Dozy Dotes

Quel surprise! Not.

Looks incredibly pastoral!

Jerry the cat snubbed him for almost a week after my dogs spent a day at their house. Still came in the house but ignored him totally. No lap sitting and slept in the spare room. Switched allegiance to his wife, who he usually ignores.

Indeed. Since then, a neighbourhood cat has taken up part-time residence in his house so there’s always animal fur to be vacuumed up and someone to sit in his lap. Waits at the front door for him to get up between 3 and 4 am. He’s a real softie!

It is. His 2 Yorkie brothers passed within weeks of each other last year so now he walks our bichon. They love him and his pocket full of doggie crack.

I go with a guy who doesn’t even have a dog anymore, only prostate trouble. He’s up before 4 so he’s ready to walk at 5 am. Even my dogs aren’t ready at that time. We’ve compromised on first light unless it is raining. Then he stays home & I go at actual sunrise.

Just back from our early morning walk. Coffee sounds heavenly. Have discussed with walking companion to move time from 6:30 to 6:45 so we can see the poop that needs to be picked up. Tired of stepping on it while trying to locate the pile.

Good question. Maybe I’ll have to look closer at house prices and see how they compare with what we sold Mom’s house for in 2011. Condos in Parksville are about twice the price of similar units in Edmonton right now. I’m wondering how many will be bought up by Alberta expats.

Looked at real estate listings a few days ago. Interesting that suites in a condo I bought in 2008 are selling for less now than I paid then.

Glad we left.

It was. We sent a big thanks to the ferry company and one of the guys who helped out sent us back a nice letter hoping that Mom was on the road to healing and looking forward to seeing us again. We sat in their staff office for 5 hours. They served us tea and entertained us while we waited.

We have had to pay $2500/yr for a nurse practitioner so that we could have access to a prescription for Tylenol with codeine. Internet doctors won’t prescribe even mild opioids. Nor will urgent care facilities. Similar story with doctors, only we have no walk in clinics and a 5 year wait list.

The young woman in the ferry office took Mom’s coat and washed all the blood stains off of it so we wouldn’t freak out the other passengers, most of which were inebriated after going to the Canucks game. Their service is stupendous and I’m looking forward to using them again, if I can.

We found that downtown Vancouver is full of angels who ran over to help out. Special thanks to Chop Steakhouse who brought her into their very expensive restaurant while bleeding profusely and Hullo Ferry who made sure that we got home to VI safely without extra charge when we missed the ferry.

A couple of days ago, we discussed moving back to Edmonton where we came from but Mom couldn’t figure out a single scenario that would entice us back, as long as UCP has a stranglehold on the province.

I’m sorry to hear that you are not having any better success than we are.

We’re still waiting for 1) an MRI on mom’s lower back to figure out how much 2 discs have deteriorated. 2) in home physio to help with mobility. We are at 6 months now. My bet is she will die before seeing a neurologist. Scarcer than hen’s teeth here on Vancouver Island.

She looks pretty good now that the 2 black eyes have cleared and the big gash at the bridge of her nose has healed. She’s sleeping a bit too much for my liking and is having a bit of double vision.

Thanks. Dealing with my mother taking a faceplant onto concrete a couple of weeks ago. Thinking that she really needs an MRI on her brain which we will probably have to wait 6 months for due to a shortage for technicians here.

Not feeling very smiley these days but the thought of Roger Miller turned up the corners of my mouth and put a twinkle in my eyes.

Such interesting times.

Nope. Not sure but we didn’t get it.

This is weird.

I’m still waiting for it on Vancouver Island. I was curious how the dogs would react but guess they are the lucky ones this time.

Mature rhododendron bush with pink and white flowers blooming out of season.

Our rhododendron out front must have a dozen bloom clusters, despite morning frosts on Vancouver Island. Strange. Sure hope it blooms again in March.

What luck! Still waiting for it here in Parksville.

Thx for this website. Shows that VIHA is currently only looking for ONE doctor in Parksville that will not replace another who is set to retire and ZERO nurse practitioners. At this rate, VIHA had better not push my Mom’s pay for service clinic out of business. No other place to go.

New version of vishing call this morning. Now they don’t use a company name, only ‘Security Department’. Would probably make a bigger impact if they didn’t call at 6 am. Nah, it wouldn’t.

VIHA doesn’t really give a damn, takes some of the pressure off them so they don’t have to scramble to find doctors for Parksville or Qualicum Beach. Mom finally can get a prescription for opioids that phone in doctors won’t prescribe. I hate it but less than I hated watching Mom in constant pain.

BTW - 89 yo mother finally gave up and paid $2500 for what she thought was going to be a doctor. Turned out to be a couple of nurse practitioners in Qualicum Beach that only work 2 or 3 days a week. Was promised WAY more than she got.