Penguins, Pot & Other Stuff

On Thursday, Brother Mike & I headed to Clinton to pick up my pontoon boat.  After a nice easy drive, we pulled in and there she was.  Simply beautiful!  Sitting on her trailer, gleaming & ready to go.  Well, Trevor & Terry (the father & son builders of my pontoon) had to finish off about 45 minutes worth of work.  So, Brother Mike & I headed into Clinton to get some lunch & a license plate for the trailer.  When we got back, things were complete.  We hooked the boat up to my van and started our drive back to Hamilton.

 

The plan was to get back to Hamilton around 4:30 PM and then head down to Hamilton Harbor to try the boat out.  While we were driving, it didn’t take long to see that by pulling the pontoon boat we were using an awful lot of gas.  Kept asking Brother Mike: do you think we have enough gas?  From his previous experience in driving my van (and that represents a lot of experience), Brother Mike figured we had just enough to make it to the first gas station.  Wouldn’t you know it!?!  We were coming down the QEW from Bradford way and were about 3 km from the cut off for the Linc when we ran out of gas!  Don’t know how he did it but Brother Mike was able to get us off to the side.  What to do now?  Both of us live somewhat in the Stone Age and there wasn’t a cell phone between us.  With that, Brother Mike started walking down one of the exit ramps to look for a telephone.

 

About one hour later, Brother Mike & Cousin Jan showed up in Cousin Jan’s truck.  My good old cousin was a little ticked off because we had interrupted his preparation of dinner for the family.  However, he did bring a gas can and threw enough gas in my van to get me and Mike to a gas station.  Unfortunately though, there wasn’t enough time left to launch the boat.  Brother Mike said he would just drop me off and take the boat home so he could pick me up early the next morning and we could try the boat out.

 

Sure enough, Brother Mike & Brother Joe (a helping hand) & I were at Pier 4 by 9 a.m..  After a few rookie mistakes, we managed to get the boat into the water.  Getting on for me was easy because of the excellent docks at Pier 4.  We headed out into the bay and chugged around for maybe 20 minutes.  Brother Joe is not much for the water and there were some waves out there.  I must admit, my wheelchair did tip a little bit once or twice so I was in total agreement with him!  We headed back, loaded the boat onto the trailer and headed our separate ways.  Brother Mike & I stopped at a local automotive supply place (Princess Auto) that sells an amazing number of things.  Picked up what we needed and headed up to Owen & Glory to store the boat.  Loyal blog readers know that Owen & Glory are the couple renting my house.  I had asked them weeks ago if it would be okay to store the pontoon boat on the driveway there because there is so much room.  No problem!

 

Brother Mike got the boat parked in almost his first try.  He’s really very good at handling the boat/trailer with my van.  After she was parked, Brother Mike wanted to set up a tarp we had bought to cover the boat.  Owen offered to help.  Now, try to picture this pontoon boat sitting on its trailer.  When you are up in the boat, you are a good 4 feet and a bit off the ground.  To get in, you step on one of the pontoons, grab hold of the guard rail and pull yourself in.  To get down its like climbing a ladder: you grab the guard rails, step on the pontoon with 1 foot and bring your other foot down to step on the ground.  It’s no problem for Brother Mike; he’s fairly tall.  Owen isn’t.  When he went to step down, well-it wasn’t pretty.  He grabbed onto the guard rail, stepped onto the pontoon with 1 foot but couldn’t reach the ground with the other foot.  So, Owen decided to jump.  That’s when all hell broke loose.

 

Somehow, his finger got caught in the guard rail as he jumped.  As soon as he landed, which was an awkward landing to begin with, he started jumping around and holding his hand.  I thought he was joking a bit but it didn’t take long to realize it was no joke.  I heard Owens say "I pulled my finger off".  I told him to stop joking around but he repeated this statement only this time quite more emphatically.  Sure enough, I heard Brother Mike say from the pontoon boat "yes, here it is!".  It still didn’t sink in with me because there was no blood that I could see.  But sure enough, Owen had managed to pull off the pinky finger on his left hand.

