I got to work just past 08:30. I spent the morning working on website-related tasks. The flash program that I'm currently testing out is great. I'm thinking of purchasing it. I've been creating really nice short movies with it.

Compliance woman (CW) and I went out for lunch. We're getting back to our usual lunch outing every Friday. We headed to that Vietnamese-Thai restaurant close to where our favourite supermarket-food court is. The service was rather slow, but we did order some yummy food, consisting of pad thai, soft shrimp rolls, and beef satay on skewers. CW didn't have any cash with her, so I paid for the whole thing. She'll pay me back once she visits a bank.

So, I spent the rest of the day working on some conference material for the website. I then got this e-mail from the president. He attached a copy of an article written by an American business magazine about the company. Yes, it's the same place that asked me to retake a number of photos last week.

The president said that he "corrected lots of stuff" and to let him know "if [the article] works". The annoying thing about him is that he added his comments in the document, without pointing them out in a different font or colour. Of course, I can tell what sentences he has added to the draft. They are the ones that logically don't flow and stink grammatically.

I probably spent an hour adding my changes and comments to it. I still have a bit more to add and change.

After work, I had to stop at a cash machine to withdraw some money. I then picked up my friend at the hotel, which was roughly at 17:30, and drove to Niagara Falls. He was saying that we'd have "plenty of time" to get there. I told him that traffic can be rather horrific during rush hour. It took us nearly two hours to get there.

It's a good thing that I knew where the casino was. He helped navigate, too, which was helpful. We parked in the underground lot and then grabbed an extremely fast bite to eat at The Famous, which was like an upscale deli with comfortable seats. I had the smoked salmon platter with a side order of fries and gravy. It's funny how I have a thing for fries and gravy again. My friend had Joe's special. It was kind of like a sloppy Joe, except that it was like having scrambled eggs. The service was fast and courteous, which we appreciated.

We walked to the Avalon Ballroom and sat down. I love how comfortable the seats were. We could stretch out nicely.

Jann Arden started her show at precisely 20:30. She didn't have an opening act. Instead, Bob Kemmis swapped guitars out all night. It was nice to see him and he seems to like doing that, too. She opened once again with "Waiting in Canada." After the song, she welcomed us to the "better side of the Falls."

I thought the acoustics were better at this venue than at the hockey arena in Barrie. She was funnier than ever. Three sisters came on stage to give her a framed photo of them. Jann referred to them as "Destiny's Child." She asked them if they had a camera. They didn't. "Are you crazy?!" she exclaimed. Someone backstage had a camera, so that was used to snap the group photo during the concert. When they left to go back to their seats, she told them to bet on red.

It was two hours of heaven, seeing her again with her dark-brownish hair, hearing her talk about seeing Céline Dion in Vegas, asking us to save the $179 cost for a ticket per person.

She asked us to squeeze the thigh of the person sitting nearby and to simply say that we loved that person. "Make sure it's the person with whom you came to the show," she said afterwards. This still puts a smile on my face.

I like how she points out folks who come in late to her show. "We want to make sure you get your money's worth, so we're going to sing 'Waiting in Canada' again for you... briefly." That recap probably lasted a good two seconds.

The vegan in the band, Graham Powell, sang a short number, but his microphone's volume wasn't set up properly, so she politely yelled at her sound guy. It was cute. Anything goes at her show. She made a sign with her hand, indicating that a woman sitting up in the balcony had way too much liquor to boot.

"Sorry for myself" was nicely done. I can identify with the song on so many levels. It touches on the vulnerability in all of us. I do like "Calling God," too. It's uplifting in a calm way.

She ended with "Good mother," as usual. There wasn't a sing-along this time, but there were a lot of cheers during it, which is the most I've heard in quite some time.

She sang two numbers for the encore. She went into the grim details behind "Hanging by a thread," how the part about being tired of looking at her feet came from her mom after they both had visited her brother in prison one day. Jann looked like she was crying towards the end of that song, but she pulled through. Again, it was another standing ovation for her.

The last song she sang that night was "Insensitive." She can sure put on a show. I can confidently say that. This was my eighth show seeing her in my life. I don't think I'll ever grow tired of seeing her sing.

We went downstairs to the newly opened food court to snack on something before heading back. We stopped in Johnny Rockets, a 50's-style restaurant. The woman gave us nickels to use in the mini jukebox that every table had. Too bad none of my songs that I had specified made it to the airwaves. I ordered a root beer float (love them) and apple pie. My friend ordered a vanilla milkshake and a grilled cheese sandwich.

Parking was $10. I was okay with that. The drive from Niagara Falls to St. Catherines was fine. After that, it was messy. Snow was falling hard, the winds were picking up, and there was enough snow on the ground that you literally were making your own lanes. I honked at a guy that decided to drive recklessly along the QEW, but I don't think he gave a damn. We got back into Toronto just before 01:00.

Once I got home, I watched a bit of TV and then turned in.

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Song that's stuck in my head: Jann Arden's "Where no one knows me"
Yummy food eaten today: Smoked salmon platter
What I crave: Diet coke with lime

Recent thoughts:
Readings, lights, and random thoughts - 2009-03-15
Thoughts about work, school, and peeps - 2009-03-09
Working from home and a mini life update - 2008-12-19
The weekend is here! - 2008-01-06
A new year - 2008-01-01