Seismic Twitch

What can I say? I rock.

I’m driving a manual transmission car. That’s not the firsts though. I knew how to drive one before this but I’ve gotten much, much, much more practice shifting than I ever figured I would. Bran can’t drive for another 3 weeks so I’m primary chauffeur. I’ve driven to and from the hospital, to and from work, to and from stores, to and from Boy’s work and to and from the highway where Costco is. That’s more driving than I think I’ve done in the past 10 years.

Today was the Costco run. Bran and I went to get some fruit and other essentials that we were running out of or didn’t have to begin with. One was white poultry meat. Another was some kind of spice that doesn’t have salt. Mrs. Dash was the only one of many. The rest had salt as either the primary ingredient, or listed in the top 5. Really, even lemon pepper had salt first.

We got fruit, lots of apples, oranges and grapefruit. The oranges are the delicious little zipper skins (Satsuma or Japanese oranges depending on where they’re grown). The grapefruit are the lovely sweet red ones. Red grapefruit are the sweetest of the varieties. Ruby Red is the best. We eat them like oranges but I don’t eat the hard section skin and avoid the white as it’s mega bitter. The apples, well they’re Gala and Bran likes them. Since he’s the apple eater, he gets to pick.

We also got salad fixings, cucumber, and vine ripened tomatoes. Toast and tomato for breakfast!

We looked at the salad dressings, but they didn’t have anything suitable (or frankly, appetizing in appearance) for us. I’ll be making a light oil and balsamic vinegar dressing for the salad…something good and simple.

I’m never going to make a judgment on a person who doesn’t help their spouse carry heavy things. Bran isn’t supposed to lift anything over 5 pounds and not with his right hand (that’s the hand they did the second angioplasty and stent insertion). Since it was to Costco you know that there was nothing in the cart that weighed under 5 pounds. I had to carry everything in and put it away.

So now I’m sautéing up three breasts (one for each of us – Boy will have leftovers when he gets home), the salad is ready (love the premixes, in this case bibb lettuces and spring mix) and leftover baby potatoes that can be nuked. The chicken is spiced with Mrs. Dash and paprika and sautéed in about 1 tsp of oil and a tablespoon or two of lemon juice. It smells lovely.

Later tonight I’ll package up the rest of the meat so that it doesn’t go to waste.

I don’t like driving. I don’t know if I ever told anyone here, but I don’t. That’s why this is such a difficult month for me. I mean, it’s hard on Bran the most, but it’s hard on all of us in our very own ways. Think about being phobic and not wanting to leave the house, add onto that an activity that is undesirable in a car that doesn’t have an automatic transmission and it’s an arduous time. Happily I’ve not braved parallel parking in it.

Work was ok. I spent a lot of time going through the wire working magazines I got. Two are paper, the other 4 are on disc. There are lots of wonderful ideas for making jewelry that I can hardly wait to try out. However, because Rings & Things shipped me the wrong wire I have to go to Michael’s to get some at retail cost. Ouch. I repacked it up in the original box and sent it back to them at their cost. It’s only fair. I’ll be jiggered (whatever that is) if I’m going to pay for shipping more than once, especially for their error.

I was hoping to have a few weeks of practice before I started milling out the stuff for the Spirit Moves Us: Pagan Crafters Showcase and Sale in late November and CFCR Craftacular on October 29th and 30th. I’m not sure I can do both especially now that I don’t have wire. What a pain! Yeah, cal me a waaaa-mulance, right?

Anyway, supper is ready and it’s time for me to eat. I’m somewhat peckish.

Apparently the supply of jewelry at the Fringe Festival (a 10 day event with independent plays, music performances, street performances, psychics and craft sales galore) on Broadway Avenue this year is creating a buyers market. I haven’t heard from Bran yet, but as of this morning only one pair of earrings had been sold. I have a feeling that mine is the only nickel free stuff though.

I spent yesterday rather productively. I went into work at 1130 or so to get the month end report done. It needs to be handed in on Tuesday. My boss could’ve done it, but he prefers that the person who knows what they’re doing take care of it. I was ok with that. I ate lunch and then phoned Bran to come get me.

