Today is the first day of the rest of my life.
Yes, I know that that is the mantra of some kind of self-improvement cult, and I know that, to the rest of society, it's mostly a joke. For me, though, it's fairly true right now. As Peter said to me, when he first responded to the fact that Gloria had died, "now you have the opportunity to reinvent yourself." I'm not particularly grateful for the opportunity, and would just as soon have given it a miss. But, it is a fact, and I've got to live with it.
I tend to find it more amusing to say that Gloria died, and then the girls moved me out of my house and home. The reality is a more complicated set of circumstances, involving a renoviction that we knew was coming anyways, Gloria's death, the girls suggestion of moving, which actually happened before Gloria died, and was intended to be a move to a safer place for when Gloria came out of the hospital (and would have been a great idea had it not been for the fact that Gloria never did come out of hospital), my baby brother's concern about my financial situation without support of a pension, the fact that Port Alberni does not understand pre-sales and therefore a place here was within my price range, a purchase of a house on the toilet, and now here I am. Although I'm still not moved. I'm still not settled. BC Hydro and Telus have not deigned to verify, or as they insist on putting it, "qualify," the address, even though I've given them both the original address I was given while negotiations were going on, and the new address, which the city apparently decided on when they issued the occupancy permit. Until I get some commitment on the utilities, I can't talk to the movers, even though I have got a number of estimates from them. So, in a sense, I'm not really here yet.
But I'm here for the official "closing," which the lawyers, via email, verified has in fact happened yesterday, and the "possession" (which sounds vaguely demonic), which is going to happen when somebody turns over the keys to me at 9:00 or 10:00 this morning. At that point I will go over to the place and move the car full of junk that I brought with me (comprising things which, in my hectic and not terribly reliable current mindset, I considered essential to survival in the new place for a few days, as well as a number of items which I considered to fragile, to bulky, or too complicated to leave to the movers). I suppose that this is the human equivalent of "marking your turf."
I couldn't settle, yesterday. For the past week I have been waking up early, and been unable to get back to sleep. So, I am short on sleep, which renders my already unreliable mental state even more questionable. L suggested that I take a nap in the afternoon, after my trip over, but I never have been able to do naps during the day, and I certainly was not able to relax. So, I went to for a walk. I actually got a fair amount done. I talked to the bank and, after a couple of false starts, remembered that I needed a safe deposit box with them. I got down to the Salvation Army, having previously made contact with them and obtained a volunteer application form which I had filled out and brought back with me to turn into them. I verified my address with the library, this fully activating my library card (an interesting process which involves going over all of the purchase documents which I had brought with me, in order to verify that I had a Port Alberni address, and which, in the end, involved the tax form, as the only document that had both my name and the address on it). I found yet another church on my walk, and then headed off on the route which I suspect might become my regular shopping pathway. While I was still on the road, Number One Daughter sent a message suggesting an early dinner with the two of them and my great-grandson, so we arranged to meet at the store that I was heading for, which she needed to get to anyway, and had dinner down at the Quay, which, in my various explorations of Port Alberni so far, I hadn't got to. So now I have. Interestingly, although it had been a fairly warm day, here, at the Quay it was very windy and cold, and I got severely chilled during dinner. L and I watched a movie until much later than I normally stay up. However, even with the cumulative sleep deprivation, the chill, and the late night, while I did get to sleep fairly quickly, I still woke up at quater to four, and could not get back to sleep.
So I got out my laptops, and started to get them set up for working while I'm here. I put in a couple of hours of work, left the Windows machine updating and charging, and headed out for a walk. I had checked the temperature, and felt that, with one of my oversized shirts, that I can pull my hands up inside, I should have been warm enough. What I didn't count on was the fact that it seems to be overcast this morning, and even somewhat foggy and misty. Before I had got to the end of the block, I realized that I was going to need something else. So I went back and got a hoodie. Unfortunately, the only hoodie that I brought with me is jet black. And I not only had to put it on, pull my hands somewhat back into the sleeves to cover my hands and keep them warm, and zip the thing up, but I actually had to put the hood up, in order to keep warm enough. I usually don't do that, and I was quite aware of the fact that I was dressed in very dark clothing while I was walking around Port Alberni at 6:00 in the morning. When I got to the McDonald's I stopped, not to get coffee, but in order to walk around outside, using their wi-fi, while I'm dictating this. Now I think I'll head up to the Walmart, and see what time it opens here. And then on with the day.
Normally I might do the dictation at the casino. However, here, the casino doesn't stay open 24 hours a day, and doesn't open up until 11:00.
I checked the hours of operation at the McDonald's. I got in there slightly after 6:00 AM, so I figured that a 6:00 might be their opening time. However, they open both their dining room/lobby and their drive-thru at 5:00 AM, so that's one in the eye for Tsawwassen. Now I'm off to map wifi hotspots around Johnson and the main, big box store, shopping district. This is not actually downtown Port Alberni. Downtown Port Alberni, leftover from the days when it really was Port Alberni as opposed to Alberni, is about four miles away.
Mapping wifi, in the big box shopping area along Johnson/Highway 4, reveals some interesting discoveries. The Pacific Chevrolet dealership provides a nice strong signal, which is available all around the building, which makes it easier to walk around the building doing dictation and getting some exercise in at the same time. The dealership also must have Internet access with Shaw, because there is a Shaw Open hotspot at the same location. It is always important to know where Shaw Open hotspots correspond to other free wifi hotspots, because signing on to Shaw Open, as a guest, requires a separate Internet connection in order to be successful.
The CIBC broadcasts a strong signal, but only on one side of the building. Interestingly, even though I don't know where it is, the Bank of Montreal must have a location nearby, because it has a decent signal, even when I can't see where the business is. The A&W has a very strong signal, and it extends over a considerable area, which is handy. In fact, you can stand on the other side of the Staples, and see the A&W hotspot, better than you can see the Staples free/guest wifi. (Which doesn't say much for Staples provision of guest Internet access.) No frills does have PC guest access, but only when you get quite close to the building. (The no frills store doesn't post its hours on its doors, so it's hard to know when it's open.)
Walmart's Wi-Fi is available, but is as patchy as it always is.
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