We're still around too

Today we picked up the documents for our trip--we leave in less than two weeks. Our flight out is earlier--now at 6:00 am rather than 7:00 am.  This means being at the airport for 3:00 am, but we paid for "Elite" service, so won't have to stand in long lines for anything.  There's no way I would ask anyone to drive us, so we'll take a cab, but we get home at 4:40 pm, so are hoping someone can pick up up.  If not, it'll be a cab that way as well, which is fine.  We've arranged for the car to go into the dealership for warrantee work while we're away, dropping it off on the Friday, and not being able to get it back until the Monday.  So everything needs to be in place by Friday the 29th.  Otherwise there is a whole bunch of hurry up and wait.

I did find the rummy game at Walmart, so we plan to take that with us--either to play in airports or in the bar in the evening. Last time we had a crib board with us and were glad to have it, but even crib gets boring after 11 straight hours.

We're trying to minimize food purchases, or, at least limit purchases to things with a long shelf life.  Screwed up with milk yesterday.  I was putting everything together for a salmon loaf yesterday and had everything in a bowl to mix them, when I noticed lumps of white stuff in the mix.  It was the milk.  Heating it had turned it.  All those ingredients wasted.  Food prices are getting high enough, without throwing the stuff away.  But the freezer is wells stocked, so we know we aren't going to starve.

There was an article in yesterday's paper about the Bay closing down another floor, and what the long term holds for the building.  Evidently at 600,000 square feet it is one of the largest commercial buildings in the city, far bigger than most office towers.  And a big  "white elephant" for whomever owns it.  They estimate that it would take about $100 million to update it and convert it for commercial offices.

There was also a different short "human interest" story.  With the renovation and re-purposing of the old Place Louis Riel, the gently used hotel furniture and kitchen pots etc, were donated to some organization devoted to helping with the re-settlement of Syrian refugees.  A volunteer group was put together , organized by an Iraqi woman who had been here for many years and speaks English.  She was introducing the recent refugees to the concept of "volunteerism", and got many of the men together with a group of Hutterites, who had trucks.  They all moved  of the furniture to a warehouse, where it will be stored and distributed as needed. I was amused by the mental picture of this woman in Muslim clothing organizing and supervising the two very different groups of men, both of whom would not normally take any sort of direction from a woman.  Canadian, eh?