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! )

The Canucks played Los Angeles tonight at 7, and s.


From Female Killers / DEADLY WOMEN: LaFonda Fay Foster?!




Ronkeya Holmes, MaSarah Holmes, and Torea Spohr?! Ronkeya's mom is named Edith and her sister is named Angel, which are NORMAL!

From Julie: No-Name Halloween 2019 tagging! Michael the Contractor, Small Fish Woman, Alive Toy, Garbage Troll, Hulking Maniac, Private School Child with Stick, Cheese Pervert, and Space Dog.




From Gregg's for Halloween 2013: What's Your Monster Movie? Beware! The Disco Hairy Werewolves!

The cleaners came again today at 5:40 via bus from New Westminster after rescheduling phone calls and texts to and from me and Harmony and them. They had a huge suitcase full of cleaners and stuff! After the couple cleaned the bathroom, bedroom, kitchen (and under the sink - outside and not inside?!), and living room... they found a dead mouse on a glue trap when I asked them to clean behind the couch! YIKES! They added that to their garbage bag, and took that out when I asked them to do so as they left at 6:55. I definitely gave them a cash tip this time in case I felt badly about it later on.


Half.com, Oregon?!




From 60 Minutes Australia: Tiahleigh Palmer?! Tia and Leigh are both okay, but TIAHLEIGH? Maybe it's the Australian accent, but it seems to be pronounced "Tialy."

I finally called Chimo's Housing Connect this morning at 9:15. Nancy is on sick leave, but I got an appointment with their housing manager Sue next Tuesday at 11:30 AM. After DOUBLE COFFEE TIME AND SHOWER TIME, I went out at 3:10 on a 401 to help with the kids again. Jon messaged me at 1:45 to wonder if I'd received Harma's text message, but I had not. Yeah, I know she's sick. She wanted me to come earlier, so I just called her instead. Sure, I could come by at 4-ish depending on "delays" and transit time... and it ended up being 4:30 because I just missed another 401 when I was on my way out!

Since Ayler and Hiero wanted to do puzzles in their cramped room, I let them while I hung out and read a book on the couch with Beckett's screams as accompaniment. Eventually, he fell asleep and the boys came out to do Summer Reading. Hiero wanted to sit on my lap while Ayler and I alternated pages. "Can you read upside down, Hiero?" "I can't even read right-side up." Good point! They did tell me about busing to VBS Later, Beckett did come out and wanted to toss everything around as per usual. They gave away the hard blue ball and hard red ball (his favorites!) plus some other stuff because he'd made a dent in the floor, hurt Ayler by indiscriminately tossing things, and had the potential to break a window... YIKES!

Like yesterday, Harmony thanked me for playing so nicely with the baby. We had penne, rutabaga, ratatouille, and honeydew for dinner. Ayler and Hiero did origami tricks with the Summer Reading logs, and Ayler told me about staccato and STORMS OF SATURN, while wanting to know what I felt about his practice runs of OUR DETECTIVE AGENCY. They kept getting better, which was what he wanted! Beckett wanted to play the piano too, so I supported him while he tried playing the high keys, but of course he isn't tall enough yet, so I sat on the piano bench with him in my lap instead.

Later, I made him laugh by playing with the Little Tikes popping toy (yellow and purple) - I pressed on the purple part and it pooped out within a few seconds. He "helped" me by putting his finger on it, haha. As long as it amused him for a bit! He looked up at me and wanted me to repeat that over and over, which is fine. Once Ayler and Hiero finally got to bed at 8:05, I could leave the house - I got home at 9:30 thanks to having to wait a while for the 407. I wish they'd gone to bed ten minutes earlier! Since I figured it wouldn't take forever and I might not miss a train, I held the elevator for a lady with crutches at Marine Drive. Her toes had splayed out - yikes! LUCKILY, I didn't miss the Brighouse train!


Bit fucking extreme: Shoplifters will be prostituted! No exceptions!

From Julie M. and Krazy Bitch: Farted in my wallet. Now I have gas money.




From Aaron94 on Discord, Julie M., and Vanessa on November 29, 2018: Abcde Redford?! Also, the reporter has a great last name: MIRACLE!




From Pete: The guy says, "Let's go get some sushi!" The girl says, "I don't like eating raw fish." The guy responds, "Well... FUKU DEN." RESTAURANT STYLE!