IKEA bed

The double bed is not as big as a queen, but still much better than a queen, or sleeping on the floor. I'm still getting used to it though, as I've been sleeping on a queen sized bed for the past 5 years. Yes, I'm spoiled. Well, I just happened to end up with a queen sized bed, and have always found a place just big enough for it. The picture shown is just the base. I found that the spring mattress at IKEA only goes to "firm", instead of "extra firm" that I've been sleeping on. So far no adverse effects. Although I've been sleeping a lot, as I generally do on my days off.

My apartment, more picture

Here's a picture of the side of my apartment. It's four stories, and I live on the second floor. Unfortunately, my place doesn't have a balcony, which is really a pity. Well, I'll just have to go out more. The building structure looks decent, probably not a "leaky condo" that Vancouver is famous for.

Monbtreal general hospital

Here is a picture of McGill University Health Center, aka Montreal general hospital. It's on top of a hill, like many hospitals in Montreal. I live even further up the hill, but not very far. My classes are in the hospital, which is terrific for introducing students to working in a hospital environment. The hike from my apartment in the summer is quite pleasant, but we will need to wait till the winter to know how it feels like.

The quest for a bed, IKEA style

Since my new pad is not furnished, as first order of business, I need a bed. After browsing Craigslist for beds, the findings are slim for a double bed, and no delivery is offered. Plus the selections are either cheap student sofa beds or very expensive high end beds. Therefore, the natural conclusion is -- IKEA.

Getting the bed turned out to be a bit of a challenge. I had to drag the mattress to the cart myself, on their self-serve area. And then I had to go through check out, before I can have it deliver. Then I come home, and found out that I could have ordered that online, as I was getting a fairly expensive version. The cheaper versions weren't available for sale online. Oh well, it's an interesting experience.

The bed was delivered the next day. The promised delivery time was between 12 and 3pm, and actually delivery time was 2:35pm. So no problem here. Oh, assembly was not included, and I had to pay the delivery guy under the table to get him to assemble it. "Don't tell the company." I wonder how many times he say that every day.

Another disaster -- leaky airbed

Well, so much for packing the inflatable bed and bringing it across the country. My roommate had a sweet motorized pump, and that saved major pumping time. Unfortunately, the air bed turned out to be leaky. The leak is pretty bad actually. I barely had the time to get ready for sleep, and the bed is already half deflated, and I never got much good back support from it. A few hours into the night, it completely flattened, which actually make sleeping easier, as I'm not trapped at the middle of a balloon any more. Nevertheless, the sleep was less than satisfactory, as I'm not used to sleeping on the floor.

First order of the second day -- get a camping foam pad. Actually got it from Canadian Tire. Worked OK, at least better than nothing. Tried to buy a bed from Zellers, but they don't even have a full set available. Reason? It's a sale that's been going on for a while, and apparently a popular sale. So that's all I could do for the bed fiasco in the morning. Got a grocery from a market called PA, plus some other household items I couldn't pack with me, and that's my morning.

In the afternoon, I went to IKEA to permanently fix my bed problem, with a REAL bed. This time, I'm not going to settle for imitates, not even sofa beds. I'm buying a regular, double sized bed. But this would be another post.

First post -- Arriving at Montreal

Ok, before writing a long and winded introduction to this blog, myself, and my motivation for Medical Physics, I'm just going to post something about today, and fill up more information another time.

9:00 AM Pacific Time-- Board the WestJet flight. The flight was packed, so air quality is not so good. Oh well, only 4 and half hour flight.
5:00 PM Montreal Time -- Landed in Montreal. Been here once before on Campus visit, so not as much surprise now. Baggage claim took forever, as there's tons of people getting off the flight, plus another flight from Calgary landing at the same time, using the same baggage claim conveyor belt. Then there was waiting for Taxi -- another line up. $40 and one hour later, (Taxi fare is $35, but I tipped $5 because the driver helped me move the luggage to the building doorway.) Managed to get into the building front door, as it had no lock. Then there's the mail box area. The door to the hallway was supposed to be locked, but it was stuck open a bit, due to the poor mechanical condition. So I managed to drag in the two heavy luggage. Just as I proceeded to get the other luggage, the door slammed shut behind me -- the door swung shut, just as it was supposed to do. Now I'm locked outside, with my luggage inside. I franticly looked for a buzzer, as my future roommate was supposed to be home. Unfortunately, all I saw was a mail box. So I called Derek, who transferred me the apartment lease. He gave me the hint that the buzzer is ON TOP OF THE MAIL BOX. Suddenly realizing my stupidity, I hang up in embarrassment, and rang the buzzer for my unit. A few seconds later, I heard some buzzing sound from the door. Pushed it, doesn't work. So I pressed the buzz button again, and a few buzzing sounds from the doors and a few attempts later, door is open. My roommate came out, and everything was easy afterwards.

The apartment is quite clean, and my room's not small. Unfurnished, but not carpeted either, which makes up for all the shortcomings. It can use a fresh layer of paint, but I'm just a student and can't afford all the chic chic place. If I want new paint, I will just have to do it myself, which won't happen in the near future. After living in ground floor of Vancouver Special's, I'm not going to complain too much about the living condition here. Not much furniture for now, which is actually kinda refreshing, as I've been dealing with an excess of household stuff this summer. But, that's another story.

We then went out for Thai food at a local mall. OK food, ok price. Nothing to write home about. Although it's nice to walk everywhere, and do so on a student budget.