Where in the World is Rebecca Today?

…don’t know when I’ll be back again.

Last post from Dauphin. Farewell kitties, new friends, CBC, prairies, and labels half in French.

My next expected update will be tomorrow from home. I have a nearly 18-hour trip to get myself back home ahead of me:

6:50AM - Taxi from Sarah and Joe’s to Dauphin Airport
7:50 - Small plane Dauphin to Winnipeg
8:40 - Arrive Winnipeg (small airport), take Taxi to International Airport
1:21PM - Depart Winnipeg for Minneapolis Airport
2:42 - Arrive Minneapolis Airport
4:45 - Depart Minneapolis for Philadelphia Airport
8:30 - Arrive Philadelphia Airport
9:39 - R1 from Airport to 30th Street
10:00 - Arrive 30th Street Amtrak Station
10:45 - Amtrak Keystone Service
11:55 - Arrive Lancaster Train Station

I’m hoping since I get to Winnipeg so early that I’ll be able to get myself put on earlier flights - or at least that I can get an earlier flight to Minneapolis. If I have to wait there for 5 hours for the original connection I won’t mind so much because once I’m back in the US I have access to my mobile phone. I really don’t like it that I have to be in the Winnipeg airport without a working mobile.

This morning when I got up to use the bathroom I didn’t notice Hobbes sleeping next to me, and when I got back into bed, he was like this:

I made myself a HUGE travel bento so I hopefully won’t have to buy too much food on the trip:

I know sitters aren’t supposed to pick favourites, but I really am going to miss Hobbes the most when I go back home, even though I’m going home to Will, who will probably cuddle me at least the first night I’m back.

Hobbes and I started out poorly. The first day I was here Joe tried to put Hobbes on my shoulder and I got clawed. The second day I was here I was trying to unpack my suitcase, and Hobbes decided to lay claim to it and clawed and hissed at me when I tried to get my clothes out. I spent my first two weeks absolutely terrified of this little cat who growled and hissed at me even when I got into bed at night!

But then, something changed. I don’t know if it was him realizing I was the one keeping the litter box clean and the food and water dishes filled, or what happened, but he started to like me. He would climb onto me while I was at the computer and try to perch on my shoulder. When I went into the kitchen to cook, he followed and snaked around my ankles, he followed me into the bathroom when I’d shower and sit on the bathmat to wait for me, and he cuddled me while I slept.

Last night when I got home, Hobbes immediately started following me around the house as I got myself ready for bed. When I sat at my computer last night to post the short blog, he was perched next to my laptop, every once and while leaning down to rub his head against my arm, and at one point put his paw on my arm as if to say “ok, time for bed”. When I got up to go to the bathroom, he was there again, following me…and as soon as I got into bed, he jumped up and curled up right next to my head…so close his whiskers were ticking my ear.

I will really miss this guy. Casper was easy to love. He’s just loveable in general and loves everyone who shows up. Quincy is aloof and comes to you on his own terms. But Hobbes? Once he decides he likes you, he really likes you.

Tonight was my “going away” of sorts. C invited me over for dinner with her, J, and baby C and also invited over B, L, and their kids. After dinner we had a cake because B & L’s oldest son turns 10 on Tuesday. Imagine how touched I was when L told him he was sharing his cake with two other people - J, who has a birthday this week also, and *me* as a going away cake. It really made me feel fuzzy to know that I was being included. After cake, we played a rousing game of 3 on 3 (girls vs. boys with L and B’s oldest as the extra boy) Canasta. and played, and played. It’s 2AM, and I stumbled into the house about 10-15 minutes ago. But it was loads of fun, and even if I have a lot I still need to do…I’m so glad that I went over and had the chance to see everyone I’ve met here.

I gave L my contact card. They don’t have internet (I know, I was shocked too), but the boys might send me letters :). I’ve been told when I come back they all look forward to seeing me, too.

So it was a really nice send off. I do sort of hope I get to come back someday.

How fitting that on my last weekend in town, it gets down to the coldest it’s been so far!

Or, for those of you in the United States who, like me, struggle with Celsius:

Brr! Glad Sarah told me how to turn on the heat!

That’s a very good question.

