I'm exhausted but relieved to be home after a crazy week in Mapleland! Gosh don't I miss you all ;)
The first four days of my trip- the "work" portion- was surprisingly uneventful to the point of being mildly pleasant. The medical convention wasn't brutally exhausting, the little boutique hotel I stayed at was nice and comfy, I even had time to do some sightseeing/ shopping/ visiting with old friends during happy hour one day. All was good. Here's a snapshot of my after-hour expedition:
1. "Monsoon Gorilla"- great beer, great music, 2. Landmark CN Tower viewed from Queen St W, 3. Peek inside that "Much" Music MTV-esque show on Queen, 4. A gorgeous and quirky "computer-chip-esque" retro lucite Swarovski crystal ring that I *almost* bought (damn that 14+% Canadian sales tax)
*See my Flickr album for other photos on this trip*
Ironically, it was the last 3 days of my trip that's supposed to be my R&R time with family that turned out stressful.
From a disgruntled (and prejudiced?) employee of a rental car company who REFUSED to give me a car even though I have a reservation, to my parents being stranded overnight on their connecting flight, to arriving at my grandpa's vacant condo where we're staying to find it COVERED in dead flies... all hell broke loose...
Yes, those black dots are numerous fly carcasses that has blown out from the vent ALL OVER THE PLACE- on the carpet, beds, couches, dining room table, EVERYWHERE!! Imagine all the ensuing vacuuming. My parents didn't even bat an eye! My dad just brushed off the fly-bits and proceed to sit on the couch. My mom called me squeamish- is it just me? Wouldn't you be freaked out too??
Having spent a couple days at the fly-infested condo, imagine my dismay when I came home to find the "new" work laptop shipped to me (5 days late) while I was gone was NOT functioning properly... 3 hours on the phone with IT, found out multiple softwares were not even installed, and get this, someone changed my e-mail password without recording what the new password is and now I'm locked out (WTF?!). All the work that's backed up while I was gone continues to pile up... Argghhhh...
I need to go buy myself that ring. Now.
