Yes, I skipped a day. Yesterday was a mixed bag and Toronto has been something of an experience. While my first day here boasted lovely meals that were provided, a comprehensive and quasi-useful day of meetings and a lovely, arranged dinner with the other participants, my evening and carry over into the next day was a bit more difficult. Being in an unfamiliar city has its disadvantages, including having everything available but being certain of nothing.
Monday evening saw me walk to a local pharmacy to grab a couple of travel items I didn’t chance dragging onto the plane, including a razor and shaving cream. With the weather sitting at 25 degrees, I was a horrible, sweaty mess by the time I got back to my room. To make matters worse, the heat sapped the battery in my insulin pump and I needed a replacement. One good thing about the hotel I stay at when I go for my eye injections, is that they’ll bend over backwards to help. Such was not the case, here. Despite explaining my situation, they basically told me to go shopping. Oh, well.
Monday evening was fun, with stories and laughs shared by all with a certain commonality among all of us by virtue of working in the same industry. The next morning, however, was a bit rougher. It was tough getting out of bed yesterday morning, with my blood sugars askew from a late evening of food and drink. I made my way to the meeting venue for our second day, fully expecting some eggs and meat options for breakfast as we had received the previous morning. My hope was for a low carb but filling meal, so that I could limit the amount of insulin I needed to get through my morning. Instead, I found crescent rolls and fruit.
I know that despite the fact I try to keep things simple, I tend to have quite a number of first-world problems, which is why I was happy to hear I wasn’t the only one displeased with the lack of spread. One of the attendees commented that there wasn’t even enough to be considered a continental breakfast. had I known I’d be lacking food, I could have had breakfast at the hotel. When lunch came, they served dry sandwiches as opposed to the beef and chicken options we had the day before. Like I said, first-world problems. But I digress…
Our second day actually ended around noon, which posed a logistical issue since my flight home wouldn’t be until the following afternoon. Given that I was struggling to stay awake, was underfed and basically just wanted to go home, I had difficulty stomaching the couple of folks that every meeting has. You know the ones; those two or three people who, despite everyone wanting the meeting to close out, just won’t shut the fuck up and keep talking and posing questions? Those guys? Yeah, fuck those guys!
Despite meetings closing out during the lunch hour, any earlier flights would have cost me nearly half a grand more. As much as I would have enjoyed getting home sooner, I didn’t think it was financially smart to spend the extra money. Instead, I indulged in a two hour nap, followed by a shower and visit to the movie theatre. Interestingly, I was able to book a ticket in a VIP theatre that had fully reclining seats, a full food menu and “adult” beverages. I watched the new Flash movie, which was reasonably good, despite some of the online negativity.
I woke up this morning at 5 am and couldn’t get back to sleep so I grabbed a shuttle and made my way to the airport, where I’ve been for the past two and a half hours. I’ve had some breakfast, streamed some Netflix and tried to change my seat to an earlier flight without success. I can’t wait to get home. Toronto is a beautiful city, in terms of the buildings and the history. But I have to admit that walking through the mass crowds on Yonge Street and inhaling the constant assault of weed fumes and the smell of urine was more than my PTSD-laden brain could handle. Suddenly, Regina doesn’t seem so bad at all.
I guess I’ll find a plug-in and patiently wait air out the next four hours. Patience is a virtue, right? Tomorrow is back to the grindstone and return to the office. I never realize how much I miss my routine until I find myself out of it. It’ll be good to sleep in my own bed, see my family and get back to my routine. ☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 