The Jar of Awesome

I've been feeling somewhat grumpy about the internet lately.  Every day it seems there's another article about our personal information being compromised.  And now I hear that my Starwood Rewards account information has possibly been hacked, together with about 500 million other SPG members.

And each of us puts so much information on the internet, what with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.  My blog, even, is chock full of information about me.

So I deactivated it.  The End.

But I had a really great day today, and realized I needed to say something about the Jar of Awesome.

So, I reactivated the blog. 

About the Jar of Awesome ...

I've mentioned before that I volunteer with the mentorship program at Bridges for Women.  At one of our meetings I met another volunteer who is a published author!  So I got her book out of the library and read it.  It's a nice little romance, written in conjunction with three other women authors.  In my search for a contact email to tell her how much I enjoyed it, I came across her blog and the Jar of Awesome.

The Jar of Awesome is a repository for those wonderful, but often simple, things that happen in your life.  You write yourself a little note about that wonderful experience, that person who was so nice to you, or that satisfying accomplishment, and pop it into the jar.  Then anytime you want, you can open up that jar and be reminded of it.  I started my Jar of Awesome in an old Tupperware container a couple of weeks ago.  So far it has three notes in it.  Today's note is particularly awesome, because it's about a Bridges experience.

So, thank you, Rachel Goldsworthy, for telling me about the Corsair's Cove books and the Jar of Awesome.

And thank you, You-Know-Who-You-Are, for today's awesome-ness.

And the blog continues ...

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Chrystia Freeland

Trapped

It rained buckets in Montreal today, so we decided to explore the underground city instead of braving the elements.  Except .... we couldn't.  You see, there is no way to get down there with a walker: no elevator, only stairs and escalators.   Which made me kind of cranky ...

Actually .... very cranky.

There is a restaurant on Douglas Street in Victoria, Cora, with the same limitation.   These folks put on a nice (free) breakfast for the Tourism Victoria volunteers, but when I asked about access for persons with mobility issues, I was told there was none.  Apparently to install a ramp would impact the sidewalk unless the entrance to the restaurant was changed, and that would cost too much.  Too much to accommodate an increasingly large segment of the population ....

Yes, very cranky.

Contrast this with the hotel we frequent in Quebec City,  the Clarendon.   It's an old hotel, and it shows.  It is also restricted by heritage building rules, and sidewalk limitations, but the doorman actually brings out a portable ramp for people with mobility issues.   No complaints, no delays, it's just what they do.

I may have to put that crankiness to better use ...

Fake news?

Something extraordinary happened in Quebec City this morning!  I saw it with my own eyes ...

Saguenay

Gale force winds and rain greeted us as we docked in Saguenay this morning.

We've not been here before, so we really wanted to get off the ship and wander about.  We held off until about 11:30, then decided to brave the weather and give it a shot.  Well ..

The wind was so strong that we actually had difficulty making it to the terminal building.  Part way there, about the equivalent of a half block's distance, we took refuge behind a small building and decided to turn back: we were wet, our glasses were impossible to see through, and the wind was almost knocking us over.

Along comes a young woman from the Port of Saguenay to our hidey-hole.  She tells us to wait for the golf cart that is shuttling people from the dock to the terminal building.  So we did.

This nice man, also from the Port, helped Tom onto the cart and wiped off the back seat for me (a wasted effort, I must say).  We arrived at the terminal building in seconds.  Once there, we looked around, but chickened out about going further into town.  We caught the golf cart back to the ship and the warmth and safety of our room.

There are two other cruise ships in port, both of them at anchor.  Glad we didn't have to tender to shore!

Intrepid travellers

I love this picture ...

Nova Scotia

Here we are in lovely Sydney NS.  Once again there are three ships docked - two Holland America and one Disney - a boon to the local economy,  I'm sure.  Ours is the only ship that was actually scheduled to be here (and so we get the preferred docking location).  The other two ships had their itineraries rejigged because of Hurricane Florence.  

Had some nice chats with the locals this morning as we walked along the boardwalk.

(Tom kept challenging other people with walkers to a race.)

There's also a nice memorial to the Merchant Navy.

Yesterday we were in Halifax,  our first Canadian port.  I left Tom on the boardwalk while I went in search of the perfect t-shirt.  By the time I got back, he had removed both his fleece and sweater, and was down to a golf shirt.  We were both wishing we'd worn shorts, it was so warm.

Which made it a perfect day to meet our friends Leslie and Bill at Garrisons for a beer. 

Oh, and I'm up $43 on the slots! 

Good times

After a stressful (and bloody) start to our cruise, I am pleased to report that we are back on track - a lovely dinner with great waitstaff, good wine (for one of us, anyway), a great show on the Mainstage, and a successful turn on the slots  (up $9!!).

If the cruise industry has a theme song, it's not The Love Boat (exciting and new!) as you might expect.  Rather, it's got to be Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline.  I am sure that every cruise we have been on has had at least one entertainer who gets the crowd waving arms  (touchin' me, touchin' you), and belting out Sweet Caroline (bah, bah, bah) at full voice.

I confess: I'm one of that crowd.

