Olympic last day

Wow time flies! It might have been the "Disneyland effect", I don't think I hate it as much anymore. Well, not sure if it would be the same if they didn't win gold in hockey, though. But I can say, I'm very glad that they did. Congrats! And the gold medal count broke the record. Too bad not the total count. Which means the other teams are that much better. Congrats to everyone!

The other thing is, I'm not a hockey fan, and I usually don't watch hockey. But today, I had to watch at least the last half hour. They got me watching hockey!!! Aaaargh!!!

I even watched the opening ceremony after the closing ceremony. Yup, I missed it back then. Regretted it. God bless the internet! (Thanks A!)

Failed to go to Richmond today. Or else I'd be able to say, I've been to all the Zellars and the Bay I could reach. A total of 7 not counting these missing two. However, don't think it would make any difference. At the end, no size M red mittens. (T_T)

Metrotown, red mittens

Thanks to a tip from C, I went to Metrotown to hunt for those red mittens. Alas, left empty handed. Neither the Bay nor Zellars had any. Not a single pair. Not even a beaten up, abused, separated, bottom-of-the-basket pair. It's shocking how fast they fly off the shelves. It's been only one week since the last fresh shipment, and absolutely nothing's left! Unbelievable!

I guess I put my hope higher than I should have. Oh well. (T_T)

Dad somehow has his own idea on how to "organized" the cutlery drawer. Sigh...

Chiropractor, sakura

Failed to get up early. Oh well, there was nothing (to look forward to) anyway. Not that I didn't put in any effort. (It failed.) Got my much needed chiropractor appointment, then I took a walk to the LD at Broadway and Cambie. If they still have those mascot postcards, I wouldn't mind getting a few. (Stupid me, I should have bought them in West Van!) Of course they were sold out. There were still plenty of plushies left, though. A case of those $60 set of 4 were opened right in front of my eyes. No shortage. I wonder how long they'd last at half price. If only those red mittens were half price like this. Well, bad example.

Cambie near 16th has fancy animated lit-up decorations.


On my way home, I saw the sakura blooming on 50th. It's not even March yet!!! Yikes!!!

Where were you when I needed you? (T_T)

Oranges

Mom asked dad to peel 3 oranges. One for making jam, two to share between the three of us. He ended up eating two. Mom and I shared one. None left for making jam. And he prepared the oranges, taking off all the membranes too. He asked if anyone, anyone wanted the last half? Knowing he's been playing with it forever, I hesitated. But mom insisted that I should eat it. Before I took the bowl form dad, he quickly grabbed a piece and put it in his mouth. Sigh... what the heck... There's nothing in his head besides food. And he thinks the whole world is after his food or something.

Got my paid cheque, yay~!! Though I'd treat A to lunch tomorrow before my chiropractor, but he never replied my mail. Seems like every time I try to initiate something, it fails. Should I read it as a sign? I know I'm extremely bad at giving up. There is, however, a breaking point.

West Van, red mittens

(Photo was taken last summer and unrelated to subject.)
My boss told me there should be plenty of red mittens at Lynn Valley mall, and even let me go there after I did today's mail run! Wow thanks! Totally unexpected. (She's mailed out 10 pairs or so to friends.)

Went to the Zellars there with high hopes. However, there were only 2 bins of small size left. The bins were only half full. Sigh... Didn't want to leave empty handed, so I bought a few post cards. The total came to $6.66! Nice number... (Yikes!)

Wait a minute! $0.99 x 6 = $5.94, x 1.12 = $6.6528! It should have been $6.65! They rounded up instead of rounding down??????

Since I was in north shore, might as well go to The Bay in West Van. This would be my very last chance, as well as very last trial. And all they had were hanging on one rack. About 30 pairs. Yes I counted, roughly. Only 30. Sigh...

So, that was all the places I could, and did try. I can now say, I've done my best. Unless a miracle happens, no size M for me. (And my Japanese friend.)

