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. 

Tacos, enchiladas, and a Nutella milkshake

Happy weekend!

On Saturday, I was out and about. I had a perk to pick up near downtown Toronto. I got a free fried fish taco, with chips and salsa. I had the taco in my car, as we are in lockdown 3.0 and dining in isn't allowed. It was so good.

I was last there over a year ago. I hung out with friends for a few hours before this pandemic. We were in a food hall, so we ordered a lot of food.

It was nice heading back. I also got a Nutella milkshake from another eatery there. I got chicken enchiladas from the same eatery that provided the free perks.

I do need visit Toronto more often. It's my hometown with cool neighbourhoods that I need to explore more.

Constipation is not fun!

Recently, I made the mistake of eating not-so-ripe bananas. I tend to eat ripe bananas. Last week, I ran out of them and got a hand of bananas that weren't ripe yet. I then ate one.

I realized that I can't eat bananas that aren't ripe enough. I ended up being constipated. It has been years since I experienced a serious bout of it. Luckily, a combination of fibre, fish, veggies, and exercise got me back to being my regular self in more ways than one.

Weird, huh? I have learned my lesson. Constipation is highly uncomfortable and I felt like I had a larger stomach. It was scary at times, but I'm definitely myself again.

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.

Bubbles, my loyal pet betta fish

I haven't written much about my betta fish, Bubbles. He got that nickname because he liked making bubbles on the water's surface. He is also fascinated by bubbles that form in his tank if I have added water in there and it has been there for a while before I transfer him in.

Although he is a fish, he's greets me whenever I walk into the room. I noticed this greeting of his when I first saw him at the pet store. He's sweet. He's kind of like an aquatic dog.

My betta fish in the past have either been all blue in colour, or all red. Bubbles is different. He's green, blue, and red.

Yesterday, I changed the water in his tank and he seemed so happy when he got back in there. I'm glad that he's happy.

I used to think that it was unfortunate that he has to live alone. He can't live with another male betta. It would not end well.

I haven't tried getting a fuzzy marimo plant ball for Bubbles to play with. Apparently, they clean your tank, provide oxygen, and make the betta play with it. That's on my shopping list.

My summer job at a fish and chips store

As I grow older, I have noticed that many folks who have helped me along the way are passing on. I have yet another story to share.

I grew up in a friendly neighbourhood in Toronto. I went back there the other night to have dinner with my friend. We did a lot of reminiscing.

There used to be a fish and chips store a few blocks away from where I used to live. It was a family-run business. A Chinese couple owned and worked at the store for over thirty years.

When I was old enough buy an order of chips (fries) wrapped in newspaper for a dollar, I would visit the store after school. They were terrific.

A few years later, I asked my mom whether she could ask the owners if I could work for them that summer. My mom would often visit the store to get dinner. Sure enough, I got it. I had just turned eighteen years old.

I felt that I was slow learning about everything. However, my boss, Mary, had a chat with my mom and said the complete opposite -- that I was a quick learner and a hard worker.

I learned how to wrap fish and chips in newspaper. I even folded a number of open-faced newspaper holders for chips, so you could eat out of it as you walked. I honed my skills talking to and serving customers. I even learned about orange roughy.

The couple often insisted that I have dinner there. I felt odd about it. Eventually, I caved. It was delicious, as always.

The store closed just after I had earned my undergraduate degree. I have often wondered about the couple and how there were.

I decided to do a search. I learned that Mary had passed on in 2009 at the age of 72. She, like her husband, were kind and treated me like family. I regret not seeing them as much when my family had moved away a year after I had worked at the store.

May she continue to rest in peace.

Pet fish and fish fry

My guy called me twice on Saturday. The first call was on his way to teaching his course, which was expected, except that he was half an hour early.

We talked about my recent trips to the pet store to get a new aquarium for Bubbles, one of my two betta fish. His tank is twice the size as his original one and comes with a filter, which the first one didn't have. It also has a fancy lighting system.

Somehow, we got into talking about fish and lunch. I was also driving, but was looking for a restaurant to stop by.

"I need to find a place to have lunch," I replied.
"Don't go to your fish store and have them fry some for you," he teased.
"Um, no. That would be bad if there were a fish and chips store next to it," I replied.

My guy called me after his course. I can always tell when he misses me when he needs to call me more than once in a day.

"I just came back from grocery shopping at a middle eastern store," he replied.
"That's good. I should stop by there sometime," I replied.
"You'd like shopping there. The place has fish. You can ask them to fry it for you," he stated.

My guy was being serious. What he didn't know until I told him was that I was feeding Coolio, my other betta fish, when we were talking. I had my guy on speakerphone.

It's a good thing that fish can't understand our conversation. They wouldn't have liked what we had talked about!

