Flat out exhausted after the demands of the day. Not sure where the day disappears to but am guessing the late starts are eating into the potentials and technology takes you down rabbit holes that are difficult to recover from.
Did not quite make it in time for the 11 a.m. morning walk in the Village - @Mac opted for rest time on the porch because he is having a little bit of a challenge with one eye and a bit of a reaction to the smoke. There's always another alternate reality to save - so he was kept busy.
Resting - because you can - as an aside - note the SMOKE that has settled outside
The real locals of course were up very early - who knows what time- because they had already been to Boot Camp, watered the garden, taken care of outside duties and cooked up a hot breakfast before we even thought about surfacing.
And then it was to work for @Ian and @Mindy had appointments in the Village finalising stuff before they take off for Europe in just 36 hours!
My main responsibility of the morning was to complete press-dud duty. Two little adjustments were made and, no joke, think it took me over an hour to get those two little duds in place. I did have a very accommodating supervisor who offered loads of encouragement, was my chief threader of all needles, an efficient snipper of unwanted ends and a perfect model to show off our combined handiwork.
Think we've nailed it - or should that be dudded it.
In the scheme of things, for those who know me, it is these little "moments" of ordinary "nothing" that I miss the most separated by the vastness of the Pacific.
Still laughing, caught in the memory of this moment though, at @Mindy's serious and reflective comment as I was plying the needle and thread, "You know when all the mothers, grandmothers (and great Aunties) have gone - there'll be nobody left who'll know how to sew."
Holding back a guffaw I reassured @MindyMoo "There will always be Dr Google." Who knew hand sewing was a lost art.
We are multi-tasking here - because did have the washing machine and dryer on for the linens today - and @Mac was boldly going where he has never gone before - and using Google Home to set countdowns and alarms for his mad dashes to the laundry.
Anyone would think he was a technological genius.
Um, not so much in the "genius" category today to be truthful. Can't believe how much time and angst we have wasted on this one. But the good news is - all sorted. So, let's hold on to that one.
For the last few days, @Mac has commented that when he tries to make a phone call from his new SIM and Canadian number - he gets a recorded message which announces, "You have insufficient funds to complete this call." Mystifying really, because we have a pre-paid plan that has unlimited Canadian calls on it. Combine with that, a receipt we received that indicated we had signed up for monthly auto top-ups of $120 and his phone was becoming an issue.
My handset on the other hand - not a problem.
In an effort to "self soothe" - I had attempted to download the Bell Mobility APP (I thought us was an old person's accessibility APP- but no, it's just the service to support mobile phone connectivity) from the Google Play store - no luck because my account is tied to Australia. If I changed it to Canada - the advice was I couldn't change the geographical area back for a year. Tried toggling backwards and forwards and sideways through the VPN and failed there as well.
No worries - we'll download the APP from the APPLE store on @Mac's phone. Needed a verification code - which is tied to our Aus phone number - so no banana there either.
Hmm, oh well, I'll just sign into the Web version of the service. If only. You need a Canadian postcode as part of the verification process to set up an online account - our paperwork had signed us up at the airport booth with our Aus address - so no Canadian postcode. Error, error, error.
Feeling totally frustrated it was time to relent and just ring #The SIM Shop where we had made the original purchase.
They answered straight away - but explained they were busy and would ring back "soon."
Yes, they did so promptly, and it was the store manager, @Ahmit, who was extremely helpful. Cleared up the $120 top up immediately - that was good news. Asked @Mac to restart his phone (completed that twice) with no luck - still the recorded message.
Asked if he could "call us back" so he could reach out to the support team. Came back and reported that everything was in order at their end and there was no explanation. He suggested perhaps a "dud" SIM card which would need replacing "next time we are in Vancouver." Well, that is some time away - definitely needed to be creative.
I advised @Ahmit we were going to hang up and try swapping the SIM cards between our phones. Good idea. Mine was working let's see if it works in @Mac's phone.
Sure enough, low and behold - made the swap - @Mac rings @Mindy and everything is working! Yippee and celebration time. Lots of happy dancing and resumption of normal duties of the day.
We were all subsequently absorbed in the throes of re-swapping the SIMs, re editing our contacts and actually focussing on "Europe" packing, when @Mac is back at the doorway replaying the recorded message, in the same calm voice, "You have insufficient funds to complete this call."
Seriously! This couldn't be happening.
I left the packing and joined @Mac in the doorway just in time to see him place a call to me once again as a demonstration. And that's when I noticed it. OH MY GOODNESS.
Only flashed on his screen for a nano second! A split second in time that shifted everything. The fault was not with a dud SIM - it was more a dud user making a rookie mistake in managing his contacts.
@Mac had added my Canadian number to the existing contact list of numbers in his phone associated with my name - but hadn't changed the default number to dial. So every time he rang me - it was calling my Aus number - and because our plan doesn't include international calls - you guessed it - he definitely had insufficient funds.
Default number now changed, And as I said at the outset - good news - all sorted. Gosh technology can be frustrating! Have to confess that I am too embarrassed to ring @Ahmit back and "confess."
Three hours of my life I will never get back
Today Vs four days ago - @Mindy absent today - but the mountain is just not visible
Same again - 4 days apart looking across park - smoke not cloud
With the light of the day threatening to disappear - I was determined to get my walk completed despite it approaching 5 p.m. The challenge today was "courage." Didn't have a walking partner so had to go solo.
To fill in the background for my lack of courage - this was the lead story in the news - on the radio and online. Headlines! Today of all days! A couple of classics in this story - "swatted" by a bear and she managed to grab a piece of "lumber."
I was not taking any chances - no bear was going to swat me! I was forewarned and pre-armed with my own bit of lumber. The only thing was, that every dog in Meadow Park thought I wanted to play and every owner was either tugging on a lead to restrain their dog or racing after them to stop the dog jumping over me.
And as a backup, I had turned on location services on Messenger so @Mac could track me (on his working phone) in case I had to jump into the ditch or over the side of a bridge. Not sure how I thought the one eye, gammy legged, technology challenged PIRATE was going to make it to the Valley Trail in time - he could always jump on the EBike and I did overhear him asking @Ian yesterday how to contact emergency services. Crisis averted though - didn't spot a single bear.
Got my "lumber" and found a big, big bell - just in case
Men's night in the kitchen and I don't care how they do it. Pasta on the menu in a couple of variations - red wine, clean up and coffee included. Loving their style. Three phases captured in the preparation in the pic below- every man on a saucepan for themselves, simmering time while watching TV and final call for "plate up chef. "What a team. Great dinner BTW.
The pressure. Things are piling up! Life as a local was never going to be easy.
Very sadly lagging on this little project - but it all does start with one stitch
No comments:
Post a Comment