Thursday, October 30, 2008

Today makes me feel good.

I finished, out of necessity, writing my letter for DAAD a half hour before it needed to be FedEx'ed. I rushed to put the package together and then got it there just in time.
It's almost out of my hands. All that is left is to get the second letter of reference from a prof and then mail it in.

Next step is to apply to those schools, as well as any other schools.

November will suck.


I got paid by the university AND the ballet school today AND I deposited my cheque from the telemarketing job. On my way home, I paid my outstanding dentist charges and then when I got home, I completely paid off my MasterCard. It will be a few days before I get the satisfaction of seeing the balance at zero on my computer, but I feel very very good about this!


Last night was the student composer concert. I didn't have anything played, but the other 2nd year Masters student and I were in charge of organizing it. When the show was supposed to start, there was no stage manager, so we ended up having to move all of the stands, chairs and piano between every piece! It's not the worst thing in the world, but I was really looking forward to watching the concert from the audience - but I guess there is no reward for the organization of concerts - just the satisfaction that the show went well. It did go well. I'm somewhat satisfied.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Opposite day of yesterday

I got a short-notice appointment with the Endocrinologist today = the pump process is one month and a bit ahead of schedule = I might have a pump for Christmas!
Also, I love this new doctor! He was so thorough and asked so many questions, but without an ounce of judgment - perfect for an Endo.

My new shoes are still beautiful and I still love them, but they hated me, and expressed that through the causation of bloody Achilles tendons. OUCH!

My composition lesson today was great.

Tomorrow is the dress rehearsal AND the Student Composer Concert - what fun!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Feeling extremely _____ today.

I went to the pharmacy/post office today for two things - convenient that they are both in the same store!

I had ordered shoes on ebay, and I've been feeling apprehensive about whether they would fit, or smell, or be in bad shape, different from the pictures I saw.

I had to fill some prescriptions for insulin and test strips.
In Ontario, strips are not covered by pharmacare - mostly because pharmacare doesn't exist here - the whole concept of universal healthcare... DOESN'T EXIST IN ONTARIO! Pharmaceuticals here seem to be completely privatized. No huge worries, the university has decent coverage, as long as I feed them the mountains of paperwork they seem to require to survive.

Long story short - the pharmacy claimed that the insurance company refused to cover more than one meter at one time. I have used at least 2 meters at a time for the past decade and then some. I know that I use about 200 strips a month, and I divide that number in categories for each meter so that I still use the same amount, just different types. Apparently this is not possible with the system.
Also the pharmacy filled way too many compared to what I wanted, and they didn't even have enough to give me what they had filled, so I would have to come back again to get the rest another day.
I got angry and I didn't have time to call the insurance company before class.
I was bitchy.

I tried on the shoes and they fit like a glove - meaning that I can't wear thick socks, but with nice dress socks, they fit great and they are super comfortable and they look beautiful!
I love them.
For one brief and shining moment, I was truly happy.

Then I was angry again. I was short on time, and I ran off to catch the bus to school. I dislike the bus, so I was bitchy again. I was running late, and it turned out to be the stupid bus that goes the long way around, so I was going to be late. I got to the university and decided I was too pissy to sit in a class for 2 hours, so I went to my office, grumbled there for 2 minutes before heading back home.
It was pouring rain at this point, so I was pissy. And wet.

I got home, started to work on composition, then got distracted by my pissiness and called the insurance guy. Long story short, if I fill one month at a time, separately, I can get my two types of strips. He gave me instructions to take to the pharmacy:
1)Fix the mistake you made - Don't fill more than you have, you stupid assholes!
2) Re-bill what you've already given him so that things are right, and make sure that you aren't claiming that this is 3 months worth when it is clearly only 1 month, you stupid dungheaps!
3)Bill the other strips separately as 1 months worth and all should be happy.

Surprise surprise, the dinkus at the pharmacy was not able/willing to follow these simple instructions without getting it verified by the insurance person I was talking to.
GRRR!
There is nothing that she needs to get authorized! If she follows the instructions it will simply either work, or it won't work, and then I can submit the claim manually.
I ended up leaving it all there because she couldn't get ahold of the person, so she left a message and couldn't do anything until she heard back.

In the end, I've spent probably close to 2 hours dealing with this shit.
I am not happy with it.
This is just another shining example of how terrible the health system is here.

I really do miss Manitoba at times like these.

The things I'm willing to put up with (and bitch about) in order to get an insulin pump.
At the same time, if I knew what becoming an Ontarian would be like, I never would have done it. I don't think the Insulin Pump is worth this hassle.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Over a week without posting...

I will certainly forget to mark the occasion, so I'll mention it now. Soon, I will have posted 750 times - I reckon that is a lot. I seem to be slowing down, so who knows if I'll make another milestone before finally giving up on this obviously out-of-fashion blogging craze.

