Well I have made it thru the second week of school. My brain is partly in overload. Not just did we cover Freud last week but we covered several other methods as well. I have come to the conclusion that I dont much like any of the cognative interventions. Maybe its just that they are more confusing in what they are trying to do or just the fact that I believe you should deal with things in the here and now and sorry but the past is gone, ya cant change it. Carpe diem! Im rolling along fine with my first project and only have a rough idea for my second one and its due first, go figure. Got to get my arse in gear and get some of it done. We have our mid term so to speak for this course on Tuesday, so come tomorrow hangover or not, guess what Im going to be doing! Kinda kewl though, the teacher gave us a review booklet that covers all the questions that we NEED to know from each chapter. We are to go thru it and answer everything and this in turn becomes our study guide. On Monday the whole class will review the answers that we have to study further on Monday night. I kinda looked it over on the way home last night and I have maybe 50 percent in my head, maybe a bit more. That was just a quick glance. What Im going to do as I start to answer them is the ones I have in my head, Im going to type out in black and the ones I have to look up will be in a different colour. Hopefully to put the emphasis on them as I study. Im not looking forward to this at all. Hopefully it has changed since high school, but I used to get test anxiety and end up flunking the test cause I get myself so worked up oveer it.
I have been trying hard at the nightly journal to make sure it is what the teacher is looking for and have asked her to read over a few entries to make sure I am on track. She says I am and not to take too much time editing it as it is only 15% of my mark. But hell if I can get a high mark on it, then it will help if I do poorly on anything else, like the second project or the exams. I think I will do okay but would really like to do well. Mind you if I do really well then I have an expectation to live up too, where as if it is so so then at least I can strive towards a higher mark on the final. Yep warped thinking. But hey maybe a bit of the Paradoxical Therapy might work on me and I will do just the opposite of what Im thinking.
Spent last night doing up some pumpkins for the party tonight, would like to do more but not sure if I will have the time. I like to have a dozen or so around the house but then with school, I didnt have the time to do any during the week. Will see how the morning goes. Have one more here to carve, have to go postal and pick up some eggs from Vince and Cheryl. Put up some more decorations that the girlchild hasnt succeeded in doing yet, finish putting our costumes together and just generally straighten up. I know I have a few that may be spending the night but not sure how many, so I should go and hunt out the air mattresses just in case. I know I have some spooky halloweenie music around, just not sure where I hid it. So far looks like the weather is going to be on our side. Not calling for any of the wet stuff til overnight. So lets hope that we are all spooked out by then.
Oh well, just a quick run down for now. I will make sure to do some kinda blog in the morning after the party cause that will be the fun stuff. Til the morning when the clocks go back!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
The suns out, think I need my own Reality Therapy!
Well its a week into the actual class now and I think Im hanging in. Has been alot of info to take in. Some I understand and some makes little to no sense at all. The first day, I was kinda stunned, feeling like a deer caught in the headlights! It was a simple day really, the rest of the class reviewed their last final, then we had a round of introductions, covered the course, the projects and expectations as well as the grading for this course. After a break, we came back and did a brainstorming exercise. At first I was a little intimidated but then the ideas started to come and I was an active participant in my group. Still felt lost as the rest of the class was using the jargon and I of course didnt have a clue, can we use some layman's terms here??? Each day we have to write a reaction journal, on what we did in class and something that we liked or disliked from our opinion and our view on it. I thought this shouldnt be that hard, ya right, I have rewritten the first 3 days and may still change them up some after getting the teacher to have a look and let me know if I was going in the right direction. She said not to change them again as she likes to see how we progress thru the entries. I think I may still alter them some.
Day 2 brought on ideas of the counselling process and how it all works. Not to bad and got the general idea of it all but look out Hump day cause here comes Freud. I can grasp some of his ideas but for the majority I think this guy was a nymphomaniac. All his theories are based sexually. And I just cant wrap my head around this. He is a psychoanalysts, which is all what is going on in your mind. All your problems are suppressed in your subconscious and you have to dig in to find them before you can fix anything. His different forms of therapy make sense to me but not so much as a whole. Thankfully the heavy theories being taught was broken up with an easier lesson on Thursday. It was on at risk youth and more towards peer counselling. This made sense completely and I can see how many of the ideas would work in a school setting. Thank goodness for a relatively easy brain day, cause I was still trying to grasp Freud. For Friday we dealt with Glasser and his reality approach. This I get and like. It makes complete sense to me to deal with what is in the here and now to move forward in a positive manner. He deals with behaviours hence if you can change the negative behaviour to positive, you can move forward past the problem in a positive manner.
Im glad we ended the week with a theory that was not to stressful on the brain. It should be pretty simple to write my journal entry for yesterday. Nope didnt do it when I got home as my sweetie took me out for dinner and dancing. Guess he figured I needed it and to get my mind off things for a while. It was nice just to get out together for a change, without the girl or the bikes. Did I just say that??!! Oh ya well the weather wasnt the best for a good ride last night, but today the SUN is out and the roads are dry, guess we will have to create some of our own reality therapy today!!!! Mind you that is if we can get the bikes outta the damn driveway. The landlord has allowed Mainroads to bring in the fill that they have dug out of the ditches and fill in some of the swampy holes in the upper yard. After her cutting down a zillion trees it has made quite a few big openings that could be filled. Well that is all good but pretty bad that they decided to start doing so in the friggin rain. Well we have had back to back dump trucks pouring into the driveway plus an excavator pushing the crap into the holes, which has only create a friggin mess at the hill and top of the drive. It is heavily rutted and just like sludge up there now. Even the trucks are slidin to get up the hill and stay the course. Not friggin happy about this! Needless to say if we get the bikes out they are going to turn into mud bikes and they will be needing a good wash when we get home. One would think that they would be a little more considerate on the state they left the driveway in. We arent driving monster machines here that can plow through anything!!!!! If I see them on Monday, Im going to have a friggin talk with them, cause as ya'll know if the roads are dry, Im riding to school and if I cant get the bike out, Im goin be some pissed with them, better yet if I end up dropping it because of the mess they created and left for us!!!!
Well I guess its time to get on with the day, do my homework, move a few more things and then out for my Therapy, hopefully! Tomorrows going to be the shits again so will do some major house cleaning now that Len is moved in. Get the worst of the mess cleaned up so next Saturday will just be a quick clean before the party. Hey speakin of which, I gotta get out the Halloween decorations and am going to have to start buying some pumpkins and getting them carved up for the party. Got our costume idea on the go and methinks it good thing Bear isnt going to make it this year as he may have another episode similar to the blow up doll year!!!! Going to miss ya buddy but understand and you are just going to have to wait for the pics to see what ya miss!
