Canadian Blindsides

Okay, as most of you know, I'm now living in Toronto. My husband was born to Canadian parents in the US so he has the benefit of dual-citizenship. For reasons within and out of our control he was unemployed this summer and decided to take advantage of being a Canuck and started job searching here. He landed a good job and has been living here for a couple months without me. I was finally able to join him the Sunday after Thanksgiving (American) and am very happy to be here. However, my hubby has family who live in Canada and has therefore been exposed to Canadian "traditions" while I have not. (Now if we were to go to Korea I would definitely have the upper hand!)

Living in Canada is often just like living in the US, but there are little things that are done differently and it totally catches me off guard. Here is a list of some of those little differences that I've encountered so far:

1. Words spelled the "British" way. Ex. "colour", "favourite", "jewellry"
2. Everything gives the option of operating in English or French. Being from Texas and Colorado I'm used to Spanish being on everything.
3. I'm an immigrant! Weird.
4. Milk sold in bags instead of jugs.
5. A distinction between debit cards and credit cards. On the same note, not being able to swipe your card while the checker is still scanning items. Annoying.
6. No nationwide free long-distance calling on cell phones. Calling outside Toronto costs me 37 cents a minute! And forget calling the US, I'd have to sell our first-born, which is yet to even be conceived.
7. Fees for checking and savings accounts based on the number of transactions you anticipate making a month. (Checking my balance constitutes as a transaction!)
8. Poutin. (Okay, I already knew about cheese-gravy fries but I didn't anticipate falling in love. Seriously, sounds gross but sooooo yummy!)
9. Ranch dressing is just different.
10. Advance green. This still throws me off to no end. I don't encounter it in the city as they have turn arrows. For those who are wondering, advance green is when a green light flashes on a normal traffic light. It indicates that you can turn left. They use it instead of a green turn arrow.

There will be more I'm sure and I'm sure I've even forgotten a few. I'll keep y'all posted.

Why We Need Affordable and Quality Healthcare for All! (And no, I'm not a Socialist or Communist.)

So as many of you know, my husband and I are both without permanent jobs and along with that, health insurance. We have both been looking all summer (my husband more so than I) for jobs and with the economy being what it is, blah, blah, blah, you get the picture. At our previous employers we had great health insurance and great benefits. However, when we chose to move we lost those benefits. Enter Cobra. I've had Cobra benefits before and used them judiciously and all was well. This time has not been so successful. We simply could not afford to pay close to $800 a month when we had other bills to pay, and thanks to my in-laws we didn't have to factor monthly rent into that equation. We knew that finding gainful employment could be a long time coming and so we saved up some money to cover expenses. I was not prepared for the outrageous bill that health insurance was going to cost us. On top of that, the insurance we had was specific to our last location and all doctors would be out-of-network where we are now. It just wasn't a cost-effective option.

Cutting to the chase, I needed to see a doctor to renew a prescription I have. Luckily, thanks to Wal-Mart and many other pharmacies I can get said prescription for $4 a month. I just needed the slip of paper allowing me to get it. I called a few doctors and when they asked for insurance I said I didn't have it and they wouldn't give me the time of day. Enter a local community health center. I was able to make an appointment a week out with a general doctor. The wait to see someone in the mental illness clinic was two months out. (I have depression and it becomes very difficult to be around me without medication.) I had two weeks of pills left. So, I chose the general doctor.

I show up at the health center two hours before my appointment as instructed and show my meager paystubs from my part-time, temp job and hope to qualify for the sliding scale payment. The lady behind the desk had already been there for twelve hours and was less than friendly and accomodating. Who could blame her really? She gives me my chart and sends me on my way.

When I reached the doctor's office the nurse questioned why I was there, and I told her about the prescription dillema. She did all the stuff that nurses do, weight (ugh), blood pressure (low), and family historyv (long). The nurse was great and left the room to have me wait for the doctor. I waited, and waited, and waited. I know, its a community health center and there are a lot of people who go there, but the waiting room was a ghost town earlier!

Then, this tiny lady who was of Central Asian or Middle Eastern dissent comes into the room. Her clothing was extremely disheveled (flowered silk elastic-waist skirt pulled up to her boobs and a cotton paisly shirt buttoned-crooked and tucked in askew) and I don't know if her hair has ever seen a comb. Now, I'm no beauty and I'm not expecting it from my health care workers, but I do expect hygene. I'm good with accents, having lived overseas as well as big cities with diverse populations, but I had to ask this woman to repeat what she was saying several times. It didn't help that she talked a hundred miles a minute.

