Turning Over In The Grave

Rumblings of earthquakes and volcanoes lately. But I don't think it's that. I am more inclined to believe its Napoleon and Charles de Gaulle turning over in their graves. You can probably add to that, the untold numbers of English and French soldiers from their hundreds of years of tit for tat or à bon chat, bon rat. When they all roll over at once, voila, an earthquake. And of what am I speaking, do you ask? Well, the new partnership of the English and French navies to stomp about on the same aircraft carrier at the same time on the same day. From the easy chairs of some men's club has come the idea of a joint venture of both countries using the same aircraft carrier to cut down on expenses. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?

So! What flag will it be? Both flags up at the same time, or do they take turns on a daily basis? Right of the bat, there will be an arguement. Who gets the first day? And when the sailors come on board and salute the flag, would the French salute an English flag. That would be definate grounds for a tsunami. So lets say they solve those problem and off they go into the wild blue yonder. The crew would all have to speak both languages. Imagine going into battle and the orders are in english and french. "We don't take orders from you limeys." "We don't take orders from you frogs." The war would be over, them at the bottom of the sea and still arguing.

There must be some good points for this. Just think, when they go into a foreign port, they wouldn't be fighting with the locals. They would be fighting with each other. Another good point is that when they go into a port that don't like English, they could borrow French uniforms and vice versa. What about the rum? The French would want rum too. Maybe they would rather have wine.

So I guess the biggest problem would be if the English went to war with someone and the French didn't. Even bigger than that would be if they were on different sides. At least that day, there wouldn't be any earthquakes.

On Facebook: Standing at the counter having a coffee this morning, when I noticed a smile staring at me from a glass of water.

Are You Green Bin Material?

Monday afternoon and a bit on the warm side. With humidity its 37C/98F. I was out in the shed for awhile. My wife needed some soldering done on a ring and then I thought I would sharpen my chainsaw. But the humidity was just too high, so I will get back to that later. Sat on the patio with an ice tea instead.

I was looking in the paper for an article I could poke fun at. Then I remembered an ad I saw the other day. The headline read,"We are extending our offer due to overwhelming response." With an opening gambit like that, it's sure to perk your interest, so I read on. The next line said that I would save the 15% GST. This is looking better, I don't have to pay the tax on it. Wonder what it could be? Maybe pizza, maybe chicken pieces, maybe beer? No, it wouldn't be beer. They don't need a sale on beer. That sells anyway. O.K., my interest is perked, time to read on.

"No Down Payment." This gets better by the sentence. "60 month interest free payment plan." Well, its not going to be a pizza or chicken wings. You wouldn't be paying for 60 months unless you bought the farm. Now I really have to read on, after all, overwhelming response.  What did I say about bought the farm?  I guess I was right there. The ad is for funerals.

Do you really believe they had an overwhelming response? What about the 60 month payment plan? How do they get the money? Do I give them post dated cheques or put it on Mastercard? What if the cheques bounce or there is no money in my account to pay the Mastercard? I'm sure relatives would clean out accounts and cancel cards. Would they dig me up and and stuff me in a green bin on the curb? Then I would be compose for your tomatoes.

I was reading the obituary page when I saw that ad. I should have known then. Nothing good ever comes from reading that page. It always seems to me that everyone I knew was always better off than me and was definately a better person than me. You go through life thinking that you're an average joe. Then you find out by reading everyone else's obituary how below average you really are and maybe the green bin on the curb is what you deserve. The alternative would be to write your own obituary or leave your money to a real good bullshitter.

The Great White North

In my last entry, I picked on our Prime Minister. I decided not to do that again but the next day, when I saw the newspaper, there he was on the front page again. Another glorious photo. This time the PM is stepping off an ice shelf into a rubber dingy with an outboard motor. Now, what's wrong with that photo? Would the item "life jacket" seem like an appropiate piece of outerwear? Now if he slipped on that ice and fell in, not only would he be on CNN and You Tube but also on Americas's Funniest Home Videos. Second thing, do you notice how everyone else is dressed per military? How much imagination does it take to throw on a camouflaged coat?

Take a look at that photo again. Imagine if that piece had broken off. There would have been five of them in the drink. Would we have been able to blame that on somebody? We could blame it on Iceland. They are trying to horn in on out territory. They are small enough that we could smuck them. Then we would get Greenland and we would really be the great white north........I sat back for a minute, thinking about that and I've decided that it's a bad idea. They are in financial trouble and would immediately give in and ask for welfare. We better forget about that. Anyway, it's probably something the Americans have in mind. They like smucking places to get their agenda passed.

O.K. Lets get back on track. What would Obama do? Well, for one thing, he wouldn't be standing on the edge of the ice getting in a rubber dingy. He would be getting into a helicopter that would take him out to submarine. And a band would be playing both national anthems like a hockey game. What would he be wearing, you ask? Well his black suit of course. Just like one of those men in black. Maybe he is one of those men in black. His head opens up and there is a little alien sitting there with big eyes smoking a cigar.

Now, what about Putin? He's a mans man. No, not that kind of man's man. More like Capt. Russia, hero of the republic. He would probably be shot from a cannon, with sword in hand and cape flowing.

