East Coast Life

So I've been living back on the east coast for over 2 weeks now. I've been working for a week, and move into my own apartment tomorrow night. I can't wait. I've been living out of boxes and suitcases for a couple of months now, and a messy apartment (as I packed) a month before that. Anyone who knows me, understands what that chaos does to me...I've been okay, not too cranky, but I NEED to get unpacked. I don't have a lot of furniture to unpack things into, but I can get started. I have kitchen cupboards, so at least can unpack the kitchen stuff. I also have those shelves in the living room, and 3 closets. I bought a nifty rack at Wicker Emporium for in the bathroom as there is no real vanity, or shelving in there. I still have to get a shower curtain, and am hoping the landlord made sure to get the shower rod re-installed or I shall be bathing...

Tis a wild and windy night here tonight. I had missed the storms of the east coast, and how it felt to be cozy inside while the wind howled outside. I have to work in the morning, so am hoping the rain that is to follow the wind, takes all the snow right back away again. It's freezing rain at the moment, whipping around everywhere. Stormy is somewhat unsettled by the weather, and pacing the floors. He hasn't heard the wind howl like this as we moved up north while he was still a young kitten, and prior to winter. I am very thankful I do not have to be oustide in it!

The job is going well. I was finally assigned some work today, and was thrilled about that. I have been reading policies, procedures, manuals, other peoples work, and attending a plethora of meetings...now I have some actual work to do on my own, and it's been interesting! Tomorrow I am visiting a facility with another worker, and will spend the day there, inspecting.

It's good to be back on the east coast...

And The Week Rolled On

T'was a good week overall. I managed to get a job, an apartment, and didn't get lost in the commute. I'll be working for the government again, doing a similar job, but with a different population. Good pay, and my office cubicle (yes, I am finally being stuffed into a cubicle...first time since 2001 when I worked for an insurance company). I do however, have a window in my cubicle, and because we are on the 6th floor, I have a view, and within that view, is the harbour and one of the big bridges that crosses the harbour. Cool. My co-workers seem nice enough, and the office tower is located in a mall, so shopping is very convenient...that could also pose a problem as well...too convenient.

My new apartment is the second floor of an old Victorian era house. Quite roomy, with lots of windows. Heat and hot water is included which can be a very huge bonus for sure. I have my own private entrance, with a small deck, perfect for a bbq and a couple of chairs. There are trees in the yard that will shade the house, also perfect as anyone who knows me, know that I do not like the heat. It's a two bedroom, with a very awkwardly shaped kitchen and bathroom - they took one big square room and created two wedge shaped rooms out of it, which works for the purpose, just offers very awkward room shapes.

Shopping for the new apartment is a blast - I sold all my furniture, gave away much of my bed linens, dishes, curtains, etc before I left the north. Now I get to pick it all out again! Hooray! I moved out of an apartment with 3 windows and a door with a little window. Now I have 7 windows and a door with a little window in it. Wicker Emporium has a great sale on now so I picked up a few things. I have put a deposit on the table and chairs shown above, and hope to pick it up on Saturday. I also have my eye on the red chair shown, at Wicker Emporium.

It shall be a fine mess once I start unpacking...41 boxes plus 3 rubbermaid bins, and my car full of stuff, numerous bags of clothing and other items...Stormy will enjoy the empty boxes as usual, and I will enjoy getting rid of them as I unpack. I hope to have a housewarming by the middle of the month, once I am able to get the place furnished enough to have folks over. Let the games begin...

The Boy Returns To The East Coast

Stormy is due in any moment. While I was roaring across the country for 9 days, he was chauffeured to the airport this morning by someone from his foster home, my good friend S aka Hairy Hoser. Stormy was able to jetset across the country, with someone else tending to his needs. S told me the A/C cargo staff in Van were pleasant and showed an interest in Stormy. I hope he is not too shell-shocked by the time he arrives. I have a fresh litterbox waiting for him in the car. When he flew up north in 2005, he spent a half an hour in the litter box upon arrival at the hotel.

And then he arrived. We are at home now. Stormy has had a quick bath and found out where everything relevant to his life is. Now he has flopped in the hallway outside my open bedroom door. All must be right with the world...the boy has arrived.

The Cross Country Tour

After dropping the non-resident daughter off at the airport on Saturday morning, I headed to my friend S's house to pick up some things I had left with him. I couldn't fit it all in and the non-resident daughter too, so had dropped some stuff off before I picked her up. I also dropped off Stormy there too so had a wonderfuly albeit short visit with him. I also got stuck in S's driveway...and wanted to torch my car by the end of it. Winter was my enemy on the west coast for sure. After I got out of the driveway, I took S. for a quick lunch and then headed back to visit for a little with Stormy and S's family before returning to New Westminster where I had spent the previous night with an old high school friend. It was snowing like crazy, as it had been most of the friggin time on the west coast since Christmas. We braved the weather and drove downtown to West Hastings and visited the new Amsterdam Cafe, where my friend bought me a lovely t-shirt that smelled very strongly...we stopped at a tavern close to her home, had a beer and then headed back to her place for some catching up. I headed out early the next morning, headed for Kamloops.

Kamloops was at the end of the Coquihalla Highway, aka the Coke. The highway was somewhat intimidating when others talked about it so much, how bad the weather gets, how steep the mountains are, that chains are required, that it closes on a moment's notice, etc. However, I was fairly lucky and although the roads were snowcovered, they were manageable and I was able to make fairly good time and got to Kamloops in daylight. I visited there with good friends for the night, did some laundry, and left the following morning, destined for Calgary.

After crossing the Rocky Mountains, the skies cleared, and the highway levelled out. I made it to Calgary in good time, and spent the night hanging out with my cousin J., who cooked a lovely supper and we watched one of our favorite movies, Love Actually. After sacking out on her comfy sofa, I left early again the following morning, destined for Winnipeg.

The prairies were a blur, as they usually are, however I was treated to a stunning sunrise just outside Calgary, and had to stop to snap some photos with the big camera. I didn't stop much along the way otherwise, passing everything but the gas station. It was a long friggin haul to Winnipeg, but I made it, and arrived in the 'peg by about 9pm I think, where I bunked in with my ex-husband's sister and her husband for the night. It was great to see them, and to catch up on their lives. It had been several years since I had seen them both. I was exhausted so decided to stay an extra day and rest up, and visit some more. I left early again the next morning, bound for Thunder Bay.

Northern Ontario was a waste of space...dammit it took FOREVER to cross. I made it to Thunder Bay by about 7:30pm, and found my hostel relatively easy. I didn't particularly like it as it was more like staying at your nosiest aunt's house...what a busybody the hostess was and my room was right near the common areas where she lurked, chatting endlessly on the phone. I left really early again in the morning, headed for North Bay.

I did not make it to North Bay, having taken the northern route through Kapuskasing. It took FOREVER!!! I ended up checking into a motel about 8:00pm that night, having had ENOUGH of the endless, boring, two-lane highway, with trucks trying to force me off the road. I got up the next morning and headed for North Bay, arriving mid-morning and had some things I hoped to accomplish there before moving on. I have an infant sister buried there, and no one has visited her grave since the funeral. At first it was difficult for the family, and then we moved away and never returned. I had promised my mother I would stop by with some flowers and visit the dear little one in the cemetary. It was not to be. Turned out there was no grave marker, and 2 feet of snow or more in most of the cemetary. Without a marker and all that snow, it was impossible to locate, as I didn't know where to start. I visited the funeral home, and after a few calls, was connected with a gal who could help me find it in the spring. After shedding tears of loss about not being able to fulfil my promise to my mother, not to mention my inability to visit with the sister who came after me, I left the flowers against the fence in the graveyard, the wreath and teddy bear with the funeral home, and hoped someone would find her in the spring. I later spoke to the gal who managed to locate the plot's whereabouts, and she promised to bring her flowers in the spring and take a photo of the plot to send to me.

