End of the year coming soon

Tags

barber, Canada, covid, Health, life, PEI, postal service, XMAS

Today I got a hair cut from Jared who is probably one of the best barbers in Charlottetown. I use to go to a traditional barber, old school type who is very popular with politicians and regular guys. His shop is very well known and he is a very pleasant fellow. However it was not exactly what I was looking for and noticed his staff were indifferent in general unless you were a local celebrity or somebody’s cousin. I got to know my current barber Jared through the gang of Receiver Coffee Co. a local coffee shop which caters to a more cosmopolitan crowd and has a progressive outlook on life. In fact when we first arrived in PEI almost 5 years ago, we went to have coffee at Receiver which had just opened as a new business. From that point we met other people and Jared was part of that group. Though at the time he was a photographer and his work caught my eye. He has a real talent for composition and light and his work is dramatic and beautiful. He then branched out into cutting hair but decided that he should go study in London UK for it at one of the more famous schools. His girlfriend is also a photographer and does art photography, she has a lot of talent.

We also have as of January a new family doctor. Our current doctor who is on maternity leave called to ask if we would consider going to his new practice which is half of her old practice in the same office. We know the new doctor and he is very nice and has a professional and easy manner with people, so we agreed to switch. You have to know that in PEI not everyone has a family doctor, in fact some 5600 have no family doctor and have to go either to a community clinic or the hospital for care, so we are privileged. This is a new factor in Canada with one generation of medical doctors retiring and insufficient numbers coming on stream.

I noticed today that we have been receiving Xmas cards in the mail but the stamps are not cancelled. I know that the volumes of mail in Canada are very high, delivery right now is 7 days a week. Maybe they are just pushing it through and making sure it gets delivered. That is ok because some people re-used uncancelled stamps and sent cards to people.

Well we are almost finished with the Xmas decorations, just a few small details to attend to now, can do this tomorrow. Now we are waiting for the Friday conference by our Chief Medical Officer for PEI, Dr Morrison and the Premier Dennis King to tell us if some of the lockdown will be lifted. Looks like it might, no new cases and everything looks pretty calm now and also vaccination has started on PEI so it’s all good news. Heather Arsenault a front line worker at a seniors home was the first to get the Pfizer shot. Fingers crossed it all works out. At any rate we have plans to either be quiet for Xmas at home or maybe invite a few close personal friends over. It’s all up in the air…

Every year I get to put the Star on our tree, an old tradition, it is the original star of 1979, always the same which has been carefully preserved through all the years.

new rules

Tags

Canada, covid19, Health, life, mask, Nunavut, PANDEMIC, PEI

Yesterday the Premier of PEI announced at the recommendation of the Chief Medical Officer that everyone in PEI would have to wear a face mask in any indoor situation as of Thursday. We do not have any Covid 19 cases but the Medical authorities and the Government are worried that people have become complacent and are not really following simple guidelines like washing your hands, keeping 6 feet apart and wearing a face mask. Community spread is always a fear and Nunavut the far Northern Territory some 2200 Km north of us had no Covid 19 case in 2020 so far but in a matter of 72 hours suddenly they have 60 cases. The population of Nunavut which is a gigantic territory larger than all of Europe has a very small population of 38,000 people. If it can happen there it certainly can happen in PEI which is very small island with a population of 150k. Also yesterday one case of community spread happened in Darmouth, Nova Scotia. So the risk is there.

I have several masks and I always have one with me and so does Will and we wear them. I just feel more comfortable going inside a mall or shop wearing a mask. It is such a small thing. Yes it fogs up my glasses and I don’t like that but so what, health comes first.

The other problem is trying to make people understand that maybe they do not fell sick or have no symptoms but that does not mean they are not carrying the virus, many just don’t seem to understand that. I suspect they do understand but just can’t be bothered.

We have been lucky on PEI during this pandemic let’s keep it that way.

Stay HOME!

Tags

Covid 19, Health, home, Italy, message, people

This little film is basically saying to all people living in Rome, don’t be stupid tonight just stay home. This way Rome will remain the Rome we know and love and we will all be safe. A simple message for all easy to follow. Italy has been hit very hard. Not all people have been careful. Enjoy this gentle poetic video addressed to us all.

