Big mistake. One client told me that they felt that the work I was billing for was covered under an earlier contract, and they were not going to pay. Another client said that his financial partner has not fulfilled his part of their agreement, and he was searching for another partner to come through for the funds that I was due. A third client was out of the country, and unavailable until the day I was to leave for surgery. I was very nervous as the day for departure drew near, as I understood that I needed to have a Cashier’s Check for the remaining funds, and I needed to have the check converted to a cahier’s check as soon as I received it from the one client that would be able to pay me.
Departure date arrived, and I called the paying client to ask for my fees, and was told that they were unable to pay the entire amount at that time, but that they could pay 80% of it. My math showed that this amount would cover my SRS expenses, and so I didn’t press them for the additional funds at that time, as I knew they would make good on their promise to pay the rest later. I had to drive to their office, which was in another city to pick up my check, rather than have them mail it to me. When I arrived at my bank to get the Cashier’s Check, I discovered tow setbacks. The first was that since it was an out of town check, it would take three days before the funds would be available to me, and secondly, I was overdrawn a significant amount, which meant that I did not have the full amount required for the surgery I wanted. Time was running short, my plane was to leave in a few hours, and the girl that was traveling with me had arrived. I made a decision to go on to Montreal, and take the check with me in the hope that I would be able to give them my client’s check, and just endorse it over to them.
As I was walking out the door to the airport, I received an e-mail message that the folks I was working with on a large project for, and they had some revisions to the work I was doing for them that they wanted to have completed immediately. I decided that I would be able to put this off until my return, as this was only another of the many demands that this client had made in the three years previous to this. All I was focused on was getting to Montreal, and talking to the doctor there. After all, I already had my ticket, and it was too late to cancel my appointment without forfeiture of the monies I had already sent to them. I had set myself up for major disappointments, but I was hopeful that I would still be able to get done what I wanted so strongly.
We arrived in Montreal at 10:30 PM, and by the time we cleared customs, and gathered our baggage, it was 11:00 PM. We walked into the airport lobby, looking for the driver that was to take us to the residence, and there was no one there. We walked around the terminal inside and out for a long time, felt like hours, but may have only been 15 minutes, with no luck. We weren’t sure how they would find us, but assumed they would be holding a sign with our names on it. Here we were in a foreign country, they spoke French, and we didn’t, we were at a loss as to the next step, and eventually decided to call the residence to determine what to do. My friend had decided to go to the rest room and change into her girl clothes, as she had not traveled en femme, as I had, as her ID’s did not match her feminine name. As my friend was walking off, our driver appeared, and asked if I was the one he was looking for. I was never happier to see anyone in quite a while; we had been saved. Maybe everything was going to be all right after all. He told us that I had sent them my itinerary and it stated that we were flying another airline than the one that we had arrived on. It turned out that these two airlines have a reciprocal agreement, and that the driver was awaiting our arrival at the other airline’s terminal.
When the driver arrived with our vehicle, and came to get our luggage, we saw that we were riding in a black limo. Wow, they treat you well here. We began the ride to the residence, and as we were traveling, the driver tried to welcome us and make us comfortable, chatting about the landmarks along the way, and a little of the history of Montreal. The problem was, that he had an accent that was difficult for me to understand, and I found myself straining to hear and understand the conversation, while my friend was unable to comprehend any of the conversation. After a long ride, we came to the neighborhood near the residence, and he pointed out the stores that were in the immediate area that we would be able to visit within walking distance, according to him, to me it seemed as if they were located miles away. We crossed two narrow bridges, and pulled up at the residence, the time was after midnight. As we entered we were met by the night duty nurse, and shown to our room in one of the basement dormitory type rooms, they called them the pre-op rooms. The quiet atmosphere of the residence, and the fact that there was no one to be seen, other than the nurse took me by surprise. She gave us a quick tour of the downstairs, and a brief summary of the rules of the house, and attempted to tell us her name several times, but I still cannot pronounce it. As we unpacking, I asked about talking to the doctor’s office the following day. I was told not to worry, that he would be coming by the residence the following day, and I could talk to him at that time. On our bunks was a package of information and forms to fill out, and some preparatory surgical equipment. As it was very late, we went to bed to await the start of our final stage on the transition journey.
Thanks for listening
