Days 232 to 243: Goodbye April!

Day 232 and after a short drop off to Seneca King City I was in the pool for a dip. Seneca is a bit of an anomaly; a shallow end that is at 10 feet and a well that goes down to 40 feet. It allows for great training opportunities and a really cool view if you lay at the bottom and just watch the bubbles float up.

I find after the pool that I just need to relax and thus it was another session of Come Dine with Me. Dave Lamb’s announcing, honestly, is what makes it even better for me. Which leads into our next story.

Following a nice round of tennis on Day 233 to burn off some steam, it was time for experimental cooking. I made a chicken dish with rice. I’m not a huge cook but I have vowed to make things more often, if only because I’ve started reading labels on the sides of food packaging! Besides, Hans and Helga weren’t going to complain!

Day 234 and I met up with a good friend and headed off to see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Now yes, I’ve read the second and third tomes in the trilogy. And yes, I’ve already seen the movie when I was overseas in New Zealand. However it was somewhat cheap Tuesday and I wanted to see it again. The movie didn’t let down! And now I need to find some time to sit and watch the second movie as I have a copy at home.

Day 235 and my public transport “fun” continued. The Seneca pool is on a bus route and for the cost of $3.25 I was able to travel for 45 minutes to get there. I was the only one on the connecting bus route in fact, which gave me plenty of room for my gear! And at the pool, I got to test someone on underwater communication. Some of you who might have seen diving on tv understand some basic symbols whether you know it or not – thumbs up means go up, thumbs down means go down, the thumb and index finger in a circle mean ok. But how do you say “watch out for the boat” and “your tank strap is loose”? This is advanced communication… because buying underwater walkie talkies just aren’t cheap.

Day 236 allowed me to catch up with another group of sporty types – my ultimate Frisbee friends. Many were very interested to hear about my wild travels, and we also ended up being able to form a team of about 15 players, which is great because it allows for a) subs during the games and b) people being allowed to be away on a Sunday, because, y’know, sometimes people travel on the weekends! I would have normally gone out for a celebratory meal but at that point I was bushed and just decided to take it easy.

Day 237 and it was off to the GO bus to get to Barrie for breakfast. Usually my dive club will do a Friday dive, but seeing as the weather hadn’t turn nice (ie. water being tolerably warm!) we had a meal instead. Not that I minded; Golden Griddle has cheap filling pancakes.

That evening was filled with more Frisbee. It was a bit of a hike to get to the park – about 45 minutes by foot traffic, but seeing as I’ve felt more energetic this year with all of the travelling I’ve done, I didn’t really mind. We ended up mostly just throwing the disc around. Which was perfectly fine! Following practice my friends Jessica and Kevin invited me over for dinner and it turns out that not only was I their first houseguest in their new abode, but a former coworker from years ago lives across the street! Life’s funny that way.

Day 238 and it was something I was waiting for quite awhile… it was Introduction to Commercial Diving!!!

Shortly after arriving at Seneca at 10 am we started with some information regarding to the program, which is great as there is one of our younger members who is quite interested in getting involved.

At around 11 am we got to hop in the pool. This is my third time participating in the day long adventure, and it is always a bit bizarre to put on a helmet and realize that I’m physically connected to the surface with both air and communication lines as opposed to the old mask and regulator.

Following the helmet experience I was able to go into a recompression chamber.

Now let’s get one thing straight: if you’re going into a chamber on purpose, that’s fine. It’s all nice and dandy – we went down to 60 feet, you get a bit giddy, you sound like Alvin, Simon or Theodore and it’s all well and good.

HOWEVER you don’t want to go there by accident… that means you violated diving protocol! So don’t do that. All in all a fun exciting day!

Following this literary giant Sarah Brebner came to my house and we watched the Sens lose in the playoffs (this is how far I’m behind in writing, folks).

Day 239 rolls around and having fallen asleep during a late night showing of Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle I am feeling rested up. Sarah leaves, I get some stuff done and H&H invite me upstairs for a turkey dinner. It’s not Easter, but hey, I don’t complain.