I want to say that I won’t miss it here - I won’t miss being alone and not having access to the things I’m used to (24 hour stores! a car!)….but I do think I’m going to miss the three little guys I’ve been taking care of for the past seven and a half weeks. These guys have imprinted themselves on my heart…Hobbes in particular. I suppose it’s wrong to pick favourites, but when you have a cat that climbs up and sleeps against your side and cuddles your arm….that one becomes a favourite.

This morning I had Hobbes up against my side, Quincy down at my feet, and Casper against my legs. I wonder if they know my time of taking care of them is coming to a close…my suitcase got placed up ontop of the dresser the other day and I started tossing things into it…I moved all my stuff from other areas of the house so its all in one location…I started cleaning things that I wouldn’t clean on a daily basis…poor kitties.

BUT - They’ll have their “parents” back soon enough, and I’ll go home to my cat, Will. I’ve really missed Will while I’ve been up here because he’s really my companion at home. He’s with me all day and usually follows me around the house!

Perhaps there will be an opportunity in the future to come back and catsit again for Sarah and Joe, or maybe I’ll actually be able to visit WITH Sarah and Joe sometime!

Or at least, I’ll be back to catsit again if Sarah and Joe like the way I took care of the cats and house…I do worry that I might have overlooked something in cleaning up after myself, or didn’t take care of something I should have….but I’m hoping I haven’t.

So….I’ll miss the cats, but I won’t miss being alone here.

Quincy is king of the mountain!

Hobbes, curled up for a nap

Casper, stretching out

I head home in six days….and then 16 days later I’m headed to the UK for two months. Yikes! That’s a small turn around, and I have a lot I need to get done. The 30th is a wasted day, I’m traveling on it all day and will get into Lancaster at 11:55PM. October 1 I’m going to probably be spending that day unpacking, doing laundry, doing stuff with my mom, and spending quality time with my cat.

Things I have to do before I leave (again):

• unpack, make new packing list, repack
• buy a power adapter for the UK (anyone have one I can borrow?)
• buy batteries for my camera
• make sure refund goes through
• print all UK travel docs
• shop for whatever I need (make a list of what I need)

I feel like I’m missing something….

I’m here for just one more week. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here for seven weeks already! There’s so much to do in so little time, including the dreaded re-pack. I have a feeling I’m going to need to use my second bag I brought along…not because I have a ton of more stuff to bring home, but Tim sent me 4 books for my birthday, and I bought a shirt and my suitcase was pushing the weight limit on the way up. So I think I’ll just pack into three bags for the way home.

I’m still not sure what time I’m leaving or what the plan is other than flying out of the Dauphin airport, but I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough. I’m sort of glad I’m flying instead of taking the train or bus down to Winnipeg…mostly because I’d rather just get it all done in one day.

My flight doesn’t leave Winnipeg until 1, but since I’ll probably get there early I’m going to see about getting on an earlier flight just in case there are open seats. As it currently stands, I won’t actually get back to Lancaster until midnight because of taking the train from Philly (my flight gets in at 8, but I have to wait for the R1 and then get to 30th street so I miss the earlier train). I can always sleep on the planes and trains.

I also need to figure out food for traveling that will make it through airport security. I should be okay as long as I’m not packing any raw fruits or vegetables…I don’t know if cooked/canned are okay or not but I probably won’t pack them just to be safe. Cream cheese bagels seemed to be okay on the way up, so I’ll probably go the same route.

I keep thinking I should start to pack, but then I realize if I start packing now, I’ll have to live out of the suitcase for the rest of the week! So I have a feeling Monday night is going to be a rush of packing, especially since I probably have to be up pretty early on Tuesday.

But I do have lots to do. I figure I can start to get all my non-clothing stuff into one location and I can pack up the toiletries I’m not going to be using. I want to vacuum their basement to get up all the cat litter that’s been kicked outside of the box, and sweep or mop the floor up here…the cat’s scratching post (a table leg) really leaves splinters on the floor! Monday evening I want to wash the towels and bedding and I also need to plan meals to use the food I have left (which I went grocery shopping yesterday to get some things to compliment what’s left…but I think I bought too much!)

