Yesterday morning I got my first real taste of this summer of 2008, as I woke early to prepare for work and set off to pick up my new eyeglasses before my shift.
I have purchased most of my glasses at Opticana in Vancouver for the last 20 years or so as they have a great deal where the frames are free...and they aren't bad frames either.
Recently my doctor advised me to have my eyes tested as there have been a few issues with my vision lately but when I went for the test the news was all good. My vision has improved slightly in the past 7 years since my last exam.
The only thing I needed was new prescription for my computer glasses as I spend a full working day gazing at a computer screen. Fortunately they've dumped the old style monitors in favor of the new flat screen displays which are much easier on the eyes.
As it has been a cool summer I set off with jacket in hand but a few blocks from my home I was so warm that I realized I would not have to put it on. The sun was shining brilliantly and pedestrians in tank tops and shorts abounded. (Well, they weren't actually leaping but more smiling and sauntering.)
I took my time as I had a couple of hours before my shift actually started and so I ambled along Bute Street, crossing Thurlow by St. Paul's Hospital and making my way to the 500-block of Seymour where Opticana has just moved to avoid the crush of the Canada Line construction along the Granville corridor.
I passed the open door of a pub on Dunsmuir, just east of Granville and was inundated by the sheer volume inside. People were cheering and pressed up to the bar and crowding the entrance way and I realized that Spain had just scored a goal. It is soccer season, and in many ways it outdoes hockey for sheer spectator exuberance locally.
I stopped briefly to peer in, but the crowd was too dense to make out anything other than waving arms, lifted mugs and people slapping each other on the back. It brought back memories of the Canucks last stand this winter, though.
A few minutes later I arrived at the shop and was happy to see that I was the only customer. The technician who had originally taken my order was there to fit the glasses and it took only a few moments.
Soon I was headed into work re-orienting my balance with the new glasses as they made me feel like I was standing a couple of inches higher off the pavement and while I walked I was thinking about my lack of blogging this month. My friends and family who follow it will wonder if I am still alive and so this morning I have entered this piece just by way of saying hi.
The eagalicmusic website is on hold right now, as my friend Danny is in the midst of a bigger project and so is unable to complete the steps necessary for me to continue posting.
In the next few weeks I hope this will be remedied and I can continue posting chapters of my book and new photos.
In the meantime, I guess I'll be seeing my computer screen at work a bit more clearly.
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1 comment:
hi baba
Finally a blog from you. Nice to hear that you are still here and
sauntering down a summer street in Vancouver. I have just returned from a saunter up to our local stroll, returning home prior to the major heat of the day. It is warm 30+ --a real summer day. I am feeling the heat, but loving it. Especially as the heat comes this year without the penalty of mosquitoes!! I feel like I am getting a taste of heaven--summer in Edmonton with no mosquitoes. I could ask for a little ocean breeze, but lets not press our luck.
This is my third day of my
extended summer vacation (without pay) provided by my job with the
school system, and I am finally beginning to let go of some of the
tension. You would think by now I would have learned how to let go of tension while I am working, but it seems to be just beyond my grasp.
Your eyesight is improving --thanks for that message of hope. As we age, it seems like very few messages show and upward trend....just after my last note to you about one of my online friend's sudden demise, I had
another message from a good friend that he had suffered a heart
'incident' shortly after he last saw me, and expected to be taking it very easy this summer. Another friend is grappling with the loss of two siblings this year. Mortality seems to be a theme.
I almost forbid Doug to go on his third bike ride within the last four days....one bike ride was 191 km, the next 80 and today will likely be another 80-100. But then I remembered, that I cannot control the universe and relented.
He and I may go on a much shorter (60km) bike ride this Wednesday,
returning the next day. I am challenged by that distance now, but for him it will be a lazy two days.
On a more positive note, my friend Victor now 76, seems to have found a second wind (quite literally perhaps as he gave up smoking) and is keeping me on my toes trying to respond to numerous e-mails.
I have been enjoying your new website, and look forward to the
continuation. The pictures bring back memories--You likely have no idea of how closely I followed you and how many times I reviewed the pictures you are posting.
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