Losing a part of me

Category: Vacation

  • Day 803

    I got back to my apartment at 2:00am and decided it was better to start packing before I went to sleep, rather than rushing it and trying to do everything in the morning. It was not at all surprising that although I came down with two suitcases that weighed 60 lbs. each and two carry-ons that weighed 25 lbs. each my two suitcases (which included my larger and heavier carry-on) weighed less than 60 lbs. combined, and my knapsack that I am carrying on weighs probably 20 lbs. From the beginning it was my intention to leave a ton of stuff (much of which I collected from my generous friends in Canada) with my buddy in Havana who is a Mason; some of it was for him and his family, most of it will be distributed by his lodge. It feels incredible to be able to help the poor Cuban people who need it; it feels wonderful to be traveling home with a much lighter load than I came with.

    Yesterday was another good day, both with regards to walking and with food intake. Late in the evening I was hungry and thought about enjoying a protein bar, but instead I opted to go to sleep with a slightly empty stomach. According to my phone (which I know is not as accurate at my fitness watch) I walked nearly 18,000 steps and climbed sixteen flights. There is nothing wrong with that!

    As I write this journal entry I am sitting in the airport in Havana. After passing through all of the checkpoints I purchased a bottle of booze at Duty Free, as well as some crackers and wafers. I gave my buddy the last of my US Dollars this morning, after putting aside enough to get to the airport and $5 extra for a cheese sandwich (which I am slowly savouring as I write). I was hoping that my Canadian credit card would work at Duty Free, but it did not, and I was relieved to have Canadian Dollars. The exchange rate is lousy, but the bottle that I purchased is not available in Canada, and as long as the US does not confiscate it from me, I should not have a problem. I have an hour and a bit before my flight boards, and while I will not be connecting to the Internet (which means it will not publish until I land in Houston), I am happy to have a relaxing time to sit and put down some thoughts.

    I love helping the Cuban people, and am happy to have the ability to do so. What sometimes jades me is how blatantly the people in the street size you up and try to separate tourists from their money. Last night as I was walking home a lady (in the loosest sense of the word) accosted me in a vain attempt to get me into bed (and for her to get into my wallet). This was not the first time that has happened to me, and I was not in the mood to even stop walking. As I kept telling her no, she asked why. I eventually told her that she was not my type. She asked what was my type, because she has a friend. I told her that I only like boys. This shocked and offended her… but after a snide comment it also got her to leave me alone. (For those who are wondering, it was as blatant a lie as I have ever told, as I clearly am quite straight!)

    This morning a guy saw me walking with a couple of bags that I was taking for my buddy. He said ‘Is that for me?’ I told him that it was not. He then started playing upset that I help others and not him, and that he says hello to me every time I pass by ‘his corner.’ I looked at him straight and told him that am happy to say hello to everyone, but with 400 people saying hello to me in Old Havana every day, I do not have the wherewithal nor the desire to help every single one. I say hello because it is the nice thing to do, but if he is doing it solely to get something from me then he should not say hello to me anymore. He got pissed off… but he pissed off.

    I may be exaggerating with the number 400, but not by much. There seems to be an entire brigade of people trying to get you a taxi, sell you cigars, give you a tour in a classic car (or walking), or sex with their sister mother daughter aunt or grandmother. Every single person wants to change your dollars, or wants you to help the me to buy medicines or bread for their children or grandmother. Everyone has a sob story, and every one of them is well trained in sizing up tourists and figuring out an angle. While I joke about it from time to time, it really does get boring in a hurry. When I give something to someone in the street I do not know where it will end up. When I give it to the Freemasons I know that it will be distributed to people who really need it, and not to people whose job it is to con tourists.

    That is not to say that I do not give money to some people in the street. Sunday evening I was sitting at a café when a man walked by wearing a kippa and wearing a Star of David. I stopped him and spoke with him, and gave him some money. Saturday evening I was waiting for a friend outside a restaurant when a man approached me on crutches; he had one leg, and his one foot was obviously in trouble. I gave him some money (and spent time talking with him), but what he wanted I could not give him. He wanted hard currency… dollars and Euros. He said he needs it to buy his medicine. Whether or not that is true, I did not have sufficient money in my pocket… and when he told me I should go back to my apartment to get it for him, I told him that I could not. I feel terrible for him and for all of the Cuban people, but there is only so much I can do. If I gave every person in the streets that needed money for (fill in the blank) only one dollar, I would not have money to eat… let alone take care of my friends who also have their sad stories.

