Sunday morning, I got a better look at the long-time renter living in the basement of my sublet. He was gathering up dead leaves in the backyard. Peeking through my kitchen's window, I revised his age downward: he was closer to mine. So it was a case of me not recognizing a peer and therefore misjudging how I appeared to others.
Leaving him to his chore, I went to Udupi Palace for lunch. The new location was a better fit than the old one. The latter seemed too cavernous for the number of diners Udupi hosted. The menu informed me that Udupi was a reference to Udupi cuisine, a mostly vegetarian style from Karnataka. Since the dosa was actually from there, I ordered a Pav Bhaji Dosa ($13.95). Normally, I don't mind eating with my hands but the mashed veggie ingredient was too soft to pick up cleanly. Along with the chutney and sambar soup, it was a delicious meal. I overheard the owner and waitstaff talking to a long-time customer with his new wife (1 year in Canada and baking at Bobbette and Belle). From the snippets I learned some lore: Udupi opened in 2004 while the proprietor arrived from Bombay in 1990. He gently chided them for not sticking to a pure vegetarian diet but the woman countered that while she used no eggs in cakes back in India, here you couldn't do without in a mainstream shop.
On Monday, I found out that the "new" Team Lead has taken a two-month leave of absence from what was originally a short vacation last week. This was the 3rd time they have taken time off to deal with health issues since they joined 3 years ago. As they were at least 20 years younger than me, I gave more thought to my own retirement. Especially since I also have some problems, although not as serious yet, from dentition to digestion. But what would I do and where would I live?
Back in 2019, when I did my training, I thought about changing (to a less lucrative) career as a yoga teacher. With the pandemic in 2020, I never got my chance. Since then, yoga studios have shuttered en masse (Toronto's yoga golden age was between 2008-2018) and there were now 7 years of new graduates. Also, the idea of having intestinal problems while teaching (all those folds and twists) was mortifying. It happened once at Downward Dog as a practitioner but luckily it was at the end of class. Still, I had to explain to my bemused instructor that there was "hot fire below". So would I just spend early retirement doom-scrolling all day?
As for a place to live, if I become increasingly reliant to being close to home because of the same gut problems, then Toronto was it. My old neighbourhood of Bloorcourt and Bloordale had everything within walking distance. But living on a "fixed income" in an expensive city was financially less prudent. But in Ottawa, would I just spend early retirement doom-scrolling all day?
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