The social life has been active beginning with a housewarming for the teacher daughter and son-in-law. A BBQ at their new suburban home with family and friends was a good time. We used a Groupon and picked up some appetizers, Greek salad and dessert at The Athens restaurant before heading over and the shore captain barbequed the lamb a summer neighbour had so generously gifted us with and we made a pitcher of sangria - both of which my Spanish sister-in-law pronounced delicious! My great nephew (who at that time hadn't even had his first birthday) was running everywhere, had to be watched closely on the stairs and was very taken with both the cat Hank (he squatted down and peered at him in wonderment as their only pet is a large chocolate lab who answers to the name Howie) and the cat toy which he batted for some time. We were home past the shore captain's bedtime but it was worth it. Nice to have the Sunday to relax before heading back to work.
Worked my two LDs and LNs and they were all eventful and frantic - what else is new? On Friday morning I did some laundry and got it out on the line and caught a few z z z z s before arising at noon. Time to pack a few things, walk the dog, straighten out the house and head off in the direction of Moncton. I snoozed off and on and we stopped to pick up a friend of the son-in-law who was going to Sackville for Sappyfest, and no it isn't maple syrup but a music festival. We arrived at Universite de Moncton and checked into residence, found a Shoppers Drugstore to buy $10 bracelets to get on the shuttle bus to Magnetic Hill, picked up some supplies such as granola bars and Gatorade and headed out to find the Moncton Coliseum where the shuttle buses left from. With our route mapped out we found Montanas and had a late supper. Unconscious before hitting the mattress is the only description.
Awoke the next morning to pouring rain and wind, how discouraging. Off to Canadian Tire to pick up a stadium seat to use as a back rest (no chairs, umbrellas or tents allowed on the concert grounds) and purchased some extra garbage bags just for good measure. Brunch at Wendy's was a Cobb salad and BLT wrap for moi and the shore captain enjoyed a baconator while winning a free cheeseburger (but of course we lost the tab in the monsoon). Rain gear on, check, extra garbage bags, check, snacks, check and off to catch the shuttle. A quick run to Magnetic Hill and a soggy walk up to the gate for an over two hour wait. A no nonsense trot down to the front of the stage in the drizzle to wait on the metal platform. The 360 stage had a walkway across the front and we were three people back from the fence. The precipitation finally slowed when the first act - Carney - came on stage. They are a part of the orchestra in the Spiderman musical which Bono and The Edge have written. A slight delay and then Arcade Fire who were fantastic!
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| Carney via the jumbotron |
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| Arcade Fire |
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| Yes Bono was singing only to me |
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| U2s social conscience |
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| Two hour + wait for a bus! |
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| Felt like Woodstock! |
Made a stop at the daughter and son-in-laws place to do a house inspection as they had noticed a dark spot under the siding on the garage. A sharp screwdriver inserted by the house inspector aka shore captain yielded a line of angry ants. Instructions on which kind of ant terminator to purchase and need to reside in the spring eased some of the angst as well as measuring for a new door, checking out the chimney flashing on the roof and a closer assessment of the deck didn't produce any major crises so we headed out for home. Glad to find a message asking me if I wanted to have Tuesday off as well due to extra staff. Yes please!!!
Monday (no surprise) was sacrificed to doing laundry, scrubbing footwear and unloading the car. When I was awakened Tuesday morning by a coworker asking me to come in to work as someone had phoned in sick I didn't in the end have extra time off. I did however get time and a half for the shift worked instead of using holiday time. Penny wise and pound foolish to try to cancel nurses when the patient census is down - you would think this quote might sink in to administration but no...So I made my way to the appointment to have my interspinous ligaments injected - the rhuematologist is very pleased with how quickly it is coming along considering that T3 to T9 were unstable - and learn the correct term is prolotherapy which is used frequently for athletes and apparently aging nurses as well. The night shifts were actually not too bad.
Saturday was a short nap and then a Greek evening with our summer neighbours and a local couple who may as well be for as often as we've seen them lately. We had seafood kabobs on the grill then BBQ lamb, grilled veggies, Greek salad and potatoes, pita bread, and a large pitcher of sangria with fruit salad for dessert. My buddy and I tried out a margarita recipe so as not to waste the tequila brought back from Mexico last spring as well. So needless to say I slept well when the crowd dispersed. And Sunday was a day to put the house back in order after being the hostess with the mostest, get the boy Captain underway fishing. When I called as he was heading to get his 'grub order' and told him the brown bread I'd made him wasn't sliced he said "oh never mind we have a rope knife aboard the boat anyway" so I wished him luck and told him I'd see him on Wednesday.
After shopping for the next social event - a family BBQ in honor of my sister's 51st birthday - Monday is when everything broke loose! The 2nd daughter and her teacher friend came down from the city for a first aid re-certification and we included a local lad who is heading off to do carpentry in the fall.
