Today I saw one of the best workout routines ever. My neighbour a couple of houses down is getting his roof reshingled. There was a guy dragging a bundle of shingles out of a truck, putting them on his shoulder, then going up a ladder to the top of the garage, then up the slope, a big step up to the main roof, then up the slope to the top. Then down. Then up again. Repeat many times. It was hot. I've no idea why he wasn't using the rack elevator like most roofing companies, or a zoom boom like some. Maybe he's an independent just starting out. Either way it made me tired watching him.
I was hacking and chopping at some weeds in our front yard, then doing errands around the house. Mainly puttering and tidying, while he was going up and down. Thinking of some of my buddies, one running a relay up Highwood, another biking Highwood, one being knackered by a super-duper workout, 2 going through last minute prep for IMCDA (Go Chris and Heather!) and me generally feeling a bit like a slacker.
Tonight I took Linda to BoxWood for her birthday dinner. This is a tradition of ours, where the birthday person picks a place. It doesn't always happen on the actual birthday depending on schedule and other considerations. Sometimes it's a fancy expensive place, sometimes not expensive. But the main criteria is good food. And this is. Wow. Not even terribly expensive, dinner for two, including appetizer, wine, and dessert for under $100. We don't do dinner out much any more, so this was a nice treat.
We used to eat out a lot more, but then came to realize that Linda can cook better than most restaurants. Since we know what nice food costs, it began to seem more expensive. While I appreciate that almost all wait staff are hard working, they've usually got lots of people to take care of. Which, combined with my fussiness about being served, makes it tough. You see, I hate having people hover over me, waiting to pounce on a half empty glass or a stray crumb, asking me if everything is ok. I hate it even more when I actually do want something, most often the cheque please, and can't catch the waiter's eye. Yes, I realize those are contradictory.
Once I started making my own wine, most commercial wine stopped tasting good. Linda had two tasters of white wine, and I didn't like either of them. (Wine tasters are a great idea, by the way.) My red was good, but nothing special, and one glass costs the same as about 2 bottles of my own wine. I like wine with dinner; I don't go out to have dinner with wine.
The other thing about restaurants is that they have other people in them. Most of the time that's ok, but sometimes those other people are walking advertisements for retroactive abortion. Like the woman with her family at the next table. The woman with the piercing voice, indefatigable tongue, and an empty brain. A bad combination all round.
None the less, a very good day. I'm hoping to meet up with Katie for a run tomorrow, so I need to get my beauty sleep.
Happy Birthday to Linda!
ReplyDeleteI like to eat out once and awhile, but the cost is pretty revolting unless the food is spectacular! J is a much better cook, and you get leftovers for lunch!
I hate ordering drinks at restaurants because that's where the true robbery is. Making our own wine is the best thing ever!!