One of the worst sounds in the world...

... the sound of the furnace kicking in for the first time since winter. Sigh...

I live in the upstairs apartment of an old house, and on Friday morning I awoke to the alarming "thunk" of the furnace being turned on. This was almost immediately followed by that burning smell that accompanies turning on the furnace for the first time in the fall.

In my parents house, it was always a test to see how long we could go before turning on the furnace. It was a measure of our strength as Canadians - how cold did it have to get before we relied on central heating. We'd wear three layers of clothing before giving in. Alas, my landlords are made of much less, it seems. They gave in on the first cold day. It wasn't even winter coat weather for pete's sake.

But I'm still sticking with my annual tradition - no socks until the snow flies (or until frostbite is a threat.)

The human powered blow dryer...

So, tonight I voted. It's (ho-hum) election day here in Ontario and I did my civic duty and voted. For some reason, my polling station was much further away this time, at Hart House on the U of T campus.

The first thing beyond my comprehension? I received two voter cards in the mail, yeah for me, but when I went to vote I wasn't on any voting list. How is that possible? And can I trust the process after that experience?

The second thing beyond my comprehension? Because I wasn't on the voter list I had to fill out a registration form. Here's the thing - all the information I had to fill in on this form was already on the voter card I handed to them. No additional information whatsoever. And since the Returning Officer sent the voter card in the first place, one would think that card would be considered official. Not so. Somewhere a bureaucrat is smiling and a tree is crying.

As I left Hart House, which is, again, on the campus of the University of Toronto, I passed by a guy trying to dry his bicycle seat. It's a cold, misty fall evening here and his bicycle seat was wet, so I don't blame him for trying to keep his tushy dry. That said, he was trying to dry his seat by blowing on it. Yes, that's right, he was blowing on it. He was standing in the rain, his face about 10 cm from his seat, and he was blowing on it. And not just in one spot. He was moving his head all around the seat, I'm assuming in an attempt to dry the entire surface... while it was still raining... I chose to attend two better institutations (Go Marauders! Go Mustangs!) but I'm assuming U of T must have some eligibility requirements. Perhaps the course on how to dry wet vinyl isn't an option until 2nd year.

It's been awhile, but I'm back...

The summer proved too busy to keep up with my blog, for which I apologize. But I'm back and ready to give it another ol' college try.

#1 on my list of things beyond my comprehension today? My hair. I wasn't feeling well, and though I took a shower, I did absolutely nothing with my hair. I thought I'd look hideous but didn't much care. That said, I did have to go in to work for a few hours and naturally, on the day I put no effort into it, I received several compliments on my hair. Why is that? I mean, I'm happy for people to notice, but why does my cursed hair turn out better when left alone? I mean, what's the bloody point of putting any effort in in the mornings? Ah well, I now realize I have a few extra minutes to spare in my morning routine.