21:12 - 07.07.06
Walking - to Memphis
Happy birthday to the Dalai Lama. A news story said he was cancelling some of his engagements right now due to his doctor's diagnosis of exhaustion. His stamina has always left me in awe and made me feel ashamed that I couldn't keep up with someone older than me. Misery loves company, I guess. I'm not happy that he is so worn out, but I am glad that he will choose to take care of himself as well as he takes care of his followers.
My youngest is out taking in the first official day of Stampede. Each generation it has been where all the teens and young adults meet and greet at the beginning of summer. Summer nights and all that. I remember it well. Every evening there are two main stages - the Coca Cola Rock stage and the Nashville North beer tent. Sneak-a-peek is offered for a discount the day before, but this year we had a storm that was quite out of the ordinary. Not only did the hail pelt down for an unusually long time, but funnel clouds hovered just east of Stampede park for a while. The good news was that it went from being unbearably hot to cool within half an hour. The bad news is that the whole of the northern and western Canadian provinces are in flames. We need the rain there.
I was preparing to write a bit more for you last night dear diary, but numbers 1 and 3 sons arrived to spend time with number six son. They were watching some of their favorite videos together. I believe I heard Peter Sellers and the Pink Panther music at one point. While they were doing that, I was doing sons number three and five's taxes. They both get refunds, but the nasty notes they've received from the tax department would have one thinking that they owe millions of dollars. In the meantime my daughter-in-law had emailed me back about my reminder to register for the new child care credit. Her comment was that the daycares had all raised their rates to account for the entire amount per month and, to add insult to injury, the "benefit" is also taxed back. Not just zero sum gain, but a penalty for enrolling. Why not go after the really wealthy people who pay zero in taxes instead.
When I was done they took over my computer and started searching -unsuccessfully - for a song from the 80's that has been an earworm for number 3 son for a while. All he can recall is that the chorus has the words "I want you back baby". Well yes, that eliminates about half of the possibilities now doesn't it. They seemed to enjoy the time together regardless of the acitivity and I guess that is all that matters. I don't know when they finished because I went to bed around 1 am.
Meeting about things election first thing, you see. My new tech needed to finish up his paperwork and he also had a lot of questions for me. His other appointment finished up a lot earlier than expected - at 7:30 in the am - so that early bedtime helped a lot in terms of me being able to string sentences together cogently. We met at the Tim Horton's two communities away. When he called to see if I could arrive at the earlier time, I could hear that he was feeling a bit overwhelmed. You see the high school I helped the community lobby for is a block away from the coffeee shop. Summer school has just begun and there was likely every teenager sentenced to summer duty waiting in line for their wake up brew. By the time I arrived, the starting bell had rung and the coffee shop was nearly deserted. We spread out all of our paperwork without any difficulty at all. He asked about timing of an event, so we discussed regular elections and referenda too. He wanted to know about the training schedule as well. His wife's family all live close by Ottawa so she will be able to enjoy the time while he learns. We were done about half past nine am, so I decided to walk home. I hadn't realized it had heated up so much and I was a bit over dressed. It was one of those mornings where, because I got the call much earlier than expected, it seemed that every blouse I pulled out to wear had something wrong with it. Finally settled on the fleece thinking that it would be comfortable - not. The one consolation was that a lot of people attending or participating in the Stampede parade had to be treated for heat exhaustion. They were wearing less clothing so I guess I didn't fare too badly after all. I hit the showers as soon as I got into my home though and that made a lot of difference. I was thankful that the herbals I bought were working so well. My lungs hadn't bothered me at all on an almost hour long walk down a busy main thoroughfare.
Landed up at home just as my youngest was leaving. You see he got the day off again - it's tradition among businesses in this city to give their employees parade day off you see. He had to go pick up his cheque, have one of the traditional cowboy's pancake, sausage and bacon breakfast offered every day for free all around the city during the Stampede, then meet up with one of his school buddies to go play at the carnival. I did a bit of research on the web, but not much more for the day. The one friend who had worked for me during the election but collapsed and was paralyzed early on into the event has just returned home. She is walking on her own and has almost complete use of her one hand back which is great. She is required to stay on disability for a few more months, but she wants to feel she is doing something useful in the meantime. She told me some of her ideas for that, so I spent time checking out some possibilities for her. I also received a call from one of the government offices I had sent a resume to for a specific position. I could barely recall doing that, let alone what the job description was. Appointment for the interview is set up for next week. Thankfully the position was still posted on the job board so I printed it out. It was one that looked really interesting and now I can speak to the skills I have that might be useful for them.
My oldest son just walked in and needs to finish his taxes, so I think it's a good place to end the post for today. Good night dear diary.
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