Guana From Heaven

With several meetings scheduled around lunchtime (the perils of a global team), I rushed out to get some food beforehand. I saw that Portuguese store Progress Bakery also had pizza. At $4.50/slice, it wasn't clear if it was a better deal than the $5.50 from 241 pizza; it was a smaller cut but with thicker dough. It definitely wasn't as tasty but that was partly due to their reheating method. The panini press didn't do much to warm up the slice. It might be better to throw it into an oven at home. The other selection was two donuts from Better Days Coffee & Donuts: a filled spicy apple ($4) and a regular cinnamon ($3). Both were soft and flavourful with the cinnamon being particularly fragrant. They were double the price of Tim Horton's but these baked goods were worth it. Better Days have been in Dovercourt Village for just over a year. We'll see if it has any legs because the previous businesses each lasted around 3 years.

The meetings ran longer than usual because we were trying to solve several problems. I noticed that people weren't flexible; once they have a solution in mind, somehow every suggestions return back to that solution. With the afternoon sun streaming through the door, I decided to take a break and stroll around the neighbourhood. First, similar to my walk in The Annex to the Tranzac on Wednesday, almost every store in the Bloorcourt area was turning into a restaurant. I miss the eclectic mix in Toronto neighbourhoods some 25 years ago. Second, turnover occurred regularly so only the landlords were winning. Case in point, Brazilian crepe shop Tapi-Go! has given way to Gluten Free by l'Artisan. Finally, I debated if I should visit my friend since they might be miffed that I took a (much more expensive) sublet in the same area rather than share an apartment. But a notice at their restaurant said that they were gone on vacation for the next two weeks.

On my way home, a pigeon dropped a load right on my nose and glasses. Numerous cultures believe this was a sign of good-luck. So after I cleaned up at home, nothing to do but go to the corner store for a lottery ticket. Dinner was rice thanks to a tiny cooker from Macook that I found on Amazon. It looked like an Easy-Bake Oven accessory but seemed functional after one use.