Happy Halloween

Realized I had a cache starting with each letter of the alphabet and could log one called ABC.  Found it near Guilford and also picked up an easy one in New West on my way.  This let me log my 2-cache-day in the Baker's Dozen.

Stopped at Chapters and had lunch at Mr. Mike's - 1st time in 30 years!  Met Matt & Andy as they came back from the kids' swimming lessons.  Gave them my Halloween stuff that I decorated my desk at school with.  Cleaning out the cupboards!  Sadie's no dummy.  She asked for a glass of milk and permission to go for a nap.  This is a kid who knows how to get ready for Halloween!

Picked up groceries at Thrifty's and headed home down the Barnett Highway.  What a beautiful drive at this time of year.  There were hundreds of kids Trick or Treating in the stores on Hastings in Burnaby.

Sure has been quiet around here this year.  Hardly any fireworks.

Tired? Yup!

Dropped Purdy's order off at Weir.  Sad to see the library closed.  The principal chose not to replace the person who worked Fridays.

Met Lori and Pam to do a multi cache of monsters.  We found 4 in Burnaby but failed on 1, even with 3 pairs of eyes looking.   Stopped at Renfrew Library to use the computers for some clues from monster movies and headed to where we thought the final was.  Wandered around in the dark and rain but didn't find it.

Retreated to the White Spot to recover.

Publish Post

Time to get up?

Didn't get dressed today.  Watched TV and caught up on emails.  Started the next issue of the RTA newsletter and have it half done.  Figured out how to put a box of headlines from my news blog on the RTA web site.

Lost one cache from Victoria. The slip of paper I found with someone else's name on it wasn't in the real cache.  It was nearby.  I deducted the find and will have to return. 

I am trying to break codes for caches and failing.  My father was in cryptology during WW II and would be disappointed in me.  One is:

¿³²»®½¨©°½¨µ³²¯ÝÜ¿½¿´¹Üµ¯Ü°³¿½¨¹¸Ü½¨Ü
²ÈÅLÜÍÊÒÌÅÈÜ«ÍÎÏLÜÌËÒÈÏÍÜÆÕ

 

Home

Did more geocaching in Oak Bay today.  Ended up a couple of blocks from the Blethering Place so went again for lunch.  Found 8 today but ran out of those I'd preloaded and marked on a map.  Another argument for an iPhone!   My total for the trip is 33 and I am now in the top 500 in BC with 390 finds.

Remembered to stop in Sidney for a bottle of Victoria Gin.  Tried Marley winery but it was closed during the week.  The web site had said it was open but they are having family problems.  Too bad, I liked their wine.

Saw by the highway sign that the 4:00 ferry was full and the 5:00 was 44% full so decided to get in line at 3:30.  The ticket seller said there was a good chance I'd make the 5.  They started loading the 4 and we all got on!  It was an extra sailing, probably because of the U2 concert.  The traffic trying to get through the tunnel went for miles so I bypassed it and went to New Westminster via Queensborough.  Longer but I never slowed down.

I am tired and my hands are sore, but glad I took the trip.

Blethering around Oak Bay

Found 15 today, for a total of 24 on this trip.  I am at 382.  Gave up when it got dark.

Had tea and a scone a little coffee shop and then lunch was at The Blethering Place, where I used to go with my aunt.  Just walked across the street for dinner at the White Spot so I could come back for the hockey game.

I slept well again last night but am sore and tired now.

DEAR in the Leg

Slept well last night and read newspapers online until the rain stopped.  Took a bus downtown and found some caches around the harbour.

Met the group TLs from Vancouver and Victoria for lunch at Milestones.  We entered the House at 1 and were all settled in for the 1:30 Question Period.  The behaviour of MLAs hasn't improved over the years.  We all wanted to tell them to behave.  Got mentioned Hansard http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/39th1st/H91026y.htm

Found another cache in Chinatown on the walk back to the hotel.  Had to wait for the bell at the Chinese school to ring to get the munchkins out of the way.  Ticked off with how the Olympics have dealt with the Cowichan Indians over the sweaters, so bought one at the Cowichan Trading Company.  Has a label and serial number to prove it is real.

Alana picked my up at 6:30 and we had dinner at Bard & Banker in an old bank building.  Victoria is full of old buildings that have been brought back to life.

Victoria

Caught the 9:00 ferry this morning.  Wanted to be here for tomorrow's Question Period.  A large group of teacher-librarians will be in the House at 1:30 to help celebrate DEAR - Drop Everything and Read Day.

Found 6 caches on the drive here.  I am staying in the Traveller's Inn-Downtown.  Cheap and has free internet and parking.

