Water Main Break
Monday, we've a notice hanging on the front of the restaurant, City of Calgary, Emergency Water Main Break, a few discreet inquiries, a call to 311, no water for 24 to 72 hours. We haven't got a single reservation.
The owner's debating, arguing with himself, whether it's better to close or be open...
He wants to close. He could do things. No water, that's serious, we discover at intervals all the things we can't do without water...
The Espresso machine. It has a reservoir, but depends on water pressure to push the water through. No Espresso.
Pop. Juice. It all needs to be diluted with water, it comes through the gun as sticky syrup....
Dishwashing, flushing toilets, bathrooms, sinks, even just water for the tables...
We pin notices on the front, back of the restaurant, the nephew and I try to look concerned, like it's a bad thing, Gee, Whiz, we really wanted to work and this is so disappointing, The owner, he's playing the same game, we all don't want to look overly enthusiastic but hell, an unexpected night off, on a night with no reservations, it's a gift from heaven...sure hope they fix that water main soon we're thinking...
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- Category: Miscellany
Saddle
And, after the skating, being in the NE and all and I have my own errands to run we stop at the ... thrift store.
A favorite, last find there was the candlesticks. Today, a saddle:
She's a little perplexed, laughing while I carry it about the shop, can't imagine why I'd need it. Me, personally, I can't figure out how I've lived without it...
A relative bargain at $65.00, "As Is", although I haven't exactly figured out what the "As Is" part is referring to, I suspect the lack of a horse (or donkey, it's not a big saddle...).
The Italian, she hasn't a clue, doesn't get the aesthetic, the possibilities, (and there are UNLIMITED possibilities, which I couldn't possibly explain here, or to her...), she only remembers the last time I was here I bought a whole lot of costume mustaches, hipster style, with similarly vague explanations. Doesn't matter. This was definitely the find of the day, left behind a great vintage lamp at $35.00, because I don't need another one, but that reasoning couldn't apply to the saddle...
And now the mind races...
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Skating (2)
With the unseasonably warm weather we're forced to search further afield for our skating destinations.
Last week we drove to Canmore, an hours skating, then back. A long drive for very little practice...
This week we find the indoor arena schedules - a different arena every day throughout the city. Yesterday, in the SW, Today, the NE, it's cheap, $6.20 a person, and you get an hour or two's practice on practically empty ice.
They've senior sessions as well, for the 50+ set, more of those than for the public, and while I hate to label myself, hate to acknowledge that I might have some connection with this group (I'm pretty sure I don't), I'll have to swing by one day to check it out, if only to ...
Strange, this, we're Canadian, and I imagine it's the midday hours that are keeping the ice empty. Or not. Maximum of 5 people on the rink at a time, we count as 2, Canada, we are, Canadians, losing our heritage, although I was impressed to see some less "Vanilla" Canadians teaching their children how to skate, play hockey, the little bastard, at 2 years old, is running down the ice in his helmet and hockey outfit faster than me, I can't help but be impressed, it's laughably cute, he's only a foot and a half tall...
She's getting better, much better, quickly, me, not so much, I was never that good to begin with. I observe some oddities, I'm better skating backwards than forwards, forwards I'm forever losing, finding my balance, backwards, well, backwards I'm fine. I need a couple of sessions on my own, without the pupil, to practice...
Curious this, the physical memory, remarkable even that it exists, my cells, the cells of when I last skated as a teen in high school, they've all died, been replaced, died, been replaced, a dozen times, yet still I retain some physical memory of how it's done, there's a naturalness to it, the physicality of it's carried forward, survived as what? Memory, composed of chemical signals? Electricity? How does it pass on, survive, the death of it's host, messengers, but perhaps a little esoteric and abstract for a posting on skating...to resume...
She's speeding up, teaching her to skate backwards, to lift her feet, practice the crossover steps, she's hesitant, small steps as her confidence increases, but she has her moments where her grin lights up the world and she smiles and waves to an invisible audience, and I have to wonder what's going on in her little brain...
"Stars on Ice is coming" she tells me, breathlessly, May 15, how does she know this? Really? I remember that, or Ice Capades, not sure which, does it matter? From when I was a child...thought of taking my own kids to it, but it somehow never happened...
So soon, the next week or two, the trip to Lake Louise, the reward for her progress, need to shuffle my days off, have to hurry as winter is disappearing fast everywhere, and need to get her up there before the ice melts and the Castle disappears, but she can live her little Canadian dream, and while to me, I take it for granted, it's lovely to be in the company of someone who appreciates it all so heartfelt and sincerely...for an hour or so you're out of yourself and seeing the world fresh through their eyes...
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- Category: Miscellany
Winter - Drumheller Valley
Sunday Off and I've promised to take A***** to Drumheller, in lieu of the usual night out at .... etc. A better bet I thought.
And the weather, Calgary, +10, thinking that I might get a shovel or two in the river and perhaps do a bit of prospecting...
No. Just past Beiseker the landscape turns to snow, Calgary isn't Alberta, after all. I'm still surprised. Like with how the rest of the world's economy is surviving...
Nonetheless, a few pictures from our trip. Photos, I could have spent a month, year taking, these are off the cuff, Samsung phone pics.
Phone Box, Dorothy. Fisher Price...
Grain Elevator near Dorothy
...moonrise between cell-towers...
Abandoned railway bridge near East Coulee. Bridge fenced off, hazardous, many broken ties, note the state of the walkway...
Enhanced Panorama over the Suspension Bridge at Rosedale...
Horseshoe Canyon. A***** is the red ghoul, the stitching software didn't like him so much...
A fine sunset approaching Beiseker. The best time of the day to be on the prairies (or in the badlands). Except for morning, when the rivers are thawed and there's the prospect of ...
He visited the museum (Royal Tyrell), I read a book. And we ate lunch at a generic pub (the "Last Chance Saloon & Hotel" in Wayne was closed, I checked their hours, not the days, my bad, shame, it's without a doubt - for ambiance alone, the best bar for 100 miles), so we found the pub, he took the waitresses recommendation and had the steak, I had a burger...the burger was delicious, topped with jalapenos and crispy with black pepper, poutine smothered in gravy on the side, can't go wrong with a burger in a small town, his steak, well, a boot on a plate with a side of frozen superstore veggies...he survives it. I give him a bite of my burger to give him the taste and remembrance of his pretension...
Still, not a bad trip, not a good one, when the snow/ice is gone we'll try again for the Wayne Hotel, the other sights he's seen, and maybe a few hours sinking the shovel into a few of the nearby rivers...
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