Canadian Lyndsay

There are lots of things I hate about winter. Mostly the snow.  Now, being born and raised in Canada, and now living in Winnipeg (also known as WINTERPEG) I’ve come to accept what winter means here.

However, it’s now March. That means it’s been winter for about 5 months and I, like everyone else, am really really ready for winter to be over.

At this point in winter, let me tell you what I hate most about it – the snow packed bumpy sidewalks.

I suffer from plantar fasciitis, so I already have trouble walking in normal shoes. But after five months of walking on uneven, snow-packed and icy sidewalks, my feet are KILLING me.  When I see bare concrete, I rejoice. I will go out of my way to walk on solid, flat, even ground.

So please, snow, hurry up and melt so I can enjoy six months or so of reduced pain walking. Especially now that I work downtown.

Pretty please?  kthxbai

As some of you know, my appendectomy was scheduled for Thursday, May 3.

While in Dallas a few weeks ago, I had my fourth appendix attack.  As I was in the states and did not have coverage for it (since it is a “pre-existing condition”), I suffered through.  This made me especially anxious to have my surgery.

The morning of May 3 came, we were 15 minutes away from leaving for Concordia Hospital when the surgeon’s assistant called – cancelled!  I guess Dr. Taylor had an emergency surgery at St. Boniface and had to cancel all five of his elective surgeries.

Now my surgery is rescheduled for Tuesday, May 15.  6 days away now!  Here’s hoping it comes fast and without any appendix drama!

For the past month, I have been all over North America.  I’d like to use that as my excuse for not posting, but it’s probably lame.  Oh well.

I spent…

April 16-21 in Dallas, Texas
April 24-26 in Toronto, Ontario
April 26-29 in Ottawa, Ontario

And of course, Winnipeg in between.  I left Calgary on April 13 and finally returned on May 7.  I’ll be here until the end of the week, then back in Winnipeg for two weeks.

I am going to be in Toronto probably May 28-29, and again June 11-14.  It’s nice to be in demand, but man am I tired!!

I admit, I haven’t watched a lot of hockey this year, but there’s something about the playoffs that really makes you pay attention. Even though the Leafs didn’t make it, there are plenty of other teams to cheer for. Actually, without having a primary team to cheer for makes me follow the playoffs even more, because I can just enjoy great hockey – not stress over how my team is doing.

Tonight on the plane ride from Calgary to Winnipeg, I watched Hockey Night in Canada with Ron McLean and Kelly Hrudey. I’ve always liked Kelly Hrudey, even when he was playing goal for the Kings.

I really liked the interaction between Ron and Kelly. Ron really seems more animated, and I enjoyed that. To be honest, I wouldn’t be that sad if Don Cherry wasn’t around anymore. The novelty of his harshness has really worn off, at least for me.

So for now I say GO CANUCKS and GO FLAMES. The big question is, should I go see Game 4 of Vancouver vs Dallas in Dallas on Tuesday night? I don’t really want to go, but I’m not sure I’d get another opportunity like that. I’ll probably decide that day.

This morning, as per normal morning routine, I stopped at the Tim Horton’s drive thru beside work.

The speaker is usually very quiet, and today a soft spoken girl was working the mike.  As if that didn’t make it bad enough, two cars behind me there was a big diesel truck rumbling away.  So that’s my first etiquette point – loud vehicles – please do not use the drive thru.

The other issue is space.  I suppose drive thrus are built strategically to allow a certain number of vehicles between the window and the speaker.  But, as we all know, vehicles can be all sorts of different sizes.  So, please, when between the speaker and the window, please pull up as close as you possibly can to the vehicle in front of you – this may allow the person behind you to get those few inches closer to the speaker.  After all, unless you’re right in front of the speaker, you won’t be able to hear thanks to Mr. Diesel Truck behind you.

Finally, avoid ordering things that take a long time.  For instance, at Tim’s, please don’t order a bagel or sandwich through the drive thru.  Not only do they take longer, and therefore hold up the drive thru line, they also seem to get priority over inside orders.  Very frustrating when I choose to have a bagel, go inside, and proceed to have to wait for all the drive thru orders to get their bagels before I get mine.  I’m doing it for you people!!

That’s probably it for now.  I am certain I will think of more later.