Tuesday's Blog

It is another sunny day here in downtown Toronto, although it is kind of hazy. We might get rain today and that might break the "heat wave". It's so hot, there are times when I still want to put on my jacket. LOL The malls are as cold as meat packing plants! With all the worries here about hydro (ie. electricity) consumption, why doesn't someone just clue into the fact that the malls are so cold you can practically see your breath! If they adjusted their thermostats a few degrees, the province would probably save millions of kilowatt hours in hydro. *sigh*

Anyway, I guess I need to catch you up on what I've been doing although why you are all so interested is beyond me! :) As you know, Heidi and I attended the Santana concert on Friday night. We had a little trouble getting there as the streetcar that usually goes down Bathurst Street and into the Exhibition was off track due to construction. We ended up stranded at the corner of King and Bathurst and finally hailed a cab to take us into the grounds. I don't care what anyone says about our lakeshore, it is simply not very accessible to those of us without vehicles and the parking rates are astronomical!

The concert opened with the Salvador Santana Band. Salvador is Carlos Santana's son! They were pretty good. Next up was Los Lonely Boys. They really got the place jumping! It was a National Public Radio audio report in late 2004 that perhaps best described the sound of Los Lonely Boys : "Take a dollop of Stevie Ray Vaughan, a pinch of Santana and a helping of Ritchie Valens and you might come up with a band that sounds a lot like Los Lonely Boys...". We enjoyed them immensely! (www.loslonelyboys.org) Next up was the man himself, Carlos Santana. At age 57, he's still rocking it pretty good. Although I was never a huge fun in my younger years, I have come to appreciate his great talent. The show was a mix of new and old, the older songs coming much later in the program. When Santana finally decided to talk, he spoke at length about the state of the world, slamming both Bush and CNN. He implored us all to visualize world peace.

After the show, it was a beautiful night so we decided to walk home. It is quite a hike but a stop at the Harbour Castle Hilton for a cold libation (or two) helped! On Saturday, I jumped on the GO, our commuter train, and went east of Toronto to Whitby to see my friends Debbie and Jim. They have a beautiful home with a gorgeous backyard garden. We drank and ate and talked and then, drank and ate some more. I stayed overnight in their newly decorated guest room. Great job hanging the door Jim! :) The next day, Deb drove me to catch the GO train at 4PM and from there, I went straight uptown to Yonge & Bloor to have dinner with Rosa at her house. Unfortunately, it was also the day of the Pride Parade so the subway was jammed. Over a million people came out to see the parade and on Monday, most of them were sporting nasty sunburns.

Monday I spent on my own, wandering the City. I stopped at The Condo Shoppe and talked about the value of my condo with the experts. Looks like I will be hanging on to it for a few more years! :) Then I ended up shopping (again). I thought I would share a contrast between life in Toronto and life in Mexico with respect to shopping for lingerie. Woolworth's in PV actually has a surprisingly good selection of lingerie at really decent prices. However, when you go to try anything on, the change rooms are really dingey, with plastic shower curtains and, for some reason, you are not allowed to try on anything white.

Yesterday, I went into The Bay's newly renovated lingerie department and was directed down a sleekly designed hallway with 12 identical black wooden doors. I went into room number 10 which was big enough to contain a small cocktail party! There was a well lit three way mirror, enough hooks and bars to hang my entire new wardrobe and even a call button for the attendant. I was in lingerie heaven! And guess what? Every single piece I took into the dressing room was white! Hahahaha ...