2007-07-15 - 4:08 p.m.
I spent all afternoon yesterday trying to buy "Blackadder" the T.V. series starring Rowan Atkinson. As far as I'm concerned, it is pretty much the pinnacle of British humour, and, now that I'm on the second of three (brand new!!!) books that I bought about the 1st World War, I really wanted to see it again. So, no problem, I thought. I've got the money, and I've got the desire, so let's wander down to the local merchants' and make this a reality. So, I walk the fifteen minutes to Hillside mall. They don't have it. Not in the HMV, not in the Zellers. Ok, I think, Hillside isn't a very big mall, bit of a backwoods, really. What I should do is head downtown. So off I go to that magical Canadian retailer that has everything- A&B Sound. And they're out. So I check out the Bay Centre. Nope. The used DVD places? of course not. Couldn't find it anywhere. So, much disheartened, I take the bus home, and decide to rent a movie. Off to Blockbuster (check for Blackadder turns up nothing) and try to rent "Bobbie" the movie about the killing of Robert F. Kennedy. Ok, says the girl behind the counter, I'll just need some photo ID, or your blockbuster card. But, I've come away from the house with everything I need to buy a DVD, not rent one. I have no ID. So, she asks me some questions, all of which I get wrong. Normally questions about my address/phone number are pretty easy to answer, but Blockbuster has a strange mish mash of old and new information, and I couldn't remember what I had updated. So, I guess wrong on both accounts, and leave without my movie. Then I try to go buy some beer. But again, I have no ID, so that doesn't work.
Angry at a world that seemingly requires picture ID for the smallest of transactions, I walk home. James was home, so we decided to head out to a movie. Just in case, I load up my ID. A good thing too, since we stopped for pizza and a beer before the show. We went to see Sicko. It was interesting, obviously one sided, but you sort of have to expect that. I didn't really buy his lines about how great other countries were (since he never mentioned the drawbacks that must exist, like taxes) but if even ten percent of what he is saying about the American medical system is true- well, I'm glad I live in Canada.
After the movie we made one last check for Blackadder. Much to my shame, I went to Walmart. I don't like going there, in fact, I try to avoid it. But, I figured, if they have it, and no one else does, they deserve my money. Luckily for my sense of self worth as a decent person, they don't even keep it in stock.
So, I ordered it from amazon.ca. It should be here with in a week, and I got it for less than I would have paid in a store.
The weather here has been just nuts. Monday was hot, Tuesday was hotter, and Wednesday was out of control. It got up to 36 degrees on Wednesday. 36 degrees. In Victoria. It was crazy. Work was fairly miserable, having to sit at a desk the whole time, but not as bad as it could be. Our office is in a house that was built in the '30s, and kept cool quite well. The church itself, being made of concrete and stone was very pleasant, and I wanted to move reception over to the Narthex for the day! I had the chance to go swimming on Wednesday, the hottest day in Victoria's history, but had to work. I work a couple hours a month inputting time cards for a book keeping company, and I had forgotten on Tuesday, so had to go on Wednesday. Jeff invited me to go out to the lake, so I worked as fast as I could in that stuffy little attic apartment, but just couldn't get done in time. I did meet Jeff to go see Transformers though- great movie. I highly recommend it. It's cheesy, yes, but in a self aware fashion. It was made cheesy on purpose, and it works.
Thursday, the temperature fell to 28, then 24 on Friday, which is much more normal for Victoria in the summer. Just this bizarre spike in the middle of the week, and cloudy for the weekend! I swear, sometimes the weather here seems sentient, and I think it hates me!
One year ago I was in Barcelona....