We went off to Michael’s to find some earring nuts (those backs put on studs and hooks to prevent them from falling out of the holes). The place was rather crowded. I didn’t like that much. I liked it even less when I couldn’t get up to see the rack of findings. That got even more less desirable when I encountered a woman wearing enough perfume to kill flies at 50 paces. What is that all about? Do people have no sense of smell? If they don’t they should be outlawed from wearing scents. Anyway, it was a fruitless trip.

I worked to make jewelry on Thursday to increase the supplies for the Fringe but didn’t do anything on Friday. Today I made two bracelets. They’re rather pretty. When the Fringe is over, I’ll start taking photos again to get some up on my Etsy store. I’ll also be working on advertising on other sites to get buyers.

Today I set up the etagiere I took from Dad’s. It didn’t fit where I hoped it would on my bedside table. It does, however, fit on my end table on the living room. I now have multiple shelves holding my beading, tissues, pills and other junk that crowded my table.

I went to Panda Hall and Rings and Things and made orders. I got earring nuts, various tools I need, wire, and beads. I think I spent around $450 or so on supplies. Oh, I also bought a wire working book about the basics. The wire I ordered is surgical grade stainless steel.

On a more disappointing note, last night I ordered yummy Chinese food. I got deep fried shrimp (colour me having had a craving) and tofu and vegetables in sate sauce. That’s not the disappointing part. The disappointing part is the whole thing falling off my work table and leaking sauce all over the floor. The food stayed in the container as the lid had still been on it, but damn!

Boy approves of my movie choices today. First was The Cheap Detective which he missed because he was entertaining a friend. the second was The Incredibles, third was Interview with a Vampire, fourth was Catwoman (yes, the bad Halle Barry version) and now Casablanca is playing as I type this entry.

We had a discovery when we got home on Wednesday. Because of all the rain we’ve been having the ground has been saturated. The last good storm we had about 12 days ago caused water to leech through the concrete and infiltrate our basement. The tenant in the suite down there didn’t say anything until his floor was getting wet. By that time it was too late, damage had been done. Had he notified the landlord when he noticed water the first time a sump pump could have been put into a hole and the water pumped out through the sewer system. Now we have a small issue with black mould.

The downstairs tenant has to move out. His suite is contaminated. Since black mould is highly toxic (or produces toxins, I’m not exactly sure) he has to leave. The stuff we have downstairs is also contaminated and will have to be cleaned. We may have to move as well depending on the results of the tests conducted that evening in our suite. Upstairs has also been affected, but it’s not known how much. One advantage we have is that we rarely use the rear door and did laundry over a week ago, before the bloom of black mould (hopefully). We don’t have forced air heating so that prevents fast spread of the mould. The symptoms of poisoning from black mould are heart burn (or increasing heart burn), sleeping a lot, and a few other things that we suffer from all the time anyway – and did before we moved in here – so which came first, right?

Anyway, the tests done will determine whether or not we can stay here. Cross your toes would you please? I don’t want to move before we move into a house we buy after the will is completed in probate.

Speaking of buying houses, I’ve been looking through the real estate listings for Saskatoon. I’ve found several areas that are affordable to us, up to $300,000. Some are a little bit more than that but we’d not want to spend much more. I want a house that we don’t have to do a lot of altering to. This means I’m looking for hardwood floors (or laminate) throughout the house, a good, high wooden privacy fence, a well functioning kitchen, and a basement that has adequate windows for egress. This means it’s most likely to be a split level house. Central air, though not a requirement, would be a definite bonus. At any rate, it was entertaining and kept me amused for several hours. I even looked at the areas we’d not likely buy in unless desperate.

That’s about it. I’m looking forward to the new supplies coming in.

We got home in the late afternoon today. We tucked Dutchess in Boy’s room and he and Bran unloaded the car. Then we found out that the lower floor (basement level) has been contaminated with black mould. That’s nasty stuff. The tenant in the basement will be moving out. That doesn’t break my heart any.

However, if the contamination has moved up into our suite we will have to move. We’re hoping that the contamination isn’t significant enough for us to have to move. We didn’t do laundry ever week and we very rarely used the back entrance. It just wasn’t convenient.

