Weird moments have occurred around me over the past three days, but maybe it's because I'm paying more attention to the little things in my self-titled "last few days of freedom" (violin please). Firstly I went to Metrotown mall with Lou yesterday and *shock, horror* somebody held the door open for us as we walked in behind them, no honestly they really did! Usually you're lucky if it doesn't swing back and hit you in the face so that was definitely most welcome. Maybe manners are not completely extinct from that place after all. Also, as an added bonus, no flies or bugs were inhaled during the time it took us both to pick up our jaws off the floor.

Today I bumped into my neighbour in the apartment lobby for the first time in a while, we've spoke before and he seemed like a cool guy. I politely said hello and asked him how he was, he paused, looked at me as if I'd just told him I'd committed armed robbery, uttered a barely audible grunt / "alright" and walked off pretty quickly! "Yeah, you have a good day too mate!" was my response as he turned his back to walk out of the door. I would have put it down to the fact he might not have understood my accent, which happens from time to time, but he's British! Very weird indeed, we couldn't possibly have given him any reason for him to have a problem with us so I guess he must have just been having a crappy day or maybe he didn't recognize me as I was wearing a hat. I don't really know why (and certainly don't really care) but nonetheless it was a bizarre moment.

I went back to Metrotown this afternoon and again someone held the door open for me, unbelievable! I'm not sure if it's a rapidly spreading habit, but I sure hope it is - that place certainly needs some politeness (it seems very "un-canadian" there when it comes to etiquette). Having said that I still had to avoid numerous people suffering from 'merchandise-enduced zombieism' who would have otherwise walked straight into me. I can't have it all straight away I guess. 

When I nipped out to the shops to get a few things, I left it late and I got mixed up with the rush hour crowd aka "sardine party". After nearly suffocating amongst the stench of fart and body odour on the short SkyTrain journey it's not surprising that I wasn't looking forward to the return trip (oh well, best get used to it as soon it will be a daily experience to enjoy). Even though I'm tall and hence don't suffer as much as others in a packed out carriage I do still find it a bit unpleasant. Especially so when the train heating is on too because it transforms the carriage into one big germ incubator. Fortunately when I made my way back to the station some guys (God bless them) where handing out hugo boss sampler packs and the public were taking them with great enthusiasm. Judging by the smell most people were immediately applying them too. Was it co-incidental place to be handing them out? I think not, that was a great idea! Fantastically, my journey back was very different from the way there. It was almost like I was backstage at a male model fashion show (not that I've ever wanted too / will experience that may I add). The strong cologne was really starting to sting the insides of my nose but I'll take that over the smell of poo and onion armpits any day! I'm not sure why some people refuse to wash properly, sure they'll probably save a few dollars over the month but they're also punishing hundreds of other people taking public transit. However, I must add that despite things like this I do genuinely still really like the SkyTrain...I just wish it was exclusive to me!

I've ate too much candy tonight as you may be able to tell. We bought $20 worth of stuff from the store in anticipation of trick or treaters last week (not really knowing if we'd get in from within the apartment complex) but as predicted none came around. So, we've been munching our way through the huge bags ever since but I swear there are way too many additives in this stuff. Football was cancelled too this week so I think I haven't burn't off anywhere near as much excess energy that I should have. I should really go the gym but that leads me to another story. We've both been put off a little bit recently by the gymnasium troll who seems to live in there. He's always there when we go down and he just drinks fizzy ginger ale (why?) whilst profusely sweating (and I mean beyond what is normal). The guy's always burping loudly and they are those smelly type of burps too! Y'know, the type we'd know are ginger ale burps even if we hadn't see the bottle he was drinking from - it's all very strange!

Anyway, there's not much else to tell about this week. In short, I've been buying a few clothes for work, Lou is on evening shifts this week, and I've just finished watching the Canucks lose to Dallas. I'll leave it there for now, maybe things will be back to 'normal' soon...whatever that is!

Have a good weekend :-)