On my Mind

I have nothing to write about, so I thought I would let you in on some of my thoughts. Read at your own risk.

The sun is rising later and I find myself walking to the bus stop in the dark. I can’t say as I like that much.

I have come to suspect that C club rides are no slower than B club rides, but that the B club knows the route and doesn’t have to stop and reassess all the time. This is partly a technological issue and partly a memory thing. I am as guilty as the next person. I have a vague idea of the route, but not the detailed intricacies needed because no roads around here are straight and some tend to stop of a few blocks and then pick up again–yes, this is true. It is also true that streets that run perfectly straight change their names. There might be reasons for this, but none of them are noted as I travel along.

I finally broke down and bought an electronic map system for the car. (I want to call it a GPS, but doesn’t the S stand for satellite?) I really should have bought one for the bike first, but they are so much more economical for the car. Having used one in other people’s vehicles, I know they are prone to send people the wrong way and into lakes (so I’ve heard) but my experience is mostly positive. I will let you know if I have any “incidents”.

I didn’t cut my grass very often this summer, or at least I don’t remember doing so. This means one of two things. It might mean that wasn’t much rain and it didn’t grow much or it might mean that I let it get too long and look like crap. I am sure if I polled the neighbours I would get a quick answers as to which of those it was.

Hearing a song you hadn’t heard in a long time–and I mean a song you actually liked–brings both joy and confusion. I am in the process of “sharing” my musical tastes with my girlfriend. For the most part she has been enjoying what I have shared. I can always tell if what I have recommended is good because it makes its way onto our Sunday breakfast playlist.

With only 3 games into the regular season of college football, I already feel like the season is a lost cause. This is a horrible way to look at things, but that is the state of college football. A couple of losses and the rest of the season is merely an “experiment” or practice for the next season.

Playing scrabble like games on my phone is fine until I am either dealt that’s either all vowels or all consonants. I haven’t decided which is worse, but I suspect the low point value of the vowels tips the scales in that direction. Having an answer to this questions doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

I finally got to see the Friends TV reunion. As far as TV reunions were done, this was a good one. I remember watching various programs of the genre (Batman, Gilligan’s Island) and none of them were on par with this one. Well done.

Now, I should stop thinking out loud and check over the lesson plans for tomorrow’s classes. I should also check to make sure my alarm is set for the early morning rude end to my dreamlike state.

If you found this post interesting, please visit the ongoing site where this post originated from. It can be found at todaysperfectmoment.wordpress.com

Music, Mugs, and Digital Meetings

Once again, I find myself in front of the keyboard at the end of the week. It’s time to look at the week with the kind of introspection some people like to subject themselves to–and others run away from with the intensity of a Hollywood disaster movie.

The road between my house and the bus stop is lined with a lovey park on one side and a group of shops that occupy an unusual series of buildings on the other. What I mean is that they look more like a small villa than a shopping centre–that is until you reach the Asian store located across the parking lot–that is unmistakably a supermarket. Many of these stores have an upscale image and must survive on a well heeled clientele–some of the stores are far too niche to survive otherwise. There are a few restaurants, some designer boutiques, a comic book shop, a Dutch bakery, and a children’s book store. There are also a number of other stores, but I don’t do much shopping there.

As I got off the bus on Thursday, I noticed a number of tents set up in the small parking lot. I was curious, but I was also pretty tired from teaching. I couldn’t make anything out, but since I had never seen tents in that parking lot….well, my curiosity got the better of me. As I got closer, I could see that someone was on the microphone and playing a rather large instrument. I didn’t get very close, but I got close enough that the person who turned out to be the singer invited us over. I generally don’t like being picked out of crowd like that…but I guess since there were only two of us that isn’t really a crowd. We approached.

As I took up position near the events, a person approached us to explain that this was a performance put on by the Aurora Cultural Centre–which has been somewhat homeless since the Aurora Library and library square started renovations. The performer was Sophie Lukacs and in addition to singing also plays the 21 stringed Kora. Her voice was quite good and the instrument was unique. She was singing a kind of folk music on an instrument I had never heard or seen before. I really enjoyed it. We spent a bit of time listening, but weariness overtook us and we headed home. For the short time we were there, it was great to enjoy the music.

