Lots to Report

You will never believe what happened. As I went through the final edit of a rather long blog entry with the same name as this one, I uncrossed my legs and my big toe hit the reset button of my computer thus losing my whole entry. Anything that terrible has to be true, and so I begin again.

I have a lot of blog-worthy things (I suppose that that's a matter of opinion) that have happened in the past couple of days. Alas, still no job.

Land of the Dead

I drove out to the AMC 30 at highways 400 and 7 (aka: a helluva long way away) with my friend Chris to watch it on one of the few screens in the city. It had been many years since we've lived in the same city, and when we did he was in the middle of a theatre boycott (after all the great small theatres were closed and the monstro-theatre malls opened instead-- a corporate move that still baffles me and might explain why the movie industry is in the toilet). It had been about 5 years since we had seen a movie in the same theatre. We were not disappointed.

This is true to his older films. It doesn't have the same campiness of Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead, but it's certainly of the same bloodline. Romero hasn't lost his skill for bad dialogue or ham-fisted socialy commentary; nor do I want him to. I love the way that Romero uses his movies to criticize everything that he hates, and with his poor skills at writing dialogue it makes it all the more enjoyable.

This movie was very bloody and gore filled. Tom Savini didn't do the effects, but did manage to make a cameo as "Machete Zombie". I didn't think that it would be possible to come up with new ways to gets attacked and eaten by a zombie, but here we are. I won't ruin it for you, but my favourite and the scene that catapults this into instant classic cult status would have to be when a zombie attacks a girl and rather than chowing down on her arm, hand, face, or leg, he chomps down on her navel ring and proceeds to tear it out. A small pool of blood oozes out, and Romero has said his piece. Awesome.

Another most excellent ingredient in the stew would have to be Dennis Hopper's horrific preformance. Funny funny stuff here.

Painting

I have finished painting my bedroom and have moved in the dresser. I am happy to report that all my clothes are happily in their new living spaces. Everything is tucked away into a drawer, my pants are pleat folded and hanging in the closet along with all my work shirts, and my ties are breathing a sigh of relief in their hook on the wall. It really is hard to believe how much better this makes me feel (I am starting to wonder about whether I may have a problem).

Toronto Service

Is all service in Toronto terrible? Fortunate, no, even though in many cases it will leave a bad taste in your mouth. I have yet to see a waitress or waiter write down an order. I won't think any less of you if you use a pen and paper to write down my intricate order to additions, substitutions. I just want what I ordered, how it gets from my mouth to the kitchen and then from the kitchen to my mouth is the only thing that matters to me. Just when I was beginning to think that all service here is terrible; Sneaky Dees to the rescue.

I had an amazing waiter yesterday evening. He was attentive and unobtrusive in a way that only a good waiter can. You could easily tell that he was responsibile for a certain section of tables and that he was completely professional about it. He didn't screw around with his coworkers, but was strictly business. When not explicitly helping a customer, he stood near the bar and gazed out over his dominion keeping tabs of everyone's drinks knowing exactly how far along they were and he was ready when they approached "the danger zone". He faded into the background until anyone needed a drink and then it was simply mindread eye contact and then a nod of the head for a refill. It was extraordinary to watch, and luckily I got to benefit from it.

Jobs

No jobs yet, but I do have a good line on one. We'll wait and see what happens after the long weekend. I have given in and applied to the Toronto Disctrict School Board as well as some headhunting agencies in the UK and overseas. We'll play those by ear too.

Long Weekend

After receiving a couple of cottage invites for the long weekend, I am saddened to report my return to Perth. The hay is done, but my parents are quick to cash in on my new found proximity and have sequestered me to take care of the cows for the weekend. My Mom has a reunion and will be in Toronto. Now I have no problem helping them out (my whole summer is a long weekend, after all) but with my 3000 km buffer now gone I am left with the only reconciliation that while I am doing nothing all weekend my parents will be having fun.


So I've got to get this thing published before a suicide-bird laden with mini dynamite sticks flies in and explodes my computer or someone across town with a brand new air conditioner plugs it in and causes the proverbial straw to overload the apparently tenuous electricity grid. I am not retyping this again.

