MEG RYAN AND THE CDCP

 POST # 618

"and yesterday I met Meg Ryan, or as she is known around these parts, Dr. Megan Ryan, my new dentist." 

I wrote the above words way back on November 28, 2017.  I had visited Dr. Megan Ryan on November 27th, to do some repair work on one of my front teeth.  Here is the blog post that mentioned it.

https://wherespaulnow.blogspot.com/2017/11/meg-ryan-and-desperate-situations.html

And that was the very last time that I visited a dentist.  Since then, my dental health has continued to deteriorate, which of course isn't a good thing.  However, because I haven't been in any pain, I have neglected to visit the dentist.

Then this year, I finally became qualified from an age point of view, to apply for the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP).  So this past May, I applied.  My first application was rejected, because according to them, I had not filed my 2023 tax return.  This was not so, and I even had an email from the Canadian Revenue Agency to prove that I had indeed, filed my return.  

I have lost track of just how many times I tried unsuccessfully to contact the CRA, but eventually I was successful.  That was the first step in re-applying for the CDCP.  Once they had confirmed that I had filed my return, I re-submitted my application.

And just this past Friday, I received the letter that I had been waiting for, confirming that I was now a part of the plan.  

So this morning I was eager to go and visit a dentist here in Nanaimo, as my first step in getting some very long overdue dental work taken care of, now that I had successfully been accepted into the program.

Imagine my surprise this morning, when I realised that today was a public holiday.  It's Thanksgiving day, but for me it was just another Monday.  When you are a house/pet sitter, one day is just like the other, so I totally forgot that today was a holiday.  Oh well.  My planned visit to the dentist will have to wait until tomorrow.

With any luck, I will be accepted at the dentist that I plan to visit tomorrow.  If that happens, then it's just a matter of trying to plan some dates that I will be able to be there, to get some work done.  I guess I'll know more about that soon.

Of course, I mentioned all of this to Silken this morning, hoping to get a reaction out of her.  She just begged for some more food, and then went to curl up in her bed to go to sleep for the day.  She didn't seem the least bit interested.  I don't blame her.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

WEEK ONE WITH SILKEN

 POST # 617

It's time for another round of fun with my furball friend, Silken, featured above.  This particular photo was taken in August of last year.  With my continuing problem with uploading new photos, I decided to scroll through some old ones to find a photo of Silken.  Even though she is more than a year older now, she looks exactly the same.  She is ageing gracefully, to be sure.

It's a pretty relaxed routine with Silken, so relaxed in fact, that I have taken to her habit of having an afternoon nap, while she has one.  All in all, life is good for Silken and the house sitter.

This is only the first week that I have been here, and I'll be here until early November.  Perhaps between now and then I will finally work out how to get some new photos uploaded, so I can give a more accurate portrayal of Silken.

In the meantime, I'll leave the reader with one more old photo from last year.  Here she is, doing what she does best.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

COFFEE AND OLLIE

 POST # 616

A very long time ago, in the last months of 1980, I was living and working at a place in central Alberta, approximately a two plus hour drive from my home town of Calgary.

After the work week had finished, I would hop in my car, and make the drive back to Calgary, to catch up with family and friends for a couple of days, before returning Sunday night in preparation for the work week ahead.

And it was during that time, that I started drinking coffee.  I would have just one cup, prior to the beginning of my drive to Calgary, and because it was the only cup I would drink all week, I would get quite a buzz from the caffeine.  And that's why I drank it, as it helped to keep me awake on my journey southward.

So that was the beginning of coffee drinking for me.  Why do I bring this up now?  Well, as of today, it has been exactly one year since I drank my last cup of coffee, and to my surprise, I haven't missed it one little bit.  It's rather strange that a habit that had lasted for 43 years, could just stop, and not be missed.  I don't even think about it now.  

Changing subjects.  In a couple of days, I will be saying goodbye to Ollie, as I head across the water to Nanaimo to begin my next house sit.  He'll probably be sleeping when I leave, even though it will be the middle of the afternoon.  He's a true furball.  He loves to sleep most of the day.  But if he is asleep, I'll make sure to wake him up, and give him a pat on the head to say my goodbye.  Thanks for your company Ollie.  It has once again been a pleasure to spend some time with you, my furball friend.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

OLLIE IS NOT IMPRESSED

 POST # 615

Today, I mentioned to Ollie, that tomorrow will be the Autumnal Equinox.  He looked unimpressed.  Mind you, this seems to be his default expression.  He hasn't got time to think about any celestial event, as it cuts into his sleep schedule.  And I certainly wouldn't want to interrupt his schedule.  Autumn happens to be my favourite season, but for Ollie, all of the seasons are the same, seeing as he is an indoor only furball.

Another week has come and gone, and I can't believe how fast it seems to have disappeared into the rear view mirror.  

I did have lined up a couple of cute photos of Ollie for this week's post, but I still haven't solved the issue of uploading photos to my blog.  Ollie is unimpressed about that as well, and so am I.  

But there is still one more post to do, before the end of the month, and maybe I'll have some success this week, with that issue.  After all, I would like to have one last opportunity to impress Ollie, before I depart.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

SUCCESS AND FAILURE

 POST # 614

My plan failed.  In last week's blog post, I mentioned that I was working on a plan to retrieve my iPod Touch device, in order to once again have the ability to post photos on the blog.