 

Hoarding

Tags

Canada., Health, life, PANDEMIC, PEI

I do daily trips to the grocery store or superstore as we call them here for household / kitchen needs. Thursday I did my regular shopping and noted nothing in particular in the store despite mounting alarmist news by our Canadian Media, the bait and click gang.

However Friday 13 March was a very bad day with numerous news conferences from the Prime Minister who confirmed his wife Sophie was sick and he was self-isolating himself, to the Quebec Premier announcing draconian measures, at that time Quebec had 17 cases, no deaths, as of tonight they now have 24 cases, all related to people who travelled internationally. Quebec has a population of 8 million people. Ontario announced it was closing schools for 2 weeks and Quebec followed suit. Ontario had 101 cases, no deaths. Ontario has a population of 14 million. The National Capital Ottawa, a city of 1 million people has 5 cases. In total Canada has 195 cases now and one elderly person with pre-existing conditions died 8 days ago in Vancouver.

So far the Canadian Government has refused to close the borders, the Minister responsible explained that when you do that people are a lot less honest about telling you where they were or travelled to.  In PEI like other provinces anyone returning from abroad will have to self-isolate for 14 days. So far it is happening and people report to the Health authorities.

So given all this shower of bad news, Friday night was shopping at the zoo for most people. In PEI like elsewhere the coveted toilet paper has become a fetish, bottled water is also a very big thing. Aisles are cleared of such items.

So today, Saturday  at the grocery store, please note that all our supplies, food and otherwise come from the mainland by truck over the sea bridge, except for meat and potatoes. The grocery store was well stocked and re-stocked from Friday’s onslaught. I did notice that everything is available in meats, fruits or vegetables, milk, eggs etc. What I could not find was the Lysol towelettes with bleach, large bottles of bleach, 28 rolls or larger packages of toilet paper and large packages of paper towels, the 12 roll size. Otherwise everything else was stocked and appeared un-touched.

Available were smaller size toilet paper packages under 8 rolls, all liquid cleaning products, soap hard, gel or liquid. Kleenex in quantity, small bottles of bleach for regular house chores. So why are those products available but not the other. What kind of priority is that, bigger is better?  Now there was a couple in their 50’s man and wife discussing the value of buying the really big bottle of bleach. Wife was ambivalent, husband really wanted it, wife finally says; oh well we will try to find a use for it all, it does not go bad. So they bought it but obviously they would never buy it otherwise. Some old lady in her 80’s bought 40 rolls of toilet paper and nothing else. Watching her I wondered what was she thinking, especially if she lives alone.

We are told to wash our hands constantly, soap and water not hand sanitizers. The hand soap was plentiful and appeared to be ignored by the shopping public, how strange. Hand Sanitizers on the other hand are gone, supply exhausted and since this come by truck I can see it will take another 15 days before a new shipment arrives given the demand.

People appear to believe that sanitizer gels, because of the alcohol content is a superior magic cleaner. I also noted that many people despite the clear health instructions given to us by various medical professionals and the Health department is not really followed or understood. People prefer the pundits who predict the end of the world, that is more fun or sexy, despite the fact that journalists have been misunderstanding the information received, if one listens to the questions asked at press conferences with health professionals.

In the meantime here in Charlottetown and across the Island all public events big or small are cancelled. Everyone is hoping that in 6 weeks by the end of April the whole thing will have blown over, I am not so sure.

 

Hair cuts today and in 1930.

Tags

facial, Health, lifestyle, manicure, Travel

Getting a good haircut has always been very important to me and finding a barber who has knowledge and finesse and is also pleasant to talk to is very important.

Though today I have pretty much lost my hair on top not so much on the sides, getting a good haircut is still important. Since I had the opportunity to live around the world I experienced barbers in various countries.

Moi in 1983, jet black hair

Let’s rank them: In Rome on Via dei Serpenti, Mimo salon next to the Italian Central Bank and a block away from the Quirinal Palace. You got the big wigs of the Italian Government and the salon felt like a Gentlemen’s Private Club, lots of style and class. Got a very nice haircut and a wash, a manicure by Ms Sisi and very pleasant conversation. I always looked forward to going every 10 days or so.

