What a difference a month makes...

Well, like past summers, I'm blogging from my patio. Aren't laptops and Wi-Fi great? :)

First real weekend of decent weather. 23C (mid 70s F) with a mix of sun and clouds.

After the absolutely whacky winter we had...

I have absolutely no shame whatsoever. Global warming? Nawww...

Besides, where it was for the past 6 months, when it mattered the most? Heh. :)

I'm planning... some trips, now that my vacations have been approved. It's funny, I am taking some vacations around some gatherings.

Mid May: The California forumfest in San Francisco. I'll be arriving a few days early, so I'll have time to visit the city. The highlight is a 2-day trip to Yosemite Park. You know what? I think that I'm going to like this.

Late June: Blogadelphia. If you are from FC, you already know what it is. We'll be a bunch of bloggers gathering in Philadelphia. Actually, I planned to do, almost like a pilgrimage, a visit to Cape Cod first, then Boston and from there... Philadelphia.

I know little about Philadelphia (after all, I'm a Canadian, I don't have the chance to live in the US 12 months a year :) ), so it's my chance to see the city.

Philadelphi, like Boston are historic towns in many ways. For one, part of the history of the United States got written over there. Instead of reading it in history books, you'll see it as you walk in the city.

On a more down to earth consideration, I love trains, and it occured to me that I never had a chance to ride Amtrak's high speed Acela trains (and what a shame, since these trains are Canadians!). Since Amtraks offer direct train routes to Philadelphia from Boston, and everytime I go on the Cape, I have to spend a day in Boston... I'd say that things are lining up pretty well. :D

(Not lining up well are reservations, as it begins to be their high season, but I'll figure out something).

Finaly,
Late July: Lowell's blogfest/music festival. There are some bloggers which I've been chatting and corresponding for two years, I figure we ought to meet in person. Lowell being half-way of many cities, from Montréal to Portland Maine to Boston to NYC... On that one, after the blogfest, I'm tempted to visit the Berkshires instead of returning to the Cape. I'll see how things will go

Anyway, all these vacations planning... on such a summery day today...


This was the scene just a month ago, from the infamous "bedroom webcam".

What a difference a month makes!!!

Cheers,

-E

Must be something in the air in Afghanistan...

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Mhhh...

I was a little bit busy this week, so I didn't have much time blogging, but I was taking notes!

I was amazed by the diplomatic blunder of Minister Bernier, openly complaining that corruption is so widespread especially in a province in Afghanistan, that its government should replace the governor of that province.

As a diplomatic faux pas... this one is hard to beat. The next day Bernier, in a laconic press release, just said that we got all wrong and he didn't say what he said. The usual flip-flop of clueless politicians caught pants down. Okay.

About at the same time frame, a Canadian army general, who was so outspoken for the war in Afghanistan... all of a sudden has called it quit. He resigns from the army... and we're told we shouldn't read between the lines and see things that do not exist. Okay.

Must be something funny in the air in Afghanistan, don't you think?

Radio-Canada and TV5 for the past several months have greeted us with thorough reports from Afghanistan, sending their journalists in the population... and of course way way *outside* of army camps.

There are some glaring consensus: Massive disillusion. The hopes we gave them have been blown away. Also the fact that NATO troops are going for a massive defeat if things continue the way they are.

In a way, Afghanistan is our Iraq, in a sense that what seems to be a just and noble cause... and a war that would be an easy win and by some magical wishful thinking everything would be back in order... well the reality has settled in. Even NGO people are now perceived not as liberator, nor helpers, but as occupants, even squarely as enemies and are being targeted.

There are more and more people thinking that during the time of the Taliban regime, things weren't _that_ bad. People had food, a house, a living. Infrastructures were there and the country was running ok. Not so today.

We should have known better. In the current news, there's a lot about the upcoming Olympics in China ... and of course, Tibet. Have we forgotten that we, people of the western world, and that include us, Canadians, we have boycotted the Moscow Olympic Games in 1980... because the Soviets have invaded... Afghanistan? Have we also forgotten how the big mess the Soviets went...

