Welcome to Joyce and Asti's Blog

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I managed to find some time to write a new blog, so here it is. I’m resurrecting the tulip theme that I love so much. I hope you enjoy!

On May 22, I went to the pot luck supper that was held for the people going on the cruise. The food was good and we had a little bit of a meeting about the trip but, other than that, it was dull. I didn’t get to know any of the people from Shamrock, or elsewhere, that are going. Steve, from my building, was the only other person from my building that attended. Al S. was supposed to come but he went for a nap in the afternoon and didn’t wake up in time to get himself to the pot luck. I learned that the flight for Puerto Rico leaves at 6:30 a.m. on January 10. Because we have to get special transportation and be at the airport about 3 hours in advance, we are leaving Kitchener at 1:30 a.m!!! That means I’m going to miss a night of sleep and that concerns me because when I missed a night of sleep travelling to Holland, I was sick the next day. But that’s the way things have to be in order to get to Puerto Rico to board the ship, so I just have to deal with whatever happens. As a friend said the other day, there’s no point worrying about it now.

On May 24, I went to the 35th anniversary for my former place of employment. Chris, the boss, who said back in November that he’d be there for me if I needed to talk about the fact that my father was dying and then wasn’t there for me at all, said nothing more to me than hi. I didn’t really expect much more than that but I was hoping for more. Ron, who used to be my supervisor, didn’t even say hi and I thought that was unusual because he always talks to me when he sees me. There was only one person there who used to be one of my students so I didn’t really talk to anyone else and I was bored silly.

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The guys in my building and I, along with Al and his son Sean, were supposed to go to Harvey’s Free Hamburger Day on May 25 but, as usual, it was a bust. Al called the attendants to ask them to call me and cancel and I didn’t get that call till 12:55. I was already supposed to be on my way at that point so it’s a darn good thing I was running late or I would have gone to Harvey’s expecting Al and getting more and more furious by the minute because he wasn’t there. Al S., the other Al, arrived at about the same time I did. We had to wait outside in a long line-up and then we had to wait inside in the line-up to get our hamburgers. We saw Steve sitting at a table but by the time I got my hamburger (I was behind Al in the line-up), I saw Steve leaving. I couldn’t figure out what that was about. Al said that Steve said something to him before he left but Al couldn’t hear because Steve has a very soft voice and couldn’t talk loud enough to raise his voice above all the noise in the restaurant. When I questioned him about it later, he said that he was finished his hamburger, it was really busy, and he felt as if one of the staff members at the restaurant wanted him to leave.

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Meanwhile, Al S. and I got our hamburgers (Jay had cancelled in advance so it was just Al S. and me and, of course, I was not happy about that at all!) and had not one but two people give us service, so I’m sure Steve’s impression that someone wanted him to leave was wrong. That guy has absolutely no self-confidence!!! He’s a really sweet, smart, funny guy but has no self-confidence!!! It drives me crazy! I would never have left the restaurant just because someone said something that might have led me to believe I owed it to that person to leave!!!

My Al sent me a message the next day apologizing for not being at Harvey’s. He said he took Sean to Elora, just outside of this area, and Sean and his friend were having such a good time there that Al didn’t want to pull them away. That’s understandable but I don’t understand why Al couldn’t have called sooner...and called me directly instead of talking to an attendant. I hate when he does that!!! But at least he contacted me afterwards and apologized.

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I heard back from the Multicultural Centre and had an appointment there last Monday. I took the bus as far as I could and then drove a few blocks to get there. It was a gorgeous day so that worked out. When I got there, I was worried that the place wasn’t wheelchair accessible but I couldn’t fathom that it wouldn’t be, since they moved their office a few years ago and I figured they’d make sure it was accessible. As it turned out, I was able to get into the building. But right by the doorway as you go in, there’s a very tall counter for reception and I didn’t like being at the counter. The woman there asked if she could help and I said I was there to see Patti. She said "I’m Patti." So I told her who I was. She mentioned something about going to the round table in the middle of the office but then didn’t take me over there. She went to the photocopier to copy a sheet for me and said the sheet had the info for my student. She said I should contact him and let her know what we arrange. She said this gentleman wants to practice his conversational skills and when I asked if there was any specific way to approach the teaching/learning process, Patti said it was up to me. And that was that! I was not impressed that she didn’t sit down with me to tell me about the centre and about what they do and how they do it. I also wasn’t impressed that she didn’t want to know anything more about me than the info I gave on my application. If I were recruiting people to work with students, I’d want to know they are capable and that they’d reflect the organization in a positive manner. I haven’t contacted the student yet but I will. I guess I’ll set something up for after my course is finished when I have more time. I hope this guy and I get along because if this endeavour doesn’t suit me, I won’t continue.

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I haven’t contacted The Working Centre yet about volunteering there because I know I don’t have time to follow through with that. I’ll wait till school is done...one more month!!!...and then I’ll call them.

I had lunch with my friend Jane on Saturday and we talked about The Working Centre. She said the people there are very warm, caring, and friendly and she thinks I’d fit in there very well. That sounded great to me so I’m more keen on that than ever.

My mother called yesterday and said she and my older sister might be coming up next Monday. I’m not holding my breath quite yet though. I’ll love it if they come up but, at the same time, I have a test to write that night and I could have used Monday to study. But I’ll have to just get myself in gear and study as much as I can during the week and on Saturday and Sunday.