The upstairs neighbours, however, have been more affected, but they use the back entrance (which is open to the basement) all the time and the woman is always up and down the stairs.

I don’t want to have to move. I’m not ready. I don’t want to have to move twice. We have some stuff stored in the basement that is likely contaminated. It should be easy to clean it all though. Except for the cardboard boxes we have down there, the ones the HD televisions came in.

For now we’ll have to do laundry in a laundromat. As much of a pain as that is, it does mean that laundry will be a 2 – 3 hour ordeal rather than an entire day.

Tomorrow the Fringe Festival starts on Broadway. Bran will be selling my jewelry as a co-busker with our friend who makes wire wrapped crystal pendants at Infinite Spirit. If you’re in Saskatoon, drop by and see them.

Time for me to get back to unpacking the bedroom so I can get some sleep later.

The decision of the family is unanimous. No heroic measures are going to be used to resuscitate Dad. We are also not going to have them do much in the way of other measures, including dialysis. There’s not much point to it really. The blood tests aren’t all back yet. They’re trying to find out if he has an infection that is caused his kidneys to shut down.

Dad does have basic responses, but none of them bode well. When the nurses attend to him, take his pulse/blood pressure or wash him, he fights it.This doesn’t mean that he is aware of what he’s doing. He can’t swallow and therefore hasn’t taken any meds since he was found unconscious on Friday afternoon/evening. He doesn’t respond to commands of any sort and doesn’t respond to my brother’s voice.

We’re going to let nature take its course. The nurses will keep him comfortable, that’s all.

So now we wait for the inevitable.

To help me Bran has taken me on two car rides to help settle me down. He did that when my dog died in 1985. He would’ve done it if we had a car when my Mom died in 1993. He did that tonight. We went and got snacks for all of us. Did you know that Chapman’s Ice Cream company makes a no-sugar added, lactose free ice cream? They do. Only 14 grams of carbs per 1/2 C serving. That’s better than regular ice cream.

We went through the real estate listings for town as well. It was something to occupy my mind with and do a little bit of dreaming. It was a nice distraction. While we did that Golden Eye played on the DVD player. Laundry tomorrow so that we have clean clothes to to down to see Dad on Monday with. I’ll be sorting through the stuff collected over the years of Mom and Dad’s lives together (including “treasures” given to them by us kids). I don’t know what to do with things like their letters to each other from before they were married, Mom’s nursing uniform (100% cotton that had to be ironed and starched), Mom’s wedding dress and Dad’s wedding suit, and a plethora of other bits and pieces of so much living.

Thank you all, those who commented and those who are just thinking of me and my family. Your support means more than I could possibly say.

and we got a flat tire.

I need a bit of time to process yesterday’s trip to see Dad.

In the nonce, enjoy the new PR site (promos, give-aways and ratings) created by Smelly Anne It’s new so there’s not a lot there yet, but I’m sure there’s going to be a lot there to take advantage of given some time. It’s called Fishing and Wishing. Just click on the image on the right and you’ll be taken there right away.

Thursday. It was an entire week all packed into one day. And that was after Wednesday. OY!

Wednesday I had to call NDO on another person. It was one of those foggy ones where the boundaries between what the PO wanted and what the parole board set out were somewhat contradictory. I let the NDO decide what to do. The next day I heard that warrants were issued for him.

That’s a record for me – having to call three people in to the DO in one week. I haven’t had to do that for months. I think the last person I called in was (I had to really stop and think) over a year ago. Then I get three in a week.

Then Thursday. An experimental contract with opening two mental health beds failed in one fell swoop. We were going to house people for short term when they were being forced to move from one mental health group home to another because of conflict or the home became unsafe.

We’re experienced with working with people with mental health issues. In fact, that’s one of our selling points for people coming out of prison. We offer closer supervision and support as well as working closely with the mental health social worker. However we were lied to with this one. The degree of mental illness, the neediness of the person involved, and I believe the very reasons this person was moving out of the group home were glossed over or lied about.

I spent most of Thursday night’s shift running interference between this new person and the residents. Most of the residents were patient and tolerant. A couple, however, were severely tried by her. In one case a baseless accusation was made that could have had extremely dire consequences for one of the residents. I know it was baseless because I had the two in my sight the entire time before the accusation was made.