There is something about that enthusiasm that really works for me.   People are just letting loose, having a great time.  From time to time, we all need to just let go and enjoy the moment.  Good times never seemed so good.

Banana crisp

Well, the hassles of travel are over (and there were a few 😣) and here we are just leaving NYC,  unpacked, sitting in our stateroom watching MSNBC,  replete with trout, steak, wine, fruit, cheese and yes, the aforementioned banana crisp, relaxed and unstressed.

Zzzzzzzzzz ......

Ask me

This morning I gave my email address to a total stranger.  The woman, whose name I never did get, was a passenger on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. 

You see, I volunteer down at the cruise ship port with the Tourism Victoria Ambassador program during the tourist season.  We greet the passengers as they disembark, direct them to Victoria's hot spots and, generally, chat.  Chatting is my favourite part.

Victoria is a regular stop on the Alaska run for over 600,000 guests on 245 ships from nine or so different cruise lines.

The recipient of my email address was a woman from England with a relative in Willenhall, where my Mum and Dad are from.  (Anyone in England know Eileen Davis from Willenhall?)

Though most of the passengers are from the US, today I met a Canadian woman with relatives in Braeside (Malcolm Campbell, anyone?), and another, from Kemptville (who just wanted directions to the nearest Timmy's), as well as people from England, Jamaica, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, Colombia, Italy, Spain.

Many of the questions we get are pretty standard:  Where is the shuttle?  How do I get to ...?  Do I need to change my money?  How much is ...?  But most of the time, people just want to know what they should do with their six or so hours in town.  Each of the volunteers has a variation on this plan.

Here's mine:

Walk into town through the residential area.  Check out the free tours in the BC Legislature; visit the Royal BC Museum's Egypt display, take a wander through the Fairmont Empress Hotel.

Walk up Government Street to the second oldest Chinatown in North America (San Francisco's is older) and visit the Gate of Harmonious Interest and Fan Tan Alley.  Check out the local shops on Government, Johnson, Yates, and Broad Streets.  Stop for a beer or a cup of tea at one of the many restaurants and pubs before checking out the craft market in Bastion Square.

Make your way back to the Tourism Victoria Visitor Centre and go down the stairs to the lower causeway and check out the vendors there before hopping on a Victoria Harbour Ferry to Fisherman's Wharf.  There, treat yourself to halibut (the world's BEST fish!) and chips, before sauntering back to Ogden Point and the cruise ship, a mere 10 minutes away.

(I have another plan for people with kids which includes ice cream at Beacon Drive In and playing with the goats at the Beacon Hill Children's Farm!)

Oh, and today I learned how to pronounce Louisville like a native: Loovll

Old friends

We have a great library system in Victoria.  I can browse the catalogue and reserve books online, and the library sends me an email when they're ready to pick up.  My reserved books then wait for me on a shelf under my name, and I can check them out using a QR code on my phone.  The library is open seven days a week, except in the summer when it's closed on Sundays, because who wants to stay inside on a Sunday when you can go to the park instead?

I like to browse online, because I find the number of books on the shelves just too overwhelming to sort through.  That's what happened today: I dropped off my finished books and wandered into the library proper to see what was available.  After 20 minutes and reading the jackets of many books, I left empty-handed.  But that's okay because, you see, I have five books at home that I save especially for such a situation.

I have read these books, literally, more than a dozen times each.  I know who the good guys are, and who the bad guys are, too.  I know when the story comes together in that absolutely perfect moment.  And knowing all of this does not diminish my enjoyment of them at all.  Quite the contrary!

They are all different.  The Ivy Tree, by Mary Stewart, on loan to one of my favourite people at the moment, is a romantic suspense novel set in 1950's England.  That Man Cartwright, by Ann Fairbairn, tells of  the plight of the migrant workers in  California in the 60's.  Inferno, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, is a science fiction version of Dante's Inferno, updated to include a whole new set of modern sins and sinners in the nine circles of hell.  The Alistair MacLean Omnibus: Where Eagles Dare and Ice Station Zebra contains two of his best action books, full of swashbuckling characters, nasty villains, and lots and lots of explosions.  And finally, Riddle-Master, by Patricia McKillip, is an epic fantasy trilogy full of magic and treachery and love.

(Having put these names to paper, I'm remembering that there are several more that should be added to this list.  Hmmm ...)

Ahhh ...  That's all for now.  I have old friends to visit ...

The invasion continues ...

Well, it looks as if the Rowleys are continuing to move west!

First it was Bryan, then Allison, then Emily, and now ... Rick and Fran!

Fran arrived on Tuesday to join Rick and Bryan in their new home, just four blocks from us.  Now that calls for a celebration!

Or maybe two!

I yam what I yam

Tom got me interested in genealogy years ago.  He has a rich Canadian heritage of homesteaders and voyageurs.  We spent many a vacation at the Archives in Ottawa tracking down copies of certificates to validate our research and add to our records.  We went to Salt Lake City several times to access the Family History Library records and check out other people's genealogical research.  (Note: It really helps if, like Tom, you have an important Mormon in your family tree!)  We even went to Ireland to check out the home town of one of Tom's ancestors.

