I like watching TV. Perhaps I watch too much, but what else have I got to do? The job search is not going too well, and school doesn't start for another month or so.
So I kill time by watching Flint tease John, writing this blog, and watching TV. There's a lot of good video being offered out there, if you know where to look. The problem is, when you are in a country like Korea, you miss a lot of the really good programs (unless you know how to download), and you're very much behind people who've had access to it all along.
I sort of learned how to download in my third year in Korea, and then I started having problems with my 'puter, so I left off until Flint taught me how to do it properly. After that, I returned my TV to the hagwon and started getting caught up.
I'm still way behind, even after a coupla years of plugging away.
While I was in Korea, I started to get into shows like Dexter, The Shield, Battlestar: Galactica, and Californication. I've only just started the first season of The Wire, Damages, and Life On Mars (UK version).
I've been staying with my folks since I got back from Korea, and they had a pretty good cable package with Shaw. Then they changed it to Telus, and added the PVR function.
Hello!
I am in love with the PVR, which frees the viewer of the networks' tyranny like never before. No longer do you have to sit through boring commercial breaks or (badly) edited-for-TV versions of my favourite movies. With a PVR, you really can watch what you want, when you want it. It's brilliant.
Then, after my mom's accident, we had to stay at a hotel to be near her, and I was shocked, shocked when I saw the kind of TV being offered by the hotel, as well as to patients in the hospital.
Basic cable. (dramatic chord)
50 channels max.
Ew.
I guess hotel guests and hospital patients, being fairly transient in nature, don't need a full-on package of every single channel as well as all the technical add-ons. They just need something to look at for a night or two.
But if you're in for a long haul, the inadequacies of basic cable become more and more apparent as time goes by. Especially if you're looking for quality television, and not the drek offered up by networks and local stations.
Networks are in it for the money, and the commercial break is all important. They gotta get that ad revenue. A good show is just something to attract viewers that can be trapped into watching ads, not an end in itself.
Networks have something they call "standards and practices," which they say they use to censor offensive content like vulgar language (shit, fuck, cunt, piss, cocksucker, mothefucker, tits), excessive violence and gore, as well as sexy things like naked bodies and people making love.
Well, if you're an adult, being told by some faceless corporation that you can't watch something is like being told you can't vote or drink or stay up past eight o'clock. It's just not on.
So I go to a channel like HBO and watch a program like Deadwood, which has more nudity, violence, and people saying "fuck" per square inch than a whorehouse, but is also one of the finest programs ever filmed.
Local stations are even worse. They're always interrupting shows with "news breaks," which don't have any news, just promos for the local news teams. I've mentioned before how my folks are fans of Global Calgary, which I loathe and despise with the white-hot passion of a thousand suns.
Fucking mooks.
Even if they do run a good program, you have a tough time seeing it through all the supers on the screen. The station logo is there (as well as the network logo sometimes), and the station adds on supers that describe what's coming on next and what'll be on Thursday at nine. Talk about distraction.
It shows a fundamental disrespect of the show, as well as the viewer. I decided a long time ago that I would not tolerate it. That's why downloading shows and using the PVR is so important to me.
Showing posts with label accident. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accident. Show all posts
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Thursday, July 21st
It's been an interesting week here. On Monday, my brother arrived from Texas. He drove from there to here in four days. He is a driving machine. He travelled from San Marcos to Salina, Kansas (about 800 miles) his first night of driving. I say night, because it was too damn hot to drive during the day, so he would wait until mid-afternoon, and drive until 3:00 the next morning.
I remember driving down to Texas with him a few years back. We took a little more time, because I wanted to make some stops along the way. We visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield site, Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and Dealey Plaza (my second visit). One night, he drove about 500 miles in one shot.
He is up here to do a little business. he takes down old barns and sells the wood for people to make rustic decor. My brother also uses some of the wood to carve artworks or make boxes. He took up carving about eight years ago, and has gotten quite good at it. Right now, he's in a mermaid phase, but he also does rattlers, buffalo, and these kind of fishhook type necklaces.
This year, I'm helping him market his stuff by offering it for sale on Kajiji and maybe Craig's List.
On Tuesday, my mom came home for the first time since her accident. Her glasses were broken in the crash, and she's been seeing double, so she came in to see an optometrist. She then spent the night before going back to the Red Deer hospital the next day.
She's been slowly improving. She was even able to climb the stairs into her house. She has to walk with a walker, of course, and spends most of her time in a wheelchair, but she is definitely improving.
Mom has expressed a lot of frustration at the slow rate of her recovery. When we try and tell her just how far she has come, sometimes she sits still for it, but she can get pretty low at times. It's a job to keep her spirits up.
Today I mailed the last bit of paperwork I needed to turn in for my application to university. I just need a letter of reference and a description of my work in the classroom from a colleague in Korea. He's taking his time about getting it in, so I may have to prod him a bit.
I may be foolish trying to get my Education degree since Alberta has been firing teacher's left and right, but I guess we will see once I have it, eh? Maybe European employers will find me more attractive. I sure hope so.
I watched a movie called "Ironclad" this evening. It was recommended by a friend in Korea. It's set in England just after King John signs the Magna Carta. Pissed at having to kowtow to the barons, John (played by Paul Giamatti)raises a mercenary army and begins slaughtering anyone who signed the charter.
One of the barons, played by Brian Cox, hires some mercenaries of his own, including a Templar played by James Purefoy, and holds a strategic castle until the French arrive to drive John and his mercenaries off.
In reality, the castle fell to John, and the struggle raged across England for another year before John died of dysentery while fleeing the French. It wasn't until much later that John's son Henry finally succeeded in driving the French out and claiming the throne for himself.
But the movie was fairly entertaining, not the least for it's gory battle scenes, in which limbs are chopped off, blood sprays everywhere, and one man is nearly split in two by a broadsword. The movie's depiction of the savagery of battle, the mud and the blood prevalent during those times, and the struggle between people fighting for freedom against a tyrant was well done.
Tomorrow, our family is meeting with the doctors to discuss our mother's future. The whole family will be together for the first time in four years.
I remember driving down to Texas with him a few years back. We took a little more time, because I wanted to make some stops along the way. We visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield site, Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and Dealey Plaza (my second visit). One night, he drove about 500 miles in one shot.
He is up here to do a little business. he takes down old barns and sells the wood for people to make rustic decor. My brother also uses some of the wood to carve artworks or make boxes. He took up carving about eight years ago, and has gotten quite good at it. Right now, he's in a mermaid phase, but he also does rattlers, buffalo, and these kind of fishhook type necklaces.
This year, I'm helping him market his stuff by offering it for sale on Kajiji and maybe Craig's List.
On Tuesday, my mom came home for the first time since her accident. Her glasses were broken in the crash, and she's been seeing double, so she came in to see an optometrist. She then spent the night before going back to the Red Deer hospital the next day.
She's been slowly improving. She was even able to climb the stairs into her house. She has to walk with a walker, of course, and spends most of her time in a wheelchair, but she is definitely improving.
Mom has expressed a lot of frustration at the slow rate of her recovery. When we try and tell her just how far she has come, sometimes she sits still for it, but she can get pretty low at times. It's a job to keep her spirits up.
Today I mailed the last bit of paperwork I needed to turn in for my application to university. I just need a letter of reference and a description of my work in the classroom from a colleague in Korea. He's taking his time about getting it in, so I may have to prod him a bit.
I may be foolish trying to get my Education degree since Alberta has been firing teacher's left and right, but I guess we will see once I have it, eh? Maybe European employers will find me more attractive. I sure hope so.
I watched a movie called "Ironclad" this evening. It was recommended by a friend in Korea. It's set in England just after King John signs the Magna Carta. Pissed at having to kowtow to the barons, John (played by Paul Giamatti)raises a mercenary army and begins slaughtering anyone who signed the charter.
One of the barons, played by Brian Cox, hires some mercenaries of his own, including a Templar played by James Purefoy, and holds a strategic castle until the French arrive to drive John and his mercenaries off.
In reality, the castle fell to John, and the struggle raged across England for another year before John died of dysentery while fleeing the French. It wasn't until much later that John's son Henry finally succeeded in driving the French out and claiming the throne for himself.
But the movie was fairly entertaining, not the least for it's gory battle scenes, in which limbs are chopped off, blood sprays everywhere, and one man is nearly split in two by a broadsword. The movie's depiction of the savagery of battle, the mud and the blood prevalent during those times, and the struggle between people fighting for freedom against a tyrant was well done.
Tomorrow, our family is meeting with the doctors to discuss our mother's future. The whole family will be together for the first time in four years.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Tuesday, July 5
I didn't do a whole hell of a lot today, other than follow Flint and AnonyJohn through several blogs.
My mom went to University Hospital in Edmonton to see her surgeon and find out what he had to say. There were a lot of x-rays taken, and an ultrasound to make sure no blood clots were lurking in the shadows.
My nephew and my sister met her there. Dad and I gave the trip a miss. Me because mom and I are still having... differences, and dad because he was ordering new glasses.
