Favourite Books

  • The Green Mile
  • Animal Farm
  • Lord of the Flies
  • Lord of the Rings
  • To Kill a Mockingbird

Friday 31 July 2015

Job Posting

O.K. going to give this a go...desperation leads to desperate measures....
  Ladies (or Gentlemen) sick and tired of cleaning up after your family? Fed up with wiping piddle marks off the toilet? How about all that time spent doing laundry? Kid's or spouse leave the bed-making to you? How about those fingerprint marks all over the windows..bet you wish you had a dime for everyone you have windexed...Feel like you should be getting paid for all that housework? Hummm...do I have a deal for you!!
  Hey, I know, the piddle marks are mixed with your beloved's DNA, or perhaps your children's, those chip bits in the sheets, you know who chewed them...The muddy footprints across your carpet, well, you can size those and identify, but..not going to get a penny for your sweat and tears.
  Why not wander on down to the hotel and sign up for a few days cleaning unknown piddle marks? A turd left floating in the toilet, is just a turd..everyone's flushes down the drain the same way. O.K. the crunchy face cloths, well, although they are a mystery, you probably don't want to solve...we supply latex gloves.
  Dirty linen is not much different when the dirt comes from someone you will likely never meet, and all the muttering in the world is totally acceptable. The one pleasure, you will be able to share that muttering with others, complaining about many of the same issues. You will be surrounded by folks who will joyfully share horror stories, that may shock, but quite likely amuse at the same time. You can gripe about all the things you do at home, picking up around the house, and....here is the big kicker..you will get paid to do it!!!
  Be honest...how often have you told yourself, you deserve a pay cheque for all the housekeeping you do? Do you really think you will get anything out of all that work, besides the satisfaction of glancing at a clean house, only to watch it disappear before your very eyes?
  Come on..walk out that door..leave your place a nasty old mess..never going to finish cleaning there..it is like that never ending song..it goes on and on my friend. Head on over to my place of employment, and fill your pockets with shiny money...It is not hard to let that unpaid housework suffer. You may find yourself wallowing in a cloud of guilt once in awhile, and you certainly will stop answering a knock at the door with "come on in",instead you will rush to the door, open it a tiny crack and hope whoever is outside can't see past you..lol..but that is..unpaid cleaning behind your back..you no longer do that kind of work for free...Twice a month, that quiver of pain you feel when you see your kitchen sink overflowing, or someone complains that they don't have a single clean pair of underwear, you will snatch your pay cheque into your grubby little paws (well they will be pretty clean, because you have scrubbed a fair amount of bathtubs), and dance over to reap the bounty of your hard work.
  Give it some thought...free or....paid...what's it going to be?

