Tatiana's Wanderings

The Romanovs: The Real History of the Russian Dynasty, Part 1

The Romanovs: The Real History of the Russian Dynasty, Part 2


I left at 4:30 to meet Paulo and Darryl at the Cascade Room (2616 Main Street, near Main and Broadway-ish, more like Main and 10th) for Paulo's belated birthday hangout at 6. I wanted to be early just in case there were stroller / wheelchair delays or elevator shenanigans - surprisingly for once, there were none of those AND I just managed to get a 3 bus which had ten people total in it, but they couldn't find my reservation when I got there at 5:30! I was seated at a high table pretty quickly, though they said they'd move me to a booth once some people left who had been there at 4. Paulo texted me and Darryl said on Discord that he was getting an Uber. We waited to see if Steve would show up (Estefan is in Whistler at the moment), and I finally messaged him. He replied pretty quickly to say he was having a bad day, so no. I showed them both the phone notification, and they joked about guilting him into it since we HAD to find a place that took reservations JUST FOR HIM! Seriously, dude - we could have stayed with the Brassneck Brewery plan!

We were on our phones a lot, which actually is pretty good for me. Talked about Jimbo's opinion on our Superfriends server and how I know I can't change his mind on it (and wouldn't want to - why bother?), the secret chat, all the drama, Holly's opinion on Jimbo not telling us much about his work, the 12 Kings meetup being last year on March 12 already, Brian being sued by some people, and Holly nuking the original server unexpectedly. I showed them some funny toilet paper-related memes, while we tried various food and drink: gin and tonic, Amber something, mushroom poutine, sausage rolls with barbecue sauce (which I spilled on my DRAGON HOODIE - necessitating MORE LAUNDRY when I got home!), white wine, schnitzel, steak, desserts, and more! The Cascade Room was advertising Jameson ginger and lime Slurpees for St. Patrick's Day 2020. Good luck with that!

Darryl said that his buddies might join us, and wondered if we'd mind. I said no, but deferred to Paulo since it was his belated birthday celebration - HE didn't mind, either. Harmony texted me at 7:15 to say not to worry about coming over next Tuesday as they're limiting everything non-essential including public transit trips. They've even cancelled their Harrison Hot Springs vacation next week for Spring Break, which makes sense! If I were a different kind of person, I'd ask if they don't trust me! This is best for everyone's health and safety, though.

Eric M. also texted me: "FYI, VCEFC has been cancelled because of COVID-19 concerns" - that's what I thought would happen when I heard the daily BC health guidelines the other day. MORE FREE TIME FOR HIM! We left the Cascade Room at 8 and walked a block or so to the Colony Bar across the street from Save-On Foods. I'd have gone in earlier to see if they had hand sanitizer, but they probably don't. I told them that my brother lives around there, but that it was probably bedtime for the kids. They joked about invading their place anyway even if the nephews were there, but I knew it was a drunken joke and didn't take it seriously. Paulo offered Darryl a hit of his vape since he'd tried smoking, but he declined due to the pandemic - smart!

We were at the Colony Bar for about 70 minutes or so, with Darryl unexpectedly buying us a round because it was Paulo's birthday. I got a Parallel 49 Jerk Face 9000 beer - I had to order it because of the name! No, I wasn't surprised that Paulo barely touched his beer - they'd already had a lot at the Cascade Room. We discussed alcohol tolerance, Paulo totally forgetting about work once on HOLIDAY PAY, the coronavirus, and whether Darryl's buddies would actually show up. I gave up on them at 9, about five minutes before they DID come in. The guy put his hand out to shake hands - what?! I instinctively shook hands, and then went to wash my hands immediately afterwards since I had to pee anyway. My hand sanitizer was way down in the bottom of my Doge bag, then I had to look for my phone when I got back to the table, which was also in my Doge bag! Habit to look in my coat pocket... not sure what I'll do once it's summer!

Paulo declared that he would call an Uber since he said it was too cold to wait around for the bus for too long. I decided to just wait for the bus since it was more wallet-friendly. The East Indian 3 driver waited THREE TIMES for no reason, holding everybody up on his bus! What schedule is there to make up at 9:30 PM?! You have your breaks now, so that's not a good reason! Of course that made me late for the Brighouse train - it was pretty chilly outside, so I took the opportunity to send Mike a picture of my current footwear at Marine Drive station after fighting with the wifi.

Mike said something about "where's the glim-glam?" so I texted that 1 degree was too cold for bare feet and toeless sandals! (I waited till I was up on the platform since I heard the YVR train announcement from the statue) The train was sparsely populated, too - I got my own little row of accessible seats since an Asian lady moved far away from me instead once I said I needed her seat. I got home at 10:35, thanks to that stupid 3 bus driver - I could have been home half an hour before! Doing laundry seems to have worked for my dragon hoodie, but I can't seem to say the thing for my four towels since I used them to wipe up a flood of water from when I was showering a few days ago. Guess I'll go tomorrow to London Drugs and buy up on-sale zinc citrate, four towels, and maybe a pair of Secret socks!


