The Major and More

Well, it has been an unsettled day – and the weather is only part of that. I’m trying to decide if the net total is negative or positive and I’ve decided to take my usual optimistic outlook on things.

To begin with, I have a cold. The one the family gave me has developed into a bronchial wheeze much like Precious Pup used to produce on the cartoons, think cats in my chest purring and you’re not far off. I have an appointment to have my lungs listened to tomorrow. Mind you, I think this may be one stage of it as I was blocking out the whining from the life partner at the time but I think he said “whine, I think this is settling, whine, on my lungs, whine, oh no, moan” while I was ignoring him as he doesn’t suffer silently. So for accounting purposes this could only be positive in that I’m not any sicker, was able to get an appointment and it makes most people at work if not feel sorry for me at least leave me somewhat alone.

The mailbox got whacked when the snowplow was winging back the roads in the last storm. This has however, meant we’ve not received any bills, as the rural route driver cannot leave mail in a mangled metal opened so that’s a positive. The box will have to wait for the shore captain to make it home to install a new one. I counted a number of mailbox casualties on my way home this evening, some propped up with sticks, some banged into shape but no flags or doors agape – it was not a pretty sight.

There is a local investment counselor who is a retired military person, actually refers to himself as Major, who has the personality of a boiled turnip. We (I) have resisted dealing with him for years as I have enough aggravations in my life and so we have dealt with another counselor 20 minutes away, who is now being retired. Lest I sound like the Rockefellers with all my funds please be assured it is not the amount of money but the angst I am speaking of. I mentioned to the life partner (in the presence of the fresh-faced bank investment counselor) last week while we were planning on moving the meager coins around that “I don’t deal with the Major, he does” as I pointed at the shore captain. “What will this mean, will the Major be involved?” I asked. The shore captain made reassuring noises and the young fellow looked down at his desk so I said, “you will deal with him if so, it is not in my job description”. Last evening while I was online (dialup remember?) I had a phone message from…. you guessed it – the Major, telling me that he was taking over our account as the other counselor was retiring, that he must speak to me urgently about transferring the account and that it was 7:38 p.m. on Monday evening that he urged I return his call at the earliest possible time. I assumed the notification from the bank had made its way through the investment firm. This morning I had a very hoarse conversation with one of his staff advising that I was unable to speak with the Major due to my illness and that the shore captain was out of the province on business and would deal with him upon his return. The cold is looking more positive all the time.

This morning I went to get my eyes checked as the optometrist is just two doors up the hall and I walk past them on the way to the photocopier when they’re in on Wed and Thurs. The news was that I am now a candidate for bifocals – best not loose them down the stage of the Sea Princess and that the pressure in my eye is the upper limit of normal so I have to have my visual fields examined. I’m going to chalk this up to a young, keen, recently graduated optometrist who is being overly cautious. This I’m going to count on the positive side, as I would like to be able to see all the places I’m traveling to.

Oh and last night I had a rather urgent sounding message from my friend to call her and I tried unsuccessfully a number of times before heading off to bed. I couldn’t imagine what was the problem and was concerned that I’d created some difficulty with the chicken catchers – you know, someone ran into her car or there was a neighbour dispute or something. And yes I do make lobster chowder but no I don’t want to make chicken stew – they’re just little ornamental chickens, not much meat and very pitiful looking. But I digress. My friend was not annoyed with me but distracted as she was dealing with a family crisis. I’m afraid I wasn’t much help as dealing with a breakup and concerns for grandchildren is something I’ve not had to, and hope never to face. Certainly negative for her but I guess I’m thankful I’m not in that position.

Had a message from one of the summer neighbours saying they’d had to euthanize their three-legged beloved ‘pound dog’ Buddy as cancer had spread to his other leg and he couldn’t get around. Very tough decisions to have to make about a member of the family. He was a sweet dog. Negative again, but we’re not there yet.

And although I’ve received nice messages of jealousy from family and friends (one of which I’ll include below) about the cruise, the final chapter in the Barbados ticket saga is… I hadn’t heard back from the agent over the weekend with the extra day in Barbados the shore captain wanted checked on and due to email difficulties so the airline didn’t honor the hold on the $550 tickets as it expired at midnight last night and are charging $720. As the Diabetic Clinic nurse in the next office said “oh, boo hoo, it’s going cost you two $350 more to have a free southern Caribbean cruise, that’s cruel” which kind of put it in perspective. And then when I contacted the in-house booking agency to be quoted $1200 each for the same tickets, I declined and grumbling took the offer of the $720 version. I will pay much closer attention to those expiry dates from here on in and of course a few hundred more is better than double.

It will of course all be worth it as my friend’s account promises:

I liked the Harrison Caves-- being claustrophobic I wasn't too enthused about going in. We were on an island tour with friends (who have wintered down there from Sask for many years). There was no discussion beforehand about the caves and I didn't even know they existed. There is a little car on tracks to ride in and lights on all the scenery. The caves are humongous with cathedral ceilings. Not like going into the coal mine in Springhill I understand (not having been or intending to go into the Springhill one).

I would give The Jolly Roger a miss --tourist drunk. I would avoid their local punch (151 proof)

Definite-- I would spend the whole time snorkeling at the underwater park from the beach on the Caribbean side (as opposed to the Atlantic side). Different parts of the island are worlds apart in scenery, weather, and price. We stayed on the South -east shore where the sea was good for swimming but nothing to see snorkeling and lodging cheaper. We went everywhere on local buses. Cheap and a great adventure. Barbadians are quite proud and respectable. Schools are great and they wear uniforms. Bus driver chastised a Brazilian tourist for not being dressed properly to be on the bus "Cover up girl or get off". When we were there, women wore hats and gloves and '40s dresses to go downtown.

I had a nice email from the librarian asking how the cruise ship speaking circuit was going and if I was available to do any Mid-Week Break talks. When I asked what she’d like, she said that folks like to ‘armchair travel’ and the Grand Cayman/Jamaica topic sounded good. How could I refuse the group, which gave me my start on my claim to stardom? So, I’m booked for April 29th and will get to present my topic again at least to a nice group of folks who are interested in what I have to share. Doesn’t get much better than that does it?

Except to have a district meeting rescheduled due to a major storm warning for tonight and tomorrow so only a local drive. Yeehaw!