 

Of course, Glory could see that something was wrong.  Brother Mike showed just how well he can handle this type of situation.  He ran into the house with Glory and spent the next five minutes settling her down.  She needed this because she was starting to hyperventilate.  While he was getting her to calm down, he got hold of some ice, a container and some towels.  I went inside with Glory to try to keep her calm while Mike loaded up Owen & his finger and ice for a run to St. Joe’s emergency.  Glory had called their two kids who went down to the hospital to be with Owen.  Shit, I felt so bad while all of this was going on.  Owen is such a nice guy and to have him do something like this while helping around my pontoon boat was hard to take.

 

Brother Mike showed up after the two kids made it to St. Joe’s.  We had a tea with Glory to calm her down some more and then headed home.  Glory promised to call once she knew what was going on with Owen.  I hadn’t heard anything after four hours so I called her.  She had spoken with Owen after they had taken x-rays of his finger.  Wasn’t a long conversation because while she was talking to him, hospital staff showed up to take Owen away.  Eventually, a couple of hours later, Owen phoned me himself from home.  Unfortunately, they were not able to save his finger.  Too much damage had been done in the accident.  Owen sounded OK on the telephone and was full of pain killers so he wasn’t hurting-yet!  The sad thing is Owen loves playing the piano-he has one in the house.  I asked him about piano playing and he said he is going to have to "learn how to play an octave higher".  Shit, I hope he can do it!

 

I hardly slept once I got into bed last night (which was late because of a poker game with the boys).  Don’t think I slept more than 20 minutes.  Couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened and I just can’t shake this shitty feeling I have.  I only wish for all the best for Owen and his recovery.  You just never know when something like this is going to happen-damn!

 

About the boat, Check out the Picture.  Don’t worry, it is a picture of the boat!

Loyal blog readers will remember the time several years ago when I had something stolen out of my apartment by a worker for the March of Dimes.  Boy, does that bring back memories!  Anyway, one of the things I tried to do to protect my property when that happened was putting up video surveillance cameras.  Unfortunately, some of the March of Dimes staff notified management that if these cameras went up where "personal care" was being provided, they would refuse to come into my apartment.  March of Dimes management agreed with their stance.  Fortunately, the employee who stole from me (and numerous others in the building) was fired.  With that, I felt safe enough to take down the video surveillance cameras that had been put up in the areas of my apartment where "personal care" was not being provided.

 

Things went great until a couple of months ago.  Unfortunately, I had some money go missing from my apartment.  Had to be a March of Dimes worker who took the money.  This time I decided I was going to push the issue of video surveillance in my entire apartment.  Contacted a lawyer who works for Arch (legal advocates for the disabled) who informed me that I did have the right to install video surveillance anywhere I wanted and that March of Dimes workers did not have the right to refuse providing service.

 

I had earlier informed the local March of Dimes I was going to be using video surveillance and was told the same thing as before: some staff felt uncomfortable and would not provide service.  With that, I asked to make a presentation before the Provincial Board of Directors of the March of Dimes to explain the rationale behind my request.  Weeks went by and I really never heard anything about my request.  Then, presto!  I was informed by local management that indeed, I could install video surveillance wherever I wanted in my apartment!

 

I just want to say that the March of Dimes has many employees working in my building.  By far, the vast majority are great people who do a good job and they are people that I can trust.  Unfortunately though, all it takes is one bad apple to put me in the situation I’m in.  And it’s not just my property.  It’s my person I also have concerns about.  Video surveillance will, for me, provide the protection I feel I need from those "bad apples".

 

The system went in yesterday and is now operational.  Staff are aware and I have let them know that if any of them want to sit down with me individually or in a group to talk about the situation, I would be more than happy to.  Speaking of March of Dimes staff; I know some of you read this blog and have told others you do.  That’s great.  Please encourage your coworkers to do the same.  Would be more than happy to explain my point of view!  And thank you March of Dimes for coming around on this one.  Truly appreciated!