    I feel terrible that I get jaded, but the incessant onslaught of people obviously trying to scam me gets old fast. I feel terrible that I cannot help everyone… but I do not have that kind of money. I try to find a balance between not making eye contact with all of them and not letting my heart harden to their plight. I am reminded of my visit to Mumbai, how sad it was seeing the dichotomy between the opulence of the palatial hotel I would spend my evenings in and the modern and secure office complex in which I spent my days, and the throngs of people living in lean-to hovels along the road who had nothing. It was hard to see that. It’s hard to see the plight of the Cuban people as well… but while none of them live well, I know that none of them are going to starve to death, and they all have somewhere to live. Knowing that the tourist areas are well-manned by these hawkers and such, I have to decide each time I come whether my love for the city is enough to keep me renting the cheap apartment off the beaten path, or if I am better off at a hotel. So far the apartment and the real Havana keeps winning out.

    My plane leaves in an hour, and I am going to make my way upstairs to my gate. I was disappointed to learn that I will need to collect my luggage in Houston, but that’s life in the fast lane. I only wish I did not have the overnight layover. I miss my dog and I miss my bed. The hotel bed tonight will be much more luxuriant than the one I have been sleeping in this trip, but Princess Sophie will not be in it. I look forward to seeing her tomorrow afternoon when I finally do get home.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 800

    I had a great day yesterday but for whatever reason I did not sit down to write. Oops.

    I continue to sleep very little but am not at all tired throughout the day. That might have something to do with how much coffee I drink when I am here… or it might just be because of the air. Either way, I am relaxed and happy on four or five hours per night.

    My fitness watch battery is at 5% and I will be happy if it makes it through one more day. If not, then I will have a couple of days without measurements in the app… but I will still be walking and aiming for 15,000 steps per day. I will continue to eat smartly. I am still hoping to be very happy with my weight when I step onto the bathroom scale Wednesday morning. As it is, the Hawaiian shirt that I could not wear Monday seems to be a bit more comfortable today. I promised someone I would send them a picture of myself in it, which I was able to do this morning, so I see that as an indicator that I’m doing well. The scale will tell the numbers, but more importantly the way my shirts and sports jackets fit is more important.

    I am meeting my steps goal every day without a problem. As was the case on my last visit here, the only vehicles I have been in are taxis to and from the Hotel Nacional with friends. To be honest, I did take a cab back alone that night, but it was late and I wanted to see a friend before their shift ended. I made up for it by walking another few thousand steps before turning in.

    It is amazing how many Jews I have met on this trip, which is to say that I have met at least six of them… including one native Cubans who is with the local Chabad house. I confess it never occurred to me that there would be one! Last night at dinner the guys at the next table were from Tel Aviv and we had a great conversation. They asked me why I wear my kippa here instead of a hat. I told them that had I been wearing a hat then I would never have met most of the Jews that I have met. Havana is a very safe city and Cuba is very accepting of all religions (while not condoning any one of them), but if someone does not like the fact that I am Jewish (and Israeli) then I like knowing… and if they confront me then I’ll happily handle that situation. In the meantime, I was able to light my Shabbat candles in my apartment last night. I was alone, but as I lit them I know that I was with all of the people I pray for, and with the whole Jewish nation. There is n irony to being able to do this freely in a country that is so poor and the people are oppressed… just like we have been so many times.

    It is another gorgeous day and I am enjoying my second day cup of coffee at my buddy‘s bistro. In a little while I will head out for my day. I have to stop by my apartment because I took my laptop bag to bring him some things, and do not want to have to carry it all day. I will then set out to enjoy the rest of my day. It is the Sabbath, and I will take it easy… but if that were the only definition of the day then this entire week has been Sabbath!

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 751

    I am having a good day so far… after a wonderful but very late night last night. No details; I was out and had a nice time. Unfortunately, that gave me precious little sleep. I was relieved that of the 3.2 lbs. that I gained yesterday morning, I dropped 2.8 lbs. this morning… putting me once again below that terrible 270 lbs. mark that I was so angry with myself for exceeding… even if it was only for a day.

