Hunted by a Killer

            I was being hunted by a killer and so I didn’t hear my alarm on Tuesday morning. I woke up half an hour late, saw a large black flying bug on my window and heard people outside discussing a shooting. There was mostly static on Radio Canada but I was able to make out that they were talking about the death of Jeanne Moreau.

I cut some corners even though I did all my usual yoga postures and by the time I started song practice I was only fifteen minutes behind. For the first half of the French songs though I only played one verse and one chorus and ended up five minutes ahead.

            This was the day that I had to fill out and hand in my grant application for my university courses, so I started working on that at 9:30. The first thing I needed was a copy of my most recent tax return so I could show my annual income. The problem was though that I didn’t have a hard copy because I’d opted to receive electronic notices rather than paper ones but I hadn’t yet gone online to the Revenue Canada website to register for My Account. I started the application but one of the first things they wanted was to know what was on line 101 of my return, which I didn’t know because I couldn’t find a copy of my return on my computer. Finally I found it on file on the H & R Block website and I printed it. I completed my registration info and they said they would email me a security code so I could access My Account. They said though that they would not send a security code by email until I first called Revenue Canada to confirm my identity. The problem with that though was that they were impossible to reach. I called several times and then gave up to focus on my grant application. I scanned all my social assistance payment receipts and filled out the application. As I was about to get ready to leave to hand in the paperwork I tried calling Revenue Canada again. This time I got through in order to be put on hold for ten minutes. During that time I heard the signal of my phone ringing at their end but each time I reached the same recording that told me how convenient My Account was. I guess each time it rang I was advancing in the queue. Finally I got through and the agent at the other end asked me a bunch of questions, including my child’s name and date of birth. It took me a second to remember what her name was when she was living with me, but finally I’d given the agent enough info to prove I was me and she said she’d send me the security code and that I had to use it in 24 hours because after I was registered I could access My Account through my online banking password. I got ready to leave and didn’t check my email.

            It was another hot day and I wasn’t used to riding my bike downtown at midday. The Admissions and Awards office (I don’t even think it’s called that anymore) had a long line up.  After about twenty minutes I handed in my application and asked for a fee deferral letter to take to my registrar’s office. I was told though that fee deferrals were all done online now. That sounded convenient, so I went home. When I went onto the student web service though my deferral was rejected. I tried it again but got the same rejection. I called up the Woodsworth College registrar’s office and when I started explaining that I’d just handed in my application for the Noah Meltz grant the person at the other end exclaimed “Terrific!” as if I’d just won a gold medal in the Canada games. When I told her that my deferral had been rejected she informed me that I had to wait three days after handing in the application, so by Friday I should be able to get my fees deferred.

            I took a siesta at 18:30 and woke up 45 minutes later to see that it had rained while I’d been out. All the puddles would have clinched me not going for a long bike ride anyway but since I’d already ridden downtown and back, I’d decided beforehand that I wouldn’t be going out again.

            I watched another episode of Maverick with an elaborate con and counter-con. Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly) is on a date with a French countess whose string of pearls is suddenly broken. He offers to get them restrung for her and finds out they are worth $40,000. When he returns them to her she suddenly has to leave because her uncle has to get some money in New York. Bart offers to lend them $10,000 so they don’t have to leave Denver, on the condition that the countess leaves her pearls as collateral. The next day he finds that they left town anyway. He gets the pearls appraised and discovers that they pulled the old switcheroo and left him a string of fake pearls. Bart wires his brother Bret (James Garner) to come and help him get his money back. They track the couple down to a spa in Arizona where Bret poses as a wealthy gold mine owner and she pulls the same pearl trick with him but this time the Maverick’s keep the real pearls and give them back their fake ones.

            By moving a Leonard Cohen concert video to my external hard drive I cleared up enough space on my computer to upload the song practice video I’d shot a few days before.