October 18, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Brunch.

We all enjoy our custom of eating brunch together on Sunday morning at 11:15.  This past Sunday we went to a new restaurant in the Renaissance shopping area.  It is called the Red 8.  They serve four different types of Asian food; Japanese, Thai, Chinese and Korean.  We have been there before and they are all equally good.  And of course, this was the first time the Autumn that we were together so we were excited to be together...finally.

When our food was brought to our table, it came by a robot.  The little cart came with music and flashing lights and stopped right at our table.  All the waitress had to do was to lift the plates off the cart.  It was such a surprise.  And it was fun.  The same cart arrived with our desert.  But that time we were ready and watched the robot wend its way across the restaurant.  This was the first time for us but I feel sure it will not be the last.

We spent the whole meal catching up with each other.  Mary Frances is into her new job and is learning a whole new way of writing.  Molly is in a new school and is enjoying her classes, of course, some more than others.  And Christina is enjoying her teaching about computers.  Also she is pleased with the clothes she acquired at the little store in Liverpool.  So our Sunday Brunch was, as usual, a great success.  It is a lovely tradition.

October 17, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Portia.

I have a new helper.  Her name is Portia.  And I like her.  My former helper of several years has moved to Texas, temporarily I think, but she is not here to help me now,  so I asked the same company to recommend a new helper for me.  They suggested Portia.  And I am pleased with their choice. 

She is younger than Kashina at 28 years old.  And she is tall and husky.  She played center on her high school basketball team.  She is a certified nursing assistant, which means 2 years of college.  And she is busy trying to get accepted into the last two years of college to become a nurse.  So she is ambitious, which pleases me.  

And she is smart.  I gave her verbal instructions for the coffee maker.  It requires a five steps which must be done in the correct order.  She made my breakfast team with no trouble.  Portia is also a good driver, which is important to me.  Many of the helpers who drove me when Ken was ill drove too fast.  Even when I asked them to slow down they did not totally follow my instructions.  But Portia is a good driver.  And she has a great smile.  So far, we have had fun together.  I look forward to two months of working with her.  And I am grateful the company selected her to help me.  I think she will fit me very well.  Whoopee.

October 16, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. David Wu.

This past week,  David Wu, the beloved younger  son on my friend Gill Wu died at his home just outside Seattle, Washington.  He was 48 years old.  Gill is devastated, as is Tim, David's brother.   A service will be held in Seattle and another held Dec.3 in Toronto, where he was brought up and where he started his business.

David was working very hard, trying to complete two new computer games before he moved back to Toronto.  He had already started the packing and he had just sent the two games to the 13 testers who check out his games before the games go on the market for sale.  David has always been a single focus person, working on the project for hours at a time.  He must have forgotten to eat or drink because he died on an enlarged heart and from untreated diabetes.  He died of hypoglycemia.  It is all so sad.

David was a generous, gregarious person and a wonderful son to Gill.  We all appreciated his expertise with the computer.  He developed many tricks with the computer that everyone now takes for granted.  But it was David's brains and hard work that causes these things to occur.

David was happy to be returning to Toronto.  He was actually on the verge of buying a new townhouse downtown and until his own place was ready, he was going to stay in Gill's condo.  We all loved David Wu and are so sorry for Gill for the loss of her boy David.  May he rest in peace.

October 15, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. The Conversation.

The drive was long and slow.  I was being driven from downtown Toronto to the airport.  And it was rainy. My driver was on time and spoke with an accent.  Most times, I sit quietly and watch the world pass by but on that morning, I engaged the driver in Conversation, by asking where he was born.  From then on until I got out of the car, we talked.  I asked question after question.  And the time just flew by.

He was born in Iran but emigrated to Toronto after he graduated from University.  He could see no future in Iran.  That was 1990 and he was 24.  He spoke not much English but eventually opened a successful Pizza restaurant.  And he thrived.  He married a lady in Iran, an arranged marriage, and they moved to Toronto.  Their only daughter, who is now 23,  was born in Toronto.  She has just graduated from University and is organizing for graduate school.  My driver and his wife are separated.

