Well I’m now 32 years old. That’s pretty damn old .

So for Christmas I ended up getting Kari a Nespresso machine that I knew she had her eye on since our trip to Europe. I bought the frother together with the machine as a combo since I noticed that she also seemed to be a fan of this additional magical contraption.

Normally I don’t wrap gifts, I just toss them in a nice looking bag with some tissue paper. For Christmas though I try to put forth the extra effort, so when it came time to wrap the two boxes I decided to start with the frother since it was way smaller. Half an hour later I had a neatly wrapped frother and enough insight into the wrapping process that I was able to come to the conclusion that there was no way I’d be able to wrap the actual machine since it was so much larger. I decided to hide it away in a closet and present her with just the frother and the book I got her that would hopefully convince her to stop smoking and gauge her reaction and hopefully get a few giggles.

When I presented these two small gifts to Kari I immediately saw the look of sadness in her face. I could actually see the thought “Is there a Nespresso model that small?” pass through her head. She opened the book first and did her best to contain her impending greater sadness. As she started to peel away the wrapping for the frother I immediately darted into the bedroom to get the machine and came back and exclaimed “It’s ok! It’s ok! I got the actual machine too!” so she wouldn’t get the idea that I only got her the frother and still be disappointed. Happiness and relief came over her face and I knew right then and there that I done good .

So as I was making my way to the door to get off a bus the other day I felt my rear pocket and noticed that my wallet wasn’t there. I was seated at the very back of the bus so I ran back there and began staring at my seat and the purse that had been placed on it as soon as I left. As the passengers started staring at me like I was some kind of weirdo the owner of the purse asked me, “What are you looking for?”. “My wallet actually,” was my troubled response. At the point I wasn’t a weirdo anymore and everyone at the back of the bus came together looking around for my wallet. The effort didn’t find it so I quickly made my way off the bus so I could avoid having to talk to anyone about my current predicament.

Instead I sought comfort from my girlfriend and sent her the following text message:

I just lost my wallet.

My mind started racing and I got very tense. Did I lose it on the subway? Was I so focused on the book I was reading (The Lost Symbol By Dan Brown) that someone picked my pocket without me noticing? I was standing with my back to the open subway door at one point during the ride, that would have been the perfect time for a pick pocket. What do I do now? I’ve never lost my wallet before! I still have copies of all my important documents that I made before heading to Peru, those should prove useful. When today did I last remember having my wallet? Hey wait a minute… did I even grab my wallet before I went to work?

I sent Kari a message with this new revelation and then immediately called her as I briskly walked home. I kept her on the line and when I finally made it in to my home and up to my room I immediately saw the familiar black blob that is my wallet on my desk. Immediately relief came over me and I was glad.

The main thing from this ordeal that sticks out in my mind was the reaction from the people at the back of the bus. After first I was some weirdo staring at people and things at the back of the bus and the next, after saying a few choice words, I was some guy that was about to have a terrible evening.

Turns out that once again the city needs to do some construction at Dufferin and St. Clair thanks to the street car track replacement going on on St. Clair that prevents cars from crossing St. Clair on Dufferin. As such my street has been turned in a detour or Highway Norton Ave. I went out yesterday night and luckily left during a window where there were hardly any cars. I peeked outside a few moments ago though the line of cars extended all the way down the street. I need to run to the liqour store today so I’m guessing I’ll be walking instead of driving. Heading to a BBQ later so I’ll probably be walking somewhere where it’ll be easier for my buddy Nick to pick me up. All in the name of progress and improvement right ?

Specifically, my driver’s side mirror. Fate would have it that an Italian win during Euro 2008 doesn’t come without drunkenness and drunkenness doesn’t come without destruction of property, mainly mine. So $235 dollars later I have a shiny new mirror. The nice Portuguese family that lives 2 house over had their car (a VW Jetta) vandalized as well to the tune of $500. The third car that was damaged has an owner that is currently out of the country and probably won’t be too pleased to find this “present”, a missing mirror as it wasn’t lying around anywhere nearby (or dangling on the side of the care like mine was).

In other news Portugal was eliminated from the tournament by Germany today which brings a smile to the face of just about every Italian person I know . Not mine of course, I like to stay neutral .