RANT: Friends house burned down last night. She may not make it. He is burned but ok...physically. Mentally I cannot imagine. I won't go into detail but have you even known someone that had consistent bad luck? I mean bad stuff as a result of nothing they did or didn't do just bad shit over and over. That is this couple and now she very well may die after everything they have endured over the last almost 10 years now. It is so sad. If only tears could actually help because I've cried many since getting the news. I know I'm not the only one. This is also a PSA because their smoke alarms were not operable (in this case their, perhaps fatal, mistake). Please for the love of God everyone check your smoke alarms, especially with it being the cold season, heaters are running, fireplaces are raging and so on. They have yet to figure out how the fire started.
RANT: Another long day of packing shit up and loading the trailer. RAVE: I should be done tomorrow, and can finally hit the road some time Friday morning.
Rant/Rave: My right shoulder has been messed up for awhile. I hurt it pretty severely when I was still bartending (heavy trashes and kegs) about 9-10 months ago. The pain is a lot better than it was but I still can't sleep on that side, I have a hard time putting on/taking off bras, and it hurts when I move it in certain directions. I was really afraid it was my rotator cuff but turns out, it is my acromial joint, where my collar bone attached to my shoulder. The doc gave me a steroid shot, which has helped a lot, and he said if/when it wears off, I'll probably need a small surgery to scope my shoulder and trim the edge of my collarbone. I am just so glad it wasn't my rotator cuff, and I have good insurance now to deal with this issue.
Rant: Christmas came and went too fast. I like Christmas, despite out of control kids and bossy in laws. Rave: Christmas is over, now let's get on to 2017. I can't begin to tell you how much 2016 has sucked for us.
Rant: Dumped before Christmas by someone that still managed to attach herself to my Christmas party by putting her name on the invites.. And told me that night if I had been somewhat of the asshole I was that night we would probably still be together.. Then my family decides to head out of town for the weekend so I end up spending Christmas day alone yet still fighting with my ex. Honestly is the worst fucking holiday season I've ever had and that includes the first Christmas after my mother passed. It's like my family is just falling apart and I have no clue how to stop the spiral.
This is a quick update as to my friend/s I posted about in my last R&R post; she died, mostly as a result of the burns she suffered. I wasn't going to post publically but after thinking about it, it's the right thing to do since I shared the info in my initial post with you guys. Fuck 2016. Let's get on with 2017.
RAVE: Am finally on the road moving back to Ontario. Left early yesterday afternoon. RANT: Worst weather I've ever driven in. I wanted to get through the mountains ASAP because of the shit weather moving in, and I got hit full bore. Drove through the mountains for about 12 hours doing between 30-50 kmph. Cars and trucks going off the rooad all over the place. I watched a snow plow go into the ditch, and was passed by two vehicles that I passed later after they went into the ditch. One of them was being extricated with the jaws of life. I almost got stuck as I was cresting Rogers Pass and I just ran out of traction. Turned traction control off and fucking clawed my way over the last 200'. BIGGER RANT: Made it 24 kms outside of Calgary after 12 hours of driving... clear roads, 5am, and I lose a wheel on the trailer. Fuck me. All I wanted to do was find a motel and sleep. Instead I spent 5 hours on the side of the road dealing with BCAA roadside assistance. 2 hours trying to put the trailer on a flatdeck, but it didn't fit. Then 3 hours working through the hub replacement and tire swap. Seems it was a tire defect (brand new tire) and I may be getting some compensation. RAVE: Trailer is pulling great and I'm about to check out of the motel and carry on. RAVE: Other than a day of stress, the cat has turned out to be a great copilot. He likes driving and sits on the armrest watching the world go by.
Rave: Every now and then something happens that makes all the work-related bullshit worth it. Today two things happened, and it was awesome.
