Toronto’s garbage strike is finally over. That sound you hear is thousands of Torontonians unpinching their noses and breathing in.
It will take a while to get the city back to its sparkling best … okay, we didn’t actually sparkle, but you get the gist … so I strapped on my litter collection gear (basically, a [...]
Entries from July 2009
July 31, 2009
Day 395: Litter lady strikes again
July 29, 2009
Day 394: What’s in a name?
A friend once told me that her parents taught her to always greet people by name — rather than just an anonymous “hey you” or “wassup?”
I’ve always associated over-using people’s names with a sales pitch. As in, “Hello, Jane Doe. How are you, Jane Doe? Can I sell you some snake oil, Ms. Doe, or [...]
July 29, 2009
Day 393: Good horse sense
Over the years, I’ve sponsored walkathons, bikathons, even skip-athons but today was the first time I’ve ever sponsored a horseback-ride-athon.
My boss is an ace rider from way back and she’s saddling up this weekend, rain or shine, for an eight-hour, 25-kilometre trek on her trusty steed Zambucca for the Al Humphrey Memorial Ride.
The third-annual event [...]
July 27, 2009
Day 392: Street smarts
Today, I bought the latest issue of Outreach Connection — a newspaper that’s been “helping the homeless and the unemployed since 1991,” as it says on their front page.
My usual paperperson, Mr. Singh, was back on his busy corner and his face broke out in a smile of recognition as I approached him.
I’ve only [...]
July 26, 2009
Day 391: What kind of world do you want?
The rain came down in buckets here today. It was like being inside a car wash.
So when I saw a white-haired lady ahead of me in church this morning drop her umbrella on the way in, I picked it up and returned it to her right away, knowing she’d likely need it on the way [...]
July 24, 2009
Day 390: TGIF
I did a clandestine cleanup of our office kitchen today. Everyone takes a turn for a week on the rotating roster, but I know the person assigned to do it is swamped this week, so I wanted to help out.
So when the coast was clear, I played Cinderella and spit and polished what I could.
It’s [...]
July 24, 2009
Day 389: Morning has broken
I’ve been slowly but surely chipping away at the iron-clad defenses of my bus driver. I don’t always catch the same bus every day, mind you, but often enough that I see one particular driver a few mornings a week.
The first few times I hopped his bus, I’d say my brightest, cheeriest good morning only [...]
July 22, 2009
Day 388: To the letter
Got a very official-looking envelope from the bank in the mail today. Luckily, before I tore it open, I noticed it had someone else’s name and address on the front. The house number was the same and I did recognize the name of the street, however. I was fairly certain it was the street on [...]
July 21, 2009
Day 387: Somebody out there
I was walking across a busy intersection today and a six-foot-two Hagrid lookalike lumbered ahead of me. I was in a hurry, but couldn’t seem to get around him.
Every time I shifted right, so did he, or left, same thing. It was a little like trying to pass an 18-wheeler that keeps changing lanes [...]
July 20, 2009
Day 386: Whine and cheese
Today was one of those days when the only good deed I felt like doing was crawling back into bed and pulling the covers over my head.
“Oh, typical Monday,” you’re probably thinking.
I did manage to say “Good morning” to my bus driver when I got boarded, and “thank you” when I got off, but even [...]