Oakridge, red mittens

Went to get one for present to a friend. Nothing but size S left. At this point, I'd take anything size. There weren't that many left either comparing to what I saw last Saturday. They are going fast. Lots of them have lost their tags, separated, or damaged. The official site says that last weekend's shipment was final. The item page even vanished from the 2010 site! So, this is it! No more!

On my way to get dad's b-day treat (mini fruit tarts), I saw sakura blooming in full on 40th near Victoria. Woo... it's not even March yet.

It's eat-out day with brother's gang again, except this time he got take-out sushi. We're tired of the same few places we always go to. The sushi was nice. A welcomed change. Oops... forgot to take Pinky pictures!

Migraine

OMG, yet another migraine attack! I was reading in bed before getting out of bed, and it came! Looking at the last attack, it may be caused by dehydration?

The bank lied. They said if I paid the full amount last bill, my interest would be clean. Wrong! Luckily it's only $2.70 but I'm not taking any chance. I paid in full plus the spending between billing day and today.

Took dad to his cardiologist appointment in the afternoon. He's got a 4-inch hard lump around his right incision. According to the doctor, lymph vessels got cut during the surgery and lymph fluid can build up. If it doesn't hurt and smaller than an orange, it's fine. Well, well, well. Yet another no-help situation. Charming.

Actually I didn't go in with my folks because I wasn't needed (as a translator). Instead, I walked to the London Drugs on Broadway and Cambie from Oak. As I received a tip from M yesterday that the Richmond branch had new Olympic stuff shipment, I wanted to take a look. Didn't have enough time to go to Richmond, so the Broadway branch would have to do. And they do have plenty of Olympic stuff! Even half price! People were snatching them up as fast as you can blink. Yikes! Selection wasn't great, but at half price, it was pretty good. So I bought the stretchy white gloves, just in case I can't get those red mittens. Of course not as nice. Needed for present purpose.

Dad's b-day dinner

I was able to go to bed at 1:30 last night, which was early for me, but ideal. Wish I could do that more often. However, due to the lack of sleep from the previous nights, I got up at 1:30. Oh well. At least got some refill on sleep.

It was sunny and perfect for catching up with Pinky junk food pictures. Then a family friend M came to visit. She must have been lonely and wouldn't stop talking. We had to pretty much kick her out since tonight was dad's early b-day dinner. (i.e. eating out with a bunch of relatives.) On our way there, mom mentioned that uncle Y had an empty seat in his car. Boy oh boy, if she wanted to invite M to our dinner, why didn't she say so sooner? I can fit one more person in my car too! But actually, she might have done the right thing. The table wasn't big enough for the 11 of us anyway. It was a round table for 10 and we were already very cramped.

The TVs in the restaurant were showing Olympics. Wouldn't that slow down people's eating and thus lead to slower table turnover?


Today, one new daily screw-up for dad. He removed the newspaper on the floor around the toilet, then pee, and of course wet the floor. He then put the newspaper back to soak up the pee. But after he's done that, he threw the newspaper into the toilet! Mom couldn't stop him in time. Apparently 2 pages got flushed down the toilet. I sure hope it won't get clogged. (T_T)

Olympic hype

Yes, finally, I gave in to the Olympic hype and went downtown by Skytrain to see the craziness with A. (Thanks for showing me around!) Thought I could at least see what The Bay has, but the line up was impossible! (Let's say, the line up alone was big enough to be a tourist attraction.) The store opens at 9. We got there at 10:50. The line up was already going around the block. The radio news said people started lining up at 5! Insane!!! Of course I wasn't gonna stand there for half the day, especially when the weather was so nice.

A Japanese friend told me that the red mittens are very expensive over there. I slightly checked online, and found the price's been jacked up 2.5 - 3 times. I thought I could get her one. This turn into today's quest.

Took pictures of the torch. Quite crowded, but a bit better than I imagined. Failed to shop at the Bay, but ate lunch at their cafeteria. (Thanks A!) It wasn't exactly cheap for a cafeteria but at least not crowed like most places downtown. Was hoping to go to Oakridge from the Canada line Granville station, but the line was so unbelievably long, we gave up and went back to A's place.

