Yes, indeedy the Americans are coming . . . I spotted the first RV from the USA this morning on the highway, heading north to Alaska.
Clearly, spring has arrived.
From now on out, every day, there will be more and more Americans on the World-Famous Alaska Highway, heading out into the wilderness. Every single year this happens. As we progress into May, rather than seeing a single RV or maybe a pair, there will be dozens of them travelling together, northbound.
This, more than the melting snow, more than the budding trees, more than the potholes emerging from the snow, is a sign of spring in the BC Peace region. When our neighbours to the south, decide it's either too hot down there, or that it must be warm enough up here by now, to make the long trek to Alaska.
For some, it truly is a long trek. I've seen license plates from as far away as Texas, California, Arizona and Florida. Once I even saw one from Hawaii. Yes, Hawaii!! I couldn't believe my eyes. Had to turn around and follow that guy, just to make sure. Certainly, he was driving a car, not an RV, but a car in northeastern British Columbia with Hawaii license plates?? Call me crazy, but that was something to see!
So watch out for that bumper to bumper traffic folks, the Americans are coming . . . and are bringing the warmer weather with them!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Crime shouldn't pay, ever.
Crime shouldn't pay. Ever. I'm not talking about crime fiction . . . I'm talking about real people, committing real, abhorrent crimes and profitting from them. Specifically, I'm talking about Clifford Robert Olson.
I never thought I'd live to see the day when I would be writing about him. After-all, when he murdered those 11 kids, I was the same age as some of his victims. By rights, he should've been long dead. But he isn't. And now he's making money again.
Granted, it's not a lot of money, but after the hue and cry over the $100,000 his family was paid for information regarding the location of his victims' bodies, you'd think the government would've cut him off of all possible forms of taxpayer funds a long, long time ago.
Apparently now, the man I consider to be Canada's worst criminal - you can't get much worse than a killer of children, although Willie Pickton comes in a close second! - is collecting both CPP and OAS!!
Is the government nuts?? What are they smoking up on Parliament Hill?? Must be something good, if they can even consider giving such a man any more money. Money, by the way, which came from Canadian taxpayers. Money, which, when you get right down to it, came from the families and friends of his victims.
Am I disgusted? You bet.
If it wasn't for Clifford Olson, those kids would be in their 30s and 40s now. They'd have kids of their own . . . but no. He thought it was fine to murder those poor defenseless kids, and to profit from his crimes.
Personally, I wish Canada had the electric chair. Or maybe the guillotine. Something nasty, something painful and gruesome. Something that would provide a fitting punishment for people like Clifford Olson. Not the pampering that we apparently give those residing in our prisons.
Of course, this is just my opinion. Obviously, the goverment doesn't agree with me. Although, since we put 'em there, perhaps they should listen to people like me, not people like Clifford Olson.
I never thought I'd live to see the day when I would be writing about him. After-all, when he murdered those 11 kids, I was the same age as some of his victims. By rights, he should've been long dead. But he isn't. And now he's making money again.
Granted, it's not a lot of money, but after the hue and cry over the $100,000 his family was paid for information regarding the location of his victims' bodies, you'd think the government would've cut him off of all possible forms of taxpayer funds a long, long time ago.
Apparently now, the man I consider to be Canada's worst criminal - you can't get much worse than a killer of children, although Willie Pickton comes in a close second! - is collecting both CPP and OAS!!
Is the government nuts?? What are they smoking up on Parliament Hill?? Must be something good, if they can even consider giving such a man any more money. Money, by the way, which came from Canadian taxpayers. Money, which, when you get right down to it, came from the families and friends of his victims.
Am I disgusted? You bet.
If it wasn't for Clifford Olson, those kids would be in their 30s and 40s now. They'd have kids of their own . . . but no. He thought it was fine to murder those poor defenseless kids, and to profit from his crimes.
Personally, I wish Canada had the electric chair. Or maybe the guillotine. Something nasty, something painful and gruesome. Something that would provide a fitting punishment for people like Clifford Olson. Not the pampering that we apparently give those residing in our prisons.
