Friday, August 24, 2007

Alice Meets Wile E. Coyote

Yesterday, as pre-arranged I headed off to Zefferellis on Robson for a birthday lunch with our CEO and the other August B-Day buddies I work with.

I was supposed to meet the group at 12:30 at the restaurant but arrived about 10 minutes early.

I climbed the steep flight of stairs leading to the second story and walked into the restaurant for the first time, quickly scanning the tables for my co-workers. They had not arrived yet and so I took a quick trip down the corridor behind the bar to the men’s washroom.

When I came out, I had made up my mind that if they weren't there yet I would go downstairs and meet everyone in the bright sunshine on the street and that we would all walk up together.

The Exit sign glowed above the doorway on my left and while fixing that in mind and turning towards it I scanned the restaurant tables once more. Unfortunately, I took the wrong turn.

I thought I was taking a shortcut behind a counter and I found myself stepping into empty space and hurtling Alice in Wonderland style down a rabbit hole. It was a stairwell leading down to the Cactus Club restaurant below, but it was unlit and because I was not paying close attention there was no way to see there was not a floor behind the counter.

I picture myself in freefall and a lot of things occurred simultaneously.

One was panic and a kind of horror that I had not seen this coming. The other was the sudden realization that I was falling into a stairwell as my vision adjusted to the shadows. There was also a distinct sensation that time had slowed down or stopped all together. Another was that there was a banister rail within my grasp but my body was quickly turning backwards and upside down and so I grabbed for it wildly, certain that I would miss.

I did not miss. Although I was suddenly head first into the stairwell, my feet pointing toward the light, my grip on the banister broke the momentum of my freefall.

Up at the top of the stairs I could hear the waiters’ gasps of “Oh no,” and “Oh my God”.

By the time their faces appeared, I was pulling myself out of the darkness and surfacing. I was feeling a mixed burn of embarrassment and foolishness as I came up, and immediately thought of that unfortunate cartoon coyote, Wile E. I must have had a similar look on my face.

Outside of a few bruises and scrapes I was fine and told them so. I was still intending to go downstairs but they quickly ushered me to my table and sat me down. I could almost hear them thinking "Sit him down before something else happens." It was not until I was sitting that I realized how badly my body was shaking.

When my co-workers arrived I was at no loss for words. Everyone expressed immediate concern and sympathy, even shock as a man my age falling down stairs could easily be a disaster.

I am grateful that I have kept up my morning routine of exercise as I am no worse for it this morning, other than a bit of stiffness in my right arm, the one that grabbed for safety.

Once again this appears to be another mysterious case of Angels to the rescue!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

A Child's Prayer

The other day a dear friend of mine forwarded me an email with the subject line: International Angel Day. In it was a picture of an angel and a quote from Leonard Cohen:

If we forget to pray for the angels, the angels forget to pray for us.

This morning as I said my prayers, I pictured myself as that young school boy in church or kneeling by my bedside, saying my prayers, my heart full of expectancy and hope.

As a boy I put my heart and soul into prayers and it is no wonder that prayer has such a healing influence on me these days, as it brings back some of the strength and passion of my youth.

I remember when we were living on MacDonald Street (about 14 years ago now) in the house where Kadir was born, I ran into a stranger at Kits Neighborhood House one day. He was a middle aged man with a French Canadian accent, searching for a place to live and scouring the notice boards there. He asked if I knew of any places for rent.

“Not off the top of my head”, I replied.

“Well what about around the sides of your head, or at the back here?” He demonstrated by touching his scalp at the spots he described.

I was not sure what to make of the person or of this challenge, but we got into a conversation and soon he became an infrequent visitor to the family home. Eventually we found him temporary accommodation at the home of a friend nearby.

To thank us, he appeared at the house one day and summoned me outside.

“I have something I would like to give to your children, but I wanted to ask your permission first”, he said. He opened the trunk of his car and inside were two boxes containing new roller blades.

As we were unloading them, he reminded me of something I knew as a child. He asked if I had ever heard of the “Angel of God” prayer.

I had not thought about this prayer for a long time, but my mother taught it to me and as a child I always said it.

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love entrusts me here, ever this day/night be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide, Amen.

He told me that he always said this prayer and that he felt it had tremendous power and suggested I teach it to my children.

I had taught my children this prayer when they were small, but had forgotten about it over the past few years and never really recited it myself as an adult.

He also gave me a book on the subject of spirituality although I can’t recall the name and title of it but I do remember that I started saying this prayer again as we had to move and could not find a place to live that we could afford.

The angels must have listened!

To this day I still say the Guardian Angel prayer every morning and at the end of it, add the names of family, friends and anyone that I think is in need of healing or divine protection.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Positive Changes

Thursday morning and the sun is wrestling with the clouds for its place in the blue sky!

I am preparing for my workweek and since rain is forecast for this afternoon, my umbrella is hanging on the door handle. But I have been lucky with days off and the last two were no exception. Both of them brilliantly sunny and hot!