Zone 4D Resident

I had absolutely zero trouble getting my resident parking permit despite the long list of possible problems. Here's a breakdown of the interaction:

1) I assmbled all my documents.
2) I found parking at City Hall.
3) I found the West Tower and the "You are here" map.
4) I struggled to find the Permit Parking desk, and wandered for a few minutes (okay, a lot of minutes) trying to find it.
5) I asked somewhere where the Permit Parking desk was.
6) As I arrived, I came across a huge placard with the protocol for obtaining a parking permit. I glaced it over and realized that they required my vehicle registration.
7) I returned to my car to get my vehicle registration.
8) I went through the glass double doors into the Parking Permit office and saw a huge aisle for waiting in line. I walked through that aisle all the way up to the front where a woman smiled and asked if she could help me.
9) I politely (though the shock of no queue and an attractive woman may have indicated my surprise) declared, "I would like to get a parking permit."
10) She proceeded to ask for my driver's license, proof of address (credit card bill, in this case), vehicle registration, application form, and letter from my landlord. All these were proffered, but I don't think that she actually looked at anything other than my address.
11) I decided to purchase the 5 month permit (rather than 11) and paid the $53.50.
12) I collected all of my documents as she went over to the printer to get my permit and as I stood there dumbfounded by how easy the whole thing was she said, "That's everything. Have a great day!"
13) I returned to my car and paid the "under a half hour" fee: $1.75. Then I went home.

So that's it. Done. No headaches, no running around making copies, no multiple trips. There were no raised voices or annoyances. There was no problem with my Saskatchewan driver's license and registration: in fact, she didn't even bat an eyelash when I plopped them down on the desk.

In short, thank you City of Toronto Transportation Services. I will sing your praises!

Settling In

I returned to Toronto on Friday where I immediately poured far too many gins and tonic down my throat. I had forgotten the Toronto breakfast problem only to have it return with a vengeance on Saturday morning (read: afternoon).

With a severe case of the stupids, I ventured out to Home Depot to begin what will no doubt be a lengthy apartment organizing process.

Even though I do not yet have a job, I have decided that I can no longer live in this uprooted, out-of-a-suitcase life anymore. I need to have a place to call home even if it is temporary, even if it doesn't yet feel like home. And with that the settling in begins.

I do not have a phone and therefore made reconnecting through the Internet a priority in my apartment organization. It was therefore essential to paint "the office" first. I am living in a two bedroom apartment which will give me a bedroom and office/storage space (very luxurious). The main problem with the office space is that it had a most hideous mural painted on it's walls which required priming. That's easy enough. It also hadn't had neither the ceiling nor the brick wall painted in years, and so I had to also paint them. So I had a few more steps, no big deal. The most annoying feature is the carpet which makes painting much more difficult. I like being able to spill onto a washable surface. Dealing with dropcloths (read: giant thin sheets of plastic along the lines of the plastic that covers drycleaning articles for the long trip home) did very little to ease frustration.

So there's my complaining done. The job actually wasn't all that bad. I've got lots of time so I really oughtn't complain at all. The room is done and I've set my computer up again. I missed the old girl. After using so many public computers, it feels much the same as being on vacation and sleeping in a lot of strange beds and then finally getting to sleep in your own bed again.

With regards to the Internet, I believe that I made a rather clever move. My sister (who lives with her husband on the main floor above me) has a wireless Internet connection. Rather than spending $25 a month (or whatever it costs) I bought a wireless adapter for $40 and will contribute to their bill. I'm hoping that it will save a few hundred dollars a year.

I'm heading to get a parking permit today, and you never know how easy that will be and then it'll be me a paintbrush and lots of plastic dropcloths that never seem to stay where you want them for the rest of the afternoon. I'm going to paint the bedroom so that I can finally put my clothes in a drawer and start to feel like a regular person again. Yes, I believe that having a dresser with a specific spot for my t-shirts, sweaters, socks and underwear will be a good starting point for my gaining a sense of home and becoming a regular person again.

Nothing New

I am struggling to find something to post, but there really is nothing much happening here. I could recount getting the dead battery, getting stuck in the mud, raking and baling all afternoon, but all that is uninteresting. All the hay that is cut has been baled; there are three and a half little fields to cut, rake and bale. Let's leave it at that.

I'm still planning to head up to Toronto after my doctor's appointment on Friday morning. Believe it or not I have to have a TB test before I can teach at some schools. I also want to get a referral to an allergist. I've been suffering this summer with sore eyes and stuffiness, so I want to figure out what's bugging me so that I can try to avoid it.

