Cancelled and rescheduled flights

On my last full day in the States, I received a notification on my phone driving back to the hotel that my flight heading home the following day was cancelled. My heart sank.

I pulled over to check my inbox. I'm glad that I did. The airline managed to book me on an alternative set of flights home. It involved going into the opposite direction. I essentially flew from Minneapolis to Denver, and then to Toronto.

It was roughly an extra three hours. It made for a long day, but I was grateful to get home on the same day and wasn't left stranded somewhere.

I was originally upgraded to business class. With these two flight segments, only my second one was in business class. It was fine, as it was the longer segment.

In business class, I sat next to a nice, older man. He figured that I was heading home to Toronto, probably because I was my usual polite self. He was heading to Dubai after landing in Toronto. He had a two-hour layover.

By the way, the flight out of Denver was delayed by two hours. It isn't unusual these days with staff being sick.

When the plane touched down in Toronto, he said, "Welcome home!" He made a comment that it's always a good feeling returning home. He was right.

I have been fortunate to have struck up conversations with folks during my travels. I enjoy them. He was so nice by getting my backpack and jacket from the overhead bin.

My favourite cafe just closed for good

Yesterday was my favourite cafe's last business day. It is now closed, but will be opening somewhere else down the road.

I stopped by to get a drink. The man who co-owns the place with his wife made me my usual drink. I will miss the awesome service and their knowing what I want without saying a word.

Supporting two local businesses

On Saturday, a couple of cool things happened to me. Both deal with small local businesses.

For one business, it had a campaign that invited folks to suggest new flavours for teas and shakes that have no to low sugar. I suggested German chocolate cake. The business tested out the flavour suggestions, and names one tea and one shake after the person who suggested it. I now have a German chocolate cake shake named after me. It's on the place's permanent menu starting on Monday.

I am thrilled to bits to have a menu item named after me. 

The second business is closing its store and strictly operating online to save costs. Its last day is today before the store closes down for good. I went there to visit it one last time.

I am a loyal customer. It's to the point where the owner recognizes me when I walk in and knows my name. 

We had a good chat today. I bought a sugar cookie in the past and she asked me whether I enjoyed it. She also showed me a secret project that she's working on. It was lovely to get that inside scoop from her. I am excited for what she will be offering down the road.

Although I'll miss dropping by this store, I am happy that it's still in business and I can continue supporting it.

Dinner at a patio

I hit a patio for dinner with my friend last night. It was safe and the experience was great.

My friend got a messy fish sammie with fries. I got a roasted mushroom sirloin with veggies and a garden salad. Delicious!

It's nice that businesses are slowly reopening again and that folks are supporting them. 

Vaccine and patios

Businesses are slowly reopening. We are able to dine on patios. It's optimistic.

I was supposed to meet a friend on Saturday to have a bite to eat on a patio. She ended up getting her second vaccine shot on Friday and ended up feeling sick. So, I offered to cancel our reservation.

My friend got sick after her first shot. It doesn't surprise me that she got sick after her second one.

The woman at the restaurant was great. She was pleased that I took the time to do the cancellation.

I just learned that our province has made a timing change for the second vaccine. My second appointment was twelve months after my first one. It's now reduced to eight, which means that I can get my second shot at the end of this month.

It's cool. I'll need to wait to see how to reschedule my second shot.

Happy shopping outcome

The weekend is here. Yay!

I have some errands to run later on today. I made a decent shopping list. Most of the items are food! Here's hoping that I get everything that I need.

On a slightly different note, I had placed an order online for an item with a small business that I frequent often. I got to exchange e-mail messages with the owner. I had ordered a plushie. She said that there was some glitch on her end and it wasn't available. I got a refund.

However, there was a larger version of the same plushie that she had, but wasn't listed on her site. I got it without tax. It was such a lovely outcome that I didn't expect. She has always been nice to me and it was such a nice gesture to have the tax knocked off.