So, I guess we agree that PM Harper has to change his image. He could be more like Thor with the big hammer. He could carry a harpoon and we could call him Sgt. Har-poon, leader of the great white north, afraid of no one except the U.S., Russia and China, who would like to have us for lunch. I don't mean invite us to lunch, I mean have us for lunch. But no matter. Every country seems to get a chance to run the world and our turn is coming.

Santa's Choir

Our fearless Prime Minister is busy visiting the igloos up north. There was a time that everyone knew that the North Pole and Santa belonged to Canada. Now everyone wants to own Santa. It seems that a little oil can make a difference to everyone's life. In yesterday's newspaper, there is a photo of the PM and behind him on the wall is a trophy fish. When I first saw it, I thought it was one of those singing fish ornaments. The PM has his hand in the air as if to say,"OK gang, lets hear it for the singing fish." The photographer took great pains to have both of them in the same photo. I looked thru ebay at photos of singing fish and my mind was put at ease because the fish were all pointing in the other direction. But then I thought, if you turn the fish upside down, he then points in the other direction. I think the Liberal or NDP party should bring this up during questioning period. "Mr. Prime Minister, will you come clean with the people of Canada and tell them what tax break you gave to the singing fish?" This could be an election issue. Just think, the Government of Canada brought down by a big mouth bass rather then just by a big mouth.

A Tiger By The Tail Or Somewhere Else

So I guess Tiger Woods is out of the woods so to speak. Divorced and all that. So is he a poorer but wiser man now? Well, poorer but probably not wiser. It does have some good points to it though. He won't have to sneak into the house with his shoes in his hands any longer. That's what probably got him into trouble the last time. He won't have to make any late phone calls, "Honey, I'll be late. A friend and I have a few more balls to play with." And what about nagging? No more nagging about girl friends. You would think that would be over. I know some divorced couples and sometimes that is just the start of nagging. As of now, he can move on to the next blond conquest and candidate for his wallet.

♫ Its Howdy Doody Time, Its Howdy Doody Time ♫
Some can remember that. The guy who wrote the show including that song died the other day. 85 years old. That show was on the air from 1947 till 1960. Guess its not a type of show that calls for reruns. He is also credited with coining the word "kowabunga" which Bart Simpson now lays claim to. That Bart is a bad one. Stealing from Howdy Doody.

Do you remember 'Crocodile Dundee' star Paul Hogan? He is from Australia but now lives in the U.S. Well, I guess he owes a very large tax bill to Australia. But in a American TV interview last year, Hogan, 70, vowed that the taxman would not get a penny more of his money and added: ‘Come and get me, you miserable b******s.’ Then what happens? His mother dies and he goes home for the funeral. The Australian Taxation Office immediately issued him with a Departure Prohibition Order, which prevents him leaving the country until the alleged tax debt is paid or settled. Hope he brought some clean changes of underwear.

Just back from my two mile walk. Black clouds started rolling in, so when I got half way, I turned around and came back. That still counts for two miles doesn't it?

Facebook entry for today: Grrrh! ... My wife got to the newspaper first and now I have to straighten it out.

Friendship Lost and Found

Tuesday morning as we move thru summer. Still staying warm. I had a couple of visitors on Sunday evening. A friend I haven't seen since 1962 and his wife. We drag raced, chased girls and joined the air force together. He didn't make a career of it as I did and he went to St. Catherines, Ont. Ended up having a career with General Motors from which he retired about ten yrs. ago. His wife was a school teacher. Seeing him after all these years was a total surprise. And how did he find out where I lived? The power of the internet. In June, when I was reading the obituary column on line in The Cape Breton Post, I saw that his older brother had died. So I did one of those on line condolances. And voila, there I was. What was really surprising was that one of his daughters has lived near the airport for the past twelve years. He visits her every year and he was only twenty min. away from me. But as they say, better late than never. Anyway, we had a great chat over beer and I'll probably see him in a couple of weeks. He has a summer home in Cape Breton.

Do you remember that reporter from Rolling Stone magazine that was imbedded with the troops and gave out all that poop from the General? Well, he asked to be embedded with the troops again. That's not going to happen. His trust level would be zero now. Pretty stupid for one byline. I guess chasing ambulances should be his next beat.

I read that Justin Bieber is putting out his memoirs. Can you imagine that? Sixteen years old and having memoirs? I've spent more time in the washroom. And of course, someone would have to write it for him.

Did you know that women, low income wage earners are the most likely to get diabetes. I guess the bottom line for that is the purchase of junk food.

I saw that the Prime Minister was here last week. In Canada, that sort of thing is hardly noticeably. Now in the U.S., it's on CNN when the President goes to the bathroom. Down there, they are celebrities. I know what he is supposed to do on his job but he seems to spend more more time in front of the camera than anywhere else. Come to think of it, I don't know who is worse, Obama or Putin. Putin's antics are like a joke. Baring his chest and flexing his muscles. Capt. America on "The View" and Capt Russia riding his motorbike up Mount Everest. Get the full story tonight on CNN. Watch our heroes in action. Blah, blah, blah.

