My weekend away.
Aug. 1st, 2006 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lance_sibleyWow, there were a lot of posts to get through today. Over 500 since I last logged on. Of course, it was probably largely due to both ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lizblackdog and omahastar participating in Blogathon. Entertaining as it was, why did it have to be while I was away? :P
Okay, so here's what happened this weekend...
12:20pm:
On the bus. Jeez, it's hot - I'm sweating like I've been in a sauna for an hour. I don't know if it's the coffee or the burden of carrying my suitcase and backpack down here on the subway. Probably a combination of both.
I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to get on the bus; when I got here at 11:55, there was another bus in bay 7, so I went back inside, where it's air conditioned, until 12:05. When I came back out, that bus was gone but there was a huge line. Fortunately a second bus for people only going as far as London showed up - so I was able to get on, after showing my passport to the customer service rep. In fact, the bus is half empty - there's nobody in the seat next to me.
12:30pm:
We're moving!
I was filling out the Customs form and I realized that I knew neitherbrendand's address, nor the address of the hotel, and the form requests the address where the traveller will be staying. I hope "Crowne Plaza, Novi" is sufficient. If not, I have brendand's phone number.
When I checked my email before leaving this morning,brendand said that he had a class until 9 this evening, and that someone named Tammy might be picking me up instead. He didn't say if he meant Tammy Coxen, though, or some other Tammy - if it's some other Tammy, I wonder how we'll recognize each other.
3:00pm:
We just stopped in London for 20 minutes, and now we're back on the road. I considered going to Subway or Tim Horton's during the stopover, but I'm not really that hungry. Mind you, I probably will be by the time we get to Windsor in two hours.
I've almost finished the crossword from today's paper, and I've done yesterday's, as well as read both papers from front to back. It's probably a good thing I also brought three books - I can only watch the guy across the aisle trying to tie his backpack shut with twine for so long. (He's setting off my gaydar, too - not too many guys in their 20s use that much product in their hair and read "Us Weekly" and "People". Though it actually seems that he's making seashell bracelets, not tying his backpack shut - I guess that was just so that the shells wouldn't slide off the other end of the twine every time we hit a pothole.)
I somehow managed to avoid acquiring a seatmate even after our stop in London. Good - it means that if I want to stretch out, I can.
3:40pm:
We just entered Windsor. We're scheduled to arrive in Detroit in 40 minutes, then I have 20 minutes before the bus to Ann Arbor leaves. I don't know if I should grab some food, or wait untilbrendand picks me up.
5:12pm:
Across from the Windsor bus station is a strip joint called Million Dollar Saloon, outside which the marquee reads: "50 Beautiful Women and 1 Ugly One." Now there's a motivational technique.
5:20pm:
Back on the road - and we just passed the Paul Martin Building. I wonder if it's named for Senior or Junior. And now, after freezing for five hours, the driver has turned on the heat. Figures.
5:36pm:
Through Customs, and back on the bus. Several passengers were pulled aside. Crap, I'm probably not going to make the 6pm bus to Ann Arbor. I hope I don't have a long wait.
5:00pm:
I managed to make it to Ann Arbor in time last night after all, andbrendand picked me up at 8. We came straight back to his house. Even though he'd eaten, he made some penne for me (and one of his housemates). We all chatted for a bit, and then brendand and I retired to the basement theatre (and it really is like a theatre - an LCD projector hooked up to the DVD player, and a movie screen) to watch "The Incredibles," which I'd never seen, and then we went to bed at midnight.
This morning we got up around 11, and had to dash out as he was giving Mike a ride to the train station. We got to Mike's place,brendand turned off the engine to open the trunk for Mike's luggage, but then the car wouldn't start again. I sat in the car for about 15 minutes while brendand drove Mike to the train station in his own truck (there wasn't room for me).
We stopped for Burger King on the way back, but have been more or less lazing around all afternoon. I think we're leaving for the hotel as soon asbrendand's laundry is done.
9:30pm:
Just got back from dinner at the Olive Garden withbrendand and dagibbs. brendand is napping on the couch in the living room.
