Grill House Poisoning

            On Monday morning I downloaded the lyrics for “valse Dingue” (Mad Waltz) by Boris Vian and translated the first verse. 

            I worked out the chords for the third and fourth verses; the second chorus; and part of the instrumental for “What tu dis qu'est-ce que tu say?” by Serge Gainsbourg. I might have the song done on Tuesday. 

            I weighed 84.7 kilos before breakfast. 

            I was headed out to the hardware store to buy more Murphy’s Oil Soap, and maybe some paper towels, when I ran into my upstairs neighbour David in the hall. He said he’s just finished training to operate a new machine where he works. He said it’s a machine that can dig in the ground or unload trucks. He says he’s been working at the same place for twenty-five years and he’s past the point when he’d planned to retire. He has already built his house in Ethiopia but even when he moves back he’ll probably maintain a place in Canada. He says he’d like to live in Vancouver because his brother is there but it’s very expensive. He took me up to his place and gave me a bunch of bike flashers. He also gave me two rolls of paper towels. He said that when transport trailers overturn on the highway, the stuff inside goes to the warehouse where he works. He once again reminded me that he’d like to take me to Ethiopia some time and he’ll pay for the trip. 

            After getting the oil soap I mixed fifteen cups of water with the last of my old bottle and mopped the bedroom and living room. Then I mixed a batch from a half cup of the new bottle and mopped the kitchen and bathroom area. Then I washed part of the walls in the bathroom. 

            I weighed 84.5 kilos before lunch. 

            I got an email from Yvonne at the Woodsworth College Registrar’s Office. I had filled out a form last week requesting a grant to pay for my winter course fees, and she gave me the news today that I’d been awarded an A. Hiles Carter And Mary Purkis Carter Bursary grant in the amount of $965.70. That’s a load off my mind. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride to Yonge and Bloor, down to Queen and then home. 

            I weighed 84 kilos at 17:15. 

            My daughter texted me that she is in town and staying at Palmerston and Queen. I asked if she wanted to get together and suggested she come over, or that I could meet her and we could walk around on Queen. She and her partner Adam decided that they would walk to my place so she could show him where she grew up. They arrived half an hour later. 

            I had been worried about Adam having a negative reaction to my place because Astrid had said that he was a germophobe but he wasn’t really a germophobe in any noticeable way. He didn’t seem to have any problem with my place at all. I gave my daughter her birthday candy and bath bombs, and the barbecue chips. Astrid didn’t want to linger for long in my place because of the bed bug issue, although it’s not that extreme here. 

            We went out walking west in Parkdale to Roncesvalles and then across the footbridge to Sunnyside. We went to see the Tibetan Buddhist temple next door to where Astrid was conceived. We were going to dinner and Astrid had her heart set on a Korean Grill House just east of Spadina on Queen. So we walked back to the streetcar stop across from my place and I went to get my bike. 

            When I was at my place David knocked on my door and told me he was going to give me $100 tomorrow to take my daughter out to dinner. He’s a generous guy. 

            Astrid and Adam caught the bus and I rode. They beat me there but wouldn’t have at an earlier hour. 

            The restaurant was an all-you-can-eat cook-your-own meat type of place. I ordered chicken but when it came I didn’t recognize it as chicken and started eating it raw. I paid for that mistake the next morning when I woke up with food poisoning. They really should label the plates on which the items are served, along with suggested cooking times. 

            Once we started cooking our meat we lost track of whose order was what and just threw stuff on the grill and ate it when we thought it was ready. I had a couple of Sapporo and they had hot sake. Since the next day was my daughter’s birthday I splurged and paid for the meal. After the tip I paid almost $200. The restaurant closed at 22:30 and kind of rushed us out. It was interesting but personally I would rather just have people cook my food when I go to a restaurant. If I want to cook it myself I’ll do it in a familiar kitchen on a familiar stove with familiar heat that I know how to control. 

            Astrid and Adam are going to the zoo tomorrow but we’ll all go to Casa Loma together on Wednesday. I got home at around 23:00. 

            Before bed I dug a bedbug out of a crack in the plaster at the top of the old exit door at the head of my bed.