So that's the plan. I expect that I'll be painting tomorrow and doing odd jobs for the day. Not very flashy.

What's Going On Today?

So this has been an all around crummy day for most people I know. Every now and then a day comes around where everything seems to be really crummy.

I woke up to find that I had to dig a grave for a calf. We had been feeding a young calf with a bottle, and this morning when we went out to feed her she was dead. We can't figure out why she would just die in the middle of the night, but the how isn't really that important. I dug her a grave in the orchard and buried her. There's not much that can be done now. When you live on a farm you get used to dealing with death, I guess.

Then I went out to cut hay, and things were going along alright. The weather is supposed to be good up until Wednesday so that meant that we could go hard and get the job done. Well as if on cue: breakdown. This isn't one of those breakdowns that I can repair myself like a broken guard or knife, but requires that the whole haybine (cutter) be taken into the shop in town to be fixed. I'm not sure how long it's going to take but I don't expect that it will be done quickly. Hopefully we can get a loaner or something so that we can get the job finished. I guess on the plus side I might be able to go back to Toronto and then come back to finish up when the machine is repaired. I will have to wait and see what they say about it when I take it in. I also have to drive the tractor the 35 kilometres to the shop which won't be much fun.

My Dad also had a tough day at work with equipment breaking down at his office. I got an email from a friend who told me that they found a tumor in their dog's lungs and had to put her down.

Is anyone else having a brutal day? I'm amazed when these bad days seem to come along, as nothing seems to go right. Hopefully, there'll be some good news around the corner.

Sunscreen, Humidity, and Hay.

I am at my parent's farm in Perth, Ontario. They have a hobby farm, technically, but it really is anything but since they have 30 cows (down from 60 last month).

My parents are at the age where I am beginning to worry about them. They are not in the best of health, but really they are far from what you would call "dependants". Still, I do wonder about them and I hope that they are alright in, I suppose, much the same way that a parent wonders about their 29 year old son. Are they happy? Are they safe? Is there anything that I can do to help?

So here I am helping them on the farm. They take hay off 137 acres, and the job depends upon nice weather. My arrival, of course, saw the first rain in weeks. So rather than getting into the fields to cut hay, I picked up the bales that had already been made. I emptied 6 fields and built two and a half stacks (6 bales x 12 rows). It is by no means a difficult job but it is tiring and my knee is a little sore from pumping the clutch all day.

There is one field on the ground (cut) and five fields still to cut. Early Sunday afternoon, I will rake the field on the ground (turning it over so the wet part on the ground is on the top and can dry), and then late Sunday afternoon I will bale it. Then on Monday morning, I will pick the bales up and stack them. Hopefully tomorrow will see the rest of the farm cut (or a few fields at least), but they are predicting a 40% chance of rain on Saturday and Sunday so that might not happen.

Hay is not a difficult job either, but it is time consuming. Everything depends on getting enough sunny days in a row with no rain so that everything can dry. If the hay is dried and gets rained on it is ruined and is of little nutritional value (that and the cows won't eat it because it tastes bad to their finely tuned tastebuds). Another big factor in getting this job done is avoiding breakdowns. When equipment breaks down, it is usually possible to fix, but that delays the whole process and since farm machinery is so poorly designed, it usually also means a lot of smashed hands, lost bolts, and cursing.

I am hoping that this job goes quickly. I have some ridiculous sunburn spots from missed application: the top of my left hand across my knuckles, an ovular spot below my left knee (on the side), and a band along my collarbone (this one also has clear finger marks too). I am covered in sunscreen all day, it is unbelievably hot and humid here (not to mention the added heat from the machinery), and I am covered in dirt and grease. I don't know if this is appealing, but this is about as macho as I get. It is actually kind of nice spending a week outside doing lots of physical labour. The sore muscles are a good thing, right?

In Short, Bureaucracy Is Never Short.

The job search continues. I am in the process of joining the Ontario College of Teachers, but am finding the whole thing unecessarily annoying.

First off the fee to join is $325.00. Secondly, they require so many ridiculous documents. Since I am certified in Saskatchewan and Quebec they want a "statement of professional standing" from each of them. That's fine, I suppose, but Saskatchewan Learning charges $50 for that document, and I'm still trying to find the right telephone numbers from the Quebec government which is no easy task(check out the crappiest version of an English website here. Compare, if you dare.). It is doubly hard with the language difficulties. I'll have to continue trying it tomorrow morning. I don't know what the fee will be. I also had to part with $26 for a criminal records check. It'll likely be another $50 when I land a job because I will need an additional check for the "vulnerable sector".