It's been a very relaxing weekend. I swam, I hot-tubbed (getting lightly teased by the con chair at one point), and I played some games. Today was rather non-existent as far as the con was concerned, as they'd apparently only booked the con suite through last night and neglected to arrange for a late checkout. A bunch of people went to Denny's, butbrendand wasn't in the mood for Denny's so we went to Big Boy instead, where I had the breakfast buffet.
We then went to Borders, where I found Andy Bell's solo album and PSB's soundtrack to Battleship Potemkin at good prices, so I got both. We then wandered around the mall for a bit, and looked at some t-shirts and stuff, but didn't buy anything.brendand pushed me towards the door every time we passed a hair salon (and this mall had something like three of them) - he thinks it's way too long. In this heat and humidity, admittedly, it is rather a bother. Two minutes outdoors and it's all frizzy. brendand kept threatening offering to cut it for me (as well as to dye it purple), but now that I've given in, he seems to have lost interest.
After the trip to the mall,brendand took me on a tour of the University of Michigan campus. It's quite large, and reminded me a bit of U of T. Lots of ivy-covered buildings and lawns. We then met up with dagibbs, and now I'm back to where I started this entry.
My bus back to Toronto leaves at 1:40 tomorrow afternoon. I'll miss the relaxation this weekend has provided, as well asbrendand's company, but hopefully, the headhunter I've been dealing with will have an interview set up for me. Then I'll definitely need a haircut. No purple dye, though.
1:15pm:
brendand just dropped me off at the bus station. The website was wrong, and the bus actually leaves at 1:55, not 1:40, so I have a bit more time than expected.
I invitedbrendand to come up for one of the upcoming fannish parties that's taking place this month, but he's already got commitments on those weekends. He wants to see Wicked, though, so I guess I have to wait until October to show him Toronto. I'll just have to make sure to get a haircut before then, or I'll never hear the end of it. ( :P )
4:30pm:
At the border. I was about the eighth person off the bus, but the first person back on. As a matter of fact, I was back on the bus before everyone had gotten off. The agent barely glanced at my passport - all I was asked was where I lived and how long I'd been in the US. On the way down, we had to bring all of our luggage with us into the Customs building, but on the way back, we didn't. They didn't even make me fill out a Customs declaration form.
Next stop: London in a few hours, I think.
8:20pm:
In London. We seem to be taking the scenic route, as there was a demolished car on the 401. It appeared that all westbound traffic was stopped - people were out of their cars and wandering around on the road. We were diverted to a smaller highway - 40, I think it was. We went through Chatham and a whole slew of farming communities.
I would have liked to have gotten some food into me, but 15 minutes didn't seem to be enough time given the length of the line in Subway, and I didn't feel like Tim Horton's. Oh, well. I'll survive another couple of hours. The bus is scheduled to get to Toronto at 10:20, but somehow I doubt that we will.
12:00am:
Arrived at home (finally!). The bus got into Toronto around 45 minutes late. I schlepped my stuff home, emailedbrendand to let him know that I'd gotten home safely, and now I'm going to figure out what I want to eat, since I haven't eaten a thing today. I think I have some fish in the freezer. But first, I have to listen to the four messages on my answering machine.
So, that was the weekend.
Today, I got up around noon and called a headhunter who had left a message on my machine while I was gone - not the same one I'd been dealing with previously. This is for a position at Honda - they're looking for someone with experience in COBOL, CICS, various mainframe utilities, MQ Series and J2EE. Good luck finding someone with all of those. I told the headhunter that while I don't have J2EE, I do own a textbook that I bought about a year ago just for kicks so that I could learn it. She found that amusing.
Apart from that, today has been filled with reading all of the weekend's emails (365 of them in total) and reading everything you folks had been up to all weekend. That, and staying inside for the most part, though I did have to go to the drug store for toothpaste, soap and anti-perspirant. Somehow I managed to run out of all three at the same time. According to what I've been reading, today's humidex hit 48C (118F) - no wonder I felt like a drowned rat the second I stepped outside. I may pop over to Dominion and pick up some ice cream. Fortunately I have plenty of Lactaid to go with it. Hm, the more I think about it, the better that idea sounds.
Oh, and some memeage, gakked fromyellow_freshia:
My Gay Fairy Name is Star Dancer. How Gay.What's Yours?
