Month: February 2011

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Close Encounters of the Border Patrol Kind

I took a bit of an awkward exit out of the Cost Cutters last night. You have to turn right and then immediately move into the left hand lane. I turned right and soon as I was straight, I signaled that I was going to move left. The car in the left lane behind me sped up the minute I put on my blinker, stayed snug against my bumper, and forced me to stay in the right lane until I had no choice but to exit because of the end of the lane. When I made the turn I was able to see that the car following me at been from the US border patrol. I’m guessing had been able to see that my license was ‘different’ and was probably trying to figure out where I was from. The distance was much too short for him to have had time to radio in anything.

That officer’s curiosity was very dangerous! I had no idea I was being tailed by anyone official and I was scared! I didn’t know the street I was turning onto; maybe he was a maniac planning to force me into a dead end to carjack me. If he hadn’t been riding me so closely, I might have decided to hit the gas and force my way ahead of him, only to discover blinking lights and a ticket for dangerous driving.

D-U-M-B.

 

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Expediency

For about five years now I’ve suspected that I have certain medical condition. Attempts to get tested for it in Quebec were dismal failures. After waiting for hours at walk in clinics, I’d get the usual harried GP who doesn’t give a rat’s ass about the patients who would call me a hypochondriac to my face and only send me for blood work to get me out of his hair. I’d then wait several weeks to get an appointment at the blood clinic, wait hours for the test, wait weeks for the results from the doctor’s office because I’d been told ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you’, and then try to follow up to be told ‘if we haven’t called you we either lost the results or you’re fine.’ It just boggled me to be treated that way when I had a plastic surgeon on speed dial with whom consults were fully covered by Quebec medical insurance!

My last attempt to get tested was the summer of ’08, before I hit the road. Since then, I’ve essentially been without health care coverage and I’ve also been daunted by the thought of breaking into another province’s medical system.

Long story short, I’ve been feeling poorly for a very long time and this month it’s come to a head. I’ve been eating well, resting, getting exercise, managing my stress levels, etc., but I just keep feeling worse.

So, this morning I got online and Googled testing in Bellingham for the condition I think I have. I found a website where I could pay for the test online, print out a confirmation, and go to a lab in Bellingham immediately and get the test done. This sounded too good to be true, so I made sure the place is legit (yes) and even found a 10% off coupon. So, I PayPaled the company $43. By 11:15 I’d printed out my confirmation and by 11:30 I was in the car on the way to the clinic.

I got there at exactly noon, prepared to wait for hours or even be told to come back another day. Instead, I was checked in and brought into a cubicle immediately. I was out of there in ten minutes flat!!!

The results should land in my inbox in the next couple of days. Regardless of what they say, the next step will be to find a doctor. If they are positive, then I’ll need some drugs and if they are negative I’ll need further testing. At least, I have one step out of the way and I’m feeling very proactive!

The lady at the lab said I was the fifth Canadian patient that morning and that Canadians come down so they can get their blood work out of the way more quickly. So, it sounds like the BC health care system is just as efficient as the one in Quebec!

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One Hundred Fifty Two!

My book collection once threatened to reach 10,000 volumes. Last inventory before I hit the road had me at just a little over 1,500 volumes. I now have 152 volumes!

This number includes my ‘to be read pile’ and could therefore dwindle if none of those books are worth keeping.

I can’t believe I catalogued and organized my entire book library in under an hour!

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Lots O’ Books

Today, I decided to gather up all the books in the rig so that I can reorganize them and catalogue their location. I sorted the books by categories. It’s amazing that this pile contains ALL my books; once upon a time a pile like this would have been a single book case!

Still, looking at this picture, I can just hear the minimalists say “Wow, you’ve got a book problem!”

I disagree.

The majority of these books, I’d say 95%, came with me when I hit the road. They are my core library; the books I refer to all the time and which are well annotated. A small amount were added along the way and some removed. When I stocked Miranda, I weighed everything that went into her and I made the necessary sacrifices to enable me to bring these beloved books with me.

I know I don’t have a book problem because I can get rid of tomes that are no longer relevant to me. I noticed quite a few cookbooks that I haven’t cracked open in ages that will be headed for the donation pile. There was a time when my books were very much clutter, but I’m happy to say I’ve got the addiction licked.

Now, I just need to get through the ‘I’ve been meaning to read this’ pile. 😀

 

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A Stitch in Time

One of the hobbies I gave up when I hit the road was cross-stitching (a type of embroidery). I have really missed doing it, but I couldn’t find any reason to continue with it. You only need so much artwork on the walls, or embroidered pillows and hand towels!

Well, I’ve been looking for a piece of artwork to fill up one spot in the kitchen/library; something that would tie in all my colours, including the orange of The Chair I’m Working On, without having too much yellow, and which would clearly reflect me. Tall order! After combing through some antique shops, I had an epiphany and decided to combine this search with my growing desire to get my hands on some Aida cloth: why not embroider the ‘perfect’ artwork?

So, I shifted my search to cross-stitching kits and came across the most perfect thing on eBay. So, this is what I’m working this month while on ‘vacation’, although I expect it’ll take a year or two to complete it:

all my colours AND my china pattern!

This is what I’ve done since the kit arrived on Saturday and represents about nine hours worth of stitching, not counting the time spent separating the floss:

Once I get the bulk of the white done, the rest of the stitching will take a lot less time since most of the counting will have already been done. Undoing a large section of cross stitching is very demoralizing, so you definitely want to start slow and get it right the first time!

It’s nice to be able to spend a couple of hours a day on a craft project and not look up periodically to see a bunch of more pressing things to deal with. I’ll say it again, I’m glad the renos are done!