Thursday 30 July 2015

Going On A Lion Hunt

Wow...I had no intentions on jumping into this fiasco...Dead tired from work, and just not ready to offend some of the best friends I have, with my piddly a$$ed opinion..but....guess I must have slipped, because here I am.
  First off, let me state, I am NOT against hunting. It is an age old human quest to hunt and kill for sustenance. I have friends who do indeed put trophy heads on their walls. Hey, that's their thing, certainly not mine, but, some folks like Golden showers, and swallowing maggots, so..each to their own.
  Yes, there is a whole whack of bad sh*t happening all over the world, but, again...what one considers bad, others seem to think is fine and dandy. Silly people getting offended over the killing of a lion. WELL!!! Maybe folks should simply shut up about everything that rubs them the wrong way? Maybe the whole world should accept things that happen, and go with the flow, even if it means floating down Sh*t river on a fart bubble? They can hold their noses, right?  Bear with the references to crap, because I am in a pretty crappy mood, and it kind of rubs off on my writing.
  Folks have opinions, and..they have the right to them, and..eventually those who find these opinions offensive, will be very happy, because..if things continue there will be laws to stop us from voicing our feelings, those laws are multiplying as I write, and, pretty soon, all opinions will be placed under government control, so...let the people have their say, while they can. If we were all the same, life would be pretty freaking boring. And..to speak as if the opinion that is not the same as yours , is wrong, you have a far higher opinion of yourself, than I do. My opinions are just that, mine, and I enjoy a good debate when I feel strongly on matters, I am more than happy to argue to attempt to prove my point. If someone disagrees I am open to listen to their reasons, and I will attempt to counter with my facts. That is why we don't live in a dictatorship (well not on paper, anyway), and majority still rules.
  So, first off, let me state, I am totally with those folks who are pi$$ed off at Walter Palmer. Hey, he made his choices, and if he loses his dental clinic, and very soon wishes he had not spent the 50,000. to have the ability to mount the head of a lion on his wall..lesson learned, the hard way. Happens to all of us at some point.
  He chose to travel to a completely different country with a far difference government than that of the U.S.A. He not only chose to travel, he went to hunt. He claims he was not aware this lion was a park favourite. Hellooooooo..was he not there when the baiting was done, was he not aware the park was right there? Come on...He wanted a lion, and he paid 50,000. He wasn't going home without this head, and he was more than likely fine with whatever it took to get it. To bait an animal, and then..for crying out loud to blind it with lights..that is NOT hunting!!! So, for those who feel strongly about the hunt, if you truly are hunters, trophy or not, to "pitlamp" an animal is disgraceful.
  Here is my feeling on things. Let's just say, Farmer John has 200 head of cattle behind his fence. His pasture is in the middle of no where, and...he has missed a great big hole in his fence. Hey the cows are munching away behind the fence, but..Starvin Marvin has a hankering for a juicy beef steak, so..he lures one of the cows out of that hole in the fence, shoots it, slices the hindquarter off, throws it in his pickup, and drives away. Is that right? Should Farmer John keep quiet, he had a hole in his fence, that's his fault, right?
  The lion belonged in the park, he was in the park, until Mr. Palmer and his guides baited him off. Whether the lion was 13 year old Cecil, or just 2 year old Chuck..doesn't matter. What they did was wrong, to lure an animal, no matter what it is, away from it's home (hey..how about your pet dogs..some folks enjoy a nice chunk of puppy) blind it, and then act like you are in the Hunger Games, is just pathetic.
  Hunting should always be a fair game, it takes wits and skill, survival of the fittest, not bait and blind. He wasn't starving, although perhaps with the down turn in his business, he might just be opening a tin of tender vittles at some point.
  I have friends who have been involved in trophy hunting, guiding, etc. now, I will never make a call to book a hunt with them, I don't want Yogi's head hanging over my couch, but...I certainly hope that they don't go about trolling out of the local wildlife reserve to provide their clients with their prizes (pretty risky in Canada). I don't understand the pleasure to kill, simply for the thrill, but..as I said before, there are quite a few things that are not listed on my bucket list.
  Yep, the world has a ton of nasty floating about in it, and folks do voice their opinions on a fair bit of the garbage. Cecil, he simply made an impact on some folks who were able to publicize his killing, and therefore it has popped up onto a whack of facebook pages. It has evoked various opinions, and...I for one, am glad that we can read them, and debate them, because...the time that those who feel opinions in matters like these are silly, is disappearing, and pretty soon, they won't have to read opinions, because they will not be allowed. If it is silly to make a great deal out of "just a 13 yr. old Lion", don't worry, when someone removes something that belongs to you, and disposes of it, likely most of the world won't give a damn, and....perhaps you might find that upsets you?
  It is clear, some people have never had to fight for something they believed in. This week, it is Cecil... myself, well, everyone knows what I have been fighting for. There are plenty out there that feel I am stupid, I am selfish, I am not looking out for the greater good of the future. Hey, I believe in what I put out to the world, it is my opinion and....I think when we ignore issues, such as poor Cecil, we become complacent, and then we ignore some more, until nothing matters anymore, and then we will all worry about being baited and blinded..but it will be too late..no one is listening anymore!

