I never fully appreciated how much I hated the 45-minute commute into work each day until now that it only takes a few minutes. For one thing, I get to sleep in a little later each morning. This past two weeks, the weather has been particularly bad with very cold temperatures and we’ve been hit with a couple of major storms mixing both snow and freezing rain. You’d think that drivers in this country would be used to that by now but it’s surprising how many idiots there are on the roads who don’t adjust their driving habits to suit the conditions. Needless to say, I hate winter! And I think the older I get, the more I hate this time of year because it drags on for so damn long!
Winterlude is coming up in a couple of weeks. That’s where we “celebrate” winter here in Ottawa. There’s lots to do including skating on the Rideau Canal – the longest skating rink in the world – and various other activities throughout the city. The only thing is – it’s all outdoors and you freeze your butt off!
The bears have it right – they hibernate!
that’s the way I see it.
Having just returned home to Ottawa after spending Christmas in Jamaica, I am now ready to face my next challenge which will involve moving out of the home I’ve shared with my friends Eileen and Dave for the past 18 months. As I mentioned in my previous post, our friendship has started to suffer which I know is due to us living together. Regardless of how well you think you know people, there’s a big difference in being friends and living together.
I had told them I was planning the move when I returned home from Jamaica. At the time, this was not taken too well and when I return home today, I will no doubt have to face a certain amount of animosity. How this affects our continuing to be friends will be entirely up to them. I hate conflict and usually try to avoid it, but this time I’m prepared to face it head on and to hell with the consequences.
I learned something on this latest trip – a philosophy that the Jamaicans have – that in life there are no problems, only situations!
Happy New Year! “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”
that’s the way I see it.
18 months ago I moved from the city to go and live in the country with my friends Eileen & Dave. Although there have been some stressful moments, for the most part it has gone well. Lately, however, I’ve been feeling as if my life is getting out of control. I hate the commute to work (especially during the winter months) and whatever social life I had is almost nonexistent.
The time has come for a change and so when I return from my Christmas vacation I will be moving back into the city. I still have to break the news to Eileen & Dave and I’m planning on doing this in the next few days before going off for my Christmas vacation.
I’ll be spending Christmas in Jamaica – leaving here on the 24th and returning on New Year’s Eve. Eileen & Dave will be having their kids and grandkids visiting and I would much rather not be a part of their celebration.
I’m not getting any younger and as I said in my previous post I have to start putting myself first for a change.
that’s the way I see it.
I’ve been taking flights to various places for many years and for the most part these have gone by without a hitch. Such was not the case recently when I flew to Costa Rica for an 8-day vacation.
The airline in question was Continental. The flight to Costa Rica arrived on time. Unfortunately, my luggage was not on board and so I had to spend the first two days without a change of clothes.
For my return trip, I had to make two plane changes so I was a little worried as to whether my luggage would arrive in Ottawa at the same time. Fortunately, it did, but there were problems! I left Costa Rica at 5:00am and arrived in Houston, went through US Customs and was on my way to Newark. Arriving in Newark at Terminal C I had to take a shuttle to Terminal A for my flight to Ottawa. Arriving at Terminal A I was advised there was a change in the flight to Ottawa – it would be leaving from Terminal A but not until 9:00pm – a 10-hour wait! Sitting at Gate 130-C an announcement comes over the address system at 8:00pm saying that the flight to Ottawa would now be arriving at Gate 70-C. So, I walk through the terminal past 60 gates and decide to ask the agent what the problem is with the Ottawa flight and why I was being shuffled to 3 different locations. I was told that the original flight to Ottawa had been cancelled and that they were trying to find a flight to send the 30 passengers going on to Ottawa. A flight from Kansas City was to arrive and once it had been cleaned it would be take us to Ottawa but it wasn’t leaving until 10:15pm.
I was supposed to arrive in Ottawa that afternoon but didn’t arrive until midnight. I could have driven from Newark in 7 hours!! That means it took me a full 19 hours to arrive home from Costa Rica.
I’m sure there are worse experiences but I won’t give Continental another chance to prove it to me since I won’t be using them again.
that’s the way I see it.
For most of my life I’ve been used by other people then just over a year ago I decided to start putting myself first for a change. The final “straw that broke the camel’s back” occurred when my best friends “borrowed” $5000 because the roof on their home was in need of repair. Little did I know that they had no intention of paying me back.
And so now, I am selfish. When someone calls you selfish you feel insulted because we’re conditioned to think that caring for yourself means lack of caring for others. The fact is, however, that putting your own needs at the top of the list doesn’t mean you don’t care about the needs of others, it simply means you care about your own needs more. It means being more self-centered but not self-obsessed.
It has often been said that you have to love yourself before you can love others. Well, I figure you also have to know yourself, figure out what you want, what you need and what your limits are. I still do a lot for others but on my terms now.
that’s the way I see it.