I’m not sure if I’ll be doing anything this week or not. I might take one more walk into town because who knows when I’ll be back? I’m hoping I get the chance to see the people I’ve met while I’ve been here one more time.

On Sunday, C IMed me in the morning and asked me if I had plans for the day. I didn’t have anything planned other than going grocery shopping, so I told her no. She asked me if I wanted to participate in the Umbrella Walk for the Manitoba Brain Injury Association, and I readily agreed.

The walk took place over at Vermillion Park in Dauphin, and the course was about two and a half miles by my pedometer. We were a small group, but all there for one purpose. Most of us had to put down our umbrellas because it was windy out, but we all walked the full course, and then enjoyed some food together and a door prize giveaway, where everyone was a winner!

We were provided with tote bags and water bottles by the Manitoba Nurses’s Association and given mustard yellow coloured wrist bands from the MBIA. My door prize was a T-shirt for the association - it’s going to be funny to wear it around Lancaster!

Taken straight off their website:

Every year, over 6,000 Canadians become permanently disabled by an acquired brain injury. The effects of a brain injury differ from person to person, but have an impact on everyone in that person’s life.

The Manitoba Brain Injury Association helps individuals and families cope by offering support, education and advocacy. We also work to prevent brain injuries through public awareness initiatives and educational programming.

I realize we don’t all live in Manitoba, and why would you want to support a charity that’s not where you live? So I encourage everyone to do some reasearch, maybe even just using google, and find a similar organization local to you. Here is a list of brain injury associations across the United States, and here is a link to the Brain Injury Association of Canada. Perhaps you’ll find a way you can help someone.

Here’s some photos around Vermillion Park:

Changing leaves

And when I got home and emptied out my bag, Hobbes decided to get comfortable on my new shirt:

To see more photos from the park, check the gallery:
http://photos.beccajanestclair.com/index.php?album=winnipeg-manitoba-august-2008%2Fvermillion-park

I’ve also completely updated the cat photo album with all the photos I’ve taken while I’ve been here:
http://photos.beccajanestclair.com/winnipeg-manitoba-august-2008/quincy-hobbes-and-casper

I’m trying to plan my meals for my last week and a few days, and also trying to use up the food I have already before it spoils (like the eggs and milk), so I decided to make French Toast Casserole…a dish mom and I had been wanting to try since I found the recipe. I figured this will work as a lunch for me for at least 3 or 4 days, possibly longer as the small bit I ate today for breakfast was really filling.

I modified this recipe a lot to make the smaller version, mostly because I didn’t have an entire loaf of bread to use or 8 eggs left. I used about 6 slices of bread, a half a tub of fat-free spreadable cream cheese, 4 eggs, 2 cups of milk, and I omitted the sugar because I feel fat free cream cheese is sweet, so I figured I’d omit it, but below is the original. I have to admit, the fat free cream cheese is still gross even in baked form…so I don’t recommend it.

French Toast Casserole

1 loaf bread, cubed
1 package cream cheese, cubed
8 eggs, whipped
2/3 cup syrup
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1. Layer bottom of 9 X 13 casserole dish with 1/2 loaf of cubed bread. Arrange cubed cream cheese
over bread. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle half of the mixture over the cream cheese. Layer on
remaining bread. Mix eggs, syrup and milk together and pour over bread. Sprinkle with remaining
sugar and cinnamon.
2. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes, or until bread does not jiggle in the
center.

Today as I was going through the sales fliers figuring out food for the next 9 days a coupon for Pizza Hut fell out, and of course, that made me want pizza.  Pizza is probably my favourite food, and when I was in college I practically lived off of Pizza and Subway.  Since Pizza Hut is a US company, I vetoed the idea, but I looked up a menu for Boston Pizza to see what they offered and to see if I could afford it.  I had about $20 in my paypal account that I was willing to use part of, so I headed across the street to get an individual pizza at Boston Pizza.