Day 240 and I should explain something. I have been feeling inspired to cook, and that’s what this day is all about. I make mini meat loaves and salmon fish cakes, the latter of which I saw on Come Dine. They actually taste wonderful but I wonder how low-fat they aren’t! Later on my car-less life continues with a visit to the shopping plaza. A quick zip around is all I need! They seem a bit overwhelming at times, that’s for sure.

Day 241 wouldn’t you know it – back up to Barrie. I spend the day with my friend doing odd jobs, including a run to the dump (it’s always fun to launch really big things into really bigger bins), taking inventory on dive stock, and a run up to his cottage.

I also got an email saying that I was officially invited to be part of the Reach for the Top provincial and national tournaments! Score. This is something that I could really sink my teeth into.


Day 242 marked a milestone in my diving career. I had heard about someone in Toronto (among other divers) that had previously gotten in one dive a month for a year… something that I could never accomplish being busy with work, and the fact that February was impossible to dive in. HOWEVER seeing as I had a year off and all that, on this day I logged my April dive and I had pulled it off! Sweet.

To celebrate my buddy and I went to A&W to have a nice lunch. While we were there, a lady came in and identified her (then) eight year old son in one of the murals on the wall! Go figure.

Day 243 and it was time to get back to Newmarket, because I was heading off the next day to other pastures. Go for a bike ride, check, get bus pass, check. Run into Shermet.

Huh?

Shermet was one of the students where I used to teach and it was great to run into him. He had come over from Kosovo about seven years ago and had been working in North Bay until the airline he worked for went out of business. It was great to hear from him and I hope he does well!

I also dropped over to the volunteer fair in Newmarket. I am hoping to make some more time for volunteering in my life, as I feel it is very important.

NEXT TIME! May enters!

Cheers,

Vick

Days 226 to 231: Slowly but surely I'm catching up!

Please understand that I have had a hectic April - many things happened - so the neglecting of the blog was not what I wanted!

In any case, here we go.

Day 226 and it was back at the start of the work week so I dipped in to see some friends and get some chores finished up because for Day 227 (no, not the tv series) I was heading to La Belle Province and beautiful Montreal!

My day started, as it has many a trip downtown early, riding the GO train. My usual gang of friends was there and it was great to catch up with them in regards to my trip in the South Pacific. A short walk after the train disembarked and I was ready to ride the MEGA! BUS! MEGABUS! to Montreal. Frankly I'd rather take the train but for $22 CDN all in you really can't go wrong.

I was able to get a seat on the top near the front so I could watch the world go by. I ended up chatting to a student that goes to Queen's Uni in Kingston and he was looking at going to New Zealand so we had some good discussions. Following his departure and a nap I arrived on the bus near the Berri-UQAM metro station in Montreal. I dropped over to my hostel to discover this sign outside:

They were taping a movie adaptation of the popular Quebec TV series Lance et Compte! I swear I don't try to figure these things out.

Following a short walk by the Bell Centre where the Habs play, that evening I was scheduled to visit with my friend Juliette (she of the massive poutine portion from much earlier in this blog) for dinner. Unfortunately we both got our dates and times mixed up; however, more fortunately, she invited me out to her place in Laval (end of the metro line) for dessert which I more than happily accepted! It was great to see her, her husband Sebastien and their new bundle of joy! Absolutely adorable. I am scheduled to be back in Montreal in August and promised to visit at that time.

The hostel itself was quite nice – I ended up in a four share room (two sets of bunks) with an ensuite bathroom. For $33 it was safe and affordable.

I was up at a decent time in the morning on day 228 to go out for a great walk. I dropped my extra luggage off at the train station before heading off.

I always have loved the VIA station in Montreal as it is quite the hub of excitement, and you really can’t go wrong with the display board. I am awaiting one day for Richard Dawson to stumble in and reveal that I’ve got the number one answer in Fast Money.