Of course, this is just my opinion. Obviously, the goverment doesn't agree with me. Although, since we put 'em there, perhaps they should listen to people like me, not people like Clifford Olson.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Hear, hear!!
And hear some more!! At long last, our son is getting an FM system to use in his classroom - a year after the audiologist first recommended it. Last year, apparently, the powers that be didn't want to ante-up . . . but now, going into the final term of Grade 4 for our son, it has been determined that he will be "lost" in the classroom without some sort of assistance.
Duh. That's a no-brainer, if you ask me. But then, I'm his mother.
The school is responsible for the device - which is like a hearing aid, but is not a hearing aid. It fits in his ear in a similar manner, complete with a doodad behind his ear, but it goes in the hearing ear, not the deaf one. There's no hearing to aid in the deaf ear, so that would be pointless. The teacher will wear a little microphone. What it will do, is amplify the teacher's voice, so that he will be less distracted by the other classroom noises, and hopefully be better able to pay attention and get his work done.
He had a sound field system in Grade 1, and although it worked, it was a distraction for the rest of the class. Then we looked at getting him a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid), which would pick up the sounds from the right side of his head, and send it, via his skull, to the left ear. That too, worked, after a fashion. But he found the robotic quality of the sound distracting, and it gave him a headache. Constantly.
For those of you who don't know, our son has profound unilateral hearing loss ~ his right ear is completely deaf, but his left is absolutely perfect! My mother had this too, and seemed to function well. Of course, she was born in 1946, so there wasn't a whole lot of support for deaf people back when she was a kid. Certainly not for someone with such a profound unilateral deafness.
He should get it sometime within the next month - he had the mold taken on Tuesday, so depending on how long it takes to make the device, he could have it in April or May. I'm guessing that Easter is throwing a monkey wrench in any plans to get him fitted for it in April.
I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks for reading!!
Duh. That's a no-brainer, if you ask me. But then, I'm his mother.
The school is responsible for the device - which is like a hearing aid, but is not a hearing aid. It fits in his ear in a similar manner, complete with a doodad behind his ear, but it goes in the hearing ear, not the deaf one. There's no hearing to aid in the deaf ear, so that would be pointless. The teacher will wear a little microphone. What it will do, is amplify the teacher's voice, so that he will be less distracted by the other classroom noises, and hopefully be better able to pay attention and get his work done.
He had a sound field system in Grade 1, and although it worked, it was a distraction for the rest of the class. Then we looked at getting him a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid), which would pick up the sounds from the right side of his head, and send it, via his skull, to the left ear. That too, worked, after a fashion. But he found the robotic quality of the sound distracting, and it gave him a headache. Constantly.
For those of you who don't know, our son has profound unilateral hearing loss ~ his right ear is completely deaf, but his left is absolutely perfect! My mother had this too, and seemed to function well. Of course, she was born in 1946, so there wasn't a whole lot of support for deaf people back when she was a kid. Certainly not for someone with such a profound unilateral deafness.
He should get it sometime within the next month - he had the mold taken on Tuesday, so depending on how long it takes to make the device, he could have it in April or May. I'm guessing that Easter is throwing a monkey wrench in any plans to get him fitted for it in April.
I'll let you all know how it goes. Thanks for reading!!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Canada ROCKS!!!
Yes, we do. The most gold medals, the most medals of any host country ever . . . even if we choke in the gold medal hockey game tomorrow (which I sincerely hope we DON'T), we are the Olympic champions.
And can you believe, all that was on the news two weeks ago, was the fact that we'd never won any gold at home. Crow, anyone?? Goes good with a little ice, a little rain and smattering of fog on top!
Today, and every day, I am so bloody proud to be a Canadian.
We ROCK!! Let's kick butt on Sunday, folks!!
And can you believe, all that was on the news two weeks ago, was the fact that we'd never won any gold at home. Crow, anyone?? Goes good with a little ice, a little rain and smattering of fog on top!
