Canada – Page 21

Tough times – bills are making us make some hard decisions

August 19, 2009 by Tricia

I swear, if one more thing in our home breaks down or we get one more unexpected bill we’re going to go downhill fast.

Yeah, finances are tight – really tight, and things in our home keep breaking down!

In July our toaster oven suddenly stopped working … well, it still works if you hold the “toast” button and hold the door closed at the same time. Not a fun thing to do when your kitchen is super hot in the morning from all the sun streaming in!

Then, about three weeks ago our washing machine developed a problem. We were trying to do a wash and while the motor sounded like it was working fine, the machine wouldn’t go into a spin cycle or drain the water at the end of the washing cycle.

Our washer and dryer came with the house but they’re OLD! I think we were told that they were about 25 years old when we moved in, so add eight years and they’re 33 years old or older! Amazing that they’ve worked this long I guess, but I know we’d save a lot of money on our electricity and water bills if we could afford to buy a new washer and dryer.

The problem is, we can’t even afford to try to get the washer we have fixed!

So … for now, we’re taking our clothes to a laundromat nearby. At least with the nice weather we can save some money by hanging the clothes to dry on the line outside.

Then, the other day I went to use the vacuum and it looks like it’s motor might be shot. I have to check, but I think we have a lifetime warranty on it … but if not we need to find a new 115334 vacuum motor. Good thing we have all hardwood floors. I guess we’ll be sweeping for now.

We also have a problem with our Hot water heater. Well, not a problem with the heater itself. You see, Toronto Hydro is fazing out it’s flat rate billing and our hot water heater was connected to a separate line in the house that connected to the Flat rate line. Now we have to connect the water heater to our fuse box.

Easy enough … except we’re renting our water heater and the Electrical Authority says that because we’re renting the water heater we can’t do the electrical work ourselves. So we have to hire an authorized electrician to do the electrical work and then the electrical authority will come in and do an inspection. All in all that will cost us about $300! Yeah, for something we could do ourselves! GRRRRRR!

Obviously I’m not making as much money as I used to through my websites. I guess the recession hit the advertisers.

It’s so bad for us right now that last month I had to decide between filling all my prescriptions or paying all of our bills in full. As it turns out I didn’t fill one of my medication prescriptions. I’m going to have to make the same decisions this month and if things don’t change, by September I may not be able to get my medications at all … or maybe we won’t be able to pay the mortgage.

Needless to say I’m getting really stressed. I wish I didn’t have Crohn’s and could go back to work – like NOW.

I’m seriously thinking about putting up one of those PayPal donate buttons. I’d hate to do that and I doubt it would help, but I’m at my wits end as to what to do to change our situation.

Worried about a sick relative

August 19, 2009 by Tricia

When we visited and helped care for my husbands uncle over the weekend (his family, all but his daughter, had gone to a wedding out of town) we were both surprised how bad he looked.

He’s lost weight. I wouldn’t be surprised it this once robust 6′ 2″ man weighed less than 110 lb! He’s also really frail and weak, sleeping most of the day. Oh and he doesn’t eat. The most his family can get into him is Boost or Ensure – only liquid foods.

If he keeps going downhill I think his family is going to have to consider either hospitalizing him or putting him in a nursing home … or at the very least trying to find out if OHIP (our Government Ontario Health insurance plan) would cover some in home nursing care. I guess the American equivalent of that kind of care might come in the form of a Medicare supplement plan. Maybe, I don’t know … but it’s a service that should be free here in Ontario to those who need it and believe me, my husbands uncle needs more care than he’s getting.

I guess we’ll talk to Chris’ uncles family to see if they’ve asked for extra help – nursing or home care wise I mean. Somehow I doubt it.

It’s hard to see someone you care about change so much. Chris’ mother and his aunt were here over the weekend too (see my last post – I’m not a fan of the in-laws visiting!) and they don’t think he’s going to be around all that long.

When Chris gets home from work this evening we might pop over to his uncles for a visit. It will give his family a break and give us some time to visit with his uncle if he’s up to visitors – that is.

Another family weekend – time for a break!

August 16, 2009 by Tricia

It’s been another family filled weekend! It seems like pretty much since mid July we’ve had family visiting or staying over every week! No wonder I’m feeling run down!

My husbands uncle isn’t doing so well these days and about a week ago, his family (the uncles) called to ask if Chris could spend the weekend looking after his uncle while they went out of town to a wedding.

Chris was up for the task, but we knew his uncles health was failing and I wasn’t sure if my husband really knew what he’d just agreed to! I mean taking care of a person who needs just about everything done for them is taxing and stressful. As it turns out his uncles daughter didn’t feel all that great about leaving her father for the weekend either so my husband and his cousin decided to take care of him together.

As things go in my husbands family the plan changed and his cousin and her husband did the main care taking duties over the weekend. In the meantime though … my husbands mother and another aunt decided to come down for a visit (and to see the sick uncle). So I’ve had a houseful of in-laws all weekend.

As I’ve mentioned over the last few weeks my Crohn’s has really been acting up so I didn’t go with the gang to visit Chris’ uncle (for hours and hours at a time!) as my stomach was just hurting too much.

Chris and I are going to go for a visit this evening though – just the two of us … more my style anyways.