Day 2 brought on ideas of the counselling process and how it all works. Not to bad and got the general idea of it all but look out Hump day cause here comes Freud. I can grasp some of his ideas but for the majority I think this guy was a nymphomaniac. All his theories are based sexually. And I just cant wrap my head around this. He is a psychoanalysts, which is all what is going on in your mind. All your problems are suppressed in your subconscious and you have to dig in to find them before you can fix anything. His different forms of therapy make sense to me but not so much as a whole. Thankfully the heavy theories being taught was broken up with an easier lesson on Thursday. It was on at risk youth and more towards peer counselling. This made sense completely and I can see how many of the ideas would work in a school setting. Thank goodness for a relatively easy brain day, cause I was still trying to grasp Freud. For Friday we dealt with Glasser and his reality approach. This I get and like. It makes complete sense to me to deal with what is in the here and now to move forward in a positive manner. He deals with behaviours hence if you can change the negative behaviour to positive, you can move forward past the problem in a positive manner.
Im glad we ended the week with a theory that was not to stressful on the brain. It should be pretty simple to write my journal entry for yesterday. Nope didnt do it when I got home as my sweetie took me out for dinner and dancing. Guess he figured I needed it and to get my mind off things for a while. It was nice just to get out together for a change, without the girl or the bikes. Did I just say that??!! Oh ya well the weather wasnt the best for a good ride last night, but today the SUN is out and the roads are dry, guess we will have to create some of our own reality therapy today!!!! Mind you that is if we can get the bikes outta the damn driveway. The landlord has allowed Mainroads to bring in the fill that they have dug out of the ditches and fill in some of the swampy holes in the upper yard. After her cutting down a zillion trees it has made quite a few big openings that could be filled. Well that is all good but pretty bad that they decided to start doing so in the friggin rain. Well we have had back to back dump trucks pouring into the driveway plus an excavator pushing the crap into the holes, which has only create a friggin mess at the hill and top of the drive. It is heavily rutted and just like sludge up there now. Even the trucks are slidin to get up the hill and stay the course. Not friggin happy about this! Needless to say if we get the bikes out they are going to turn into mud bikes and they will be needing a good wash when we get home. One would think that they would be a little more considerate on the state they left the driveway in. We arent driving monster machines here that can plow through anything!!!!! If I see them on Monday, Im going to have a friggin talk with them, cause as ya'll know if the roads are dry, Im riding to school and if I cant get the bike out, Im goin be some pissed with them, better yet if I end up dropping it because of the mess they created and left for us!!!!
Well I guess its time to get on with the day, do my homework, move a few more things and then out for my Therapy, hopefully! Tomorrows going to be the shits again so will do some major house cleaning now that Len is moved in. Get the worst of the mess cleaned up so next Saturday will just be a quick clean before the party. Hey speakin of which, I gotta get out the Halloween decorations and am going to have to start buying some pumpkins and getting them carved up for the party. Got our costume idea on the go and methinks it good thing Bear isnt going to make it this year as he may have another episode similar to the blow up doll year!!!! Going to miss ya buddy but understand and you are just going to have to wait for the pics to see what ya miss!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
First week
Well I made it thru the first week of school. I wasnt nervous at all heading there for the first time, actually I was looking forward to it. I guess what they call it on the first week is an intake class. There were 9 of us in the class and all but myself were taking the RCA course. I was the old man out so to speak. So most of the info given on courses was more related to the RCA's with a little thrown in for me. We spent the week doing pretty basic tasks, some simple keyboarding, and using their online system called G2 learning. It was based on finding out your learning style and what type of person you are in relation to learning and study habits. All of this I had done before so it wasnt any surprise to me with my answers. We also learned different ways of note taking and study habits. I was actually a little bored the whole time. The computers were damn slow and I was bout ready to pitch it out a window. How they can have such a large network and yet the system lagged so badly. If we were going to be doing any great amount of work on these things, I wanted my laptop!!!!
Well finally yesterday afternoon, near the end of the day, I got to meet my course instructor and she gave me my textbooks. I am really geared up to get into the class and get going. The class is small, only 11 students and Im the only one that is entering into the class this rotation. I talked with her a bit about the practicums and how they choose the place, as I was told by the director that the teacher works with each student to organize where and what area they wish to explore. I asked if it was a possibility at all to find something closer to home for me instead of being somewhere in Vic. She said that wouldnt be a problem and would actually be helpful to her as she would be able to make some contacts up island for future students. I told her what I was thinking of for a long term goal, which is eventually going into probation but that I think I would like to start within the addictions field. She said that they have had placements in the youth detention center with a probation officer. Now that sounded really kewl to me.
The next block that I will be starting into is all about child and youth counselling. She said that it is alot of theory, which has me a little unnerved. Having to digest so much information when your just starting into things but Im going to do my damnedest. Will be a hell of a lot of note taking for sure and a pile of reading. She said typically that she does the first 3 hours of class lecturing and then the last hour we work on homework or assignments and that alot of the students leave and go elsewhere to work. Now that sounds good to me as well cause I will be able to get outta dodge a little ahead of the traffic. I was scanning the textbooks a bit on the way home last night and some of the statistics they have are staggering. I thought for a minute, what the hell am I getting myself into! But I guess that is why there is a calling for this profession.
I have a feeling Im definitely going to have to set up some kinda schedule around the house for the evenings and make sure that my girlchild understands she cant be bugging when Im studying. Not that she is a huge pest but she does have a habit of showing up and annoying at the busiest moments. Mind you with class not starting until 1, which means I dont have to leave til 12ish, I do have all morning to get things done as well. As long as I have nothing else booked to get done then. Mornings may work well for me as Im an early bird and once I chase both of them out the door, I will have the house to myself. Mind you I think I would still take an hour in the evening to review what we did that day and try to keep it fresh in my mind for the next morning.
So for now it is time to relax and enjoy my last possible free weekend before the real stuff begins. Not that I have a free weekend by any means. Still have a bunch of stuff to get done. Have to help Len get his fish tanks moved and the last couple of large items over here. Tomorrow, I have to head to the lake, pick up truck and crew and get the guys to help move the hot tub over here and of course return them all to the lake. Also picking up a new to me car. Pretty good deal actually for $500, think it is a 99 Achieva and should beat the hell outta the Exploder on gas for commuting. Mind you, ya know I will take the bike every chance I get cause it is way cheaper and has nothing to do with my own therapy! Which I may need once things get rolling with school.
Well finally yesterday afternoon, near the end of the day, I got to meet my course instructor and she gave me my textbooks. I am really geared up to get into the class and get going. The class is small, only 11 students and Im the only one that is entering into the class this rotation. I talked with her a bit about the practicums and how they choose the place, as I was told by the director that the teacher works with each student to organize where and what area they wish to explore. I asked if it was a possibility at all to find something closer to home for me instead of being somewhere in Vic. She said that wouldnt be a problem and would actually be helpful to her as she would be able to make some contacts up island for future students. I told her what I was thinking of for a long term goal, which is eventually going into probation but that I think I would like to start within the addictions field. She said that they have had placements in the youth detention center with a probation officer. Now that sounded really kewl to me.
The next block that I will be starting into is all about child and youth counselling. She said that it is alot of theory, which has me a little unnerved. Having to digest so much information when your just starting into things but Im going to do my damnedest. Will be a hell of a lot of note taking for sure and a pile of reading. She said typically that she does the first 3 hours of class lecturing and then the last hour we work on homework or assignments and that alot of the students leave and go elsewhere to work. Now that sounds good to me as well cause I will be able to get outta dodge a little ahead of the traffic. I was scanning the textbooks a bit on the way home last night and some of the statistics they have are staggering. I thought for a minute, what the hell am I getting myself into! But I guess that is why there is a calling for this profession.
