Why?

We are having one of our infamous Pineapple Express storms. Basically, during a pineapple express you can expect 150 mm of rain over the course of 24 hours. What I would like to know, is why or why do people think it is necessary to drive like maniacs? I was on the Mary Hill Bypass coming home tonight and some idiot sped past me, followed by a wave. I could not see and almost crashed into the abutment. Ridiculous! It really does not take a genius to slow down and drive safely.

Chairs

I know, most people don’t think much about chairs. However, if you are larger than normal, chairs can become an issue. I had to go into a bank today and sign some paper work. As the woman led me into her office, I started to scope out the chairs. I usually like to know in advance if the chair I am about to sit on is sturdy and I look for arms. The chair had arms and as soon as I sat down in it I felt the pain on either side of my legs. Crap! Welcome to yet another torture device. Luckily, I have learned over the years that numbness will set in fairly quickly and it will be ok.

Airplanes are also a nightmare for me. I know many ‘normal’ sized folks who have trouble fitting into airplane seats. If you are wider or taller than the norm you are guaranteed to be uncomfortable on a plane. I know why they make the seats so small but seriously the airlines’ pursuit for more and more profit means that I don’t fly as often as I might if they gave us a couple of more inches of room on those seats.

It is easy to figure out why airplane seats miniscule but what about chairs? Take this chair, for example:

 

Tiny Chair

We came across this chair at the EconoLodge in Canmore, AB. It is exactly 3 1/2 iPhones across, which translates into about 14 inches. Why would anyone want to sit in a chair that small? Clearly, the people who bought these chairs was not going to have to sit in them.

Then there are the seats at GM Place in Vancouver. Deb and I went there to see Billy Joel. Those seats were so freaking small I thought I was going to die. Again, I am sure the seats are so small so they can fit more seats in but really do they need to be that small? Movie theatre seats generally tend to be ok. Seats in other venues though not so much.

I think the worst chair I ever had to sit in was at a dermatologist’s office. I swear to god these chairs were made for tiny people. They even looked like toy chairs. After sitting in one of those chairs waiting for him for 1/2 an hour one day I decided I would sit on the exam table any time I had to see him.

 

 

 

Letter to the Swamp Rats (aka k-9s)

Dear Swamp Rats – I am not the pied piper. I will not lead you anywhere. I am only going to the bathroom. Honest. Oh, and FYI, I can do it by myself – I have had a lot of practice but I appreciate your concern. Now, on to some other issues:

1. When I get up to go somewhere in the house it is unnecessary for you to get up and follow me. With at least 5 of you trying to everywhere, we are going nowhere in a hurry. 22 legs makes for a very crowded space and prevents me from actually reaching my destination. Tripping is a real hazard especially when we are moving along and one of you decides to stop. Right in front of me. For no particular reason. Oh and I have news for you all – YOU ARE NOT PSYCHIC!!! Please do not walk in front of me and try to anticipate where I am going to go. All this does is impede my progress and causes me stress!

Madison and the little girls

2. Food – just because I have food does not mean that you have food. Sometimes I would like to be able to enjoy a meal without 20 eyes staring at me, hard. At times I can even hear the faint strains of the music from “Jaws” playing in the background. I do not covet your food and I would appreciate if you reciprocated. Oh and if food is on a PLATE and on a TABLE it is meant for human consumption, not k-9.

Zoe and Gemma involved in serious turkey begging

Tucker waiting for a treat

Clio waiting for food from above

3. Rain – we all hate the rain. No one likes to get wet first thing in the morning. However, you must still go outside to do your bizness. I will go with you so we can all be miserable together but I will expect that you actually do what you need to do and not run up to the back door and whine to get back in. Come on, I am happy to meet you half-way here. It would also be appreciated if you could do your bizness in a timely manner (Piper). Oh and Piper, I have news for you! You are a dog and not a cow. You need to spend less time grazing and more time peeing!

Piper in motion!

4. Running into the back of my knees is not a good idea (Kiefer). I have enough difficulty staying upright without you knocking me off my feet! Running into me on the stairs is equally annoying as well – just in case you were wondering.

