Making It Up As I Go Along #271

MONDAY...
– Holiday and it’s another quiet one for me. I think, by day’s end, that I’m now over whatever sickness I felt starting last Wednesday... but it sure means for a mellow long weekend. Watch a few movies, try to do a little house work and a little exercise (although my stamina still is low) and that’s about it.

TUESDAY...
— Didn’t sleep much but still got through work okay. In QC again... and my streak of months without an error ends. Oh well.

WEDNESDAY...
— Iffy day. Work is okay but it’s not a great people day. I leave the office marginally annoyed and ready for alone time.

THURSDAY...
— Another somewhat iffy work day but I go to supper and a movie with Karl in the evening. 300 is a visually stunning movie but I wasn’t thrilled with the dialogue. Over all, I’d still say it was worth seeing, but it’s no classic.
— Toyota trying to mess with me. Saying my summer tires (which I wanted to have put on) had cracked side walls. And they’d offer to sell me new tires to put on for $550. So the winter tires remain for now... Toyota are not getting that much from me.

FRIDAY...
— Bad morning with people garbage that better be over with now cause I’m fed up with dealing with it.
— That said, the rest of the day goes okay. I work with Lisa most of the day and we get along well doing it... it’s the most we’ve talked probably since our days as a car pool.
— Out for supper and drinks with Linda and Leslie after work. It’s a needed distraction.

SATURDAY...
— Lazy morning around the house... catching up on some e-mails and watching some TV.
— Groceries and a shwarma get me out for a bit.

SUNDAY...
— Happy birthday old sister!


If I Had A Million Dollars
If I had a million dollars. Yes, the title of a nasty song by an overrated Canadian band. But what would I do if I actually had a million dollars? I got an envelop from Reader’s Digest that says it’s possible. What would I do?

First thing to happen would be the planned division of cash with my family. Edena and her crew would get a good sized chunk and mom and dad would possibly be fighting me saying “what do we need with that much money?” So straight thirds may not happen but something in that neighborhood would be the case.

I would cease to work for the RCMP. In fact, the plan would be for no real work of any kind. I know $333,333,333.33 isn’t a massive amount of money... but I have a good friend who works magic with money and if I can live on $40,000 a year, without a mortgage to deal with, I’m okay.

So... for that to be a possibility, away from Ontario I’d go. I don’t mind Ottawa. It’s a nice enough city. But it just isn’t me. No ocean, no hills, a conservative population... Ottawa is, as I’ve said before, a Canadian Tire commercial. Everyone seems happy enough, they’re generally friendly enough, but nothing of importance is ever discussed with anybody. There’s a clinging to privacy that rivals that of a reclusive movie star running away from the paparazzi. But this just seems bizarre to me when coming from someone whose life isn’t all that interesting anyway. Nobody’s chasing, but they remain reclusive.

Yes there are crack pots back home. Newfoundland is filled with people who I’ll admit being slightly embarrassed to be associated to. My province doesn’t have a history of rational thought in politics or general way of life. I mean you really have to be a little nuts to want to live on a wind swept piece of rock in the middle of a frigid ocean. But with being nuts comes a general friendliness and openness that makes you feel solid in who you are. I find that, in comparison, I’m left often wondering what people in Ottawa really think about anything. I may get a smile and a “good morning” from someone who turns around and tells someone else that I’m an idiot. I may get a reasonable friend telling me that their life is going great when, in reality, their family was killed in a car accident three days before. Around here, you just can’t take for granted that the things you’re told are what’s real... and for someone who grew up around a province of openness, it’s an adjustment I’ve never fully made.

So, with that, and my new found wealth that needs the aid of a financial adviser to keep me going, I’ll be selling the Ottawa home, and jumping back to that wind swept rock in the middle of that frigid ocean.

Now to be mortgage free in St. John’s, I’d likely not be able to go grand. Once upon a time, you could buy a mansion in St. John’s for a few hundred thousand dollars. Those days are gone. But a nice spot in downtown St. John’s would do me fine. Give me back the old style three story with a loft on top and a view out the Narrows (the harbor entrance for those who don’t know) and I’m good to go.

So what would I do? Well I can tell you one thing, the life of the 5:15 alarm waking me up would be over. I’ve always been a night person so a return to the lifestyle that includes sleep between 3:30 and 10:30 AM would be fine and dandy. And that leaves me open for late night writing. If I get published, I get published... if I don’t I don’t. But if the money is invested well enough for me not to worry much about supplementing my income, I won’t mind.

Plus, I’d expect I’d be more inspired to write from a loft in downtown St. John’s compared to a terrace home in suburban Ottawa. Per capita, there aren’t many creative writers around here when compared to home. The reason... Canadian Tire commercials aren’t interesting!

What of the people of Ottawa that I am friends with? There are some that I’d hope to stay in touch with. I’ve come across several interesting people who are willing to share a part of themselves with me. So the occasional trip back to the Nation’s Capital, or the invite for the odd trip to Newfoundland by the friends would be in store. In this day and age, if you want to stay in touch with someone, you can.

But back to reality I go. The Reader’s Digest contest will likely be ignored. I’m always suspicious of contests that I’m entered in without even making the effort to enter it. So maybe the move will soon come... but not back home. Perhaps a place out of the suburbs and into the city will create some excitement.

And a message to my friends out there. If I move to a place someday, and it has a garage... if you hear me talk of wanting to sit out there with the big door open so I can look out the driveway at the world around me... I give you total permission to come and beat me senseless. Life drinking in the garage is no life for me.