April 22 – Frustration

I am feeling quite frustrated dealing with officialdom. This past week I discovered that to access my Alberta Health records online, I needed a current driver’s license or an Alberta Identity Card. I had neither of these and so the saga of paper work and online frustration began.

Let me backtrack. When because of my diminished sight I was no longer able to drive, I let my driver’s license lapse. At the time, I knew that I could apply for an official Alberta identity card, but of course there was a cost to this. As I already had several pieces of documentation proving my identity, I tended to see this as just another Government money grab and so I didn’t apply. Until last week, and over the past thirty years, I haven’t encountered any problems with this decision.

Now we come to last week. The only documentation that I could use to access my health records online was the driver’s license or the identity card. There was no allowance made for people who didn’t have either of these. Obviously I still don’t have a driver’s license, so the only option was to apply for the identity card. I gave in at last and arrived at the registry with several pieces of documentation.

The first piece that I produced was my Citizenship Card. This plastic card has my picture and was issued by the Federal Government. I couldn’t believe my ears when I was told that it wasn’t acceptable. I would need a passport.

It’s hard to believe the reason that was given for this official statement - my Citizenship Card didn’t have an expiry date! Well, I would hope not! I am a Canadian citizen and I hope that this status won’t expire until I do myself. As for the passport – well I needed my Citizenship Card in order to apply for this travel document in the first place.

Now for the crazy part. Once I had produced my passport, bank statement with current address, etc. and of course paid my fee, the agent said that now she could update and confirm my information on her computer! What? I was already in the system! What was all this other nonsense? Sure enough, my name, date of birth, phone number and address was all there. Even my height was the same. Unfortunately my weight did need to be updated!

After all of this, I was given a receipt but I still can’t access my health records for another thirty days or so. I must wait for my new little plastic identity card with a code number on the back. This will hopefully arrive in the mail.

I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person and between the two of us, Lyle and I can manage basic technology. However, these days a person needs a PhD to negotiate the ins and outs of all these new rules and regulations. I am still feeling frustrated!

 

 

April 14 - Spring

Just a few days ago we left the snow on the ground in Central Alberta and drove to the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia.  The drive across the mountains was not pleasant.  When we left the town of Golden, there was heavy rain, burst of hail, and at the summit of Rogers Pass some light snow.  It wasn’t until we turned south on Highway 97 that the clouds began to clear.

A further two hours down the road we came to the town of Peachland.  (Don’t you just love that name!). We got out of the vehicle to stretch our legs long the lake front.  We were already commenting on the green grass when we came to a small tree covered in blossoms.

There is a picture below with me standing in front of the tree.  I thought that the blossoms were a spectacular white but Lyle assured me that they had a pinkish hue.  I do have some trouble in accurately distinguishing  colours so I must take his word for what he sees.

Whatever their colour, the blossoms were a delightful sign that Spring is on the way.

 

Sue in front of a tree with blossoms

 

April 8 - Familiarity

We are home from our holiday. Although we had a wonderful time, it is good to be back around familiar things again. Until we are actually at home, I don’t think I realize just how much I appreciate the ease of not having to adjust to new things all the time.

I love sleeping in my own bed. Like Goldilocks in the Three Bears, my mattress is not too soft, not too hard, but just right. I like being able to turn the handle of my shower to the right temperature for me, and not having to adapt to different knobs and handles to get the right heat setting every time I step under a different water spout.

I know that Lyle likes to be home so that he doesn’t need to do all the cooking! I am fine with my home stove, microwave, etc. but I struggle with ones that aren’t marked with my tactile buttons. I can do the basics when we are away but generally speaking, Lyle needs to take over for most of the cooking.

Last night as I lay in bed, I reflected that I had even been missing familiar sounds. I like the sound of the chiming of our clock in the living room. If I am awake at four in the morning I even like to hear the train whistle as it regularly passes by down the hill at that time. Of course I miss the audible program on my computer. When we are away, we only take Lyle’s i-Pad and I often just dictate whatever emails I need to send. It’s not the same as typing the words and thoughts myself.

Yes, there is much to be said for the familiarity of home, but having said that, I am still looking forward to our next travel adventures.

 

 

April 2 - Canberra

We spent several days in Canberra and I wish that it could have been longer. There is so much to see and do in Australia’s national capital city. Still, Jenny had planned our trip well and we made good use of the time we had available.

A must stop for me was the Australian War Memorial Museum. The building and its records are a great tribute to Australians and their participation in the many conflicts of war. We took a free guided tour and I would highly recommend this. As a visually impaired person I found the tour especially helpful. There are many, many written accounts and Lyle would have been exhausted if he had tried to read them all for me. As it was, our knowledgeable guide chose highlights and I thought it made for a much more informed experience. I was especially interested in the records of World War II as my father was part of the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) in the 1940’s in New Guinea. We had his service number and were able to find 44 pages of information about him.

Another must see on the tourist list would be a tour of the Old Parliament Buildings. These are no longer in use but are open to visitors and once again we took the free guided tour. This was much better than just wandering aimlessly through the various rooms and chambers. As an Australian born myself, I think that I was surprised at how much of the history had evolved during the period of my own lifetime.

Another stop on the tourist list was the Australian Institute of Sports. We took the tour. Unfortunately we had chosen to do this on a Sunday and most of the athletes were on a regular day off so we didn’t see much action. However, the tour of the building site was impressive and it was obvious how much Australians value sports as a part of their lives. We noted the names of a few athletes to watch for in the Paris Olympics.

We had our eight year-old granddaughter with us in Canberra and so some of our time needed to be spent with a focus on childhood activities. One of these was the pod playground at the Arboretum. What a fantastic place for kids! Lexi had a great time on all the equipment and Lyle and I loved the setting. The Arboretum is set in a valley to the north of the city and the views are amazing.

Also to the north of the city is the Walk-In Aviary. This was an enormous amount of fun, although perhaps not recommended if you don’t like birds. When we entered the netted area, the squawking of the lorikeets was almost deafening. The admission included a small plate of cut up apple, and when we held these out the birds landed on our arms and hands to feed. A few of the birds even landed on my head. It was a lot of fun and a chance for me to see the colourful birds close up. I am always grateful when I can “see” wildlife of any form at close range.

There are three pictures with this post. The first two were taken at the aviary with the birds and the last one is of Lyle and me outside at the Arboretum.

 

Sue with lorikeet

Sue feeding a lorikeet

Sue and Lyle at the Arboretum