taking off

there's something unreal about saying goodbye to pg and returning home alone, knowing that we're not going to see each other until 2013.

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yesterday:

i was standing opposite the door on the metro yesterday morning when out of the corner of my eye i caught a flash of a half-recognized symbol on a girl's t-shirt as she entered; by the time i'd registered that i wanted to know what it was she had turned around, and so i watched sideways until she turned enough... and was surprised and amused to see the insignia of the IAF, with original hebrew.

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the morning's surprise was shocking and not pleasant: i booked our tickets ages ago and wasn't really paying much attention when pg said she was leaving on thursday. her father called me on skype to ask when she'd be landing, and when I sent him a copy of the booking i was horrified to learn that we had a day less than we'd planned for :S

i've been working on a website since friday - for which i've constructed a pretty hefty php framework, and by yesterday it was past time to deploy. i punched straight through, eventually making it public in the late afternoon, performing minor tweaks based on feedback that was almost all satisfyingly positive ^_^

i headed downtown to meet pg at eaton center to buy more shirts. when i arrived, i realized that i was in serious danger of passing out: i was weak and feeling delirious. pg remembered the smoothie place that does protein shakes. i'm not sure if the protein or the internal freezing put me right faster, but put me right it most certainly did. a pity the protein was from whey powder :(

on trying on formal shirts in the store: by the time you've stripped off the packaging and unclipped everything, you've invested so much effort that it really would be a shame if the damned thing didn't fit.

we found an amazing game store downstairs, but didn't buy anything as we won't be playing anything together until january; if i do come across other enthusiasts then i'll make a purchase.

we enjoyed a great dinner with my aunt and cousin; he was analyzing the total recall movies so we joined him for the new one, which neither of us had seen.

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well, colour me impressed! i still love the original, but the new one totally takes it on everything from symbolism and plot coherency to gorgeous cyberpunk visions and a wonderfully perpetual sense of motion that may induce vertigo to go with what the protagonist's experiencing.

the best part is they explain everything as they burrow deeper into the abyss.

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i was completely beat when we got gone late last night; pg manned up and did the laundry, i passed out. by the early morning i was feeling much better.

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today:

the sun was shining brightly this morning, but my phone said -5. "it's a trap!", i thought to myself, and dressed warmly. too warmly, because regardless of what yahoo! thinks it was a pleasant morning and i'd stepped out with everything on and closed :(

i spent all morning working with the secretary and the boss to put all the permit stuff together; i think it was a kind of bonding experience. it looks like it'll be ready to hand in tomorrow, and my biggest concern is that although none of the lawyers i spoke to thought it would be an issue, there is the possibility that i won't be able to apply from within canada. it wouldn't make any sense, but the idea is nothing short of terrifying.

i left at lunchtime and caught pg finishing off the packing and fretting ceaselessly. by the time i'd polished off all the leftovers she was ready to go, and we dragged the luggage out and headed downtown.

of course, the bus stop wasn't quite where we'd expected it to be and my phone wasn't engaging with the internet on productive terms, but eventually we came right and caught the (hah!) 747 bus.

it took about an hour to get there. the lack of oxygen was stifling.

self-service check-in is very first-world, and is really very cool. we had a quick and dirty burger king dinner (the salad wasn't actually that bad), and had just enough time to say goodbye before boarding opened.

and then she disappeared through the security door.