Great customer service from a small, local store that has survived this pandemic. It's one of many reasons why I return.

Wrapping up the weekend with businesses reopening

My weekend is practically over.

I went out on Sunday to pick up an order. I do like curbside pickup. I have been out on Sundays more often. It's nice.

Today marks the first day that businesses reopen in my area. It doesn't exactly make me want to dine out or hit a mall. It's a small sign of hope during this long pandemic, which is nice.

Have a great week ahead!

Profile and business write-ups

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to fill out a questionnaire for an upcoming profile feature that I'll be a part of on Instagram. It's related to the review recognition that I wrote about in my previous post.

The other part of this exercise is to feature five businesses that I love, and write a brief blurb about them, along with including a photo for each of them. I finally got it all done yesterday. It's nice that I can focus on such activities on my vacation.

I don't have anything adventurous to do on my vacation. I'm just taking it a day at a time. It's nice so far.

Reviews and talk

I like writing reviews about local businesses. I find it relaxing. I also feel that it helps folks with researching whether a business is worth their wild.

Last week, I received a message from a community manager, inviting me to a forum to discuss how I write reviews. It's pretty cool and it's a nice honour.

This casual talk happens in January. I am looking forward to it.

Early morning meeting and a generous plushie gift

I should be off to bed now. I have a meeting that starts at 7 am for four hours. Oh, joy!

On a nice note, a local business has a small monkey as a mascot. It has a small plushie version of this mascot. I asked whether it was available for purchase. I got a response from the business immediately. It doesn't sell plushies, but the owner wanted to send me one for free for being a supporter for a few years now.

This generous gesture has made my week!

Taking it easy and looking forward to a long weekend

I spent Monday taking it easy. I needed a break from work.

I watched touching videos about Regis Philbin and reminisced about how much I loved watching him on television. He was a sweet, decent man. I am sad about his passing.

This weekend is a long one, with Civic Holiday on Monday. I look forward to taking a break. I would normally do a road trip and stay at a hotel somewhere, but I don't feel right about doing one during a pandemic. Instead, I will continue going out to visit a new business or restaurant, and keep things local and low key.

Reopening Toronto and Peel region, and planning what to do

On Wednesday, Toronto and Peel regions go into phase 2 of reopening businesses. The former is my hometown. The latter is where I work.

I am excited that restaurant patios are opening up. I'd like to visit one and see how it goes. I hope to try it out next week. 

When I'm on vacation next week, I want to get my hair cut. It's time. I haven't had my hair cut in six months, which is normal for me. I cut my bangs almost monthly.

As far as my panic attacks go, I figure that my not being involved in leading a software release caused it. It's weird. I am thankful that I wasn't in charge of it, as it has not gone smoothly.

My panic attack symptoms are mild now. I have a feeling that once I am on vacation, they will be gone.

Four more workdays to go. Yay!

Reviews, my pet fish, and the aftermath of travelling

I have had a productive Sunday. I wrote a few reviews for various businesses as my side gig. All is going well there.

I cleaned my betta fish's tank. He is the sweetest fish I have ever had as a pet. He constantly shows his excitement whenever I walk into the room, swishing his tail from side to side, and coming right up to the tank to greet me.

The travel that I have done recently, both on my vacation and for work, has made me take it easy this weekend. I feel like I need some rest!

Speaking of rest, I should get some.

Friends, work, business, wings, and beer

Even though I was running on two hours of sleep on Thursday, I managed to stay awake and went out for dinner and drinks with two friends.

All three of us worked at the same company over a decade ago. They both left a year before I did. We are working on a business joint venture. I have the writing, social media, and Web site skills. One of my friends conceptualized this business model. The other friend has connections and is a smooth talker. So far, what I have been doing is exciting.

Getting back to dinner, between the three of us, we had forty chicken wings and two pitchers of Sapporo beer. I probably downed the most wings. I don't think that I drank the most beer. Thank goodness!

