Tuesday, May 31, 2005

New Boots

So I had to return the hiking boots I had bought because they were a little too big. Hiking boots should be a little big to account for foot expansion over the course of a hike but these where ridiculously large. I am not sure how I managed to pull that off but it managed to give me sore heels on first time I wore then. So I returned them and found a pair that were similar to the old pair that I really like that happen to be a little too small. I guess I just can't win. I hate buying footwear. My feet are at the top range of women's sizes so I have a hard time finding nice things to fit. So I now have yet another pair of boots to try to break in in the 16 days left before I leave on my hike.

So I managed to pick up my forgotten things in Providence. And just when I thought I had gotten everything, I still managed to forget my mirror and dustmop. Oh well. I did get my really nice old saw and a few other things that I didn't even remember I had. I also managed to get the futon as my ex didn't have room for it. So my brother is inheriting a futon as I don't have room for it. At least it will get used as I think that the landlord would probably have tossed it. I did end up spending a good chunk of my day picking up my stuff, and cleaning the apartment. At least I made it to the doctor's office, got my things and made it to REI, so everything was accomplished on this trip.

So I am finally receiving my sleeping bag system from Big Agnes. I have been looking forward to this since about December, which is when I thought I was going to receive it, then I was moved to end April. Now the down bag was been changed to a primaloft bag but it will be a really nice bag so I am not complaining and am looking forward to trying out the bag and seeing how it will work in a hammock.

Monday, May 30, 2005

State-side

So I am in the states again. I have to get a whole whack of stuff done before I leave wednesday morning. I did not expect to wake up this morning and head off to the states. But after a few other things fell into place, this seemed to be the logical thing to do. Bit of a shame as I am missing a nice chicken dinner. At the very least, since tuesday will be the last day I have real medical coverage, I had to get in one last doctor's appointment. After that it is emergency coverage only and will not cover pre-existing aches, pains, or stuff like that. I also just showed up on the door-step of a friend, and we have been yaking almost non-stop since I arrived. It has been nice catching up. Only two weeks have passed but it feels like longer.

They finally finished work on the foundation today and backfilled the hole. It has to settle for a few weeks before they can come and pour a front step so we still have a little bridge to walk on to get into the house. This also means no real access to the shed still. The deck cannot be put back until the dirt settles so the deck is resting up against the shed blocking the door. At least we can hang out laundry.

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Elusive time

Time is plodding along right now. I have this long list of stuff that I need to do, and some of it is in preparation for the trail. Some of the things I would like to do now though are not possible because the driveway is a mess and I can't get my bike out of the shed to use it. The weather has been down right gorgeous this weekend and I can't even wash the car. I was unfortunely parked under the lamp post and the birds bullseyed the car really good. Also, the starter is going and I can't take it out, because the driveway is not available for use. So I have just put off the rest of the list and just sit around knitting of doing my itinerary at night. At least I am making progress on the itinerary. Slow but steady progress.

On a good note, the title to my car has been sent and all I have to do is drive down to get it. If I leave tomorrow, I can catch the tail end of my medical insurance to have a few things looked at, but if I wait until after wednesday, I will be able to go to a kayak lesson wednesday night and beat the crowds of people heading back after the long weekend. I could also turn this into a little bit of a training run by hitting the White Mountains on the way back and do a little hiking. At least I will be able to use the smaller hammock and see how I like it. It seemed really small compared to the jumbo one I was using before. Anything to save a pound or two. Also, its not like I can just take it back if I don't like it. I really will need some sort of shelter while on the trail and that is my chosen shelter, so I better get used to it. I hope the sleeping bag somes real soon, I am cutting this real close and should be looking for a bag just in case I need to rust order one.

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Sunburnt

So today I expected to bum around the house and the weather was supposed to rainy and thunderstorms where expected. Well, it started overcast, then it cleared right up. I managed to talk to the kayak guy across the street as they were heading out. So I asked if I could tag along and they let me. They had an extra life jacket and spray skirt. I learned a few things and also that there are all kinds of clubs in the Montreal area. I expected that any city near water would have clubs so that was a given. I think I will be going to a teaching thing on wednesday to watch some techniques being taught. I would like to be able to participate in some of the learning things but I coughed hard enough today to do some damage of sorts. I now have this sharp pain in my side. My father says he gets this too. Claims it is a detached muscle, so my recovery will be longer now.

