Amazing People

Ok, I have been silent for a long time simply because I had to travel out west to attend a friend's funeral...I mean *WEDDING*..I keep getting those two words mixed up*G* I mean, it is a joining of two people in a blessed union, but it also the death of a bachelor. I can say that it was a fabulous wedding, a glorious joining and I am happy for my friend. I am not saying this cause he made me the best man, but because he found himself a great woman, just as she has found herself a great man, to settle down with, raise little spawnlings with a live a great and happy long filled life.

So, there I was, sitting at home, cleaning up the pig sty that I call a home at the moment, having America's Got Talent on the television and not really paying attention to it...well, actually, I was paying attention to it since, you know, some of the people were just sooo horrible that you had to watch them. However, there were two people that were SOOOO good, that I actually had to stop cleaning, sit down, or remain standing, and watch these two people. I mean, WOW did they have talent. So, I thought I would share them with everyone, in case they dont get the program.

double whammy

ok, a double whammy here when it comes to thoughts. First off, what is with this constant bombardment of sports! I mean, if there was one thing and one thing alone that I really loved working in an office full of women was the near total non-existance of sports talk. Sure, there was the odd duck that would come out and talk about last nights hockey game or football or something, but they were usually few and far between and they knew who the sports fans were and stuck to one sport. Like, one lady would be in love with the Oilers so you would hear about how the Oilers did the night before but once they were out of the cup race, you got one day of grumbling and she never talked about sports again. So, I was in a rather sports free environment.

But NOW, I am working in a camp of all men and it seems that everywhere I go I am being bombarded with sports. We got a TV in the kitchen when the olympics were on, which I had no problem with since after the olympics were over we got to keep the TV so I could listen to the news or movies while working. Now I am getting attacked on sports from all sides. I have to watch the U.S. Open (golf) on the tv for my whole 12 hour shift cause the cook I am working with is a complete golf fanatic. Then the assistant camp manager in is a soccer nut so every now and then I get her coming into the kitchen talking with the cook about yellow flags, red flags, goals, saves, penalty kicks and other things that mean nothing to me. Then, to add that cherry to the top of the cake, there is the Stanley Cup playoffs still going on. Granted, the hockey games are not that bad since I was cheering for the Mighty Ducks and was disappointed they got eliminated. Just wish that it would be over so that we can switch to something else.

My usual day will be watch golf on tv, get news updates on soccer matches, serve lunch while watching golf, work in the afternoon listening to golf (have you ever listened to a golf match? I thought watching golf was boring..listening to it is even worse*G*), get more soccer updates and then for supper I either have to watch/listen to golf or, if there is a hockey game on, watch/listen to the hockey game. As for changing channels to see what else is on, have you ever tried to change the channel on, not only one, but an entire dining room full of people that are interested in the sports scores? I am surprised I not only have the use of my fingers but actually still have my arms attached.

So, yeah, sports, I could live without them.

and THEN I read an article in the EdmontonSun today that has me sort of shaking my head on two accounts.

http://edmsun.canoe.ca/News/Canada/2006/06/17/1638049-sun.html

Two girls charged with murder of their mother get $133,675 in life insurance paid out through their aunt trustee. The thing that gets me is that first off, it boggles and offends my mind kids could kill their own parent by drowning her in a bathtub. I mean, sure there are times when I would have been angry enough to kill my parents but either I come to my senses and realize that no matter how angry you get, killing is not the answer or I realize that what I am mad at is because they are looking out for me. Also, the girls, at their age, really didnt need to kill her, they just had to walk away from her, start a new life and move on. Kids killing their own parents, that is such a horrible thing. I am reminded of what the king in Conan the Barbarian said to Conan and his two theif friends when asked to reclaim the daughter of the king from the cult leader "This dagger was found in the heart of the king to the north, thrust into his breast by his own son. Is there a dagger like this in the hand of my daughter? aimed at my own breast?" Talk about a change in fears of parents from the past to the present. I think the greatest fear my parents had for me was "will he be happy growing up? have I prepared him enough for the life ahead? is he mature enough to deal with life?". Wonder if my greatest fear when I have kids is "have I taught him/her well enough that killing what you dont agree with is a bad thing? if I havent taught him/her that well enough, have I at least managed to not piss him/her off enough that they will kill me in their sleep?" I guess these two girls realized the one fact that most of us really realize about those around us. Everyone is actually worth more, monetary wise, dead than alive. Though sentimentally wise, we are worth more alive than dead. Guess it all comes down to which do you treasure more, money or love.