    I am packed for my trip… although when I am back from dinner with my son, I will pack my carry-on bag. I tried to check in this morning, but apparently you cannot check in online for flights to Cuba that go through the USA. Okay, I will have to check in at the airport. No big deal.

    I had a late breakfast this morning, followed by lunch with my friends and godchildren. I ordered the salmon power bowl, which was probably a bit high in calories, but healthy. I am soon taking my son the younger for dinner, and wherever we go I will make sure to eat smart.

    Almost as soon as I am home from dinner I will be going to bed. Aside from the fact that I only slept about four hours last night, I am setting my alarm for 2:00am so that I can get to the airport for a very early flight. Once I am through the US Immigrations checkpoint, I will officially be on vacation. Yay!

    I’ll see you all tomorrow… either from the airport, from Miami International Airport, or from Havana!

  • Day 742

    After my weight did not drop at all yesterday, I thought that I might try to adjust my eating. That did not happen though, and I ate the same as I had the previous day – an omelet with the last of my rolls for breakfast, and then in the late afternoon I had my usual chicken with a couple of spring rolls (all air-fried). I ate nothing after 5:30pm, despite slight hunger pangs in the evening before bed. I was asleep much earlier than normal – for the first time in a few weeks I was asleep before 11:00pm, and despite getting up twice in the night to pee (which I had not been doing lately), I slept a full eight hours. According to my fitness watch, my sleep score has been between 79 and 87 every night this past week (except for Sunday, when I hardly slept – see Day 739). I am still extremely down about what is going on in my life, but at least I am starting to sleep better.

    All of this to say that while I did not lose the entirety of the weight that I gained two days ago, I did drop most of it. Phew! I hope to be able to continue that trend tomorrow.

    I was originally supposed to be teaching yesterday, today, and tomorrow. For reasons that have nothing to do with me each was canceled, giving me three days of paid work that are essentially days off. I still spent much of yesterday preparing for the classes because today and tomorrow were not cancelled until late yesterday afternoon, but today I get to breathe.

    Speaking of room to breathe, I am thinking seriously about taking off for a week or ten days. I might head down to Cuba for an escape from reality. It has been nearly two years since I was last there, and I miss my friends… and I have too many things rattling through my head that I need to figure out how to clear. I am going to ask a couple of buddies if they want to come along. Hopefully it will be fun.

    See you tomorrow.

  • Day 112

    Welcome to Paradise.


    As someone who knows the ropes, has been to Cuba before, and who knows what to expect, the hardest part about getting to the resort was the flight delays. I do understand that Leslie fits into none of those boxes, and was therefore anxious about a lot of it. I was happy to help her through the whole process, and the only part where I could not be with her was at Cuban Immigracion. As usual, I flew through, and I waited for her on the other side. When I saw that they pulled her back I was concerned, but it turns out she needed to buy health insurance, as her American insurance will not cover her in Cuba. I don’t know if this was a scam or legit, but we got out, got our luggage, and I had my first cigar of the trip while we waited for the bus.


    My diet could have gone better yesterday, but when you are travelling – I don’t mean on vacation, but actually in transit – it is nearly impossible. I had my usual meal replacement for breakfast, while preparing for Leslie a Montreal bagel with peanut butter. How delicious it would have been to have one! I did take a bite of hers, but that was it. We shared a Lebanese mixed shawarma plate for lunch… minus the rice, potato, and pita. Not bad.


    At the airport is when things went south, but they had to. I had a bag of chips (an individual bag, not a usual Mitch-sized bag), and I’ve the next few hours we shared a bag of trail mix. On the airplane, I was getting hungry… and I knew enough that by the time we got to the resort (with a more than a three hour delay) it would be late, we would be tired, and we might just want to go to sleep. I bought a snack of hummus with bread sticks, which we shared… but which I ate most of.


    One of the things about coming to a new resort (it has been here a while but I’ve never been here) is that I did not know what to expect with regard to food upon our very late arrival. By the time we were settled into our room and unpacked it was nearly 1:30am, and I wanted to track down some vittles. We found one of the bars (which was quite the happening spot) and filled our water bottles… we absolutely needed to have water in the room. While we could have tracked down the 24-hour snack bar, we were both exhausted, and we decided to forgo food for sleep. We came back to the room and called it.


