On horsepower and hours

Last Thursday for no real other than I had the time and I was slightly bored, I went to the Montreal Auto Show. As is often the case, the logic of various corporations seemed distinct skewed. One company, whose existence is likely designed to promote class warfare was displaying several dozen models of Ferraris spanning several decades. 

These included a 308GT as driven by Thomas Magnum on the show Magnum P.I., and almost both models of Ferrari driven by Sonny Crockett on Miami Vice. I say almost as his first car in the series looked like a Ferrari Daytona. 

However, it was in fact a Chevrolet Corvette modified to look like a Ferrari Daytona. When Ferrari heard about this, they offered the show a new Ferrari Testarossa on condition that the fake Ferrari be destroyed. This was done on screen during an episode. Possibly the one with Liam Neeson.

In the same room there was Lamborghini with a room bin. The mind boggles. 

A little later there were several older Ford Mustangs, including one from the first generation. Unlike the later models, it had usable rear seats!

There was a relative lack of actual cars at the show, as companies prefer to sell SUVs. This was particularly true with regards to electric cars. I decided to approach the show as if I were shopping for an electric car. There was a depressing dearth of reasonably priced vehicles. One of my favourites was the Polestar 2. Polestar is the electric brand of Volvo. Another surprisingly affordable contender was the Dodge Challenger R/T which is an electric muscle car with a horsepower rating well North of 500!

During my first week off, I clean out a box containing things that I had on my ill-fated trip, including my watch. The strap had broken from the impact, so I hadn’t worn since. I did some minor searching for a suitable replacement band. The time was a hour and a day out. The hour out was likely due to a time change, whereas the day was because 2024 was a leap year.

Today, I took one of the Venture trains to Ottawa. I have been waiting to try them for years. The experience demonstrated the challenges face by Via Rail. Cars, and the business class ones in particular, are designed with user experience in mind including the handicapped and the business traveler. So the washroom is huge so someone in a wheel car can use it easily. However, there are one per car, so what happens if there is a problem? There is a semi-private section with four seats where business-people or politicians might have a semi-discreet meeting while on the train. However, the only occupants I saw were Via Rail employees taking a break. I went business class because I wanted the treat and because of my mobility issues. Partly because there were relatively few passengers (it was a midweek trip during the winter) but the car felt a bit austere. There were lots of blank and otherwise empty spaces. There were also some quality control issues as my tray table flipped down at an angle which the attendant feared might result in my lunch landing in my lap. He asked me to eat in an empty seat across the aisle. 

The meal itself was a bit problematic. They were out of my first choice namely salmon. I settled for veal meatloaf which brought with it certain unhappy memories. To be blunt, it resembled the food I endured while hospitalized. I particularly remember having to hold my tongue almost exactly a year ago when a staff member gave me a list of foods that were high in iron as I was slightly anemic ignoring the fact that I had precious little control over what I ate and that a fair percentage of the meat they served was veal, noted for its relative lack of iron! In defense of Via Rail, it was piping hot, unlike the hospital food.

The trip was supposed to take two hours, leaving at noon. Unfortunately, the service had begun in Quebec City, and arrived at least twenty minutes late, if not more. The Montreal passengers boarded and we back out of the station, almost to the Victoria bridge so we might switch the designated head of the train towards Ottawa. This is actually a really silly procedure as the Venture train sets are double-ended. There are driving cabs at either end. In fact, the locomotive portion (i.e. the diesel prime mover) was at the rear for most of the trip. I can’t help but wonder if a better procedure would be to take the train set straight into Central station, then change its direction of travel which passengers get off and on. It took a while to get off the Island of Montreal, having to wait for a freight to go by. Up to Coteaux, the train took its time. After Coteaux, the train got onto tracks there are almost only used by Via so there were few new delays from that point on. We still arrive about an hour late. There was an announcement that we had a travel credit worth 50% of what our tickets had cost valid for future travel within twelve months. 

I am staying at the McGee Inn, as recommended by Mummy. I had tried to book a room on its main floor to minimize the number of stairs I would have to face. However, the only room available during my stay was the extra deluxe Egyptian room whose major advantage was of little use to me. While I was a signing in, the young lady asked if I would like to upgrade free of charge to a larger room on the upper floor, before then offering the Egyptian room as it was on the main floor I accepted with pleasure and a facetious comment that the huge bathtub would mock my inability to use it! The young lady thought I was serious at first, before I explained my meaning. Predictably, the room has various fake pharaonic era decorations, including a painting framed in concrete and rebar.

I had supper in an Indian restaurant where the person in charge of decor had slipped up.

On gifts and gratitude

It may be partly my librarian's instinct which seeks to match things with people, but I find that gift giving can be lots of fun. I found that Alice's Anna, Maria and Kerry to be a fun batch to give to last Christmas. I had lined up the latest edition of the Player's Handbook for Anna early on, I had a bit more trouble with Maria though I did score an axolotl shopping bag from the Vancouver Public Aquarium while in Vancouver Airport as a stocking present. Unfortunately, her main gift of books got delayed owing to issues with the Canada Post strike. Consequently, I sent her a moose-themed singing Christmas card with an apology note. 

I had forgotten about the card until I got a thank you card from Kerry, Maria and Anna this week. I have received permission from Maria to quote her thanks: "The singing moose managed to annoy everyone! Best gift ever! - Maria the Great." I'm rather pleased about that.

On another note, I'll be honest that I often feel dejected and frustrated with the slow pace of my recovery, I am recovering. This evening, I went out to supper at a nearby restaurant for the first time since the accident. Afterwards, I walked along Notre Dame to a drug store before returning home. I'm not sure about just how far that was, but it was significantly further than just to the local grocery store and back. Last summer, I remember having to stop to rest during simple grocery runs. Tonight, there was nothing to it.

I am grateful that I have healed as far as I have. I am grateful that I live in a decent country with proper public medicine, even if it falls short of what it should be. I am grateful for a good job which has waited for me.

On frustration and Fredericton

I had not received a call from the Hospital about a CT scan appointment by the advent of the New Year. Consequently, I sent an email to my ortho surgeon on my first working day to complain about this. I got an email back suggesting that I phone the scanning department to set up the appointment. I started doing so during my lunch break on my iPhone with the earbuds plugged in. This meant that I could do other things, such as work, during the wait to be connected. It took an hour and a half before I could speak with the person who made the appointments. It was then a few minutes before I was given a booking for this morning (January 21st) at 8 AM. There has to be a better way of making appointments. Unfortunately, LeGoat wants to cut a thousand jobs out the healthcare sector.

The actual appointment itself went fairly smoothly. I showed up at the right time, despite the seasonally appropriate but frigid weather. I went to the appropriate waiting room, and had a CT scan done with little hassle. About the only thing that was problematic with the procedure was that the technician wanted to help me put my left shoe back on once the scan was complete. I demurred saying that it would be easier if I did it myself. The information has in all probability been sent to my ortho doctor who will look at it, put his hand on his chin and go "Hmm." I will find out what that "Hmm" means on the 13th of February.

If any sovereigntists are reading this, please don't think I am Quebec-bashing. Other provinces also have their healthcare issues. Most notably New Brunswick, at least according to concerns of this blog which is, quite frankly and honestly, particularly concerned about those things which affect or have affected its writer, viz me. There was an article on the CBC news for New Brunswick website about how Fredericton is now in need of a vascular surgeon as the old one has retired. This is significant to this blog as the person question, Dr. Claus Schaus, was the one who saved my lower left leg by taking a vein from my right leg and grafting it in as an artery in my left. (One of the fascinating things about this is that he put the vein in "upside down" as veins and arteries have one way valves in them. Therefore if you want to successfully substitute one for the other, then you have to flip them.)  

I hope I thanked him. I also hope that Fredericton finds a suitable replacement as soon as possible. I'm not sure I would still have my left foot if they had been obliged to send me to St-John, Charlottetown or Halifax. Or wait until a vascular surgeon came on duty. Time was of the essence. One sign of that was that I remember asking the ambulance crew that took me from Moncton to Fredericton if they would be using the flashing lights. They said "Yes". The fact that I asked the question is also interesting as I was allowing myself to indulge my boyish side knowing that it was a boyish question as well as a trivial one. I feel justified as I was suffering from shock, scared that I might die and thus wanting to distract myself, and I believe I asked politely.

On eggnog and exhaustion

I must confess I am very tired of waiting for my leg to improve. While the leg is getting somewhat better, the blasted spatial frame keeping my tibia aligned makes it hard to relax. I am often worried about how it should be placed versus what would be a comfortable position for the time being as well as how long a given position will be comfortable. Sleep is not easy to come by and the quality of it is oft times poor. I had hoped that the Christmas holidays would a chance to truly relax but alas, it didn't turn out so. 

I had rented a car from my usual rental place. Despite having reserved an economy car, I was first offered a Jeep Cherokee. I settled for a Chrysler 300. This model is no longer in production, but diligent research (i.e. checking on Wikipedia) revealed that it was considered a full-sized rear-wheel drive car. This puts it in the very small number of rear wheel drive cars I have driven.

I drove out to North Hatley on an appropriate day that I could enjoy the homemade eggnog at Lebaron's store. What is more, my visit coincided with that of the owner's family. This was probably a bit of additional stress for Elliott as his kids have an assortment of food allergies. Most notably that of his middle son, Orran, who has milk and possibly egg allergies. However, Elliott had several clementines lined up and fed them to his eager son. Clever parenting, that.