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Other than the test next week, I have a final exam to write and a presentation to make. I decided to do my assignment/presentation on gender differences in communication. I still haven’t decided how to present it, but I’d love to give a bunch of males and females an exercise to do that will give me some sort of data. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to let me know.

I asked Al a few weeks ago if he could help me show my family how I do on the bike when they come up so, when I saw Al this morning at the office, I asked him about it. He said his schedule is pretty open for next Monday so if I give him some notice, it should work. I don’t know if my mother and sister will even be interested in seeing me on the bike but it might be neat.

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Al and I have been to the exercise room a few times since my last blog and we have been alone too! Yippee!!! lol He has been letting me use his knee for support again so I take that to mean he feels as comfortable with me as he did before I told him how I feel about him. We’ve had some great talks too. It’s just unfortunate that I don’t get to talk to him like that at any other time.

Today when I saw him I said I had a list of things to talk to him about so I mentioned the non-private ones and said that I had other things to talk about but not at work where my desk is in an open area which means no privacy. He said maybe we could save those for Monday (he was referring to our fitness session). I couldn’t help thinking that maybe he enjoys those Monday talks during fitness just as much as I do. But if my mother and sister come up next Monday, I certainly won’t want to talk to Al about some of these things in front of them.

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We had another cooking club get-together on May 30. Belinda made regular lasagna and Caesar salad and Al made vegetarian lasagna. Both lasagnas were good but I looooooove my meat!!! lol I was disappointed though that Al spent almost the entire 1.5 hours he was there (our cooking thing goes from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. but he got there at about 5:30 and left at 7) on his cell phone. It kept ringing and it was driving me nuts!!! I have a real "thing" about cell phones!!!

On the bright side, Belinda stayed and sat with us after she cleaned everything up and we got talking about music. She discovered that some of us either like to sing or can play an instrument so she said she might talk to Al about starting a music group. I think that would be so cool! When I told her I can play piano but don’t have one, she encouraged me to think about buying a keyboard. She said keyboards can sound pretty good nowadays, as opposed to that tinny sound I’ve heard at times. I really love the sound of the piano so if I get a keyboard, I want it to sound like a real piano, or as close to it as possible. So we’ll see. My birthday is coming up at the end of the month so maybe I’ll treat myself to a keyboard!

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I want to invite a bunch of people out to Swiss Chalet for supper on my birthday and then maybe do karaoke afterwards. But I really, really, really want Al to come and I’m convinced if I ask him to come, he’ll say yes and then cancel at the last minute, which will then upset me. So I want to do whatever it takes so that I don’t end up getting upset on my birthday. I think I’m just going to talk to him about it very openly and honestly. The direct approach seems to work well for me so we’ll see how that goes.

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And now for my soapbox...cell phones, cell phones, gimme a break!!! Yes, I have a cell phone but I only use it for emergencies and when I’m in the lobby of my apartment building wondering where my ride is. Other than that, it is turned off. I have never even given my cell phone number to anyone other than family and even they know that I have it turned off unless I’m expecting a call from one of them. I will never understand people who can’t even go out for supper (as in a friend of mine and Al at our supper thingy) without being interrupted by a call...or many calls...on their cell phones!!! What did people do before cell phones???!!! The way I see it is that if people call me at home and I’m not there, they can leave a message and I’ll get back to them as soon as I can. Nobody is that important, people!!! I think it is just plain rude to be socializing with people and be answering a steady stream of cell phone calls at the same time! It’s just as rude as having the TV on when you invite people to your home to socialize. I can watch TV in my own home anytime I want. I don’t need to do it in someone else’s home. Socializing, on the other hand, is something I can’t do on my own!

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Another soapbox issue for me is the total lack of concern, consideration, and caring that people seem to show for one another these days. If you are in need of a product or service, good luck getting any kind of customer service. People just don’t seem to care that you might be waiting for a call from them about the service or product you ordered weeks or months ago. Why should they care if you clear your schedule on a given day so that you can spend your entire day at home waiting for a delivery that doesn’t come till the very end of the day???!!! And why should people call you to cancel plans they have made with you just because it is the right thing to do???!!! Heaven forbid!!!

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In my talks with various people about this last issue, I have found out that most people don’t rely on other people because, if they do, they end up getting hurt and/or disappointed. Is it not a sad, sad world when we can’t count on anyone anymore??? I have had a very difficult time with this issue because it makes me feel like I can’t expect anything from others because they will let me down. And I can’t look forward to anything in particular because, if I do, things won’t turn out the way I want and then I’ll be disappointed. I don’t understand this type of thing at all because I am a very reliable person. People can count on me! If I say I’m going to do something, I either do it or I let the relevant party or parties know that I can’t do it. I treat people the way I want to be treated (does the term “Golden Rule” ring a bell???!!!) and I have a hard time accepting the fact that other people don’t live by the same code of conduct.

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The issue was making me feel like I had to change my personality to accommodate all those people who let me down. But when I spoke to my counsellor briefly about it a while ago, she said that, rather than change my personality, what I need to do is surround myself with people I can count on. That sounds logical and reasonable, but people like that seem to be very hard to find these days. I don’t know what the answer is but the whole thing really gets me down. But I carry on.

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