I saw something funny this morning. It was a full page showing children's fashions for school. They are the same clothes kids wore when I went to school. But then they wore them because they couldn't afford anything else. But now they pay a fortune to look like Raggity Ann and Andy. You know, I bet you could buy clothes at the Salvation Army Store and be a fashion Guru at school.

From Vegetable Oil To Wine Corks

I was adding some more magazine ads to my on-line library when I came across one for Wesson Vegetable Oil. What surprised me the most about this ad was its information on cholesterol. And this was in 1959. Some research told me that it was first discovered in 1769 and over the years there would be this and that about it. In 1964 a couple of guys got the Nobel Prize for discovering how it worked. In 1985 another Nobel Prize for someone who found out how it could be regulated. Almost immediately they started working on a drug, which became Lipitor launched in 1997. When I saw the ad I thought Wesson should have been given a prize too but then I saw what they were cooking in the oil. Hamburgers!

Here's a link to the ad http://oldmagazineads.blogspot.com/2010/08/1959-wesson-vegetable-oil-magazine-ad.html

Opened up a bottle of wine the other day and the cork reminded me what I read about corks. We should have more respect for corks. Cork comes from a tree found only in spain and Portugal. It's like bark and they peel it off. First it has to grow for nine years, then they peel it and can be three inches thick. Now they have to wait for another nine years to do it again. So it is renewable. I saw a cork tree when I was in Spain. This one was way out in the countryside and wasn't being used, so the cork had split. Remember the next time you open a wine bottle with a cork. It took nine years to get there.

Raising A Stink Over Stink

The title means exactly what it says. We're talking about biosolids. Fancy name for poop eh? This newspaper arguement has been going on all week. You do know what biosolids are, don't you? Its raw sewage, treated and then used as compose. Now this reminds me of the time I was stationed in West Germany. (It's hard to imagine a place called West Germany.) The farmers put raw sewage on the fields. And that was untreated. Anyone living there in that era can remember driving behind a Honeywagon.

It seems that we have been putting this poop on farm lands around Nova Scotia for quite awhile now. This practice has never reached my ears or my nose possibly because of the lack of complaints. But it appears that the city has made a boo boo and used some of the poo poo along city streets. And what made it worse was the fact that they used it in what we would call a more high class area. It used to be thee high class area but over the years has fallen down a few notches. The use of poo poo won't be bringing them up any time soon. So, I guess if you are better off, your complaints are better heard.

What do they suggest we do about it? They say we should burn it. Can N.S. Power use this instead of oil? If they did, the price of power should come down. We want to be paid for our poop. But that might cause more air polution and we don't need that. We can't put it in the ocean. The whales might start sprouting wings or something. So I guess the best thing to do is fix it up so it don't smell bad and sell it at Wal-Mart as compose for your garden.

Went for my walks the last few days. Changed the route yesterday and went thru a wooded area, along a lake filled with ducks and ended up at a tourist farm. There I patted two goats on the head. Do you know we have 27 lakes? Humidity too high for anything too strenuous unless you include adding to the biosolids.

Where Did You Say the Veggies Came From?

Tue. morning and it says that it will rain today. Sure looks like it. Oh well, I have stuff to do on the computer. Fixed my lawn mower yesterday, after I broke a shear pin on it. The worse thing is having to go to Halifax for the part. Actually I tried to make one but it was just a guess. It worked well enough that the mower started but after awhile it would loosen things up. When I got the new part, I saw that mine wasn't quite the same size. It has to be aluminum about half inch long and about as thick as a four in. nail. I bought a spare one so I could see the size. I'm still going to try and make one and the reason is because. Of course I may never break it again. Fixed the lawn mower, cut the grass and went for a two mile walk. That was all the important stuff.

It looks like the Superstore was trying to pull a fast one on us. Telling us that fruit and vegetables are locally grown. I guess they thought us too dumb to notice the stickers saying Ontario and parts of the U.S. I have a great idea, you could get the stuff at the Yarmouth hospital (previous article) or the hospital could make a deal with the Superstore.  Another great idea is that the Superstore could actually buy the produce from Nova Scotia farmers.

Saw this article that gays make better parents. You have to take this with a grain of salt. People doing studies have the study leaning in the way they want so it gets the results they want. Next point. I'm assuming the person doing the article is gay. No one writes an article that shows themselves in a bad light. That someone would be a better parent than her. My mother died when I was twelve, leaving me with four younger brothers and a father. And let me tell you that growing up without a mother is not the best way to travel. That's for boys, for girls growing up without a mother, probably worse. No matter how good a parent you are, there is still a hole when one is missing. On the other hand, sometimes you are better off when one is missing. And the study, do it in fifty years time when you actually have results.

The Bamboo Bicycle and You

Read this article and found it a bit hard to get my head around. "Veggies for sale at Yarmouth hospital." What they are doing is holding a farmers market in the cafeteria. I know the health care system is having a hard time but I don't think this will generate much cash. What they say they are doing is supplying fresh vegetables to the staff but other people can come and shop there too. It looks like a lot of "green thumbs" had a very good growing season. Now what to do with it? Still think it's a bit over the top, it being a hospital and all.  Must have been a slow news day. Good luck to them all.
"The Expendables" is I suppose the ultimate in action films. Read an article from a critic last week. He thought the movie was going to be a comedy. So going to see it with this preconceived idea, he had a letdown. I don't think his criticism was justified because the movie was not what he expected to see. An action movie, it is what it is. It's for entertainment, not anything for deep thought.