I have a feeling Im definitely going to have to set up some kinda schedule around the house for the evenings and make sure that my girlchild understands she cant be bugging when Im studying. Not that she is a huge pest but she does have a habit of showing up and annoying at the busiest moments. Mind you with class not starting until 1, which means I dont have to leave til 12ish, I do have all morning to get things done as well. As long as I have nothing else booked to get done then. Mornings may work well for me as Im an early bird and once I chase both of them out the door, I will have the house to myself. Mind you I think I would still take an hour in the evening to review what we did that day and try to keep it fresh in my mind for the next morning.
So for now it is time to relax and enjoy my last possible free weekend before the real stuff begins. Not that I have a free weekend by any means. Still have a bunch of stuff to get done. Have to help Len get his fish tanks moved and the last couple of large items over here. Tomorrow, I have to head to the lake, pick up truck and crew and get the guys to help move the hot tub over here and of course return them all to the lake. Also picking up a new to me car. Pretty good deal actually for $500, think it is a 99 Achieva and should beat the hell outta the Exploder on gas for commuting. Mind you, ya know I will take the bike every chance I get cause it is way cheaper and has nothing to do with my own therapy! Which I may need once things get rolling with school.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Im a Student!!!!!
Well thankfully the stress has all ended! There were still more loopholes to jump thru but somehow I managed to pull it off. I got the call around noon on Wednesday from the funding agency and was told that the only thing holding up my application was the lack of a letter from Rev Can. And even though I had given approval for them to talk to the agent at RC in regards to the many conversations that I had had with her, he was not allowed to make the phone call to her. Nor would she call him as she is too busy harrassing others for money. Nice bureaucratic catch 22!!!!! Here we go on the edge again not sure what the hell to do as RC was adamant that they wouldnt write a letter and Amber (the funding agency) were not allowed to contact RC for verbal confirmation. Amber did suggest that if I were on a payment plan with them and that they gave me something on paper that that would also suffice.
So back on the phone on the edge of complete breakdown, leave a message for the RC agent to call back ASAP. Then I called Len and started freaking out, trying to figure out a way around this mess. Then I spoke to Mountain as well asking what he thought. He said yes if you are on a payment plan that they do give some kind of documentation stating that, so I would try that giving her a whole $20 per month while in school. He also suggested going to my MLA and see if they would intervene on my behalf. While waiting for RC to call back we finished the job we were on and Mountain wanted us to head to the site he was on. Just before leaving RC called back and even with a payment plan there is still no paper trail to be had. Well phuk me, now what. I headed to the other job site and was going to search out the MLA when Mountain told to me to go home as I was going to be useless to him the rest of the day. He also suggested to go to m,y RC agent and sit there and bug until she did something. Well that is a little impossible as she is in Surrey. I head out with either the intent to track down the MLA or head to Vic and see if I can get someone there to write a damn letter.
I fly in the door to change my clothes and grab the bike as parking is easier and can get thru traffic better as now Im on a tight schedule to get there before they close. Just as Im about to jump the bike the phone goes and it is RC. Half an hour later and under some strict guidelines she agrees to send a letter stating my life history just about and the agreement we have made. Hope the hell it is sufficient for Amber. She said she would fax it directly to them for me and mail me the original. I called Amber to let them know that something would be coming within the hour from RC.
Now the waiting game continues. I went to the post office and when I arrived my phone was beeping a message, I listened and it was Amber please call back. OK is this good or bad, will call when done in the post office. While finishing up in the post office the phone goes off again and I answer. It is Amber again, he is calling to let me know that he got the letter from RC and yes it is sufficient. And so that I dont have another sleepless night, YES Im approved for funding!!!!!!!!
Hurray this means Im going to school!!!!
Well from all the stress and tears and ups and downs, I succeeded in cutting thru the red tape and got the funding I required. Now I got tears of happiness going on. What a friggin roller coaster ride, let me tell you.
Few more papers to sign at both the school and Amber and I start my first day on Tuesday in Victoria. I will be working towards a diploma as a Community Support Worker - Social Services and then eventually may look into taking the course at the Justice Institute for being a Probation Officer, but that is down the road a ways.
This is going to be a big change for me, starting school again 20 years outta high school, but I know if I got thru all this crap then Im sure I can pull it off!
So back on the phone on the edge of complete breakdown, leave a message for the RC agent to call back ASAP. Then I called Len and started freaking out, trying to figure out a way around this mess. Then I spoke to Mountain as well asking what he thought. He said yes if you are on a payment plan that they do give some kind of documentation stating that, so I would try that giving her a whole $20 per month while in school. He also suggested going to my MLA and see if they would intervene on my behalf. While waiting for RC to call back we finished the job we were on and Mountain wanted us to head to the site he was on. Just before leaving RC called back and even with a payment plan there is still no paper trail to be had. Well phuk me, now what. I headed to the other job site and was going to search out the MLA when Mountain told to me to go home as I was going to be useless to him the rest of the day. He also suggested to go to m,y RC agent and sit there and bug until she did something. Well that is a little impossible as she is in Surrey. I head out with either the intent to track down the MLA or head to Vic and see if I can get someone there to write a damn letter.
I fly in the door to change my clothes and grab the bike as parking is easier and can get thru traffic better as now Im on a tight schedule to get there before they close. Just as Im about to jump the bike the phone goes and it is RC. Half an hour later and under some strict guidelines she agrees to send a letter stating my life history just about and the agreement we have made. Hope the hell it is sufficient for Amber. She said she would fax it directly to them for me and mail me the original. I called Amber to let them know that something would be coming within the hour from RC.
Now the waiting game continues. I went to the post office and when I arrived my phone was beeping a message, I listened and it was Amber please call back. OK is this good or bad, will call when done in the post office. While finishing up in the post office the phone goes off again and I answer. It is Amber again, he is calling to let me know that he got the letter from RC and yes it is sufficient. And so that I dont have another sleepless night, YES Im approved for funding!!!!!!!!
Hurray this means Im going to school!!!!
Well from all the stress and tears and ups and downs, I succeeded in cutting thru the red tape and got the funding I required. Now I got tears of happiness going on. What a friggin roller coaster ride, let me tell you.
Few more papers to sign at both the school and Amber and I start my first day on Tuesday in Victoria. I will be working towards a diploma as a Community Support Worker - Social Services and then eventually may look into taking the course at the Justice Institute for being a Probation Officer, but that is down the road a ways.
This is going to be a big change for me, starting school again 20 years outta high school, but I know if I got thru all this crap then Im sure I can pull it off!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
On Pins and Needles
Well it has been a few weeks now and I have been busying myself trying to get things done to get into school and receive the funding. I have filled out all the required forms and made appointments for all of the pre requisites. I received the letter from my doctor stating I was capable of taking the course. I booked the appointment for the TB testing but still have to wait for that day to arrive. I applied for my criminal record check, but this seems to be a problem for some reason. I have never in the past had any problems with getting one and it is usually done overnight. It has been 2 weeks and it still isnt done. Getting a little anxious here waiting for it. Hope the hell my past isnt resurfasing for some reason and if it is that it doesnt affect my chances of getting into school or getting work. I have been back to the job councillor twice and done everything that she requested and managed to complete the application forms and addition market research information needed to apply for the funding. Finally yesterday I turned in my application for the funding. Only thing there is a hit with Revenue Canada. Yep I owe them money and the funding program usually requires a `comfort Letter`from them stating that they will not attach to the training monies. Well my damn case worker wont write any such letter even if she says that she wont go after any of the monies. She told me that it is not in their forms, letters etc, they have no such thing! But yet for some reason to all the others that I have been dealing with, they seem to think this iss a completely normal thing for Rev Can to do. So my only option was to include her name and number with my application so that they can call and speak to her if need be. I swear if it wasnt for bad luck I would have no luck. Everytime things look good and seem to be working out, I get thrown another twist that I have to try and solve. So for now, Im in the process of waiting on my crim check, the TB testing and praying the funding comes in. The biggest being the funding, but I guess dependant on what comes back in the check that may affect me as well.
I also found out when I saw my job councillor that, I could not be on a medical EI claim if applying for funding. So even though I had got it reinstated and was a little more relaxed knowing that I would have some money to pay the bills, I had to cancel the claim. So of course that just tightens the strings even more on me as I have absolutely no income for this month besides the regular dribbles that I get from Child tax and GST credits as well as my minimal maintenance cheque.
I left the funding service yesterday after turning in the application, relieved that it was done, but also on pins and needles that I need to wait til the end of the week to here if Im approved. Nothing I can do but wait now. Came home to a message from the RCMP in regards to my check and she explained to me what the hold up was and that supposedly they are digging further into my past to see exactly what was there from my teens! Why I have no idea, never had it happen before. She said she would be back to me in a day of so. Great now I have to worry about this. Oh well not much I can do but wait.
I ended up going down to Vic to keep myself busy and help Len on his job. I decided to be nice and ride his bike down instead of mine. Yep just for fun but also so that he could ride home at the end of the day instead of fighting traffic in the truck. Yep sometimes Im just too nice! LMAO Made his day to get to ride home that was for sure after the stressful day he had fighting the tiles he was working on. We got home to another messsage. This time it was from the funding people! Oh fuck is this good or bad. He told me a couple days to go over the application and that I would prolly hear back on either Wednesday or Thursday, not that afternoon! I listened to the message and all it was, was a request to call back, no "in regards to"! Damn it all, now I have something else to dwell on over night!!!!
Dwell I did, I havent been sleeping the best since I found out that my EI claim was finished and hope and pray that every night I will get a good nights sleep. Most have been a labour to say the least. but yep last night my head was going. A million things rolling through my brain, did I fill something out wrong, has Rev Can decided to be an ass, I didnt do enough market research for the job Im potentially heading for and worst of all had dreams or flashbacks of my shitty past and what my crim check is going to come back with. For crying out loud, it was over 20 years ago and people change. I am surely not the scared, naive teenager that I once was! Well all I can do is wait til 830 when the funding office is open and call back to find out. Of course Im thinking the worse because the call was just to soon for an approval but maybe just once things will be positive for me and Im not going to have to do more running around to get my application approved.
All of this on my head and then trying to keep Len calm with trying to move his things. Yep those that dont know, he is moving in. No sense in paying 2 rents and utilities when we are always together at one or the others house. Most of his things we have been slowly moving over. His office and bedroom are here as well as all of his tools for work. Of course I have a 2 bike garage now, so that gives me an option on what bike I might choose to ride each day! LOL Well of course as long as he isnt riding. We disassembled and reassembled his shed on Saturday and it is here now. So just a few minor big things that have to be dealt with, the worse being the fish tanks oh and the hot tub! The later I have sorted out though. I can use one of the flat beds from Mountain and I think I have bribed most of the crew to come and lend a hand in a couple of weeks to help us out. In return they will get burgers and beer. Fair deal for an hours work especially on a non pay weekend when they may be wanting a beer or 2. we will be working on having mostly everything done by the 24th, as the following weekend is Halloween and we are hosting this years haunted soiree for our friends.
So for now Im sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear if Im going to start school next week. If I do great! If not then some one is surely going to need to call in the men with the pretty white jackets, cause Im surely going to go off the deep end!
I also found out when I saw my job councillor that, I could not be on a medical EI claim if applying for funding. So even though I had got it reinstated and was a little more relaxed knowing that I would have some money to pay the bills, I had to cancel the claim. So of course that just tightens the strings even more on me as I have absolutely no income for this month besides the regular dribbles that I get from Child tax and GST credits as well as my minimal maintenance cheque.
I left the funding service yesterday after turning in the application, relieved that it was done, but also on pins and needles that I need to wait til the end of the week to here if Im approved. Nothing I can do but wait now. Came home to a message from the RCMP in regards to my check and she explained to me what the hold up was and that supposedly they are digging further into my past to see exactly what was there from my teens! Why I have no idea, never had it happen before. She said she would be back to me in a day of so. Great now I have to worry about this. Oh well not much I can do but wait.
I ended up going down to Vic to keep myself busy and help Len on his job. I decided to be nice and ride his bike down instead of mine. Yep just for fun but also so that he could ride home at the end of the day instead of fighting traffic in the truck. Yep sometimes Im just too nice! LMAO Made his day to get to ride home that was for sure after the stressful day he had fighting the tiles he was working on. We got home to another messsage. This time it was from the funding people! Oh fuck is this good or bad. He told me a couple days to go over the application and that I would prolly hear back on either Wednesday or Thursday, not that afternoon! I listened to the message and all it was, was a request to call back, no "in regards to"! Damn it all, now I have something else to dwell on over night!!!!
Dwell I did, I havent been sleeping the best since I found out that my EI claim was finished and hope and pray that every night I will get a good nights sleep. Most have been a labour to say the least. but yep last night my head was going. A million things rolling through my brain, did I fill something out wrong, has Rev Can decided to be an ass, I didnt do enough market research for the job Im potentially heading for and worst of all had dreams or flashbacks of my shitty past and what my crim check is going to come back with. For crying out loud, it was over 20 years ago and people change. I am surely not the scared, naive teenager that I once was! Well all I can do is wait til 830 when the funding office is open and call back to find out. Of course Im thinking the worse because the call was just to soon for an approval but maybe just once things will be positive for me and Im not going to have to do more running around to get my application approved.
All of this on my head and then trying to keep Len calm with trying to move his things. Yep those that dont know, he is moving in. No sense in paying 2 rents and utilities when we are always together at one or the others house. Most of his things we have been slowly moving over. His office and bedroom are here as well as all of his tools for work. Of course I have a 2 bike garage now, so that gives me an option on what bike I might choose to ride each day! LOL Well of course as long as he isnt riding. We disassembled and reassembled his shed on Saturday and it is here now. So just a few minor big things that have to be dealt with, the worse being the fish tanks oh and the hot tub! The later I have sorted out though. I can use one of the flat beds from Mountain and I think I have bribed most of the crew to come and lend a hand in a couple of weeks to help us out. In return they will get burgers and beer. Fair deal for an hours work especially on a non pay weekend when they may be wanting a beer or 2. we will be working on having mostly everything done by the 24th, as the following weekend is Halloween and we are hosting this years haunted soiree for our friends.
So for now Im sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear if Im going to start school next week. If I do great! If not then some one is surely going to need to call in the men with the pretty white jackets, cause Im surely going to go off the deep end!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Our Anniversary - Therapy and I that is!
Well it is officially the day, one year since I broke the sporty and bought my Therapy! What a ride it has been, 33,000 kms most of it on the island but also with many trips off the rock and a few to the states, including our inaugural ride!
Started off heading out of the dealership and straight to the states to carry on with the planned trip to Anacortes and the Oyster Run. What a difference it was to ride the Heritage over the sporty along I5. No more of the bump bump bump of the concrete highway! Returning home, I was halfway to my first service already. The next day was of course to nice to stay in and go to work so we headed off to Courtney and the FBI for lunch. Just had to add a few more miles and of course grinnin like the Cheshire cat the whole way. Hard to believe it was a year ago already. If I remember correctly we stayed on the island until the new year, and we rode up until December when the snow hit and couldnt get out of the driveway by truck let alone bike! Not for lack of trying mind you. I spent a good deal of time outside trying to clear a path up the driveway, number one to walk along but 2) if the snow melted away there and I had the dirt driveway I was damn well going to take the bike up it as the roads were clear. All I got for my efforts were a nice walking path and some killer biceps with all the shovelling!!!!!!
Come January the snow had left and we headed to Vancouver for the bike show. Yep 3 of us nuts decided to ride to Van in 0 degrees. Lucky me, my vest decides to pack it in and my heated glove liners decide to burn my damn hands. Nothing like trying to ride thru Langley on Hwy 10 flapping your hands cause they need to cool off. Need to hit the highway quick so I can get some wind air speed blowing on them!!! Although this little incident resulted in a new set of gloves and a new heated jacket that is now known as my sauna, cause damn is it warm!!!!!! Definately worth investing in the more expensive product cause it sure does the job nicely. Our return home was quite thee adventure to say the least. The boys decided to get themselves tickets going thru Delta but for some reason even though I was keeping pace with them the cop went around me and after the 2 of them!!!! HA HA am I good or what! They will never let me live that one down. Well the ticket was a mixed blessing actually, for some reason the ticket slowed us down and we were not at the front of the line to load first, but they did load us on the bottom deck and pushed us up to the front. Thankfully we were parked there safely under the bulkheads cause on the upper deck where we should have been a car caught on fire and the boat was evacuated. Well even though we were off the boat and safe we were still concerned about the salt water they were pumping into the fire and it running down onto our bikes. The guys kept telling me to shut up as mine was new and not to worry about replacing it, as for theirs, that was another story and 03 and and a 90 could be a bit hard to replace. I was also concerned cause of the electronics I was packing with me, my camera and laptop were in my bags. Well besides a 4 hour wait for the boat to sail all was fine and the bikes werent even wet. Thank goodness for small miracles. The only other downfall to this trip was coming home to a new dusting of snow down my driveway. I wasnt to sure about riding her down so I got Len to do it for me. He had no problems but a day later when he came down the drive with his bike he didnt have such good luck getting back up it, which resulted in Lynn and I pushing him up the hill and blocking traffic so he could shoot straight out on to the road! Okay maybe if he had some tread on his rear tire he might have made it.
On the island again for another few months, of course any chance or excuse to head out on the bike was used and the mileage racking up with each day. Come March I took off for a week to the mainland again to visit some friends and ride some different roads. Had a great time over there riding around and visiting and taking full advantage of Kaylees visit with her dad. Nothing terribly exciting happened on this trip just good to be off the rock.
Well now it seems April and May are here and Im in need of a new rear tire. Already! Hard to believe that I have completely worn one out already! I stretched it as long as I could and got a new one installed just before my biggest excursion of the year, heading off to Conga with Flo and raise money for breast cancer!
It was planned for the end of May for me to leave and head south to meet up with her. Of course me needing some kinda challenge besides just riding off on my own to places unknown. I decided to try and push myself for the Iron Butt award. I mapped out where I was heading to meet with Flo and how to get the mileage that I needed. Pretty much had it all figured out with allowing some time to sleep and also taking into count the fact that the main portion of the ride was going to be on the US Memorial Day weekend. well the time came, had 2 bags packed one, for a weekend away with the girl and the other for the trip. Had a great weekend then came home unloaded and reloaded the bike then off I went for the ferry.
Well challenge it was, I was mainly on time but found that a ton of construction managed to hold up my pace and delay me from successfully completing it. I did pull off 1700 kms in a matter of 27 hours but for the award it has to be in 24. The whole trip I did in PINK! Lord help me. I had pink pool noodles strapped to the front and rear of the bike and I also had a long braided pink wig on for my whole travels. Crossed the border with it and flew by the troopers in a few spots but nobody questioned a thing. Met up with the gals and then spent a week coming back home, all in all put close to 5000 km on the bike in that one week and in the process helped to raise $12,000 for breast cancer.
i was home for 4 days and off again but this time I left Therapy at home. Dont think she was happy with me but she needed a rest and so did I. Went with Len to the Kamloops poker run and this is when I decided I was a shitty passenger with little chance of a long run on the back again.
Summer arrived and of course every weekend was full with rides somewhere. Think we managed to hit just about everywhere on the island over the course of the summer as well as winning many awards in the show n shines.
The next big trip was up to Salmon Arm for the Stomp and my birthday. We took a bit of an extended trip here instead of straight there and back. Even thought the fires were burning in Kelowna we found some great roads and had a great time of it. Think I added another 2000 on that trip to the bike, between the trip to Salmon Arm, riding around up there and then taking a major detour for the trip home. Was nice and relaxing and enjoyable to travel some roads that we hadnt been on before. While we were there we rode the Monashee pass and then heading home took highway 33 to Rock Creek to get to Ossoyoos, looped up towards Penticton and back down to Keremeos before heading thru Manning Park and home. Mind you the next day we got to run back across on the ferries and up the Coqihalla to look for our lost belongings.
The rest of the summer has been filled with day or weekend trips up and down the island. Have rode the new circle tour a couple times and it is awesome! After making some new great friends in the Comox valley, we have gone up there for several weekends. Planned a ride to Mount Washington just for the hell of it. Campbell River as well for their poker run, which if it wasnt for the company and great hostess for the night, would have been a horrible time. We basically have finished off the MAIN riding season with the Port Alberni toy run, which is always a marvelous event and glad that I made it this year as it was the 25th anniversary of it. Very large turnout indeed!
Back in April, I remember a trip to the FBI for lunch and oysters to bring home and my odometer rolled to 10,000. Not more then 3 months later we were on the same ride and I was over 20. It seems so hard to believe. I basically said to heck with the truck and let the insurance expire as I wasnt using it at all. Every time I had to go somewhere I went on the bike. I have been riding daily to Lake Cow for work and still am. As of now I have no plans of reinsuring, atleast not until I know the rains are here to stay.
I was hoping to end things off with a ride to Anacortes for the Oyster run again but it just wasnt in the cards this year. But Therapy and I did get out and add a few more miles together this afternoon in another excellent fall day that seemed like summer.
Happy Anniversary Therapy and I promise to not talk about trading you in for awhile!
Started off heading out of the dealership and straight to the states to carry on with the planned trip to Anacortes and the Oyster Run. What a difference it was to ride the Heritage over the sporty along I5. No more of the bump bump bump of the concrete highway! Returning home, I was halfway to my first service already. The next day was of course to nice to stay in and go to work so we headed off to Courtney and the FBI for lunch. Just had to add a few more miles and of course grinnin like the Cheshire cat the whole way. Hard to believe it was a year ago already. If I remember correctly we stayed on the island until the new year, and we rode up until December when the snow hit and couldnt get out of the driveway by truck let alone bike! Not for lack of trying mind you. I spent a good deal of time outside trying to clear a path up the driveway, number one to walk along but 2) if the snow melted away there and I had the dirt driveway I was damn well going to take the bike up it as the roads were clear. All I got for my efforts were a nice walking path and some killer biceps with all the shovelling!!!!!!
Come January the snow had left and we headed to Vancouver for the bike show. Yep 3 of us nuts decided to ride to Van in 0 degrees. Lucky me, my vest decides to pack it in and my heated glove liners decide to burn my damn hands. Nothing like trying to ride thru Langley on Hwy 10 flapping your hands cause they need to cool off. Need to hit the highway quick so I can get some wind air speed blowing on them!!! Although this little incident resulted in a new set of gloves and a new heated jacket that is now known as my sauna, cause damn is it warm!!!!!! Definately worth investing in the more expensive product cause it sure does the job nicely. Our return home was quite thee adventure to say the least. The boys decided to get themselves tickets going thru Delta but for some reason even though I was keeping pace with them the cop went around me and after the 2 of them!!!! HA HA am I good or what! They will never let me live that one down. Well the ticket was a mixed blessing actually, for some reason the ticket slowed us down and we were not at the front of the line to load first, but they did load us on the bottom deck and pushed us up to the front. Thankfully we were parked there safely under the bulkheads cause on the upper deck where we should have been a car caught on fire and the boat was evacuated. Well even though we were off the boat and safe we were still concerned about the salt water they were pumping into the fire and it running down onto our bikes. The guys kept telling me to shut up as mine was new and not to worry about replacing it, as for theirs, that was another story and 03 and and a 90 could be a bit hard to replace. I was also concerned cause of the electronics I was packing with me, my camera and laptop were in my bags. Well besides a 4 hour wait for the boat to sail all was fine and the bikes werent even wet. Thank goodness for small miracles. The only other downfall to this trip was coming home to a new dusting of snow down my driveway. I wasnt to sure about riding her down so I got Len to do it for me. He had no problems but a day later when he came down the drive with his bike he didnt have such good luck getting back up it, which resulted in Lynn and I pushing him up the hill and blocking traffic so he could shoot straight out on to the road! Okay maybe if he had some tread on his rear tire he might have made it.
On the island again for another few months, of course any chance or excuse to head out on the bike was used and the mileage racking up with each day. Come March I took off for a week to the mainland again to visit some friends and ride some different roads. Had a great time over there riding around and visiting and taking full advantage of Kaylees visit with her dad. Nothing terribly exciting happened on this trip just good to be off the rock.
Well now it seems April and May are here and Im in need of a new rear tire. Already! Hard to believe that I have completely worn one out already! I stretched it as long as I could and got a new one installed just before my biggest excursion of the year, heading off to Conga with Flo and raise money for breast cancer!
It was planned for the end of May for me to leave and head south to meet up with her. Of course me needing some kinda challenge besides just riding off on my own to places unknown. I decided to try and push myself for the Iron Butt award. I mapped out where I was heading to meet with Flo and how to get the mileage that I needed. Pretty much had it all figured out with allowing some time to sleep and also taking into count the fact that the main portion of the ride was going to be on the US Memorial Day weekend. well the time came, had 2 bags packed one, for a weekend away with the girl and the other for the trip. Had a great weekend then came home unloaded and reloaded the bike then off I went for the ferry.
Well challenge it was, I was mainly on time but found that a ton of construction managed to hold up my pace and delay me from successfully completing it. I did pull off 1700 kms in a matter of 27 hours but for the award it has to be in 24. The whole trip I did in PINK! Lord help me. I had pink pool noodles strapped to the front and rear of the bike and I also had a long braided pink wig on for my whole travels. Crossed the border with it and flew by the troopers in a few spots but nobody questioned a thing. Met up with the gals and then spent a week coming back home, all in all put close to 5000 km on the bike in that one week and in the process helped to raise $12,000 for breast cancer.
i was home for 4 days and off again but this time I left Therapy at home. Dont think she was happy with me but she needed a rest and so did I. Went with Len to the Kamloops poker run and this is when I decided I was a shitty passenger with little chance of a long run on the back again.
Summer arrived and of course every weekend was full with rides somewhere. Think we managed to hit just about everywhere on the island over the course of the summer as well as winning many awards in the show n shines.
The next big trip was up to Salmon Arm for the Stomp and my birthday. We took a bit of an extended trip here instead of straight there and back. Even thought the fires were burning in Kelowna we found some great roads and had a great time of it. Think I added another 2000 on that trip to the bike, between the trip to Salmon Arm, riding around up there and then taking a major detour for the trip home. Was nice and relaxing and enjoyable to travel some roads that we hadnt been on before. While we were there we rode the Monashee pass and then heading home took highway 33 to Rock Creek to get to Ossoyoos, looped up towards Penticton and back down to Keremeos before heading thru Manning Park and home. Mind you the next day we got to run back across on the ferries and up the Coqihalla to look for our lost belongings.
The rest of the summer has been filled with day or weekend trips up and down the island. Have rode the new circle tour a couple times and it is awesome! After making some new great friends in the Comox valley, we have gone up there for several weekends. Planned a ride to Mount Washington just for the hell of it. Campbell River as well for their poker run, which if it wasnt for the company and great hostess for the night, would have been a horrible time. We basically have finished off the MAIN riding season with the Port Alberni toy run, which is always a marvelous event and glad that I made it this year as it was the 25th anniversary of it. Very large turnout indeed!
Back in April, I remember a trip to the FBI for lunch and oysters to bring home and my odometer rolled to 10,000. Not more then 3 months later we were on the same ride and I was over 20. It seems so hard to believe. I basically said to heck with the truck and let the insurance expire as I wasnt using it at all. Every time I had to go somewhere I went on the bike. I have been riding daily to Lake Cow for work and still am. As of now I have no plans of reinsuring, atleast not until I know the rains are here to stay.
I was hoping to end things off with a ride to Anacortes for the Oyster run again but it just wasnt in the cards this year. But Therapy and I did get out and add a few more miles together this afternoon in another excellent fall day that seemed like summer.
Happy Anniversary Therapy and I promise to not talk about trading you in for awhile!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Busy times ahead
Well thankful for the fun weekend at the toy run and blowing off some steam. It was another truely great event, with good friends and laughter. The only thing that I didnt like was the pace of the ride this year. For some reason we were in first and second gear for the whole route! I can understand creeeping along thru town, and stopping to enter the quay but on the highway along Cameron Lake and over the hump we usually have a nice steady pace, not the speed limit but steady. Not this year, it was tiring thats for sure. There were many food vendors but not really any others there this year. That was kinda dissapointing as usually you can find some good deals at the end of the season.
We made our way to the grounds and both Kaylee and I got attacked as we were parking the bikes, by my girlfriends grandson(who is 14) and was dying to see us again. Eventually my girlfriend showed up for a great visit and joined us at the motel party. Kaylee went off wandering PA with Ashton but knew where to find us when it was time to return home. As usual we all had fun in the courtyard as everyone trickled in from the event grounds. Great to see people that you dont see very often and of course those you do. Drinks were flowing, laughter abounded and before ya knew it, it was time to head to the dance. Well, drinks were doing well cause poor Len doesnt remember going to the dance but he did have a good time! I told him so!
We took a leisurely morning to get ready and leave, then we rode out with Rick and Sheila and stopped at their house for a bit before carrying on home. Tired but full of a great weekend and memories, well for some of us!
Now the chaos starts for me. I found out on the Thursday night that my EI claim had been exhausted and that Im not going to receive anymore payments. Now what the hell do I do and how do I pay the rent!!!!!!! Some notice may have been nice, that my claim was running out. Anyways guess I have to get my arse in gear and find out what I can do to change it. Wether there is something I can change on my claim, going to school or lord forbid welfare well trying to find any job that will pay enuf to live on.
So I start off with calling EI to find out, no the letter is right claim for regular benefits is exhausted, but if you cant work due to sickness then you may be able to renew the claim. OK fine, need a doctors note for that. Called a school and made an appointment to see about enrolling in one of the choices I had previously thought of. So be it wait til Monday and go to the appoinment. Monday comes and I head off for the school, hmmm sounds good, have to commute to Vic but so be it, but how soon would the course start as I cant receive funding til I am in school. First Im told January - great, then she finds one starting on October 12th - much better, I might be able to work with this, if I can get all requirements taken care of before then. You have to write an entry test to be accepted and she was going to rebook me to come back, I said to heck with it lets do it now, I dont want to have to dwell on it and I hate any kind of test or exam as I typically freeze up and forget what I know. The test is 2 parts, math and english proficientcy, ok not toooo concerned with the english part but math could be another question if they start throwing fractions and algebra crap at me!!! I didnt take algebra in school as I figured it was useless to me in the real world and prefered to take business math which was and has been way more practical. Oh well, off I go to write these tests and see if Im bright enuf to enter school again at my age, 20 plus years out of highschool.
Well shyte, Im friggin smarter then I thought I was, and I didnt freeze up either. I got 2 wrong on the english and 1 in the math, and I also told her which ones they were that I got wrong. Yep they did throw in some fractions but got them and some of that XY algebra bullshit but managed to figure it out too. I still dont like it and really hope we dont hit alot of it in grade 10 math while I have to help Kaylee this year. So with tests past, I have basically been accepted into the course, I just have to go thru the loopsholes now to receive the funding for tuition and living allowance thru the EI program. She had me make an appoinment with my councillor and then directly come back to see her. From there I will be given a letter of acceptance to take to the Education funding people and work thru their application with them. All in the mean time, I also have to get a criminal record check, TB testing and a letter from my doc that says I am capable of doing this type of work. Basically easy enough.
Now, I just have to figure out even if accepted how to pay the rent and bills for the next month. If I get the training funding, I wont receive anything til the end of the month, that is just the way that it works. So I need to fall back on welfare temporarily or see if Im toooooo sick to work and get my EI back on line for a bit, hence a letter from the doctor again. So I start the day off with talking to welfare, oh what a joy and have they ever changed things around from a decade ago. Man they might as well be a friggin credit lender the amount of stuff they want from you. I listened to all she had to say and wasnt overly impressed with a few things. They take over any maintenance agreement that you may have and go after the father for more. GREAT, him and I are finally getting along and not fighting over shit and he pay 200 a month usually on time or atleast lets me know when he is going to be late. Now they plan on going after him to pay more! Wonderful so much for peace. They also for some reason want to run a credit check on you, what the hell does it matter to welfare what your credit is like???? not to mention by them doing so it also makes a minor hit on your score. So that will be nice next time I want to apply for something they see that welfare is looking in on me! Really not impressed with that one. Besides all that, they want 2 years of income tax, both my vehicle reggies, documents for the Harley with the outstanding balance of my loan(cause if I have any equity in it then Im screwed), 60 days worth of bank statements, your left leg and right arm and dont forget your first born! Holy shitsticks batman!! It is friggin nuts to try and get a hand up now a days. So I say fine to all the requests not happily and am told I need to stop in and sign the waiver for them to do the check and start the ball rolling, then I can have my appointment on the 2nd of October.
Then off I head to Victoria to see my doctor. 1) I need my shot, 2) the letter from the school and 3) will he tell me Im friggin insane and need to stay off work, or is that a contradiction in letters. Well I tell you with all this running around, appointments, paperwork and mess Im trying to sort out, I have sent myself off the deep end. I have havd a headache for 2 days, my head is spinning with information and a to do list a mile long for each different thing. My chest was tight and my damn nerves are off the charts, can I go back to the weekend where I can just drink myself stupid and forget everything. Anyways all goes great at the docs and I get my shot, and both letters! Guess the next stop for the day is going to EI to see if I can get it reinstated, well with a detour thru Shawnigan to the RCMP station for the crim check. I stop and have lunch with Len before leaving Vic partly so that he can calm me down cause I have myself wound up like a top and spinning just as fast, then head up the hat on the rest of my missions. The crim check is nothing, have been in there a few times over the years to get them, fill out both sides of the form and come back to get it tomorrow. Thanks and off I go, still think I may try and go to the lake in to put in a few hours so stop at home to change my clothes and head to Duncan. So go into EI and explain what has transpired and that I was told if due to medical reasons that I could be reinstated. You will need a letter from your doctor, yep right here. Ok fine lets get this rolling then. Well she didnt question anything as the state I must have looked would compare to how I was feeling. My head was killing me, my chest was tight, my nerves well dont ask me to sign anything cause I wouldnt have been able to. She just took the information needed and told me it would be up and running in a couple weeks again and to use the same access codes as I was using before. Great now I dont have to go to welfare and torture myself with their inquiries any further.
So now that I have given myself a major headache that does not want to leave, I have managed to get things falling into order for me. Still a few more hoops to jump thru but hopefully mid month I will be starting school for the next year. I will be taking a course for a Community Support Worker in Social Services and then after working for a while in that field I plan on taking the probation officer course and hopefully get into that. Well unless I really enjoy what Im doing at the time. So here is hoping that the funding will happen and I can do this. It will definately be a change to get use to going back to school but Im sure I will adjust to it but finding the time to study in the evenings could be a real chore. Will have to get on a schedule for sure and make sure to chase the kidlet away from me so I can have peace while studying.
We made our way to the grounds and both Kaylee and I got attacked as we were parking the bikes, by my girlfriends grandson(who is 14) and was dying to see us again. Eventually my girlfriend showed up for a great visit and joined us at the motel party. Kaylee went off wandering PA with Ashton but knew where to find us when it was time to return home. As usual we all had fun in the courtyard as everyone trickled in from the event grounds. Great to see people that you dont see very often and of course those you do. Drinks were flowing, laughter abounded and before ya knew it, it was time to head to the dance. Well, drinks were doing well cause poor Len doesnt remember going to the dance but he did have a good time! I told him so!
We took a leisurely morning to get ready and leave, then we rode out with Rick and Sheila and stopped at their house for a bit before carrying on home. Tired but full of a great weekend and memories, well for some of us!
Now the chaos starts for me. I found out on the Thursday night that my EI claim had been exhausted and that Im not going to receive anymore payments. Now what the hell do I do and how do I pay the rent!!!!!!! Some notice may have been nice, that my claim was running out. Anyways guess I have to get my arse in gear and find out what I can do to change it. Wether there is something I can change on my claim, going to school or lord forbid welfare well trying to find any job that will pay enuf to live on.
So I start off with calling EI to find out, no the letter is right claim for regular benefits is exhausted, but if you cant work due to sickness then you may be able to renew the claim. OK fine, need a doctors note for that. Called a school and made an appointment to see about enrolling in one of the choices I had previously thought of. So be it wait til Monday and go to the appoinment. Monday comes and I head off for the school, hmmm sounds good, have to commute to Vic but so be it, but how soon would the course start as I cant receive funding til I am in school. First Im told January - great, then she finds one starting on October 12th - much better, I might be able to work with this, if I can get all requirements taken care of before then. You have to write an entry test to be accepted and she was going to rebook me to come back, I said to heck with it lets do it now, I dont want to have to dwell on it and I hate any kind of test or exam as I typically freeze up and forget what I know. The test is 2 parts, math and english proficientcy, ok not toooo concerned with the english part but math could be another question if they start throwing fractions and algebra crap at me!!! I didnt take algebra in school as I figured it was useless to me in the real world and prefered to take business math which was and has been way more practical. Oh well, off I go to write these tests and see if Im bright enuf to enter school again at my age, 20 plus years out of highschool.
Well shyte, Im friggin smarter then I thought I was, and I didnt freeze up either. I got 2 wrong on the english and 1 in the math, and I also told her which ones they were that I got wrong. Yep they did throw in some fractions but got them and some of that XY algebra bullshit but managed to figure it out too. I still dont like it and really hope we dont hit alot of it in grade 10 math while I have to help Kaylee this year. So with tests past, I have basically been accepted into the course, I just have to go thru the loopsholes now to receive the funding for tuition and living allowance thru the EI program. She had me make an appoinment with my councillor and then directly come back to see her. From there I will be given a letter of acceptance to take to the Education funding people and work thru their application with them. All in the mean time, I also have to get a criminal record check, TB testing and a letter from my doc that says I am capable of doing this type of work. Basically easy enough.
Now, I just have to figure out even if accepted how to pay the rent and bills for the next month. If I get the training funding, I wont receive anything til the end of the month, that is just the way that it works. So I need to fall back on welfare temporarily or see if Im toooooo sick to work and get my EI back on line for a bit, hence a letter from the doctor again. So I start the day off with talking to welfare, oh what a joy and have they ever changed things around from a decade ago. Man they might as well be a friggin credit lender the amount of stuff they want from you. I listened to all she had to say and wasnt overly impressed with a few things. They take over any maintenance agreement that you may have and go after the father for more. GREAT, him and I are finally getting along and not fighting over shit and he pay 200 a month usually on time or atleast lets me know when he is going to be late. Now they plan on going after him to pay more! Wonderful so much for peace. They also for some reason want to run a credit check on you, what the hell does it matter to welfare what your credit is like???? not to mention by them doing so it also makes a minor hit on your score. So that will be nice next time I want to apply for something they see that welfare is looking in on me! Really not impressed with that one. Besides all that, they want 2 years of income tax, both my vehicle reggies, documents for the Harley with the outstanding balance of my loan(cause if I have any equity in it then Im screwed), 60 days worth of bank statements, your left leg and right arm and dont forget your first born! Holy shitsticks batman!! It is friggin nuts to try and get a hand up now a days. So I say fine to all the requests not happily and am told I need to stop in and sign the waiver for them to do the check and start the ball rolling, then I can have my appointment on the 2nd of October.
Then off I head to Victoria to see my doctor. 1) I need my shot, 2) the letter from the school and 3) will he tell me Im friggin insane and need to stay off work, or is that a contradiction in letters. Well I tell you with all this running around, appointments, paperwork and mess Im trying to sort out, I have sent myself off the deep end. I have havd a headache for 2 days, my head is spinning with information and a to do list a mile long for each different thing. My chest was tight and my damn nerves are off the charts, can I go back to the weekend where I can just drink myself stupid and forget everything. Anyways all goes great at the docs and I get my shot, and both letters! Guess the next stop for the day is going to EI to see if I can get it reinstated, well with a detour thru Shawnigan to the RCMP station for the crim check. I stop and have lunch with Len before leaving Vic partly so that he can calm me down cause I have myself wound up like a top and spinning just as fast, then head up the hat on the rest of my missions. The crim check is nothing, have been in there a few times over the years to get them, fill out both sides of the form and come back to get it tomorrow. Thanks and off I go, still think I may try and go to the lake in to put in a few hours so stop at home to change my clothes and head to Duncan. So go into EI and explain what has transpired and that I was told if due to medical reasons that I could be reinstated. You will need a letter from your doctor, yep right here. Ok fine lets get this rolling then. Well she didnt question anything as the state I must have looked would compare to how I was feeling. My head was killing me, my chest was tight, my nerves well dont ask me to sign anything cause I wouldnt have been able to. She just took the information needed and told me it would be up and running in a couple weeks again and to use the same access codes as I was using before. Great now I dont have to go to welfare and torture myself with their inquiries any further.
So now that I have given myself a major headache that does not want to leave, I have managed to get things falling into order for me. Still a few more hoops to jump thru but hopefully mid month I will be starting school for the next year. I will be taking a course for a Community Support Worker in Social Services and then after working for a while in that field I plan on taking the probation officer course and hopefully get into that. Well unless I really enjoy what Im doing at the time. So here is hoping that the funding will happen and I can do this. It will definately be a change to get use to going back to school but Im sure I will adjust to it but finding the time to study in the evenings could be a real chore. Will have to get on a schedule for sure and make sure to chase the kidlet away from me so I can have peace while studying.
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