Tuesday I had my scheduled appointment with my doc to check blood pressure and to my dismay he suggested another med called Zocor to work on the cholesterol levels.

How long do I have to take it for? I asked. I should have known better. His stock answer, "Forever" popped up like the No Sale sign in an old fashioned cash register.

I asked him to write out the prescription so I could find out how much the meds are going to cost and also to research it. Once again the price was not a problem as long as I am working and receiving medical benefits but what about after?

After researching it on the internet I made my decision. Why would I want to take another medication that breastfeeding mothers should stay away from and with the added possible side effects cautionary: known to increase the risk of cancerous tumors in mice and could cause muscular breakdown?

So I am going to live with my normal/high BP diagnosis for another month and see if the Plendil brings it down a bit more. Taking this one medication is enough of a bullet for me to bite right now.

Wednesday morning I felt much better having taken this stand and so was up for lunch with youngest son Kadir and his mom. We walked down to English Bay for a bite and to toss around recent happenings.

Kadir is now a couple of inches taller than his mom and going strong to compete with his big brother and oldest sister for height. It is hard to process just how quickly he is changing. He will be going into grade 9 this year!

But like all things in life we are wading through the stream of changes as they go rushing past us, and we try to determine our place in them, find our balance.

I am praying for lots of positive changes for us all in the coming year!

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

How long do you want to keep your computer?

How long do you want to keep your computer?

This was the question asked by the young sales rep at Future Shop when I traded in my recent birthday present for an upgrade. He was trying to sell me a 2-year warranty which would ensure repairs if something went wrong.

But the question threw me.

Forever, I answered, which drew a huge grin from the young man.

This was my first ever laptop, a recent birthday present that made me feel like a 16 year old again, but when I had tried to burn a backup disc following the instructions, the Acer Inspire write-failed. With this model, you only got one shot. I took it into the shop and they explained that this happens sometimes and asked if I would like a replacement model.

I immediately decided not to replace a model that malfunctioned before I had even had a chance to use it, and so I upgraded to a Toshiba Satellite, a more powerful computer at a higher price. They also threw in Microsoft Office 2007, a non-commercial version at a greatly reduced price.

The young man looked at me with some sympathy and told me that in a couple of years or more this computer could already be obsolete. I preferred to look at it as a fine violin, one that would age gracefully and be even more functional, though I kept this thought to myself.

The original present had come with a 2-year warranty and so we agreed on that. I also agreed to let the experts at the shop set it up for me and burn the backup discs so I would not have to return.

They told me it would be ready in about 5 hours. So I wandered leisurely over to Canada Place and strolled along the promenade with the tourists, looking at the plaques that describe the early beginnings of the BC travel and communications industry.

The hours flowed like molasses and it seemed that the appointed time would never arrive, so I returned to Future Shop an hour early, hoping that my machine would be ready. Nope! I had to return in another hour and so more window shopping followed.

By the time my computer was ready, I was exhausted but I relished the thought that my troubles were now over, and I could go home and get started with learning how to use it.

At home, I eagerly unpacked my computer and plugged it in. I was surprised that when I tried to open the Office Suite, it asked for my Product Key, a long series of numbers and letters that is included on sticker in the box. I thought the setup people at the shop had already done this.

So I entered it in carefully, but received the error message that it was incorrect. I tried this several times, with the same result. Then I thought eureka, I will try using the product ID, a different series of numbers which were also incorrect. Finally, after about an hour I realized that whatever I tried was not going to work. I assumed they had returned my disc in the wrong box.

Not only was I exhausted by now, but totally stressed out by the futile efforts and the long wait of the earlier day.

I was out of bed at 8:30 the next morning and at Future Shop by 9 with my product boxed and bagged, only to see that they didn’t open until 10. I waited in front of the immense industry style unrolling metal gate that closes after hours like a medieval drawbridge until finally, a man with a key appeared and unlocked and raised it.

I was the first customer to get to the repair desk and the technician listened to my problem, tried to enter the key, and then discerned that they hadn’t done they job right in the first place. The computer came bundled with a trial version of Office Professional and they had neglected to uninstall that. So while I waited the sales rep who had originally sold me the package and his department manager came over to apologize and they threw in a nice laptop case for my trouble.

This was a fair settlement as far as I am concerned, as after my two trips to the store with my computer in a box, I knew that I would have to find a more convenient way of transporting it. (The briefcase I originally thought I could use was too small.)

There was yet a 3rd trip to the repair shop, as I was convinced the keyboard was malfunctioning, but the young techie who assisted me pointed out very politely that using the keyboard was a learning curve. As I demonstrated my problem he saw that my thumb was dropping on the mouse pad sending conflicting signals. It seems I have to teach myself to type in a whole new way.

So how long am I going to keep my computer? As long as it takes!

And I still prefer the fine violin scenario!