Went to Liz and Hans's house for dinner.  Always enjoy visiting them.  Their house is in the middle of renovations and looks great.  Turns out Julie and her husband were on the ferry that passed mine in Active Pass.

Slept in

Wasn't feeling well last night and fell back asleep after my alarm went off.  Moira woke me up at 10:20, calling from the ferry.  She had a call from the BCTLA meeting, asking if she knew where I was.  I got up and felt better after a shower.

Arrived at the Sandman Vancouver Airport nearly 2 hours late.  Touching how worried they had been.  We had a productive meeting of Chapter Reps from around the province.  Stayed in the bar for a drink and to visit for a while at the end.

Home in time to see the end of the Canucks game.  Packing tonight for Victoria.

Champions of Literacy

Had to be at Richmond High at 7:30 for the BCTLA Conference, Champions of Literacy.  Well organized but cold in the larger spaces.  Went to a couple of sessions and skipped to 3rd to rest.  The Executive had a meeting after it was over.

Several were staying at the Sandman Vancouver Airport (old Airport Inn) so we had dinner at their restaurant, Chop Steak Fish Bar - Creamy Seafood Chowder:
bay scallops, clams, prawns and a variety of fin fish and 1/2 a Rack of Lamb:
grainy mustard rub and savoury bread crumb crust, finished with merlot and garlic demi-glace, served with infused mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables.  Very good but expensive.

Dr. Brough's office called to book an appointment as my blood test yesterday indicated rheumatoid arthritis.  I'll see him a week Monday.  This will be why my hands have been so painful.

A day late

The Blogger site was down last night and I couldn't post. I am now at the BCTLA Conference at Richmond High and they have wifi so here is what I wrote last night.

What a long day! Stopped at Safeway to pick up stuff I keep forgetting to buy & the newspapers. Picked up Mae and dropped her at VGH to visit a patient.



Renewed my house insurance at BCAA. Knew I'd seen a notice but don't know what pile of paper it is in. It was overdue but they were still covering me.



Dr. Brough gave me a flu shot and didn't agree with yesterday's resident's diagnosis of carpal tunnel. He thinks it is rheumatoid arthritis making my hands so painful and did a blood test to check for markers.



Back to the Cancer Agency in time for little surpise 80th birthday party for Darline. Cake for breakfast! Enjoyed a bowl of soup and a scone at Bean So Good.



The pharmacy couldn't find my pills this morning but they were there when I returned. My chemo was delivered on time so the treatment went quickly. Even quicker as I was watching a free NFB film, Marianne's Theatre, on my iTouch. You can download films for 24 hours.

Stayed in the lounge reading until it was time to see Dr. Drysdale. She was late but my book was good.

Stopped at Oakridge library to return stuff and at home to change.

The BCTLA's 2009 Conference began tonight in Richmond with a wine and cheese at the Richmond Olympic Oval. What an amazing building! We had tours in small groups. Can't wait to watch the speed skating on TV.

2009 Conference

I'm awake!

Blood test was 7:45 this morning.  Hard to get up that early!  Went to Mae's for breakfast and then to Fairmont Medical to see my oncologist.  The lot was full so I parked next door at Willow.  Had trouble with the ticket machine and just left it.  Needless to say, I had a $75 ticket ($45 if paid in 7 days).  I called the number on the ticket and explained just what had gone wrong.  The machine did keep $3.50 of my money.  The man was quite polite and finally said all was forgiven.  I hadn't even asked for that!

Dr. Gelmon says my tests show I'm holding my own.  The thyroid markers are actually normal so I have to watch now for an overactive thyroid as I keep on the pills.

Stopped at London Drugs and Safeway and then home to fall asleep!

Laundry

Did a couple of loads of laundry today.  Need clean things for trip to Victoria.

Bought some clothes at Northern Reflection & Mark's Workwear World.  Needed some warmer tops that unbutton to get to the port-a-cath.

Canada Line Bridge

Found geocache #357 near the Richmond side of the Canada Line bridge.  Walked up the wonderful bike/pedestrian sidewalk to take some photos.

Did some shopping at Chapters, London Drugs and Cobbs and then home.

Met Louise for dinner at Cactus Club and then to our support group at the Cancer Agency.

Go Lions

After a scary start, the Lions settled down and played better.  How many quarterbacks can one team have?

The day just melted away.  I was pretty tired although I slept well.

Booked my hotel room in Victoria on Expedia for next Sunday & Monday at the Traveller's Inn - Downtown.  Will be in the Legislature for DEAR and then some geocaching.

