A Suburban Gentleman

Yesterday after work, I was heading over to IronGirl’s to help move her new stove into the house and pick up a bookcase. On the way, I stopped for gas. Having pumped, I went into the Petro-Can store to pay.

Transaction completed, I headed out and held the door for a lady. “It’s nice to see that there are still gentlemen in the world” she said. At first I thought she was joking but looking at her face, she seemed sincere.

As I settled into Liza, I started to think how sad it is that all it takes to be a gentleman is to hold a door. Maybe it is a Mississauga thing. I guess I am off the hook for thank-you notes, unlocking the door for passengers first and leaving my quarter in my No Frills shopping cart.

I once heard that the definition of a gentleman is someone that can make other’s feel comfortable regardless of the situation. Nice. The dictionary has several options but I like “a man with an independent income who does not work for a living.” 6/49 really needs to come through for me.

Either way, I put the call to all men out there, score some points; hold open the door!

A bid you all a good day!

Sound Advice

Another Survivor night has come to an end. This time there was no Survivor as one of our party had to work late. By the time the soup was warm, the veal rib chops ready and the scalloped potatoes baked the show was starting and we decided conversation and food trumped TV. There is always next week.

The boys departed and I settled down for a portion of The History of Food and found these pieces of advice about drinking whiskey. Irish whiskey is traditionally treated as a tall drink in a tall glass diluted with the same volume of still water, and at room temperature. There is a saying that you should never add water to another man's whiskey, so each drinker is given a separate carafe of water and mixes his own.

The best blended Scotch should not have anything but an ice cube added to it and pure malt is drunk devoutly after dinner, like cognac, without either water or ice, and in a proper silence.

Well it is after dinner, and with everyone gone it is perfectly silent..... maybe a wee night cap is in order.....

40 year old teeth

I’m not even 40 yet and things are starting to fall apart! Last Thursday I found myself supine in the dentist’s chair. The hygienist made a comment about my receding gum line and that it was rather pronounced on one tooth. “Yes” I said “I am trying to keep my gums in line with my hair you see”. She didn’t seem all that amused but for 8:00 AM I thought it rather sharp.

A she scraped and cleaned comments were made about general wear and tear on my teeth but nothing major. I know I sometimes grind my teeth at night and at one point requested a mouth guard but Dr. Lee said it was not necessary.

How tough economic times can change a person’s tune! After the cleaning, the dentist usually comes in, pokes around my mouth with her tool (yuck!), tells me I have a cavity (or one that needs to be replaced) and Bob’s your uncle.

This time though, it seem that each time her little metal digger thing (that is the technical term in case you did not know) she asked her cohort to mark in my chart that something was cracked, soft, had fractures, chipped and any number of other things you don’t want to hear about in reference to your teeth! Including the potential for a gum graft! IronGirl had that done not so long ago and let me tell you “no thank you”.

Now, that is not as strong as the “no thank you” I have for dentures, but it is right up there. Bottom line is I am going back to have two cavities replaced (silver lining, one is the LAST silver one I have, so all my teeth will be nice and white) and another visit to have a little chip evened out. Thank the Lord for group benefits!

On my way out the receptionist asked if she would like me to have her book a consult with the graft guy or if I would do it myself. I will take care of that myself thank you very much….after I get home from France!

This experience does not have me looking forward to my visit with Dr. P. As I am turning 40, I think it time to start going for an annual physical. You know, just to make sure everything is just as it should be. I expect the blood and urine test will be fine but if the dentist found all those things wrong with my teeth, I have to say I am not looking forward to the “turn your head and cough” test.

Karma's A Bitch

I am not even sure this is karma; in fact I know it is not, but the name somehow seems appropriate. Standing the waiting area of Moksha Mississauga, I greeted students that were going to be in my class. There is usually a flurry of activity about 15 minutes prior to the start of each class so I didn’t get to chat with them all. And apparently I didn’t even get a good look at one of them.

The first time I noticed her was when she went from the change room to the studio. A light flickered briefly and then went out. It was gone, I knew that I knew her, but couldn’t place the face. A student from another studio, an old university classmate, I wasn’t sure.

Before practice, I asked if it was anyone’s first time, and sure enough up popped her hand. As I explained about the heat and what to do if she felt overwhelmed my mind began to race. Where o’ where did I know her from.?

Things got off to a smooth start and about 10 minutes into the flow I began walking around, making adjustments here and there. As I reach down to press her little toe to her mat in warrior one, I noticed she had some henna on her ankle. WHAM! Jesus on a bicycle! I FIRED THIS GIRL!

It was the first and only time I have EVER fired anyone. Justified yes, but here I was bossing around this girl in class after bossing her around at work. I lost track of where I was in my sequence and had to have the postures held for a longer time.

“Yes everyone, hold that tree, and ummmm, I’ll just…Yeah…I’ll be right back!” That is what I wanted to say followed by a quick opening of the door followed by an equally quick escape. But no, that wouldn’t do. And neither would not helping her enjoy the class.

As it turns out, she made a hasty exit after corpse pose and by the time I stirred from my mat, she was gone. I hope we are at the point where we can “laugh about what happened” but somehow I don’t think so. I guess we’ll know if she comes back!