Monday, December 29, 2008

Yes, I still exist.

It's been a long time since I last posted anything here. So long, that I don't really know where to begin to post.

With the new year upon us, I thought that maybe it was time to get back to writing something other than fiction or business letters to tenants. You see, that is how I have been spending the greater part of my time these last few months. As you might imagine, I feel a little cut off when I don't have my computer in front of me.

Unfortunately, this particular machine is reaching the end of it's useful life. It's been giving me a lot of error messages regarding virtual memory. Certain applications will shut down my Internet browser without warning.

It's fortunate that we don't become obsolete as quickly as the tools we use. That is the only thing that keeps the machines from taking over the planet. Computers are getting closer and closer to sentience, but until they can think and evolve for themselves, they will become outdated and need humans to repair, maintain and upgrade them.

With luck, I will be able to update this machine, and get another five years from her.

I am still very much the superintendent of the building we live in. My immediate bosses seem to be quite happy with what I have done here. In fact, some of the company brass were here, and thought that I was doing a good job. How they divined this I do not know, since I merely showed them a few units, and explained how I see the place.

Perhaps that is really enough for any employer really. When you take ownership and pride in what you do, it shows. They know that you will do what it takes to make the company happy, because you want what is best for your part of it.

I'm still getting around pretty good, though my tired spells are becoming a little more frequent and lasting a little longer. My appetite is ridiculous, but I'm not exactly putting on the pounds. I eat like crazy, but we do eat healthy for the most part.

Sandra has been well enough. She did have a case of shingles for a few weeks, and it nearly drove her nuts. Having never had them myself, I can only take her word for the pain and itch. I did the best I could to help her, with a cold pack and Aveeno baths. The doctor did more, by recognizing it quickly and prescribing the right anti-viral medication.

Christmas was a bit of a let down this year. Times being tight, it was hard to get the gifts that we wanted. Certain members of the family were in less than the holiday spirit. Put that together with uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, and things weren't what we might have hoped for. We've decide to start doing things a little more simply. We will get what will mean the most as gifts next year, and sleep in our own beds.

At any rate, I do mean to post more frequently now. Forgive me if things still aren't what you call interesting reading.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Economic Woes or Misunderstood Opportunity?

We have all heard of the disaster that has befallen the world economy. Stocks are going down, houses are being repossessed and jobs are going down the drain. At least, that's the story in most parts of the world.

All of this came about because somebody got greedy. They decided to risk the money that we had put into the bank, funding loans to people with neither the intention, nor the ability, to repay it. Now the United States has had to pony up over 700 Billion, that's billion with a B folks, in tax payers' money to shore up the entire banking system. A number of other governments have had to do the same thing.

Now, if you are one of those people about to lose your home, I do feel for you. You have worked very hard to get what little you have. You make your payments and then have that investment yanked out from under you when the bank goes under. Which is to say, I feel for those of you who borrowed responsibly.

At the same time, I can't help but wish that I had some liquid capital sitting around for the next couple of months. When the market gets this low, I have the instinct to snap up some of what the panicking monkeys on Wall St. and Bay St. are dumping. At the end of this fall, there is going to be demand again, and those stocks will be worth a fortune. Whenever somebody lets the ball drop, there will always be somebody at the other end, waiting to take the advantage.

In point of fact, I still don't know how the banking industry ever should have affected the stock markets so deeply. Okay, housing markets have tanked, and banks and trust companies dumped what they had in an attempt to make up the losses from their stupidity. Where were the visionaries that could see this as an opportunity to buy into something they didn't have? A lot of what was sold is stock in good, solid companies with viable products and services.

Every time the economy takes a downturn like this, I'm tempted to sell a kidney and buy in. Learning from the mistakes makes the global economy that much stronger.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

The Election Process

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have."
Thomas Jefferson

With federal elections going on in both Canada and the United States, it seems appropriate to take a moment and think about the way we govern ourselves.

Firstly, that's an interesting concept right there. "Govern ourselves." Do those words really have any meaning anymore? It seems that we have given up that right, to rule our own paths, to others, we even pay them to do it. We delude ourselves into thinking that we have control by saying that we chose them to represent us.

Here in Canada, at least, this just isn't the case by and large. The parties decide who will run in each riding (or electoral district for those who don't speak Canadian) on their behalf. Only members of the party in question are welcome to submit their name for nomination. Every now and then, some maverick will put their name forward as an Independent candidate. On rare occasions, they actually get a seat in the House.

It would be nice if the people we elected were truly our representatives, voting the way the constituents tell them.

In the same train of thought, it is very interesting in how we choose (and I use that word loosely) the actual leaders of our respective countries.

Here in Canada, the leader of the party with the most seats in the House of Commons becomes the Prime Minister. He or she will remain in that post as long as his/her party is in power and feels that he/she should remain as leader of the party. The only limitation is that there must be an election a minimum of every five years. In other words, we the citizens do not actually have a say in who the person is who will represent us to the world.

In the United States, you choose who will represent you as President directly. However, if he or she happens to be of a different party or ideology than the majority of Congress, there is little can be done because of the struggle between the Legislative and Executive branches of the government.

And I still do not understand the whole "electoral college" thing either. From what I see, it's quite possible for the college to override the wishes of the people in choosing who the President is going to be. Forgive me if I am in error. As I stated, the whole concept eludes me.

Which brings us to the major difference in the election process between Canada and the United States. You will never hear about broken ballot computers or hanging chads in Canada. It's simple people. The candidates names are written on a slip of paper with a circle next to it. You put a mark in the circle next to the name of the person you are voting for. Questions about the numbers? Each party has one scrutineer watching as the ballots are recounted, twice. The candidate with the most valid ballots wins.

All the same, sometimes I am still tempted to put in a write in vote for Bullwinkle J. Moose.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Dilemmas

I'm on the horns of a dilemma, one partially of my own creation.

In the course of writing a story, I became part of a semi-collaboration. I have added other authors to my tale (with their permission), and made it possible for them to help the story evolve. This seemed like a very good idea at the time. After all, we all got into writing fan fiction for the fun of it.

The thing I forgot to take into account is group dynamics. For a man who minored in psychology, that was pretty stupid.

One of the writers has begun to encounter problems with others. I do not have the specifics of the problem, as it occurred in a chat room when I was not present. It has potentially damaged the integrity of the characters of my story, in that if they cannot work together in the real world, asking them to do so in this tale won't work either. The writer involved has left it to me, as the story's author, to decide what to do.

So, do I take him out of the story or leave him in? Do I get involved in any personal squabble these writers have, or stay away from it? Instinct tells me to stay out of the mess myself, and perhaps do some rewriting so that this person stays in, but does not have to necessarily deal with the others when the story planning is done.

It is my story, and so up to me. I just don't want to hurt anybody's feelings.

This is what happens when you start writing around real people instead of just the fictional ones.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Weather or Not?

Well, the season is beginning to change, as indicated by the amount of fur that our cats are shedding. There have been a couple of frost advisories that have resulted in my covering my tomato plants. The leaves and beech nuts have been falling from the trees. (By the way, beech nuts will do damage to the cranium if they fall on you. Be warned!)

So why is it that I'm sitting here in shorts?

This has been a strange year, weather-wise, even up here in Canada. I won't begin to go into the problems experienced in the lower forty-eight. Summer took its own time getting here, with a lot of rain and then, when it did arrive, it did so with a vengeance. The humidity was enough to flatten you out, and then create short thunder storms. Now we go from highs of 26 C to lows of 1 or 2, sometimes to the freezing point.

I think that's one of the wonderful things about being Canadian. We always have something to gripe about. If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes!

On the other hand, I don't think I could imagine living someplace with a more regular climate. My aunt and uncle have a place in Florida that they escape to each winter. They were even tempted to spend the Christmas Holidays down there. Christmas without snow. So wrong, on so many levels. Besides, I think my favorite time of year is when the maples have all changed color, but the leaves haven't all fallen to the ground. That would be so hard to give up.

So, like every other Canadian, I think I'll go ahead and complain about the weather, and just keep a pair of shorts handy.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Babysitting?

I know I promised not to do this here, but I just have to vent a little.

When did I become a babysitter?

There was a problem yesterday evening with some of the tenants. Apparently, they felt that one of the boys who lives in the building was being far too rough with the others. I received a phone call, complaining about something that happened the day before yesterday. While I am responsible for the safety of the children as they play in the yard, I have to be notified of things when they happen before I can take action.

Furthermore, without the proper complaints filed, the most I could do was talk to the boy's mother, and ask her to have a serious chat with him. As the assistant superintendent, I really don't see how it is up to me to handle how the children are behaving. Even as I was talking with both sets of parents, all of the children involved were outside playing together.

I really do want to keep peace among the tenants of the building. I'm just not sure how to do this when somebody gets their feelings hurt, and feels the need to say "he started it" to me. Then there is dealing with the kids.

Okay, that last paragraph was a little harsh.

When do I start treating "boys will be boys" as a tenant incident with the possible consequence of eviction?

