Off Topic Part Trois

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Oh, I love this morning's coffee, Carla! It makes me nostalgic for my re-enactment camping days where we lived outdoors and cooked over an open fire all the time. What bliss! (As long as it wasn't for real all the time, heheheh!)

[trailmix 77]

Lovely coffee this morning Carla! Had to look that up, it's Africa!

There was a documentary on cbc's The Passionate Eye last night, about allergies Allergy Planet looking at why there has been such a big increase in allergies since like the 1950's. I've often wondered that myself - peanut allergies were unheard of when I was going to school and they actually said that these allergies were found in such a small percentage of the population it was not even an issue. That was true of all allergies - and there has also been a huge increase in asthma.

Anyway, they were talking about peanut allergies and it wasn't really uplifting, so I turned it off lol

Good morning all!

[TimandJoyce 1]

Hello everyone! I made it. Went through my POE in Vancouver with no problems. My flight is in an hour and a half yet, but I'll be in SC by this evening. It's going to be so good to see Tim again! Wow...one more month and I'm married!!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Welcome to the US, Joyce! Have a safe flight and enjoy the lovely warm weather in SC - that is if you guys ever go outside over the next few days!

[Sprailenes 47]

*sings*

Stacks on deck, Patron on ice, and we can pop bottles all night... baby, you could have whatever you like... I said, you could have whatever you like...

The construction workers have the radio blaring and the unedited version of this song is blaring throughout the clubhouse.

[Sprailenes 47]

Mah-mah-mah mah poker faaace.

I am going to be giving radio updates all afternoon..

Okay I'll stop now.

[Krikit 1,164]

Good afternoon everyone. I love camping. Thanks for that pic, Carla. Gosh. First time I've heard the words "Passionate Eye" since I left Canada. Hi Emancipation! *waves* Welcome to America, Joyce!

Another one bites the dust

Another one bites the dust

heh heh

Another one bites the dust

Ohhhhhhh yeaahhhhh yeahhh

yeahhhhhh yeahhh

yeahhhhhh yeahhh

Ohhhhhhh yeahhh yeahhh yeah

Whoops. Was I singing in my outdoor voice?

[Sprailenes 47]

My sons middle school this year is only grades 5 & 6 and there's almost 1200 kids in it. Seriously.

Two grades.... 1200 kids.

And yes I am fully aware that I am in the most densely populated state but still... that's a whole lotta kids for just two grades.

[trailmix 77]

So I got a pm from my Niece today, my Mom's dr's office had called because my Mom went to the hospital this morning. Of course none of them have my contact info - well they do now.

But anyway, she has pnemonia, which is not good, but she is doing well. My Niece and I went in to see her (they only allow two people at a time) and she seems none too pleased at being there (of course!).

Anyway, we stayed for about 1/2 an hour, they said they would be taking her up to her room shortly, but that was 2 hours ago. The hospital is having a major major addition put on so they have all the windows boarded up in the er. Plus in the back where the patients are, there are no windows. I'm pretty claustrophobic and it was really hard for me to go in there (when they were escorting us in I almost fled!).

I guess i'm saying all that not so I can get undeserved sympathy, it's just that I feel bad not staying there longer with her.

Anyway, I just called and the nurse was talking to her while I was on the phone - she just asked for something to eat, so that's good, since she generally eats very little. She is 83 and probably the most stubborn person ever.

[Krikit 1,164]

I wouldn't worry about not staying there too long, Trailmix. I think half an hour is more than enough time. Too much time spent with a patient is exhausting to them. They need to concentrate on getting better instead of worrying about being attentive to the visitors. That's why the hospital puts limitations on visitors. I hope your Mum is feeling better soon.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Another one bites the dust

Another one bites the dust

heh heh

Another one bites the dust

Ohhhhhhh yeaahhhhh yeahhh

yeahhhhhh yeahhh

yeahhhhhh yeahhh

Ohhhhhhh yeahhh yeahhh yeah

I specially enjoy the "he he he he he" toom-toom toom-toom part.

[Krikit 1,164]

Synopsis of my hols:

We had a fabulous fabulous time in BC this summer! OMG, it was soooooooooooooo HOT when we got there! And nobody has A/C!!! Needless to say it was more along the lines of passing out than falling asleep at night. We were busy busy busy, all day, every day. I sustained the most injuries during musical chairs at the pool party! I am covered in bruises and gashes and scratches galore! And I would have won the boat races (we had to make our own boats) except that my cousin pushed me into the pool (with all my clothes on) and I was disqualified.

We went to Cypress Mountain; some did the Peak to Peak at Whistler; we ate ice cream in White Rock; hiked awesome Lynn Canyon; caught the ferry to Nanaimo to attend the Neil Young tribute at the Saltair Pub (we wore our tie-dye t-shirts ) ; browsed the artisans shops on Granville Island; took a seaplane to Victoria to visit the Butchart Gardens ; took a water taxi to the Spinnaker Pub for some handcrafted ale and had drinks at The Empress before taking the last seaplane back to Vancouver.