The weather has cooled off quite a bit, it seems I missed sweater weather. I live for the weather from 12-18 degrees, and it seems to be hovering under 10 most of the time I'm outside, so just a little cool to be outside too much without a light jacket.

The construction on the main drag in London, right in front of my apartment, seems to be nearly, if not completely finished now.

Right now, I have two major things. I have a meeting with my adviser on Tuesday, and I need to have a lot to show for the 2 weeks since I last saw him [I have a little now, but I need much more]. DAAD is due on Nov 1'st in New York. I've printed out the scores and the application for it, so I need to finish the proposal and a few other details.
My plan is to focus solely on the thesis stuff right up until my meeting, and then spend the rest of Tuesday and Wednesday on the application.

After this application, I need to focus on the thesis and just stay focused until it's finished!
Applications will continue to taunt me - I will be applying to the three German schools associated with DAAD, as well as any Canadian, US or other schools I decide upon.

Another thing distracting me - I'm doing two quasi (unpaid) commissions for a prof at the school. One is an edit/rewrite of a piece I previously wrote and the other is something completely new. Both are close to being finished. They fall into my after-DAAD to-do pile.

Oh SHIT, I just remembered that the Student Composer Concert is on Wednesday = I will get nothing done other than supervising the dress rehearsal!

I finished my telemarketing job the other day. It was a summer job which was supposed to pay off my credit card as well as keep me alive during the summer. It kept me alive, but still hasn't done the other... A few weeks ago, I was thinking of buying a macbook ona whim, and I started applying for the student loan I had ignored, and now I realize that I should have that money out either way. I hate money and all things financial.

Ok, I need to get to bed so I can wake up tomorrow and get a heck of a lot done!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Lot's has happened this week. I voted, my friend Fork ran for MP and got a respectable voter support, although she won't be moving to Ottawa this time around.
CONGRATS, FORK!

In terms of composing, I think I reached the point at which one feels that if they don't kick it into at least moderate gear - they will fail. As a result, I have started working harder and I'm getting more done in all departments. Aside from the thesis, there are two quasi-commission thingies to get done this term. One of them should be done in a week -it's just a revision of a piece I wrote a few years ago.

I've been continuing my summer telemarketing job into the school year for a few days a week, but that job will be ending next week. I'm excited for the time I will then have to devote even further to my writing!

This DAAD application is sneaking up on me. I need to get most of it done this weekend so that I don't get myself into a sticky situation.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

SSHRC and OGS were handed in on time and I feel reasonably good about them.
A composer friend from Winnipeg agrees that running off to Germany next year is a good idea, so we might do that. Maybe time off school would be the best thing - I could just go there and get a job for the year and compose/live/learn German while I'm there.
Which brings up the question - why am I even applying to schools unless I'm sure I want to go?!? At least I can defer acceptance at most schools...

These are the thoughts I have almost constantly lately - I change my mind every time they come up - I'm assuming that some clarity will come to me over the year.

Saturday, October 04, 2008

I remember this time of year in my final year of undergrad... I promised myself that I would never go through the process of grad school applications again...

I lied.

I should have listened to the previous me. This year is going to kill me with paperwork. There will be three rounds of applications:
1) SSHRC and OGS - I did these last year out of requirements from UWO, this year I'm doing them just in case I decide to go to grad school.
2) Next month, I'm applying to the DAAD scholarship program. It would be money to live and study in Germany for a year. I would love to do this. No matter what else comes up, I currently feel that this is my first priority.
3)DMA applications. I will pick a few schools and apply for doctoral programs.

Basically, by the time I've finished these applications, it will be December, and I should have finished the bulk of the work on my thesis! In other words, the next few months of my life are going to be intense.
Maybe I would feel a lot better about these applications if I had a clear idea of the future. I'm not terribly inspired to do anything after this. I'm not at the point where I need to be done school, but I'm not exactly yearning to enter a doctoral program. Because I'm fairly flippant about it, I'm going to leave things up to chance - I'll apply to a bunch of things and see what opportunites come up.

Who knows, if none of these work out, I'll be applying for jobs...

Thursday, October 02, 2008

I am quite enjoying having a piano in the apartment!
It is not the best instrument, but it does the job.
The action is slow and the touch is quite heavy; practicing solely on this instrument could cause some major tension issues. This piano has had a traumatic existence lately. This summer it was rebuilt - new strings and new hammers, and then it was recently moved into the apartment. Also, it is a bad time of year with changing temperatures and humidity.
I can forgive the piano though for it's shortcomings... he's over a century old! Dates aren't very specific, but the searching we've done so far dates the piano at somewhere between 1903 and 1909 ish. Pictures will come shortly.