Not As You Might Suspect

From the picture, you might think I am choosing pizza for lunch as Today’s Perfect Moment.  That wouldn’t be surprising.  If I go back and look at the past 1000 or so posts, I have undoubtedly written many posts in praise of pizza.  If I look at my Instagram, there are probably a dozen (if not more) pictures of pizza.

However, I am not choosing pizza as Today’s Perfect Moment.  Instead, I am choosing willpower.  You see, I could have eaten all this pizza in one go on the weekend.  I could have scarfed it down like a university student.  I could have scarfed it down like a gaijin at Shakey’s All-You-Can-Eat lunch buffet (that’s an insider reference, but would love to hear from anyone who gets it.).

The key point is that I didn’t.  Instead, I saved it for lunch today.  I am planning on going out riding later, so hopefully it will be fully digested and make for good pre-ride fuel.

Shaking the Status Quo

Some days, you’ve just got to change things up. Some days, you’ve got to buck the status quo.  This is true for work and life, so it should come as no shock that this is true for sandwiches as well.

I wanted to do something different for today’s lunch. Before you worry, I am not going back on my carb free diet that helped me lose weight successfully but also allowed me to put it back on in record time.  I am just talking about changing up the ingredients in my sandwich.

For today’s version, I added a fried egg. Perhaps this was my homage to Japanese cooking which often placed a fried egg on top of the hamburger.  Perhaps this was a way to enhance the flavour because I had only one kind of lunch meat and my spicy mustard had run out–I was forced to use honey mustard.

For a shake-up the routine sandwich it was okay. It tasted fine, but I forgot or didn’t have enough ingredients.  It could have used more tomatoes, onion or alfalfa sprouts, mayonnaise, pepper, and even some more cheese.  I still take my sandwiches seriously, and I have no trouble awarding this one Today’s Perfect Moment.

A Quieter Lunch

Not yesterday’s lunch, but a meal I recently had which deserves to be rememberd

For a variety of reasons, I have never had to make or live by a lot of rules like “No eating in front of the TV” or “No screens at the table.” However, I can certainly understand why these guidelines might be imposed on other people’s lives.

As a late adopter of the smartphone, I am not a big user of it as a news source. I don’t get tweets and I actually not fond of being alerted to breaking news.  I let other people alert me, but my phone is not set to make a noise anytime something happens.  If I want to read it, I have to go look for it.

Other people, though, have a need for information that they can get electronically and more immediately. They take my father’s adage that he wants “news, not history” quite seriously, and I don’t blame them.  Things around the world are heating up and being informed is one way to combat it.

Yesterday, consciously or unconsciously, my lunch partner and I pushed our phones to the side and had a quiet lunch. I don’t know if we had more conversation or better conversation, though I finished lunch with the feeling that it was better…..much better.  Upon reflection, it was Today’s Perfect Moment and will probably lead to banning of cell phones at lunch.

Christmas Three Days Early

Photo by freestocks.org on Pexels.com

Owing to a typical family situation, it isn’t possible for everyone to gather in one place on Christmas day. Families have branches and extensions and some broken branches.  The world is a hectic place and traffic has only gotten worse.

What does all this mean? It means that I had one of my Christmases on Sunday.  Three days before Christmas is quite good as I can recall having celebrated a full two weeks before the date. However, since they start playing Christmas music and decorating the mall from Halloween (or before) it wasn’t as hard as you think to get in the mood.

If you read about my problems with Canada Post, please rest assured that I got replacement gifts for almost everything that wasn’t delivered. In fact, I bought most of the same stuff at the Indigo Bookstore on a weekend that saw me get a twenty percent discount on prices that were almost as good as Amazon’s to begin with.  I think we will call that a win.

I was most excited to give my gifts to my youngest nephews and niece. I bought them bottle rocket kits and a dexterity puzzle.  I also grabbed some kinetic sand to replace the slime that wasn’t delivered.  Probably just as good.  They seemed to like it, but were somewhat more excited about the colouring books that I picked up at the dollar store.

It would be hard to pick out the Perfect Moment from all of that, but some contenders include:

• my nephew calling his dad (my brother) and “old cranky man.”
• my sister taking a sip of scotch and grimacing as it burned its way down her throat
• hearing an older nephew explain why his tattoo was a better investment than keeping his car in running shape.
• having my girlfriend with me.  We had just started dating last year and I didn’t want to subject her to the chaos of family Christmas, lest I scared her off.  Now, all bets are off.
• outsmarting my girlfriend by knowing the difference between lunch, supper, and dinner–and having the Oxford dictionary back me up.
• listening to my father rail against the Amazon’s of the world and how they would be the death of retail stores.
• tasting a different take on nanaimo bars–I am not too clear on it, but I think mint was involved
• giving my sister a collection of Roald Dahl books and noting that everyone had read James and the Giant Peach as well as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
• having the first turkey dinner since Canadian Thanksgiving in October
• talking hockey and Don Cherry
• wondering why my Dad’s Christmas tree looked worse than the one from the Charlie Brown Christmas
• eating on time–this is an inside family joke

Swiss Cheese

My sandwiches have become, and I do not use the word lightly, ……legendary. My coworkers talk about them, and even my students talk about them.  Tomorrow, I am taking one extra sandwich to give to my girlfriend.  While she has had them before, I hope this one is special.

