anyresemblance

Life is just

I was taking my rubbish out yesterday evening while my Neighbour was saying goodbye to his visitors. He took me into to see his orchard - cherries, peaches, pecans, pomegranates. He says the gang gangs love the pecans. He gave me a load of cherries. I think we're going to be very happy.

Rolling on down the road

Despite leaving the house at 5.15 am yesterday, it still took me 4+ hours to get to North Sydney yesterday.  Traffic is number one reason not to live in Sydney.

I dropped off the car and a load of household stuff to the kid yesterday, worked at the house of my new team member in the morning (beautiful leafy suburbs of North Sydney), went to the office, met the kid after work, had dinner and saw her new apartment (beautifully maintained old block, great space), drove home (3 hours, no traffic) and was in bed shortly after midnight.  And still woke at 4am.  Damn you, jet lag. 

I tried to wriggle out of, but still have to go to Sydney on Friday.  This time, I'm flying.

The new house is hot with lots of north facing windows (hot times for us southern hemisphere-rs) and the weather is wrongly hot for spring (damn you, climate change) so we need to do some fixings on that.

 

Discombobulated

I think my brain is somewhere over the mid-Pacific.  I had to do a call this morning at 4am which made sense last week when my calendar was on Canadian time but less so last night when I realised how it translated to home time zones.  I did not have much to say.

I stayed awake and took the kid to work, walked the dog and did two more calls all before 8.30am.  Now I am shattered.

In a quiet moment (that is, 2.30 pm Monday afternoon), the kid and I went to the newly opened Ikea.  We stood behind the wrong person in the checkout queue.  I think he was buying a kitchen.  After ten minutes we switched queue "it's not you, it's me", I trilled.  He pretended to weep.  Things are very civilised in Ikea.  

We got two rugs, a storage unit, a lampshade, a chair, a kitchen clock, a picture frame (wrong size), a colander and some christmas lights.  All are pleasing and since I have lost the receipt already, the picture frame will have to stay.  I am glad to say I had minimal input into assembling the shelving unit and it looks a treat (kallax, in case you're interested and it is good to have the cables from the router hidden behind it).

Space Time Continuum

I hear David Jones is in strife for its less than traditional Christmas windows. They should try the Hudson Bay Store ones in Toronto which are very Victorian down to the scary glass eyes dolls. I enjoyed spotting the small animals in each vignette. This one was a no brainer with a collie.

I'm home. Sadly no upgrades but good dinner in the LA qantas lounge. I slept most of it and in transit for home. Then do it all again.

Saganaki

Fried cheese is the bomb, especially when eaten on a return to city life from the suburbs. We escaped Markham and stated downtown again. I could feel my blood pressure lowering as we hit the city limits. Had a beautiful dinner at a great Greek restaurant and left with a recommendation on where to get coffee in the morning. Life is good.

Boom

This portable UE roll is hands down my favourite tech acquisition this year after my noise cancelling headphones. I have the bigger UE boom at home. It's not the biggest one but it has a great sound. I tried taking it on a trip but it was just too heavy and I worried for its safety. I saw this smaller flying saucer one and bought it without hesitation. It's super easy to connect, brilliant battery life (charges via USB port) and clear sound. I couldn't be happier.

Sad dinner

I've had Ding Tai Fung all over Asia so was excited to discover it in this wasteland. Sadly it was a bad one with rubbery dumplings and no beer:(

Falls

Yes, it was unlikely I would climb over the fence towards this. Being at the end of a tawdry strip of cheap gift shops does not diminish the power of Niagara Falls. I was last there during grad school ( so many years) but this was in no way less impressive. I feel quite exhausted by all that water and remembering how those lakes are bigger than many seas

Ice capers

The time zones are challenging me since this is the longest weekend ever. I slept like a person who's been traveling for 24
hours should sleep.

Toronto strikes me as the kind of place that's not very flashy to a tourist but very pleasant to live. We had dinner in a neighborhood restaurant the night before and I was struck by the easy diversity, ages, gender, ethnicity and casual conversations in English and French.

The ice hockey was fun. The maple leafs won, our seat Neighbour patiently explained the rules, there was a minutes silence for the people affected by the terrorist attack in France, scrupulously observed, beer and lots of energy.

Northern lights

It's still only Friday here in Canada despite a 27 hour journey starting on Friday morning. Here now. Hotel valet from Jindabyne. Go figure. Just had dinner in a jazz bar, beautiful crowd, great singer, Friday night city lights. Ice hockey tomorrow.