One More Time

Because it was so much fun to watch the first time (first posted in June 2007) and because I just wrote about Buster Martin, the 101 year old man running the London Marathon a couple of days ago, I'm posting this video one more time. I didn't realize he was in it but this video makes me smile every time I watch it.

See if you can spot him in it...

Earth Hour Sucess - Without Me

The idea to shut all lights off for an hour is a crock. Seriously don't most people shut off the lights their not using? I would think getting your monthly electricity bill would be enough incentive.To me this was a little "feel good" exercise and an excuse to party. Downtown Toronto had Nelly Furtado gushing about how great this all was and singing about turning off the lights. Since it was televised how were the die hard flick offs mean to watch it. Fortunately I don't care for Nelly Furtado so it was easy to flick her off.

Meanwhile the thought of trying to stumble around in the dark didn't sit well with me. I mean I can fall down in broad daylight why would I risk my poor fragile hip in the dark unless necessary. We worry enough about power failures here in winter I don't need to create my own.

What gets me is that these very hip young people seem to puff up in a self congratulatory way about how much better they are than we the older generation. Yes, maybe you are and maybe you know more than us old timers but shoving it down our throats at every opportunity isn't going to work either, at least not with me.

I have never seen a generation that is so enamored with gadgets and gizmos than this young, hip group who now want to save the world. I'll give you clue, stop buying stuff, cause guess what...all that crap has to be produced somewhere with electricity produced by coal fired plants which in turn pollutes the earth. Once you can do that then you can talk to me about turning off my lights....sigh, I think I'll do some knitting with my 100 amp incandescent bulb.

And just in case I get hate mail, I do want to be real clear here that I truly conserve, recycle, reuse, compost and leave the smallest footprint I can. I just don't see what one hour once a year will do.

Get A Load Of This...

I lieu of going out with my sweetie to play bridge and have fun, I'm looking for interesting stories to write about. I really wanted to go but I still feel so crappy I know I wouldn't have fun and probably not bid well, causing whoever was my partner to want to kill me.

Here is a story I saw on the news the other night. It's about an 101 year old man who is going to run the London Marathon on April 13th. Let's all cheer him on.

Now what this news story doesn't tell you and what I saw on the telly is that he stops every 5 miles for a cigarette and a beer before continuing.

Wal-Mart And Really Bad Publicity!

It's not very often I go to Wal-Mart mostly because it's not a Canadian store (I like to shop Canadian) and most of their stuff comes from China and we all know how I feel about that, but today I really needed something I can only get there.

As I pulled into the parking lot I remembered something I saw on CNN last night on Anderson Cooper (who is not my favourite guy), and decided I really didn't need the article as much as I thought.

Here is the story, read it, it's heartbreaking, enough said...

Tibetan Monks

In case anyone missed it Beijing Wide Open, a blogger I follow has a video clip of what happened today during a tightly controlled tour for western journalists. Pay her a visit and look at the video.

Do we boycott the Olympics? I read today that Nicolas Sarkozy (France) is the only world leader considering it.

Back to my knitting...

To Boycott or Not - Beijing Olympics

I have been wanting to offer up an opinion on China and the Olympics but decided to wait a little, read some more and try to understand the issue better. My offspring on the other hand, having been there has written a good post of his view on Tibet and also offers his video clip of the region.

It is my view that maybe the politicians of the world ought to boycott the opening ceremonies and let the rest of the games go on. I think maybe China would take notice, maybe...ya think?

I've Got The Flu - I Think!

Well it's either the flu or a relapse of Fybromyalgia and I won't know until tomorrow which one ails me they are both kind of similar in the beginning. For the first time in 5 years I didn't get my flu shot, it just didn't work out time wise in the fall. I had bronchitis, I had the gallbladder thing and I just kept putting it off. So it is possible that it's the flu. Usually my first symptoms with both is that my skin hurts. Isn't that bizarre, I can't touch my skin anywhere so I'm crawling into a hot bath with my carefully hoarded Lavender Bath Salts from the Healing Garden and then to bed. I may resurface in a few days.

Meanwhile just to keep you busy there was an interesting story in Saturdays Globe and Dope, which is Canada's premier newspaper. This is a six part series and is available online and it's about the Taliban. All done kind of under cover and very interesting reading. You can find it here... I've always said that Canada should get out of Afghanistan. It is an un winnable war and unless we are prepared to be there forever the moment we leave the Taliban will be back.

And then there's this. For those out there who would like to blame Bush and the Americans in totality for the Iraq war they might like to read this and find out the the Germans had a hand in it. It's called intelligence and if it's bad you get into a lot of trouble.