Monsoon

Easy to forget all those days of sun when the monsoon rages outside.

Drove to Surrey for dinner with Glen and Jane.  Jane is still in a wheelchair after breaking her ankle, so Glen cooked.

Too wet to geocache!  Should finish my book tonight.

Last physio?

Went to physio today.  I'm going to pack up all my bills and forward them to my lawyer.  I think it is time to move tro the next stage.  My shoulders and back are still stiff and sore but I can turn my head both ways again.  It has been a year and I'd like all the money back for the physio.

Shopped at COSTCO and then home to dive back into my book.

Poor Canuck!

Red Cross Training

Did bills today.  Needed to get my Quicken up to speed after not having my computer for so long.  The wife of my Dad's 2nd cousin died and I put her obit into my new version of Family Tree Maker.  It is so much better than the older one I was using.  It merges automatically with Ancestry.ca that I pay for.

Met Jeff, Robin & Karen to work on the training manual for the Red Cross Telus Call Centre.  We agreed on everything.  Love groups like this.

Home by 8:00 and ready to start reading Lost Symbol that I finally picked up from the library today.

FInished

Spent the day working on the Vancouver RTA newsletter and finally sent it off to the printer!  Didn't hear anything from them so I must call tomorrow.

Was going to do other paperwork but was too tired.  Tomorrow!

Callanish

Had to go back to the BCTF building to retrieve the netbook I left there last week.  Duh!

Attended "Strength Within" at Callanish.  3 others from our retreat (the 49ers) showed up today as well.  Janey led the meditation and it was like I'd never left.  It sure comes back easily.  I know I fell asleep a couple of times as someone came to stroke my head.

Stopped at the Sunshine Diner for lunch and ran into Diane and her husband.  If I order eggs benny again, I must ask for a 1/2 order.  Back to UBC and this time found the Bio 101 cache!  Must have looked right at it the last 2 times.

Bought groceries and picked up the full strength prescription for my thyroid at Safeway and then home.  Too tired to continue.  Woke up early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep.

Happy Thanksgiving

It has now been a year since the bus hit my car.  I think one more physio will do it.  I haven't been for a couple of weeks and my neck is pretty good.  Then I'll load up all those bills and ship them to my lawyer.  I've been waiting for rain to get caught up on paperwork.

Finished the RTA newsletter and sent it to my proofreader to check.  Went out to geocache on the last day before the rain begins.  Found 3 but am still stuck by the one near the Biology building at UBC.

Had a turkey dinner at White Spot.

Sunday Drive

Felt like one of those Sunday drives my father used to make my mother take us on (he was blind so she had to drive).  Went back to the IOCO (Imperial Oil CO.) townsite and found a cache.  Found a total of 4 in the area but didn't find another 4 - frustrating, especially when you have to climb about for nothing. 

The day was bright but started clouding over a bit later in the afternoon and there was a bit of a chill.  Still the best place in Canada to be this weekend.

FTF

Had a long sleep but still ached this morning from all the walking.  I also had a headache most of the day, so decided to stay in.  It takes a long time to get through the Saturday papers (online) - Sun, Times Colonist, National Post, Globe & Mail...

Worked on the Retired Teachers' newsletter but I am still short a column.  Can't go to printer until Tuesday so I am not panicking.

Was printing a new copy of the geocaching map of Vancouver and realized a new multi cache had appeared near Marine and Granville. Went to the 1st coordinates and found the clue for the 2nds.  I was the First to Find (FTF) - my 1st!

Busy day

Attended a COSCO meeting at the Hasting Community Centre - The Council of Senior Citizens' of BC.  The speaker from BC Ambulance was interesting

http://www.saveourparamedics.com/

Drove to Delta and picked up Pam and Lori.  We found caches in Richmond, Delta and Surrey.  I had 13 finds to push me up to 348.   Lori and/or Pam had already found a few of these.  We finished off the group in Serpentine Fen just as it was getting dark.

Turned down dinner invitations as I was so sore and tired I knew that if I went into their houses, I wouldn't want to leave again.  I think I will sleep well tonight.  I walked over 8 km and drove about 150 km.

Long day at the Cancer Agency

Went back to Crown and Marine to find the cache we couldn't find yesterday. The photo on the web gave me the clue I needed. Now at 335!

Picked up Mae and was at the Cancer Agency just before 10.  Only gave 1 vial of blood and then waited for Mae & Darline.  We walked across the street to Bean So Good for tea and cinnamon bun.

View Larger Map

I love the new Google Street View. When you can't remember the name of a place, just zoom in!