    Come to think of it, I didn’t cheat as badly as I thought I had… and definitely not as bad as I could have.


    Leslie is a bit confused by the orbat of the day. Get dressed, do what we want to, when we want to, however we want to. Relax, have a coffee, have a cigar, and then continue. Resort living is a completely strange animal to anyone who has never done it! I woke up earlier than she did, and so I went out to get a coffee. As I write this, I am sitting on our patio with my coffee and my cigar, watching the palm trees. It is a perfect time of day to do that. In a few minutes we will track down breakfast, and then? Whatever we want to do.


    …


    We went for breakfast, which was lovely. It would have been lovelier if I was not on a diet, but whatever. The coffee in the buffet restaurant is not very good, so I will stick to the bars. We then walked around, checked out the beach, and are in for a wonderful, completely unplanned day. I have already had five people try to sell me fake cigars on the resort and on the beach. That number will triple before the day is out.


    Have a great one!

  • Day 111

    Today is the day! I picked Leslie up from the airport last night, and it was so wonderful to have her here. I have had a bit of a stomach issue since yesterday afternoon, but that will not dampen our visit, nor will it interfere with our vacation. We are leaving the house in about 2 hours to drive to the airport, and once we are parked at the airport, as far as I am concerned, we are on vacation. YAY!!!

    I didn’t eat badly yesterday, but as I mentioned, my stomach has been a bit touchy. That is weird for me – my stomach does not have issues. I can imagine if I had eaten something ridiculous, but I did not. I will just take it easy for a couple of days and I know I will be fine. There was nothing out of the ordinary bowel-wise… neither excessive nor a shortage. Okay, I guess sometimes mere mortals will have stomach issues… and as I am a syllable from turning fifty, I should recognize that I am that.

    There are few pampering pleasures that are exclusively for men, but there is no question that a hot towel shave is just that. This morning, one year and two days after I said goodbye to my father, Leslie and I drove to the Village Cigar Company and Barbershop in Burlington, and before I sat in Barney’s chair, she took a moment to say goodbye to my full beard. I kept the goatee, but to quote my friend Emily (who commented on Facebook): “You no longer look like a homeless person.” I suspect I lost another pound by the time it was over, which would have been over and above the 1.8 lbs that I was down this morning from yesterday. I will hope to not gain too much weight in Cuba, but vacations can be tough, so I suppose I hope to not gain more than five pounds in Cuba.

    It is a beautiful day out, and I am wearing short sleeves. Leslie is wearing shorts, and I might just change into a pair before we go to the airport. It might drop below 25°C in Cuba… but it is unlikely. I have some packing left to do, but not much. Leslie is taking a nap in the bedroom, and I do not want to disturb her, but in a few minutes, I will go out to pick up lunch for us, and I will wake her for that… and then I will finish packing and we can hit the road. If we were not returning at 2:30am next week, I would arrange for alternate transportation to the airport. No thank you, I will happily pay the parking for the convenience of getting our luggage and walking right to our car.

    Have a great day folks! I have left placeholders for the next week, but hope to be able to blog every day anyways.

  • Day 110

    Travel, whether by air or by car, will always wreak havoc on the bathroom scale for a day or two. The fact that I am up significantly from Thursday is frustrating, but not overly worrisome. The fact that I did indulge somewhat – I had more peanuts than I should have, I had some karnatzl from Smoked Meat Pete’s, I had Corn Flakes for breakfast, and at lunch on Friday I helped Red with some of her poutine… not a lot you understand, but some. Also, of course I had two lovely chicken meals on Saturday – are factors as well, and I will not blame the entire weight gain on travel. I did not let myself go this weekend, but I did not completely maintain discipline.

    I will say though that I did show a level of restraint that I did not previously think possible. There are two feats that I accomplished that I am more or less stunned by.