After telling her my family history, again, even though I had written it down on a paper in full detail, she asks me why I'm there. I tell her I need my happy pills and she proceeds to go into what I should eat (no meat) and that I need a gyno appointment and a pap-smear and that I should take vitamins and that I need to have my bloodwork done and cholesterol and that I should have a mamogram. Whew. She pulls out her stethoscope and listens to my heart and breathing. Then, she tells me she needs to do a breast exam. I'm in shock, so I can't respond to this. She goes in and lifts up my shirt and pulls my bra up over my boobs. Then she starts squeezing. All of this while I'm still sitting upright. No laying down and lifting my arm over my head; I've got my bra around my neck with the underwire choking me. She doesn't feel anything and goes to write that down as I'm trying to get my clothes untangled and in the right place. While I'm still in shock, the good doctor tells me she's going to make the appointment to get my bloodwork done and to have my pap-smear and makes like she's going to leave the room. I shake myself out of my stupor and tell her I need my happy pills. She turns around and looks at me confused and then starts grilling me about that. Well, I told you at the beginning of the appointment Dr. Obvious! She reluctantly agrees to give me a two month prescription and tells me to come back in eight weeks but that she shouldn't be the one prescribing it and that I should see someone in the mental health section. She really was clueless, I had told her all of that! I didn't take her up on her offer of making another appointment.

I've heard the opposition to health care reform tout the benefits of these community health centers in solving the problems of uninsured patients. But frankly, the need is just too great and the quality suffers. Just because I don't have insurance doesn't mean that I don't deserve competent healthcare. I'm not asking for a miracle doctor, I'm asking for a doctor who knows what she's doing, knows the patient's needs and meets those needs. My needs were not met the day I went to that community center. That day made me feel both blessed that I've never had to rely on that system before and pissed that I was treated with such disrespect and condescension. I do understand that many of the people who patronize these centers haven't seen a doctor in years and that these doctors are trying to make up for lost time. But this doctor didn't even take the time to see if I had done any of the exams she was suggesting. All of which I had done within the past year.

Its a broken system and it needs to be mended. If everyone was insured then they would be able to see the doctors they trust and the burden could be spread out over a large group instead of a small group of underpaid workers at these community centers. It was clear that this doctor didn't suit my idea of what I needed, but to someone else she might. If I had insurance I could have picked someone else to see instead of getting what was sent to me. I'm not asking for the government to pay for my insurance, I will pay, but it needs to be something I can afford. Even if it just covers a yearly checkup and hospitalization. But hubby and I don't qualify for affordable insurance plans that are currently offered. I don't think our health should be penalized for that.

Mmmmm...

So today has been a dark and rainy day. I think its the closest I'll get to a fall day. I miss fall. Its still hot here although the evenings cool off a little bit. When I got home from work I didn't really feel like cooking anything detailed but wanted something cozy and quick because my hubby would be home soon and then he had to rush off to a meeting. I saw some pancake mix I bought ages ago and decided to make breakfast for dinner. We also had a Fuji apple (love Fuji apples!) that needed to be eaten. There was a bag of potatoes sitting around. Bingo. Apple pancakes, home fries (hash browns), and scrambled eggs with cheese. I've never made pancakes with fruit in them before but these turned out super yummy. I just made sure to peel the apple and cut it up into really small pieces. They turned out perfect. The Fuji apples are firm but so sweet. I don't like mushy apples and the crispness of these worked well with the fluffiness of the pancake.

These are now going to be a staple in my cooking. I don't make pancakes very often. Okay, so I've made them two other times in the past six months and haven't ever bothered before then. But they're so quick that I know I'll be leaning on them a lot with our schedules being so unreliable at the moment.

Obviously Its Been a While

So much has changed since my last post, yet so much has remained the same. My husband was offered a full-time position right before the school year started and he decided to take it. Its in the same department he was doing his grad assistantship, but it is a position that required us to move on campus. So, just a month and a half after moving here and just after I had finally unpacked everything, we had to pack again and move. Luckily the department let us use a van so we could get our stuff over here. This apartment is considerably smaller than our last one but its nice and convenient to my husband's office and its free. (His office is two doors down from the apartment.)

That retail store finally called me and offered me a position with no interview. Two months after I had originally contacted them. I accepted a part-time position. I lasted three days. Embarrassing, I know, but it was the worst store in the district and the department manager didn't bother meeting me when I was hired and he didn't bother introducing me to my co-workers either. The company has totally changed and their credit practices take advantage of people who can't afford the debt. Credit cards have their place, but not to buy that cute pair of jeans or that bigger, cooler television.

Anyway, I quit the job and in mid-August and am still trying to find a job. I'm with four temp agencies and I finally was placed for a week assignment to cover for a receptionist going on vacation. I really hope that something full-time will come up.

My husband is taking classes but is only able to take two because of his full-time status. He's enjoying them but its a lot of work.