Of course then there's China and Tibet and I'm still watching that one. China is not know for it's human rights and I'm absolutely surprised they were awarded the Olympics. For me, I just don't buy goods made in China, it's really all I can do.

And now I'm off to bed... we're getting another snow storm.

First Signs Of Spring - Maybe!

Peeking through the wood chips in the front garden are some snowdrops. There is still a lot of snow on the ground but this is a particularly sunny spot so they've started peeking out.



Steve ventured up the hill at the back of the garden to cut me some pussy willows. Wasn't that sweet of him?



You can see there is still snow on the ground, grrr...



Wishing you all a very Happy Easter.

Political Opportunism?

The case of Brenda Martin who sits in a Mexican jail waiting to be rescued, is getting more convoluted by the day. There are accusations by the Liberal party that the current Conservative government is not doing enough to free her.

What I am still finding interesting with this story, is why did this woman not leave Mexico long before she was arrested, and why did she not hire one of the lawyers that was on the list presented to her by the Canadian Embassy.

When our previous Liberal Prime Minister, the Right Honorable Paul Martin, who last time I checked is still a sitting member of the government went to Mexico to visit her, it was not called a photo op. When Jason Kenney from the Conservative government goes to Mexico to actually try help her, the oppositions calls it a photo op and he is criticized. Brenda Martin is not showing any gratitude, if anything she has become almost belligerent. You can read the full story here.

Just a little reminder that it was the Liberal Government of Canada that allowed a Canadian, William Sampson, to sit in a Saudi Arabia jail for years facing beheading and it was actually the Brits that got him and his 5 co accused out.

And then of course there's the Maher Arar story. He was taken off a plane in New York and shipped to Syria where he spent a year in jail being tortured. If it was not for the strength and determination of his wife he'd probably still be there, or be dead.

Just a little reminder that the Liberals don't have such a good record for helping Canadians in trouble.

Cows Go Walkabout

Last October in Germany some lobsters went for a walk and minks ran away.

Today on Toronto's busiest highway some cows decided to try the same thing. They got a little further, created lots of havoc but in the end, their walkabout was short lived. It did make for funny TV for a little bit until they got a little to carried away. Unfortunately one had to be shot to keep it from hurting someone. The rest I presume carried on to the slaughter house. Guess you can't escape your fate...

A Blessed Good Friday to all.

Canadian In Mexican Jail - Who Can Help?

It is a real problem when Canadian citizens get themselves in trouble in foreign lands. The laws are quite different and mostly you are guilty until you can prove yourself innocent. Negotiating the legal system in lands where bribes are the order of the day can be difficult and mostly our Charter of Rights means nothing.

Brenda Martin is such a case. She has been in jail in Guadalajara since February 17, 2006. Her crime was working as a cook for a man now serving a prison sentence in the U.S. for perpetuating a 60 million dollar Internet investment fraud. What disturbs me a little about this case is why didn't she get out while the getting was good, after all her boss managed to get himself to the U.S.? She was not arrested right away, she had time. She was also not a tourist, she was living there.

The Prime Minister of Canada has gotten involved in this case but even he admitted on national television that there's not a lot he can do. Mexico has it's own justice system and is it's own country. Predictably the opposition parties are screaming for blood and blame the Conservative government of not moving fast enough to get her out. Short of sending in the troops I'm not sure what else can be done. Boycotts maybe, travel restrictions, or maybe I'll stop buying Mexican tomatoes? Most Canadians seem to favour such boycotts.

But it's never going to happen...Canadians suffering through long cold and snowy winters just love their holidays in Mexico and will never give them up. A year ago a boycott was called for after the murder of a Toronto couple who where there for the daughters wedding. A killer has never been found but two Ontario women were accused by the Mexican government of being the killers. The Mexican government has made no real effort to find the real killer or clear their names.

Government not responding to Canadian citizens caught in other lands fast enough has been in the news before, most notably during the Lebanon crisis. When Canada did finally get them home they weren't particularly grateful if I recall and wrote about it at the time.

Travel is a tricky thing, we all want to visit foreign lands, we think we're immune to anything bad happening to us and when it does we are shocked that our government cant immediately come to our assistance. Should we really be that surprised? It can be a lot of fun out there in the world, but it can also be very very bad...

Check Out The Loot

My friend Zelinde and husband John brought a cake, the first of two I'm having this birthday. We ordered in a nice Chinese meal and a good time was had by all.


So what does every girl need for her birthday? Some pearls, check...some wool, check...and the surprise, tickets to Cirque Du Soleil, Saltimbanco...wow.



