It’s Been an Up and Down Period

You know those times in your life where there’s “bad news then good news then weird news” day after day after day? Yeah, I’m living through one of those.

These photos (apart from the good one) were taken quickly this morning after I discovered that the reason my camera hadn’t been functioning was the battery charger. I found another one in a dusty box in the attic. So, hurrah!

The REALLY good news is that, after 5 years on loan, I got my car back. Now it’s important to understand that it was being used by somebody who treated it like a truck.

For context I’ve been known to get so focused on a project that I don’t see the chaos I’m creating around me. Long periods on my computer would end and I’d discover that my desk and every surface nearby were 3 feet deep in a combination of garbage and papers which should be filed.

I’m not saying all men are like that with their trucks but many are. The one who had my car is. I asked him if he was going to clean it before he gave it back to me. The response, and this is a direct quote, was “It’ll only take 20 minutes.” I’m on day nine.

Admittedly part of the reason it is taking so long is that my hands don’t work. Another is the weather. It was -4 (25F) with a windchill of -11(12F) the other morning. I stay indoors when it isn’t comfortable to be working on the car.

I spent 2 days on the floor mats and got them to the point that you can tell they’re supposed to be grey, not brown. The cargo mat is a write off. So, I decided to order a new one.

I’ve accepted that I’m going to spend the rest of my natural life driving to Lubec to fill gas cans for somebody who refuses to cross the Border. My shaky hands mean that gas gets spilled every time and soaks into whatever is on the floor.

The new one (according to other buyers) is rubber and will fit my car perfectly. It’s coming from China so I expected it in a couple of weeks and have been (as is my habit) tracking its progress. On Friday it made it to the big clearing facility in Guangzhou.

You might have heard of this City on the news. Below is a Getty Photo of what happened there on Saturday.

China doesn’t get a lot of tornadoes but I guess when they do it’s a big one. In addition to the tragic loss of life a great many factories and warehouses were destroyed.

I can’t imagine the chaos if the mail centre was in the path of that wind. I do know that it’s probably going to be a while before I see that cargo mat.

In the middle of all of the car cleaning and parts ordering and weather avoiding my friend said he wanted to get the battery replaced on my mower because my lawn is going to be really high very soon.

I pointed out that, in addition to cleaning the car, I would have to pick up the many shingles on my lawn deposited there by our winter storms. That will take a while.

I will also have to split and stack the wood sitting outside the garage door before the mower could even leave its current location inside. The lawn is just going to have to keep growing. At least the frosts we’ve been getting should slow down its progress.

There’s been a PSA on YouTube for a while. In it a man is seated at a table in what looks like a McDonalds. He’s against the wall with his back to the mirror and has a hamburger. However, his hands shake so bad he can’t get it to his mouth to take a bite. A young girl goes over and holds it for him.

That’s me and that’s why I haven’t eaten in public in 6 years. I went to a funeral recently and got dragged into the reception where people kept trying to get me to eat something. They kept saying they didn’t mind that my hands shake. This is very kind of them but I Do Mind. I don’t want to be that guy in front of people.

I talked to Chris and he’s referring me to a new Neurologist (I’m old enough that my Doctors keep retiring) in hopes of starting the process of getting HIFU. The system here is as backed up as it is everywhere so it could take a year to see the specialist.

Except. This is a small Province – approximately 800,000 of us live here. So sometimes it’s Who You Know. There is a new nurse at the Clinic who spent 23 years at Saint John Hospital. She texted one of the Neurologists with my name and asked her to look out for the referral. This might speed things up and at least it can’t hurt.

I don’t know why my Mother’s duck looks so grumpy. Things will get done and I’ll cut the damned grass before her view disappears. 🙂