Throne Speech and Fainting.

So the Lieutant Governor of Ontario, James K. Bartleman gave his Throne Speech today at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. This is a pretty big day for Provincial Politics, as it oulines the government's goals for the upcoming session. As such, there were loads of invited guests in the Chamber today; by far more people than are normally there. Anyway, my job today had me posted at the Member's Gallery West (for the Opposition and NDP's invited guests) and everything was going smoothly for the first couple hours. However, about 75 minutes into the L.G.'s speech, I started to feel nauseous. This was quickly followed by sudden and profuse sweating, particularly my face. All the while I'm wondering what the hell was happening to me. I didn't have much time to think about this, as the speech wrapped up and everyone's attention was then focused on the singer performing O Canada in the Speaker's Gallery directly above my head. Well, naturally this is the time everything started going dark for me, and I knew I was about to pass out. So with over 300 pairs of eyes, and several television cameras cast just metres above my head, I slumped to the floor and had to be taken from my post by a Security Guard to the lobby where I was instructed to drink water and stay put until I felt better.

So the judges are still out on whether I actually fainted or not, but regardless, I managed to create some excitiment on one of the most high profile days in Parliament. Apparently, it is quite common for Ushers and Pages to faint in the Chamber and happens several times each session, due to the heat and all the standing still. I am a bit nervous for the next day I work, as I'd rather not have a repeat of today (although I got to sit, paid no less, for that 10 minutes I was recovering, so that was almost worth it.

In other exciting news at work today, Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara announced his resignation Tuesday evening following an RCMP raid of his family's real estate development company and the revelation that the Liberal politician has been named in a warrant. This should be an interesting session...

Vote for Pedro

I am sick. Pathetically, horribly, unhappily ill. Fever, sinus congestion, cough, the works. I am pretty miserable about this, particularly since I wanted to get lots of work done during the week, so I would be able to enjoy the upcoming long weekend (Thanksgiving) without having to worrry about schoolwork. There is still a flicker of hope that I can persevere between now and Friday afternoon and get the majority of it out of the way.

But I'll stop whining, as the reason I got sick was totally worthwhile... I met Pedro on Saturday night! It was a completely surreal event, he was spinning at The Drink at the Guvernment. You can watch the evite here. Anyway, we spotted him standing pretty much alone in the corner of the room before he went on, so we decided to go over to him and just introduce ourselves. He was incredibly modest and down-to-earth, and even a bit flirtatious. We took a couple photos on Ben's phone but the group shot didn't turn out, although I have a really wicked one of him spinning which I will hopefully figure out how to upload. But the late night ended up taking its toll on my body, and here I am, a congested little mess. At least the weather is still lovely!

Places I've Been

create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

In keeping with everyone else posting this recently, this is my contribution. It is evident that I need to get travelling again soon.