Warsaw, Poland, I can’t remember really, it seems I got a haircut and it was fine. Mind you it was 1998 and the country was still adjusting to consumerism.

Cairo, Egypt, I would go to barbers in the neighbourhood of Zamalek, pleasant but nothing else. The barbers would speak English with a heavy Egyptian Arabic accent and could be quite funny. Egyptians love jokes and stories and are happy to entertain you.

Amman, Jordan, there was a barber salon owned by Iraqis, the haircuts were ok it did the job but nothing else. Their living conditions were difficult amid the turmoil in Iraq and the economic difficulties that forced them to leave. Jordan could only afford them a meagre life with no future.

I remember once going to a place on the outskirts of Amman, the salon had Coranic verses plastered to the walls, the barber a Palestinian was a nice fellow, but it was all in Arabic. I knew enough to tell him what I wanted and he did a good job. I think he was surprise to see me in his salon and probably wondered how I had found him. The licence plate on my shiny car parked outside gave away who I was.

Beijing, PRC it was difficult to find a barber and I had to ask around. Many of my colleagues would have their hair cut by the wife at home, with strange results. I finally found a lady barber, a Philippina who had a small salon, her clients were other diplomats from various embassies. It was a bit of a strange neighbourhood and at the time Beijing was being totally transformed for the upcoming Olympics. So the area of her salon was being demolished and re-built, a mixture of mid 1960’s  Mao Communist architecture, plain concrete poorly done and painted garish colours with aluminium windows.  I also felt, because we were in a Police State, that her salon was constantly being watched by the People’s Police. So I got a haircut there and would pay and leave. China has a lot of Asian ex-pats mostly from the Philippines who work in many various service industry fields. Mostly because of their English language skills and easy manner, Philippinos dominate the service industry.

Mexico City, I went to a very nice barber shop in Polanco about 2 blocks from my home. In Latin America, most barber shops offer a cut, a wash and manicure but also a shoe polish. Polishing shoes is almost as important as getting a good hair cut. The reason is cultural, if you are a professional or someone who has status in society or simply a gentleman you would not go out with scuffed shoes. People look at your shoes and it is a status symbol. I remember once in Santiago Chile, was having drinks in the lobby of my hotel which was across from the Presidential Palace, the one where Allende committed suicide during the coup that brought General Pinochet to power. There were two Canadian business men there and they were not having much luck selling brushes for coal factory stacks. Their product was high tech and advanced, a good product no doubt. They told me that their counterpart did not appear impress by the presentation they were making. I looked down at their black leather shoes, they needed a good polish and cleaning, their suits also needed to be pressed. I pointed out to them that South American cultural rule. Polish is important in anything you do, it gives confidence.

Chicago was a great city for many things but also for a haircut, manicure and a shoeshine. My Office was in the New Prudential Tower on North Stetson ave. next to the Amoco Tower then clad in white marble on Randolph Ave. There was a big shopping area in the basement serving the many office buildings in the area. There was a barber shop and I could simply take the elevator down from my Office. I really loved living in Chicago, such a great city.

Now Charlottetown, here is where we live now, a choice of barbers we do have, some are the chain style shops his and hers in strip malls, you have one across from City Hall which has been around for ever and as an established good ole boys white male clientele. Its ok for a barbershop but the cuts tend to be 1960 vintage honest but nothing fancy. It is also very heterosexist and not open to diversity. Then we have barbershops for the under 35 yrs old. Now what is interesting here and I have started to notice it is the haircut for the under 40 is becoming more and more of a retro-look, cuts from the 1920-1930. The customers demand it and look for stylish cuts which can take an hour to fashion, no buzz cuts here. They also go to the barber every 10 days or so to keep the look.

My Barber Jared D. is a interesting fellow, studied economics, travelled widely, he is an Island Boy, he is also a photographer of talent, his nature scenes and city scapes are spectacular and do attract a lot of attention. Now he is a barber and he has studied in London and recently in Toronto. He takes specialize courses and he is very good at what he does, you could call him a perfectionist. It is always nice to talk with him and he is a very interesting person, that is what I call a good barber.

