telling God your plans

Okay it's Thursday 23rd of April 2009 and it's the feast day of Saint George. To those who think of Saint George as just the guy who slayed a dragon for England, you should know he was a Palestinian soldier whose stories were adopted from the Middle East after his martyrdom during the crusades. Now because a lot of knights during and after the crusades settled all over Europe and the Middle East he is also the patron saint of Portugal, Boy Scouts, cavalry, farmers, and horses. Now because it is the typical good over evil story and the knights were a randy bunch Saint George is also invoked against herpes, leprosy, and syphilis. Not bad for a black marketeer in bacon. Thanks to my father and his father and his father and his father's father (and you get the idea) one of my middle names is George. Yayye me!

So on with the blog, a few items really. Let's start with last Friday I was out for my late night stroll and found my self around Etobicoke Civic Center (formerly Etobicoke City Hall). Now if you need to have a nice serene place to go to hang out and clear your thoughts before bed I find most civic centers tend to be vastly empty late and night and are filled with little artsy wonders to hand and ponder with. Nathan Philips Square used to have a track, upper deck, and playground until they sealed it off. But I digress. So back at the Etobicoke Civic Center (formerly Etobicoke City Hall) I walk around the back where they have the clock tower that ignores Toronto and Mississauga (the clock has faces only North and South) and sit on the bench to have a drink of water & rest. When out of the corner of my eye I spot some movement in the littl parkette to the South. Now the little parkettes are susposed to look natural however if you really look at it you see some wonderful high quality gardening with a variety of thirty plus types of flowers and plants. It's also an easy place to hide from the police for a few hours or to get drunk in public since the security guard never seems to leave the inside area. So when you see movement you want to scare off any vandals especially with so much taggers going on lately.
So I walk along this garden path towards the Tax assessment wing and Etobicoke Hydro and credit union to see what caught the corner of my eye at midnight. As I round the bend I spot a little brown bunny with a white tail Having no idea where it got to I continued on my way.

Now knowing hares and rabbits and bunnies don't normally travel alone they are busy creatures they usually run the same routines over and over. My guess would be this was someones easter present set free and never caught at the Etobicoke Civic Center (formerly Etobicoke City Hall). Another bit came across my meandering eye. There was no sign of vegetation being eaten. There was rabbit droppings. This would mean the rabbit was just passing through or was being fed on the side. So I let my mind wander as I let the idea of catching the critter go and found myself by the hidden rock waterfall fountain. Now for the unordained out there there is a cobblestone laden six and a half foot tall waterfall fountain right outside the Etobicoke Credit Unions office. This used to run about nine months a year however with the worries of West Nile breeding, drowning of little kids, cost of operation s and the noise that a waterfall makes it was shut down, drained dry and left to gather dust. Which is a pity because the top was designed like Stonehenge to soften the flow of the waters. If you really look at the wall on the Southeast side of it you can see where the step were designed to give it a gentle cascade and allow the cleaners and pest control get to the top. Now it just gives the feel of bad 1960's design when it could keep the place ariated for cool breezes in Summer and less dry Springs and Autumns.

So now you see that whil I may not be chasing dragons, there are white (tailed) rabbits that can lead down to areas that can be a little depressing in the nostalgia. That was last Friday.

The next day I had a small set of non-chalant plans that went in different direction. If you have seen me in the past few decades I usually have a bag of some sort because thanks to a father in scouting I was told to be prepared and as such pack everything I can into a jacket or handbag or pouch of some sort and take it just about everywhere. I use it untill it's warn out or can't be washed or just can't do the job. My current bag is almost ten years old is made originally by Samsonite and follows a messenger traveller style. It started to develop a hole just over a year ago on the outside towards the outside face. The hole has started to grow which means the bags days are numbered. As well the strap is starting to not twist and the brace on the snap has started to break. On top of that I have been looking for a bicycle cheap.