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The LHC

By now I'm sure that just about everyone has heard about the LHC, or Large Hadron Collector. The particle accelerator was brought on-line a week ago. It is the most awesome observation machine ever constructed by man. More than seven kilometers of tunnel under Switzerland and France. All to detect a particle that scientists aren't positive exists, and is so small, a scanning electron microscope cannot see it.

I was intrigued by the number of doomsday scenarios that surrounded this thing. The directors of CERN, who are operating the LHC have even been threatened. According to some, it was going to create a black hole, and the earth would be devoured by it. Others had the idea that the collisions would result in a fusion reaction, that would cascade, and essentially be a huge nuclear bomb.

In fact, there have been a number of particle accelerators. The only difference with the LHC is that it's so much larger, and the detectors much more sensitive. There is an infinitesimally small possibility of creating a reaction harmful to anyone. The possibility is so remote, it doesn't even bear considering. We are talking extremely tiny reactions that the Universe produces itself by chance.

The goal here is to detect the Higgs particle, or what was created at the moment of the big bang. If the current model is correct, then there is an elemental particle of our universe unaccounted for. As well, physics has yet to explain why there is no antimatter anywhere to be found in the known universe. If it annihilates when it comes into contact with matter, should there not be an equal amount of each, matter and antimatter in the universe?

Science is attempting to explain how you go from nothing, to a whole expanding universe. We are reaching out to God, in essence, and asking, how and why are we here.

I won't even begin to comment on the debates that question brings up.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Home Sweet Home

Sandra and I have been in the apartment for just a couple days over a year now. And quite the year it has been. It's had all of it usual ups and downs.

When we moved in, we had some issues with the upstairs neighbors. They had two large dogs that made a lot of noise first thing every morning, as the sun started to come up. The couple tried caging them at night, but that just led to the noise of rattling cages and whimpering. After a time, they had to move out, it not being fair to the dogs to keep them in an apartment like that.

There were issues with some of the other tenants as well. A couple of them were dealing and using drugs out of their units. That is, they were until I started sitting at my computer at the kitchen table! The "clients" weren't willing to be seen at the door. It did take a tribunal hearing to get rid of the worst of the trouble makers, and the others had to be given two month notice of lease termination.

On the other hand, Christmas was lovely here. Our tree looked lovely in front of the living room window. With the tree lights on, we didn't even need the living room lights at night. From outside, you could see the lights. We had our large plastic ornaments outside our windows, and they were great too, even if we weren't able to light them up.

Speaking of winter, this apartment is a dream in winter. The air is a little on the dry side, (Can you say "Sahara"?) but it is warm and comfortable in here. The windows seal very well, and the walls are so well insulated that the worst winds couldn't even be heard. We had to open the blinds to know what was happening outside.

It had been a little difficult getting used to the trains being so close at first. Now, we hardly notice them. The cats ignored them from day one.

The spring brought with it a lot of melt and rain. Even in a basement apartment, there was no real dampness problems. This has been a boon to Sandra, who has had arthritis issues for as long as I've known her. As far as comfort goes, this place has it all.

Now in June, our superintendent took it into his head to quit. Not having all of the story myself, I can't really go into too much detail. All I know is that suddenly we were left to fend for ourselves. I took it upon myself to go around each evening and make sure the the building remained secure. It had taken so long to get it to feel like home.

Starting in July, I was hired to be the assistant superintendent on site. All I really have to do is continue to watch over the property, report problems, and handle any paperwork that comes out of the building. Tenants bring issues to me, and I pass them along to my immediate boss.

At least, that's the way it's supposed to work. I have a tendency to try to handle maintenance issues myself. With a swift kick in the butt by my wife, I've started to let these things go. It's up to the professionals to do them. I still do some of the really simple stuff, but no more trying to get up ladders and things like that. It's still nice to have tools to do the easy stuff. I like to put in the homey touches, that take the place from an apartment building to what the tenants can proudly call home.

Sandra has been doing her best to get our home organized. She purchased new shelving units for the storage room, and know there is space in there, with everything neatly up off of the floor. I can go in there to change the Kitty litter without having to back out to change my mind.

So now we find ourselves having been in the building for a full year. Things haven't always gone smoothly, but this apartment has eventually become home.

Sandra cried when we left Cardinal for the last time. May it be a long time before she has to shed tears like those again.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

My take on the Olympics.

Like everyone else, I've been following the Olympics to some degree. There are events that I really enjoy, and others that you couldn't pay me to watch. For example, the beach volleyball had my interest, whereas the baseball and basketball were to be flipped over if at all possible. That might mark me as less of a regular guy than most, but it's how I'm wired.

My wife and I are very fond of the diving events. Watching these young men and women hurl themselves off of a springboard or the 10 metre platform is very exciting. We don't even pick which athletes to be interested in (beyond normal desire to see our country get a medal), we just admire the form that they show.

Interestingly enough, after a while, you begin to understand just what the judges are looking for. Were the toes pointed on entry? How vertical was that entry? At first I wasn't sure why some divers were scored the way they were. Now I get it. It was the same way during the winter Olympics, with curling. It took me time to get that one too.

There was an interesting debate in a forum I frequent about what constitutes a sport, and what is just an athletic equivalent to a beauty contest. It seems that some feel that an event that is judged subjectively is not really a sport. Only the events with clear "first past the post" winners can be considered a sport. I haven't really come down on one side or the other. I think that all of the events are sports. If it requires physical training to the nth level, and is not something just anyone can do well, it's a sport.

The day they introduce competitive eating, I'm out of here. Now that is NOT a sport!

An interesting side note, the CBC sports program asked for viewer input on who was the most gifted athlete at the games, or something to that effect. Somebody very wisely voted for one of the horses on the Canadian Equestrian team. We get so caught up in the human element, sometimes we forget what we ask of our partners.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Casts for the summer.

Mom broke her foot in three places a while back. She's been in a cast for over a month, and is not to put any weight on the limb at all. This has left her confined to one level of her home, one small room and the bathroom. To say that she is bored out of her mind would be like saying the moon is a little distance away.

I think, if it were winter, it wouldn't be quite so bad, since she would be trapped indoors anyway. In summer, with her flower beds going wild and things to be done, it has to be maddening. When Sandra and I have gone out, she has seemed okay, but being stuck like that is worse than any kind of prison sentence. A person can appeal a court decision. There is no recourse against an x-ray.

On the positive side of things, though, she won't need to have surgery done. There were some fears that she would need to have a pin put into her ankle. Fortunately, the x-rays taken last week show the bones mending properly. They put a new, smaller cast on her leg and told her to stay off of it for another month. If all goes well, they will then put her into a walking cast, and she won't have to worry about anything breaking if she bumps that foot.

Still, I am a little concerned about the stress of the whole thing. People just aren't built to be in tiny spaces for so long. Why else would it be the standard punishment for criminals? It cannot be good for her mental health.

Mom will be coming to visit here next week. Sandra and I will go out with the car and pick her up. It's my birthday, and I want her to come and spend some time with us. If the weather is good, we will be having a barbecue and cake outdoors, or sandwiches and treats in the apartment if it rains.

The leg will heal. I just hate the time that it is taking away from Mom.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Time allotment.

I have been spending a lot of time on the computer lately, not doing anything of real importance, but I'm almost always sitting at the darned thing. I'm thinking that it might be time to get out of this chair once in a while and let the modem cool down. Real life is out there waiting for me.

There are things I do on the computer that I really don't want to give up, like chatting with friends that I really can't talk with any other way, and writing my little fan fiction stories. Those are some of the reasons I have the computer, really. Next to paying bills and the volunteer stuff I do for the church.

Maybe I should just shut down a little earlier each night, and settle in with a coffee and my books. I haven't taken nearly enough time to read. And if Sandra is up and not online, we could spend some more quality time together. She does her things in the evening, so the late morning and early afternoon should be our time.

Now that I do have some limited responsibilities around the building, time is getting to be a more valuable commodity. Time to rethink how I use it.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Our new transportation.

It's been a pretty busy week.

Sandra and I have been in the process of getting a loan to buy a used car. It has been a roller coaster ride of emotions for her. We had hoped to get a line of credit at first, but were declined. The guy at the bank then ran the numbers for a loan. Well, he was pretty rude and short when dealing with Sandra that day, and that just had her in tears.

The long and the short of it is that we wound up trying at another bank, with no luck, so we went back and took the loan offered at our own. It was a little more each month than we wanted to pay, but still within our means. When we went in the second and third times (We had to go back to pick up the cheque for the dealership.) he was much nicer to Sandra.

From test drive to plating the car was a week, almost exactly. I don't think I've ever made a decision of that magnitude quite so quickly, but we really did need a newer car. The cavalier was thirteen years old, and things were starting to get expensive to keep her running. After she broke down on us in Kingston, Sandra never felt comfortable driving again.

My Dad really wants the old car. He does not care for the van that my mother has, and my brother has it half of the time. If the car can be made to pass the safety, he feels it will be perfect for the driving that he does. Dad seldom leaves the property, and never goes long distance. Or at least, he very rarely travels long distance.

