GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes
If it’s still here tomorrow… I may ignore it again
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2007
To the Center of the Universe
You’re going to Wallace, Idaho?
The town’s mayor proved that’s where it was beyond the shadow of a doubt when he declared:
"Wallace MUST be the Center of the Universe because you can't PROVE otherwise."
grab a nice mug of vodka,
I’ll have something with rum in it if you please…
Or a good porter, that’d be nice as well.
But first a word of warning.
Warning? What, is this MTR carcinogenic or something?
some pics might be... a little fuzzy.
Just like me!
Oh, is that all, Pbffffft… like that’s an issue.
Besides, we already know you’re out of focus and I done went and scrolled down a bit to get a glimpse of these fuzzy pictures. I do believe the warning is just a bit overwrought, here.
Why the Center of the Universe in the title?
Toronto is the largest city in Canada.
People living elsewhere tend to see Torontonians as smug or self-absorbed.
So it’s the same thing as Charlotte from my local perspective…
or either New York or Hollywood from a general US perspective…
So Toronto is mockingly (jealously?) referred to as "the center of the Universe".
And… I’ll be sure to say that often to the folks that live there the next time I get up that way.
Thanks for the insider tip!
How many Torontonians does it take to change a lightbulb?
Just one.
He holds the bulb and waits for the world to revolve around him.
This also describes a fair number of teenagers (oh, and Donald Trump)
But I grab the first row which is a bulkhead row (no seats in front of us),
so there's plenty of legroom.
Those and the escape hatch seats are generally good bets…
makes the rest of the miserable flight a bit more bearable.
I really didn't get anything much myself.
Just some chips (crisps Katie! Crisps!) and a Coke.
When I get to the UK, I’ll call ‘em crisps.
While we’re on this side of the Atlantic, I prefer the more correct description:
Junk Food.
Everything was going along tickety boo
Not heard that one before.
Whimsical…
Shortly before landing I remembered what I forgot to do.
Normally, when I rent a car, I go to our local insurance broker
and arrange for rental car insurance.
That’s gonn’a cost Ya’
"No problem, Mr. Stupid. Just send us a fax…
Ok, let’s stop right there. Fax?
Someone actually still uses faxes?
Just once, wouldn't you like to ride along with the bags, just to see how it all works?
I see the airlines moving to this model in the future anyway.
I quickly scribble out the note and hand it back to the clerk for faxing.
I tell him the number to dial and....
"Uh." He says.
That's never a good sign.
Nope; a common overheard utterance when dealing with counter staff, but never a good one.
Do you look cool in a SUV?
Depends… do you believe everything that you see and hear in commercials?
Sheesh! And they say I'm losing my mind.
That’s all right, we can just send Igor down to the depositary and have him pick a new one.
I know there’s a specimen down there from…
Now what was that name?
Oh yeah, Abby Someone.
What was I saying?
Something about being Old I do believe.
As we steam out of the lot
"Okay, that'll be $500"(ish. I don't remember the exact number. I know it was over $500.)
"What? That can't be right!"
Yep… that “shouldn’t” be right, but I’m not surprised.
But I am sorry; so, so sorry…
Now I don't know who to be more mad at.
Me, for forgetting to get insurance ahead of time.
Or the rental company for gouging the heck out of me!
You made a mistake.
They behaved in the purely ethical manner of all big business.
I believe we can all agree on where the anger ought to be focused.
Well, her name isn't actually "Itchin" Betty. But it rhymes with her real name.
Besides, I like alliterations.
And I like your name for the device.
Oh well. I brought an umbrella. I won't melt.
Nope. as we say down here: sugar melts, S*** floats
But we say it with that oh so charming south’rn drawl, don’t you know.
I might discorporate. But I won't melt.
(Anyone get that reference? I'll be impressed if anyone does.
I believe that I grok the concept here.
Programming Itchin' Betty ahead of time = smart.
Programming her with the wrong street number = not so smart.
Whoops.
"Hey!" She says. "According to the agenda, we have to check in after 3pm... Tomorrow!
So we can spend the whole day together!"
Sweet!
Yes… yes it is.
Sorry, no food porn pics, or even much of a description of what we had.
I wasn't planning on doing this mini-TR at the time.
I think I had lamb and/or beef and Ruby had Chicken.
I do recall that this was the first halal restaurant either of us had ever been to.
So no pork on the menu.
Sounds interesting though.
If I ever travel up that’a way, I may ask you where abouts in the city it was.
As we walk in to the theater, we realize right away that something's not quite right.