On Friday, a student presented me with a fabulous gift. It was a large coffee mug emblazoned with “the best Teacher ever.” What I need to explain about this person and this mug is that while she has been at the school, she wasn’t actually my student. During some part of the pandemic, she joined my online class from Brazil. I had other online students, but at the time, she was one of the very few that weren’t actually in Canada, or more specifically in Toronto. She had internet issues and eventually paused her studies.

Some time ago, she decided to do her last two weeks in person. She toured around the country first. I knew this because I follow her on Instagram. When she showed up at the school, she knocked on the teacher’s door to introduce herself. Because I had been following her, and because she is pretty memorable, I was able to say her name before she introduced herself. She was relieved, or happy. or some emotion like that. So that’s how I earned my mug and title without actual teaching.

Today, in the midst of writing this post, my two best friends and I got together for a video chat. I am so grateful for technology. It was good to hear what both of them had been up to. These are the same people I met up with recently in my post One More for the Road. It is with pride that I say I have had the same friends for more than 30 years. We’ve all got our adventures and I am glad to see we are all living an interesting life.

I hope everyone reading this has a Monday that is somewhat better than your average Monday.

If you found this post interesting, please visit the ongoing site where this post originated from. It can be found at todaysperfectmoment.wordpress.com

One More for the Road

I’ve always liked the expression above. This is perhaps because it was slightly altered for a live Lynyrd Skynyrd release. I certainly can’t condone drinking and driving so I can’t say I liked hearing that in the Graduate. In my current circumstances, it just seems to fit.

Yesterday I got together with my two best friends as a last minute opportunity to see one of them before they moved to Europe to start a Bed and Breakfast and a new chapter in their life. Had things gone exactly to plan this meeting wouldn’t have happened and they would have been in their BB as a stage of the Tour de France stopped outside their door. As luck would have it, this was another chance to say goodbye.

I thought I might have written about it, but we had gotten together a little while ago to have a nostalgic weekend sendoff. I looked back at my sparse posts and see that I didn’t write about it. I guess it was too personal for me to throw it around the internet. That was a great get together and will always be remembered as the proper sendoff. This one can’t compete in either scale or intensity, but it was a nice added bonus.

If I can offer you all any advice out there, it is this. Enjoy the moments you have with family and friends. Make time for family and friends. Don’t be afraid to reach out to those you’ve let drift away. write to them or write about them.

A Collection

Today’s Perfect Moments are a collection of little things that collectively added up to something good. Needless to say it required a bit of thinking and calm quiet introspection that the bus ride somehow managed to provide (because most days, the bus isn’t really that quiet).

I am not one of those people who buys coffee from a chain store every morning. I make it myself from coffee beans. When I made my coffee this morning, the coffee bag contained exactly the amount of coffee beans I needed for my morning fix. I didn’t need to open a new bag and I didn’t need to store a bag with only a couple of teaspoons of coffee in it.

For lunch, I perfectly toasted my sandwich. While this might not seem like a big deal, I can assure you that sandwiches are quite flammable. I can also assure you that the smoke detector at my work functions quite well. It is as loud as advertised.

When some of my students leave, I often get food gifts. These can be hit or miss. What some cultures consider a “treat” or “sweet” might be a little different than that when translated into another culture. I have had some rather spicy foods be declared sweet, and some less than delicious food be hyped up as the best thing ever. This is rarely true, and sometimes devastatingly false. Today, however, I was given a treat from Brazil that tasted like a peanut butter cup. Delicious. If I had been given more than one, this would have been Today’s Perfect Moment hands down.

I had pizza for dinner.

When I arrived at Finch subway station on my way to work, there were no subway cars waiting. Usually there are two trains and I have to frantically figure out which one is leaving first because the light indicating that at the bottom of the stairwell I take to the lower level is burnt out and hasn’t been replaced in at least a year. Seeing absolutely no subway car in the place made it look eerily different. It was bigger and much yellower. I took some photos, but I might or might not post them on Instagram–because I can’t post them here.

