tools

It's the first day of June. The weather has changed from rainy and cold to very hot and humid. There's no spring in Toronto; the weather goes directly from cold to hot.

container

A "container" is one of those big metal boxes that you put on a flatbed truck or a railroad car.

They are also used to store stuff or dispose of garbage.

You can rent this one.

strip mall

A 'strip mall' is a row of stores or businesses with parking in front.

A normal 'shopping mall' has a roof so that you walk around indoors. The rent for shopping malls is higher than strip malls, so strip malls normally have small businesses that can't afford the rent for a shopping mall.

BOBCAT

'Bobcat' is slang for a small construction vehicle.

MAILBOXES

Mailboxes (and everything in Canada) are labelled in English and French.

Victoria Day

Monday was Victoria Day, named after Queen Victoria.

The third Monday in May is the unofficial beginning of summer in Canada.

It is the day when the landlords turn off the heat in buildings and turn on the air-conditioning (if they have it).

But it is freezing cold and rainy now. It is thundering now.

We don't have spring in Toronto. We go directly from winter to summer.

BRUSH

"brush" is a slang word for garbage pieces of wood or trees or bushes or shrubs.

People clear brush from land.

veggies

"veggies" is slang for vegetables.

I am eating cherry tomatoes, celery, cucumber, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower today - and chicken.

skid

A 'skid' is a wooden platform. You load stuff on it. Then usually a forklift truck moves the skid and the stuff.

COLA-UP

I bought this weird thing today: it's jellied cola in a can.

jack / skyjack

"Jack" is a person's name in English.

It is also a name for a tool to lift cars or other objects.

"Skyjack" is new slang for this machine.

S.U.V.

S.U.V. is an acronym for "Sports Utility Vehicle". This is like a giant car for stupid rich people to show off their money.

One brand of S.U.V. is the "Hummer". It is a copy of the Hummer used by the U.S. Army in the Middle East. The Hummer is a big armored jeep.

"Jeep" is an expression based on the acronym "G.P.", which means "General Purpose" vehicle. The word "jeep" (G.P.) also comes from the U.S. Army.

Cinco de Mayo

"Cinco de Mayo" is Spanish for "May 5".

That is the Mexican Independence Day.

It is unknown in Canada, but it is well-known in the U.S., where there are a lot of Mexican immigrants.

4C

This morning it is 4 degrees Celsius/Centigrade.

That's too cold.

It was a rainy day Sunday ...

... but that's ok because the stores are not crowded :)

Saturday was a nice sunny day.

weird building

April 27

It's cool and damp, but I went for a walk today.

It is raining cats and dogs

meaning: it is raining very hard.

This expression comes from Old England when houses had thatched roofs (made of grass).
The dogs and cats used to sleep on the roof, and when it rained, they would slide down onto the ground.

anchor

An 'anchor' is the heavy piece of metal that a ship lowers on a rope to stay in one spot.

It's also slang for something that is heavy and useless, for example: my PC is a boat anchor. (It doesn't work.)

It can also be slang for something that holds you still in a storm, for example: my music is my anchor.