this week in buster

Man, am I getting antsy.

I have a few plans this week, and since the massive heat wave broke, I'll actually be able to enjoy them. Mostly, we're taking care of a zillion niggling details and running down the clock.

Everyone is asking if we've started packing. The answer is no. I didn't want to drag it out for weeks. We're going to make an all-out push and do it all next week. Our bookshelves are completely bricked in with empty boxes, and our bubble wrap, tape, and other equipment are all lined up and ready to go.

Today we take Buster for his every-other-month eye checkup, pick up more meds for his brutalized intestines, and learn how to give injections. We start him on Prednisone today, and if you've ever been on it, you know we're in for a rough week. Cortisone is a miracle drug, but it comes with plenty of side effects. B will be voraciously hungry, voraciously thirsty, and will want to pee constantly. Should be fun. But believe me, I am not complaining. The ulcer medication seems to be helping, and the Prednisone might bring everything under control. I'm grateful and relieved.

Have a good day, everyone. I'll check in with comments later.

Comments

  1. Kyle_From_Ottawa15 August 2005 at 06:37

    Everyone is asking if we've started packing. The answer is no. I didn't want to drag it out for weeks. We're going to make an all-out push and do it all next week.

    Good luck, we tried that last time. It can be done, but one of you might blame the other for 'such a stupid idea' when its all over.

    This time, we packed well in advance....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kyle_From_Ottawa15 August 2005 at 07:22

    Oh joy, blog spam....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous15 August 2005 at 08:53

    Ugh, spam, tastes so terrible ...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous15 August 2005 at 08:54

    Although I must say that you know the Blogging world has finally "made it" and been recognized in the mainstream, if the spammers have seen fit to hit it up.

    We've made an impact ... but at what price? ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. laura k15 August 2005 at 09:14

    Good luck, we tried that last time. It can be done, but one of you might blame the other for 'such a stupid idea' when its all over.

    Yeah, but you guys were probably working and living your lives at the same time. We'll be packing full-time. I think five full days will be plenty.

    I'm so not a last-minute person, so if I'm leaving it to one week, it can be done.

    ReplyDelete
  6. laura k15 August 2005 at 09:15

    Blogger used to have good spam filters, but I guess the spammers cranked it up another notch...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous15 August 2005 at 09:35

    Well, don't be afraid to hire some extra hands for a day in a pinch. It's only money, while stress lasts a lifetime. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous15 August 2005 at 10:15

    I wish you the best of luck on your move, but there's something that bothers me in a lot of your posts. You don't like this country. References to how "NYC isn't part of the US," as if America is bad. I'm a moderately liberal person. Yes this country has problems and jerks(every country does). But this is also a country that produced people like Eugene Debs, Hubert Humphrey, Martin Luther King Jr,etc. I love my country because I do believe that there are many good people here, regardless of election results. So take care in Canada, but I wish you would see positive things that the U.S. has offered and done;regardless of who's POTUS.

    ReplyDelete
  9. laura k15 August 2005 at 11:11

    Well, don't be afraid to hire some extra hands for a day in a pinch. It's only money, while stress lasts a lifetime. :)

    Thanks, Wrye, that's good advice. I feel fortunate that we're at a point financially where we can think that way. We are definitely not doing things the least expensive way - we're spending money to make our lives a bit easier and more sane. I figure we have enough going on, we can cut corners wherever possible.

    ReplyDelete
  10. laura k15 August 2005 at 11:17

    I wish you the best of luck on your move, but there's something that bothers me in a lot of your posts. You don't like this country.

    You are absolutely correct. I don't like this country. Hence my decision to leave.

    However, if you are reading this blog, you should also know that I'm not leaving because of who is president. Take a look at the timeline (linked on the right). Our applications were filed six months before the election, and we were leaving no matter who won. If John Kerry was President right now, I'd still be moving out.

    No country is all good or all bad, and the US has some good things to recommend it. It has certainly produced some great people - most of whom were trying to radically change the country - and it has a lot of natural beauty. And of course, millions of ordinary citizens who are good people.

    But in general, no, I don't like the US. There's no reason you and I have to agree on that. You may like many things I don't care for, and this may be just one of them.

    Thanks for reading, and for your (anonymous) good wishes.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Kyle_From_Ottawa15 August 2005 at 11:35

    People are still trying to change your mind, eh?

    What's the point? Do they think with only 14 days to go and visas in hand, you're going to change your mind now?

    ReplyDelete
  12. laura k15 August 2005 at 11:45

    Do they think with only 14 days to go and visas in hand, you're going to change your mind now?

    LOL, no, I don't think so. I think they are offended that I am rejecting their country. In this case, it's a liberal person, but he or she still "doesn't like" that I don't like the US.

    This is one thing I love about Canada and Canadians. As many of you have said, if a Canadian citizen decided Canada was not for them and moved to Sweden, you wouldn't be offended or feel the need to argue with them about it.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous15 August 2005 at 12:39

    And allow me, but;

    It's like a break up. Break ups don't happen for any reason as simple as "party A doesn't like party B", or they'd never have gotten together in the first place. But sometimes things just don't work out, or Party B does some really self-destructive stuff, and Party A just has to move on. It's just one of those things, you know? It's...normal. No one moves to Canada out of spite, for crying out loud. Cuba, maybe. Fact is, no one loves Americans more than Canadians.

    If someone is really determined to take things personally, then go for it, but consider this: if someone is really determined to drink himself to death and their loved ones can't stop him, he will. But there's nothing on earth says they have to stick around and watch. And it's not a betrayal when they walk out the door, either. Call it a wake-up call.