My walk home…since they still haven’t cleared all the snow, I should probably stick with trudge home… was not in complete darkness. The days are definitely getting longer.

I perfectly timed out my lesson for today. Normally, I prepare too much or am too ambitious about what we can get through in the time. Today, I executed my plan well and finished exactly on time.

My best friends and I will have an extended conversation via the internet this weekend. I’ve written it plenty of times on this blog, but friends are important. Friendship is very important.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Finding Advice and Friends in Odd Places

I have a couple of Perfect Moments today. This is good because I have been worried about a lack of them now that I am in lockdown and laid off. Without the interesting questions or antics of my students, I am not sure I will be able to find them. I might need to get out more.

The first Perfect Moment comes from the slip tucked into the library book I picked up on Tuesday. As you can see by the picture, it is quite interesting. I think it is pure marketing genius to remind readers that they saved quite a bit of money by using the library. I knew it, and I suspect regular readers know all too well how much books cost. It is wonderful to own books, but if you read a lot, it is much pricier than a subscription to Netflix. If I buy books, they’re more likely to be paperbacks (though the power couple who own Canada’s bookstores prefer pricier softcover versions) or sourced from the bargain bin.

Yes, there are other options out there. I know there is an “all-you-can” read service for digital books. That sounds great and I may one day make use of it. However, the library is free and I am glad my tax dollars support it. Since I am reading two books, I saved 74 dollars.

The second Perfect Moment came when I found myself virtually riding besides someone I knew. This isn’t like the other time, when I was riding beside someone who had the same name as someone I know. This case, the Zwifter (can I use that word?) include our cycling club initials in her name. It was quite a coincidence to meet her as we crested a climb. I haven’t got my tablet handy while riding, so I couldn’t say anything to her to let her know it was me. However, I found myself talking to the TV similar to what I do when sports are on. I said “Hey! (and her name)” Of course, she didn’t answer me. I really should get a tablet stand or something. There are a number of people who gave me a “ride on” that I couldn’t respond to.

I did message her after the ride and she typed back that she thought it was me. She might have just said that to make me feel better, but there is no need to think negatively of her. She’s a good person and even if she is only being polite, she’s being polite. ON interesting thing is that she’s even newer on Zwift than I am.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Have you ever had something written on a bill or receipt or a note tucked into something you bought that made you smile?

Reaching Out

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I once taught a reading lesson on the subject of different kinds of friendships. The article noted that there were seven kinds of friends. I won’t bore you with all the details-though I still have the textbook it was drawn from, and referenced it before writing. I have never done the lesson again. This is probably because it doesn’t include the friends most of my students seem to have these days–Instagram friends, FWB etc.

I bring this up because one of the friendships it mentions is Crossroads friends. These are friends who you met a crucial time in life. The article explains that these friendships can endure very limited contact and can be revived easily whenever you meet.

Keep that in mind as I outline Yesterday’s Perfect Moment. It might take me a couple of paragraphs to get there, but rest assured I will get there.

I have been Zwifting for the past month and I am learning more about it all the time. While my Pain Cave is set up for me to Zwift, it isn’t set up for the social interaction part of Zwift yet. While riding people can give you “thumbs up” and “ride ons.” Personally, I don’t know how they do it because I am so covered in sweat that I do not want to touch any of my electronic devices for fear of flooding them with my salty sweaty fluids. However, several people have done this to me. If any of them are reading this blog, I have to say I am sorry. I haven’t figured that part out yet. I might buy a stand for my tablet so I can do this, but it seems a bit unlikely right now. More on that in a later post. In addition to this, the names, or nicknames of the riders you pass or who pass you are displayed. You can friend them and ride with them (in no drop fashion if you want). I have not done this yet as I am still trying to get a bit faster. I am starting to recognize the names of people who seem to race along at the same speed as I do, but not always.

A week or two ago, while I was riding/Zwifting, a person ahead of me had a name I recognized. It was the name of a person I met in Japan while teaching there some 25 years ago. I remembered that he liked cycling and thought it might be him. We had kept in touch, but I hadn’t spoken to him in quite a while. He works in DC and I was afraid that if I called him I would probably pester him with my comments and questions about the ex-president. I assumed they would be monitoring his phone and didn’t want to get him in trouble.