Yes it was!  The other night Paulo & Trish were over watching some baseball on TV to see how their Pro line tickets were doing.  Trish took a break and went upstairs to my friend Terry’s apartment to download some pictures from her cell phone.  Five minutes after she left poor Paulo started screaming.  There was a bat flying around my living room.

 

I told Paulo to open the apartment door & balcony door so it could fly out.  Unfortunately, he could not get to the balcony door (something was blocking his path) and he did not want to let it out into the hallway.  Instead, Paulo tried to dispatch the bat with a broom.  All he did was send it into my bedroom where I was lying down watching television.  I must admit, it’s a very cool sight.  Watching the bat fly around using its built-in radar/echoing system is really something.  Quite graceful really.

 

By this time though Paulo had had enough.  He phoned Trish who came down to the rescue.  Like me, she didn’t want to kill the bat-just get rid of it.  Fortunately for all, the bat landed on the shower grate in my bathroom.  Trish was able to grab a Tupperware container and actually get the bat inside with the lid on.  We all took a look at it-just like a little mouse with wings!  Then, Trish gave the bat its freedom off my balcony.  Quite an exciting evening!

It’s a yearly tradition.  The lovely Trish & I load up to spend a day at the CNE.  Today was the day.  Once we landed, off to the food building-our favorite spot.  I usually have a goat roti but I wasn’t in the mood for one today.  Instead, something called the Lumberjack Special: french fries, cheese curds, beef gravy, 2 sausages & one egg.  Simply delicious!

 

Then, we started to walk the grounds.  I could tell Trish wasn’t feeling very well.  She told me she was having problems with a migraine and didn’t feel too good.  She thought maybe it would pass with time (& ice cream) but nothing seemed to help.  We did check out the International Building where I bought myself a new hoodie.  This one will be special.  It commemorates the Canadian Armed Forces involvement in D-Day at Juno Beach.  I always admire the fighting men of any nation.  True heroes!

 

By 7 PM (well before we were originally planning on coming home) Trish was really not feeling very well.  She wasn’t hungry and she didn’t want to really do much of anything besides sit down in the shade to rest.  Even though I insisted we go home, Trish didn’t want to let me down.  Enough of that!  After assuring me she could handle the drive home, off we went.  After all, Trish & I can always go again next week!

 

Even though there aren’t many, Check out the Pictures!

I know loyal blog readers must be wondering about my pontoon boat.  Well, spoke with Mr. Pontoon Builder this morning.  It’s looking like Brother Mike & I will be able to go pick it up this Wednesday!  A few little things to do before that but, full speed ahead.  Can’t wait: not much left of the summer but I hear September is supposed to be warmer than usual.  Some fishing & Harbor cruising!  If anyone is interested in coming along, just drop me a line.  The more the merrier!

Got an invitation from Dickhead (okay, he was being nice so I’ll call him Charles for now) the other day.  He was inviting the gang-that includes Paulo, Jeannine, Kaleb & Trish-to an annual potluck barbecue they host every year at Christie’s Conservation Area.  Yesterday was the day.  We loaded up in the van (under very dark, brooding skies) and made our way out there with a delicious vegetable tray & pumpernickel bread thing with dip.

 

Five minutes before arriving, the skies opened up.  A steady rain.  Do I spend the $18 to get us in the park?  Would hate to have to turn around shortly after to go home.  I work hard for my money!  What the heck, in we went.  Found the festivities and unloaded.  Wouldn’t you know it, 10 minutes later and the rain had stopped.  We actually got a little bit of sun!  Charles & Liz greeted us and we went through the introductions.  Their daughter Jenny was there and it seemed that most of the people who had showed up were friends of hers.  I felt very old all of a sudden!

