The post you have been waiting for!

I found it!! I know, I know, you've been on the edge of your seat waiting, and wait no more, it's here!

The ladies urinal at The Bay Downtown, Winnipeg

There it is folks, the famed photo of the urinal in the ladies room on the second floor of The Bay Downtown, circa 2002. That floor is also pretty freaking fantastic. I kind of regret not ever taking a piddle in it - I guess I just thought it would always be there (although, I bet it is still there, hiding behind the wall....)

Well, I've probably just lost half of my loyal blog followers now that the mystery photo has finally been found, but at least you can leave at peace with the world. Well, when I start a day like this, it can only go downhill from here, might as well go back to bed...

Everything old is new again

Following the vein of little gray bird and her post about promoting Manitoba, I thought I would share this video that I stumbled on today.


I think with a little bit of touching up some creative person could weave the old with the new and create a great video that shows Winnipeg and Manitoba through the decades. I am not that person, so hop to it all you fancy computer literate design savvy types! It made me want to visit Winnipeg in the 50's if nothing else. I love how the part telling us how Manitoba is a fashion hot spot seems to have been filmed in the ladies washrooms on the second floor of The Bay downtown. Yes, the same bathroom that I am convinced is hiding ladies urinals behind a wall. It's been a few months, and with the impending closure for good of The Bay downtown forever, I'd better try one last time to see if someone will open the door for me.

On a completed unrelated note (other than I have linked to something similar before) the person who posted the video above also has a video of John Mann performing at a presumably? Winnipeg house, singing one of my all time favourite Spirit of the West songs. I wish I was cool enough to have been invited to that house party, as it would have rocked my socks off! Maybe when they come to town in March.... (seriously, should this happen get me there, pretty pretty please!)

Since you asked...

The internet fascinates me. I marvel on pretty much a daily basis as to what information is now at our fingertips. Back in the day (you know, like the 80's) Winnipeg was XX years behind in fashion trends because it took that long for the ideas to trickle down to us, now, we can all know what everybody on the other side of the world is wearing *right this minute* with live cams, twitter feeds (I don't personally understand the point of Twitter, but that's another post) and checking out the facebook profiles of everyone we've ever met and their friends. That being said, I hear we're still a little behind in fashion, but I blame winter for that one; you try to be fashion forward and warm at the same time!

So, further to the internet impressing the heck out of me, Blogger is good enough to tell me what countries all of my page views come from, and boy oh boy are they varied!





Those countries are, in no particular order....

UK, Iran, Belgium, Estonia, Australia, Russia, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, Italy, Vietnam, Cayman Islands, Paraguay, Uruguay, Netherlands, Slovenia, Trinidad and Tobago, South Korea, Poland, Brazil, India, Taiwan, Denmark, Turkey, Qatar, Philippines, Ukraine, South Africa, Belarus, Iceland, Sri Lanka, France, Algeria, Macau, Mauritius, United Arab Emirates and Spain.

From these far and away lands most of my visitors have of course ended up on my blog from following a link from one of my fellow Winnipegger's blogs. However, a fair number have used our good friend Google or some other search engine and have hoped to find the answers to questions like:

Where is there a black and white photo booth in Winnipeg?
I think there might be one at the airport, and one at Polo Park. But they may have all switched to colour ones now. I hope not. I thought there used to be a place you could rent an old school one from, but my own Googling skills led me only to here and here, neither of which is what I would be looking for if that's what I had been searching for a black and white photo booth, I'd want it old school. 

hai yo mak slurpee
I had to try Googling this one myself because I thought maybe I was missing out on something. Google just suggested that perhaps I meant "How you make slurpee" which does make a bit more sense.  My answer is don't make it, 7-11 does it best. 

lovemelovemywinnipeg.blogspot.com
This has been searched a few times and it just strokes my ego. Yup, if that's what you put into the search engine, you were looking for ME!! Hi there :)

good place for mpi painting winnipeg
That's a toughie, I mean, if I suggest a place and you go there and it sucks when you go, I'll have a hater. I did take my car to Intercity Auto Body and they were awesome for helping me to not have my car written off in a "marginal" claim. Although, if they haven't already, they need to change their radio ad, it's a bit dated; their jingle claims they are across from MPI, well, MPI moved I think about a year ago.... This one is a North Ender too so it gets points for that.

the bay downtown winnipeg washroom ladies
I have decided that this one is also one for the ego boost category, I'm sure we've all done it - seen something we liked on a website but couldn't remember exactly what site so searched out the term that seems most unique. So either someone was looking for my post about the ladies urinals at The Bay downtown (as that has shown up as a referring link a few times too) or perhaps they have some fetish for public bathrooms in department stores. Hmmm, I suppose that could go either way actually....

