Well, as the house rounds out, I find myself with a bit more free time.  So I decided to stop stumbling up and down three flights of stairs and to focus on getting out of the house for a change.  To take some time to learn my surroundings before winter really sets in (it was really nice the last two days, but today is anything but) and find some “out of home experiences” to take advantage of once we shift seasons.

The one thing I really want to find is a good coffee shop.  There are two I know of in North York Centre.  But the one I like is kind of below ground (subway level) and the other is a Second Cup in the middle of a busy area and not very comfortable.  While being out and about, I have noticed Cafe Aries.  It is about three blocks walk from the house, so certainly possible even on short winter days.

After running through the library, I walked north to the café and, finally, entered the shop.  Not quite what I expected, but not in a bad way (though the music is certainly something I could do without).  

Let’s start with some context.  We live one stop short of the end of the Yonge subway line.  This area is a pretty good balance of white and asian populations with some middle-eastern and eastern european thrown in.  Someone explained to me the populations shift as you get closer to Yonge.  The condos and apartments in this area tend to be people who moved from Asia.  As you shift out, into the more traditional housing, the population shifts more towards people of European descent.  So, most of the shops along Yonge are Asian restaurants, tea shops and a few bodegas catering to local needs.

Cafe Aries is no exception.  The front of the store has a sign which says “Parking available in rear” (or something like that).  Just below is another sign with the same u-turn arrow in what I suspect is Korean (more on why later).  So we already have an owner who is aware of local populations.

Once in the shop, which is decorated in a style which seems to combine hints of Japanese tradition (probably Korean, but I don’t know that culture’s architecture and art as well) and a bit of Starbucks as well (mostly the swirls on the wall and certainly the menu design).  So, you feel the hybrid nature of the shop from first glance.

Now, what sells it is the bad pop and rap music playing which is certainly being sung in an Asian language.  The menu has a section for ordering Korean Porridge.  Which is cool.  Because, Korean or not, I’ve never had porridge before (BTW - what the hell is porridge?).  Three flavors - Red Bean, Black Sesame and Sweet Pumpkin.  Pretty cool.  I plan to try each of them in time.  

There are also sandwiches, bubble tea, smoothies, waffles and cake in addition to traditional coffees and teas.  Right now, I’m munching a slice of sweet potato cake (kind of an angel cake with a different flavor center) and drinking a green tea (all they have is Twining’s, which is two strikes against them).  

You would think the horrid music, combined with Twinings would send me screaming.  However, they have free wireless.  That’s 2.5 points to the good, so I guess I’ll hang.  And late hours.  Until something like midnight or 2 a.m. depending on the night.  How can you beat that?

And the clientele speaks for the region as well.  To my right is a table of three ladies speaking an Asian language (can’t tell you which, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t Japanese).  On the other side of them is a table of two ladies speaking an Asian language.  Other than them is a older white guy wearing a Led Zeppelin t-shirt and looking pretty greasy.  He’s also been staring at me since I walked in.  So he’s kind of creepy.  Oh, well.  I could take him in a death match.

So far, so good.  But it may require me to buy some really thick headphones to block out the music.  Right now, the song on the speakers sounds like some Asian guys doing a 50 Cent rip-off.  Don’t ask me how I know, I’ve just had a lot of MTV on in the morning when trying to wake up.

Back to the cake at hand

If you try to take it, I’ll kick you in the can

I’m down.  Later.

P.S. - Don’t know what the mix is, but Kanye West just came on.  What a crazy music selection this is.  Full of nothing but people over 30 and a pure hip hop blend.

 

The house isn’t 100% yet, but it is 100% of what it needs to be.  What a long, long process this has been.  I’ve taken injuries and psychological stress and lost many pounds (not such a bad thing, but I really wasn’t trying).  And tonight was the first night we actually relaxed.  A bike ride, a visit to Ten Ren’s Tea Time, we put up a chandelier, some exercise (part of my physical rehab) and now some TV.  Not, “We will watch TV while doing other things we must do” TV, but “Wow, we can actually relax and just watch TV” TV.  What a difference.