Met with Stephanie at 11:20. My tumour markers are holding pretty steady. They should be below 30 but have stopped climbing.

I asked about the thyroid and my TSH test (Thyroid-stimulating hormone) was at 5 which means hypothyroidism.  This is often a side effect of the study drug.  Does this mean I am on the real thing and not the placebo?

I went back to Bean So Good for carrot soup and a small bagel.  Spent the rest of the time before my treatment in the 5th floor lounge, reading and listening to my iTouch. 

The drug was delayed about 45 minutes as there was problem mixing it in the pharmacy.  The treatment was fine and the nurse had no problems.  A lot easier when they can use the port-a-cath for everything.

Saw Dr. Drysdale, the shrink, at 3:30.  I had seen her 15 years ago when on Tamoxifen.  She suggested an appointment when we ran into each other a few weeks ago.

Finally home just before 5 pm.   A long day.

RTA Executive

Started the day with an RTA Executive meeting.  Lori emailed during the meeting and asked me to meet her.

Had lunch at Tim Horton's and went to Dunbar Library for a change.  Met Lori at the piece of machinery on Southlands that I visited unsuccessfully yesterday.  We both looked for a good 1/2 hour and she finally found the cache!  Then we worked out a puzzle cache at the foot of Crown.  There are a lot of standing stones along the roadway that were part of the puzzle.  We had to avoid a camera crew filming a documentary that involved a girl running down the centre of the street waving a tree branch.  We solved the clues and reached the cache but didn't find it.  Got some hints from the website and the owner tonight so think we can find it now.

Love the new Google!


View Larger Map

Zzzzzzz

After reading the papers I set out to find a geocache in Southlands.  Looked for 1/2 an hour but couldn't find it.  Gave up on further searches as I was just too tired.  Stopped at IGA for groceries and then straight home.

Fiddled on RTA newsletter and read some.

It works!

Put my computer together and it seems to work. I always thought it was the video card an wish they had replaced it a couple of months ago. For carting the tower & monitor up and down 3 flights MANY times since July, I end up with a new monitor, DVD drive & video card and short $150 for reinstalling Windows. When the warranty is up, I'll never shop at Future Shop again.

The Red Cross meeting was changed to next week so I worked on the Retired Teachers' Assoc. newletter this afternoon and have it nearly finished. Just  waiting for 2 articles.

I as still really tired and my hands hurt.

Ioco Ghost Town Day

Drove to Matt's this morning and was congratulating myself on the quick route when I was stopped at Ioco Road from 10 to 10:30 while the Motorcycle Christmas Toy Run was allowed by.  They were allowed to ride in pairs, very slowly and some without helmets.  I'm sure the bus behind me was as thrilled as I was.

We all went to Ioco Ghost Town Day at the old Ioco Townsite.  The perfect small town event.  I bought jam, apples and Girl Guide cookies.  Matt boought an apple tree and a couple of blueberry bushes for his patio from Derry's Orchard & Nursery.

Went to Coquitlam Centre with Matt and I actually found a couple of things I wanted (bag & fountain pen) while he shopped.

Shopped at Thrifty's on the way home.  Found a cache by an old church in Port Moody.

All in all, a perfect day!

 

Computer back

After visiting the library and having lunch, I went for a walk in the Richmond Nature Park.  Should have checked the map.  Guessed wrong and ended up on the wrong path for the 2 caches.  Was too tired to backtrack and try again. 

Picked up computer from Future Shop.  They changed the DVD drive & video card.  I thought it was the video card all along.  One of my neighbours carried the tower up for me.  I'll put it together tomorrow.

Met Moira for dinner at Applause.

What was I going to do today?

Mel came to clean and do the laundry.  There was only one machine available so I decided it was time to change to the flannel sheets and wash the cotton another day.

By the time she finished at 15:00, I was just to tired to go out.  Mel did all the work but I was tired.  Go figure?  I am assuming it is the thyroid and the new medication hasn't kicked in.  My hands are still pretty sore and I am hoping all this will settle down when I reach the full strength in a couple of weeks.

Spent the night wathcing TV, listening to the Lions and playing on the Nintendo DS.  That's the life!

Geocaching evening

Met Pam and Lori and headed to Surrey & North Delta.  We started in Serpentine Fen but had to stop to make it back to the car by 6pm.  The man had already closed the gate and cycled ahead of us to let us out.  We'll use the other parking lot next time.

Found some more caches in had dinner at the White Spot on Scott Road.  Lori started the day with 630, Pam now has 393 and I am pulling up the rear at 332.