I've been on holidays for the past week and for some ridiculous reason I decided it would be a great idea to go to the gym at 8am for a class. The evening prior I had dropped something very heavy on my foot and low and behold the next morning half of my foot was black and blue. So I was tired, it hurt to put my runners on, I put my crap in the locker, click and "oh shit"!!!! I locked the bloody key to my lock INSIDE the locker.

The tiny girl at the front desk hands me these gigantic bolt cutters, I thought she was kidding. So there I am, tired, cranky and sore trying to break through 8 million layers of metal to no avail. Several other women in the change room tried to help but nothing was working. I wandered around looking for anyone to help but the problem was the gym was quite sparse, it was the holiday Monday for everyone else as well and the gym had just opened right at 8am. I asked some man who was just standing there to help me, I think he thought I was trying to pick him up cause his response was "ask my wife, she's over there doing push ups, she's strong". I went over to ask her and when I explained what I needed help with I thought she said " I don't really care"! I thought WTF is WRONG with the two of you!!!!! Thankfully that didn't fly out of my mouth as I had not heard her correctly, she had actually said "I don't work here"! She did come to try and help but she too could not cut through the lock. FINALLY this older gentleman came to my rescue! Turns out he had to loosen a bolt in order to make them cut further which clearly none of us noticed! I was soooo thankful and happy as my purse and keys and everything were locked away.

I gotta say I was totally annoyed with the first guy though. He was just standing there doing nothing and he wouldn't even try to help. I can't stand people like that! If someone needs help I help them as best I can. A little while ago I saw this very old woman standing at her trunk with grocery bags. I was heading into the store, stopped and asked "Can I help you put those in your trunk?"She didn't even have to ask me I just saw that she might need assistance and asked. Clearly my parents raised me right!!! So a big fucking brick to the douche and a big bouquet to the helpful gentleman!

I'm one of those people that HATES getting sick. I don't think that anyone actually enjoys germs but I go to great lengths to make sure I avoid them. You can imagine my dismay when a woman walked into my building last week, glassy eyed, coughing and looking like death. I asked if she had been sick all weekend to which she replied "no, just today"! I thought oh dear Lord she's CONTAGIOUS!!!! Why oh why would one go out in such a state! I stayed as far away from her as possible that day but quel surprise it got me. I think we should take a cue from the lovely people over in Japan, I saw several people over there wearing masks to avoid getting/giving germs when I was visiting! Brilliant idea!!

Once I felt better Starbucks lured me in with their 1/2 price frappucinos I mean come on $2, who could resist! The old Miss Ash would have gone several times for the deal, the new svelte MA went once (granted it's on for a few more days soooooooo.....) and thoroughly enjoyed a fatty Vanilla Bean Frap with whipped cream! Yummmm!

I also had the most juicy and delightful strawberry! Seriously it was amazing! It's always hit or miss I find with strawberries and pineapples. Some are super sweet and yummy, others more tart, meh and flavourless. I completely lucked out this week on both the berries and pineapples nom nom nom!!!

As most of you know gas has been creeping up, actually no, no it hasn't been, it's shot up to exorbitant prices 140.9 per litre in my neck of the woods. I'm lucky to live in a border city and have been heading over to the States weekly to fill up. Even with the drive and the toll I've been saving lotsa moolah and with the amazing exchange rate I can't go wrong! It's always hit or miss with the border guards as well, some are friendly and have great personalities, others not so much. I had one guy flip through my passport "You travel a lot" to which i replied "I sure do" (translated in my head to "hence why I have a passport jackass" or "thanks tips") He then questioned where I work and made some condesending remark "you have to go to Ghana to do that?" as he glared at me. I actually started to laugh at him, I thought he was joking. Clearly the man has never left his little booth at the bridge, he didn't even crack a smile, nor did he appear to enjoy my smirking at him as shown through his icy stare but he eventually waved me on. The man I got the following trip over was much more jovial and we shared a few laughs.

I went to the mall over there to browse and they were having a big sale at one of the department stores. There were racks and clothes everywhere and it was a bit chaotic. All of the workers were very polite saying "excuse me" to the throngs of people in line as they weaved in and out, asking if they could help, they all seemed to be in great moods considering the crowds. I then overheard a woman talking to and then screaming at a sales clerk. From what I gathered she wanted to know where something was and when the saleswoman didn't know or couldn't find what she was looking for the woman's solution was to scream "YOU WORK HERE NOT ME" "YOU PEOPLE ARE USELESS YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE ANYTHING IS, I'M NEVER COMING BACK HERE"!!! I kept my mouth shut but you have noooooo idea how badly I wanted to say "you will be doing the staff here an enormous favour if you never come back here so please make good on your promise". I did tell the worker to ignore her, she was clearly having a terrible day and told her how impressed I was with the service that day.

It really irks me when I ask people who they are voting for and they tell me that they don't vote. I'll admit I used to be that guy but thanks to Jennifer and a few others I smartened up in my early 20's and have been casting my ballot ever since. I always find it very interesting to see the various signs in certain cities. Where I work it's a sea of orange (NDP), in my hometown it's nothing but blue (Conservatives, barf)! It doesn't appear as though things are going to go my way Le Sigh :(

I've been trying to get through those Malcolm Gladwell books I spoke about a little while ago. I must say for such a popular author the first one I picked up (Blink) was a bit of a letdown. He had some interesting points but they seemed to drag on and on and on I actually had to put the book down two thirds of the way through and couldn't finish it. I figured the book was a lemon and went onto What the Dog Saw. I'm a few stories in (they are articles that he wrote for the New Yorker) and I'm still not very impressed. There are several sections and perhaps I should move on to the next as my attention is waning reading about Ron Popeil and ketchup. Hopefully The Tipping Point will be of more interest.....

I was in a spin class today and normally I am focused on the class and don't look around much but this evening my eyes wandered outside of the room to a woman on a stair climber. Her ass was completely covered in sweat! She had these two wet marks that covered her entire cheeks which of course made me giggle! She looked as though she had sat in a puddle, not a drip of sweat anywhere else but her buttocks! So weird!