One of the things I love about Montreal is being able to just walk down by the water. It is extremely well setup and I didn’t need to take the metro. It was great to just sit down and watch the world go by. And every time I wonder if I should be doing more (ie. visiting something touristy) I remember that I’m on holidays and I can do what I please!

Lunch was at 3 Brasseurs of course. Although there is one now in downtown Toronto (with the horribly named “3 Brewers” moniker) I seem to eat it more frequently in Montreal. You really can’t beat tarte flambee.

Following a stop at Archambault to pick up the newly released Millenium 2 film (soon to be The Girl Who Played With Fire in English North America) I walked out and had a perfectly normal conversation with a Red Cross Worker. It was at this time that I was extremely thankful that my parents put me in a French immersion program in grade 7. I feel so lucky to be able to go to a non-English speaking part of the world and communicate with them in their native tongue.

Finally 1 pm arrived and I rolled into 1600 Maisonneuve Est, home of TVA and game show taping number 11 – La Poule aux Oeufs D’Or. I had enquired earlier in the year if I might attend a taping and had gotten a response to the extent of “well we usually don’t have audience members that aren’t part of the winner’s cheering section, but if you’re going to be here in Montreal on a Wednesday at 1 pm by all means we would love to have you”.

Sold.

Around 2.30 pm I along with six contestants and their families were lead onto the set. One of the smaller sets I had seen in my time but that didn’t matter – I have been watching Poule for years and was thrilled to be there. Here’s how the show breaks down: Two contestants each spin three wheels to determine three numbers each. They then are presented with a wall of 10 “doors” numbered 0-9. Open the doors, find money or an egg. First to find three eggs wins and advances with their money. The runner-up gets to keep their money (with a guarantee of $5,000 although you’re really unlucky not to win at least 10K).

Our winner then plays “egg or envelope”. You either take the cash revealed to you courtesy of an envelope that was spinning on a giant egg (I kid you not) or the unrevealed money inside of your personal egg (a la Deal or No Deal).

All the while audience members are holding up signs with dollar symbols and eggs on them and yelling ARGENT!!! OEUF!!! GIVE ME SOME!!! And some such.

As crazy as that sounds, it was extremely exciting. The lady sitting next to me was the biggest winner of the night - $87,000! That’s tax free, my friends, and they cut the cheques right then and there. No 120 days after your show airs. Evidence:

I forgot to get a picture with the host but I was a bit bummed as the normal host was on vacation that week – and he used to host the Quebecoise Fort Boyard! Talk about your rotten luck!

After it all wrapped up I had another surprise waiting for me. I was told that I was scheduled to be the special guest of the Loto Quebec head of drawings (“tirages”, the French word, sounds so much better). I was wondering if that was code for something but no, it was not! I ended up getting a behind the scenes tour of TVA courtesy of Jean, my host. Now that was sweet.

I got back to the train station around 4.20 pm but wasn’t able to get the 5 pm express train due to my luggage being already hidden away. I waited until the 6 pm train, which then put me back in Newmarket at 1.30 am with a taxi driver that didn’t know the way home from a hole in the ground.

Sufficient to say, as a result, day 229 was just a relaxing day. Nothing to write home about.

But day 230 and the parents were coming to visit! Hurrah! They arrived around supper time and we decided to just take it easy with a nice relaxing meal and the Sens hockey game (at this time they have been eliminated even after I sat through the triple overtime marathon).

Day 231 and with the parents comes a vehicle. Which comes in handy. So we started out with breakfast at Daybreak which was nice and surprisingly not too greasy. We dropped Dad back at the house to chill and then Mom and I headed up to Costco.

Mom doesn’t have a Costco where she lives. It shows! She enjoyed it a wee bit more than I think one should, but then again, I enjoyed shadow sweeping the items down the self-serve conveyor belt.

Following stops to the Superstore, Staples and Future Shop (the last to check on the status of Bort, my netbook, who continues to be ill) we arrived back home to unload. Mom and Dad headed out, I headed in for Come Dine With Me and all was good in the world again.

Next post: more catch up!

Cheers, Vick.