I ended up driving to Oakridge instead. The Bay there only had size S red mittens. Surprisingly, the Zellars there had size S and L. But no M. It was mid-afternoon, so we decided to try the Zellars at Brentwood mall. It was no difference. Only size S left. We had one more chance and decided to hit the Bay in Lougheed mall. It was my first time ever to go there. Sadly, they had the least Olympic stuff of all the store we visited today. 80% of their Olympic corner was empty shelves. Sad, just so sad. Strange enough, we were there 20 minutes before closing, but the parking lot was full!!!! Even after the mall closed, it was still super full!!!! Did people leave their cars there and then hop onto the Skytrain to go downtown?

Feeling the need to make up for the "lost", we (I) went to the Michael's in Burnaby. That's also my first time.... so I thought. Turn out I've been there before. That day I had to meet A and S at Metrotown, but turn too early from Marine Drive and ended up high on a hill. In short, I was lost. When I finally got a chance to U-turn, it was actually in that mall. (Sorry, still don't know it's name.) Back to Michael's. Got to use the first time ever all-day 20% off coupon good even for sale items. (Usually it's until 1PM.) So, I'm glad that I didn't go home empty-handed.

Watched some Olympics at A's. Kept falling asleep thanks to 3-hour sleep last night.

Park Royal

Stopped by Park Royal after work to unwind. There was some kind of winter festival going on. A beer garden, live band, fire juggler, and an ice rink!

There were 10 people at a bus stop. 9 of them were wearing that red jacket with "Canada" across the chest.

Stupid me, trying to paint a red outfit for tomorrow's Pinky. Of course it wouldn't work without spraying primer first. (T_T)

Dentist

As expected, aching in the butt, thigh, hip joints, and shoulders from yesterday's working on the floor. (T_T) Am I so not qualified to take a little bit of physical strain? (T_T)

Dad's walker was left at the daycare. Thank god. If it was on the Handidart, it would be much more difficult to retrieve. Plus, there were other passengers. Chances of loosing it would be much bigger.

Took A to his dentist's appointment. Booked mine as well. They don't have any openings until the end of next month. Works out OK I guess. I usually do it in March. But I keep postponing the December car tuneup, resulting in having to do it in March, meaning I'll have a huge bill to pay next month. (T_T) For the time being, I'm working on maximizing work days.

Dinner at Zakushi. Thanks A! Oops, forgot to take Pinky picture of the food! I had the camera and Pinky out, but still forgot! (T_T)

Watched some Olympic events over the net on A's huge TV. Nice!

Walker

Dad's first day at the daycare. Handidart was late. The program starts at 9:30. We were booked for between 8:30 to 9:00 pickup, but they actually came at 9:25. I left for work around 9:40 and was late too. Luckily only 15 minutes thanks to OK traffic.

Boss did a big clean up. The stuff were dumped onto the floor to sort, as a result I had to be on the floor, on my knees and bend forward for half of the day. Harsh on the back but I guess it beats having to wear the clip-on magnifier all day.

Came home, and mom told me that dad didn't bring home his walker. It was either left at the daycare or Handidart. That was the walker borrowed from Red Cross. Why oh why did mom decide to let dad take that walker??? He's never used it since his hospital discharge. It's been placed in front of the toilet to aid dad get up. He's just not used to using it, or to even have it around. Now I'll have to phone up the daycare and Handidart to fine out if they've got it. Sigh...

These pictures were taken between Feb 7 and Feb 11, and are unrelated to subject. Just a record of dad's "logic" (or lack there of).

Even though mom or I set it up our way (clipping the two gloves together), dad always go and separate them apart.
Dad always push the kettle right up to the edge of the sink. It gets in the way when we wash dishes.
Somehow dad developed this recently. He "organize" cutlery and put then directly onto the tray, making contact with puddles of water.
Caught dad keeping used toilet paper. He puts it in the box with denture paste. Yuck!!! (T_T)

Dinner

(Picture taken on Feb 13 and is unrelated to subject.) Usual eat-out day with brother's gang, at the usual place Angel Cafe. I had both my camera and Pinky with me, but forgot to take a picture. (T_T) I guess I was too tired. And yup, got home and passed out at the desk.

