Tatiana's Wanderings

I had TWO naps today! Wow! Time for some President's Choice mint tea!


Opened the raw Fanny Bay oysters for Oyster Day today on May 5!




Breakfast: CRAVE Chorizo scramble with eggs and goat cheese!




Breakfast: CRAVE bacon and egg scramble with cheddar cheese!




Lunch: Uncle Ben's jasmine rice and Aroy-D green curry!

It's Earth Day 2020 today! I also temporarily got QUADRUPLE DIGITS IN MY BANK ACCOUNT again! Hopefully, my spending habits are a little better than they were the LAST time this happened! Also, I won't need to give $900 of my own money for a family trip like the ICBC insurance settlement. Of course, that only lasted for the time it took me to go banking, never mind grocery shopping! I think I'll just continue my usual money habits this time.

After dealing with a stupid Reddit Vancouver troll, I went banking and shopping at 11:25 AM on a 407 with my Asian old lady shopping cart, noting that the 414 shuttle bus would be discontinued next week as per a sign at the bus stop. Briefly peeked into London Drugs, and at least I didn't have to walk all the way around the block from Moore's clothing store to get to Royal Bank this time, unlike LAST payday! I got NEW Iogo cherry yogurt, NEW on-sale Oikos strawberry-raspberry / Zesty lemon-lime Greek yogurts x2, NEW Lysol Click Gel toilet bowl cleaner x3 (SPRING WATERFALL!) which was really easy for me to unwrap and apply, on-sale Earth's Own original almond milk, a NEW on-sale Tao Kae Noi BIG SPICY SEAWEED ROLL box with nine of them, chocolate orange Jaffa Cakes, and Shin Ramyun Black CUP noodles x2.

Also purchased NEW Western Family regular grated Parmesan cheese (green), NEW Western Family light grated Parmesan cheese (yellow), NEW Pulmuone Katsuo Soba Ramen noodles, NEW Ottogi Super-Spicy Yeul Ramen noodles, NEW Ottogi sesame ramen noodles with an egg block, Western Family mixed frozen vegetables AFTER TWO MONTHS, and a LUCKY 24-pack of Purex toilet paper. When I got home at 2:15 on a 407 with a nice friendly understanding bus driver, I paid my Shaw and hydro bills online. after text exchanges with both Erics about life, I went out again at 7:05 and luckily got another 12-pack of Purex double rolls along with some Old Dutch Restaurante salsa con queso (cheese salsa) and a big bag of Western Family mixed frozen vegetables for more peace of mind.

I also got Green Works toilet bowl cleaner x2 since I can just turn the cap and not have to squeeze it in impossible or difficult positions like I have to do with Lysol or Scrubbing Bubbles. London Drugs also has this, and I forgot about this till now. Got home at 8:10 on a 407 and tested out the Starfrit jar opener on the salsa jar. I hit the jar on the counter first to hopefully break the seal, tried opening it a few times, then I made a mistake by tilting the jar.... I think after that spill, I'll postpone a shower and laundry till at least tomorrow!


Hungry Man Boneless Fried Chicken microwaveable meal... YAY!




[( Smoking Backyard Barbecue! )

I went to Price Smart at 6, where there was zero enforcement of a lineup. I was in and out in ten minutes or so, which is a record these days with the coronavirus pandemic! I got NEW Old Dutch Foods Canada Spicy Salt and Vinegar chips, NEW Saniderm 70% hand sanitizer in a 236 mL bottle for $9, NEW Stouffer’s Cheddar Potato Bake, Smart Ones Pot Roast, NEW Hungry-Man XL Bowls / Pies x4 (Chicken Pot Pie / Buffalo-Style Chicken Macaroni and Cheese / Country-Fried Chicken Croquettes Bowl / Spicy Chicken Queso Burrito), Hungry-Man Turkey, and Hungry-Man Beer-Battered Chicken before coming home at 6:55, just in time for the 7 PM cheer! Saw a bunch of people outside, and I told some kids "Nice poster!" and gave them a thumbs-up.


From Matt: Homestar Runner Wiki has these funny coronavirus-themed logos! From the Strong Bad email Sick Day: QUARANTINE! Yellow crime scene tape! This one made me laugh THE MOST!




( More purchases! )


From Dragons: Crystal Naydean Hoyt?! BAD SPELLING OF NADINE!




From Julie: This black St. Jude patient is named VON?!

Ayler called me briefly at 6, but I had to scramble to get my reading glasses in order to read the Caller ID, so I missed it. When I called them back immediately afterwards, the phone was busy! I checked my text messages instead, in hopes of getting ones from yesterday. There was one from Barry saying that the Pathways office was no longer open, so sorry, but he couldn't help me with my shopping trip on Wednesday, but hopes I am well and keeping cautiously safe. No direct contact is allowed, as I thought... not sure how he would work from home with that job, but if my sister can do it with writing RCMP reports...

Then Dad asked about my food situation - I said it was fine, as they should NOT show up here under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! Eric Ho said that he wouldn't come by for a while, as per my wishes, and has constantly-changing shifts at work. They haven't closed down the art gallery yet?! He says that the NHL might have a 24-team playoff format. Interesting! I'd never heard THAT! He's right that we have lots more time now to watch stuff on Youtube!

I finally called the kids back twenty minutes later, and Hiero said they'd called me "many times" today - three times, according to his brother! Then Ayler said that they'd had pork for dinner to gain weight to help them, asked me why I wanted to call every few days, said that his dad could make banana bread for me (maybe when this is over), and asked what I did today. (watching Youtube videos, I told him) Hiero asked if I was still sleeping when they called me at 9:15 AM - YES! Then he said that they called a lot of people today: their grandparents, Myles, Holly, Peter, Evander, Everett, and even Jeremy! Ayler said that Jeremy had more connections than I did - I guess so. He hung up on me, so I called him back to see what was up, and to make sure he knew that the playgrounds were closed - "they are, right?" Definitely! We ended with a BYE!


Ima Hogg?!




Ima Hogg's tombstone!




From Shiwa's Discord server and Nerfnow Comics: Treasure! Here's a treasure chest around the corner: TOILET PAPER to protect against the coronavirus hoarders!

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! )