TURN ON OUR AIR CONDITIONING!

That was one thing I disliked about apartment living--when they turned on the AC!! At barton House i think they have to have like so many days in a row of 75 (maybe 80) higher before they would turn it on.

Well it is 80 here today and 75 inside....still no word from apartment guy. harumph.

Ok apt. guy emailed me back, he will get someone to fix it tomorrow or Friday??

So he emailed again that a guy will be by at 9 tomorrow morning and that he doesn't have a key so we need to be here.

When I emailed him the other day about the dryer I specifically mentioned that no one can come here unless we are here because our cat is an indoor cat and she will take off etc etc (she did the other day btw and Mike was out in the foliage rounding her up).

Soooo I had to email him back and thank him for taking care of it so quickly but I also had to remind him that even if the guy did have a key - no one can come in when we aren't here!!

it's so hot that our pup is panting slightly in the apartment!

TURN ON THE AIR CONDITIONING!

Our windows are open and all the fans are on!

Just left a vm for our building manager asking if they could please turn on the air conditioning since Baxter is overheating
and we don't want something to happen to him when we're not home!@@#$&(&))*(

Barton House didnt turn their Ac on till like mid May!! Was a pain!

Like from 4 pm til 8 pm today I was pretty warm myself.. like almost breaking into a sweat
if I was running around, I would have been!

So it's not exactly comfortable for a dog that's covered in fur to be in!!!!!!!!!!
@ssholes!

moved the portable fan right next to Baxter on the couch..

still panting........

it's not like it's at a dangerous level or anything (I've worked in Emerg Vet Hospitals for 5 yrs) but it definitely is not OKAY.

Im sorry Liz to hear about your dog, hopes he gets better...

I don't know if you have a thermometer that you could use on him to see if his temp is ok....but to help him cool down you can put icepacks next to him or Rubbing alcohol on his footpad, but since you've work in an animal hospital for 5 years you prolly know that...




And I am f..... pissed

I applied for the exam to become a Certified vet tech in Illinois... All the canadians programs are accredited except the ones in Quebec (only one college is but it's not mine)

So here's the answer I got today in the mail

"Your application was sent to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation for review and their reply was as follow: Education program is not approved by the AVMA-Council on Education. Applicant cannot test at this time. Section 1505.10(a) (1)."

Now I am lost and I don't know what I am going to do. All these years in college worth JACK $HIT.

WELCOME TO AMERICA.

ouch, that sucks!!!!

Something that helped my cats when I lived without air conditioning -and it got up into the 90s and stayed there overnight for several days in a row so it was stifling in my upstairs apartment even with the windows open - was to take towels, wet them, wring them out and keep them in the fridge. Then I would put them down on the floor for the cats to lie on, replacing them several times a day when they dried out. The cats would actually stretch out and lie on them. Give it a try for Baxter, especially when you are not going to be at home.

We don't even bother to turn on the a/c here until the inside temps are over 78 and that is where the a/c is set. Fortunately, except for about a 4 - 6 week period of high humidity in the mid summer, I can open the windows at night and the cooler night air cools the house down overnight. I close the windows in the morning and the a/c doesn't normally kick in until about 4 pm when the sun hits the windows out back and the inside temperature heats up.

I love it that night time and day time temperatures vary on average between 20 and 30 degrees almost every day! It never did that back home during the summer heat waves.

I'm sorry to hear that. What a kick in the a$$ after all the work you did.

Barton House? Isn't that a halfway house for recovering alcoholics or ex-cons in Hamilton?


Awwww, I'm sorry Mephys. I hate that that has happened to you. When we first moved from England to Canada my parents' credentials were par for par. A few years later they changed the rules and my parents had to go back to university to be re-certified (my Mum's an RN and my Dad's an Engineer). It was a rough few years on them, lemme tell you. They were working full time (poor Mom coping with shifts), travelling to school in Toronto from Oakville to do their studies, and looking after us 3 kids. Not nice.


