12 October 2014
Good News Week
12/10/14 11:14
This has been a very good week. There was a bunch of things floating around in our lives recently that were causing us a bit of worry and stress. Most of them were resolved this week in the best possible way.
First, I had a problem with the rehearsal schedule for Ethan Claymore and I wasn’t sure I’d actually be able to make all of the performances of Rigoletto. Well, the issue has been settled. The director of the play has moved the one rehearsal from Sunday to Saturday. Now I’ll be rehearsing for Rigoletto all day Friday, Both a music only run through (which is for some weird reason is called a Sitz Probe) and then a full dress rehearsal. On Saturday I’ll be at rehearsal for the play from noon to 3 and then performing in Rigoletto from 6:00 on. Then on Sunday I’ll be performing in Rigoletto in the afternoon. It’ll be a busy weekend but everything will be covered. THAT’S a load off of my mind.
One thing I hadn’t mentioned was that we’d gone to a four day week at work. We have a number of big contracts that were signed, and ready to go but the companies were holding off letting us start. Waiting for third quarter results I guess. These dry spots happen in small companies every once in a while so it wasn’t unprecedented. Still with money tight they had to cut costs. Now, to the management’s credit, they preferred reducing everyone’s hours a bit over laying off a few people completely, and maybe not getting them back. The staff at Inuktun has a fairly specialized skill-set and many would be hard to replace. So starting back in September I have been working four days a week. Finally on Friday we got the word that the first of the big contracts has finally come through. Starting next week we’re back on full time, which will be nice. On the other hand I didn’t mind working Monday and Tuesday, getting Wednesday off, and then working Thursday and Friday. It was a nice break and it gave me a chance to attend the extra Wednesday rehearsal for Rigoletto. The timing worked out perfectly but I'm glad it's over.
This week I also got a call from one of my Oncologists. Back in September they told me that they wanted to go in and take out that suspicious lung lump. If you remember it had been shrinking during the Chemo and they were hoping it might just fade away or stabilize. No such luck though. The scan in September showed it had started to grow again. My worry was that the operation would be at the least convenient time possible and conflict with the many things I have going right now. (After the last chemo they specifically told me to resume my normal activities. OK maybe I am trying to make up for lost time but still.) Well, this week I got a call from the surgeon’s office. They’ve scheduled the lump-ectomy for October 23, which is perfect because it’s after Rigoletto but before we get into the theatre for Ethan Claymore. Because it’s a Thursday, I’ll only miss one play rehearsal, and they can work around that. The operation will take 30-45 minutes but I’ll have to spend one or two nights in the hospital in Victoria. That’s not as bad as it sounds because unlike Nanaimo, the hospital has WiFi in the rooms. They are keeping me around because they want to make sure there are no complications, but I don’t expect any. I recovered quite quickly after the big surgery a year ago and I’m also far healthier now than I was last year. In addition this operation is far smaller than the last one. I’ll be home Saturday, possibly even Friday if things look especially good. The timing is also good because it’ll give me a chance to study my lines and study for the Citizenship Test.
That’s right we finally got a date for our tests. Our Canadian Citizenship test is scheduled for November 4th, which is a perfect hole in the schedule. Exactly nothing is on tap for that morning. We’ll have to study a bit for the test, but that can start after Rigoletto when I’m recovering in the Hospital.
It’s been a good week for my cousin Mike as well. I don’t think I mentioned this but he got his boat stolen a few weeks ago. It was moored at the marina and somebody just loaded it on a trailer and took off with it. Now Mike was heartbroken. Not only is this prime fall fishing season, the coho salmon are running right now, he’s had this boat for nearly thirty years. It’s a “Lifetimer” boat. That’s the brand, but it’s also an apt description. They are all aluminum, heavy gauge, ruggedly built boats that last forever. Fortunatly the thief was not all that bright. He made a great effort to spray paint over the lens of the security camera, but he stood in front of the camera to do it so they got several seconds of good video of him shaking the spray paint can. Then he only painted over the lens of the one camera covering the gate. They got decent footage of him driving up, including his license plate, attaching a boat trailer (also not his) and parking on the boat ramp. Then they have good footage of him walking up and painting the one camera. And they have good footage of him walking along the dock and taking Mike’s boat, driving it around to the boat ramp, loading it up and driving away. All of this happened at 2:30 in the morning, which of course was not suspicious at all.
Anyway, they tracked the guy down and he first claimed it was his boat and trailer (wrong answer). Then he claimed he took it at 2:30 in the afternoon (strike two). Then he claimed he’d bought the boat (then why paint over the camera and take it in the middle of the night?). The motor was in his brother’s possession. When confronted and told he could be charged with accepting stolen goods, his brother sold him out like a Ferengi. He sang like a canary. Dates, times, who his brother had unloaded the boat to, everything. I think if they’d kept pressuring him he’d have sworn that his brother set the Reichstag Fire, was on the Grassy Knoll, and personally buried Jimmy Hoffa. It’s good to have family you can count on.
The boat ended up on the mainland. The thief stripped everything out, the motor, steering, seats, everything in an effort to hide its identity. (But not the serial number plate on the inside of the hull. Brains are really not his strong point). He traded it to a first nations band for another boat and $1000. Mike arranged for the boat to be towed to the coast and then shipped across. He got it back Friday. It’s been stripped out but he’s talking to Lifetimer, located in Duncan just south of Nanaimo, about rebuilding it. It’ll cost him a few thousand but they would go through it completely. Everything will be new, freshly painted, adjusted, and tuned. It’ll be good as new, which will be nice.
Every cloud has a silver lining if you look hard enough.
PIX: Our costumes for the opera. Marsha just found out that she needs a different blouse. This one is too bright.
