Well, on Saturday it was a month since moving day. I think I've done pretty well in that time. I may not have any of my pictures/artwork hung up on the walls yet, but I have the rest of the main floor unpacked, ditto the second floor. And, after three intensive days of work (and some really livid, massive new bruises), I have almost all of the loft done. There is one large bookcase to wash down, and only 11 liquor store boxes of books left to unpack. That, considering it was hard to navigate one's way across the room up there for boxes just 4 days ago, is a huge improvement!
The yard is looking sad, though. Clueless and Hellspawn obviously had a dog, there are huge patches of dead lawn everywhere, as well as a big square patch where the doghouse stood. I'm thinking that maybe next summer I'll do some xeroscaping out there - you don't have to mow rocks. My boyfriend has loaned me an old weed-whacker, as the grass I'll have to cut encompasses such a small area. He's also loaned me a really terrific pair of garden clippers, for the hedge. Now, I wouldn't have the first idea of what I'm supposed to trim on the hedge. I prefer the wild-foliage-impenetrable-thorn-thicket look, anyway. I do have my statue of St. Francis of Assissi in the yard, along with my wind whirlies and suncatchers; the yard kind of looks like a shabby old rubbie dressed in clown clothes. Oh well, that's my style, I like it.
Today I plan to have lunch with two of my book-packing girlfriends. They're coming over here first so I can show off my little house, then we'll hit somewhere nice for lunch. NOT the Asian Village because as my best friend says, "I eat Indian all the time". Of course, she is Indian. Maybe we'll go to Hoang Long, or perhaps one of the places in The Mall.
There is supposed to be a contractor coming by this afternoon after 4 to measure for my two interior doors. I opted to go with Rona installations, they are, after all, a Canadian company (Home Depot is not Canuckistani). There's a $45.00 fee for the site measuring, said amount being deducted from the final total if you contract with Rona to do the job. Nice deal, if you ask me. As soon as I have the bedroom doors installed, I will be ready for houseguests. Hear that, my Usanian and otherly-located friends?
Time to go and run the Hoover over the carpets - company's coming!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Oh, You Gotta Have Friends........
Long time since my last entry, I notice. That's because I was packing and moving and unpacking. Much, much packing and unpacking. So, for those of you waiting with bated breath for the next installment of my thrilling moving saga, I will proceed - and try to keep it from turning into a narrative the size of "Battlefield Earth".
Packing up one's belongings after 13 years in one location is a huge job! You just don't realize how much you've accumulated until the time comes to get it all consolidated into boxes. I did purge, with a vengeance - I must have sent 25-30 boxes to Goodwill, as well as two trunkloads of stuff to the Eco-station. The hopelessly unusable stuff? Contractor's garbage bags, of course.
What with my eye surgery (went just fine, thanks!) and work, I kind of ran out of time to pack. Actually, by the last day before the move, I'd also run out of boxes and paper for packing, too. The last bits of the kitchen were packed in baskets from my extensive collection, padded with leftover gift wrap. Honest!
My incredibly helpful niece took time from her very busy uni-student-cum -student-teacher life and helped me pack up all the collectible tins and other decorative junk from the tops of the kitchen cupboards, as well as all of the non-perishable foodstuffs in both pantry areas. Then the Monday before the movers were due, three of my lovely friends from work came over and helped me pack the books. All 3000+ of them. When that was done, they moved on to the linen closet. The next day, one of the three, my very best friend, came by again, and between us we got the kitchen all packed up. That would be when we ran out of packing materials and had to get creative.
**Aside: my best friend should go into business as a professional packer. She managed to get a lot more into boxes than I would have, and not a thing ended up cracked or chipped or broken.**
So, finally it was moving day. The company I'd hired, Mini-Move, had planned on 4 men + 2 trucks - but they stopped to pick up a fifth man on the way to my old apartment. Good thing they did, even with 5 of them it still took about 4.5 hours to unload the trucks at my new house. No casualties, no damage except one castor from the bed frame was misplaced - I found it after I'd replaced all 4, but no biggie, I now have a spare set. Excellent work by a team of very nice gentlemen who were sweet enough to laugh at my jokes. The cookies I'd laid in for them were a big hit, too. Cost me a fair bit, but well worth it when you consider the books and bookcases had to go all the way up to the loft.
While the movers were loading up the trucks, my boyfriend went over to the new house. He was convinced he smelled natural gas in there. He was right. Atco came out and discovered that the furnace had a leaking gas valve, and they turned off the gas. It was nowhere near warm enough to live without heat, so we got Pro Plumbing out again - and close to $500.00 later, it was fixed.
The unpacking process was a bit hampered by the onset of cellulitis in my poor, split fingertips. One finger was well into a whacking good infection by the time I admitted that antibiotics were needed. This is where working in a hospital helps - I made a call to the nurse in charge in ER, she saved me a spot, and I was in & out in about 35 minutes, with a scrip for Keflex and stern instructions from the physician to wear cotton gloves for manual work. Wearing them really helped my hands to heal while enabling me to keep up with the unpacking.
I had a bit of an epiphany when I went to clean the old place - I had thought myself a genius for installing electronic mouse-repellers in every electrical outlet, and congratulated myself on creating a rodent-free zone in an otherwise infested building. Not so - the mice had merely gotten used to the electronic noise and got smarter, they stayed behind the bookcases and other heavy bits of furniture. After everything was moved out, the extent of the rodent infestation was appalling. I made an executive decision to kiss my $300.00 damage deposit (paid back in 1994) goodbye, told the shrew caretaker that I would not be cleaning, and then reported the mouse problem to Capital Health's Environmental Concerns department. I strongly suspect the mouse urine coating a lot of my belongings (and don't worry, I threw out the non-cleanable of those) was what caused such a nasty tissue inflammation in my fingers. Actually, telling the peroxided witch to blow me and clean the place herself was quite liberating!
My wallpaper stripping buddy helped me with IKEA furniture assembly - and the nice people from Sleep Country delivered my new queen-sized bed this past weekend. The living room is now almost box-free, the second floor is as complete as it can be without doors on the bedrooms, and the loft............waits. It's still a mass (mess?) of bookcases, stacked shelves for said bookcases, and boxes of books. That's a job that will have to be tackled in pieces, I think. Later this month or early next month I'll paint the kitchen base cabinets, then take the detached cupboard doors out to the patio and paint them, too.
It's GOOD to be home!
Packing up one's belongings after 13 years in one location is a huge job! You just don't realize how much you've accumulated until the time comes to get it all consolidated into boxes. I did purge, with a vengeance - I must have sent 25-30 boxes to Goodwill, as well as two trunkloads of stuff to the Eco-station. The hopelessly unusable stuff? Contractor's garbage bags, of course.
What with my eye surgery (went just fine, thanks!) and work, I kind of ran out of time to pack. Actually, by the last day before the move, I'd also run out of boxes and paper for packing, too. The last bits of the kitchen were packed in baskets from my extensive collection, padded with leftover gift wrap. Honest!
My incredibly helpful niece took time from her very busy uni-student-cum -student-teacher life and helped me pack up all the collectible tins and other decorative junk from the tops of the kitchen cupboards, as well as all of the non-perishable foodstuffs in both pantry areas. Then the Monday before the movers were due, three of my lovely friends from work came over and helped me pack the books. All 3000+ of them. When that was done, they moved on to the linen closet. The next day, one of the three, my very best friend, came by again, and between us we got the kitchen all packed up. That would be when we ran out of packing materials and had to get creative.
**Aside: my best friend should go into business as a professional packer. She managed to get a lot more into boxes than I would have, and not a thing ended up cracked or chipped or broken.**
So, finally it was moving day. The company I'd hired, Mini-Move, had planned on 4 men + 2 trucks - but they stopped to pick up a fifth man on the way to my old apartment. Good thing they did, even with 5 of them it still took about 4.5 hours to unload the trucks at my new house. No casualties, no damage except one castor from the bed frame was misplaced - I found it after I'd replaced all 4, but no biggie, I now have a spare set. Excellent work by a team of very nice gentlemen who were sweet enough to laugh at my jokes. The cookies I'd laid in for them were a big hit, too. Cost me a fair bit, but well worth it when you consider the books and bookcases had to go all the way up to the loft.