New year Monday

Couldn't post the cards yesterday so here they are, completely late. Couldn't and didn't send them to any friends. (T_T) I'll use the "better late than never" excuse here, but still, no cards for my friends. (T_T)

Luckily no work today. I've been sick anyway. Dad's Handidart application is approved. I don't have to drop him off on Wednesday. Bought tomorrow's lunch and Handidart tickets for dad. That's it for the day...

Valentine / Chinese new year

Brother's gang came over again. Mom cooked a bunch of traditional new year cakes. Dad had been snacking on them as mom cooked. He started to eat before everyone sat down, while mom kept on cooking. By the time she was done and could finally sat down, all the sweet ones were gone. (I didn't get any either.) Brother put aside some turnip ones for mom, but dad ate from mom's plate! Sigh... Yeah, he only think of himself now. No manner no concern for others, not even his family.

And last night he ate one of the mini fruit tarts I bought for today. Sigh...

Let my nieces play with some of my Pinkys so I could shoot Pinky photos for greeting cards. But... The vampire arrived! AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!! Why! Why!!!!!!
Well... it's only one day off. I shouldn't complain. But it used to be right on the day.

Got sick from the vampire and couldn't post the cards. (T_T)

Chinese new year eve

Finally! Got my much needed chiropractor's appointment. Perhaps A was right about me pulling a muscle. The Chiropractor worked less on my shoulders. (Or was he tired? I was the third last patient before his trip to Tokyo and Shanghai.) And, starting March, he's taking Tuesdays off too. Working only 3 days a week. Sigh... Looks like he's making good money and doesn't need to work much. Yeah I'm bitter about it. I'm destroying my health but only make peanuts. How can I not be bitter?

Went to drop off Valentine's day chocolate to A. Was going to (trying to) take him to Granville Island, but he declined. Well, then. Just thought tomorrow I'll be tied down with Chinese new year stuff. So I tried to do something today. Fine. I always knew game is the most important thing to him. I just have to persuade myself to give up.

Ate out with brother's gang plus aunt Y for Chinese new year's eve dinner. The food didn't taste as good as before. Did they change the chef? Or was it too busy? (Actually only slightly busier then normal, and virtually empty after the first round of tables left .) After dinner brother suggested to go to Aberdeen mall. So we all went. Who knew parking would be hell! I lost it again. Sigh... (T_T) There were Chinese new year's eve events and stuff there. No wonder. We looked around for a bit, I took my nieces to look at toys while the rest of them looked some more at the tables.

Dad stubbornly refused to go to washroom. Mom got really concerned that he might pee himself, and wanted to hurry home. She's always the fun spoiler. Always. Actually to be fair, the source was dad this time. If he'd go pee, then we could all stay longer. I don't understand why he dislike peeing in unfamiliar washrooms so much. This is nothing but selfishness to me. I didn't want to leave yet, thanks to all that headache finding parking. So brother and I swap passengers. Thanks! He drove them home while I stayed some more with my nieces and sis-in-law.

Came home, rebooted the computer again, and it worked. Oh, I lost internet again in the afternoon, twice. This is the third reboot of the day. I sure hope this won't keep up. It's too much hassle and frustration for me. I can't handle. (T_T)

Dream

Did I sleep well? Did I not? Don't know. At least I sleep for a full 9 hours.

Forgot most of it already. One part was like watching an episode of FMA. The brothers were fighting against Gluttony on a train, and Ed successfully pushed Gluttony off the train when it passed a bridge, riding on him. Both of them fell off together. Lust jumped off to save Gluttony. She caught him midair, sliced him up into a parachute (very gross), and jump off when about 50 feet off the ground. She was supposed to transform into a cat. Wasn't shown, but a meow was heard instead.

