Only Five Days In
and already it's been eventful.
Mouse left on New Year's Day. Her train was an hour late leaving because of a freight train blocking her train. This meant that the 45 minute connection time she had for switching trains at Montreal was in danger of not being made. Usually, the train has enough leeway in the schedule that by cutting back the time spent at other stations it can make up for any delays in Nova Scotia and southern New Brunswick.
However, because of all the wonderful snow we've had, the train was almost an hour and a half late by the time it hit Montreal. Luckily, the passengers transferring to Toronto were given seats on the next express run. In fact they were given two cars to themselves because all their baggage had to be placed in the cars with them.
Okay, some bad, some good so far. Mouse had a seatmate who was friendly and helped make the trip pass more quickly. However, someone behind her had a cold and was coughing all night. So, yes, my normally hard-to-make-sick daughter caught the cold. Not really unexpected since she hadn't slept or eaten well for most of the past week. The second train was also cold so the chance she had to throw off the cold before it set was taken away.
Then, when she hit Toronto, the cab ride took almost twice as long because there's a lot of construction in the city. Which is a definite change from when we lived there. So the cab ride ended up costing her $61. She also had to hire a porter to help with her luggage but that was a "pay what you think the service is worth" and the porter was helpful with information so she paid $10. Which is good.
She found the hotel to be a bit chilly too but I think that was more from the cold than the room actually being cold. She called and we had a good chat then when she hung up, the homesickness hit. Hard. This is her first time being someplace without family or friends being there. She said she just wanted to go back to the train station and get a ticket home. But she didn't.
So that was the second day of January for her. I was dealing with Carvis trying not to be too depressed over her being gone and family calling to see if we'd heard from her and how she's doing. The third day of January, Mouse headed over to get the key to her apartment. She didn't have much time to talk to the people at housing services because she had to get back to the hotel and get her luggage or else be charged for another night there.
The cab driver was nice and helped her get her luggage to the elevator. Her place is just around the corner from the elevator so she was able to move some bags and then get the rest without ever leaving any of them out of her sight. She has a bachelor apartment, so one big room with a bathroom, kitchen nook and a corner nook that suits her fine for her sleeping area.
By this time, the cold was making her miserable but she needed a few things so she headed out to the nearest Walmart. The bus driver was nice and told her about the three bus companies who now run the bus service. So she's thinking about getting a pass for the express service since it goes to York and all the major malls. It takes off a fare every time you use it so it's like the Metropasses in Halifax where you pay a lump sum and each trip over the bridge debited your card amount. No limit on them so she can use it as often or little as she wants. She can also set up to debit her credit card when the balance gets low.
So, she went and got a few things at Walmart - folding chair, folding table, pillows, a hot water kettle, and some food. She had ordered a futon through The Brick's website but they wanted her to confirm who she was before charging her credit card. Unfortunately, every time she tried calling the line was busy to the announcement of wait times being at least a half hour or more. So she's thinking of cancelling that order and finding something else.
Unfortunately, her computer got slightly damaged in the trip and she needs to get an adapter because her Ethernet plug isn't working. Her network card is built into the motherboard so she can't just replace the card. Otherwise she'll need a new computer to access the Internet. :(
On the plus side, food is cheaper there and she was able to put in the form for her Student Loan on Thursday as Financial Services was open and signed the forms for her. So with any luck she'll have her money by Friday, the 11th.
Meanwhile, our phone decided to finally give up the number 5 button so we had to get a replacement. It requires batteries for the call display and memory storage so I wasn't going to bother with it for now. However, I think it also requires the batteries to let me change the volume of the ringer because right now all three settings have the same volume level. Which is just low enough that I have trouble hearing it so I needed to turn my radio down to where I can barely hear it. Grrrr.
Merc won his appeal to get his EI so he got his back pay on Thursday. He gave us the money he owed and we immediately transferred another hundred to Mouse because she was down to $30 after all her expenses. This way, if it does take longer to get her money she has some on hand.
The cats don't know what's going on. As soon as Mouse and I headed for the train station, Merc started rearranging furniture. Then I came back without Mouse and she hasn't returned since. They want attention because they don't understand what is happening. I was trying to brush Saisha this morning and was working at a mat when he sunk his claws into my hand. At that point we both agreed to put the brush away. I don't blame him but at the same time I made sure he knew he wasn't allowed to do that.
Carvis is going nuts worrying about Mouse and his upcoming surgery. He got a call from the hospital and goes for pre-op testing on Weds. Then the following Weds he has his surgery. I will be glad when he's got that behind him. For now, he's spending three-quarters of the night awake worrying and sleeping a good part of the day. Once he's over the surgery I'll try and get him back on a better sleeping pattern.