Kiefer

5. Madison – it would be great if you stopped trying to kill me. You have been at it for about 10 years and it is getting old. Standing up as I try to step over you does not bode well for my personal safety. What you don’t know (or maybe you don’t care) is the main reason you came to live with us is because I pursued your adoption with ARF. We know that you would have rather been an only dog but that was not your luck.

6. Zoe and Gemma – what is it about dogs from the North? We are all for formerly abused dogs becoming self-actualized but you two take it too far. Is it necessary to lay on the table in the dining room. I must admit you look very cute there but I have to say that it is probably not a good idea. Especially given that your main reason for being up there is a more comfortable view to look out the window and bark.

Zoe chilin' on the table

That is all I can think of right now. However, I do reserve the right to add to this list as time goes on!

Confessions of a techie

Well it would seem that winter has arrived on the Wet Coast. We had the first storm of the season a couple of nights ago and it resulted in a power outage for several hours here at The Swamp. I do not cope well when the power is out. Actually, I don’t cope when I don’t have access to any of my creature comforts. The worst part of a power outage for me is the boredom. With no TV to watch and no computer to surf the net I am bored. There is not enough light to read as usually these outages happen at night.

When we first moved to The Swamp at the end of October 2006 we had several power outages within the first couple of months. That was the year, to end all years, in terms of storms. We had at least 5 pineapple expresses and had search and rescue at our door long before the welcome wagon.* We were also flooded in courtesy of the North Allouette River at least 5 times that winter. With the power going out so many times that year I needed to come up with a solution. Plus I have sleep apnea and I need to have some way to run my CPAP at night so that I can sleep.

So, we headed off to Canadian Tire and looked into the back up power boxes. I bought one for my CPAP immediately. I was still trying to figure out what I was going to do about the boredom part of power outages now that I knew I would be able to sleep. I did some research and I bought another back up power supply for the modem and the router. This way when the power goes out I can still connect to the internet as long as my laptop is charged. Once all the gear was in place we have not had a power outage for any length of time until last Thursday.

I was not all that enamoured of my laptops until I got a MacBook Pro. Part of the problem with the other laptops is the batteries would not last more than an hour two. The new MacBook Pro has a battery that will last 7 hours! So, I was all set for the big power outage of 2009. It all worked perfectly! I was able to get on the net with my MBP and the network worked perfectly.  L was thrilled that we still had internet access even with no power. I was a very happy techie that night!

I was kind of sad that the PVR was unable to record Grey’s Anatomy and Survivor but you can’t have everything! Or maybe I will get another power box for the PVR at some point. I don’t think they make them big enough to power our tv though.

 

*Actually the welcome wagon never came. Perhaps they weren’t thrilled about more dykes moving to Maple Ridge!

H1N1

The Herd

I spent the whole week at home, sick with what is most likely H1N1. The virus sucks, seriously sucks. I have been so fatigued that staying awake at times has been a real struggle. I have no appetite so having to eat in order to take medication has been a challenge facilitated by much generic gravol. I have had the fever (100.6 – doesn’t seem that high but when you consider that I usually run 1-2 degrees below normal it was bad), the sore throat, a little coughing and the headache. Then there is the sleep. I have slept the better part of the clock for the last 4 days. Twelve to fourteen hours at night and still waking up tired. The virus did not make it into my lungs and this morning when I woke up I had a glimpse of feeling better. I think Tamiflu helped but I cannot be sure.

So I have had a long time to ruminate about H1N1. I have other serious medical conditions like ulcerative colitis and asthma. My asthma is controlled, my colitis not so much. For all intents and purposes I seem to have survived this bout with the flu and I didn’t even get dehydrated or need a ventilator as the scare-mongers seem to think some of us will. I know people have died as a result of getting this virus but that happens every year with the seasonal flu.

This week has also seen the introduction of the H1N1 vaccine. Talk about confusion! Do you get adjuvanted vaccine or not? What should pregnant women have? Oh wait, they haven’t tested the vaccine on pregnant women. They haven’t even run clinical trials of the vaccine approved for use in Canada, by Health Canada, on Canadians! In a normal year, the seasonal flu vaccine would be tested on Canadians before approval goes out. The Canadian government has purchased millions upon millions of doses of vaccine to be put in the arms of every Canadian who wants it. Except no one bothered to check – only 1/3 of Canadians say they are going to get the vaccine according to a Maclean’s article this week.

