Tumbling down a slippery slope

Sometimes work days are painfully dull or painfully busy. Then again, sometimes work days are just painful. Today was one of those days.

I toppled on my way back to the office from lunch today. I say toppled because my knees buckled and slammed into the tiled floor with a bruising thud. Some cleaner, instead of mopping up a soupy mess just outside the doors of an exit, just put up a bright yellow sign a few feet away announcing a slippery floor. Lot of good that does you as you see it from the corner of your eye.

Dozens of people on the escalator in front of me watched as I struggled to get up, brushed myself off and limped away. Some guy called out that it looked like a potential lawsuit. I replied that it was alright, but he better watch out, it's slippery.

On top of dealing with my bruised knee (aka ego), I spent the afternoon struggling to deal with the much anticipated report about what to do with the Gardiner Expressway that was finally released.

In the end, I think I pulled my shit together, but I have to admit relying on other reporters for your information is quite frustrating.

More time ends up being spent puzzling through a story then I would if I had attended the event.

But more frustrating than that is that while the Gardiner report recommends the city act as quickly as possible to dismantle the central portion of the expressway, nothing will be decided on it in the end.

Me being the city slicker, I agree it should be taken down and the $490-million pricetag seems reasonable.

It seems it's about to become a major election issue, as mayoral candidate Jane Pitfield said herself.

And while the election is going to be a major headache for me work-wise, I'm actually strangely enough looking forward to all the politicking that's about to begin.

Days of dawning/yawning

Thing I learned on Sunday #1: If you want to get ahold of the elusive A., try accidentally calling her.

I have spent days trying to track down that girl to no avail. That's despite her having a cell phone. Yet, the day I'm shopping and my purse does some impromptu dialing without my knowledge and she actually answers her phone ... to hear me talking and walking and going about my day. I somehow called her twice. She called back and left a message.

I may have to try this again.


Thing I learned on Sunday #2: Any weekend can be a vacation. You just have try relaxing hard enough.

Lately, I've been jolted awake in the middle of nightmares where I'm in the midst of coming up with a better headline to yesterday's story, or have written an entire, very detailed story in my head and am desperately hoping somehow at the national desk will update it because dammit don't they know I'm asleep?! So, by the time five work days have crammed millions of minute details into my head, I'm itching to tune out, if just for a bit.

Recipe for a pseudo vacation: Sleep in + Eat out for breakie + Read paper while sipping coffee + Nap + Eat lunch + Shop + Eat some chocolate + Eat supper + Watch movie

Toss in a side adventure to a place you've never seen, (In Sunday's case, an old Catholic church and what I'll call Furniture Way aka. King St E) and you've got a bona fide mini-holiday.

So simple. But really, what more do you need?

In my case, I need desperately to have a real vacation on the horizon. Which I do. But until then, mini-vacances will have to suffice.