Category: Family

Keith gets mugged, but it all works out OK

Yeah, there’s a sentence I didn’t think I’d ever type.  Keith opened the door for me this morning and there he was with a picturesque and bloody bandage on his chin.  I said, what happened, and he said, with a big smile, I got mugged.

He got off work and three guys jumped him.  I asked him if he gave a good account of himself and he said no, and I scolded him.  All those bloody years of karate…

Anyway, they stole his lime green shirt, the one that was so ugly it caused a mutiny, his work ID, and his extremely expensive dress shoes that I got him for work.

He got two blows to the chin and his glasses fell off (but were recovered), but he didn’t fall over or lose any teeth. He seemed to find it quite bracing.  Honest to god.

So he went in to work and found out that his muggers, on opening up the bag and finding nothing in there but evidence that Keith, unlike them, had the wherewithal to get a job, had tossed his packsack in a dumpster, where it was recovered by an angel in human form named Mike, who promptly walked it back to Metrotown and had the pleasure of reuniting Keith with it in person.  Keith lost nothing in the encounter, to hear him tell the story.

Today I cleaned and went to Metrotown and bought myself shoes and then met up with Katie.  Not a single effing thing that I was looking for in HMV was there, berloody useless store, but Katie spent 100 bucks on herself, and then we went to Spiderman 3, and then we all went our separate ways home but we’re going to get together later this week to see Hot Fuzz.  

 

The end.  Kids, I tellink you.

More cleaning

Yesterday I got to the Augur Inn, where I a) returned the penultimate Strangers in Paradise, b) cleaned the downstairs bathroom, removing paint spatters and glue which had been there since we moved in, cleaning the door, and putting the light fixture back up so that all that remains is scrubbing the floor and painting the door c) cleaned the railings in the deck, d) rewashed some windows, e) ran the loveseat cover Janice got through the laundry and hung it to dry as Zeek! bled all over it, f) started detailing the downstairs kitchen, g) scrubbed out the laundry room sink some more (it isn’t done), h) washed the exterior of the windows in the garage.  Partway through my day Katie took me out for breakfast.  It was yummy, and you can get steak and eggs at the Big 6 for $6.35.

About 3:30 I bailed and Paul drove me to the liquor store and I picked up beer, wine and vodka (the only mix I have is orange juice….) and helped me in with MORE boxes and some pictures (I left them in the garage) and then I spent a lovely four hours with Gail, Jerome’s mum, who’s a simply fascinating woman who has raised three simply splendid children, and whose brother Bruce wrote that Vancouver Map Book (before there were computers).  This is a book which shows what Vancouver looked like in ten year increments and which lived next to my bed from the time I got it to the time I moved (of course I can’t find it, but I will when I’ve finished unpacking…)

 

Then I unpacked my new vacuum cleaner and I LOVE it. It’s a new Hoover canister and it does everything a vacuum cleaner should do and there’s only two attachments and it looks like a bug eyed alien and is bright orange. I vacuumed my apartment (well, not the bedroom, the bedroom is a disaster still) but the rest.

This morning I got up and washed the pot and pans I got at Ikea and made myself coffee and breakfast, and now I’m going to figure out when the first bus comes and then go over to the Augur Inn.  Katie was going to take me to see Spiderman and Keith and Paul invited themselves along but that’s okay….

The weather has clouded over.  There are many, many birds here,  I could birdwatch all day.  This morning I watched a hawk kill something.

Burnt and his new bride are probably honeymooning somewhere.  I will get a full report on the wedding from LTGW on Monday, or so I hope.  Men never remember the details women want to hear, unless they’re gay or making a heroic effort.

I have started reading Master and Commander.  Stephen Maturin’s comments about thinking he was gonna die are very funny, and Jack Aubrey is the most admirable mixture of low cunning, high spirits and cluelessness that ever walked on the foredeck of any ship, real or imagined.  Sigh,  I can hardly wait for Pirates of the Caribbean III.

Paul has made revisions to the separation agreement (as have I) which I have not yet seen.  He says he’s not putting the house on the market until the separation agreement is chopped, and also I shouldn’t have moved out because it’s costing a lot of money.

Uh…. I wasn’t thinking about money when I moved out. I was thinking about my sanity.  I had a little hiatus there while I didn’t do much, but that had as much to do with the unbelievable YogSuggothian hor-ror of work as any other emotional background noise, and I was still going back to the house to clean rather more than I want to, because I am actually serious about getting the house sold.

I already know what’s going to happen.  Paul will stall until the house selling season is over, then move back into the basement and rent the upstairs.  He can do what he likes.  I still own half the house and when the time comes to renegotiate the mortgage, he can buy me out and experience the joy of doubling the size of the mortgage on one income with a renter who may or may not work out.  Even if housing prices plummet I will still be free.  This is why I find what Paul’s doing so amusing.  He keeps talking about money. He never talks about the emotional stuff, only about the inconvenience, and how the house which he spent many many hours complaining about has now majickally turned into a haven.  I already got what I wanted.  I have contemplated how I would feel if I lost every penny on the house.  I would be plenty cheesed, but you know, life goes on.  My spiritual advisor has lost just about everything, twice, in the last ten years, and all it’s done is make him a better person with a clearer understanding of what’s important.  I should be so lucky as to have life events that did that for me!

