Microcosmic

Yesterday was a microcosm of human life. We started the day with well laid plans which went awry in a nice way, meeting our goals for the day. The rain cancelled our morning bike ride, so we accelerated our plan to get a bed. We've been using the pump-up aero beds for 4 weeks, adequate, but not ideal - plus no way to sleep guests unless they wanted to share a single cot.

We headed with premature optimism to one of the 307 malls strung north along the Island Highway and stopped at Jysk- a wannabee Ikea. There we found a selection of double size matresses and queen size bedframes at an acceptable (only mildly outrageous) 'sale' price. Note that we couldn't get double size matresses with double size bedframes nor queen size matresses with queen size bedframes - just double size matresses and queen size bedframes. Clearly the relationship Jysk has with its vendors suffers from some sort of endemic incompetence. But the double size mattress would work if we could find the appropriate bedframe elsewhere.

Continuing our quest (with optimism wearing thin), we headed further north to a furniture store called "Brick", containing nothing of even remote interest. Then out in the parking lot Eli encountered her cousin, Edel, with her daughter and grandchildren in tow. After a short conversation, Edel informs us that she has extra beds just stored in her garage, takes us to her house in Lantzville, and feeds us a nice lasagna dinner. Before dinner we meet her husband Les just returning from a job site. He's a 77-year old, amazingly fit fireball and jack of all trades. He gathers appropriate tools, takes the bed apart, we load it into his truck, drive back to Nanaimo, haul the bed frame, 10 slats, and mattress up 4 floors (the elevator had just gone out of service), reconstruct the bed, they leave after a bit of chocolate and juice, and we go to bed - mission accomplished, but not as foreseen.

Today was more well behaved. We participated in a day long kayak clinic (sponsored by MalU), circumnavigating Newcastle Island. It was a fun group of young folk and an old codger, maybe as old as me. He was one of the two guides. The weather was borderline perfect and no mishaps occurred. Eli and I shared one of the two tandems, but nearly everyone else took a one-person craft. We may do more of this.

Richard
2006.09.10