Apparently my special fairy skills are:
Uh-huh. Could have been worse -yellow_freshia's fairy name is "Lance the Gay Fairy".
lizblackdog and omahastar participating in Blogathon. Entertaining as it was, why did it have to be while I was away? :POkay, so here's what happened this weekend...
12:20pm:
On the bus. Jeez, it's hot - I'm sweating like I've been in a sauna for an hour. I don't know if it's the coffee or the burden of carrying my suitcase and backpack down here on the subway. Probably a combination of both.
I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to get on the bus; when I got here at 11:55, there was another bus in bay 7, so I went back inside, where it's air conditioned, until 12:05. When I came back out, that bus was gone but there was a huge line. Fortunately a second bus for people only going as far as London showed up - so I was able to get on, after showing my passport to the customer service rep. In fact, the bus is half empty - there's nobody in the seat next to me.
12:30pm:
We're moving!
I was filling out the Customs form and I realized that I knew neither
brendand's address, nor the address of the hotel, and the form requests the address where the traveller will be staying. I hope "Crowne Plaza, Novi" is sufficient. If not, I have brendand's phone number.When I checked my email before leaving this morning,
brendand said that he had a class until 9 this evening, and that someone named Tammy might be picking me up instead. He didn't say if he meant Tammy Coxen, though, or some other Tammy - if it's some other Tammy, I wonder how we'll recognize each other.3:00pm:
We just stopped in London for 20 minutes, and now we're back on the road. I considered going to Subway or Tim Horton's during the stopover, but I'm not really that hungry. Mind you, I probably will be by the time we get to Windsor in two hours.
I've almost finished the crossword from today's paper, and I've done yesterday's, as well as read both papers from front to back. It's probably a good thing I also brought three books - I can only watch the guy across the aisle trying to tie his backpack shut with twine for so long. (He's setting off my gaydar, too - not too many guys in their 20s use that much product in their hair and read "Us Weekly" and "People". Though it actually seems that he's making seashell bracelets, not tying his backpack shut - I guess that was just so that the shells wouldn't slide off the other end of the twine every time we hit a pothole.)
I somehow managed to avoid acquiring a seatmate even after our stop in London. Good - it means that if I want to stretch out, I can.
3:40pm:
We just entered Windsor. We're scheduled to arrive in Detroit in 40 minutes, then I have 20 minutes before the bus to Ann Arbor leaves. I don't know if I should grab some food, or wait until
brendand picks me up.5:12pm:
Across from the Windsor bus station is a strip joint called Million Dollar Saloon, outside which the marquee reads: "50 Beautiful Women and 1 Ugly One." Now there's a motivational technique.
5:20pm:
Back on the road - and we just passed the Paul Martin Building. I wonder if it's named for Senior or Junior. And now, after freezing for five hours, the driver has turned on the heat. Figures.
5:36pm:
Through Customs, and back on the bus. Several passengers were pulled aside. Crap, I'm probably not going to make the 6pm bus to Ann Arbor. I hope I don't have a long wait.
5:00pm:
I managed to make it to Ann Arbor in time last night after all, and
brendand picked me up at 8. We came straight back to his house. Even though he'd eaten, he made some penne for me (and one of his housemates). We all chatted for a bit, and then brendand and I retired to the basement theatre (and it really is like a theatre - an LCD projector hooked up to the DVD player, and a movie screen) to watch "The Incredibles," which I'd never seen, and then we went to bed at midnight.This morning we got up around 11, and had to dash out as he was giving Mike a ride to the train station. We got to Mike's place,
brendand turned off the engine to open the trunk for Mike's luggage, but then the car wouldn't start again. I sat in the car for about 15 minutes while brendand drove Mike to the train station in his own truck (there wasn't room for me).We stopped for Burger King on the way back, but have been more or less lazing around all afternoon. I think we're leaving for the hotel as soon as
brendand's laundry is done.9:30pm:
Just got back from dinner at the Olive Garden with
brendand and dagibbs. brendand is napping on the couch in the living room.It's been a very relaxing weekend. I swam, I hot-tubbed (getting lightly teased by the con chair at one point), and I played some games. Today was rather non-existent as far as the con was concerned, as they'd apparently only booked the con suite through last night and neglected to arrange for a late checkout. A bunch of people went to Denny's, but
brendand wasn't in the mood for Denny's so we went to Big Boy instead, where I had the breakfast buffet.We then went to Borders, where I found Andy Bell's solo album and PSB's soundtrack to Battleship Potemkin at good prices, so I got both. We then wandered around the mall for a bit, and looked at some t-shirts and stuff, but didn't buy anything.
