Wednesday October 24, 10:12 a.m.
I'm in a holding pattern so far today. I sent in my translations last night well before the due time; nothing from the boss but he usually doesn't respond before 11. No calls from the school, either. I just whipped up a homework sheet for my Skype student and sent that off to him...something on complex sentences.
It's still plenty gloomy out there. Not raining per se but pretty darn overcast. I really have to take that walk today since I kept it all inside yesterday handling the final part of that translation.In Japan, on NHK, the weather forecaster made the rounds of the countryside. Not sure where she went but she pointed out the snow and some formation of ice in the water....she remarked that the temps were a "bonechilling" -1 degree; how cute. Tokyoites were bundled up in their heavy winter clothing as temperatures there were now hovering just over 10 degrees. They couldn't have such short memories about one of the hottest summers in recent memory. As I've said before, summer is one of the few things that I don't miss about Japan.
I saw the news report yesterday about that poor woman who had been brutally murdered in Cabbagetown in the wee hours. At this point, it seems to be a totally unprovoked attack which is scaring everyone. For me, it's been almost 40 years but I used to live in St. James Town which is literally a stone's-throw away from the area. I was on Ontario St. and the other streets of Winchester and Bleecker are all well-known to me. In retrospect, St. James Town was never all that safe even back when I was a kid in the 60s and 70s....urban planners have called it a failed project. I think it was just that they packed too many highrise apartments too far away from the major streets. Still, there were some fond memories there. School wasn't one of them but I used to remember the homemade ice rink at Rose Ave. Public School, the huge chestnut trees and some pretty scary-high snow mountains right at the cul-de-sac in front of my building. If we hadn't moved away, I would've gone to Winchester High School in Cabbagetown. Even now, though I haven't set foot in the area (aside from being in a car) for decades, hearing about this crime is chilling.
