This is what summer is about: nowhere to go and all the time in the world to get there. Nothing beats cruising through the city with a friend and his iPod in an air-conditioned, manual Jetta.

Spent the weekend house sitting for my boss (on a trip to watch his daughter perform in New York) with Trolley, Nick, and two Eric’s. We spent most of the weekend hanging out, playing some Gamecube, watching movies on the 100″ projection screen, and making runs to Timmy Ho’s.

My boss and his family has three dogs, two cats, a few turtles, and some guinea pigs. One of the dogs, named Spike, is a tiny terrier but is like a little lightning bolt. He’s still a pup, but won’t be getting any bigger than he already is.

The two cats, Boots and Puffy, are well behaved and friendly.

I got the chance to hang out with Eric, the one who’s not Trolley’s brother. He can appreciate a glass of Appleton Estate as much as a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, as much as a well designed computer game. And I mean really appreciate, as a person who almost completely understands what he likes, instead of the superficial tastes that so many have nowadays. I can light up with him, talk to him on an unbelievable number of levels, play games with him, or just hang out. He rarely speaks, but when he does his speech has weight, it has meaning with so much insight. I hope to hang out with him some more if he doesn’t go back home to Toronto. There should be more Eric’s in the world.

On Saturday we ended up at the Highlander Pub, apparently the only place in the city to get good haggis, as a belated birthday celebration for Aaron. We convinced the manager, a black man in a kilt with a brow bar, to give us three tables. We took part in the homeland toast, in which the waitresses hand out free shots of scotch every day at nine and everyone drinks to the ring of a bell.

Trolley, Nick, and Aaron participated in some speed drinking competitions. None of us are heavy drinkers; rather, we’re on the heavy side of casual drinkers, so being able to down a mug as quickly as this was worthy of a OMGDIDYOUSEETHATWHERESMYPROPS?!?