We don't recognize a single movie title on the marquee.
We glance toward the ticket booth and there are signs on it.
I don't remember exactly what they were but,
I think one sign had "Hindi" with an arrow pointing right
and "Urdu" with an arrow pointing left.
Good idea. That's what we did. We left.
Not a big fan of Bollywood flicks either.
I never liked Glee, and I certainly don’t want to watch it with sub-titles.
Truth be told, I don’t go see very many moves at all these days. Only three this year, I think.
The industry seems to turn out more and of them, but the story lines seem to be less and less.
We easily find the theater and watch Pitch Perfect 2.
Meh. It was okay.
Yeah, I’ll be missing that one too
Afterwards, we do what anyone visiting a vibrant, fascinating, new (to us) city would do.
We went to bed and promptly fell asleep.
You’re a wild ‘n crazy couple…
For those of you who don't know, that's the CN Tower.
It used to be the world's tallest free standing structure,
but now it's number six on the list.
It's still the tallest structure in North America though, so pretty high.
Kong approves…
But at $35/person, I'm kinda glad she declined.
T’is a bit “steep”
(although I may have paid more to go up only 700 feet when we docked in St Thomas)
Just to the right of the tower is this interesting building.
That is brilliant! Well done sir.
Not sure whether it’s the dragon of the sled team that tickled me more.
(Note to self. See Atlanta, Georgia's aquarium. World's largest.)
And worth the stop.
The one in Baltimore and the smaller one in Charleston are nice as well.
There was a bit of a line-up to get tickets and it didn't seem to be moving much, or at all.
I hesitated and noticed some unused kiosks to our left.
We wandered over and.... you could get tickets at them!
I swiped my credit card and in less than a minute had our tickets.
We walked into the aquarium, passing by the still unmoving line-up.
Baaaah-bye!
Breaking away from the herd counts as a major win.
I did take some snaps, so feel free to look around.
(Saves on my incessant typing, too.)
And some dang fine pictures they are too.
Thanks for the “blurry” images
Anyone for a swim?
Only if you send Mick Fanning in there first.
Hi Mr. Ray!
Oooh,
let's name the zones,
the zones,
the zones.
Let's name the zones of the open sea:
mesopolagic,
bathyal,
abyssalpelagic.
All the rest are too deep for you and me to see.
Puffer fish. I love those guys.
Super dangerous to eat, though.
“Fugu me!”
There was an area where, if your child was misbehaving,
you could shove him in a small tunnel and traumatize him
by having him surrounded by reef sharks.
I mean if that doesn't calm the little hellion down, what will?
Sound parenting advice if ever I’ve heard it.
On the way out to the inevitable gift shop…
Are you telling me it’s not just a Disney thing!
Unfortunately, Betty couldn't tell us how to get there since for some odd reason
she wasn't able to pick up any satellites from underneath tons of concrete.
What's with that???
Useless electronic devises…
Kensington Market is the name for a neighborhood covering a few city blocks.
It's chockablock full of cafes, produce and other markets, thrift stores and the like.
It's quite colourful and there's lots for the senses to experience.
And no. I didn't take that many pictures.
We’ll just have to go there ourselves then.
Sounds like a good spot to grab a snack though.
I did take one, though.
Wait… does that constitute false advertising?
What the heck is French Caribbean cuisine?
Good question…
Haitian? Or originating from Martinique or Guadeloupe perhaps?
Just something they made up… I’m going with that one.
We came to a corner and I spotted this place.
I like pie…
She ordered a Key Lime pie while I asked for a raspberry rhubarb slice.
Oooooo… raspberry rhubarb… Mmmmmmmmmmmm…
And Key pie, and molasses cookies!
Quite the haul.
Well... sustain a slight injury for one.
Perhaps an Indian rope burn... or a noogie.
Better choices there.
Good pie, though.
I sure wouldn't mind going back some day for more!
(The cookie was good too.)
To me: pie = good. Really…
My favorite type of desert (or diner for that matter)
I’ll keep this spot in mind as well.
Food was... well it was Moxie's food.
I guess you could compare it to a slightly more upscale TGI Fridays.
Don’t have those down this way, but I grok.
We did not check out the Hindi/Urdu theater again.
Awwwww…
But we did watch The Imitation Game on Pay Per View.
Now that one is a winner.
One of only a hand full of films I’ve seen this year.
I knew the story up front, but even still…
Tomorrow is another day and I'm on my own in the Center of the Universe.
An unstoppable force striking an immovable object.
This could be entertaining.