A digression of sorts. I looked at my statistics of body temperature, weight, diet, and execice and found my weight was most stable when I was bicycling to school everyday. Give me a direction to go and place to see and the means to get there and I would peddle to the distance. The peddling pushed my legs and thighs towards my stomach working abs and burning excess fat. Now walking is okay for a low risk regimen but I still need to change the mindset to have a place to be to do. (Thank you very much Mr. Shakespeare!) So the trick is to set my self up on errands. Okay I can do that. Ride around the airport, check the churchs, and temples of the area, see the hidden spots of the parks. That's a gameplan. I even have rather loose and constructive timetable for it. One small hitch. My original bicycle is 29 years old and when I sit on it sinks that the fenders crush the tires. So I need a new bicycle. It doesn't have to be brand new just new to me. Something to keep me from looking like one of those Guiness World Record twins on their mini bikes. So I have a small fluctuating budget of about $100.00 to purchase something with coaster brakes, forked hydraulic shocks in front, spring shocks in back, knobby moto-cross tires, fenders big enough to stop a back splash, seat big enough to keep everyone from trying to take it without making fun of who's sitting on it. Oh yes and lights, reflector, horn, and helmet. Yes I am asking a heck of a lot. It has to do a lot to survive alot. so you can see I have dilema there shooting for the moon. To remedy the bicycle situation I started looking for a bike last fall almost to the day they found the largest bicycle thief in Toronto (28K I believe). I saw som on display on the TV news and though wow that fits the bill I can pick it up at the Toronto Police Auction. Wrong. Seems the police sold the unpicked up bikes in lots to used dealers or sent to countries overseas. So I was left SOL on that deal. Next was check out the used bike stores around Toronto. Well some of them moved some kept winter hours. It became harder to get to a place when they were open. But I have a list and I am working through it.
End of digression.

So on Saturday I was going to look for a new bag and a new bike. Well I found two bags close to my current one made by a company called Swiss one for $30 the other for $40. Problem is where? One spot was Square One shopping mall that I only get out to once in a blue moon. Another was a luggage spot on Queen St West that was having a sale. Queen Street West had two places that sold used bicycles. Kill two birds with one stone. Yayy!

What was the old saying of how do you make God laugh you tell him your plans. My father as mentioned in previous posts is not the most technologically savy so he finds his new tool for car remotes and other things that he can get on a payment plan. Trick is they demoed it to him on a computer so it need a portable computer to tell it what to do. The old lap top won't shut off and is stuck perpetually on the blue screen of death. Told you it was old. So My father gets it in his head he wants and needs a Dell Mini Computer. He sees the commercial on TV, has me check out the website, and faster thant the printer can scroll a 75 pt Shazam he has me print off a selection. But he doesn't want to order on the web and wants to go to an actual store. No store locator on the website Dell.ca but there is a phone number. I call them and I get Charles in the U.S. who tells me the two closest locations are in Nepean Ontario (480 kilometers away) and #1 Bass Pro Road in Vaughn (35 kilometers away). So while my brothers are at work I get volunteered to go to this Dell kiosk and see what they have. yayy me. This is the totally opposite direction I was going and it isn't anywhere I wanted to be. My father was skipping Earth Day ceremonies with the Cub Scouts to look (rather than have me help with the Earth Day too I still help my father in a different way) for this Dell mini-computer. So away I go with my handy MapQuest directions to the mythical Vaugh Mills Town Centre. Oh BTW Charles at Dell who kept me on hold for 14 minutes while he found this info of where to go had said both #1 and #100 Bass Pro Road really wasn't sure which. So Vaughn Mills Town Centre is #1 Bass Pro Road and #100 to #180 are a bunch of industrial outlets. So after circling both I parked by door number 6 at Vaughn Mills Town Centre and my father who has knee problems sent me in. Walking around the entire mall I find a mall information desk who informs me the Dell kiosk closed six months ago in November. Closing before the Christmas holiday rush is not a good sign. So I contiued looking around to see if something compatible but no even the Best Buy is just mobile phones. I did see the lovely aquarium and waterfall with stuffed bears, dear, moose, and beavers along with a bunch of professional turkey callers at the Bass Pro Fishing store. But no Dells or any other mini-computers for sale. So telling my father the diasappointing news we drive past Canada's Wonderland and he has me take hime to one secluded suburban planned community after another to see if someone is home. They weren't. We see this industrial center called Power Cruise that has an artificial pond or lake and a dozen platform dolar arrays right across the highway from Canada's Wonderland. It was neat seeing the artifical pond and up high solar pannels but I couldn't wonder why there was only two Canadian Geese for the area.
Onwards we have my father direct me to another industrial mall. This time I find out too late that Dad wants to gloat about the new key machine to the guy he suspects stole it. We narrowly drive by the place and rush home from there. Well it's no late afternoon and no sooner than we arrive than we go out and pick-up my brother Mark from work. It's been that long a day and my father decides he wants us all to go see a movie Monsters Versus Aliens. Oddly I saw it two days before it opened thanks to an advanced pass from the local comic shop. My brother Mark slipped out of College early and saw a matinee. Father hadn't seen it and was up to seeing the 645 performance at the Woodbine cinemas. So we all saw Monsters Versus Aliens . It's an okay film but Dreamworks has really made these characters more cardboard cut-outs than ever before. So twelve hours after I started my day I get home in time to finish the laundry, skip the vacuuming, and relax to Ving Rhames in Dawn Of The Dead.
Oh and since I had the time now I got my dishevelled bag prepped for the comic convention that I had a free pass for on the Sunday.
What was it U2 said about Sunday Bloody Sunday? Whatever on the Sunday after double checked my bag, did my facebook stuff and made sure everything else was in order I embarked for the convention and downtown. The convention held at the South end of the MTCC (Metro Toronto Convention Centre) was at the same time as the Toronto Blue Jays game beat Oakland one nothing so traffic both auto and foot was quite heavy. Pushing through the bargains were galore on the show with U.S. prices, 50% off to $1 to $2 deals everywhere. The artists were booked solid and three seperate people came dressed as Rorshack two as the Joker. I got myself a sketch of Batman by a young muslim girl named Dabyeed Syed in my sketch book. It's what she felt best about. Turns out she had spent most of the day working on small personal sketches of the Hulk and requests for Wolverine. Dave Ross I found out was working on the Angel comic while I was surprised Bill Sienkiewicz had lost the mullet, the weight and cleaned up real good.
The longest lines were for Sienkiewicz, Steve Nauck, and Steve Epting. Francis Manupal was busy showing off the cover he just did for Red Robin series. Oops let the cat out of the bag on that one. Oh and toys that were discounted at Toys R Us last Boxing day were in bins on sale here for those who wanted Pirates Of The Carribean or Indiana Jones or G.I.Joe or poker stuff.
Other than that it was Trade Paperbacks galore. So after two hours, stffing my bag and moving on I headed out and up to Queen Street West.
I get to the Skywalk just as the jays game lets out and "Oh Snap!"
Literally Snap the strap specifiaclly the hook snapped off and flew out the window. Now the strap allows me to adjust the weight in my already overstuffed bag and spread it over my back along my shouder. Without the strap I am constantly yanking my arm out of my shoulders. Yet I pushed on. Past the CN Tower, over the Skybridge, up John Street past the CBC over Wellington Street past the Metro Hall along King Street up Widmer up and over to Peter Street to fianlly Queen Street. First stop Silver Snail for missing issues not found at the convention. Next stop the nine block walk to the Community Bike Network. I got there at 5pm just in time to find three things. One, they are closed on Sundays. Two, they close at 5pm. Three, according to a girl just locking up they have a few bikes suitable for me that I might get one with a letter and a $100. Yayy me. By this point my arm and shoulder were killing me and I caved in walked to Bathurst Street and started to walk south to catch a streetcar. Long ride home not as long as it could or should be I am just tired that I didn't accomplish what I originally set out to do on the weekend. Which is why when I have someone say to me on Wednesday How was your weekend I broke out cackling with laughter just shaking my head. You have to smile no matter how tired you are; no matter how much the arm and shoulder kill you; No matter how fruitless the personal trip is; you just have to smile because if you don't you scream and cry and say why Lord, why me? But such is how he would instruct me.