That's exactly what I did and still do! I hate A/C, personally, so I try to run it as little as possible. I keep the windows open at night, then shut them and close the blinds and curtains during the day. If you can place a fan in the open window to draw in the cool air, that works even better.

Ac is my friend!!! I use it a lot,lol

barton House--best apartment building I haver ever lived in!! They explained to me that with their furnace/AC system they could not just turn it back and forth, so once they made the swtich to AC,one had no heat,thus they had to be sure no cold weather was going to return,plus it was an $$$$$$ thing. I can just imagine what a company charges for that, when it cost me $260 for 5 min of work and most likely a $5 part (which they chargd $125,lol)

Me and Mel got into a tiff last night. We were talking about this weekend and I reminded him we had to get our paperwork and stuff organized for our AOS interview on the 30th.

Well he starts going off into a tirade about the Government and this whole process and how we shouldn't be forced to have to prove ourselves to anyone except ourselves, blah blah blah.

He looks at the whole process as just a a pain in the a$$, another item on his already too big "to do" list.

He doesn't really understand how stressful this is for me.

WHat pisses me off the most is that ALL ENGLISH CANADIAN colleges are CVMA accredited (Canadian Veterinary medicine association) and that in the US, the AVMA ( the us one) recognizes the CVMA colleges as an equivalent.

But odd enough, in Quebec the ONLY college that is CVMA accredited is the only English one. SO WTF is wrong with the French colleges ?? Hell, my degree is the same as my friend that went to that English college. Same title, same everything.

And odd enough, I had to register with both the state and the Exam board , and with the Exam board my college WAS in THEIR list. But the state is the one with the final answer and they jsut told me flat out that my college is not approved so they won't even look into my credentials.....

Anyways....I sent an e-mail to the lady from the Exam board and she will look into the IL board.

I'm pretty sure Oliver gave me that speech once before.. I think I snapped back to say that that is just the way it is right now and if he doesn't want me to move, I can happyily stop this process myself too.

Kept him quiet.

He still hates paperwork but knows that it's only worse to fight it.

Yeah, it's a bit of a process. I had a relationship with a guy who was the facility manager for a large institution. People would complain all the time when there was a random hot day before summer kicked in. He would warn them that if he turned on the AC they would have no heat when the temp dropped back down. But they would swear up and down that it would be fine. When the cold temps came back and there was no heat, they would scream bloody murder. It was a no-win situation, and never will be.


Yeah, that was me. Having little I-hate-this-stupid-paperwork why-are-they-hassling-me tirades. It helps you get through the process.


Ugh. That totally sucks. I hope the lady from the exam board is successful in getting you what you want, Mephys.

Maudit Americains!

My sister-in-law is sick with the flu, so I won't get a chance to see my niece and nephew before flying back to Tulsa. I haven't seen them in almost a year and they are growing up so fast. I am one sad auntie tonight.

/end sad rant

Awwww. Can someone not go and pick them up and bring them to see you?

For anyone out there, this journey is not for the faint of heart.

If you have reservations about moving to the US.. really think about what you're doing and what you're leaving behind

I was one of those that was happy to be leaving and excited about the prospect of starting a new life for myself.

Well, almost 6 months into not working and not having a license and any reasonable way of getting around other than taking the bus in an area I'm not comfortable in hasn't been pretty..

The past week to 10 days has been especially hard for me. I'm not sure why but I think tonight is Good Cry #4 for me.

I'm become very sensitive to little things oliver may or may not say.
For instance, I hate doing laundry in our building by myself.

So earlier this week, he said we could do laundry together tonight..

Well, about 9pm tonight, I wanted him to check his email for something for me regarding our ebay account. (He's very private about his email and so I don't know his password; it's retarded but whatever)
Anyway, he didn't want to check. Then he throws a fit about when I want him to do something he dosen't want to do, he has to do it anyway but it never works the other way around in his favour. And so I asked for an example. He threw laundry in my face. So I reminded him that he promised we'd do it together tonight. His response "Well, once in a while it'd be nice if you took some initiative and did it yourself"

IT'S NOT LIKE I'VE NEVER DONE LAUNDRY MYSELF... ABOUT 70% OF THE TIME I DO IT MYSELF
I just haven't wanted to of late.

AND IT'S NOT LIKE HE HAS LIFTED ONE FINGER TO PLAN THIS WEDDING WE HAVE IN 4 MONTHS!
AND THE APARTMENT DOESN'T CLEAN ITSELF, DOES IT?

HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHERE THE TOILET PAPER, LINT ROLLERS, Q-TIPS, BATH SOAPS OR ANYTHING ELSE IS! WHY?? CUZ HE DOESN'T LIFT A FINGER IN THE HOUSE!

So we had a nice little fight, I stormed off into our bedroom, gathered up two loads of laundry, and stormed out to get it done. He did try to stop me and say he didn't mean for me to do it now, but I grabbed it back from him to say "Well, apparently I'm not pulling my weight here, so I've got to do this"

Spent the 30 mins of it being in the washer outside our building on the park bench.

9:45 pm
Washer should be ready now.

I walk back inside, switch it to the dryer.

9:50
Walk back into our apartment.
He's watching L&O.

I sit at the computer right next to the tv and write this message in silence.


This journey is not for the faint of heart.

Awwwwwww. (((((((((((((GREAT BIG HUGS, LIZ))))))))))))))))))

You know...... remove the immigration equation out of the picture and you have your typical adjustment-to-marriage-and-living-with-someone-else-in-your-space scenario. Moving to another country doesn't help matters, though. What I can tell you is that it gets better on both fronts. In another six months you'll have adjusted to being in the US and being married, and will be well on your way to happy times. Hang in there, Liz. Every argument results in each partner reviewing and adjusting their behaviour and attitude in an attempt to make things right. It'll be fine. Just don't kill him first.

10:30 pm
Still silent in the apartment other than Olivia and Stabler on L&O

oh look, he's eating a granola bar at the couch.

glad to see he's so comfortable with everything

PS thank you Krikit..
trying not to kill him

Awww Liz, I can DEFINITELY relate. I imagine some of the difficulties come from the different communication styles / ways of thinking that men and women have. For instance, your hubster may not even be recognizing the underlying emotions going on with you right now ... he may just be thinking, why can't she do the laundry herself? When you have stopped wanting to kill him (and there are no sharp objects around), sti down and talk with him about how you have been feeling.

Then, if that works, you can come to NH and talk to my hubby. Please tell him that having our house remain a construction zone 5 weeks before I am due to give birth to his child is not conducive for marital harmony. ARGH! (Nt trying to hijack your vent, just illustrating that husbands can really be slackers ... and don't get me started on the cleaning issue!)

Oh, TOTALLY. Men have not a clue sometimes. It's a wonder we haven't killed them off long ago. The Molly Fish got it right.

OMG! Check out Post 5 on that thread!

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Liz))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))),

Oh, I do understand too! The first six months are really tough - and then the next 6 months are tough too! But like Krikit says above, it does get better. Every marriage is an adjustment for both parties and it is the little things that you don't think will be issues that can really blow up in your face. Living with another person is hard - no matter how much you love them - and there will be times when you will ask 'why did I do this?' and 'Is this really worth it?'. The times when you will want to just pack up and head home, though, will become farther and farther apart until eventually, here will be 'home' - dirty laundry and all and the two of you will have established a rhythm that is balanced. Hang in and come here to vent when you need to.

I have tried to talk to him..
After every other cry this week, we've talked...

but it's like he thinks that each time I talk, the deep issues I'm having get resolved and it becomes some big mystery to him and he looks at me like "what's going on with her"

IT'S THE SAME F-ING THING THAT'S BEEN GOING ON WITH ME FOR THE PAST 5 MONTHS

I'd like to see him move to another country and see how he does.

and Yes, smack her hubby upside the head.
Construction and the stress it brings is not good for mommy-to-be!!!!!
MEN!