Monday 27 July 2015

Etiquette

Yep, just a single word title. I have decided it is time to write about words that have disappeared from the everyday use, in my lifetime. Here is a small list, of course the title word, etiquette, then there is cordial, followed by 2 words, common decency, then we have courtesy, respect, oops, another 2 words, common sense..hummm. guess that will do for a start. I will just delve into them one at a time, because, before they disappear completely, perhaps I can remind a few folks what they mean.
 Etiquette1740-50; < French étiquette, Middle French estiquette ticket, memorandum, derivative of estiqu (i) er to attach, stick < Germanic. See stick2, -ette. Synonyms Expand. 1. Etiquette, decorum, propriety imply observance of the formal requirements governing behavior in polite society.]  I decided to post the french meaning, as...we all know it is a french word.  Back in my day, we were actually taught etiquette in school. Oh, we didn't have hour long lessons, we were expected to pick up bits and pieces of proper etiquette thrown into the regular classroom work. We certainly were taught etiquette at home, the top of the list..respect your elders. That basically pertained to any one 2 or more years my senior. We were taught by observing, we were shown the proper way, manners were required at all times, even, believe it or not, when playing with a group of friends. Etiquette is not just knowing which fork to use, when seated at a table with more than one placed beside a plate. It is more than not placing your elbows on the table when eating (cause back in my day, for said elbow to be rudely knocked off the table). It was basically proper manners when dealing with the rest of the world.It was the unspoken rule to let elders have the seats, apologizing for bumping into someone, sharing, thinking about how an action you make, will impact another.
  See, etiquette, in my mind, covers all the rules for being a decent human being. The one word in the title, contains each and every other word I listed. So, there, you have the basic understanding of the now defunct word, etiquette.
  Cordial...yikes, this is , I must say, not something I am always capable of. Mostly..because someone else has never been taught etiquette. I was taught to be cordial, even if I dislike someone. I can honestly say, as a young person, I did a damn fine job of being cordial, because, if I didn't , I was in deep doodoo. It was far easier back then, because......almost everyone followed the same darn etiquette rules!! Now a days, I know when I am not following the cordial rule. Deep down inside, it bothers me. I want to follow it, but..hey, fair is fair, not going to be on my best behaviour when no one else is playing the etiquette game. 
  Common decency. Oh my goodness, this is a sad one! This is the rule that was used out on the play ground, and within a group of friends. This is the rule than is listed as golden. These two words can fix the world. If you dig about these two words, you will find the others listed, courtesy and respect. Common decency is when you actually think about what you are doing, or saying, and how it is going to affect others. Hey...there is another quickly disappearing word...consideration, that's all wrapped up in decency. When you decide you are not going to do what you promised, or, you just go into something and do just enough to satisfy yourself, and walk away leaving someone else to pick up the pieces, you lack common decency, because...you are not even thinking of the rest of the world. If every single person showed just a tiny bit of common decency, this world would be a better place..for you and me..but that is NOT going to happen.
  We have entered into the ME world. A world where no one thinks of anyone but themselves. A world where all the aforementioned words do not exist. A world where no one even feels the need to acknowledge what another has done for them. A world of inconsideration, disrespect, indecency,a total lack of common sense, and an absolute disregard for etiquette. 
  It is time for someone to come along, smash each and every elbow off the table, and knock some sense in a senseless world. Get a grip, learn some manners folks, because it is clear, those words have been in the dictionary much longer than most folks have been sitting on this rock, and those words enabled a very large percentage to learn to live in peace and harmony. Thinking only of oneself, is not going to make this world a nice place to spend a lifetime.
  Now..I am going to sit down with a nice cup of tea, and I will lift my pinky finger as I bring the cup to my mouth....Etiquette..one word, with a whole whack of meaning!!!!

Thursday 23 July 2015

Something Is Wrong!!

