Thursday 15 May 2003

The Train Ride - Montreal to Toronto

ViaRail might be more expensive than taking the bus, but for a few bucks more than a bus ticket, you can get snacks and have a smooth trip that takes less time. And you don't have to suffer tiny stiff less reclinable seats. I think I'm in love with the train.

There's less indication that you're in another province when you cross the border. The only possible way I could figure out we were no longer in Quebec is when we passed (road) signs with English on them. (Funny, since the way I figured out we left Ontario on the way back was when I spotted a church. Then another. Then a few hundred others.)

We had a really nice guy as our server, who had the misfortune to come across this weird difficult passenger within the first half hour of the trip. I have no idea what the heck his problem was, but this passenger was either drunk or really confused.

Server: [in the middle of his serving run] Is there something I can do for you?
Weirdo: I was wondering if you could turn off the lights? When can you turn them off?
S: I'll be able to deal with that after I finish here.
W: See, because I can't sleep with the lights on.
S: Alright sir. I will get back to you.
W: With the lights on, I just read. With the lights off, I go to sleep. I don't want to sleep anymore, I want to read.
[I got really confused here. What the heck did he want?]
S: So what are you saying, sir?
W: I want to go to sleep.
S: [really puzzled look] You want me to turn off the lights?
W: Can we put this to a vote for the whole train? All those who want the lights on? [right hand raised] All those who want them off? [left hand raised]
[At this point, I tuned off the argument since it was getting too inane and I was tired of this guy's weird rambling.]
W: [finally] I give up. [runs back to his seat in another car]

Besides the weird passenger who didn't know whether he was sleepy tired or tired of reading, I had an excellent trip. For some reason, the train is constantly held up or slowed down by freight trains in the morning. We had a dozen slowdowns because of "freight trains in the front of us" and then suddenly they disappear or blow up or something and the train moves on without a trace of this phantom freight train...

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Toronto, the Happenin' City

My cousin was at the train station waiting to pick me up. He promptly asked if I was ready to go to his place of work today to meet his bratty kids (from the afterschool program). I said, why the hell not.

Then he said he needed to make some errands for that time. We picked up:

• hot pink plates, napkins, cups, dishes and tablecloth


• six boxes of strawberries


• two bulk bags of cookies from the cookie factory


• two tubs of PC butterscotch scones


• two containers of PC apple coffe cupcakes


• three bags of PC chocolate two-bite brownie things


• two cucumbers


• a bunch of other cookie and cake things I can't even remember

I found out he was decorating the lounge for a party the next day, for the kids and their parents, along with planning some of the foods. The theme was Alice in Wonderland, the Disney version. Oh, wait, the extended Disney version.

Me: How many kids are there?
Cousin: 16, and with their families.
Me: That's a lot of sugar.
Cousin: Yeah, I'm going to make them all hyper.
Me: How old are they?
Cousin: Between 6 and 12.
Me: ...

Yeah, there's a reason why I don't want to work with younger kids, especially when it comes to sugaring them up...

Anyway, I had a pleasant time at the afterschool center. The kids weren't as rambuncious as they usually were, according to my cousin. There were surprisingly many adults that afternoon. My cousin went on to ramble a lot about how he despised his supervisor for his lacklustre management skills (he's a "mimbo", the man-equivalent to a bimbo), and how he kept flirting with the really rich volunteer girl who owns her own telecommunications company and had way too much time on her hands (so she doesn't donate money, but rather her time).

There was this really cute little asian girl who was so well spoken I swear she's this 60 year old in a 3 year old body. "Can I make a crown mommy?" "You'll have to ask [cousin]." "Can I make a crown, [cousin]?" "You can make one, just ask [Ms C] to help you." "Can I make a crown, [Ms C]?" "Okay, just let me finish this one I'm working on with this girl." "Okay. [runs to mother] Can I make a crown, mommy?"

Amazing kid.

I ended up painting a sketch for about three hours of Alice from Alice in Wonderland that my cousin had drawn on heavy poster board. I hadn't painted anything in years, and I couldn't figure out how to use a brush properly until it was way too late. In the end, I think it was more or less recognizable as Alice and not some yellow blob on blue bigger blob, and my cousin cut it out the next day.

Yeah, that's a night well spent!

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The First Night in 5 Years

That night, I went back to the duplex and I had a bunch of memories flood back. I didn't know how much everything had changed, nor how much they had remained the same. For instance, the train running behind the buildings still made tremendous thunderings when it went by, but I hardly heard it anymore. Then again, I live next to the onramp to a major highway so I wouldn't be surprised anymore.

I breathed fine but it was freezing in that basement.