Stallone has certainlly been busy writing the last few years. First "Rocky" which he brought to a close. Then "Rambo" which he brought to a close. Now this new film which could be the start of a series of films to keep the old guys in work. Negative ctitics or not, the film got 35 million the first day. If you like action films, there you are. Lots of boom and bang.

Looking to invest your money in something? I have the perfect plan for you. An uptrending market. Bamboo. Did you know that bamboo grows about a meter a day and has a strength to weight ratio similar to that of steel?  So what's the big deal with bamboo? Bicycles. Startups for bamboo bicycle shops are taking off like crazy in the U.S. and internet business for bamboo bicycle kits are booming. Another point for green freaks is that the frame can be disposed of in your compose bin.

Enough Refugees To Go Around

Sunday morning. Wondering what kind of trouble I will get into today? Another nice day. Same as yesterday. Mowed my neighbour's lawn the other day. Hit a rock. Bent the blade and took out the shear pin. So I will have to replace both. The worse part is the trip to Halifax. Will take an hour for the return trip. Grass growing slowing down, so there will be less cutting. Went for my 2 mile walk. Don't see too many people on a Sun. morning. It used to be that you would see them going to church. People are much smarter now. They can do everything without God. That doesn't include me. I go to mass on Sat. evening. Did you ever notice how some people get upset if you are sitting in their seat? Happened to me some years ago. It was during a weekday mass. A woman came and sat in front of me and a few minutes later she turned around and told me to get out of her seat. So I moved. Not like there wasn't enough room since there was only twelve of in church. I remembered this because she died last week. I haven't seen her for years. My wife told me years ago, that she had been a professor and went over the edge.

I see that Quebec is trying to put the screws to Newfoundland again. Years ago, Newfoundland built a dam in Labrador and shipped the power to Quebec for a set long term price. Quebec turned around and sold it to the U.S. and kept the profit. Now Nfld is building another dam and Que. wants the same deal. Que. is determined to screw Nfld on this deal. So Nfld has decided to put an undersea cable to Nova Scotia and get access to the U.S. that way. They are trying to get some money under the infrastructure program to help with this. They are pulling their weight in Ottawa to put a clamp on this. Now it is out in the open and there are some unhappy people. Some months ago, Quebec was all set to buy NB Power. There was so much stink about it, the New Brunswick government back tracked on it and the deal fell through. So what is Que. up to, trying to get control of all the maritime power? And what would be next.

Seems that we are a soft touch for any refugees. We've known that for years and now a ship with 490 Tamils from Sri Lanka has docked. The first thing I have to say about that is that I can't imagine being on a cargo ship for three months. A lot of them paid for this passage, giving funds to the terrorists. They would also sneak some of their terrorists into the passanger list. Hopefully those in charge have enough of the grey matter to sort them out. You can't blame the people for wanting a better life. Wouldn't you? I heard that there are two more ships on the way. Better beef up that welfare.

This is from the "I've heard it all now category." A woman in Philly stole almost half a million from her boss. Her sentence was twenty-one years of house arrest with her mother. Her ex boss said he was more interested in getting the money back than sending her to jail. So now she works from home and pays back $700. a month. At that rate it will take 21 years. I guess she is hoping to get a raise so she can get out earlier. The article doesn't say, but I'm assuming she still has the same boss unless she works for the prison system. Also doesn't say if she gets vacations. I guess marriage is off the table. Imagine listening to your mother for the next 21 yrs?

Migrant Workers or Welfare Beer Drinkers?

Friday morning of what promises to be a nice day, as far as weather is concerned. Yesterday I thought would be a good day to start cleaning my shed out. Put a green garbage bin outside and proceeded to fill it. So what started off in the morning as prized possessions  for repairs etc, ended the day as garbage. I'm sure that some of the items will be classified in the future as a "why did I throw that out item." Some items like four van tires, I will sell and others will go to Value Village. I'm not putting a time frame on this because some days I am more fed up with my storage area and I become the mad slasher.

A few years ago when I was coming back from California, there were a number of Mexicans on the plane. At customs they were asked if they could speak French or English. When the answer was no, they were welcomed with open arms. Me, on the other hand, having the appearance of a druglord, was roasted. Finding only Lipitor, I was greeted with a "Welcome Home." On hearing that, I realized what situation I was in. You have to know that they can't let everyone in without asking any questions. They have to ask someone. And that would be someone who will give them the right answers.  They don't want to pick the wrong guy and up with mountains of paperwork or worse. And I'll tell you something important. Don't trry and start a conversation with them. Then you are asking for trouble.

At that time I didn't learn much about the Mexicans but now I have that all cased. Migrant workers are what they were. We use migrant workers in Nova Scotia to pick strawberries. They come from Mexico and Jamica. Having these workers is part of our foreign aid program to these countries. I have to admit that's pretty smart. Giving the money to the workers rather than passing a cheque to the government. Not only that, the foreign governments pay for part of the medical expenses. So they have return airfare, housing, medical and are paid at Canadian wage levels. It sends a lot of oney back to their families.