    1. Saturday afternoon I went to West Island Bagel, and I picked up a dozen Montreal bagels (If you are not familiar with this delicacy then you are missing out!) that were fresh from the oven. I split the bag into two bags of six, which then sat in my car until yesterday evening. The first six I gave to Ryan and Lyndsay, who took care of HRF Princess Sophie for the weekend in my absence. The second six are in my freezer, and I will defrost one tomorrow morning for Leslie to enjoy with Kraft Crunchy Peanut Butter for breakfast. If she wants a second one, she shall have it!
    2. Last week Lyle asked if, while I was in Montreal, I would mind stopping by Smoked Meat Pete’s to pick up a pound of Montreal Smoked Meat for him and for Dorothy. There are some people who will say that they will do anything for friends, and there are some who mean it. I assure you that while Lyle knows of my weight loss plan, that was not on his mind when he asked me to walk into this den of iniquity, this garden of temptation, the home of my absolute diet kryptonite. I figured if I was in for a penny, I was in for a pound… I asked my son (the elder) if he wanted a pound for them to enjoy as well. That is how and why I found myself, returning from the cemetery, standing in line at one of my favourite Montreal delicatessens. It would have been so easy to order the two pounds of meat, and a medium old-fashioned sandwich with extra mustard and a side of fries. How easy it would be to justify that on the day of my father’s yahrzeit I should go and indulge in his favourite meal… it was a tribute and a memorial, and not an indulgence! No. I ordered the meat, and a side order of karnatzl, which was my only deli cheat. It was not good… but it was orders of magnitude better than it could have been, and better than I expected!

    Today is the day. No, it is not the day that I fly to Cuba on holiday – that is tomorrow. However, knowing that this evening I will be picking Leslie up from the airport is, for me, more exciting than going to the island beach vacation paradise. That she and I will be doing that together tomorrow is gravy, but I would be happy just having her here. We have been apart too long! I have a lot of errands to run today, but the last checkbox is to drive to Pearson International and to wait in the Cell Phone Waiting Lot for the call that says, ‘I have my luggage.’ I miss her so much!

    What else do I have to do today? Let’s see… I have a few small things to do, but they are just close-to-home errands. I am not going to go on one of my long walks – I do not want to get onto the airplane tomorrow feeling zonked. I will try to see my son the elder (smoked meat is a good excuse) and possibly even my son the younger (as I will not be able to see him this coming weekend, owing to my being out of town). Like every Israeli, I am not one to pack the day before I travel… but I will do laundry and organize my stuff. I did not look in the fridge so I do not know if I have food in the house, so I might need to do some shopping. Other than that? I have gone to the bank, I have bought everything that I think I need to bring to Cuba (including for my buddy), and if someone were to call me right now to say ‘Mitch, you have to go to the airport in 20 minutes!’ I would have everything I need to throw into the suitcase and go. Of course, I do need my girlfriend to get here, but I am set to collect her this evening!

    One thing that I will do that will affect my blog readers: After posting today’s article (which you are currently reading), I am going to receive a notification from WordPress that reads something like: “You are on a 110-day streak!” While I might be able to blog every day from Cuba, it is not always guaranteed that the Internet will be available. What I will do is this: I am going to write placeholder articles for every day that I am away, and I will schedule them to post at 4:00pm every day. That way, if I am able to connect and post then great, but if I am not, then I will not lose my streak. Yes, that is petty… but what are we gonna do, right?

    Oh, I came to a decision this weekend. I am finishing my current games on Words with Friends and will then uninstall the game from all of my devices. I have been playing the game religiously for eight years, and I decided it is time to stop. It is a good distraction and timewaster, but just maybe I have wasted a little too much time on it.

    I am stressed. I am really looking forward to seeing Leslie tonight, which will make my life better… and then we go on vacation, which will make our lives even better.

    Have a great day!

  • Day 106

    Isn’t that the way that it always goes? Yesterday morning, I weighed myself on my bathroom scale before going into the doctor to get weighed for my ‘official weigh-in.’ Based on that number, I was not at all surprised to find that I was less than one kilogram down from my previous official weigh-in. It was lower, and that is great… it just was not a significant loss. This morning when I stepped onto the scale, I was a full two pounds down from yesterday! Had my doctor’s visit been today instead of yesterday I could have been a full 2.5kg down. Okay, I take these things in stride. Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint. The interim check-ins matter less than the final result. On the other hand, those interim check-ins are the encouragements that push you forward on those difficult days; it feels great to be able to punch your fist into the air proclaiming ‘Look what I did this time!’ I will have to save the air-punching for my next weigh-in.

