Tuesday, October 3, 2000: Back In Ottawa

The bus ride back to Ottawa reminded me of why I swore I'd never take the bus again. It was crowded, uncomfortable and seemed endless. With the traffic, I was also half an hour late. M met me at the station and unfortunately for her the trip had made me Grumperhead.

The big news here, of course, has been the death of former Prime Minister Pierre E. Trudeau. As I passed by the parliament buildings today, Kevin Quain's song "Mr Valentine's Dead" ran through my mind.

Sunday, October 1, 2000: Back In Toronto

The bus! I swore I'd never take the bus to or from Toronto again... but I did. I came down Wednesday morning. I left for the bus station at 7:30 when M left for work. She got off at her office on Bank St. and I keep on going until I got off just before Catherine St. Then I walked five minutes over to the bus station. My bus left at 9:30am which gave me time for a nice breakfast and a tea. The ride itself wasn't bad. I had two seats to myself and I snoozed for the first half of the way. The bus takes a rather backwards route to the 401, and stops at a small restaurant along the way. In all my past trips, this stop was either under the creepy darkness of night or in a raging snow or freezing rain. Thus M and I have always referred to the place as "the X-Files stop". This time however it was daylight, sunny Indian summer, with flowers still in bloom and plants still green. I sat out in the sun and drank a tea.

I was awake for the rest of the trip. On my walkman... the new Emmylou Harris "Red Dirt Girl" (amazing CD, highly recommended), Spooky Ruben "Modes of Transportation pt 2", a mix tape featuring selections from recently purchased CD's... and the Snowmelter mixes from June. We arrived in Toronto at 3:00pm. Once off the bus I decided to make the 40 minute walk from Bay and Dundas to The Grapefruit Moon. I followed the same route I would have a year ago when I'd walk home from work. It was a wonderful walk. How I miss Toronto!! I met up with Sandy at the GFM and so began my visit. I got my hair cut, and at 6:00pm Justin M met me at GFM. We went back to his place and goofed around with the sampling program on his computer.

Thursday I spent most of the day at GFM then went over to Justin and Kims' at around 6:30. Justin and I made a little noise, but mostly we just talked and hung out. I left around 10:30pm after several Iron Dukes and headed back the GFM in hopes of food. Unfortunately the kitchen was closed...BUT... I saw Greg Downing sitting in The Black Rooster, so I joined him and had a Guinness. We were later joined by Greg's friend Karen and a friend of theirs who's name I believe was Alexis. I got drunk(er) and ended up crashing at their place in the spare room surrounded by Gregs conga drums.

Friday I left Chateau Downing at 9:30am and with my massive hangover walked to the GFM. Sunniva and Sandy were already there and had been slightly concerned about my whereabouts. Ex-Aikido pal and friend Deb showed up, and when Sunni and Sandy split, I spent a wonderful afternoon sitting on Deb's rooftop patio talking and soaking up the sun while 70's tunes played on her stereo. Friday evening I met up with Gina and had a burger. She arrived in her new 1969 Chevy muscle car... We hung out and talked and caught up on what has been happening in our lives. Friday night I crashed at Sandy's.

Saturday I had breakfast with Tiffany. Tiff picked me up from Sandy's and we went to Kilgour's on Bloor near Brunswick and ate. We talked and caught up then went for a walk around the neighbourhood. We saw two army choppers flying around and hovering. Perhaps training or perhaps practicing for the upcoming state funeral in Montreal for Trudeau. In any event we went back to Sandy's and had a tea. We sat out in the backyard and talked more, then went up the GFM and met up with the regulars. Megan came in all excited about a date... Sandy was there as well as Sunniva. Saturday night was Justin M's last shift, now that he has a real job... So towards the end of the evening, Justin, Nathan, Derick, and myself got VERY drunk out on the patio.

Sunday I woke amazingly early and without a hangover. I went back to the GFM and had breakfast. At around noon, Justin and I went down town and walked about. We talked about Canada and how I felt less patriotic than I did before I went to the Philippines. We ended up at HMV and I amazingly left without buying anything. From there we picked up a car that Justin was borrowing and Justin dropped me off near College and Clinton. I went and visited my friends Steve & Wendy and their 12 year old son Nathan. It was a brief visit though, since I had to rush back to the GFM for Sandy's surprise baby shower.

The baby shower was a total success. I won't try and list off everyone who was there... But chances are YOU were. And if not, it was GREAT. It was a last chance for me to see many of my friends before I headed back to Ottawa on Monday.