There is also the running around problems. I have to run all over the place to get paperwork, find documents in all of my packed up boxes, make photocopies of documents, and then check, double check and recheck to make sure that I've done everything properly. All of this comes with a lot of waiting.

Waiting in lines is the worst, but I'm also waiting for letters to arrive in other provinces, waiting for the letters to be put in a "to open" pile, waiting for the letters to be opened, waiting for the letters to be read, waiting for the read letters to be put in the "to do" pile, waiting for the dozens of other things to be done before my read letter can get done, waiting for the letter to be reread, waiting for the letter to be acted upon, waiting for the needed document to be created and put in an envelope, waiting for the envelope to be put in the "to mail" pile, waiting for all the letters in the "to mail" pile to be affixed with sufficient postage, and waiting for the letter to be mailed. That's just one small part of the waiting, but you get the point that that's a lot of waiting that I don't really have the luxury for right now.

Grocery Stores and Murphy's Law

So I went to the grocery store today and while there I realized that I'm very happy with my decision to move. This is for a couple of reasons: one, I might have seen the most beautiful woman in the world; two, I saw non-white people outside of television for the first time in many months; and three, I didn't have to go to three different stores to get frozen fruit, coconut milk, and brown rice pasta.

I am going through a bit of culture shock being back in Toronto: I can't j-walk anymore because I'd be hit by a car (the drivers don't stop and wave you through), I'm weaving in and out through lanes of traffic when I drive, I have been amazed at how many specialty stores there are that manage to stay in business, and I've been out for drinks every night I've been here.

I am very much in housing limbo. I'm still looking for work, but have found dead ends, which is frustrating. I have a few good leads still, so I'm hoping that something will happen there. I would love to get a job sorted out this week so that I can enjoy the rest of my summer, and maybe even do some prep work for September. Fancy that!

I need to unpack. I've developed some serious cleanliness issues over the past few years and this living out of a suitcase surrounded by dozens of boxes is not doing much for my tranquil summer vacation mindset. I can't unpack until I find a job, because I know that the instant everything finds a space I'll be offered a great job teaching out of town and I'll have to pack everything back up. I'm not doing that again if I can avoid it.

More importantly, I don't want a job out of town. I didn't leave rural Saskatchewan and move 3000km to teach in rural Ontario.

I've Arrived

I've arrived safely in Toronto! Happily, the trip was an uneventful one.

I did manage to sleep well in Kenora and left at about 10am on Friday. I made it all the way to Sault Ste Marie and spent the night at a crummy motel in the attempt to save some cash. Again I slept well and left at 8:45am on Saturday morning.

I pulled into Toronto at 4:15. I'm not sure what the plan for the evening will be but I'm hoping that someone is still in the city this weekend and haven't fled to cottages. I know that I will have to empty my car and that is a chore that I am not looking forward to getting started. I'll put it off by sending a few emails and maybe watching tv. I need to slip a nap in there somewhere too!

Kenora's Crappy Hotel Room

Have you seen that Simpson's episode where Homer and Marge go to the themed hotel in order to help spice up their marriage? They stay in the "Utility Room".

Right now I'm at the Day's Inn in Kenora and am staying in the "Oak Room". It's a board/meeting room that has three cots in it. Actually, it isn't that bad but I am sleeping on a cot. It has a tv and a bathroom and is very big, but it's the only place that I could find and I didn't feel like driving the five hours to Thunder Bay considering that it is now 12:30 in the morning. The room does have a computer, so I thought that I would write this up in comfort.

I went to the folk festival tonight. It was quite an experience. The field was relatively dry, and there were a ton of dragonflies and a slight breeze which kept both combined to keep the mosquitos away. The music was very good but the sound was quite disappointing. It very possibly had more to do with the screaming children that surrounded me or the disinterested potheads that wouldn't stop talking. I heard Nathan, the Kawa Brass band, and Ba Cissoko.

I was very impressed with Ba Cissoko and they really stole the show tonight. Bill Friseel was as great as always, but as I was sitting there with water soaking through my towel, shorts and underwear I couldn't help but think that the next step was my drive home. I was so anxious to get moving that I became rather restless so much in fact that I actually left right after Bill Frisell's set and I missed bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs. I'm not too upset about that, but I am actually happier that I'm back on the road.