Betta fish and personalities

I have two betta fish. I am glad that I got them after being a petless person for over a decade.

One of my bettas is named Bubbles. He does just that -- builds bubbles all around him. I have been told that he is simply a happy camper.

I am not crazy about the fish tank that I bought for him. It claimed to be easy to clean, but it truly isn't and doesn't filter well. On Friday, I decided to get another one. This one actually has a filter, so I hope that Bubbles continues to live up to his name.

My other betta is named Max. His longer name is Betta Max. Yep, I named him after technology from years past, but it is a play on words. My guy has nicknamed him Coolio. He simply lounges around and chills.

They have distinct personalities. I love them both.

It's nice seeing them swim as close to me and stare. They are probably more interested in being fed than my watching them swim gracefully towards me. I am just glad that they are my pets.

What to write about? Missing my guy and admiring betta fish

When I did the A to Z blog challenge, I didn't have any issue writing about anything. Topics were there, ideas came to me quickly, and I just wrote away.

Now that the challenge is over, I find that I can't think of anything to write. At least, that's how I feel.

Perhaps it is also because I haven't been able to talk to my guy. He came back late on Wednesday night and was too tired to call me. Yesterday, he managed to say hi online, but he was dead tired.

I miss him even more when we don't talk while we are apart.

To counter this temporary void, I found an aquarium store on my way home from work. It is huge! I saw some cool betta fish. I nearly bought another one. One of them was purple.

It's unfortunate that you can only have one betta fish in a tank. Introduce another one in the same tank and they will stress each other out, and one possibly might die after they are done fighting each other.

They are nice to look at. I probably stood in front of the betta fish section for ten minutes, admiring how gracefully they were swimming by themselves.

I also can't believe how many betta toys are out there. I browsed. I am sure that I will be back to spoil my fish with a leaf hammock or log.

I can still hear my guy tell me that I am taking my pet fish too seriously. I care about my fish. My guy is genuinely happy that I have a pet fish. My fish enjoys blowing bubbles on the surface and insisting on eating dried bloodworms.

I am glad that I have a pet again. It's nice to watch him swim and love his environment. It also fills the void of my guy not being with me a bit.

Spanking interest, fish jealousy, and laser eye surgery

It's enjoyable teasing my guy. I basically teased him about how he will not let me drive his car. I tried convincing him -- that sharing means caring. Nope. His car is his baby.

He mentioned wanting to be spanked today. I suppose the light spankings that he has received so far are making him want to explore being spanked some more. I love his enthusiasm. The only downside is that he's not here!

He returns home in a few days. He has not been enjoying his commute from his hotel to work in Dublin. It took him nearly two hours today. So, he is changing hotels and moving closer to the office.

As for me, I am interested in finding decent fish supplies for my pet betta. My guy thinks that I am taking my fish way too seriously. I don't think that I am overdoing it. Perhaps he is jealous that I am pampering my fish more these days.

Anyway, my guy is interested in getting laser eye surgery. I have done a decent amount of research over the years. My prescription isn't bad. My optometrist doesn't think that it's worth it for me to have the surgery. My guy would be a better candidate.

"I like when you're not wearing your glasses. You look good," I told him.
"Thanks, sweetie," he replied. "The only problem is that I have bags under my eyes and my glasses hide them."

The secret is out at long last.

P is for pet and paddle

I recently got a betta fish as a pet. I last had a one a decade ago.

I was partially inspired to get a pet fish when I saw a beautiful Kickstarter project where the aquarium uses aquaponics to filter the water and even grow plants! It is a beautiful environment for my fish, who seemed so sad cooped up in a small see-through plastic container at the pet store.

Last Sunday, my friend and I went to the pet store. I picked out a male halfmoon betta. He is blue with a bit of red. He's pretty.

The aquarium system came with betta pellet food. I tried feeding it to my fish and he didn't want any of it. I was concerned that he didn't want to eat anything.

I then remembered that my first pet liked freeze-dried bloodworms. I went to my local pet store and bought a jar. I came back home, fed him one, and he loved it. He is a foodie!

I told my guy about my new pet fish. He's happy that I have a pet again. I have named him Bubbles, because he seems incredibly fascinated by the bubbles that he encounters on the water's surface. He also like making bubbles himself.

He reminds me of my guy, except that the latter likes blowing kisses at me from afar. Both are sweet fellas, though.

As for going down vacation memory lane, I had brought my leather paddle. I took it out of my suitcase one day with my guy standing next to me. He took it from me and gave my backside several hard swats. He laughed. He is truly my Mr. Meanie.

That's okay. I took the paddle back and gave him a couple of swats. It was my guy's first time with it. He didn't complain. He didn't whine. He didn't say that he didn't like it. He's doing well and continues to still be interested in being spanked.