It’s unfortunate that the person who was trying to place her lied. You can’t do that when it comes to mixing different populations such as that. It jeopardized the safety of the house. That’s not an exaggeration either. Because of the actions of that person I had to have my attention nearly fully on one person. There are 23 other people that I have to make sure are safe and not up to something. The degree of mental illness, this person’s fantasy/delusions, inability to not insult people (called one visitor a slut, called other staff names, and general all round rudeness), and at times inability to distinguish between reality and what goes on inside her head placed her at risk, and also placed residents at risk for a false accusation.

I ended the shift with a nasty headache that didn’t go away fully until I was nearly done Friday’s shift.

I was supposed to change the bedding in the cages last night but didn’t have any bedding. So I emailed their owner and told him to get more bedding. I’m thinking of handing responsibility of the animals back to the owner. He ‘s working in Saskatoon now and there’s no reason he can’t come and make sure they have food and that their bedding is changed. To be honest I’m feeling like I’m being used.

He was supposed to be selling the animals and I was taking care of them until they were sold. Then I was taking care of them because he was out of town. Now I’m taking care of them without the benefits of owning them and he’s getting my work for his animals.

I have to figure out a way of telling him this without ending our friendship. I mean, I still like him. It’s my fault that I allowed this to go on for so long. I doubt he’ll feel like he was taking advantage of me. I just don’t want to take care of animals that aren’t mine, especially since he’s not at school out of town and making no effort to sell them, as he said he was doing when he left to go to school last fall.

Sometimes it’s easier to not make friends.

I didn’t sleep last night. My brain was too active with the events of this week. It wouldn’t let me settle in and relax. I was awake until just past 9 am. Because of that now my day is upside down and I have to fix that before Monday as I’m on days. To quote Roxie in Dead Like Me “Why do you do that to yourself?”

I get to go to Edmonton later this month to the AGM of the organization our half-way house belongs to. I’m quite looking forward to it. I learned a lot at the one that was held here last year. This means I get paid for going out of town. My accommodations and food are all paid for. All I have to pay for are incidentals and entertainment.

Then it’s a concentrated wild time of getting month end completed, a week of work and then I’m going to be on holiday for 2 whole weeks. We’re not likely going anywhere, or far if we do go anywhere, but the whole idea of not having to get up for work, being able to do what I want without a schedule, pleases me enormously. It’s been nearly 10 years. I think I’m due.

My beading supplies were shipped on May 21st. It will take 6-8 weeks for it to get to me (surface shipping is cheap, but slow) and it should be here sometime in my holidays. I’m quite looking forward to getting them. Everything I ordered is nickel free. That’s a great selling point as so many people who react to jewelry are reacting to the nickel in the alloy.

I think that’s about it for now. It’s been a hard week. I was glad to see the end of it last night.

That’s what I did today.

Bran was feeling quite tired and didn’t want to drive me to work. I was ok with that. I mean, I don’t care much for driving, but it’s only a few blocks to work. So that’s what I did. I parked the truck and then went in. At about 7 pm I went out to move the truck to the front of the building (people’s cars have been broken into in the back parking lot – not a happy thing). I started the truck and began backing out, being very careful to miss the pole and the dumpster near it…and backed into another pole that was happily hidden in my blind spot. I mean, it was the real blind spot. The one that you can’t see, the mirrors can’t see because the body of the truck was the same width of the pole. Yeah, that blind spot.

So, you might have remembered me talking about how Boy, in his first attempt backing out of our driveway scratched the back door and window on the bolt of the garbage bin. Then Bran backed into the self-same bin but put a dent and broke the cover of driver’s side rear light. Tonight I took out the side bumper (Jeeps have rear bumpers divided into three with a centre bumper and two side bumpers and the entire rear light except one bulb. At least I wasn’t totally unlit on that side on my way home, but the signal doesn’t work. Yeah.

Next time I drove to work I’m going to do what Bran recommended today. I’m going to bite the bullet and pay the cost of the meters in front of work for a couple of hours before 6 and avoid those danged poles in the back.

