Ways to beat a long commute

So those that know me, know that I have a long commute to work and back every day. I spend (on average) 2 1/2 to 3 hours a day in the car. My favourite way to pass the time is to listen to audio books. I don't usually listen to fiction books - I tend to prefer non-fiction or short story type books. So, when the neighbour lady gave me a copy of Stuart McLean Vinyl Café (the New Stories), I found a new obsession...

The stories are each about 1/2 hour long -- perfect for the drive home! So, I listen to one story every night on the way home. They are funny, and thought provoking. My Grandma was a great story teller, so I think that's why I'm so fond of his stories. Then, I found the Christmas version at Chapters, and bought that too.

So, between the two Vinyl Café collections and my Christmas music CDs, I'm good to go until after New Years.

Freak out

I'm officially on vacation as of this afternoon!! Yeah! And I don't have to go back to work until Halloween day. But, what a way to start my vacation! Here's the story of what happened...

Driving home from work, I decided to stop and get a tank full of gas. Near the gas station, and not far from home, I stopped at a green light in the intersection to let a fire truck go by. Flashing lights and sirens and coming straight towards me. I'm thankful I heard the sirens and stopped before I entered the intersection, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to let him pass as quickly.
As he turned in front of me, and headed down the road towards my neighbourhood, I secretly said to myself, "I hope he's not going to my house!".
I went to the gas station, and headed home. As I turned the corner and headed up my hill, what did I see in front of me??? The fire truck. Lights still on. Sitting directly in front of my driveway!!
My heart stopped.
At least it felt like it stopped. Maybe it just skipped a beat or two.
In a dream-like state, I pulled up the road, and over to the side in the cul-de-sac to see what was going on, as I absentmindedly reached for my phone to call my husband.
"Is he OK?" I thought, and then "Why am I going to phone him? I should just park the car and go in the house!"
That's when I realized that there was an ambulance behind the fire truck. And there was a couple of firemen standing in front of my neighbour's house.
Not my house. The neighbour's.
A quick sigh of relief, and then a fireman wandering over towards me.
"I'm trying to get into that driveway over there", I said.
"And there's a big red truck in your way, isn't there?", he said jokingly. "I'll move it for you."
"Really? You would do that? OK. Thanks!"
He pulled the truck away, I pulled into my garage, and ran inside the house calling to see if hubby was ok. When I found him safe and sound, I calmed down. And then, of course, went to take a pic of the firetruck, again, sitting in front of our driveway.

PS -- it was the neighbour's elderly mom that was taken away in the ambulance. I hope she's ok!

enchanting encounter

Sitting at the Food Court at the mall. I look over at the table next to me, and there was this cute little girl sitting at the table. She was only about 4 years old, and the cutest thing I ever saw with big dark brown eyes, and curly dark brown hair. I didn’t take a picture of her, but found this pic on google. And yes, she was that cute!

I glanced at her, and suddenly realized that she was alone. Alone at the table eating her sandwich. Where were her parents? Almost like she knew what I was thinking, she looked over at me, smiled and said, “My Mommy was still hungry, so she went to get something else. She’s over there.” She pointed to the Subway that was not far from us. “It’s ok. I am Ayesha.”

Not knowing what to think, I simply replied, “That’s a nice name”.

“Thank you”, she said, and smiled at me.

“Did you have a good Christmas?”, I asked.

Her eyes lit up at the word Christmas, and she quickly nodded her head emphatically, “Yes!”

“Was Santa Claus good to you?”, I asked.

“Oh, yes!”, she replied, now extremely happy - almost bouncing off of her chair. She obviously really enjoyed Christmas. We chatted a bit about toys and Santa and that kind of stuff.

Her mother came back to the table a few minutes later, and our “conversation” came to an end as Ayesha’s attention now turned to her mother. But, as she was leaving, she looked back at me, and smiled. “Happy New Year”, she said.

Before I could utter a word, she skipped off after her mother.

Thanks, Ayesha. So far, the year has been full of horrible weather, with lots of rain, long work hours, leaving home when it's dark, returning home when it's dark, and not much time to sit back and enjoy myself. Your smile and enthusiasm brightened my day, and yes... I think I will have a great year. I hope you do too.

stolen wishes

Back in April, my purse and ID were stolen. I wrote about it here.
Yesterday, a bank called me and told me that someone was trying to cash a cheque with my Driver's License and Care Card. The bank was reviewing their issues, and called me to verify that it was me. Of course, it wasn't. The culprits did get away with it, although I wasn't told how much they got. And, ultimately, I'm not responsible for the funds. But, it still pisses me off!!

