November 07 Notes

Watt's Up with Seasonal Affective Disorder?: A Light Bulb Moment
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Saturday, December 1, 2007 at 4:45pm | Edit Note | Delete
Yeah so I gave it all away in the title I think. I have been freakin' dying with the cold and the short days and the being trapped in the house. My metabolism has slowed to a crawl, my overall will to do anything is gone. So today I had a little idea. For a while now I've had this full spectrum light deal beside my PC (which might be why I'm strangely drawn to my PC all the time). Today it occurred to me that I could use that same strategy throughout the rest of the house. So in all of the rooms that I tend to be most active in, I've upped the wattage in my bulbs. I actually have 100 watt bulbs going in certain areas of the home now. Results? Well tonight there is certainly a placebo effect. I have a hell of a lot more energy than I've had after just half an hour or so under the increased lumens. Let's hope it keeps up. I managed to get a bunch of clothes together to go to the Salvation Army, cleaned all the light fixtures, essentially had the urge to do some spring cleaning. As Janet can tell you, that is an urge that doesn't hit me...ever...not even in spring. So I think something must be happening at the circadian level. I'll keep all y'all posted, I know a few of you are having the same struggle.
been chasing the kids around the house in some of my winter running gear!
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Updated about 9 months ago
I think I'm pregnant
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Saturday, December 1, 2007 at 10:03am | Edit Note | Delete
I've been gaining 2 pounds per week since I stopped working, despite going to the gym quite regularly and making an effort to watch what I eat. This sucks. I apparently need to step up my exercise program. For me to see that kind of gain I need to be eating about 1000 calories per day more than I've been using. Time to start counting them again. That means that for me to lose that much again and get back down, I have to cut out the extra 1000 calories, and cut out another 2000 for a total of 2k. I have no idea what I can do to lose that. I've already cut out sugar, soda pops, sugary snacks, deep fried foods. Anyway, just sharing :)
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New Caribbean Province?
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Friday, November 30, 2007 at 3:07pm | Edit Note | Delete
Canada's Caribbean ambition
CBC News Online | April 16, 2004


Quebec City too cold in February? Fredericton frosty in December? Nunavut November not for you? Fear not, there may be help: at least one member of Parliament and a handful of interest groups are asking the Canadian government to annex a little slice of sun-splashed heaven: the Turks and Caicos, a Caribbean gem with an average wintertime temperature hovering between 28 and 29 C.

Canadian Alliance MP Peter Goldring (Edmonton Centre-East) thinks it's a wonderful idea. He's drafted a motion to ask the government to look into the issue, and plans to introduce it in the fall. "I think around 100 per cent of people (in Canada, and Turks and Caicos) like the idea," he told CBC News Online in July 2003.

Currently a British overseas territory, the Turks and Caicos (actually a grouping of 40 islands located 250 kilometres east of Cuba) have a history of being on the wish lists of Canadian politicians.

In 1974, NDP MP Max Saltsman tried to use a private member's bill to persuade the government to consider annexing the islands. He reasoned that there should be a warm-weather destination for Canadians to spend money on Canadian soil.

Unfortunately for sun-loving Snowbirds, the proposal was rejected.

In 1988, members of the Turks and Caicos government resolved to approach the Canadian government about establishing a special relationship. But alas, the idea of annexing a warm-weather island took back seat to the debate over free trade with the United States (something some Canadians consider annexation of a different variety).

Peter Goldring hopes this time around it will be different. "I have been talking with a number of members of the (Turks and Caicos) government," he told CBC News Online. "And I have indications from a couple of them that this is an issue they want to pursue."

Goldring says annexation could be mutually beneficial: Canada can provide good health care, economic ties, defence, and a steady flow of winter-weary Snowbirds; Turks and Caicos would give Canada a warm, friendly 11th province - a southern destination where the Loonie could land without breaking a wing.

Plus, says Goldring, tongue planted firmly in cheek, "Paul Martin would have a place to park his fleet."