Second part, Dh, Ji, and En were all visiting me. I couldn't deal with all of them. En eventually left first. Well, I know her last, and the least.

There was a blank, then we were at this dinner buffet. It was dessert time. The creme brulee I wanted was all gone. Lots of other goodies, though. Including junk food like unusual Japanese Kitkat. It was more like a trade show at times. Free sampling. A bit later we were looking at Sylvanian Family toys. The store wasn't big, but all the walls were covered with display compartments. Pretty awesome.

There were more, but as usual, can't remember the rest.

Vancouver Olympic sucks

(Picture was taken on Feb 11 at Metrotown, may be Olympic volunteers.)
I thought it was a good thing, until I realized all it did was to increase taxes, transit fee, parking rate, general inflation, and way too much hassle than it's worth. Yes we did get a new Skytrain line, but the platform is only big enough for 2 cars. Why build something that you know will go obsolete in 2 years?

Only got to watch a short clip of the opening ceremony. A white guy wearing some kind of animal skin was playing a native character. Was that a joke? Personally, I think using this "native" theme is not right. Don't have enough energy to go into that right now, though.

There's not enough snow on the hills. Snow has to be transferred by helicopters from higher elevations. (Big waste of money!) An athlete died while practicing. One of four torch columns failed to rise. And the whole world saw the screw-up.

Dream

Must have happened when lying down flat.

I was wearing the red shoes from A, and a dress looked kind of like PK028. A bunch of friends were trying to celebrate something with me. I was "dropped off" at "4th Ave" and supposed to meet the rest of them later at a restaurant. A girl friend (didn't know who) showed me to a bachelor's suite, and I told her how I'd organize the furniture. Then there was a blank, and I was walking inside this huge ring-shape apartment complex. This inside space was like a huge basketball court at Q. There was a couple with a toddler boy kind of following me, trying to get out. I went through a passage with a red door at the end, and told them it's Broadway outside. The passage was only the depth of the apartment building. There was no way it could jump 5 blocks. As I wondered about that, I kept walking. It was night outside. Street lights were on. Some other people were walking around. Kind of like Kisilano, but with fewer shops and more houses.

Somehow there was another blank, and I was at the restaurant already. It was like I was at the kitchen entrance and could see what's going on inside. I was standing next to this guy... a waiter? A chef? Making some kind of dink or ice-cream at this machine that looked like a stainless steal beefed up water cooler cross soft ice-cream maker cross espresso machine. He was having some trouble. Then somehow he took a step and was half inside the machine, and it worked really well. His head and arms were sticking out of the machine. It was like a Barney suit.

There were more, but I didn't write them down soon enough and they evaporated.

Monster mode

(Picture was taken on Feb 9 and is unrelated to subject.)
My right shoulder's been killing me. Don't get to see my chiropractor until Saturday. And the vampire's estimated arrival is in 4 days. Pimples burst out on my face and even on my body. Entered monster mode.

Got up at 1:30. Way later than I hope but still not bad considering the previous sleep-deprived days. Had a fight with mom. Well... actually can't really call it a fight because it was just me rampaging. There are troubles with dad's day care. All thanks to mom answering a phone call while I was at work, saying "dad's not interested" to our case manager. Thus our file was deleted. So, even when we went directly to the daycare center and did all the paper work, it couldn't go through. Plus, if we want to proceed, we need to get a new case manager. I really wasn't in the mood to deal with that, but barely managed to beg her to try to reopen our file. She said she'd try, but the outcome is uncertain. I don't know why mom said what she did, but afterward she bugged and bugged and bugged me to look into dad's daycare. And I even skip work for that.

Then I proceed to let mom know that she shouldn't have given wrong answers if she was unsure. I was mad, though. Her response was, fine then, let's cancel the whole thing.

I completely lost it right there and yelled at her.

