Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez

            On Monday morning I finished working out the chords for "Relax Baby Be Cool" and ran through the song in French and English. 

            I weighed 89.4 kilos before breakfast. 

            At around 9:00 I went online to U of T to find out my enrolment start time. It's Monday July 12 at 11:15 and so I'll have to start thinking about my courses. I know I'm required to take Indigenous Literature and so I want to get that out of the way as soon as possible. I can only hope we'll have a professor who lets us enjoy the literature rather than trying to make us deal with guilt trips. 

            I received an email from the Canada Revenue Agency that there is mail in my account. But for the last year or so I haven't been able to fully access my CRA account because my security code has changed. I think that when I applied for my pension I mistakenly requested a security code because I thought the pension account was different from the CRA one. So when they sent me a code I thought it was a mistake because I was sure I already had a security code. I didn't use it and I think either a deadline passed or I threw the code out thinking it was probably the same as my old one. In order to get a new one I would have to call the Canada Revenue Agency to request it, so I did and was on hold on speaker phone for at least two hours, during which time I got my laundry ready for the wash. When I finally got through and said what my problem was I was transferred to another department and put on hold for another twenty minutes. The second person I spoke with asked me for information about my tax return that I could only have if I could fully access my account. She realized the problem and was looking for something else she could ask me. She asked when my last GST deposit was and for how much. I thought that would be again on the CRA site but I realized later I could have gotten that info from my online banking, as my last deposit was today. She asked me to tell her my bank account number and branch and I was looking for that when I got cut off somehow. That would mean waiting at least another two hours on hold to get through again. 

            I went to the laundrymat and after putting my clothing and bedding in the washer I put my backpack at the end of a folding table to put the bags that I used to carry my laundry inside. A woman was standing and folding her laundry three quarters of the way to the other end of the table and she said to me, "I just wiped this table down for my clothes!" My backpack was about a meter away from her nearest piece of clothing. I pointed out to her that there was someone folding laundry at every table and so she was going to have to deal with it. I put soap in my washer and then went back to "her" table to put the soap in my backpack. While she was giving me a dirty look I told her to have a nice day. It's funny how when someone came to put their clothes in the nearest dryer to her she politely asked if she was in their way. People really pick and choose when or when not to be assholes. 

            I weighed 87.9 kilos before a late lunch. I had kettle chips, salsa and yogourt with a glass of orange juice. 

            I tried to access the Canada Revenue Agency again before taking a late siesta because I thought I could just sleep while I was on hold, but a recording said that all the queues were full and that I should call back later. 

            After posting my blog I was about to take a bike ride almost an hour later than usual when my upstairs neighbour David knocked on my open door. He told me that he's been finding bedbugs in his place above me and wondered if I'd seen any. I think he was thinking they might be crawling up from my apartment. I told him how I'd found one bedbug a month ago but not any more. I also told him that my place was treated by an exterminator two weeks ago just in case. It's worrying that he said he found four yesterday. I really hope this building doesn't become infested again. But it's odd that he says he found the bedbugs near his door when his bed is at the other end of his apartment. It makes me wonder if he knows what a bedbug looks like. 

            During my ride a fancy spandex cyclist sped past me in the west end of the Bloor bike lane but no matter how far he got ahead of me I always caught up to him at the light. Another slightly slower Tour de France wannabe passed me just east of Spadina and I always caught up with them both at every light. They were stopped at Yonge Street when I turned south. 

            On Queen Street west of Spadina a guy in an SUV shouted at me, "Hey! That's my bike! Okay, pull over buddy." I smiled slightly and shook my head. The guy in the passenger seat was laughing. The driver beeped at me and gave me a goofy grin before pulling ahead. 

            I weighed 87.9 kilos after my bike ride. 

            I worked on my poem series "My Blood In A Bug." 

            I did some more sewing of the leather pieces I'm using to cover my Roland amp towards making it look like a surreal, barbaric shock therapy machine. I added the last strip and started sewing that so that now the entire top and front of the amp is covered, along with the front of the sides, which are the only important parts for the video I plan to make and to insert into the main music video for my song "Instructions For Electroshock Therapy." 

            I had a potato with gravy and a chicken leg while watching the last two episodes of the first season of Mayberry RFD.

            In the first story the Mayberry church has been without a bell for many years. Sam remembers there was one there when he was a child but then it was suddenly removed for mysterious reasons. Sam has recently discovered that the church in Siler City has replaced their bell with an electronic chime and he thinks they might be willing to sell. Howard and Millie are in charge of the church treasury and they say they can't afford to pay any more than $150 for the bell. But the Mayberry pastor warns that the Reverend Bickford of Siler City drives a hard bargain and reminds them of when they bought their pews from him. Sam, Howard and Millie meet with Bickford, Lydia and Fred of Siler City and both sides try to play it cool even though Siler desperately wants to get rid of their bell and Mayberry desperately needs one. Siler sets a price of $200 but Mayberry says it's impossible and offers $150. Mayberry walks out the door and then both sides play a waiting game, hoping the other will give in first. Finally Siler gives in and Mayberry gets their bell. But the first time it is rung it is heard by a rich old man named Lucius Fremont who immediately calls his lawyer. Fremont gave the land to the Mayberry church under the condition that the church would never have a bell. Howard tries to talk with Fremont but he can't get past the old man's maid Emma. Sam goes to confront Fremont and Millie comes along to deal with Emma. They learn that many years ago the previous bell chimed to announce Fremont's wedding but he was stood up at the altar and from then on could not stand to hear a church bell. Eventually he is convinced to allow the bell but comes to the dedication wearing earplugs. 

            Emma was played by Barbara Pepper, who became well known to TV audiences as Doris Ziffel on Green Acres but in the 1930s and 40s she played loud and tough blonde bombshells in B movies. 

            In the second story the United States government offers Mayberry the chance to be part of their "Sister City" program and to sister with an equivalent town in Mexico called Puerto Bello. The town counsel agree that this is a wonderful opportunity and so they prepare for the visit from the Puerto Bello delegation of Mayor Nunez and his right hand man Santos. The Puerto Bello town counsel also meets and they vote to spend half their budget on an expensive chalice to give to Mayberry. Nunez does not agree that an expensive gift is important but gives in to democracy. Meanwhile Mayberry's gift is a much more humble framed sign hand sewn by Aunt Bee and which reads "God Bless Puerto Bello." However when the delegation arrives and presents their expensive gift Aunt Bee is embarrassed and tells them that their gift will be given later. Bee continues to put on airs to impress what she believes is obviously a wealthy Mexican city but Sam overhears a conversation between Nunez and Santos that reveals that Puerto Bello went way beyond their means to impress Mayberry. He talks with Bee and then Mayberry returns the chalice, saying the scroll declaring friendship is gift enough. When she presents Nunez with her hand made sign he says it's the most beautiful gift they could have been given. Santos was played by famous Mexican character actor Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, who became a member of John Wayne's stock company and served as his comic sidekick in several of his films. He could not read or write and so he would either improvise or his wife would read him his lines until he had them memorized. He lost interest in performing after John Wayne died. Over the years people became more critical of his proliferation of negative stereotypes of Mexicans.