I was sharing a thought with some people that I work with a few weeks ago. I was remembering when I started working in the travel industry. It was in 1990. I was right out of high school. My uncle assisted me in getting at job at the Last Minute Club. I took a one month training course with a group of people, and then after that…we were thrown to the wolves. Just kidding, on the phones, in the call centre.

Call centre – one big room with cubicles. Nothing like today of course. Smoking was allowed “back then”, so the smoking section was on one side and the non smoking section on the other side – WITH NO WALL…so what was the difference? Crazy now that I think about it actually. I can’t believe that old building at 1300 Don Mills road didn’t burn down from all the chain smokers. One lady lit her cigarette with the last cigarette she was smoking!

No computers, no internet, no VOICEMAIL! All we had were big white dry erase boards. All the destinations, hotels, dates, etc were on a grid on these boards. And the only way to check the space was to use the phone! If it was sold out, we told our product department and and they came and crossed it out.

That was how we worked. No one checked trip advisory to see if the hotel was good, no one posted a facebook status update to see if anyone had been there or where is a good place to go. People didn’t even SHOP around. They TRUSTED you, the agent, that you were making the best choice for them and their money they were spending. Funny, that doesn’t feel any different than today…yet it is.

Slowly we had computers at this old office, one for every two people to share…they were raised and on a swivel stand so that we could take turns. So archiac and funny now that I am reminded of it.

Wow have times have changed!

I am not saying anything against the internet age. Personally I LOVE IT! I remember the first day when I heard about this crazy thing called Facebook, that was only a ‘school’ age phenomenon and it was just opening to the general public. The ability to ‘find’ and ‘friend’ people, people who you lost touch with, email, message, see their lives through pictures. Whoever created it (Zuckerberg or the other guys) was a genuis really. Now, mind you, some ‘old friends’ should have stayed lost….but others, wow, how amazing my life has enriched by reconnecting with others. I am sure you agree with that statement. We could be REfriends today because of facebook, and that is a good thing.

And now this…blogging…sharing a thought, story, personal insight to an event or personal life changing situation. I always had stories, and thoughts and could capture a room with them, but now, here, in the blogsphere, they live, breathe and exist on their own. That is something I find amazing and scary at the same time.

The funniest thing about this post today, this wasn’t even what I sat down to write about! This was just a random thought that was in my head and jumped into my fingers as I typed away.
 
I guess that thought will have to wait until next time…..so stay tuned….and leave a comment if you want. It is a stamp to the writer that you were here…and we all want to be counted, and heard.
 
Whatever you do today – make it count!

Sunday April 3rd started off like a normal Sunday. I made breakfast, my own little ‘egg mcmuffin’ sandwich on my hearty healthy grain bread. Edna came and we went to the gym together and then I went to meet my friend Liz for lunch.

By the time I got to lunch, I was feeling a bit off, but really didn’t make too much of it. By the end of that day I was at Cindy’s house and had to drive with my window open (it was cold that night) so that I wouldn’t be sick. Barely made it home and in my door before I was very sick….all night long!

My mom asked me what I ate and I could only think of the egg first thing in the morning, so when I went to the fridge, and saw that the box was expired, I thought great – food poisoning.

So, I was sick for a day and a half, and then it went away. Yeah….not quite….came back about four days later with VENGENCE!!! I was so sick that I ended up at York Central ER for several hours. That was just the start….there were:

2 ER visits (one including a IV hydration hook up that took 2 hours)
4 sets of blood work
3 sets of ‘other’ samples
Gallbladder ultra sound
and 21 days, yes I said 21 DAYS of Cipro.

All of the tests came back clear – no salmonella, no e-coli, no hep A, gall bladder clear….this was just a nasty bug that refused to go away.
After the 2nd visit to the ER, they perscribed 7 days of cipro. That was great, it worked – until 36 hours later when all the symptoms came back again. Another 7 days of cipro….great, all the symptoms went away – and then came back 8 days later – TWO DAYS BEFORE MY TRIP! That freaked me out. So much so that I changed all my travel plans and went on Cipro for the 3rd and hopefully final time.

Reluctantly I went on the cipro three times. No one wants to be on antibiotics for that long, but clearly this was some sort of superbug that didn’t want to leave my body just yet.

I went on my trip to visit Brad and it was great. It wasn’t my dream trip up the PCH with my friend, but California and hwy 1 isn’t going anywhere so we will get there someday. Great sights in LA, and fun with friends and then three days in Sin City having fun….it was a brain vacation that was well needed, well deserved and well appreciated!!!

It is now 11 days off the cipro and I am afraid every morning when I wake up that I will be sick. But….it hasn’t happened so far, so I think I am hopefully in the clear.

Thank you to everyone who has messaged me and asked how I am doing. I appreciated all the calls, messages, and wishing me well. It was a really rough six weeks and I am hopefully on the other side of the mountain!

I have a pretty good memory. I remember lines and plots from movies I have seen, I can give you a full synopsis of the tv shows I watch, birthdates, phone numbers, and where I was and when. When a song comes on the radio, I can usually share a memory of who, what, where, when or why it was important at the time. I also remember anniversaries of events, some meaningful, some not.

The last few days, I was remembering some of those times. A year ago was this event that I went to, and a year ago was this concert I went to. Part of the reason that I remember the dates is because last year they fell around Martine’s birthday, which was on Friday.

Last night we went out to celebrate Martine’s birthday. We went to the Keg in Aurora. I had volunteered to get there a few minutes early, as the line for that location is always quite long (as with most Keg restaurants). I left my house a bit late and didn’t really want to go up Bathurst all the way to Wellington. I started to head across highway 7 to the 404, knowing it would be much faster to go up the 404 to Wellington then Bathurst, Young or Bayview.

Got on the 404 and was listening to my music and everything was great. It was like I had done it 1000 times before. The funny thing is that since my car accident, I really haven’t done it a 1000 times. It is a road that I don’t have to use on a daily basis and therefore don’t have to be on there unless I choose to be.

This did not occur to me until I drove past the sign that said Stoufville side road, and then I realized where I was. I was travelling northbound, not southbound, but at that exact moment my heart started to beat faster and I had to take a few deep breaths.

But I worked through it and moved forward…..so much so that I got off at the next exit which wasn’t Wellington which I realized after I got off the ramp, but Bloomington. DAMN, I was so in my own head that I didn’t watch the signs.

Anyways, I turned up Leslie which is really ‘country’ roads and had no idea where the hell I was. I followed it around, and then there was a fork in the road, so I figured I had to go north, so I followed. I was just about to phone my dad (ear buds in, phone out and ready to dial), and there was a MAIN road – Wellington! One quick right turn and I was there, and early!

I had planned to go home on the 404, but I ended up going on Bathurst, which was fine.

It takes me a long time to put things behind me and really start to move forward. I don’t know why it takes me such a long time, but it does. Even though I will never forget my accident, thankfully it is moving far enough away from my memory that it allows me to live my life on my terms.