Oh, Ottawa!

July 9, 2007
Here I am! In Ottawa, and it’s freakin’ noisy. In my room, that is. Since the house backs on to a major nightclubbing street and at 1 in the morning I hear drunken girls shrieking and then a sudden huge chorus of “Happy Birthday to You” and since it is used as a throughway for loud loud loud buses and trucks, I can never get decent sleep. Sure, I fall asleep eventually due to exhaustion but I never sleep through those critical hours. Damn. It’s going to be like that for 10 more months. Get used to it, Jenn! Oh, and it’s hot. Humid, sticky, hot. I forgot to bring a fan, and now that I know how noisy it is I don’t want to open the window. My covers are still the ones left over to prepare for Ottawa winters so I don’t even know why I’m covering up. As for the uncleanliness, I guess I was prepared for what I’ve seen so far because it’s not any dirtier or cleaner than I expected. There is one dead bug in the washroom, the living room is full of dirt, the kitchen reeks, and my room has bits and pieces of every tidbit possible.
Yesterday was just setting up and getting used to the whole thing, but today I went out and did some errands, aka prep work. I heard the news, I saw the cloudy sky, and still I stepped outside just at the time when it was beginning to pour like helk. I had my windbreaker/best raingear ever on and I had my umbrella overtop of my head, but with every stride I took the bottom portion of my pants became more and more soaked. Besides, wearing my windbreaker was hot because as I said, even though it was raining, it was raining for a reason: the humidity. I was sweating from within and without. Of course the torrent had to stop 10 minutes into the walk so that I could admonish myself on why I had to leave 10 minutes early, but so goes my coincidental life.
Back in downtown Toronto I came by a post office and went inside, looking at some Official First Day Covers (OFDCs), which I collect. I asked if they had the FIFA U-20 World Cup ones and they said they were sold out, so I thought I’d wait until I came to Ottawa to get it. Part of my errands was to get this thing worth less than $2 but seemed to me to be worth hundreds of dollars. I go into the in the Rideau Centre and the clerk says they sold out, “But you might want to try the office on Sparks and Elgin. They might have some left,” she adds. Despite that I start freaking out. I’ve never collected any OFDCs that sold out before! This thing must be huge (or Canada Post just didn’t have a large print so that it seems as if it’s popular)! I go to Sparks and Elgin because it’s on my way to the Ministry of Health office. I go into this building that looks like what a real post office should look like. Instead of having to ask for OFDCs stored behind the counter, they are in browseable racks! And there’s countertops for you to write your mail! And the architecture is this sort of grandiose thing you would come to expect in a post office! I’m sure coming here more often—better than in a Shopper’s Drug Mart or some scrubby little mall’s basement. And of course they have the FIFA thing (which I’m excited to go to on Sunday, if all goes according to plan)!
So about my going to Environment Canada—it’s really stupid. For a week now I have inflamed lungs so that I can’t breathe when night falls. Ever since my family physician who I’ve seen once and who I personally think sucked, I don’t really have a family doctor and I was going to see one in Richmond Hill for my problem but I called in late too late (she was away on the day I called and she was, of course, fully booked for the next day, and the day after that was yesterday in which I left for Ottawa). I get to Ottawa yesterday thinking I can go in a walk-in clinic and have my breathing/not dying fixed. I go to my campus clinic and they’re closed. I go into a public clinic and give them my OHIP card, then wait. 15 minutes later they say my card is invalid, it’s probably stolen, if I want to see a doctor I’d have to pay $58 or wait until tomorrow to go to the OHIP office to get a new card since it’s closed today. Umm, no. Last time I checked, it worked and it’s a real card with everything on it correct. Just one teensy-weensy problem: When signing forms for the campus clinic, I wrote down my dorm address and they had sent me a new health card, which I had cheerfully cut up and thrown away, knowing that they knew that my real permanent address was my Richmond Hill one. Well, it so happens that once you get a new government-issued card you must throw away the other. Duh. I don’t find that out for 4 months. Off I go, my lungs still weak and palpitating, wheezing, to the office. Fortunately the people there were really helpful and nice. They say that the university’s mistake is a common one. I love when anyone working with the public show that they actually care.
That also applies to the doctor I saw today for my failing lungs, and the pharmacist who gave me my medicine. They explained to me thoroughly what everything was for, what was happening with me, and why and how. People who work in these professions can’t just love medicine—they must love working with and caring for people above all.
This is the first time in my life that I’ve had to think of what to eat for all three meals, and have the process of buying, sorting, cooking and cleaning just to eat is tedious. I’m always so tempted to go to a resto or order take-out but I know I’m very tight on a budget and I just can’t afford it. I’m having quite crappy meals right now, comprised of minimal amounts of cooking (boiling rice, frying eggs) and consisting of a maximum of two ingredients (e.g. rice and nori). I’ve been looking at simple recipes for meals I would be happy to sit down to eat, but just looking at needing to buy ingredients then having stuff left over makes my head spin. I guess I’ll try, but I’ve got to watch my budget.
And finally finally I have a room with my own TV in it! It sounds disgusting, and I plan to live in a place in the future where my bedroom consists of nothing but a bed and a nightstand, but for now this is great! No more having to be embarrassed about what you watch (Metropia, anyone?) or what you don’t, or when.

July 10, 2007
My first day on the job. I rode the bus there, but I walked back and it took me a little under half an hour so I guess I’m going to walk from now on. The office is very neat. The people are nice and professional, and I got assigned my own cubicle, e-mail and extension number. It’s like getting a real job, except with no $$$$$$$$$$! People came to me asking to get tasks done and I completed them, knowing that my work contributes to the outcome of the magazine. I took a 10-minute lunch because I felt uncomfortable hanging around in the kitchen and I stayed even after everyone had said goodbye because no one dismissed me, so after half an hour of silence I sort of dismissed myself. So this is what I’ll be doing full-time for a month or so. Towards the end of the day my eyes were really tired but I’m still on the computer now so I guess I’m okay.