    Speaking of my next weigh-in, it is three weeks from yesterday. While we will be back from two weeks from yesterday, we are landing late the night before (and really, early that morning), and I do not see me getting into Toronto at 2:00am (which means I cannot possibly be home in bed before 3:30am), then waking up to be at the doctor’s office just a few hours later. Let’s put aside the fact that I will have been off my diet. Thus, I opted to defer my office visit by a week, choosing to maintain the regular Wednesday cadence… just pushing it out by one week.

    I just got the call from my bank that the Euros that I ordered are ready to collect. I do not think I need anything from the store, so I might decide to walk to the bank, which is a little further than the supermarket… but not by much. Actually, according to Waze, it is 2.4km from here, which means the round trip would be around the same 5km that I have walked very well a couple of times. The weather seems to be agreeable, so I just might do that.

    I made a different dinner than usual last night. I defrosted a couple of salmon filets and rubbed them with sesame oil before putting them in the air fryer. When they were ready, I put them on a plate, and put a line of Tabasco sauce down the middle. I then spooned salsa onto it. Served with a side salad, I think it came out very well! It is definitely a dish that I will be trying again. I got the idea after my breakfast out last weekend, where I really enjoyed the pico de gallo on my omelette. When I mentioned this with my beloved, she told me that she had suggested I cook with salsa, and she is right… and she was right! I will be doing more of this for sure.

    Okay, it is time to do a few things, then I will change into my track pants and head to the bank. Have a great day folks!

  • Day 80

    Woohoo! The bathroom scale registered me below 350 lbs for the first time in a very long time today. While I suspect the next few days will have me above that mark again, it is indeed a banner moment. I had not mentioned it in any previous article, but that is the magic number – the maximum weight on my doctor’s medical scale. Of course, when I get weighed there, I am fully clothed, and so I have to plan for 3-4 pounds more loss before I can weigh myself on the imperial scale there. (On the metric side of the scale the maximum is 160kg, which is 352lbs.)

    Leslie and I decided on seared tuna for dinner last night, and if I do say so myself, it was quite nice. The fish monger only had frozen tuna steaks, but they defrosted in time for me to prepare them. It was the first time I ever cooked seared tuna, and I think it came out well… although there is plenty of room for improvement. I heated the frying pan to the hottest the burner would go, and then I seared each piece for 15 seconds on each side. Leslie made the rice, to which we added furikake (a Japanese seasoning that she has been raving about, and which I really enjoyed). I sprinkled black sesame seeds onto my tuna, but she did not. We finished the presentation with a dollop of pickled ginger. It was, if I do say so myself, an amazing meal! Yes, tuna is a fatty fish (as is salmon), but it is very healthy… and I like that we are experimenting in the kitchen.

    While I do not mind the boring chicken – salmon rotation that is my usual dinner, I do not want to drag Leslie into my boring meal routine. I have a friend in California who would come over with her dog, and she would make fun of me for it. ‘Let me guess… you want to make chicken and salad for dinner? Wow you are so predictable!’ I stick to the routine because it is easy, because I like it, and because I know that it does not hurt my diet. However, I do not mind expanding beyond that… especially if it helps my culinary knowledge! The first time I bought salmon I was really hesitant, and it came out really well. Now I have expanded even further and can keep going if I like!

    Cam and Amanda had to cancel our plans for today, which is too bad, but makes our life a little more convenient. We will probably drive to Cambridge to spend a few hours with Ryan and company, but Cambridge is a 40-minute drive each way, whereas Strathroy is a 100-minute drive each way. I would have loved to introduce her to my friends and my godchildren, but that will have to wait until a later trip. In the meantime, I am sure that Cam and Amanda will invite me to see the kids in a few weeks, which is just fine by me.

    I wanted to try my next size of pants down on this weekend. Leslie said that I shouldn’t; knowing that I have a huge scale victory today, I am going to see if I might also have a non-scale victory to report. We will see. I think I am going to… if only to see how far I have left to my next size-switch.