However no barbershop I know of here or anywhere on PEI offer manicure or shoe shine. Mind you I do not know any either in Ottawa, Montreal or Toronto where this service is offered. Again if you want you hair washed after a cut, that is also not done. I wonder why. Maybe it’s a Canadian thing.

So recently I found a person C.B. who does manicure and facials and this is a nice thing to have, I did not at first when I met her know exactly what she did for a living, she had only mentioned that she was busy at work, she had a business, a salon. It took me sometime to figure it out. She did my nails last week and I was very happy with the result. I find it relaxing and pleasant and it is also a pampered luxury. I want to do more of that, as I use to do in the past as part of my regular routine, a nice resolution to have for 2020.

 

 

 

Battered and bruised

Tags

Charlottetown, Club, ER, Health, hospital, medical, nursing, QEH

I wanted to write about the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia we visited in Halifax last week. The City is not far from us at all and an easy ride, it also has great restaurants and many nice sights.

Instead I will speak of a little drama in my life which happened last night at the Club. As a retired person you would never know that I am retired, I volunteer in many causes and work often 30 to 40 hours a week, here and there. Currently I am involved in the renovation and redecoration of several rooms at the Haviland Club, an old mansion celebrating 150 years since its construction in 1869 by a young widow of 33 and single parent Esther Full Lowden, she was also a business women. Her older husband George had died suddenly in 1864 at age 47. She was left with a shipping empire and had to navigate the difficulty of being a women in an age when women were not heard from nor voted, in a very narrow minded society on a small Island.

The house at no. 2 Haviland street is in the Italianate style its quite beautiful and has many interesting features. Its a big job but an interesting one renovating the rooms but it is fascinating as you learn the history of this building.

We are also now in the midst of a Provincial Election campaign voting day is April 23, a strange date since is falls immediately after Easter and in Canada both Friday and Monday of the Easter weekend are holidays and you cannot campaign on Easter Sunday, nor on Good Friday, bad form.

I have been helping out our candidate in District 12 which means canvassing door to door. This week the winds have been very strong and cold even if the days were sunny. I was over tired and kept going anyway. Skipping lunch etc… You know sometimes you just have to stop and have a coffee and a sit down, something I have to learn, I am not 20 anymore.

So on Friday afternoon I went from canvassing on the streets to Party HQ to the Club for pizza and a glass of wine, I suddenly felt very dizzy and I knew I was going to faint. The Club has security cameras and this episode showed how well they work. I apparently fainted twice, broke my glasses and banged my head on a pillar thus the big bruise on my forehead. When I came to I was in the hallway with people around me and the paramedics. Off we went to the hospital sirens blaring. I apparently fainted in ER, have no recollection of that either. Everyone saw the security film at the Club and at the Hospital, I did not, made me smile.

I did ask Will to take the photo of me in ER, it just struck me as funny. We are also planning to rebuild the wheelchair ramp at the Club, a fellow club member had been after me on that topic, so I asked the paramedics how they found it structurally, it’s ok but could be a lot better, it is wood and dates from 1997. I got excellent care at the hospital, very kind and attentive staff, could not ask for anything more. Thank you to all at the QEH in Charlottetown.

The next day I was very tired and still a bit uncomfortable. I will be going back to my doctor to see what can be done about this despite the fact that after all the tests at the Hospital all was normal. Answered all the strange questions they ask to see if you are coherent, no problems there. So life goes on, but at a slower pace, no need to kill myself, I am retired after all.

Needless to say this photo is unretouched.

 

 

 

Some drama

Tags

Dachshund, Health, Nora, PEI, poison

Yesterday our miniature Wire Hair Dachshund Nora got suddenly sick around 6:30pm. She was with us on our South terrace when we noticed she was twitching and had a glaze look in her eyes, she was unable to walk and was unresponsive. She could not see us but could smell and was very afraid.

