1464 - Panic of Dentist

Finally, an eventful week! It all started at the dentist’s office Monday morning – at least that’s where it would’ve started had I remembered to go. Instead, I got a phone call at work fifteen minutes after the scheduled start of my appointment. I dodged the call at first, then quickly returned it after I realized that there was nothing that could be done. Fortunately, there was a slot that needed filling Tuesday morning, and so I filled it. They didn’t even charge me a fee for missing my appointment – I was told to think no more of it. The people there are really good – it seems like we’re having an ongoing conversation, ten minutes at a time, every six months. I don’t need to recap past events – they remember everything, as if we’d just talked the day before. The missed appointment taught me never to book appointments Monday morning. They’d called me to remind me on Friday, but of course the weekend erased any trace of the call. And the note I’d written for myself had been brushed under some jackets – I hadn’t seen it for days. I think a whiteboard by my door might be a good idea, as sad as that sounds.

The workday Monday was chaotic. I sat there listening to B-SM take calls from desperate clients looking for immediate help with their projects. We actually hired two people this week, but I didn’t meet them because they’ve been sent/are being sent to Seattle straight away – lucky them. It’s unnerving to sit there listening to your boss talk about you as if you were an object, to be shipped off to the highest bidder at any time. Fortunately, the uncertainty surrounding my current work has evaporated, and at the moment I feel like I’m firmly entrenched in a single project that could see me stay in Halifax for quite a while.

After work Monday, I spent the evening making JW’s Valentine’s Day card. I decided that it was high time I write a poem, so I combined that with a desire to relive many of the memories we’ve shared over the past year. Writing the poem succeeded in making me miserable about winter and the cold – we’ve had so many fun summer adventures. She’s been busy lately, and it’s been really cold for weeks, so adventures gone on we haven’t.

I also spent a part of Monday night looking up bus schedules to ensure a prompt arrival for Tuesday’s 9:50am appointment. I decided to catch the #17 bus, which I read as going by Kempt and Young at 9:17am. I walked to a stop just past Kempt and Young, arriving at 9:18am. I hadn’t seen the bus, so I figured I was okay. I waited five minutes. Then, out of the blue, I decided to actually look at the bus stop sign. Sure enough, the bus didn’t stop there! My head spun for a few minutes, as I imagined how embarrassing it would be if I missed two appointments on consecutive days. I literally ran back over to Robie, to see if the #17 stopped there. It didn’t. But the #42 did – in fact, I’d passed one sitting there on my way to catch the #17 – at the time, I decided not to chance it. Now I had to. The next bus came at 9:35am. It was early, and I was happy, until it stopped one stop away and waited for five minutes (while I froze to death). Finally, it came. As I’d hoped, it took me to Lacewood terminal, which is close to the dentist.

I walked through the doors at 9:48am. I joked with the secretaries about my bad memory – I told them about the note I’d lost, and about how appointments and Mondays don’t mix in my world. They either laughed with me, or at me – I’m not sure which.

The appointment itself went well – I was given a clean bill of health, followed by the bill. I left the office, and found my bus downtown ready and waiting – I was happy. I got on, and endured a forty-five minute ride, the object of which seemed to be to find the longest route downtown. I arrived at work at 11:00am. I still took lunch at noon.

On Tuesday evening, I wrapped JW’s presents – well, I put them in a gift bag anyway. I also changed the sheets on the bed, set up some candles and set the table. I bought a couple of t-bone steaks, some greens, and some onions and mushrooms. After my preparations for V-day were complete, I went to the Lion’s Head with AD and TA for wings and beer. The wings were delicious – the best I’ve had in a while.

I didn’t get much done at work on Wednesday – I was too excited. I left at four-thirty, went home and got JW’s presents, and headed to her place On the way there, I picked up her flowers, which itself was an ordeal. Apparently, I’d given them only my first name, and so when I asked for the flowers with my last name, a mad scramble ensured. Finally, they used my phone number to determine that I’d only given them my first name, and the flowers were quickly found.