After the emotional rollercoaster that was North Bay, I headed for Petawawa to visit with another high school friend that I had managed to keep in touch with ever since...those are rare. Some things never change...she was much like I remembered her. We went out for supper and before long I had to hit the road again, as I was destined for Munster, just outside of Ottawa. I made it there by about 9pm, and was completely exhausted by that point, so made the executive decision to stay an extra day to do some laundry and rest up a bit. I did some shopping in Kanata with my cousin's wife, and left Munster early the following morning, destined for Sussex.

I didn't make it to Sussex. Turns out it was much farther than hoped, and took much longer to get there. I ended up staying in another hotel, just outside of Woodstock. New Brunswick was another boring and long drive, with little to see from the highway. I got up early the next morning and headed for Sussex to visit with another dear old friend. It was great to see her, and I thoroughly enjoyed the brief tour of her huge 150 year old home, which she runs as a bed & breakfast, and a few apartments. By late morning, I knew I should get my ass in gear and finally make it to Dartmouth. I landed there about 3pm, and was ever so glad to finally get the hell out of my car, and to see the folks.

There I was, having completed a cross-country tour in January. It took me 9 days, and once I was out of BC, had nothing but terrific weather across the country. BC was beautiful this summer, but what a friggin mess it was this Christmas...I was glad to be out of it. Now I have to find a job and a place to live...in the meantime, I'm bunking in with my parents. Stay tuned...

San Francisco

Fog, rain, cold. That would describe San Fran...we did get a break from the rain when we went to Alcatraz. The hostel was nice enough, but very large and very formal. We much preferred the Ocean Beach hostel in San Diego. The San Fran hostel was also located right smack in the middle of Little Saigon...which was unfortunate because neither of us like Asian food that much...so we dared to get pizza at a local pizzaria run by Muslims...that was interesting. Or should I say painful. I think I had a bit of food poisoning as I was wracked with terrible cramps later that night that doubled me over in pain. Great way to spend New Year's Eve. We stayed in, both tired and weary of tramping all over the city in the cold, foggy, damp weather. We watched the ball drop on my computer, and spent the night just hanging out with each other. If the weather was better, we were going to go out and look for something happening outside, but it was crap, so we didn't bother. Parking was atrociously expensive...$18 per day!!! We visited the Haight-Ashbury district too, but the weather kept most folks away. The shops were cool, but there was no hippy vibe, like there would be in the summer. I shall have to return in search of clearer weather and a better experience. We saw just a glimpse of the Golden Gate bridge as we drove out of San Fran, in the fog...boo.

San Diego

San Diego was beautiful weather, sand, sun, and groovy people...lotsa surfer dudes too. We also went to the San Diego Zoo...lotsa animals, lotsa people. We took a few hours and dashed over to Tijuana...dirty, crowded, annoying...bought some stuff and came back...

The Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam

We left Las Vegas and headed father into the desert for the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. It was plenty warm enough at the Dam, but when we got to the turnoff to the Grand Canyon, the temperature was -12C, and there was about 3 feet of snow. WTF? We were going to camp...so we chose a small motel in Williams, at the junction. We checked the weather for the morning and it was -27C at the Canyon...jaysus murphy...so after bbqing supper on the motel's grill which conveniently happened to be outside our motel room door, we went to bed early, and got up to head to the Grand Canyon. It was simply stunning, 3 feet of snow or not. We didn't stay more than an hour or so, as it was damn cold and we wanted HEAT with our sun, so after some photos, gift shop, few more looks, we headed south towards Mexico, and picked up the interstate to San Diego.

We finally saw hundreds of cactus plants in the Arizona desert, and took a ton of photos. By the time we hauled into San Diego, it was about 10pm, and we were dog tired. The hostel was again quite nice, and just 2 short blocks to the beach...yahfrigginhoo!