Rant: Usually losing my son is in the back of my mind, it's there but it doesn't really effect my day to day life. I just go on. Tonight a friend I know on the internet told me about buying a Larry Walker rookie card. Larry Walker had his brightest years with the Rockies in the late 90's. My boy played on a little league team called the Rockies, so they were his favorite team. He never shared my love of music enough to pick up an instrument and learn it, he never shared my enjoyment of going out in the garage and working on cars, but he did like baseball. The one thing we could do together during his teenage years was pick up our gloves and go in the backyard and play catch. We'd talk about everything while playing catch and call out each other with our grievances. The ball would go back and forth. And we would talk. I know it's a cliche about a father and son playing catch in the backyard, but it's one of my favorite memories. I wish he would've stuck around long enough to get his shit together.
RANT: 350 km from home in the middle of a whiteout snow storm and I have a tire on the trailer blow out. Then my jack blows a seal. Now it's a 90 minute wait for roadside assistance. RAVE: I can watch the Rousy fight from last night on my phone without blowing up my data. I broke down right beside a really nice diner and liquor store. Happy New Year to me!
I'M GOING TO KILL SOMEONE RANT: Stuck on the side of the road again waiting for another wheel and tire to be delivered. Not just any road. The 8 lane toll road near Toronto Airport. 1:30 away from home. I've travelled 4400 km so far, and only have to go another 180. Seems that the second spare I swapped on this afternoon came loose due to bad geometry between lug nut and old aluminum wheel. Even after torqing them twice and them lasting for 3 hours. At least the studs are still there and I don't have to try and source a new hub. On fucking NYE. At this point I'm wondering if there's not something wrong with that axle/spindle as it's chewing through hardware like a motherfucker. At this point, if it breaks again between here and home I'm just going to drag the fucking thing the rest of the way. 4 low and tire smoke and burnt transmission fluid and sparks.
RAVE: Pulled into the driveway at 12:06 of 2017. The last 200 km were a fucking trip. An under-spec'd tire welded to a hub that had stripped wheel studs, doing 50 kmph with hazards going on an insane 8 lane thorofare. I have no idea how, but it worked.
Rave: Buddy who owns a surf company gave me a private lesson yesterday. A lot of things clicked and made sense and I had the best day on the water that I can remember. I'm hooked again. Rant: Trying to balance personal goals with homelife and spending time with my wife means that I didn't get as much done as I wanted to yesterday Rave: I got up early this morning, full head of steam, walked the dogs with my wife and made it to my office two hours ahead of time to get cracking Rant: Walked in to the office being flooded by a water heater that fell off of the wall. Rave: Insurance. Hopefully this'll be fixed in the next couple of days. Sending a crew in the next couple of hours. I cleaned up as much as possible. Put this out of my mind and back to the grind. Rave: Shittiest day in recent memory but I wouldn't trade it. This is just some adult shit that I need to attend to like an adult. For that I'm happy.
Rave: Thank god my Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application was approved in time. Made the morning easier to not have to stand in the security line like a disgusting commoner.
If you're getting anesthesia make sure someone records your post anesthetic stupor. That shit is gold.
Rant: no anaesthesia. Just freezing. And the freezing on one side didn't really take, so I felt fucking everything. Awful. Rant: dental surgeon was a dead ringer for my ex boyfriend. Super awkward. Rave: fucker was fast though. Four minutes and both uppers were out. Now pass the mashed potatoes.
Rant: Day 6 of migraine. Keep getting tunnel vision off and on in one eye (weird). Convinced I might be dying. Rant: Called to make a new patient appointment because my brain feels like it is exploding, and the only way to be seen by anyone through my new insurance is to a) drive an hour, b) see a resident, or c) wait until March. Rant: Scheduled with a resident. Facebook stalked him and discovered he looks like a child. Like, 100% would get carded for cigarettes level baby face. Probably I shouldn't be so judgmental but this is a big departure from my preferred demographic of over 50 lady doctors. Silver lining? Migraine nausea as appetite suppressant. Pants are not as tight as they usually are post Christmas and New Years. Maybe one day Boyfriend will put a ring on it so I can take advantage of his sweet sweet insurance benefits and go back to seeing my old doctor, but alas, today is not that day.
Rave Today was both my first day back to work since 12/5 and the first day of daycare for my daughter--so not the easiest of circumstances when combined. Day was kind of going, and I got this from my daughter's school: Totally made my day.