Monday, June 8, 2009

Barfing and Ferries

Nothing new to report. Life is pretty.... well, it's there. I'm having a hard time remaining positive. I'm trying very hard not to complain cause I just annoy myself. DH is trying to be romantic to me and I'm just irritated a lot which of course makes him say, "What the hell is wrong with you?". Why do they say that? Why? Is that supposed to make me want to talk?

Went to visit the inlaws for a day. By the way - screw you BC Ferries for charging $72 for a car and 2 people each way. We would have gone the night before (there's a discount Tues - Thurs) but I was working and there are no ferries after 9pm. So screw you. We wanted to see my DH's aunt who was there for just one more day on her holiday. We brought Juno. Her ride to the ferries was a bit dreadful for her, I'm afraid. She barfed twice and was generally unwell. DH was testy as usual, as I knew he would be, he doesn't deal with barf well. He was driving but frankly once you know the dog is going to barf, there's nothing you can do about it save put a sickbag in front of her snout. He kept turning to check on her instead of watching the road. For ***%%'s sakes, just watch the road, fussing over her is not going to stop her from barfing. He's always trying to avoid mess. It's our own fault, she got to her food bowl earlier in the morning and we should have remembered to pick it up. She recovered to play with the inlaws new 2 year old cocker. Dear MIL washed the blanket and towels she heaved on. Eventually, the dogs got along and the rest of the grownups sat on the porch and drank. I had no idea older people drank so much. Apparently at 4pm, someone rings a bell in the seniors park and they all gather with drinks in hand and talk and drink and occasionally hot tub. I have to say they were incredibly funny and down to earth. Ah, the older generation, they just want to get wasted on home brewed wine. And yes, we did get asked about children, but I just pointed to the dog and the woman had the good sense to change the subject. I love old people. They talked about funny things like farting in bed and days in the Navy. And dogs, of course.

As much as I love my in-laws, I hate going to Victoria for just a day. It takes about 2 1/2 hrs by the time you leave the house. You spend a fortune in gas and ferries just to sit around and chat. Before you know it, it's time to leave. Now you can drive to the ferries, pay for parking for the day and then walk on (which is much cheaper) but when you have a dog, it's slightly problematic. One time years back, we caught the ferry with Sampson. We sat on the side of the car deck in what we thought was the least wind swept corner. It was filthy and cold, and there was one old rickety dirty chair and we had to go find another one which we had to clean before DH could sit on it. For this steerage, we paid full fare. Lucky for us, I brought a blanket. Even the employees have to wear headphones to shut out the noise. I was not impressed. Sometimes you don't get the ferry that has a prepared pet area. If you get on the bigger ferry, you sit in an area midship away from the wind on the noisy car deck (atmospheric sounds along with car alarms) on a steel bench. It's still noisy and cold, but at least you're not near an open window bay. I did this once and kind people offered to bring my coffee to keep me warm. If you're lucky you're with another pet owner and you can spell each other off if you need to use the washroom. Once again, full fare even though you're not really free to use the "amenities" of the ship. Recently, they have a new ship and that one you get to set on the car deck, but in a room with four steel chairs and a bench. Not bad. Much better. Not comfortable for a human in the slightest, but it's much improved. Ah, what we do for our pets.

There's been some talk about going away for my birthday, we don't have a pet sitter for Juno. I don't think I could leave her with our friends, she's too young and requires too much supervision, so that means bringing her with us. This will most likely involve barfing in the car and a ferry.

6 comments:

zsmom said...

Did you know we almost share a birthday? Mine is the day after yours...no wonder I feel as if we know one another so well....

and believe me, when Lucy starts licking her chops in the car and getting that look -- you're right, all you can do is put something under her -- but it never stops G from saying &%$#* it!

I, of course, have all these lovely romantic ideas of ferries -- and the one time we went on the BC ferry it was sort of magical -- and we fell in love w/ Vancouver Island...and Victoria too -- though we were only there a scant day and then went to the other side of the island to a town south of Tofino (?) -- a small, tiny town that was starting to drum up tourism -- but hadn't succeeded much other than us. Oh that makes me smile. It was a great trip.

I hope YOUR trip for your birthday is wonderful -- even if it does include a little doggie barf...it's what we do for those we love, isn't it?

XOOXO

Pam

loribeth said...

Personally, the ferry rides are among my favourite memories of our west coast trips. But then, each time we've gone, we've taken the bus (cheaper & no waiting, they just drive right on) & either rented a car on the other side or had someone pick us up -- and it wasn't for just a day. I didn't have to deal with a barfing puppy either. ; )

annacyclopedia said...

Yeah, the day trips are a bit much. Especially with a car and a barfing dog. Poor Juno! I do love the ferry because it's still somewhat of a novelty for a prairie girl like me, but I totally know what you mean. It's a time suck and it is expensive as hell.

Funny about the dog barf - I am totally fine with it, although I verge on phobic about human barf. I fear the early years of childhood.

Drinking with old people sounds like a lot of fun. They are awesome - I love how uninhibited they can be. One summer I worked in an old ladies' clothing store, and they said the best stuff. One woman had the most horrendous smelling gas, and she just smiled apologetically and told me that she hoped she wasn't gassing me to death, but she had just started eating flax bread recently. Just totally straight up and free of any embarrassment. I love that!

WannabeMommy said...

I take the ferry to work almost every day, but wow, it's nothing like that boat-to-hell sounds. Poor Juno... maybe all this barfing and pooping is just puppy-growing pains?

Guera! said...

I love listening to groups of old people talking. It's entertaining and interesting. I would love to babysit Juno for you and it wouldn't be too much work at all. Too bad you are so far away though.

Beautiful Mess said...

Aww poor Juno! Glad she perked up though. Sorry you're not doing so well with the positives. Hope you get to feeling less "annoying" soon. I hate it when I'm so bitchy and crabby that I annoy myself. UHG!
*HUGS*