Now yesterday was uneventful except for how it ended. You see I started to run my brother up to the college get some birdseed (on sale at Bulkarama 8 kilograms for $6), get the weekly comics run (Buck Rogers #0 sucks, Ignition City #2 didn't ship, Guardians Of The Galaxy #13 needs a consistent artist but almost great story, Daredevil feels like it's being made for TPBs), and get ready for the weekly clix game. I was packed and ready with three armys (Frankenstein, Rip Hunter, Karate Kid would have rocked) and almost on my way out the door when Mum stops me and says Dad wants me to send a couple of e-mails and help with a document before he goes to group committee. Being the faithful dutiful som that I am I comply making sense of Pop's horrible spelling and lack of writing sense. The new tool may not be the right tool and may be less than a full tool for what it is suposed to do versus what it needs to do.
So we sort that out and a list cars and a confirmation for a meet and greet with a new high area commisioner and finally a permission form that needs approval for that night to go out for production the next day so it can be handed out next week. This form was where everything slowed to a crawl. It needed certain exact specifications and needed to fit on one page. I finished off to perfection at 7:24pm complete with impromptu Scouting graphics. Unfortunately the game was susposed to start at 6:30pm and was an hour away by TTC. No way was I going to make it there at all let alone on time. To put this in perspective I was packed initially at 8am with a single Iron Man army and ready to go with all three at 3pm so I could check out CBN before they closed. Did I mention telling God your plans to make him chuckle earlier in the day?
I feel like more of a punchline each and everyday.
With that I reach today to tell you about the week that was only to find it has taken so long to type all this the progarm won't save it properly. So how was your weekend?