PROS:

* Agreeable weather: 350 days per year of sunshine; average temperature: June-October 29-32 C; November-May 27-29 C
* Same time zone as many Canadians (Eastern Standard)
* Air Canada offers direct flights
* English is the official language
* Could be first island home to an NHL team

CONS:

* Hurricane-prone
* Currency is the U.S. dollar
* Would make plum hideout for wayward senators

DEPENDS ON YOUR PERSPECTIVE

* Controlled drugs and pornography not allowed through customs
* Public nudity is illegal
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Devil's Advocate
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Friday, November 30, 2007 at 12:50pm | Edit Note | Delete
Okay, so I'm a little wacky. I sometimes like to argue both sides of an argument just for fun. It doesn't neccessarily mean that I support one side of an argument or the other, but I think that open mindedness is key to a funtioning society. With that being said, just for fun I'm going to address this letter that's making the rounds on funwalls and e-mails these days, allegedly written by a nameless construction worker in Fort Mac. Here's the note;

THIS GUY MAKES A GOOD POINT
This was written by a construction worker in Fort MacMurray...he sure
makes a lot of sense to me!
Read on...

I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my
taxes as it sees fit.
In order to earn that pay cheque, I work on a rig site for a Fort Mac
construction project, I am required to pass a random urine test, with
which I have no problem.
What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my
taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test.
Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare cheque because I
have to pass one to earn it for them ... ?
Please understand - I have no problem with helping people get back on
their feet.

I do on the other hand have a problem with helping someone sit on their
arse drinking beer and smoking dope.
Could you imagine how much money the provinces would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance cheque ... ?

Please pass this along if you agree or simply delete if you don't.
Hope you will pass it along though, because something has to change in
this country, and soon!

So that was the note. First a note on my response. I spent 8 months working this summer, and in that time I worked more hours than most of you will work this year. Now I'm unemployed and sucking on the gov't teat. (Quite happily too, always nice to get paid for nothing) That being said I am actively seeking work, but I'm seeking desirable work , not some shit job freezing my arse off in the cold 1000 miles away when I could be home drinking beer and watching TV at night.
Now in all fairness, if it weren't for all the damn drug testing, a lot of these dope smoking beer drinkers could get jobs. How is it fair that one's leisure activities should have any bearing on whether or not they can stand in the cold for long hours on end? Just because one is inclined to partake of nature's bounty now and again does not necessarily make them unable to keep the steps on a rig ice-free.
Not to mention that chronic alcoholism and drug addiction are actually diseases. They are verifiable and quantifiable medical conditions. In many cases there are people that have never known what it is to be sober from the moment they were born. I worked a job back in the day that took me into a lot of homes in some of the most poverty stricken areas of our city. There are preschoolers passing joints around with their parents and families out there. And a lot more of them than you would think. Perhaps rather than stripping away lifelines to these people (like the social assistance programs which have helped countless people get out of the gutter), we should invest in more education and prevention strategies. Perhaps we could even go as far as reaching out to people in our communities and trying to help them out. The cycle of dependence on social programs starts young. People need hope not policing and further ostracization. They need opportunities, education, in some cases rehabilitation and training. I'd be interested to know how many rig workers got their tickets to work in the oilpatch through a government sponsored program. I think the numbers would be pretty high. I know a lot of them have also emigrated from areas where moving to the oilpatch was the only option to make a living other than welfare. A lot of the people they left in their communities don't have the option to move across the country. I've also worked construction, and I know that crews run off the people that they don't want. In some cases it's because of an accent, or the color of the skin, or some other minor personality trait, or maybe just because they're dressed badly.
Maybe a little more tolerance in the workplace and a willingness to train would help get a few more people off of welfare.
Consider this as well. There are men and women with addictions, mental illnesses etc, that have children. Our government doesn't like to take on these children. Welfare provides food and shelter to these kids. Drug test the parents and take welfare away if they fail. Think that will make them quit? God only knows where the children would be then. Now Again, for the sake of argument, there are a lot of factors that need to be considered here before we start giving momentum to a movement like 'drug test the poor'.

