the morning, and then in the afternoon I was supposed to have a practical lesson on Massage.

The teacher who was giving the practical and supervising the test arrived and apologized to the class, There had been a bit of a mix up and the test had not been printed yet. We had the practical class first and then we would have the test.

Oh Joy.

Yes certainly, please go right ahead and extend my agony (and the agony of twenty other people in this room) by another four hours.

No problem.

Finally we got the test, and I am feeling superstitious about saying it (or blogging in for that matter) but I feel, well... pretty darn good.

*crosses fingers*

(wont know the results until the end of the week. Hurumph.)

Saturday night Igal and I got together with Chris and had dinner at Murphy's Law and went across the street to the movie theater to see the third installment of "Pirates of the Caribbean". The plot had holes you could drive a freight train through, but it was still good fun any way . If you are looking for some mindless entertainment I highly recommend it, just don't expect it to make a lot of sense. There were entire scenes, characters and plot devices that the three of us later agreed, added nothing to the telling of the story.

Very pretty, but not so much with the the plot.

After the movie we drove Chris home and got the grand tour of the new house by Chris and his shmoopie Albert. Though I felt like we could talk all night with Chris and Albert we headed home to get ready for the Becel Ride for Heart the next morning.

Sunday Morning we got a call from Lana at 6am. She wanted to know if we were on our way to the start of the ride. We were riding the 50 K loop and not the 75K loop so our start time was at 8:15 am and not 7:15 am like Lana had been led to believe.

We told Lana to wait for us and I rolled over and went back to sleep. We arrived in plenty of time for our start, but Lana was nowhere to be found. After a flurry of cellphone calls (god how did we ever survive before cell phones?) We found out that Lana had gotten cold sitting around and waiting for us and so she left without us.

Wench.

Last year I had resolved to get a fancy road bike and "smoke Lana's Ass" on this ride.

Sadly Lana's ass was nowhere to be found.

Next year Lana... I'll be ready for you....

The Haggis and I had a wonderful (and FAST) ride. My fancy road bike made me very happy and the Haggis borrowed a Co-workers very squeaky but functional road bike. we shaved a solid half hour off our time and reached speeds of 43 KM per hour.

WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

There are two more rides like that this year.
I want to to both of them.