Making It Up As I Go Along #347

MONDAY...
— One of the rare times that Monday is actually Monday for me. I work the day shift and, for some reason, the 12 hours seem longer. I’m exhausted once home and actually fall asleep on the sofa from 9:00 to 10:00 even though I struggle to stay awake. Even then, I’m soon to bed after waking.

TUESDAY...
— Well I was soon to bed... but not to sleep. Despite being tired when I went to bed Monday night, I tossed and turned until just past midnight. Not good when wake up is 4:45.
— Work is tough. Tired and it’s busy there. The busiest I’ve been in the new job. Phil, the partner has been good and patient anyway.
— A bit of a snooze after I get home and up late to get into night mode.

WEDNESDAY...
— Finally get in touch with Mazda for the service. I’ll be skipping them for winter tires though... yikes on the cost of that with them.
— Easy day around the house with a good nap in the afternoon. All set for night shift.
— Shift goes well. It’s pretty busy until about 2:00 AM and then we coast to the end. I’m alone from 6:00 to 7:30... go to the gym at 1:00. The downside was it took 45 minutes to get to work (thanks to an accident on the highway) and I was 15 minutes late relieving the dayshift. Steph wasn’t too thrilled with that. But nothing much can be done about it.

THURSDAY...
— Not a load of sleep this morning. Bed by 6:15 and up around 10:30. The afternoon nap is again a good thing before work.
— Work goes alright. Chinese food for supper. Talk with Megan some. Do the gym again... and come Friday morning, I’m off. -15 with the wind tonight though... brr.

FRIDAY...
— Up just before noon and off to look at a house at 1:00. It’s not bad... tempting for an offer... I could see it as a long term kind of place... I don’t know.
— Groceries in the evening and a little TV plus chat times with mom and dad... then Edena on the phone.

SATURDAY...
— House day. It’s too cold to go out without a purpose. Around -13 with the wind.
— Some naps, movies, and hockey. Patrick Roy’s number retirement in Montreal is good to see. He belongs within the Montreal Canadien family. But parts of it were kind of tacky in the doing. Not the ceremony I’d have wanted... but still, the ovation he got from the fans made it for me.

SUNDAY...
— I’m getting really tired of the advertising for war video games. It’s all about worldwide Armageddon with these adds. I think, in this day and age, with the United States taking part in two military conflicts at the same time, glamourizing military video games is sending the wrong message. I really fear that war has become an excepted part of North American society. As accepted as any other occupation and glamourized as much as any pro sport. Times of war should be exceptions to the norm... not a part of it.
— Lose softball by default. Not enough girls show for us today. So we play a scrap game... lose that too but have fun doing it.
— To a pub after the game for supper, a few drinks, and three quarters of the Grey Cup. Get home to see the end.


Action On the Side
RCMP Deals. There are some out there. Little perks with working with Canada’s national police agency.

Yes you see the deals the cops get in the movies. Where they walk their beat, stop by the bakery and get handed a free bagel by the appreciative baker. Then they head on down the street, pass by a fruit stand, and come away with a free apple.

Donut shops have always been portrayed as the cop hangout where free donuts and coffee perk them up while on duty.

And in those darker cop movies, you have the free sack of cash from the local, mop run gambling joint... just to help the law look the other way.

I’ve been told there are several discounts available to the RCMP employees. Although I will say I’m too bashful to try it out. I don’t know which places are friends of the RCMP and which ones aren’t. Do I go in to Sears, pick out some clothes and a TV, head to the checkout and whisper “Yeah... umm... I work with the RCMP you know.”

It could go either way, in such a scenario...

“Yes sir, very good sir... and 50% your discount, have a nice day.”

Or...

“I see, that must be nice... that’ll be $2200.”

I have once dropped the RCMP line. I had a throat problem and decided to get to the doctor. Being in Canada, and being relatively new to this city, I had no actual doctor of my own. It’s the Canadian thing now. If you haven’t kept the same doctor since the day you were born, you’re out of the loop. 90% of the doctors around here aren’t taking new patients. Not only that, they even seem to get annoyed at the audacity of even asking them if they would consider such a request. You’d call the office and get the receptionist giving a cheery “good morning, Dr. Smith’s office.” But when they realize what you’re calling about... the change is amazing.

“Hi, I was wondering if the Doctor is...”

“No, he isn’t” (click).

“taking new... hello?... hello?”

So anyway, with that said, it’s to the walk in clinics for me. These are those doctor offices you go where you see large men in wife beater shirts holding a cloth to their skull in order to keep the blood from running into their eyes... while still making sure not to actually dislodge that fork that’s embedded up there. It’s also the place where older women who seem to have lived three lives for your one (that’s how worn down they look) leave their shopping carts just outside the door. No, there’s not a grocery store in the vicinity. They just always take their shopping cart with them... just in case they come across something of interest.

So this is where I go when death is upon me. And a few days before I go, I’m told that at this particular doctor’s clinic, the RCMP gets preferential treatment. Let them know you work with the RCMP and you will be the next to be seen... so the story goes.

So at the counter, feeling sickly and slightly afraid of the large man in the wife beater with the forked skull, I drop the little nugget of info. “By the way, I work with the RCMP.”

“Very good, take a seat and the doctor will see you shortly.”

So I sit nearer the shopping cart ladies and further from forky and I scan the room. Several down and out elderly people are sitting... too defeated by illness to even pick up a magazine... they stare off to a distant place I can not see. And small children are being caressed by desperate mothers.

I can see no more than this quick scan of the room as I hear the calling of my name... that is fast!

I rise sheepishly. Last one to sit and first one to be summoned. I go straight for the open door without looking. I feel the stares of the elderly. I feel the stabbing pain of hatred from Giant Forked Man. But I’ve gone too far, I can’t go back now... and in I go.

I still get the bad doctor. RCMP privileges only go so far. The guy even offers to take me on as one of his regular patients! I mean how bad can a doctor be if he’s asking you “wanna be my patient?”

So I give him a look, think to myself “thank you know... leech doctor” and tell him I’ll think about it. I run through the lobby, hoping to avoid detection by the masses as I depart.

I now hear that cell phones are another perk for the RCMP. There is an RCMP plan, supposedly. So I’ll have to look into this and possibly join the cell phone age. Unlimited calling and text messages for a dollar a month!

It’s like walking by fruit stands... and I’m ready for my apple.