Monday, July 28, 2014
Computer, show me the way to Balsam Lake!
Looking forward to a couple of days of camping at Balsam Lake Provincial Park. We've never been to Balsam Lake but the inter-web tells me it is a family friendly camp with a beach, fishing, canoeing and hiking trails. More than enough to do for the 4 days we will be there.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Friday, July 25, 2014
“Vacation Sex”: A Poem by Dorianne Laux
We’ve been at it all summer, from the Canadian border
to the edge of Mexico, just barely keeping it American
but doing okay just the same, in hotels under overpasses
or rooms next to ice machines, friends’ fold-out couches,
in-laws’ guest quarters—wallpaper and bedspreads festooned
with nautical rigging, tiny life rings and coiled tow ropes—
to the edge of Mexico, just barely keeping it American
but doing okay just the same, in hotels under overpasses
or rooms next to ice machines, friends’ fold-out couches,
in-laws’ guest quarters—wallpaper and bedspreads festooned
with nautical rigging, tiny life rings and coiled tow ropes—
even one night in the car, the plush backseat not plush
enough, the door handle giving me an impromptu
sacro-cranial chiropractic adjustment, the underside
of the front seat strafing the perfect arches of his feet.
And one long glorious night in a cabin tucked in the woods
where our crooning and whooping started the coyotes
enough, the door handle giving me an impromptu
sacro-cranial chiropractic adjustment, the underside
of the front seat strafing the perfect arches of his feet.
And one long glorious night in a cabin tucked in the woods
where our crooning and whooping started the coyotes
singing. But the best was when we got home, our luggage
cuddled in the vestibule—really just a hallway
but because we were home it seemed like a vestibule—
and we threw off our vestments, which were really
just our clothes but they seemed like garments, like raiment,
like habits because we felt sorely religious, dropping them
cuddled in the vestibule—really just a hallway
but because we were home it seemed like a vestibule—
and we threw off our vestments, which were really
just our clothes but they seemed like garments, like raiment,
like habits because we felt sorely religious, dropping them
one by one on the stairs: white shirts, black bra, blue jeans,
red socks, then stood naked in our own bedroom, our bed
with its drab spread, our pillows that smelled like us:
a little shampoo-y, maybe a little like myrrh, the gooseberry
candle we light sometimes when we’re in the mood for mood,
our own music and books and cap off the toothpaste and cat
red socks, then stood naked in our own bedroom, our bed
with its drab spread, our pillows that smelled like us:
a little shampoo-y, maybe a little like myrrh, the gooseberry
candle we light sometimes when we’re in the mood for mood,
our own music and books and cap off the toothpaste and cat
on the window seat. Our window looks over a parking lot—
a dental group—and at night we can hear the cars whisper
past the 24-hour Albertson’s where the homeless couple
buys their bag of wine before they walk across the street
to sit on the dentist’s bench under a tree and swap it
and guzzle it and argue loudly until we all fall asleep.
a dental group—and at night we can hear the cars whisper
past the 24-hour Albertson’s where the homeless couple
buys their bag of wine before they walk across the street
to sit on the dentist’s bench under a tree and swap it
and guzzle it and argue loudly until we all fall asleep.
Wednesday, July 09, 2014
The Source of Frustration
Letter I just sent off to the President of The Source, Charles Brown:
I will not be shopping at The Source ever again.
Hello,
Regarding:
The Source, Store #55113
Morningside Crossing
4525 Kingston Rd Unit #H7
Toronto ON, M1E 2P1
(416) 282-4406
I went to The Source store (see above) near my home on June 8, 2014, to exchange the batteries on my cordless handsets for one replacement (payable by me as it was an original battery) and two replacements (which I thought were covered by a warranty sold to me by this same store a year or two ago.) At the time that I bought the warranty, I bought two batteries and was told that the batteries were easily identifiable as being from The Source and that my warranty information would be kept on the stores database. I was told that coming in for replacement batteries would not be a problem even without a receipt.
I walked in to the store with my kids (9 and 13 years old) for what I thought would be a 10 minute trip to the store. The trip to this store, for the exclusive purpose of just exchanging my batteries, took 35 minutes.
I explained to the sale person (Faraque) that I thought my batteries were under a warranty and that I was looking to replace my dead batteries. From the start, Faraque told me that I should simply get a new cordless phone set from the store. That getting batteries would be too expensive. I thought that he did not understand that two of my handset batteries were covered under a warranty and since the batteries cost about $25 each that it made more sense for me to just buy one set of batteries and replace the other two as per my warranty. I explained this to him again.