I've sat down, more than once to attempt to write this blog. The only reason I keep trying, is...it bothers me a great deal. I want to make sure I get my personal opinion down, in the way I want to. A way that makes things clear. I don't want this to hurt those who I hold in very high esteem, and I want to ensure they understand, this is NOT about them, I would still wish to call on these people, and have them arrive to keep me safe. One name in particular, in case they do read my drivel, is Dave, because, you ARE one of the good guys, and you wear your uniform with pride, and with the knowledge of all that you must do, in the line of your profession. That said...I will continue on, because, I have to.
  I read comments, our police officers have a heavy burden, they are under pressure, their lives are on the line, all comments in regards to the many shootings lately by the RCMP, shootings that have resulted in deaths. I am not a bleeding heart...you do the crime..you pay the time...However, I do not condone, you create a disturbance, you act suicidal, you wear a mask, you carry a knife..you die!!! The events which seem to now occur on a steady basis, police killing suspects, is something new, and something that just should NOT be happening. I do not care for those folks who say "he had a knife, he wouldn't put it down, he was wearing a mask, he deserved everything he got". WTF???? No, he did not deserve to die!!! People murder other people, do they die? Are prisons empty, because, since only criminals are placed there, and since they do things that require police to enforce the law..have they all been shot?
  I grew up with a massive amount of respect for our Mounties. I watched the single RCMP members in my tiny community provide us with security, law enforcement, and.on top of all of that, behind the scene care for some of the regular heavy drinkers, and..families that needed assistance, well beyond their job description . I met some pretty amazing folks who wore the uniform, and never once did I ever see them with their weapons out of the holster. They kept the peace. I knew, if I ever needed help, I could call them, and they would do what was right.Hey, maybe back in those days, somewhere, there might have been a few that did not hold such high standards, but, they were out numbered, by the good guys.
 I'm sorry. Something has gone very wrong with the system. Somewhere along the line, standards were dropped. Those folks back in the day, well, their lives were on the line too, they were targets for the "bad" people. They put themselves in positions of danger, to keep us safe. Back in the day, Officers were killed in the line of duty, not often, but sadly, it did happen. Once in awhile, they did have to draw their weapons and fire, and sometimes the very bad guys were killed, because the safety of the public was at risk, and there was no other recourse.However, I bet, if I was to go back and look at these occasions, each and every time, the criminal had a gun. Now folks are being killed because they are screaming and acting violent, and holding a knife in their hands. What happened to the intense hand to hand combat training officers received during basic training? I am sure they must have been taught how to take down a suspect with a pocket knife. I am sure they were not taught to draw their weapons and fire. Again, I have to ask..what has gone wrong?
  To watch a video, and, I admit, it was only part of the incident, but, clearly there was more than one officer involved. The two men trained to protect, were incapable of controlling a single masked man, with a small knife, and I say small, because the blade is not visible, so one decided the only thing he could do, was shoot! Oh, and still in fear for his life, he then quickly kicks the knife out of the suspects hand, while the suspect is obviously laying in a huge pool of his own blood, and then his partner whips in to handcuff the slumped, dying man. These men are the ones protecting us? They are not cut from the same cloth as their predecessors. Something is lacking in the selection of those placed to serve and protect. They are no longer brave men and women, they are ordinary people, scared sh*tless! They are no different than you and me, and I know damn well, I am NOT brave, strong, and mild tempered, I would be totally useless in the position of protecting the public. So are those people who put the uniform on, and made a terrible mess of things.
 We do NOT need to allow the average citizen to be placed in the position of the RCMP. We need the cream of the crop, we need those who are capable of facing danger, and able to manage restraint, beyond that which you and I can. We need to be able to look at those wearing the serge, and know, we are safe, and if someone makes a mistake, they will go to court, and then, if they are found guilty, they will go to jail. We do NOT need to skip a whole bunch of steps in the system, and simply put them down, because someone was not capable of doing their job properly.
  As a Canadian, I have always been proud of our very own RCMP, now....I am not so proud. I wonder, if those who joined back in the day when only the very best made the grade, feel the same way? I wonder, do those who have retired, now sit at home and watch the news, and shake their heads? We know what it used to take to ensure we had the best, now we just have to find out how to get it back.
  Just my personal opinion. I know there are still some Bill Raysons, and Hank Garrets out there, I know this, because I have met them!(these two men, were 2 of our local RCMP, and two of the best men that wore the uniform).