Why do we have to resort to migrant workers? Like our American cousins, our people are too lazy to do the work. They would rather stay on welfare. One school of thought would have the welfare taken away and make them go to work. But would you really want to do that? Do you really want to send someone who spends his time sitting on his ass drinking beer out to pick strawberries? Cheaper to fly in Mexicans. Now don't get me wrong.  In some cases welfare is needed but in other cases people make a career of it.

Facebook entry for today: Once they were my brothers, now they are just called my relatives.
(Think about that one.)

Right Blue Jeans - Wrong Body

Yesterday was a warm, muggy day. Today, somewhat the same. My wife & daughter came home monday. When my wife looked in the freezer, she saw this large gaping hole. She was so happy and yesterday it was off to the supermarket. Had to fill that spot. One thing she didn't realize was that part of that hole was filled by a chocolate cake.

"One of the most frustating things for women is that they are not finding the right jeans for their body." Ha, ha, ha. Sorry for my outburst of laughter. I read that and it did tickle my funnybone. So Levi will now have three new models of jeans, all with a size 27 waist. For american customers? Ha, ha, ha. This just keeps getting funnier. Maybe they shouldn't manufacture too many of that size. They never mentioned anything about stretch bands for the front. Yes, when I go out I notice a lot with 27" waist. OK I'm lying. When I read a little farther, I noticed the designs were made by an oriental. Does that tell you something?

It's official now. The swine flu pandemic is over. The drug companies must have gotten rid of all their supplies. They pulled that stunt and everyone followed like sheep. Well, not everyone. I guess it worked so well last time, they are going to try it again. This time its called the super bug. They must watch the same scary movies that I do.

Right now I'm telling you that the Americans got nothing on us. Them and their Mexicans. We have two Ukrainians charged with trying to smuggle eight Eastern Europeans into Canada on a sailboat. So there. We're in the big time now. To be truthful, I don't know why they go through all this trouble. For the rest of the summer they are expecting 130 cruise ships to dock in Halifax. All they have to do is get a ticket on a cruise ship. It docks at Halifax at off you go. And if you can't get a ticket, how hard can it be to stow away on a vessel with a zillion passangers? It seems that people can't take the simple way of doing things.

Latest Facebook entries are: When stupid people believe something, it's hard to change their mind. Wives excluded from former, included in latter.

Is there such a thing as getting up late if you're retired?

I don't know about Snoop Dogg, but I wouldn't mind seeing Snoopy fly in on his Sopwith Camel.

I heard that Snoop Dogg went to Cape breton to see Whitney Houston. Found out too late it was Whitney Pier.

The United Panhandlers and Vagrants Union

Holy Moley! Checked Home Depot flyer this morning and they have a snow blower fo rsale. It's only the middle of Aug. I guess they replace lawnmowers and barbacues. It rained last night so everything is wet. Had plans to work on my ramp to the shed. When I built it a few years ago, I never attached it. Just left it laying up against. So last winter when everything froze, it lifted the ramp above the door opening so I couldn't open the door. Had to wait for a few days till it thawed out and then I dragged it away from the door. This year it gets mounted.

Well we had another coyote attack in Cape Breton. That was a few days ago and I remember reading about it online. The first comment after that was why this girl was out at 4:30 am.  I thought she might be out jogging because some people do that very early. As it turns out, she was sleeping in a sleeping bag outside her parents tent. The coyote came and decided to munch on her head. She screamed and yelled and the coyote took off. Could have been a lot worse. What if he had grabbed her by the throat and she was unable to yell? A lot of what ifs. Anyway that coyote is in the bad books and they want him hanging on someone's wall. I don't imagine that any sports team down there will want to call themselves "The Coyotes." Then again, its Cape Breton, they might.

Remember the guy living atop a gold mine? Well they hauled him away the other day, his heels dragging in the mud. He was offered $350,000. but was hanging on for 1 million. Now it will be settled for fair market value. This dumb-ass doesn't understand that greed only works for rich people not the rest of us.

Here's a headline that really caught my eye. "Panhandlers targeted for job training." Holy crap, now you're asking for trouble. Do these guys have a union like "The United Panhandlers and Vagrants Union?" Can we look forward to these guys protesting on the main drag? Some of them make a lot of bucks. We're talking hundreds a day. Do you think they want to go to school? I'm more likely to read something else into this. I'm talking about these leeches who dream up some product of helping someone and get the government to give them a grant. Once these grants start, they are hard to stop. Just like a charity, the money has to keep rollin in.

Bears And the Marijuana Grow

Well, that project is done. Electric start for the snow blower this winter. Nice weather today. Not too hot.

Saw this headline that said two were arrested for marijuana and bear spay. What I can see from this is that bears love marijuana. I mean, why else would they have the bear spray? What would you do if you went out to check your grow and saw bears munching away. We're not like Americans, where everyone has a shotgun in their truck. And if they did have guns, they couldn't just go blasting away. How would you explain all the dead bears. I wonder if you left a case of Charmin for them as a bribe. They would see the toilet paper and think. "Hey this guy threats us with respect. We'll leave this grass alone." And it's not that easy for them to get toilet paper. They would have to be in T.V. commercials or something.

