Stage Door Cafe

  Linking up with Marg at The Intrepid Reader

Weekend Coffee Share
Sunday Salon

August 2024 - Toronto ON

Distillery District Toronto ON

The weather guessers couldn't make up their minds this weekend, rain, no rain, tornado, no tornado, severe thunderstorm warning, all due to Ernesto.

There were floods all around us, but we just got rain. Sunday was more of the same.

I spent a lot of Sunday in the kitchen, making curry and ham salad for sandwiches. John did a grocery run to Metro for yogurt (Costco didn't have the brands we like), Dijon mustard, cabbage, chips (on special 2 for $4), peanut butter (shudder! for John), English bangers (we haven't found any lately). 

John headed to Turtle Creek to golf on Monday.

I attempted to go out twice, the first time I was too cold so I came back to change. The second time was still cold and I decided I didn't really need to go anywhere. I did laundry instead and that turned into a stressful afternoon. The washing machine leaked! 

I contacted a repairman (lots of good reviews on the neighbourhood's FB page)for my 2 year washer that is leaking, front load. He said he come come Tuesday afternoon and then called me to say he had a customer cancel so he could at least come and see what the problem was. He quoted $180 and hour and parts.

Well, he went above and beyond to prove that it was not the washer, it was a pipe at the back. He only charged me $90.

So we are now waiting on building maintenance to show up and see what next steps are.

This meant we cancelled our Tuesday plans to wait for maintenance. I have a video proving the pipe is the culprit and want to be here to show it to them. AND as expected, we were told that it is our responsibility to get a plumber to fix it. So I will contact our trusty plumber.

Wednesday John golfed. As I cut through Union Station to the subway, I got some perfume samples. 

I went to the $ store for some new trays for the car (John left ours in the old car). We use these when we are eating lunch in the car.

Then I wanted to check out the new "biggest" candy store in the city. The B.C.-based candy shop, Ricardo's Kandy Korner, has made its way to Toronto with its first location in Ontario. 

I wasn't super impressed, by its size or its selection.

Thursday John golfed at Turtle Creek again. I went to get the 12:10 bus, it was a no show, at 12:30 another waiting resident came and mentioned it had broken down and another was on its way. 1:10 came and went without a bus, at 1:30 we were told it was in a slight accident so they were sending a replacement, however, we could take taxis and we would get reimbursed. I said I was getting an Uber and asked two other women if they wanted to join me. They gladly did, gave me their unit numbers and headed downtown. 

Our gardens were looking pretty as I waited.

Traffic was heavy due to the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition, like a state fair) and the commuter trains were not running, not on strike but CN and CPKC (Canadian Pacific Kansas City???) were on strike and a couple of GO train lines run on their tracks, so they couldn't be used.

My plan was to try a burger at Union Station outdoor market closes this weekend.

At first glance this looking like ice cream but it was giving makeup samples.

Instead of my 12:30 planned lunch, it was now 2:30.

A really good cheeseburger, but really? no onions or tomatoes.

Looking at the crowds, I realized the Fan Expo Canada was on at the convention centre for four days.

FAN EXPO Canada is the largest comics, sci-fi, horror, anime, and gaming event in Canada and the third-largest Pop Culture event in North America. The show has grown from a small comic book convention attracting 1,500 fans into a multi-faceted and multiple day citywide event that attracts hundreds of thousands of people from around the world.

I took the subway to Queen's Park and then walked down University, a section known as Hospital Row. Nowadays, the city of Toronto has signs calling it the Discovery District recognizing that the neighbourhood is also Canada’s largest research hub and one of the ten largest biomedical clusters in the world.  There are also five major hospitals.

Hospital for Sick Children aka SickKids

Toronto General Hospital, part of the University Health Network

Toronto Western Hospital

Princess Margaret Hospital

Mount Sinai Hospital

Women's College Hospital is north of College Street, a block north of the MaRS so it's close enough to Hospital Row proper to sorta kinda be included here.

Click here for MaRS photos.

I had never noticed this building before, it is the Ontario Power Generation (OPG) building.

Ajmera Transplant Centre (left) Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (tight).

This is the entrance to the Toronto General Hospital. On the left is the old building and on the right is the newer expansion. The enclosed corridor between them houses the pharmacy and other services and makes access to them comfortable in the winter months.

Another Toronto General building.

I did have plans to go to either/or both Chinatown and Kensington Market but decided I had already lost two hours.
I never noticed this tucked away here.

At the turn of the 20th century, as Toronto challenged Montréal as the banking capital of Canada, George Cox was among those in the vanguard. After a successful business career in Peterborough, he moved to Toronto where he was president of the Canadian Bank of Commerce from 1890 to 1906, significantly expanding the bank’s network from its base in Ontario into Western Canada. He was also president and general manager of Canada Life, dominating the insurance industry from the mid-1890s until his death. Powerful in both the banking and insurance sectors in these exciting decades, Cox was one of Canada’s most prominent capitalists.

The plaque is beside Canada Life.

I walked back to the bus stop, giving myself plenty of time to snap photos on Front St.

Who knows, some of these people may not be going to Fan Expo?

Friday was a stay at home day. I did take my Uber claim to the office. I also scheduled the blinds guy and plumber for next week.

One of my favourite mugs got broken!

Someone turned 50 this week!

COOKING

Saturday ham au gratin potatoes and broccolini (Costco)

Sunday lamb curry, naan 

Monday chicken parmesan, broccolini and spaghetti

Tuesday leftover au gratin potatoes and ham

Wednesday corn on the cob

Thursday quiche (need to use up the broccolini and ham) 

Friday steak loaded baked potato (more broccolini)

WATCHING

We finished season 3 of Transplant. John found season 4 on Crave and we finished it.

The Union 2024 Mike, a down-to earth construction worker, is thrust into the world of super spies and secret agents when his high school sweetheart, Roxanne, recruits him on a high-stakes U.S. intelligence mission. Amusing.

Heist 88 (2023) In real life, Moore, who spent 30 years in prison and is now 69, was already a convicted Detroit check counterfeiter when he hatched a plan to wire $70 million from First National Bank of Chicago accounts to bogus bank accounts overseas. He’s been called a financial wizard, but he also benefitted from a relatively unsophisticated system of wire transfers — as well as the help of some low-level bank employees. The money was transferred in just 64 minutes from the Chicago bank on May 13, 1988, to three accounts in two Austrian institutions. 

Here is an interesting story behind the movie.

For John and it was historically interesting that Jeremy finds a glitch in bank wire transfers before they computerized their system. We both worked in banking technology then, and we had automated banking machines (ABMs) and mechanized retail banking services by then. But not many of the backend systems had been converted.

READING

Brotherhood of Blades I didn't care for her style of writing, however it was a good story about English gangs. Now I need to learn how Jason turns out!

The Other Mothers this was a good twisty thriller.

The Killing Song just started.