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! )

COFFEE TIME! To my surprise, Andre (from Stryn, Norway) had reactivated his Facebook account for now to "stay in touch" with the Fearsome Canucks group, so I took advantage of it to untag / delete pics of him that I'd tagged. The Canucks played the Islanders today at 10 AM thanks to "lovely" East Coast scheduling, and won 4-3 in overtime despite the Islanders scoring with 35 seconds remaining in regulation! Quinn Hughes got two goals including the game-winner AND is currently now #1 in rookie scoring for this season!

Afterwards, I went out at 2:25 on a 401 to shop at London Drugs. I bought dark grey Designer Workshop washcloths x12, on-sale 12-pack Excel Gum x4 for my wallet (99 cents each for Chlorophyll / Strong Mint / Peppermint / Winterfresh), NEW on-sale dark chocolate Wild Coast Fruit blueberries and cranberries x2 for National Dark Chocolate Day today, Mackie's Potato Crisps haggis and black pepper / NEW crispy bacon chips x2, and on-sale Nescafe coffee in a tall canister, getting back at 3:35 on a 407.


From James: When someone says, "White people don't season their food," and then you hit them with 11 herbs and spices at KFC.




From Julie: We all have memories on stairs. Others have memories of a romantic kiss in the stairwell. I just have memories of falling down the stairs ungracefully!




From Julie and Anorak UK: Bunghole Liquors?! Hooker Cockram?!




Andre!




( Chips, gum, and new dark chocolate! )

Today is No Bra Day! After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:10 on a 407 to go to the family Thanksgiving Dinner. Killed time at Shoppers Drug Mart by buying on-sale M and Ms in Hazelnut Spread flavor, on-sale Life store brand honey lemon cough drops (the pharmacy students didn't understand the word "lozenge"...), and NEW on-sale Live Clean foaming body washes: Shea and Murumuru Butter, plus Mango and Aloe Butter! I must have LOST MY COMPASS CARD on the 3 Downtown bus (which I just managed to get at 4 PM) because I couldn't find it when I left Jon's! It definitely wasn't in my pockets or on the floor that I could see. I need to stop stuffing things in my pockets! UGH!

Anyway, I read six whole books to Hiero (BERENSTEIN BEARS / three STAR WARS / one BATMAN / one Monkey book) and remembered to enjoy the moments of him on my lap and listening. Ayler wanted to read the bus timetable, tell me about decimals (in Grade 2?!) and division in Grade 3, and said "Are you kidding me?!" in Cantonese a lot. When Harmony got back with Beckett, he wanted to play with me, so I made him laugh at the baby pop-up toy. He also went up to Mom, who didn't seem to know he was there, so Jon and I had to say that Beckett was saying hi to her! Of course he also wanted to play with the HP printer display, which had changed into Chinese for Hiero-related reasons. Dad eventually managed to fix it, so was blocking Beckett from playing with the display. He wanted to grab my hat, but I said no. Mom said something about SIM cards and Steph's number and phone. Sure, whatever. She also referred to me as "Fat Aunt" with him - UGH!

Due to the dinner configuration, I sat next to Beckett while eating cheese / apple slices / turkey / gravy / kimchi / cranberry sauce / pizza bread / Brussels sprouts / salad. He grabbed my sweater a few times (I JUST washed it!) and threw food around as usual. Later, he wanted to crawl to my chair when he'd finished eating and Harmony had cleaned him up, but was blocked by Ayler's special chair. I did play with him more after I myself had finished eating and washing my hands: he still throws the little Play=Doh container at people, as well as all the balloons that were on the floor.

Then Beckett cried when a balloon popped! He also cried when he was really done with dinner, as in real tears and everything! Later, Harmony had to put him down for sleeping, so we waved goodnight to him. Harmony was surprised when Beckett imitated what I was doing; that was the FIRST TIME EVER that he waved to ANYONE, so I must have the magic touch! (like I did with Hiero in 2014 when he wouldn't let Harmony sleep) Since Jon agreed to drive me to King Edward Station later, Mom and Dad left because there were only 12 inches of room between the carseats in their vehicle. Hiero asked me about that later, using the correct family names, so I gave him an answer. I later discovered that I had somehow lost my bus pass! Jon gave me $6.50, which was it (that's fine) and enough to cover Tuesday's fare as well. Got home at 9:10 on a 401 (I'd missed a 407 by a few minutes) and then thought that maybe the bus pass could be between the couch cushions. If not, then I will call the Lost and Found Office / Ministry on Tuesday morning.


Random stuff from Mom and Dad: Western Family hot and spicy pasta sauce, plus a small silver pan thing.


Live Clean foaming body washes: Shea and Murumuru Butter, Moringa and Matcha Butter, plus Mango and Aloe Butter!




Western Family hot and spicy pasta sauce!




What is with this weird VerifyError Spectrum Plugins error message when I try to post phone pictures on Facebook?!

After COFFEE TIME, Eric M. picked me up at 7 so we could go to the Richmond Centre Cactus Club. Yay for both Erics, Randal, and Jeremy! I assume Chinese Eric was texting white Eric while we were trying to find parking at the mall, so I texted him saying just that, then he suddenly appeared when we had finally parked. We had to wait 45 minutes to be seated, so we just chilled in the mall coffee shop area while talking about Randal's sales guy taking them all out for lunch at that Cactus Club a couple of weeks ago, my giving Chinese Eric the last bag of Chitato Indomie Mi Goreng chips, Randal and Jeremy giving me birthday cards, the BC Lions (so boring), and Nathan not being able to make it. (HE isn't a flake!)