Now, it's our turn... and we're all that... surprised?

In his better days, my dad loved to comment about Afghanistan. His pastime was history and mostly about WW2, for a good reason, since he was in France when WW2 began in 1939. He went into the French Army, then demobilized in 1940 and from then, suffered like millions of French people the occupation of the German Nazi. Once the war ended, he became curious and wanted to know more, and how a passion for history was born.

At first glance, it is a bit of a stretch to draw parallels between the liberation of France and Afghanistan, but somehow, looking at how things are going today, my dad was right on the money, then.

It has fallen a bit into oblivion, but France's future, as a country was extremely uncertain for many years after 1945 (A reason why my dad went to Canada in 1952).

There were several mistakes made.

Liberating France was of course the main goal. However, little thoughts and even less $ were given... to rebuild France, figuratively and literally.

When the enemy was there, it was running the country, it kept things going, and carrying the essential things the population needed. When you storm the place with the power of a war, you oust the enemy, then it becomes *YOUR* burden to keep that country running.

And you should put at least as much effort to oust the enemy in rebuilding the country, in infrastructures, in having a stable government, in everything.

And of course, the colossal cost of WW2... it was utopic to think of that.... and that was France's problem. There was also France's national pride, which didn't help too.

So at first there were the immense joys and dreams of Liberation, with a capital L.

Then as time goes by, people understood that there will still be lots of sacrifices to do, before there will be better time.

Then, as years passed by, came disillusion. When infrastructures are still in shamble, life stops. Difficult to have a job, therefore to afford a roof, get heat during winter for that home. There were many restrictions. Food supply was iffy and unaffordable.

The seed for anarchy settles in, and civil war becomes a real possibility. The foe back then was the Communists. Things happen for the better eventually, but it is simply by sheer luck, and not because of anything concerted or coordinated.

However, in the meantime, France has lost millions of its youngest brilliant people... in exile. My dad is one of them.

(I'm speaking from France's perspective because of my family ties, but the same could be said of many war stricken European countries like Italy for instance).

When I see the war in Afghanistan, it seems obvious (like Iraq), there were no exit strategy. Storm the place, and all things were supposed to happen, "automagically". It didn't happen that way.

There is also that nonsense that you can NOT rebuild and fight a war at the same time.

And as the war drags on... disillusion settles in...

And when disillusion settles in, when the infrastructures are in ruins making impossible to do anything, whether having a job, affording a roof and being able to eat everyday, when "we" as western people we fail on our promises...

Bingo.

We repeat the errors of the past...

Cheers,

-E
Links:
Cyberpresse: La bourde de Bernier soulève un tollé
The Kingston-Whig Standard: Talking to the Taliban
CBC: Hillier refuses to talk legacy despite ongoing efforts to help soldiers' families

Hospital, technology and being given a chance...

Since it's been a while that my dad is at the hospital, I couldn't help... The geek in me is eyeing those cool gadgets they have.

Sacré Coeur hospital, besides being my neighbourhood hospital (which at one time or another saw all of us, dad, mom and I for various ailments), it's also one of the best trauma hospital in the province. My dad couldn't be at a better hospital than this one.

It is also for this hospital that last September, I ran for a good cause. Little did I know... that it would pay some dividends.

Just a few weeks ago, the hospital opened its new ER (Courrier Bordeaux-Cartierville: Nouvelle urgence à Sacré-Coeur).

Since my dad spent several days there and they were in transition from the old emergency to the new one, I also saw the contrast!!!

Ultra modern multi-functional equipments of course. Also real rooms for patients. (At the old emergency, it was just a large hallway that got converted as an emergency. A pudic curtain delimits your "room" in the hallway. :)

So... I was looking at that monitor and the different wires. Howdy, an RJ45 jack. Wait a minute, this is a CAT5 cable? Is this... Ethernet?