Unfortunately, I found it hard to relax at my Parents' house. I'm not going to into any details besides saying egos clashed. I ended up spending a lot of time in bed, either sleeping or wishing I was sleeping. However, I was still somewhat mentally exhausted by the time I returned to Montreal.

On duty and dogs

By luck and my sense of duty, when I left on my fateful vacation in August of 2023, I had left my work more or less up to date. There was nothing truly outstanding. I had several electronic carts of DVDs and Blu-Rays lined up for purchase for the various upcoming months in which they would become available. Most were relatively obvious or non-essential. This was good as it made it easy for my superior at work to take over in my forced absence. However, there was a certain exception. This was the recent movie “Golda” starring Helen Mirren as the titular character Golda Meir, prime minister of Israel during the Yom Kippur War. It was due out in October and programming department wanted it for a screening in December. I take a certain pride in my work, so I actually phoned my superior to ask her to make sure she ordered it.

When I returned to work in July, I discovered that the Library’s usual supplier had decided not to get it, despite the fact that they had advertised it as “coming soon” at one point. What with the effort of restarting work, I didn’t pursue the matter any further.

For some reason, on Friday, my last day of work before the holidays, I looked it up on Amazon and was surprised to see that they were selling it. I immediately asked my superior if the Library might buy it once we are authorized to order things in the new year. She said she would have to get approval from the Director of the Library as are all purchases from Amazon. Pleasingly, the Director approved it more or less immediately. I felt like I had been given an early Christmas gift, as my sense of duty had been fulfilled.

After work, the Library held its Christmas staff party. At one point, the Director was sitting beside me, so I made a point of thanking her for her prompt decision. In the following conversation, it came out that she had thought I was asking to purchase the older movie “A woman called Golda”. However, when I enlightened her, she was intrigued and asked if the movie was available through Netflix. I confessed I didn’t know. When I told the story to Saint Michael the Holy Mole the following day, he asked the same question which only goes to show that I am behind the times as far as digital media is concerned.

(Please note that the opinions stated above are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.)

On Sunday, I drove over to James’ house to deliver Christmas presents and to see his parents, currently living in his basement as Judy, his mother, is terminally ill. I was greeted by Jennifer as well as Duffy, James’ dog and Rufus, James’ his parents’ dog, respectively. Both dogs are terriers or at least mostly terriers. As bad luck would have it, the pants I was wearing didn’t fit well over my external fixation and thus my lower left leg was very exposed to their noses. They both tried to lick my wounds despite the best efforts of various people, including myself. Both Duffy and Rufus are nice enough dogs though somewhat undisciplined.

I made my way carefully down the stairs, for as luck would have it, it was a good day for Judy so she was able to receive me. I hadn’t seen her in over two years. It had been over a year since I had seen Robin when he came to visit me during my first stay at the Montreal General. We had a very nice chat and caught up on various subjects. I was very pleased to be able to see Judy as I may not have another opportunity.

On cookies and crutch tips

Owing to the postal strike, I volunteered to bake some hazelnut shortbreads and take them to my Aunt Helle on behalf of my cousin Kristine. I had wanted to also take some to my Aunt Suzanne "Who is so Nice" but she was busy today. 

(Her demurral email was extremely kind making reference to a night when I gone to her and my uncle Donald's house at Margo's behest when Suzanne thought she was having a heart attack. I ended up staying the night to watch over Donald while she was being checked out at a hospital. In the end, it was determined she was "only" stressed out.)

Anyway, I booked a car from Communauto to make the delivery and used the opportunity to go out to Medicus, the big medical supply store on Sherbrooke Street East to see if they had good replacement crutch tips as the two previous pairs I had bought from pharmacies had worn out far too quickly. I found sturdier ones at the store. I double checked with a staff member that they were the right caliber, before waiting to pay for them. The cashier first asked if a member of the staff had helped me. I said that someone had, but all I had needed was confirmation of the size. I casually indicated person in question. He then came over and offered to install them. As my tips were quite worn, I accepted. I waited in a chair for a few minutes while he did the work. When he came back, I checked to see if the "crampons" still fitted over the tips. This was prompted by the fact that I had used them that morning as Montreal has just received its first major snowfall of the winter. The new tips were slightly longer so the crampons need to be adjusted. The man cheerfully volunteered to do this, even though I could have do so myself, had I a screwdriver. He was so nice, I was tempted to go back to car to fetch him a hazelnut shortbread!

I gave Helle the cookies on my way back. She was impressed by my mobility, something that seemed more than it was as I had walked from the car to her door using only one crutch so as to have a hand free for the cookie tin. Her mobility seems to have gone down since I last saw her.

I ran another errand before returning the car. When I got home, I was surprised to see a box from Simons on my doorstep. This proved to be bicycle themed T-shirt that Kristine had ordered for me. I am going to have to weed my T-shirt drawer. No good deed goes unpunished. ;-)