Of course, this was cause for much amusement at work, especially since I brought the bumper in from outside and had it sitting on the desk. The guys were curious about the bumper on the desk and got the entire story. They’d laugh. I’d ruefully laugh. My co-worker would laugh uproariously. Good times were had by all…well, except me.

Bran took the news with more equanimity than I figured on. At least he hadn’t already had the repair work done before I did this. I just made the whole thing worth while. Damn.

Other than that, I don’t have a term paper due on Monday, it was always due the Monday after. That’s ok. I thought it was due this coming Monday and would have had it done for then, but then the prof gave an extension because she’s been ill and not been able to see people so she gave the undergrads an extension. So, indirectly I got an extension even though I didn’t. If that makes any sense at all.

It’s snowing out. The police have been really busy down in the area of town where I work. They were seen whizzing off in one direction or another with their lights flashing and sometimes the sirens blaring. In one instance they (and the fire department and paramedics) attended to a truck-cyclist collision on the corner across the street from work. Being as this is a fairly heavy snow and it’s actually hanging out on the roads making them somewhat slick, it’s going to be a busy night for emergency workers in general. It all leaves me feeling very happy I’m home sitting on my comfortable couch with my ubiquitous fan blowing on me.

The December work schedule was out today. Despite saying that I wasn’t wanting and wouldn’t work the weekend of the 20th and 21st I was scheduled. Not only was I scheduled, I was scheduled for graveyards. Duh! Anyway, I also found out that the counsellor was the one who worked out he schedule so I left him a note asking him to change the schedule. I work graveyards over the 24th, 25th and 26th. That works out nicely for me. It gives those people for whom those holidays are important their family time and gives me at least one day of stat pay. I’m not sure if Boxing Day is a stat or not.

That’s about it. I’m greatly relieved that the damage wasn’t more considerable than it was. I’m pissed that it happened at all. I mean, you really have to watch out for those poles. They leap out from the strangest places.

Ta-Ra

Today was a pretty much lost day. I woke up at 8 full of good intentions of getting to school by 9:30 or so and getting the work I had to get done finished. Yeah, it didn’t happen. At about 8:30 I was overcome with severe fatigue (I was awake late because I worked last night to midnight). I reset my phone alarm to 11 but instead of am, it was pm. I didn’t get up until just after 2 am when the phone rang. I did get to school by 3 though. Bran took me to Tim Horton’s and I got a chicken salad sandwich (which is different here than they make at Stonebridge) and a coffee. I got to school, chatted while I ate and then went off to the computer lab.

The computer lab for Arts and Science’s grad students is in the basement level. I got to see Cameron because he was having a meeting with his adviser and wanted to get some work done so that he would at least seem like he knew what he was doing. He wasn’t there long though. I sat next to a woman who is a Native Studies grad student. She shared some TMI. I never quite know why people do that.

Why do people share way too much information about themselves to people they barely know? I mean, it’s not like I’ve taken more than 3 classes throughout my undergrad with this women. However, I know that she used to work with corrections, that one of the persons there made her life hell there. I know that she’s in a relationship with a man in a Healing Lodge (basically a minimum security facility for Aboriginal men or men who are willing to accept the teachings of Elders and such). I also know that the person she used to work with has broken several of Corrections’ basic tenets including talking to her about a current inmate (bad breach of confidentiality even if she is “dating” him). There’s one thing that she considers a threat to her life, but what is, in essence, telling her to go play in traffic”. I told her that it’s more like an immature thing and not a threat to her. I mean, it’s not like he said that he was going to throw her into traffic. Anyway, it all boils down to the fact that I just don’t care, didn’t care then, and care even less now. I didn’t want to know that and I was too damned wussy to say I didn’t care and didn’t want to know. So now she thinks we have this intimate bond that doesn’t exist and any time I see her she’s going to puke her woes all over me and I’ll be like, ewwww! Curse me and my good manners!

Eventually she left (yay!) and I managed to actually get some work done. I think I’ve done an ok job on this one. However, I’m not sure it matters. I don’t think they give out part marks. I guess I’ll find out. It’s all done and in my backpack.