I spent the rest of yesterday afternoon, calling the RCMP, and the credit reporting companies (Equifax and TransUnion), and my banks. And again, reliving the 'awful' feeling that my ID is out there somewhere and there is nothing I can do about it.

A warning to you all....
Do you have your Social Insurance number anywhere in your purse/wallet. If so....get rid of it! Take it out! Memorize your SIN number, and hide that card somewhere really really safe. The only reason these people have not stolen anything else from me is because they don't have my SIN number. If they did, they could do all kinds of damage.

Also, memorize your Driver's License number. Like your SIN number, this is the only number that stays with you for life. It helps so much, if you know this number by heart.

My horoscope this week said, "A wish could come true this week!" I have spent the last couple of days wondering what my "wish" was. After all...you have to be careful as to what you wish for. Well, now I KNOW what my wish is. I wish that they would catch the culprits that stole my ID, and I wish I get my ID and purse back!

ID???? Are you joking?

I got ID'd today. Yup! Asked for ID. At my age!?

It wasn't in a bar (that would just be insane). It was buying cigarettes for Hubby. Something I DON'T normally do. No, really, I don't. There is something about actually physically buying the things that somehow is an indication to others that I condone it. And I don't. I am an ex-smoker, and I am completely and totally the typical ex-smoker. Loud and very vocal about how the things will kill you. But, that's another post for another time.

Today, when I went to the counter and asked for the ones in the gold package (because I seriously don't know what they call them anymore…you can’t say “light” because they aren’t “light”….they are called Mild or Tame or some sort of made up word) Anyways, she asked me for ID.
I chuckled (out loud), and said, "Wow! My husband is going to laugh when he hears this one!"
She said, "Well, we are supposed to ID anyone who looks to be around 30".
Now she didn't say I looked 30. She said "around 30". Which probably means 3 or 5 years older than 30....at least that's what I'm thinking.
Then, I smiled. A big smile.
I'm turning 45 in 2 months.
I haven't considered myself "around 30" for 10 or 12 years now.
I hate to admit it, but she kind of made my day!

Lady Grey

I was asked the other day, "Why call yourself Miss Lady Grey?" Well, the story goes like this...

In February 2008, I had the opportunity to travel to Oslo, Norway for work. Not exactly the best place to visit in February. But, I don't mind the cold, so I was ok, and I enjoyed my time there. On the way home, I had a stopover in London Heathrow airport. For about 4 hours. Now, there is not much to do at London Heathrow's International "holding wing" except sit around, eat, or shop. So, I did what I do best. I went shopping.

I was browsing through Harrod's and found a selection of teas. I'm a big tea drinker, and had recently discovered that loose leaf tea was just so much better than regular tea. So, I decided to pick up a little tin of tea from England. I mean...who better than the English to have the best tea! So, I decided to buy this..

If you can't read it, the type of tea is "Lady Grey" and is "A tea delicately infused with the flavour of orange, lemon & bergamot." Now, Earl Grey tea is one of my favourites. So, this sounded wonderful to me. When I got home, I wasn't dissappointed. It was really good!

But, the story continues...

I very quickly used up what was in the tin, confident that I could find something similar at home. But, when the tin was empty, I was disappointed to find that Twinnings did not import this tea to Canada, and you cannot order it from their website. A search of my local tea shoppes did not produce anything similar. I think I tried several "Lady Grey" versions, all with no success. They just weren't the same.

Then, one day, while at the chiropractor, I told my doc the story. Knowing that he is British, and a tea connoisseur himself, I thought he would know where I could find some of this Twinnings Lady Grey tea. He told me he didn't know, but he knew someone who would know. His name was Jitendra. He's British of East Indian descent, and has a tea store in North Vancouver -- just up the road from my chiropractor's office. So, I went to see him. I brought the tin, and showed it to him, and told him the story. He said he doesn't buy Twinnings tea. But, he could make me something very similar. Make it for me?? Well, it turns out, he can.

And it is just as good (if not better) than the original. And it doesn't cost any more than his regular teas that he sells off the shelf. And he nows has me in his little book and recognizes me by the story...calling me the "Harrod's lady". I've been ordering this tea from him since mid-2008, and I still don't think he know's my real name. Meanwhile, I told the story to my Chiropractor, and thanked him for introducing me to Jitendra. My chiropractor started calling me "Miss Lady Grey" as a result. So when I was searching for a name for my blog, I decided to use Miss Lady Grey.