It's about a two and a half hour trip from here to there (one way), and we still didn't get answers to some questions we have. About a month ago, he told us that my mom's left shoulder socket had been fractured in three places. He said it needed replacing, and then the surgery got put off. At first, we were told because it was her blood pressure (too low), and then we were told something else, I forget what.
This time no discussion of what might or might not be done at all. He came in, said his piece, and was gone as soon as my sister turned around.
He's very good (we're told) but he's also very busy.
At least my mom got the go ahead to start walking on both legs, and supporting herself with her arms. They told us when this happened two months ago that she would be flat on her back for six months. Shows how much they knew about my mom. She is one determined lady.
So it looks like she'll go to Red Deer hospital for rehabilitation as soon as a bed opens up. They say this Unit 35 that they have there is pretty good, and mom was happy for the couple of weeks that she was there.
My sister is down here visiting her. It's always nice to see her, though she does sometimes act like my mom, especially when she's grilling me about why I don't have a job yet.
Sigh.
The trees are shedding that white fluff this week. Every time I go outside, I can feel a tickle on my nose. Those fluff are attracted to it like bees to nectar. I used to be quite stuffed up in spring, but I have a good nasal spray that keeps my nose clean.
It's been raining a lot, and I was interested to see a yellow residue left behind when the puddles dried up. Ah yes, the dreaded yellow dust. The Communist Chinese plot to poison us all.
I know I'm being selfish by staying away from my mom, but sometimes I need a break. And at least I'm aware I'm being selfish. There was a great scene on "The Big C" last week. The main character, Cathy, finally blurted out to her friend that she has cancer, and the friend's response was to think about how this experience was going to change her.
My mom went to University Hospital in Edmonton to see her surgeon and find out what he had to say. There were a lot of x-rays taken, and an ultrasound to make sure no blood clots were lurking in the shadows.
My nephew and my sister met her there. Dad and I gave the trip a miss. Me because mom and I are still having... differences, and dad because he was ordering new glasses.
It's about a two and a half hour trip from here to there (one way), and we still didn't get answers to some questions we have. About a month ago, he told us that my mom's left shoulder socket had been fractured in three places. He said it needed replacing, and then the surgery got put off. At first, we were told because it was her blood pressure (too low), and then we were told something else, I forget what.
This time no discussion of what might or might not be done at all. He came in, said his piece, and was gone as soon as my sister turned around.
He's very good (we're told) but he's also very busy.
At least my mom got the go ahead to start walking on both legs, and supporting herself with her arms. They told us when this happened two months ago that she would be flat on her back for six months. Shows how much they knew about my mom. She is one determined lady.
So it looks like she'll go to Red Deer hospital for rehabilitation as soon as a bed opens up. They say this Unit 35 that they have there is pretty good, and mom was happy for the couple of weeks that she was there.
My sister is down here visiting her. It's always nice to see her, though she does sometimes act like my mom, especially when she's grilling me about why I don't have a job yet.
Sigh.
The trees are shedding that white fluff this week. Every time I go outside, I can feel a tickle on my nose. Those fluff are attracted to it like bees to nectar. I used to be quite stuffed up in spring, but I have a good nasal spray that keeps my nose clean.
It's been raining a lot, and I was interested to see a yellow residue left behind when the puddles dried up. Ah yes, the dreaded yellow dust. The Communist Chinese plot to poison us all.
I know I'm being selfish by staying away from my mom, but sometimes I need a break. And at least I'm aware I'm being selfish. There was a great scene on "The Big C" last week. The main character, Cathy, finally blurted out to her friend that she has cancer, and the friend's response was to think about how this experience was going to change her.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Me
I returned home from Korea last August. I already had a job lined up in England, so I was only looking at a quick stopover at my folks' place until the UK visa process was completed.
Well, that job blew up in my face when the person I was dealing with asked me to send him some money.
What the fuck? I thought.
This guy was promising me 3,000 pounds a month, plus health care, plus 1,000 pounds vacation pay. He would pay for my ticket over there, pay the immigration lawyer, set me up in an apartment in his house with a computer and a car and on and on and on.
He didn't ask for money right away. We went back and forth, and I sent him copies of my resume, degree, passport info page and so on. It was about three weeks into our correspondence that the "immigration lawyer" made the request for some money that he would use to open a bank account for me. He claimed that he had to show immigration that I actually had money in-country before they would approve my visa.
My spider-sense started tingling right away, and I checked with the British Embassy here in Canada to make sure that the rules about immigration did not have this requirement. It didn't take very long to confirm this, and I stalled the "lawyer" while I took all my information about these people to the RCMP.
They knew right away, as soon as they heard about the request for money, that something was fishy, and confirmed (a while later) that none of the e-mail addresses checked out.
I wrote the guy and told him I wasn't sending him any money as the rules didn't require it, but he kept insisting. Finally, he called my house and asked me point blank, "Are you sending the money?"
"No," I said.
"Then I'm going to cancel the visa?" he sort of half-questioned.
"Okay," I replied, and he hung up.
I haven't heard from him since.
Bummer.
I was looking forward to working in England and travelling through Europe, just as I had travelled Asia while I was in Korea.
I should have been suspicious, though, considering the guy was offering me all this money and extras. I mean, I'm a pretty good teacher, I think, but there are loads of people out there who have a lot more paper (in the way of education degrees) to show any potential employer. All I have is experience.
So I was stuck for a job. My mom was going in for a hip replacement in October, so it was decided I should stay around the house and help out for a bit before moving on.
And then, when I did start up the job search again, my mom crashed her car real good and was on the brink of death. I couldn't leave then, so a lot of my plans got put on hold.
And now I am looking for work again. I haven't really put a lot of effort into it, as I have been concentrating on returning to university this fall in order to get my education degree. Make my resume that much more attractive, get a job in Europe or here at home.
But the past few months or so, Alberta teachers have been laid off in the hundreds. There's just not enough money in the provincial budget to justify teachers' salaries. We all know from the budget battles in the States recently how cushy a job teachers have, and how much of taxpayer dough they suck up in their half-a-day, two-months-of-vacation-per-year lifestyle.
It's been quite a year, I can tell you. Things are waiting on this university application. I'm pretty confident, but if things don't work out, I guess I'll be looking at the overseas postings again.
Well, that job blew up in my face when the person I was dealing with asked me to send him some money.
What the fuck? I thought.
This guy was promising me 3,000 pounds a month, plus health care, plus 1,000 pounds vacation pay. He would pay for my ticket over there, pay the immigration lawyer, set me up in an apartment in his house with a computer and a car and on and on and on.
He didn't ask for money right away. We went back and forth, and I sent him copies of my resume, degree, passport info page and so on. It was about three weeks into our correspondence that the "immigration lawyer" made the request for some money that he would use to open a bank account for me. He claimed that he had to show immigration that I actually had money in-country before they would approve my visa.
My spider-sense started tingling right away, and I checked with the British Embassy here in Canada to make sure that the rules about immigration did not have this requirement. It didn't take very long to confirm this, and I stalled the "lawyer" while I took all my information about these people to the RCMP.
They knew right away, as soon as they heard about the request for money, that something was fishy, and confirmed (a while later) that none of the e-mail addresses checked out.
I wrote the guy and told him I wasn't sending him any money as the rules didn't require it, but he kept insisting. Finally, he called my house and asked me point blank, "Are you sending the money?"
"No," I said.
"Then I'm going to cancel the visa?" he sort of half-questioned.
"Okay," I replied, and he hung up.
I haven't heard from him since.
Bummer.
I was looking forward to working in England and travelling through Europe, just as I had travelled Asia while I was in Korea.
I should have been suspicious, though, considering the guy was offering me all this money and extras. I mean, I'm a pretty good teacher, I think, but there are loads of people out there who have a lot more paper (in the way of education degrees) to show any potential employer. All I have is experience.
So I was stuck for a job. My mom was going in for a hip replacement in October, so it was decided I should stay around the house and help out for a bit before moving on.
And then, when I did start up the job search again, my mom crashed her car real good and was on the brink of death. I couldn't leave then, so a lot of my plans got put on hold.
And now I am looking for work again. I haven't really put a lot of effort into it, as I have been concentrating on returning to university this fall in order to get my education degree. Make my resume that much more attractive, get a job in Europe or here at home.
But the past few months or so, Alberta teachers have been laid off in the hundreds. There's just not enough money in the provincial budget to justify teachers' salaries. We all know from the budget battles in the States recently how cushy a job teachers have, and how much of taxpayer dough they suck up in their half-a-day, two-months-of-vacation-per-year lifestyle.
It's been quite a year, I can tell you. Things are waiting on this university application. I'm pretty confident, but if things don't work out, I guess I'll be looking at the overseas postings again.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
My Mom
My Mom had a serious car accident a couple of months ago.
She had been visiting my sister at her farm, and was on the way home when it happened. She had just left Camrose, where she was going to stop for coffee. The accident happened about 15-20 minutes south of there, just past the road to Duhamel.
The road was curving to the left, and according to the witness, she just went straight. There were no other vehicles involved, and the witness saw no animals on the road. There weren't even any skidmarks, just a track from the right wheel going down the embankment for about 5 metres, and then pits and divots where the car began to roll. It rolled down the embankment, through a barbed wire fence, and on into the middle of some field. I'm a lousy judge of distance, but she must have rolled about 50 - 75 metres.
