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puddlelilies.com / proofreading negates the immediacy of feeling

Month: March 2022

  • March 31, 2022

    For my birthday last week I bought myself a day pass for the bus. I didn’t mean to. I was meeting a friend for birthday breakfast and intended to walk downtown, but it was raining, or almost raining, or threatening to rain, so I was discouraged. I could have driven, but there is nothing as disheartening as driving when I’m ready for a walk. The bus seemed a reasonable compromise which would lessen my time in the rain, but also provide a bit of a walk. I might even be able to walk home after breakfast if the rain stopped. The real clincher was that if I got a day pass I’d have a little piece of paper with my birthday printed on it. Fancy. I might frame it.

    I was glad to have the day pass because on my way home it was raining harder so I really didn’t want to walk. Also, when I went to catch the number 3 bus that would take me from Yates St right into James bay it flew right past me before I could even cross the street to get to the bus stop. I tried to make it into a positive: maybe I’d like to stop somewhere and buy a birthday present for myself! But I couldn’t think of anything I wanted for my birthday. I already have a stash of treats and I have a lot of clothes. I didn’t feel like trying on shoes. And I was a little damp at this point. The busses (plural, since I missed the direct one) I took to get home were nice and dry and warm and not too busy during mid-morning. I ended up stopping at the BC Liquor Store not far from my house and browsing around a bit for some birthday liquor. A new gin or some fruity cans? No. Bourbon.

    I’ve forgotten how much I enjoy taking the bus. Albeit, when it’s not choc-a-bloc full of gross people. I meant to use them more over the winter, but I didn’t due to factors including forgetting and bonus COVID strains going on. Also since I gave up my buss pass at the start of the pandemic, it’s not quite the same. I used to jump on willy-nilly, even if just for a stop or two, just because I could. Now I have little tickets, which are finite, and when using one-at-a-time, they are limited to just one trip. A day pass is fine, but then I have to make sure I’m going to use it at least twice in the day to make up for the two tickets it costs.

    I meant to use the tickets for getting me to work but I never have. I’m too happy walking in. Not to mentioned smug and pleased with myself. Etc. Not to mention the bus I thought I’d catch leaves almost half and hour after I’m usually ready to go (now that I’ve been walking in and having to leave early to accommodate that.)

    Below I will copy and paste some memories of bus passes of yesteryear that I wrote up some time ago with the intention of incorporating seamlessly into a blog post. Instead, here’s this:

    Have I written about my bus pass?

    In Victoria there’s a group bus pass program called ProPass where if there are enough people in an organization, they can get a discounted bus pass. When I started work for government, only permanent employees were eligible to get one so I have 2.5 years of an agonizing wait before I could get one. Getting this pass would mean I had made it, I thought.

    I’ve always liked taking the bus. Before I had a car it was a nice alternative to walking. And even since getting a car I’d choose taking the bus over driving, since I’m not a big fan of getting behind the wheel. I like the freedom of not being in charge of the route, and traffic. With where I live it doesn’t even take that much longer to walk anywhere downtown than in would be to take any method of vehicle transport. Walking is even quicker, sometimes, depending on bus schedules.

    I remember visiting Victoria as a teenager and noting the busses on the roads. My dream was to move to Victoria and take the busses all over town. I’m a person with big ambition.

    I actually did move to Victoria for university, and during my second year is when they started giving all students a cheap but manditory bus pass as part of the fees. Even though I lived on campus I was thrilled. I definatly got my money’s worth with just toodling off campus now an then, even if I wasn’t commuting. I’d go on bus adventures, just getting on a bus to see where it ended up.

    When I was at Camosun then had the same program, where my student card was my bus pass, only then I had tu use it to commute to school, and also to work, and to dance class. I was busy then and it was nice to not have to worry about how I was going to get everywhere.

    It was the same when I lived in Vancovuer and was an UBC student for a year. I explored all of Vancouver with my student bus pass, even taking a loop around the sky train one day, just for fun. (Acutally that was even less exciting than it sounds.)

    A few years later, back in Victoria, and having finally got a permanent position, the first thing I did was fill out the paperwork to get my ProPass. Mission accomplished. I kept it even after I got my car, but I did start to think about getting rid of it. It was nice to have because the $60ish is cost was cheaper than parking downtown everyday, which was silly to do since I live so close, and it was just a 10 or so minute ride on the bus (30mins from my aptartment to my office with walking and wait time). But… it was only a 10 minute ride on the bus, and I could walk nearly the whole way to work in that same 30 minutes. So I did run the numbers a few times to see if I should get rid of it.

    I really only felt encouraged to get rid of it during the pandemic. I wasn’t charged for it for the first couple of months, but once they started charging again I took the sign that I hadn’t been on a bus in that whole time to get rid of it. Also, they made it easy to give it up: they only needed a photo of my cut-up card instead of handing it in in person. Easy.

    But also not easy? I didn’t want to give it up. I had worked hard to get it and it felt like I was giving up that dream that previous Lindsie had wanted so badly. I quickly decided that present Lindsie would be annoyed to pay for something that she wasn’t using and cut it up. As a compromise (I guess?), I still have the pieces for if I start to feel nostalgic (PS. This hasn’t happened).