rubber chicken winnipeg
I would try Gags Unlimited, Party Stuff and Spencers. Let your fingers do the walking and call first.

winnipeg to meet a girl

slutty winnipeg girls
Now, I have no way of knowing for sure if this was the same person searching, I sure hope not. For slutty Winnipeg girls I would try any of the dance clubs, about half hour before closing, before the lights come up. As for coming to Winnipeg to meet a girl, man, that's a good question. Apparently all the super cool chicks are writing blogs (check the blogroll gents, there's a few of us ladies on there!) so you probably won't run into them in the streets. I'll let you know right after I figure out where exactly to meet a guy, seems logical that they are the same place (of course I think they ended up here because of the Meet Winnipeg Girl this weekend post, mixed with my rant at some point about slutty halloween costumes).

So, these are just a few of the ways people end up on my little blog about Winnipeg. If you're from far and away, don't be shy, send me an email or make a comment on my posts, I'd love to know how you ended up here. Oh, and my fellow Winnipeggers, what are some of the strange things that have drawn people to your posts?

Updates! - because you want to know more

Well, I know you've all been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for this post to finally come along.  First, let me say, would the snow just hurry up and melt?!  I can almost feel spring coming, it's peeking its head out, the city feels lighter, people were out without jackets on the weekend. As much as I know that we don't really need any more precipitation, I'm looking forward to rain to wash the dirt off.  I also have a bunch of outdoor projects I want to get started on, by the time I'm done this summer I'm going to need the folks at Google to send their little Street View car back so they capture a new shot!

So, first update - in my attempt to provide some sort of journalistic integrity to my little blog I have been waiting to pounce on the media for inappropriately labeling crime as having happened in the North End and cite specific examples.  Of course it I haven't managed to catch it since my Geography post, which is probably a case of Uncle Murphy interfering. However, as a glass half-full sort of person, I've decided that the Winnipeg media was just so ashamed of their previous villanization of the North End that they have corrected their ways. Oh, and a shout out to all the criminals for spreading it around a bit as well - multiple stabbings in one day and only one was in my neighbourhood!

I know you've all been dying to know what happened with my roof - well, it seems as though they are going to fix it and they came and shoveled the snow off. I'm also getting the plaster repaired inside, which is particularly long overdue in my house (and that will finally enable me to finish my sunroom off as it will not be missing half a wall as it is now).

What happened with the blue roof from that other house? Glad you asked!  It seems as though By-law enforcement has decided to revisit the issue and maybe, just maybe, it does violate the Neighbourhood Liveability By-law after all. Neat. Who would have guessed? *cheeky eye roll*

Some good news for the Inner City neighbourhoods - City Council decided not to adopt the motion that was made to cut the funding by $500,000.  It is still very interesting that less than 0.1% of the the City budget goes to Housing and I hope that this wasn't Council testing the waters for how the community would react if the funding was to be cut permanently.  Our aging housing stock needs more help not less.  While we're at it, MB Hydro really needs to expand their Lower Income Energy Efficiency Program (LIEEP)to include renters as they are likely the demographic that is hit hardest by high heating bills.  It's not an impossible thing for Hydro to do, it would just require an agreement similar to when landlords get funding for creating/maintaining affordable housing to continue to rent to families that meet the LIEEP criteria (which in disadvantaged neighbourhoods happens pretty much by default anyway).

That's it, that's all I've got folks. I spent most of the weekend pissing around with artfully tiling with mini mosaic tiles so I didn't really see or do any of the fabulous things that Winnipeg may have had to offer up.  I did however, consume 3 of the big clear cup Slurpee's - Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper at the Sev on Henderson at Harbison if anyone is looking for it - to be honest not much different than a regular Dr. Pepper Slurpee (nectar of the gods) Did you start your Spring Cleaning yet?

**Oh, and still looking for my picture of the ladies urinal**

All is quiet on the northern front

I'm a bit torn as to whether I actually believe Murphy's Law exists or not, but to be on the safe side, I'm going to knock on wood before this post, just in case.

As I've mentioned before, I live in the North End - in fact I've just survived celebrated 5 years of living here. I've seen the residents of a few "bad" houses come and go and similar to raespace over at adayinthehood, I always wonder if the new folks that move in will be an improvement or not.  It seems as though some definite movement took place earlier in the week; I never saw a moving truck but the autobins sure did get full.