Viva Las Vegas

Once we arrived in Vegas, things began to look up. The hostel was quite nice, with a pool (outdoor so closed), a hot tub, laundry, kitchen, internet, and just down the street from the Freemont Experience. It was sunny and warm, and we were so DAMN glad to see the end of the snow, at least for a while. We went down and checked out the Freemont Experience that night, and the huge screen over the street was amazing - we watched a video on it, which was cool. We tried some gambling, had a prime rib dinner, and got our photos taken with the Chippendales boys, who smelled and felt VERY NICE...

Day 2 in Vegas, we went down to check out the Vegas Strip, starting at the MGM Grand, where we had a look at the lion enclosure in the casino, which was pretty cool. The enclosure is temperature controlled and sound proofed. The lions are rotated out so no one lion spends much time in the enclosure. The strip was full of casinos (of course), restaurants, gift shops, tourists, and plenty of guys and gals handing out flyers for hookers...we checked out Madame Tusseaud's Wax Museum, which was very cool. We posed with tons of stars, and had most of the museum to ourselves that day. We also went to M & M World, Coca-Cola World, and several other themed buildings/areas.

That night we went out for a buffet at Treasure Island, which was quite good, but I wish I had a larger appetite to make it worth my while, heh heh...it was also a lengthy lineup to get in. We rode the "Deuce" which is a double decker bus that runs up and down the strip all day and night.

Day 3 in Vegas was Christmas Day, and we went to the Stratosphere for a tour and a ride on the XScream, which was a quick but thrilling ride that teeters out over the edge of the tower. Then we were off to check out more of the strip. We left at one point to go see a large aquarium off the strip, but it took forever to get just to the bus terminal, so turned around and went back to the strip as we had tickets for a show that night. This was the highlight of my trip - we saw Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil...it was AWESOME! I highly recommend it, however it is wrapping up this month. I bought lots of souvenirs, and took photos in the amazing theme area next to the theatre. After the show we were able to catch the fountain show at the Bellagio, and the Volcano show at the Mirage.

The Rest of The Beach Bum Tour - Day 3

Being a busy trip, I didn't get much time to post while travelling so will do my best to highlight it now, in retrospect.
Day 3 - Still fucking snowing in Oregon. WTF?? So we had to get the motel owner to roust his lazyass son out to help shovel and push us out of the parking spot and into the parking lot. Missus came out, wringing her hands, not knowing what to do about the snow. Said she had a shovel but there was snow in front of the shed where it was kept. SO GO GET IT! Finally we were pushed out into the parking lot where I promptly got stuck again. There was about 18 inches of snow on the ground, nothing plowed, hardly driven on. Got pushed into the sidestreet that led to the main street, and stuck again. Still not a speck of snow had been plowed. We ended up with 3 people shovelling us us out and then finally were pushed onto the street and off the races we were.

So then we though, well, lets get out of the mountains and head for the desert...big mistake. We were still too far north not to run out of snow, and the higher we went in the mountains, the more snow we came across. It was near blizzard by the time we reached the summit, and the only one on the highway. I made an executive decision to turn around, and the snow was so thick, I had to follow the "cat's eyes" down the mountain and back into rainy weather instead of snow. It was a terrifying drive, with few guardrails to save you from falling off the side of the mountain should you begin to slide.

Once back off the mountain, we started driving south again on the interstate, bound to hit Las Vegas by the following day. We parked in front of a hotel around 11:30pm and napped for a few hours before hitting the road again. We finally drove into the desert sun, and away from the snow by about 2pm the following afternoon. Day 3 of our trip was NOT FUN.

Beach Bum Tour - days 1 and 2

Well, this is supposed to be a beach bum tour. So far, no beach, lotsa bums. My daughter and I had planned this trip several months ago, and I picked her up in Vancouver on Saturday. We first went to our hostel that was booked in downtown Vancouver, but it was in a pretty seedy drug infested neighborhood where the windows were all boarded up...no parking, and just plain bad vibes, so we left without staying and headed for the border instead. Our trip plan was to cross into Washington, drive south until just south of Seattle and head west to the coast, taking the coastal highway aka The Gold Coast Highway down, camping at Coos Bay.

