The Vancouver Chronicles
Apparently Sprocket has signed up for the 'Neighborhood
Watch" program. (See photo below) She dutifully is at her
assigned post most days from 10 AM - 2 PM. (Before 10 she has more
important things to do naturally.) After 2 PM is prime naptime, so of
course, no spying can happen then. But you can see her at her post 10-2.
She has spied several black squirrels, a few of the local
dogs patiently walking their owners (so nice of them to give the folks a
walk) and watch the recycling truck pick up every Monday. She is
busy, oh yeah.
It rained most of this weekend (Canadian
Thanksgiving). Thanksgiving is not such a big deal here. I am used
to the isles in Albertson's dedicated to cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie fixings,
Mrs. Cubbins Stuffing Mix, gravy jars, sliced almonds and of course cans of
green beans. Nope nothing like that here.
However, they do try their best to have Black Friday Sales
(figure that one out, Canadian Thanksgiving is on Monday.) Well, being
good Americans and helping the economy we went to Sears and bought a bed!
Yeah! We get delivery October 30th. So happy.
I joined a writing group called "Just
Write" basically a bunch of writers get together and well,
write. It's a great support system. I find it's challenging to write
when I'm home, all sorts of odd jobs distract me like dusting the top of the
refrigerator. Anyway, as there is always 'one' in every group, in Canada
it's the wacky French Canadian! I got to meet my first FC at a "Just
Write" in trendy Killarney Park. I will keep going to that one and I
have signed up to facilitate one in my not so cool suburb of New West.
I finally got a chance to take the bags of bubble wrap to
the local dump. The dump is in Coquitlam. One drives up a long
ramp, gets weighed, gets told which lane to follow, told which bin to dump your
trash, then gets weighed and pay the difference. So, I'm in Jeff's truck
with the bed full of stuffed dark green trash bags. The man asks me what
have I got, I tell him "Bubble wrap". "Follow lane
1" Okay.
As I slowly drive along lane 1 there are lots of signs, kind
of like the old Burma Shave signs. But these are telling me what not to
do. "Do Not Get Out of Your Car", "Do Not Use Your
Cell Phone", “Do Not Speed".
I pull up to a gentleman obviously directing the other vans
and rented Budget Trucks full of I don't know what. Things like old
recliners, mattresses, bed frames, sofas and what not. The man
comes up to my window and says "So, you're bring your California Bubble
Wrap here?" (He had to have gotten beta from the main guy back
at the scales) I explained we just moved here and the recycling in New
Westminster won't take bubble wrap. We chat about what brought me here
"all this way from California".
He approves of my story and says, "Okay, bin 2" I
say, "I've got a red spider wrap holding the trash in the bed I need that
back." He looks at me. I say," Well, the sign says not to
get out of the car." He smiles and says, "You take the stuff out of
your truck. We just don't want you walking around the yard."
Oh! Got it.
So I pull up to bin 2 and get hit with the ripe smells of
garbage. Not deterred from my mission I begin playfully tossing my
bubble wrap filled bags on the heaps of garbage, kicking the bags, serving the
bags like a volleyball. So fun!
Then I'm done and go back to get weighed again. The
man at the booth who first weighed the truck looked at the results and laughed,
'bubble wrap'. "Young lady, sorry it's $10.00." I
guess there is a minimum they have to charge you for using the
facilities. Paid my $10.00 and got a compliment from the guy. He
liked my scarf. Go figure.
It's getting colder and darker in the evenings.
Tee-hee. I might have to start wearing socks!
Miss you,
Brie
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