proba tive org archives

This weekend was quite the learning experience. Until then the person who'd invited each of us to be part of a new business venture was the only one who'd also met all of us. As it turned out we all got on well and agreed that working with each of these previously unknown quantities would not be a problem.

Our first team undertaking went famously, surprising even ourselves with our combined brilliance.

Yesterday reality bit our butts. Back to earth. A crucial acquisition failed to close and we ain't no more. Well, we are individually, of course. Just we ain't collectively.

"The rate of unemployment is 100% if it's you who is unemployed." - David Kurtz

I have an overly developed knack for noticing things that don't "fit" in my environment. (Remember "One of these things is not like the others..."?) Sometimes this knack is really irritating - for me as well as the people I have had occasion to correct. Typos and grammatical errors in printed material are hard to ignore and interfere with my understanding, particularly when I am required to digest technical documents.

In the wider, non-technical world I still note many such things. Some are ironic, some are infuriating and some are quirkily funny. A warped sense of humour comes in handy after all.

No, I didn't wake up today with this subject on my mind. It was prompted by the flash advertisement for Belair Direct Insurance that ran when I went to the The Weather Network page for Ottawa. (It's the one about a Bumper to Bumper contest.)

The smile it provoked tempered the note on the home page that we're only a third of the way through winter! Can that be true? Did I need to know? Now there's an idea for a different kind of filter on web page information. A bad news blocker. Huh.

Results may vary. The funny bit only shows up in the larger of the two flash ads - the one that's more square than oblong. More quirky than I'd thought. (added as a comment then moved here when I realized the comments are closed now after a very brief time...sheesh.)

[Feb 10 update] Somebody snitched and the typo has been fixed in the larger version of Belair's ad now. Previously one of the banners read "Bumber to Bumper" -- in case you wanted to know.

My head seems to think I don't have enough to think about right now what with another move taking place in my life. Really. This time I'm debating the pros and cons of living in my very own and probably very small space versus sharing digs again. Either way, I'll have to find a way to pare down what I've been dragging around with me in the stubborn belief that my life would straighten up and fly right in the near future.

I have been having some odd, odder and really odd dreams in the past week. (Hi Jacob!) Previously the oddest and most disturbing to me was one in which I woke myself up yelling "Help!" just before Christmas. I wear earplugs. Very good ones actually. Waking myself probably meant I was pretty darn loud.

The series of dreams this week has raised the bar on odd. One had me being shot towards at very short range (the shooter can't see me - because I am smart enough even in my dreams to HIDE; and misses me) and in the latest I am in a fight with an unidentifiable man and woke mid-dream to find my arm punching the air above my bed. Another involved being invited to a religious gathering of some unidentified group only to find that a foreign language was being used without attempts to explain. I left after that. Then there's the one where the baby dies. The smaller twin. But not until I give birth to the second many hours later. I must have been in an Ontario hospital: long waiting lines, understaffed and overcrowded.

Might be cabin fever. Or I really am trying to tell myself something. Either way I'm weaning myself off one of the cocktail of drugs I am currently injesting. The one that makes it hard to get going in the morning.

Up at 7am for the first time in a while. Hurray.

Moving sucks. I should know. Moving in February in Ottawa sucks the most. Unless you have scored a corporate package, then it's really not like moving at all. My last February move here took place during a blizzard when my helpful brother and amazing friends took very good care of the sucky part whilst I reclined on the sofa in the new house, my recently injured foot elevated, directing the transport of incoming items. The foot sucked enough to make up for that now that I think of it.

Presently I am unimpressed with the number of people who returned the message I left in answer to various ads for places to rent. I suspect some have found tenants. Fine, but I would appreciate a call saying that - you know. Common courtesy after all. I have half a mind to continue calling late into the night until someone actually answers, but I don't think that would endear me as a potential tenant so I'm ignoring that evil voice.

