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! )

It's Friday the 13th today! I showered and did laundry this morning, then made reservations at the Cascade Room for tomorrow.


Julie M. was on vacation and saw this map at a Pennsylvania visitor centre: Hop Bottom?! HAHAHA!




The whole world can hear you trying to open this plastic cake box late at night. I can hear this picture!

A handyman came by unexpectedly at 12:30 with caulk to spackle my bathroom walls, which I'd mentioned to Hester last week. He also had noticed my shower tile apparently "needed" to be repaired too, which was fine by me, and he left by 1.


The bad bathroom wall is here:




From Julie and Beauty Insider: Ambrosia Jones?!




From Happiness Heroes: Rhythm Pacheco?! Reminds me of my Grade 7 teacher, Mrs. Pacheco.




From Julie: Skeletal animal figurines in DRAGON, unicorn, and mermaid!

After COFFEE TIME, I went out at 3:15 (first refilling my yearly prescription at the pharmacy next door) on a 401 (JUST IN TIME) to help with the kids. I had to leave room for a suitcase and also remember to get to the house after 4:35 because of a water shutoff till 4. Lovely! I killed time at the Save-On nearby, and when Harmony said they were fine at 4:35, I said I'd be there soon, but made a necessary pit stop at Kwong Chow first. That meant I washed my hands twice within ten minutes, but whatever. The replacement black carry-on suitcase looked okay, and I later found out that ALL the zippers were fine and that it was way easier to handle and maneuver! When I got there just after 5, Beckett wanted to see me and say hi in his own way - so cute! Harmony said that Jon was doing his West Vancouver holiday gig, which is totally worth it, but means a little extra work on everyone else's part. Ayler wanted to know why, haha. My nephews are smart and curious kids!

Hiero wanted to show me his "enchanted airplane," Ayler wanted to show me some piano techniques and quiz me on piano (and quizzing me on math at dinner), and Beckett just wanted to show me all his balls and have this cute confused look when the balls wouldn't go through the holes in that wooden toy. He did go over to the far windowsill (almost obscured by the curtain) and play with the toy molecule rod and balls there while looking at the lights across the street. (and did it with the near window, too - spouting gibberish as usual) I found another emotion egg later and gave it to him. He wanted to go after the pom-pom on my Santa hat (Harmony thought that was funny), explore my bling shirt, and gently touched the keloid scar on my neck later out of curiosity. (I told him that this wasn't a "ball-ball") He climbed on top of Ayler, who didn't like that, and then climbed on top of Hiero, who was a bit more acquiescent. When he threw the balls around and pointed at them, I asked him if he wanted me to go get them. After a pause, he said "yeah," so I said okay. Hiero wasn't sure if he knows what that means, but he did say "wow" tonight for the first time!

Beckett also has discovered the apartment door, and sometimes crawls to it for whatever reason. I picked him up and got him out of there, of course. He wanted to sit on my lap and "read" the 100 Words baby book, which I of course let him do because he's much lighter than his brothers and my legs don't complain! I did have a toe cramp much later, but it was okay within a few minutes of agony. We had beef tendon and beef brisket with broad white noodles and vegetables for dinner - even with cereal, Beckett didn't eat much. Harmony crammed some Rice Krispies into his mouth later a few times when he was preoccupied with me and the toys, otherwise he'll be way too hungry tomorrow morning! She bought some stuff on the Black Friday sales, and I told the kids about the KFC 50% Bowls and Buckets deal yesterday when Harmony was gone temporarily. Hiero asked if I wanted to buy it - not after I heard the website was pretty broken! Ayler asked me what a website was, so I asked him if he remembers Kids Physio. His face brightened at that: YES! I told him that a lot of stores and businesses and people had websites on the Internet these days. He seemed to accept this explanation. I didn't mind if Harmony gave Beckett some shortbread at all.

I left at 7:30 and was thankfully able to catch the 3 Marine Drive bus earlier instead of later, and got home at 8:40 on a 407 in time to catch the last five minutes of the second period. The Canucks played Ottawa tonight at 7, and won 5-2 on the Alex Burrows Ring of Honor evening! Fantenberg and MacEwen got their first goals! I also managed to pack everything into that suitcase without anything breaking or being overstuffed... SUCCESS!


Random stuff from Mom and Dad: Cozy Christmas socks and a green PEANUTS water bottle!


Dinner tonight: beef tendon, veggies, and noodles!




From Julie: Christmas is so much harder when you get older. It's like, "What do you want this year?" I don't know... maybe a sense of purpose, some financial security, could use more sleep, a bottle of wine, and maybe some new bras. I had to use MS Paint to edit in an Oxford comma LIKE IT SHOULD BE!




The Famous Grouse whiskey shortbread!




Cozy Christmas socks for me, Steph, and Lisa! Pig coin purse for Steph! FUZZY SOCKS!




Western Family condensed cream of mushroom soup!




Green PEANUTS water bottle for me!