And, really, we only need to finish painting the downstairs, which will happen this weekend, and we’re good to go.  Nothing more we “have to do” though we have plenty of “we want to do” to keep us busy for awhile.

But, while watching TV, a commercial came on for Home Hardware.  A Canadian store with home stuff.  I looked it up online and their store located showed they have a location I could easily walk to from my house.  The Web really is a wonder.  Without the ability to search, it might have been years until I knew it existed.  It really isn’t in a place I would go by on the way to any place I might go.  It does make me wonder how much commercial marketing has changed the success of smaller shops by adding a simple URL into the video feed.

It certainly helped me locate the closest hardware store to us.

Well, my first post from our new home.  We’ve been living here for a bit over 2.5 weeks, but we were also gone for most of a week for travel.  Gave me an opportunity to go home and visit friends and family for a short while.  Something which was good for me.  Physically, because it gave me time to heal from all of the effort.  Psychologically, because it was good to be social and comfortable for awhile.

Then back to work on the house.  My first task was a trip (and a follow-up trip) to Home Depot to get some materials.  I was able to build shelves in the garage (three sets actually) and made a set of super-shelves in the big closet on the top floor.  Like anything, a successful move requires some good infrastructure and this allowed us to free up floor space to work.

As a result, we were able to get a bunch of boxes unpacked and some packed boxes arranged in a bedroom closet.  Those boxes of books won’t get unpacked until I get some shelves up.  A job I’m dreading at this point…
As of today, we have a garage, kitchen, laundry and bath rooms all completed.   Set up and ready to go.  The family room and office/guest room are up and running.  Not fully prepared yet, but getting close.  Functional.  And having an office with an ergonomic keyboard space is a must-have.  Hate to say it, but it feels like home now that this is in place.

The master bedroom is livable, but empty.  We don’t have much furniture, so it is a big empty room.  Still have more to do to the master bath as well, though it is an hour from completion.  And we start painting the kitchen, living room and dining room tomorrow.

Throw down a layer of primer, over the pink walls (yes, the walls are pink and part of why we’re painting) and then one of paint.  I’ve spackled and prepped for tomorrow and looking forward to getting started.  Pink isn’t a horrible color, but I don’t find it relaxing and the paint will certainly change the feel of the house.

With each passing week, we recognize more common places and things from the Toronto area (and Vancouver, since we’ve been there for a nice long vacation).  This evening, a commercial came on and showed two people acting next to a car.  In the background, a green GO train passed by.  it was pretty cool, suddenly recognizing a location where you live and not having it be on the local news.  Not a big thing, but it really does make one realize you’re in a major location.  A place where people go to film for TV and movies.

I understand that a lot of filming goes on here as a replacement for NY.  Parts of the Spiderman movies were supposedly filmed in Toronto.  And some of the X-Men scenes at Xavier’s school was filmed at Casa Loma.  I’m looking forward to re-watching Spiderman 1 and 2 when the 3rd hits DVD so I can watch for local scenery.  How much fun would it be to see our apartment building (which we will no longer be living in by then) as Spiderman swings across the screen?

Ah, if you read the last two entries, you know I’ve been under the weather and hatching a plan so devious if you put a tail on it you could call it a weasel (thanks, Blackadder). What since? Why no blogging? Well, mostly because the jobs suddenly started fast and furious. It has been my plan, since we started putting together the plan to move to T.O., for me to take some time off up until we had settled into our house. Trying to start a job three weeks after we close on a house would be the best method for doing this, but very little control for the exact timing is available to me.

Once we had a closing date for our new home, I started digging through the local universities, looking for a position which would allow me to continue to grow and to bring my strengths to benefit others. At first, nothing appeared. Absolutely nothing. The one position I did see wouldn’t have been a good fit for me though I could have handled the job.

Then, the week I was sick, several jobs showed up. So the week following was full of me putting together cover letters and applications for each. Three so far and a fourth I will apply for next week as it isn’t due until the 11th of September (and I just made the connection with that date’s history as I write this).