If you Google "Single vehicle rollover near Camrose," you can go to the Camrose paper's website and see a couple of pictures of the car where it finally came to rest. The pictures don't really do it justice. The RCMP showed us some pictures that gave some idea of the distance and severity of the accident. Going to the site was a sobering experience, as was crawling around inside the vehicle retrieving my mom's things. Her cell phone survived the accident. The EMS had found her bottom teeth, and we found her top teeth under the front seat. The bottom teeth had a small crack that was repaired.
She's wearing them now.
The RCMP officer figured she must have gone to sleep, but I don't really believe that. She must have been distracted by something in the car, like changing a CD or spilling the coffee. Maybe she had a blackout or a stroke. Probably we'll never know.
The witness talked to her while she was still in the car, and so did the EMS when they pulled her out.
She gave them my dad's phone number, but we didn't get a call until almost four hours after the accident. By then STARS Air Ambulance had already taken her to the University Hospital in Edmonton.
My nephew lives in Edmonton, so he was the first to arrive. We got there a couple of hours later, and got the list of injuries from the doctor. Her left shoulder was broken three times. Her right elbow wasn't just dislocated, it was smashed. She had two ribs on her left side and six ribs on her right side broken. Her pelvis was fractured three times, and her right leg was broken in two places.
There were also a variety of cuts and cruises. When we first saw her, she was covered from neck to toe with a kind of blowup cocoon. There was a breathing tube in her mouth, and all kinds of wires and tubes attached to her body.
It's a miracle she survived.
She has a personal directive that states the sort of life-saving procedures she received were not to be performed. She would have died without them. The directive was not with her, and all the procedures completed by the time we got there. The doctor told us that everything was fixable, but it would be a long journey back.
She has come a long way since the accident, and we are anticipating that she will be given the go ahead to put some weight on the right leg next week, and begin to walk.
She did have some low periods where she questioned whether she should have survived the accident, but now she is looking forward to that first step so she can come home.
She had been visiting my sister at her farm, and was on the way home when it happened. She had just left Camrose, where she was going to stop for coffee. The accident happened about 15-20 minutes south of there, just past the road to Duhamel.
The road was curving to the left, and according to the witness, she just went straight. There were no other vehicles involved, and the witness saw no animals on the road. There weren't even any skidmarks, just a track from the right wheel going down the embankment for about 5 metres, and then pits and divots where the car began to roll. It rolled down the embankment, through a barbed wire fence, and on into the middle of some field. I'm a lousy judge of distance, but she must have rolled about 50 - 75 metres.
If you Google "Single vehicle rollover near Camrose," you can go to the Camrose paper's website and see a couple of pictures of the car where it finally came to rest. The pictures don't really do it justice. The RCMP showed us some pictures that gave some idea of the distance and severity of the accident. Going to the site was a sobering experience, as was crawling around inside the vehicle retrieving my mom's things. Her cell phone survived the accident. The EMS had found her bottom teeth, and we found her top teeth under the front seat. The bottom teeth had a small crack that was repaired.
She's wearing them now.
The RCMP officer figured she must have gone to sleep, but I don't really believe that. She must have been distracted by something in the car, like changing a CD or spilling the coffee. Maybe she had a blackout or a stroke. Probably we'll never know.
The witness talked to her while she was still in the car, and so did the EMS when they pulled her out.
She gave them my dad's phone number, but we didn't get a call until almost four hours after the accident. By then STARS Air Ambulance had already taken her to the University Hospital in Edmonton.
My nephew lives in Edmonton, so he was the first to arrive. We got there a couple of hours later, and got the list of injuries from the doctor. Her left shoulder was broken three times. Her right elbow wasn't just dislocated, it was smashed. She had two ribs on her left side and six ribs on her right side broken. Her pelvis was fractured three times, and her right leg was broken in two places.
There were also a variety of cuts and cruises. When we first saw her, she was covered from neck to toe with a kind of blowup cocoon. There was a breathing tube in her mouth, and all kinds of wires and tubes attached to her body.
It's a miracle she survived.
She has a personal directive that states the sort of life-saving procedures she received were not to be performed. She would have died without them. The directive was not with her, and all the procedures completed by the time we got there. The doctor told us that everything was fixable, but it would be a long journey back.
She has come a long way since the accident, and we are anticipating that she will be given the go ahead to put some weight on the right leg next week, and begin to walk.
She did have some low periods where she questioned whether she should have survived the accident, but now she is looking forward to that first step so she can come home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)