While the movers were loading up the trucks, my boyfriend went over to the new house. He was convinced he smelled natural gas in there. He was right. Atco came out and discovered that the furnace had a leaking gas valve, and they turned off the gas. It was nowhere near warm enough to live without heat, so we got Pro Plumbing out again - and close to $500.00 later, it was fixed.
The unpacking process was a bit hampered by the onset of cellulitis in my poor, split fingertips. One finger was well into a whacking good infection by the time I admitted that antibiotics were needed. This is where working in a hospital helps - I made a call to the nurse in charge in ER, she saved me a spot, and I was in & out in about 35 minutes, with a scrip for Keflex and stern instructions from the physician to wear cotton gloves for manual work. Wearing them really helped my hands to heal while enabling me to keep up with the unpacking.
I had a bit of an epiphany when I went to clean the old place - I had thought myself a genius for installing electronic mouse-repellers in every electrical outlet, and congratulated myself on creating a rodent-free zone in an otherwise infested building. Not so - the mice had merely gotten used to the electronic noise and got smarter, they stayed behind the bookcases and other heavy bits of furniture. After everything was moved out, the extent of the rodent infestation was appalling. I made an executive decision to kiss my $300.00 damage deposit (paid back in 1994) goodbye, told the shrew caretaker that I would not be cleaning, and then reported the mouse problem to Capital Health's Environmental Concerns department. I strongly suspect the mouse urine coating a lot of my belongings (and don't worry, I threw out the non-cleanable of those) was what caused such a nasty tissue inflammation in my fingers. Actually, telling the peroxided witch to blow me and clean the place herself was quite liberating!
My wallpaper stripping buddy helped me with IKEA furniture assembly - and the nice people from Sleep Country delivered my new queen-sized bed this past weekend. The living room is now almost box-free, the second floor is as complete as it can be without doors on the bedrooms, and the loft............waits. It's still a mass (mess?) of bookcases, stacked shelves for said bookcases, and boxes of books. That's a job that will have to be tackled in pieces, I think. Later this month or early next month I'll paint the kitchen base cabinets, then take the detached cupboard doors out to the patio and paint them, too.
It's GOOD to be home!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Fifty Bucks Well Spent
That would be the fifty dollars I paid the nice men with a truck who came today and hauled away the probably defunct portable dishwasher from the townhouse, as well as the two bedroom doors I'm planning on replacing. To the dump with them, I say!
Renovations are proceeding. The two bedrooms and the main floor, with the exception of the hall, are all primed. Tomorrow we start painting in earnest. I have to say, my arms are feeling the effects of painting all day. However, if we paint all day tomorrow, and if my niece graces us with her presence and assistance, then by Monday I will be able to finish up with the trim in both bedrooms.
Meanwhile, there is packing to do. As weary and sore as I am, I have to push myself to pack up at least four or five boxes tonight. I will be so glad when this is all over, and I am in my nice new little home!
Renovations are proceeding. The two bedrooms and the main floor, with the exception of the hall, are all primed. Tomorrow we start painting in earnest. I have to say, my arms are feeling the effects of painting all day. However, if we paint all day tomorrow, and if my niece graces us with her presence and assistance, then by Monday I will be able to finish up with the trim in both bedrooms.
Meanwhile, there is packing to do. As weary and sore as I am, I have to push myself to pack up at least four or five boxes tonight. I will be so glad when this is all over, and I am in my nice new little home!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
I *HEART* Rona!
It is my go-to store. My home renovation store. My tools and tips store. My we-need-this-so-run-and-buy-it store. They should pay me to be in one of their commercials, I tell you. Since every time I turn around that little cartoon cash register is going "Cha-Ching!", I am glad Rona is getting my money. Lordy, they even sell curtains!!!
So enough about Rona. Here's the update on the townhouse renovation. The wallpaper, except for two areas about 2.5 feet wide each, is gone. I rented a wallpaper steamer (guess where?) and Groom_Leader displayed his previously-undiscovered talent for employing said tool to remove that godawful wall covering. Over 8 hours were spent in this task yesterday. When I returned the steamer this morning, I discovered that the nice man who rented it to me yesterday was only charging me $20.00 for the day's rental. What a sweetie!
Today was "dump" day - Groom_Leader schlepped the car battery and three other boxes of old small appliances and electronics to the Eco Station for me, then we loaded both our cars and delivered all the boxes to Goodwill. Tomorrow is a day off from the reno project - I am going to go for a walk with my sweetie, then I have a meeting from noon until two. After I get home, my niece, who is student-teaching at a school not too far from my current apartment, is going to drop by and hang out until she has to return to the school for an informational open house.
Thursday is plumbing day - and while the plumber is doing his thing, my capable assistant and I will be stripping (with remover gel) the last of the wallpaper, then beginning the top-to-bottom scrubbing of the place. Friday, I hope to be able to buy the paint and start priming some of the walls. Oh, and we're going to remove the bedroom doors and store them in the shed. Since I live alone, I can wait for a month or so before buying new doors at you-know-where and having them installed. I'm thinking of buying those old-fashioned looking glass doorknobs for them.
Everything else is on track - I have carpet cleaning scheduled for the 27th, and the move-out inspection will be done at 8 p.m. on the 30th. The caretaker had arranged for tradesmen to come in on the morning of the 30th to rip up the carpets and lino and replace them - and she had no idea, at that time, of what date I was moving out. So let's see, she was going to have trades entering and working in an occupied, full apartment. I stopped that with a call to the Landlord and Tenant Advisory Board, followed by a conversation with said dimwit caretaker. The workmen have been rescheduled for the morning of the 31st, after I have handed back the keys and shaken the dust of this pesthole off my feet.
One thing that really helped get the moving stuff in hand was sitting down and writing out a timeline - day by day, task by task. I feel more in control of the process now, I have a map to follow. Funny how we can reduce our stress level by relying on old, familiar habits.
And I still *HEART* Rona.
So enough about Rona. Here's the update on the townhouse renovation. The wallpaper, except for two areas about 2.5 feet wide each, is gone. I rented a wallpaper steamer (guess where?) and Groom_Leader displayed his previously-undiscovered talent for employing said tool to remove that godawful wall covering. Over 8 hours were spent in this task yesterday. When I returned the steamer this morning, I discovered that the nice man who rented it to me yesterday was only charging me $20.00 for the day's rental. What a sweetie!
Today was "dump" day - Groom_Leader schlepped the car battery and three other boxes of old small appliances and electronics to the Eco Station for me, then we loaded both our cars and delivered all the boxes to Goodwill. Tomorrow is a day off from the reno project - I am going to go for a walk with my sweetie, then I have a meeting from noon until two. After I get home, my niece, who is student-teaching at a school not too far from my current apartment, is going to drop by and hang out until she has to return to the school for an informational open house.
Thursday is plumbing day - and while the plumber is doing his thing, my capable assistant and I will be stripping (with remover gel) the last of the wallpaper, then beginning the top-to-bottom scrubbing of the place. Friday, I hope to be able to buy the paint and start priming some of the walls. Oh, and we're going to remove the bedroom doors and store them in the shed. Since I live alone, I can wait for a month or so before buying new doors at you-know-where and having them installed. I'm thinking of buying those old-fashioned looking glass doorknobs for them.
Everything else is on track - I have carpet cleaning scheduled for the 27th, and the move-out inspection will be done at 8 p.m. on the 30th. The caretaker had arranged for tradesmen to come in on the morning of the 30th to rip up the carpets and lino and replace them - and she had no idea, at that time, of what date I was moving out. So let's see, she was going to have trades entering and working in an occupied, full apartment. I stopped that with a call to the Landlord and Tenant Advisory Board, followed by a conversation with said dimwit caretaker. The workmen have been rescheduled for the morning of the 31st, after I have handed back the keys and shaken the dust of this pesthole off my feet.