I’m acting a bit in a vacuum, but I do wonder if the suddenness of these positions (and there has been a massive growth in the number of positions on the site, even though only a few are of interest to myself) is due to Canada’s reflection of European customs. I know in Europe, people take their summer vacations very seriously. It is a part of the pattern of life which allows you to relax and prepare for the coming year. Something which has seemed to fail in the US due to our overboard consumption patterns and inability to relax properly.

So for these positions to appear, so close to the start of school, makes me wonder if it is due to employees taking their summer vacation before returning to turn in their notice. It may be I do not have all the information to truly understand why. But I hope to find out once I have a position. It will be very interesting to understand some of these type of differences between Canadian and US culture. Which is really part of why we moved, right? To experience a different way of thinking from our neighbors to the north.

Wish me luck.

Oh, and I should note that this is an amazing summer weekend and the last weekend of summer. Summer here ends on Sept 3, and fall shall, I expect, follow very shortly thereafter. But, it is an amazing 75 degrees F outside the coffee shop with a nice wind through town. The air is clean today and traffic seems to be down. I think we shall head to the islands tomorrow to spend some time relaxing and maybe soak up some heat to get ready for a much longer winter than we are used to.

Well, Ana was certainly surprised this weekend. I made a big to-do about wanting Friday evening for something and then wanting a nice laid-back weekend to fully recover from the flu. Especially after being sick for the last two weekends and my parents had been in town for the weekend where it was beginning to settle upon me. She agreed and then all sorts of things went bonkers, but she never expected her friends Becca and Jeannette to show up. And certainly not her brother and sister-in-law.

But, I’ll let Ana tell it in her words. 

(A bit late in posting this, should have dropped it on August 20 instead of Sept 1, but it predates my next posts and makes thing a bit more complete.)

Oh, woe is me. The last week was horrific. The honest-to-god flu got me. I was down and out for the entire week. The only happy bit was the fact my parents came to visit the weekend when I was just getting going with my illness. So, I had a good visit with them and then settled into letting the virus run through my system for the rest of the week.

However, new week, new Daryl. Taking a moment to review life finds me at a good point. We have a house and all of the paperwork is complete. Now we only wait until Sept 18 to close. Then some painting and we can get our stuff, currently in storage, delivered. Still a lot of work to do, but a few weeks of job searching and getting some things done in between.

Toronto is cool at the moment. Two weeks ago we were experiencing some serious heat. That settled off a bit last week and gave way to a cooling trend with a low % chance of rain all week. The sign outside the coffee shop shows 22 Celsius/72 Fahrenheit and the skies are completely overcast, threatening rain. Not cool enough for a jacket, but it feels that way after the recent heat.

Now, all of the above isn’t major news, so why blog it? Well, today is the first day of back to work. Now that we aren’t rushing around every evening looking at houses, life is a bit more relaxed. I’m building a schedule, something I always benefit from, starting with a bit of writing in the coffee shop each morning. One cup of tea and a chance to be around people instead of stuck in the apartment doing research/making phone calls and only getting out to run errands.

Then home to have lunch and do “home” things and watch my soaps. Don’t snicker, I’m talking a solid few hours of CSI:NY, Law and Order and ending with Without a Trace on the back end before running more errands or getting out a bit more. And I don’t actually do it every day. Most importantly, it gives me a bit of a structured schedule which I always benefit from instead of access to a near-infinite variety of day planning.