I got a few strange looks when I told her I was by myself, but I was seated after a few minutes wait at a very prominent small table for “two” at the front of the restaurant.  I’m used to US restaurants where you get immediately asked what you’d like to drink, so I was surprised when the hostess walked away from me.  I glanced at the menu even though I had checked it out online, and pulled out my book to read.  About five minutes later the waitress came by and took my order. Another five minutes passed before I was brought my beverage, and another ten before I received my pizza. It was about the size of a large dinner plate, larger than a Personal Pan pizza at Pizza Hut (but more than twice as much! My pizza cost $9)…but it was awful. The crust was sickeningly sweet, there was barely any sauce on it, and the cheese tasted funny, but that’s something I’ve actually noticed with all cheese around here - even regular kinds like Mozzarella or Cheddar taste different here. I coated the pizza with fresh Parmesan cheese and dipped the crusts into ketchup to make it tolerable.

I ate two pieces, and figured I’d take the rest and eat it as leftovers once I doctor it up a bit. It took me another 10 minutes, including me starting to read again before the waitress came back to see if I needed anything (like a box?). When I told her I needed a box, she picked up my plate to box it for me and asked me if I needed anything else. I told her no, so she also took my half full glass of iced tea! She quickly returned with my boxed up pizza and bill, and told me she’d “meet me at the front” when I was ready. Problem was, I was ready immediately, and she had gone over to take the order of another table while I walked up to the counter to pay. I had to wait another six or seven minutes before she finally was able to meet me at the front, despite there being several other employees hanging around who saw me. I’m not sure if it’s policy that your server has to be the one to cash you out or if it was just laziness on the other people’s part.

If I was grading Boston Pizza, I think I’d give them a D on food, and perhaps a B- on service. I kind of wish I had just gone to Pizza Hut because now I’m disappointed and still want good pizza! but ‘I won’t go over there, as I really don’t have the money to do it…I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to stretch my cash to include food for 9 days plus cab fares on the day I leave!

I know serving food ON airplanes hardly ever happens anymore on domestic flying….you can fly across the country, and as long as you’ve got one of those layovers to break over the chunk, the airline doesn’t think you deserve more than a cookie or pretzel pack and a free soft drink. But on International flights, you get fed.

When I thought I was flying AirIndia and was going to spend all day traveling on trains and shuttles to get to the airport, I was planning on packing bento for the flight and train, as the food offered on AirIndia was Indian food (curry, most likely) and I can’t eat pre-packaged Indian food. But now that I’ve switched over to United, I wanted to see if I could dig up what kind of food they offered. My friend Linz told me that you get complimentary drinks (wine with dinner, etc), but nothing about the food. I’m assuming since I’m technically stand by, I can’t actually request the vegetarian option, so I’m hoping I can just pick off meat or eat around it or something. I don’t like doing that, but if I have to, I will. I also might pack a snack bento just in case I don’t like the options, or I’m still hungry, or I get hungry in the airport.

I ran a google search,and all I could find was articles about United starting to charge for meals in Economy, and then people complained, so they decided against it. I can’t find anything with specifics on what’s offered, just if it’s “good” or “bad”, but this is directly from the United website:

United FirstSM and United BusinessSM
Enjoy multi-course meals graciously served. Settle in, relax and savor the flavor of warmed nuts served with your favorite premium spirit, a regional specialty beer or a glass of one of our award winning wines. Additional courses include fresh salads and appetizers, a choice of entrees, seasonal fruit, aged cheeses and decadent desserts. After dinner liqueurs, Port Wine and Starbucks coffee complete a memorable dining experience.

Later in the flight, we offer more options – hot sandwiches, chilled salads, light breakfasts, fresh fruits and savory snacks. The selection will vary but our commitment to your comfort and satisfaction is constant.

Now, compare that to how they word Economy service:
United EconomySM
We serve complimentary meals on most international flights between the US, South America, Europe, the South Pacific and Asia. Shortly after takeoff, customers will enjoy a beverage service with cocktail snacks, complimentary soft drinks and premium liquors, beer and wine. Alcoholic beverages are complimentary on trans and intra pacific flights and availabe for sale on other international flights. The main meal will consist of salad, appetizer, a choice of hot entrees and dessert. On longer flights we also offer a light pre-arrival meal. (copied word for word, the typos are there!)

So…business and first class get “fresh salads”, but economy just a “salad”…and it’s “decadent desserts” versus plain dessert. What? It almost sounds like the airline doesn’t even care about the economy passengers….which I’d think make up the bulk of their business.