The year before Covid he sold his business and started driving for a company.  He said that he was trying to figure out what to do next.  But Covid came and no one needed to be driven anywhere, so he decided to visit his Mother and Father in Iran just to spend time with them and help them at home.  He was pleased he was there because when he was home, his father died so he helped his Mother.

The day he was coming home to Canada was the day that the protests began in Iran.  He was fortunate he got out when he did.  All internet communication has been cut off.  Also telephones too so he has not spoken to his Mother since he was home.  She is an older lady who mostly stays at home so she is safe but several hundred people have died in the protests.  

The conversation was interesting and I was delighted to hear first hand about the situation in Iran.  Incidentally, he does not believe the government will fall but he thinks they will make changes.  We will see.

October 14, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Evaluation.

Our train ride across Canada was excellent.  We five enjoyed ourselves.  But some parts we liked better than others.  The hotels were excellent.  We stayed at the Fairmont hotels every place we stayed.  The rooms were lovely and the restaurants were excellent.

The two days on the Rocky Mountaineer was the hit of the trip.  The dome car with the restaurant below was comfortable.  And of course, the views were spectacular.  We all agreed that we could recommend that journey to everyone.  The hotel in Kamloops was not wonderful but it was adequate.  The only issue was that we needed to board the bus for the train at 6:00am.

Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper is of course beautiful with the bold granite mountain tops.  We stayed 5days in the area and took bus tours every day.  I loved just driving around the roads getting from place to place.  But the other folks found the trips too long.  Most day we started our day at 9 and did not return until 6 or seven.  If we did it again, we would hire our own tours with just the 5 of us, as we did in Niagara Falls.

The train trip from Jasper to Toronto was interesting.  The food and service were excellent.  The dining car was elegant  and we enjoyed our meals.  Our cabins were the largest on the train but even those were pretty small.  We had our own full bathroom.  But the train ride itself has not improved in many years.  The train rocks and rolls and lurches.  You were forced to hold on at all times.  We enjoyed our 3 night train trip.  And we had a lot of fun.  But we would not recommend that journey to friends.

We five just got lucky.  We got along very well.  And the weather was perfect.  We all five enjoyed the journey, but like all travel, some parts were better than others.  Several other friends and relatives of Larry and Lynn have already signed up for the Rocky Mountaineer for 2023.  

October 13, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Home at Last.

 I am home in Mississippi. Ur I am not at my best.  Between the case and my computer I lost the cord, so I am writing on my iPad which I have not done for years.  

All went well.  The whole trip home went as planned.  The whole travel industry worked like a well oiled machine.  From the beginning of the day until I walked in my home everyone did their job in a timely fashion.   So here I am.  Tomorrow I will have a new helper as Kashina is still in Texas.   Ur for now, I am going to bed.  A travel day takes the stuffing out of a person.  

On another day I will report on an interesting conversation I had with my driver this morning.  It was raining so the drive from the Fairmont hotel to the airport took a long time.   It. I enjoyed our conversation.  More to come.  Now I will rest.  

October 12, 2022. Toronto, Ontario. A Day in Niagara Falls.

We five drove to Niagara Falls today.   We were picked up at 9:00 and brought back to the hotel at 3:30 so it was a quick trip.  The other folks had never seen the falls and I had not been there for many years.  Once again, the weather was pleasant and the Falls were still spectacular as was the garden area.  The town itself has grown and is not very pretty.  But we had a delicious lunch so we enjoyed our day with our own driver.

At dinner tonight we ate our last supper at the steak house in the hotel.  It was festive and we all agreed that we enjoyed our train journey.  We toasted everything we had enjoyed.  But we all agreed that the Rocky Mountaineer was the best part of the journey.  I had not seen Butch for over ten years and I had never met Lynn, Larry and Margo, but we got along very well.  And we had a good time.

Our next trip together is when these four good folks come to Nova Scotia  to visit me.  I am saving the first two weeks of September for them.  I am looking forward to seeing them again.  The three indispensable folks were a huge help to me and I appreciated their help.  I just got lucky.  Tomorrow I will be home in Mississippi.  And I will be glad.