Sandra is thrilled with our new car. We bought a 2002 Pontiac Sunfire GTX. It is a little more loaded than we really need, but the price was good and the mileage even better. It only had 66 thousand kilometres on the odometer. It rides well, and most importantly, has no rust. Sandra can drive in comfort and confidence again.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Stupid things I do.

As many of you know, I have muscular dystrophy, and therefore have a problem with stairs and heavy lifting. Well, the last two days, I did something very foolish. I got up on a ladder and painted a ceiling.

There had been a leak in the apartment above, and that resulted in a stain on the ceiling in question. Rather than hand the company the expense of repairing the damage, I figured that I could just step up and paint over it. Big mistake.

By the time I was finished yesterday, I was aching all over from the strain of getting up the ladder and reaching to do the painting. I have a bruise on my right shin from where I banged it against the ladder at some point, and I have multiple strains.

I don't know where I would be without my wife. She massaged my aches, right through all of my whining and complaining. She even got out the muscle lotion to try and ease my right thigh and back muscles. She is a woman of great patience when I do stupid things like this to myself. Anyone else would have told me to stop bellyaching and just deal with the consequences.

Needless to say, any other such work is going to have to be done by professionals.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

What my father taught me.

I didn't realize it at the time, but my father taught me a lot of the things that I was ever going to need in life. He didn't sit me down and lecture me about them, he just always did things a certain way. Leadership by example is what they call it today.

One of the first rules he taught me was that if you give your word, you bloody well keep it. My father is one of the most trustworthy people I have ever had the good fortune to know. When he told somebody that he would be someplace, he was there, even if he had to walk. If Dad said that he would pay somebody for something, it was paid, on time, and gladly. I suspect he is one of the few people who still believe that a promise made on a handshake is just as binding as anything on paper.

Another or my father's rules for life is that you always treat any female, regardless of age or social station as a lady. This wasn't really explained in any way. It just got ingrained in me that you were always polite to a lady, until she proved herself otherwise. Doors are to be held open, jackets are to be helped on with, things like that. Now, a lot of that training came from my mother, but Dad always backed it up.

The rule that he most definitely taught me was that a man always takes care of the tools he works with each day. He has always been very careful about cleaning out paint brushes and making sure his saw did not get rusty. He makes tools last far longer than your average guy. It shows respect for the tools that allow you to make a living. Many is the time I've taken extra care with something that I use, be it kitchen equipment or a paint brush, and gotten odd looks from coworkers. I just hate to see a tool misused or carelessly thrown about.

My father taught me about commitment, honesty and respect.

Why don't these things take until we grow up a bit?

Friday, July 25, 2008

Joe upgraded?

I had been thinking about upgrades to the computer that I use everyday. After all, it is five years old now, and was likely obsolete the moment it came out of the box. Technology moves so quickly these days. Naturally, these are the changes I would make if I had all kinds of money, so it is more of a wish list than anything else.

A web cam of decent quality would be nice. That way people who I chat with could actually see me if they so chose. And if I had bothered to get decent that day. Instant messaging is something I use fairly often, so this is a device that would get a lot of use. In that same vein, I would like to have an even better quality microphone, one that is voice activated and that I don't have to have stuck to the side of my face. Maybe as part of the web cam?

Another good feature to have would be voice print. I would like to be able to dictate a letter or commands, and not have to type so much. My fingers don't always do exactly what I tell them to these days. Besides which, it might be nice to try a hands-free approach to computing.

The drawback is that everyone else's computer would have to be capable of receiving all of this media. I have tried using my microphone to at least get voice communication, but it seems like nobody is set up for it. None of the people I chat with anyway.

Maybe an upgrade isn't so important after all. Just slow down my typing and keep this system running at best performance.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

When it's not fun anymore

My wife is part of an on-line bingo and other game league. She hosts two tournaments each night. This is strictly for fun, and a volunteer thing. She doesn't get anything out of hosting other than chatting with her friends.

Tonight, one of the head administrators got all upset with her because a member who had not registered in time was not able to play in her second tournament. This upset Sandra very much. She tries so hard to keep the members happy, and it isn't easy getting players for the second tournament slot, so when there are enough, she closes and begins on schedule.

I don't think it was fair to yell at her because somebody couldn't register in time.

When something like this becomes more like a job than a hobby, when do you just say "to hell with it" and let it go? She really enjoys the league, and so many of the people she has encountered through it. It would be a shame to have her drop her hobby because somebody was upset one night.

I think we need to sit back and remember why we joined this league to begin with. If it isn't fun, what is the point?

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Upon entering a residence.

Nothing quite so philosophical today.

I want to talk about housekeeping.

It's odd, but you can tell an awful lot about a person from the way that they keep their home. I say this with authority, because I have had occasion to be in a number of apartments in the last two weeks. The difference between a residence and home can be felt within three feet of the door. It isn't always the obvious things either that will give away how much a person cares about where they live.

One place I was in recently was done up with homey touches. A mirror here, a prized possession there. Little pieces of the tenant's history were in the entry. It was like being welcomed into her life a bit to walk through the door. Another had just a clean hallway, with things set neatly to one side. Still, it said to me that she liked to be organized, and that if you were willing to abide by her rules, you would be welcome. A third place had things haphazardly thrown about, with some attempt at keeping order, but not much success. That was a home with somebody who just tries to keep up with things as they happen.

Guys as a rule go one of two ways. Either the place is a pigsty, because that is the way they live their lives at home, or they keep things regimented and orderly. Few men go to the trouble of arranging things for show, in my experience. Once in a while you will see something like a family picture or a favorite piece of art, but most guys can't be put to the bother. Either it's too much effort, or it would be seen as a useless waste of wall space.

Myself, I'd like to decorate with a combination of functionality and family warmth. I want people to know that they are entering a home, not just a place that I happen to live. At the same time, I want it to be obvious where things belong.

My wife is a wonder at making these touches just right. I think, with her choices, she creates a feel in the foyer of our unit that says, "This is us."

There is a saying about first impressions. It applies to feelings as well as tangibles. Our homes can either feel like one, or not. It all depends on who we are and how we live.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Time travels

Ever ask yourself, "Where did the time go?" You may have noted more than once that I've used that phrase, or something to that effect in this blog. Time seems to slip away in a blur, now and then, okay, frequently. If you aren't paying attention, whole days and weeks can go by, and you missed something.

From a strictly quantum physics point of view, I think time goes outward, towards the direction of galactic expansion. If one could point to a place and say, "The universe began here," then we could as easily say that time began then, and has moved outward along with the stars and galaxies. Given the speed at which the universe is calculated to be expanding, time really does fly, fast.

Let's think for a moment about how we define time. The world we live in has three basic dimensions; length, width and depth. Once you have those, you can have motion through them. From that motion, we take the fourth dimension, time. Otherwise known as how long it take to move from one point of the spacial dimensions to another. Now, given the four dimensions that we have just defined, there are many more possible, but let's try to keep it simple.

This also explains how time can be relative, depending on who is doing the measuring. It takes a person with smaller strides much longer to get to one point than it takes a person with a longer stride to cover the same distance. What to you or me feels like a mere minute, could, to a mouse feel like an hour.

Then again, we have decided, in our human way, to standardize time, based on the units of the year, month, week and day. Beyond that, we are obsessed with breaking it down still more.

I think the trick to a more peaceful life, is to get away from defining time beyond the day level. Sure, we have to know the hour of certain events in our lives, but defining ourselves by where we spend our time is a mistake, I believe. The day will go on whether you stop to watch the sunset or not. It will go on even if you take time to write that letter to your grandmother, or decide that the carpet has to be vacuumed now.

Time travels outward, away from us. Maybe, if we paid more attention to it, we could get the most out of it.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Feeling useful.

Never underestimate the value of feeling useful in one's life. Sometimes, it makes all of the difference in the world.

The worst thing about having been diagnosed with a disability, was being told by my doctor that I should immediately apply for a disability pension. To my way of thinking, this was next door to a death sentence. I've always defined myself by my ability to do for others. If I were sitting around on a pension, I might as well be a helpless child again.

While I do not have the experience or training for office work, or some other sedentary employment, I prefer to be doing something to earn my keep. In an agricultural and industrial region like south east Ontario, there isn't a whole lot of work to go around. Not without the right skills.

I've had to make peace with the fact that I cannot do a lot of the things that I used to. I cannot help others in the manner that I was accustomed to. No amount of moping or complaining can change my physiology.

Recently, I've been hired as an assistant superintendent for the building that I live in. The work is never supposed to be so heavy that I cannot do it. Mostly, it's just being a presence in the building on behalf of the landlord, so that tenants have somebody to talk to when there is a problem. Most of the job is handling the request paperwork.

In this first month, I've done a few other things. I've unclogged sinks and toilets. I've supervised the changing of locks. I have handled problems with refrigerators. (I didn't do the work myself, but I made sure that things got moved and fixed.) Little things like towel bars and the like I can handle.

