Of course the phone rang 15 minutes later and I did remember this time that it was my car troubles which were the reason. The shore captain assured me the vehicle would start and if not he would drive me in as he was still home planning to go gunning first thing. The car did indeed start, I had the mechanic come and pick it up and was glad to have the overtime shift to pay the $215 bill for the cam sensor. And when I asked what a cam sensor was he says "it senses your camshaft" so that really cleared things up. The day provided lots of entertainment as there are major changes in the ED medication system as well as the inpatient unit, but overall not a bad shift. I did ask for Friday off and couldn't have it "in case someone called in sick" but more likely due to the two page letter to administration earlier in the week re: med cabinets.
By Saturday the arse was dragging the ground of course and it was a wild weekend work wise. The boy captain was in at daybreak with mechanical problems having been towed in with engine failure. He had a good idea of the cause and the diesel mechanic met him at the wharf with parts and had them underway again by 10 a.m. but it sure made for a long day.
Sunday morning was spent catching up with the western daughter as we had a good chat. The afternoon was spent attending the funeral for the neighbour and it's an especially hard time of the year to be saying goodbye to someone. All the local fishermen stayed in from traps and attended the service, there wasn't a free seat to be had. Sunday night was crazy busy and of course was the first of several holiday work parties so for this one we had breakfast so I shelled lobster and we had scrambled eggs and lobster as my contribution. We exchanged gifts and I received a crafted ornament of a skate. Hmmm I must take a photo to post for you to see, it's beautiful.
After a sound sleep all day Monday night was a repeat of the previous, except that it was less crazy and we had creamed lobster. The shore captain had cracked the rest of the crustaceans and I cooked up a large batch. The first creamed lobster of the season is always the best.
A good nap and off to town in the afternoon for a massage and errands. I checked my email and discovered that the Rural Nursing Program I had applied for had only two applicants in the whole province so of course wasn't being given. My application was transferred to the Emergency Nursing Program and the distance portion begins the end of January. As the shore captain says "if you ever go north it'll be good to have" and there is no arguing with that logic. After running errands I made it home late but was still the first one through the door. Apparently the major storm had meant many of the lobster fishermen had smashed traps which had to be landed. The boy captain had his in deep water so they were only 'scurfed up' but not damaged so personally he was okay. Some of the fishermen had only 50 traps left so not enough to continue with. There were trailers full of smashed traps on their way to the dump. Very discouraging.
Wednesday a friend and I headed out for a girl's day out to Lunenburg. This is something we'd been planning for some time but life kept getting in the way. We made a full day of it visiting Pineapple Creek which is a great craft shop if you're looking for a special gift:
http://www.yelp.ca/biz/pineapple-creek-lunenburg
The owner was chatting with us and said "I have to get some things out of my van, I'll be right back" and my friend says "yeah, we'll rob the store while you're gone" which elicited the reply "yes, the two of you look like you're really going to do that". So the owner heads out and starts retrieving from her vehicle while we continue to browse. The phone rings. I say to my friend "we better answer that as they won't think she's open" so my friend picks up the phone while calling out "I'm going behind the counter now" and says "Pineapple Creek may I help you?" Apparently the caller was looking for WebKinz which I discovered on one of the shelves so my friend says "yes, we have those" but then the questioning got more specific so my buddy is forced to confess that she's not the owner she's a customer so she says "may I take your number an have her call you back" but the owner appears at the door then saying "did you sell lots for me?" so she's given the phone and conducts her business. I'm sure that anywhere else (or at least most places) that kind of behavior would not be happening.
We had full intentions of having lunch at Large Marge's which we had not tried but it like Magnolias (which we both enjoy) was closed for the season. On the recommendation of the lady at Cilantro (a gourmet shop and chocolate store) where we spent lots of time browsing and test driving gadgets - see for yourself:
http://cilantrocooks.com/index.html
For lunch which my friend treated me to, we tried Fishcake which was wonderful. Here is their website:
http://www.fishcakecafe.com/
The bonus was that I discovered that Jimmy Buffett - yes THAT Jimmy Buffett enjoyed the lobster chowder there. When I questioned the server/owner she confirmed that yes he had visited in August having landed his float plane in the harbour and coming up for lunch. To think that a parrothead like myself had somewhere missed him being two hours away. Hmmm.
We wandered the town for the afternoon visiting the dollar store or the Loonie Toonie as it was called. My friend commented that we were a ways from the five and dime. Good finds there. Stopped a the Black Duck Gifts and Gallery:
http://www.blackduck.ca/
which is always a favorite and then headed homeward. Stopped at the fabric store to pick up supplies for the friend and then a good shop at the Bridgewater Guys Frenchy's - one of the better ones. We both scored well and were pleased with our finds.
Arriving home at 7:30 p.m. to discover that the shore captain was planning to air freight lobsters in the a.m. was a shock to the system, especially when he said we had to leave no later than 2:15 a.m. ! First a stop at the freezer for the salt pollock and frozen haddock fillets then over to the tankhouse to pick up the lobsters. Each one had to be individually chosen to make sure they were fit to make the trip. As we headed out the snow flurries started and we ran into and out of the white stuff all the way to the airport. We arrived in good time and the hunt began for West Jet Cargo which apparently doesn't exist as we circled the other airlines hangers and finally actually asked for directions as it was getting close for time as the shipment had to be checked in two hours before the 7:30 flight. The shore captain had been arranging the shipping with West Jet Cargo in Montreal so there were no directions. No way could we locate the building but we finally accidentally found FedEx and Gateway (which would explain why we couldn't find it) with a lone employee working in the refrigerated warehouse, no buzzer to ring, no phone number to alert them to our presence and and the clock ticking. I jumped up and down and banged on the garage door windows startling the employee who let us in, very efficiently checked the lobsters through, provided the Calgary pickup info and stacked the crustaceans with 50,000 lbs of other lobsters heading to Europe. So we were free, relieved and headed into the city.
We stopped to pick up the teacher daughter, had a visit at Tim Horton's while the shore captain had a lobster conversation with one of the fishermen about lobstering. In fact this was the first of ten work cell phone calls he had before we made it home with me chauffeuring. We dropped the teacher off at school and headed on our way home. Had a call from the western daughter before we made it out of the city as she was headed down to pick up her seafood shipment. Stopped in Liverpool for a tea/coffee and headed over for a few groceries at the Superstore. That short experience reminded me why I DON'T take the shore captain shopping as he sighed, paced and finally outright walked towards the checkout. "Thanks for all the help" I told him, it'll be another few years before I repeat that again. I spent the remainder of the day puttering as I was not very productive. Had a call from the western daughter saying how frisky the lobsters were on arrival and that they were planning to enjoy the 'feed' shortly.
Friday was spent in holiday preparations as there were snow flurries. Baking - did I mention I am in love with my new kitchen center?, wrapping, eggnog to sip and of course the usual housework before heading back to work on the weekend. Frantic is the best descriptor for the weekend shifts and today was spent wrapping, decorating the house for the holidays and.....back to work tonight.
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| Explorer of the Seas (Feb 27 - Mar 11) |
Time to start the morning work so I must head upstairs. Only one more shift before I'm off for the holidays. Yeehaw
