Day one

Due to exceptionally poor decisions I've made, I was made unwillingly itinerant and was very fortunate that as a Catholic I had help from friends at church. First. R at the moment of urgency, put me up at the Quality Inn Herron for two nights. Then, R through a friend, got a discount for one night at Hilton where Holiday Inn Fairview once was. 

Then I spent a night at Pavilion Jean XXIII, J both brought me there and the next day picked me up. While there I visited with a different R who lives at 4900 Cote St Luc with a glorious view westwards from the ninth floor. I found him through roomies.ca, a site for renting out a room, or renting a room. His room for rent was 1150$ a month. The morning at PJ23 I organized a second roomie visit for that evening at 6612 Wilderton for 850$ a month, but when J picked me up he was upset that I would ditch the effort that he and R had spent all week on getting me into Ricochet.

So I cancel the roomies plan on Wilderton and have J take me to Ricochet even though in my heart I had it solved, S had paid for two nights at Quality Inn Herron, I would take transit to Wilderton, check out the room, most probably agree to it, then return to QIH, work the full next day in peace and move in soon after. 

Once I arrive, I get the place explained to me, get asked various questions about situations I could be in, like alcoholism, drug addiction, disability, etc. To be certain of no bed bugs in my clothes, including what I am wearing, the clothes I brought get put in plastic bags into a heater tent, for 24 hours, so my clothes are hostage while I wear donated clothes. I am compelled to take a quick shower between removal of my clothes and the new ones provided. I am temporarily situated in the chapel room of the building with 22 beds set in 11 bunk beds, most occupied. I'll be here for five nights when a spot in a room becomes available. Others in this room unfortunately will be cast aside as they won't have beds in rooms for everyone as they plan to empty the chapel to put it to a more communal use.

I managed to clock 2.5 hours of work after having taken a little over two hours of lunch break to get from Pavilion Jean XXIII and through the intake process.

I chatted with Jennifer, an intervenant, during the last quarter hour of me working; I had set my laptop on a desk in this chapel room. It isn't ideal as some of the occupants may have been trying to sleep. I mentioned about looking for a place to live and she let me know about a specific wall that had printouts posted. 

I had my first meal, it was a small plate of salad, a scoop of mashed potatoes with a tomato sauce poured over it, and an interesting hard boiled egg encased in some kind of ground meat that was shaped in a ball. A very dry mild garlic toast was also provided. All of the meals are provided for free here, so that is a plus.

After supper I checked out that wall and it was just a bunch of Kijiji postings of studio rentals or room rentals; no different from my own searches.

In an alternate universe I'd have gone to the Quality Inn Herron, visited a room from roomies.ca, have agreed to the terms of 850$ a month, returned to the QIH to watch the hockey in peace, and work tomorrow in peace.

I had a long conversation with my ex wife on the phone, nice that she is checking in on me. She is pretty firm that I need to see a psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker but I don't know that anything is specifically wrong with me. 

Perhaps ten minutes later the game five of first round NHL Canadiens at Lightning was put on the communal TV. The room has three rows of sofas and chairs and I sat in the very back row. My son G decided to call me just before and as the game started, not sure why, but it is nice he thought about me to call me.

For the second period a guy sat next to me, he smelled of cigarette smoke and moved around a lot, wafting the odour in my direction. He was constantly charging his and other mobile devices.

I was about to go to bed after the Canadiens won when I and 15 others were sequestered into the cafeteria due to a 'lockdown' with no explanation other than this word. From 22h10 to 22h23 no clue, but then we see a pair of paramedics and a rolling stretcher pass through the hallway that has two openings to the cafeteria. Looks like we'll be in lockdown until these paramedics leave. It is terrible for whomever is being carried in the stretcher, I will pray for him. Unfortunately it meant that my freedom to have simply gone to bed was removed and only restored at 22h43.