Last weekend started off as a date with my favorite wee 10 year old. The date was a football game at BC place under the dome.
Due to some very fortunate circumstances via my friend Cammie who supplied the tickets, we had excellent seats in the lower bowl - about 10 rows up from the field. This was so much cooler than my ticket plan - nose bleed section where the air is rarified. I was a lucky gal last weekend. In addition to my wee man date, I had an even weee-er man come along with Cammie and I. My cousin's 5 year old joined us.
As we walked to the train to make our way to the stadium, I happened to overhear the following conversation:
5yr old: "You said your Nanna spoils you with candy"
10yr old: "She does but you can't ask"
5yr old: "well, how does she know then?"
10yr old: "She just does"
5yr old; "well, I hope she knows soon"
We were making our way into the stadium but before we could proceed I had to turn over my backpack for the standard search as you are not allowed to bring in food or drink. They happened to find my bag of plums, chips and my water bottle.
Guard: "You are not allowed to take this stuff in so please either eat it prior to entering or throw it away."
Me: "My grandson has severe food allergies and cannot eat anything that is not properly vetted." (X wanted to know what kind of allergies he has)
Guard: "Oh, alright then. Since they are children, I will let it go"
After 3 hours of fun which included taking out a loan for hotdogs and sodas, one child throwing up, playtime in the men's room with it's giant pee station, we made our way home with a quick stop for ice cream. I returned the children the next day tired, cranky and hopped up on donuts.
I had to get back home in time to pack for a whirlwind trip to Toronto and Saskatoon. During my ride to the airport I was regaled with tales from the proud parent of superstars. His happiness was however, short lived. After passing over my credit card I started to get out and grab my luggage when I heard a very stern "please remain in your seat. Your card is not working and I will require you to pay your bill before leaving or I will drive you to our office for payment." "Huh?" "Please try it again and if you pass me the machine, I can see what's going on." "That is not our policy ma'am". "Of course it is. You need to pass it to me so I can add a tip." "yes, but that is for tips only. You do not need to see anything else." "You can kiss that tip good-bye right about now." A bit more war of words, my card finally worked, he saw no tip and I recieved no help with my luggage.
Security was a bit of a breeze - more so than normally. Only a pat down this time. They didn't even search my briefcase or check my laptop for explosives. Nice.
After what was a 16 hour day in my head office, I had the hotel give me a wake up call for 4am so that I could be at the airport for my 6am flight to Saskatoon. That made is 1am BC time. I sat in the same row as a very cranky baby who also did not want to be up and on a crowded airplane that early in the morning. She let everyone know her unhappiness for the next 3 1/2 hrs. Nice.
I worked in meetings all day until I had to leave for the airport again at approximately 5:30pm. They pushed my flight back. Of course they did. I was tired and covered in airport goo and my flight was late. I had dinner in the only spot open, Tim Horton's, while balancing my laptop on my lap when I was accosted by company.
A very drunk woman sat down beside me and started to talk. It was irrelevant to her that I was working and eating. I heard all about her trip from Vancouver with her ex and her ex sister-in-law - all the way to some little town in northern Saskatchewan. They had a fight. They dropped her at the airport. Her friend gave her $400 for the trip home. She was in the bar. She met a man. He lives in Kelowna. She is going to Kamloops next week to meet him (did not bother to correct her). Who knows, he could be her next husband. That would be number 4.
When I finally got on the plane at 8:45pm, it was to enjoy the comfort of having a small child kick the back of my seat for 2 1/2hrs because his grandfather tickled him ALL THE WAY HOME! Only 1 bathroom worked.
Crawled through the front door somewhere around 11:30. Up early and off to work. Went to back out of my parking spot but something wasn't right. I happened to notice my rear view mirror, instead of it's usual spot on the windshielf, was on the passenger seat beside me. Hmmm, not right.
After work, the following conversation took place:
Me: "so, Kris, what happened to the rear view mirror?"
Him: " why are you asking me?"
Me: " I have been away and you had the car and last time I drove the mirror wasn't resting on the front seat"
Him: " maybe it was tired from just hanging around all the time and wanted to sit down"
Me: "what happened?"
Him: "have no idea. It was sitting there when I got in"
Me: "It just fell off?"
Him: "Probably"
I will have to check with father, but I think Kris also used to tell teachers that the dog ate his homework.