Also this week we had a visitor. A great Snowy Owl rested in a tree across the street. You see the most amazing things in this place.
First, I had a problem with the rehearsal schedule for Ethan Claymore and I wasn’t sure I’d actually be able to make all of the performances of Rigoletto. Well, the issue has been settled. The director of the play has moved the one rehearsal from Sunday to Saturday. Now I’ll be rehearsing for Rigoletto all day Friday, Both a music only run through (which is for some weird reason is called a Sitz Probe) and then a full dress rehearsal. On Saturday I’ll be at rehearsal for the play from noon to 3 and then performing in Rigoletto from 6:00 on. Then on Sunday I’ll be performing in Rigoletto in the afternoon. It’ll be a busy weekend but everything will be covered. THAT’S a load off of my mind.
One thing I hadn’t mentioned was that we’d gone to a four day week at work. We have a number of big contracts that were signed, and ready to go but the companies were holding off letting us start. Waiting for third quarter results I guess. These dry spots happen in small companies every once in a while so it wasn’t unprecedented. Still with money tight they had to cut costs. Now, to the management’s credit, they preferred reducing everyone’s hours a bit over laying off a few people completely, and maybe not getting them back. The staff at Inuktun has a fairly specialized skill-set and many would be hard to replace. So starting back in September I have been working four days a week. Finally on Friday we got the word that the first of the big contracts has finally come through. Starting next week we’re back on full time, which will be nice. On the other hand I didn’t mind working Monday and Tuesday, getting Wednesday off, and then working Thursday and Friday. It was a nice break and it gave me a chance to attend the extra Wednesday rehearsal for Rigoletto. The timing worked out perfectly but I'm glad it's over.
This week I also got a call from one of my Oncologists. Back in September they told me that they wanted to go in and take out that suspicious lung lump. If you remember it had been shrinking during the Chemo and they were hoping it might just fade away or stabilize. No such luck though. The scan in September showed it had started to grow again. My worry was that the operation would be at the least convenient time possible and conflict with the many things I have going right now. (After the last chemo they specifically told me to resume my normal activities. OK maybe I am trying to make up for lost time but still.) Well, this week I got a call from the surgeon’s office. They’ve scheduled the lump-ectomy for October 23, which is perfect because it’s after Rigoletto but before we get into the theatre for Ethan Claymore. Because it’s a Thursday, I’ll only miss one play rehearsal, and they can work around that. The operation will take 30-45 minutes but I’ll have to spend one or two nights in the hospital in Victoria. That’s not as bad as it sounds because unlike Nanaimo, the hospital has WiFi in the rooms. They are keeping me around because they want to make sure there are no complications, but I don’t expect any. I recovered quite quickly after the big surgery a year ago and I’m also far healthier now than I was last year. In addition this operation is far smaller than the last one. I’ll be home Saturday, possibly even Friday if things look especially good. The timing is also good because it’ll give me a chance to study my lines and study for the Citizenship Test.
That’s right we finally got a date for our tests. Our Canadian Citizenship test is scheduled for November 4th, which is a perfect hole in the schedule. Exactly nothing is on tap for that morning. We’ll have to study a bit for the test, but that can start after Rigoletto when I’m recovering in the Hospital.
It’s been a good week for my cousin Mike as well. I don’t think I mentioned this but he got his boat stolen a few weeks ago. It was moored at the marina and somebody just loaded it on a trailer and took off with it. Now Mike was heartbroken. Not only is this prime fall fishing season, the coho salmon are running right now, he’s had this boat for nearly thirty years. It’s a “Lifetimer” boat. That’s the brand, but it’s also an apt description. They are all aluminum, heavy gauge, ruggedly built boats that last forever. Fortunatly the thief was not all that bright. He made a great effort to spray paint over the lens of the security camera, but he stood in front of the camera to do it so they got several seconds of good video of him shaking the spray paint can. Then he only painted over the lens of the one camera covering the gate. They got decent footage of him driving up, including his license plate, attaching a boat trailer (also not his) and parking on the boat ramp. Then they have good footage of him walking up and painting the one camera. And they have good footage of him walking along the dock and taking Mike’s boat, driving it around to the boat ramp, loading it up and driving away. All of this happened at 2:30 in the morning, which of course was not suspicious at all.
Anyway, they tracked the guy down and he first claimed it was his boat and trailer (wrong answer). Then he claimed he took it at 2:30 in the afternoon (strike two). Then he claimed he’d bought the boat (then why paint over the camera and take it in the middle of the night?). The motor was in his brother’s possession. When confronted and told he could be charged with accepting stolen goods, his brother sold him out like a Ferengi. He sang like a canary. Dates, times, who his brother had unloaded the boat to, everything. I think if they’d kept pressuring him he’d have sworn that his brother set the Reichstag Fire, was on the Grassy Knoll, and personally buried Jimmy Hoffa. It’s good to have family you can count on.
The boat ended up on the mainland. The thief stripped everything out, the motor, steering, seats, everything in an effort to hide its identity. (But not the serial number plate on the inside of the hull. Brains are really not his strong point). He traded it to a first nations band for another boat and $1000. Mike arranged for the boat to be towed to the coast and then shipped across. He got it back Friday. It’s been stripped out but he’s talking to Lifetimer, located in Duncan just south of Nanaimo, about rebuilding it. It’ll cost him a few thousand but they would go through it completely. Everything will be new, freshly painted, adjusted, and tuned. It’ll be good as new, which will be nice.
Every cloud has a silver lining if you look hard enough.
PIX: Our costumes for the opera. Marsha just found out that she needs a different blouse. This one is too bright.
Also this week we had a visitor. A great Snowy Owl rested in a tree across the street. You see the most amazing things in this place.