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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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...

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.

PIANO!

When I got home from school today, the piano was already moved in! It now has several scores piled on it, and I've played a few pieces.
I'll post more about it once I play more on it, but I just wanted to post my excitement for now!

I almost convinced myself to give up on OGS and SSHRC scholarship applications, but my roommate reminded me of my old friend... logic, but the real logic, not that made up Michael logic.
I need to finish up the writeup of my plan either tonight or tomorrow so that my references can read it.
Mostly, these applications are going to ruin my birthday, haha.
I am trying to avoid my birthday tomorrow. I don't dislike birthdays, but I just don't care.
I got a great care package from my parents with little things that are exactly what I needed - dishtowels, baked goods, teas, and a kilogram of jellybellies!

I'm very excited that my Chinese friend Jon is back in Canada! He's on the other side of the country, but at least I can call him long-distance for free now. Welcome back Jon!

The piano is scheduled for delivery on Tuesday. There is construction right in front of my apartment. If it interferes with the delivery, it will likely be weeks until we get it, but I'm avoiding that possibility - I will have a piano next week!!!

I think I'm comfortable with my new pace of blogging - a little less often than the once daily posting habit.  If anyone has objections, feel free to comment, HA!

A few days after my last post, I got a phone call from the diabetes clinic informing me that there is a doctor who takes in new patients much faster than the rest.  I got referred to him, so I'm hoping to shave a few months off of the timeline.

I can't believe the month of September is into its last week already, almost.  I'm still trying to wrap up stuff from the summer, but I really didn't do much over the summer, so the work needing still to be done adds up to something insurmountable when I have a thesis that I need to write.

I'll be having my quarter-century birthday next weekend, and I couldn't really care any less.  I've never really been a big birthday person, but it seems logically that this one should be more important than usual.  Oh well!

Patience Michael, Patience...

I should have switched over to Ontario health coverage long ago, but I didn't - that doesn't really make much of a difference to the story I'm telling, but it makes a little.

I really should have gotten in touch with an Endocrinologist a LONG time ago.  I am soon going to be on a 4-6 month waiting list to see any of the London specialists.

The ontario pump coverage program (Assistive Device Program) is quite picky about the things needing to be done - and rightfully so if they are going to pay out that amount of money.

I went to an information meeting tonight and they were telling people who were already in the process to be patient...  I am much further behind them all in this process.  

As I understand, here is what I still need to do:

1) Get a referral to an Endo - I thought I had done this, but a misunderstanding on both parts means that my doctor referred me to a diabetes education centre and not a specialist.

I called some different Endos today, and the wait time at all of them is about 5 months - and that's just for a first appointment, I'm not even sure if they'll do any referrals at that point.  The one I'm asking the Doc to refer me to is booking into December and January - I'm going to go onto a cancellation list, but I'm not counting on that.

2) Get my Endo to refer me to the Diabetes Education Centre - I've already started going to some things, but apparently I still need a referral for the red-tape's sake.

3) Pass their qualifications so that they can recommend me to the ADP.

4) Wait - they were saying tonight that it could be another 3 month process to get accepted, and then longer to get the actual cheque for monthly supplies.

When all is said and done, this insulin pump might end up being a nice graduation present - coming around March or April.

Happy Graduation!!

One of the few complaints I've had about the new apartment is that the laundry dryer wouldn't completely dry my clothes. I put my clothes in the dryer today before work and it wasn't done before I left for work. I just left, figuring that I could dry my still damp clothes later on.
That was at 3pm, I got home at 11:20 and the dryer was spinning... I'm not sure if maybe my roommate put in more money into the machine before going to bed....[not likely, how would he have known?!?] or if they were just drying for over 8 hours straight.
I'd say that 80% of my wardrobe was in that dryer, so I'm really hoping that it didn't shrink everything... Mostly, I'm glad that it didn't light the clothes, or building on fire!

I worked a long shift today - from 3-11:15 pm. I would say that 8 hours is too long for telephone sales. I work again tomorrow morning. I think I'll have to quit soon because of school and general life. I need to start waking up at a reasonable hour, reliably, and evening work isn't good for that.

some new developments

Things are going pretty well.

They have finally unleashed the information and details about the insulin pump coverage. There is no age restriction, so I will be getting one.  Now, I have to start jumping through the hoops.

I need to:

Get an Ontario Health Card

Get referred to the diabetes pump training centre(which I thought I had already done... since I had an appointment with them this morning)

Get referred to an Endocrinologist so that THEY can preperly refer me to the diabetes pump training centre (see above).

Go to dieticians and information sessions about insulin pumps so that they can qualify if I am a suitable candidate for insulin pump therapy.

And who knows what else they will see fit.  Once that stuff is done, they will help me to fill in the paper work for the funding.

The good thing is that I have a good deal of certainty that I will actually be getting a pump and there is no deadline I have to deal with.  I can proceed at my own speed.

As of today, I've officially dumped my original thesis project.

