Monday January 21, 2013

Monday January 21/13 from Canada - nothing about Ecuador today

This isn't a pretty blog as nothing much went well today.
I arrived at Calgary International Airport at 1:30AM.  I waited around for my expected ride to show until 2am, but then the security guard said they were closing the airport and I had to leave.  I was forced to pay $100 for a 35 minute can ride home. 
After re-orienting myself with our home in Canada I realized that I had neglected to send off a note to my insurance company to put driving coverage back on the car so I attended to that right away by email.  I checked my Buick only to find that it was dead.  Groan....   After handling a few more chores I got to bed at 4am, watched the clock for 4 hours and was up at 8am.
First I contacted the furnace cleaning people to confirm our Tuesday morning appointment. 
Then I called a former co-worker down the hill and he came to help me push out the car and then it took us several tries to boost the battery.  We knew something was dearly wrong when it was melting the plastic handles on the booster cables, but we finally got it started.
I then went down to my old job to greet my former co-workers (who were begging me to return to work) and to begin the process of cashing in a life insurance policy.   I had left the car running outside to charge up the battery and at least that process was working, but then I quickly discovered my heater blower motor was not operating.   Fountain Tire said they could fit me in at 3pm.
I sped into Calgary to meet my 96-year-old Mom, whom I haven't seen in 15 months, and we had a nice lunch in the Bonavista Village dining room.  Mom had asked to see pictures of where we live now so we went to the computer room and I proceeded to show her the 250 photos I had selected.  I wasn't sure she would sit through that many but she was really quite fascinated with the photos and my stories that accompanied them.
I headed back to Okotoks and stopped in at home to check for messages.  My supper date with Mavis was confirmed, the furnace guys wanted to reschedule, and the idiots at the insurance company wanted to be sure I knew the premium was going to increase before they added the coverage....  I had no time to sit on hold for 45 minutes to call them back.
I left the car at Fountain Tire and walked back to my old job at McFarlane's and finished off the life insurance documents then proceeded to show my 250 photos to a couple of the guys.   I am pretty certain they were duly impressed.
I hadn't heard from Fountain Tire so I headed back there only to find that my suggestion of a blown fuse was only partially right.  A fuse was blown alright, but a replacement fuse also blew immediately so there is an electrical short somewhere else that they will maybe eventually find at a rate of about $120 an hour....   The appointment is now for Wednesday at 1pm.
Believe me, if I could just drop everything and head back to Ecuador, I would!
So, off I went to Turner Valley to meet Mavis for a delightful supper and great company.  She is such a sweet lady and a pleasure to talk to.
So now I am back at home in Okotoks and trying to sort out many things but it is getting really late and I am soooooo tired so I don't think I have time to post any photos.   I am doing laundry now because I don't know when I could fit it in later.
I sent off a nasty email to the insurance company idiots to stop calling and to just send me a pink card, so off to bed we go....
That was today's excitement.   Hugs to all.

Tuesday morning...  I posted a few photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com