Tetra have picked up a new challenge, and I have three new volunteers to find projects for. The challenge is building a voice activated switch for a bed bound lady with MS. The switch has to connect to an emergency service via their equipment. One of my new volunteers is good with electronics, and I've handed the project to him.
Voice activation isn't new, but the challenge is filtering the background noise so that a cry for help doesn't get swamped by the TV. We've settled for a simple solution of a circuit with adjustable gain on the microphone that only reacts at an adjustable noise level. Then it trips the internal relay on the emergency equipment, and the cri de coeur alerts her emergency service provider. This lets her husband get out in the open air for a break for a while. I can only think what a terrible strain on their relationship it must be to have to stay within speaking distance 24/7. Cabin fever can't be in it.
On a lighter note, I seem to be fixing a lot of minor computer problems for friends and colleagues around the non profits locally. Funding is getting scarcer than ever, so they are glad of any help they can get. I'm also scrounging and cadging computer equipment for the local Personal Support Centre, which is due to open in Nanaimo 1st September 2009. Life is busy.
The Museum guys seem to trust me to get on with a job while I'm volunteering for them. Last week was making sure the ground anchors for some storage racking got fitted securely, this week was advising on video file formats and outfitting a video display case for a new part of the First Nations exhibition. It's only one day a week, but David the curator certainly gets a lot of bang for the bucks I don't get paid. I do it because the work is entertaining, varied, and I enjoy the little challenges. It's also a social networking thing, which will pay off when we finally get our permanent residency sorted out, and I then need local work references.
That's the thing about Nanaimo, it's a small city, and everything is personal. You are not a number in the machine here, you are very much a person in your own right, and valued as such. However, there is a flip side to this coin; behave badly, and word gets around faster than the speed of light. Reputation is everything.
Have recently found out about Canadian Vetinary costs. Amos, our fearless (not) hound, has recently been given his anti-rabies shots (3 years) and all his other boosters for the rest of the year, including one for Lyme disease. The bill came as a pleasant surprise. Being used to UK Vetinary fees, I was gritting my teeth and preparing to bite a very expensive bullet. Not only does my handsome mutt eat cheap, he doesn't cost much to keep healthy. This has caused me much relief. Even going to city hall to get a Dog Licence raised a mildly smug smirk. I found that in BC you only need a Dog licence if your local municipality issues one. We live 100 metres outside the city limits, and therefore save CDN$25 a year on him. Good dog.
On the personal front, I've still been feeling a little tense and restless lately. Angie isn't happy with me right this minute because I got a bit defensive when she asked me (For the third time in as many minutes) what I was going to be doing on a particular day, and who I was doing what for. The thing that irks me is that I try not to tell people what I'm about to do, because by the time I've finished telling them, I don't get time to do it. It was this nitpicking tiresome detail that drove me up the wall about UK bureaucracy. Questions like "What are you doing?" delivered in an officious tone, and then when you tell whoever is interrogating you, they want to know "Why?" and I was often sorely tempted to say sharply, "Because the little voices tell me to - now bugger off!" But I'm too polite to do so. That and being treated like a number that doesn't really matter. God, I hated that.
That is all moot. The UK is behind me now, and I will continue to build and work for our future, and the futures of Jo and Laura in this part of Canada. A place to live and work for Angie and I, and a place of refuge for the girls and any next generation they care to present us with.
I have to raise my eyes to the horizon, pick up my metaphorical feet, and carry on. Although I really could do with a break. Mother in law is due to visit for three months starting in May, and the prospect is far from thrilling. Hey ho. Onwards and upwards.