All the effort and hassle since dad's hospital stay to get help on his care, is to lighten mom's workload. It's for her to have a break. I supposed this must be what S referred to as "passive aggressive". She may not realize, but I felt like she was toying with me. Having me set things up and then cancel, and then re-setup, and so on. I'm terrible with phone conversation since I can't hear too well over the phone. I continued with the yelling, bringing up the recent phone call I happened to hear, that mom was telling someone "everybody's bulling her". Yes, it's true that I can't deal with dad, and she ends up with a big workload. But hey I have to work, and she set that up herself! Taking away stuff that dad is still able to do! If you refuse help, then you can't complain! That simple.

So I realized my stress doesn't only come from dad, but mom too. That was it. I've passed my breaking point. I needed to leave the house. Before doing so, I did apologize to mom that I have no control when my back hurts, but at the same time I told her that, life needs to look forward, not backward like her retracting at every obstacle. And that I have problems taking a step forward and it seems to be inherited from her. At least I'm aware of my problem. How about her? (Yeah right. Knowing is one thing, doing is another.) She gave me a very, very fake sad and ignorant face. Sigh... was she playing ignorant? She's been very good at it, though. Making this "help me I'm helpless" face which I hate so much.

Yes, she deposited crisp discontinued bank notes into her account, came back and told us the tellers were really really happy. I took $90 worth of what was left to a numismatic shop, and brought back $500.

Yes, she cut off strawberry skin because "she doesn't like the seeds". But she was fine with it before.

Yes, instead of letting dad use the walker we borrowed from the Red Cross to walk, she put it in front of the toilet so dad can use it to get up. Well, it's true that dad can walk on his own. But a lot faster and more stable with the walker. He also dislike using walking aid. (Maybe I shouldn't have brought this up. I do think dad should keep doing what he can, but it helps us if he can walk safer.)

Yes I should just shut up.





Thanks A for giving me shelter for the evening. Your kindness is greatly appreciated.





Got home just before midnight. The internet access was down again! AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!! This was a huge problem because I needed to pay for that god damn parking ticket! Things just... go against me when I'm in monster mode. Everything.

Luckily, after a shower and a few more reboots of the machine and router, the net was up again, and I got rid of the ticket.

Sigh...

Olympic torch

(Picture was taken on Feb 4 and is unrelated to subject.)
Shortly after I entered highway 1, the radio news said, the Olympic torch was in North Van, on Main Street, heading towards Dollarton. "If you see it going onto the bridge, give us a call." What? Which bridge? Second Narrows? No way! They'd better not close the bridge!

North Van was exactly where I was going. Luckily I didn't encounter any road closure. Nor did I see anything torch related. "The bridge" was probably not Second Narrows. Good. I even got to work right on time! It only happens less than 10 times a year.

Opthomologist (5)

Ended up getting only 2 hours of sleep.

Up at 7 (vs work day 9). First appointment of the day: ophthalmologist.
The result of my retina scan is normal. But then why can't I see clearly??? Seems like the doctor thinks there's nothing wrong with my eyes. He asked me about my nervous system and temperament. (Temperament???) Is he thinking it's all in my head? I can't see street signs until 5 ft away is a fact! I'm not making it up, and I need help. When the doctor gives up, how can I not? Fine. I'm put on observations in 6 months, and that's over as far as I'm concerned.

BTW, the scan result was really cool. There was a pie chart, a cross section, and a 3D contour map, of what I guess was where the optic nerve leaves the eye ball. (Looks like a dimple.) All in colour, all from looking at a cross-hair for a few seconds.

Got home, rest for half and hour, and it was time for the second appointment of the day: daycare registration for dad.
Parking was a little obscured, and I ended up having to move my car while mom took dad inside. However! The damn car wouldn't start! We got there slightly early, but the car just wouldn't cooperate. I tried and tried and tried. Really, really, frustrated. (And mom as always was so good at adding fuel to fire. I know she's just concerned, but she wasn't helping.) Finally, the car responded, and I was able to move to a more proper spot. That whole ordeal made me late. The daycare looks homey and we did all the paper work. Dad will start there once a week beginning next Wednesday.