Today, and every day, I am so bloody proud to be a Canadian.
We ROCK!! Let's kick butt on Sunday, folks!!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Take THAT, writer's block!!
Yes, at long last, after much procrastination and a plethora of bad ideas . . . I have succeeded in busting writer's block. I've kicked that puppy to the curb - hopefully, to be seen no more, during the course of writing this novel.
In a word: Yahoo!!
So far, I've rewritten Chapter 2, and I'm either still working on it, or about to start Chapter 3. My people haven't told me exactly what I'm doing yet.
And this time, instead of trying to follow a detailed chapter outline - which worked marvellously for Cold Cuts - I'm just flying by the seat of my pants. Who is the killer? Who knows. I thought I knew, but I might be wrong. And that could be very cool. Very cool indeed.
Dead of Winter, is now, undead. Haha, pardon the pun.
In a word: Yahoo!!
So far, I've rewritten Chapter 2, and I'm either still working on it, or about to start Chapter 3. My people haven't told me exactly what I'm doing yet.
And this time, instead of trying to follow a detailed chapter outline - which worked marvellously for Cold Cuts - I'm just flying by the seat of my pants. Who is the killer? Who knows. I thought I knew, but I might be wrong. And that could be very cool. Very cool indeed.
Dead of Winter, is now, undead. Haha, pardon the pun.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Global warming . . . What??
So, as I write this, the leaders of the world are meeting in Copenhagen to discuss solutions for global warming etc. Yet here, today, we have matched the record low for December 14. This record was set in 1964 . . . -37.2C. Okay, Environment Canada says it's only -36C at the airport, but the thermometre at the Credit Union (a mere five blocks from my house) says it's -37C. I'm going with the closest temperature reading.
Certainly, it does seem that globally, temperatures have risen, and this summer was quite warm - when it wasn't raining - but every winter, when the temperature matches or exceeds previously set record lows, I have to wonder about this global warming. Because it defninitely doesn't seem warmer here!
Not that I'm complaining. I like winter. Its almost always sunny, when its incredibly cold. I don't even mind these frigid temperatures too much, providing I don't have to go out and about too much. Like yesterday, taking the girls to their recital. Worrying about their hair actually took a back-seat to worrying about whether to shut the truck off while we were at the Cultural Centre. In the end, because my truck is a 2003 and still has the original battery, coupled with the horrid screaming noise it made when I started it up (and yes, I'd had it plugged in for 2 days), I decided to leave it running. No way was I going to be stuck down there, 11 blocks from home, in below -40C temps with a windchill of God-only-knows how low, with 3 children. And no way to get home should my truck not start.
The truck was nice and toasty warm when we got back in it. We only stayed until the intermission. The girls were done, and I really didn't want to leave the truck running - plus, our Tiny Tot was pooped after her very first recital, and wanted to go home.
It's days like this, in December, that make me wonder if the global warming people really know what they're talking about. If it was January, and this cold . . . not a biggie. That's par for the course up here. December, hardly even the middle of December, seems just a bit early to me.
Or maybe, its just "local warming" we're not experiencing?
Never fear, by the end of the week, its supposed to warm up again. I heard -6C . . . good weather for skidooing! Just in time for the kids' Christmas vacation too - they can go outside and play if its going to be that warm. I hate holidays when they have to stay inside for 2 weeks because it's too cold to go out for more than 10 minutes. Everyone, not just the kids, go stir crazy when that happens.
Oh, for a little bit of global (or local) warming to stave off the cabin fever!
Certainly, it does seem that globally, temperatures have risen, and this summer was quite warm - when it wasn't raining - but every winter, when the temperature matches or exceeds previously set record lows, I have to wonder about this global warming. Because it defninitely doesn't seem warmer here!