This is the most beautiful Merino and will make something lovely. I just haven't decided what I will knit with it but there is lots of time to decide.

The pears were from my sweetie and I just love them. I may never take them off.




My friend of over thirty years, who doesn't ever bake, made a cake. And what a lovely cake it was too. Better than any cake you could buy and I felt honored that she did that.



I actually had two birthday cakes, one on Friday night and one on Saturday. How lucky can a girl get.

I'm Sixty - Time For My "Bucket List"

Pisces Rule (for today)

There was recently a Meme that I did showing all the things I'd done in my life and now that I'm sixty I thought I'd maybe spend a little time thinking about the things I'd still like to do.

So here is my wish list;


01. Climb a mountain (It's going to have to be a small mountain though...)

02. Visit the Great Pyramid

03. Visited Paris

04. Walk the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa

05. Touch an iceberg (or maybe just a cruise to Alaska)

06. Take a trip in a hot air balloon (looked like a lot of fun when my offspring did it)

07. Visit all 50 states (a bit ambitious I know, but I would love to go on a road trip down the old Route 66 to California)

08. Watch wild whales ( did this in Nova Scotia but I would love to go to Newfoundland to see them)

09. Visit Ireland, the land of the Leprechaun.

10. Visit Japan.

11. Walk the Great Wall of China

12. Sing karaoke (everybody needs to hide, I have a pathetic voice)

13. Ride a gondola in Venice (this might actually be on the agenda this summer)

14. Get a tattoo (I have one planned)

15. Go to Thailand.

I know this is a bit ambitious at my age, but what the heck...I figure I have at least a few more years left. What would life be like without hope...

This is my first birthday without both my parents and the first year without my Mom so it will be a very low key celebration.

Mistakes And Regrets

Last year in May I made a terrible mistake that will be with me for the rest of my life. We all do it, none of us is safe from making the same error it's just for some of us the repercussions will be worse than for others.

What was it I did? I injured my foot and didn't take time to take care of me. This mistake will now haunt me forever. Our basement had a flooded caused by an open water tap and we were all rushing around trying to clean it up. I was in a real hurry since I needed to get to the hospital to feed Mom her dinner. I was bare footed and just before leaving I bashed my foot on a table leg. At the time it seemed like just a bruise, nothing serious although it hurt like the dickens and turned every color of the rainbow. Even though walking on it hurt it took me almost three weeks to seek medical attention and that was the mistake and regret.

Almost everyone gets injured in life, it's just the nature of the beast but for some of us with Rheumatoid arthritis any type of injury is long lasting. It has been described to me thus by my doctor...

"when the immune system senses an injury it sends out it's little soldiers to deal with the injury, except they don't know when to pull back and causes more joint damage".

Last August before our trip to Greece I did get a cortisone shot in the joint and it worked. I was pretty pain free and I thought that the problem was solved so I was pretty shocked when one morning a few weeks ago I couldn't even put my foot down for pain. After struggling with the pain for the last month, taking Prednisone, anti inflammatory drugs and having more x rays it seems that really there is not much more more to be done. The last resort now is a chemotherapy drug called Methotrexate.

The information sheet given to me about this drug and further information I received from my pharmacist makes this a very difficult choice for me. This drug comes with a host of side effects from skin rashes at it's most benign and liver damage at it's worst. And the alternative is? Not walking or walking with great pain. Not much of a choice is there.

So I guess if there is anything to be learned from this is that I will now think about everything I do and make sure I never fall again and most importantly, seek medical attention right away...

Bye Bye, It Was Fun While It Lasted...

Nothing dramatic, just a little thing I'm getting rid of, the live traffic feed that I had on my blog for a couple of weeks.

Although it was fun to see who was visiting, from which countries they came from and which posts they found interesting, some people visiting wanted to be more anonymous.

That's why it's bye bye, Feedjit...

A Mammoth Storm

This is getting kind of boring but that's life here in T-Dot right now. We are buried and I mean buried in white stuff. Just a few statistics, the worst March storm that I remember was March 4, 1985 where we had 24.5 cm and I remember it well. It was Steve's first winter in Canada having come here from southern California, and he was awfully close to going back. The Toronto total snow fall record was 207 cm which was in 1939. We are within 10 cm of beating that record at the moment and March and April can and will bring more snow.

Our front stairs this morning...

Pristine walkway, where the heck is that newspaper!

Cars? What cars...they are under there somewhere...

Jim, the neighbourhood hero is out there again plowing out driveways...

This afternoon Jim and his wife Eileen will make a big roaring fire in their fireplace and have invited us all over for a retirement party for our other neighbour Betty. I'm sure we will all bitch about the snow...

