Escaping work for an escape room

I have roughly half a workday later on today. We have a team event in the afternoon.

I am looking forward to not working. I get to see most of my colleagues tomorrow. Two of them couldn't make it. I'm actually relieved because one is the diva and the other talks so much that he drowns everyone out.

We are doing an escape room. I've never done one before. I assembled a list of escape rooms for us to choose from and we have chosen one that is near my old neighbourhood.

My manager asked me for suggestions to have a drink and a snack afterwards. He quoted allotting $10 for each of us. I indicated that it would be fine to go over that amount and shell out ourselves for any overage. I would rather be satisfied with what I choose to eat and drink than abide by a sum that won't get me what I want.

That's just me, though. I like the flexibility to choose what I want to snack on and drink without a ridiculous restriction.

Here's hoping that the afternoon is fun and enjoyable.

Drinks, beer, and ID

Last Thursday, I dropped by RendezBrews. It's a large outdoor patio in downtown Toronto where you can get different beers from all over Ontario and yummy eats.

I ended up getting two alcoholic drinks. One was a blueberry blonde beer. The other was a raspberry lemon vodka soda. The latter didn't have any sugar in it. Both were refreshing and enjoyable.

I also bought some tom yum wings. They were so delicious.

Ontario has a new rule to show proof of vaccination at restaurants and bars. This one never asked me for it. Instead, it was more concerned about whether I was of legal drinking age. Interesting.

New snack store

A new snack store opened within a five-minute drive from where I live. It offers a number of exotic candy, chocolate, drinks, chips, and more.

I placed an order online. I decided to schedule it for pickup after work. When I got there, I was in sugar and snack heaven!

I just consumed a lemon KitKat bar from Brazil. I bought one and got another one for free. It was so good. It was white chocolate paired with a nice lemony taste, with the signature wafers, of course.

It's deadly that this store is so close to home. If you don't hear from me, I'm likely at this store.

Late checkout, noise, and customer service

It's December. Where did this year go?

I am at home, ending my staycation. My last evening at the hotel was nice. After work, I headed to the check-in counter and asked the man there if I could do a late checkout on Saturday. He asked when. I said 2 pm. He made it 3 pm. Nice!

He asked me how my stay was. I said that it was great. The only bad thing was construction along highway 401. Drilling and construction starts between 10 pm to 11 pm, and runs overnight. I said that it's rather disruptive. The good thing is that I come equipped with earplugs, so I'm good.

He apologized and advised that hotel management has asked the construction folks to change the time. It obviously hasn't helped. This construction is building a train line underground.

What I did expected was a knock on the door an hour after I had talked to him. He personally came up to my room to deliver some snacks and drinks, to apologize for the noise. I appreciated it and thanked him.

That's great customer service. Sadly, this construction goes until 2021.