I know!!!
They're like the cockroach!
Never go away!


This peace you speak of, it seems so far away

sigh...

I wish he talked to a female somewhere and she's smack him for me!~!~

But he's to private to discuss relationship problems outside the relationship

AND HE'S READING A BOOK NOW!!!
11:32
WHAT THE HELL

While I have laundry pile #3 finally just put in the dryer!

aggghhhhhhhhh

Liz, I'm only going to suggest the following because Ollie is making all us enlightened (we're only azzholes half the time ) guys look bad, crazy glue lil' Ollie to his leg. Do it while he's sleeping, he'll get the message. Seriously, Ollie is letting his wife do the laundry late at night without accompanying her? Does he have any idea what kind of people do their laundry late at night?

Couldn't find a chipper/shredder big enough?

Heaven walks under the feet of an expectant mother. Tell hubby to knock it off as Declan's trying to sleep.

Unfortunately when Mr. Cross Dressup went off the air, I gave up wearing a dress.
So sorry to hear that Ollie is behaving like this. Some guys just don't get it.
BTW, Men aren't like cockroaches, cockroaches never go away for hours at a time, without explanation.

They live six hours away, and gas prices are jumping like crazy right now, and my mom just got over bronchitis herself (not good with a recovering suppressed immune system).

Add all that up and a visit isn't possible right now.

Liz,

Trust me, you're not alone in this. I'm a guy (let me check to make sure; yup!) and I've experienced some similar situations. Although my wife tends to do more of the "traditional" female things, we generally try to share household duties work things out equally. But as anyone who has been in a relationship knows, that's a great theory on paper -- in reality, it doesn't always work like that.

My wife and I have had some very heated arguments. In fact, last night we had one. We both apologized to each other as we always do. But that doesn't change the fact the arguments happen. We chalk most of it up to the fact we're living apart most of the time, which isn't a natural way to be in a marriage. Being able to talk over the phone, through IMs and e-mail is much better than nothing at all, but it's by no means a substitute. So we get annoyed at the situation and ironically enough, take it out on the one person we want to be with.

Oh... and as for your husband keeping his password to himself, I don't see anything wrong with that. I realize my opinion on this matter probably means very little, but there's nothing wrong with a husband and wife having a few things that are separate in life. My wife doesn't know the passwords I use, but I would tell her if there was an emergency; it's the same with her, but in reverse. It's not that we don't trust the other (we do), but since we tend to share so much already, we want something that's mine or hers.

Now then, if you'll excuse me, I need to go blow up my bathroom.

all in all, there have been a few ongoing tiffs throught the morning today too..

but I generally want to kill him less

GENERALLY

sigh..
guess we're both not having a good few days

thanks everyone =)

I wouldn't kill him right now!! As you have written too much on here and probably get charged for 1st degree, better to lay low for awhile!! lol

(((((((((((((((((((Liz))))))))))))))))))))))
I am so so so sorry....

You'll work through this...talk with him...turn off the tv and have a face to face talk...calm and tell him your fears and issues....
You have to resolve them...

I'm sure you'll work through this!!!

Hello Dear Sweet Liz,

Well, there it is: the post that expresses so much.
It is so true that moving to another country even for us diehard Canadians that think the U.S. is so close and not THAT different.
Regardless if the differences get to you or not, and/or the geographical distance is not THAT far, it totally is. All of it!

So, well said darling.

As for partner problems and such, well, I am going to highly recommend a book. Not the usual things I'd recommend and I am onlt partly into it, and yet...
Please run out and borrow or buy The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine, M.D.
My best friend in Montreal recommended it, I bought it in January and only now started reading it. It is (pun intended) mind boggling!
I tell you all to go and get it!!!
Maybe we can start a discussion on ideas and viewpoints from it...and now I am digressing.

