2012.02.22 13.23 100928 three songs 100920 small towns 100919 best dollar stores 100918 KW day two 100917 Waterloo via Galt 100914 Facebook Humbug 100908a Portraits at Forest Hill 100908 new family member 100907 bears raccoons 100906 frightened, bikes gone 100812 tug of war 100803 monday at centrepoint mall 100802 sunday with my folks 100300 march 2010 091200 december 2009 090800 august 2009 090600 june 2009 090400 april 2009 090300 march 2009 index2006 back to 2005-2006 index2004 back to 2003-2004 archive unmodified old essays and pix

100918 KW day 2 1000 We had lots of plans for today, so sleeping in would have been a terrible mistake. Our first destination: St Jacob's Market. 1030 It was quiet enough when we arrived. It was a nice just warm enough just cool enough cloudy day, ideal for checking out all of the purveyors of fine goods. Maybe it's me but for the last few days, I'm just not finding things sufficiently on sale to purchase them. So I'm wandering the aisles of the outdoor market, and nothing wants to come home with me. There were some close calls though. The tomatoes really looked good. People were buying so many of them at once that they would drop one or two and not come back for them. I ate one such dropped tomato. Amazing good. For only $10 I could buy a bushel of these perfect Roma Tomatoes. Uh, must run away, must run away, because I do not need an entire bushel of anything. A similar close call was the small bins of plums. For only $5 I could purchase a smaller (but still too much for me) quantity of plums. I'd like to call them Italian Prune Plums, but that is probably inaccurate. The farmers brought 4 or 5 varieties of different plums like these. I probably should have bought a peck of the freestone German ones. Smaller fruit, firmer. But I didn't. I was worried that I would try to eat them all rather than discard the excess. 1100 We went into the animal selling building, but it was deserted. Or at least it was animal-free. We found the candy man, and there were some interesting things to buy. And he had some salami, of all things. I didn't buy the kind I bought last year, but instead chose the spicy looking pepperoni. 1130 We return to the dogs at home. It's time for food so I warm up some Stouffer's pasta and chicken. Fast and painless. We don't spend much time at home because we want to get to the Medieval Faire. 1230 J complains that they should call it a Renaissance Fair because there are a lot of those across the country, but this Medieval one doesn't show up on search engines, as it has this unique name. Truly worth the $5 admission. The field is full of interesting huts with displays of- things. The first is a maker of hamburgers and fries, so we skip to the next, and it is Wilfred Laurier's Medieval Studies program. Next are two violinists practicing a Bach's duet that was a little too difficult for them. Everywhere around us are people dressed up. At the far end, there are belly dancers showing their stuff. Next to them is someone who welds little sculptures out of metal wire. I stopped at a booth where the lady made pottery; I was trying to make her bowls sing. I didn't have good luck but two of her 20 pieces tried to sing. I'm just not good at it. I met an artist who liked drawing women's pretty faces, but the body would finish up as an octopus or some other creature. I suspect sailors would have dreams of mermaids, beautiful from the waist up, scary from the waist down. One man had a tiny forge set up for making things out of big rods of iron. A fair like this would be incomplete without people selling weapons. Real swords and things started at $50. Dress up swords and things were about the same price, and were safe for LARPing and other weekends where you must not actually hurt the person you are "stabbing". One man gave a presentation on swords; I missed most of it, but he ended by saying how knights used to want to buy an executioner's sword. The knight would cut this sword into little bits, and sell them, as other fighters wanted such lucky charms on their weapons and armour. These amulets contained the souls of the dead, and were supposed to protect the users. I'm sorry I missed his talk. Another seller of food got my attention. Roller Coaster BBQ. He had a pig on the grill, and many turkey drumsticks on the other grill. J tells me these are common at fairs around here, but I've not seen either. I had to think about what I really wanted. The turkey looked generous, but was $7 (costly) and seemed like it might have been overcooked (smoked twice, and then barbecued again). It was interesting seeing the ground full of the turkey's white ligament sticks. So instead I opted for the pulled pork sandwich. Wow, this place doesn't smother it in sauce, but just lets me pump as much (or as little) onto the generous sandwich as I care for. I probably like quite a lot of sauce, but don't want a drop on my polo shirt. So I would pump enough for a bite, and then bite it. These 8oz sandwiches were amazing, and I recommend them. I don't recommend the guy, as he was impatient and pushy. But his stuff was first class, and I guess he knew it. 1700 Back to the house via some route I forget. Time for green tea lemonade, and time to just rest a while. I should have probably made some notes, but you might not be interested in all of the minutia. 1930 Off to the Kitchener Music thing. But it was raining, and I guess most of the people didn't want to listen to it outside. So we found nothing. We heard the sounds though. It was Metal or Rock or something loud. Not really for us. Next door to one of the bars hosting music was the Asian New Century Supermarket. I would have gone in, but they locked up early. They were all there, but they weren't unlocking the door for us, or anyone. There is another market a few doors away (Bien Tranh?) which was happy to see us. I got a pork roast for making slowly. Google maps let me down- I wanted to get the names right for this essay, but it could not find either store. 2030 We are just driving, and suddenly decide we should locate the No Frills. It's not easy because (again) google doesn't know, and it's new around here. Eventually I learn that it is at xxxx I give up. I've looked and looked and found Fischer-Haldimann, and found Ottawa, but can't find the store, or the huge plaza it's on. We drive by, and the doors open! So maybe it hasn't closed for the night. The sign says they close at 8pm, but what does it know? J waits outside, I go inside. Not a soul in sight. All of the cashier lanes are spotless, with the garbage bin on top of each belt, each one with a new clear plastic bag in it. The aisles are all full or properly faced. Still nobody. I walk to the head cashier's office, a small room protected by a one-way mirror window. I knock, but hear no reply. I put my face against the glass, and see nobody there. I walk to the rear of the store, and as I go, the lights are being turned off. Someone is here, and is about to leave! I find him in the back room, and while he was surprised, he was kind. I told him the story I'm telling you, and he locked the doors, very happy to have found out. He was about to leave the back way, and the store would have been at risk. 2200 There aren't too many things you can do at 10pm. You can eat in a restaurant or bar, or you can shop at a late night store, such as Wal-Mart. We went to Wal-Mart. I tried to be careful, so I didn't overshop. We got some more pasta in sauce, an apple pie, and I wanted some grapes, so I got them as well. But the trip wasn't about what we wanted or needed, but just a chance to see the shoppers and staff in the store. I found myself comparing each salesperson all day long with the friendly people in Galt. I must go back there! J says that Fergus is nice too, and so I hope to find that out. 2300 So we eat, we watch some TV, we settle the animals for bed. I'm still slow cooking the pork. But that was our Day Two in Waterloo.

tell Dave to do this more often