August 22, 2005

August 22, 2005

West Hawk Lake day 97 of 113

YEAR 2 DAY 66

 

Today was sunny and warm.

Last night was cool, so I decided to give the new bed warmer a try out. I did not know at the time that when I installed the control units on the walls beside the bed, I inadvertently mounted the control for Joanne's side of the bed on my wall, and vice versa. I crawled into bed, and turned the bed heater on. After a few minutes, I didn't detect any warmth, so I turned the control to its maximum. A few more minutes went by, and still I detected no warmth. I wondered why it was taking so long to heat up ? Perhaps the new bed heater was defective ? Suddenly, Joanne woke up with a start. She said "Hey ... my ass is hot". Oh, baby ... I've known that since 1972 ! HA HA HA HA HA < SNORT SNORT SNORT >. Tomorrow I guess I'll have to remount the controls on the correct sides.

I woke up early this morning, did my regular morning chores, then did regular preventive maintenance. I went down to the campground office to remind Reid to turn the sign to closed at the end of the day, so that late arriving campers know who to see, and where. I had a bunch of phone calls to make. I made some to toll free numbers, using the campground pay phone, and the rest I had to drive to the church parking lot at the park gate, and use the cell phone. First I called the GM dealer in Landmark to order a new speaker for the driver's door, and some door panel retaining clips. Then I phoned the pharmacy in Wal-Mart in Kenora to order a refill of Teddy's medication, and to inquire about the procedures for transferring some prescriptions from my old pharmacy in Ottawa. Then I called our old pharmacy in Ottawa, and arranged the transfer of my prescriptions to Wal-Mart in Kenora. Then I phoned Wal-Mart in Kenora again to confirm that everything was okay. I phoned the Cancer Centre in Ottawa to cancel an appointment Joanne had with her oncologist, for late September. She had all her screening tests done in Kenora this summer. She's good for a year ! I phoned C.S. Co-op in Ottawa to ask why they charged me $6.50 to close my account, and send me a cheque for the credit union share. They didn't have an answer, and were going to call me back. Then I phoned to inquire about the Manitoba Pharmacare program. When we recently received our Manitoba Health registration cards, and booklet explaining Manitoba Health benefits, etc., there was reference to the Manitoba Pharmacare program for Manitoba residents. I got the information I needed, and now we'll have to pick up a Manitoba Pharmacare application form at a Manitoba pharmacy. The 2005 deductible, based on 2003 income, is higher than our prescription costs will be for this year, but we should register now, for possible future benefit, especially since we are now "unemployed". Finally, I phoned the Ministry Of Transportation Of Ontario, to inquire again about the refunds owing on the 3 Ontario license plates I returned a year ago for cancellation and refunds. The last inquiry I made was 12 weeks ago. They said at that time that it would take them 8 or 10 weeks to investigate and resolve. Today they said they would check into the matter ( again ! ) and phone me back. I verified with them that they had my correct phone number.

I returned to the trailer, picked up the laptop, and drove to the Border Information Centre to get online, send and retrieve e-mail, update my blog, and retrieve the MasterCard billing statement. When I returned to the trailer, Joanne said my sister had phoned, but the connection was too poor for Joanne to understand Sharon. I drove to the park gate and phoned Sharon. Geez ... the incompetent at the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario phoned Sharon, despite the fact that I verified my phone number with them this morning. They must have had Sharon's phone number on file because I used it as our phone number for a very brief period 15 months ago. The message was that 2 of the 3 license plate refund cheques have been re-issued. They seem to have no clue about the third one. I don't really care. The amount of money involved is miniscule. I'm just hassling them because I'm annoyed at their ineptitude.

I returned to the trailer where Joanne had lunch waiting. We had lunch. I read, then napped briefly. We drained 2 of the holding tanks. Joanne left to do some laundry. The C.S. Co-op phoned back. They said the $6.50 charge was for issuing a refund of the $15 share that they have held for 17 years without paying interest. Nice deal. Give us $15 to purchase a credit union share. We’ll refund $8.50 in 17 years. I sat at the picnic table to do some work on the computer. I developed a severe pain in my lower left back. Over the course of an hour or so, it became so severe I was feeling nauseous and dizzy. I don't know if it was a muscle spasm, a severe colon cramp, or what ? About 6:00 P.M. I lay down in bed, a heating pad under my left lower back, trying to find a comfortable position, and some relief from the severe pain. I contemplated going to Kenora Hospital. I spent the evening lying in bed, trying to figure out what to do, waiting for the discomfort to diminish. Finally, about 10:00 P.M. the discomfort eased somewhat. I got out of bed and had a cup of soup.

DSK