When we returned to the sales counter, Faraque checked my battery type and said that this store did not have any batteries of the type I needed but that I could go to two other nearby Source stores to get my replacement batteries. I was surprised that The Source did not have even one of the three replacements I needed. So I went to the shelf with the batteries and managed to find one of the type of batteries I needed. As I continued my search, Faraque insisted that I stop looking for more of the same batteries. He said that he missed seeing the one battery that was in the store and his computer was not showing any other stock in the store. Just the one I had found.
As it turned out, Faraque was right. Unable to find another battery, I went back to the counter. Faraque then asked me for my contact information for the second time. I gave him this information and then after a long search told me that only the batteries for one handset were covered under a warranty but not from the second handset. I told the sales person how he knew, without me having a receipt, that the battery inside the one handset contained a battery previously bought at the source. He said that the batteries sold at the The Source have numbers unique to The Source. I wondered than how my two batteries bought at the same time a few years ago were not equally covered? Why would a customer put one set of batteries under warranty and not the other? And since he recognized that both batteries that I was claiming were under warranty, were from The Source, could he not make an exception? I asked him to check his records to see that I was indeed a loyal customer of this particular location? He said he had a charger of some sort which I had, in the past, also put under warranty.
Faraque insisted that he could replace one battery under the warranty but offered me no other options. He did not offer to call nearby stores, or check to see when a shipment of this particular battery might be coming in or offer any other alternatives that might have been open to him. Since I did not have a receipt and I was relying on The Source to keep track of my warranty purchase, I had to admit that there was not much I could do to pursue the warranty on the second battery. When I asked what Faraque thought I should do to replace batteries for my other two handsets, he suggested going to the other Source stores or buying similar batteries from some electronics store.
I finally asked this sales person to print a receipt of some sort showing that I had requested and gotten a replacement battery from the store under my warranty. The printing of any kind of document, I said to him, would be fine: such as my warranty or a receipt. Faraque said that since they were using a new computer system, the printer was not working properly. At this point I became very upset, but not abusive. I wondered how a store that specializes in selling electronics could not get their cash register to send a print command to their printer. Eventually, after a 5-10 minute delay, a document was printed out.
Once the document which was printed was brought from the back of the store, Faraque handed me a plain piece of paper on which he had handwritten the identifying numbers of my battery type. I insisted that I get the paper that he had actually printed out that carried identifying numbers on it for my records as I was going to be calling the customer complaints line due to the terrible customer service I had gotten at this store. Faraque then told me that the print out which he had produced was for store use only and was private. Then, Faraque, challenged me by saying: ‘why do you want to call the customer complaint line?’ So I went over the facts of my visit thus far for him:
1. I came in to replace my batteries 30 minutes ago
2. He asked me to buy an entire cordless phone set
3. Insisted he didn’t have the batteries I needed
4. When I found the batteries I needed in the store
5. He insisted that there was just the one and I should go elsewhere for my other batteries
6. Then he found my warranty but only for one set of batteries
7. Then he couldn’t print a receipt or warranty information for me
8. When he did print warranty information for me….he couldn’t give it to me because it was private
9. Then he tried to simply give me a handwritten piece of paper
10. And was now challenging my idea of calling a customer complaints line like there was nothing wrong at all with all our interactions.
At this point, Faraque finally decided to hand me the print out from the printer. Since there were no phone numbers on the print out I had been given, I asked for an 1-800 customer service number from him. Faraque began by giving me a 705 area code number. I protested and asked if there was no one number that a customer could call to lodge a complaint about service. Faraque said that he was not aware of any other numbers and that the 705 number was for the head office for The Source.
After about 35 minutes of trying to get a helpful answer from this employee, I finally headed out the door (with my kids in tow) without a word from this sales associate or the other two sales people who were in the store.
I am deeply disappointed that someone who works at a well known chain store such as The Source would be so cavalier with the loyalty that I have shown, especially to this store, over the years. I assure you that I do not plan on going to this store ever again
I will not be shopping at The Source ever again.
Saturday, July 05, 2014
Home again and then some
I returned home on June 30th and have spent all this time recovering from the nightmare of symptoms I brought home with me.