The other thing that got me about the article is the one line "Nor will the aunt, the sister of the drowned mom, have to account how the missing cash was sent..." The meaning in the words aside the wording and spelling is strange. After all, the sentence implies that the girls killed the mother but the aunt, who was trusted with the money, went and spent it on her own..sort of an ironic turn of events in that one person commits a crime to get a benefit only to turn out to be the victim of a crime herself. But read the last 4 words of ..'missing cash was sent...' and ask yourself, was the money 'sent' improperly and if that was the case, where did the aunt intend to send the money, and was it to be sent to herself, the kids, or another third party? or, was that word supposed to be 'spent'? if that was the case, and it was a case of putting the wrong word in the sentence, what ever happened to proof reading? I mean, I am no angel or genius when it comes to spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, and I am sure that reading this post there are at least a dozen or more errors on both parts. However, this is a newspaper, reporting the news, that took more than 30 minutes of sitting down at a typewriter and pounding out a story, handing it to the printer and away it goes. Aren't there grammar checkers, spell checkers and even possibly 'reality checkers' (people that read the article, scratch their heads and go to the writers and say "did you mean 'sent the money' or 'spend the money'?).

So is this what the world is coming to? a world of homicidal kids that would rather kill their parents for the insurance money, or kids that grow up, get jobs and let the quality of the job slip to a high degree? cause if that is the case, I am wondering if I should have kids or fly in a plane that is being piloted or maintained by these kids.

In Stitches...

OH MY GOD!!! Ok, this might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I was going through youtube.com and came across this clip of Whose Line Is It Anyways? where Wayne is singing a song to a guy named Howard as the wedding people. I was laughing sooo hard I couldnt breath right, my head was aching and I had tears rolling down my cheeks...This is one funny thing...check it out*G*

Earth's Interstellar Alien Counterforce

Forget Arnie, who needs Glubber and take Weaver out the door and show her the pavement, we have a new force in interstellar alien defence. DUCKS!*G*

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/26/DUCK.TMP

Yes, those mighty ducks (not the hockey team but the actual feathered fowls) are patroling our wetlands and the world, protecting us from harm. Who knows what atrocity this alien creature could have done to our planet but, through the heroic efforts of this mild mannered water fowl, the evil plot by the invading force has been stopped.

Applaud the courageous effort, sleep well in your beds at night and feel safe going to work and doing your daily routine for, as we do all those things, the brave and mighty ducks shall be patrolling the earth around you.

I just cant take it anymore....

Is the world truely going insane? have we lost all connection to sensibility and all? I look around and see strange things happening in the world today and wonder, are we meant to survive, have people lost all their marbles or have we always been this stupid but have always had a few smart people in power to slap us upside the head and say "grow up you idiot!"

http://edmsun.canoe.ca/News/Canada/2006/06/07/1618629-sun.html
I can't believe that people are using the tiniest excuse to avoid prosecution. It seems like everyday someone tries something new. A canadian soldier using post-traumatic stress disorder to try to defend himself against sexually assaulting and confining a 13 year old girl in Manitoba. Apparently he can not eat rice anymore because it reminds him of maggots on bodies and therefore is a totally different man than what he was before serving in wars, so therefore is not responsible for his actions? So, instead of doing hard time in a prison block, he is going to be put into a mental institute and cared for? isn't that something that should have been done before the attack and assault? I mean, you know you are depressed, you know that things are not normal (I mean, you stop eating rice because it reminds you of the war, you stop smiling, frowning or showing emotions...unless you are a politician, this is not normal behaviour) then isnt it either your duty, or the duty of others around you, to seek professional help? not like it wouldnt be covered under some sort of military medical coverage, unless of course the soldier was dishonourably discharged from the military for raping women overseas during duty or shooting innocent bystanders, in which case, dont think it is the PTSD that caused the assault. Mental illness, what else is it going to cover? it seems to be attaching to everything from real mental disorders to simple addictions.