Sunday 19 July 2015

Is Somebody Watching Me?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YvAYIJSSZY

   Do you ever feel like someone is watching you? Oh, I don't mean, while you are wandering about, swiffering, or deciding exactly what brand of coffee you are going to throw into your grocery basket. Nope..I mean on-line....I know, I am truly beginning to think I am phobic! What on earth in my tiny little world would be of interest to anyone else?
  Well....see you all know I rant. I have also been known to comment out into the wide world of websters, on some pretty intense matters. I have always admitted, I do not have any sort of baffle on what I spew, I basically say what I think, and there it is..no different than on my little ol' blog.
  I'm just a pretty typical person. I am not wealthy, brilliant, famous, or "special". I am pretty darn law abiding..in fact, I'm a chicken about most things, no risk taking beyond spilling my guts out to the world. I am not violent, nor do I have the urge to be violent..O.K. besides muttering under my breath, like most of the rest of the world, that I wish I could kill various folks, when provoked, but...in truth, the only thing I don't feel any remorse after snuffing out their lives, is those of spiders. I feel a tad sad when I destroy an ant pile, because, those ants are pretty damn amazing, and have worked pretty hard to build their hill. I almost identify with ants..yep..almost...Of course it is the worker ants I identify with, the poor buggers who live only to work, hiking about day after day, carry loads, making sure the rest of the hill members get all they need to survive. So...when I mutter "I could Kill" regarding no specific person..it is just words...
  Up until recently, stating that, was no cause for concern..I suppose unless I was some sort of borderline lunatic, but...now..things in the world I live in have gone off the deep end. Paddle for the Peace, a down to earth group of folks who jump in canoes, boats and Kayaks to travel along the Peace River to bring notice to the looming possibility of yet another Dam, taking this morsel of beauty away, have found themselves on the watch list of our Countries Security folks! WTF??? That information scared the crap out of me..and, if you had a smidgeon of grey matter, it would be cause for concern to you. Something so peaceful, so flower power, love your neighbour, as a group paddling down a river, with nothing resembling a weapon (oops, maybe paddles) beyond cameras, is targeted as a group to be watched. Who else are they watching? Did you make a risky comment on Face book? Perhaps you "bombed" an exam...yikes..you might just be on the list too!! We have become the Stepford People. We are all to conform to an accepted "norm". We are all to keep our opinions to ourselves, unless, of course, they are the accepted ones. We are never to question, never to disagree, never to have a mind of our own. Our government, our law enforcement, our media, everyone has somehow come to some sort of agreement, the citizens of this country have no rights, beyond that which they wish to bestow , when they feel the need, however, they will take them away when they feel they are not needed. You live day to day, wondering if you are committing a crime, that you don't know has become criminal. If you are like me, and you read all the little tidbits floating about, you can't keep up with what is politically correct, you can't follow what was acceptable last month, is now forbidden, and comes with a possible fine.
  If you are like me, you have reached a point where right doesn't matter. You know something is right, but...surprise...not allowed!! You watch those in government doing all sorts of stuff that used to be ground for dismissal, now..they are grounds for huge court cases, that we pay for, that always end with "fade to black" no big jail terms, no big fines, just a tiny blurb and away they go...But, if it is your average working Joe, hummm...a whole different ball of wax. I'm your average Joe, I try very hard to follow the rules, well legally, the worst I do is voice my opinion on things, and facts are, my opinions mean very little to the rest of the world. It's just, now, with the crazy sh*t happening all around me, I wonder.....Am I on a list? Is somebody watching me?
  BTW..not sure if this was posted G+ so trying again