No sooner did I turn the page and there it was, another marijuana item. This one had a picture and was three quarters of a page long. No bears this time though. There wasn't any people either. Seems that the Mounties raided a house that was a pot grow. It was outside the city and had 343 mature marijuana plants and  had been going on for a couple of years. That's according to the neighbours, who boast that they knew all along. Did they know or are they just dumb asses trying to get their two minutes of fame? The Mounties should go back now and arrest all those who said they knew about it. We'll see how much bragging there is then. The power meter had been bypassed. Need a lot of power to run all those fans, lightbulbs etc. Shouldn't the power co. have noticed something wrong? I guess the water company is better at policing. Arrest the power co. too. How about the landlord? Since the place was rented, wouldn't you think he would check on it once in awhile? He definately gets arrested.

So the signs of a pot grow. House has no tenants, just visitors. House gets no maintenance. Weeds at the front of the house are as high as your eyeballs. Truckload of fans and lightbulbs came to the house. Windows are covered with tinfoil and there is an odor around the house. Empty truck comes every four months and leaves full. No one has a barbacue. And most of all, no one has ever invited you over for a beer. Look out your window now. Notice anything?

Another thing that really gets my goat is The National Parole Board. These people should be locked up. I think they are psychiatrists and psychologists. And we all know they have more problems than the rest of us. I think that happens in university. They get a list of all the human failings and they pick out the ones they should have. Anyway, I was reading about this guy who has convictions for attempted murder, arson, theft, carrying a concealed weapon and multipal sexual assults. In Feb. of 2009 the top court concluded that he was a substantial risk. At that time he was serving a six year sentence for assulting someone in jail fracturing the guy's eye socket and knocking out sixteen teeth. In July they decided to let the guy out on unescorted outings. It sounds like they do this out of spite. Like telling the judges, I know more about this than you do. Would they feel the same if he knocked on their doors? anyway, I think he is walking around your neighbour.

Yesterday's Facebook entry: Every lobsterman has an issue with poachers; every lobster has an issue with lobstermen.

Today's Facebook entry: Is there such a thing as getting up late if you're retired?

American And Canadian Taliban

Friday morning after a night of big rain. And today we are supposed to have showers. I was hoping to have this project all finished before my wife got home. Have to pick her up on Sunday. Maybe it's God's way of telling me that I need a project manager when I slice across the lawn. She is more likely to lay the sods back nice and perfect. I measured the distance yesterday with the light rain as my accompanist. 74" from the shed. I'll get 80". I'll need wire and underground ducting. Hard to dig where the grass is high, so I'll have to mow the area where I'm going to digg.

There are some things that really choke me. They were talking on CNN last night about Americans that choose to go and fight for the Taliban. We have the same type of idiots here in Canada. Off they go to Pakistan to help the Taliban. Since we are at war with them, it is my firm belief that these people should be treated as traitors. Canada is not good enough for them unless they get caught. Then its Oh Canada, please help me. Take me back home again. So home they come, get their crybaby lawyers and moan and complain about how bad they were treated. If you've broken the law in Pakistan, they should keep you and then you can think long and hard about what you are fighting for. I read about one the other day. Got caught and spent four years in a Pakistan. They got him out and now he's not being prosecuted because his rights were stepped on. His father was a friend of bin Laden and a money raiser for him. He got smucked over there. His younger brother is in Gitmo for throwing a grenade that killed an American. They can keep him.

In Malartic, Quebec, there is a guy sitting on top of a gold mine. A mining company wants to start work on a multibillion-dollar operation but this guy is holding up the boat. He won't sell his house. So they went to court  and the verdict was, OK bud, you're outta here. They may drag him out by his toenails as early as Monday. So is this government pushing the little guy around or something else. I'm going to put this in perspective, at least my perspective.

It starts of that there were 204 houses there. It's part of a town. Everyone else sold out and they had their house moved to another part of town or it was destroyed. They say his house is run down and he doesn't actually live there all the time. The value of the house is $14,000. and he has been offered $350,000. Any crap that this is to protect personal property rights goes down the drain when you find out that he actually wants 1 million dollars.

I can't see the people in the area being very buddy-buddy with him any longer. He is holding up something that is going to provide a lot of jobs. This has been going on for three years and now they will receive compensation determined by a provincal tribunal in exchange for the home. Any bet that it will be less than $350,000.?

Colour Outside The Lines

Yesterday it rained and rained and then rained somemore. Right now it is foggy, wet and cloudy. I won't be rushing outside to start my cable trench.

You can read a newspaper from twenty years ago, one from today and one from twenty years from now and you will always read "Canada can do more to eliminate poverty." This article is about poverty in Canada not the rest of the world. Lets be truthful, that is not going to happen.  In my opinion, a lot of it comes down to lifestyle. It's not the amount of money you make but how you spend it. If you can't afford milk, then why are you smoking? Another reason for poverty can be intelligence. Not enough on the ball to make right decisions. A prime example of that is people without even a down payment buying a half million dollar house. When I read this article I looked to see who wrote it. It was written by an MP, member of the opposition party. So this is nothing but grandstanding, digging for votes. He knows nothing can be done but its an easy way to blame the government for something. All the parties do it.