Well, that didn't quite work out as planned. We only spent 2 hours at the border, which is reportedly good, and headed south, but before we even reached Seattle, the weather was shit, snow everywhere and Washingtonians who don't know how to drive in snow. We saw about 35-40 cars/trucks off the road in just a few kms, so we decided not to put our lives in the hands of Washingtonians who do not know how to drive in the snow, and checked into a cheapo motel for the night, hoping weather might improve in the morning. It didn't. The roads were still shit. We decided to head east to the coast in hopes of losing the snow for rain. That didn't happen. We ended up on smaller highways with more snow, unplowed, and very very very slippery roads. Top speed was about 60kms/hour, and average speed was about 30kms/hour. Then some dumbass in a Volkswagen new bug decided to pass us on a hill, in heavy snow, on a turn, on the slipperest section we had come across. She skidded into the ditched in front of us and in order to avoid her, I braked and slid down the incline to the shoulder, getting stuck. There was no guardrail, and each time I attempted to drive either back or forward, inched us closer to the shoulder's edge, where it dropped off about 20 feet. Um, fuck.

So then Amber attempted to flag someone down to help push us back onto the road. Most people passed on by, without even acknowledging her. One shook his head at her, but in Karma's own sweet way, he got it back...once we got back on the road, he was in the ditch...

Finally a Ford Expedition stopped with a bunch of foreigners in it who couldn't speak English. They had no idea what we were asking of them. Great...lets move on. Then another truck stopped, and the guy had 4 wheel drive and as he stopped to see what we needed, he damn near slid into us (he was coming from the other direction). He helped push me back onto the highway, facing in the other direction. We decided then, the Oregon Coast was not worth it at this point in time, and headed back to the interstate. We lost about 3-4 hours, but I just couldn't stand driving any longer on that horrible road. We got through Seattle, and while coming through Portland, decided at 6pm when the roads were still shit, and chains were required (we didn't have any) that it was time to pull into yet another motel.

That wasn't as easy as it sounds. Apparently Portland usually does not get snow, particularly any that stays more than a few hours before the rain takes it away. Nothing was plowed and we got stuck in two motel parking lots. The second one, the owner's son came out to help, along with a few folks who were walking along the street. We were shoved into a parking space in front of our room, and called it a night. I have no idea if we will get out this morning as it continued to snow and nothing is plowed, not even the motel parking lot. The hope is that we will drive out of snow in about 2 hours south of here, so that is our hope...and then we head for the desert, bound for Canyon City, Nevada.

And So The Plan Is

I have no idea if I have mentioned that I am going travelling for Christmas. My 22 year old daughter and I are going travelling together again. She's such a good travel companion, and we have such fun times. It's weird...we can barely live together but we travel together very well...

And so the plan is, I will pick her up in Vancouver, and we head south through Washington, Oregon along the coast, and then head inland towards Carson City, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and then head southwest to Tijuana. We leave Tijuana and spend a few nights in San Diego, then off to San Francisco for a few days, after which we head north again, stopping in Olympia before hitting Vancouver. Christmas in Vegas, watching Cirque de Soleil's Beatles Love...can't friggin wait. New Years in San Francisco, so that should be interesting. We'll be staying in hostels and campgrounds, so sure to have a few adventures along the way. Neither of us have been in that neck of the country, so looking forward to exploring it together.

And that is the plan...Stormy's are yet to be determined...