So, after seeing this name, I decided to send him an email and inquire if it was indeed him. While it turned out that it wasn’t him, it did lead to a phone call and a good chat and a chance to catch up mostly devoid of questions or comments about politics. We hadn’t spoken in quite some time, but it was like no time had passed at all.

That was Yesterday’s Perfect Moment and if I hadn’t stayed up late last night watching the hockey game, I would have written this post last night.

The Laundry List

Having not written for a few days, I have a bunch of things to declare as Perfect Moments, even if I cannot specify on which days they occurred.

I showed my girlfriend a few episodes of Hell’s Kitchen. I haven’t watched the show for years, but somehow found myself watching a couple of episodes so far this season. She had never seen it and I thought it would be fun to get her reaction. Predictably, she wondered why anyone would take that abuse and appear on the show. While I couldn’t disagree, I suspect that money and prestige are somehow linked to it–though I am not really sure how.

I went out for a walk Sunday. I have been Zwifting a lot and had overlooked the joy of other kinds of exercise. I didn’t walk very far, but as it used other muscles, I definitely could feel the effort at times. Of course, my fitness app, which seems to bother me at times of inactivity, didn’t record all of my effort. So much for digital glory.

Sunday night gave me a chance to catch up with friends via Whatsapp. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again, I am very lucky to have the friends I do. Talking to them is the easiest thing and regardless of the time between meeting or talking, it’s like no time has passed at all.

Our conversation ran from Superbowl predictions, to the Mandalorian (which I haven’t seen), to books, to life and all its weird peculiarities. I really hope we can get rid of this pandemic and get out and do things together. The world still owes us our 50th Birthday trip.

I found some great clips on YouTube for building core strength for cycling. I am going to add some of these to my routine this week. I am also going to start a more serious stretching routine. This is an area which I know could benefit me.

I had some delicious meals this weekend. My girlfriend is an excellent cook and her accommodating my desire to eat healthier is fantastic. I can’t do this alone, so support is definitely welcome.

I saw several people driving without their headlights on. I guess they just accidently hit the switch that turned them off. I wish there was some universal signal to tell them. In both cases it was not completely and they were probably easy enough to see–but not necessarily. Something to think about for the next update to the driver’s manual.

I caught Sunday night’s episode of The Ongoing History of New Music program hosted by Alan Cross. I love the program but don’t really consider myself a podcast listener. Either way, I learn so much every time I tune in. Sunday’s topic was plagiarism, theft, and trials in the music world revolving around copyright and ownership. Fascinating to say the least.

Sharing a Virtual Beer

I have always appreciated my friends and last night was another example of them responding perfectly to the situation we are all in.  Instantly I knew that I would be writing about it on Today’s Perfect Moment.

Yesterday was Friday and the end of the work week.  In Pre-lockdown/pre-Coronavirus  (Is it too early to be referring to those days as PC?) the end of the work week would find me physically and mentally exhausted.  I would have easily put my 13000 steps in just walking around the classroom.  My mind would be addled from repeating the same page number endless times.  Then the drudgery of the commute would pretty much have finished me off.  If there was not Saturday bike ride to look forward to…..well, you get the idea.

Yesterday, while I wasn’t exhausted, I have to admit that virtual teaching is still quite tiring.  The patience it takes to wait for answers and to explain things without the ability to point at something or draw easily on a white board, or use whatever techniques I have had at my disposal for decades is tiring.

I decided to have a beer and I realized that what I really wanted was to have a beer with my friends.  I took a cue from my friend Mike, who sent me a picture of him raising a glass last weekend, and decided to share a picture of my beer with my other friends in a group we have on WhatsApp.

Almost instantaneously, they shared back pictures of the beer they were having.  While we can’t be together at this moment, I appreciated their responses and I felt like we were sharing a virtual beer together.  If that isn’t friendship, I don’t know what is?

What are you doing to keep your friendships thriving during this unusual and trying time?