Here's is my point:
men and women are different.
What a revelation, huh?
Hee, hee.

Seriously, the brain chemistry, the way it processes, the right and left sides (women draw from both far more often), etc etc.
Did any of you watch that video on TEDtalks yet on the brain doctor's experience? http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/229
Okay more digressions...
I'm good at them.

Again, what I'm trying to say, is it is really challenging for one partner to be waiting "to start their life" as they see it would work for them and then the other is put under the microscope, and who would survive under that kind of scrutiny??
Yes, as the non-immigrant awaiting our silly papers, we have a lot of time, huh?
Time and focus spent on the other.
Well, what about ourselves?
It is time to get back into our own bodies and minds and spirits, I say.
Do go and find fun and interesting things to do just for yourself Liz (et al), and watch things shift.

Some people are just unaware of how much grief they cause the other from their lack of consciousness.
and then, again, re-read the above paragraph.
I, too, am struggling not to lose what little is left of my sanity at the moment.
And blow-ups?
I am the queen!
Hahaha!


Always always always bring it back to love.


I miss all of you...
virtual hugs galore

Excellent point, Flames. Liz.... you must give us time to deny all knowledge of pre-meditated murder. At my age, I will have forgotten in about a week, so you can still do it soon.

Spirit, it's nice to see you back online again. I hope all is going well.


Awwww, that's a shame, Cassie. Well, talking to them on the phone will help. (((((Hugs)))))

Lying in wait = 1st degree murder.

I wonder if Liz is going to start a murder of SO timeline. I would listen to Spirit (good to have you back).

hahaha

I totally should plot all the data on a spreadsheet!!!

Date of first thought of Murder
Frquency
Date of actual execution =)

If you put it on paper,make sure you encrypt it. Better to have no evidence!! Watch some law & orders, CSI's to make ur plan. lol

So..... my husband bought me a Ped Egg (I think he's got a bit of a foot fetish) and I used it last night. Except that I think that I took off way more skin than I should have because it hurts to walk now. Guess I'm going to have to build up some callouses.

Good Day All,

Thank you for your acknowledgements; my ego likes that. Bahaha!


I can see that many here are struggling with something or other...an ill loved one, partner misunderstandings, loneliness, timeline issues, school, moving, etc etc.
Ahhhh, young grasshoppers, such is life.
N'est pas?
Hee, hee.
What would life be if it wasn't for our day to day experiences be them loving, challenging or downright maddening?
Well, my life has been a roller coaster for sooooo long that I would think I was dead if there were no drama or movement or anything like that going on.


I have not had time to read through all the various threads and post (hence this could be construed as a vent in itself), as I do not have internet where I am staying, and sporadically lug my huge laptoppy to an internet café. It is mind-boggling beautiful here North of the Gulf of Mexico; really the nicest beaches I may have ever seen. White sugary powder sand, clean emerald water (that goes from light green to aqua marine to a deep blue as it gets deeper)...it is so beautiful, it fills up my soul with mmmmm....
A good thing because (to be continued...distractions....)

BTW dear Liz, please know that secret passwords are a good thing. Each person does not need to know everything about the other.
Discretion is golden!

Bye for now...

P.S. My sweetie's dad is just skin and bones and is suffering to hang on to life...and yet he is doing just that.
I am pouring out the love to him, and his wonder-full wife and every guest and family member that floats through their place.
It is grand central station, what with people coming here from all over the world.
Never a dull moment.

And like I needed to meet more people to get to know and love.
Now I need a free lifetime airplane pass...

And as for meeeee,
well,
uhm,
I am exhausted.
Spent.
And then
I regenerate...
somehow.

There are actually a few really good ways of hiding information (without encryption) on a hard drive from snooping individuals. None of which I shall divulge here. Look around on the Internet hard enough, however, and I'm sure you'll come across them.

PedEgg....lol.... the website sound sooo much like a parody of something....
i feel a little silly today.... do not mind...