I arrived at JW’s around five-thirty. I gave her the flowers, which unfortunately had been damaged a bit by the cold walk. She pruned off the damaged bits, cut their stems, and put them in vase on top of the mantle in her room. After that, we exchanged gifts. She gave me a Wired magazine, and I actually allowed myself to believe for a second that she’d gotten me a truly thoughtless gift. In reality, she’d got it for me because it featured a story about the things in the universe that we as a species don’t know. She also got me a book to help me deal with my shyness – let’s hope it helps! Finally, she got me a few delicious Lindor chocolates. Her card to me was another one of her home-made specials – it had the two of us in a heart on the front – it was really nice. Inside, it had a sexy picture of her, the butt of many jokes later in the week. I’m going to find that picture right now – just a sec. She’s adjusting her hair in the picture, head tilted slightly downward to emphasize her eyes. It actually fits inside the frame of the picture she gave me for Christmas – that’s where it’ll stay until I can find somewhere else to put it!

I gave her a book about trees, and a book about David Suzuki – definitely not mutually exclusive. I also gave her a cheese cutter and an orange peeler – two useful jokes. She liked the poem card I gave her, which showcased both my literary and artistic talents (not mutually exclusive). I drew a rigid, straight-line landscape that absolutely screamed ‘me’. The second page of the poem featured the same landscape at night. I tacked a third page on to the poem that made it into a card. It is attached by paperclip, for easy removal (read two staples is enough).

After the gift giving, we started out into the snowy cold toward my place. Once there, I put the steaks on, and she cooked the onions and mushrooms. She also put clementines on the greens to make salad. Unlike Valentine’s Day last year, I didn’t burn the steaks, and in fact they were juicy and tasty. We enjoyed the food, threw a log on the fire and relaxed, watching the flames dance. The evening continued on from there.

Thursday morning, JW was stressed out over the clothes she didn’t have for a work event that night. We looked outside, hoping to see snow, but instead we saw no snow, and cars racing by my window at 100 kph. After breakfast, I found that Mum had called. I called her back, and found that they’d closed schools across the province. She’d heard the news on BT, a local morning program that you either love or hate. JW and I decided to consult a reliable news source before buying into the closures. The news being confirmed, and JW not having to go to work, we decided to relax for a while – I had no great desire to go to work. And relax we did. I left for work just after 10:00am, proceeding immediately to miss the bus I’d intended to catch. JW had waited to see if I was going to catch my bus, and when I didn’t, we both decided to try to catch the #7. Unfortunately, it didn’t come for twenty-five minutes. I decided I’d try to catch another bus further down the road, and JW decided to just walk home on the icy sidewalks (which caused the school closures). I ran down the road, only to see the bus go by as I approached. I turned around and caught up with JW.

I dropped her off close to her house, and then continued on to try to catch a bus on North. Again, I saw a bus go by as I approached the street. I walked all the way down to the bridge, waited fifteen minutes, and finally caught a bus to work. I got in just after 11:00am – for the second time that week.

I stayed late that night, to make up for the morning. I got a lot done. After work, I found that I was out of bus tickets – five minutes before the bus was scheduled to arrive. I ran to Perks, got some tickets, then ran up to Barrington. Again, I was mere seconds too late – the bus literally passed me as I ran down the sidewalk. It was two minutes early – a discrepancy it made up for at the next stop while I watched. By now, I was fed up with waiting, so I crossed the street and caught a #7 bus going in the opposite direction of home. It loops around downtown and then heads toward home. The ride was about thirty minutes, instead of the ten-minute ride I could’ve had.

Friday was uneventful. Worked dragged on a bit, especially toward the end of the day. After work, I took the bus home to pick up the car – good riddens to buses! I went over to TA’s around nine for a few drinks and a bit of TV.