We've been having fun doing things around the campus. My husband loves college football, so he's in heaven right now going to the games every Saturday. Especially since students get in for free. The fans here do some serious tailgating so the campus has been a zoo every Saturday. We went to the game yesterday and there was a fan that was nicely asked to sit down because he was blocking the view for a group behind us. He had been drinking a lot during the game and began mouthing off. He refused to sit down and then security stepped in. They asked him to sit and he defiantly got in the face of the security guard and began angrily shouting. The security guard of course radioed for an officer who showed up seconds later. The officer motioned for the fan and said, "Come here." Angry fan guy then mouthed off some more and the officer followed with, "Come here. 1.." It was so hilarious to see that a police officer resorted to treating this guy like a three-year-old. Although, one would argue that angry fan guy was acting like a three-year-old. It was amazing how quickly angry fan guy responded to the officer putting his pointer finger in the air and counting to three. He made it to one. Luckily next weekend is an away game.

Will Work for Money

Well, it has been a month since we got to Tallahassee and I'm still looking for a job. One of my husband's co-workers pointed out that his partner took four months to find a job. Aaack! I've applied for tons of admin positions. I'm not even sure what all I've applied for, but I've only heard from one place saying it had already filled the position. So, I went to my plan B and applied at the retail store that I once worked for and didn't hear anything. So I called three times and never got a call back. Then I went into the store and talked to a manager who said she was interested in me. She passed my resume to the HR manager and said she would like to get me in for an interview on Friday if he wasn't too busy. I didn't hear from him all day Friday and waited until 4:30 today to call and check in. Of course, the HR manager was at lunch so I left yet another message. He didn't call back. I think I've begged enough. They have my application, resume, and I'm sure they have my evaluation scores from the five years I worked there before. If it is meant to be, they'll call. But I have to move on so I can find a job.

You would think that with no job I would be focusing that energy on getting the apartment completely set-up. But, we've been here a month and I still have boxes to unpack. These are the unsavory boxes that were packed in a last-minute panic that I wouldn't get everything packed in time. So, a lot of random junk and papers got stuffed into boxes and now I have to weed through them and throw-out or shred. No room has escaped this fate, so while the house is functional, it is strewn with open boxes.

It is because the house is functional that I have put-off this daunting task and instead focused my energy on job-searching and Jon & Kate Plus 8. We didn't have TLC at our last place and so I know I'm a little slow to jump on the bandwagon, but holy cow this family is addicting. It makes me desperately want to have kids and dread having kids all at the same time.

On a brighter note, my husband and I have hooked up with another couple who will also be navigating the murky waters of grad school. The wife will be attending classes with my husband and so the four of us have bonded over the newness of living off-campus and extreme budgeting. (I know, it was only two years ago that I lived on my own in an apartment. But, my husband has never rented, so it has been a learning experience living with him.) We went to Wakulla Springs with them on Saturday and went on a boat tour and saw lots of birds, turtles, flying mullet, gar, and alligators. They loved it. It was my third time going on the tour, but as my husband says, "You never have the same experience at Wakulla". He's right, last time we went with my parents we saw an alligator eating a snake. Yum. After the boat tour we all had a picnic lunch and called it a day. It was nice being able to show them around like I actually knew my way around. I didn't feel as out of place as I had been.

That seems to be the biggest challenge of not having a job. Not having my own friends and peers. I'm really having to rely on my husband who is not the most social creature. It truly is a test of my trust in him and Him. But, I am beginning to appreciate the area and I love our new place and I have met some of the nicest neighbors. The rest is going to fall into place soon. I know it, it has to.

It's a Tuba!

It appears that one of our neighbors is a tuba player and he has been practicing in the courtyard a lot over the past few days. I think he might be playing in some kind of fireworks extravaganza because the music he's practicing sounds like the stuff played during fireworks. (Very patriotic and peppy.) Lucky for us, he's talented, so its not like we have a middle schooler painfully squeaking his way through a song.

In other news, I am feeling much better. My throat didn't hurt nearly as much today and I finally had some energy so I was able to get some stuff done. I am now a proud cardholder of a Florida State Driver's License. Its nice that they gave it to me today and that I don't have to wait for it to be mailed. However, the heat and humidity have not been kind to my complexion, so I look like pink koosh ball in my picture. I also got some curtains hung up, so this play is really starting to feel like home. The valance I got for the kitchen is perfect! Its a gauzy sage green with some embroidery on the edges. Very shabby chic. I also baked some cookies tonight, so the oven has officially been broken in and the house smells delicious.

We've been spending a lot of time in our second bedroom as it is the only room with cable at the moment. So I've been setting up that room and unpacking everything and getting things put away. I've also been spending a lot of time online looking for a job. I've applied for a couple, but tomorrow I'll hit it hard core. No plans for the weekend yet, but we'll see.

You Know You're a Bachelor When....

Your Chinese food delivery man remembers you five years later.

On Friday night my husband wanted to order Chinese for dinner. I was between naps so I told him that sounded good. He ordered from a place he apparently ordered from a lot while he was in Tallahassee last time. When the delivery man came to the door he recognized my husband and his order. My husband explained to the delivery man that he used to live on campus. I'm sure this particular restaurant owner is now rubbing his hands together thinking, "Cha-ching! My cash cow is back!"