I should go to bed. I have to be up to shower and get ready for school. I have more things to take to my spot. Tonight, before I settled in to do my homework Bran and I went to Staples, London Drugs and Zellers. I got a small digital clock, a power bar, a stapler, staples to go in the stapler, a small step stool (two steps that will be used as a footstool under my desk as well as a way of climbing a bit higher to reach things). I’m also taking a large and rather powerful magnet to stick on my locker door to keep my pen/paper holder from falling down too far. They don’t put strong enough magnets on those things and it keeps slipping down. Alas, this magnet is strong and I can’t put it in my purse (phone and music player go in there) or in my backpack (computer – if I demagnetize that I’d be very unhappy). I’m going to stick it into my right hand coat pocket. That should keep it away from any delicate electronics.

We also got three huge bath sheets. Bran’s is the dark blood red, mine is the sky blue one and Boy’s is a moss green colour. They really are huge. I’ll be able to wrap it around me and not have spaces where bits of my cellulite will be displayed where the towel doesn’t meet. I like that in a towel.

I now have a theory paper to do for Monday. It’s like doing the little bit of literature review of my thesis. I have to read and review various peer reviewed articles and write up my own theoretical approach. At least that’s what I think I need. I know I don’t have to have an abstract for it. It should be only about 3 or 4 pages in length so it shouldn’t be too difficult. The nice thing about it is that I’ve already got a nice number of articles read and I can use the bibliography from my other class (Aboriginal Women and Canadian Law). I like grad school because of that. Everything is interrelated and overlapped with one’s thesis. Or as well as it can be done all things considered.

Ta-Ra

My dad is getting old. Sure he’s really spry and energetic for being nearly 86 years old, however, he’s also deaf, forgetful (beyond the normal) and stubborn.

My sister called today. I rarely talk to my sister. It’s not because we don’t like each other but our lives are somewhat divergent (ok, she was an accountant and loves working in retail) and that has left us with little to talk about. Today we did. She’s going to be driving down to Dad’s place in a couple of weeks and having “the talk” with Dad about moving into an assisted living facility, either in his city or in the city where he has family. She wanted my input on it.

Now, I’m not that much a noticing person. Sure Dad repeats things he says, forgets things and what not, I mean doesn’t everyone? Dad’s gotten past the point of it being normal though. He’s been talking on the phone to his brother and then forgot that and thought he was talking to my oldest brother. He forgot to tell me that my Uncle Carl died (he was married to my Godmother and this would’ve been big news) and that my cousin Gaylene died (Uncle Carl’s only daughter) from cancer.

One thing I definitely noticed is that Dad’s hearing has taken a nose dive over the years. Normal conversation volume is very nearly not quite loud enough him. He can’t hear us well in the car. He refuses to get a hearing aid. It took years for him to admit he needed glasses and by the time he finally went he needed tri-focals. That’s his vanity popping up.

My sister thinks she feels the snoopy influence of Dad’s female friend (not girlfriend). The awkward thing is that she’ll phone up my sister, tell her all these things about what Dad’s doing and then ask Sis not to tell Dad where she heard it from. How nuts is that? Sis lives in northern Alberta and sees Dad maybe twice a year. How is she going to know these things on her own?

And me? I think Dad does like Bran’s mother did. She’s pull herself together enough to fool us, but we didn’t now she wasn’t functioning well enough to take care of Boy on her own and Boy didn’t say anything. He’d tell us once in a while that he didn’t want to go over, but he’d never give us a reason. It never occurred to us that he didn’t have the vocabulary for it.

Along with this is the talk with Dad about not being able to drive any more. Dad falls asleep easily, which was actually beginning to cause me some concern, and of course there’s his loss of hearing. I can’t testify to his driving not being good because I haven’t been driven by him in many years. For many years Dad has had Bran drive because Dad doesn’t know the city. It was just easier for Bran to drive and save the irritation of getting lost or making a wrong turn. I do know that Dad had enormous trouble finding our place up until recently.

So that’s what’s happening right now. Years ago Mom and Dad talked to my oldest brother and Sis about this whole thing, about how they should intervene if they see the need to. That time has come for Dad. It’s not that he needs to be in a nursing home. He’s not that bad off, but an assisted living place where there are people there to make sure he eats properly, ensures that he’s seen at least once a day and such is a good thing. I think he should go to the other city. In that city he has family (his brother, sister, sisters-in-law and various neices and nephews) who’d make sure that he’d not lack for contact. I’d also make sure to get down there once in a while when I can.

