Life in progress

Tag Archives: travel


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Nano Poblano – Day 25: Goings On

My blog isn’t normally about my personal schedule, but because of the community I’ve kind of built around this site, I feel obligated to let you, my friends, know what’s going on for the next little while.

First, tomorrow, I’m going to an occupational therapist to see about my bad shoulder in the morning, and to an optometrist in the afternoon. I’ll have drops in my eyes, which probably means no screen time after that since the horrid things usually affect me for at least eight hours. I hope to be able to post tomorrow before I go.

Then this Saturday will be my last “live” SoCS entry until the 20th of December. I leave for Tokyo on Saturday the 6th and will be home on the 17th. Considering I leave Japan two hours after I arrive in Canada, I’ll be pretty bagged and doubt I’ll be online again until the 18th.

What this means for you, my dear participants in One-Liner Wednesday and SoCS, is that you’ll still be able to participate in both, except I won’t be around. I’ll have the One-Liners scheduled already for the 10th and the 17th, and for SoCS I’ll either do the same or I’ll have guest-posters here to organize things. I still have to contact the three people who said they might be willing to help out, to see if they’re still “in.”

I hope to have reliable enough wifi where I’m staying that I can check in once in a while, but I don’t plan on spending too much time online.

In the meantime, as you can probably imagine, I’ll be pretty busy getting ready to leave and doing as much Christmas shopping as humanly possible so I don’t need to do too much while I’m away. Luggage space will be limited. Again, what this means is that I won’t be able to read as many blogs as I usually do, or keep up with the comments. But I’ll do my best!

For anyone wondering how I’m paying for this (I’m looking at you, Social Services), I’ve been saving for years. There’s a reason I have only one pair of shoes, have a hair cut once every three years, and am still wearing a coat that was bought for me as a Christmas gift 30 years ago – and no, that’s not an exaggeration.

Oh, and as a side note, I just got a call from Best Buy to say my laptop battery is in – let’s hope it fits!!!

This random goings-on post was brought to you in conjunction with Captain Pepper’s Happy Hearts Club Band

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and RoMoBloPo

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The Trip to Queen and Back

Now that I’ve written the official Queen and Adam Lambert concert review, it’s time to relate the story of my trip.

We arrived in Toronto with about four and a half hours to spare before the show so we decided to do some walking. And some lunch. We chose a nice English pub downtown and sat down to have a beer with our meal. This is only notable because it marked the first time I’ve ever had a beer with my son in a restaurant. But I didn’t feel old AT ALL. I’ll just keep telling myself that.

After lunch we walked until our legs gave out (and no, it wasn’t just me). We sat on a flight of steps in Yonge-Dundas Square for a rest. Whilst there, we watched as a member of the security crew poured a bucket of soapy water on a rectangle of chalk that a group of kids had drawn on the pavement. Then, another employee came along with a broom and mopped it up. Can’t be too careful about that graffiti here in Canada I tell ya.

Of course, that called for a coffee. Since there were no tables available at the first Tim’s we went to, we walked a little more and then stopped to sit beside a fountain. There I took a picture of my traveling companions:

My eldest son Fred and my best friend John

My eldest son Fred and my best friend John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got to the Air Canada Centre long before the concert started and got to listen to some really annoying people behind us, who complained about everything: their own seats, other people’s seats, the line-ups, when was the concert going to start… I had had a headache all day and these people weren’t helping it to go away. But you know what did make my headache go away? Queen!

I didn’t think about what putting my hands above my head for almost two hours was going to do to my poor shoulder, let alone what singing at the top of my lungs was going to do to my throat. Strangely enough, my shoulder hasn’t felt better since January. Funny what adrenaline can do.

We got back home at 1:00am on the dot and I was still feeling the effects of being tired yesterday. Today I seem to have finally recovered. Not only am I fully awake, but I no longer sound like a teenaged boy whose voice is cracking either.

But you know what? I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.

 


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Putting it Out There

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Kurashiki, October, 2005

 

A flight to Tokyo on December 27th and coming back January 9th would cost me $1148.73.

Just sayin’.


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Research successful

Well, I’m back from doing research for my novel in Kingston. I took this picture of the Inn I stayed in, at dusk, after I turned the lights on in the turret where my room was situated.

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Turret

It was a long way up. 41 steps to be exact, not counting the stairs outside to get to the front door and the ladder to get to the top part of the turret.

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But my biggest find in all of Kingston?

Can you find him?

Can you find him?

 


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Researching for a feel

With all this recent talk about doing research, I’ve decided to do some of my own. Actually, I decided a week ago, but I’m jumping on the bandwagon with those who have blogged about it.

Hochelaga Inn, Kingston Ontario

Hochelaga Inn, Kingston Ontario

When I first decided to set my novel in Kingston, Ontario, I looked around the internet for historic houses there and found this one. As luck would have it, it’s a Bed and Breakfast. So next week, guess where I’m going to stay…? Yep, I’ll be right up in the tower room, which is complete with a ladder to the roof from the inside. I have described, using only my imagination, every nook and cranny of this glorious mansion. But now, I’ll be able to do so from the inside. 🙂

In the three days I’ll be spending there I plan also to both drive and walk around town, getting a real feel for the atmosphere. And who knows, maybe I’ll even meet my main character while I’m there. He’s sure to be in residence, after all. 😉