In Halifax we have twenty three councillors and the mayor. That makes a total of twenty-four. In cities of the same size in the rest of Canada there are usually sixteen to twenty. Halifax and Dartmouth amalgamated a few years back hence the twenty-four. There has been some stink raised over this, so finally council put it to a vote. The outcome of the vote is that greed overcame common sense. As soon as they heard the word "less" they voted against it.  "Council sticks with status quo" is what the headline read. Actually it was a tie vote 12 - 12. It was defeated because it was a tie. For the life of me I can't see the advantage for the councillors. It's not like they would be fired. If a seat was vacated, they just wouldn't have an election for it. These guys can't be that bright. If they saved all that money, they could have given themselves a raise.

I heard this statement yesterday "Some people choose to colour outside the line." I think it is supposed to be taken as a compliment, like thinking outside the box. I don't think they realize that most people who colour outside the lines are usually four year olds or so.

My Facebook entry for today is: If you go into the woods and are wondering if there are any bears, just look around and see if there is any toilet paper.

You know where that came from. Watching the Charmin ads.

The Fall Of The American Empire

Yesterday I started on the wire the shed project. Did all the inside work and then hooked up an entension cable to the fusebox. Lo and behold, it all worked. That was at 5 P.M. Then the plan was to measure for the underground cable. But it started to rain, so that was the end to that plan. Too bad I couldn't get the distance. I could buy the materials today. When I start something, I like to take it to the finish. One of my neighbours is building a patio. I think he started a month ago. A couple of days ago, he and a friend were pounding nails. Yesterday, nothing. I'm wondering if he'll finish by winter. Why I'm thinking that is because he's the guy who has a landscaper come in to mow his lawn. Anyway, that's him and for me it will rain all day. No trench digging for me.

I suppose you've heard about the problem checking veiled women at the airport. Common sense just does not prevail in this case. I'm assuming that that they had a photo taken without a veil. So what's the problem now? They crap on us because they can. The one they like to crap on the most is the Americans. They are doing that in fine style in New York right now with the cultural center near the 9-11 site. To me, this is totally wrong. I have no problem with them building a Mosque, but why add insult to injury. They can build it somewhere else but it doesn't give them the publicity they get now. The Islamic world can look at this and say,"Look what they are dong to our religion in America!  Off with their heads." I'm all for democracy but even in this you have to draw a line. You can't let everyone run amuk and do what they want. I believe in the U.S. their brand of democracy is doing them in. Their enemies use it against them every which way but loose.

The laws in England evolved starting in 1215 with The Magna Carta. Over the years it changed to where it is now. It didn't happen that way in the U.S. For them it started in 1776 when they threw out everything and started over. The trouble with that is that its the thoughts and ideas of the people of that period. They didn't have a long period thinking about it or gauging its outcome. I always hear the sentence,"I wonder what the founding fathers had in mind when they said this?" The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear this is the gun law. In 1776 that would have been a good idea. The people then didn't know if their country would be there the next day. But today, not such a good idea. They didn't evolve and they now have a gun problem that keeps getting worse. Two mass shootings yesterday.

I just thought that this is much better than a typewriter. How could you go back and correct all the spelling mistakes? In school my best subject was history. I love historical films. It also helps if they have a bit of truth.  Take for example, "Braveheart." Great movie but mostly crap. There was a William Wallace in Scotland, who did battle the English. But that's pretty well it. In the movie they led us to believe that he made out with the princess. In actual fact she was four years old at that time. I never read anywhere that they did a mooning. Do you think that Mel Gibson would use artistic license?

It appears to me that I am watching a remake of the fall of the roman empire. Not just the U.S. but western civilization in general. Rome sent troops to other countries, ditto. Tried to control the resources of these countries, ditto. At home was greed and decadence, ditto. Everyone tries to go to Rome to get a piece of the action, ditto. Subjects of losing countries start raising shit, ditto. Rome is changed into a bunch of Italians with Fiats. Awaiting sequel.

Are We Naive Or just Dumb?

Tuesday morning and as far as weather is concerned, it will leave everythng as is. So the first thing I do get my coffee and grab the paper. I almost choked on my coffee when I read the headlines, "Spy agency to probe itself." That has to be the joke for the day. The newspaper must figure it has a lot of gullable readers. Then again, there are a lot of naive people running around. To be fair, all of us are a bit naive. Some are downright dumb. I knew a woman once that if I told her that headline, she would say,"Oh, that's good."

A friend was over yesterday looking for a wheel for his lawn mower. The ones I had were too small but then I remembered the mower I was throwing out. Sure enough, right size wheels. He took one of them and after he left I took off the other three. I remembered that he broke one last summer and now I have his next summer replacement. Then I mowed my neighbour's lawn.

From my list of summer projects, I only have two left. Electricity for the shed and work on the snow blower. I went to the hardware store and bought the parts I needed for the shed and found out the information about the underground wiring. Then I started on the shed part and I will finish it all today. I'll have to measure the cable length after that.