Vacation it may be, but I have a pretty big list of things to get done and a finite amount of time to dedicate. Time to get started…

Piatti Italian Restaurant

Went to an interesting Italian restaurant last night.  Uptown near Eglinton and Yonge.  Fixe Prix meal, $25 per today, gets you started with a trip to the appetizer bar and an order of pasta (order from the list or build your own with a pasta, sauce and about 20 ingredients). After you receive and eat your pasta, a waiter brings around a variety of risotto, pizza, lasagna and cannelloni.  And ends with dessert pizza.
Ana ordered from the pasta list, I made my own with gnocchi, tomato sauce, olives, mushrooms, capers, chicken and bocconcini cheese.  Came out okay, though the capers pushed things overboard a bit.  Would have been perfect without.  I will know better for next time.  The quality of the ingredients was good and the flavor was excellent.  Much of that would be based on being prepared fresh over gas heat, I think.
Tried the veal cannelloni and a bite of Ana’s cheese and spinach cannelloni.  Both were good, but I preferred the flavor of the veal and the texture was good.  Wasn’t interested in the pizza, as I’d had enough.  Figured to try dessert.

Ah, disaster.  As the waiter reached to give Ana a slice of the dessert pizza (pizza crust with fruit and white and dark chocolate drizzled on) another slice didn’t separate correctly and plopped in my lap.   Fortunately, I have good reflexes and caught a majority of it (all of the crust) in my left hand.  But the chocolate and fruit fell on my pants (and a bit on Ana’s skirt).  The poor waiter, obviously just in from northern Europe, didn’t know what to do.  He stammered a bit, gathered up the destroyed remnants and took off.

Had it been a professional wait staff, and not kids in college, I think I would have complained.  But it was okay and looks to be coming out of my pants with some stain spray.  Wait and see, eh?

I would go back.  And hope for better service.  Also, I got even by snapping up one of the little start/stop bringing me food cards at the table (see the scans in the image gallery) for a memento.  I told Ana it would come in handy.  I can put it on the armrest of my chair and she’ll know when to bring me sandwiches.  Yes, I’m writing, so I did escape with both arms in one piece and my head attached.

Be forewarned: this is a multiple segment posting. The first part I wrote several weeks ago after I thought I was done with my first round of working within the Canadian health system. In fact, I wrote up the first part on the way back from my 2nd visit to the health clinic in the very coffee shop where I am now writing. However, upon returning to the apartment, I found a note which prompted part 2 and changed my overall perception of things.

The first post; written on July 13, 2007

Pre-Part X or I have (no) insurance?
So, it was a dark and stormy night. Well…not quite. But my stomach was hurting near my naval and it was hurting bad. We’d just finished moving and the pain was acute. So I had to do something.

Ana asked HR about what I should do. They realized we should be covered but nobody had put us in the system. And that, while our forms went through, we should pay out of pocket and would get reimbursed at a later date. No problem. And, it would give me the chance to see some things first hand.

Where to go? Toronto is currently understaffed with medical professionals. Finding a doctor can take time. You have to call around and find one who is currently taking patients. So, if you don’t have a doctor, as I don’t, you go to the walk-in clinic.

I find a list. The closest is not far from the house. So I pack up some reading material and head out. Only to get lost. Nobody can tell me where the clinic is. I’m in the right building, but I can’t find a map. After wandering a bit, I do locate a small tri-fold map in a stand in the basement of the building and manage to locate it on the top floor. Glad I wasn’t bleeding or they would have had a hell of a mess to clean up…

So, up the stairs and to reception. The nice lady says, “Just go to the left and give them your Health Card.”

“Urm…I don’t have a health card. But I do have insurance, but haven’t received that yet either.”

“Oh, no problem. Just pay them via credit card.”

Okay, let’s go in.

Section A: Getting to Dr. Pokey-finger
So, I’m officially within the confines of the clinic (no longer standing outside in the pseudo-mall that is First Canadian Center) and looking through a plexiglas window at a gentleman. He says, “What do you need?”

I say, “I need to see a doctor for some abdominal pain.”

He says, “Eh?”

So, I lean down, way down, kind of sticking my butt out and say, through the small metal mesh, “I need to see a doctor for some abdominal pain.”

“Oh,” he says, “Let me see your Health Card.”

Well, we then go through the explanation that I don’t have one and will have to pay out of pocket. Blah, blah, blah. “Have a seat.”