By the way, the name of the store is "Tea Time" and is located at 1418 Lonsdale Ave, in North Vancouver. If you are ever in the neighbourhood, and like tea, I encourage you to stop in. I have a few tea shoppes closer to home, but I travel the 40kms to his store because the quality and service are worth the trip.

Drive In Woes

I guess this driver was too impatient to go around the cement posts to get to the Drive-thru. This was taken at the local Scotiabank parking lot. You can't quite see the damage from this pic, so you'll have to trust me when I tell you that the front passenger side of this car was completely smashed in. The car had jumped up on the curb, and the airbags had deployed too, so the driver must have been going faster than expected in a parking lot. The ambulance and fire trucks were on scene, so hopefully everyone was ok.

bye-bye #2

I sold my car last night!

**woohoo**

At first, I thought this would be an easy thing. Buy the Acura, and put the Sunfire on Craigslist. Don't hesitate on price. It's in great shape and worth more than the average Sunfire out there. Post it on Autotrader too, just to get more exposure. The offers will be pouring in.

After two weeks, and no bites on it, I started to worry....because that's what I do best....worry. So, then I started to rethink the price. OK....maybe I am asking too much for it. So, I reposted the ads at the new lower price. And then I decided to ping everyone in my contacts list. I forwarded the ad to all my family, and a whole lot of my friends, co-workers, ex-co-workers, and aquaintances. I'm sure to get an offer now!

But, then, two more weeks went by, and still nothing! I was starting to get worried all over again. And thinking that I was still asking too much for the damn thing. There were a ton of Sunfires for sale. All for different prices. It seemed that mine was lost in a heap of others, and no one was going to buy it! At this point, I just want to get rid of it!

Then the call came. It was Sunday, the house was full of people, and my girlfriend called out of the blue. We used to work together, and there was a guy at work that was interested in the car for his daughter.

Well, to make a long story short, I called him up. He came by last night, and we negotiated, and I sold him my car!! I didn't get anywhere near the original price I had for it. But, I honestly think I was asking way too much for it. I got a fair price, I think. But, the big thing is....I don't have to worry about it. I could have negotiated harder and got another $100 or $150 from him. But, if he walked away, I would be back at square one. And, I get money back from the insurance (I prepaid for the whole year), so if he walked away, I would still need to have it insured, and who knows how long it would take it to sell.

Now, I'm happy! I sold my car. But, I sure am going to miss it. I had it for 13 years (I can't believe it's been that long!) I love my new car, but the Sunfire was a fun car to drive, and very reliable. I'm really going to miss it!

car for sale

Ever since I bought my new Acura from my Mother-in-Law, I've been trying to sell my old car. I've put it on craigslist, and autotrader, and pinged every contact I know. But I have had no bites on it yet. I know selling a used car privately in this economy is difficult, and that everyone wants NEW cars, not 14 year old ones, but I thought that it was still in great condition, and thought that it would go a lot faster than it has.

So, today, I log on to my hotmail account, and find that I have an email from a potential buyer!!

*woohoo!*

The guy is asking is it still for sale.
Yes! Yes, it is!

He then asks me to send pictures.
Ok....stupid person alert! Look at the add. There are 2 pictures on their already. Silly guy!

He then goes on to explain that he lives in Michigan. And Michigan is in the USA.
Ok....I'm Canadian, but I think I know where Michigan is. Wait a minute....why do you want to buy a car from Canada? Aren't there any good deals in Michigan? I'm not sure about this...

Oh, but he's willing to arrange delivery to Michigan. Just email him, and he will guarantee that we make a deal.
Guarantee a deal? This guy hasn't got a clue, does he?

Then I look closer. He actually sent the same email 3 times.
I think I'm being scammed!!

*sigh*

I guess I'll just have to wait a little longer to sell the car.

Thursday's Why Me

I’m driving along, on the highway, going around a corner, when I feel something hit my leg, and hear something fall on the floor of the car beneath my feet.
What was that?
Oh, maybe I put my sunglasses on my lap, and they fell on the floor.
No, silly. Your sunglasses are on your head.
A quick glance down did not reveal the item.
Well, then maybe it was the garage door opener?
A quick glance up showed that the garage door opener was right where it always is.
Damn, what was it?
Cell phone?
Reach over….nope cell phone is still in purse.
Ok…traffic is slowing down here, and we are coming to a light. Stopping for the light…looking down…
My window lever?!?!
It fell off?!?!?!?
How does it do that?!
WHY did it do that?
It no longer wants to be attached to the door, so just *plop*, off it comes?
I know I have an older car, but a 1996 model isn’t THAT old, is it?
Or is it?
Is my car at the age now that things just decide they are going to start to fall off for no particular reason?
And if so, what’s next?
My brain swirls as I have visions of driving down the road, and the door just decides to *plop* off into the middle of traffic, followed by the bumpers *plop*plop*, then the passenger door *plop*, and then all the panels in my car, until all that’s left is the frame of the car, which grinds to a stop as the engine falls to the ground.*plop*
Crap….stop thinking like that!!
Back to reality here. No window lever. So, how am I supposed to open the window now?
mmm….maybe I don’t NEED to open the window.
Crap! Wendy’s Drive thrus! How am I supposed to get a Frosty if I can’t go through the drive thru??