Now that the weekend is just about over and Chris’ mother and aunt have returned home I think it’s safe to say that we’ll be relative free for a few weeks! I hope! Of course, if Chris’ uncle gets sicker that may not hold.

Have you had a busy “family” summer too? How do you handle it?

Hot, humid and Smokey!

August 11, 2009 by Tricia

Guess what – I did feel better on Sunday! So, in the early evening, at about 6 p.m. my husband, our dog Midnight and I headed out to the Taste of the Danforth.

Yeah!

It was hot on Sunday, but not quite as hot as they’d been predicting. Only 27 Celsius or so – but with very high humidity … so by the time we got to the street festival it felt like 37 Celsius or so (98 F)! Hot! When it’s that humid out you just feel sluggish moving around in the heat … yeah, so why not go out into a huge crowd where it was likely even hotter? LOL

We lucked out and got a parking spot near the start of the street festival, so within minutes we were able to walk to the closed off street festival.

The air was hazy – partly due to the humid weather and partly due to all the open grills cooking up Souvlaki and other delectable food items! Oh and it was crowded! News reports estimated that approximately 1.4 million people attended the festival from Friday evening until it’s close at 8 pm Sunday.

Here’s a photo of the crowd:

The picture doesn’t really show how crowded it was … basically think about a four lane street crowded with people for several blocks (maybe 2 miles or 5 km of people along the street?), then you’ll get the idea.

As you can see from the picture above there were food stands, amusement rides like a big Ferris wheel, a fun slide, a crazy house ride and more. There was also a rock climbing wall, beer tents, and a few bandstands where Greek and other multicultural bands entertained the crowds.

Fun stuff!

Chris and I and our dog walked about half the street festival as we tried to find food that we wanted to buy. We ended up getting Gyros, Spanokopita (spinach pies in Filo pastry) and several spicy vegetable Samosas. Everyone we passed looked hot and sweaty due to the heat! I’m sure, despite the food that people lost weight as they walked around! I doubt anyone there needed Solo Slim that day! Not me anyway! I was soaked!

Oh and as I waited off to the side with the dog as Chris bought food for us at various vendors I must have stood in a stream of smoke from the grills. When I got home all I could smell was smoke!

I would have hopped in the shower pretty much as soon as we got home, but as it turned out the biggest electrical storm of the summer started up just after we returned home.

I wished I’d thought to take pictures of the lightening! We spent two hours watching the storm overhead. Big thunder and tons of lightening! There was sheet lightening – cloud to cloud, and big solid strikes that looked like the lightening was hitting just behind one of the houses across the street.

I’m surprised that 1. we didn’t lose power and 2. that no big trees in our immediate area came down either from the wind or a lightening hit.

So anyway … I ended up smelling very smokey for a few extra hours – until I felt that it was safe to get in the shower!

Anyone else in the Toronto area go to the Taste of the Danforth this weekend? How did you like it?

Taste of the Danforth – a food and music street festival Opa!

August 8, 2009 by Tricia

It’s that time of year again when people flock to my neighborhood in droves for tasty Greek food, music and cultural experiences. Yes … it’s time for the Taste Of the Danforth – one of the city of Toronto’s biggest street festivals.

The festival, which started yesterday at 6 p.m. and ends on Sunday at midnight is just blocks from my home. It’s nice to have such a big – mostly free – event so close to my home. Luckily we live far enough away that we hear little noise from the Million or more people that attend the Taste of the Danforth each year.

I wasn’t feeling so hot today … to tell the truth I’ve felt pretty awful for a couple of weeks straight now (thanks Crohn’s!) so as much as I wanted to attend the Taste of the Danforth I just couldn’t. Perhaps I’ll feel more up to going tomorrow, however I’ll have to battle the heat tomorrow as it’s supposed to reach 32 c with high humidity so it will feel like it’s over 40 Celsius (104 f)!

Even though I haven’t gone to the street festival yet this year I’ve still had a taste. My husband was out early this evening with his sister and brother in law who’d come into Toronto to see a Blue Jay’s baseball game. He met up with them downtown for drinks and as he was coming back home by subway I suggested that he stop off on the Danforth on his way home (two blocks from the subway station he got off at) and pick us up some food.

So he brought home 2 Gyros (mixed meat sandwich wrapped in pita), Spanokopita (spinach pie/filo pastry), Baclova (very sweet dessert) and one chicken souvlaki stick. Just a taste of everything. Delicious!

Our dog got so excite at the smell of the food when he came home that she started jumping around and almost knocked over the tv stand. Lucky for us it only teetered a bit before settling.

If I do feel well enough to go to the Taste of the Danforth tomorrow I might try some of the other types of food available. People probably think that it’s mainly Greek or mediteranian food that you can get there, but you can get Thai, Indian, Sushi, Mexican, Spanish …. just about everything. After all, the Danforth is one of the most multicultural areas of the city – so why not experiment and try new foods?

If you are in the Toronto are this evening or on Sunday I strongly suggest that you stop by the Taste of the Danforth festival (on Danforth Avenue from Broadview to Jones). You’ll love the experience!

Tough times – bills are making us make some hard decisions

Worried about a sick relative

Another family weekend – time for a break!

Hot, humid and Smokey!

Taste of the Danforth – a food and music street festival Opa!

Meta

Search this site

Blogs I Visit

Meta

Search this site

Tags

Blogs I Visit