Sitting down to read a bit, I look around the room. This isn’t my idea of a clinic. Some of these people are wearing three piece suits. Nobody looks destitute on any level. There doesn’t seem to be the same view of public health clinics I think exists in the States.

After a bit of a wait, they call me back. The nurse comes in and asks my info (no blood pressure or weight check) such as allergies and symptoms. I give her the basics and she says the doctor will see me soon.

Soon must be Canadian slang for next week because that is what it felt like. But, she finally did arrive and I hopped up on the table and unbuttoned my shirt.

Now, the pain I was having was located around or in my naval. Sometimes it was pretty bad. Kind of like my belly button decided to pop off and roll around on the floor. Fortunately, it didn’t, but was throwing a tantrum over the lack of freedom.

Dr….well, let’s just stick with Pokey-finger said, “I think it might be a hernia.” Which I already knew because a friend of mine had just had hernia surgery for pain in the exact same spot and, upon comparing symptoms, he said, “Yeah, you need to see a Dr. now. Don’t put it off.”

She then decided there was gold and jewels hiding in the nether portions of my naval and did the best job she could to find them. She probed DEEP. Very DEEP. It was excruciating. I came close to falsely admitting I was part of the war on terror when I remembered I wasn’t in Gitmo, but on an examination table in Toronto. No, I’m not playing that up. (Well, maybe a little)

Dr. Pokey-finger said, “Well, I can’t find it.” As I lay there cringing. “But, it sounds like a hernia. Since you’re paying out of pocket, let’s just send you to get the stitches instead of having to pay for the ultrasound.”

Slowly, between the bouts of weeping, I explained that I did have insurance but was paying out of pocket until we got our cards and such. So, she decided to send me for an ultrasound and turned to flee the room. I stopped her with a few quick questions which she said she couldn’t answer and left to get me a referral.

Out to reception. Payed $65 and then I limped home.

End of part one.

Section B: The Ultrasound
There is a story about how difficult it was to find the ultrasound center, but it is just too long. The short form is: I walked around downtown trying to find a number for ANY of the businesses. The road I was on had so many large buildings they all had numbers on the perpendicular roads which were much larger streets than the one on which the center was located. Finally asked a deliver guy who said, “I wish I had $5 every time someone asked me that. I bet I get that exact questions three times a day.” I believe it, it was a pain.

Off to the building, up to the floor and into the waiting room. Pay $171 (they had said it would be $275 on the phone) and into the changing room. Down to the skivvies and into the robe. Lock up my backpack and off to the area that looks like a living room only there are two women who are clothed and I’m not wearing much. Okay, interesting, I can deal with this. At least I’m wearing a robe.

After a ten minute wait I get called in. They goop me up and pull out the little bar-code scanning-like thingy and I get to look at my individual organs on the monitor. “Breathe in and hold. There’s your gall-bladder.” Looks like I swallowed a baseball. Cool.

Over on one side, over on the other. On your back. Now, she’s scanning down the center line of my abdominal muscles. I can actually see the individual overlapping muscles. Then a good amount of focus on my naval area. My eye couldn’t see any gaping holes, but then I am not trained and was looking at the screen upside down and puffed up like a blowfish most of the time.

And…we’re done. Thank you very much. The doctor will call you in 3-5 business days.

Back into my clothes and I have to find food. It is almost 11 and I haven’t had anything to eat since before midnight. Lashing down my inner-cannibal I manage not to eat any of the tasty looking members of society until I find a Quizno’s open (most places don’t open for lunch until 11:30) and pounced on a sub with all claws extended. Mmmmm….calories.

Now it is time to wait.

Section C: Could I get a call?/Good news
After more than a week had passed, I decided to call the clinic. Ha! Good luck finding it on the website. Realizing, no matter that I am really good at finding things on the net, this website is certainly designed to foil the best of us. So I call them up and, on the third try, manage to get a human being. This human being says, “Nobody is answering, can I take a message.” Sure.

They call back and I am told, “Your test came back negative for a hernia.” Okay, what do I do now? “Well, go see a doctor.”