I also read 2 days ago in the EdmontonSun (though I forgot to cut and paste the article) about a woman that is sueing a man for $350,000 for raping her in a stolen minivan. The man was caught and convicted and is serving time in prison for his crime. Ok, no problem, girl is hurt, cant work, looking for damages. Apparently she is claiming $250,000 in monetary damages for hospital, lost wages and all and then $100,000 for mental pain and anguish. Ok, $250,00o for hospital and lost wages is a little far fetched, but hey maybe she needed some serious medical bills covered plus psychological counselling since a rape is a horrible thing to go through and is not a wound that can be fixed with 2 stitches and goes away. But, here is the part that has me wondering "what was she thinking?" She has included the person who had his van stolen as responsible for the rape. The man supposedly left his keys in the minivan, making it easy for the man to steal it and if the man didnt have the minivan then the rape wouldnt have happened, so therefore the man whose van was stolen is responsible for the damages incurred. Try that one again???? I mean, if the guy planned it, gave the minivan to the person and said "oh you are going to grab and rape a woman in my van..sure, there is loads of leg room and here, a roll of duct tape to help secure her. Let me show you the best places to do that in the van" then yeah, the guy is to blame...but to have his van stolen means he has no real control over what the van was to be used for. Not like he planned it or anything. Though, I can see some lawyers and judge out there making it happen and since there is precedent that if a person does not secure a possession and someone is hurt, they could be found jointly liable. Like, if I had a wagon full of wood and was taking it home and a log fell out of the back onto the road and someone drove along and hit it and fell off their motorbike and broke their arm, I was responsible for that load, caused a problem and a person hit it and was damaged. So, a man fails to secure his vehicle and it is taken and damage is caused, some brain dead person could say that it is fitting and therefore make the owner of the vehicle pay.

Now we have 17 terrorists on Canadian soil being tried and the muslim community is screaming that they won't get a fair trial in Canada and that it wasn't a terrorist plot, even though one of those arrested had their lawyer read out in court that his personal goal was to behead the prime minister. Now, in this day and age, terrorist attacks really are not becoming anything new. Seems to be the fad and rage this day. Have a problem with a country? infiltrate it, be friendly, smile, hell even get military and weapons training in that country (as one of the accused http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060607/terror_canada_update_060607/20060607?hub=TopStories) and then stab them in the back when they are not looking. So, to hear that there was a terrorist plot on Canada (and apparently 12 other attempts have been foiled by RCMP and CSIS) is no big thing. What gets me though is that 2 of the 17 caught are young offenders and can not be named under the young offenders act. Ok, now call me crazy and a little out of control here, but you are caught with 3 tonnes of explosives, detailed plans on how the attacks are going to be carried out, even have a few of your co-horts say they were going to blow stuff and behead the leader of the country, kind of takes away the whole young offenders aspect of it doesnt it? and then they are saying that there is going to be a bail hearing? my personal view? have a bail hearing since it is only right to give the person a chance to have a bail hearing to get their freedom because to deny them that would be to deny them a human right. But,if the judge decides to give them bail, make that bail equal to the national debt for each and every one of them. That way, if they all make bail and then dont show up to court, at least we have paid off the debt 16 times over and have enough in the national treasury to pay for the military to stop terrorism in Canada.

I mean, will the madness end? what caused all this madness in people? is it the water we drink, the food we eat or just too much freedom going to our heads?

Who Am I?

Had an interesting thought come across me yet again, it happens sometime so I just go with it. I know that there are some titles and labels that we, as people, get which is just a regular thing that is accordance with society. As a human race we don't seem to be comfortable unless we can class and name something. If we could just let things be as they were, we wouldnt have developed languages and named things to make it easier to talk to other humans. Though boring as the life would be (Imagine meeting up with someone smiling and then not being able to talk since you couldnt say "so, where have you been?" because the person couldnt give you the response "down by the river" since there is no name for river (location) or down (direction)) it would be easier in other areas.

For instance, how do you classify a person or human? there are some set rules that will apply that you can definitly say about a person. That person is white, or that person is black is a pretty simple classification. No grey area in that one. You are white, you are white. You are black, you are black. Not like someone can be born white but then all of a sudden take an oath and become black (though many many MANY white rappers have tried, they are still white and just damn foolish looking*G*). But then what about asian, Inuit or any other racial background? by birth, that is what you are. If your parents were chinese, then there is definite possibility that you are going to be chinese by birth. If your mom/father was caucasian and your father/mother was native, then you are going to be metis. No two ways about it. You can not have a native mother, caucasian father, be born Metis and then move to china, swear on a book before the gov't and viola you are now chinese. Not going to happen. So, in the end, there is a classification that is set in stone, your blood.

