Toronto Trip
I just returned from Toronto, where I spent friday night with my close friend Darcy, and Saturday to Monday with my girlfriend Liz.
Friday morning, I walked the dogs for the last time, saying goodbye to Dory, but having to postpone my final walk of Mardi and Mudley (the two big Newfoundlanders) until this week, because I forgot their house key. I hopped onto the bus and rode out to the 416 on-ramp. It was only 10am, and already hot as blazes. I was determined however, and took out my dry-erase board and stuck out my thumb.
My first pick-up was a very nice couple who, as it turned out, had met while hitch hiking austrailia. They were curious about my success hitching in Ontario, and suggested I try approaching people at rest stops instead of exclusively standing at the on ramps. Later on, I was dropped at a rest stop, but came over too shy to actually approach people, so I got a cold drink and then walked to the corner, where I was instantly picked up by a young man who had seen me walking around the rest stop and decided to pick me up if he saw me. So clearly this works, and I should get over my shyness and try it!
I was picked up by two women this time, one a friendly commuter, and the other a grandmother going from her rural homestead to shopping in Brockville. I'm usually picked up by at least one woman during a hitching trip, which is said to be pretty rare by male hitch hikers. My suspicions were confirmed when one lady said "You look safe."
I wonder what exactly they read in me that says, "this person will not murder you, nor be drunk, nor smell"?
It was a trip made of short hops from town to town. I went from Ottawa to Kars, then to Spencerville, then to somewhere else that barely shows up on the map. That was pretty much how it went, and 6 hours later, I was dropped off at Scarborough Town Centre, from where I took the light rail, subway, and local bus to Hamilton.
So I arrived in Hamilton to see my friend off on her week long vacation to mexico. I was sweaty, exhausted, and dehydrated, but she greeted me with a drink and a tray of sushi, because she's awesome. We talked and hung out at her house, watching Dr. Horrible. Which, if you haven't heard of it, is an amazing 3 episode short film about an up-and-coming supervillain who is competing with Capt Hammer, the city's leading superhero, for the love of Penny, a girl who he met at the laundromat. It's a Romantic Comedy Musical by Joss Whedon.
That was good times, and the next morning we wandered around, eating fishpenis sausage, talking about old roleplays, and just entertaining ourselves. We met up with Liz later that day for sushi, after about an hour taken up with being confused when Liz got delayed with her family. I saw my first real-life desperate drugged-up prostitute. The flab from all the weight she'd lost (she looked about 50 and very underweight) hung over the front of her hotpants and her skin was that of someone much much older. I also saw the hobo oddcouple, an extremely skinny and tall hobo was pushing the cart, and running after him to catch up was this fat little dwarf. Oh Hamilton, never change.
Liz and Darcy have always gotten along, and the meal was lots of fun. Poor liz kept dropping things on herself, including nearly burning herself with a fresh bowl of hot miso.
After lunch I said goodbye to darcy, and Liz and I puttered around the mall. Both of us were nodding off pleasantly in the cool AC of the mall, so we got trapped in some easy chairs outside a furniture store for about half an hour. Eventually we bussed back to her sister's house, where I met her little niece. The baby took an instant liking to me, and kept giving me balls to throw.
The baby was the cutest thing I've ever seen, and about the happiest baby also. She was sucking on a lemon when we all went out to Swiss Chalet and making adorable sucking faces when she squirted some of the juice in her eyes. She didn't even cry, just whimpering a bit while mom wiped it out of her eyes, and cheering up instantly when she was handed Liz's watch.
I think Liz's parents are beginning to grasp that I might be a long-term fixture in the family, so her mom has started grilling me on what I'm doing in school and how far i've gotten, where I'm going, and what I'm doing. I tend to say bizarre things whenever I'm with them so they're slightly suspicious of my plans for their daughter, but on a personal level we get along very well. I like her family a lot.
Their next door neighbours in Toronto have a new puppy, and we got to play with it outside. It's a Black Weimeraner cross, and has the sweetest personality. After chasing around with me for a few minutes, it climbed up on liz's lap and fell right to sleep.
We snoozled in Liz's room, and on Sunday we studied together, liz reading me the case studies from her textbook, and me reading mine. Her studies in brain pathology lead to some very interesting stories about radical personality change, brain fungi, and children who are born with only half a brain. My Victimology case studies were all about false accusations, miscarriages of justice, and epically great wins.
Saturday was made miserable by the heat, but I got to see my brother Adam for the first time in a long time, and I told him about horror movies he needs to see, and he told us about his upcoming zombie-themed wedding.
Apparently he wants to get a Jason Vorhees mask, but his finance has banned it because he would walk around the house wearing it, and answer the door wearing it whenever religious people knocked, and then just stand, saying nothing, holding some kind of giant cleaver.
That night, liz and I slept on the floor in her office, which was fantastically comfortable because it has air conditioning. After some more studying and me snoozling happily on her office floor, we went to sushi (again!) near Ryerson University, and I dropped her off at her exam before heading to the bus and heading back home to the Olde O.T.
