Cam I Am

For the last three summers, I’ve had an issue..

With seagulls..

I’m sure that you are wondering what the hell my problem is with seagulls, but I freely admit that I now have a fear of seagulls..

Why?

For those of you who don’t know, many buildings in downtown Vancouver have cable service boxes on the roof.  It’s a great place for them!  No one ever goes up there, they are usually easy to find and access and can save time, instead of searching floor after floor for a service box.  The problem is that because no one ever goes up on the roof, seagulls like to build nests on the roof and have their eggs/young up there..

Picture this..

I’m going up to the roof of a building.  I get there and there is a nest, somewhere up there.  As soon as I step out on the roof, those $!#@% birds go nuts!  They go into attack mode!  They will do anything to defend their babies..

And it gets worse. 

They call out to the seagulls perched on top of other buildings!  They all come!  They swoop, swarm and dive.  They get into your face (literally, as one tech found out)…   They are vicious creatures! 

So..  I’ve come up with two plans to do my work..

Plan A - I get the customer to come on the roof with a broom.  Usually, when I tell them this, they roll their eyes and think that I’m a moron.  By the time they get up there and see what I’m talking about, they are much my understanding about why I can’t safely open the service box, find their line, close the box, and fight off seagulls..  (one time, I had nine gulls diving on me and a customer on a roof).

Plan B – Work in Abbotsford.. 

I get mocked at work..  But I believe that more and more techs are finding the same problems.  It seems that in the last few years, they are getting much more defensive about us being up there.  The good news is that while seagulls typically nest from April to October, they seem to be in attack mode from late June to mid-September..

Fucking birds…

Well, my first week back to work has gone well, so far..  I’ve worked Monday and Wednesday, as per my return to work instructions..   I seem to be moving around very well and have experienced no pain in my back!  It’s good to be back!  This explains the first part of title of this post..

The second is simple..  I’m being sent to work in Abbotsford for at least a month. 

I’m happy about this for three reasons:

1. Gas is cheaper in Abbotsford!  Easily 10 cents a litre less than anywhere within the GVRD’s boundaries.
2. For me, the commute to the Abbotsford office is almost exactly the same as the trip into the Vancouver office…   but it will take 35 minutes to commute to Abbotsford instead of 75 minutes to Van…
3. No seagulls..   I’ll save the explanation of this for another post.  Anyone at VTOC who is reading this and knows me will be laughing right about now.. 

So..  I’m back to work..  and being sent away! 

I’ve been unusually quiet here recently..

And not because I’ve had nothing to say.  I’ve just been..  quiet..

This past weekend, I took the girls up to the Okanagan to see grandma and papa..  We went to the beach, visited a couple friends, and of course, took the required trip to Tickleberry’s in Okanagan Falls.  It was nice to get away!   Even though I’ve been off for such a long time, it was nice to get away with the kids. 

Around the house, I’ve been painted our living room, organizing a few things, and just trying to keep busy. 

Yesterday, I went to see my doctor for a follow-up appointment from my surgery.  I asked him if I could go back to work..  and after a few questions, he said that I can, starting the 28th..     I’m going back for the first 2 weeks for just three days a week, but then full time.  I’ll be doing full duties from the start!

WOOHOO!

I’m just going to cover a bunch of things in this post..  Little things that don’t warrant a post of there own.

1)  It snowed today..  In parts of Vancouver..  In April…   What that hell is with that?  Snow and cherry blossoms don’t usually go together..

2)  It seems that Global TV has finally gotten with the program (pun intended!), and is finally going HD.  The channel line-up change on Shaw is happening this coming week, and it will be a nice addition to the line-up.  It’s very unfortunate that this is happening at the expense of several jobs that were cut a few months ago.

3)  How the hell can three kids make such a big mess in so little time.  Every time that we clean up the house, our three daughters find a way to destroy it in less than 5 minutes.

4)  I’ve noticed over the last few days since I severely reinjured my back, that I don’t seem to care about some things so much.  I usually am a fairly avid coffee drinker, but this morning is my second cup in about a week an a half.  Also, I play Scrabble on Facebook a lot, but again, today is finally the day I’ve decided to catch up on them..

That’s about it..  I’m sure that everything will correct itself within our household.  I’ve decided to try to return to work sometime next week (if my doctor allows) and I’ll do work in the office until after my surgery: I’m pretty sure that’s the only way I’ll be allowed to return to work by all parties involved.

I’ve spent yesterday and today home from work.  Unfortunately, it’s not because I took some vacation time.  It’s not even because I’m sick.  My back is acting up again… 

I’m not entirely sure of what happened on the weekend.  I know that there was about a day and a half over the weekend that I didn’t have anymore of those wonderful little yellow pills that I’ve been taking.  I managed to get to the doctor to get a refill, but since then, I’ve been in a lot of pain. 

It usually takes a fair bit for me to phone in sick.  I don’t like missing work, even when I am sick.  I can only imagine what my supervisor is going to say when I go back (hopefully tomorrow).  I’m not going to be impressed if they put me on light-duties to “help me out”.. 

I see the neurosurgeon on the 15th..  it’s been a long 7 months waiting just for the consult with them.  Hopefully they have a real solution for my disc.  Everything up to now hasn’t worked.

That aside, we’re doing alright..  We are trying to look forward to the future, even though it’s uncertain about what’s going actually happen in the next 3-6 months..  I’ll know more in a couple weeks..

This past week proved to be a frustrating one at work.. 

On Monday, I had a call to install digital phone service for a customer.  Ordinarily, this is relatively easy to do for most customers, but this was no ordinary case.