Six Feet of Separation

I went out for a walk after my day of working at home.  I had had enough of video screens and just wanted to exercise a little rather than sit around drinking coffee or surfing the web.  I got some physical distance from work and I came face to face, albeit with a greater than six foot distance, with Today’s Perfect Moment.

I live in a suburban area that has some nice walking trails.  Sadly, with the start of spring they aren’t quite dry yet.  Also, they have probably been “closed” like the parks.  Surprisingly, a little piece of paper taped or stapled to a post now seems to do much better than padlocks and iron bars.  This isn’t the world we wanted but it is the world we now have to deal with.  So, no trail, but some nicely built sidewalks and other concrete features were mine for the exploring.

On my walk, I took a rather indirect route and let people (as in avoiding people) help me make up my mind to turn or keep walking.  I found myself walking down a street that I knew some friends lived on.  With physical distancing in place, I had no intention of stopping by to visit.  I did, however, have the intention of checking out what cars he and his wife were driving and if they had put the addition on their house–yes, it has been that long since I have seen them.

They were friends who belonged to a different time in my life.  We had formed a little circle of ESL teachers who had wives  we brought to Canada after teaching overseas.  We had lots to bond over and the wives likewise.  They also had strength in numbers.  Eventually we drifted apart and despite being within walking distance, I haven’t spent any time with them in the past decade.  Since we work in the same industry, but in different places, I have crossed paths with people who have worked with him and we have sent back and forth warm greetings and thoughts of getting together every now and then.

Today, while walking down the street, I spotted a couple who I was instantly convinced was them.  I wasn’t wearing my glasses, but I knew it was them.  We stopped and had a conversation by talking across the street as we both stood on the sidewalk.  When his wife spotted me, she wanted to run over and hug me hello, but she managed to stop herself.  I guess we have made a thing of physical distance (we no longer call it social distance) these days.  It is becoming the instinct rather than the afterthought.

While our conversation was a little weird, it really wasn’t.  We discussed how both of our schools are now teaching online from home and how the students are dealing with it.  We updated one another on our lives.  Sadly they passed on the news that one of the other couples in the aforementioned circle were currently separated.  My friend expressed hope that they would somehow find their way back together.  I don’t have nearly the optimism that he manages to hold, but I don’t begrudge him that.  I have seen positive thinking work some incredible magic.

I finished the walk feeling pretty good.  I even remembered to take a picture while on my journey to commemorate it.  It isn’t a picture of our long distance conversation, though.  It is a picture of a river that runs through the now closed park near my house.  It seemed pretty to me even though the day was a tad bleak.

Virtual Birthday Cake

Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

If you’ve been reading this post, you’ll know that earlier this year I hit the big five oh. That was a bit tough for me, so I went for denial.   I had almost convinced my girlfriend that I was really hitting the big four oh–okay, maybe convinced is the wrong word.  I was stubborn in my refusal to admit the big five oh, and I think my obstinacy (or stubbornness) was wearing her down.  It was a great celebration and all my friends came to visit.  Read about it here.

Since the majority of my close friends come from school (junior high school, high school, and university) we are all hitting the big five oh this year.  Owing to the luck of the calendar, I was able to have people visit for my birthday.  We were able to stand, talk, drink beverages, eat cake, make noise…..the kinds of things you typically do at a birthday party.  These days, things are not so simple.  Social distancing has turned events where people might gather into virtual events.  We’ve all seen the reports of virtual weddings, funerals, kid birthday parties….

Yesterday was the birthday of one of my best friends.  He didn’t throw himself a virtual party as a member of his family is in voluntary isolation after returning from abroad, and that would have taken a whole other level of planning.  I am sure he had a cake and gifts–I still have to get him something.

I did manage to get hold of him on the phone and we had the chance to speak about everything.  While we touched on the pandemic and its relationship to our jobs, we quickly moved on to things that were more important to us.  We talked about hobbies, movies, family and other stuff.  Basically, we talked about everything we would have, had we been able to get together in person.

Shortly before I hung up the phone I knew that this simple thing would be Today’s Perfect Moment.  How could it not be?