Entitled “Swine Flu Fiasco,” Macleans tries to make sense of the virus, the risks and the vaccine. They try to make us all understand that for a virus to be called a ‘pandemic virus’ it does not have to be more lethal than regular flu virus. All of this is good except for the ending which you would have thought was written by Health Canada. They go on to explain why it is necessary for at least 70% of the population to get the vaccine – apparently it creates something called ‘herd immunity.’ At least they were finally being truthful. Our government bureaucrats sees us sheep, who can be herded together to take this concoction that we are not even sure we need. As I was reading this article I was reveling in the fact that I would not have to have the vaccine as I likely have had the flu already. Apparently I was wrong. They are recommending that people who have already had the flu get vaccinated too! Seriously? On what planet does this make sense? We are talking about the H1N1 virus, which has not mutated as of yet, vaccine. Why would anyone want to introduce more of it into their bodies along with all the other chemicals and adjuvants etc?

I think the truth is more along the lines that the government (and all Western countries and the WHO) have over-reacted to this virus. They have been waiting for a pandemic and when H1N1 appeared they all could not have been happier because now they can try out all their plans, manufacture a bunch of vaccine and hope that the little sheep will all take it. I think they are going to find that they are wrong this time. I only know one person who is going to get this vaccine and for him it makes sense. Clearly they are going to have to study ‘herd immunity’ somewhere else as normally complacent Canadians do not seem to be willing to be sheep and roll up our sleeves this year.

I ask questions…

I posted this on Facebook too but I thought I might get different answers here:

Question of the day: Why is it that some dogs think that walking in front of you is a good thing? Seriously folks – I need to figure this one out. Routinely Keifer (130 lbs) and Tucker (70 pounds) stand up as soon as I do, they stand in front of me and then we all try to get down the hall together. Massive fail!

Ignatieff’s Error

Before the summer, Michael Ignatieff threatened to bring down the government over changes it wanted to EI. He went into negotiations with Harper and came out with a promise of a ‘blue-ribbon’ panel to study the issue over the summer. Citing his great concern for ‘ordinary working Canadians’ Michael Ignatieff seemed relish his role as the champion of unemployed Canadians.

Parliament is now back in session and it seems that Ignatieff has done some ruminating over the summer BBQ scene. He has now decided that he and the Liberals can no longer continue to support the Harper Conservatives. Ignatieff is now threatening to bring down the government over proposed changes to EI that would see benefits flow to some workers for a longer period of time. Instead of trying to ensure that ‘ordinary working Canadias’ receive extended benefits he has decided that he would rather bring down the government.

The NDP have looked at the proposed legislation and has decided to support it. This legislation will pass with the support of the NDP and the BQ. It is doubtful that the NDP would be supporting this legislation just to prevent an election. The NDP would not be blamed for bringing down the government – that would fall on the Liberals. So there are really no political consequences for the NDP if there is another election. The NDP cannot really afford another election right now but I doubt that is why they are supporting the proposed legislation. The NDP is supporting the proposed legislation because it is good for unemployed Canadians.

The Official Opposition is very important to our democracy. Without it governments would run amok. However, oppositions have to be careful that they are not opposing things for the sake of opposing them. Carole James and the BC NDP learned this lesson the hard way when they opposed the Carbon Tax in BC. By opposing the tax and making it a central tenet of their campaign they alienated key supporters of the NDP. They bled a lot of votes to the Greens and allowed the BC Liberals to win again.

Ignatieff seems poised to make the same mistake. If he and the Liberals are really concerned about ‘ordinary working Canadians’ and ensuring that EI benefits are flowing to as many as possible, for as long as possible then they will get off their metaphorical high horse and support the legislation. If they are succesful in triggering an election then we may well be saddled with a majority Conservative government.