Knorr Cheesy Spinach Dip for lunch!




( Zinc, bar food, and a special Pi Day 2020 Reddit award! )

Paulo has finally decided on a venue for his belated birthday celebration with the REAL Superfriends on Saturday: Brassneck Brewery at 2148 Main Street, a few blocks down from the nail place. At least it's reasonably transit-accessible! He said last night when I texted him, "it's a while - oh shit, hang on, hahaha," but I don't really do spontaneity a lot, and I know Steve probably doesn't!

This afternoon, I got my first "is this apartment Sport Chek?" phone call in a while. The lady's first clue should have been when I answered, "The fuck?" to her question about shoes that I couldn't understand. Hahaha! Phone is now safely OFF! My phone number is one digit off from the store's number...

The NBA has also just suspended its season due to a player testing positive for the coronavirus, as per TSN...


White Spot's blackened cod with spicy tomato prawn risotto, which I had in 2014!




Knorr Creamy Bacon Carbonara Sidekicks for dinner!

The Canucks played Los Angeles tonight at 7:30, and won 5-2. Brock Boeser had a hat trick!


Once Brewed, Northumberland?!




From Reddit: Let that sink in!




From Vellum and Vinyl via Krista: Maygen Muir?! BAD SPELLING OF MEGAN! Everyone knows how it's pronounced!

Eric M. unexpectedly called me at 2:50 to say that Eric Ho and a few of the guys were going to watch the Toronto Raptors play the Golden State Warriors in an NBA playoff game (Game 2) at 12 Kings, and wondered if I'd like to go. I said sure, why not. (much better freedom without Jimmy around!) He said he'd pick me up around 4:30 or so, and did. While I was waiting, I discovered that he'd texted me about the hangout at noon. Oops! At least we managed to work it out in the end!

Then Eric managed to drop me off in front of the pub after using his phone to navigate his way to 12 Kings. I tried texting Chinese Eric to see where he was, but got no answer. Jeremy came in a few minutes later and we managed to find Chinese Eric and Randal while white Eric was parking. After saying hi, I was still not impressed, so told him to answer his fucking texts, in those words. He said that he'd been talking to Randal, but it's TIME-SENSITIVE! "WHERE ARE YOU?" should be answered IMMEDIATELY! UGH! Yes, I'm being a hypocrite about this. Oh well. Randal gave me a LOOK, but whatever. At least we can be casual acquaintances now, which is okay by me. Eric implied that he wasn't going to invite me, but since Christon was dragging Alice along, he thought of me. Gee, thanks!

We talked about Yellow Dog Play Dead IPA, sharing a platter of nachos / olives / jalapenos / cheese eventually (we paid Chinese Eric back $4.50 each), Obama being in the building for the basketball game, my Reddit mobile being VERY SLOW and not loading (but it eventually did a while later), instant noodles, spicy noodles not good for the stomach, Christon and Alice's fried food, Eric's club sandwich, current events, Jon organizing this but not making it because of teaching, and Nathan being back in town till Christon's wedding, the CFL and BC Lions games / tickets, Jeremy's brother Mark doing well in Seattle, and keeping in touch with people online. When I noticed that Randal was reading The New Evil: Understanding the Emergence of Modern Violent Crime (Michael H. Stone, Gary Brucato, Ann W. Burgess), I had to show him MY current reading material: The Most Evil Women in History (Shelley Klein) - HAHAHA! Randal mentioned that he'd thought of me while picking his book up at the library, and Jeremy laughed at the coincidence, because great minds think alike!

Chinese Eric wasn't impressed that the Raptors lost 109-104, but nobody else in the pub to watch the game was, either. He also owes me an extra 50 cents because he didn't carry cash or expect me to have the London Drugs receipt for the Indomie Mi Goreng Chitato chips. We finally left about an hour after the game, at 8:30. Those stairs at the pub are not disability-friendly since they have no handrail, forcing me to jump the last step, LIKE I DID LAST TIME ON MARCH 12! It wasn't too far to the car, which is fine. Eric got a text message while he was driving into Richmond, which he hoped wasn't Chinese Eric texting him that he was lost on the way to his own car. He said he could give me a ride to Christon's wedding (which is on the same day as Mike Kwan's), but that I'd have to remind him closer to the date since it's so far away now. I totally understand!


A 6.2% Play Dead IPA from Yellow Dog Brewery in Port Moody!




From Julie M. and I Think My Mom's Gone Crazy: When someone tells me it's not "ladylike" to swear... WHAT?!