A nurse came by... and caught me examining those wires closely. I explained that I'm a computer programmer and my unofficial job is to play with multi-million dollars technology. She chuckles. :)

Yup, Ethernet. All the fancy schmancy stuff are on a local LAN. She said that from her office, she can see on her computer the data coming from all these monitors. She can even reprogram them remotely if she wants to.

In the old emergency (as well in the rest of the hospital), where it would cost a bundle to run CAT5 cables... if you look closely at the ceiling, at regular intervals (say 100ft) you'll see... Wi-Fi antennas.

They have multi-purpose carts with laptops on it which obviously use that Wi-Fi feed. Some of their electronic gizmos also seem to run on Wi-Fi.

Quite a contrast when I was there the last time (in August 2000 for my mom). Also quite a clash, high tech in a century-old hospital... that is otherwise showing its age glaringly. Mhhhh...

(In case one is wondering, while there are still some big big question marks whether there will be any permanent aftermats of his fall, my dad is recuperating well... and he should leave the hospital by the end of the week).

----

Now the giggle part...

My mom and I were at the Montréal bureaus of the Régie de l'Assurance-Maladie du Québec, aka the RAMQ. The mighty powerful people who will decide whether my dad will be insured again by the government... or not.

My mom noticed the music was playing in the background. A '60 oldie. "Donne-moi ma chance" (literally "Give me a chance") by Richard Anthony. We both chuckle. Indeed, gives us a chance, oh mighy bureaucrats!!!

I found this clip on YouTube so you could hear the song. What is striking, like many of the oldies of that era... They would play it over the radio again and again, and I'll never grow tired. I'll dance on it non-stop! Probably it's the same for you. :)

It's sad that today's songs... are so... forgetful, shall I say? Too mainstream? Mhhhh...

Let's dance! Donne-moi ma chance!


(*) I'm not _that_ familiar with the American culture. I've no idea whether that song existed in English first. However, if you listen to the piano, it's clearly Chubby Checkered and Fat Domino-esque, shall I say. :)

We would twist and twist and do the twist non-stop, I think. :)

Go Habs Go !

It's been a long long time I haven't seen that in Montréal.

Montréal *IS* a hockey town. Now that the playoffs have begun... and for us, it has begun between two rival hockey teams. Our mighty Canadiens against... the Big Bad Bruins (Boston).

I had to do some shopping downtown...

Wow, you should have seen Ste.Catherine street! Absolutely crazy. Many cars waving a Canadiens flag and honking their horn full blast. There were also many festive pedestrians (probably with the help of ahem... alcohol) wearing the red "CH" jacket, some had a blue-white-red "CH" painted on their cheeks, even on their hair and probably elsewhere but I won't dare to check. :)

It reminds me when I first met Clevergirl in Ottawa last May. Ottawa is also a hockey town and they all got crazy when their Senators went into the semi-finale rounds.

Yeah I know, it also shows that Ottawa is the capital of the country. Only in Ottawa that its citizen would get excited about their "senators". Harumpf! ;-)

I remember that it was a warm evening and we were at a restaurant which had set tables outside. It was calm and cozy. So what could happen?

All of a sudden... Boom! Cars honking, people roaring LOUDLY... it got to a point we couldn't hear each other. It was amusing to see that.

It was like that in downtown Montréal, the other evening.

The craziness has even hit the workplace. A colleague of mine was all excited. He got tickets for the first game, Canadiens-Bruins. Price? $800.

I'm speechless.

Ooooooookay, I'm a Canadiens fan too... but up to a certain ahem... financial limit, you know? :)

So... if the Canadiens go all the way to the finals... We'll hear (in many ways!!!) about the Canadiens from now to mid-June. Whoppy. "Go Habs Go" indeed!

Oh my poor ears!!! :)

I'm thinking that life is sometimes way way way too serious...

... and sometimes, it is *very* healthy to get silly. Even collectively silly. 3 millions of Montrealers, in fact. Yikes!!!

Cheers,

-E

Dalai-Lama in Seattle...