So I will be in Toronto on Saturday (I hope). I likely won't have another chance to post before I arrive, unless I find a hotel with a computer tomorrow night. I'm not going to push my luck on the road so the date might change depedning on how I feel about the drive.

I should be in Thunder Bay by noon tomorrow and then will spend the afternoon on Canada's worst strech of highway between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste Marie. I might push on to Sudbury if I feel up for it and then it's not too far to Bala and my parents' cottage. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but I know that a lot of it will depend on how comfortable this boardroom cot turns out to be.

Winnipeg Library Services

I tried to post this message yesterday, but I was blocked by the Winnipeg LIbrary Services filter. Here it is:

I'm currently writing this entry from the 1910 Portage Street location of the Winnipeg Library Services. It's 10:30 in the morning, and I have been searching for an Internet connections since yesterday. I had a friend's number in an email and I had to find it so that I can stay at his place. So Winnipeg isn't such a bad town. Actually, it's nice being in a city that actually has a building that's over 10 storeys high. This is a government town from the looks of it with The Mint, a big CBC building and one honkin' huge Canada Post building right downtown. I'm heading to the Folk Fest tomorrow afternoon and evening which should be fun. I'm planning to golf after I get off the phone with Trevor and then see where the day takes me. Actually, now that I think of it I should get Trevor and his wife a gift since I'll be crashing there for two days. Anyways, my time here is up.

Three Down One To Go!

My marking is just about finished. My car is packed and I'm just getting ready to check out of my hotel room so that I can complete my expense form properly at Saskatchewan Learning. I'm not sure where I will stay tonight. I'm debating staying here for another night, but I might opt for a more inexpensive hotel. I admit that I spared no expense when I stayed here. It was on the list of hotels! Incidentally, I will earn a $50 reward card for my stay that will not be returned to the Saskatchewan government, but will remain tucked away in my wallet ofr my next hotel stay.

I have a couple of little jobs to do today. I have to return my modem to SaskTel, and hit a ticketmaster outlet to pick up my ticket for the Folk Festival for Thursday. I'm really going to see Bill Frisell, but Nathan and Ricky Skagg are also playing. It should be fun if it doesn't rain. I'm staying with an old friend, but I haven't seen him in 10 years. He is now an RCMP officer, is married, and has two children, so I think that things will be very different. He was in grade 10 and I was in grade 13 the last time we saw each other. Staying in small town Manitoba with him should be quite interesting. I guess that this trip is all about new things and not being afraid to jump right in. How's that for a new philosophy?

New Food and Gambling

For those of you who know me well this post will come as a big shocker. Be assured that it is all true.

I have a budget of $41 a day for food. This means that I have been given more money than I can realistically spend since I don't drink heavily when alone. I went to a couple of Vietnamese places yesterday and today I decided to try Ethiopian food.

That's right I went to an Ethiopian restaurant! I had heard a lot of good things about Ethiopian food and decided that it would be interesting to try something new especially when you spend someone else's birr.

I had a vegetarian combination plate as recommended by my rather lovely server. I chose collard greens, a vegetable mix, a green lentils dish, a chick pea dish, and a red lentil wot (stew). All were served on injera (a flatbread). For those of you who haven't eaten Ethiopian, there is no cutlery but portions of the injera are torn off and used to scoop up the wot and larger foods.

After the initial surprise and the newness of the whole experience I jumped in. The food was very tasty and flavourful. The spices were unlike any I had ever tasted, but two hours later and I'm still soporific and quite sated.

After my meal I decided to hit the casino. Yesterday was a crazy day at the Casino Regina. Here's a breakdown:

1) Was up $40 in the first 10 races at the mechanical horses.
2) Lost that $40 and $20 of my own.
3) Played $2 roulette. I play a single chip on a single number and am bettting that my number will hit before my money runs out. I bought $60 worth of chips giving me 30 spins. I hit after about 20 spins and spent all but my original $60. Cashed out even.
4) Returned to horses and lost $10 in five spins.
5) As I was leaving the casino I noticed a $1 roulette table being run by a rather attractive croupier. I flirted in a way that only I can (quietly, mumbly, and badly) and bought in for $40.
6) My money on "23". There I sat for 38 spins. Nothin'.
7) On the last spin I put down my last two chips on "23" resigned to the cold fact that I would lose $70.
8) From where I was seated I couldn't see the wheel, but from where it looked to be dropping it was nowhere near my number. As I stood up the croupier declared, "red 23". Hot damn!
9) I cashed out quickly and broke out completely even. It felt as though I had won a fortune.