I’d really like to find an actual list of what the food is, so if anyone knows where I could find that, I’d appreciate it.

Gratuitous cat photo:

Casper in the sink (where he’s not supposed to be!)

(X-posted)

I seriously have an awesome friend.

My friend’s mom works for an airline and gets “buddy passes” that can be used on any flight. She talked to her mom, and her mom offered me buddy passes to go to the UK, and for less then what AirIndia was charging me…..AND she’s letting me pay her back after I get my refund from AirIndia.

The caveat is that I have to fly out of Dulles, which is farther from the house than PHL or BWI, but…I already talked to my mom and she’s willing to do it, so I also don’t need to use trains and shuttles anymore to get to the airport (As far as I know, there isn’t a train to Dulles, other than going through DC anyway), which will save us money, because Train+shuttle was going to probably run $100 extra anyway!

God, I love them both so much right now.

I booked my trip to the UK back in August through cheapfareguru.com to fly on AirIndia on Oct 16 out of JFK (getting to LHR Oct 17) and coming home on Dec 22 because my mom wanted me home for Christmas. My flight was US$602, which was perfect for my budget.

They called me today to tell me my flight was canceled and it will take two weeks to get my refund!

The exact conversation went like this:

cgf: Your flight’s been canceled
Me: can you put me on another flight?
cfg: Air India canceled all their flights for the next three months
Me: Can you put me on another airline?
cfg: We can’t apply money paid for one flight to another. We can rebook you using the same card
Me: I don’t have enough money to do that. Did the refund get credited back today?
cfg: It can take two weeks
Me: that’s not acceptable, I need to leave for London on October 16
cfg: We can try to expedite it
Me: Are there any other flights you could put me on after I get my refund and I rebook? Anything in the same price range?
cfg: I will look into it and call you back, but I can only hold a price for three days

…and then I went to their website and the best they have is $760..which I can’t afford right now, and it would even be tight to try to re-book after I get my refund, assuming flights are still that low.

My mom has agreed to letting me stay over through Christmas, so if I can find a cheaper flight that’s longer, that’ll work, but Tim and I have tickets to a show on Oct 21, so I need to be there at least by then. And Tim took leave Oct 17-31 so we could travel, so if I go later, we wouldn’t have that leave available and I wouldn’t actually get to see much of the UK because Tim would be working.

But I can’t book anything until I get my refund. because I don’t have any extra money hanging around to book with.

But the saga gets deeper.

I called cfg back to find out if there were any options. Sam (the guy I talked to) told me I needed to call Air India directly, and gave me their 800 number.

Cue two hours of getting no where. The 800# goes to Bombay, btw, and they have no connection with the New York office. They give me a 212 number, and I call it and get nothing but piano music. So, I call the 800# back. I get another number, but this one goes to a law office in NYC. I call back, get another number that no one answers. I call again, and get another number that goes to the law office. I call the 800# again and ask for a supervisor right away.

Supervisor (which I swear I kept being bounced around. I’d abruptly get told to hold on and then I’d have to re-explain everything) told me that this was all my travel agent (cgf)’s fault, and they couldn’t re-book me because a refund has been issued. I said I hadn’t gotten the refund, so why couldn’t they cancel the refund and re-book me through EWR (which a friend of mine on another message board told me they had been doing to everyone booked with a JFK flight that was cancelled). They told me they couldn’t because of something with cfg. Oh, and this person told me the refund could take two months!

So….I called Sam back and told him what happened. He told me it wouldn’t take two months, and he was trying to get me my refund faster so I could rebook something. He’s calling AirIndia to see what he can do, since all AirIndia would tell me to do was “call your travel agent”.

Tim and I also did some flight hunting before he had to leave for work, and I found a BA flight for $722. The problem is that without the refund, I don’t have $722 to book anything, and if I have to wait 2 weeks? I’m sure the flight will be way more than $722. I mean, I’m supposed to leave in 28 days! 2 weeks for now leaves me with…two weeks to get a flight.

So, I’m at my wits end. I need a way to re-book a flight before the refund comes through and I just don’t have it.