Even though I'm not a Buddhist and I tend to stay away from religion, there are some people which... I would feel being blessed, if I were able to meet.

Such as the Dalai-Lama. He's currently in Seattle, a place I visited a few times and where I met great friends.

(one such friend who had her marriage blessed by the Dalai-Lama no less, years ago. Such a small world. :) ).

Not a word about China nor about Tibet, nor I would expect that he would. Contrary to China leaders, the Dalai-Lama got class. :)

His conferences in the US? About compassion...

Given the hell I am going through, this topic certainly strikes a chord.

Also how the minds of kids are shaped by the experiences and early relationships.

Sigh... I wish I were in Seattle.

Cheers,

-E

PS: You can read more from the CBC web site.

Monsieur, je voudrais le laissez-passer A-38!

If you have seen Les 12 travaux d'Astérix or in English, The 12 tasks of Asterix, you know that Astérix needs a certain permit... à la maison qui rend fou, the "house that sends you mad".

Hello bureaucracy!!!

Yesterday, I took a day off and I went downtown with my mom in order to get my dad registered again with the Quebec's healthcare system.

We understood that his "Carte Soleil" lapses... but we did learn there that he was somehow running on a 6-month "grace period" which ended... shortly after he was admitted at the hospital. Talk about timing. It sucks...

While I still don't understand why I haven't seen any renewal notice in the mail, it at least explained a mystery: Why my dad had at home all the free help from the public healthcare... and why all of a sudden, once he got hospitalized, the hospital would balk.

If you're curious, as of yesterday, the hospital bill was up to $35,000 . Have you ever felt your heart literally skipping a beat... if not SEVERAL beats? :) Or picturing yourself sinking in a quicksand of debts? :)

So we have to re-register my dad to the Québec healthcare system as if it was his very first time. Since he can't do that by himself, my mom has to do it for him. To do that, my mom has to prove who she is and that my dad is her spouse. Easier said than done.

Then we have to find the original lease of the apartment, to prove that they are living in Québec for at least a year. ANd so on and so on...

See, the permit A38 that Astérix needs? He needs to fill up the blue form which requires that he gets the yellow form first which will be given if he gets the pink form, all in order to get that permit? It felt that way today.

A bit like in that Astérix task, there are some supposedly shortcuts if you can't end up at the required booth with the required papers. We had to go through there, since we couldn't find all the required papers. Whoopy. :)

Not to mention that like in Astérix, there are some very clever clues: "You'll find the port by the seaside". Have you ever seen a port... at the top of a mountain, for instance? :) We got some equally great advices too, along the way.

My mom (who is also around 85 like my dad) is thankfully in good health, has a good sense of humor, and she knows her classics too. Err... Astérix. :)

Many times during those long waits in line, we were chatting about Astérix and that specific task he had to accomplish... and giggling.

To say that we "enjoy" the walks in "the house that sends you mad" (yup it exists in Montréal) and the many waiting lines, it is quite a stretch.

However, by the end of the day... we did FINALLY obtain that official paper, stating that my dad is officially re-registered. In just ONE DAY? It felt surreal. Nawww... that can't be it. Not that fast! And yes... it is!

So this has been a mad mad mad day... that ended very very well. I think that I will sleep well, VERY well tonight, no longer picturing myself drowning in debts. :)

(In case one wonders, my dad is recuperating. He's out of ER. He has a room and a real bed, and he should be sent back home sometimes next week. Thanks heaven!!!).

So... here's in French, that scene... Getting a certain permit, at "the house that sends you mad."



(If French is too much, while the image quality isn't there, you can try this link, in English)

Cheers,

-E

It's been a hell week...

Sometimes I wonder...

I've been spending time between work, time spent with my mom... and time spent at the hospital. Yup, my dad is at the hospital.

His illness has nothing to do. It's a stupid fall... as it could have happened to you and me. A wet floor, the foot slipped and... bingo. Smack on the ceramic tiles in the kitchen. Ouch, you bet.