Great. So I grab up my backpack and take off for the clinic. Sign in, tell the same guy through the same grate who I am. Then wait (though this wait was much less) and I saw a different doctor. Repeat most of the early experience without the horrid probing. The doctors says “You probably pulled something in your abdominal walls. Just take care and give it time to heal. Let pain be your guide.”

Fortunately, I just read an article about arthroscopic knee surgery. The article said that most of this type of surgery has no benefit for the patient other than making them rest and rehab the joint for a few weeks. Something which should always be done first since the surgery is invasive and does carry risk. That article carries some weight for me. Since I would have been down 4-6 weeks with simple hernia surgery, I’ve decided to just kick back until the beginning of August before considering any training or serious physical effort. Let the body heal up before starting to break it down again.

I’ll limit myself to groceries and carrying my backpack full of books and my laptop to the coffee shop for the time being.

Conclusions (part the first)
Not a bad system, though I’ve only touched a snowball on a glacier. Overall, my experience, if I had been paying out of pocket with no hope of reimbursement, would have been around $300. We could absorb that without hurting ourselves. It just means I would have to put off buying a Wii for another month or two (if Ana will ever let me buy a friggin’ Wii), but not a serious financial hit.

But, the original doctor wanted to send me straight to surgery to save some money. All of $171. If I hadn’t had insurance, how much would the surgery have cost? I’m sure it would have been quite a bit more. And I would have had stitches and local anesthesia and the whole ball game.

Add to that the fact that the ultrasound came back negative. Admitting the person who gave the ultrasound could have missed something or not known her job well, I could still have a very small tear. But I think it kind of doubtful.

How much would that hurt a family who is on limited means? That kind of burden could be a month’s groceries. Easily. So far, I’m not entirely certain it is a better system. But it is something I’m certain to experience as I progress in this society. Once we buy a house, we’ll find doctors close to home or work. And I’m certain I’ll have some more small injuries over time.

Time to leave the coffee shop, meet the wife and start the weekend. Adios.

The second post: July 27, 2007 (two weeks later)
Well, let’s follow what happened since the first post. I went home, planning to post part 1. However, upon getting the mail, I discover a letter from the clinic. Inside is a letter sending me to a local hernia clinic. Which left me saying, “What????”

I made several phone calls, none of which was able to get anyone who could tell me what was happening. As a result, I had to just wait until Monday morning to find out more information. It was not a short weekend.

Monday I call the clinic and ask if someone can give me some information. They took my name and number and said they would look into it. A few hours later, I got a call from the lady who wrote the referral. What I find out is she did not know there was a referral for an ultrasound. Her referral simply said I needed to be scheduled for surgery and the only place I could work with was this particular center.

She did tell me that if the ultrasound came back negative, I should not go to the hernia center, but should just wait out the pain and see if it subsides. Something I had already figured on prior to the weekend.

Updated conclusions
As you can read above, up to the 13th I was pretty happy with the system. Different from my experiences in the States, but I had a personal doctor and knew the system. Centralization can make most things easier and more comfortable.

However, after getting the letter and bouncing back into limbo, I can only conclude the system here does suffer from an over-abundance of beaurocracy. Without a central figure to help manage things, it seems you can get misinformation in the shuffle.

I’m not slamming the system as a result. I have cranked the grade down a bit, not quite the B+ I would have given it before, but still above average. Yet there is a more pressing thought about this type of scenario. Why I don’t know if national health care is possible in the States.

Being truthful, the Canadians have it together. I have not waited overly long in any government line. I can always get someone helpful on the phone if I have questions. In fact, almost every aspect of the every government agency, so far, has made the US system look like something from 17th century Antarctica (though I think the Penguins could do a better job) and is a bit embarrassing by comparison.

If this system is so well funded and the people seem to be very serious about the jobs they do (not to mention easy to speak with, patient and knowledgeable) and still has some problems, what will a US national health system look like? Considering how poorly our government would fund such a system (do you really think the hard-line conservatives wouldn’t fight to keep it from getting the $s to do the job right?) and the number of ambulance chasers who will be drooling to sue every time the slightest mistake occurs, how could it possibly launch with great success? And the scope of the US is massive. Almost better to start it up in major cities and roll out from there.

Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not against the US developing such a system. But the few cracks I see here will be chasms there. Make certain you have a good doctor and be ready with a major alotment of patience.

Let’s start with: What the hell does that title mean? I’m not sure. But I started with “An Awareness of Space” and realized it wasn’t working. I’m being a bit metacognative about this and needed to changes something, so there it is. Complete in my mind.

Some ideas stick with you over time. One I consistently enjoy is from a subject in education. Someone (I don’t remember if it was an artist or psychologist) drew some images of a person’s vision of their own body over time. As an example, a newborn would be very aware of hands and mouth but have very little idea of their legs or feet. So, if you drew a child based on their awareness, they would have massive heads, arms and hands and very small torsos and nearly non-existent legs and feet.

Moving forward ten years would get you a very different shape. One more balanced and in line with actual body part dimensions. Yet, they might have little or no awareness of gender specific body parts. Move forward another ten years and you see a fully fleshed out human with most subjects. Yet, individuals who are primarily cranial about their approach to life or athletes who leave little time for education might appear with their body awareness skewed a bit.

Agree with it or don’t, it is an interesting view and creates some interesting thoughts to stumble through.

Here, in a new city, I find myself interested in how I view my surrounding territory and how some portions are “larger” in my mind than others. Let’s look at it a bit as I have developed to where I am now.

Toronto wasn’t completely new to me when we moved here. Having two other visits gave me a certain awareness which remained with me upon the move. Mostly, this was a very small awareness of Yonge Street and the waterfront. Though some of the memories are still not pinned to my mental map as accurately as they are in the reality that is Toronto.

Also, we had visited the Danforth region (Greektown) as well as the area around Finch and Yonge and the area around Shepherd and Yonge with our realtor on our spring visit. But I didn’t drive the distances and you can always get turned around hopping on/off highways as we did.

Driving up had a benefit. Upon arriving, I now had a tether to the states. Not a virtual link created by looking at an almanac or by seeing the land roll by through an airplane window. But a real sentience of the terrain and features from Niagara Falls to here (and a further awareness of Richmond to here). A new path cutting through the fog of uncertainty most unvisited places retain until you stand in them on your own two feet.

We started venturing from the apartment in short bursts. Every block full of information, people, smells and sounds you find in any city. And we attempt to take them in all at once. So a single block of city can seem like a very long distance. The same block, the 10th time you travel it, seems like the 97 steps it takes to walk the length.

But walk we did. And take the subway and meet our realtor to look at homes. Slowly, the city opened up. You start to get an impression of where things lie. Let’s take a look at a few directions:

West: Queen, Richmond and King all run into Spadina. There are restaurants on all three though more on King and Queen. Spadina is the edge of my knowledge on all but Queen. I did walk several blocks past on Queen just to see what is there. I have a vague notion and, in my head, it is a very small line which withers out once past Spadina.

Going north on Spadina takes you to one of the China towns in Toronto. I know that area well because I have walked it several times (mostly to get cakes from the Fukarama (I think that is how it is spelled) cake place and plan many more sojourns before we move) and can picture the blocks out up and back very well.

Some of the blocks stand out very well. As does the block between our place and the book store and theater. Only two blocks, I can close my eyes and envision most every building. Same goes for going up to Queen and west for one short block. There is a store there which has groceries and movies and I have visited it many times.

Yet, while both of those routes are very clear in my mind. Strong tendrils with high quality rendering. I cannot envision the streets which connect them very well since I have only walked it a few times and do not have a clear memory.

