PollyPrissyPants

September 1 sucks the big one (so cut me some slack and ignore my horrendous Latin).

First, I managed to get a giant glob of shampoo in my eye in the shower this morning, temporarily blinding myself for about 5 minutes. Them, work was horrid – busy and frustrating – and as has been the case for the past month and a bit, I worked a 10-hour day. All that was keeping me the slightest bit upbeat was the thought of heading home and crashing/vegging.

The only thing standing in my way? One idiot woman.

Get comfy…this is good:

So I made my way home only to find someone had parked in front of my driveway, completely blocking it, and there were NO spots on my street for me to pull into. So I had to park a block away and walk back over (not a huge deal but annoying when I have a driveway right by my front door).

Came inside and immediately wrote an angry note to put on the misplaced car then I was planning to phone the Parking Auth. to have it towed. That may seem harsh BUT it’s clearly a driveway, it’s against by-laws to block it AND given my rough last month and a half, my patience for idiocy is at a low ebb.

As I went out, I saw one of my neighbours talking to a random woman on the street (they didn’t know each other, just exchanging pleasantries) when he saw me…he was like “some idiot blocked your driveway, didn’t they?” My face must’ve lit up…someone to rant to. Huzzah! So we spent 2 or 3 minutes talking about it and rolling our eyes.

The random woman is still there, listening to us, btw.

As we’re talking, I walk over to put the note on the car. As I’m going for the wiper blade, SHE speaks up: “Oh…that’s my car.”

To quote John Oliver, “Well, well, well…looks like we caught us a DOUCHEBAG!” So I pointed to my blatantly RIGHT GODDAMN THERE driveway and said “Yes, well as I was saying…I can’t park in my driveway because you’re blocking it.” I illustrated my point by indicating all items involved in said problem, in case it wasn’t clear. Given she blocked it in the first place, I couldn’t be sure she would get it.

Her response? Wait for it…it’s legendary… “Well…what do I do?”

Wait…what? WHAT? Why don’t you HAZARD A GUESS? I want you to MOVE YOUR CAR. Just a thought.

I finally pointed out that there was room behind her car, she COULD just back-the-hell-up if actually finding another paring spot was too weirdly intimidating for her.

I left her to ponder this as I went to get my car and drive it back. When I got there, she was still trying to back up. 2 minutes later, she had finally moved.

She got out of her car as I was walking to my front door and said she was worried about the car behind her. She thought she should move forward (so she’d be blocking me IN this time…delightful…and also, is she kidding?) because the car behind her wouldn’t be able to get out. I pointed out that the person had tons of room at the back of their car too and if they couldn’t manage to get out of a parallell parking spot, they needed to move to another city (along with her…though I kept that last part to myself).

Then I walked in and shut my door before I throttled her.

This day is, to quote El Tigre Chang, THE WORST.

So I just got power back after being without it for 5 (and a bit) hours after an incredibly intense summer storm ripped through the province (and the city of Toronto itself).

By the numbers:

Number of hrs without power: 5
Number of trees down on my block: 8 (taking numerous power lines with them)
Hours Hydro worked to untangle lines: 2
Number of neighbours met while watching hydro crews work: 3.
Number of tornadoes that touched down: At least 3 confirmed, with more under investigation
Number of houses on my street that will be without power for days: 3 (right across the street…one tree took down all their lines)
Number of people without power after the storm: 50,000+

INSANE! I know many of you probably live in parts of the world that regularly see abnormal weather, but Toronto is usually pretty lucky – the most we ever get is the occasional thunderstorm (with only the very rare exception like a Hurricane 50 years ago, etc). I’ve seriously never seen anything like it in Toronto…tornadoes, flooding, blackouts everywhere…the storm cloud approaching the city looked like The Nothing from The Neverending Story. Seriously.

You all HAVE to take a look at some of the videos and pics from the storm taken from across the city tonight – holy god, they’re mind blowing.

Lessons I learned:

- I really need to keep my computer and cell charged just in case as, at the very least, they could provide me with entertainment while I sit and wait for power to come back on
- Continue to keep that old rotary phone as a decoration, since since it comes in handy to call family, etc. to check on them when the other phones crap out with no power
- When you move, make note of where you put candles, flashlights and lighters…as they are hard to search for at 10 pm with no light. D’oh!
- I’m way too addicted to technology…but I knew that before tonight, but it was re-enforced!

Time to see if I can finally sleep…hope everyone out there is safe and dry tonight!

In the midst of packing, I came across a folder full of old essays, exams and assignments from my last few years of high school. Some were fairly awesome, if I do say so myself…some made me wonder whether English was actually my first language.

I managed to cut the pile down to just a few favourites, which was awesomely cathartic. One of the gems I kept was a short personal bio (in the third person) I had to write for OAC English containing this awesome paragraph. Context…the line prior dealt with my plans to study Poli Sci at Queen’s (which I didn’t end up doing…hello to History and English):

However, Emma’s ultimate goal is to become involved in the entertainment industry. Her great love of music, theatre, television and especially film has inspired and helped her to form this dream. Whether that same dream comes true is completely up to her…(and on it goes)

Huh! And here I was thinking I hadn’t accomplished any of the goals I set for myself. Sweet discovery! Thanks, 17 year old self, for being so on the ball. And boo to my 18-27 year old selves who completely forgot I actually set working where I do as a goal.

The More You Know.