Back in Oakville

Home isn’t home anymore, my RV is now home. Upon opening my condo apartment door was met by a wall of eighty degree heat which took the air conditioning unit twenty-four hours to overcome. Left soon after to find my favourite Swiss Chalet still open and to be recognized by my waitress. My beer was warm but otherwise the meal was as excellent as I’d remembered. Sated I went hunting for batteries for my beeping smoke alarms and browsed Oakville Place noting the closed spaces and missing businesses. Home again I braved the heat and settled in to watch Doctor Zhivago after determining that my smoke alarm problem was caused by a piece of junk installed unbeknownsted to me. Getting caught up with 3 months of mail is always a trial.

Saturday morning after sleeping round the clock settled into my own bathtub for a good soak before dropping in on a couple of my neighbours including the ones who check my apartment. Decided to watch the mini-series North and South which I plan to loan my Brother-In-Law who is presently ploughing through the novels upon which it is based. Also at last finished reading the Guide Book on Gros Morne National Park. Now that I’ve finished it wish I had a chance to tour the park without rain, fog, and snow and see the flowers, wildlife, and geology described therein.

Sunday morning, my home finally felt cool and I went off to church and had dinner with friends. Upon returning dropped in on two neighbours and met another in the hallway. I needed company to divert my thoughts from the visit I was to pay on the morrow. In my travels today found rubber speed bumps on Warminister Dr. Took an alternate route next day to Hopedale Mall where I visited the TD Bank for cash and to hopefully resolve some credit card chip issues and got supplies at Metro, the former A&P. At 11:15 Friday August 16th kept the appointment with the ophthamologist which brought me back to Oakville. As always doctor’s offices are a case of hurry up and wait. This one makes the patients feel like cattle at an abattoir. I will say that when it came to it the doctor took the time to explain matters to me in detail. The outcome was a decision that I need laser eye surgery to be performed over two appointments beginning the last Thursday in August. My final appointment will be an after-care checkup on Friday, September Third. The possible complications and side-effects are balanced by the distinct possibility of an accute attack of glaucoma leading to excruciating pain and overnight blindness. A Hobsian Choice.

Although I’d thought to travel while I waited the extreme heat and the cost of summer camping in Southern Ontario persuaded me to stay home in my air conditioned apartment. Unfortunately I lack internet contact in my home and feel withdrawal symptoms. After a day spent reading and watching DVD’s on Tuesday finally decided to start my refrigerator for the first time in two years and had my first coffee since noon Sunday this morning, Wednesday, August 18th. After two months of nearly freeezing in Newfoundland when I wasn’t lost in a fog or being deluged it’s hard to get used to the fact that it hasn’t rained here since my return a week ago and the overnight temperature barely gets to 70. It took my fridge 48 hours to get to operating temperature but at least after 2 years it still runs.

After one week at home I still can’t get online without driving somewhere else. This morning I figured out how to direct tune my fancy tuner stereo. I’ve immersed myself in my video collection moving from the seriousness of North and South to the red-necked ridiculousness of the Tremors Series and the Celtic Fantasy of Heath Ledger in Roar. Since I own three vacuum cleaners I really should attack the dust and there’s still that pile of mail.... Experimenting with Google’s Picassa Software seemed more fun.

August 21, 2010
Went out this morning to find an internet connection. Had to deal with 100 plus gift requests in Farmville and downloaded 300 E-mail. It may be some time before I catch up. Got some groceries and drove home again.