Once we were seated, I ordered a jambalaya rice bowl and iced tea. Randal had steak and frites with some beer, Chinese Eric had flatbread, white Eric had some blackened Creole chicken, and Jeremy had some butternut squash ravioli with prawns. Chinese Eric had a nosebleed halfway through dinner, but he wasn't sure what it was at first. I even took the napkin and moved it closer to the candle to see if it was sauce or something else. At least I wouldn't have to deal with that if it happened to Jimmy anymore! Chinese Eric tilted his head back and not forward, contrary to white Eric's Googling. (I had to go in as Cactus Guest)

We talked about our food, how bubble tea ISN'T some new fad, Jon, Harmony, Ayler, Hiero, Beckett, their not having a microwave (so they're the healthiest kids that Randal knows), Randal not taking piano lessons for the right reasons (and practicing was getting tedious), the automatic blinds ("why is it so dark suddenly?"), Justin Trudeau's blackface scandal, real-life Twitch streams, raiding Area 51, the Toronto Raptors memorabilia (white Eric had the right hoodie!), a future sports hangout, Jeremy not texting at all, Hiero's view on kindergarten, the fire outside, and just hanging out. They convinced me to order a dessert since it was my birthday dinner, so I did - white chocolate cheesecake! Then I found some Area 51 Naruto runners from a different angle on Reddit, and had to show Jeremy - he laughed! Randal commented that my phone's camera flash was really bright - well, the restaurant was really dark at that point! White Eric drove me home at 10:30, and it had really started raining then.


Cambridge Wesley Sand Flatware cutlery!




Jambalaya rice bowl at the Cactus Club: Shrimp, chicken, chorizo sausage, vegetables, bacon, spicy tomato sauce, black bean salsa, and crème fraîche!




White chocolate cheesecake at the Cactus Club: Chocolate cookie crust, raspberry compote, hand-whipped cream!




Jeremy's order of butternut squash ravioli at the Cactus Club for my birthday 2019 dinner! Chef Rob Feenie's signature butternut squash and mascarpone ravioli, truffle butter, sautéed jumbo prawns, pine nuts, and crispy sage.




White Eric's order of Blackened Creole Chicken at the Cactus Club for my birthday 2019 dinner! Creole butter, Cajun spices, buttered mashed potatoes, and roasted asparagus.




Randal's order of Steak Frites at the Cactus Club for my birthday 2019 dinner! Eight-ounce certified Angus beef sirloin, kale salad, horseradish cream, and sea salted fries.




Chinese Eric's order of Rob's Flatbread at the Cactus Club for my birthday 2019 dinner! Caramelized onions, grape tomatoes, feta, goat cheese, basil pesto, arugula, and balsamic glaze.

After COFFEE TIME and getting some free NRG Detox Iaso tea samples from Shane in today's mail (yay for bubble-wrap envelopes!), I went out at 2 on a 414 to see Rachel at the Caring Place. We called Shaw and I managed to get my bill lowered by about $50 per month for two years in a row! I'll also get a new cable box and some other things next Wednesday when the technician comes by in the late morning or early afternoon. I killed time by taking advantage of the wi-fi there, in Richmond Centre, and outside Waves Coffee. Texted Paulo, talked to James about food, sent Mike a quick Hangouts message, and generally kept in touch with people. Someone in the V4F Discord server mentioned coffee, so I decided to check the London Drugs website to see whether the tall canisters were on sale - SCORE! I bought a NESCAFÉ instant coffee canister (October 1, 2018) for $10.99 instead of $14.99, plus NEW Late July bacon habanero tortilla chips.

Later, I met Frances for dinner at Pho Han after walking from Richmond Centre to Lansdowne and then taking the 410. Well, she offered to pick me up somewhere near Aberdeen Station around 6 since the restaurant is in one of those little plazas on Capstan Way. It was definitely out of the way, that's for sure! We talked about VCEFC people, my mom calling me for something which turned out to be an "invite" to one of Dad's VOS opera choir concerts tomorrow evening (I never check WhatsApp and she might as well just TELL ME WHAT IT IS ON THE PHONE), Ellen, Facebook, my malfunctioning microwave, her mother and dementia, my spicy pork blood soup, her spring rolls and grilled chicken, her paying for the meal (wow!) and dropping me off later, her brothers, and autism. I guess Mom will pick me up at 5 tomorrow from the courtyard with another bag or two of random stuff before we go for wonton mein or something.

It was good, but I am still glad to be home. I should have gotten her to stand around while I looked at microwaves in London Drugs since I have more than $150 cash in my wallet, but that's probably not what she had in mind when she said "grocery shopping." I just emailed white Eric to see if he can do it and then recycle the old one - then maybe I can give the Danby Designers 700-watt one to Paulo if and when that ends up happening.


Alprentice Von Slatten?!




From Julie: Cardi B has a daughter named KULTURE?! Bad spelling of Culture, not that this is a good name if spelled correctly...




NEW Late July bacon habanero tortilla chips!