I haven't felt so useful in several years. The only ones who had any real use for me were my wife and family. It is good to know that I still have something to contribute.

When my late father-in-law retired from work with the Provincial Park Service, he didn't have a plan of what he was going to do with his time. As a result, he didn't get exercise and his diet was a nutritionist's nightmare. It wasn't too long after that when he had a heart attack. The second attack is what killed him.

I don't care how you make yourself useful and active. Volunteer with an organization. Help out a neighbour with a project. For that matter, get a hobby that you enjoy. Just be active and do something that makes you feel useful. I think you will live better for it.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

The New World Order

I was reading a story the other day, and there were some references to the Holocaust and the clan. It is hard to believe, in this day and age, that there are still pockets of Nazis and other racist, fascist groups out there. Did a pile of people somehow miss the fact that we are well into the first decade of the 21st century?

It's a little hard for me to come to terms with the entire concept of "the master race". While I was growing up, it was always pointed out to me that there was only one race, the human one. We lived in a small town, so ethnic diversity was a little hard to come by, and prejudice was more on a socio-economic level. When I first started learning about segregation and the genocides of the past, it all just made me so sick.

I do agree, sometimes, that there needs to be a new world order. However, it cannot be based on exclusivity. The only way a civilization can survive is to take the best of its parts, and incorporate them into the whole. Where as Hitler and the Apartheid government of South Africa sought to eliminate the "pollution of the pure race", I think they had it backwards.

The world can never be whole so long as one group of people feels it has the right to be in charge of everything. Wisdom is knowing that you will never be everything, and that supporting one another is the way to get things done. That applies in genetics as well as political endeavours. When you try to breed out the "perfect human" what you wind up with is usually a genetic anomaly or a person lacking defences against disease. Look at the royal families of 19th century Europe. They in bred for so long, they had problems with hemophilia and similar disorders.

No, in my version of the new world order, there would be no more attempts to separate the ethnic groups. Marriage of any couple that loved each other would be encouraged. Eventually, genetics would produce a group of humans with all of the advantages of each background. Sure, there will always be problems with the evolution of the human form, but best to spread the genetic net than fish from a single line.

We don't need a "master race", we need a guardian race. In centuries to come, humans will evolve to be the species that cares for this planet, keeping it safe from the ravages that we currently inflict upon it. We will learn to harness resources to care for ourselves without damaging the ecosystem. Our population will find its balance with what the world can sustain. We will learn to work together toward what is truly best for our civilization.

It's a choice, we either learn and grow, or die off fighting over things that don't really matter in the big scheme of things.

I choose to grow.

Friday, July 11, 2008

A boost to self esteem.

I got a major shot in the arm today.

The other day, I was in an on-line discussion forum, and posted that I felt my writing was crap compared to what I had read recently. While I still feel that I am very much lacking as a writer, the response to that remark has made me feel infinitely better.

One person said that my statement was patently bullsh*t, and that everything he had read by me was of a very high standard. Another reminded me that the only person I have to compare myself to is me, yesterday. Have I improved since then? The general consensus is that while being critical of my own work is a good thing, I went to far by calling it garbage.

Maybe sometimes we do harsh on ourselves a little bit too much. We want what we do to be good and noteworthy. If we forget the reason we took up writing, drawing or whatever, the fun goes out of it, and then what is the point? There is a fine line between being critical and wanting it right, and being obsessive.

So a big thank you to those who took my head out of my a**. I think maybe now I can get on with the chapters I have on my plate and feel better about it. At the very least, I can have fun.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Our Mellissa

A happy birthday to my second oldest niece, Mellissa-Anne!

She is another reminder that I don't have any little girls anymore. I actually have to look up to her, even if she isn't wearing heels, which she can now do confidently. I swear that one of these days I'm going to have to start standing on chairs. Being looked down on by these girls is depressing.

In all seriousness though, they have grown up much better than I could have hoped. For the most part, they are good, honest and independent young women. Mellissa has come farther than we had hoped when she was little. Maybe a rough start kind of helped get things going.

She's decided on a career already, and is working towards it. She is already looking at colleges, and she still has two more years of high school. If she is pulling in Cs, she wants to be bringing home a B. If she's getting Bs, she wants to shoot for the A. This isn't a little girl anymore, this is a full blown young woman.

We are all proud of how far you've come Mellissa, and are behind you, wherever you decide to go. Just remember to come back and visit once in a while.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Commitments

I was going to do a write up about the Fourth of July, but something happened today that put that by the wayside.

I was woken this morning by a phone call from the property manager of the building. They needed to show an apartment, and wanted me to check with one of the tenants if it would be okay to show hers. This was fairly early in the morning, and I was doing good to find my glasses. So, I walked over there and, afraid that I might be waking up the nice lady, knocked on the door.

Fortunately, the good woman had been up for hours already, and didn't mind if we took a person through, to show the amenities.

The person never showed up! We waited for more than half an hour, and she never came. Not so much as a phone call to explain that they would not be here. In my book, that is just the height of rudeness. If you make an appointment to be someplace, you had better darn well be there!

My parents brought me up to believe that punctuality wasn't just a courtesy. It is an obligation. If I say I'm going to be somewhere, you'd better believe that I'll be there, or at least let you know what happened.

I think the problem is that we aren't as committed to things now as past generations were. We want everything to run according to our schedules, and we want it now. We have forgotten that it is a two way street. If we want the respect, we have to be willing to show it first. To me, it is part and parcel of being a proper gentleman, to always say what you mean and mean what you say.

I always put my watch on in the morning, usually right after my glasses. I check the time regularly. If I have an appointment, I always try to be five minutes early.

It all goes back to courtesy, respect for the other, and just being a good person. I hope that when people meet me, I make a decent impression.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Another Canada Day

It's that day again, time to celebrate the birth of our nation. Canada is 131 today. Odd, she doesn't look a day over 100. Ooh, bad Joe. Bad Joe.

Even in troubled times, Canada is still the only place I could ever see as home. I know that as long as I live under the maple leaf, I am going to be helped and allowed to help. Debate socialism all you want, but I wouldn't give up the health care system we have for all of the tea in China. I am free to be who I want to be, as long as I do not take that right from anyone else.

So far, Canada has not fallen into the economic quagmire that so many other nations have. Our economy isn't growing at the rate we might like, but it hasn't stalled quite yet either.

We are starting to learn as a society. We are looking for clean alternative energies, even as we supply so much of the world with crude oil. More and more people are conserving and recycling. It is in our best interests, not just ecologically but financially, to do so.

Enjoy the day, Canadians, and join us if you can from other places.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Meet your heroes

Last night, I was going through a collection of e-mail that had been held up due to a system problem. One of them was an invitation by one of my favorite authors at www.fanfiction.net. He gave me his phone number, saying that he would like to discuss my writing and comments I had submitted about his. He also gave me the option of having him phone me, since he has a very good long distance plan.

No sooner did I finish typing an e-mail response than the phone rang. It was "Neb", as he is known to us in the fan fiction. He was calling me all the way from Texas, just to talk writing with me. This is a man who is widely admired in our little world of Kim Possible fandom, who has contact with a number or brilliant writers. What in the name of my great aunt Matilda's bicycle shorts was I going to discuss with him?

I am rather embarrassed to say that I made a fool of myself, going on at length about the current story line I am reading. He sucked me in with this one, and to be honest, I stand in awe of his writing abilities. I don't understand how any publisher could ever have rejected his work. He gave me a lot of insight into what I have just been reading.

If you ever have the chance, meet your heroes. Sometimes you just might learn that you have the potential to do what they do, if even on just a smaller scale. All I did was talk to 'Neb on the phone, but that was enough to have me willing to keep at this writing thing.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Taking our girl to the vet.

This is our darling baby, Isabelle. Yesterday we took her for her annual physical at the vet's office. This is traumatising for an indoor cat, who only goes out in her carrier once each year. It is also expensive, but worth every penny.


She is in perfect health, according "Dr. Devin". She is carrying a little more weight than he would like to see, but that is common in indoor cats that have been spayed. He checked her teeth, and they are good as well.

This was her year for a feline distemper shot. She was very good about it, not even flinching as Dr. Hunt put the needle in. Which is more than can be said for poor Sandra, who hates needles with a passion. She just sat there and gave us her version of the puppy-dog-pout (which I must discuss in another post) as if to tell us, "I really want to go home now!"

The most difficult part of the whole process is travelling. Cats were not made to ride in hot muggy cars for half an hour each way. While the car was in motion, she was fine, but if we had to stop for more than a few seconds, she would meow at us. I felt so bad for her.

Still, she came through safe and sound, and is good for another year.

If only it were so simple with her big sister!

Friday, June 27, 2008

They grow up so fast.

My youngest niece just turned fifteen yesterday. Fifteen. It's hard to wrap my head around the idea that we don't have any little girls anymore. Any day now she could start bringing home, gasp, boys.

