The Sick, the galloping month, jobs

I know, I know, I'm sorry I haven't been posting very much lately. Today's excuse: I have a cold. Or a flu. Or something that's making me sniffy and sneezy and achy. It's not bad, certainly not as bad as the thing Dan had last week, but still.

(I have spent the last two days watching movies and the first season of House, knitting up a storm on the couch next to the wood stove. Kitty has been here with me the whole time).

It's funny what our routines are when we are sick. I remember when I stayed home from school as a kid, being sick meant staying home in front of the TV watching bad soap operas. I stayed home sick a lot, actually, I was really good at faking it. It so happened that on that day in 1986 when the Challenger shuttle exploded in mid-air, I was home watching it all happen while my friends were all doing math or something.

Nowadays I am much better equipped. I have a husband who brings me stuff, boils water for my Neo Citran, who makes me breakfast. I have a computer, movies from the library, an iPhone with stupidly addictive fun games. (Damn those Pocket Frogs!) And of course, lots of knitting.

You may recall my embarrassing number of UFOs... so embarrassing that I didn't even tell you how many. Well, I finished some. Quite a few, actually. I'll get to that in another post (but it will include the epic baby blankets, four dishcloths and a cloche hat)(Yay).

I say the galloping month because DID YOU KNOW it is almost the end of October? I've been asking the locals what happens around here for Halloween and no one seems to know. There are tons of kids here, and surely they do something. We have plans to stay home and hand out candy. Or not, as it were. If the kids come, we will have candy for them. If they don't, we have candy for us. See? Win-win. I am planning to dress up, but as what?

Hook & Line fishing season ends November 15th. What does this even mean? Well, in my fish counting job, there are two main kinds of fishery. Hook & Line, or Trawl. I have been largely doing Hook & Line boats all summer. It's fine, the shifts are usually pretty short. They are the more involved so I am seldom bored. But with their season closing, I am much more likely to get more Trawl boats. Way longer shifts, less interesting stuff to do.

I have been looking for other work. I have started applying for jobs at UVic (thus introducing the possibility we might move back to Victoria) as well as around here. There are way more jobs in Tofino than there are in Ucluelet, since the tourist season still goes there, if at a reduced rate. We have only one vehicle insured right now so if either one of us gets a job outside of Ukee, we will probably have to insure a second vehicle (don't worry; we have three)(how did that happen?)(they are all red). For some strange reason, I'm not worried. I know me and I know Dan and we neither of us have ever had a hard time finding work. It's finding the right work that is the question. What do we want to do? Get through the winter? Build careers? More uncertainty.

We are actually pretty happy with our situation. I know I complain here and there but really, we have things pretty good. We have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, a growing group of great people to hang out with, and we live in a part of the world that has endless possibilities for exploration, whether on foot, bicycle, surfboard, or 4-wheel drive. If we can afford to put new tires on the truck we won't be stranded here all winter (the pass gets snowy; our tires are darn near bald). With knitting and friends, we won't suffer from cabin fever. And with all the food we have preserved, we are not likely to hungry. So yeah, I think we'll be okay.

/abrupt end