South: This direction takes us to the waterfront and Loblaw’s, the big grocery store. Ana and I have walked University to York to the waterfront several times and taken alternative paths on multiple occasions. As a result, I have a decently developed tendril of University to York and some memories of Spadina, Yonge and Jarvis to the waterfront as well. But my strongest impression is of the waterfront. While the memory of getting there is limited, I can easily envision most of the waterfront from Spadina to Jarvis very well having driven it and walked it on several occasions, some of the dating back to November. Added to that the great scenery, which increases the chance of impression, and we can understand why.

East: This is the trickiest. I’ve been east on several occasions, but only once to most places and no more than three times to any single place. The strongest tendril is Queen east of Yonge for about 7 blocks. That was where I had my windshield replaced and had plenty of time to walk from the shop to my home and back in the afternoon, plus driving both twice.

The other locations are limited. I’ve driven out Front, but only as far as Jarvis. And I’ve been driven out and then up to the Danforth multiple times. As a result, as clear as the blocks near the house are clear to me, the region to the east is patchy and disoriented. I can picture areas but, like blurry puzzle pieces, I can’t tell you how they arrange yet. I only have some idea of what might be north or east or south of what. Fortunately I haven’t been far East or I would also be mixed up on what is east or west of what as well.

North: This is where things get very interesting. Most of our northern travel has been on Yonge and a majority of that has been on the subway. Fortunately, we did take a drive a few weekends ago and, by making a circular tour, have a better impression of the layout of the city. But the popping in and out of subway terminals takes away much of the scope. You have very clear impressions of areas and where they are on the north/south corridor, but not of how far apart they are by foot.

In fact, I’m still struggling as to where the individual subway stops are (in my defense, I’ve been on that route less than 20 times) and how far apart they are. You can use the subway intervals as a general rule, but there have been multiple occasions where the subway has slowed down or stopped and this throws off your perception until you ride it on a regular basis. Ana, having used the subway every day for weeks now, can probably do a much better job than I of envisioning this corridor but couldn’t describe the areas near the apartment as well.

In my head: What? Why are you here? Oh, I invited you. That’s right. Well, let’s see what this looks like.

As you can see (no, there isn’t a picture, I’m speaking figuratively), there is something resembling a spider web. But the angles are mostly square and some webs are much thicker than others. The development is splotchy as well. Near the waterfront (that is where the web ends at the bottom of the page) there is a single thick line which runs to the left and doesn’t seem to end. That takes us around the lake to NY.

And there is a crosshatching of strands above it. The think ones running north are Jarvis, Yonge and York (east to west). They intersect with King, Adelaide, Richmond and Queen going north. The strange one, which kind of dips through and then runs off the map, is Front to the east and University to the north.

Each of those intersect with Spadina to the west and an unknown road to the east. This road leads us up to another well defined area, broken down like a quadrant map, which is the intersection of Danforth and Pape. Please note how quickly it fades off in each direction. And the tenuous line running west from Danforth to Yonge is mostly the subway as I have not yet travelled that line fully above ground.

The strong lines running north seems to fail, don’t they? The strongest is Yonge and it ends around Summerhill. University is similar and fails at DuPont. Why? That’s the Canadian Tire location where I had my truck inspected. I have driven it twice going up on Yonge and back on Avenue/University.

Then follow the faded line north. That, again, is the subway. It intersects with Shepherd, where a line runs to the east. Part of our tour of Toronto in the truck. And see how well developed that is. We’ve spent some time around Shepherd. And Eglinton as well. That’s the little dot just south of there.

Then, one more area just north. It is composed of two strong primary dots. The lower one is North York Centre and the furthest north is Finch. And currently works at Finch and will be moving, with the business, to the other. Also, the hotel we stayed at in March is located at the North York Centre location. There are webs around it. Those would be the neighborhoods we have driven/walked while looking for a home.

And finally, see that one last tendril running north of the 401 on Yonge? That would be up to our realtor’s office and then, just one single trip, up to see a mortgage broker.

How strange and fragile a thing it is. And it will grow over the years. In leaps and spurts it will begin to fill in. If I remember, I should redo this on a yearly basis. Not so much to see what I’ve seen, but to see what I haven’t and make a purpose to visit those locations to find what hidden gems they might possess.