Continue Reading »

The last 3 weeks have been busy!

I’m back to work, and enjoying it!  Yes..  I actually I’m enjoying being back!  Okay, the commute sucked this morning with Lougheed Hwy being a ice rink, but other than that, it’s all good!

It’s been hard adjusting to a regular routine, but I think that Colleen and I are starting to get the hang of it.  The kids had no problems with being watched by our neighbour (who also has 3 daughters!).

Last week, I went to Lizzy’s school for a meeting to update the parents about this “possible cancer cluster”, but I’ll save that for another post..

That’s about it!  I thought that with me being back to work that I’d have more to say..  it just seems that I don’t have time to write much of anything now.. 

After being off work for what seems to be like forever, I went back on Wednesday!   

For now, they have me doing disconnections.  This is fine with me..  Especially since I’ve now discovered how out of shape I am.  With all the walking and climbing stairs (and reaching over fences from neighbours yards, I’m a little sore.  And for once, it’s not my back that I’m complaining about.  Just sore muscles..   Over the next few weeks this should improve..

Not much has changed since I’ve left.  The office has been modified with walls in places they weren’t before, and some others missing..  But the work is the same..

That’s about it..   Oh yeah!  I better say hi to Heather B. from work!  My first day back she made a comment about reading something on my blog!  I didn’t think that anyone actually read this! 

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it appears that I am finally going to be returning to work on Wednesday, January 9th.. 

But it isn’t exactly on my terms..

A couple weeks ago, I went to see my doctor; one of the many follow up appointments regarding my back injury.  I explained to him that I needed to return to work because it won’t be long before we have no resources/options left.  (Yes, I know that “wii” went a little overboard on Christmas, but even without that, it wouldn’t be long anyways). Anyhow, at this appointment, I asked him for a note to return to work, but he said no.  He did give me a note for “work conditioning and strengthening”.  He wanted to have me do it for 3-4 weeks, but I convinced him to see how I was doing about 2 weeks into it. 

I’m sure some of you have been through this type of program.  It isn’t cheap.  I phoned around to a couple places, and the average price is $40-45 an hour.  That’s $160-180 per day..   and I’m supposed to do this 4 days a week.  Clearly, I’m not going to be able to pay for it one my own, but my doctor said that my long-term disability benefits should pay for it..

After a few days of trying to track down an answer, I got one today from BC Life/Pacific Blue Cross..  in short, they said that they “wouldn’t be likely to pay for it up front, unless it was part of a return to work strategy”.  I told the lady on the phone that I was attempting to return to work, and this was part of the plan.  Then, the lady said that “I could go now, and pay for it myself and TRY to get reimbursed later.”

I’m sorry?  I’m still waiting for the LTD Benefits to be approved.  I figured switching from Short-Term to Long-Term would have been fairly easy, but apparently not..  and where am I supposed to pull that kind of cash? 

At this point, I’ve called my doctor and arranged for a note to return to work next week.  I haven’t done anything for 5 1/2 months, and it’s going to take some time to get back into shape to properly do my job.  In the meanwhile, I’ll have a higher risk of re-injury because I haven’t gone through any sort of program to return to work..

So…  we’ll see..  I’ve wanted to return for a while now, and now that I am going to be, I am a little nervous about how I’ll do..  The last thing that I need is to hurt myself (even worse) and end up back off within a few days..  I’m going to do what I can to keep safe, but the risk is there..

Foolishly, I assumed that BC Life would have preferred to pay for a few weeks of therapy and then send me back.  Alternatively, I could stay on LTD for months still…

I’ve enjoyed staying home with my girls.  I’ve been able to spend time with them, play games with them, get Lizzy off to school, and put the younger two down for a nap..  The down side is that it doesn’t (financially) pay to stay home..  it’s too bad..  I could easily be a stay-at-home dad..

Oh well..  we’ll see how this returning to work goes..

It’s December 10th already…  and I think that I am pretty much ready for Christmas..

On the weekend, my wife and I went to Shaw’s Annual Christmas Party.  This year it was held at Canada Place, in downtown Vancouver, with over 1900 people attending. It’s one of those events that I always look forward to.

The food was good, the live band was very good, and the wine?  Well..  let’s just say that I had my fair share…  (Okay..  I had way too much..  but I wasn’t aware that a couple people were adding more into my glass when I wasn’t looking)..    Fortunately, my wife was driving..   

The weekend before, we went to Shaw’s Annual Kids Christmas Party.  This was at Crash Crawley’s in Coquitlam (an indoor playground, for those of you who don’t know).  Breakfast was served, kids played for hours, and they even got a picture with Santa! 

At home, it appears that everything is nearly in order.  We still need a few things, but I think that will be easily handled.   We won’t be making a mad rush to the store on the 24th to buy gifts and a turkey. We’ve done most of the shopping (for gifts anyways), our Christmas cards ready to be mailed, and our tree, lights, and decorations are up..  

For a change this year, I will be cooking dinner.  Hopefully, I will not have a repeat of the last turkey dinner that I cooked a few years ago.  Dinner wasn’t ready until midnight, and our friends kids had fallen asleep waiting.. 

All things considered, this should be a great Christmas.  Ever since our first daughter was born, Christmas has been a very happy, exciting, even magical time of year.  When I was a kid, I remember how much I couldn’t wait to go see Santa at the Oshawa Centre, just to tell him what I wanted for Christmas.  I laugh about how my younger brothers and I would rountinely get busted trying to sneak down the stairs at 3AM on Christmas morning to see if Santa came..

It should be a great Christmas for us..