I wound up in Voice Mail Hell when I called the medical clinic just to confirm that my doctor was still at that address so I could go and sit in the waiting room to get more pain control medication. There had been some talk of his moving to another clinic under the same corporate name sometime around now. Round and round I went until I finally went to have a nap. No, I didn't get an answer and I didn't leave a message, either. I'll try again in the morning...

Naps have reappeared since I stopped taking one of the medley of medications I've been Rx'd. But not until pretty late in the day. The time and number of cups of coffee needed to get to a fully alert mental state in the morning has been drastically reduced, though, so I think it's a tradeoff I'll put up with for now.

Yesterday I drove to Dunrobin to check out a shared place of living. He'd really understated things when it came to the driveway. If I recall correctly, he'd said that some people had trouble getting up the longish incline to the house. Now that I've been there, I don't see how any normal cars do make it.

It was slightly snowy during the morning and the drive was lightly covered. I headed up expecting packed snow at least covered with sand. Ha ha. Just ice covered with snow as it turned out. I managed to get about half way before I lost all forward momentum. Tried putting my baby in 4Wheel mode but it was too late - down I slid brakes ineffectual. Managed to manouever a slight backward turn off the icy part in a break in the trees.

The prospective landlord was waving at the top when I first approached and ran down to meet me after my initiation. I was educated as to the best way to approach (faster and already in 4W) and made it up the hill the second time by staying to the right and then left of the iciest parts.

I wouldn't even consider moving there without a Jeep. As a place to recover from surgery and get ready for the next unknown adventure it has some major attractions. Like 21 acres of property upon which campsites and trails are being constructed. Great for x-country skiing, hiking, biking and generally communing with nature. A rather hard to describe arrangement of rooms, but essentially a private small apartment that is also used once in a while as part of the whole house.

I'm still looking, but the price is right and even if it's a bit off the beaten track, at least it's near the Kanata tech park.

I'm still looking. And some of the places for rent out there are just whacked. Not to mention some of the people behind the ads.

I have ruled out the rural place for a couple of reasons. One being that I don't think I want to regularly negotiate that hill, not to mention the problems getting a Uhaul truck up there. A close second was the once a month very large and very loud social club get togethers for which the space I used would also be used. Which turns out to be the reason it was being rented out as "shared".

Today a part of a conversation with another guy who had shared accommodations went like this:

he: Are you beautiful?
me: Well, I don't know if I'd say that. [?]
he: Are you ugly?
me: No, I wouldn't say I was ugly. [??!]
he: I wouldn't want to fall in love or lust with my roommate, so it would be better if you were ugly. [Never going to happen!]

This took place after he'd asked me how old I was. He was glad I wasn't 20 something because he's the same age as I it turns out. I told him I'd call him later. [Also never going to happen.]

Another conversation today when my message that I'd like to find out more and hopefully view the place today was returned:

he: How many people would be living in the apartment?
me: Just me.
he: So one girl.
me: Well, one woman, but yeah...
he: Do you have a dog?
me: No.
he: Where do you work?
me: I don't right now - I'm on medical leave. [Yeah that's what I'm calling waiting for surgery - okay?]
he: Okay, I'll check with my partner and get back to you in two days.

Really. I didn't get to ask a damned thing and his caller id was blocked. Hard to believe the vacancy rate is up in Ottawa. What would he be asking if it was a really tight market?

Visited an apartment last night for which the ad neglected to state that it was furnished. Like you're supposed to assume it is?

I'm a bit cranky today. Does it show? Didn't sleep well or much or both last night. Back to the full complement of medications for me.

I'm also trying to put together a meeting with my intrepid friend who is the driving force behind this latest company adventure and a former work colleague who has much more business experience than I. There's a slight chance things may continue with that stalled project, but that's all I'm going to say, because it's slight and well that's all.

Yesterday and part of today the search for housing continued. The place I saw yesterday was odd (and not in a way that brings the word character to mind) and the wiring was known to be illegal: ungrounded but with grounded receptacle boxes everywhere. What it had going for it was that it was on the top floor and had a nice big back deck. Really non-standard doorway openings, too.

