Hot Dogs and Drive-bys

The problem with work is the bloody hours. Having to get up to go to work at 7:30am is, without a doubt, the doing of old people.

I've had more coffee over the last few days than I've had in the previous two months. My preceptor even noticed me almost falling asleep WHILE he was talking to me. Guess I just don't like sitting and listening for 30 minutes nodding my head and saying words like "uh huh" and "yep".

Hospital pharmacy seems more interesting than retail pharmacy since you interact with different types of people and since health care professionals in the hospital just seem to care more.

On Friday, Dr. Phil, an associate of mine, and I ventured out to experience Calgary's nightlife. We walked around the downtown area to see what's happening.

Stephen Ave is populated by the after-business types who go to the bar after a hard day of work. Not surprisingly, we found only one bar on this avenue that lacked an air of pretentiousness, and where we wouldn't draw looks of disdain from our after-tennis attire.

Next we went to 17 Ave S, known to some as the Red Mile, after the Calgary Flames' 2004 Stanley Cup run, where some teen-aged girls showed their ... um ... wares. We found a cool place called Tubby Dog. Tubby Dog is a retro 60-70s diner that serves good old fashioned hot dogs and some newer concoctions, such as a hot dog with peanut butter and jelly and Captain Crunch. On the weekends, they have DJs playing old school music like Al Green and the Supremes and project obscure cartoons on the wall while you enjoy your dog.


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Saturday, I saw three festivals downtown.

1. The Chinatown Street Festival, which featured Chinese opera that may or may not cause insanity as well as a ping pong ball ejector that hopelessly overwhelmed undercoordinated kids.

2. The Expo Latino, a tasty fusion of Latin cuisine and beats, that unfortunately cost $10 to enter.

3. Shakespeare at the Park, where I caught the last act of Romeo and Juliet.

It should be noted that the Expo Latino and Shakespeare were at war, since they were both located closely in the same park. Sadly, Juliet could not poison herself beside Romeo's still warm body before the machine-gun wielding drive-bys from the loco Latino gangs finished her off.