the perils of high society

The other night I had an interesting evening with my friend Nanc. She was housesitting for someone who owned a 'penthouse' downtown. (When I say penthouse I mean a moderately fancy apartment with over 20 floors and a granite and marble lobby. And a 'concierge'- that is a key fact). Anyway, we biked there and since we had no key-opener thing for the parking garage, brought our bikes in the front lobby. Clearly the logical choice. We were planning on bringing them in the elevator up to the apartment (alright maybe that is slightly abnormal). This is the part where the concierge saw us trying to infiltrate the place and became quite upset- "No bikes in the elevator! I have a loose dog to deal with right now! The tires are going to damage the floors!" And other such great calamities. He opened the garage door for us and made it clear that this extreme problem of ours, not knowing how to get in with our bikes, would be dealt with "on a case by case basis." So we biked into the parking garage, narrowly escaping being crushed by the iron grated gate (not quite, but close- it seemed like that anyway). Found a spot to lock up our bikes amid the bike graveyard (aka a creepy hallway of bike cages). Took the mirrored marbled floor elevator up the the 23rd floor. And drank tea while overlooking the tall office buildings around us. We decided not to close the blinds when we slept cause it looked cool outside. But it became evident in the wee hours that as cities never sleep, neither do the naive country-dwellers who leave the blinds open so the office building lights can shine in all night. Okay, thats a lie. I did sleep. But I did crave darkness, real quiet, real night, as well.

I think the whole thing was just an interesting little evening for me in I learned, or reaffirmed, that I am definitely not a live-in-the-downtown-core in a highride apartment kind of person. I love greenspace, open sky, backyards, quiet streets. Not windows that open 6 inches, dizzyingly carpeted hallways and stacked living, 23 floors at a time.

That was just a little story for you all. It was a fun night. Vancouver and I are becoming quite good friends. Other things to note of late...
I climbed a mountain last week. A real one. Elevation 1441. It was awesome. I love mountains, and now I want to climb some more. That was a stellar day.
Spent a lovely week with Brian. This includes the hike (and some other hikes too). If you don't know who Brian is, you should ask me. He lives in St. John's, Newfoundland. As of Tuesday.

Working the night shift tonight. Hopefully all will be well.

More adjustments to make these next few weeks. Hopefully it all goes well. Must be mindful of many blessings and remember to be a blessing to others.