Monday January 28, 2013

Monday January 28/13  update #352

I had an appointment to take the car in to Fountain Tire to replace the damaged module at 8am.   It was only supposed to take an hour so I went to visit at my old job at McFarlane’s down the block again.  I sure miss the people and the customers but certainly not the stress of trying to keep up to date all the time.

I figured trouble was afoot when I returned to Fountain Tire and my car was still inside the shop.   Dean said the module they received was not correct and they would have to get another from the US, taking 14 business days to arrive.  Of course that isn’t going to work so he then made a phone call to try to find a used one.   No luck there either so they just put everything back together and I will have to worry about it when I come back here next time, hopefully in May.  The only good news is that they did not charge me a dime….

My replacement at McFarlane’s, Janice, took me for lunch at Original Joe’s for a delicious but expensive fish n chip dinner that I had been craving.   I answered as many questions as I could to help her deal with the personalities of different staff and clients as that is a constant balancing act. 

When Janice was trying to pay the bill with Visa there was some consternation because it was continuously rejected, but her other credit card was accepted. We heard later on the radio that there was a problem with Visa today for 2 hours and that was of course exactly at the lunch hour.

I slipped home and closed my eyes for a few minutes but struggled to not actually fall asleep which would have been much too easy in my exhausted state.

I traveled into Calgary to see Mom for 3pm and we ended up playing tile rummy, just the two of us, and she beat me 3 straight games!  At least she didn’t gloat about it, but it sure shows how sharp her mind still is.

I then slipped downtown to meet my friend Keith at his favourite restaurant, Fleur De Sel, and we laughed and joked as we have always done since we met in 1989.  Keith now has a degenerative muscular disease with a horribly long name and it is truly sad to see this once-active gentleman reduced to relying on a cane.   Keith and I played many sports together over the years, especially wallyball, and he was always an inspiration to me since he was 10 years my senior and more active than me.

The weather was forecast to change drastically this evening to blowing snow and –19C and this began as we were finishing our supper.  I wasn’t sure how my car, with no proper defroster blower, would react to the colder temperatures and the constant snow on the windshield.   I didn’t dally much and took the quickest route I knew to get back home as quickly as possible.  The blowing snow could hide black ice, just as it obliterated the dotted lines, so I made sure I was well away from any other traffic wherever possible.   Many times the snow made a person rely solely on the shape of the road as we struggled to keep the vehicle on the road and out of the ditch.   I was thankful that the weather kept most folks at home so the traffic was relatively light as I navigated home safely.   Luckily the windshield stayed clear inside and out and the wipers did the rest.

Packing should be on the agenda tonight but that is going to wait until morning when I will do laundry and do everything at once and make sure I am within the weight allowances. 

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.    No photos today, sorry.