Let me explain a little more. I teach students from all over the world, and all of them have food from their countries to rave about.  When possible, I have been given the opportunity to sample these foods.  Most of the time, I have no other choice but to agree with them on how good these things are–there have been a few cases where I disagree, but those are unimportant.

For years, my Swiss students have complained, sometimes politely, sometimes often very bitterly at the cheese here in Canada.  After joking with them and asking them why there were holes in Swiss cheese (which they claimed was not true) I explained where to get real Swiss Cheese. They balked at the prices (and that should tell you something about how expensive it is) and complained to me anew.

Very recently, a student named Rino, who just finished writing his Cambridge Exams, came to see me and give me a parting gift. As you might have guessed, it was a block of authentic Swiss Cheese.  He remarked that he thought my sandwiches are great, but they could do with an upgrade in the cheese department.

So, tomorrow, for the sandwiches that my girlfriend and I will consume, they will have a fair share of authentic Swiss cheese.

Rather than keep you in suspense, I should tell you that I sampled some while preparing the sandwiches. It was really quite delicious.  The flavour was stronger and sharper than I expected, but somehow also smoother.  As you can imagine, I had more than one sample.

Like a Flea Market…..(sort of)

Wading through the days moments to select Today’s Perfect Moment is sometimes like visiting a flea market that has seen better days. You really don’t know what you’re going to find.  You might come across something odd.  You might find something that can be salvaged.  You might possibly find something, while not particularly interesting or useful for you, that a friend might appreciate.  You might also find something you consider a wonderful treasure.

Today was much like that.

I saw a strange collection of people on the bus. This collection included a slightly drunk guy who wanted to ride his bike home in dress pants, dress shirt, tie, and an ill-fitting leather jacket.  Another was carrying two bags, a piece of wood panel, and one ski pole.  It might have been a walking pole, but one has to wonder why he needed only one.

At work, the HR director from Europe made an appearance.  He mentioned something about being on holiday, but that before the family joined him, he would check out the Toronto, Boston, and New York Schools.  Is that how one get the company to pay for his vacation?  Is there some way I can get in on this one?  Luckily he brought us food, so I can’t really complain.

I wanted to show my students an example of their speaking exam and came across a fantastically scripted version where students executed their lines without any hesitation or thinking time. I don’t know if they believed me when I told them it was “too good to be true,” but I hope they don’t think that was real.  It was some of the most un-natural speaking I have ever seen–complete with awkward hand gestures and sly camera looks.

On a more positive note, the mini green tea kit kat I had as dessert for my delicious sandwich lunch was quite good.

As for the gold that is Today’s Perfect Moment, I have to pick a later in the day moment. After arriving at Finch station later than usual–I had to stay after work and prepare copies of the mock exam I am giving my students Wednesday morning–my girlfriend and I decided to have a hotdog from the hotdog stand.  While I know that this food has about as much nutrition as eating a cardboard box, I have to admit that it tastes quite good.  Additionally, the toppings they have at the stand are different than the ones I have at home.  Also, since this is a rare occurrence (every three months or so) I can’t really make myself worry about the negatives to my health.

We got our hotdogs personally topped and managed to eat them without spilling those generous toppings on ourselves. I can’t speak for my girlfriend, but this is a bit of a rarity for me.  I don’t know how many pieces of clothing I have ruined because of hotdogs (or ice-cream, or pizza…I will stop now).

Oh, and we managed to catch the bus, get a seat together, and make it home in decent time.

It’s the Little Things

I did something kind of dumb today and I am writing about it to get it out of my system rather than let it fester.

After making a decent sandwich for lunch today, I packed my lunch bag with it and a few chocolate covered granola bars and headed off to the bus stop. After getting off the bus, I was having a bit of a struggle with how my backpack was packed.  While moving stuff around, I guess, I dropped my lunch bag from it.  I didn’t notice it and nobody around me told me that.  I arrived at work with no lunch.

I wasn’t particularly sad about losing the lunch bag, but I was pretty unhappy about losing my food. It bothered me for the rest of the day, despite repeated appeals to just “let it go.”  I am not really a let it go kind of guy.  Things like this bother me for a while.  That’s why I need to write about it now.  I don’t know if it is because I felt stupid for losing it, or if I just don’t like to waste things. I mean, I would have heard it fall…or seen it.  The people who sat around me would have felt it hit their legs and told me about it…..wouldn’t they?  I normally look back at my seat upon exit, but on this day, I didn’t.