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The Picture Personality App...
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Wednesday, November 28, 2007 at 10:01pm | Edit Note | Delete
is no good. Not even close.
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What the Heck Was I Thinking???!
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Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 10:13pm | Edit Note | Delete
I just got home from an interview for a restaurant manager job. On my way there I was actually excited about it. I've managed a few, and with the exception of one freaking nightmare it was always a lot of fun. I guess that's probably what I was thinking about on the way to the interview, was all the fun. But I got there and reality quickly set in. Even though I've stipulated in 2 screening interviews leading up to this that we're wasting our time unless they can insure a work/life balance, they started throwing the usual shit out there...'we try to keep it at 50 hours a week or less, but if it's busy you have to stay, we have meetings now and then...etc". They also informed me that they're looking for a chef, and they really started to push me towards it. I was actually getting a little excited about it too, remembering the good ol' days, how chicks used to dig it, how good I look in a set of whites, how much fun it can be when you're surfing the waves of a chaotic rush and coordinating the actions of your entire team as though you were the conductor of a symphony orchestra. We started talking about the food network and how every time I'm watching these cooking shows and restaurant makeover type shows I'm armchair quarterbacking it all. Well doggone it wouldn't you know it, I got PASSIONATE about the culinary arts right then and there.
I even told them when I was leaving that I might be interested in the chef position after all.
But then driving home, I remembered the other shit...pms-ey waitresses, cooks coming in drunk or on acid, that chaotic rush that lasted not 1, not 2, but 4 or 5 hours of living hell. I remembered that every once in a while you have some psychotic asshole that you have to fire and he decides to stalk you (or a whole team of psychotic assholes decide to stalk you!). I remembered coming home smelling like garlic or onions or barbecue sauce, I remembered that most of the guys working back there are half my age (although that's evened out by all the girls working there being half my age too). And I remembered the hours...no weekends with the kids, not after school with the kids, no supper with the kids, high blood pressure, no sunlight, physical mental exhaustion, ulcers, 'work-mares' (where you dream you're 20 minutes behind all night long), cleaning deep fryers, scraping grills, doing the hoods, cuts burns, being on your feet on a hard tile floor 16 hours sometimes. All of this for 15k less than the other jobs I'm interviewing for.
I think I"m going to have to call these guys back tomorrow and thank them for their time.
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Chain Letters and Self Preservation.
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Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 8:53am | Edit Note | Delete
I might have made a note about this before, but there's another chain letter going around that I've received from about a dozen friends so far. Here's the thing about chain letters. If you don't forward them to at least 10 people, something horrible will happen to you. And those of you that are forwarding them to people are essentially saying that you would rather throw your friends into the line of fire than take one for the team. What we need to do is create a list of 11 people that we can all send these chain letters too, and then those people can then send it to each other, thus defusing the curse of the letter. This would be the socially responsible thing to do. If someone can think up a name for it and start the group, I'll join up. Something like the Hazardous Chain Letters Disposal Squad. It's the least we can do for mankind.
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Forecast.
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Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 8:32am | Edit Note | Delete
So I have 'Weathereye', my weather network application for Saskatoon, and I have it open and it says it's -20 degrees right now. Then in really fine print right underneath that it says "feels like -31 degrees." What the f*&^ is that?! I was just outside, and to me it 'feels like a frozen freakin' purgatory". I hate winter.
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w00t
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Monday, November 26, 2007 at 4:40pm | Edit Note | Delete
I was talking to my wife about taking a job that I might hate but that would pay really well, and she said "Well I don't want you to take something you'll hate and then wind up resenting me for it." and I told her she didn't have to worry about that, the only thing that I would ever resent her for is living in freaking Saskatchewan instead of Vancouver. (She's scared of earthquakes, and because of this has never entertained the idea of living in the most beautiful place in the entire freaking world). I told her that I would be cursing her on my deathbed for every moment I spent choking on dust or scraping freaking ice off of a frozen car, but other than that I was completely happy. Lo and behold, today she agreed to move to Vancouver if I could land a good job and work out the logistics of getting there. I've fired off half a dozen freaking resumes this afternoon and have been doing some house hunting already. To think that I may one day wake again to a beatiful fog over False Creek, watch the freighters in the bay, enjoy a world that shuts down when it snows (like the world should be). Mark my words...6 months my friends, I will be in Vancouver again in 6 months.
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New endeavour
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Friday, November 23, 2007 at 11:31pm | Delete
The literary website that I've been talking about building is up. (I think I might even have finished it ahead of schedule, whaddaya think of that?) You can check it out here http://www.freewebs.com/redlightlit/index.htm