When we were asked if we want CPR on dad if his heart stops, I passed it onto mom. Yes, it was cowardly of me, but it's also true that, she, as the wife, has more authority. And her choice was no. I see... (It makes sense, but still feels awkward.)

Ate out for lunch at Ho's. Seems like mom needs a break, but also feels guilty putting dad in daycare. This lunch felt like an apology. Dad got to choose the restaurant and dishes. Mom needed to stop by the bank and check on Mr. K's house nearby (he's out of town). We went home afterward. Rested for about an hour, and then it was time for the third appointment of the day: dad's urologist at VGH.

We got fed up with the unreasonably expensive parking at the hospital. It was a nice sunny day, so I drop them off and parked at the 7-11 nearby. It's only 2 blocks away and parking costs less than half. Dad's last set of test result came back normal. No infection or whatsoever. Then why does his pee smell like hell??? The urologist said dad's prostate is slightly enlarged, but there's nothing more he can do to improve, and wrote us the name of a prostate supplement, Saw Palmetto. Just like me, dad is put on a 6-month observation interval.

It's a huge huge huge huge disappointment that doctors can just give up when the tests show normal result, despite symptoms still exist. Reminds me of that TV show called Mystery Diagnosis.

Stopped by the bakery for tomorrow's lunch, and then the post office to weight a partially packed parcel. Got chip cravings again, so we got the $5 two bags Lays at Shopper's. Yes... the vampire is drawing close again...

Dropped dead in front of the computer soon after I got home. Should have lay down. Neck, back and shoulders are bad. But I didn't want a deep sleep.

Eat-out day with brother's gang today. As usual, my nieces like to bug me at my computer, to see Pinky related web sites. After they left, I napped some more at the desk. (Bad!!!!) And wrote this. There goes the day. Need to work tomorrow.

The internet is still kind of screwed up. Time to reboot the router. Thanks for the tip, A.

Antivirus also antiweb?

(Picture was taken on Feb 6 and is unrelated to subject.)
Ever since I switched to MS Security Essentials, my web access seems to be compromised. It's connected for some time, and then loose connection for some time. Loops and loops and loops.

Super annoying!

I was trying to write e-mail to my Japanese friends, but I can't do it without access to a few translation and dictionary sites. Same thing happens when I try to send. Between 2:30 AM and 3:00 AM, this cycle happened twice. (Each "chunk" works out to roughly 8 minutes...) Ended up wasting a loooot of time retrying retrying retrying and retrying... (T_T)

Yeah I'm stupid.

Big day tomorrow. I'm doomed....

Chips vs shoulder

AKA "The real price of Snap Pea Crisp"...

On sale at London Drugs, 2 for $5. They were on the top shelf, and a mountain of Pringles was set up in the aisle right in front of the Pea Crisp. Very difficult to reach. The first 2 bags I managed to fetch expires in 10 days. So I tried to get to those deeper into the shelf. I had to use a roll of Pringles as a reacher. Gave up when I got to one that expired last December. Ended up screwing up my right shoulder. Didn't even buy any at the end. (T_T)

Thanks A for the Seattle tea!

Peet Freans Assorted Creme Biscuits

Aunt Y brought over half a box of Peet Freans Assorted Creme Biscuits. She finished the other half at home. Mom and I open the rest and put them into dad's can. Then we each ate one. It was soggy! So I ate another one just to make sure. It was also stale! Then I looked at the expiry date. It was 2009 March. OMG!

Turns out a church friend gave her that box of cookies. And she's well known to give out expired food. We've received plenty in the past too. Sigh...

Within 24 hours, the can was emptied. Dad ate all the expired cookies. Sigh... Yeah, ask us why we didn't discard them. It's difficult for us to throw away food.

Well, at least the weather was nice, and I was able to take a long walk. Haven't done so since last fall. Miss it very much.

Lots of lawn are destroyed by crows, though. Including ours.

