Work Hard, Play Hard.

The office is empty. I'm the only one here. I have no assigned projects at this time.
Singing along with Ol' Blue Eyes (Frank).
Checking my emails. Surfin' the 'net.
Life isn't so bad, I think.

Then I remember, school. Why am I at U of T? Why do the professors enjoy punishing us?
Finals are fast around the corner and I have my work cut out for me.

So, as I go over my macro econ. lecture notes I am thinking: Perhaps, getting paid (not much) for "working" (aka. being an office fixture while "studying") - isn't such a bad thing. After all, it could be worse. I could still be in retail. Sorry, Indigo!

Aside:
When the prof is writing all those numbers and letters down, does anyone follow the calculations? -- I find that I cannot even scrawl her formulas and deductions down fast enough, let alone process the information in the meantime. Perhaps, I should have gone to York instead. Haha... death first! Sorry, York. I'm kidding, I'm not really sorry. That's right, I went there. Mwa ha ha!

Rail Rage:

Miserable commute this morning.

It started with people blocking the escalator. "Walk left, Stand right", there are signs people!!!
It makes me want to push them down... Or up, depending on which way the machine is moving. I was going down - so it would have been fun to watch the domino effect.

Delays on the escalator were followed by some idiot blocking the "entrance".
If you don't have your metropass or token out, then step aside, Jack. Arrive prepared. What the hell were you doing while you were standing on the left-side of the escalator anyways? Picking your nose?

Rush hour, crammed, stinky, hot subway car.
If that's not bad enough, you have inconsiderate people who still act like they have all the room in the world.
There was a girl leaning up against the pole. Who does she think she is? Other people also need use of the pole - ie. To hold on for dear life when the crazy amateur driver slams the brakes at every stop sending passengers flying.
Damn girl, I wanted to smash her little head against the pole. Seriously. I really saw red when her giant backpack kept knocking into me. Take it off! She was so rude. Even now, I would feel good if I had the opportunity to smash her face.
Violent, yes. Disturbing, yes. Satisfying, YES!

And then, as if that wasn't enough, when I was trying to get off the subway at my stop, people were blocking the doorway.
Not only were there people blocking the entrance of the doorway (you won't lose your spot, just step out for a moment and let people off!) but there were also people rushing the doors to get on.
Haven't they learned the rules yet? Let people off first, then get on!

So to all you TTC users:
1. Walk left, stand right [Also, if you are walking left, don't take a "break" from walking when you reach the end - tempting as that is, you just end up causing a jam behind you, so move it or I busta your face!]
2. Have your metropass/token/money ready - or else move aside!
3. Remove any giant bags from your body before you enter the subway (or bus).
4. Do not rush the doors when people are trying to get out (rushing the door at other times is perfectly acceptable.)
5. If you're standing by the doors, move out of the way when people need to exit.
6. Do not monopolize any of the poles. There are little people (such as ME!) who cannot reach the top rail and need to use anything we can access.
7. Also, do not bring stinky foods, or your stinky body into these crammed spaces. Albeit, some people get stinky after working all day and don't have showering facilities at their workplace - but other than those few, NO B.O. Makes me want to puke.

Of course none of my friends are like the aforementioned people because, like me, they are all fabulous!
Right?!

Pigeons.

Where did they come from? How did they end up in our city? Setting up home on the ledges of our lecture buildings?

Sherman provided the answer:

Once there was a beautiful dove who lived in the country. She decided to seek fortune and fame in the big city. So, she flew to Toronto to make a home ... and married a rat, and had a litter of rats-with-wings (aka. pigeons). And the rest, as they say, is history.

Now, these pigeons terrorize me wherever I step. They never seem to move out of my way, those obstinate creatures. They bob their heads in a very creepy manner. And their "coo"-ing is absolutely repulsive. Although I have many pigeon stories, one of the most disgusting things I have seen them do is devour street meat. Made me think twice about what was in my hot dog.
And really, when you're eating a hot dog, you shouldn't think about what is in it, if you want to enjoy it.