One thing that really helped get the moving stuff in hand was sitting down and writing out a timeline - day by day, task by task. I feel more in control of the process now, I have a map to follow. Funny how we can reduce our stress level by relying on old, familiar habits.
And I still *HEART* Rona.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Creating Chaos From Chaos
Or, how I started the monumental task of reducing my packrat's hoard of THINGS that I own.
I am in the process of Freecycling the townhouse's dishwasher, the big black and glass shelving/display case that we removed from the living room wall (previously mounted the perfect height at which I would bean my head on the corner of it every time I rounded the corner from the dining area, incidentally), and have found a Freecycle recipient for the frou-frou fancy collectible doll that a co-worker gave me years ago.
My buddy came over today (after we tried out the Jumbo Dim Sum restaurant) and did the grunt work while I sorted and stacked the contents of the storage bin out in the hall. We're talking a space the size of a small bathroom, which had been filled to the ceiling (literally, folks) with boxes. In the end, we tossed 3 bags of garbage (Contractor's Glad garbage bags, no less), there are 2 boxes of old appliances to go to the Eco Station (goodbye to my late grandmother's two-door toaster and ancient electric waffle iron, neither used in over two decades), 12 boxes and a decorator table with glass topper for Goodwill. What I kept wouldn't even fill one 2-cubic-foot box. How's that for drastic culling?
I'm going to pack up some more of the living room knick-knacks tonight while I listen to TV, and tomorrow my trusty buddy and I are going to enter the mystifying and wild world of wallpaper steaming. I really pray that does the trick with that deity-awful wallpaper. Tuesday will be Eco Station & Goodwill dropoff, and I will pack what I can manage of the storage room here in the apartment. Wednesday is for cleaning the condo - dust, vacuum, and then we will begin to scrubscrubscrubscrubscrub! Damn, that woman, that so-called church lady, really was a slob. Hello, Dimwit, ever hear the one about cleanliness being next to Godliness?I do have to take a break from 12 to 2 p.m. for a mandatory work meeting, but that's about it, and we will have my boyfriend to help.
Thursday the plumber is coming, plus the complex's plumber will be shutting off the water to about half the townhouses so that the wrecked shutoff T for my main water supply can be replaced. Then my plumber will set to work; he has to replace the shutoff Ts on the two toilets, replace the upstairs toilet, and the sink in the downstairs bathroom. I figure it will be about a $600 -700.00 day. While the nice plumber is working, my buddy and I will be priming walls for painting. I have decided to reduce the workload a bit - I priced interior doors at Rona, and for about $160.00, I can buy new doors for both bedrooms, rather than repainting them. Friday and the weekend will be spent painting.........the bedrooms, including the closet in the master, the hall and the entry closet, and the living room. I will be painting the kitchen cabinets and doors/drawer fronts, but after I've moved in.
One thing that's working in my favor - my opthalmologist has ordered me off work until the 20th. He's not thrilled that I am going back to work then, he'd rather I took a break from the computer and paperwork my job involves for two weeks, but I can't leave the hospital in the lurch for that long. It's hard covering my shifts, as our pool of casuals has dwindled to two. The cataract surgery was a breeze, I have had practically no discomfort postoperatively, and there is slow improvement in my visual acuity on that side, a bit more every day. I am still sensitive to daylight, so I wear the (very Terminator-looking) shades whenever I go outside.
So, watch this space for the next barely-thrilling installment of the saga of La Casita de Luna Azul.
I am in the process of Freecycling the townhouse's dishwasher, the big black and glass shelving/display case that we removed from the living room wall (previously mounted the perfect height at which I would bean my head on the corner of it every time I rounded the corner from the dining area, incidentally), and have found a Freecycle recipient for the frou-frou fancy collectible doll that a co-worker gave me years ago.
My buddy came over today (after we tried out the Jumbo Dim Sum restaurant) and did the grunt work while I sorted and stacked the contents of the storage bin out in the hall. We're talking a space the size of a small bathroom, which had been filled to the ceiling (literally, folks) with boxes. In the end, we tossed 3 bags of garbage (Contractor's Glad garbage bags, no less), there are 2 boxes of old appliances to go to the Eco Station (goodbye to my late grandmother's two-door toaster and ancient electric waffle iron, neither used in over two decades), 12 boxes and a decorator table with glass topper for Goodwill. What I kept wouldn't even fill one 2-cubic-foot box. How's that for drastic culling?
I'm going to pack up some more of the living room knick-knacks tonight while I listen to TV, and tomorrow my trusty buddy and I are going to enter the mystifying and wild world of wallpaper steaming. I really pray that does the trick with that deity-awful wallpaper. Tuesday will be Eco Station & Goodwill dropoff, and I will pack what I can manage of the storage room here in the apartment. Wednesday is for cleaning the condo - dust, vacuum, and then we will begin to scrubscrubscrubscrubscrub! Damn, that woman, that so-called church lady, really was a slob. Hello, Dimwit, ever hear the one about cleanliness being next to Godliness?I do have to take a break from 12 to 2 p.m. for a mandatory work meeting, but that's about it, and we will have my boyfriend to help.
Thursday the plumber is coming, plus the complex's plumber will be shutting off the water to about half the townhouses so that the wrecked shutoff T for my main water supply can be replaced. Then my plumber will set to work; he has to replace the shutoff Ts on the two toilets, replace the upstairs toilet, and the sink in the downstairs bathroom. I figure it will be about a $600 -700.00 day. While the nice plumber is working, my buddy and I will be priming walls for painting. I have decided to reduce the workload a bit - I priced interior doors at Rona, and for about $160.00, I can buy new doors for both bedrooms, rather than repainting them. Friday and the weekend will be spent painting.........the bedrooms, including the closet in the master, the hall and the entry closet, and the living room. I will be painting the kitchen cabinets and doors/drawer fronts, but after I've moved in.
One thing that's working in my favor - my opthalmologist has ordered me off work until the 20th. He's not thrilled that I am going back to work then, he'd rather I took a break from the computer and paperwork my job involves for two weeks, but I can't leave the hospital in the lurch for that long. It's hard covering my shifts, as our pool of casuals has dwindled to two. The cataract surgery was a breeze, I have had practically no discomfort postoperatively, and there is slow improvement in my visual acuity on that side, a bit more every day. I am still sensitive to daylight, so I wear the (very Terminator-looking) shades whenever I go outside.
So, watch this space for the next barely-thrilling installment of the saga of La Casita de Luna Azul.
Monday, March 05, 2007
The Work Continues.........
Well, every built-in, bracket, nail, screw, bolt and fixture that I wanted removed from the walls has been. My two sturdy peon........er, helpers managed to spindle, fold, and mutilate everything into small enough shapes to fit into XL garbage bags. We're talking venetian blinds plus tracks, a pre-fab type chipboard shelving unit as well as all of the built-in desk pieces from the loft (except the L-shaped 7' x 3' desktop, which is laying flat on the floor of the crawl space). All taken out to the dumpster and disposed of. Amazing, the destructive power contained in a couple of beer-fueled fellows!
The wallpaper - well, I learned today that Home Depot and Rona both rent wallpaper steamers. Being a proud Canadian, I'd rather go with Rona. That will have to wait until after my upcoming eye surgery on Thursday, recuperation over the weekend, and the three evening shifts after that. Also due on the 15th is the plumber, to fix my various plumbing issues. So, Groom_Leader and I will steam off the wallpaper and smooth the walls while the plumber plumbs.
The day after plumbing-and-steaming day will be paint purchasing and a thorough, extreme cleaning - there is 4 to 5 years' worth of dust on the ceiling fans, the wall light fixtures, crud and grunge inside cupboards, walls to wash down, etc. Then we will have three days to prime and paint, two of those days with the added assistance of my niece (and maybe her boyfriend). Meanwhile, when I'm not working on the townhouse, I'll be packing. And packing and packing and packing.