Bye bye toronto! See you at Christmas!
Friday morning, I walked the dogs for the last time, saying goodbye to Dory, but having to postpone my final walk of Mardi and Mudley (the two big Newfoundlanders) until this week, because I forgot their house key. I hopped onto the bus and rode out to the 416 on-ramp. It was only 10am, and already hot as blazes. I was determined however, and took out my dry-erase board and stuck out my thumb.
My first pick-up was a very nice couple who, as it turned out, had met while hitch hiking austrailia. They were curious about my success hitching in Ontario, and suggested I try approaching people at rest stops instead of exclusively standing at the on ramps. Later on, I was dropped at a rest stop, but came over too shy to actually approach people, so I got a cold drink and then walked to the corner, where I was instantly picked up by a young man who had seen me walking around the rest stop and decided to pick me up if he saw me. So clearly this works, and I should get over my shyness and try it!
I was picked up by two women this time, one a friendly commuter, and the other a grandmother going from her rural homestead to shopping in Brockville. I'm usually picked up by at least one woman during a hitching trip, which is said to be pretty rare by male hitch hikers. My suspicions were confirmed when one lady said "You look safe."
I wonder what exactly they read in me that says, "this person will not murder you, nor be drunk, nor smell"?
It was a trip made of short hops from town to town. I went from Ottawa to Kars, then to Spencerville, then to somewhere else that barely shows up on the map. That was pretty much how it went, and 6 hours later, I was dropped off at Scarborough Town Centre, from where I took the light rail, subway, and local bus to Hamilton.
So I arrived in Hamilton to see my friend off on her week long vacation to mexico. I was sweaty, exhausted, and dehydrated, but she greeted me with a drink and a tray of sushi, because she's awesome. We talked and hung out at her house, watching Dr. Horrible. Which, if you haven't heard of it, is an amazing 3 episode short film about an up-and-coming supervillain who is competing with Capt Hammer, the city's leading superhero, for the love of Penny, a girl who he met at the laundromat. It's a Romantic Comedy Musical by Joss Whedon.
That was good times, and the next morning we wandered around, eating fishpenis sausage, talking about old roleplays, and just entertaining ourselves. We met up with Liz later that day for sushi, after about an hour taken up with being confused when Liz got delayed with her family. I saw my first real-life desperate drugged-up prostitute. The flab from all the weight she'd lost (she looked about 50 and very underweight) hung over the front of her hotpants and her skin was that of someone much much older. I also saw the hobo oddcouple, an extremely skinny and tall hobo was pushing the cart, and running after him to catch up was this fat little dwarf. Oh Hamilton, never change.
Liz and Darcy have always gotten along, and the meal was lots of fun. Poor liz kept dropping things on herself, including nearly burning herself with a fresh bowl of hot miso.
After lunch I said goodbye to darcy, and Liz and I puttered around the mall. Both of us were nodding off pleasantly in the cool AC of the mall, so we got trapped in some easy chairs outside a furniture store for about half an hour. Eventually we bussed back to her sister's house, where I met her little niece. The baby took an instant liking to me, and kept giving me balls to throw.
The baby was the cutest thing I've ever seen, and about the happiest baby also. She was sucking on a lemon when we all went out to Swiss Chalet and making adorable sucking faces when she squirted some of the juice in her eyes. She didn't even cry, just whimpering a bit while mom wiped it out of her eyes, and cheering up instantly when she was handed Liz's watch.
I think Liz's parents are beginning to grasp that I might be a long-term fixture in the family, so her mom has started grilling me on what I'm doing in school and how far i've gotten, where I'm going, and what I'm doing. I tend to say bizarre things whenever I'm with them so they're slightly suspicious of my plans for their daughter, but on a personal level we get along very well. I like her family a lot.
Their next door neighbours in Toronto have a new puppy, and we got to play with it outside. It's a Black Weimeraner cross, and has the sweetest personality. After chasing around with me for a few minutes, it climbed up on liz's lap and fell right to sleep.
We snoozled in Liz's room, and on Sunday we studied together, liz reading me the case studies from her textbook, and me reading mine. Her studies in brain pathology lead to some very interesting stories about radical personality change, brain fungi, and children who are born with only half a brain. My Victimology case studies were all about false accusations, miscarriages of justice, and epically great wins.
Saturday was made miserable by the heat, but I got to see my brother Adam for the first time in a long time, and I told him about horror movies he needs to see, and he told us about his upcoming zombie-themed wedding.
Apparently he wants to get a Jason Vorhees mask, but his finance has banned it because he would walk around the house wearing it, and answer the door wearing it whenever religious people knocked, and then just stand, saying nothing, holding some kind of giant cleaver.
That night, liz and I slept on the floor in her office, which was fantastically comfortable because it has air conditioning. After some more studying and me snoozling happily on her office floor, we went to sushi (again!) near Ryerson University, and I dropped her off at her exam before heading to the bus and heading back home to the Olde O.T.
Bye bye toronto! See you at Christmas!