Wednesday 8 July 2015

Mandarin Oranges

I know...alway's b*tching.... But that is who I am, and it is never going to change, so...deal with it! I have to deal with all the crapola that is driving me absolutely insane, along with scaring the sh*t out of me.
  I don't know when I suddenly became a second class citizen, along with the majority of other Canadians. I don't know when my government suddenly changed from "Conservative" to Lunatics, and Liberals to A$$Holes, but it happened somewhere along the line. I am frightened to death by those folks sitting up at the top of the Tower of Power, the air has got to be too thin up there, they have gone insane.
 One thing, perhaps Mr. Harper has spent far too much time with the Chinese. Don't get me wrong, again, I have nothing against the population of the country of China, I just don't want to become an offshoot of them. I don't want those who enjoy the extreme (and I do mean extreme) good life running the animal farm of communism in the far reaches of Asia, to be given the key to our kingdom, by King Stevio, and prance willy nilly about, taking what they want, when they want it, and having tantrums, which apparently now Canadians must pony up for. I wonder if others who call this country home realize exactly what is happening in Parliament..or, now it appears, in sundry locations which have been allocated as free trade zones, scattered about our homeland.
 Because I am always looking way outside the box, I see a little blurb which tweaks my grey matter, and off I go in search of answers. This stuff is not blasted out on the evening news, it doesn't headline in the newspapers, it is hidden away, just a few lines here or there, and no one follows through, digging all the dirt up, and letting us know whats up. News stories of pus in the government, used to go on and on, journalists sunk their teeth into a tidbit, and then chewed the whole thing up, spitting it out for the citizens, so we all knew the whole damn thing. Now, well, there is a little turd of a stinky story on the news Monday night, and by Tuesday afternoon, not a single word further. The stories just disappear, replaced by 15 minutes of celebrity gossip.  No one follows through, and whatever smelled up your living room the evening before, evaporates.
  Those sitting up in the tower love this. They don't have to answer to anything, the rug under their feet is piled so high with everything that they have swept under it, all that happens, is they simply move another floor higher..
  We are slowly losing our status as Canadians. What do we have? We own nothing!! Every piece of our natural resource has been handed over to China..O.K. maybe it's Malaysia, but..it's still China. We see the result of this, markets rise and fall at the whim of a country that was almost unheard of when I was young. Crap, stuff wasn't made in China, it came from Japan, now..even our bloody food comes from China!! I loved Social's class, in school..Back then, China was a country I felt sorry for. They were ruled by a cheap miserable prick, people had to kill babies if they had too many, folks were dirt poor, working like cattle, living with just the basic necessities, and not allowed an inch of freedom. I used to think I was ever so lucky to have been born in a country that was so far from Communism, it was heavenly.
  Well..I remember about 28 years ago, spending time with a guy who worked for the B.C. Forest Service. He was a little odd, but, extremely intelligent. His whole focus was China. He would tell my honey and I, that we should do our best to learn Mandarin Chinese. He warned us, one day, in our lifetime, China would rule the world, and the least thing we could do to equip ourselves, was to learn the language that might allow us to fit in. That man is long passed, he blew his brains out not long after one of his conversations..Now I wonder, was he even smarter than I imagined? I certainly didn't think China would become so powerful that they could pressure my country to sign away almost every right to them. I never for a moment believed they would begin to lay down the rules to my government. I did not dream that my Prime Minister and my Provincial Premier would one day,have their noses so far up the Asian Ass, they ate nothing but Christmas oranges.
 Really folks...we have been sold down the Yangtze River. We did not fight a war, and lose our country.We elected folks into government, who forgot they were Canadian, and forgot that this country does not end when they kick the bucket. They forgot about the generations of the future, who will look around and wonder what belongs to them, because every single speck of land has been signed ,sealed and delivered at the cheapest price possible...to a far off country that didn't have to fight, didn't have to pay, just smiled and filled a few pockets .
  It is time for our media to do their jobs. It is time for the Newspapers and Television stations to allow reporters to report. We need to learn what is happening in our country..we need people to bite into the corruption and chew it up, spitting it out for all to see. We need to save our country!! Or is it already too late?