When I finally reached my destination, I had decided that the window lever could just *click* back into place. I did that, but a few blocks later, it fell off again.
*sigh* Why me?

Wednesday stories

So today, I go out at lunchtime. Shopping. Nothing special. But, driving home, I notice a car pulling into a driveway. I’m about 4 blocks from home, and I know the house. It’s been for sale for some time, and I thought it was vacant. I actually thought it was odd that someone was parking there. But, then again, maybe the house sold recently…

I slowed down as I drove by. The car was an older model Cadillac or Parisienne. You know the type. Boat-like. Dark blue, or black. Large, 2 doors, with a hood that goes on for miles, and a trunk that can store a couple of dead bodies, and still have room for groceries. A man got out of the car. He was short, with black hair, that was all over the place…like he just woke up. And that’s when I realized that the front end of the car was all smashed up, and there was smoke coming out of the engine. Ok…maybe it wasn’t smoke. The front end was all dented up as if he hit a telephone pole. So, maybe it was just the radiator steaming. Poor guy. Just bought a new house, and now he smashed up his car!

But, then that’s odd. Why did he drive home?

Suddenly, it hit me. That wasn’t a guy who just bought a house. Odds are, that was a guy who just stole someone’s car, ran from the cops, smashed it up, and now was trying to hide it by parking alongside a big hedge in someone's driveway.

All that went through my head as I drove past. When I realized what was probably happening, I looked up, and saw 2 police cars coming towards me at a high rate of speed. I stopped on the side of the road and let them pass. I look behind me, but, I couldn’t see anything. And now there was another car behind me, so I had to move along.

I decided to drive around the block and go past the house again, just to see if the cops had indeed found the car. I didn’t have to worry. By the time I looped around, there were 6 police cars in front of the house, a few with their lights flashing, neighbours outside on the street watching, and 2 officers placing man with scruffy hair into the back of the police cruiser.

Yeah! One for the good guys!
I hope and pray it was the idiot who stole my purse!!

weekend woes

On Thursday night, I decided to get out of the house for a bit, and go for a drive. I found a nice little park, near the water, and thought it would be a great place to start going for walks again to help myself lose weight. I didn't have my "walking" shoes on, but decided to lock up the car and walk towards the water just to see what the paths were like. I was gone 10 minutes.
That was enough time for someone to come along, break the window in my car, break the lock on the glove box, and reach in and steal my purse. Purse, wallet, ID, credit cards, everything gone.
I freaked. I raced home. I called the RCMP (like they are going to do anything!) And cancelled all my credit cards, debit cards, and put a warning on my credit report.
Then, I spent the rest of Thurs night, and all day Friday, putting my life back together and getting my car fixed. I have succesfully cancelled all my cards, and found that the culprits did get away with a $500 charge on my Visa, and a trip to the Chevron station. Hopefully I won't be responsible for paying those amounts. The other things have all been successfully cancelled within an hour of the cards being stolen. I have new debit cards on the way, and a new driver's license coming. I have a new pane of glass in my car, but need to go back to have the rest of the repairs done later next week.
I've spent the last few days freaking out, being worried, berating myself for even leaving my purse in the car even if it was locked up and I was only gone for a few minutes, and pissed off at the stupid idiots who did this. Overall, it's going to cost me about $400-$450 to replace everything (that includes a $300 deductible on the car insurance claim). And I currently don't have any credit cards, as I'm still waiting for the replacement cards. But, the hardest part to get over, is the stupidity of the whole situation. I thought I was only going to be gone for a few minutes, and it couldn't happen to me. How wrong I was. It's hard to think that they are just going to get away with it, and nothing will happen to them, and they'll likely do it again to others again and again.
Let this just be a warning to you all, to be diligent, and be careful, and be safe. Don't give a thief even a second of an opportunity to steal your stuff. It's not worth it.