On July 1st I ended up visiting the emergency department of Centennary Hospital to complain about my extremely painful headache and neck pain. Symptoms of my stomach flu had abated. Both the fever, listlessness, headaches, photophobia, sensitivity to noise and general achiness had combined to give the impression that there was more going on with me than just an exacerbation of a migraine and a stomach bug. Meningitis was the first guess for the doctors in England. A CT scan and then a lumbar puncture prove this to be wrong.
What I came home with, then, was a massive migraine and the subsequent pain of having neck, shoulder and cranial muscles which had gotten a work out that they could not recover from. I needed pain killers to help me get through the day and and muscle relaxants to help my muscles revert to their normal state.
The emergency room doctor gave me migraine medications and then, when that didn't work, morphine. I was sent home with a referral to a neurologist and narcotic pain killers.
I saw the neurologist the next day: a stroke of luck as they had cancellation. The neurologist, a weird bird who made little to no eye contact and misread my information thinking I had had meningitis, prescribed Percocets (40 no less) for the pain. And a requisition for an MRI.
The following day, not trusting entirely in the neurologists 3 minute assessment, I followed up with my GP. The GP, whom I totally trust, told me to stop the Percocets and put me on steroidal meds to decrease my muscle inflammation and Pregabalin to reduce my sensitivity to pain. The pregabalin, from what I can gather, coats nerve cells and reduces their ability to communicate with each other. In my case, I think I had become oversensitive to pain or even the anticipation of the pain I would experience. Not sure if this make scientific sense...but it's my sense of what was going on: I needed my muscles to relax enough to recover, I needed to reduce muscle inflammation and the GP rightly added, something to take the edge off.
So it's been two days of being on this regimen of steroid and neuropathic analgesics to set my back on even keel. I have never, ever experienced anything like this. I did not even know that I had more than an occasional migraine (once every six months).
I have spent most of my days back in Toronto lying around the house, hiding from sudden changes in light and walking gingerly from one spot to another. I have, thankfully, gotten better each day and am contemplating going out to do some gardening tomorrow.
My sister in England, in the meantime, has been moved to her hometown's hospital as was her husband much earlier. They are both reported to be doing well. She is out of ICU and able to communicate fairly well. She still has a tracheostomy in place and so cannot talk. Otherwise making slow, measurable progress.
And that is what I have today in the way of updates.
On July 1st I ended up visiting the emergency department of Centennary Hospital to complain about my extremely painful headache and neck pain. Symptoms of my stomach flu had abated. Both the fever, listlessness, headaches, photophobia, sensitivity to noise and general achiness had combined to give the impression that there was more going on with me than just an exacerbation of a migraine and a stomach bug. Meningitis was the first guess for the doctors in England. A CT scan and then a lumbar puncture prove this to be wrong.
What I came home with, then, was a massive migraine and the subsequent pain of having neck, shoulder and cranial muscles which had gotten a work out that they could not recover from. I needed pain killers to help me get through the day and and muscle relaxants to help my muscles revert to their normal state.
The emergency room doctor gave me migraine medications and then, when that didn't work, morphine. I was sent home with a referral to a neurologist and narcotic pain killers.
I saw the neurologist the next day: a stroke of luck as they had cancellation. The neurologist, a weird bird who made little to no eye contact and misread my information thinking I had had meningitis, prescribed Percocets (40 no less) for the pain. And a requisition for an MRI.
The following day, not trusting entirely in the neurologists 3 minute assessment, I followed up with my GP. The GP, whom I totally trust, told me to stop the Percocets and put me on steroidal meds to decrease my muscle inflammation and Pregabalin to reduce my sensitivity to pain. The pregabalin, from what I can gather, coats nerve cells and reduces their ability to communicate with each other. In my case, I think I had become oversensitive to pain or even the anticipation of the pain I would experience. Not sure if this make scientific sense...but it's my sense of what was going on: I needed my muscles to relax enough to recover, I needed to reduce muscle inflammation and the GP rightly added, something to take the edge off.
So it's been two days of being on this regimen of steroid and neuropathic analgesics to set my back on even keel. I have never, ever experienced anything like this. I did not even know that I had more than an occasional migraine (once every six months).
I have spent most of my days back in Toronto lying around the house, hiding from sudden changes in light and walking gingerly from one spot to another. I have, thankfully, gotten better each day and am contemplating going out to do some gardening tomorrow.
My sister in England, in the meantime, has been moved to her hometown's hospital as was her husband much earlier. They are both reported to be doing well. She is out of ICU and able to communicate fairly well. She still has a tracheostomy in place and so cannot talk. Otherwise making slow, measurable progress.
And that is what I have today in the way of updates.
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