Moving day is March 28 - once painting is done, I'll get a steam cleaner in for the carpets, and will pre-clean some of the worst-stained areas with something deadly strong from the store. I'll also be taking a lot of smaller loads over myself, both to reduce total moving crew time and to ensure my preciousest stuff gets there safely. Curtains and curtain rods need to be bought and put up, too. I will be ready to move in on the 28th, but it's going to be a long, hard-fought battle.
Meanwhile, the surly bitch caretaker at my current address is in a snit because I called her on a violation of the Residential Tenancies Act. She felt that by leaving a piece of paper under my door which informed me she would be showing my apartment to prospective tenants Monday-Friday between 9 and 5, she had given me sufficient notice. Imagine her surprise when I informed her that the Act states that every non-emergency entry requires 24 hours' advance notice in writing. What do they expect, with the Act available online? An informed tenant accesses the available resources to protect their rights.
I guess the reason she hasn't found a renter yet in our very hot rental market may have something to do with the two new framed pieces of art I've hung facing the door. The ones I created on my computer and printed off. The ones that warn, in plain English, that this apartment building is infested with MICE.
Evil? Moi? *batting eyelashes*
The wallpaper - well, I learned today that Home Depot and Rona both rent wallpaper steamers. Being a proud Canadian, I'd rather go with Rona. That will have to wait until after my upcoming eye surgery on Thursday, recuperation over the weekend, and the three evening shifts after that. Also due on the 15th is the plumber, to fix my various plumbing issues. So, Groom_Leader and I will steam off the wallpaper and smooth the walls while the plumber plumbs.
The day after plumbing-and-steaming day will be paint purchasing and a thorough, extreme cleaning - there is 4 to 5 years' worth of dust on the ceiling fans, the wall light fixtures, crud and grunge inside cupboards, walls to wash down, etc. Then we will have three days to prime and paint, two of those days with the added assistance of my niece (and maybe her boyfriend). Meanwhile, when I'm not working on the townhouse, I'll be packing. And packing and packing and packing.
Moving day is March 28 - once painting is done, I'll get a steam cleaner in for the carpets, and will pre-clean some of the worst-stained areas with something deadly strong from the store. I'll also be taking a lot of smaller loads over myself, both to reduce total moving crew time and to ensure my preciousest stuff gets there safely. Curtains and curtain rods need to be bought and put up, too. I will be ready to move in on the 28th, but it's going to be a long, hard-fought battle.
Meanwhile, the surly bitch caretaker at my current address is in a snit because I called her on a violation of the Residential Tenancies Act. She felt that by leaving a piece of paper under my door which informed me she would be showing my apartment to prospective tenants Monday-Friday between 9 and 5, she had given me sufficient notice. Imagine her surprise when I informed her that the Act states that every non-emergency entry requires 24 hours' advance notice in writing. What do they expect, with the Act available online? An informed tenant accesses the available resources to protect their rights.
I guess the reason she hasn't found a renter yet in our very hot rental market may have something to do with the two new framed pieces of art I've hung facing the door. The ones I created on my computer and printed off. The ones that warn, in plain English, that this apartment building is infested with MICE.
Evil? Moi? *batting eyelashes*
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Demolition Man(s - and Women, for that matter)
I took possession of my new townhouse on Thursday. On Friday, I had the locks re-keyed so I could be sure no one else had access to my new home. Today, the fun really started!
First, the plumbing repair that wasn't. The home inspector I'd hired told me that the wax seal under the upstairs toilet needed replacing. Fine, my boyfriend does all of his own plumbing, he volunteered to do it for me. Some intense pre-job obsessing later, he was ready to take it on. BUT........
The water shutoff for that toilet is missing a handle. Whoever had repaired that toilet in the past had use Vice-Grips to turn the water off, and had stripped the threads on the fitting. Surprise, surprise, the downstairs toilet's shutoff handle was missing, too. So was the handle on the townhouse's main water shutoff in the furnace room. WTF???????? I will be calling a plumber on Monday. Fortunately, my Dad's lady friend has the number of a good, reasonably-priced one, a fellow who worked construction jobs with dad in the past.
Next - the woman who had lived in the townhouse with her daughter for years was a slob!!!!! The amount of cleaning I will have to do is staggering, she obviously didn't believe that "dust" is also a verb. Not to mention burnt-out light bulbs not replaced, spiderwebs in the corners of rooms, venetian blinds harboring thriving ecosystems of dust mites, stained carpeting, and chipped, grubby walls and doors. She let her daughter paint pictures on the walls and doors of the child's bedroom, FFS!!!!!! Lord help me,. I have to paint over all of it.
Now, the people who occupied this place before Indifferent Single Mother Church Lady were 1) trailertrash, 2) cheap, and 3) obviously on crack. There is not a single "improvement" that has been professionally done - even the laminate was laid by total amateurs. We pulled down a plethora of screwed-to-the-walls pine shelves, a built-in pine corner desk, and at least a zillion wall anchor plugs. We're not done, either - the cheap plastic venetian blinds and their fittings, as well as the (oh, shades of the bad decor of the early 1990s!) balloon valences in both bedrooms, have to be removed. Ugh. It's a damned good thing that Polyfilla is cheap.
Wallpaper - don't get me started! There is really old, really cheap wallpaper and a wallpaper border halfway up the living room walls. My niece ran a scarifier over the wallpaper, then soaked it with a dilute remover solution - and proceeded to scrape off minuscule shreds of wallpaper. It looks like I'll have to rent a steamer to remove it. Niece, however, is a star at pulling wallpaper lath and trim off with a claw hammer. I don't think she realized she had this talent!
The kicker? In addition to the $700.00+ for the plumbing repairs, in addition to the expense and time for the wallpaper steamer, in addition to the necessity of painting the kitchen cabinet doors because they're too shabby for me to live with, there's the thoughtful gift that ISMCL left me in the loft/attic crawl space - a car battery with the top split!
Bloody hell.
First, the plumbing repair that wasn't. The home inspector I'd hired told me that the wax seal under the upstairs toilet needed replacing. Fine, my boyfriend does all of his own plumbing, he volunteered to do it for me. Some intense pre-job obsessing later, he was ready to take it on. BUT........
The water shutoff for that toilet is missing a handle. Whoever had repaired that toilet in the past had use Vice-Grips to turn the water off, and had stripped the threads on the fitting. Surprise, surprise, the downstairs toilet's shutoff handle was missing, too. So was the handle on the townhouse's main water shutoff in the furnace room. WTF???????? I will be calling a plumber on Monday. Fortunately, my Dad's lady friend has the number of a good, reasonably-priced one, a fellow who worked construction jobs with dad in the past.
Next - the woman who had lived in the townhouse with her daughter for years was a slob!!!!! The amount of cleaning I will have to do is staggering, she obviously didn't believe that "dust" is also a verb. Not to mention burnt-out light bulbs not replaced, spiderwebs in the corners of rooms, venetian blinds harboring thriving ecosystems of dust mites, stained carpeting, and chipped, grubby walls and doors. She let her daughter paint pictures on the walls and doors of the child's bedroom, FFS!!!!!! Lord help me,. I have to paint over all of it.
Now, the people who occupied this place before Indifferent Single Mother Church Lady were 1) trailertrash, 2) cheap, and 3) obviously on crack. There is not a single "improvement" that has been professionally done - even the laminate was laid by total amateurs. We pulled down a plethora of screwed-to-the-walls pine shelves, a built-in pine corner desk, and at least a zillion wall anchor plugs. We're not done, either - the cheap plastic venetian blinds and their fittings, as well as the (oh, shades of the bad decor of the early 1990s!) balloon valences in both bedrooms, have to be removed. Ugh. It's a damned good thing that Polyfilla is cheap.
Wallpaper - don't get me started! There is really old, really cheap wallpaper and a wallpaper border halfway up the living room walls. My niece ran a scarifier over the wallpaper, then soaked it with a dilute remover solution - and proceeded to scrape off minuscule shreds of wallpaper. It looks like I'll have to rent a steamer to remove it. Niece, however, is a star at pulling wallpaper lath and trim off with a claw hammer. I don't think she realized she had this talent!