The kayaking was great today. The water was cool and refreshing. The sun was out in full force. So much so, that I got a mild burn on my arms. I had my sleeves rolled up and when I noticed that I was turning red I pulled them down. So I am pink but not painfully burnt. Good thing I had a hat on, otherwise my nose would have been beet red. I did have some trouble paddling with a stitch in my side. The actually painful part happened after we where heading back. Which was good because I am not sure I could have paddled with this pain. I had a chance to try one of their composite carbon paddles, nice but I think I really like the wooden paddles I picked up. Also, I had a chance to try one of their kayaks, and it was really sweet. I think that I am considering my kayak to be an in to the sport and if I really like it, I will sell it and get something much better. They had really nice sleek kayaks that tracked in the water very micely and they were easy to handle too. I am really jealous. And while my backup paddle is an el cheapo plastic thing that is hideous, they have really nice 200$ fiberglass ones. They are really into kayaking and have all the gear needed, and have only been at it for less than 2 years. This has been quite a day. I enjoyed my water time but could do with less side pain.

Friday, May 27, 2005

It's raining, it's pouring

So the weekend is upon us once again and it is raining once again. I am really glad I can go out and enjoy the sun during the week. I hate to think mother nature has been planning to ruin weekends to make the worker drones a miserable bunch. I think that this year has been very wet and most of the rainfall has been over the weekends. Something to look forward to while on the trails. I get the feeling it will be very rainy and I will be drying clothes out every night. Sometimes it is just easier to walk in the rain without raingear then change into dry clothes when you reach camp. Hopefully I will not have to worry about dreary days. I would like to have nice sunny days and have opportunities for some great pictures of nature at its greatest.

I just looked into a hiking partner on TrailPlace.com. It is a site that publishes the hiking book that most people use for planning their trips from. There is someone leaving about the same time who is also looking for someone. So I fired off an email. Maybe I will get lucky. She is about the same age, which means we can talk about the same things. At the very least we would have watched some of the same shows while growing up. I think it would be fun to have someone to share camp and town trips with. Also, travelling with someone else makes it harder to just give up. It will also make town stops and road crossings safer.

Thursday, May 26, 2005

More construction

Woke up today to more construction work on the house. They were installing the piles today. This meant doing some drilling and also having to lift up the house. I hope the house is okay. It can't be to healthy to lift a house up then drop it back down. At least it seems to be progressing very well. They think they will be done beginning of next week. I hope so. I also hope that next week is better weather-wise.

I have quite the stitch in my side. I am still coughing due to the cold I am still trying to get over. I have been taking cough syrup, which is quite disgusting, and I am also on pain killers for the pain in my side. I hate being sick. I think the cough is in my head and I just need to tell myself that I really don't need to cough. I isn't a very productive cough either. Just an annoying cough that is quite painful. I was expecting the pain in my side to be a deterent to coughing today, but I seemed to cough just as much today as yesterday. Maybe tomorrow will be better no that I am taking something for the pain.

The itinerary is slowly coming together. I hope to have it done early next week. I am roughing in the dates and will then add town stops and rework the dates a little to take the towns into account. There are only 21 days left before I find myself in Maine trying to stick to some arbitrary schedule I made in the comfort of my home. I expect to deviate from the schedule but I am curious by how much I will deviate. I am also becoming a little anxious about everything. This is a huge undertaking that is the trip of a life time and I am really excited but worried too. I hope that the worries will disappear once I hit the trail. I also hope I can pick up postcards on the way to send out. I have a few people in mind who I want to send postcards too.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Wake up call

We are having construction done on the house to stop the settling. Because the house is settling, many of the doors do not close properly. Mostly these are the bathroom doors. Growing up here, I just accepted that the doors didn't close properly. Now that I am grown up (I don't really feel like it), it is annoying to be on the can and have the cat walk into the bathroom then leave the door open for all the world to see. So needless to say, there is now a new lock on the inside of the bathroom door. But on top of that, we are having the foundation of the house attached to some stable piles. The piles will be driven into the ground and attached to the foundation. So this morning, I awoke to the sound of some people outside digging around the house. This was okay until they starting using the jackhammer to break up the cement walkway. That was when I gave up and got out of bed, much earlier than usual. We currently have a moat around the house and a little bridge over it to get into the front door. We have no access to the back lawn. This means no hanging out of laundry and no access to my bicycle. So much for going on a bike ride. And it was almost nice out today.

The weather here in Montreal has been quite miserable, especially on weekends. The last weekend was a holiday weekend and it too was rainy and overcast. I am glad I am not working right now but this is not good weather. I hate being cooped up in the house. The car needs to be washed and I should be out exercising. I may have to break out my rollerblades, except that I still suck at them and they hurt the soles of my feet. I think they need new inserts. Maybe gel inserts would help. I will have to look into this, some other time.

I have mostly gotten over the last cold I had. I now only have a dry and very unproductive cough. I cough so much that my side hurts. It is hardly ever productive and I really should just ignore the urge, but it always feels like one more cough will clear me up. It never does though. Oh well. I will have to drink more water and ignore the tickle.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Ready, set, hammock!

I finally had a chance today to set up my hammock. It was the first time setting up this particular hammock so I had to fight with it a little. Mostly it was trying to get the add-on to add on correctly. One feature that has been absolutely great with my old hammock are the snake skins. These are thin tubes that fit over the ends of the hammock and can be pulled down to encase the hammock. It makes set up and take down very easy, especially in the rain. The problem with those were the fact that the end was narrower than I remember so I had to take off the fly tensioner to get it on without damaging the snake skin. The secon add-on was an under quilt. It went on very easily once I stopped reading the directions and just looked at what needed doing. I never made it past the second line of the directions but I got it on the hammock no problems. This hammock is smaller and lighter than my old one. I like the lightness feature but I don't like the smaller feature. I really liked the spaciousness of the old hammock. Oh well. Either I will get used to it or I will sell it and get the larger one.

I had a chance to try to get my driver's license switched over today. Waited in line for about one hour only to find out that this office was a privately held office and they can't do foreign license transfers. Nice. And to add insult to injury, the government run offices are on strike. I think they are still open but only with limited services.

So I decided to console myself and go backpack shopping. I found a pack that had promise, but first I need to return the other pack that doesn't fit and has some really bad features. The buckles don't unbuckle when I want them to and it is really hard to unbuckle them with one hand. Maybe I am too picky, but I have to live with this pack for at least 6 months. I will have to figure out how to return the back and boots and get new stuff soon.

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Out of shape

I managed to get out on the slopes yesterday and I was having a really hard time with it. My pack may have been a little over loaded, but I need to be able to carry much more than I had and still be able to walk up hills. I also feel that the new boots I just got are not a good fit. I will have to go boot hunting again and hope I can find something soon. The pack had annoying features about it and I may look around, but I may just put up with it then get rid of it when I finish. I really dislike the buckles as they don't pop open when I try to open them. They almost require two hands to open them. So much to think about. I tried to give myself a good stretch both yesterday and this morning, but my back is sore and so are a few other places. It isn't too bad but tomorrow will tell the full story.

Today was mostly relaxing and catching up the the grandparents. I am also still working on the itinerary. It is mostly slow going. The weather has been overcast and drizzly over the weekend so I hope it is better tomorrow. I want to get my bike out and start getting more cardio in my limited workout.

Friday, May 20, 2005

Preparing

Today I started working on my itinerary. Right now, I am having a hard time with town stops. I think that it is because, right now, I wouldn't walk 10 miles to get to a town. But maybe after a month on the trail, I would be happy to walk 10 miles to get to a town. So while I realise that the itinerary I am making is loose and subject to change, I am wondering how much it will change. But the planning is nice and I am really looking forward to starting this. Only 27 days to go. I think the itinerary will also help me determine when I will approximately finish. Hopefully not too close to Christmas.

My brother and I went to see Star Wars today. I thought it was very good, but then I seemed to remember that the first two were also good. So I will now have to watch all 5 to jog my memory. I really can't remember much from the original three so this will be a good time to revisit them.

I will be going hiking tomorrow with my friend and her friends. I hope I don't slow them down too much, I did warn them. The day will be a loop hike with two peaks. I am going to try to break in the new boots but I will have the old ones on hand just in case. I hope there are no problems as I don't know where I can get another pair of boots like my original. So the new ones better be a good fit. Have to mix up some trail mix and finish packing up some gear. I will be staying the night at my friend's place so we can get an early start in the morning.

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Old Friends

I managed to catch up with an old friend tonight. We went out for supper and chatted for quite some time. After missing my bus, I ran into another even older friend. It was really nice to talk with both of them. I traded contact info with the second friend as it was out of date.

I have been invited on a hiking trip this weekend. I am not sure I will be able to keep up and stated that if they think I will be too slow to let me know right away. I definitely need to train and get in shape but I don't need the stress of holding up someones hike to also be there. If they don't want me, I will still go hiking but it will be closer to home and it will be an easier peak then what they have planned. I will also try to talk to the guy next door when I see his kayak on the car and see if I can get the kayak on the water. I still need a life jacket but I can get one of those pretty quickly. I am wondering how cold the water is right now. Brrr.

I need to decide if I have to get another sleeping bag or accept the 45F bag that I will be receiving. I am not sure 45F and synthetic will be right for a thru-hike but I really am not sure I can afford to get a down 15F or down anything right now. I need to think about how happy a non-down bag will be with me. I know that synthetic doesn't compact as much but this will be a lighter bag. I need to do some soul searching. I just found out today that the move cost about 500$ canadian. Ouch. Gas is really expensive nowadays.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Cars and cats

Finally took the car in to see why it was making funny noises when I started it. It needs a new starter. Which isn't cheap either. And just to add insult to injury, the engine check light decided to come on. I also noticed that there was some damage to the front dirver side door. The bottom corner is bent up. I have no clue how this could have happened. I love my car but right now I don't need this. Hopefully it will be fine for the next month or so.

The cats seem to be settling in and getting used to the place. PerC especially seems to like to run at high speeds for the floor mat then stop and let it slid across the floor. I am constantly putting it back into place. He is also slowly getting the hang of the stairs. These are his first stairs to have to deal with and it is funny to watch. If he gets distracted in the middle of coming down them, he missteps. I had to get them a scratching post as their old one was really nasty, and got left behind, and they were starting to scratch at the rug. I also had them in my room again last night. It wasn't so bad this time. Either they are getting used to it or I am tired enough to fall asleep and don't notice them. At least my room isn't being destroyed and Scotty didn't sleep on my pillow this time. But I did have to get up at 6:00 to let them out as that is when my parents get up, and the cats want to know what is going on out there. I will have to just get up then. I need to start exercising now that I am feeling better. The exercise will help with the healing and make me feel better. Feel that at least I am doing something to get into shape for Katahdin.

The weather here has been okay. Nice enough for spring but not nice enough for me to take the kayak out yet. I also still need to get a life jacket. I am thinking that no matter how warm the air is right now, the water temperature will still be frigid. I need to go over and talk to the guy across the street too. He has a really sweet looking kayak and I want to know where he is taking it out. Also, maybe he can teach me a few things.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Settling down

I finally told my mother today about my thru-hike. She seemed to take it better than I though she would. Maybe she is in shock. I also will not be getting the 15F sleeping bag I was hoping to get. The test call fell through and it looks like I will be getting a 45F bag instead. I am not sure I can start with it, but maybe I can have it sent to me as a summer bag then send it back for my winter bag. I have a 0F bag right now but it is a bit overkill. Maybe I will start with the 45F bag and just bring the heavy duty thermals and slep in those. Maybe a liner would help too. So much to think about and so little time.

I didn't do any unpacking today. Mostly I just hung out, and relaxed. There is only one big box left that needs to be repacked into smaller boxes. Otherwise, everything I need is mostly out and settled. I can repack most of the comforters now that I have the down one on the bed. I also have to get all the hiking gear out and start looking at what I have and what I can bring with me.

The cats where moved up into my room last night. They where being locked up at night in a small room and were scratching the door something fierce trying to get out. So I put a second litter box in my room with a little food and water. They were much happier. Scotty decided my pillow would be the best place to sleep and PerCp thought my armpit was best. After scratching me last night, he got his claws trimmed today.

Monday, May 16, 2005

Home, Sweet, Home

Home at last. Saturday was the official move day and it was a long day. My father and brother drove down with the truck, my friends loaded it then we drove back and unloaded the truck. The cats were not impressed with the drive, but they never did like the car. The are now exploring the house and getting into trouble. I have been trying to unpack while getting over this cold. I have managed to make my room livable with what I need and have repacked many boxes to make them easier to store. I also had to put most of the blankets and stuff in the wash to get rid of cat hair and dust. Also, some things hadn't been washed in quite a while to avoid the coin op. I can be a real miser sometimes.

My cold does seems to be breaking up, finally. I at least feel a little better. I am still coughing enough to case headaches, and the coughing really isn't that productive, but I am hopeful it will get better. I really need to get better so I can start training and getting out of the house. I would also like to get the kayak in to some water. It wasn't so bad when it was being stored at someone else's place, but now I can see it every day and it is calling to me. It needs water.

I managed to misplace the title to my car, so I was unable to inport it into Canada. What fun. So I have to look into getting another one. Now quite sure how that will work. I am still hopeful that it will turn up in some box or other. I can't even remember where it would have been before the move. I checked in all the places I would have put it, or last remember seeing it but to no avail.

Friday, May 13, 2005

Last Day!!

Last day, yay!! This is my last day at work, then I am having a going way party tonight and moving back home tomorrow. This week seemed to fly by quite fast, except for the cold part. That needs to be done with.

I have been running around work trying to make sure everyone knows where my things are and that my lab notebook is readable and understandable. I also had to make sure that the few things I still had 'in progress' would be taken care of and not forgotten. For the most part, the lab runs itself and everything will be fine. And what is interesting is that I am worried about how well the lab will run and I am the one who quit. I have also been trying to organise all my electronic data and burn it all onto one DVD. So far it was scattered across three computers. But I think I finally tracked it all down and am now getting ready to rip the DVD. I think that is almost the last thing to do. I will still have to meet with the boss and let her know any important things about the running of the lab that she should keep an eye on.

I am not sure I will make it to the computer science building for the TGIF that they have. If you don't get there exactly at 4:00 when they put the food out, there is nothing to eat. I think I will be seeing most of the important people tonight at my party so it isn't too important if I make it or not. Also, this way I won't be eating supper twice. I have a few people coming over tonight to see the apartment and then my friend is coming over before the party and she is going to read tarot for me. This will be a fun, crazy night.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Sick again

1 more day of work left. I am trying to wrap up loose ends and make sure everyone knows how to do all of my chores. I am also so far behind on packing. I did part of the kitchen but still have a majority of the dhishes left as well as some food stuff, spices and the cast iron. My box pile is getting quite low. I will have to pull the rest of them out form under the bed and take stock of how much box space I have and how many things I have left. Hopefully it will match up closely. It will be okay to care down heavier, bigger single items but not too many. I will be spending as much time as it takes tonight to get everything packed. Unfortunately, I have to go home, get my computer, come back to work and download all my email in my work account. Then I need to set up a forwarding and see if that will work after they close the account. Hopefully I won't receive any important emails that get lost, but then, how would I know if they are lost.

I have to wrap up another paddle and get that down to the post office tomorrow. Need to get that sent before I move so I don't forget or lose it. The guy lost his credit card so the payment was slow, but it is paid for and now I can ship. 3 down, only 4 to go.

Went out for lunch today with all the members of the lab. This was my good bye lunch. It was very nice and I will miss everyone. I am absolutely stuffed right now. I skipped breakfast in anticipation of having a big lunch and may have to have a really light supper assuming I am ever hungry before tomorrow. It is a shame I am still sick and had to keep coughing all through lunch. About half of the lab is sick. I think my original cold is gone but I may have picked up another one from someone else in the lab. I hope it doesn't interfer too much with the move on Saturday. I will be really bummed if I can't help much with the move as there will only be three of us unpacking. My boyfriend has bad wrists that prevent him from doing much so he may not be able to help. Its probably just as well.

I put the roof rack on the car yesterday, by myself in the cold (and I wonder why I am sick). It went on almost without a hitch. One of the front attachments didn't want to go around the bolt, but brute force won in the end. I also attached the kayak saddles and will be mostly ready to attach the kayak on Saturday. The saddles will need to be adjusted once the kayak is on the rack for a good fit. I can't wait to get the thing in the water. I have had it since January and haven't been able to use it due to the winter weather. Soon, very soon.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

I have a reservation!!!

Yay, I got a reservation at Baxter State Park!! I am not sure what the dates are but a charge went through and that is great news. Once I have my start dates then I can start planning seriously around them. I only have 3 days left here is Providence, I have a truck and my father and brother are coming down to help this Saturday. I also managed to sell another paddle on eBay. Everything is coming together where before everything seemed to be flying apart at the seams. The packing still hasn't really come together though.

So I finally made it to REI last night and managed to get a friend to come along too, so the trip and shopping was great. It was almost derailed when I got home to find that the car was missing. My boyfriend had taken it to get beer supplies. I told him I was going, so it was a real big annoyance to have to wait. But the shopping was great and I managed to spend 600$, ouch. I got an awesome pack, a set of great poles, a new pair of boots (that I have to break in) and a nice camp towel. I also got a few more packages of prepackaged food. I really will not be relying on this for the whole trip but the first part will be a difficult leg and I don't want to have to worry about food, preparation, or space. This will make for a hard trip with easy cooking then hopefully the trip will get easier and the food will get better as I start cooking on my own.

I had my exit interview this afternoon. My job has been rough the last few months since I had to take over for someone who left rather suddenly. I wasn't supposed to have to do this aspect of the job and have been bored to tears for the last six months. Because of it, I have not been working on any research or advancing the project I was working on and this was very frustrating. So, I told the interviewer this and got everything off my chest. I feel better that at least someone in charge of hiring here will know. Otherwise, the community here was great and the employer was great too. I really liked some of the benefits and wished I had taken better advantage of them.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

REI, here I come!

4 days with no idea if I have enough boxes. I still have to pack the kitchen and there are a few other things lying around the rest of the rooms that need to be stuck in a box. I figure the towels and bed sheets will be packed with the kitchen stuff to act as padding, so that leaves part of my desk, the rest of the bathroom and part of the bedroom.

Went out last night to celebrate a friend's successful defense of his thesis. The bill came to 383$ and with tip was over 440$. It came to 30$ each. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I am trying to save and here I go enjoying an extravagant meal. The food was quite good though, and the dessert was excellent. I gained 2 pounds overnight, haven't eaten anything today, it is well past noon and I am still not hungry. I will catch a smallish supper then I am off to REI. I have had to put off my big shopping spree about 3 times now, so tonight, I am going. I never managed to sell my pack or boots and may be stuck selling them on the sell/swap list of backpackgeartest. This is a great site to get gear reviews from.

I emailed out my "Going away Party" invites. This Friday is my last day at work, so I will be enjoying Friday night more than usual. I hope I will be packed by then. It seems everytime I try to plan a night of packing, someone has a party or event that I want to go to, so I opt instead to go do that. I am normally not this social because I am always so tired after work that I just don't have the energy to deal with anything. But now I find I am dragging all day at work and trying to party late into the night. I am exhausted and still a little sick, but I know that in a few days I will not be able to do this any more. I will be able to catch up on sleep though. Mmmm, sleep. Can't wait.

Monday, May 09, 2005

Final stretch

4 days left of work. I am in the final stretch. I am also still a little sick. It seems to be finally working itself out, which means lots of nose blowing and coughing.

The yard sale was a wonderful flop. Seems I forgot to let people know where to come, and with my email account accidentally cancelled, I didn't notice until today. My email is finally back up. Also, I did manage to sell the two tables and the sofa just through the post and pictures. Not too shabby. I also managed to sell my tent to a friend. All this together means I can afford to get a new pack. Next on the wish list are poles and a few little extras. Hopefully that will not inclued a new sleeping bag, they are expensive. If I sell my old pack and boots then I will be even. I have also managed to sell two kayak paddles so far. Only six left to sell. Picked them up at an auction and now I am auctioning them off on ebay.

Went out sunday night to a friends house. I had to leave just as the brownies where served to help my friend put up the tent. I think the money was worth missing an extra pound on the hips. I did manage to make it back to the party and we all went out for some sushi. I really don't care for sushi, at least the last two times I've had it I didn't like it, so I opted for chicken fried rice. It was very good. I did try some sushi and it was merely okay. The rice was much better. I am trying to decide if I want a going away party Wednesday night when the glasses are still available for use or Friday night when everything is packed. Friday is when most people would be able to make it but I don't want to have my loading help too tired the next day to help load the truck. But Wednesday is a work night and I don't know how many people would be able to make it.

Friday, May 06, 2005

Ice Cream?

1 week to go. And I am still sick. I looked up strep throat and it seems to match the viral pharyngitis symptoms really well. Which also means that since you can't treat for viral infections, I have to wait it out. Supposedly it takes a week, so just a few more days. In the mean time, my stuffed up nose is running a marathon and I am cold.

Update on the email situation is that I may not get it back before Monday at the soonest. Seems they saw 13 as /3 and cancelled my account on the 3rd. Almost seems a waste to have it reinstated for less than a week of use, but I gave that email address out for apartment hunters. Hopefully I am not missing too many things. I may have to post to the listserv again with a new address to fish out the posts. I think I will just wait until Monday. I find I am being quite lazy these last few days. I think this sore throat is wiping me out more than I think it is. I really am having trouble sleeping at night, and my nose is quite stuffed today. I really want ice cream but can't convince anyone to go with me, I have a buy one get one coupon that would be nice to use. I love Ben and Jerry's. It is dangerous having a location just down the street from work. Must resist the siren call.

As a compromise to keeping my textbooks, I did throw out all the associated notes, labs, and tests. All I am left with are only the books. I also tried packing up my reading books and thought I would get rid of those I didn't really like. Which lead me to wanting to get rid of a V.C. Andrews book that I couldn't remember reading. So I read the book before getting rid of it. Meaning I didn't finish packing the books nor cleaning the apartment. I also didn't really eat supper either.

So REI is having a big sale this week. I have about 500$ worth of gear I need to get. While this will hurt, hopefully I can sell my old pack and tent and recoup some of the cost. I will also be having a yard sale this weekend and maybe I can break even. I want to be able to keep the bank account well padded so as to not have to worry while on the trail. And, it would be nice to still have money to live off of when I get off the trail. It will be around christmas time, so I would like to give some gifts. I don't think forcing people to look at the numerous slides of the trail will count.

Thursday, May 05, 2005

I'm on Acid

8 days and I am still sick with whatever. Saw the doctor today, but it was about my wart. I have been carefully growing and maintaining quite the little colony on the bottom of my foot. I finally decided that this is inappropriate for hiking and I am getting is removed. Unfortunately, burning doesn't really work on the bottom of the foot, and the acid treatment takes time. They could also cut it out, but that would leave a nice big hole in on the bottom of my foot, perfect for an infection. So acid it is. Hopefully it won't take too many treatments, I would like to have it gone before I start hiking. Guess it also hinges on whether I will have health coverage when I am in Canada.

Work is winding down some now that I have someone to take over part of the work. I figured that when I gave notice at work, I would be okay until at least the last day for building access and email. Yesterday I discovered that my card wasn't working, which was embarassing since I was trying to train someone. And today I discovered that I can't log into my email. I hope they haven't deleted them from the server yet. I am trying to set up appointments to see the apartment and to sell things. I will lose a lot of information if they have deleted them. So I think I will start having everything forwarded to another email address that is off campus so I can at least save the emails.

I am trying to gather together all the contact information of my friends so I can try to stay in touch. This has always been a problem with me that generally runs "out of sight, out of mind". I will have to fight against that as I have made some great friends here. Not sure how many of them I will see again but there are some I definitely want to keep in touch with. I would have to be out of my mind to lose touch with them.

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Reservation sent

9 days and I'm sick. This is just great. Training is on hold. I have a sore throat from hell, but otherwise no other symptoms. Not even swollen tonsils. I get this from time to time but boy does it hurt. Sneezing and coughing are out of the question.

Re-posted the apartment again this morning. Lots of new interest but still not sure anyone will take it. I am really worried about this. I have to save every penny I can and rent will kill that. I will have to wait until people visit, of which there are several who seem interested in seeing the place. Even though I stated a beginning of June move in date, people still want the beginning of July. I really can't pay for one more month, so I hope someone can take it. I did manage to sell a kayak paddle and sent off my reservation to Baxter State Park. I am crossing my fingers. They will determine when I am starting. I hope they have a place for me.

I managed to get a small amount of packing done and realized I have nowhere near the right number of boxes for moving. I packed all my old books in one box and still have textbooks, and reading books. Movies and xbox games made it into one box but that still leaves cd's. The highlight of yesterday was making mini-banana loaves. I love banana cake and this was also a way to try out my new loaf pan. I really shouldn't have bought it as it will sit in a box for months gathering dust and cat hair. Not that the drawer I keep it in is any better. I did wipe it off before using it at least.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Selling mode

Only 10 days to go and I am looking really hard at stuff to decide how badly I really need them. I still have all of my university text books. Really, what do I need them for. I just don't want to part with them on the off chance that I may need to look up some obscure fact that I can probably google for faster. But since I had to pay over 100$ a book, it is hard to bring myself to throw them out. I am also not sure I will still want to be in the biology field when I come back from hiking. With only a bachlor's degree I feel that I have hit the highest job possible and it is unsatisfactory. I really want to do research and feel that I have not been given a fair chance to try it, so I think even grad school is out now. I hope to get into writing while hiking, maybe even photography. I hope that 6 months on the trail will lead me down that path. Now that begs the question; digital camera or film? The digital is less than 1lb but my great film camera is 2.5lbs. I want to bring film but weight is everything. Food is more important than a camera so this is a hard choice.

I managed to sell my tent and have my packsack, a pair of boots and a hiking pole also slated for sale. This allows me to get a bigger pack, which I feel will be needed, I already have my wonderful Hennessy Hammock, and a new set of trekking poles to replace my 10$ REI garage sale pole. The boots, which were also an REI garage sale impulse buy, must go. They are really bad on my knees. They are hardly used but I scuffed the toes badly so they will not go for much. My older boots will have to be exchanged for a slightly larger pair as they are just a little too small. I feel really bad returning them to REI after having them for over 3 years, especially since I have loved them dearly, but they really are just a little too small and I feel it at the end of a day or when going down hill as they are tight in the toe area. So that means new boots to break in and all this has to be packed and moved as well. I will be hitting their sale this weekend. I love REI, I hope MEC is as good.

Monday, May 02, 2005

Training: day 1

11 days until my last day at work and 12 days before I move.

I made it to the gym yesterday so I could start training for Katahdin. Either I have a great heart, or something is wrong with the heart rate monitor on the eliptical walker. I only made it to 140beats/minute once. The rest of the time I was stuck at about 70. I figure that since I was huffing and puffing I am not in shape, so the machine was out of it. I am pleasantly sore today. I will try to get to the gym again today to do more cardio. In fact, based on how much of a hard time I was having, I think I must go to the gym. I saw a topo map of Katahdin and it will be a brutal round trip.

We haven't had internet at home for quite awhile. Ever since the downstairs neighbour moved out several months ago. Even though we have about 5 open wifi networks in the area, we have no access. Wifi card on the laptop broke awhile ago and the internal pcmcia card was malfunctioning. My boyfriend has finally gotten around to fixing it and I am moving out. Nice of him to wait so long even though I have been complaining about no internet for months now. Guess all I had to do was give up. So, no posts over the weekend. No time, no internet, no privacy to type.