    Speaking of sizes: Leslie brought the shirts and bathing trunks that I ordered to her address for our Cuba trip. Of the six shirts and two bathing trunks, half fit. That’s right, three shirts and a bathing suit fit. The other three shirts were still too small… but the other bathing suit was way too big. Okay, no problem… we will return those to Amazon, and we ordered new ones – this time different patterns of the styles that we already know fit properly. We are very excited to be heading out on our first vacation together… we leave one month from tomorrow and could not be more excited!

    Whatever your plans are for this weekend, have a great one. See you tomorrow!

  • Day 52

    Yesterday was a day of positives all around. As expected, I worked for a few hours before starting my weekend a bit early. I had a nice salad, and then I went to pick up a couple of boxes of shakes from someone in Hamilton who was selling them off. I then stopped into Costco to pick up some cans of salmon… and ended up with $200 worth of stuff that I mostly need but some that I do not… I am not sure, for example, what I will ever do with 1000 packets of sweetener. I did buy chicken thighs, and when I returned home, I immediately separated the 27 thighs into Ziplock bags (3 per bag) and put them into the freezer. I bought some vegetables (onions, cucumbers, and tomatoes… and yes, I know they are actually a fruit but shaddup), and a few other things. While the quantities are a bit silly, I won’t have to worry about not being able to sweeten my coffee through the year 2025.

    When I got home, I realized that the two boxes of shakes that I bought (at a slightly inflated price) were actually four boxes of shakes. I texted the woman I bought them from and told her it was an honest mistake, and that I would transfer her the money immediately. She thanked me and refused and told me they were a gift. That was very sweet of her! We had a great conversation while I was there, and it was never my intention to short her. What was originally an inflated price turned out to be a bargain! Suddenly the drive was really worth it, despite the stupid price of gasoline.

    It was a beautiful afternoon. While it snowed all day, it was still reasonably mild. I sat out on the patio and enjoyed two cigars – one in the afternoon (a Partagas Serie D No. 4 from 2019) which was fabulous, and one later in the evening (a Davidoff Robusto Supremo that Leslie brought me in November). I do not remember the order, but during that time I had great video conversations with a couple of friends, with my girlfriend, and with my cousins in Florida. It was mostly positive, except to find out that my buddy and his wife will not be joining Leslie and me on vacation in May.

    Speaking of which, the trip is booked! We are flying out of Toronto the afternoon of May 10, and under four hours later we will be in sunny Varadero, Cuba. Leslie has never been on a truly relaxing, no-obligations, no-stress vacation before, and as I told her last night, I am on a mission from G-d to ensure that she has the greatest week of her life. We will take a daytrip into Habana to see friends and whatnot, but aside from that we will have no obligations beyond relaxation, enjoyment, and fun in the sun. fifty-nine days and counting!

    I got to speak with a buddy in Havana last night, which was also very nice. We will spend a day with him and his girlfriend. He told me that we can send the girlfriends off to shop while we go hunting for cigars. I laughed and told him that if he thinks that then he does not know my girlfriend, who will be every bit as excited hunting cigars as I will be; more, in fact… I’ve done the rounds of Habana cigar shops myriad times, and this will be her first time! You never forget your first time…

    The weather today is not as nice as yesterday, so I do not expect to spend much time on the patio. I might see if a friend wants to smoke in his garage, just to give me something to do today. Otherwise, I will be sitting at home and watching TV on my iPad, which still does not sound like a bad way to spend a lazy day!

    On the weight loss front, I am down a couple of pounds from yesterday! I am excited about that. A buddy asked if I wanted to drive to Niagara for Brazilian Rodizio or Buffalo wings, and I told him that they are both against my diet, and that I need to preserve my figure to fit into my bikini in Cuba. Good for a laugh, but in all seriousness, be mentioned two of my favourite food groups and I turned him down flat. I must be serious about this weight loss thing.

    Tomorrow I am taking my kids for brunch, and I will be eating. I plan to be good – breakfast and brunch are very dangerous meals because of all of the carbs and starches… I will have something good (maybe an omelet or a salad) while my kids eat their hearts out. It is not often that my older son calls me and wants to get together, so I am excited about that.

    There isn’t much else to say… I’m going to take it easy, catch up on my TV, and enjoy the day. I hope you enjoy it too!