I am off to Prince George and the Okanagan in the coming couple of weeks. Fingers crossed, all goes well.
I am hoping to take a wee holiday somewhere in August as well and take the wee ones over to see Great Grandad and GG.
Stay tuned!
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
Blog Broke
Sorry I have been late in my recent postings. My blog broke. Not sure what happened but each time I tried to update, it fell into disrepair.
So much has happened of late that I hardly know where to begin. Summer has been wildly wonderful and oddly wierd for me so far.
I am pretty sure somewhere there are eyes watching me so what I have to tell you must stay between just us for fear I will be arrested for breaking the child labor laws.
Xavier came to my office to help me out for a couple of days. I put him to work at reception making file folders, photocopying and cleaning. All it cost me was a ticket to the BC Lions football game, all the snacks he could throw back and $15 cold hard cash. He was actually a big help and it was fun to have him around.
During our lunch break, he asked "are you the boss of everyone?". "Why yes, I am - of everyone - including you and your mother." "Really?" "Yep, that's why I have the big office." "Does my mom know?" Ahh, now there's the rub. Not sure she ever really believed that I was the boss of her. However, in reality, all that matters is that I know I am the boss of her. Lucky for her, her performance reviews have remained mostly positive.
Work has been crazy - everything that could go wrong has and I have been on the recieving end of many an angry phone call. Lucky for them, I am even tempered. I found myself with just 5 minutes to spare before my next conference call - just enough time to head to the ladies room. In my haste I did not notice upon leaving the facilities, that my dress was caught on the door hinge. I kept moving, my dress did not. I found myself feeling a distinct breeze as I hurried down the hall. My dress was torn apart at the seams. I had no choice but to listen to the call as I scrounged around for safety pins to hold it together. Lucky for me, the dress was flowy rather than form fitting. It would have been overly embarrassing to have my stomach fat filter out through the pins for the rest of the day.
I was rewarded for all my hard work by attending my cousins 50th birthday party last weekend. It was a great time with great company. My favorite wee people attended and immediatly set to exploring the house. As they stood in the game room, Rae asked what the big table was for. When I explained it was for pool, a look of confusion passed over her face. "Do you swim on it?" Her brother gave her a hard time but said he would teach her. It was quite comical to witness him making up rules. She finally decided to play the piano instead.
I had a couple of road trips since my last update. One went well and one went the Holly kind.
I was waiting in line at security - ready for my usual search - when I was taken aside and asked what my 1oz, Channel atomizer was. When I explained the security officer was confused. I reached for it and was going to show her how it works by twisting the top till the mister pops up. This is apparently not allowed. Do not reach across the beltway of the screener. I had another officer immediately show up behind me and grab my arm. The woman with the atomizer then took the top...... and broke it off. Nice. It was then explained to me that I shouldn't have brought it with me if I didn't want it broken. I was not a happy camper and had a chat with the supervisor who said I should have put it in my checked baggage. Since this was a day trip, this seemed a moot point. I also explained that 1oz is allowed - "yes, but not if we don't know what it is." "It says Channel right on the side." "What if we do not understand what Channel is?" This was going to be a long day. Little did I know exactly how long it was going to be.
I made it to my gate on time. My plane did not. Did you know you cannot fly to Williams Lake on a Thursday? I had to fly to Kamloops, rent a car and then drive the 2 1/2 hrs to my meeting in Williams Lake. It would ahve been 2 1/2 hrs had it not been for construction and holiday travellers. I was 1 1/2hrs late for my meeting. I was supposed to fly back from Kamloops that evening. In my booking of the trip, I had it down to the last minute with even 30 minutes to spare to pop in and surprise my old friend whose birthday it was. My meeting ran late.
As I dashed through the rain and lightening to my car in a valiant attempt to still try to make my flight, it became quite apparent this was not going to happen. I called Air Canada.
AC: "Due to heavy call volumes, the wait time for response will be between 53min and 1hr 13min. If you would like us to call you back, press 1"
HM: I pressed one and waited while continuing to drive. Hail started coming down
AC: "We are returning your call. What can I do to help you?"
HM: "I need to cancel my flight for this evening and get re-booked on the first available flight in the morning."
AC: "Let me see what I can do"
HM: "I am calling from my car so the sooner the better in case I lose you."