Sure, it's a cliche, but it seems like just yesterday we saw her going to school for the first time. She used to sit in the laundry basket and let her sisters pull her around the house. She screamed when you told her it was bath time and then screamed when you told her to get out of that cold, filthy water.

Barbie dolls were replaced by mp3s and clothing accessories.

On the other hand, our baby isn't a baby anymore either.

As the youngest, we pampered her a bit too much, so she was never very independent. Now she is able to get out and do things on her own more. At her sister's graduation, she sat down the row, so that her uncle and aunt would have seats. Surrounded by strangers, and she was calm and respectful. Something like that would have thrown her into a sheer panic attack just a few months ago.

I am very proud of my Darling Darlene. She's come such a long way. I can't wait to see how far she goes.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Nothing today, folks. A wicked headache has shut down my mental server and crashed my ambition hard drive.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Where does the time go?

My oldest niece graduated from high school last night. Sandra and I went to the commencement ceremony.

All of a sudden, I felt... old. Where did the time go? It seems like just a few weeks ago I was in my first year at University, and I got word that Steph was born. Now, here she is getting set to start off in the same path. Somehow, you just lose sight of the fact that the kids you used to give horsey rides grow up.

It was a pretty good ceremony, as these things go. Being a Catholic school, there was a short liturgy before the program began. There were certainly enough awards and bursaries handed out. The one kid isn't going to have to pay for his first year of post secondary education, by the looks of things. In a class of 120, there were almost thirty awards.

My next oldest niece is hot on the heels of her sister. She has made great strides from a child who had a learning disability. Mellissa has actually chosen a career path, and knows what she needs to do to get there.

I remember when their biggest decision was what flavour of freezy they wanted to have in the summer. Now they are deciding what to do with the rest of their lives.

Where does the time go?

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Lost on-line

A few weeks back, I made a "friend" on-line. He was a fellow writer in the fan fiction site that I frequently live in. In the course of reviewing each other's work and general chatting in forums, I got to like him. He's an interesting guy, from what I can tell.

Not too long ago, his sister developed complications from a congenital illness. He was very afraid that he was going to lose her, and sent a mass e-mail out to say that he was suspending his writing activities until further notice. I wrote him a personal message, letting him know that I could understand that he had more important things to concentrate on.

Now he has decided to take down his account at fan fiction. I am not clear on the reason. It would seem that he felt that he was being disrespected by other members of the site, and that it just wasn't right for him anymore. This all happened in the course of a couple of hours last night. I never even got the chance to chat with him before he left to dismantle his account.

Maybe I'm a little over sensitive here, but I hate the thought of losing a friend without knowing what is going on. It isn't my place to tell him not to leave the site if he is not comfortable there, so my options are limited.

I did send him an e-mail letting him know that I didn't want to lose touch with him completely. He has my address, and can send me messages anytime that he wants. I hope he takes advantage of the offer. I so hate to lose people on-line.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Changing of the locks

As you may recall, I wrote recently that our building superintendent suddenly resigned his position. Naturally, that meant that the master keys had to be changed. It seems that it was most important in this case. There is a major dispute about the reason he quit.

Anyway, the locksmiths were here yesterday. A letter had been circulated to let the tenants know before hand, and still several couldn't be bothered to be on hand. Of course, it was a Sunday, and nice out. The guys will come back after the property manager has had a chance to contact the people who were missed yesterday.

I happen to know the property manger from school, so he asked me to be on hand if there were any problems. You know, to kinda smooth things over if anybody had questions.

In fact, I might have a bit of a job come from all of this. They want to put an assistant super into each building that they have here in town. If it flies with head office, I might get that position. It doesn't pay much, but it doesn't require much work either. Basically, I would just be keeping an eye on the building, watching for trouble. Heck, I do it anyway.

I like to keep an eye on the place. It's home.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Sleep or the lack thereof

I don't know what is wrong with me these days. If I'm not sleeping in late, I'm getting up two hours before my alarm is set to go off. There just doesn't seem to be a happy medium. Granted, I can function well enough on six hours of sleep, since my day doesn't involve any heavy physical labour.

Some research says that the human body should dictate how much sleep we should get, that we will wake up when there has been enough rest for our systems to recuperate from the previous day. Other studies suggest that we should regiment our sleep patterns, rising and going to bed at the same time each and every day. It all depends on who is doing the study and who is funding them.

When I was diagnosed as having muscular dystrophy, my doctor advised me that I should just sleep whenever I feel the need, and not force it when I don't. She said that my body would tell me when it needed to recover from stress and activity. There are going to be times, I was told, when I will have a "tired spell", and that I would learn to live around them.

Honestly though, I would love to be able to live according to some schedule. Ever since I had to resign from my last position for medical reasons, I've felt kind of in limbo. My mother says that is a result of always having had some place that I really needed to be. It would be nice to have a job that I could physically handle, but would regulate just how much I am sleeping, and when.

Besides which, a job outside of the home would get me out of my wife's hair once in a while. One of these days, she's going to get sick of me.

But that is a whole other post.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Fresh and in season

My wife and I went out to get a basket of fresh strawberries today. With the sudden rise of temperature this spring, and the recent rainfall, the crop came in early this year. We love to have the berries for dessert on warm summer evenings.

I love the idea of buying locally grown produce whenever possible. It is better for the environment and better for the economy of the area. Farmers markets are a great boon, with the best produce that can be had, at the best possible price, since it didn't have to be shipped. You always know that it is fresh, and hasn't been sitting in trucks and warehouses for the last six days.

Ottawa's Byward Market used to be one of my favorite places in the world. The smells, the colors and the sounds just screamed out to me each fall. I would think that most cities would set aside some space for a good farmers market.

When my parents came to visit with me once, we made a trip to the Byward Market, especially to get some fresh produce to make supper. Is there anything can beat a salad made with lettuce picked less than twenty-four hours previously? I think not.

So, go out and support your local farmers. Plan meals around whatever happens to be in season. Your local economy will thank you, the environment will thank you, and most importantly, you stomach will thank you.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Dinner last night

Supper went quite well last night actually. For the most part, people just stuck to the tables they had chosen to sit at. Nobody decided to air grievances.

My mother-in-law actually managed to put away a full order of lasagna! You have to understand, Mary weighs all of 98 lbs, and usually eats like a bird. These portions were huge, to the point of ridiculous. I don't know where my wife and I put our suppers, so it's a real mystery in my mother-in-law's case.

Conveniently, we had the photos we took of the Bluenose with us, and they made the rounds of the tables. A lot of the people who were there plan to go to either Prescott or Cornwall when she makes port again next week. It's always nice to take something to add to conversation.

Mary also won a little door prize. One person at each table got to take home the candle that the pastor had put on the tables. She also got one of the extras. There were more people originally signed up, but could not attend because grand children were graduating.

When it was time to pay the cheques, the cash register was up three or four steps. Given how much trouble I had with them, I knew that some of the older ladies would be in a similar position. Having been brought up correctly, I assisted them up and down. One; who had sat at the table with Sandra, Mary and I, commented to my wife about what a gentleman her husband was.

All things considered, it was a pleasant evening. Well worth the look of contempt the cats gave us when we got home.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

When empathy hurts

The dictionary defines empathy as the capacity for participating in the feelings or ideas of another. That's a pretty cold and clinical definition, from my perspective. For all intents and purposes, I can be considered empathic. I sense emotions on a high level. Something to do with subconscious reading of speech, body language and other clues that people give off all of the time.

The problem I have been having is large groups of people. It isn't easy to shut it all off. Building defensive walls takes time, and you don't always get it. On some occasions, I've been hit with the full force of what people were really thinking, and believe me, it wasn't pretty.

My wife and I are going to a church function tomorrow evening, and I am really starting to dread it. Due to recent events, emotions will be running high. I just hope the cutlery all stays on the table. Okay, that is exaggeration, but there are a lot of unhappy campers out there just now, and I really don't want to be feeling that from several directions at once.

Real empathic pain comes from when you haven't put up any barriers intentionally, because you want to be of help. It's the mental equivalent of letting somebody beat on you to relieve their frustrations. While I can take a certain amount of that, some people are just mentally very loud projectors. Some I have been known to pick up without being present except by phone or instant messaging. Every now and then, I get hit with a blow that makes me just want to curl up in a corner somewhere and hold my head for a while.

This may sound dumb to a lot of you, like I pulled something out of a science fiction novel. In fact, a lot of the descriptive points do have that source. Until you have experienced it, there is no common frame of reference. It is a very subjective feeling, and unless you can crawl into my mind, you cannot know exactly what it feels like on this end.

I don't mean to complain so much. Empathy is a good thing. It has allowed me to help people deal with grief and loss. It has kept me from falling for traps and cons. With discipline and practice, deep empathic levels can be a good tool. If more doctors and counsellors had the ability born into them, instead of trained, maybe health care would not be in the mess it is.

All I'm really saying here is to be very careful what you are projecting. You never know who is able to "listen" to what you aren't saying.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Piece of our heritage







The Bluenose II pulled into port here last evening. Sandra and I, having heard about it from the local paper, went down to have a look. I must say, it was quite impressive.

