What a funeral! - Part 1

My wife left immediately after lunch on Sunday, giving me a few more minutes with my computer before having to head off for the funeral. I had been asked to be a pall-bearer, so I figured I should be at the funeral home early. Just to make sure, I looked up the address of the home, and noted the phone number. Then, I headed out.

Let me tell you something about Toronto. Unlike every city I've ever lived in, street numbering in Toronto is NOT balanced. That is, you don't see addresses like "123 Noname street" on one side of the road, and "124 Noname street" on the other side of the road. I'm not sure why, exactly, but that's the way it is. So, I set out to find a particular address, and I think I'm getting close. I'm looking for the 2400 block, and as I drive, I see the numbers going by... 1700... 1800.. 1900... finally, I get to 2400... but the number I'm looking for is odd, and this side of the road is even! No problem... I look at the other side of the road and am shocked to see the address is in the 4500 range!

My cushion of 45 minutes (according to the map I saw online, I only lived about five miles from the funeral home) was now down to under 30 minutes. I start going in the opposite direction looking for the home, while simultaneously calling on my cell phone for a cross street. Armed with a cross street, I now know the general location, and I still can't find it! Back and forth I drive, with no clue where the darned funeral home is.

Finally, with less than 10 minutes to the scheduled start time, I locate a small building, almost lost next door to (what appears to be) a large truck yard. Since I was relatively late, my position in the funeral procession was rather far back (first car in the third row), which concerned me because I was supposed to be a pall-bearer. In Windsor, where I'm used to going to funerals, the pall-bearers are positioned at the head of the procession (immediately behind the hearse and family vehicles), so the pall-bearers arrive early to the cemetery. Here in Toronto, it's first come, first served.