JUNE 10 - Commuter Loser, Flower Pens, and Dinner Roulette

Ten days to summer, and the heat was on in the Sky Train this morning. I remember freezing my butt off on the long winter rides home, when either the bus drivers were suffering from hot flashes (yes, even the men), or the Sky Train operators saw no need to warm their customers - they were probably nice and cosy in their little operating rooms. I did, however, appreciate the warmth on my legs this morning as the temps barely reached double digits.

One thing I do not appreciate on the bus, though, is the Great Unwashed. At one stop on the way home, a guy was waiting to board - and while he waited, he had his hand up under his shirt, having a good long scratch. Made me itchy just to look at him. He got aboard the bus, had a bit of an argument with the bus driver about his right to a free ride - the driver finally told him this was the last time he'd get on with no fare, and we went on our way. At 22nd Street Station, he even took the elevator to the sky train platform, instead of going up the stairs. He was really getting the most bang for his $0. Really pisses me off - maybe if everyone would pay for their rides, the fares could possible be less. He reminded me of another commuter who was too close to me for my comfort a few weeks ago - he had me wondering if I had made the mistake of putting my lunch in the garbage can by the back door, and actually carrying a bag of kitty litter lumps with me on the bus. Which of course, I wasn't.

Anyhow - there wasn't a long list of nasty jobs waiting for us at the store this morning, so we tackled what was there bravely and got through it all. Pauline and I shared the making of the flower pens. Aren't they pretty? You just start off with pens (duh), floral tape  and flowers -

- tape the flower stem to the top end of the pen, then wrap the whole darn thing with floral tape so it looks like the stem. We sell tons of them for a buck each - they would make a great fund raiser too.


A couple were looking around the store, and when the wife paid for her purchase, she commented on the pens.

'Oh, you're making flower pens?'
'Yep,' I replied.
And the husband said, ' You actually make these?'
And I replied, 'Yep - what, you think they grow on trees?'

She and I thought that was hilarious, him not so much. I still think it's funny, and Howard even smiled when I told him, so it must have been very very funny indeed. He is a really difficult audience.

Dinner tonight was easy - left over beef pie from last week sometime. Hopefully it was still okay to eat, it tasted great - but then again, I was really hungry. My kitchen is in a bit of a muddle - I had asked Howard several times over the past few weeks to put up a couple of nails on the sides of the cupboards that frame the window over the sink, but today, he decided instead, to start building in some extra cupboards. Oh my. I was really happy with what I had - all I wanted was a couple of little nails so I could hang my nice non-stick fry pans so they wouldn't get scratched in the cupboard. I only hope he gets the cupboards finished before we have to move out of here - we were promised a long-term occupancy, but I really don't know if it will be long enough for him to actually finish a project. (Now, if I told him my thoughts on that, he wouldn't smile. I told you he was a difficult audience.)