The first part of the plan worked perfectly. I did get my iPod back.

Last Wednesday, I once again boarded an Amtrak train to Washington.  I was up very early in the morning, in order to be at the station just after 6 am.  The train arrived on time mid morning, and I had the entire day to spend with Mary and Dora-dog.  Mary of course was expecting me, but Dora-dog seemed quite surprised that I was back so soon after leaving on September 6th.  Be that as it may, it didn't take her long to think that everything was back to normal, now that her second favourite human was back.

Unfortunately, the visit was only going to be a short one, and when we headed back to the train station that evening, Dora-dog knew that something was up. Sadly, I said goodbye once again to Mary and Dora-dog, and waited for the train to arrive.  Once again, it was almost an hour behind schedule, and with various delays along the way, due to freight train traffic, we arrived at 11:22 pm at the station in Vancouver.  Thankfully, this time I breezed through Customs, and I walked in the door at 11:48 pm.

Ollie was very happy to see me.  We had a visit, but it wasn't long before I was crawling into bed, as it had been a very long day indeed.

So my plan to retrieve my iPod was a success, but the failure part of the plan, is that for some reason, I cannot download any photos onto my computer from it, and I am not sure why that is.  So that is the failure part of the plan.

I'll keep tinkering around, to see if I can add some photos, and if I am successful, they will be added later.  If not, then maybe from now on, this will end up being a words only blog.  I guess we'll see what happens.

In the meantime, Ollie seems happy, as long as he has a human slave to feed him, and play with him in between his naps.  

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

BACK TO WORDS ONLY

 POST # 613

Back in the old days, when I began this blog, every post was filled with words, and had no photos.  As time progressed, photos started to appear, and they have been a regular feature for many years now.  But today, it's back to words only.  Why the change?  Here's why.

Yesterday, when we arrived at the train station, in preparation for my departure, Mary noticed that I had left my Ipod Touch device at her place.  I couldn't believe it, but it was true.  Stupid me.  In all my years of travel, I have developed the habit of always taking a second look prior to leaving anywhere, to make sure that I have everything, but yesterday I screwed up.  With nothing to take photos with, I'm left with only words. 

As it turned out, the train was almost one hour late departing, and of course, if we had known that, we would have had plenty of time to return to her home, collect the Ipod, and be back at the station in time to board the train.  But we couldn't have known that the train was going to be that late, so I boarded without it.

It was a slow journey back to Canada, with frequent stops along the way.  Better late than never, we arrived, and it was time to go through the standard Customs check at the station.  Lately, that has been a pretty quick affair, but that wasn't the case last night.  I got asked many of the usual questions, and the border guard seemed to be content with my responses.  I figured that any moment, he would give me the go ahead to clear customs, but oh no, not this time around.  He sent me to another room for a second round of inspection.  I'd been through this about two years previous, and it was time to do it again.  The agent opened up my bags and as he pulled everything out, the questions just kept on coming.  I was beginning to wonder just how long I was going to be there, when he asked what I did for a living.  I told him that I was retired, but that I used to drive a ferry at Granville Island.  As soon as I said that, he relaxed and had a chuckle, because he too, had done the same job some years ago.  We had found some common ground.   At that point, he ended his inspection, and welcomed me back into the country.

I was the very last person to clear customs, and it wasn't much before midnight before I arrived at my current destination of my niece Nicole, and her husband Dan's place in Yaletown.  It's time for another round of petsitting Ollie the furball, and if I had my device, I could add a photo.  But that will have to wait for another time I'm afraid.

So for now, I am back to words only, but I am working on a plan to retrieve my device before too long, so that once again, I'll be able to add a few select photos.  

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

RHEUM RHABARBARUM aka RHUBARB

 POST # 612

Mary has a wonderful rhubarb patch in her garden, and on most days, I pick one or two of the stalks and have them as my early morning treat.  Munching on rhubarb, always reminds me of my dad.  And why is that?  Well, a very long time ago, when I was a child, we also had a rhubarb patch in our yard.  My sisters and I would eat the rhubarb after we had dipped the end of it into some sugar.  Because of its sour taste, we thought that adding sugar to it before putting it in our mouths, would help to lessen the sourness of it.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  And here is where dad comes into the story.  He would sprinkle a tiny bit of salt on the rhubarb, and eat it that way.

Somewhere along the way, I decided to try the salt option, and what do you know, it tasted much better.  At least that's what I think, and it's what my dad thought as well.  So each time I enjoy a stalk of rhubarb, with the addition of salt, it reminds me of dear old dad.

But the rhubarb season is coming to an end, as the days progress, so I will try and eat up as much of it as possible before I head back to Canada.

Here is this morning's serving, and if you look very closely, you can see the sprinkle of salt on the stalk.  Even Dora-dog looks somewhat interested.

And now for a complete change of subjects. Here is a photo that I took this morning.  The sign is located at the entrance to Shelter Bay, and on most occasions the words written usually elicit a laugh or two.  I thought this was a particularly witty one.

The sign changes every now and again, and most of the time, I get a laugh from the words that are written there.  Someone in the community has a pretty good sense of humour.

August is coming to a close, and this is my final post for the month.  By the time my next post is due on September 7th, I expect to be settled back in Vancouver for my next house sit assignment.  

In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy the company of Mary and Dora-dog while I'm still here, and in addition to that, I will enjoy more Rheum rhabarbarum (with salt) as well.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer