In Memory Of My Friend "Evie"

I walked with You today...
we shared memories of what use to make us laugh,
we shared the state of the country, the craziness of the world
and the weather that ruled the day.
we were aging, yet we were fearless
because we believed that we lead ordinary lives
and through our ordinary lives,
we would live a long time.

I walked with You today a long time...
we talked of things that meant a lot to us,
of things we could and could not control
and looked for the solutions to make it all better.
we were satisfied with our discussed victory
and hoped that we were not the only ones to see
the simple solution.
and silently prayed that it would all work out.

I walked with You today a long time in my memory...
I could hear Your quiet laugh
as we shared a joke or funny story.
You talked of a glass of wine,
a barbecue by the pool
and the latest thing your husband decided to renovate.
we spoke of Your eyes and what they meant to You.
we had serious thoughts about our hockey team
and what was needed to fix their dilemma.

I walked with You today a long time in my memory holding on...
today is a special day for You.
You are somewhere beautiful and free.
You are in a place that I cannot follow,
somewhere peaceful that we all strive to go to when we leave.
I am but a mortal still
trying to cope with mortality and Your step beyond it.
today, You are with me,
in my heart,
in my mind
and in my tears.
tomorrow,
well tomorrow will be just another day
without You.
I miss You already Evie.

Quote Of The Day.....

“Real dishes break. That's how you know they're real. Real lives end. That's how you know you are mortal."
Martin Rubin

Surveillance and Perk Cuts....What Do These Have In Common?

Hello,

It seems the government really wants to get into your home?!!! That's right a bill it the floor of Parliament that wants to allow law enforcement the right to access your computer/Internet and snoop through what you do on line. WOW?? I expected this from the US, but I never expected it from my own government. One MP defended the bill saying it was a way to monitor child porn and its use. What bullshit!!!! Instead of worrying about the idiot that looks at it, worry about the guy that puts it up there.

this bill is too powerful and once again extends even more power to the few that the many once had. I don't need the government in my private affairs....unless they allow me access to theirs.....which leads into my next topic nicely.

Government affairs....the conservative party had a closed door meeting this week and one of the topics on the agenda was "Perk Cuts". AND ITS ABOUT GD TIME!!! Did the conservative caucus take the news well??? NOPE! They whined like spoiled brats (which they are) Currently their budgets allow them to travel 64 times a year in business class courtesy of the public. The leadership recommended that it be reduced to 54 and business class cut out. YEAH!!! One member said that it would mean that she spend less time with her family....SOLUTION: move them to your job! One member said that he got a lot of his work done while flying. SOLUTION: use your expensive office, that's what they gave it to you for. And one member said that he needed the extra flights to stay in contact with his constituents. SOLUTION: organize your time better so you can do both.

Right now due to the economic crunch that the conservatives said was not really affecting Canada, is forcing Canadians to tighten their belts and do more with less. The average parliamentary member has a 6 figure salary...if he or she wants to fly business class pay out of their own pocket to bump it up!!!!

its time the conservatives and the government in general show the Canadian People that they too are DOING THEIR PART!!!

Now on to the "Provincial Crisis". The Drummond report was released to the public yesterday. If you get a chance, look at it. The Butcher Has Arrived Ontario....and he is coming for you and what you consider a basic necessity. Here are a few of his recommendations.

Some of the key recommendations:
Cap health-care spending to 2.5 per cent a year to 2017-18.

this could cost the us to pay for: ultra sounds, reduced care for pregnant women.

Increase use of home-based care.

what this doesn't say is that you may have to buy health insurance to cover some of the costs for this.

No increases to doctors' pay.

this means that the struggle to keep doctors in Ontario will be wiped out in one quick change.

Cap growth of post-secondary education spending at 1.5 per cent a year to 2017-2018.

the cost to educate has not stopped....how can you cap this?

Cancel all-day kindergarten, or delay full implementation.

full day kindergarten is almost essential. since the Ontario government is taxing us to death, we need to have a "2 Job Family" to make it. taking away full kindergarten does not allow that family to get ahead because now they are spending more on child care.

Increase average class size from 22 to 24 in Grade 9 to 12.

to increase a class size does 2 things: it over-burdens teachers that are already burning out early who not only teach children, but raise them as well; a child that is on the borderline of grasping knowledge may get pushed to the wayside because there is more children and less teacher to go around.

Reject further employer increases to Teachers' Pension Plan.

i believe teachers are worth paying for. their pensions....like mine should be up to them to foster, not on the backs of the taxpayer.

Start charging for parking at GO Transit parking lots.

the filth of the Greater Toronto Area is caused due to traffic. to reduce fossil fuel consumption and pollution, the GO transit and trains are perfect. to charge for parking there is really incredibly stupid. you promote green, but charge them for making the change for the better??? who thought of that one??

Charge students to use school buses.

our tax dollars already pay for this. why doesn't the government just go full circle and charge tuition for high school and grade schools then??

Road tolls.

i have no problem with road tolls, BUT and this is a big BUT i don't believe that the toll charging like the 407 should be in place. put toll booths in, slow down traffic on the highways and i will cough up my 2 to 3 dollars...but i will not pay so much a kilometer like the 407. in fact, MY FORMAL PROTEST TO THIS IS...i never use it and refuse to promote this style of government greed.

Major Ontario cities need to ban cars that are big as in a lot of European cities...in fact, Ontario needs to start thinking smarter. Charge the person who wants to own a gas guzzler because it looks cool. The old boys club mentality has to change.

Start TAXING big business smarter to help reduce some of this. Make trucking companies organize better so they make less trips smarter.

Give tax breaks to the people that want to be green and encourage it! green cars, houses etc. Encourage and endorse better ways of doing things.

Cut internal government spending, travel, food etc. If you want to promote better living....LEAD BY EXAMPLE.

Cut our the fear and need for insurance. Have Canadians save that money by locking it into an account that can't be touched unless it is due to injury or crisis.

All I am saying is....instead of AXING every necessity, THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX FOR A CHANGE.

nuff said........

QUOTE OF THE DAY.....

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed.

Mahatma Gandhi

The Iceland Volcano Effect

Hi Everyone,

Remember long long ago when Mt. St Helen's erupted. It was splashed all over the news. The devastation was very vivid. Remember the following summer....you know...when we almost had to wear coats!! YES...remember brrrrr!

Not long after that frigid summer when temps drop below seasonal, the scientists said "it's because of the ash in the upper atmosphere which causes temperature change." Remember that?

Well has anyone looked at Europe this winter? Let me give you some highlights.

European cold snap death toll leaps !!

Russia hovering at -32c since late January.

64 deaths.

Ukraine

101 deaths.

Bosnia

5 deaths.

Netherlands

1 death.

Poland

8 deaths.

Serbia

6 deaths.

It was so cold that some 1,500 swans, sea gulls and ducks froze to the ice in a small harbour near Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa, forcing emergency workers to use ships to break up the surface and free the birds, officials said.

In Croatia, some highways were closed and waters of the Adriatic Sea froze in some areas. Buses that travel from Zagreb, the capital, toward the coast have been cancelled. In Montenegro, the airport in the capital, Podgorica, was closed due to heavy snow.

Daytime temperatures have been hovering around –18C in Moscow.

So how upset should we all be that we get a bit of snow and then rain???

YOU SHOULD NOT BE AT ALL..... and if you do, just think of the poor unfortunate people that have frozen to death east of the Atlantic Ocean.

THAT SHOULD WARM YOU UP!

Now some may think...gee this is global warming.

I SAY....do your homework and remember Iceland, the ash in the air and the passenger planes that were grounded in the east a few times.

A volcano can change our weather much faster than our industrial revolution.

I THINK YOU NEED TO ME MORE WORRIED ABOUT THE GARBAGE AND CHEMICALS that you put in your mouth rather than global warming. Those are the real killers.

Enough said.....

Quote of the day...

"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." ~Wernher Von Braun