For those of you who may not be aware of it, the Bluenose is a schooner ship. The original, built in March of 1921, was the fastest of her day. She was primarily a fishing vessel, but when the opportunity arose, sailors could not help but to race. She won countless races for seventeen years, remaining undefeated until 1938.

World War II saw sailing vessels phased out of the fishing fleets, and despite protests by her master and many others, the Bluenose was sold in 1942, to the West Indian Trading Company. Adding insult to injury, she was stripped of her sails and set to hauling bananas and similar cargo. She sank in 1946, after hitting a reef off of Haiti.

The Bluenose II was built in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia in 1963 from similar plans to the original. Some of the original shipyard workers contributed to her construction. The hull, sail design and rigging are exact duplicates of the first Bluenose. In 1971, she was sold to the Nova Scotia government for the princely sum of one dollar, and sails as a goodwill ambassador for that province.

The Bluenose is represented on our country's dime, representing a time when Canada was at the forefront of ship building skill and technology.

Most of what you have just read is paraphrased from the pamphlet that is handed out at the gangway whenever the ship (And don't ever let a sailor hear you call her a boat!) makes port. To many Canadians, a lot of the early history is as good as legend. The dates are fuzzy, by my generation remembers hearing the stories, and the Canadian Ministry of Heritage has made a point of documenting the history of our tall ship.

It is always wonderful when a piece of the past comes to call. We take for granted that we can go on the Internet and get all of this information if we want it. It just isn't the same as touching the rail and hearing the timbers creak in the waves. If she is open to visitors today, Sandra and I hope to go aboard. I want to feel the deck beneath my feet, and capture a bit of what those original fishermen must have felt.

Respect history. It's what made us who we are.






Sunday, June 15, 2008

Family Update

Happy Father's Day, everyone. It has dawned nice and sunny, so let's get out there and take advantage of it shall we?

As some of you may know, I spent several days this last week visiting with my grandparents. They have both been experiencing medical issues, so my mother wants to go up to see them as often as she can. She needed someone to drive her, with her back not being so good, so I went up and had a look for myself.

Grandma is much better. She is up and about, and very much her usual self. She doesn't seem to have had any lasting side effects from her heart attack. The doctors have told her to watch her diet, and try to keep stress to a minimum. My aunts are being wonderful about going out to the house to help her with every little thing that they might need.

Uncle Bill (as we call my grandfather) is definitely not well. Still, he isn't quite as bad off as I had believed. While he requires constant oxygen and naps a lot more than he is awake, when he is up, he is as feisty as ever, and ready to cause trouble. They say that you can't keep a good man down. In my experience, the same goes for a naughty little old man. He can even get out on his electric scooter and go for rides.

My mother's Aunt Vi passed away about a week before we went up to visit. The internment was held at the cemetery on the Wednesday. I went with my mother to represent my grandmother, who wasn't up to a trip of that length. A fair number of the family made it, considering the plot is way out back of beyond in a sleepy little hamlet called Arden.

I never really knew that side very well. All I can really say for sure is that they have certain quirks, like all of us do.

At any rate, the family is doing as well as can possibly be expected.

Use the day to spend time with your families. We only get to borrow them for a short time.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Medicine vs. Faith

Every now and then you hear stories in the news about children being given medical treatments by court order. Their parents disapprove of the treatment in question on religious grounds. They feel that God will save their child if it is His will. Man is not meant to interfere.

I beg to differ with that argument.

There is an old joke about a woman in a flood, who sits on her roof praying. A bus for evacuation comes, but she declines the ride, saying that God would save her. A good man in a boat comes along and offers to take her off of her roof. Again, she passes on the offer, saying that God will spare her if He is so willing. Finally, the water is up to her neck and rescue workers in a helicopter try to lift her off of the roof. She turns them away, and drowns. When she gets to the pearly gates, she asks God why she wasn't saved. He simply stares at her and say, "I sent you a bus, a boat and a helicopter. All you had to do was take my hand."

It seems to me that we have to meet faith half way. A Divine creator surely would give somebody here the skills that are needed to help us in our hour of need. By refusing treatment, are these parents not turning away from the will of God? The Universe has gifted doctors and scientist with knowledge and ability for the extension and maintenance of life.

I agree that at present, there are boundaries we are not meant to cross. Life was designed and evolves according to a plan of its own. Tampering with that plan has lead to problems of a high order. One day we may have the knowledge and the maturity as a species to guide the design evolution, but not yet. Today, we would only breed horrors.

The point of my argument still stands. Why would a benign Creator give man the skills and knowledge to improve life, if it were not meant to be used. Satan would not give us the ability to improve life, so that argument doesn't wash. No, I think it is safe to say that medical advancement is the hand that God extends to us, so that we might live to carry out His work.

Opinions?

Friday, June 6, 2008

What the...

I am so bloody mad! Our building super has resigned his position with no notice. All of a sudden yesterday, we got a letter saying that he was done effective immediately. No explanation, no real way to find out what's going on.

Now, we have always liked Sam. We always described him as a bit ole teddy bear. He looked after the building well, and always had a smile for the tenants as he was out and about. Having him here was a real selling point when deciding whether or not to take the apartment.

Ever since we got the letter, he hasn't said so much as boo to anyone. He has put up signs saying that we should call the property management head office. Or fax them rather. Like anybody has a fax machine. And without knowing what exactly is going down, what are we supposed to tell them? I did e-mail the one property manager that I happen to know personally. No answers yet.

The whole thing has just gotten my wife terribly upset. She has difficulty with sudden change. Put that together with high heat, humidity and a "change of life", and you have the makings of a major bad mood.

My mother tried to speak with him this afternoon as Dad and I were trying to get the air conditioner in. He was downright rude to her, brushing off enquires saying that his little signs said everything. I can understand being upset, but that does not excuse poor manners. I was raised to know better than that.

Sorry. I don't like to vent here, but sometimes, venting is the only way to get things off your mind.

Thanks for listening.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

A writer, me?

A friend of mine has suggested that I write a book. He said that a lot of the things that we have chatted about really should be in print somewhere. He went on to say that he would purchase said book.

A lot of what I would be writing can be sampled here. I would be writing on the topic of relationships, and being a traditional man in nontraditional times. It should perhaps be noted that I have said a lot on this topic to a lot of people. There are people and television characters out there that I so would like to emulate.

I think the ideal man in today's society is one like the character of Horatio Caine, from 'CSI Miami'. He is always the gentleman, even while dealing with people he would as soon see strapped to the electric chair. He is gentle and sensitive, without compromising that sense of unadulterated masculinity. His gifts with women and children in crisis is beyond reproach.

So many men today see nothing wrong with swearing in public and mixed company. A man's language should reflect his intelligence and his respect for others. Sentences peppered with four letter words beginning with F just shows a lack of vocabulary and an even deeper lack of pride in one's self.

So far, the only non-fiction I have ever written is school essays and this blog. Everything else I have out there in the public domain is fiction.

My writing has been pretty well received. Said friend has asked me to work on a special project, which I cannot go into detail about here. It has to be perfect, as far as I am concerned, because it is a highly personal gift I want to give when the time is right.

Please leave a comment and tell me if you think I could make a book work.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Polygamy

There has been a lot of discussion in a forum I subscribe to about the validity of polygamy as a form of relationship. Comments ranged from the 'let them all burn in Hell' to the 'hey, unless it's forced or involves me' sort of thing. People backed there positions based on sketchy cultural data, or biblical verse, which turned out to be just as sketchy.

To be honest, I can see where polygamy might work outside of the context of marriage, either civil or religious. It would have to be a contract among consenting adults, with the option of leaving at any time. Everyone involved would have to be willing to be responsible for his or her actions at all times, and actions of jealousy would be grounds for terminating the entire contract.

Such an arrangement could be convenient for those wanting family, but not ready for the commitment of getting married. Children of the community would be raised by the community, with no regard for who their biological parent is.

All of that being said, I cannot come out in favour of polygamy as a lifestyle. To me, that kind of relationship is all about two people who are committing to each other. My wedding vows state that I will keep myself only for my wife, forsaking all others. That is what love is supposed to be all about.

Free love went out in the sixties. Thank heavens for that.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

I'm going to visit my grandparents next week. They live some distance from here, so I don't get up to see them very often. I was writing fairly regularly at one point, but haven't for a while.

My grandfather is very ill at the present. His lungs have just about quit on him, the result of many years of smoking. The hospital released him when it became clear that there was nothing they could do for him. He is pretty much prepared of that.

What we weren't really prepared for was my grandmother having a heart attack. She tried to get up from bed one morning and just fell over. Fortunately, she has family that comes in on a regular basis. Her step daughter found her and got her to the hospital.

She's made a full recovery now, and is in pretty good shape for a woman of her age.

It just reminds me that we often take our family for granted. I wish I had a nickle for ever time I have heard somebody say, "I wish I had gotten to know him/her better." Why do we wait until loss to realize somebody's importance to us? Sudden loss is the worst kind, but even a lingering death sometimes seems to catch us off guard.

