Cigarettes are up to $18 a pack here. I hadn't bought any since 2015.
Because of the Wheelchair Mafia in this building, (it was built with several adapted suites for gimps) without notice, two weeks ago Health Services "deemed" the building a Congregate Care Facility. Even though we meet NONE of the criteria. No shared dining, laundry, etc. It's a normal condo except a few people with disability's have Health Services support workers that provide them care. At the Seniors Home down the block, they have none of the bullshit we do now.
Being a Congregate Care Facility means no "non-essential" visitors, and only one door in the lobby that's not locked, with a masked Health Services Gestapo member who decides whether and for how long you may leave. From 09:00 to 21:00. After 21:00 the bastards go home, at least the door Nazis do. So far.
About the time our building became Poland, I realized I was running low on DIY materials. I didn't panic, I thought I'd just buy enough juice at the vape shop until I could put in an order. Unt zen, zey came! GimpKrieg!
Very troubling, but not the end of the world, I'm a fairly resourceful sort. I have a sufficient amount of line, my old harness, 'biners and figure 8 descender, I figure a fast 4 bounce absail off the balcony, at about 20:30 on Friday when the Vape shop is open until 21:00, gives me 30 min to get there, get my juice, and Col. Klink et all will be gone before I return. I check my gear, and other than the harness having mysteriously shrunk some in the years since I last used it, and the absence of my ascenders that I lent to somebody or other... all was in order. Even my super cool black triple palmed rappelling gloves! I was even looking forward to it. Vive la Resistance! My roomates mistakenly thought I was humming the theme from Mission Impossible. What imaginations they have.
Then they got all freaked out, when I asked them to pull the rope up, after I disconnected at the bottom, and told them that I'd gather it up off the balcony on my return. Not like its heavy. You would think I had asked them to smuggle bibles into North Korea. Inside their bu..ags. Very negative. So I said the alternative, was to leave it hanging there, leading right to the balcony. That worked. I never told them I could just have doubled the rope, and pulled it down at the bottom. Who wants to go walking down the street with a coil of rope? It's bad enough trying to saunter along looking casual, in a long coat with the harness strangling your groin. Part of the solution? They were not.
The plan, as they say, was coming together. A super yelly guy used to scream at us, Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail ladies! It was not uncommon that sometimes his spit would hit your face when he got real loud and shrill. I wonder how he's taking this whole social distancing thing? Anyway, he did make an impression. Which is why I double checked everything. Due diligence you know. Including the vape shop hours.
You can probably see where this is headed. The vape shop was now closed except for mail order. There were some very bad words. I was running out of options. I *like* options. Still, panic never once has helped me. Not my panic anyhow. I realize there is just enough time even with postal delays, that if I implement a juice conservation program, I can hold out until a DIY order arrives. With no time to lose Operation Cloud Bro is abandoned, and I spark up the puter.
Due to what people on this thread have posted about DIY-EJUICE I figured I give them a go. And they are on my side of the country. Through the hoops up the ladders down the snakes, and I register an account there. Only to not see nic. Fuck! What the hell is up with that? Fuck PayPal. I don't have time for this crap. So I log on to my usual vendor. I make an order. And I select the 4 day shipping option, because I know it will be longer. It wasn't cheap. For a cheap bastard like me, it hurt. At least though, it is now taken care of. That was the 14th. Long story short, after watching the tracking for 3 days with no movement, I notice that my tracking is for Expedited Parcel. Not the Ultra Express I paid for.
I send another email, and received bafflegab about how the postal service is running slow, until he ran out of excuses, and admitted that no, Canada Post was not fibbing about Expedited Parcel. There had been an error. And the excess amount I paid for Ultra Express or whatever would be translated into a store credit. How fucking magnanimous of him. Its a week later. My stuff has just left Mississauga. Fucking Yea! It will be another week before it arrives. And oh joy. I have a credit at a store I'll burn down before I ever order from again. I'm on my last tank now. Broke Vaper? Yes. If I ever get my hands on you Dan.