Migraine attack

At around 3:30 last night... (well, technically speaking, this morning.) Just when I was about to go to bed, the "diamonds" showed up. Yikes! Took a Tylenol extra strength right away and successfully suppressed the full blown attack. The diamonds used to last for half an hour, but this time only 15 minutes. I was worried about the attack progressing sooner.

It seems a bit too frequent. Last time I had one was in November, then August. And none for years before that. Didn't do anything that would aggravate it this time. (Sudden change of mood, emotion, or physical activity etc.) I've eaten peanuts within that hour but I've done that often, so it shouldn't be a problem. However, I didn't drink enough water to avoid having to go to washroom when sleeping. Could that be the culprit?

Fran: Apricot

Pocky imitator. But well done! In general, Fran has a much thicker chocolate layer. The cracker stick is also thicker. This apricot flavour is extremely dangerous! It's got the right amount of sweetness, tartness, and cracker ratio. Too bad it's pricey and I won't be buying more. But I'll remember it for a looooong time.

Sleep paralysis

Last night I was so tired, fell asleep in front of the computer shortly after dinner. Just for a little bit, though. When bedtime came, I wasn't really sleepy, but still quite tired. Dad got up to go to washroom again. It must have been 4 or 5? Them it came. Haven't had one for years. A loud high-pitch hum as usual, this time plus something like street noise. It was like being in the middle of a very noisy market. I panic as usual, and tried to move my toes. It worked, and I woke up. Turn around and tried to sleep again.

But the paralysis return. Not once, not twice, but four times. I even had trouble breathing. If only I could skip this noise and fall directly asleep. So I tried turning on the radio and kept it at low volume. It worked too! Yay! It's been a while since I had a full 7-hour sleep.

My back was so bad, it took a whole hour of stretching before I could get out of bed. Thank god it's chiropractor day today. Had a small walk after the treatment... The Olympic parking restriction has started. And since when did Cambie Street get fancy street signs? For about 2 to 3 blocks, there are even fancy garbage cans with handle. I'd rather not touch those handles. (Oops, forgot to take pictures.)

Tired

(Picture was taken on Jan 20 and is unrelated to subject.)
Found out only today that there's no work on Friday. Oh well... I guess I can try booking my overdue car tune up, but I also need work to pay for it. Sigh... wait! I should get that door fixed first so I don't have to worry about people breaking into my car all the time... (T_T) Actually, my favorite clip-on shades have gone missing from the car. I suspect it's been stolen. (T_T) It's super inconvenient without those shades when driving. (T_T)

Dry

Continued gluing tiny rhinestones into miniature trays. Leftover stones were made into sample cards. Dropped off mail, gold the edges of a bunch of cards, then mainly making pin cushions untill day's end. Neck and shoulders are sore. Eyes are bad...

Managed to stop by M's bakery less then 10 minutes before they closed. But selection was really poor. At least got tomorrow's lunch. Dinner with brother's gang, near their place. I was so tired I could pass out any minute. Only got... 5? hours of sleep last night. Failed

House-sitting

House-sit at A's to wait for a parcel delivery. Not confident about getting up early enough to go there in the morning, so I slept there the night before. Unfortunately his bed was too soft for my back and I probably got less than 2 hours of sleep. The package arrived at around 10:30. Poor courier guy got the "exact change" he asked for, in all coins. (I had to dig into A's change boxes for the fee.) Couldn't resist sorting those boxes of coins. Got salad at T&T, tomorrow's lunch at Maxim's, dropped by two dollar stores, got a mouse at Anitec for A, went back to eat, made a bunch of phone calls about dad's daycare, wrote email to a Japanese blog friend, nap...

Got home at around 10. Mom was very angry at dad. She's been working for days on making him a cap sewing by hand. Just when it's almost done, dad took it all apart.

Dad seems to have lost his sense of personal hygiene. That's another reason mom is mad. She has to supervise his bathing, and actually help him shower. If dad is so eager to "do something", why doesn't he work more on cleaning himself, other than "organizing" things around the house, and screws up proper storage?