When "The Black eyed Peas" were in town, the promoter had asked the city for $400,000. He didn't get it and I'm glad of that. The promoter never said that he lost any money so I'm assuming that he made a profit. 30,000 people attended the show. Since he is a businessman, he should be treated as such. All the stores don't get a kickback when they open their door. All businessmen take a risk, charge for their wares and watch their expenses. I'm sure he knows how much to charge to make a profit. If you go to the show, you pay the piper. If I don't go to he show, I shouldn't have to pay.

Talking about dumb headlines. "When you're sick it pays to be rich." It goes on to say,"Study suggests wealthy cancer patients live linger; researchers wonder why differences exist." Duh! You needed a study. You know that someone got big money to that study. Later on it read that thry wanted to do another study to see if it was the same in other provinces. I can see where this is going. Looks like a career job.

Facebook entry for today: If you don't want to be noticed in the backwoods, squint a lot and and leave out half your words.

"Inception" Is My Exception

Monday morning. Natal Day in Halifax. You can see a Parade. The only parade I'll see is me behind  lawn mower. My wife and daughter are away for a week, but I'm sure we won't starve. But the day is starting off really, really bad. They say that the average Canadian retires at 62 1/2. And that's what I did. Being typically Canadian, I didn't want to rock the boat. But yesterday evening I found out that I was not average. Whether I'm above or below doesn't matter. This all came about because of a movie. Everyone is raving about the movie "Inception." Some people call it awesome. I'm of the mind that if you call a movie awesome, that means you paid to see it. If you get the movie for free, then your feelings might be different. I never hear anyone say," I went to that movie last night and it was the pitts." Maybe awesome means that they went out last night with friends, had a great time and I think there was a movie on too. I remember that if you took your girlfriend to the Drive-in, they were all awesome, even if it was "The Red Blob From Mars."

Ellen Page was in "Inception." A home town girl, you have to be faithful to her, right? I've watched all her ads for "Cisco." Not Cisco Kid you dummy, Cisco Systems. Anyway, I watched the first 15 min. and it was terrible. Changed to a different movie. Later on it was, "I'm sorry Ellen, maybe I was rash, I'l give it another try. A half hour later, nope, I hate it. Maybe its one of those movies that when it comes out of the theatre, you never hear about it again. That would put me back on the normal list. I have to get back. Don't want to wander around abnormal.

I seem to be getting myself in a rut. Not only about "Inception", but also about "Haven", a show made in Lunenburg. Again I'm being faithful to a Nova Scotia product. Did you ever watch that show? I've watched four shows so far and I sweat that everyone in that burg needs anger management. Every show seems to be the same. Things fly around and go bump in the night, all because someone is having a temper tantrum. That's on my short list for shows to get rid of.

On facebook for today: If you go to Tim Hortons with a problem relative to share a donut, one gets the donut and the other gets the hole.

Vacation Day Deserved

Sunday morning with forecast for same weather as yesterday. This afternoon, my wife and daughter go away for a week. They go to our friends house in Eastern Passage. The house is right on the ocean. Lots of family so there is always a bunch of people around. We call it our daughter's vacation. So she is all excited. It's the week for the parade and fireworks. They drag my daughter in the wheelchair all over the place. A difficult thing to do. If God let you pick your own relatives, life would be pretty good.

A friend of mine made a comment on one of my rants.
If you haven't read a book called "The Peter Principle", see if you can locate a copy...... it has an explanation for some of the promotions you refer to......   "
I'm sure everyone knows what that means but if not here is the short version.
The Peter Principle is the principle that "in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence".
This brings up the question that if you first join an organization and are found out to be incompentant, where do you go? You go into the sideways shift. Well known in the military. They keep sending you from job to job, until they find you a job where you can cause the least damage.

What brought this to mind was an article I read the other day. It concerns a WW2 german prison guard. They said he was responsible for 422,000 deaths. So I had to look at that. He must be something else to be responsible for so many. I learn that he marched people, locked doors etc. They said he did all the guard duty type jobs in the camp. So you can guess my thoughts on that. They shifted him from job to job because he couldn't do anything right. After two years, he lost that posting. Went back home to his village and stayed there till now at 88 years of age.

He was nabbed by the Simon Wiesenthal Org. which is in some respects is like an organization funded by donations. You have to keep the money rolling in. The number of war criminals is starting to thin out, so then what. All such organizations face the same dilemma. People to be paid. The org. is in place, all you need is a new disease. I'll give you an example. The War Amps. Started for WW2  amputees and when that started to dry up, they switched to children. Of course I agree that was I good idea. Sadly to say, that won't dry up. What if they find a cure for cancer. Many and massive organizations. Doesn't a cancer cure seem to be taking a long time?

"Black Eyed Peas," "Black Eyed Peas." I'm sick of reading about them. They did a show on Gay Pride Day and there has been an article about them in the newspaper every day. I think the articles should have been put in the week before, not after. It's like they never heard of them and they are trying to make up. Anyway, I don't like black eyed peas and I don't like green beans either.

Facebook entry for today is: "Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder."