Driving Cold and Rain

I have decided the folks at immigration must be loving the sweet timbre of my voice, and that’s why my three year old, Lanes’, card is still missing. As a result of this, I have had to call every week. Well, I didn’t call last week, and I don’t want to call this week. As for the job situation, it feels like we got invited to an exclusive fancy dress ball, so we got all dolled up, but no one is asking us to dance. Side benched or sideswiped, I don’t know, but I give up.

For the sake of my mental health, I am going to let go of things not in my control (yeah right). I am now concentrating my efforts on officially getting myself behind the wheel (of fortune I wish). But as you can probably guess, there are some procedures that go along with it.

I have succeeded in losing my US driver’s license, which has long since expired any old how. Apparently, I could have traded it in for BC driver’s license had I been more careful with it. I’m not too bent out of shape about it, as I decided I should practice some before running loose on the roads. It seems the responsible thing to do.

I want to test myself in the snow and rain, and highways freak me out. Also, BC has some flashing green lights. Should I stay or should I go? I need to figure out what that means--I think it has something to do with watching out for pedestrians. I have to study a booklet and then take a learner’s test and do an eye exam.

Always organized, my diligent spouse, P, had his expired US license and managed to get a letter from the DMV in Maryland verifying he has a clear record. He managed to get a BC license without taking either a driving or a written test. They only checked his eyesight. Why couldn’t I be this with the program? Why am I always such a hot mess? It seems like I’m allergic to making my life easier.

Any old how I decided it’s best to take some ‘lessons’ after I get my learner’s permit. I have to have a licensed driver with me at all times while I am on the permit. If I drive around with P, he will drive me insane, and I’d be tempted to drop him off on the side of a highway somewhere.

So for everyone’s sake, I thought I’d just drive around with a ‘professional’ and get used to the highways. If I can get Lanes to school and back and go to the supermarket/doctor/mall/my favorite Canadian rock star’s house, I mean concert, I’ll be happy. 

I have not actually started studying for the written test though, since I’m on a one woman mission to find another apartment. We sprung another leak in our living room, and when I went down to complain, because no one ever answers the phone in that office, they said they already knew.

I wondered if they were reading my blog or were spying on us, but then they said apparently this time a pipe had burst on the 4^th floor and they were going to wake us up at 5:30am to warn us but they didn’t want to disturb us. I guess they figured sleep trumped saving furniture.

I’m starting to find this whole place rather ridiculous. It’s minus something or the other every night and we have no control over the heat. It seems like the heater is hardly on, so my efforts to constantly check that nothing is touching the vents are pointless. I guess on the plus side, if I ever run out of room in my freezer, I can keep meat and ice cream in the bedroom.

One night, I woke up thinking a hoard of angry beavers were chomping on the bed, but it was really P shivering so hard, his teeth were chattering. P, who is generally blasé about these things, is fuming so much over the lack of heat, I’m surprised his fury is not keeping him warm.

Luckily, Lanes likes it a little cold, and it doesn’t bother me too much. I can live with the cold as long as we have hot water, but whenever the water is switched off, we don’t have hot water for a long time. Tomorrow there is another water cut from 9am-5pm. Does this make sense in a building that’s still under Fire Watch?

Meanwhile our neighbor ‘Aunty G’, always the bringer of good news, gave me a detailed play by play on how someone got shot in our lobby two and a half years ago. I was skeptical and did some internet research only to find out the story is true!! Not only that, shortly before this incident, parts of the other tower in our complex fell down due to a wind storm. Why didn't I think to google all this before moving in here? 

I was in a huff and a puff after my late night web surfing session and before our house falls down, I want to move. However, there are many obstacles in the way of this. We can’t move because we don’t know where in BC, or Canada at this rate, P’s job will be. And the second, and most important to me, is that Lanes loves her school and I can’t bear the thought of changing schools. I just can’t do that to her.

P, however, is determined to move in June when Lanes is on summer holiday. We would most probably have to move out of Burnaby since we can’t find any place with  a better rent than what we have (maybe that should have been a clue to run like the wind from this place). That would mean poor Lanes would have to be uprooted again. 

I really pray that P gets a job before June. In Burnaby.  

Miracles can happen and minds can be changed is all I’m hoping for. I guess we will eventually see Lanes’ PR card, and hopefully even a temp job will materialize for P in the near future. My sense of optimism is springing as much leaks as our apartment. 

So I’ll focus on the things I can work on, and I’ll go and finally open that learner’s manual that’s been gathering dust under the bed. It might be frozen shut, so after a quick chuck in the microwave (no need to call the FD, they are probably in our lobby as usual any old how), I’ll have a quick look. At least my faithful fans will have lots to laugh about once I get motorized…so until next time…