It's just a little pin prick

I had an appointment at the travel clinic today. It's six months until my leave starts, and the vaccine for Hepatitis A and B is a six month deal. One now, one in a month, and another at the six month mark. It's worth talking to a doctor who specializes in travel medicine. I had no idea that some countries will require proof of yellow fever vaccination within a year of the last outbreak. And Iguazu Falls in northern Argentina had an outbreak this year. If we get down there we'd have to see it and Peru won't allow you in without proof of vaccination. It's also good to learn that Buenos Aires has good doctors.

If you can guess the secret word...

I went to Word on the Street yesterday. It's a publishing and book festival held in a number of cities across the country. I've been to the ones in Calgary and Vancouver, but this has been the largest. It was inspiring to see the number publishers and magazines there are to be published in. It was also a little depressing to see all the unknown authors - some of them at the stalls, some waiting at the booth to sign their books - and no one around. The stalls for retail places were the most popular. People swarming around on the chance of getting a deal on a book. But looking at the small press books and realizing how much competition there is making me rethink some things.

Never that simple

Fuck me. It turns out she's still selling this place after all. But she's going to make it a condition of sale that I'm here until April and she'll pay the rent. It can not go on like this. It just can't.

One thing settled... maybe

Bitter got texted today that our house swapper sold her other place, so I don't have to move. There were no extra details, but presumably she's no longer selling this place. One might think that would be enough news for one day, except...

She quit her job. She's also going back to Russia for a wedding at the end of the month, so will be looking for work when she gets back to Vancouver. I can only hope she can pay her bills.

My new toy... er... tool

I'm typing this entry on my new Acer Aspire One. It's a new computer in a class that they call a netbook. Which is just fancy talk for an ultra-small laptop. This one has a screen size just under 9" and is very light. I got the Linux version which also has a sold state hard drive - so no moving parts. The downside is that the HDD is only 8GB and half of that is taken up with software. I don't intend to use this as my main computer, so that should be fine. I spent a good part of the afternoon sitting on the patio at a new restaurant a couple of minutes away writing, which is what I wanted. It's small enough to fit in the little backpack I have and a couple of hours of battery life. I would have published this post from the patio, but they didn't have free WiFi, so I'm doing it from home while it recharges. It seems to recharge quickly and boots in under 30 seconds too.

Things I miss about Vancouver part 1

I've been here long enough and written enough good things about Toronto that I can mention some things I miss without sounding whiny and homesick. Other than Bitter, of course, who I miss a lot, I miss:

• my friends
  
• my condo
• my BBQ - man, I've grown to rely on that thing
  
• walking around the West End
• the mountains - good lord, where are the fucking mountains?
• the ocean
• cooking - cooking requires the proper tools and should be done with music, wine and a companion

Instability becomes stable after long enough

Apparently it's been a while since my last post. The housing situation is still up in the air. This place is still for sale. The price dropped, so since Saturday there have been a bunch of people through here. Eventually someone will make a deal on it. I investigated the possibility of another house swap, but that person was just as flaky as what we've got. Craigslist is fine for selling your old end tables, but don't use it for anything important. Bitter is still in Vancouver, bouncing from place to place. She seems to be doing alright, but not having a home base is hard after a while.

Getting out of the house

There was a showing at my apartment today for some prospective buyers. What I didn't do was leave roach motels out in obvious places with fake roaches inside. What I did do was take my laptop over to the Elephant & Castle to do some writing. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they have a new fall menu featuring food and drink pairings with Unibroue, one of my favourite breweries. Not a bad way to spend the time - writing, eating and drinking La Fin du Monde and Maudite. The other good thing is that it's across the street from the apartment, so I think a return trip will be in order. Perhaps more than one. Next time, however, I will make sure the laptop is fully charg-

Labour Day long weekend

Labour Day was beautiful, sunny and hot in Toronto. Saturday night I went to M&G's place to help break in the new barbeque. Sunday, a little worse for wear, I intended to go with someone from work over to Toronto Island. Being such a gorgeous weekend, everyone else wanted to go too. The line for the ferry was enormous. I'm sure anyone from Toronto would have told us that, but how were we supposed to know? Instead, we walked along the waterfront and eventually found a guy selling tickets for a boat tour. My co-worker bargained him down from an unreasonable $12 to a much better $10 for a 45-minute trip across the harbour to the island and back. Toronto Island looks like a pretty nice place. There are quite a number of houses out there, but much of it is like a huge park. According to the guide, a busy day in the summer can see upward of 100,000 to 150,000 people. That's a lot of ferries.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

The last two weeks have been crazy, busy and stressful. To catch up with things:

• Bitter is back in Vancouver at her previous company on what will probably be a 4-month contract
• our house swapper is selling the condo we're (I'm) currently in
• we went to Montreal for 5 days

There's probably more that I've forgotten. La belle ville was great; hot, sunny and gorgeous. We love Montreal and we spent time walking the streets, sitting on patios and drinking beer. We stayed for a couple of days with Bitter's friend and her husband (whose wedding was the reason we got to Montreal the last time). We also stayed in a lovely B&B or Gîte du passant for a couple of days.

The person we swapped condos with has two condos in Toronto. She needs the money and tried to sell the other one, but couldn't sell it for enough to keep from losing on the deal. She wants now to sell this one and have us move to the other one. It's farther from work and has no view, although the kitchen is nicer. It would be more inconvenient, but the only other real option seems to be to call it all off and go home.

Bitter is back at the company she left on a contract. It's a different position and she'll be managing a conversion project they need to do by the start of the next year. It's a good opportunity and it allows her to be back in Vancouver for a while - which she misses a lot. She's already gone to several of our favourite restaurants.