I immediately phoned the Emergency service at the Animal Vet Clinic of the University of PEI. It is one of the very best Vet schools in North America and offer excellent service at very reasonable prices. We are only 5 minutes away by car, got there and we were met by 2 doctors and one senior student. The examination took 2 hours and the doctors told us that they wanted to keep Nora for the night and wanted to run full blood work etc. we agreed to it readily.

We had no idea if it was a stroke, a seizure or poison. When we got home we were pretty upset and had no appetite for dinner. At 10:30pm the AVC doctor called to tell us that Nora was stable and on IV, they were going to keep an eye on her all night. The following morning they phoned again to tell us she was much better but would keep her for the day and could we come by around 6pm to see her. It was an anxious day, despite the good reports we were receiving. In the end, the Vets told us it was a poison of some kind she had eaten, possibly in Confederation Landing which is the park behind our house on the river. Luckily the dose was not great, just enough to make her really sick.

She is now back at home tonight, doing better but we are keeping an eye on her. Making sure she has water and rest comfortably.

 

1956-2016

Tags

Birthday, happiness, Health, home, March

Amazing I made it!!!! Another Spring for me. Looking at old pictures today of my childhood and thinking back, a lifetime, I have been blessed with a good family and parents, a great partner Will, a wonderful career which took me around the world and good health. All I can say is Thank you!

Two months from today we will be packing it all and moving to another province, who knew we would ever end up there, just goes to show how life if funny that way. I always wanted to live near the sea so this is a dream come true. The header  photo is of early Spring in PEI and the beaches of the Island.

Keeping healthy despite it all

Tags

Africa, camps, Ethiopia, Health, malaria, mosquitoes, Omdurman, refugees

Before going on any posting abroad with the Canadian Foreign Service, we had to do a medical assessment. It was not thorough but enough for the employer to be reassured that you would not drop dead while on posting. Mind you many did manage to do just that with undiagnosed heart conditions or something worse. Which made you wonder about the Public Health doctors and nurses who were suppose to look after us.

One of the joys of going on posting was to be given needles for just about every tropical and exotic disease near the Equator. The knowledge about those diseases and how to pick up on the symptoms remains to this day rather vague notion for our Canadian Medical establishment but they know a chicken with the flu when they see one. We were also given malaria pills, the size of pills given to horses, the unpleasant side effects were stomach cramps, nausea, fever, headaches, etc… but you were protected up to 60% from catching the disease if a mosquito bit you between 5pm and 9pm. As if mosquitoes go to bed at 9pm, we had to wear long pants and long sleeve shirts with a collar and stay away from cologne or after shave which contain sweet ingredients. Because of the heat we would also stay indoors at night.

There was also briefings on what to eat and not to eat on postings in tropical climes. This advice was followed because it was common sense, in a restaurant never eat cold dishes, no salads or berries of any kind, no melons, no dairy products, ice cream, no sauces or mayonnaise. All that is deadly where sanitary conditions and heat combine. Ice cubes was not necessarily a problem if the water used had been filtered, but you did learn to drink without ice, just keep your gin and vodka or beer in the fridge at all times. I also started using UHT Milk which was safe to drink.

I remember in Cairo a colleague who had just arrived was staying at the Marriott in Zamalek, a very nice hotel built into the old Palace which had been built for Empress Eugénie of France when she came to Cairo for a few days to inaugurate the Suez Canal on behalf of her husband Emperor Napoleon III. This colleague tells us that she had to eat sensibly and lose some weight, she was not obese nor fat really. Anyway that night, she had a big salad, she almost died and spent 8 weeks recuperating loosing some 50 lbs that she did not need to lose and looking like a skeleton afterwards. She had been warned but disregarded the advice because it was a 5 Star Hotel and felt safe.

The medical advice had always been eat only fruits and vegetables you can peel and cook, eat only fried or completely cooked meats, stay away from the rest. I was deathly ill in Mexico but never in any other posts like Cairo, Khartoum, Amman, Beijing.

