Canada Post is to stop door-to-door service!

Door to door mail delivery. I remember it! In the city of Toronto, and in Ottawa. I used to get nervous picking up mail in Bala, when we had to go to the Post Office, in the dark. You never knew who would be about.

Only about 1/3 of Canadians receive door-to-door service. The rest of us have to leave our homes to get our mail.
They are going to cancel door-to-door service, they say, and build
community mail units across cities.

• Some have mailboxes. (I've a photo.mov collection of them!)
• Some have to go to the Post Office in rural towns.
• Others go to community mail units (CMU).

Small CMU: Someone will have to clear the snow.
Short people need not apply.

The 1981 Canada Post ACT says Canada Post must pay its own way and not be a burden. They have to be financially self-sufficient.

CMU: nicely covered

Canada Post Corporation, and its affiliate Purolator Courier Ltd., collected

• processed and delivered 9.23 billion pieces of mail and parcels during the 1997-98 fiscal year. 
• serves 35 million Canadians 
• served 900 000+ businesses and public institutions. 
• delivers an average of 37 million pieces of mail
• processes through 22 major plants to over 12.7 million addresses in Canada.

Units with 9 boxes

Bala Post Office

Seniors and people with disabilities would prefer getting service at our homes, as we have done so for the past hundred years.

Canada Post has done community engagement, they say. They found that residents would prefer alternate day service, rather than full cancellation of door-to-door.
Businesses want 5 day/week service.
Why does business wishes trump consumers?
It's a service, not a business.

There will be a lot of community engagement required to change to installing CMUs. They will be looking for people willing to let them use their lawns. Perhaps businesses will be able to grant a spot for these. People will have to put up with tromping outdoors, finding their way to a mailbox.

Many types
of mailboxes!

Notice the garbage can

There will be a lot of money required to build the CMUs, and a lot of letter carriers will lose their jobs. Isn't it important to keep people working?

Postal Service Charter says they have to provide 5 day/week, reasonable service. But wouldn't it be better to have alternate day service, rather than installing all these CMUs? But consumers, apparently, do not get a vote.

Batman in our mailbox!

Mailboxes in rural Ontario

I began to collect photos of them, there is such a wide variety!

PART XV: What I learned about managing post-surgery care and a catheter

There will be mistakes. That is OK! You need to laugh. There is a lot to keep on hand. There is a lot to remember. You need not memorize it, but you should be prepared.

• When you are taking pain pills, it's important for both the care recipient and the caregiver to know when they are due, and when they have been given. It's easy to forget what time of night (e.g., 2:30 a.m.) you had the last dosage!

Use a form to record symptoms, and dosages of pills. You'll find you forget. One must be on top of pain control, it's easier than trying to get rid of pain.

Symptom diary

Medication record

• The literature, handed out by the Cancer Assessment Centre, is fabulous. READ IT ALL! Twice! 

Day time catheter bag, straps to the leg.
It holds about 300ml. 

• Put in post-its as page markers for those pages/lists you want to come back to: pages for writing down the medicines you have taken, specific symptoms to watch our for, and the 'how-to' pages (e.g., how to change a catheter). It's harder than it looks!
• When changing the catheter, I find it best to sit in a chair, while hubby stands up. I also use a pee bottle, with a handle, in which to drain the urine. It's much easier than trying to aim for the toilet! Problem is, you need two hands to untwist the blue emptying spout. You twist the blue part, and have to hold onto the top of the portal.  It's tricky! I hold the pee bottle between my knees, then I can us both hands. REMEMBER: You should go to the bathroom first, before you empty the bag! Otherwise, there is a sense of urgency!

Left to right:

• Large bandaids to cover the incisions.
• A box of antiseptic wipes
• Lots of clean face cloths at the ready -for spills!
• Thermometer - to check for fever, a sign of infection
• Polysporin - antibacterial gel, also lubricates!
• Pee bottle - so handy!
• Antiseptic and antibacterial spray - use it liberally: toilet, floor, etc.
• Vinegar 

Buy adult briefs for after the catheter is out!
The squeeze bottle is to hold the vinegar solution,
with which you rinse the catheter bag.

NOTE to self: remember to check that the emptying port is closed before reattaching the catheter bag to the portal. Just sayin'!

Night time catheter bag hold more urine (2L)
and can be tied or hung off the edge of
a garbage can, with a book for weight in the bottom.