Thank Christ Monday Is Nearly Over

So I woke up this morning with an excruciating pain in my shoulder. I didn't feel it when I lay still, as in SLEEP. But as soon as I went to prop myself up to swing my legs over the edge of the bed, YOWWWWWWSSSSSERRRR!!!!!! And then something a little more colorful...my neighbors may think Henry has moved back in. No, it was my shoulder. Sigh...what now? I didn't have to work this morning, so that was a relief. I didn't know what struck my shoulder, but at least I had a few hours to find out what I could do. Some ibuprofen and I went back to bed to sleep it off. Well that didn't work. Sigh...now what? I was expecting someone to stop by to look at the treadmill. I needed to get showered and dressed...that was interesting...I couldn't raise my arm more than a few inches, so had to do everything one handed - wash my hair, do up my friggin bra, put on socks...amazing how much we depend on the use of both hands.

I finally get myself dressed, a few squeals and screams later, and I was out the door to the hospital to get my shoulder checked out. I couldn't get in to see my own doc until mid-December...So I had just cleaned off the car, wrangled my seat belt on (now isn't THAT a challenge, with just my right hand to use...). and started to pull out when my phone rang. It was the gal who wanted the treadmill...sigh. Ok, I agreed to wait for her, as she was just coming into town from another community, and the roads were bad. I believed that. The roads ARE shit. Anyhow...now I have to take off the seatbelt, unravel my long hair from the seatbelt as it rolls back into the car...

So I sell the treadmill, she carts it off (with little help from me and my bloody shoulder) and get back into the car, wrangle the damn seatbelt back on again, and it's off to the hospital I go, driving with one hand. Good thing it's my left shoulder...I drive a stick.

Of course, going to the emergency department of any hospital is never quick. Even in small town northern Canada, you can still waste hours and hours. I arrived at 11:45am. I didn't get seen until about 3:30pm. I was at least shown to a chair behind a curtain, so I could nap and drool in private...They took an x-ray (had to take my shirt and bra off...not EASY!) and before I knew it, handsome doc was telling me a tale of woe about my shoulder. Calcified tendonitis. Nothing serious, but painful as shit. Treat with ice and ibuprofen...damn, not even some good drugs to go with it. So back to the car, wrangle the seatbelt on, and off to work I go.

Two separate home visits, and a stop for supper, that's 6 more times I had to wrangle that God damn seatbelt on...I came home and all I wanted to do put on my pyjamas and put my hair in a pony tail...neither of which was easy, and I couldn't manage the ponytail first or last...dammit. Now I will be choking on my hair all night...or strangling in it.

Thank Christ Monday is nearly over...

November Musings

Been so busy and preoccupied lately, my blog has been completely ignored. I'm moving, again. Sigh...I am comfortable with the decision to move, but it doesn't make it any less work. Packing, sorting, moving shit around...seems to be an endless job of late. Hardly time to think it seems. Stormy appears to be fairly unaffected so far by the increase in activity in the apartment, though he has taken to scampering out into the hallway when someone comes, taking off down through the building. And he was never a cat to escape before...probably has a lot to do with all the traffic through here lately with folks coming to pick stuff up. I'm down to the bare basics now, so just lots of PILES of stuff. A pile to go to the Salvation Army second hand store, a pile for the car, a pile left to pack, and a pile to throw out. At least the piles are getting smaller...I also have a pile of boxes that need to be mailed.

Living surrounded by chaos has not been without affect on me though...I hate it! Can't wait to get on the road with A. for our Christmas holidays down the west coast to Tijuana. Whoo friggin whoo! A. has done most of the planning, and I booked all the hostels yesterday. We're hoping for good weather and can only imagine what adventures we shall encounter along our journey. \

I will miss Stormy. He is going out on the plane from Prince George to Halifax to spend Christmas with my folks. Hopefully he doesn't make a pest of himself and enjoys some time with my neice, Miss O. She has met him before and saw him when he was just a kitten. I bought him a sweater today, but it was too small, so I have to bring it back and get another. It looked darn cute on him, but he hated it..acted like it paralyzed him...such drama! I will return it tomorrow and get a bigger one. After I ship him out I won't see him until mid-January when I get out there. I also bought a heated/massaging seat cushion for A.'s car. I may try it out, but won't need it once I move east. She can certainly use it in the Yukon.

It does feel good to be rid of so much of my stuff...

