Parking in Ottawa is not for the faint-hearted

A morning when it was so cold that even Ottawacker Jr. wanted to put on a hat for the journey to school. We awoke to -29ºC – and I found, as usual on the day after a public holiday, that a surprisingly long list of chores had developed for me to do. This started off with driving Ottawacker Jr. to school, followed by an urgent “pick up” list at Farm Boy. There, faced between lettuce from the USA and nothing, I chose nothing. I bought Chilean avocados, Costa Rican bananas, Mexican blueberries, Canadian oat milk, Moroccan satsumas, and PEI potatoes. Not a thing American passes into my basket and nor shall it again in the foreseeable future.
 
At 9:45, having dropped my container of Mexican blueberries over the floor, picked them up again and washed them, I had to leave for my appointment with the Arthritis Society. Here, in a small office, staffed by a very nice woman called Maria, I was interrogated politely about my symptoms, all of which seem mild enough. At least, they do when I am sitting down not doing anything. As this is my seeming usual position, I saw no reason to disabuse her. So, I filled out forms, tried to remember the pain I feel in various positions (is it a “4” on the assessment scale or a “5” or maybe a “3”?); listened while she went through the various possibilities (is it ankylosing spondylitis or psoriatic arthritis or osteoarthritis or scleroderma or, or, or…?); wondered why I had been seeing my rheumatologist for the past 20 years (“just what does he do?” – “fucked if I know, Maria”); and planned for some various support.
 
It was a very pleasant and supportive meeting – and for perhaps the first time in a long time, I felt actually supported. And it was free – covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) – which was a pleasant surprise. We went through the various splints (which aren’t free) but decided on a month’s exercise series, after which we would regroup and see how it is going. This, I should say, is only for my wrist. The rest of my creaking, arthritic body can wait.
 
I drove home in a quite happy mood, and then drove Mrs. Ottawacker down to her office where she had to pick up a “pop-up banner” for a presentation she is giving tomorrow evening, and some printing (as our printer is no longer recognised following a Windows update. Have I mentioned how much I hate Windows recently? No, it’s been at least 24 hours. While driving downtown, we waited at a traffic light for the inevitable green, and noticed a motorist in the next lane signalling to us. Winding down the window, a brave decision in -29ºC, he told us that our front right tyre was flat. Well, of course it was – it had only been a week since we were in the car dealership; what were we expecting? So, following the pop-up pick-up, we went to Canadian Tire. There we learned that there was a leaky valve in the tire, nothing to worry about, and escaped with a $50 charge.
 
Home again, and managed to warm up again. The rest of the day was spent on menial chores, the likes of which would bore you to read about as much as it did me to do. In the evening, I drove Ottawacker Jr. to his soccer practice, and then back home again. There are major roadworks at the Bank/Kilborn intersection, so turning left is almost impossible. This meant detours through the windrows of Alta Vista.