The house that I've considered to be the worst offender within my line of sight had the tenants seemingly disappear in the middle of the night. I hope they took their dog with them and that's not just because it barked so loud and so often that I called the City to complain - they were awful to that dog (outside all the time on a short leash, well, until the City made them bring it in) and I hope that poor thing hasn't been abandoned inside the house.

I'm really looking forward to spring, the feeling in the air is so full of promise. I'll pick up the garbage that has accumulated on my boulevard, give everything a good sweep and get ready to talk to my neighbours again instead of doing the hurried run from the garage to my front door while trying to ward off frostbite.  There is a duplex going in on a property quite close to mine and I don't even think I'm apprehensive about it. Yes, it will mean more people vying for space in the autobin that I usually use, but it will also mean much needed quality housing for some new people.

As I read more and more of the Winnipeg-related blogs, I continue to have it confirmed for me that we have one heck of a great city to live in, with some fantastically interesting people. The Winnipeg blogging crew seem to generally have far more knowledge and interest in politics than I will ever have so I won't even try to capture all of the same readers that they have, but I hope you will continue to stop by for my version of Winnipeg (even if you all like plain black wheels on your cars, you crazy-practical people!). For all of you who have been patiently waiting for my picture of the ladies urinals at The Bay downtown, I tried to find it earlier tonight (oh yes, I have that kind of excitement in my social calendar) but as it was taken before the digital era I'm having a bit of trouble tracking it down, but fear not, I have not forgotten.

...and remember, help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered

So I think my niche will have to be to provide a lighthearted and quasi-informational view into my version of Winnipeg; my complaint about the house with barking dog reminded me of a fantastic program that is run by the Winnipeg Humane Society. The SNAP program subsidizes the cost of getting your pet spayed or neutered. I think that pet ownership can be a very important part in the quality of life for people and unfortunately there are many folks who have the best intentions to be responsible pet owners when they first get that adorable ball of baby fluff but by the time it comes time to fork out well over $100 to get it fixed... So, if you know of someone who might be hoping that their pet is part of an abstinence pact, and they could perhaps benefit from this program let them know. Sometimes people just feel powerless and since information is power, go on and share a little and help control the pet population.

Have a great weekend!

Paddlewheel at the Bay, Queen of my heart

Big announcement today assuming you are part of the senior set or in your thirties with a bizarre sense of nostalgia.

Paddlewheel Dining Room

They are going to close the Paddlewheel restaurant at the Bay downtown, this makes me more than a little sad. When I was younger my mom worked downtown, in Eaton Place. As a special treat, every now and again she would let me play hooky from school and she would take me downtown and we would have a day on the town. Because of this I have many fond memories of downtown, the giant chess board in the basement of Eaton Place, the magical teeny tiny little bottles of pop that they had in the basement of Eaton's (the whole smell of the basement of Eaton's actually), a stop at Orange Julius or at the Malt Stop in the Bay were for special drinks and lunch could be had at the Paddlewheel. In Jr. High the black and white photo booth in Eaton's basement was always a must-do.

I love The Bay downtown almost as much as I loved Eaton's. How, as you take the escalators up they get skinnier and skinnier and look like antiques by the time you reach the top floor. I wish I could spend some time in all those back rooms and hallways at The Bay - all those windows that you can't see out from the inside must have a view! As the absolute most random thing you will hear all day, did you know that the ladies bathroom on the second floor has ladies urinals??!! Well, I hope they are still there, back when I was a teenager that bathroom when on forever - there was a section of toilets that went all the way to the outside wall, those were the first to get blocked off. Then, it was the middle section that got blocked off - that's where the urinals are. Now I think there are only like 3 stalls left, although the rest of the bathroom is still big enough to play a game of football in.  Being the strange girl that I am I did actually get a photo of the ladies urinals (and may have snuck a guy friend into the ladies room when I was in high school because he didn't believe me, and it was waaaaaaaaay before the days of the instant gratification of digital photos) and I will try to remember to scan it one day so you'll all believe me too.

While I'm going down Bay memory lane, at some point in Jr.High we had some loss prevention officer (or something, who the heck remembers exactly now) come to scare educate us about the evils of theft or overpriced clothing (seriously, just wait a week and it'll be 25% off all --------------) and told us how at The Bay they had secret rooms with two way mirrors where they watched for shoplifters. Now, perhaps not the best thing to tell a bunch of teenagers, but whatever... it didn't encourage me to shoplift but it did become a game to try to find them all.

I haven't been to the downtown Bay store since they added the Zellers, I don't think I'm quite ready to say goodbye to the old Groceteria yet - the memories are too fresh. I hope the Malt Stop is still there.