With Father's Day coming up, maybe now would be a good time to think about those family members you haven't spoken to in a while.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Funny...it didn't look so big in the store.

My wife and I have just purchased a new box spring and mattress set. The one she had been sleeping on was so old, it was giving her major grief. We went to the store and tried out several brands and models. Eventually, we decided to splurge on a queen size to replace her double, knowing that the frame could expand to fit.

What I didn't count on was the bed being six inches longer as well. I had to take the frame apart the other way, and wound up snapping the bolts, they had been in so long and so tight. The guys who delivered the set were a little perplexed at the problem at first, until they realized the frame was, indeed, adjustable.

Funny... it didn't look so big in the store.

I don't know why it is that you never think to take a tape measure with you when buying these things. You just a assume that a bed is a bed, it should fit just fine.

Remember, ass-u-me.

It's the same whenever you buy clothes. The colour always looks spectacular in the fitting room. The cut always hides that extra two pounds you put on at the wedding you went to last month. You take the same outfit home, and suddenly that khaki colour is a pea green mud shade. What flattered your stomach and made you look like a cross between Stallone and Shwartzenager now makes you look like Fred Flintstone.

Remind me to never buy a car without taking it to different locations and lighting conditions.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Enough is enough

I suppose it was just a matter of time before I had to weigh in on the whole gas price issue. Like everyone else, I am sick and tired of feeling that I am being mugged every time I have to put gas into the car. The supply of oil hasn't really changed so much in the last two years as to warrant the current price that we are paying.

At this rate, I am either going to have to give up going places, or give up eating. I'm not talking pleasure trips either. We're talking about trips to doctor's appointments, to get groceries or seeing family.

On the other hand, I have taken the price of gas as an excuse to think about the way we drive, and the vehicles that we do it in. In the city, it wouldn't mean so much. A good transit system, such as I had access to in Ottawa pays for itself in a relatively short number of trips. Living in a small town, with the best shopping being some distance away, it is another matter.

Still, I really don't need all of the engine power that our car has. Why does a car need to be able to do twice the legal limit? Also, I don't need all of the space that is wasted in the vehicle we own. As a rule, it is only the two of us in the car. I keep seeing SUVs on the road with just one person! Talk about waste.

The result of all of this thinking, I would so love to design and build my own vehicle.

Think of it as the Smart car designed for North American realities. The Daimler Smart car is fine in Europe, where they don't do such much grocery shopping in one trip as we do. If you were to extend it slightly at the rear, maybe even giving it jump seats for the occasional extra passengers, it would fit the North American market much better.

The ideal car, as I see it, would use electric motor at all four wheels for locomotion. They would be powered by batteries, which would, in turn, get their power from the smallest possible gas generator, or plug in charging, depending on availability. That is my idea of a true hybrid vehicle, using as little fuel as possible.

I once saw a cartoon (of all things), with a great quote. "A problem is just a misunderstood opportunity."

How do I get in touch with General Motors and Ford?

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

That's right, I'm back.

I realize it's been quite some time since I last added anything at all to this blog. I probably should have shut it down ages ago, but I wanted to keep the option of coming back to it open.

For anyone who was wondering, I've been spending a lot of my time on-line in a world called fan fiction. On that site, I have posted a number of short stories based on, of all things, a Disney cartoon. I found this site, quite by accident, a few month ago. It got me started in something as addictive as crack and as time consuming as a career. Creative writing.

Remember when our teachers told us to write short stories back in grade school? Where was fanfiction.net when I needed it?

Since becoming a regular member of the site, I have been bitten by multiple plot bunnies. These are imaginary creatures that, when they bite you, infect you with story ideas. They are tricky, and breed just as quickly as standard bunnies. One of the writers from the site has been trying to come up with a defense against them, but so far the BE4000 (bunny eradicator) just keeps them under control. Anything you see or hear can become a plot bunny.

My dear wife has been very patient with me, but I must be very trying sometimes. The characters I am writing about are high school seniors, or college students, depending on the story. My vocabulary now includes such words as Boo-yah, sitch, PDP (puppy-dog-pout) and tanks, as in this is so awful, it really tanks. The younger set know exactly what I mean. My wife is still mystified if I use some of them.

Beware the writer's urge, my friends. The characters will whisper in your ear at night, when you are trying to sleep. They will not leave you alone until the story is out. Even then, they just wait until another night to keep you awake with stories to be told.

I will be posting here more often, just to get my mind out of my fiction. There is certainly enough in the news to make notes of. Real life does go on, even if we try to ignore it.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

China and the Olympic flame

I just want to get in my opinion about the whole China Olympics controversy. We've been seeing it on the news long enough now, and it's time to weigh in on the subject. It isn't right to say that "it's none of my business what goes on in China." The way human dignity is treated in the world is very much every one's business.
First thing to be said is that I do agree that China's human rights record is appalling and that steps must be taken to pressure the government of that country to change its policies. As one of the most populated nations in the world, they have a responsibility to be a model for other countries.
Attacking the institution of the Olympic Games is not the way to push for change. The games are a symbol of peaceful competition, the very opposite of combat for revolution. By extinguishing the flame, the protesters have lowered themselves to the standard of those who suppress freedom, not just for Tibet, but for the populace of the country as a whole. The opportunity has been lost to violence.
A better use of the Olympic torch relay would have been to have groups of protesters along the route who would all turn their backs on the torch, and block view of it with signs which display examples of human rights violations. The object is to overshadow the games with the reality of life in China, using the torch to light the dark corners where things are hidden. In a dark room, do you turn off the flashlight when looking for the fuse box?
Violence only begets more violence. Action of the type we have seen on television should always be considered a last resort. To take that physical conflict outside of China as a means of protest is simply unacceptable. We are supposed to be the civilized ones in this debate, it is high time we started acting like it. As I said, the protesters should not be stooping to the level of the people they are complaining about.
I have great sympathy for those who are being kept down by corrupt regimes around the world. I support them in their call for change. However, violence and attacking institutions of international peace is not the way to achieve that change.
I will fight for human rights. I would willingly lay down my life to protect innocents. Attacking somebody to get media attention? That is so wrong and sick.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Is that spring I see?

It has been just beautiful out the last few days here, which makes me dare to ask the question, is spring finally here?
I suppose, as a Canadian, you would think I'd be used to being cooped up indoors for five months out of the year. It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, nobody wants to be kept indoors by the weather any longer than they have to. It doesn't help the for the last two years, we have been totally spoiled by warmer than normal winters with less than average snowfall.
This year, our area is flirting with a record fall of almost fourteen feet total. The likes of this hasn't been seen since the winter of 1976. I remember that year. Ten foot snow banks were everywhere. My family was snowed in for the best part of a week, unable to get farther than the end of the driveway.
I really shouldn't complain though. Across the border, in Watertown NY, they are dealing with almost fifteen feet of snow, which is now melting and threatening to flood anything not up above river level. We aren't facing anything like that here.
That is the big benefit of all of the snow this year. We have seen enough to raise the level of the St. Lawrence River to heights that haven't been seen in years. With mild, dry winters, there just hasn't been enough to keep the system full. Millions depend on the river for drinking water. The tourism industry was hurting, with docks having to be extended yards just to get to water. This year, we won't have those kinds of problems.
I am looking forward to spring and summer this year. I have a lot of work to do, but there is a lot of pleasant stuff to look ahead to as well. For example, the landlord has created flower beds along the side of the building, and the superintendent told me that I can plant anything I want. In that spirit, I plan to put in a few hastas, some tomatoes, and some peppers. No reason a flower bed has to be merely ornamental. I might even put in a few perennial herbs, just for kicks. I'd love to grow a little mint. It's useful whenever somebody has a cold or anything.
I do have to work on the car this summer though. The body took a real beating this year. At twelve years old, most people would throw her away, but she is a good car still, and worth the task of working with fiberglass and body fill. My wife loves that car, and it has been very good to her. You don't break up a combination like that.
The longer days are here. Time to take advantage and enjoy.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Alternative vehicle ideas

I've been playing with the idea of car design lately. If you spend enough time behind the wheel, I think you just have to start thinking about what you would most like to see in a vehicle.
With gas prices being what they are today, I have been thinking mostly about alternative drive designs. My thought is an electric car, receiving it's power from a small gas powered electrical generator. The combustion engine does not move the vehicle, the electric motors on all four wheels do that. The generator only charges the batteries. The system provides the best of both energy sources to the car. Electric motors accelerate and give best power through the entire range, and there are few moving parts, and the generator gives the car better range than just batteries could.
The other thing cars need today is to be sized correctly for the way we live. The trend towards suvs has to stop. Why does there have to be such a huge tank to move one person from home to work and back, with stops at the grocery store? There should be a return to the small truck and compact car. Give them enough stance to handle Canadian roads, but let's not get into overkill here people.
For my wife and myself, I'd like to see a North American version of the Smart car. It would have a small rear seat, suitable for children or two adults on short trips, that could be folded flat to hold a week's worth of groceries. In Europe, they tend to shop every couple of days, so a tiny car is fine. The streets are narrower there too. In North America, we have more space in our cities, and we tend to do our shopping in bulk. Give us a smart car that reflects this.
It would be nice to sit down with the people at General Motors or Ford and discuss the ideas I've had. It would probably never go anywhere, as long as people are willing to pay high gas prices and demand the large behemoths to feel more powerful on the road. Still, it would be nice to have my thoughts in there.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Guys don't write as much