A Meme

I'm just heading out the door this morning to my appointment with the Heart Clinic at the hospital to hopefully get the date for my surgery but I thought I'd throw this post up. We are expecting another blizzard later this afternoon with 25 cm expected. Hopefully we get all finished and home before it starts. Meanwhile there is this Meme and feel free to do it.

This comes from Ellas Devil and I thought I'd give it a try.

"OK so this is the deal, this is a really easy meme with minimal typing from you. Simply copy and paste the list below into your blog and bold the things you have done in your lifetime and that is it. There's no need to explain any of your answers and it'll not take you very long so go on.... give it a go."

HAVE YOU EVER?

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped.
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten my own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than I could afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as I possibly could
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking.
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about my life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for my computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip.
48. Gone rock climbing.
49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach.
50. Gone sky diving.
51. Visited Ireland.
52. Been heartbroken longer then I was actually in love with the person.
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them.
54. Visited Japan.
55. Milked a cow.
56. Alphabetized my CDs.
57. Pretended to be a superhero.
58. Sung karaoke.
59. Lounged around in bed all day.
60. Posed nude in front of strangers.
61. Gone scuba diving.
62. Kissed in the rain.
63. Played in the mud.
64. Played in the rain.
65. Gone to a drive-in theater.
66. Visited the Great Wall of China.
67. Started a business.
68. Fallen in love with someone and not had my heart broken.
69. Toured ancient sites.
70. Taken a martial arts class.
71. Played D&D for more than six hours straight.
72. Gotten married.
73. Been in a movie.
74. Crashed a party.
75. Gotten divorced.
76. Gone without food for 5 days.
77. Made cookies from scratch.
78. Won first prize in a costume contest.
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
80. Gotten a tattoo.
81. Rafted the Snake River.
82. Been on a television news program.
83. Received flowers for no reason.
84. Performed on stage.
85. Been to Las Vegas.
86. Recorded music.
87. Eaten shark.
88. Had a one-night stand.
89. Gone to Thailand.
90. Bought a house.
91. Been in a combat zone.
92. Buried one of my parents.
93. Been on a cruise ship.
94. Spoken more than one language fluently.
95. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show.
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour.
98. Created and named my own constellation of stars.
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country.
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over.
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge.
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when I knew someone was looking.
103. Had plastic surgery.
104. Survived an illness that I shouldn't have survived.
105. Written articles for a large publication.
106. Lost over 100 pounds.
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback.
108. Piloted an airplane.
109. Petted a stingray.
110. Broken someone's heart.
111. Helped an animal give birth.
112. Won money on a T.V. game show.
113. Broken a bone.
114. Gone on an African photo safari.
115. Had a body part of mine below the neck pierced.
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun or pistol.
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild.
118. Ridden a horse.
119. Had major surgery.
120. Had a snake as a pet.
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours.
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states.
124. Visited all 7 continents.
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days.
126. Eaten kangaroo.
127. Eaten sushi.
128. Had my picture in the newspaper.
129. Changed someone's mind about something I care deeply about.
130. Gone back to school.
131. Para sailed.
132. Petted a cockroach.
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes.
134. Read The Iliad.
135. Selected one "important" author who I missed in school, and read.
136. Killed and prepared and animal for eating.
137. Skipped all my school reunions.
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language.
139. Been elected to public office.
140. Written my own computer language.
141. Thought to myself that I'm living my dream.
142. Had to put someone I love into hospice care.
143. Built my own PC from parts.
144. Sold my own artwork to someone who didn't know me.
145. Had a booth at a street fair.
146: Dyed my hair.
147: Been a DJ.
148: Shaved my head.
149: Caused a car accident.
150: Saved someone's life.

So there it is, my list of things I've done. I guess I should do a few more in my life, play along...

The Winter Of My Discontent

This is pretty much how I feel today...

And this is the reason why...

This is March for crying out loud and we woke up to 15 cm of snow and it's still falling. I did have two Doctors appointments this morning which have now been cancelled. There is no way I'm going out in that mess. There is another storm predicted for the weekend and unfortunately so far the weather people have been too right. After a record breaking February they are predicting above average snowfall for March.

I'm also feeling pretty tired this morning, I stayed up and watched the results of the battle between Obama and Clinton until the wee hours of the morning. I find American politics quite engrossing. Canadian politics are dry and boring in comparison although I do watch Question Period most days (that's when they get to call each other bad names). Recently though things have heated up in Ottawa with the Liberal opposition accusing our Prime Minister of bribery and the Prime Minister threatening a libel lawsuit. This should make for some entertainment in the next little while.

Interesting times ahead...