Harperland Part 2

Well, it's been quite a day... an all day Harperfest! Things started off this morning on CBC radio with an interview on The Current with Paul Wells. His new book, The Longer I'm Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Canada, looks back from Harper's rise to power up to today. It was an interesting interview. Wells asserted that Harper is the most right wing PM we have had in his lifetime, far to the right of Diefenbaker and Mulroney. He said that Harper is such a control freak he never eats in public in case an awkward photo might be taken. He rehearses his speeches over and over, never taking chances, never giving impromptu remarks. Say what you want about Michael Ignatieff but I remember reading that his campaign speeches were often different and he always took questions. Harper, on the other hand, gave the same campaign speech over and over again.

Later, on Q, Jian Gomeshi interviewed veteran journalist Don Newman about his memoir, Welcome to the Broadcast. Again, a very interesting conversation about all kinds of political figures.

The day has been capped off with Mike Duffy's bombshell speech in the Senate. Now I am not about to start the Mike Duffy fan club but really..... at last..... someone is going to be able to show Harper for the person he really is. According to Duffy, Harper was in on the money deal from the start. Here we have a big name Conservative insider telling us how Harper operates. It is confirmation of exactly what many observers have been saying for a long time.  In Duffy's words, there is "unaccountable power in the PMO." To hear such a  totally blunt speech, as opposed to the usual Conservative  message machine is unbelievable.

Today was the political equivalent of a hockey playoff game, near the end of a series. The day has ended with CBC's The National, complete with At Issue and Rex Murphy. Murphy thinks that now Harper "must haul himself out of his surly cocoon." We'll see.

New Wardrobe Item

"What's that smell?" Pat asked. "That would be the rubbing alcohol," I replied. "Why on earth do you smell like rubbing alcohol?" he persisted. " I need it. It's my latest attempt to make this work."

You see, it all goes back to my new wardrobe item. I'll give you a hint. It has to do with a part of my aging anatomy now being officially declared incompetent.

I know what you're thinking. There are so many parts of me that could be declared incompetent. We could start with my brain that has such difficulty remembering names and book and movie titles. What about other body parts? As anyone who has seen me lately might observe...there's a whole lot of sagging going on.

My feet should have been declared incompetent years ago. Now I only wear footwear that will accomodate my orthotics. Even my eyelashes are duds. I scrub them with baby shampoo to keep the blepharitis (crusty eyelids) at bay. And no, this has nothing to do with my hair. My profile photo shows me with the curls that I had for approximately 45 years. It turns out they were hormonal. They arrived with puberty and left with menopause. Nothing remains the same.

Give up? Well the part of me that has most recently been examined are my legs. While they have looked pretty horrendous for years, I never cared because I can't see the back of my legs. They felt okay so I ignored them. However, they've gradually been getting more sore. Around the time we spent five days straight painting all the verandah spindles, in the extreme heat in July, they really made their prescence known. They were all crampy and achy.

I had an ultrasound done and the official diagnosis came back..."venous incompetence". Basically, the valves in my deep veins are not working. Of course this is not a particularly unusual problem. All kinds of people have bad veins and in my case I should not be surprised. My mother has had serious leg problems for  most of her life. One of the doctors who operated on her legs years ago, pronounced her legs the worst in the city of Ottawa. So really, I am lucky that mine have not bothered me much until now.

I should do more reading about it but basically, two of the common suggestions for treatment are to elevate your legs and to wear compression (support) stockings. So, I got a prescription for the stockings and set out to buy them. I chose a pair but the cashier convinced me to buy the next size up. I took them home, put them on and they promptly fell down. Because she had recommended the size change the salesperson agreed to exchange them.

Compression stockings don't look quite as bad as they used to. Yes, they're kind of shiny but I can live with that. I put on my new stockings and they felt good...tight but good. These are a thigh high model with a wide band at the top. On the outside the band looks lacey but on the inside it has a rubber backing. The idea is that the rubber just sticks to the top of your leg.

Well, they did stick and stay up there at first. But after a couple of days I decided I should wash them. Ever since that I have had trouble keeping them up. They start off fine but once I have walked around the house a bit there they are, down at my ankles.

So, I spoke to the salesperson who advised me to wet the rubber band before I put on the stockings. That worked for about 15 minutes. Next I was advised to clean off the rubber band with rubbing alcohol every time I put them on. That would clean off all my dead skin cells and help them to stick better. I cleaned off the offending skin cells but again, down they went. 

And so, later today I am going back to the store. Apparently the last resort is to buy a roll on glue stick, which you apply to your legs before you put on the stockings. 

Maybe this is the real reason that people my age retire. It takes so much time to get ready to get out the door. By the time do your back exercises so you can get out of bed, scrub your crusty eyelids, put your orthotics in the right shoes, put in your hearing aid, glue on your stockings, and cream up your wrinkly skin, it's almost lunch time!

A Happier Note - Culture Days in Ottawa

If you were in Ottawa in 1969 you may recognize this. It's not often we get to see it. Happily, last weekend, Culture Days were celebrated in many cities and towns across Canada. As part of Ottawa's celebration, the National Arts Centre was home to several events.

That lovely collection of colours is a section of the curtain in the NAC's main venue, Southam Hall. I remember seeing it when the Arts Centre opened in 1969 but have rarely seen it since. They simply don't use it much. Most of the time it hangs unseen, way up high above the stage.

For a half hour last Sunday it was lowered and members of the public were invited to see it. Then it disappeared again, so that people could participate in a variety of activities, one being backstage tours. 

It was fun to stand on that stage and see Southam Hall from the other side.

We enjoyed speaking to a carpenter in the props area and viewed some of the dressing rooms, which are pretty ordinary.

Besides the tours there were also free concerts.

These brass players from the NAC orchestra put on a fun show.

Coincidentally, there was another unique event  last Sunday afternoon that was not connected to Culture Days. Heritage Ottawa is an organization that offers guided walks through various Ottawa neighbourhoods. Last Sunday's was downtown, at a couple of parks that we'd never been to. Do you recognize this one?

Give up? Those three photos were taken on the roof of the Rideau Centre! The guided walk was on the rooftop gardens of the Rideau Centre and the National Arts Centre. I certainly did not know that there are three hundred trees growing on top of the shopping centre along with two kilometeres of walking paths. So much for thinking that green roofs are a relatively new idea! (The Rideau Centre opened in 1983.)

From the vantage point of the Rideau Centre garden, tour leader David Jeans pointed out various heriatge buildings. 

The best known of those were the Chateau Laurier and the former train station, now known as the government conference centre.

We then crossed over the Canal 

and onto the gardens of the NAC. While these are not nearly as large as those on top of the Rideau Centre, it was still great to realize that they are there and open for the public to enjoy. 

David Jeans pointed out that the NAC rooftop affords wonderful vantage points for viewing the Canada Day fireworks so we'll try to remember that next July. We finished our afternoon feeling pretty darn lucky to be living here.