I saw on a technology show that there are far fewer men who blog than women. The most prolific writers are females between the ages of fourteen and thirty. Only 28 percent of all bloggers are male. Only 8 percent are above the age of forty. Those figures threw me for a loop. In an age when so many people talk about the communication revolution and the "information age", I would have thought the numbers would be more or less even across the board.
I shouldn't be too surprised though. Generally speaking, guys don't have a great track record for writing things down. It is usually the extraordinary or creative men who leave a written account of themselves of any kind. Men write biographies. They keep journals of daily facts and events. (Never, ever call it a diary to a guys face.) The average working man doesn't deal with the written word more than to read the newspaper. The educated ones even leave the sports page.
I'm a firm believer in the idea that people should express what they think more often. Which isn't to say that they should tear into a subject and write down a whole lot of prejudiced or opinionated nonsense. When thoughts get confined to one person, opportunities are lost. Where would we be if men like Plato and Charles Dickens had kept things to themselves? Where would we be if Leonardo DaVinci hadn't been quite so secretive with his journals?
I have browsed through the blogs before, and found some very interesting information. I saw one devoted entirely to the art of recycling. Another was all about pasta dishes. I still read the blog of Joe Ganci every day. His travel experience is a breath of fresh air to me. There is so much to be had out there, and to think that so few of us take advantage of what we have done or have to say, and leave it all undocumented. It makes you wonder why we bother having an Internet connected to so many homes.
It is a shame.
There is an old saying that history is written by the winners. I think that should now be that history is written by those who can be bothered.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The DaVince Code and questioning faith

I finally got on the bandwagon and read The DaVinci Code, by Dan Brown. What you have on the surface is a very exciting adventure and mystery tale. Brown packs a lot of events into one twenty-four hour span, enough to keep a reader on the edge of his seat for several hours. It was very hard to put the book down, once begun.
The problem comes when people take a fictional story set in a real place, and begin to think of it as more. Opus Dei, a very real organization, the Catholic Church, and various other groups were quick to take offence. They called the book an outrageous case of slander. Opus Dei even has a written statement on their website, rebutting claims they allege Mr. Brown made in the book.
In point of fact, the author has accused no one of wrong doing. His story used characters set within a fictional version of church, sect and police force to carry through the plot. They chose to take it all out of the context of a story.
Faith, particularly of the religious kind, is dangerous in that fashion. The instant adherents to an ideology see anything that conflicts with that belief, they are up in arms. Of course, where pitchforks and torches were the tools in the past, today it is the Internet and the legal system. There is a campaign of information and debunking, and if at all possible, law suits, to go with anything that questions the status quo. No where is this so common as in the realm of religion and pseudo science.
I bring up pseudo science for a reason. True scientific advancement relies on the testing of theory. That's why it is still the theory of evolution, because there hasn't been enough testing time. (Evolution is a slow process.) We can safely accept the idea as fact, from the evidence we have so far, be we do not call it a law. The same holds true for the theory of relativity. In the world of scientific discovery, nothing is law until it can be proven repeatedly. Pseudo science makes claims and then refuses to have those claims tested. It is expected that people will believe and invest.
Religious faith requires blind acceptance of ideas. This isn't a bad thing, when those ideas are about morals, the meaning of our lives and abstracts. It is when religion demands that we believe something about history, or the physical universe around us that we get into trouble. History is written from a personal point of view, and is thereby flawed, inaccurate. We can trace lineage back to the times of Christ and Mohammad, but we cannot say anything definitive about them beyond the physical evidence of records.
In his books, Dan Brown had used historical groups and individuals as the basis for a good fictional tale. The minute you try to put that into the real world, you open up a can of worms that even now hasn't been closed.
I am not personally a religious man. I do not attend any regular worship, though I do some work for a parish that my mother-in-law attends services with each week. I am, however, a man of faith. I believe in a force that many refer to as God, that created everything that we know. I believe that the truth of our existence is out there, waiting for us. When we are wise enough, we will discover the answers to all of our questions. The universe is merely waiting for us to grow enough to understand.
Science and religion have been enemies, when they struggle with the same questions. That they choose to work at odds with each other is evidence of our immaturity as a race. Faith and Reason are the base pair of intellectual life. Neither works without the other. A person can only go so far on one foot, and he or she can only go so far on faith or deductive reasoning alone.
Edison once compared Faith and Science to a pair of dynamos that he was working with. Unless perfectly balanced, the system didn't work. When in harmony, the power flowed smoothly. Life is all about balance. Male and female. Work and rest. Faith and reason.
Do not ignore the ideas that come from a fictional tale, but do not accept them blindly either.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

St. Patrick's Day

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's day, the first holiday of spring. It seems to fall a little flat this year, with so much snow on the ground after that last major storm. Still, the days are getting longer and it has been warmer. With Easter coming early this year, a sign of seasonal change is long overdue.
St. Patrick's day doesn't really have the meaning that it should, I think. These days, if you ask the average person why we celebrate the 17th of March, they don't have a clue. To kids, it's just about good luck and wearing green. To most adults, the day is an excuse to drink a lot of beer and say, "Kiss me, I'm Irish!" (Which will get you slapped on certain university campuses, I feel obligated to point out.) The day has lost its original purpose.
St. Patrick was a catholic priest, who is attributed with bringing Christianity to the country of Ireland. Legend has it that he drove out all of the snakes, as a display of the power of God. That part, of course, is not verifiable, but makes for good press. (I understand that to this day, there are no snakes native to the emerald isles.) As most people do know, Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, and a large percentage of male children are given his name.
I just thought I would sober up the party just a little bit by reminding everyone that they are drinking to the memory of a clergyman.
You may now return to your green beer.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

A working relationship

I've been thinking today about the nature of relationships that I see around me, both real and ones portrayed in fiction. The best ones all seem to have the "little things" in common. Both parties always consider the needs of others first, and not just their partners, but others in general. Small gestures of affection and respect mean a lot. Just holding a door open or helping a person on with a coat is important.
When I speak of gestures of affection though, I mean little things. A simple reaching over to touch a shoulder when needing support. There is nothing more intimate than straightening your husbands tie, or brushing hair out of your wife's eyes. Those are things that we wouldn't dream of letting anyone else do. Kids today think that showing affection is holding each other so close that you can't see light between them. Schools have to have rules about PDA (public displays of affection) because things are getting so out of hand. I know, I was guilty of it at one time myself.
There are lot of knowing smiles and inside jokes in a good relationship. What looks like silliness from the outside is a shared moment on the inside. When a couple are truly meant for each other, I can tell, because part of the time, I have now clue what the pair are talking about. It's all incomplete phrases. "Remember when John..." or "Just like my sister did." Really meaningful conversation is silent where two people are in accord. More can be said in a single glance.
True love is helping each other to a seat. It is instinctively holding hands when walking along the sidewalk, swinging your arms in unison. It is putting the second coffee mug on the counter before the other person has gotten up, and doing it even when they aren't there. It is remembering to put the toilet seat down, even in public washrooms, where it makes no real difference.
I think you have to truly grow up yourself to understand what it is that makes a relationship work. You can still have some of the inner child, but you will share that with your partner. Nothing says grown up like playing together.
Before playing the blame game in any relationship, I like to look back at a couple's past. Did I see the small things from both people? It takes more than one person. If the small signs aren't there, the big ones (like marriage, children and sex) mean absolutely nothing.
Just a thought.

Monday, March 10, 2008

In response

My wife read the previous post and asked that if the poem was the true worth of a man, what was the worth of a woman? I think that is a legitimate question, deserving an honest answer.
I would have to say that the worth of a woman is the same as a man. After all, is woman not man's counterpart, equal in every way, complimentary to his strengths and weaknesses? She is all that he cannot be, and yet is the same at the core. In any relationship, balance is of essence, and male and female must be balanced.
Many older religions based everything on the balances of nature. Male and female, fire and water, it was all about the Earth being in harmony, and us in harmony with it. For several thousand years now, there has been a loss of that balance, and our world has paid the price for that loss. Economies come and go, and the environment is shot.
The women's liberation movement of the seventies didn't really help much. Radical feminism just swung the balance the other way. The principle of regaining what had been lost was smothered by the rhetoric and slogans.
We will see a return to balance, as time goes on.
But the worth of a woman is the same as that of any man. It is family, honour and love of humanity. These are concepts most often associated with womankind. Without woman, there is no family. Without the honour of women, men have no use for it amongst themselves. Women have been the guardians of decency and love for humanity since the beginning of time. Those things are as much the definition of Her as of Him.