Shop Log: Somebody's Bad Day

Shop's Log.  Halifax NS.  September 23rd, Saturday, 14:23.  Weather: Cloudy, almost foggy, 19℃.

Damn, I feel so inadequate and ill-equipped!  A customer walked in and bought some chocolate truffles.  With a sort of faraway look, she sighed, "I need these.  I'm having a bad day..."  I kept quiet.  Maybe I should have asked what's wrong...but I didn't.  Maybe I was afraid I wouldn't know how to react to what she might say next.  Last time I had been in a similar situation, somebody had told me point-blank, "My wife has cancer." ...and I hadn't known what else to say next except a lame I'm-so-sorry-to-hear-that.  So this time I kept quiet....and that was that.  I tell myself maybe she didn't want to talk about it anyway...  But maybe she did.  Bartenders probably get into this kind of situations a lot.  Should I go on an educational trip and get a drink tonight?

Shop Log: "One Ping Only"

Shop's Log.  Halifax NS.  September 14th, Friday, 15:56.  Weather: Sunny, 21℃.

I was chatting with a customer and found out he was a sonar operator...like, wow!  A real navy person who worked in a real destroyer.  He called the ship a CPF ...which I think stood for Canadian Patrol Frigate...but it was a destroyer.  I only lived this kind of life vicariously...from movies and the Dan Lenson novels (http://us.macmillan.com/series/DanLensonNovels).  Must be exciting.  Well, he said it's not really as thrilling as what we saw in the movies but still it was an interesting job.  He described how they'd sail up the Arctic and track Russian and Norwegian submarines that'd their poke noses into Canadian waters.  I could imagine them screaming: "It's an Akula class this-and-that..."  Cheap thrill for me, I know.... but that's probably the closest I'm going to get to a warship!  he! he!

So what was a navy man doing buying sushi-making tools?  Well, he said the ship's galley food was not something to look forward to...lots of fried stuff.  So he was going to make some sushi while on-shore.  He used to be a chef at a French restaurant in Vancouver, he revealed.  Very interesting career move!

Apple Halifax

About three and a half weeks after its grand opening, I finally made the pilgrimage!

And look what I bought...  So retro, isn't it?  :-)  160GB!

The Fid Burger

Sunday was lunch at Fid Resto.  (http://fidresto.ca/)

I had a burger.  It looks plain in the picture but it tasted wonderful. Didn't need to ask for ketchup and mustard!  You just knew that they had chosen the beef properly...and if I were a gambling man, I'd bet they ground the meat in the kitchen themselves...because that is the only way one can guarantee it's good beef.  

An interesting twist was the popcorn on the salad.  Yuck!  You'd think huh?  But the popcorn was mildly curried and it went tremendously well with the fresh greens.  I kid you not.

Family Breakfast!

Found this photo of a few months ago...  Glad everyone had opted for sunny side up!  Somebody wanted cheese on top though. :-)  

Bon weekend Labour Day everyone!