Greetings
A road update - its been a long time since I did one of these!
Today was one of those days that a year ago would have pushed me to quit my job on the spot... I think that the time off has settled me down a bit and is allowing me to adapt better to ridiculous and untimely requests. Plus my boss dangled the golden carrot at us today so that certainly helps matters, doesn't it?
First of all, hello from Owen Sound, Ontario. Where is Owen Sound? Google it you lazy to$$er! This week we have been tasked with various visits around Ontario but mainly around greater Toronto. Owen Sound is as remote as it will probably get for us in Canada. They say there is a town about an hour and a half north of here, but I have a feeling that if I started inquiring about dinner after arrival, somebody would hand me a spear and point to a body of water.
We had a breakdown in communication that ended up taking us north of our initial visit to do an extra audit. Our drive was pleasant but a little startling - we in Buffalo are familiar with whiteout conditions but I have to say I'd rather not deal with it in November. Our intention was to drive to Brampton but as it turns out they completely closed off our intended route due to MULTIPLE FATALITIES that had occurred while we were working. Ok - I'd heard enough and so we changed our hotel booking to this pleasant hotel in town. We got a tip on a nice Montreal style bistro - I scratched every itch in this tired body and had a glass of red, french onion soup and a burger. God I cannot remember the last time I ate a decent burger! This one had a half pound of beef, ham and melted swiss cheese on it. After dinner I drank a little carbonated beverage and treated my co-worker to what must have been a confusing smell after I belched sort of in his face, by accident. He should feel lucky that I didn't choose the pork mariposa.
So, since I happened to have mentioned the golden carrot you must be wondering what I meant. What I meant is that 9:15pm reservation at Ruth's Chris that we made tonight, with the only limit imposed on us being a two beer maximum. Considering that this detour means that I'm going to be up at 6:30 in order to make it to our first audit, then another 1.5 hours to our second audit, then another hour to our hotel - trust me, my boss is going to feel the burn on that credit card statement! I think I'll have a ribeye, sweet potato casserole w/pecan crust, creamed spinach and some cabernet, followed by 10 hours of well earned sleep.
I've also been enjoying the sensationalist Toronto media. I have been reading the Star, the Sun and the Globe and Mail every day. Wow, they really really hate John Ferguson Jr., the current GM of the Leafs. Adding to the intrigue was tonights Toronto/Montreal game - I like TSN's broadcasts.
Despite the hassle, and even without the extras my boss threw at us for doing this, I have to say that I feel fine and am enjoying my stay in this small, sleepy bayside town. I just worry about getting enough sleep to make it through the day, and for today if thats my only worry then I think that I can't ask for much more.
Today was one of those days that a year ago would have pushed me to quit my job on the spot... I think that the time off has settled me down a bit and is allowing me to adapt better to ridiculous and untimely requests. Plus my boss dangled the golden carrot at us today so that certainly helps matters, doesn't it?
First of all, hello from Owen Sound, Ontario. Where is Owen Sound? Google it you lazy to$$er! This week we have been tasked with various visits around Ontario but mainly around greater Toronto. Owen Sound is as remote as it will probably get for us in Canada. They say there is a town about an hour and a half north of here, but I have a feeling that if I started inquiring about dinner after arrival, somebody would hand me a spear and point to a body of water.
We had a breakdown in communication that ended up taking us north of our initial visit to do an extra audit. Our drive was pleasant but a little startling - we in Buffalo are familiar with whiteout conditions but I have to say I'd rather not deal with it in November. Our intention was to drive to Brampton but as it turns out they completely closed off our intended route due to MULTIPLE FATALITIES that had occurred while we were working. Ok - I'd heard enough and so we changed our hotel booking to this pleasant hotel in town. We got a tip on a nice Montreal style bistro - I scratched every itch in this tired body and had a glass of red, french onion soup and a burger. God I cannot remember the last time I ate a decent burger! This one had a half pound of beef, ham and melted swiss cheese on it. After dinner I drank a little carbonated beverage and treated my co-worker to what must have been a confusing smell after I belched sort of in his face, by accident. He should feel lucky that I didn't choose the pork mariposa.
So, since I happened to have mentioned the golden carrot you must be wondering what I meant. What I meant is that 9:15pm reservation at Ruth's Chris that we made tonight, with the only limit imposed on us being a two beer maximum. Considering that this detour means that I'm going to be up at 6:30 in order to make it to our first audit, then another 1.5 hours to our second audit, then another hour to our hotel - trust me, my boss is going to feel the burn on that credit card statement! I think I'll have a ribeye, sweet potato casserole w/pecan crust, creamed spinach and some cabernet, followed by 10 hours of well earned sleep.
I've also been enjoying the sensationalist Toronto media. I have been reading the Star, the Sun and the Globe and Mail every day. Wow, they really really hate John Ferguson Jr., the current GM of the Leafs. Adding to the intrigue was tonights Toronto/Montreal game - I like TSN's broadcasts.
Despite the hassle, and even without the extras my boss threw at us for doing this, I have to say that I feel fine and am enjoying my stay in this small, sleepy bayside town. I just worry about getting enough sleep to make it through the day, and for today if thats my only worry then I think that I can't ask for much more.
So they achieve their objective, making $ for their retirees. They are only frothy because only now they realize the BIG Lie, the Leafs don't exist to be a competitive team, only to make $$$$ and lots of it.