This morning I had a conversation with a guy in Carleton Place to where I was willing to move for the great-on-paper 2 bedroom apartment for only $500 a month. I was trying to set up an appointment to view it. He asked a few questions to which I gave honest replies. One of them revealed that I had a cat. "Oh no." he said, "No animals allowed because the staff have to clean sometimes and they are allergic. "

I wasn't sure I had actually heard all of that correctly so I asked: "The staff are allergic? What staff?" To which I was again treated to the explanation above but with a prediction that one of the staff could die because of this allergy. Really.

I considered calling back much later and answering differently just to get a look at the place. But I didn't. I'd still like to, but now I have other things to spend my time on. Still - it is illegal to refuse to rent to someone because they have pets. At least in Ontario it is. Really.

I called a place that had a sign out front saying there was a renovated apt for rent. I'd passed it on the way to the odd place yesterday. Met with the landlord and viewed not one but two apts both of which had been completely gutted and new floors, bathroom fixtures, ceilings, paint all done. I am about to sign a lease tomorrow. Glad this annoying hunt is over.

It's small, but has some advantages, including the facts of it not being in a basement (first time in a couple of years!) and the landlord not being perturbed about my having a cat and being unemployed at the moment. There's laundry equipment being installed in the building and there's space to park my Jeep. I can get the key this week so moving logistics will be less frantic.

Good huh? I just have to check that I can get the cable modem service moved there and I'll have nothing to do but sort out what fits and what goes into storage or goodwill.

Right. The cable modem. Gotta check on that right now.

Well I must be having an extremely lucky day. I hadn't considered until I was blogging my find that since there were a couple of satellite dishes installed on the side of the building gaining (or re-gaining) a cable connection could be problematic.

No problem, according to the Rogers site. Whew! That could have been a deal breaker.

Just got back from a lovely Valentine's dinner with my roommate, her friend and the friend's really entertaining young daughter. The last conversation I had with my prospective new landlord left the lease signing and meeting with the second landlord until tomorrow evening.

When I realized on the messy drive back from the restaurant that I was looking at not having things completely wrapped up until then, my roommate and I agreed I should continue to look - just in case.

So tomorrow I will still be on the hunt. And who knows? Maybe I'll find something even better? Could happen.

Happy Valentine's Day, by the way!

No more looking for housing! Even if I am tempted by returned calls. Remember that guy who didn't give me a chance to ask a single question on Saturday? Yeah, well, he called to leave me a number to call him at finally. Too late bud. My (now new) landlord called first thing this morning, we met at the place, went over the lease and signed it.

I'll get the key on Saturday. I measured so I can figure out what will and won't fit. Didn't take long - the place is really small. Cosy. That's what I'll call it from now on.

If I was still 10 it'd be the neatest fort in the world. Remember when small spaces were neat? Maybe it was building it yourself that made it cool or the fact that grownups couldn't fit inside. Whatever. If you didn't build any (tree forts count by the way) then you missed out I'm sorry to tell you.

After that I was a tad late for a lunch meeting that went pretty well I think. We made plans for a second one which is a good sign.

In my travels around Ottawa today I noticed that some bus drivers have started interpreting the new law requiring others to yield to them as a "get ready to be cut off" law. There's a big difference in my books. One bus didn't even signal that it was changing lanes although there was a definite possibility it may be continuing in the lane to my right. So now it's a "read my mind" law too.

I was in the habit of yielding long before it was law. Nobody should be expected to get used to these types of things, though. I'll give the last driver a little benefit of the doubt that maybe, just maybe, the signal wasn't working since I didn't stick around long enough to tell.

See? I can be reasonable. Sometimes.

Now I have to figure out which picture to post on Michael's birthday. Hmmm....

Today I received this announcement by email

Subject: [SpreadFirefox] Celebrating 25 million Firefox downloads

And when I used Firefox 1.0 to track a parcel ---

One of the challenges of having a son turn 6 in Belleville in February was finding something fun the kids could work the sugar high off doing. What if the weather's crappy? [What IF? We are talking February in Canada, right?]

Can indoor fun do the trick? Hell yeah!

