Tatiana's Wanderings

I went out with a Miniso face mask at 12:30 on a 407. Went to Lansdowne T and T with my Asian old lady shopping cart to see if I could get a box of 50 face masks for $31. After lining up for 20 minutes because the line snaked around the market area of Lansdowne Mall, I FINALLY got inside with a temperature scanner check (which was fine) and managed to get a box from Customer Service. Since I was there anyway, I checked out the noodle aisle. I got Samyang Buldak Topokki noodles x2 and NEW Samyang Buldak Corn noodles x2 / Samyang Buldak Kimchi chicken terrorist noodles x2. My cart was already plenty full and bulky by the time I left at 1, but I decided to walk to Price Smart anyway, where the lineup moves MUCH FASTER! I got Fanny Bay oysters (May 5), Snack Pack vanilla pudding (May 22), plus NEW Snack Pack DRAGON TREASURE and UNICORN MAGIC puddings. Decided to get a NEW on-sale Aero Gold chocolate bar, a NEW on-sale Kit-Kat Gold chocolate bar, NEW Crave microwaveable meals (Bacon and Egg Scramble with Cheddar Cheese, and Chorizo Egg Scramble with Goat Cheese), and NEW limited-edition Tiramisu Oreos.

After that, I went home at 2:45 on a 407 to rest for a bit before going to London Drugs at 6:30. Planters BBQ peanuts (May 16), Pure Standards Products hydrogen peroxide, Arm and Hammer baking soda, on-sale organic Classico tomato garlic pasta sauce for the same $4 price as regular (sale ends May 27), a small Reese's Pieces (May 18), NEW Orange Vanilla Coke (May 8), NEW LaRose hand sanitizer for the same $4 price as regular, Tao Kae Noi wasabi seaweed snacks, Fudge Swirl Lindt truffles for tomorrow (May 2), and Aroy-D green curry for my Uncle Ben's jasmine rice. Got home at 7:25, which is fine by me.


Mamee chicken noodles with corn, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and green peas for lunch!




( Planning ahead, oh my! )

Before COFFEE TIME / BRUSSELS SPROUTS TIME / HOT CHOCOLATE TIME, I called Chrystal at work at 10:10 AM to remind her about tonight. I left at 6:50 on a 414 (which actually had the wheelchair ramp slope in use instead of the steps) to get to London Drugs on time at 7:30 or so. Unfortunately, someone caused a delay for me at Brighouse. Why would you try to start small talk with someone in an elevator who obviously isn't paying any attention to you for a 20-second ride?! No, I'm not going to respond to a guy cyclist's "hi, how are you, hope you're okay, ma'am" in an ENCLOSED SPACE, especially because YOU AND YOUR BIKE FUCKING MADE ME MISS THE FUCKING TRAIN AND WAIT AN ADDITIONAL 11 MINUTES! The elevator wasn't on the first floor either when I needed it to be! I saw the train pulling into the station when I had JUST gotten to the stairs outside!

Don't get me started on the three tall white dudes who evidently had something like "Well then! What the?" to say to me when I was running for the train at Broadway on the way home! THEY WERE OBSTACLES IN MY PATH so of course I had to BARREL into them, and I didn't even have time to turn and yell FUCK OFF! Or the guy IN the train who was blocking my path right when everyone got off and I wanted in. People, have some spatial awareness and consideration! Too bad they didn't think I had coronavirus! At least Mike found my text message rants entertaining!

I FINALLY got to London Drugs at 7:45, where Chrystal was waiting for me and wandering near the back of the store. We quickly decided on our default option of Pho Extreme Xe Lua, since Cactus Club would DEFINITELY be busy on a Friday night even if we'd bothered to reserve beforehand! (they made us wait for 45 minutes at my birthday dinner even WITH one!) We ordered a small #1 (special noodle soup for Chrystal), six signature butter chicken wings for $9.50 to share (although she only ate one - we split the bill anyway), and a large #30 Bo Bun Hue noodle soup for me. We talked about my trip (I showed her some photos), her nephews Benjamin and Ethan, Ayler / Hiero / Beckett / Fraser / Henry, my relief that Mom wasn't coming on that trip, the flight delays, toys, that gas leak on Chinese New Year, her sushi Chinese New Year dinner with family, Hiero's UBC birthday party and presents, Beckett learning new words, Hiero being sick, and work not being fun today. I got home at 9:35 on a 407, which I guess wasn't terrible for leaving the restaurant at 8:50...


