Something in the Air!

There must be something in the air today. Some whiff of something that came blasting down into St. John's with the arctic air today. It's gotta be blowing about 150 kmh out there and every so often a big blast comes and shakes the house. Some whiff of something in the air, that as soon as I found out that Dana had dropped 4200, I made the decision to drop one of my distance classes and pick up another evening class. Actually, I'm pleased about my decision. Now I only have 4 MSTM left to finish my degree and I can do those anywhere! If I could scrape up the cash, I could do another 3 this spring and finish next winter.    And Cold! Holy Jeez, I just about froze getting the car started today. H and I went to the movies last night (Last Holiday for her, Underworld: Evolution for me), and the Jeep was so cold when we came out that I had to wear the huge mitts that her parents gave me for Christmas so I could hold the steering wheel.    Looking out my living room window, I can see the jeep rocking in the driveway, and out the kitchen window, (if Rupert isn't blocking my view) I can see the trees in the neighbour's backyard bending.    Whenever it snows hard, I lose my view of the oil tanks and houses on the east side of the harbour. St. John's town council really must have been having a wiggy day, when they approved that tank farm. Now I hear, thanks to Dreae's blog, they are planning to allow some Yank developer to expand the Battery hotel into some huge condo/hotel/eyesore that will block most of St. John's view of Signal Hill. I suppose for most residents, Signal Hill is a forest/trees sort of thing, they don't really notice it anymore. But for me, transplanted mainlander, I always get a thrill when I see it. The Battery is just so rugged and majestic, and so Newfoundland.    Dave and I went to the MI, last week to see about some upgrading, and when we left (and after we'd taken our useless [and incredibly expensive - if you happen to lose one, or leave it in Ontario] cable boxes back to Rogers), we went looking for a place to eat. He suggested Scampers, but I groaned and said, "No more Newfie food" at which he laughed and suggested that the bloom was off the rose of Newfoundland for me.  But it's not, I really like it here, I feel like it could be my city, or that I could make it my city and then sometimes I can't wait to leave, or at least make up my mind what to do.    H and I went for a walk on Friday, before the arctic weather arrived and walked way the hell and gone down Circular road and down Forest Road, ending up at the far end of Empire Ave down around the Hometel. Really some spectacular houses and colour schemes. St. John's is such a mélange of styles, from the Edwardian to Queen Anne to Georgian and then to the rowhousing of Rabbittown. If I had $500, 000 I could buy a house on Forest road, only a 5 minute walk from the $60,000 houses of Rabbittown. I guess it must be the Ontarian in me, but I can't see plonking down $200,000 on a rowhouse or duplex. Dana laughed when I told her this, and she said it was the Newfie in her that said, "only one side, excellent!"