    ReplyDelete
  14. laura k15 August 2005 at 13:28

    Especially, I should add, since Party USA has become such a royal pain in the ass.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sass15 August 2005 at 20:57

    moving and packing can be a great way to realize how much useless crap is in your house...it can also be horribly depressing. keep your chin up.

    I've had my own prednisone nightmare for a few years when I was younger, and boy that shit does a number on you. I feel for buster, i really do.

    ReplyDelete
  16. laura k16 August 2005 at 03:19

    moving and packing can be a great way to realize how much useless crap is in your house...

    oh yeah. we've been cleaning and purging for months. right now everything here is coming with us.

    and it can also be horribly depressing. keep your chin up.

    yes, it can be, but this one is just the opposite. it's only happy and exciting - the culmination of two years of planning and effort. we are totally psyched.

    I've had my own prednisone nightmare for a few years when I was younger, and boy that shit does a number on you. I feel for buster, i really do.

    thanks, ms sassy. sorry you had to suffer through that, too.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Kyle_From_Ottawa16 August 2005 at 11:14

    oh yeah. we've been cleaning and purging for months. right now everything here is coming with us.

    It's the next move that will involve a lot of junk. You'll have a basement now...

    When we lived in the U.S., we found it bizarre that the house was on a slab, instead of having a full basement. But then again, you don't have to have a basement if you don't live in a cold climate.

    ReplyDelete
  18. laura k16 August 2005 at 17:05

    It's the next move that will involve a lot of junk. You'll have a basement now...

    Right! And an attic, and a garage. We've had a lot of closet space for a NYC apartment, and we've used it to the max, but of course there's a limit. Allan is a total pack rat.

    We'll probably have to live in Port Credit for the rest of our lives...

    But then again, you don't have to have a basement if you don't live in a cold climate.

    Why not?

    I had a basement, growing up in the suburbs of NYC. I thought most houses did.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Kyle_From_Ottawa17 August 2005 at 07:05

    NYC is still cold enough you would need a full basement.

    You don't need a basement in places like Texas or Arizona, and I don't think you could have one in Louisiana because of the ground water. Actually, you don't need one in the permafrost regions of the far North either.

    It has to do with the frost line. A building has to be anchored to the ground below the frost line, which in the northern U.S. and Southern Canada is several feet down. Otherwise, the stresses from freezing and thawing would start shifting the foundation of the house, causing damage to the structure.

    ReplyDelete
  20. laura k17 August 2005 at 07:08

    Interesting! I never would have known that.

    I don't think you could have one in Louisiana because of the ground water.

    This is true. Before they started above-ground burials in New Orleans, during storms, coffins and bodies would float to the surface and wash down stream. Ewwww. Wealthy N'Orelans families are all buried above ground. More cemetery lore for ya.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Kyle_From_Ottawa17 August 2005 at 07:10

    I should mention it's not the basement itself that's necessary, but the foundation walls. They could just fill it up with dirt again.

    But, since they have to dig down that deep anyway, they essentially get a bonus space for free.

    In St. Louis, the frost line was much higher up, so they didn't need to dig down far enough for a full basement. Some houses had basements, others (like ours) didn't.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

sharia

This morning I see that Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario, is banning the Muslim religious court known as sharia . This ends months of debate about whether sharia would be legal and binding in Ontario. I'm quoting at length from the story in today's Toronto Star because many US readers are likely not up on this. In a surprise announcement that caught both supporters and opponents of sharia law off guard, Premier Dalton McGuinty says he will move quickly to ban all religious arbitration in the province. McGuinty made the announcement in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press yesterday after months of debate and controversy surrounding use of Islamic sharia law in family arbitration. "I've come to the conclusion that the debate has gone on long enough," the premier told the news agency. "There will be no sharia law in Ontario. There will be no religious arbitration in Ontario. There will be one law for all Ontarians." The announcement prompted t...
Read more

can of worms

I'm opening a sticky subject here, my need to understand causing me to throw caution to the wind. It's about Alberta. Alberta vs. the rest of the Canada. The Globe And Mail runs something about Alberta's gripes every day, and I try to follow along. If it weren't for wmtc's resident Albertan , and the ensuing arguments in comments, I would've had no warning. It's not something Americans know about. As is, observing for more than a year, I have only the smallest of clues. Here's what I know. Please pardon my ignorance and oversimplification, but I have to start somewhere. The province of Alberta is rich, because it has oil. The province of Alberta is conservative, relative to the rest of Canada. Hmm. Funny how those two go together. Because of its great oil wealth, Alberta revenue helps fund services in the rest of Canada. (These are transfer payments?) Apparently many Albertans resent this. They want to keep Alberta's money in Alberta. They don't...
Read more

low confidence

I'm excited about today's no-confidence vote . Only three months after moving here, we'll get to see a government fall, a campaign, and an election, in a system very different from what we're accustomed to. Even the expression "the government will fall" strikes us as oddly dramatic and revolutionary. My sense of current Canadian politics, for what it's worth, tells me that very little will change from the upcoming election. I'd be surprised if the Liberals didn't win. So it's kind of cool to see this happening without a lot at stake. On a semi-tangential note, have I mentioned I'm completely down with "Corner Gas"? Excellent show; I love the deadpan humour. (Great website, too; check it out .) So was that really Finance Minister Ralph Goodale ragging on Brent Butt's camera last Saturday night?
Read more