Love Story

I will seek and find you.
I shall take you to bed and have my way with you.
I will make you ache, shake & sweat until you moan & groan.
I will make you beg for mercy, beg for me to stop.
I will exhaust you to the point that you will be relieved when I'm finished with you.
And, when I am finished, you will be weak for days.

All my love,

The Flu

Happy Halloween Henry

oh, and adios, while we're at it. I listed Henry today in the local trader magazine, online. It wasn't long before I had a call from a middle aged couple from Newfoundland who wanted to take him. I knew I couldn't take him when I move, so needed to get him in with someone else, so thankfully a nice lady came and picked him up. So this is a Happy Halloween indeed. Goodbye Henry! Have fun in your new home. Now it's just me and Stormy. The boy.

Call Centres

Yeah. Necessary EVIL. I hate them. And I hate that 90% of the people working there can't fucking speak English. Had a fun go-round with Bell Expressvu's call centre tonight. Sigh. So I received about a dozen or so automated phone messages telling me to replace my smart card. It's just a card that goes into the receiver, looks like a debit card or a hotel room card key. Trouble was, I didn't get the new smart card until about 5 messages in. So I finally get the damn card and follow the simple instructions to replace it. It went relatively smoothly. I called Bell Expressvu to confirm what I was doing was right, because I didn't want to take the card out (which I had never done in my life) and lose all my programming. They talked me through it, and my programming was up and running again in minutes. Groovy.

Trouble was, I kept getting the fucking phonecalls to replace my smart card AND then messages on my receiver, popping up over any program I was watching, telling me to replace my smart card. WTF? So tonight I decided to call them again, and as them, what the hell, people? Of course I got an immigrant who couldn't speak English. He stumbled through the process, told me that the card I had in there was the old one, and to put the new one in. WHAT? I told him I already did that, and had actually already confirmed with someone that the new one was in there. Apparently it wasn't. The card that came with my receiver when I bought it was the new one. They sent me an old one. Great. Ok, so I went through the process AGAIN. He tells me the card is now activated. A message on the screen says the card is being activated and warns me not to touch anything. Don't worry, I won't! Then call centre idiot tries to hook me up with some new programming, "never before seen in Canada!". Fuck off (I didn't say that out loud). If anything, I want to trim down my programming because I don't get a chance to watch it all. I only upped my package for my housesitter this summer. And now I'm moving again, and am too busy to sit around watching ALL the channels. So please reduce my package, please. Idiot tries to sell me the new and improved package again. Fuck off. I am not interested. So Idiot puts me on hold, allegedly for just a few minutes. 10 minutes later we were disconnected. Idiot. Whatever, I'll change the programming some other day. Now let me get back to Grey's Anatomy.

Um, where did all my channels go? I have just 8 or so channels...instead of about 600...WTF? Sigh...I can't believe I have to call those idiots again. I wait for 2 hours as he said, to let all the programming download...2 hours later, and I still have 8 channels. Ok, I can't believe I'm doing it but I am calling them again. Another fucking person who can't speak English...and hers is even worse than the previous idiot. Better still, she's copping an attitude, and talked over me constantly throughout the call! Anytime I tried started to talk, she talked right over me, and dismissed what I said. I explained to her that I had called twice before, and was told each time the card was activated. I asked her why she kept talking over me and didn't let me speak. She told me she did this because I didn't have anything new to say. Um, WHAT? Listen you snotty bitch, I am a loyal customer and you are insulting me, ignoring me, and being rude to me? (I didn't say that out loud...I am generally not as pissy out loud as I tend to be in my head). She promised that my card had indeed been activated. I asked her if there were any notes saying this had already been done twice before. She said "no". Fuck. Great. I asked her then if she was going to put any notes in, or would I be calling back for a fourth time to do this yet AGAIN. She assured me that she was, and that I could destroy my old card. Yeah, right lady. Like I'm going to trust you any more than I trusted the previous two idiots. Fuck off. I think I'll keep the card and see if you did your job tonight or just dinked me around like the other two assholes.