I went out for lunch and had some mango chicken. It was quite delicious.  My girlfriend also shared some of her Rittersport bar with me.  I have to admit that it \was quite nice of her.

At the end of the day, I tried to ask at the bus terminal if they had a lost and found. Instead of it being at the terminal, where I could easily access it, they have their lost and found at the corporate office, which is not served by their bus.  What a shocker.  The people I asked were less than helpful.  Again, what a shocker.

I bought another lunch bag some time ago. I knew the one I had was on life support and I wanted to be ready.  It is sooner than I expected, but it will be pressed into service tomorrow.

Mission: Sandwich

I’ve got several things to report on today, but I think I had better get the sandwich report out first.

As for the sandwich, it was pretty good. Of course the ingredients were pretty good to begin with (roast beef, turkey, and ham) with some vegetables and spicy mustard–so it was never going to be bad.  The question is whether or not the bread improved it.

My verdict is that while it was a nice change, it really can’t beat ciabatta or rye bread for a sandwich. It toasted up quite nicely, remaining a bit fluffy on the inside, but achieving a nice crispy texture on the outside.  That is something I can appreciate.

As I am knows as the sandwich king at work–at least once a week someone tells me I should open up a sandwich shop–people are usually keen to look at my sandwiches. This time, people remarked that it looked rather small and there concerns were only relieved when I explained that I had made two of them.  They didn’t pay much notice to the bread.  This is of course why they should never be responsible for opening a sandwich shop.  All components need to work together and there are subtle differences that can make or break a sandwich.

They always ask me why I go to such lengths to make a sandwich, but this merely confuses me. If I had unlimited resources, then my sandwiches would truly be remarkable.  There are so many things that I would like to put on them, but can’t because I don’t have the ingredients, or the ingredients are not transport friendly.  In some cases, what I want (mostly in the vegetable and cheese departments) doesn’t come in a size that makes it affordable to add to my sandwich.

I have made another couple of sandwiches for today on the same bread.  Should be good.

The company also makes a bunch of products called breakfast rounds. They seem like arepas that aren’t made from corn flour.  I will probably try them next.

Unintentionally Intentionally

Today’s Perfect Moment falls into that weird category of unintentionally intentionally happy little things. If you’re confused, all I can do is ask you to read on.

On Friday, as a treat to myself, or perhaps as the dessert to my lunch, I had some Lindt chocolate I bought at the grocery store on Thursday night. I was kind enough to share it with someone.  After a few pieces, we both agreed that we should not eat all of it and save it for another day.  We are both trying to be a bit more health conscious or at the very least calorie and sugar conscious.

Truth be told, I expected that I would eat it later that night after I got home or at the latest on Saturday after my bike ride (which did not happen due to rain) or after I sanded and painted the front of my house. I suppose that really wasn’t in the spirit in which I stopped eating the chocolate on Friday, but all’s fair…..

For whatever reason, I did not eat the chocolate and there it was in my lunch bag on Monday morning when I packed my sandwich, peach, and yogurt. Though I considered eating it for breakfast, I left it in my lunch bag. When lunch rolled around, I had a nice dessert–which I shared again.  Fortunately, it was still delicious and a perfect ending to my lunch.

So, I intentionally did not eat it all on Friday, but I unintentionally still had it on Monday for lunch. That’s how we got to Today’s Perfect Moment.

Shorthand

I think this explains how I felt most of the day.

I left my house under a cloudy sky that threatened and then delivered rain. It was an inauspicious start to the day and one that would irrevocably influence Today’s Perfect Moments.  It didn’t cancel them, but it profoundly affected them, and I only realized that after I started typing.

Lunch

I ate lunch with my girlfriend, but we barely spoke. I am sure we exchanged words, but as I look back on it, it was more like we were in a silent movie.  Since that doesn’t really fit with the era I am typing in, and probably doesn’t relate to anyone reading, I will find a better analogy.  It was like we were the extras in a dinner scene.  We were the background.  Our words were brief and muted, but no less meaningful.  Perhaps we have entered the stage in our relationship where we share a kind of shorthand.  We can communicate by looks and subtle gestures.

Getting off the bus

My commute is long and exacerbated by construction that will eventually speed up the whole process–so they say. I’ve written about it many times and won’t bore you with another recap of plodding kilometres along the world’s longest street. On this particular afternoon I managed to fall asleep quickly and dream away half my trip.

At my stop, three of us got off the bus, weary and half asleep, reached the intersection and with barely a nod, broke off and headed in the three separate directions that didn’t lead back to where we came from. I call it, commuters’ short-hand.  We would see each other on the bus again.  Maybe it will be a hot day, maybe a cold day, or maybe a rainy day.