So today, I returned to $2 roulette same game plan. I started out on red 23. Spin 5 hit. I put my $50 investment back into my pocket and decided to play the remaining chips for a while. I switched to "0" about 12 spins later, hit. I cashed out $80 plus the $50 that was still in my pocket. I won $80 tonight. That should cover gas and my meals tomorrow.

So things are going well here. We are on schedule with the marking exams so I'll be done on Tuesday. I haven't decided if I'll stay an extra night or what, but I will wait and see.

Oooh I Have an Absolutely Evil Idea for a Post

I have an idea for a post that is cruel and even perhaps unethical. Read on.

I have just spent the last 20 minutes or so creating a rather good, I thought, post about my day today (including golfing, drinking, marking, and gambling) only to have it not publish and for all my efforts to be lost.

I cursed under my breath and decided to CTRL-V (Paste) in the hopes that I could recover some of my words; to no avail. I did however come across an email written by the teenager who was using the computer before me.

Dare I publish her post for the whole world to see? I think that it might be a good idea to post nothing but pasted messages from public computers. I'm sure it's been done, but it does make an interesting project.

Any suggestions? Should I do it or not?

On The Road Again

So my journey to Toronto begins. Classes wrapped up yesterday and it was not entire tear free. I was touched by the reactions of my students and fellow teachers. I realized in a very clear way that I have impacted them. That's the best feeling that a teacher can have: I've changed lives. With luck, it will be for the best!

I did just a massive amount of photocopying yesterday. My replacement who will be teaching Grade 12 is in her first year and I decided to copy all my readings, activities, and materials for her. The biggest problem that I had when I began was finding the materials that I needed to get by. I spent so many hours at the University of Saskatchewan Education Library that I wouldn't wish that upon my worst enemy let alone someone who will be taking over with my students. Needless to say, I was the last to leave the school yesterday at 2:00.

As I was leaving, and had packed up all my binders, books, and desk junk I took a final look across the classroom. It felt like a movie scene as all my memories came to me and I smiled. I looked at my clean topped desk and my chair and then the realization finally hit: this is it.

I hadn't allowed myself to think about leaving. I wrapped myself in work, and procrastinated by creating work for myself. Once all of it was finished, the sorrow envelopped me and I knew that my days of teaching in Lake Lenore were over. I don't leave this school ready to leave, but so sad that I am leaving with unfinished business.

So I returned to my apartment and packed; again procrastinating. I putzed around, wandering mostly, trying to delay the inevitable. I MSNed, made phone calls, checked email, even went to a parade. I packed everything into the car but I had not considered the 7 boxes of work from school and so things were quite tight. I am quite sure that a Toyota Corolla has never been so full. I cleaned my apartment up to avoid losing my damage deposit, gave my key to the landlord and hit the road at 8:45pm on Thursday, June 30th.

There were no sad goodbyes to Humboldt. I had no emotional connection at all to the town or to my apartment. It was a crummy little place that was like a utility infielded or pinch hitter: it did the job but is utterly forgettable.

I drove to Regina and at 11:30, checked into a hotel. I'm staying at the Victoria Park Inn for $70.44. In fact, I'm writing this blog right here on their complimentary internet station in the lobby. I will be upgrading to the Best Western Seven Oaks Inn in about 75 minutes where I will check in and stay at the expense of the Saskatchewan taxpayer. My work marking provincial exams begins tomorrow morning. They cover all my costs (gas, food, lodging) and pay me handsomely. It's a five day job over the Canada Day long weekend so they need to bribe people well to do it. I don't care about losing the weekend since I'm on vacation for 7 weeks and at 36 cents a kilometer, I'm happy.

So I'm off to Humpty's Family Restaurant for breakfast and it's 10% off coupon for staying at the VP Inn. I'll check into the Best Western, relax in the hot tub, and then maybe hit the Royal Ascot Mechanical Horse Machine at the Casino Regina and waste another Canada Day. I will try to post here when I can during my trip.