Just before the ladies arrived for an overnight visit the shore captain came through the door with the news of the day. It seems the leased boat the boy captain had been taking and was fishing in the gully (between Georges and Browns Banks) had been located by it's EPIRB (emergency locator beacon) a Hercules aircraft was scrambled from Greenwood but wasn't able to locate them in the fog and the Capt and crewmember had eventually abandoned ship and been picked up by a vessel in the area and transferred to the Coast Guard cutter when it arrived and were on their way in. A later call to the Air Search and Rescue confirmed they were fine, but the boat had been floated with over three hours of pump work and they were being towed in to Coast Guard station. A friend of the boy Capt. picked him up in the a.m. as the shore captain was unloading fish. It appears the through hull broke off and water rushed in below the water line filling the engine room, hold and even the cud (living quarters) as they were hauling gear. It had been rough in the a.m. and about noon there was different motion to the boat and the engine struggled and made a banging noise so when he lifted the engine hatch cover the water was almost to the top - no high water alarm had sounded and there was no power as everything shorted out. This meant no VHF to make an emergency call and even the panic button didn't work (although there is supposed to be battery backup) so the only solution was to reach up on top of the wheelhouse and activate the EPIRB, get out the survival suits and put them on and sit on the stern of the boat which was the only part above water. The nonswimmer crewmember wasn't too impressed with this and it is hard to believe that 85% of the inshore fishing fleet don't swim. So after a few hours a dragger from Pubnico arrived and the lads climbed into the liferaft and paddled their way over, after a close call with a stabilizer almost punching through the top of the raft. After attempting to feed them "um no thanks, not really hungry right now" the boy Capt is quoted as saying, the Coast Guard rescue craft the Clarks Harbour arrived to pick them up as the dragger headed back to Georges Bank to continue fishing. Although Air Search and Rescue insisted they wouldn't do anything with the submerged vessel the Coast Guard Capt. decided they were going to do their best to raise it as he would be responding to all the calls when local fishermen ran it down as it was in a busy fishing area. So with three pumps working and three and a half hours later the vessel bobs to the surface and is readied for towing. The Coast Guard required that someone go back aboard the boat and needless to say the crewmember was NOT getting out of the Coast Guard chair so as the lad says "I'm the Capt and responsible so what do you do?" It was a cold, wet, dark night spent trying to sleep on the table in the cud as there was no power, everything was soaked and there wasn't anything left that was safe to eat. His sister was reassured when she was discussing the marine emergency with her husband who said "you know that he knows what he's doing on the water" and granted he has a bit of experience in these matters. That boy, the reason mothers go gray! Not really sure how this vessel managed to 'pass' steamship inspection in May as there were multiple maintenance issues all summer and it is a tribute to the boy Capt's mechanical skills that something hadn't happened earlier.
So, this week is being spent in readying the lobster boat to go fishing (which had been the boy Capt wish all along) as well as picking all the bait off the trawl which had knocked around in the hold, picking up the rest of the gear which someone had hauled for him and generally working 12 hr days.
Tuesday evening was a BBQ for my sister's birthday as her two daughters were home for a visit with the great nieces and nephew who combined to be the approximate ages of our four - so the life partner and I had a few deja vu moments. Can't beat burgers, smokies, potato and pasta salads and Dan's ice cream cake for dessert. A good time was had by all! The daughter and friend headed back to the city on Wednesday as I headed out for an appointment. Picked up my resoled Birkenstocks at the cobblers and 'memo to self - to ask for an approximate price first the next time' as they were $55!!! Mind you I will get lots more miles on them but...that's half of what I paid for them new. Sigh.
Back to work on Thursday, so not much studying done as you can see by the schedule. It worked out to be a good day after a busy morning. But when I got up Friday I was frantic with pain and very discouraged my back was out again - called the physio clinic and of course couldn't even get a message to the physio till Monday, took all the meds I had left and by the time I had to go to work it was manageable. The Dr. on call checked and said it was my hip this time (I'm falling apart) but that the original problem is much better and this is the way things resolve and go back in line so I cheered up a bit.We didn't have a bad night shift but I was struck by some kind of stomach bug about 11 p.m. and had to crawl up on a stretcher before I passed out. My coworker came to find me with the stretcher up in the air, put it down because she was afraid I would gall off, offered me a pillow and blanket (no please don't touch me) and turned out the light. I came too about 1 a.m. and decided I was going to live so muddled around and got myself upright. It has completely cleared by 3 a.m. and I've been fine since. A couple of co-workers had the same sort of event so it must be something circulating (oh great) in the community.
So, that was life in the fast lane this week. I told my coworkers I had to go to work to get a rest. Errands and some studying tomorrow as there is precipitation predicted so I might get back on track towards that September 7th exam date.
Been looking at some cruise ideas to work as an incentive reward for when I've finished the course and there are some possibilities and even good airfare sales so that must be a sign. In that spirit I'm including some travel links here:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/greece/travel-tips-and-articles/76746?affil=twit
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/africa/travel-tips-and-articles/76741?affil=twit
Safe travels.