brendand pushed me towards the door every time we passed a hair salon (and this mall had something like three of them) - he thinks it's way too long. In this heat and humidity, admittedly, it is rather a bother. Two minutes outdoors and it's all frizzy. brendand kept After the trip to the mall,
brendand took me on a tour of the University of Michigan campus. It's quite large, and reminded me a bit of U of T. Lots of ivy-covered buildings and lawns. We then met up with dagibbs, and now I'm back to where I started this entry.My bus back to Toronto leaves at 1:40 tomorrow afternoon. I'll miss the relaxation this weekend has provided, as well as
brendand's company, but hopefully, the headhunter I've been dealing with will have an interview set up for me. Then I'll definitely need a haircut. No purple dye, though.1:15pm:
brendand just dropped me off at the bus station. The website was wrong, and the bus actually leaves at 1:55, not 1:40, so I have a bit more time than expected.I invited
brendand to come up for one of the upcoming fannish parties that's taking place this month, but he's already got commitments on those weekends. He wants to see Wicked, though, so I guess I have to wait until October to show him Toronto. I'll just have to make sure to get a haircut before then, or I'll never hear the end of it. ( :P )4:30pm:
At the border. I was about the eighth person off the bus, but the first person back on. As a matter of fact, I was back on the bus before everyone had gotten off. The agent barely glanced at my passport - all I was asked was where I lived and how long I'd been in the US. On the way down, we had to bring all of our luggage with us into the Customs building, but on the way back, we didn't. They didn't even make me fill out a Customs declaration form.
Next stop: London in a few hours, I think.
8:20pm:
In London. We seem to be taking the scenic route, as there was a demolished car on the 401. It appeared that all westbound traffic was stopped - people were out of their cars and wandering around on the road. We were diverted to a smaller highway - 40, I think it was. We went through Chatham and a whole slew of farming communities.
I would have liked to have gotten some food into me, but 15 minutes didn't seem to be enough time given the length of the line in Subway, and I didn't feel like Tim Horton's. Oh, well. I'll survive another couple of hours. The bus is scheduled to get to Toronto at 10:20, but somehow I doubt that we will.
12:00am:
Arrived at home (finally!). The bus got into Toronto around 45 minutes late. I schlepped my stuff home, emailed
brendand to let him know that I'd gotten home safely, and now I'm going to figure out what I want to eat, since I haven't eaten a thing today. I think I have some fish in the freezer. But first, I have to listen to the four messages on my answering machine.So, that was the weekend.
Today, I got up around noon and called a headhunter who had left a message on my machine while I was gone - not the same one I'd been dealing with previously. This is for a position at Honda - they're looking for someone with experience in COBOL, CICS, various mainframe utilities, MQ Series and J2EE. Good luck finding someone with all of those. I told the headhunter that while I don't have J2EE, I do own a textbook that I bought about a year ago just for kicks so that I could learn it. She found that amusing.
Apart from that, today has been filled with reading all of the weekend's emails (365 of them in total) and reading everything you folks had been up to all weekend. That, and staying inside for the most part, though I did have to go to the drug store for toothpaste, soap and anti-perspirant. Somehow I managed to run out of all three at the same time. According to what I've been reading, today's humidex hit 48C (118F) - no wonder I felt like a drowned rat the second I stepped outside. I may pop over to Dominion and pick up some ice cream. Fortunately I have plenty of Lactaid to go with it. Hm, the more I think about it, the better that idea sounds.
Oh, and some memeage, gakked from
yellow_freshia:My Gay Fairy Name is Star Dancer. How Gay.What's Yours?
Apparently my special fairy skills are:
- Drinking dew drops
- Dancing in the mushroom patch.
- Over the rainbow tourguide
Uh-huh. Could have been worse -
yellow_freshia's fairy name is "Lance the Gay Fairy".
