Toronto

Didn't want to post a day-timer. Can't blog about work. Won't blog about family. The dog has settled into boring doggie-middle-age.

To Yonge and St.Clair for a haircut, the same as the last haircut.

I headed for breakfast at Bregman's but couldn't find it. Some youngster said,"It's closed and they're putting up a Swiss Chalet - It's the end of an era!" How apt. Another part of Yonge Street unrecognizable. I went to Loblaws looking for a bagel.

Outside Loblaws was a large grey scruffy terrier howling for it's owner, quieting whenever someone bent to pet it. I spent some time with mutt and we became quick friends. It's ears twitched when it's owner called from the line-up. The owner and I also became quick friends. She is a lovely woman who prefers animal company and I feel the same.

I went to the Cadillac Fairview-Eaton-Sears Centre. It is perfect between 0700 and 0930, until the loud, pushing, talking-over-your-head-and-through-your-ears-to-a-creature-10-feet-away uncivilized people arrive. I sought refuge in the men's department of Sears. Don't get excited; there's a little-known Starbucks with minimal lighting. A middle-aged woman waved to me to sit. She asked me how to meet the president. I explained the three levels of government and that we have a prime minister. She told me her landlady took her passport and money from her room but the police won't do anything to help. She was told everything her husband, who works in Kuwait, was up to and she is afraid of the landlady. I also explained the 3 levels of policing and showed her how to contact the RCMP. She is here to support her son who is doing post-graduate genetics work, or she would move back to the UK, or to Cairo. She is a phys-ed teacher with a degree in what sounds to be kinesiology. She wants to do volunteer work to pass the time and use her skills to help people. I don't know her name and I don't need to.

I needed an appointment book so I went to Indigo - they are out. I did pick up "Memoirs of a Geisha". Even the credits are a joy to read. The story is well thought out and beautifully told. I had planned to go to bed with Bill Bryson and his tales of wandering through the US, but not tonight.

A stop in the food court while waiting for my coat to be repaired turned into another adventure. A black cloth wallet with a pink flower on the clasp and hundreds of dollars had been left on the table. No phone number or ID, just an American Outfitters card. I gave it to the cleaning staff to hand to security; I didn't want to lose the only table, or my numerous packages. Two pre-pubescent girls, one who was sobbing, arrived at the table. I, and several others, pointed out the cleaning staff - the girls stopped again to thank me - nothing had been missing.

The family next to me in the food court was Chinese - we talked about Hong Kong vs China in terms of population density, worldliness and places to visit. A pleasant conversation. I learned some more Cantonese.