inventions of note

We had Easter dinner at my brother-in-law’s on Sunday. It was a great dinner, but about 8:00pm the lights flickered a few times and then the power went out. It was kind of cool. Candles were lit. Flashlights were retrieved. And, we really just carried on the conversations like nothing happened. Until I tried to take a flashlight into the bathroom, and the batteries failed. Nothing like trying NOT to freak out while in a strange bathroom, by yourself, in pitch black, with your pants down. And, while I made it out of the bathroom seemingly unscathed, it was interesting to note how dark it was, and how we are so not used to it. In fact, when we left a few hours later, it actually seemed "brighter" outside than it did inside. (Was it a full moon this weekend? I didn't check). This all got me to thinking what it was like over 100 years ago, when there were few homes with electric lights, so everything was done by candlelight. I can't imagine what it was like to do needlework by candlelight! My eyes are terrible to begin with, and I have a hard time seeing my stitches while sitting under 100 watts of electric candle light.

That got me to thinking about what inventions or things that have come around in the last 100 years that I could not live without. The resulting conversation with myself actually surprised me. There was the usual things that I initially put on the list (electricity / light bulbs / my hair dryer / mapquest / cell phone / car / iPod / internet / etc.), more out of initial reaction rather than actual "needs". (and yes, I did note that hair dryer was early on in the list…I guess I’m more vain than I thought I was!) But, when I really thought about it, I could actually do without all of those things. And, at one point in time or another, actually have. It was also interesting to note how many things invented in the last 100 years have been electric or electronic in nature.

What surprised me the most was this: I could not live without contact lenses. I wear extended wear lenses, which means I put them in, and live with them for a month, before I take them out and change them for a new pair. I eat, breathe, sleep, shower, and swim with them in. Almost like I’m a normal non-glasses wearing person. And, while I do own a few pairs of glasses (2 for reading and 1 pair for distance….and I know what you are thinking….why do you have a pair of glasses for distance? Well, they are there just in case something happens and (god forbid) I can’t wear the contacts…think “item protruding from eye”, or “massive eye infection” as the only possible explanations for such a scenario….but I digress…..)
Where was I?
Oh, yes….I do own a pair of glasses, but I only wear them for 1/2 day, once a month, when I change out my contacts, just to give my eyes a “rest”. Although, my doctor has never told me that it’s necessary to do that, I do it more for the reason that it sounds “good for me” rather than it’s “necessary”.

Now, glasses have been around for more than 100 years, but contact lenses certainly haven't. And, I'm blind as a bat without anything. And I absolutely hate the thought of going more than a few minutes without anything and not being able to see what's around me. So, the morale of this story is this: If I ever get transported back in time, I’m taking my damn contacts with me!

stories or urban myths?

Ever hear one of those urban myth type stories, and just aren't sure if they are real?
I heard a story on the news one day back in high school. It was a funny story, about a dead cat. At least, I thought it was funny. So, I relayed it to my friends, and told it at parties and social occasions over the years.
Well, it seems that a friend of mine told me the same story the other day. It differed slightly from the original I heard back in my teens. But, it scared me to think that I'm old enough for a story to go full circle, and make its way back to me. Is that how long it takes? 25 years for a story to be told and retold until it circles the globe and comes back to you? Scary!!
Anyways, here's my version of the story, as I remember it from when I was a teenager. And, yes, I originally heard it on the news on the radio...not from a friend of a friend.

One day, a man came home from work to find his dog pawing and playing with something black and fluffy. As he got closer, he realized with horror that this “something” was his neighbour's cat. And, it was now dead, and was covered in dirt and mud. Feeling sorry for the cat, he then thought of what his elderly neighbour was going to think when she found out her beloved cat had died such a horrible death. He quickly brought the cat inside to ponder over what to do. After a few agonizing minutes, he decided to clean the cat up. He gave it a bath in the sink, and got out all the mud and dirt. He then took the blow dryer, and dried its black hair so it was nice and fluffy. Later that night, he snuck over to the neighbour’s house, and arranged the cat on the front porch. His hope was that the neighbour would think that the cat fell asleep on the porch, and died peacefully in its sleep.
He awoke early the next morning hearing screams coming from his neighbour’s house. He threw on a robe, and dashed over there to see what was wrong. He found his neighbour screaming and pointing to the cat on the front porch. Apparently, she was very upset. She finally explained to him that yesterday morning she had found that the cat had passed away in the house. She had proceeded to take the cat outside and had buried it in a special place in her garden. And, now, less than 24 hours later, it was on her front porch all washed and cleaned!!!