Not that I'm complaining. I like winter. Its almost always sunny, when its incredibly cold. I don't even mind these frigid temperatures too much, providing I don't have to go out and about too much. Like yesterday, taking the girls to their recital. Worrying about their hair actually took a back-seat to worrying about whether to shut the truck off while we were at the Cultural Centre. In the end, because my truck is a 2003 and still has the original battery, coupled with the horrid screaming noise it made when I started it up (and yes, I'd had it plugged in for 2 days), I decided to leave it running. No way was I going to be stuck down there, 11 blocks from home, in below -40C temps with a windchill of God-only-knows how low, with 3 children. And no way to get home should my truck not start.
The truck was nice and toasty warm when we got back in it. We only stayed until the intermission. The girls were done, and I really didn't want to leave the truck running - plus, our Tiny Tot was pooped after her very first recital, and wanted to go home.
It's days like this, in December, that make me wonder if the global warming people really know what they're talking about. If it was January, and this cold . . . not a biggie. That's par for the course up here. December, hardly even the middle of December, seems just a bit early to me.
Or maybe, its just "local warming" we're not experiencing?
Never fear, by the end of the week, its supposed to warm up again. I heard -6C . . . good weather for skidooing! Just in time for the kids' Christmas vacation too - they can go outside and play if its going to be that warm. I hate holidays when they have to stay inside for 2 weeks because it's too cold to go out for more than 10 minutes. Everyone, not just the kids, go stir crazy when that happens.
Oh, for a little bit of global (or local) warming to stave off the cabin fever!
Monday, November 16, 2009
And again, we find rejection
Well, if this just doesn't stink.
Finally got a letter back from Second Story Press. Lovely rejection letter, as far as rejections go, and I've collected quite a few in the past 5 or so years. However, it's delivery was extremely unprofessional. And I'm not talking about our nice mail lady.
First of all, it's November now, right? Hmm, the letter is dated August 10. Secondly, it wasn't even sealed, and it's a freaking self-sealed envelope. All they had to do was peel and stick. Sheesh. But wait, I'm not done yet!! At one point, it was taped shut, and then opened?!! WTF is that all about???
Oh yeah, and it's not Canada Post's fault that it was over 3 months in transit . . . the post mark says it hit the post office in Toronto on Remembrance Day. Complete with blurb "Lest We Forget".
Okay, so you don't like my book. Fine. But for chrissake, be a little freaking professional in your rejections. Or at least mail them in a timely manner. You can't tell me someone didn't do a Timmy's run in the middle of August and couldn't have dropped it in a mailbox on the way!
Ricidulous.
And to top if off, due to SSP's lack of ability in finding a mailbox, I now cannot submit my m/s to the Unhanged Arthur, because submissions closed a couple of weeks ago.
ARGH!!!
I should really phone that chick up and give her a piece of my mind. Or not. Hmmmm . . .
Finally got a letter back from Second Story Press. Lovely rejection letter, as far as rejections go, and I've collected quite a few in the past 5 or so years. However, it's delivery was extremely unprofessional. And I'm not talking about our nice mail lady.
First of all, it's November now, right? Hmm, the letter is dated August 10. Secondly, it wasn't even sealed, and it's a freaking self-sealed envelope. All they had to do was peel and stick. Sheesh. But wait, I'm not done yet!! At one point, it was taped shut, and then opened?!! WTF is that all about???
Oh yeah, and it's not Canada Post's fault that it was over 3 months in transit . . . the post mark says it hit the post office in Toronto on Remembrance Day. Complete with blurb "Lest We Forget".
Okay, so you don't like my book. Fine. But for chrissake, be a little freaking professional in your rejections. Or at least mail them in a timely manner. You can't tell me someone didn't do a Timmy's run in the middle of August and couldn't have dropped it in a mailbox on the way!
Ricidulous.
And to top if off, due to SSP's lack of ability in finding a mailbox, I now cannot submit my m/s to the Unhanged Arthur, because submissions closed a couple of weeks ago.
ARGH!!!
I should really phone that chick up and give her a piece of my mind. Or not. Hmmmm . . .
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