Saturday was fun. I went over to JW’s at high noon to watch her sew a patch for her pajamas. Her friend, BE, was there, and the three of us headed down to the Casino to take in a live radio taping. I forget the name of the show, but it’s on Saturday’s at 1pm on CBC. The portion of the show taped was the musical portion. It was hosted by a total tool who couldn’t even keep his lines straight. I think his problem was that he wasn’t living by the drum, as a tattoo on his arm suggested.

The musical (as opposed to talk) portions of the show were really good. The first performer (I’m going to guess Jen Black, but I’m not sure) was a red-headed girl who reminded me of BE – full of energy and easily excitable. She played a couple of songs that I really liked. In-Flight Safety followed with a great performance – I loved the smooth, flowing sounds that their songs had – ample tempo changes, good bass lines, and a nice, rich, full sound. Three of their five songs really struck a chord with me.

After the hour-long taping, we went to Economy Shoe Shop for a bite to eat. I was delighted to find that they had a brunch menu – I yielded to temptation and ordered the eggs benedict. The girls both had croissant clubhouse sandwiches – WITH NO CHEESE. The greedy chef probably stuffed it down his gullet.

After the meal, we went to a couple of used CD stores. JW and I both bought In-Flight Safety’s latest CD. I got a Bret Hart DVD I’d been looking for, and Old School, which I definitely didn’t own. I also got a Broken Social Scene CD.

We stopped back at JW’s for a second, then drove BE over to the Dartmouth bus terminal. Back in Halifax, JW and I got our groceries and headed back to her place. We coloured a bit, then went for teriyaki at the mall – that’s right, we went to a mall food court for dinner! Well, JW had a craving for it, and I didn’t much care where we went. We had our teriyaki, and I had a pretzel. JW didn’t buy a coat.

At 10:00pm, we went down to the Casino again to support one of JW’s friends, who was performing at a show featuring black music. The show was a series of twenty-minute acts. The first act was a gospel group. They played music best described as eighties funk – it was actually really good. People got up and danced – the crowd was really into it.

The next act was JW’s friend. She’s a young and inexperienced performer, and it showed on stage. She has a beautiful voice, but she didn’t do well with her dialogue between songs. She stumbled over her words and told the crowd to read the Book of Psalms. Her music didn’t have the energy of the previous act, and she quickly lost the crowd. People rudely chatted, drank and laughed while she tried to perform. JW pointed out that she’s not likely known by the crowd, as she’s not a part of the community they represented along with some other acts. She did manage to win the crowd over with a rap segment in her third song, and she got to perform two extra songs when the act following her failed to show.

The third act was a jazz act. They started off with a great jazz song – just what I was hoping to hear. I really liked it. The second song was a take on an old Miles Davis song – it featured an amazing solo by the pianist, whose fingers moved faster than I could see. The rest of the set was disappointing, and we left after it finished, tired and ready for bed.

On Sunday morning, we watched a movie. We’d decided after watching Once Upon a Time in the West that 13 Going on 30 was going to be the next movie of choice. It was my second foray into the realm of chick flicks, after Love Actually, which we’d watched in the fall. I liked it more than Love Actually, actually. It had a story, whereas Love Actually seemed more like a series of scenes. It seemed less forced, and less over the top. The only unbelievable element in the movie was the magic dust that sent the main character seventeen years into the future, and then back again. The movie was funny because we see a thirteen year old girl living the life of a thirty year old. Naturally, she is not prepared for the things that life throws at her.

I also watched Shanghai Noon this week, in bits and pieces. It’s really not a good movie – it’s terribly predictable, and the humour is about as stale as a loaf of bread left on the counter for a month. They really leave nothing to chance. However, it’s entertaining – the martial arts choreography is amazing, and the silly characters grow on you. I enjoyed the sheer, over-the-top madness.

Well, that’s it for another week. I hope the coming week is as eventful – minus the dentist and bus troubles.

I’m currently listening to: Boomerang, from Counterfeit by Cirrus.

Movies watched this week: Shanghai Noon, 13 Going on 30