The kicker? In addition to the $700.00+ for the plumbing repairs, in addition to the expense and time for the wallpaper steamer, in addition to the necessity of painting the kitchen cabinet doors because they're too shabby for me to live with, there's the thoughtful gift that ISMCL left me in the loft/attic crawl space - a car battery with the top split!
Bloody hell.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Thirteen Years (a treatise on packratitis)
Thirteen years. That's how long it's been since my last move. I have a storage "bin" in the storage room out in the building hall, filled with boxes and boxes of stuff, some not even unpacked after the last move. I have two big items of furniture that I have to unload before I move into the townhouse (both have takers, but getting them to take the items, ah, that's the challenge!) I have an in-suite storage room crammed full. And the contents of three closets, a free-standing pantry, the kitchen cupboards, the books and knick-knacks on 10 bookcases, all of the stuff in the large cedar chest, and my clothes and other personal possessions. How the hell did I accumulate all this stuff?
Start small......the desk is emptied, whenever Bex gets around to picking it up. I've got the buffet & hutch half (okay, 0ne-third) emptied, planning to finish that today, then Guilly and co. can fetch it. With the spaces presently occupied by those pieces empty, I have somewhere to stack boxes as I fill them. Monday's job? Call the nearby storage outfits and buy some boxes and packing paper. I figure, for all I have including the >3000 books, ten dozen boxes should do.
The sheer magnitude of this task is depressing me. I guess I'll just have to take it in steps, in stages. Break it into more manageable portions, as they say. Thank goodness I'm giving myself the month of March (mostly) to get the painting done in the townhouse and the packing done here, as well as 4 days after moving to clean this apartment so I can recover my measly three hundred buck damage deposit. I will get through this - but at what cost to my sanity?
Start small......the desk is emptied, whenever Bex gets around to picking it up. I've got the buffet & hutch half (okay, 0ne-third) emptied, planning to finish that today, then Guilly and co. can fetch it. With the spaces presently occupied by those pieces empty, I have somewhere to stack boxes as I fill them. Monday's job? Call the nearby storage outfits and buy some boxes and packing paper. I figure, for all I have including the >3000 books, ten dozen boxes should do.
The sheer magnitude of this task is depressing me. I guess I'll just have to take it in steps, in stages. Break it into more manageable portions, as they say. Thank goodness I'm giving myself the month of March (mostly) to get the painting done in the townhouse and the packing done here, as well as 4 days after moving to clean this apartment so I can recover my measly three hundred buck damage deposit. I will get through this - but at what cost to my sanity?
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Good News/Bad News
This will probably be the first of many (well, a few, anyway) identically-titled posts. Kind of a what-I've-been-up-to-lately story in point form.
Bad News: backed into another car in the hospital parkade last Thursday night when leaving work; left a note on the car's windshield apologizing and giving my name and contact #s.
Good News: absolutely no damage to my car, not even a scratch (other car had a sizeable ding on the back bumper). Didn't hear from anyone all Friday, got to hoping the ding was old and not caused by me.
Bad News: the intern who owns the other car contacted me on Saturday. The ding was definitely not there before, she said.
Good News: since I have never, in 34 years of being a licensed driver and 27+ years of owning cars, had an at-fault accident, my insurance has an automatic forgiveness for the first one. No increase in my premiums next year.
___________________________________________________________________
Bad News: while biting into a semi-frozen chocolate a couple of weeks ago, I broke off a piece of a lower molar.
Good News: what ended up exposed was a filling, not tooth enamel, so I didn't spend the weekend in pain.
Bad News: the filling had very sharp edges; my tongue got quite abraded.
Good News: the root of the tooth is healthy, so a crown won't be a problem.
Bad News: my Blue Cross only covers 50% of crowns, so my up-front cost will be about CAD$500.00.
Good News: I have a supplemental Health Spending account that will reimburse that $500.00.
___________________________________________________________________
Good News: there is a change a-brewing in the way my job is done region-wide. A new lead day manager position will come in, coordinating the shift managers (what I am right now). After discussion with my director (and positive encouragement from her), I decided to apply for that position when it was posted.
Bad News: even before the position has been posted, our night manager has been seconded into it - by, among others, our director. Guess that shows me what they think of me. This night manager is not someone I want to be answering to.
___________________________________________________________________
Bad News: I was diagnosed last May with a cataract in my left eye. My vision (especially night vision) got progressively worse, so I was referred to an opthalmologist.
Good News: by putting my name on the surgery cancellation list, I managed to get scheduled for surgery this March, instead of June.
Bad News: the surgery and resultant recuperation period will cut into my time to paint the new townhouse prior to moving in.
___________________________________________________________________
Well, that's long enough for now. Stay tuned for more exciting developments from the Aunt hill!
Bad News: backed into another car in the hospital parkade last Thursday night when leaving work; left a note on the car's windshield apologizing and giving my name and contact #s.
Good News: absolutely no damage to my car, not even a scratch (other car had a sizeable ding on the back bumper). Didn't hear from anyone all Friday, got to hoping the ding was old and not caused by me.
Bad News: the intern who owns the other car contacted me on Saturday. The ding was definitely not there before, she said.
Good News: since I have never, in 34 years of being a licensed driver and 27+ years of owning cars, had an at-fault accident, my insurance has an automatic forgiveness for the first one. No increase in my premiums next year.
___________________________________________________________________
Bad News: while biting into a semi-frozen chocolate a couple of weeks ago, I broke off a piece of a lower molar.
Good News: what ended up exposed was a filling, not tooth enamel, so I didn't spend the weekend in pain.
Bad News: the filling had very sharp edges; my tongue got quite abraded.
Good News: the root of the tooth is healthy, so a crown won't be a problem.
Bad News: my Blue Cross only covers 50% of crowns, so my up-front cost will be about CAD$500.00.
Good News: I have a supplemental Health Spending account that will reimburse that $500.00.
___________________________________________________________________
Good News: there is a change a-brewing in the way my job is done region-wide. A new lead day manager position will come in, coordinating the shift managers (what I am right now). After discussion with my director (and positive encouragement from her), I decided to apply for that position when it was posted.
Bad News: even before the position has been posted, our night manager has been seconded into it - by, among others, our director. Guess that shows me what they think of me. This night manager is not someone I want to be answering to.
___________________________________________________________________
Bad News: I was diagnosed last May with a cataract in my left eye. My vision (especially night vision) got progressively worse, so I was referred to an opthalmologist.
Good News: by putting my name on the surgery cancellation list, I managed to get scheduled for surgery this March, instead of June.
Bad News: the surgery and resultant recuperation period will cut into my time to paint the new townhouse prior to moving in.
___________________________________________________________________
Well, that's long enough for now. Stay tuned for more exciting developments from the Aunt hill!
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Oh My God, What Have I Done?
As of March 1, I will be a homeowner. Proud possessor of 1129 square feet of two-stories-plus-loft townhouse. Mistress of my own domain. No longer at the mercy of an absentee landlord and an indifferent, incompetent management company. Queen of my castle. Empress of my own universe. AND IN BLOODY DEBT FOR THE NEXT THIRTY YEARS!
*Deep cleansing breath* Okay, I'm better now. I was just suddenly realizing the enormity of the step I've taken. Hell, even before I move in, I have to remove/dismantle and get rid of a bunch of built-in items (shelves, a humungous desk thing in the loft, a trophy case, and so on), pull of a living room full of hideous wallpaper, remove a broken accordion closet door, patch a gazillion holes in the walls from nails and such, and paint three rooms and a closet. Plus sort/cull and pack my existing apartment full of stuff up, now that's going to be a challenge. However, when I'm done I will have a home that's all mine.
Other tasks pre-move: get a plumber to re-do the wax sealing at the base of the main bathroom toilet, have the locks changed, make about a thousand change-of address notifications, give away two large furniture items I won't have a need for in the new place, and Freecycle the portable dishwasher in the townhouse, which I hear doesn't work too well and which I have no need for. Hmmm, guess I'd better quit mucking about online and get to work!
