just so you know

(this didn't post last night, 1 am. i do know it's morning now)

i can't sleep, but have taken some magneleuvers mix, so i should be sleepy by the time i finish updating you on the most inane of things in my life right now.

ah, it's that time of year again. when i wake up it's dark. when i get home, it's thinking darker thoughts.

but it also means that it's okay to have a fire every day... unlike when i was lighting fires in august and getting mean comments about it still being summer. i do enjoy a good fire.

we have a 'coal guy'. i'm not sure if i mentioned it before but when the flower lady was talking about the 'coal man' she sort of made him out to be this younger guy, driving his jeep, tossing coal out like it was nothing. when he first came to collect his money, i was kinda like: who is this guy? turns out he's a old guy, i did notice he had some pipes... you'd want to if you were carrying 20KG bags of coal around all day.

i'm bringing this up because the other day, not on a tuesday (his regular delivery day) we came home and there was a bag of sticks (kindling) and some logs and some other burning product. because it was up against the wall, we didn't know if he meant it for the flower lady next door, or for us. but really, the flower lady's not that close, and why would he put it on our side of the wall, and so far from her...it'd be heavy (he'd know) to carry over to her. anyway, we got all this stuff that we didn't order and a note saying the flower lady paid for us.

now, a couple of weeks ago, i did ask for some sticks, but he didn't think he'd be able to get them. i said it wasn't a problem. but he kinda got carried away, translating sticks in logs and 3€ into 22€ (sticks vs. logs and whatever else he left). to be honest, i don't mind. he could have done it to make some extra money but i'm understanding it as concern. :o) he probably had a good chat with the flower lady and they decided that despite us not calling, we could use some more fuel for the fires. and good on him, what with winter coming, i'll be burning whatever i can get!

in other news, i'm still trying to get my money back from kitsilano workout. i joined the gym before i moved to white rock. if you move, they're supposed to give your remaining money back. needless to say, it's been 1.5 years, and i'm still chasing it. but! i have a phone number for the accounts person, who won't be answering their phone today because of the sabbath. however, they will take calls after sunrise tomorrow... works for me. i'll keep you updated. obviously i'm not giving up. now it's the priciple... i won't be able to use a gym membership there, cause i live in ireland, so i don't know what i could negotiate for. this could be the one time that all i want, and get (because i won't quit) is my money back. it's almost boring...which could be why there's such a challenge. you know, to remind me what it's like being normal, getting screwed by some company, and not getting anything to help with the pain. ugh. i don't like it. maybe they can give me an elliptical machine for when i move back. hmm...

i think with winter coming, gerry and i may be able to maintain our movie-going madness of late. we're both keen to see the new Scorsese flick. AND! we both have tuesday off, so maybe we can get a cheap-o price for a matinee. i'm still heady from little miss sunshine, so Scorsese better be up for the challenge.

which leads me to: i made microwave popcorn tonight. the other bags from the box have been decent salt-wise. this one, way too salty. but i did figure out the trick to not burning it here... put it on medium high. less popcorn will pop, but gerry only picks at it anyway. at least it's not stinky burning! when we're back in canada, i'm going to have popcorn at the theatre in white rock, or in hope... as long as i can sneak in without anyone seeing me, cause YUM! the popcorn's so good, and it's cheaper at those places than the huge 5 million-plexes.

oh, i'm getting tired! i should have just enough energy to make a shopping list for tomorrow.