The 2nd time on the island (when we went to spend the weekend with my cousins), my husband and I spent the night in Victoria and took the car ferry to Port Angeles, WA the next morning so I could drop him at the Seattle Airport so he could fly to Denver for work. We stayed at the Victoria Marriott and I just have to say that it was hands-down THE best hotel I have ever stayed in. And I am serious. It was amazing. Had to get up at 4am to catch the 6am ferry. Got asked by the CBP officer before boarding if I had sent in my removal of conditions.

Anyway, the whole point of expanding this story was to tell you something funny. I had neglected to print out a Google map of the drive from the Port Angeles ferry to Seattle, but I had looked at it online and assumed Aimee (my trusty GPS) would take us the route that Google showed, which was around Puget Sound and up through Tacoma. So we're driving along and I'm kind of dozing in the passenger's seat when I hear my husband say "Not another ferry." I looked up and he points to Aimee and says "There's a little floating boat on the display!" Sure enough, Aimee was taking us to another ferry! Which was our third one in 3 days!!! So we round the bend and Aimee's saying "Get on the ferry" and there it is right in front of us, just leaving the dock. And hubby is asking the ticket person "When's the next ferry?" as he's handing over his money and I'm killing myself laughing because he didn't ask "Where is this ferry taking us?" he's just blindly following Aimee. OMG, I couldn't stop laughing. What if we were heading back to Canada???? But, hey. I'm up for an adventure. After all.... I'm not the one who's going to miss my flight.

So we get into the middle of the Sound and we could see Seattle in the distance so we know all is well. I drop hubby off at the airport and head back to Vancouver. I stop at the duty free (again ) and buy another bottle of booze for the family. When I get to the border the officer gives me heck (in a nice way) because I hadn't been out of the country for 48 hours and, technically, I wasn't allowed to bring in any duty free. So then he wants to know why I went from Victoria to Seattle and back to Vancouver in a day and who my husband works for. Luckily, he was really nice about it and he let me through.

That, basically, was my trip. The wait at the border going back to Seattle was the pits. Over an hour. Then pouring rain then heavy traffic then return the rental then check into the hotel. I already wrote in the vent thread about turning down the travel voucher from the airline to give up my seat. You couldn't pay me to stand in line at the Seattle Airport for 3 hours again the next day.

Oh! Nashville Airport! OMG. I had to change planes in Nashville. The food was #######, the shops were full of the weirdest items ever, and I had the misfortune of my gate being beside a bar with a country & western singer crooning away. And the people! . Let's just say that I sat there and thought to myself "I imagine this is what hell is like." I was SO happy to be home.

The End.

[DeadPoolX 9]

Synopsis of my hols:

We had a fabulous fabulous time in BC this summer! OMG, it was soooooooooooooo HOT when we got there! And nobody has A/C!!! Needless to say it was more along the lines of passing out than falling asleep at night.

This summer was the hottest on record. Seeing as how I moved to Canada (and more specifically BC) last year, I was "lucky" enough to see both the coldest and most snowy winter in years AND the hottest summer ever in BC.

My wife says it's not normally like this, but I have yet to see for myself.

As for the A/C, my wife also said that most houses, apartments and townhouses in Canada don't have air conditioning. She's originally from Alberta, so I don't know how well that transfers to other provinces. I do know that it's hard to find homes in BC that have A/C. We bought a portable stand-alone air conditioner.

Honestly, I think lacking A/C is very backward. Why should Canadians have to fry in their homes during the summer? That said, I did grow up in Houston, TX and if you don't have A/C there, you stand a good chance of literally dying in the summer.

[Carlawarla 1]

Good Morning! Oh trailmix! I'm so sorry to hear about your Mother! I know that now in hospital she'll be getting good care and will be home shortly. Don't feel bad about not visiting longer. As Krikit says, it's always best if visitors don't visit too long, it really tires the patient. I don't know how far you are from the hospital, but going once or twice for a half hour at a time is probably better than one long visit per day. Hope she's up and about shortly! Krikit, your vacation sounds fabulous! I'm glad you had such a lovely time! DeadPool, I think firstly that A/C is costly for only a week or maybe more of sweltering weather in the summer, at least where I came from. We would just sleep in the basement when it got really hot, which again, was never more than about 4 or 5 days at most during a summer. My parents, in Southern Ontario however, are not comfortable with humdity, so when it gets hot, it's not so much the heat that they got A/C, it was the humidity, and even then, it was probably only in the last 10 years or so that they got the A/C!

Enjoy your coffee today, and enjoy your day as well!

[trailmix 77]

Good morning all and thanks krikit and Carla

krikit, it sounds like you had a wonderful time! Sorry we deserted you in Florida! You know I actually do miss Florida (as I knew I would) - and both Mike and I are really glad that we did go to live there for a year and a half. I think next time we want warmer weather though, we will move to like - Nanaimo lol - the drive is a tad shorter.

Deadpool - everyone knows that Canadian's are sturdier than Americans - that is why we don't need airconditioning.

Actually, I never had airconditioning in Canada up until around 10 years ago or so - just put up with the heat, for a few reasons. First of all it didn't REALLY seem necessary and secondly airconditioners used to be very expensive. 4-5 hundred dollars for a window airconditioner. Now you can buy a small window model for the bedroom for like $119.00.

We have a portable now, which we are probably going to set up today since it's supposed to be around 30 starting on Friday. I love airconditioning