NERVOUS (SHOVEL LIST)

 I leave for Vancouver next Monday the 21st.  I have made a reservation on the one o'clock ferry.  And I think my agoraphobia is raising it's ugly head just a little.

I haven't driven a vehicle further than about four kilometres, about once  a month, if that, for almost two years now.  And as Monday draws nearer I find my stomach getting tighter.  I have not been away from home except for a couple of quick visits to Victoria or Tofino and Nanaimo, and I wasn't alone.  I hate to admit this out loud.  I tend to be a tough broad and vulnerable feelings are pretty alien.  I don't like this feeling.  The saving grace here is that I one hundred per cent KNOW that the moment I get going that will all go away.  The trick is to leave tons of time and just mosey!

This week has been list oriented.  Ahhhh fer jeez!  I like lists as an organizational tool, but as a task master?  Not so much!!!! (shovel list)

First thing on that list was to make reservations for the ferry home.  I made one a way ago for the trip over but when I heard the travel ban was lifted I hopped onto the computer to make a rezzo for coming home, only to find that I clearly wasn't the only one!  So many people were doing the same thing and crashed the site.  Grrrrr!  (shovel list). And it stayed crashed past my bedtime.

So I did what any sane person would do.  I woke up at two in the morning, tried the site and it was back up and running.  I promptly made the reservation.

I researched Assured Loading.  Bill and I used to always get books of ten to use, we used the ferry so often back then.  It seemed to make sense now to at least look into it.  If you live on the Island you do need a get out of jail card to pull fast when needed.

Tickets right now without a reservation are 58.00 plus 15 per passenger over 12.  With a rezzo the ticket is 17 bucks to reserve and 75 dollars at the booth.  A reloadable assured loading card of ten is 1,600 dollars plus tax!!!!!  That puts a trip at 160 per trip!!!!  The card is good for two years.  Tooooo much!  But then I start thinking....what if I get a call that one of my kids is dying and I have to get over there to see them before they go off on that mortal coil?  Ahhhhhhh....I can't even think about that awful scenario without tearing up!!!!  What to do? What to do?  Good old Scarlett O'Harra set the example....I will think about it tomorrow.

So back to the list.  I made the list at the beginning of the week....in the middle of the night I might add, and now it has grown to THREE lists.  Things I MUST do before leaving.  It is huge.  One divided into two shopping lists...one for here now and one for Kamloops before leaving for the camping trip, and finally a list for all the endless crap I have to pack and take. And I know me...I will leave it all til Sunday.  Well, no I haven't but.....Those lists are staring at me, even now as I sit here.  (shovel list again)

Well I bit the bullet and wrote a very direct, not so nice email to the guy who I had hired to build my patio.  What a flake! Remember he got hold of me full of apologies and asked if he could still do it and he would start in a week.  I was happy!!!and agreed. That was in the middle of May.  Have I heard from him since? No.  Has he answered my subsequent emails? No.  Has he responded to left messages on the phone? No.  So I wrote to him and told him to not bother.  I told him that I was pretty sure that he would get half way finished and disappear, leaving a mess.  And that I was DONE chasing him.  I am so disappointed.  Now I have to weed the two gardens each side of the front steps and keep weeding them.  Grrrrrrr.  They look terrible and will keep looking terrible.  (another shovel list)

I just reread what I have written here and I see it has turned into a shovel list wallow.  Time to stop writing.  Plus I have the next item on the todo list hollering at me!  (shovel list).  Take care people, stay safe, noodle if you don't have the second shot yet and hug an oldster if you do.  TTYL

"The idea of 'Ten Commandments' is a deeply compelling one.  It combines two impulses that are ingrained in our nature as human beings:  making lists of ten things, and telling other people how to behave."  -Sean Carroll.   oh if only I could keep my lists down to ten things and I was telling OTHERS what to do, not myself!!!

I KNOW THIS KIND OF LOOKS LIKE A GIANT OLD TURD, BUT IT IS A GNARLY COOL LOG END

MONTE WITH AN AMAZING GIANT HAMBURGER AT ROAR.  BUT THE REAL STAR OF HIS DINNER WERE THOSE POTATOES ON HIS PLATE

SORRY, YOU PROLLY HAVE ALREADY SEEN THIS...SITTING BY THE RIVER IN PORT

THE LOG

THIS IS A DRIFTWOOD COVERED VW.....GRAEME IS DRIVING IT....KIND OF CREEPY IN A FANTASTIC WAY