{"id":140,"date":"2006-08-30T17:55:21","date_gmt":"2006-08-31T00:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/troyjohnstone.com\/blog\/2010\/03\/wednesday\/"},"modified":"2010-03-19T12:41:35","modified_gmt":"2010-03-19T19:41:35","slug":"wednesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/troyjohnstone.com\/blog\/2006\/08\/wednesday\/","title":{"rendered":"Wednesday"},"content":{"rendered":"

3:40 AM – hit the snooze button.
\n3:48 AM – hit the snooze button.
\n3:52 – get out of bed, Go stand on the back deck and see what constellations are out at this time of the day.
\n3:55 – shave & shower
\n4:20 – eat breakfast.
\n4:50 – out the door to meet Stephan, one of our alumni from this past year who needs to go to the US embassy in Toronto for 8:30 AM to get a student visa so he can continue his studies in the second year program of the Word of Life Bible Institute.
\n5:30 – first hint of sunrise. Saturn & Venus both visible in eastern sky.
\n6:40 – hit the 400 South. Going to the 401 East and the Yorkdale Mall.
\n7:20 – Yorkdale Mall. Make a dash to the subway station to get to downtown Toronto. Destination is 630 University Ave<\/a>.
\n8:15 – arrive at the embassy. Tight security around this place since I was here last. Large concrete “planters” to prevent roadside blasts, remodeled steps no longer open in the front, now you have to approach them parallel to the building, again with a large concrete wall next to you, presumably to protect against attacks.
\n8:10 – say goodbye to Stephan. I know he will be there quite awhile, so I am taking off to see the sights and maybe a little shopping. I live 2.5 hours away from Toronto, but hardly ever come here. I’m a small town guy and don’t really like big cities. There are more people in the average building in Toronto than were in the town I grew up in<\/a>..
\n8:19 – Looking like a tourist I snap a photo of old reflected in new. And I see that the time is 8:19.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

8:20 – discover Winston Churchill frowning at Toronto City Hall. I guess I would too if a pidgin had left white streaks down the side of my face..<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

City Hall<\/p>\n

8:27 – the old municipal Building has lots of interesting designs and architectural details.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"Curious little faces.<\/p>\n

8:33 – saw homeless guy sit down and start to warm himself over this vent.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

8:42 – enter the Eaton Centre Mall.. everything is still closed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"The Eaton Centre Mall geese – part of a permanent art display<\/p>\n

8:50 – head up Younge St. to a couple of camera stores I know are close.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

8:54 – come across a map illustrationg that Younge St. is the longest street in the world, stretching around the Great Lakes.<\/p>\n

\"\"1,869 KM<\/p>\n

8:57 – Aden Camera #1 – sign says it opens at 9:00 AM. Continue heading north.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

8:58 – Aden Camera #2 also not open. Why are there two Aden Camera stores 150 feet apart?? Dunno.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

9:05 – see 4 foot tall crystal CN Tower in a store. So tempted to buy it for our kitchen table centre piece.. unfortunately this store is also closed.<\/p>\n

9:07 – judging by the number of SUVs I assume that there must be a lot of people from out of town parking here. Can’t imagine a TO dweller needing one..<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

9:10 – Aden #1 still closed. Wandering in circles while waiting.<\/p>\n

9:11 – A guy who asks for money for a coffee points out that while I have no cash I have a nice camera.<\/p>\n

9:15 – camera store opens.<\/p>\n

9:38 – 1st encounter with Chalk Master<\/a> (aka Dave). Continue wandering while waiting for Stephan to call.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

“Hello folks. I have returned. Today I will try to impress $940.00 of twoonies out of you so I can pay that whole rent thingie. I am fully aware that the world owes me nothing, so whether you give me a nickle or a twenty you truely have my gratitude.<\/p>\n

Chalk Master”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

10:05 – visit 2nd Aden store and then wander some more. I’m feeling even more conspicous as I don’t have headphones on.<\/p>\n

10:52 – 2nd encounter with Chalk Master.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n

“Reasons to support Operation ‘Need-Rent’:
\n1 I love you all (except that guy who smells like soup)
\n2 Women would rather date a guy with an apartment
\n3 Ceilings and walls are great for those rainy days
\n4 I’ll do a magic trick for you
\n5 I can have a “Drunk Women Think I’m Hot” party (B.Y.O.B.)
\n6 Its hard to keep my dogi clean outside
\n7 I promise to start budgeting
\n8 I can start painting again
\n9 ’cause your my favorite
\n10 hmm, cant think of any more so Imma just draw something beautiful & hope you like it enough for a contribution”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

11:00 – Indigo book store to get a book for Ellie and a photography posing book I’ve been looking for. Hope this will help improve student and staff portraits at WOL.
\n11:45 – At last! Stephan calls to say he is out of the embassy is will be waiting for me a nearby Tim Hortons. Of course I am now actually in the middle of doing something..
\n12:17 – Books purchased and heading out to meet Stephan. Weird dance thing going on down below is gathering a crowd.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

12:22 – One last check up on Chalk Master.. looking good.<\/p>\n

\"\"neck too long?<\/p>\n

\"\"The inspiration<\/p>\n

12:23 – Stumble across what is likely a previous days work for Chalk Master. I wonder what his take home would be for this..
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

12:32 – getting close to the US embassy. Take obligatory shot of CN Tower
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

12:34 – Meet up with Stephan. He is VERY excited. He got the visa and will be able to continue his Bible studies!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I get a photo of happy Stephan and the embassy while they are getting a photo of us.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

12:47 – Subway back to the mall.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

1:40 – Lunch at Wendy’s. Stephan celebrates by getting a Triple Burger.
\n2:30 – trouble staying awake. Stop to pick up Dew Fuel. Stephan sleeps most of the way.
\n4:20 – back in the office.
\n5:10 – Back home to my family!
\n5:15 – read Ellie’s new book while she sits on my lap. A good way to unwind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

3:40 AM – hit the snooze button. 3:48 AM – hit the snooze button. 3:52 – get out of bed, Go stand on the back deck and see what constellations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5ep3x-2g","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/troyjohnstone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/troyjohnstone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/troyjohnstone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/troyjohnstone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/troyjohnstone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/troyjohnstone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157,"href":"http:\/\/troyjohnstone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions\/157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/troyjohnstone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/troyjohnstone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/troyjohnstone.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}