In my travels in the Sudan conditions were primitive, we had good transport and drivers and would stay when possible in UN compounds where we knew we could get a hot shower, clean sheets and a full meal in good sanitary conditions. When we arrived in Kassala from Suakin, the conditions in that town on the border with Ethiopia were far from sanitary. Again the hotel we stayed at was very primitive, the restaurant was on the roof on the third floor and was also used as a dormitory and lounge. Being high up on the roof meant no snakes or scorpions or other little critters, you still had to give your shoes a very good shake in the morning before putting them on. The food menu was very limited, basically eggs and bread. We had scrambled eggs and bread, which you ate with your right hand scooping up the eggs with a piece of flat bread, there were no knife, spoons or forks. I discovered later that Ethiopians also eat using flat bread to scoop up food.  Never use your left hand in a Muslim country for eating or social intercourse, absolutely never, unless you want to gross out your host or dinner companions and get disapproving looks.

Kassala is on the Ghash River and is home since 1970 to large influx of Ethiopian and Eritrean refugees, there are also large number of Africans from South Sudan displaced by war and genocide. It is a commercial hub for traders, it was once a garrison town under the Ottoman Turks, then the Italians and later British Army. Kassala is ringed by large UN refugee camps under the guard of the Sudanese army, which is not a good thing for the refugee who endure much abuse and violence. In 1990 it was estimated that up to one million people lived as refugees in the Sudan mostly in Eastern border towns or in Khartoum. I remember reading a medical report on the health of the refugees compared to the native Sudanese population. The refugees were in far better health than the  Sudanese with much less incidence of disease. According to the medical report this was due to the fact that a refugee knew that to make it out of the camp and be resettled abroad you had to be in good general health.

Nonetheless the trek out of Ethiopia or Eritrea was dangerous on many levels. Women were very often raped repeatedly by soldiers, then they would be shunned by their own kin.  Men were subjected to beatings and some were killed right out. Women alone or with small children had to sell themselves to a man for protection. Culturally a widow was not very valuable and seen as used goods, however if she could cook and keep house then she could be of some use. Small children were often sold into slavery and treated like dogs, chained in the yard. Crossing rivers on foot could be also very dangerous due to crocodiles and snakes, people had to know were to cross and when, the journey was long and difficult. I heard much horrors and could do little since I was just there to report on conditions. I was also being watched by the Sudanese Authorities who did not want negative reports sent about their mistreatment of refugee population on their territory. Young soldiers on duty in such areas were often nervous and unsure of their orders and suspicious of anyone who came from the Capital especially a foreigner. It was best to keep cool, polite and say nothing, let them do the talking. Apologize if need be for disturbing them and be on your way quickly, offering cigarettes like Marlboro a whole pack or a carton was also very helpful to calm a jittery soldier. Back in Khartoum I could report to the UNHCR and the ICRC (Red Cross) what I had seen and come to an understanding on best we could help the refugee population. I am happy to say that I was able to help out several thousand people, many were resettled in Canada.

After Kassala we drove back to Khartoum on a Chinese built road. I was quite glad to be back in a City with a curfew and martial law and in a hotel with hot water and decent food.

Before I returned to Cairo, I crossed the bridge to Omdurman. There is a large market where many merchants sell goods and souvenirs. Carved figurines of African Animals in ebony or mahogany, tribal masks and other artifacts and filigree gold jewellery.

Omdurman is also where the Silver dome Tomb of the Mahdi is located, it is more of a memorial since when Lord Kitchener arrived in town, defeating the Mahdist Army he had the body Muhamad Ahmad Ibn Abdallah Al-Mahdi exhumed and burned in the furnace of his gunboat and the ashes thrown in the Nile. This to avenge the assassination of General Gordon during the siege of Khartoum by the Army of the Mahdi. The body of General Gordon was never found, no one knows in the aftermath of the battle and chaos what happened. Though it is known that his head was brought to the Mahdi who was angry at being disobeyed since he wanted Gordon alive. The Mahdi’s family was also imprisoned by the British and were never freed.

Omdurman unlike Khartoum across the Nile was always gripped by an epidemic of some kind, always contagious. At night the markets were always a pleasant area to go before the curfew. Cairo had great markets also but it was an Arabic style market place, whereas Omdurman was a mix of African and Arab market place rich in both cultures.