Laughter is the best medicine. So what; my slipper, my foot, his foot, the floor have been wet by urine. I'm such a civilian!

I'm finding that Buster the cat has been terrific, aside from the time that he jumped on hubby's stomach.
Buster bought hubby flowers, he really was sorry! A pillow on his stomach has helped.

Hubby and his cat-sitter

Buster is fascinated with the bandages!

Take a photo of the sutures the first day.
This helps you figure out if they are healing
or getting infected.

Daisy and her deer friends

Daisy and the deer Feb 1 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
Daisy was out hunting. The deer are curious, wondering what she is up to and how on earth she can climb that tree!
I love how they stare at her intently. She just ignores them.

Daisy and the deer followers from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
They just do not understand who or what she is! Daisy pretty much ignores them, despite being a fraction of their size! She's after the dratted red squirrel, who is off in the forest somewhere.

Buster is sorry, Daddy

Someone to keep him warm!

Yes, he leapt up onto the bed and landed on someone's healing incision sites.

He's getting better,
with a little supervision
from Buster!

It was not pretty. Hubby's been placing a pillow on top of himself, when lying on his back in bed.


Buster, to show he was sorry, bought Daddy flowers.

Mind you, he doesn't look sorry!

For all who have enquired, hubby is doing better. Each day it get easier. I'm remembering to close the dang catheter port BEFORE reattaching.

Sitting down is uncomfortable, but an upright chair is best, as it is easier to get up out of with arm rests for support.

Lying down, or walking about, is best. They had him vertical in the hospital the night of his surgery day, and up walking on the next day. He'd go for a walk about the hospital corridor.


Buster bought daddy flowers from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.
He was sorry to jump on Daddy's stomach at 2:30 a.m., demanding more food. Mommy had to get up and feed the cats. Buster forgot daddy has 8 incisions on his belly.

Paint Party Friday: daffodils

Paint Party Friday: Week 47, Year 3 Check-In

Better late to the party than never!

We were waiting in our motel room - for hubby's surgery the next day. I brought along my drawing tools to while away the time! I totally forgot I had an entry for it! I've been preoccupied!

Is it ever soothing to sit and draw!

I also wanted to draw examples of cells. I find it helps to understand 'normal' vs. abnormal cell growth.

Here are normals cells.

It's been a white-tail deery week!

Whack. "My seed!"
 But Babe gives as good as he gets!

My caregiving is going well. NOTE TO SELF: close to drainage port before attaching the day time Foley catheter bag. <sigh>

I am happy when the deer visit. It's a nice change in pace. This caregiving isn't for chumps.

The yearling's coat is so lovely and fuzzy.  Our usual visitors consist of what looks like momma and yearling, and an aunty. I think the yearling is a male, only because he stands up for himself, even towards Momma, when she comes over to nibble the pile of seed he was nibbling. Whack, with the foreleg. It's a deer-eat-deer world.

It's fun trying to capture a cute photo. They are watching intently for cats. The cats ignore them, but they are concerned, as we have mink, weasels, fishers, a vicious gopher (it snarled and jumped at me!), fox, coyote, and the like. Me, they are cautious of but by no means are they tame. One sudden move and they are gone. Sometimes, as I fill the bird feeder, they'll stamp and snort. I just stamp right back at them, then snort in return, and they take off!

Of course, Daisy bops up onto the caterpillar, and the sudden move makes them flee. The yearling hides behind momma!

She peers around the deck post at me.

You can see the difference in size:
yearling/mother.

"Yes? Are you something I should flee from?"
Love those big ears, as she listens for danger and movement behind her. I can tell when more deer, or the wild turkeys, are in the gully, coming up the hill into our yard. They all stare intently in the same direction. We've got the cleanest area under the bird feeder that you could imagine, despite the blue jays who pick and choose the best seed, and whack the rest onto the ground.

Chewing its cud, Babe rests in the sun.

Big, brown eyes keep a watch on us all.
 The fuzzy face is a hoot. I just kept click, through the sliding glass doors, into the backyard.
I love that tongue!

Deer are ruminants, with a four-chambered stomach. They can fill their stomachs in 1 or 2 hours, then they hunker down in the sunshine in our backyard and chew their cud, as cows do.

Join in and share your critter on Eileen's critter party. Her latest post is one the Grackles.