*Deep cleansing breath* Okay, I'm better now. I was just suddenly realizing the enormity of the step I've taken. Hell, even before I move in, I have to remove/dismantle and get rid of a bunch of built-in items (shelves, a humungous desk thing in the loft, a trophy case, and so on), pull of a living room full of hideous wallpaper, remove a broken accordion closet door, patch a gazillion holes in the walls from nails and such, and paint three rooms and a closet. Plus sort/cull and pack my existing apartment full of stuff up, now that's going to be a challenge. However, when I'm done I will have a home that's all mine.
Other tasks pre-move: get a plumber to re-do the wax sealing at the base of the main bathroom toilet, have the locks changed, make about a thousand change-of address notifications, give away two large furniture items I won't have a need for in the new place, and Freecycle the portable dishwasher in the townhouse, which I hear doesn't work too well and which I have no need for. Hmmm, guess I'd better quit mucking about online and get to work!
Friday, December 22, 2006
EIGHT Other Offers!?!
Yeah, that's right, eight other offers had been made on the townhouse. I found this out fifteen minutes before the presentation. Bummer. I passed on getting into a bidding war.
The right place for me is out there - I just have to be patient. On a more positive note, I just heard from my opthalmologist's office - my cataract surgery is booked for March 8. Woohoo!
The right place for me is out there - I just have to be patient. On a more positive note, I just heard from my opthalmologist's office - my cataract surgery is booked for March 8. Woohoo!
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Home, Sweet?
I am trying very hard not to get too excited tonight. A couple of hours ago I viewed (real estate talk) a townhouse that feels soooooooo right for me. I'm going back in the morning, with my realtor, to examine the development in daylight. I have been looking for a condo since mid-October, and with the housing market booming for sellers here, I've had slim pickings. Didn't help that the first realtor I was working with didn't seem to be putting a lot of effort into making it happen for me - guess my modest pre-approved mortgage can't match up to the half-million condos she handles in trendy downtown.
One of my coworkers at the hospital is a real estate investor, and she gave me the number of a young, up-and-coming fellow. He has been wonderful, searching for places to suit MY needs and wants, and exhibiting endless patience with my questions. I had a feeling the place I looked at tonight might be right - and if there's no pending offer on it, I plan to make one. Conditional, of course, on an inspection and my examination of the condominium documents.
What's it like? Well, it's a two-storey townhouse, built in 1972. It's a bit dated, but I like it, it's from my youth. There isn't a single stitch of carpet anywhere in it (I have allergies, so that's a good thing), and the living room has hardwood. The rest of the place has lino. Older, somewhat shabby lino. No biggie, a couple of years in, I can have that replaced. The dining area is a bit small, but I haven't had a dinner party in - oh, let's see - at least two decades. The kitchen has tons of cupboard space and a big window. The living room is big, and there's a nifty (translation: I'm not sure I like it completely, but I can work with it) room divider thingy separating the front door from the living room space. Three bedrooms, and the master is big, too. 1 1/2 bathrooms. A linen closet big enough to hold a SmartCar. A closet in every room/space, except the living room, and a full, unfinished basement for storage. The washer & dryer are brand new, and the stove and fridge, while a bit older, are both in good condition.
Other pluses - it's at the back of the condo development, and blocks away from the nearest school or bus route = quiet. It also has not one but two trees in the front yard - a huge evergreen (right in front of the living room window, yay for privacy) and a deciduous tree about 7 feet high that I'll identify come spring, if I buy it. There is a very neat retro light fixture in the dining room, kind of an art nouveau thing. Did I mention all the closets? And not an accordian door on any of them, which is good since I loathe accordian closet doors! Bifold, wooden bifold doors everywhere. Wood=paintable. I can make decorating statements on my closet doors.
So, big enough for me, houseguests, and my books and other junk. From my era. Quiet. No power corridor. In my familiar area/comfort zone. Oh, and the price is right, too - in this city's inflated market, at CDN $159,500.00 it's a steal! Everyone, please cross your fingers and toes and eyes for me and pray to whatever deity you worship that this place checks out and that I get to buy it!
One of my coworkers at the hospital is a real estate investor, and she gave me the number of a young, up-and-coming fellow. He has been wonderful, searching for places to suit MY needs and wants, and exhibiting endless patience with my questions. I had a feeling the place I looked at tonight might be right - and if there's no pending offer on it, I plan to make one. Conditional, of course, on an inspection and my examination of the condominium documents.
What's it like? Well, it's a two-storey townhouse, built in 1972. It's a bit dated, but I like it, it's from my youth. There isn't a single stitch of carpet anywhere in it (I have allergies, so that's a good thing), and the living room has hardwood. The rest of the place has lino. Older, somewhat shabby lino. No biggie, a couple of years in, I can have that replaced. The dining area is a bit small, but I haven't had a dinner party in - oh, let's see - at least two decades. The kitchen has tons of cupboard space and a big window. The living room is big, and there's a nifty (translation: I'm not sure I like it completely, but I can work with it) room divider thingy separating the front door from the living room space. Three bedrooms, and the master is big, too. 1 1/2 bathrooms. A linen closet big enough to hold a SmartCar. A closet in every room/space, except the living room, and a full, unfinished basement for storage. The washer & dryer are brand new, and the stove and fridge, while a bit older, are both in good condition.
Other pluses - it's at the back of the condo development, and blocks away from the nearest school or bus route = quiet. It also has not one but two trees in the front yard - a huge evergreen (right in front of the living room window, yay for privacy) and a deciduous tree about 7 feet high that I'll identify come spring, if I buy it. There is a very neat retro light fixture in the dining room, kind of an art nouveau thing. Did I mention all the closets? And not an accordian door on any of them, which is good since I loathe accordian closet doors! Bifold, wooden bifold doors everywhere. Wood=paintable. I can make decorating statements on my closet doors.
So, big enough for me, houseguests, and my books and other junk. From my era. Quiet. No power corridor. In my familiar area/comfort zone. Oh, and the price is right, too - in this city's inflated market, at CDN $159,500.00 it's a steal! Everyone, please cross your fingers and toes and eyes for me and pray to whatever deity you worship that this place checks out and that I get to buy it!
Monday, August 21, 2006
Wet, Wet, Wet!
Well, the weekend's Dragon Boat festival is over, and what a weekend it was! We raced twice on Saturday, coming in second in the morning's heat (since we weren't in the dreaded Lane 1) and last - but with a respectable time in the afternoon - Lane 1, again. When the Association posted the day's times on the webnsite, they added the comment that, contrary to rumor, they were not going to adjust any times to reflect the chronically bad paddling in that lane. Boo!
Sunday our first race was at 9:00 a.m. - not a great time to expect the team to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, especially since a lot of the paddlers were partying the night before. We knew going into it that we had Lane 1 again - but surprise! The lanes had been shifted, making Lane 2 now 1, Lane 3 becoming 2, and so on. We were cheered by this, and proceeded to not only make our best time so far in that heat, 2:25, but also place second.
For the Sunday afternoon race, the Milo A Final, our team was assigned in Lane 3 (formerly 4). We gave it all we had, reaching and paddling to the utmost of our limits, and we won! For the second time in the 10-year Edmonton Dragon Boat Festival history, the name of the RAH Tide Riders will be engraved on that cup! As well, all team members will be given a "gold" medal.
Was it worth it? Well, despite the T-shirt debacle, and the crowds, and the back pain (sitting on a board seat only about 12 inches wide), despite being soaked repeatedly by the paddlers sitting both in front of and behind me, yes, it was worth it. Would I do it again? If I could start earlier in the whole process, get in on more practices, and if it were to be held on a weekend when my boyfriend isn't working and so could join the team, yeah, probably.
All in all, getting wet isn't so bad. I guess.
Sunday our first race was at 9:00 a.m. - not a great time to expect the team to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, especially since a lot of the paddlers were partying the night before. We knew going into it that we had Lane 1 again - but surprise! The lanes had been shifted, making Lane 2 now 1, Lane 3 becoming 2, and so on. We were cheered by this, and proceeded to not only make our best time so far in that heat, 2:25, but also place second.
