I arrived late on Thursday night to find Sean and his car enveloped in a cloud of second-hand cigarette smoke, but smooching him was as sweet as a mule eating an apple despite the offensive odor.
I worked all day on Friday, which was a little taste of the telecommuter life I will have once I move to T Bay. It went well. I spoke to most of the people that I normally speak to on the phone in any given day and then had lots of quiet time to "work" rather than "talk". You see, most of my desk time usually gets eaten up by people who see that my door is open and so they come to talk to me. 99% of the time it's about work and we solve "work" problems while we're speaking, but I usually have some more traditional "work" to do during that time (ie: reading reports, composing a communication, putting the finishing touches on my plan to take over the company and rename it SeylerCorp 9000, LLC - we would manufacture more Seyler's for the world through cybernetic generation, not breeding farms. It's part of my larger plan to take over the world). I actually got to do some work, so that was nice. I think I'm going to be one of those people who ends up being more productive when they work at home. Yay for independent decision-making!
On Friday evening, Sean and I ventured to a place called United States (you may have heard of it) to pick up some jazz we bought on the Interweb (another place you may have heard of). We had a little bit of static at the border because we didn't have receipts for everything, but luckily the border guard was a kind soul and she let us go with a stern warning to bring receipts next time. I think that it helped that she was a 20-something girl who seemed to be of a similar demographic to us (hipster wannabe in funky clothes beneath her flak jacket). I wonder if things would have been different if we were smelly, toothless truckers that said "hello, little lady. I'd pick you up from the side of the road if you were hitch-hiking".
A great sign that we saw on the way into the US.
I see an apple and something citrusey (fruit and/or veggie), a plant (plants), a ham and some sausages (meat), but where does the parrot fit into this picture? Is a parrot considered a recommended source of meat in Minnesota?
Once we got back into cell coverage (there is none for about 50 miles outside of Thunder Bay), we received good e-news that our conditional house sale had firmed up on Friday afternoon. There's one condition that we need to take care of before the end of November but the sale is final unless Sean and I fail to uphold our end of the bargain. Woot. Now we just need to find a place in Thunder Bay.
On Saturday, we went for a hike in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park which is about an hour away from Thunder Bay. We hiked with some of the people from the medical school and one of their friends. It was a great day for a hike - mix of sun and cloud and a bit cool. My new hiking boots held up quite nicely and were comfy the whole way. We ate lunch by the lake and then hiked back out. Check out the picture below for some stereotype-enrichment. This is a photo of me being SWARMED by bugs. Oddly enough, I was the only person in our group to be of such interest to the bugs. Perhaps they too are attracted to the smell of Toronto?
On our way home, we stopped at Thunder Bay lookout, which provides a beautiful view of Thunder Bay. The lookout has a platform that hangs out over the edge of the cliff. It's kind of scary. It reminded me of the time I went up the CN Tower and stood on the glass floor. You know nothing's going to happen, or will it? Will you plunge to your death? Will that 8 year old who is jumping on the glass cause it to break? The only way to find out is to walk to the edge. Here's a picture of Sean and I both looking unnatural because we're not used to hanging over a cliff...more specifically, I'm not used to sharing the platform that hangs over the cliff with a 300lb man.
Sunday we ate too much and then on Monday, we slept it off. I left early in the morning on Tuesday :(
In all seriousness, Thunder Bay is different from anywhere I lived before, with the exception of the fact that there are few parallel roads (sound familiar, K-Wers?). There are so many bungalows. So many. It's like Nanabosho (aka The Sleeping Giant) planted a whole bunch of house seeds and in the 1950s-1970s they all germinated and bloomed into beautiful, one-storey houses that "show beautifully" and "have lots of updates". Unfortunately, neither Sean or I want to live in a bungalow. Oh Nanabosho...can't you help us find suitable housing like you helped the Ojibwai find silver in your hills oh so many years ago?
Now for your weekly dose of Robo. I heard the unmistakable sign of the toilet tank lid clanking, so I grabbed my camera because I knew something funny was going on. Robo chased his tail for a good two minutes of video. The only real action happens in the first 20 seconds or so when he bonks his head on the toilet. The rest is just mindless spinning. He's so close to falling off on many occasions, but he defies gravity.
Posts
AHAHAH in-dog. in-dog sister.
ReplyDeletegreat picture of tbay by the way. and robo is the greatest cat ever.