Anyway, been a busy week. Hoping the weekend is quieter and that the upcoming week is problem free. I know I missed some things in this summary but will probably mention them in the next post. :P
Mouse left on New Year's Day. Her train was an hour late leaving because of a freight train blocking her train. This meant that the 45 minute connection time she had for switching trains at Montreal was in danger of not being made. Usually, the train has enough leeway in the schedule that by cutting back the time spent at other stations it can make up for any delays in Nova Scotia and southern New Brunswick.
However, because of all the wonderful snow we've had, the train was almost an hour and a half late by the time it hit Montreal. Luckily, the passengers transferring to Toronto were given seats on the next express run. In fact they were given two cars to themselves because all their baggage had to be placed in the cars with them.
Okay, some bad, some good so far. Mouse had a seatmate who was friendly and helped make the trip pass more quickly. However, someone behind her had a cold and was coughing all night. So, yes, my normally hard-to-make-sick daughter caught the cold. Not really unexpected since she hadn't slept or eaten well for most of the past week. The second train was also cold so the chance she had to throw off the cold before it set was taken away.
Then, when she hit Toronto, the cab ride took almost twice as long because there's a lot of construction in the city. Which is a definite change from when we lived there. So the cab ride ended up costing her $61. She also had to hire a porter to help with her luggage but that was a "pay what you think the service is worth" and the porter was helpful with information so she paid $10. Which is good.
She found the hotel to be a bit chilly too but I think that was more from the cold than the room actually being cold. She called and we had a good chat then when she hung up, the homesickness hit. Hard. This is her first time being someplace without family or friends being there. She said she just wanted to go back to the train station and get a ticket home. But she didn't.
So that was the second day of January for her. I was dealing with Carvis trying not to be too depressed over her being gone and family calling to see if we'd heard from her and how she's doing. The third day of January, Mouse headed over to get the key to her apartment. She didn't have much time to talk to the people at housing services because she had to get back to the hotel and get her luggage or else be charged for another night there.
The cab driver was nice and helped her get her luggage to the elevator. Her place is just around the corner from the elevator so she was able to move some bags and then get the rest without ever leaving any of them out of her sight. She has a bachelor apartment, so one big room with a bathroom, kitchen nook and a corner nook that suits her fine for her sleeping area.
By this time, the cold was making her miserable but she needed a few things so she headed out to the nearest Walmart. The bus driver was nice and told her about the three bus companies who now run the bus service. So she's thinking about getting a pass for the express service since it goes to York and all the major malls. It takes off a fare every time you use it so it's like the Metropasses in Halifax where you pay a lump sum and each trip over the bridge debited your card amount. No limit on them so she can use it as often or little as she wants. She can also set up to debit her credit card when the balance gets low.
So, she went and got a few things at Walmart - folding chair, folding table, pillows, a hot water kettle, and some food. She had ordered a futon through The Brick's website but they wanted her to confirm who she was before charging her credit card. Unfortunately, every time she tried calling the line was busy to the announcement of wait times being at least a half hour or more. So she's thinking of cancelling that order and finding something else.
Unfortunately, her computer got slightly damaged in the trip and she needs to get an adapter because her Ethernet plug isn't working. Her network card is built into the motherboard so she can't just replace the card. Otherwise she'll need a new computer to access the Internet. :(
On the plus side, food is cheaper there and she was able to put in the form for her Student Loan on Thursday as Financial Services was open and signed the forms for her. So with any luck she'll have her money by Friday, the 11th.
Meanwhile, our phone decided to finally give up the number 5 button so we had to get a replacement. It requires batteries for the call display and memory storage so I wasn't going to bother with it for now. However, I think it also requires the batteries to let me change the volume of the ringer because right now all three settings have the same volume level. Which is just low enough that I have trouble hearing it so I needed to turn my radio down to where I can barely hear it. Grrrr.
Merc won his appeal to get his EI so he got his back pay on Thursday. He gave us the money he owed and we immediately transferred another hundred to Mouse because she was down to $30 after all her expenses. This way, if it does take longer to get her money she has some on hand.
The cats don't know what's going on. As soon as Mouse and I headed for the train station, Merc started rearranging furniture. Then I came back without Mouse and she hasn't returned since. They want attention because they don't understand what is happening. I was trying to brush Saisha this morning and was working at a mat when he sunk his claws into my hand. At that point we both agreed to put the brush away. I don't blame him but at the same time I made sure he knew he wasn't allowed to do that.
Carvis is going nuts worrying about Mouse and his upcoming surgery. He got a call from the hospital and goes for pre-op testing on Weds. Then the following Weds he has his surgery. I will be glad when he's got that behind him. For now, he's spending three-quarters of the night awake worrying and sleeping a good part of the day. Once he's over the surgery I'll try and get him back on a better sleeping pattern.
Anyway, been a busy week. Hoping the weekend is quieter and that the upcoming week is problem free. I know I missed some things in this summary but will probably mention them in the next post. :P