Ma Che Vuoi

            I usually turn my computer off to give it a rest every morning when I’m about halfway through doing my yoga. When Windows 10 wants to do updates the power-down options always include “Update and shut down”, which I’d been avoiding. On Thursday morning though, for some stupid reason I clicked “update” but then I kicked myself afterwards because I realized that the updates would take a lot of time on the restart, while my plan had been to put in two final hours of study before my nine o’clock exam. Sure enough the updates took almost an hour and a half. Fortunately though I had some files on a flash drive so I could study on my laptop, though they weren’t the edited versions that would have made for easier reading.

            At about 8:00 I started getting ready to leave and headed out about twenty minutes later. Holy crap it was cold! I could feel my lips cracking before I’d reached College Street.

            Since the examination would be taking place on the west side of Spadina near Harbord and because of the way the avenue is separated down the middle by concrete, it seemed to me that it might be quicker and more convenient for me to ride up to Bloor and then to Spadina so I could approach Knox Presbyterian Church from the north, thereby being already on the right side of the street.

            I noticed that they’ve taken down some of the metal posts that restricted the Bloor Bike Lane.

            When I was riding south on Spadina I had to ride at least a meter out into the right hand lane because there was too much snow near the curb. One car that passed, clipped me. It didn’t knock me off balance since I just felt it brush my left side but it was too close for comfort. At Harbord he stopped at the light and I caught up with him to knock n his window. He was a guy maybe in his 40s. He looked at me but rather than rolling down his window he just gave me that “ma che vuoi” gesture with all the tips of the fingers of the right hand touching and pointed upwards while waving slightly forward and backwards, and which means, “What the hell are you saying?” I said, “You clipped me!” But he didn’t seem to understand. I shouted, “You hit me!” He was puzzled. He pointed at himself with his whole hand and mouthed the word “I” then indicated me in the same way and mouthed “you?” Finally he just held up his hand toward me in a sign that was supposed to be a good-hearted dismissal. I shook my head and continued on.

            The exam was to take place in the gym of the Fellowship Centre next door to the Knox Presbyterian Church. There were no bike posts anywhere in sight so I had to lock my velo in the snow to the railing of the front stairs. I had time to use the washroom and then shortly after I came back up they let us into the gym.

            The examination started at 9:00. Shortly afterwards though, the professor and one of the TAs, who were sitting about three meters in front of me and having a whispered conversation. It was so distracting that I finally had to raise my hand to get their attention and tell them. They shut up for the most part after that, with only a few leaks.

            Another problem was that there was no heat in the gym at all. I think there was supposed to be but the furnace was malfunctioning. After about half an hour Professor Black told us that we could put our coats on. At first I just wrapped my longest scarf around my neck but in the last half hour I put my jacket on.

            The exam had two parts. The eight short answer questions, of which we were to choose five, were designed and would be marked by Deborah Black. The two essay topics, of which we were to write on one, was by and for Celia, my TA.

            For my essay I picked the looser choice that asked us to pick any two philosophers we’d covered and to compare their proofs of the existence of god. I selected Anselm and Avicenna, comparing Anselm’s “That than which no greater can be thought” and his things that exist in and out of reality to Avicenna’s Necessary Existent and the Possible Existents (There’s a band name in there somewhere. Maybe “Necessary X and the Possibilities”). As is always the case with in-class exams I felt as if I were writing like a child. Maybe I’ll find out before Christmas how I did.

            After the exam we got our second essays back. I was fairly satisfied with my mark considering my grade on the first paper. I got a B and according to her notes it seemed that my only big mistake was that I claimed that Anselm says all things are good. Celia said he’s saying that only all desired things are good. I guess he does talk specifically about good things though I think that he would probably say that all things are to some extent good.

            I was so cold unlocking my bike that my hands didn’t warm up once I’d gotten my gloves back on. I rode down Spadina to College, east to University, south to Dundas and then east again because I wanted to get a haircut at Top Cuts. My fingers were numb as I locked my machine again in front of the salon.

            Amy was just finishing up with one customer when I arrived, so I only had to wait about ten minutes. I told her that I’d gotten quite a few compliments about my hair after the last time she’d cut it in mid September. She complimented my new boots. That’s the second bit of in-person praise I’ve gotten for my new Blundies.

            The heat from the blow dryer felt so good that I held up my hands to it. She jokingly offered to get an extension cord and to come out and heat my hands while I unlocked my bike.

            The price had gone up for a haircut but because it was close to Christmas I gave her over $3 for a tip by rounding it up to $25.

            It seemed warmer on the way home. I stopped at Freshco where I bought lots of grapes, a whole chicken and some cheese. I bought coconut milk instead of cows milk because I’m still stuffed up from my cold, of which there is nothing left but sniffling and spitting.

            When I was paying, I was counting out 30 cents change when one of my dimes slipped out of my hand and fell down through a crack between the scanner and the counter. I told her about it and she opened up the tray under the scanner that I guess is supposed to catch liquids that drip down, since I can’t imagine that change falls down there very often. She shrugged and said there was no dime there. I told her that nonetheless my dime went down there. Finally she said, slightly annoyed it seemed at how cheap she thought I was being, “Okay, then 20 cents! A dime is not a big deal!” The way I see it, the store has my dime somewhere so why should I pay an extra ten cents for my groceries?

            I cooked the chicken in the oven when I got home. I normally cut a whole chicken into quarters before roasting it but I was feeling lazy after a busy day and so I just roasted it whole at a lower temperature and over a longer time. It turned out fine. Meat is so simple. One has to do all kinds of things to vegetables to make them taste good but meat is flavourful just as a result of cooking it.

            It was nice to be done with Philosophy until at least next fall. I just goofed off for the rest of the day and night.