But, then what about allegiances and where you live? I am Canadian and some people have asked what it means to be Canadian. Recently there has been some uproar in the papers about the 17 people that were arrested in Toronto for conspiracy for terrorist planning and plotting. All of the 17 individuals (ranging from 2 youths to 15 adults between the ages of 21 and 43) were muslim. One of the individuals who is in the early 20's is described by the media as having been born in Egypt but having moved to Canada with his parents when he was 4 years old. They are all being called Canadians. Now, I know that I am Canadian and people have asked me what it means to be a Canadian. I try to put it into words but I dont think that it is possible. The best way that I have been able to explain it to myself is that "being Canadian is like being rich...you cant tell people that you are rich, you only know that you are rich" After all, a person could own $5 billion dollars worth of items with another billion in the bank but without family he may feel lost, lonely and poor, whereas others with the same place may feel rich and fulfilled; a man with $10,000 in debt and nothing to his name but has a family that loves him may feel like the richest man in the world but another in the same boat may look at his family and call them money sucking leeches for making him so poor. So, in the end, you can only tell what you are by what you feel. By no means does that mean that this is restricted totally to Canadians. A person born in Egypt that moved to Germany could call himself a German if he feels like he is German. Any nationality can become any other nationality just by feeling that nationality.

But then by feeling does that mean by acting against that nationality you stop being that nationality? Does the piece of paper saying "Canadian Citizen" stop being valid and make me no more of a canadian if I go against Canada for some reason? That boy that was born in Egypt and moved here to get his Canadian papers, does his action of obtaining terrorist material make him no longer a Canadian but now make him an Egpytian again? and, no I dont think I am being extreme in saying 'terrorist material' considering that the 17 individuals had among them 3 tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate (a common fertilizer that when mixed with diesel fuel becomes a powerful explosive) considering that the bombing in the States a few years ago that destroyed a building and killed 187 people was only one tonne of the stuff. So, while 3 tonnes does not necessarily mean an increase in people death (since a nuke bomb detonated over an abandoned island may kill only 2 people who happened to be lost there, but a grenade tossed into a busy fairground could kill 20 people) it does mean that it would increase property damage to buildings 3 fold. Now, this guys papers say "Canadian" but he was engaged in an activity that would hurt Canada, so is he no longer a Canadian but a terrorist? of course he is a criminal for breaking the law. But is he a Canadian criminal or a (select a terrorist nationality of your choice) terrorist?

and, of course, with the court proceedings and the peoples religion and race coming into play, there have been attacks on religious buildings and people in the last couple of days. Now, that would say to me that the people doing the attacking have made up their minds and say that these people are not Canadians but in fact are, what, Egyptian, muslim? after all, if the people doing the attacking were attacking those places and people that the criminals were, then wouldnt they be attacking other caucasian canadians? or perhaps what they are doing is attacking the subgroup catagory...after all, a muslim canadian is as much a canadian as a greek canadian right? the people doing the vandalizing are therefore just picking the half of the label that is common to their anger. Luckily we cant have more than those two labels right? imagine the confusion in some poor persons face when he is attacked for being a Muslim Greek Canadian. Or would the fact that he has more different titles (greek canadian) than like titles (muslim) save him from the beating?

Though, when it comes to me, I am afraid that I dont have any other title but the simple Canadian. My ancestory ranges as far and diverse as any. I have a bit of blood from every single country in Europe. You could say that I am European Canadian but since I have pretty much no ties in language, religion, relatives or culture to any specific European country, I am simply just a Canadian. So, I guess when I think of it, that is who I am...I am I, the I that I wanted to be and the I that I will remain for a long time to come. Just wish that we all could be I's and not 'thems' or 'those people' or 'us' or 'we'. Think that would solve a lot of hurt, anger and hatred, dont you?

The Fates Don't Like Me!

Just the other day I was laying in bed, stareing at the ceiling before drifting off to sleep with a smile on my face thinking "12 more days...only 12 more days of work and then I get to go home and sleep in my own bed and rest". Comforting thought as I closed my eyes and drifted away. Then, the fates heard this little happy prayer and decided to screw my life up a little more. I got called into the bosses office the very next day and he said "guy who is relieving you has to go and see the doctor on the 15th of June and he has to make it. Since we are short handed as is, you cant leave, so you have to stay an extra few days and you can leave on the 21st, but we will try to get you out on the 19th if we can..thanks for your help"

So the countdown has increased again. 16 more days til I get out of here. 16 more days of 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week. 16 more days of sweating in a kitchen.

Seems everytime I look forward to something happening the fates find a way to make my life interesting. Guess this is payment for the times when things go unbelievably right and perfect for me. Just wish that if that was the case, the fates would give me a bill so I know what to expect*G*