I can’t completely cancel this trip. Tim and I have been looking forward to this and we have tickets to Shakespeare in October and we have loads of plans.

*sigh*

I can’t sleep. Not really because I’m not tired, I am, but because the neighbour came home early this morning and turned on the porch light. The houses are very close here, so close that if I stand on the bed to look out the bedroom window (it’s a high window), I can read the parking permit hanging from the neighbour’s rearview mirror.

I have a horrible time sleeping when there’s lights around that shouldn’t - I even had to tape a piece of electrical tape over the light on my external harddrive in addition to turning it against the wall because it’s light was so bright. If my screensaver goes off in the middle of the night from a cat touching the mouse, It’ll wake me up.

Sarah and Joe have a lot of electronics with lights on them. So many over near the TV that it looks like it should be sending landing signals or something between the green lights, the red lights, the blue lights and the orange lights. Those aren’t bright though, so they haven’t been bothering me…but the worst has been the street lamp outside their living room window and if the neighbour has on their porch light.

I haven’t posted photos of their house, but their house is built much like a studio apartment would be with an alcove on the side for the “bedroom”, and an open area for the kitchen and living room, so I can essentially look out the front window (living room window) from the bedroom as well as the bedroom window. If I really crane my neck, I also can see the kitchen window. It’s a nice set-up, and probably the best way to utilize the small space. I never saw the home before the remodel other than in photos, so I can’t really give a good comparison.

Anyway. So, the bright light from the front can be dealt with by me facing the bedroom wall. Which works, until there’s a light shining in that window.

Surprisingly, I’m okay with falling asleep during the day. I think it’s because the sun is bright in general and isn’t as focused as a street light or porch light. The bad thing is, I really don’t particularly want to be awake right now (at 5AM, there’s nothing to watch on TV and no one to chat with online, and I’m not sure I have the concentration to read right now). The good thing is, once the sun does come up (at 7:19AM!), I’ll be able to get back to sleep.

In July at home, the man across the street put in a bright blue halogen bulb into his lamp post, and the light from that kept me up for three nights in a row until I finally hung a blanket over my window at night.

I really need to invest in some kind of sleep mask, but somehow I’m sort of afraid that if I wear one I wouldn’t wake up if there was an emergency.

…And now the geese are making lots of noise outside. Uuugh, I’m never going to get back to sleep!

I went on a walk today to get out of the house….3 days cooped inside and I was ready to just get out! I decided I needed to spend some of the pile of change I was accumulating (They won’t accept coin to convert back to US money), so I headed to Tim Horton’s for a coffee and maybe a bagel. I brought along the book I’m currently reading, Mother Tongue, and my N810 in case I could find wifi.

The person in front of me in line was American, as evident by not only his accent but by his form of payment - US Currency. Tim Horton’s will accept US Currency at the stores near the border and in large cities like Toronto, so I was surprised to see it being accepted this far North and in such a small town, but I suppose it’s a corporate thing. Anyway. I didn’t get a chance to talk to the American as he got his stuff to go, and I was getting mine “for inside” (the Canadian way of saying “for here”). I ordered, and paid with Canadian currency. As I was waiting for my toasted bagel to come up, the ladies behind the counter were talking about how they “knew that guy was American because of his accent” and how paying with US currency only “proved he was American”. So I quietly told the one girl that I was from Pennsylvania. All four girls behind the counter turned to stare at me and told me I couldn’t possibly be from the states. I didn’t act like other Americans, I didn’t talk like an American, and I used Canadian money to pay for my food. I explained that I had been in Canada since the beginning of August, and the one girl suggested that I had “picked up” the Canadian accent from hanging around Canadians….but honestly? I don’t think I have. I think I just tend to be lucky that I have such a nondescript accent (except on certain words and the way I sometimes talk…THEN you can tell I grew up in New Jersey!). I’ve been “accused” before of being Canadian though, and this was before I was living here for two months, so maybe I do just sound Canadian.

I also think I embarrassed the girls behind the counter when I told them I also was American, but at the same time, I’m quite pleased you can’t tell.

Hopefully when I’m in the UK this fall/winter people won’t be able to tell I’m American either!