You know, I always used to feel sorry for people who had to deal with this. Now we do. It’s possible that Sis and I won’t be enough. We may have to pull in my oldest brother. Despite him leaving his wife of over 30 years, he’s a man and Dad is of the generation that thinks of women as not having as much knowledge as men. I’m hoping it’s not going to be necessary.

I’m also glad that Dad’s female friend doesn’t phone me. I don’t like her and I’m not sure I was able to hide that well.

Ta-Ra

Today we took my Dawgs (like Crocs with a different name) back to the store because I found that I had boughten a size too large. For whatever reason, I thought that they needed to be a bit larger to fit properly. It turns out they didn’t have to be and that was a problem. When we bought them 8 days ago I was told that I had two weeks to return them if I needed to. Well, I wore each pair and found that the larger size was not a good thing. I was informed that “they looked obviously worn” and they couldn’t be returned because they had to be in a condition they could sell them. All they needed to do that was to wipe the dust off.

I’ve purchased shoes before that not only could I return for exchange, I could return for a full refund. I’ve done that at several stores on several occasions. Sometimes you can’t tell if a shoe works for you if you aren’t able to walk around in them for a few hours. You can’t do that in the time it takes to get fitted in the store. There was no sign up about the return policy when we bought it. This time there was a sign. Of course the writing on it was small. If they had signs up in the store (like I’ve seen in other stores where they have them up on the walls in large print and are easily read. How many people stand at the till and read anything other than scandal mags at the grocery store? I know I surely don’t.

I won’t be buying Dawgs again. With that one policy, they’ve lost me and anyone else who doesn’t want to deal with such poor customer service.

I was so tired today. I had enormous trouble staying awake in my theory class. I sat at my computer and would, periodically, put my head on my hand and turn away from the prof and close my eyes. I’d doze off for a few minutes and then wake up again having lost track of what was being talked about. The girl sitting next to me would giggle at me. That’s usually what would rouse me for another 10 minutes or so.

Finally, after what seemed like a week, lunch came and I had a grilled chicken pita. Then it was back to the Arts building for my next class. Again, three hours of class, but this time it was far more interesting. There is no way I could fall asleep in that class. Not only is the class taught by my supervisor, I’m pretty sure that she’d throw something at me if she saw that. I’m not about to risk that.

When I got to the car Boy announced that he had his learner’s license. I can’t believe it! My baby is legal to drive a car. Of course there has to be a capable adult with a valid driver’s license with him but it was only yesterday I was holding him in my arms watching him snooze or suck on a bottle. Now he’s 6’1″ tall or so, is a junior in high school and is, as I write this, driving the car. He’s out with Bran to do some practise driving. This will be the first time he’s been behind the wheel so he’s excited and nervous. He’ll be at a park where the road goes in a circle and won’t have much, if any traffic. Then Bran will drive home.

We went out for supper to celebrate Boy’s success of the day. We went to Genesis Restaurant. It’s a wonderful Chinese food restaurant. They cater to special dietary needs. However they do use nuts, so if you have nut allergies you shouldn’t go there. The food is, otherwise, very toothsome ambrosia. Bran and I had crab rangoon, deep fried shrimp dumplings, sizzling seafood and seasonal vegetables, and squid with vegetables. Oh, and white rice. Needless to say we were both very happy with that. Boy had fish maw soup. It’s a thick soup made of fish maw (belly), shrimp, egg streamers, and a thickened stock. Boy loves that stuff. I think it’s incredibly “meh”.

So there you have it. Dissatisfaction and now a boycott as well as a recommendation that you buy any kind of shoe/sandal from any other place than Dawgs stores. I’m well fed. I’m somewhat saddened by Boy growing up so very quickly but happy for him in this new step toward the freedom and responsibilities for adulthood. In between all that, before we went out for supper, I had a half hour nap so that I woudn’t do a face plant into my plate.

That’s been my day. How was yours?

Ta-Ra