For the Sunday afternoon race, the Milo A Final, our team was assigned in Lane 3 (formerly 4). We gave it all we had, reaching and paddling to the utmost of our limits, and we won! For the second time in the 10-year Edmonton Dragon Boat Festival history, the name of the RAH Tide Riders will be engraved on that cup! As well, all team members will be given a "gold" medal.
Was it worth it? Well, despite the T-shirt debacle, and the crowds, and the back pain (sitting on a board seat only about 12 inches wide), despite being soaked repeatedly by the paddlers sitting both in front of and behind me, yes, it was worth it. Would I do it again? If I could start earlier in the whole process, get in on more practices, and if it were to be held on a weekend when my boyfriend isn't working and so could join the team, yeah, probably.
All in all, getting wet isn't so bad. I guess.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Dead Water Sucks
So, in a moment of total insanity, I volunteered to join my hospital's Dragon Boat team, the Tide Riders. Mind you, I joined up in the final week and a half before the festival itself, so I haven't had the amount of practice time the other paddlers have. My first and only practice was yesterday evening - I came close to a full-blown asthma attack only once, but I did refine my stroke and learned that I need to use at least a 48" paddle.
The gal who ordered the T-shirts for the participants has a rather Barbieesque view of things - considering she's barely twenty-five, I guess I can't fault her. She ordered mostly size S and M shirts, on the premise that all the women wearing them would be those sizes; any woman who didn't fit into one of those sizes must be an obese hog, so the only other size available is a 2XL. Now these shirts are cut fairly generously, and since I am only 40 lbs overweight, I could have fit into a L, but instead I am stuck with wearing something that would fit me and my niece under it with room to spare. And it's green - NOT one of my best colors.
Our first race was tonight, at 7:30 p.m., the first Health Care Challenge heat. Okay, there are extra bodies available, so my asthma and back and I chose to sit it out and cheer from the shore. Our organizer and tireless leader also sat this one out. She hadn't eaten all day and had worked a full shift on three hours' sleep. The Tide Riders were in lane 1, closest to the shore. Their timing was excellent, all paddles moving up and down in absolute unison. Unfortunately, the North Saskatchewan river is low this summer, and has very tricky currents. Close in to the shore is a channel of 'dead' water, one that resists the paddles' efforts and almost bogs a paddled vessel down. Even though our team had the finest form and the neatest (Norwegian, yet!) chants, we came in dead last.
Tomorrow we race again at 11:10 a.m., then, if we qualified among the three fastest in Health Care (Ha! fat chance) again at 11:40, and once more at 3:00 p.m. Wish us luck!
The gal who ordered the T-shirts for the participants has a rather Barbieesque view of things - considering she's barely twenty-five, I guess I can't fault her. She ordered mostly size S and M shirts, on the premise that all the women wearing them would be those sizes; any woman who didn't fit into one of those sizes must be an obese hog, so the only other size available is a 2XL. Now these shirts are cut fairly generously, and since I am only 40 lbs overweight, I could have fit into a L, but instead I am stuck with wearing something that would fit me and my niece under it with room to spare. And it's green - NOT one of my best colors.
Our first race was tonight, at 7:30 p.m., the first Health Care Challenge heat. Okay, there are extra bodies available, so my asthma and back and I chose to sit it out and cheer from the shore. Our organizer and tireless leader also sat this one out. She hadn't eaten all day and had worked a full shift on three hours' sleep. The Tide Riders were in lane 1, closest to the shore. Their timing was excellent, all paddles moving up and down in absolute unison. Unfortunately, the North Saskatchewan river is low this summer, and has very tricky currents. Close in to the shore is a channel of 'dead' water, one that resists the paddles' efforts and almost bogs a paddled vessel down. Even though our team had the finest form and the neatest (Norwegian, yet!) chants, we came in dead last.
Tomorrow we race again at 11:10 a.m., then, if we qualified among the three fastest in Health Care (Ha! fat chance) again at 11:40, and once more at 3:00 p.m. Wish us luck!
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Rocky Mountain High
Update from the land where the bears shit in the woods........
We were unfortunate enough to have some of the participants in a James Dickey-esque backwoods redneck wedding housed in the other half of the duplex unit we're in. Partying loudly until all hours of the morning, beer-swilling commencing at rising and continuing until all supplies of brew are exhausted, and tattoos. Many, many garish tatoos. And that's just the females!! Seruiosly, a rig-pig wedding is not what you want going on when peace and quiet are your goals.
On the vacation side of the story, we have had two lovely, albeit familiar hikes - Maligne Canyon on Friday and the Valley of the Five Lakes yesterday. The weather has been perfect for hiking, not too warm, good cloud cover, and the rain has been miraculously holding off each day until we were safely off the trails. Can't ask for better than that.
Today the boyfriend unit and a buddy of ours are doing the Overlander Trail - 9.6 miles but relatively flat - while I, in BF's car, am in town attempting to aid the economy of the local retailers. Shopping rules! The plan, should they both return unscathed, is for all of us to try the Italian restaurant in town for supper tonight. Thank goodness, the wedding party et al have departed, never (hopefully) to be seen or heard from again, so the evening should be a quiet one.
We were unfortunate enough to have some of the participants in a James Dickey-esque backwoods redneck wedding housed in the other half of the duplex unit we're in. Partying loudly until all hours of the morning, beer-swilling commencing at rising and continuing until all supplies of brew are exhausted, and tattoos. Many, many garish tatoos. And that's just the females!! Seruiosly, a rig-pig wedding is not what you want going on when peace and quiet are your goals.
On the vacation side of the story, we have had two lovely, albeit familiar hikes - Maligne Canyon on Friday and the Valley of the Five Lakes yesterday. The weather has been perfect for hiking, not too warm, good cloud cover, and the rain has been miraculously holding off each day until we were safely off the trails. Can't ask for better than that.
Today the boyfriend unit and a buddy of ours are doing the Overlander Trail - 9.6 miles but relatively flat - while I, in BF's car, am in town attempting to aid the economy of the local retailers. Shopping rules! The plan, should they both return unscathed, is for all of us to try the Italian restaurant in town for supper tonight. Thank goodness, the wedding party et al have departed, never (hopefully) to be seen or heard from again, so the evening should be a quiet one.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Well, I'm off to the Rockies in the morning, with my xenophobic man in tow. Rather than hire my usual house-sitter, who comes in every couple of days to tend to the plants indoor & outdoor and collect the mail, I'm paying my 21-year-old niece to stay here. She's spending the summer crashing with uni friends here and there, and I daresay she's looking forward to a week of privacy, unlimited long distance calling, and Movie Central.
We'll be hiking (of course!) and relaxing, trying to lose some of the stress we've both been dealing with for months and months. I'll try to update re: scenery, hikes, and anything else remotely entertaining that occurs.
We'll be hiking (of course!) and relaxing, trying to lose some of the stress we've both been dealing with for months and months. I'll try to update re: scenery, hikes, and anything else remotely entertaining that occurs.
Monday, May 22, 2006
On Gratitude
I say "please" and "thank you" a lot. Partly because I was raised to be courteous, but also partly because, as a character in Blast From The Past said, "Manners are a way of showing others we respect them." After all, courtesy is the lubricant that greases the wheels of civilized society.
So far today I've talked to multiple people on every floor of the hospital. I've said thank you to most of them. There was the family that I thanked for waiting until visiting hours actually started to come in for a visit, the staffing clerk who found some extra nurses for evening shift, the charge nurse who assured me it would be no problem to take a bunch of new admissions as long as she got extra staff, just to name a few. To my way of thinking, I am saying that I approve of these people's actions. I realize they don't need my approval, but when I'm on the receiving end of sincere thanks for merely doing the job I'm paid to do, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. That's a feeling I like to share. It takes no effort to be nice rather than nasty. Most days anyway.
