First Date

So, here's my post about last weekend's "date" with John. (We talked about it, and decided it only counted as one date, since we basically didn't leave each other's sides at any point over the five days.) It was a crazy, whirlwind trip, and so this will likely be a crazy long post, even with details left out!

I caught a flight to Montreal on Thursday, arriving in the early afternoon. I took a shuttle to Barri-UQAM, and then from there a leasurely walk to Second Cup.


Montreal's streets are so charming with their staircases.

J said that the earliest he could possibly make it was 6:00, but 7-8 was more likely. My stomach started churning around 6:30, even though I told it it wasn't allowed to worry until after 8. At 8:05 I broke down and paid the $6 for the cafe internet, to see if J had e-mailed me about a delay. (I couldn't see a pay phone nearby, and didn't want to be gone when he arrived.) Of course, after finalizing the payment, J showed up at 8:10. ;) There had been traffic in New York, and customs decided to stop him.

Then we picked up two of his friends and went to a going-away party for someone else he knew. The band was all CS people:

We left the party around midnight, dropped off J's two friends, and then hit the road. Our destination was a small town near Philadelphia, which I can't remember the name of.

The drive isn't short, and J had to be there fairly early in the morning to pick up his tux and go to the rehersal. That meant we could only afford a rest stop of a bit over an hour... not worth getting a hotel room for that. J drove until he was tired, then we slept in his mini at some rest stop somewhere:

(This photo was actually taken a couple of nights later in New York, where we got a parking ticket... but there weren't any "no parking" signs posted! The mini is cute, but I kept forgetting to take photos of it.) After an hour and a half of sleeping in the mini, J drank some caffeine and continued on. I took lots of naps in the car.

My rusty Meilenweit socks enjoyed the view while I napped in the car:

At times I even got to enjoy some views, even though I was tired:


We reached our destination around 10:30 am, and tried to check in in order to have showers and naps. Check in wasn't until 4, but they told us to come back in an hour.

Feeling rather, um, "fragrant," J and I went to pick up his tux. We met one of the other groomsmen in the mall, who wasn't terribly pleased at the pink vest and tie. (In fact, none of the groomsmen were thrilled, although I thought the colour looked nice on J.)

We got back to the hotel at 11:30, where our room still wasn't ready. So we brought all our luggage in and started napping on the leather couch in the lobby. Not much later, we had a room. Showers! Nap! Well, a very short nap.

Then we were off to the rehersal. It was out in the country, on the bride's parent's property. The Guinea fowl were interesting:


I was assigned to bow-making duty, but shortly thereafter I switched to something more interesting... one of the power cords for the lights wasn't working, and apparently Home Depot was a rather long way away. I had a look at the cord, and asked for a screwdriver and a multimeter. I didn't get a multimeter, but I was presented with an appropriate screwdriver.

After determining that the end that connected to the lighting strip appeared fine, I used the screwdriver to open up the power adapter at the plug end. One of the bracket thingies connecting the plug prongs to the circuit board had broken off. I asked for a soldering iron. (I think it was at this point that the groomsmen were really impressed.) After a couple tries, the father of the bride found a soldering iron that actually worked. It didn't get hot enough to melt the existing solder, so he produced some solder as well. (The nice stuff with the rosin already inside.) With some assistance from the father of the bride (I didn't have enough hands to hold everything that needed holding) we got the bracket reattached and the adapter reassembled. I went up to the tent to attach the power cord to the light. At the appearance of light, there was much cheering and a promise of a beer. ;) (I don't drink beer, so I didn't remind them at any point that they owed me one. ;) ) The one I repaired is the one with the gouges along the seam:

(I stupidly didn't realize there was a second screw hiding under a sticker.)

Oh... I should also credit the father of the bride with getting the first screw out after my attempts only stripped it (cheap-ass screw), and one of the groomsmen of prying the pieces apart when we couldn't find the second screw (stupid sticker).

I took a few moments to document the wedding-quality port-a-potty, since, once we heard of it, we couldn't imagine what it would be like. It turns out it didn't have a white bow, but it did have silhouettes:

Inside it looked rather like a clean airplane washroom:

Except for the carpet and bugs (included) on the floor:

If you're wondering how to use it, instructions (which I forgot to actually read) came in three languages:


The rehersal still hadn't started, so J and I went for a nice walk.


By the time we left, the sun was setting and we were both dead tired:


The next morning's excitement included the muffler and catalytic converter falling off one of the other groomsmen's car. It was hot, so one of the guys kicked it over to the side of the road, leaving melted rented-tux-shoe shoeprints:

We let one of the nearby residents know in case the dry grass decided to catch on fire. We left it there, at that time, and then the groomsman picked it up later after it had cooled.

I wore my blue dress:

(This is before J put on the rest of his tux... it was a rather hot day.)

I was handed a basket of stuff, and asked to decorate a bird cage for receiving cards. This is what I ended up with:

I think it looks pretty decent, given what I had to work with. ;) It fit well with the rest of the decorations.

This is John's dad, who was really hot in his suit.

I offered him my hat... a bit of fun silliness. ;)

I like this shot I took of the ring bearer:


Here's the bride and groom as they entered the reception tent:


It didn't take long for the flower girl to get grass stains all over her white dress:

I loved that. :)

We stayed in the hotel again Saturday night. The salt and pepper shakers amused me:


Sunday morning we slept late and then headed off to New York. We had sashimi for lunch. (I had been meaning to give sushi/sashimi a serious try.) I liked the white fish (I can't remember which kind it was) and the salmon, but was less fond of the tuna. There was some pickled(?) ginger shavings that were also really tasty! The seaweed was so-so, and the white stuff was bland. But, it was a fun new experience. :) (I did end up with fish breath for the rest of the day.)

After lunch, J and I wandered around the neighbourhoods near his apartment. J bought some groceries to make dinner (a *fantastic* mushroom pasta, by the way), and I got to see the bizarre shopping cart escalators that exist in New York:


We happened to stumble upon Purl, which was closed by then:

(We did return the next day... that's where I bought the Koigu for J's socks.)

This is a sculpture in one of the community gardens, created from the debris of the building that was torn down:

(J told me the interesting story behind the community gardens.)

My camera doesn't do so well in the dark, but J's apartment has a fantastic view of the skyline:

(Click through until you get to the largest version.)

Dinner was fabulous. After dinner we went to walk in one of the waterfront parks. (Where we got the parking ticket.)

Monday we wandered around Central Park, and had an absolutely wonderful time. Here's a few photos:


Monday evening we drove up to Montreal, where we inadvertently created a water feature in J's bathroom:

Tip: if the shower isn't draining, don't try to flush the toilet.

From then on we had to use the toilet at Second Cup, around three blocks away.

Tuesday morning we saw some rather Rube Goldberg-like contraptions while sitting at Second Cup at way too darn early in the morning:

(I had to pee.)

After returning from Second Cup, we tried to sleep some more. However, a lady appeared and attempted plunging for about an hour. (J had realized it was futile when plunging the shower changed the water height in the toilet.)

I like this photo of J (taken in the airport):

It would have been better had that other person not been sitting right behind him. Oh well.

I was sad to go. J and I really got along well, and talked *forever*. (Even discounting the night in the mini, we didn't get much sleep.) I know J from meeting him at conferences and workshops. Even though he's a professor, he's only two years older than me. (I really need to finish my PhD!)