AC: "I am doing my best ma'am"
HM: "great"
AC: "I can get you on at 6am. That will be an additional $197. It is much more costly to book travel at the last minute."
HM: "I am not booking at the last minute. I just need to change flights. I realize there will be a charge but it is usually minimal which is why I booked under the Flex plan."
AC: "this is not covered as you are actually cancelling one flight and booking another."
HM: "Huh?"
-------------------------------------- LINE IS DISCONNECTED------------------------------
CRAP!!!!!! However, because I am a positive person, I am thinking this woman will call me back since she knows I waited an hour the first time and knows that I am travelling. Of course I am wrong and have to call AC again. This time the message is "the wait time will be between 1hr 13min and 1hr 54min" Ever the optimist, I again left my number for a call back and continued driving.
In the meantime, I decided to call the hotel I usually stay at in Kamloops to book a room. The only one left was a suite - for $279. I then called Enterprise car rental and asked what the cost was to just drive the stupid call 6 hours home that night. The cost was $400. "You guys are nuts!" I rent from you people every other week and you want me to pay $400????" I will bring it back and pick up from Avis who will only charge me $200" I got the deal. It will be easier for me to plead my case with my boss for driving home when I tell him that it was cheaper to drive than to re-book my flight and stay at the hotel.
I began the long trek through the canyon to Vancouver. Every trucker was on the road that night - all save one, doing 10MPH. That one was going so fast I couldn't keep up and his trailer was swinging around so much that I just let him have at it.
Did you know that at night, there is no where to pee between Cache Creek and Chilliwack? For 3 1/2 hours I did the peepee dance in my seat. When I finally pulled into Chilliwack at 1:30 in the morning, I almost bowled a woman over in Tim Horton's in my effort to get to the ladies room. I was still an hour from home - during normal times. The construction on the highway due to the new bridge had it single lane for the last 30km. I crawled through my front door at just about 2:45am and set my alarm for 7am as I had to return the car by 8am. Friday was a very long day.
I am off to Toronto, Saskatoon and Regina next week - without my atomizer of course. I am soooo looking forward to the next long weekend. I am thinking of rallying for all weekends to be long and looking for signatures to make it happen. I think it would solve some of the work problems as well as increase productivity. Of course, I live in a dream world where everything goes my way for periods longer than 8 hours at a stretch.
Now that I think I have fixed my broken blog and my broken dress, I will keep you posted.
So much has happened of late that I hardly know where to begin. Summer has been wildly wonderful and oddly wierd for me so far.
I am pretty sure somewhere there are eyes watching me so what I have to tell you must stay between just us for fear I will be arrested for breaking the child labor laws.
Xavier came to my office to help me out for a couple of days. I put him to work at reception making file folders, photocopying and cleaning. All it cost me was a ticket to the BC Lions football game, all the snacks he could throw back and $15 cold hard cash. He was actually a big help and it was fun to have him around.
During our lunch break, he asked "are you the boss of everyone?". "Why yes, I am - of everyone - including you and your mother." "Really?" "Yep, that's why I have the big office." "Does my mom know?" Ahh, now there's the rub. Not sure she ever really believed that I was the boss of her. However, in reality, all that matters is that I know I am the boss of her. Lucky for her, her performance reviews have remained mostly positive.
Work has been crazy - everything that could go wrong has and I have been on the recieving end of many an angry phone call. Lucky for them, I am even tempered. I found myself with just 5 minutes to spare before my next conference call - just enough time to head to the ladies room. In my haste I did not notice upon leaving the facilities, that my dress was caught on the door hinge. I kept moving, my dress did not. I found myself feeling a distinct breeze as I hurried down the hall. My dress was torn apart at the seams. I had no choice but to listen to the call as I scrounged around for safety pins to hold it together. Lucky for me, the dress was flowy rather than form fitting. It would have been overly embarrassing to have my stomach fat filter out through the pins for the rest of the day.
I was rewarded for all my hard work by attending my cousins 50th birthday party last weekend. It was a great time with great company. My favorite wee people attended and immediatly set to exploring the house. As they stood in the game room, Rae asked what the big table was for. When I explained it was for pool, a look of confusion passed over her face. "Do you swim on it?" Her brother gave her a hard time but said he would teach her. It was quite comical to witness him making up rules. She finally decided to play the piano instead.
I had a couple of road trips since my last update. One went well and one went the Holly kind.
