Being an author is like being in charge of your own personal insane asylum.

- Graycie Harmon

Monday, May 17, 2010

Newsy Weekend

I apologise for the fact that this post was late, once again. The computer decided that an hour would be the appropriate load time... then Firefox froze halfway through the first writing of today's post. My blood pressure is currently through the roof.

But I digress. This post is actually supposed to be about my weekend, not a tirade about stupid old computers that stress me out.

Thus, my weekend. It started off well. Kicked off Friday night by teaching a private kick-boxing lesson. That went well. Then my student (and good friend) T.H. and her boyfriend and I all went out for all you can eat sushi, and ice-cream after that. Yummy!

That was not to last, however. Lion Dance practice was on Saturday morning, and I was up and dressed on time. I had to run a few errands before I went, so I decided to take the bus rather than walk once the errands were complete to give myself some time. Big mistake. I went to the bus stop and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, fully a half hour late, the bus showed up, with the other bus (the one whose scheduled time it was). Half an hour late! I was furious as I boarded the bus. There was nothing to be done about it however, I would just be a half hour late for Lion Dance, that's all.

As it turned out, the guy with the key forgot his key, so I wasn't late at all, everyone just having been let into the building as soon as the key master (ahem) returned with the keys. Lucky break.

We went out for a Dim Sum lunch (which was brunch for me, as I hadn't eaten breakfast) and I went to teach my Kunf Fu class - the second last class of the season. It went well. My students are fun to teach, and I enjoy myself there.

Then it was off to the bus stop to catch the bus that would take me to meet my Dad for a movie. So, I stood at the bus stop and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, fifteen minutes late, and arriving at the same time as the next scheduled bus, the bus arrived. I asked the driver (as I didn't see the second bus) what happened to the bus that was to have arrived fifteen minutes earlier. He smiled and said, 'you're lookin' at it. I'm late.' as if it were perfectly excusable that he would be fifteen minutes late. I was unimpressed.

I arrived twenty minutes after I was supposed to. Thank-goodness Dad had waited for me. I missed the movie, too, and the next showing was three hours away. We went and saw the movie at 6:30, and killed time by having drinks and a few snacks, and a very quick walk through the Byward Market.

(Insert appropriate expletive here)

Look, OC Transpo, I've said it before and I'll say it again. You are absolute shite! You are by far the single worst public transport system I have ever had the misfortune of having to rely on. You really pissed me off this weekend. If you are going to charge $100.00 a month for a bus pass, you damned well better make sure that your service is worth the money. That means running on time, and having courteous, helpful and knowledgeable staff (ie - not the foul-tempered, selfish, miserable ingrates that are often at the wheel). Get your act together you bunch of moronic trained apes!

Right, done my tirade. The movie Dad and I saw was Iron Man 2. It was fun. Not as good as the first (they never are), but fun and entertaining. It was good to go to the cinema again. I missed these special weekends I have with Dad.

I spent the weekend at Dad's place, and it was great. I felt nice and relaxed when I returned home.... to the home that's been sold off. The apartment sold this weekend. So now I have a new landlord (don't know who yet). And I have to say, I have never been so thoroughly unimpressed with a real estate agency or a landlord in my life.

There is no excuse for the gross invasion of privacy that took place in the days prior to the selling. You must, must, must give 24 hours notice before showing an apartment. You must show up when you say you are going to show up, not an hour beforehand. What if I had been prancing around naked when you used your key to open my locked door without warning? It's my apartment, you jerks. Mine. I paid for it for the month. That means all month, it is mine, and no one may come and go without my permission. Otherwise it's called trespassing. And that's illegal. Even if you have a key. Jerks.

As for the landlord, you took full advantage of the good will of your tenants, and abused it. If you had been more fair about the renovations (like not renovating in our bathroom when my flatmate is asleep after a colossal 17 hour work day, or when she's trying to have a shower, and cleaning up the mess your workmen made so I don't have to spend an hour late at night doing it just so I can have a shower. Jerk), I'd have been willing to bend over backwards ... if you had just been courteous about our rights, our needs and our desires. Jerk.

These are all legal issues. Tenants have rights, and you are quite lucky I was away most of the weekend, because there would have been war. I am VERY unimpressed.

In any case, it's all over, and my vexations over the mishandled selling can now rest, unless the buyer backs out of the sale. Let's hope the new landlord is not such an ass.

Grrrr.

Right, I'm feeling normal again. I am off now to review some edits of one of my short stories. Have a lovely Monday all!

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