The good news is that I came back home and slept like a log. I simply need to remember not to drink a large strawberry black tea before I go to bed. Beer is okay.

Travel, sucking, orgasm, and ejaculation

My guy may be travelling for business in mid-January. It's within the province and would roughly be a 4.5-hour drive.

"I'd like you to join me, if you can," he said.
"It would be great. We haven't been on a trip together like that for a long time," I noted.
"True. I'd love to spend time with you after work," he stated.
"Yes. I can welcome you home from work and ask if I can suck you," I observed.

He loved that. We were both pretty horny last night. We both ended up dopey after our fun session os Skype.

A long wait - missing my guy already

I'm bummed out right now. My guy's flight is early today, which means that we won't be able to see each other.

Like last year, he is away from a month on business. It seems like an eternity.

Although he has reassured me that we'll chat while he is away, I'm still sad that we'll be apart for such a long time.

Teasing my guy and wanting a hard spanking

My guy is funny. I like teasing him about driving his car. He is adamant that he is the only person who can drive his car.

He has caved in the past. I managed to drive his car from work to our favourite Chinese restaurant.

Whenever he goes on a business trip, I ask him for his car keys. Sometimes, I playfully try and get his keys from him. He ends up spanking me, which I love.

We had this exchange the other day.

"No, I will not leave my car keys with you," he said, cheerfully.
"I look forward to driving your car," I said, playfully.
"You are such a bad girl," he said to me.
"I hope that you'll do something about it," I said.
"Of course. I like spanking you hard," he replied.

I like when he threatens to spank me.

I'm back and am doing laundry

I had a long travel day on Monday. It was pretty uneventful, considering that I drove through pouring rain and a bit of snow. I cut through three states and ended up in my home province.

I got back at a decent time. It was enough time to pick up my friend, have a bit of a chat in her living room, and head over to a restaurant for dinner. It was a nice evening.

After work on Tuesday, I went home and did laundry. It's exciting stuff! I have always been the type of person who needs to do laundry as soon as I can after some time away from hom. I find it relaxing.

My guy and I share that same love for doing laundry. He is preparing for a business trip and leaves on Saturday. I am hoping that we can squeeze in some time together before he leaves.

Odd dream

Last night, I had an odd dream. It involved this brief exchange between my guy and me:

"I have these final words to say to you," he said in my dream.
"No, I don't want to hear that you're leaving!" I replied.

I woke up startled. I don't know what the dream means, but it was upsetting.

In a fog, I didn't know if he meant that he was breaking up and leaving me, or if he was leaving for a business trip.

I had to think for a moment to realize that it was a horrible dream. I went back to bed and was fine. Weird!

A call to set up a lunch date

During the intermission between bands the other night, I remembered that I needed to forward a work e-mail to my guy. He works from home and only comes to the office when he needs to.

He is travelling this weekend and will be away on business for two weeks. I had to let him know that the parking lot is going through a ton of construction at work, which is outlined in the forwarded e-mail.

I also told him that I was in his neck of the woods with my manager the following day to conduct student interviews for the upcoming work term.

On Tuesday, I participated in these interviews. At around 15:30, my cell phone rang. I didn't pick it up in time. My guy had called.

I immediately called him back. I was in a room with my manager, so I couldn't be too mushy.

"Hey," I said.
"Hey," he said. "Am I interrupting your interviews?" he asked me.
"Our last candidate is writing a test, so your timing is perfect. How are you doing?" I asked him.
"I'm good. How about you?" he asked me back.
"I'm hanging in there," I replied.
"Just letting you know that my trip is confirmed. I fly out on Saturday at 16:00," he said.
"Cool. Can we do lunch?" I asked him.
"Sure. How about 13:00?" he asked.
"Perfect," I replied.
"I'll let you go, so you continue to grill," he teased.
"I don't grill!" I said.

He's sweet and thoughtful. I like when he calls me. It made my day.