From James: Might be the best selfie of the year, and it's only January! Cats and dogs!




I got a blue dragon as my home icon on Google Maps on my phone! I set my "home," tapped on the menu icon, skipped the commute, and tapped on the three dots which appeared so I could change the home pin!




Dinner with Chrystal: Bo Bun Hue soup!




Dinner with Chrystal: Signature butter chicken wings!

I had to go banking by myself today with my Asian old lady shopping cart at 11:20 on a 401 (JUST managed to get it), then went to Staples for 60 Z-Grip Pens (July 10, 2019), and wasted time at Price Smart. Stopped at London Drugs for a new Santa hat / on-sale Smokehouse Blue Diamond almonds for the plane tomorrow / on-sale Connoisseur Waterbridge chocolate brandy beans / on-sale portable Wet Ones wipes in citrus scent x4, and Shoppers for tomorrow's breakfast (a salmon poke bowl) plus on-sale Arm and Hammer Cold Water laundry detergent. Royal Bank has these brand new "envelope-free" deposits, and an alkie guy had to sit RIGHT NEXT TO ME on the bus stop bench while horking and drinking his brand new beer from the liquor store - YUCK!

When I got home, I showered and did laundry before texting Deb a reminder about taking me to the airport tomorrow morning, then setting an alarm for tomorrow just in case. Then I had to figure out how to pay my BC Hydro bill when it hasn't come in the mail yet - UGH! I had to phone a 1-800 number and got it sorted out within 20 minutes, so I could finally pay my Shaw and hydro bills online. Steph reminded me about some other stuff too, which is handy to know. I definitely took out some garbage before I forgot - ew, garbage for two weeks!

Chinese Eric is alive! He apparently had problems with his phone and could only access his voicemail, and also wants to hang out one last time before 2020. This is better than my thinking he's mad at me for the pink Ruby Kit-Kat bar, but I leave tomorrow morning, so that won't be possible! I also suspect he could be making stuff up since it's been more than two months, but whatever!


From Julie M. and Introvert Spring: People say "go big or go home" like going home is a bad thing. Hell yeah, I wanna go home, AND I'm going to take a nap when I get there.




( FUCKING GOOD! )

DOUBLE COFFEE TIME! Waiting for Auntie Bessy at Kam Do Bakery this morning proved to be a waste of 40 minutes all told. Good thing I just managed to get the 401 on the way there and the 407 on the way back, getting home at 9:40 AM when I'd left at 8:50 AM! Ugh! The Canucks played Winnipeg today at 5, and lost 4-1... ANOTHER EMPTY-NET GOAL?!

I then left at 7:40 to go to the IGA at Garden City Centre at Blundell, but first encountered a lady at the bus stop who somehow just could NOT wait ten minutes for a cigarette! She scrutinized the bus schedule and knew that the 401 would come in four minutes, so what did she do? Why, sat down on the bench and lit up a smoke, of course! Karma came for her in the form of a 401, so she had to butt it out on the bench before she got on the bus and then had a major coughing fit before she and a male companion got off at Minoru, presumably to smoke prior to whatever they REALLY wanted to do!

At least I saw that bus stop advertisement for Ocean's Tuna: Ginger Lemon Sesame, Peri-Peri, and Sundried Tomato Tapenade! Wasted my time at IGA too, since they didn't have the Fresh Gourmet The Better Chip in Jalapeno flavor: "It's a Walmart brand!" they said as I bought NEW Pillsbury Pizza Pops in Double Cheeseburger flavor. I eventually got home at 9:25 after having to kill half an hour at Richmond Centre and buying frozen President's Choice Brussels sprouts and frozen President's Choice broccoli florets.


Witless Bay, Newfoundland?!




From Janina: I relate to the phrase "chilling like a villain." It implies that I'm calm, but ready to murder at any time.




From Youtube: Taffany Shipp?! BAD SPELLING OF TIFFANY!




( Shirt and food! )