I usually don't remember my dreams but I did last night. I dreamed I was backstage at a TV studio. There was a taping of a performance of some sort. There was an audience of no more than a hundred people, sitting in a semi-circle. The studio was slightly darkened with lighting with a hint of purple.

On stage was an older gentlemen. His hair gray, almost completely white in places. He was a singer, not anyone I could name right now. He was older than Neil Diamond and definitely more traditional in his musical taste than Neil for sure. For reasons unknown to me, he was singing David Bowie's China Girl with very little accompaniment, almost a cappella.

"I could escape this feeling, with my china girl
I feel a wreck without my, little china girl
I hear her heart beating, loud as thunder
Saw the stars crashing"

Whoever the singer was, he was very into the song, as odd of a choice it seemed for him. While the audience was respectfully quiet, they were clearly enjoying the performance.

I don't remember anything else from the dream. If this dream means anything I would like to know.

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Though I didn't read about it until after this morning's commute, I had first-hand experience with the report that wait times for transit were much higher this morning compared to yesterday. After yesterday's commute, I thought the first week might not be so bad after all. This morning proved me wrong.

I had already left for work late, heading out at around 10am. I was thinking I'd be in the studio by about 11am. The first bus that came along was the community shuttle that takes a meandering route to the Skytrain station. That shuttle takes almost double the time that the express bus takes, getting to the same location. If only I had hindsight there to tell me to take that bus. Instead, I waited for the express bus. The waiting continued. Ten minutes became twenty. The express buses usually are just ten minutes apart. Nearly twenty-five minutes later, I saw a bus come along. It was not in service. Five minutes later came another bus, also not in service. Ten minutes later, a real bus came along but it was so full it didn't even stop for me. Ten minutes after that, the next community shuttle came along. Looking down the road, I couldn't see any more buses, so I had to take this one.

Not two blocks down the road, the express bus came roaring by us as we puttered along. Not only was it flying down the road, it was half empty. We were in between stops so there was no way I could execute the "switch". So not only was I on the slow, short bus (it's been years since I've been on one of those), we came upon construction which narrowed the road down to one lane in either direction. So my morning of waiting continued.

We finally made to the Skytrain station where I realized I was going to make it to work just in time for lunch. After an uneventful ride to Waterfront, I sheepishly rolled into the studio just after 12pm.

I'll be glad when this week is over.

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When I was younger, before my teens, I used to ask my Mom to make us Macaroni and Cheese once in a while. She was very hesitant as I believe she thought that Mac and Cheese were for poor people who couldn't afford meat. She must have had some pride in not having to resort to cheap meals for her children. I recall she finally relented one day and we bought a box. She only made it as a "snack" after "real dinner" though. I remember it being ok and not the best thing ever. I don't think she ever bought it again.

Then in my university years, where people do most of their Mac and Cheese eating, I strangely avoided eating Mac and Cheese the entire time. While I certainly wasn't a rich student, I wasn't exactly looking for loose change either. In fact, I have to say I ate pretty well during my university days.

Fast forward to the present, where I actually have a job and a career. A few weeks ago I was at Wal-Mart when I saw these small, round little containers of Mac and Cheese. They were single serving portions of Mac and Cheese, designed to be prepared in the microwave and in less than three and a half minutes. Clocking in at just over a dollar, it was something I just had to try.

Bringing it home, I discovered it actually takes way less than 3.5 minutes to make. The key is to have a hot water dispenser at hand. Since that water is nearly boiling anyways, if you add that to the cup, you can subtract about 1.5 minutes off the microwave time. So with just two minutes of 'waving, I took the cup of tender noodles out of the oven. The next and final step was to just stir in the packet of chemically delicious cheese powder. Once all stirred in, it directs you to wait a minute for the cheese sauce to congeal somewhat.

After the long minute, I discovered Mac and Cheese tasted better than anytime I've had it before. With just 60g of pasta, I was ready for some more. It was so delicious and convenient! Since then, I've bought several more cups. If I see a pallet of these things in Costco, I'm buying one.

It took me several decades and a small cup to finally appreciate Mac and Cheese but I'm finally there. Maybe this means I can afford a bigger mortgage!

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I have started to look at more real estate listings after the unfortunate turn of events from two weeks ago. This weekend, a listing seemed interesting so I decided to take a closer look. Upon seeing one picture of the apartment, something caught my attention.

The picture below is of the living room. Is it just me or does there appear to be a brass stripper pole in the middle of the room? I showed the picture to some of the boys at work and a few of them agreed that it sure looks like a stripper pole.



It looks too tall to be a lamp and it also doesn't have a very big base. I have perhaps seen maybe one or two stripper poles in my life (purely from TV shows) and they all had bases that looked like that.

In any case, I have already e-mailed my realtor to arrange a showing of the apartment. I wonder if I can request that the owner(s) be present when I see it.

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Just minutes ago, I was about five paragraphs into a post when I realized I didn't like the writing. I briefly thought about just soldiering on and finishing it but it just didn't seem right. So instead of publishing it, I erased it all. I've only done less than five times since I started writing this blog.

So, the problem is, what do I write now? I could just put up an amusing link or embed a YouTube video but that seems like a cheap way out for this. I'm just gonna leave it the way it is.

I really wish I had been able to write that earlier post better.

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