Happy Birthday, Michael! Hope you're having just as much fun tonight.

I might not be able to sleep I'm so excited. I am scheduled for neck surgery three days into March. How perfectly wonderful is that? I'm ignoring the other thoughts trying to sneak in and spoil my good mood.

All the things that seemed to be just plain inconvenient have now turned out to be well-timed. If I didn't HAVE to be looking for a place I wouldn't be moved in time to take advantage of this opening for surgery.

I'm a Health Care Lottery winner, too - the slot I'm getting (just enough time to do one disc removal) is available because of some rescheduling and shuffling that took place.

Didn't get much last night. Partly the news of being less pained shortly but more the arrival of my roommate and her friend who were happily sloshed and having lots of noisy fun. This doesn't happen often at all, so no complaint was made at the time. But I can use some sleep now.

It's a chilly -23°C with a windchill that adds another 10 (or rather subtracts?). Anyway - it's cold again here in schizoweatherland.

I have the keys to the new place now. The continued storage of a few sheets of wallboard and a door intended for another part of the building right smack in the middle of the kitchen and entrance part of the place thwarted my intentions to get a bit of kitchen cleaning and setup done. The prediction now is that these impediments will be removed sometime tomorrow. I certainly hope this turns out to be correct.

Ran around getting smallish things that I don't have at hand. Like a cool DIY solution for window coverings. I really have to get as much done as possible before I head in for this historic bodily repair work since I won't be able to drive for several weeks after. At least I suspect that will be the case, since it was the case when the original injury was sustained way back when.

The historic bit is not that this is the first surgery I have had, only that it will be the first that is gender neutral.

The large pieces of construction 'stuff' were gone when I ventured over to my new digs yesterday. Many hours of cleaning of the kitchen took place. I'd hoped to be over there by now to continue and get some unpacking of cooking and eating tools done - but the pain medication caused a late awakening and more than usual foggy headedness.

Last night the upstairs ***holes decided to smoke again. I was already in my jammies and far too tired to contemplate dressing and confronting them once again. Instead I covered the heating vent that carries the stuff directly into my sleeping area. When I awoke my space was between 10 and 13°C depending upon which end of it you were at.

NO doubt the cold didn't help the pain which led to the drugs which slowed me down. My motivation to get at least enough stuff over at the new place that I can sleep and eat there increaseth.

Just to stretch my taut nerves a little more, the dog here has totally lost it and barks more loudly than he ever has when someone approaches our entryway. I can't blame him too much, though. He was improving and being pretty reasonable until I noticed the boot print on our door. The next day I heard the thump as well.

Oh, do not move into this apartment when we leave - okay? It's at 424 Bay St, and unless you're deaf and smoke cigarettes, it will make you crazy.

And an enforceable one at that. [I don't know if I spelt that correctly, but it's late, I'm tired and I'm not looking it up. So there.]

Janice's Common Sense Traffic Rule #1 - If an automobile driver, namely Janice, is nice enough to let you, a pedestrian, cross the road in the middle of a block for any reason - slow traffic, the goodness of my heart, I don't want to wash your blood off my Jeep, whatever - it is under NO circumstances acceptable for you to take the longest angled route you can find to reach a store over and up the block a bit. No! It behooves you to cross as quickly as possible and that requires a right angled path from curb to curb. I'm warning you people. One more of you makes me wait twice as long as I ought to while I'm being courteous or at least not mowing you down and the whole thing's off. [While I have your attention, a polite little gesture acknowledging that you have been the recipient of this courteousness on my part wouldn't hurt, would it? Not as much as a bumper up your ... think about that for a minute or two.]

Janice's Common Sense Traffic Rule #2- [A proposed NEW rule especially for downtown driving where there seem to rarely be any advance left turn lights - Somerset/Wellington for one] If you are the driver of a vehicle and you have sat in the leftmost lane for an entire cycle of the lights with your left signal off, you MAY NOT put your left signal on immediately after the light turns green. What are you thinking? That it's fun to make that line up of folks behind you wait out the light? Most of us would have moved to the right lane had we known, but now are trapped behind you and oh, look at that, a tandem bus just pulled up... great!

