Another tough day on Toronto transit

This day ended up being quite different than I expected.  I had thought we would stop by the Christmas windows and go into the Eaton Centre and probably check out the Turner exhibit at the AGO.  However, pretty much the entire family but me is either recovering from a cold or getting the sniffles.  I am running myself into the ground, but it doesn't look like I am actually catching a cold, so maybe keeping my distance a bit is for the best.  At any rate, I left them home and ran off to take care of a number of things.

I actually had a huge stack of books to drop off at the library.  I heard back from the person selling the skates on Kijiji and he wanted to meet at 5:30.  That meant I rearranged everything and would do that last, not first.  It probably worked out ok that way, except on the transit side of the equation.

I stayed on the train to Bathurst and went to Fabricland.  I was really only trying to get a few things to attempt to make a stuffed apple (something my daughter wants to "play school") but I just could not resist the amazing fabrics at unbelievable prices -- most of it was $3/meter for holiday themed flannels.  I bought enough to make another 2 pairs of pajamas (well, the pants at least which are much simpler than the tops).  I do have a bad tendency to get a bit manic at times, and I ended up getting material to attempt a holiday quilt.  Anyway, this is definitely the weekend that I need to actually get cracking and start tackling these various sewing projects, so no more clandestine fabric purchases until I actually start making something with what I already have!

Then I went to St. Andrew station and wandered through the PATH.  Wow, it is kind of eerie when it is deserted.  I think I saw a total of 10 other people, including a couple of maintenance guys who were polishing the floors!  However, Indigo was open and I was able to exchange a book that had inadvertently been purchased twice.  So I think I am about halfway done with buying Christmas gifts.  I think I know what the other things are, and if I put in the order today, all should show up in time.

I swung by work for a bit.  I was kind of tempted to go to the AGO to see if the crowds had died down at the Turner exhibit but decided I just didn't really have the time today.  I think I'll try to go next week either Wed. or Fri. (during the new extended hours).  It's looking like I will take the family on Jan. 3 in the morning.

So at 4:30 I set off to meet the Kijiji seller.  He wanted to meet at Bayview, which is the second stop on the Sheppard stubway.  It's pretty far, but a fairly direct shot up Yonge on the subway and then a transfer at Sheppard.  At least that was the plan...

I get on the subway to go south around the loop and we sit for a long time at Union.  Finally, they say that there is a medical emergency at College.  Then they break in and say it is a medical emergency on the tracks, so either someone fell or was pushed or most likely jumped in front of a train.  After a lot of conferring, they shut down the line completely from Bloor to Union and the train we were on went back up the University side, which meant cutting across from St. George back to Bloor and then finally north.  What an unbelievable hassle.  I've spent some time looking, and there are no reports on what actually happened, though I suppose it was not a fatality or it would have made the news (despite TTC generally wanted to downplay suicides to prevent copy cat incidents).  It took a full hour to clear and get the trains back on something approaching their normal run times.  So this was definitely a serious incident.

Despite this disruption, I was only about 5 minutes late getting to Bayview, but unfortunately the seller hadn't been very clear on where to meet, and it took me a while to find him.  However, I left with the skates and a helmet.  It even has a face mask (for a goalie) but I think that can be removed.  I'll try to check with the instructors ahead of time.  It looks like we might be able to test them out tomorrow at Withrow Park, though the other option is Greenwood Park (or for that matter Ryerson has a small rink right next to its Image Centre).  All of these are free.  I hope this is something my daughter likes.  If she gets really into it, I might have to get my own skates, though I have to say it isn't something I am particularly good at or looking forward to.

Anyway, I was pretty drained when I finally got home (the train ride back was packed and I had to stand most of the way).  I did appreciate that I managed to get the outdoor lights up and working

I had a few good intentions for the rest of the evening, but mostly I just took a nap.  I need to save some energy for tomorrow when we should be decorating the indoor tree, though I'll mostly let the kids handle that.  As I said, I do want to do at least a bit of sewing, and I might take my daughter over to the skating rink just to see how long it actually takes us, so we don't cut it too close once her skating lessons actually start.