 

Trish, the lovely dish that she is, decided to become busy.  Not only was she my official photographer, she also offered to handle the barbecue duties.  What a talented girl!  It was quite the spread with various burgers, sausages, hot dogs & little skewers of delicious meets.  Of course, numerous salads and other goodies made a great complement.  Also, delicious desserts!  I tried to get Kaleb to go swimming or to join the other kids in various activities but-no way!  He wanted to spend his time with either myself or Charles.

 

We stayed for a few hours and then decided to head home.  Trish had some bingo playing to do!  A great time.  Thanks Liz & Charles!

 

Check out the Pictures!

I like going down to the Farmer’s Market to pick things up during the week.  Meat, fish, vegetables & fruit.  Even the occasional baked goodie!  I always make a point of stopping to talk to Agnes.  Her and her husband Rudy have a little stand where they sell various fruits from their farm: cherries, plums, apples, black currants, gooseberries - so many more!

 

Agnes is quite a woman.  She took a shine to me and always throws in extra things when I buy from her.  What can I say?  She knows class when she sees it!  Agnes has a very heavy Austrian accent.  Her family has been farming the same land out near Beamsville for years.  She came to Canada about 40 years ago from Austria.  The stories Agnes has to tell!  She was a little girl during WWII but remembers it well.  Hitler was born in a place about 100 miles from where she lived.  Agnes remembers that "dat little bastard was such a crazy little man".  Apparently he had no respect at all from the Austrian people but for some reason the Germans took to him right away.  She said all you had to do was mention his name and her mother would lose all control- anger would take over!  Agnes lost eight relatives in the war.  She was so happy she made her move to Canada.  So am I-a very nice person to talk to and she sells delicious fruit!

It’s become an annual event.  Got an invitation from Fred (Sister June’s brother-in-law) to head on up to Vaughn for the annual Rankel pig roast.  Brother Mike picked me up and on the way there we stopped in Mississauga to pick up Sister June & Nephew Andrew.  Herb had left earlier to help Fred get things going for the day.

 

It was a great ride up there - no highway delays.  There weren’t many Aquilinas-just Mike & myself.  People get so busy over the summer.  Oh well, that meant more good food for us!  There were Rankles coming out of the bushes-literally!  Was so nice to see everyone again.  I warned Herb that because of the hot weather I would need some help keeping cool.  Presto: he ran a long extension cord out to the backyard and hooked it up to an electric fan.  That kept me very very comfortable.

 

After turning that little piggy on the spit for about 5 hours, everyone was ready to eat.  There were many delicious salads (2 potato salads, macaroni salad, pasta salad, green bean salad) to go along with the succulent pork.  Then various desserts-pastries & a multitude of fruits along with a great cup of coffee.  The time went by so quickly but then Brother Mike & I hit the road home.  Amazingly, we made it back in 1 hour & 10 minutes-great time!  Thanks Fred & Linda for a great day.

 

Check out the Pictures

Yes Tree, as I’m sure you know, today would have marked 27 years of wedded bliss.  Would have been very interesting to see what we would have come up with in that time!  Even though this monumentous occasion did not come to pass, we still managed to both accomplish quite a bit.  Glad we finally touched base with each other again!

Got a telephone call from Terry, the gentleman who is building my pontoon boat.  It’s looking like my August 8 delivery date isn’t going to happen.  Apparently Terry has to order the steering console mechanism from an outfit in Arizona.  Usually, they get delivered quickly but this time there is a shortage.  Won’t be getting shipped out until August 13.  Not only that, but the people who make the canopy for my pontoon boat are located in Québec and won’t have any in stock until mid-September!

 

Terry was very apologetic; he knows how much I want to get out there and do some fishing.  Being the gentleman that he is, we worked out an agreement that will hopefully get me my pontoon boat around August 22.  I’ll go with a canopy from one of his boats and Terry will throw in a winter tarp cover & bracketing in exchange.  Oh well, they say good things come to those who wait!