He's getting better, nothing broken, but he got some severe bruises. At his age (close to 85), there's a bit of luck in his badluck...

Needless to say, I'm running on adrenalin for the past few days.

I'm also caught in a bureaucratic nightmare and most likely by my own fault. It's been a while that I'm checking all their mail coming in.

Apaprently, either the notice was lost in the mail or somehow I haven't paid attention, but his Carte Soleil has lapsed. Since last September, in fact.

This card (literally the "Sunshine Card", because you see on that card a beautiful sunset over a forest) comes from our provincial health care system. As a Québec resident you are entitled to have one... and get free health care.

Since his card has expired... Do I need to elaborate?

I've been told by the hospital as of today, I'm already over $25,000 in health costs... and the counter goes up everyday by $1700, which is the daily cost of a no-frill hospital bed in a standard room. Not to mention all other exams that he'll go through, nor the med, nor many things. Oh, for the good measure, hospital food is included in that $1700 a day. :)

Yup, my heart did skip a beat when I got the news over the phone....

Dealing with the emotional toll is one thing, dealing with the physical toll, as I am exhausted (never TGIF Friday meant so much this week!)... and now my mom and I will have, on my dad's behalf, to get him enlisted to the provincial health care coverage... as if it was the very first time. He's 85, arrived in Canada in 1952 and paid taxes since then. Do the math. It's insane.

Oh the lovely bureaucratic nightmares ahead... and the hospital people were kind: you have 3 months to pay. So sweet.

Since he's obviously unable to make the demand by himself, there are extra hurdles to us. We have to prove who we are. For instance, my mom has to prove that she's legally married, that she's living with my dad, that we have to find the lease for the appartment to prove that they're living in Québec... among other things...

Not to mention that we have to go through a special procedure when we get billed first and then for us having the government pays the bill on our behalf. Special procedure means of course... more time wasted, like anything else with the government.

But like an athlete, as if we didn't have emotional issues, as if we didn't have... a life, we have to do all of that in 3 months. As for myself, I do expect that in the upcoming weeks I'll have to take some times off from work, at my own expense...

The last time I had a fight with bureaucracy, it was for my passport... and it took me more than a year to get all the required papers in the right format and funky colors they want before I get that [ bleep! ] dark blue booklet with a not so pretty picture of humble moi on it.

Not to mention that I took a shortcut by filing for my passport over the internet. It could have been even longer. No joke.

So, this time, we get just 3 months, and the clock has begun to tick.

Have you ever seen a bill with lots of numbers after the $ sign... and have you ever felt your heart going crazy as a result?

Oh, the hospital accept cash or certified checks or so I'm told.

Ok... I'll try to get some sleeps...

Cheers,

-E

R.I.P. Rosita Salvador...

I was sadden to hear today that Rosita Salvador has passed away. She died of cancer, at age 75. (Radio-Canada: Rosita Salvador n'est plus (in French).

Who is she? A Québec singer, she sang from the late 50s to late 70s. Her real name is Victoire Bergeron. As French-Canadian as it could get. :)

Deep deep in my memory... many things linked with her songs.

For instance, "Mon coeur est en prison" (literally "My heart is in prison" ) was a song that meant a lot to my mom. She sang over and over... and over.

To me, the little infant I were... I couldn't understand words, but it got recorded in my memory. The music and the words seem joyful. It was of course much later and then when I grew up as an adult that I truly understood... and also I understood why that song was special to my mom...

It gets scary when people who are about the age of my parents... are fading away. Brrrr....

From YouTube.... Rosita Salvador and one of her hit songs, "Mon coeur est en prison (1965)".

Giggle of the day: Guess the ASL sign for government...

<--- Here is the answer from the LifePrint (ASL University) web site. It's a very good web site if you want to learn ASL.

Yup, they're all that crazy at the government!

Anyhow, I stumble on that sign tonight...

... and for some reasons, I just couldn't stop giggling. :)

Cheers,

-E