A good night - a not so good morning

I had a wonderful Wednesday evening.

I had been invited to attend the Human Kinetics Scholars Evening - as I was receiving the Canadian Federation of University Women Scholarship.  I was seated a table with a fellow graduate student from my lab who was also being recognized, and our advisor we have in common.  We had chosen a table that wasn't in the front but a location where we could see the slide show presentation and podium for the speakers.  A few people had come to join our tables - but then were instructed to sit elsewhere - so for the longest time we thought it would just be the three of us - which didn't bother us at all.  Then two administration people from the registrars office joined us - so that was nice.... then other man came over and said "since there are 3 academics and 2 admin, I'm going to sit with you and even it all out to 3:3".  As people had sat Leah (other grad student) and I introduced ourselves because we didn't know who they were.  Well didn't the last one who join us turn out to be the President of the University!  He was such an incredible individual who entertained us with stories and asked us questions and truly wanted to know information about the education Leah and I had been attaining.  He and I even discussed me one day taking over as the President of Western!  Although he did say that form those he has spoken with - no one has ever preplanned to be the President of a university before... hahaha - there is always room for a first!

Anyway - it was a delightful event and I'm really glad how the table seatings turned out!

Today (Friday) has not been such a great morning.  The basement, or course, flooded again - I had to wade around in the water in the basement passing things to my other roommate so we could move things upstairs to prevent ruin/damage.  So now everything but my bed and a dresser are out of my room - which is good I suppose since I was going to have to move it real soon anyway.

The city was just here though and used a 4" eel cutter to clean the roots out from the pipes and the draining of the water has begun (phew).

Moving....

Well.... I went and found a new place to live.

The mold conditions in the house where I currently dwell are much worse than I originally thought.  The air analyses came back today with some conditions as moderate and others as elevated... which is not good... and this is specifically my room let alone possible other areas in the house.

The new place is a bit further from school - but closer to downtown... and about a block further from the water.  Its in a building that is currently undergoing a lot of changes.  The units are being rented out as they become available/liveable.  Its a 22 unit place and currently only about 10 are being lived in.  So there is a lot of construction going on - which definitely doesn't make it look all that nice - but the inside is decent.

When you walk in the front door you are in the living room.  To the left is a brief hallway that leads to a bathroom and a bedroom that is similar in size to the room I had at the Oxford Street house in London - so not overly big - but big enough for a bed and maybe a dresser... which when you are living by yourself is all you need in there as my desk can go in the living room.  To the right of the living room is a little eating nook with a kitchen that is about as big as the hallway! hahaha - oh well.

So its not the greatest - but its one of the cheaper places I can find - but more importantly didn't make me sign a 8-12 month lease!  So I'll  make do.

I'm sad to leave my current place because since 2005 its been my home - and well I hate change - but for the sake of my health I have to go - and even if I don't like the new place - I move to London in a few months anyway... I'll survive.

I just surrender already

It was really nice to see Jen, Sharon, Maggie, Janice.... Rafa, Mark, Dan, Nathan, etc... while I was in Toronto. Although I still did school work while there - it was nice to be in a different atmosphere - surrounded by people I love and who love me (or so they claim.....;) ). However, being away on my so called reading week got me in trouble at school. I still got everything that was due in on time - even in advance. But it got me frustrated/upset so I decided that on Friday I'd go down to Guelph for the night to visit with Aine since she had not been available to get together the previous weekend in Toronto.
I'll admit - I use to be a stupid driver. Not necessarily a bad driver - just a stupid one - I just liked to get places faster if I could... so it wasn't unheard of for me to go 140-160km/hour on the 401/403. That has definitely changed over the last few years though. I'm hesitant to even let my cruise control be set to speeds as high as 125.... I try to stick to the 120.... sometimes with the flow of traffic I'll advance to 130 but its rare. I have come to pretty much live out of my car - its like a second home.... anyway...
On my way to Guelph it was a horrible drive. Started out in day light but had so many delays it was unbelievable. There was a gas spill, a transport truck accident, then bad weather (dark now), salt trucks, construction etc.... but no big deal - just means it will take a little longer to get to your destination - just go slow and be careful. Well just about after the woodstock area - not quite cambridge the traffic let up - we were able to speed up from our average 40-60km/hour to almost 100. Driving in the far left lane too because of snow in the far right lane and salt trucks... well... the car in front of me decided to put on his/her breaks for no apparent reason. I had two choices. Slam into the back of the car or try to avoid it. I tried to avoid it. I did successfully avoid it - except in doing so must have hit a patch of ice because it sent me spinning. I remember spinning at least 2.5 times - but it could have been many more. I kept telling ymself to "pump the breaks don't hold the breaks... pump the breaks don't hold the breaks"... and as I spun to the right also realized I needed to try and avoid the oncoming traffic. So I'm spinning and pumping the breaks and try to control the direction the car is going while cars/trucks are coming at me. Then I realized the median on the side of the road and the ditch that follows after it are approaching quite quickly. I give the breaks one good slam - and I stop not even a hairline before hitting the side - which I'm convinced had I had I was rolling over and into the ditch. It was like someone was looking out for me! hahaha... who knows. I sat there for a few moments shaking and in shock of what just happened. I was ok - but facing the wrong direction and not sure how I was going to turn around. I called Aine to let her know what happened - and as I was on the phone a man approached my car. It was Randy. He was a truck driver who pulled over to help. THANK YOU TRUCK DRIVER RANDY. He made sure I was ok (other than a bruised and cut right arm I'm good).. checked the car... not a scratch.. even complimented my tires! hahaha. He called over the radio and had fellow truckers direct traffic to leave the right lane(s) open and free so that the car could be turned around. Randy told me to move over - he jumped in - turned the car around and pulled it in fron of his truck. He then told me that he'd pull out blocking traffic so I could get back on the road... I tried to thank him but he was gone. I finished the drive to Guelph as it was much closer than heading to Windsor. I later learned that my brother travelled to my mom's place that night and it took him 7 hours to do the drive... I didn't tell my mom about my adventures.... no need to worry her.
My mom has had a rough go of it the last few days anyway --- her uncle joe is in hospital with cancer (radiation began Friday)... and my cousin's wedding on the weekend was a cause of a lot of drama...
I only learned of the wedding drama because I called my mom during the day today. My landlord showed up because of course the basement was flooding again with all the rain today. He decided to move the other girl that lives in the basement up to the main floor. That is great and all except I had moved ym computer and books in that room during the last flood. So now I have to move it out... he suggests I just put it in the room of the person he is currently switching rooms for ????? how does that make sense. PLUS - I can't stop coughing - it started Saturday.... its pretty bad too - turns out it actually might be stupid mold poisoning! I just can't win. I don't want to move because a) my stuff is already here, b) its cheap rent, c) its a good location, d) the house isn't horrible, e) I can't sign a 6-12 month lease because I won't be here that long.
I'm just really at a breaking point right now. I know that sounds silly because really things going on in life aren't anything major - just silly things... and there are people much much worse off.... but I'm actually really upset.... I'm just done.... I keep trying to be positive and stuff - but I'm just tired.... I just don't know what to do.