Welcome to Hell

Well we have been here two nights now and we are on our second full day. It has been worse than I imagined it could be. Here are the highlights (or lowlights) to date:

1. My mother had to tell the story to her gardener (again) about how we would go backpacking. This of course is the infamous story where I refused to go any further and was left before a fork in the path. I got to the fork evenutally (I was maybe 10 or 11) and I went the wrong way. She thinks this was hysterical. I did ask “who leaves a kid at a fork in the path?” I got no response. Then it went on from there. The experience of being left in the backcountry and not knowing which way to go likely led to me having severe abandonment issues my entire life. What is really disturbing is she finds this funny.

2. My sister is so angry. She is stuck looking after her ailing husband who has had a stroke and seems to have lost most of his cognitive functioning. She storms around the house because he pisses her off because he is very inconsiderate. Well, newsflash, he was always inconsiderate why would he change after a stroke? It would only get worse.

3. The best comment so far is that we use more toilet paper because our asses are bigger.

I have to cut this short because I am being watched as usual. Thankfully we go home tomorrow.

I did manage to fix my sister’s b0rked (h/t to Dr. Beth for the word, it is such a great word!!) laptop.

My Trip to Staples

I love going to Staples!  However, note to self, never, ever go to Staples the week before school goes back! WTF was I thinking???? Loads and loads of screaming kids. One kid, after being bossed around and bullied by his older brother, let out this ear-shattering scream. Everyone in the entire store stopped and stared at him and his embarrassed mother who hustled him out of there pretty quick.

I enjoyed looking at everything and bought a bunch of stuff for work. I also got a laptop case on rollers for my new MacBook Pro. I hate taking a laptop anywhere because I find them heavy. Not anymore! Now I can roll it along.

In my browsing I came across a pretty disturbing trend. First, I saw ‘anti-bacterial’ pens. I am not sure why anyone would want an antibacterial pen. How does it work? Is there some kind of germicide on the pen? What happens if someone touches the pen and then touches their mouth? What if you chew your pen? Does it even work? Then I saw ‘anti-microbial’ scissors!! Why do scissors need to be ‘anti-microbial’? I think this antibacterial germ-phobia is going way too far. There is no research I am aware of that indicates that these things are any more effective than washing one’s hands regularly.

All in all, my Staples trip was fun. I also found Sharpie highlighters!! W00t!

Federal Election?

So Michael Ignatieff has decided that the Liberals are tired of propping up the Conservative government and is threatening to table a motion of non-confidence at the first opportunity. I am no fan of the Harpie and his merry band of Cons however, Ignatieff’s ‘reasons’ for the motion of non-confidence are spurious at best. There isn’t a big issue, like say a budget, to hang their hats on. Instead they are looking at the entire Harper record and deciding that they should force an election. When the Coalition threatened to bring the government down over the budget I supported that action. There were serious problems with that budget and they deserved to lose control of government. However this time it is different.

If the Liberals force an election it is going to be seen for what it is: a grab for power. I am not sure who is advising Ignatieff but calling an election now would be a really bad idea for the following reasons:

1. There is no galvanizing issue. Saying that the Cons have provided bad government for 4 years is not going to cut it. Those people who would support the Liberals would likely do so and those who support the Conservatives would probably still vote for them. It is the undecided voters who would need to be convinced. It is unlikely that the Liberals could command this group.

2. Generally speaking the party that forces the election is usually punished at the polls.

3. We just had an election. Frequent elections are a de-stabilizing factor on democracies. Given that our economy grew by a slight amount in the last quarter, an election may derail this nascent recovery.

4. I dare say that most voters are not really convinced that Ignatieff can actually lead the Liberal party. Personally, I find him ’smarmy’, a bit like a used car sales person (no offence to used car sales people). I think he is a rush to fulfil his own ‘manifest destiny’ and Canada will not benefit from this. He should take a lesson from Paul Martin’s playbook – wanting to be prime minister just to be prime minister is not a really good way to lead a country.

I sincerely hope that Ignatieff changes his mind. I believe that if he forces an election now the Liberals would likely lose seats and then he will bring us one step closer to a Cons majority – a truly scary, scary option.