This is actually a big change.  I had been dwindling the idea for a while in my mind, but only on Friday did I acknowledge to myself that it's a real possibility to dump it.  I thought of it over the weekend and, having found a suitable replacement project, I'm super confident that I'm making the right decision.

This will give me an extra few months to get things together and it eliminates a lot of the technical glitches that would certainly have gotten in the way.

I still intend to collaborate with the choreohrapher and dancers while I'm here, but not as part of an academic project.  I think this will be better for everyone involved.

New Thesis - I'm writing a piano concerto.  I'm basing it on, surprise surprise, a text by Wallace Stevens, Peter Quince at the Clavier.  The text will be spoken by the pianist while or between playing the piano.  In addition to my enjoyment of spoken text, I like this because it necessarily changes the manner in which the pianist interacts with the audience and other players.

That's all I'll say for now.  I need to find a pianist - I need to get to know some more pianists at Western... or some of them at all...

I never pawned my keyboard.  I might still, but I put it up high, so I'd need to get on a chair or ladder to get it down.

We went and saw a piano that we're going to rent this year.  It has a fixed soundboard crack, and it wasn't completely put together, but that's ok.  For thirty-five dollars a month split in two, it's good enough!

I'm worried about the lack of progress on my thesis thus far, and I'm seriously rethinking some things.  I have a meeting with my advisor on Monday, so I'll post what comes of that.

Also on Monday, I have a meeting with pump specialists - I'm going to prod them for as much info as humanly possible about the funding.  I'm thinking it's time.  The referral came very quickly, so maybe that's a sign that it's the right approach.

Tomorrow I'm going to my Uncles to celebrate my Grand-dad's 88th birthday. I'm excited to see family, and the nice home-cooked meal will be nice.

Ick, I overate tonight at the pot-luck.  It was a wonderful social event, but wine and food enter my body in excess in these kind of situations.

Tonight, I went to the first of what will soon be many back-to-school shindigs. As tomorrow is Labour day and meetings start early next week, summer is almost officially over.

I had such grand ideas and plans and expectations for this summer - I'm trying to think of even one area of my life where I even came close to those expectations. Whether it be work, productivity, health and exercise, socializing or anything else - this summer was a blatant failure.
As I claim far too often, I'm going to use this as a chance for a fresh start.

I definitely got into a bad rut during the summer. Things are different enough now that I will try to shift everything rather than little by little.

I'm excited to sell/pawn my crappy keyboard. All keyboards are crappy, so the prospect of getting a piano really excites me. Also, living right downtown, there are 2 pawnshops that I can go to within a minute walk! I can't even remember what I paid for the keyboard so I'd be happy to get anything more than fifty bucks. Of course I'll haggle with them - that's the fun part!

Things are really up in the air still, and boxes are a'clutterd, but I'm officially at home here in the new apartment.
I'm getting along great with the new roommate. We're currently looking into renting a piano for the year. This would make me beyond happy!
I'm ready in mind to get the new school year started, but not in preparation... Anyway It will be good to get the year started.

I'm moved into the new apartment and I love it!
There are still a lot of boxes in the way of feeling completely moved in, but it already felt odd going to my other apartment to clean.
It only took me 15 seconds of outside time to get to work yesterday. I could have made it last 1 or 2 minutes by going to the lights to cross, but that seemed excessive.
Once again - free cable. I'm less excited about it this time; I was actually hoping I wouldn't have it so that I could focus on work. I guess I'll have to be my own motivation this year and not get suckered into sloth.

This is my last post from my first apartment in London.
I moved a fair bit of stuff today with the help of my friend Judles and tomorrow morning I pick up the rental van. By tomorrow evening/night, I will be officially moved into the new apartment. Tomorrow is going to be a long day!
I'm very glad I have this extra week or so to move, rather than having to do everything on September 1'st. I'll have time if I forgot to pack something, or to come back and clean.

I've enjoyed this apartment, but it's time to move on. I'm convinced that the change in venue and surroundings will be exactly what I need for this next year.

Moving reminds me of how much stuff I have - I wish I had less. I'm going to donate a bunch of clothes to the goodwill - uprooting things gives the opportunity to see what you haven't worn all year.

Oh yes, I'm definitely going to enjoy the central air tomorrow night in my new apartment!

Ooopsie, I need to go to bed... staying up too late won't be good for tomorrow.

goodnight and goodbye from quaint little Cartwright St.

Today was a very productive day - and it's only 2pm!

I went and got the keys to my new apartment. Included with the apartment are a couch, a chair, and a nice round, wooden dining room table. Can you believe that every wireless network within range was secured?!? At least people are learning their lessons - but I wish there were more trusting people who like to share their networks...

I bought deodorant. The brand I use has a new flavour - I'm very excited to try it out!

I got a membership at the YMCA on my way home. I'm realizing that going back to school this year won't really give me any schedule, as I have no classes, so I'm going to use swimming in the mornings to impose some kind of daily routine. Also, the goal is to be somewhat less fat and lazy this year.