Every household move has its moments where the movee is pretty certain nothing will work out. My current move is fast approaching one of those moments.

The new place is tiny. Did I mention that before? I was having a hard time figuring out how to get the stuff I thought I ought to have in my place to fit - based on not purchasing/bartering any new furniture. This was, as usual, accomplished using graph paper. Even on paper it wasn't looking workable. Then clarity struck. I had to start thinking of my place as a hotel suite - without the maid service. Much better.

The search for storage took about a day in which I learned some important things about multilevel buildings offering such services. Two important things: the freight elevator's floor must come within 1/2 inch of the building's floor; the swinging door on the outside of the freight elevator must have a tether to keep it open. I ended up having to move the first droplet of stored things from the third floor to the second to get around these problems. I scored a bonus when the elevator to the second floor turned out to be directly across from the dock I would most likely use and is large enough to hold two trolleys. [Sorry if you really don't care about such things, but they are my life right now.]

Before you give me grief about the other kinds of storage available believe me, I have compared price and accessibility and location in this search. This one is a good price (even better since I had to move into a larger unit because of the problems above), close to my current apartment, not too far from my new one and I can get to my stuff 24/7. This is important when you need something and for the NEXT move.

So far things seem to be working okay, huh? Just wait.... The newly installed door closing mechanism on the new digs meets the fire code but requires a full body press to push my way in. Leaving (pulling on it) is even tougher. It's hard to escape getting smushed on the way out. I thought it was just me, but in any case, I found the construction dudes and asked them to adjust it for me. One of them admitted that he could hardly open it, so I don't feel as old and feeble as I did earlier.

There's a huge dumpster occupying 95% of the width and 50% of the length of the driveway. I was hoping it was going to leave soon, but the estimate is that it will be there for at least a week. This complicates moving somewhat. Especially the convoluted path that must be taken around the dumpster and then around the side stoop to reach the sidewalk to my apartment at the back of the building.

So much for timing my move around that impediment... see, I'd been hoping to use a trailer but the street is pretty busy and there won't be any room to pull it all the way into the drive.

The best I could do for a truck rental was Monday afternoon. I've reserved it at UHaul for now, but I'll be looking for alternatives. The problem with a weekday afternoon/evening move is finding people to help. Weekends are better which is why everyone else is moving on the weekend - right?

Now I have also rented a person and a van to help me get the futon out of the basement tomorrow night. Tomorrow during the day I will be moving the office (as much as will fit which is pretty much just the stuff that needs plugging in) and the TV/stereo equipment. These go together because the cable connection will be moved for both of them as soon after that as I can schedule it.

My roommate is moving her stuff out on Saturday which means I should have my new kitchen set up enough to cook a bit that day or the day before. Getting this set up before the storage move for the big and/or heavy stuff will allow any excess to go along to storage. Temporarily. Because my life just has to get better soon. My psychiatrist says so.

But first, my surgeon says it is going to be very inactive for a couple of weeks post surgery. And it'll be two months of wearing a cervical collar. But it's worth it as far as I'm concerned. If I had a job, I'd be ready to work in about 6 weeks. As pain free as possible. Because he's still thinking 2 discs need removal. A radiologist is being consulted for a second interpretation of the MRI.

I'm pretty worn out after all the running around today. Made a couple of trips to move things I could fit in the Jeep. Hoping some sleep tonight will be possible.

And now, I'm thinking maybe I won't need a truck on Monday after all. Hey... if the futon gets moved tomorrow, the rest of the stuff that's going to the new place can go in the Jeep. And the stuff that's going to storage can probably fit in a trailer. Granted there'll be several trips for each, but still.... Hmm. I'm going to sleep on that.

Nothing like setting cutoff and reconnect dates for my broadband connection to get things rolling. It's to be shut off sometime today and reconnected at the new place tomorrow morning. Today's undertakings will be at least moving the TV and PC equipment to the new place along with the futon later in the day. Other things will be moved as well I am certain - I'm just not certain which things.

