Surviving The Fall, 30

My toilet is now working again, Gentle Reader. At 9:30 yesterday morning I threw in the plunger and called one of the management staff. While I was out for a walk, grocery shopping, and a language exchange visit with a new friend from Mexico, somewhere during that time frame, he fixed it. I did run into him on the street just outside the building. He confirmed everything and no, he wasn't too grossed out, and fortunately all the mess had already been cleaned up before he arrived. There are few things so humanizing as a malfunctioning toilet. It really reminds us of what we are, eh?...........Today is Nothing Day. I am waiting for my clothes to get washed, and in just a few short moments I will go downstairs to throw them in the dryer, then have some breakfast and try to read what's left of the last couple of Weekend Globe and Mails. Then likely I'll do a long walk through the rich neighbourhoods and end in the coffee shop at the end of the road where I'll spend time developing a new drawing. This could take up to two hours or so, then I'll walk back most of the way as far as the Food Dollarama, also known as No Frills on Fourth Avenue near the Granville Bridge, but I think I already bought what I need yesterday. I am running low on broccoli. There is always broccoli, a vegetable I eat almost daily, for the iron content (being vegetarian) and because I like it and often crave it, likely for the iron content....Time to check the laundry....I just threw my clothes in the dryer. I also checked the filtres in the other two dryers (even though I'm not using them) and they are clean. I used to let myself get super annoyed when the previous person would for some reason not clean out the lint filtre. It isn't hard and it's very fast. But people forget, or they don't care, or they are simply too out of it with their mental health concerns or they're having a bad day, so it's not going to get done. Then I started expressing appreciation to God every time I found a clean dryer filtre, giving me less cause for stress. So, I've taken things a step farther, by simply cleaning out all the lint filtres when I'm down there. If it makes their day a bit easier, for my fellow tenants, then why not? It's an easy way of spreading kindness, and I really don't want to be recognized or thanked. It is such a small thing. There are still lots of things I get annoyed about. My neighbour across the hall, for example, whom I suspect to be a drug user. The construction noise outside. Noisy street people in the alley outside. Noisy garbage and delivery trucks, especially at 6 in the morning or 9 at night. A lot of my frustrations come from noise pollution and there is a lot of it, and, no, I don't think I'm simply getting older and more irritable, though that's also inevitable. It is worse than ever and this is impacting people's mental health. I carry earplugs everywhere, my orange little friends, and I always use them for sleeping. Even though things are usually quiet at night there are still surprises and if it's a light sleep night then so much the worse. It really isn't such a bad existence these days. I sometimes wish I had more time with friends, but this is from having no family and I am determined to not expect others to fill that void in my life but to extract as much goodness and benefit as possible. But I still wish that some of my friends would understand this and, maybe, try just a little bit harder. My eggs are boiling...........I've had breakfast, the usual, two boiled eggs, two toasted homemade whole whet with natural peanut butter and apricot jam and probably more cheddar on the side than is good for me today. My clothes are dry and all put away. I shall read a bit, draw a bit, then head out. It's not such a bad life, really. today I am feeling more isolated than usual but that usually means that I really need time alone in order to process my own stuff, and just rest from the emotional needs and demands of others. Happy Saturday, Gentle Reader.