There was a preteen boy ahead of me at Tim Horton's just a little while ago. After he'd made his purchase and walked away, I asked the counter lady if he'd said "please" or "thank you" to her. No, he hadn't. She and I commiserated on the lack of basic courtesy in some people's children. Why is it that so many parents aren't teaching or modeling good manners? It isn't rocket science, you know. Common sense, after all, if you're nice to others they will ususally respond in kind, coupled with the Golden Rule learned as toddlers: Do Unto Others.........
So let's all decide to make someone else's day - say thank you to someone and watch them glow with appreciation. It doesn't cost anything, and I can say from experience that the warm fuzzy feeling goes both ways.
Thank you for your attention.
So far today I've talked to multiple people on every floor of the hospital. I've said thank you to most of them. There was the family that I thanked for waiting until visiting hours actually started to come in for a visit, the staffing clerk who found some extra nurses for evening shift, the charge nurse who assured me it would be no problem to take a bunch of new admissions as long as she got extra staff, just to name a few. To my way of thinking, I am saying that I approve of these people's actions. I realize they don't need my approval, but when I'm on the receiving end of sincere thanks for merely doing the job I'm paid to do, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. That's a feeling I like to share. It takes no effort to be nice rather than nasty. Most days anyway.
There was a preteen boy ahead of me at Tim Horton's just a little while ago. After he'd made his purchase and walked away, I asked the counter lady if he'd said "please" or "thank you" to her. No, he hadn't. She and I commiserated on the lack of basic courtesy in some people's children. Why is it that so many parents aren't teaching or modeling good manners? It isn't rocket science, you know. Common sense, after all, if you're nice to others they will ususally respond in kind, coupled with the Golden Rule learned as toddlers: Do Unto Others.........
So let's all decide to make someone else's day - say thank you to someone and watch them glow with appreciation. It doesn't cost anything, and I can say from experience that the warm fuzzy feeling goes both ways.
Thank you for your attention.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
I Just Don't Get It
I just don't. I'm referring to the madness that has overtaken this city regarding the Oilers' progression to the Stanley Cup semi-finals. The hysteria, the near-riots, the screaming, stamping of feet, and outright noise this series of events has spawned mystifies me. For God's sake, it's just bloody hockey! It's not like the ultimate fate of the universe depends on this series of games, people!
What's ironic is that the knuckle-dragging denizens of this city don't even raise an eyebrow about the tragedies going on every day. They register no excitement about the new advances in diabetes treatment or cancer-fighting that occur here. There is no jumping up and down about how many young people are living on the streets. Abused women merit no reaction from the sports fans, either.
No, I just don't get it. Every time a hockey game airs right now, there is excessive booze-swilling, much honking of car horns, and of course, fistfights and other violence committed against opposing fans. Don't we have enough to do in our ERs without this insanity? Isn't there enough rude behavior on the streets without using a hockeygame as an excuse for more? What's next - murder in the name of sports partisanship? No, wait, someone tried that already last week.
It's a damned shame this much energy is never expended in the name of the really important causes. Oh, and in case you didn't get it, I hate hockey.
What's ironic is that the knuckle-dragging denizens of this city don't even raise an eyebrow about the tragedies going on every day. They register no excitement about the new advances in diabetes treatment or cancer-fighting that occur here. There is no jumping up and down about how many young people are living on the streets. Abused women merit no reaction from the sports fans, either.
No, I just don't get it. Every time a hockey game airs right now, there is excessive booze-swilling, much honking of car horns, and of course, fistfights and other violence committed against opposing fans. Don't we have enough to do in our ERs without this insanity? Isn't there enough rude behavior on the streets without using a hockeygame as an excuse for more? What's next - murder in the name of sports partisanship? No, wait, someone tried that already last week.
It's a damned shame this much energy is never expended in the name of the really important causes. Oh, and in case you didn't get it, I hate hockey.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
They're not ALL pervert axe murderers.
The title is in reference to a comment my redneck boyfriend once made regarding my expressed intention to actually meet in person some of the people I 'knew' from the internet: "Anyone you meet on the internet is a pervert axe murderer!" He's wrong, I have several friends that I initially met online, and none of them is a pervert or a homicidal wielder of axes.
I have to explain that I came to computer geekdom late in life, as when I went to high school a mainframe occupied an entire floor. It wasn't until my employer put me in a temporary position that involved the use of a pc that I discovered the internet. Being older and cautious, I approached the whole thing carefully, first setting up a Hotmail account so I could post on a travel board without using my work email (the only email account I had at first). In early 2002 I took the plunge and got my own computer at home, and the world wide web beckoned.
It was in November of 2002 that I met my first internet acquaintances in the flesh. A meeting, called a "pissup", had been planned by some of the posters on a particular board who lived in our city. Sadly, the instigator of the event wasn't able to attend, but I did meet another who lived here, as well as a very kind, courteous, and fascinating gentleman from Wisconsin, and two delightful ladies, one from Illinois and the other from Saskatchewan. It certainly allayed any slight apprehensions I may have had when the Wisconsin visitor plied me with very delicious sharp cheese from his home state. We all met for a walk, then later that evening had drinks and sandwiches together. Not one axe in evidence, either!
August of 2003 was when I really took the plunge - in addition to being one of the planners of another pissup here, I had two of the visiting attendants stay at my place. Needless to say, I didn't let this fact out around my hyper-paranoid boyfriend. Surprise, surprise, no perversion or murders were committed the entire weekend. One of my old and dear friends joined us, and so enjoyed the company that he became a regular on the bulletin board we all frequented. That friend has just returned from a holiday in the Caribbean with a couple of our mutual internet buddies.
I'm not a wide-eyed naïf, nor am I gullible by any stretch of the imagination. I know that there are unscrupulous types out there who use the internet for criminal and nefarious means, and that sexual deviants roam the web, preying on the easy to con and the young. I do know, though, that if I am sensible and judicious in where I visit and with whom I communicate, I run a good chance of making more good friends in cyberspace. And there's not an axe murderer in sight.
I have to explain that I came to computer geekdom late in life, as when I went to high school a mainframe occupied an entire floor. It wasn't until my employer put me in a temporary position that involved the use of a pc that I discovered the internet. Being older and cautious, I approached the whole thing carefully, first setting up a Hotmail account so I could post on a travel board without using my work email (the only email account I had at first). In early 2002 I took the plunge and got my own computer at home, and the world wide web beckoned.
It was in November of 2002 that I met my first internet acquaintances in the flesh. A meeting, called a "pissup", had been planned by some of the posters on a particular board who lived in our city. Sadly, the instigator of the event wasn't able to attend, but I did meet another who lived here, as well as a very kind, courteous, and fascinating gentleman from Wisconsin, and two delightful ladies, one from Illinois and the other from Saskatchewan. It certainly allayed any slight apprehensions I may have had when the Wisconsin visitor plied me with very delicious sharp cheese from his home state. We all met for a walk, then later that evening had drinks and sandwiches together. Not one axe in evidence, either!
August of 2003 was when I really took the plunge - in addition to being one of the planners of another pissup here, I had two of the visiting attendants stay at my place. Needless to say, I didn't let this fact out around my hyper-paranoid boyfriend. Surprise, surprise, no perversion or murders were committed the entire weekend. One of my old and dear friends joined us, and so enjoyed the company that he became a regular on the bulletin board we all frequented. That friend has just returned from a holiday in the Caribbean with a couple of our mutual internet buddies.
I'm not a wide-eyed naïf, nor am I gullible by any stretch of the imagination. I know that there are unscrupulous types out there who use the internet for criminal and nefarious means, and that sexual deviants roam the web, preying on the easy to con and the young. I do know, though, that if I am sensible and judicious in where I visit and with whom I communicate, I run a good chance of making more good friends in cyberspace. And there's not an axe murderer in sight.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
There's One More Angel in Heaven
This is going to be about one of the remarkable people I've met via the internet. I've met a lot of good people that way, some I've even had the pleasure of meeting IRL, but this person,
The lady's handle on the forum in question, really more of an online community for us regulars, was "onmicindy". She lived in the New Orleans area, had a husband, two mostly grown-up sons, and a couple of cats. She also had leukemia.
Since I learned of
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