Then the UHaul reservation needs to be revised and some bodies hired to do the heavy lifting on the weekend. Excellent.

It's the move of the cable and the futon that have me most excited, however. Because it means I can sleep elsewhere than where it is 10°C and I'll have my VoIP and internet communication channels up and running again.

Just to let anyone who's reading this know - I am plodding along right smack in the middle of the move curve. While there are fewer and fewer things left to do each time I complete one, I am also getting wearier and wearier physically and more dazed mentally with each trip in the Jeep.

Some things are working out well and some things less so. I'm hoping to make one more trip tonight and then crash.

It's hard to tell if this method of moving is saving any time. I think it may simply because very little of what I've moved into the new "suite" has been packed as it would if I was using a truck for everything. This has saved the unpacking stage for the most part and I've managed to stage things pretty well, getting the larger furniture moved before the PC and entertainment equipment that needs to sit on it. Each piece of electronics has been moved now and there's only one PC I haven't tested. She will have to wait until the move is finished.

The trade off is an increased number of trips. But an upside to that is getting a pause every once in a while. Important for this one woman moving crew!

The cat's here now, too. Last night was our first night together in our new home. It was my second but the first that I got a good rest. But it wasn't because I missed Dixie or anything: I was afraid to take any pain medications for fear I wouldn't awake in time for the cable guy's arrival first thing in the morning. [The alarm has not been moved yet.]

Rogers cable service astounded me this time around. I requested the move late on the 23rd, using their online system and selected the first time slot that was available: early on the 25th. About a half hour into the window, an extremely friendly and very cold installer arrived, ran a brand new string from the street and did a great job of making the inside cabling as hidden as possible. Couldn't have asked for better.

I was the beneficiary of an act of random kindness a couple of days ago as well. I was reminded of Michael's birthday request. The person I'd thought I'd hired to help me move the futon refused to accept any cash. He just explained his philosophy of doing something nice for someone being much better than getting angry at someone else, shook my hand and said "Welcome to the neighbourhood!". I ran into him in my search for storage - he runs the storage place a block away from my new abode. An interesting person. He noticed the gargoyles on the neighbouring house, too. I hadn't been sure they really were because they are currently sporting red hats and scarves. But we agreed so now they are gargoyles. I hope they are protecting this place as well!

Today I received two calls about the moving job I'd asked the student employment centre to post for me. I'd started to think maybe it hadn't actually made it through the posting mill since I'd called on Thursday morning and it was Saturday (today) afternoon before I got any responses.

Yesterday some of my son's friends were nice enough to allow themselves to be enlisted to help me with the truck move on Monday evening. Thanks Anatole and Miriam! And a person I don't think I know yet. There's only one thing I think the students might need a hand with now - the infamous box spring. If I can enlist a neighbour (which may be possible), you guys are off the hook. But I do appreciate your being there when I was pretty convinced I was up the creek with this short notice move.

Off to the dungeon with me.

I'm back and bushed but wanted to share the fact that I am the luckiest person in the world right now. While driving between the two places the past day or so, I have been pondering whether I had been slightly imprudent in accepting the first surgery slot I was offered. The next available one was to be April 11.

When I made the decision to have surgery next week, I hadn't been fully informed as to what I would be able (or rather not able) to do during the recovery period. As I learned more, it started to feel like I could be in need a level of help that I hadn't even considered and certainly hadn't arranged.

So I sent out an email during one of my pauses here at the new digs to a bunch of people who have known me for a long time, most of whom had helped with another health crisis or rather with the move that had to take place a week after I ended up on crutches. A veritable horde of them showed up to help finish the packing, moved my household in their own vehicles and did it all on a night when a blizzard here in Ottawa was raging. After working all day, even. These were the people I worked with back then, along with my best friend and my brother.

I was amazed then and I am equally amazed and grateful today, having already received offers of more help than I optimistically hope I'll need for my two weeks of extremely limited abilities.

Colour me blessed indeed.