I want to sell the house and get the best buck possible not because I am a raving acquisitive bitch, but because I want to have the wherewithal to help my children.    Happy Mother’s Day, everybody.

window cleaning

I cleaned windows, got a pizza for the other folks in the house, cleaned the downstairs mirrors, and will probably have to clean the outside windows again as they were pretty filthy and some of them needed to be scraped down.  However things look a lot better and the gunk where cat noses had been is gone.

Katie experienced the unholy anger and disappointment that comes when your manager doesn’t tell you something and your grandboss finds out and then your manager, in front of you, tells the grandboss that you WERE told.  And leaves you to hang out to dry.

Katie is looking very hard for another job.  I think she shouldn’t have a problem finding one.  She’s decided she wants to go back to working for a privately owned business as she’s finding working at a chain pretty soul deadening.

Off to work….

Course today

I tried to find a way of conveying how much happier I am to be going on course today as opposed to going to work but the only analogy I could think of was both so violent and so vulgar that I decided not to sear my ma’s eyeballs with it.

My apartment is a sty because I’m never here when I’m not exhausted…. I detailed the laundry machines and cleaned the rug in Dr. Filk’s old bedroom last night. Also saw Katie back at the Augur Inn as she did laundry and tried to figure out what of her stuff is going with her over to Suzanne’s. Dax has moved out.

I have picked up Tom and Peggy’s housewarming present, with thanks and love. It is two little rosemary plants to replace the monster rosemary my mum planted by the front door of the Augur Inn. The rhodo is in full bloom in front of the old place… another thing I will miss. Next up at the Augur Inn. Windows, downstairs. Dan T. is also working flat out on the house which is great.

Keith was nowhere in evidence at the Augur Inn last night and much missed. He loaned me Jeff’s copy of Master and Commander so I will now start a Patrick O’Brian jag.

bleagh

what a day, what a day….

Lexi has agreed to drive me around while I deal with my laptop meshuggas, and then I’m supposed to go back to the Augur Inn and work on the separation agreement, or so sez Paul, and frankly it is a good idea.  Most of the items were no dispute (like we’re splitting the house, and the few sticks of furniture caused no issues) but some of the other stuff is really chewing on the ol’ goolies.

I have now received no fewer than three emails advising me to go after Paul’s company pension and CPP. Oh, and the lawyer was quite firm on the subject; she told me I was daft if I didn’t.  Like sheesh.  I have no idea how I’m supposed to handle that; part of me is thinking “You Will Die in Poverty” if I don’t, and part of me is saying, “Why bother?”. 

However, my spidey sense says don’t.  I have no idea why, but the message is very clear.  I will have to draft something very tricksie to avoid giving up my rights without actively pursuing them.  What I really need to know is if there’s a statute of limitations on when I can enforce my dwindling rights; that of course requires me to cough up a large retainer if I want that kind of answer.  It’s a puzzler.

Work does unspeakable things to long dead bears.

Things didn’t happen

Well, I didn’t get to go to the Railway Club, and Lexi didn’t come over (she wuz feeling porely) but excellent things did happen to me this past weekend, including a FABULOUS meal at Dosa Garden. And a spit at the Boathouse. Verra nice. Got to mention the Vorkosigan filks to Jo Beverley, who’s pals with Lois McMaster Bujold. And I got my internet running at home, did I mention that? Oh, and I bought a…. vacuum cleaner. It’s orange. And I have no place to put it.

Dr. Filk has requested that I forward him a copy of his resume. So tonight it’s off to the Augur Inn to fetch Dr. Filk his resume and clean his apartment. Oh, and I have to take the adjustable spanner back to the Augur Inn, too.

Busy day

Both of the kids are available to help me sling boxes later today.  I woke up at 3 but once I saw what time it was I had no trouble crashing and going back to sleep for a couple of hours.

I’m in to work for the morning and then I’ll go pay my rent and get my keys and sometime after five the movers will show up.  I really don’t have that much stuff and if I have people helping at the other end I’ll be in good shape.

It may be a bit longer than I had hoped before I’m on line in the new place, but I’m definitely going to have a phone….

Slow site

I had a helluvatime logging on this morning. You may find the site slow.
Yesterday I emailed one of my colleagues with “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t quit.” Within thirty seconds (I do not exaggerate) he emailed back “Cause I love ya.” He literally prevented me from getting up and walking out, and yes, that was the desired response. The confluence of interesting and difficult work and interesting and difficult domestic life kinda got to me, I guess; anyway, I’ll let him remain anomalous but I’d like to record his response with my heartfelt thanks.