My own family research has been much less successful.  The families are all in England; they're smaller; and they were living in larger centres.  I joined Ancestry.uk and found a bit of information, but it pales in comparison to the wealth of Thompson/Judd detail.

There is also an ebb and flow to genealogical research.  For a time it can be all-consuming, then the trail goes cold and you put it away, sometimes for years.  Which is where I have been ... until recently.

Even though I cancelled my subscription ages ago, that pesky Ancestry.uk sends me emails every now and again with hints.  And, of course, I can't see those hints without resubscribing.  But every hint piques my curiosity and I begin to wonder if it's time to start again.

And then, there are those ads on TV ...

So, of course I had to send away for a DNA test kit.  Family lore says that we are just English, no Scots or Irish, just English.  (According to my hairdresser, family lore is usually correct.)  Well, let's see.

Spitting ...

Waiting ...

Waiting ...

Waiting ...

And the results are in!

(Tom says, "Isn't it amazing what they can do with a little bit of spit.")

Not a single surprise here at all.  Family lore and the hairdresser are right.  I yam what I yam.

Hocus Pocus

This is what I learned in my Religious Studies class today ...

In the early days of the Christian Church, regular folk didn't participate much in the service.  The priest stood behind a shoulder-high screen with his back to the people, and spoke entirely in Latin.  Not being able to see what was going on, and not being able to understand the words, made the whole experience a mystical one for congregation.

Then the priest intoned the words, This is My Body, and the bread in his hands was magically transformed into the true body of Christ.

Those words, in Latin, are Hoc est Corpus Meum.

Over the centuries, those words have been reshaped into the more familiar Hocus Pocus - an incantation used by magicians as they perform their tricks.

Who knew ...


(Any misinterpretation is my failure, and should not be considered a reflection on the excellent teaching in this class.)

Tales from the beach

The stars:  I woke up in the middle of the night and went out on the balcony to look at the stars.  In the city I can see Orion, but here the constellation was only marginally brighter than the other milions of stars in the night sky.  There were so many, and they seemed so close.  It was awesome.

The dog:  We watched a dog sitting alone on the beach, staring out to sea.  Every now and again he would move, walking a few feet, then sitting down again and continuing his vigil.  After a while, we saw a surfer come into shore.  The dog leapt up and went into the water, said a warm hello, and walked off home with his dad.

The sunset:  The lodge faces west, and we get the most fabulous views of the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean.  The beach gets crowded about this time - surfers packing up their gear, landlubbers strolling the beach to enjoy the fading day.  This picture was taken from the balcony of the Great Room where we go for dinner.

Somewhere over the rainbow

Arrived in Tofino on Monday after a five hour bus ride, an experience in itself:  Over the Malahat to Duncan, then stops at the Nanaimo airport and ferry terminal; through Parksville and Coombs to Port Alberni, where we stopped to eat our picnic lunch in the bus station parking lot; then on to the Pacific Rim Hwy, over The Hump, and through a winding stretch of road with a sheer drop to Kennedy Lake on the right and a rock face on the left; a quick stop in Ucluelet (Ukee to the locals), then on to the Long Beach Lodge Resort in Tofino.

Weather is fabulous, food is great, staff are engaging, and the view is unbeatable.

BOGO

The course I'm taking this semester is different in so many ways from the last one I took.  It's more lecture than discussion.  It's more information than analysis.  And it's in a lecture hall, rather than a classroom.  After the mind-blowing experience of the Ethics class, I was somewhat concerned that it might be a bit ... well ... boring.

Not so.

The prof comes across as someone whose brain is so full of information that his mouth can't keep up.  (One of the complaints about him on the Rate My Professors website is that he never finishes his sentences.  It's true; I get that.)  And he is so well organized!  As well as lecturing us three days a week, he posts his Prezi presentations, and his recorded lectures, online for us to review.  He provides us with review questions, and the corresponding answers, for every lecture .  His TA runs exam clinics before both mid-terms.

Today he spent the whole class working through next week's assignment with us.  And here's where I get excited:  He gives us a contemporary news article, a YouTube video, or something similar, and asks us to make one, just one, interesting connection to our course from it, and write about it.  He says that relating the course material to contemporary issues makes the whole thing more understandable (and memorable).  In the class today he showed us an old news article about an archaeological dig and a newly discovered church site, and had us brainstorm connections to the lectures so far.  I can hardly wait until he posts the real assignment on Friday!

This is a man who wants us to succeed in his course.

But there is another bonus to this course - those recorded lectures.  It just so happens that there is another person in this household who is also interested in this course, and now has the opportunity to learn along with me!

A matter of perspective 2

I have been travelling on the bus quite a lot in the last four months, and have noticed something quite interesting:  Young women don't sit beside me.

Mine is usually the last shared seat to fill.  My seat companion is most likely to be another older woman.  If not her, then a man, irrespective of his age.  Only when there are no other seats on the bus will a young woman share mine.

Why?

Is it because I look grumpy?  Is it because I remind her of her mother - Will I tell her to party less and study more?  Is she afraid that old age is contagious?

Hmmmm ....