Bowling

A fitful night's sleep from the heat despite the ceiling fan, and just before waking, a dream in which Sleepy and Crisp-e were doing stand-up in Guildford, but I couldn't get a ticket. Frustration.

We went to the downtown eastside of Vancouver to visit St. James's church. We found it and parked easily enough, but it was closed. A man was sleeping at the top of the few steps that led up to the front doors. On each of the doors across the front of the church was a sign asking those who sit or sleep on the church steps not to urinate, defecate or fix drugs. Seemed reasonable. We walked all around the church but none of the ways in were open. This also seemed reasonable in some ways, the ways that count.

We went to Granville Island, and first to Kids' World. Behind the building was a pond with ducks and geese and a wooden pirate ship. Just behind the prow was a hold, a four-sided box that went from the deck to the ground. Most children could climb out of the portholes below the deck, but a stocky child was stuck.
Standing, his head and shoulders were out of the hold, but he couldn't wriggle out of the portholes and he couldn't pull himself up and out of the hold. He was getting distressed.
I tried pulling him out, but he fell back. His nanna came over and looked down into the hold.
'He's too heavy,' she said.
I told him to brace his back against one side of the box and walk his feet up the opposite side, holding my hands, so that I would counterbalance his weight with mine.
He was worried about getting mud on the side of the box where other children might want to play. In the circumstances I told him not to worry.
This worked, and the boy was pulled out.
'You must be very strong,' said the nanna in a matter-of-fact voice, 'he is very heavy.' But she thanked me, and so did the kid.

Canadian drinking establishments have offended two of my children in the past two days.
Yesterday, in Steveston, Austen, Laurence and Kevin went into a pub with Teddy. They ordered drinks. Because Austen was driving, he had a soft drink, but the others had beer. Then, Austen was told to sit in the family area with Teddy. Laurence and Kevin however, were told they couldn't sit in the family area because they had drinks. No-one could explain this bizarre behaviour from the pub. Austen pointed out that it would be quite acceptable for him to be drinking in the middle of the afternoon with his son, but at that pub, he would have to have been separated either from his beer, or from his son.

This evening, Alex introduced me to Value Village. She had bought 'vintage' clothes from shops in Camden that had 'Value Village' labels on them. An item from VV priced at $5 was sold for £15.
I liked the idea that all these items were being recycled, even that there was some market for them overseas, I just didn't want to do the recycling myself.
When we got to the checkout, Alex had forgotten her purse. Hmmmm. So I had to pay.

On the way back home, we got a phone call telling us to go to Silver City - the cinema behind which is a diner, a restaurant and a bowling complex. We were to meet the others, all but Kevin, who was feeling unwell, there.
We waited and waited, but the others didn't appear, so I suggested to Alex that we went into the diner for a drink and sat on the patio.
Gung-ho. Until the manager asked to see her ID, which....she didn't have because she had left her purse at home. The manager said we could sit in the family area but that she would have to have a soft drink, although I could drink if I wished.
Alex was NOT amused.


When the others arrived, we zapped home and got her ID and then we were honour bound to go in and buy drinks while Austen, Sue, Laurence and the kids went to bowl.
A double Cosmopolitan seemed to end the annoyance though and the manager took it all with good humour.
I don't suppose he really wanted to turn our money down.