Also, about half way through the afternoon Paul showed up with both the kids, and that kinda put the heart back into me because I hadn’t seen Katie in most of a week.

This morning, I have packed my clothes except for what I will be wearing for the next five days, I am almost done the kitchen stuff and I have started on the bathroom stuff. Later today I will head out to the garage and start slinging my boxes into a more reasonable pile for the movers, which will also have the result of making some of the stuff we hope to sell on Craigslist a little more accessible.

Dr. Filk will have his old boss’s truck to move to Victoria in (I cannot belIEVE that ‘the thing that would not die’, as we refer to the John’s Jukes truck, is still extant) but he will also be using it for a Village de Valeur run, so much more useful but surplus-to-requirements items will fly out of here today.

Painting, cleaning, laundry

My chest cold is now to the point where I am rarely coughing – I’d like to thank my poor beleaguered immune system. I still need a good swift slug of DM-D-E to get to sleep and still wake up coughing, but hell, wakeytime was 5 am today and that is really an improvement over nights past.

I painted three of the sills in the plant room (the side by side comparisons with the old ones are quite humorous) and have started a list of stuff to go on freecycle.org (thanks Brother Jim!) and craigslist. I finally managed to subscribe to freecycle, so I’m happy about that too; the last time for the life of me I could not get my password to work and whoever the moderator was turned out to be friendly but not helpful. I have also done my laundry, the touchup paint in the bathroom, vacuumed out the plant room (holy COW it was disgusting) and walked around the house making a list of stuff I can actually do with my back bein’ the way it is and all. Oh, and I read the Serenity comeeks Dax bought Katie (!?).

Kate spent 250 dollars on a ring for Daxus’ 20th birthday. This news will be met by cascades of disgust and disbelief, I’m sure. I justabout threw up when I heard it. It certainly hasn’t changed his attitude towards life, the universe, and being an adult.

I will be calling movers today and finalizing the moving date based on their input… despite my scads of moving karma from when I was living in Toronto, it turns out that I don’t have much here (at least in terms of putting together a truck) and I thought about it and … you know, this is going to be a relatively fast and easy move anyway. I will only have about ten sticks of furniture, a couple of awkward parcels (pictures, hangings, bags o clothes) and the rest is all banker boxes, which make for super easy moving. So I’m going to outsource and then if folks want to volunteer to help me unpack, I’ll go for that.

Katie found the clothes Janice put in the garage. I don’t think she’s ever going to forgive either her dad or Janice for cleaning out her room without bothering to pick up the phone and call her first. When she said that she would rather that Dr. Filk had cleaned out her room (as if….) I knew she was choked.
I am investigating my new computer. I had really good luck with TigerDirect.ca and Katie’s phone (thanks Brother Jim!) so I’m thinking…. put the bait on the hook and get a monster gaming computer. And then I’m thinking. Two fans. Do you really want to be listening to TWO fans? I’m also thinking about a big screen TV, but I’m also thinking… hey, I NEVER watch DVD’s when I’m by myself! Watching stuff is a social activity for me, strangely enough, so unless I want to be looking at a thousand bucks I only use when company’s over, maybe I should pass and keep my recently bumped up credit card in my pocket. It would make more sense to get a decent stereo.
I’ve mentioned Brother Jim twice, and I should post the pix he sent to me … suiting up in a bombproof suit! That’s where he’s working now, a company that makes bombproof suits. I want to ‘shop the last one and title it, Ready for Another Day of Work in Customer Support.

The Dandy Warhols are coming. Oy. I should phone Doug and LE and try to make a date. There will be life after Paul, and it will be interesting.

Keith has entirely fallen in love with the oeuvre of Patrick O’Brien, and why not? He’s an amazing writer.

Cousin Katherine

Aged thirteen, is just this minute having a gallstone removed from her biliary tree.  I light a candle for her swift recovery.  When she has recovered from that they will schedule surgery to get  the rest of it.  She was, by the garbled fifth hand account I got, hours away from pancreatitis and the ghastly grip of the Grim Reaper.  And, of course, she refused to see a doctor until she was just about a goner. And technically she’s First Cousin Once Removed Katherine, which I hasten to add before my mOm sticks it in the comments.

Good night’s sleep

I finally got 7 straight hours of sleep (mind you when I woke up I disgorged about 4 world class loogies… but oh well).  As a result I no longer feel like I’m trailing a dark cloud of bleakness.  And I got some exercise in, so I’m almost, but not quite, perky.

Dr. Filk moves to Victoria on April 29th, where he will finally have access to enough guitars, enough filk, and enough cats.  Trebles all round.  Tom is watching his best helper disappear over the horizon with not much happiness.

Happy 4:20 to those of you who celebrate.  For your enhanced erudition, may I recommend the Wikipedia article on the provenance of this countercultural phenomenon.