Sigh...call centres. And don't even get me started on the voice activated menus Bell has...they didn't recognize me saying the word ENGLISH, so put me into a Spanish menu...Jaysus H. Christ. And I can SPEAK English.

Crackberry Crumble

I did it. I bought a Blackberry Curve 8330. I friggin love it. I can see how people get addicted to it. All I want to know is why I didn't buy one before? LOL. I didn't have my own cell phone, just one owned by my employer for work purposes. And I didn't want to use it too much. As well, they offer much better long distance plans on cell phones up north than they do on land phones, so to hell with them, I will use a cell! And I couldn't have just any cell...I had been interested in the Blackberry aka Crackberry for some time now, and yesterday was the day. I had gone in there looking for the one they had on sale, but they sold out of them right away. However I still got an awesome deal and an awesome device. Nothing like retail therapy to take your mind off things...as well as give my parents new options for getting in touch with me, particularly with the way things are these days. Now I gotta go play...

Crapped Out

So to speak. I choked down 5 bottles of the lemon mix, the cayenne tablets, the senna, and followed that up with two giant size slices of pizza...yeah, pizza. I lasted until about 7:15pm. I rethought the whole idea and decided it was not the right time or cleanse for my particular body. With my fibromyalgia, bursitis, and knack this year for getting colds (5 so far!!!) I didn't feel I needed to tempt fate further by compromising my immune system with 10 days without eating. Granted, eating pizza is not particularly healthy...so my new plan is to buy more healthy foods when I go grocery shopping this Friday, and just eat healthy, get on the treadmill regularly, and just take better general care of myself instead. Let's see how that plan works.

And how did I feel today? Well, I managed the drinks well enough, but about 2pm my stomach started to roll, rather, LURCH as it all churned around down there, and because my bursitis was so bad this morning, I ended up taking some Tylenol and ibuprofen for it (it's the only over the counter combo that works) and the ibuprofen is likely what contributed to the lurch. I also have a pounding headache, which is normal for caffeine withdrawal, except I don't drink tea or coffee, and am not addicted to Coke or Pepsi (like my sis).

So there you have it. Master Cleanse - 1, Me - 0.

The Master Cleanse - Preparation

Yup. I'm gonna do it. I've thought about it for a few years, ever since I first met folks who did it. They crapped out early, just 3-4 days. My daughter started it yesterday and is doing well with it so far. Her roommate and a friend are also doing it with her, so I was inspired to finally try it myself. I am off red meat today, only liquids tomorrow and then on Wednesday I begin with the cleansing lemonade.

The ingredients are simple and I have modified it to suit my taste and availability of ingredients here in the north. I'll be taking senna laxative tablets at bedtime (instead of the tea - tea makes me gag), and taking the cayenne pepper in tablets instead of in the drink (the idea of that powder floating around in my lemonade makes me gag) and then the drink will be just maple syrup (the real stuff), water and fresh squeezed lemon juice. There is a salt water drink you are recommended to drink in the morning, however I don't know if I can do that...reminds me too much of all the times I nearly drowned in saltwater ocean...

The photo is not mine, but ripped off from someone else. I chuckled when I saw the baby wipes, but know why they are there...my daughter informed me that her laxative tea worked VERY WELL today...and I was reading on one of the web boards that there may be a burning ring of fire as toxins exit the body...nice.

One also cannot have alcohol, pot, tobacco, or any other non-prescribed drugs during the cleanse either, so smokers will have a hard time with it. My daughter's roomie has already broken THAT part of the fast and puffed back 10 ciggies today.

They also do not recommend any strenuous physical activity during the fast, as you'll likely pass out. I don't think I'll have any difficulty there...heh heh.

So there you have it...I'll post as often as I can on my progress (though not so much on the bodily functions, thank you very much). I have visions of passing out downtown as I walk from one office to the other, at the feet of a crack addict...let's hope that doesn't happen...