  • COVID Journal Entry # 54

    I’m preceeding this entry with a deep, annoyed exhale of breath.

    There’s some things I’m going to forget: COVID 19 Vaccination Record.

    • Vaccination #1: May 18, 2021 – Pfizer.
      • I set it up so I went as early as possible in the morning to avoid crowds. At this point I wanted to avoid a crowd at the vaccination site but also during my walk there. The site was still at the Victoria Convention centre so a quick walk. May 18 was a Tuesday so I had to take some time off work, which was permitted. (We were advised after I made my appointment to try and schedule ourselves for weekends or evenings or flex days, but I just took the first one I could get in the morning.) I had been watching the BC COVID Vaccination web page for a few weeks, waiting for my age group to come up. When I got my notification I was anxious to get in and I made my appointment quickly for as soon as I could get in.
      • I walked over from home, since I was working from home. I had heard that there wasn’t much of a crowd at the actual vaccination site since everyone just showed up for their time, and this turned out to be correct. Doing check in and everything at the site was a lot like checking in at an airport with ID, and line-ups, and anticipation. There were people set up all over to point me in the right direction. Getting the vaccination itself was fine. I was keen to get my vaccination card. There wasn’t a choice but I was pleased to get Pfizer.
      • I felt a bit off as soon as I got home, but I think I made it through the rest of the work day – I did skip dance class that evening, however. The next day I took off work. Over the next two weeks I kept thinking I felt fine, but then would have to skip another dance class, or take another seemingly random day off work. I basically was just feeling crappay, and was too tired to do anything. Everything was fine and I felt back to normal again at exactly the two week mark.
    • Vaccination # 2: July 22, 2021 – also Pfizer
      • Vaccination dose 2 went much the same as the first, except I scheduled it for after work on a Thursday. I work at the office on Thursdays, and I pass by the Convention Centre on the way home.
      • Same thing with feeling randomly crappay for two weeks exactly and then felt fine again. I think I took the Friday off work right after I got the shot, and then had to call in again on Monday because I still felt bad. I remember being frustrated about as I talked to my manager and she just said (basically) dude, just take the day.
    • Vaccination #3: January 29, 2022 – Moderna
      • Unlike the other two, when I was in a rush to get in and get my dose, it took me a few days to make my appointment after getting my invitation, and then I didn’t take the very first available appointment. By now there were all sorts of locations to go, and varying dates available on each day. First I was waiting for a convenient location to show up (I.e. Downtown Victoria and not Esquimalt or Langford) and then I wanted to schedule it around potentially feeling crappay for two weeks afterwards. Also, I’m generally bored of the whole process? I chose to go to a pharmacy downtown on Saturday after ballet class. I prayed that I would feel ok on my walk home (this was during some of the trucker convoy protests at the Legislature, and I would walk to avoid traffic, and then take the long way around into James Bay to avoid people). I did extensive preparation by telling anyone who would listen that I was getting my vaccination and that I might be absent from [work, dance, life] for the next two weeks. I said that if I only had a really sore arm afterwards, that it would be a dream come true.
      • I ended up only having a really sore arm for a few days. I had to take one afternoon off work because I felt a little off, but that was it.
      • Note: the pharmacy I went to is actually really near work, and I discovered it has lots of vegan treats.

  • March 22, 2022

    It’s been a while

    I write today as it’s an anniversary of sorts. Most importantly, my birthday. Today I wonder when it is appropriate to start saying “I’m to old for this.” I turn 44 tomorrow so am I eligible? I feel I could give the phrase some comedic justice. However I need to know if I am actually too old for things or if it would just be ironic (due to my not acctually being to old for a thing.)

    One of upstairs neighbours sings and accompanies herself on a keyboard of some sort. I can sort of hear her in a muffled way through the ceiling if I don’t have a TV show or podcast on. She practices in the evenings, and sometimes on the weekends in the afternoon. She prettily sings pretty songs that I can’t quite recognize. I can tell it’s not a recording because sometimes you can just tell that. Notes and things. It’s been going on for many months (or a year?), and I recently paid attention enough to notice that she’s improving. Better notes! Go Upstairs Singer!

    Last week I was so tired. But not in a way that was disruptive? I would get home after work and dance (“my day”) and just be super tired in a way that was more than usual. Last Thursday I got home late with my Subway and got tired of chewing part way through the second half. Other days getting home late I would get upset and frustrated because I was hungry but too tired to think of anything, nevermind make it. (Thus the Subway on Thursday.) I was ready for a holiday, which was good timing because that’s what I’m doing this week. I’m on holiday – not traveling anywhere, just eliminating work from my schedule for a couple of weeks.

    Dreaming of travel, mind you. And planning for travel, eventually. I’m travelling to Vancouver this weekend, which I’m going to count because it’s the biggest trip I’ve taken in 2 years (if you don’t count the fact that I packed a suitcase when I went to Duncan for Christmas). It’s been almost 2 years and one month since I was last in Van. And 2 years and 4 months since I was on a plane going anywhere. Countdown. Or countup? What’s the opposite of countdown where you calculate how long it’s been since you did a thing?