I was waiting in line at security - ready for my usual search - when I was taken aside and asked what my 1oz, Channel atomizer was. When I explained the security officer was confused. I reached for it and was going to show her how it works by twisting the top till the mister pops up. This is apparently not allowed. Do not reach across the beltway of the screener. I had another officer immediately show up behind me and grab my arm. The woman with the atomizer then took the top...... and broke it off. Nice. It was then explained to me that I shouldn't have brought it with me if I didn't want it broken. I was not a happy camper and had a chat with the supervisor who said I should have put it in my checked baggage. Since this was a day trip, this seemed a moot point. I also explained that 1oz is allowed - "yes, but not if we don't know what it is." "It says Channel right on the side." "What if we do not understand what Channel is?" This was going to be a long day. Little did I know exactly how long it was going to be.
I made it to my gate on time. My plane did not. Did you know you cannot fly to Williams Lake on a Thursday? I had to fly to Kamloops, rent a car and then drive the 2 1/2 hrs to my meeting in Williams Lake. It would ahve been 2 1/2 hrs had it not been for construction and holiday travellers. I was 1 1/2hrs late for my meeting. I was supposed to fly back from Kamloops that evening. In my booking of the trip, I had it down to the last minute with even 30 minutes to spare to pop in and surprise my old friend whose birthday it was. My meeting ran late.
As I dashed through the rain and lightening to my car in a valiant attempt to still try to make my flight, it became quite apparent this was not going to happen. I called Air Canada.
AC: "Due to heavy call volumes, the wait time for response will be between 53min and 1hr 13min. If you would like us to call you back, press 1"
HM: I pressed one and waited while continuing to drive. Hail started coming down
AC: "We are returning your call. What can I do to help you?"
HM: "I need to cancel my flight for this evening and get re-booked on the first available flight in the morning."
AC: "Let me see what I can do"
HM: "I am calling from my car so the sooner the better in case I lose you."
AC: "I am doing my best ma'am"
HM: "great"
AC: "I can get you on at 6am. That will be an additional $197. It is much more costly to book travel at the last minute."
HM: "I am not booking at the last minute. I just need to change flights. I realize there will be a charge but it is usually minimal which is why I booked under the Flex plan."
AC: "this is not covered as you are actually cancelling one flight and booking another."
HM: "Huh?"
-------------------------------------- LINE IS DISCONNECTED------------------------------
CRAP!!!!!! However, because I am a positive person, I am thinking this woman will call me back since she knows I waited an hour the first time and knows that I am travelling. Of course I am wrong and have to call AC again. This time the message is "the wait time will be between 1hr 13min and 1hr 54min" Ever the optimist, I again left my number for a call back and continued driving.
In the meantime, I decided to call the hotel I usually stay at in Kamloops to book a room. The only one left was a suite - for $279. I then called Enterprise car rental and asked what the cost was to just drive the stupid call 6 hours home that night. The cost was $400. "You guys are nuts!" I rent from you people every other week and you want me to pay $400????" I will bring it back and pick up from Avis who will only charge me $200" I got the deal. It will be easier for me to plead my case with my boss for driving home when I tell him that it was cheaper to drive than to re-book my flight and stay at the hotel.
I began the long trek through the canyon to Vancouver. Every trucker was on the road that night - all save one, doing 10MPH. That one was going so fast I couldn't keep up and his trailer was swinging around so much that I just let him have at it.
Did you know that at night, there is no where to pee between Cache Creek and Chilliwack? For 3 1/2 hours I did the peepee dance in my seat. When I finally pulled into Chilliwack at 1:30 in the morning, I almost bowled a woman over in Tim Horton's in my effort to get to the ladies room. I was still an hour from home - during normal times. The construction on the highway due to the new bridge had it single lane for the last 30km. I crawled through my front door at just about 2:45am and set my alarm for 7am as I had to return the car by 8am. Friday was a very long day.
I am off to Toronto, Saskatoon and Regina next week - without my atomizer of course. I am soooo looking forward to the next long weekend. I am thinking of rallying for all weekends to be long and looking for signatures to make it happen. I think it would solve some of the work problems as well as increase productivity. Of course, I live in a dream world where everything goes my way for periods longer than 8 hours at a stretch.
Now that I think I have fixed my broken blog and my broken dress, I will keep you posted.
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