Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!

Commuting Tales

With all of the traveling I have been doing lately I haven't had a good train blather. A funny thing happened today to set me off . . .

First, this morning. The train was crowded (duh . . it is always crowded) and I was seated beside another guy. My bag was in the space underneath my seat. I reached down to get my book and fumbled in the bag. Suddenly it moved.

Apparently I had been groping the guy beside me. He looked at me, I looked at him. We both got horrified expressions and grabbed the sports section of the paper (although I really wanted Entertainment) and looked away to read.

The two ladies across from us just tried to stifle (unsuccessfully, I might add) their laughter.

Then this afternoon. I was bopping along on the train listening to my new iTouch (more on this baby later). We rolled past a high school heading towards Oakville. I happened to look up as we passed the BMX track and noticed that it was crowded with hoodlums. Apparently the hoodlums chose to put their best side forward because they mooned the train en mass.

I don't know what they were expecting as a reaction because I doubt anyone noticed on my car - everyone was asleep, reading, or staring at the ceiling contemplating another night of reality TV (my god, when will the post writer's strike shows stream out). 'tis a terrible thing to put yourself all out there for a big finish only to get a yawn.

I am sure that their parents would be chuffed.

Later I overheard some guy on the train saying he "kirked out" on someone the other day to a fellow passenger.

"What the hell does this mean?' I wondered.

A quick search on Google via my Blackberry for "kirked out" gave me 928 hits and the first one was from the Urban Dictionary: Kirk: To go crazy, to flip out, to wig out. "Timmy kirked out when he saw the guitar solo."

Who knew?

There you have it, a new word to describe you the next time you get perturbed on the train.

Muderous Third Graders

As we get ready to head off to Georgia a headline catches my eye while I troll the Internet (thereby avoiding packing and other pressing tasks - thank goodness for the Internet, but I digress). It grabs your attention like a dog grabs a bone "3rd-graders plotted to hurt their teacher, police say"

This is interesting . . . when I read more I discover that these pint-sized thugs live in Georgia, the state we are about to visit. Yes, this does cause me to revise my views of the state, just a titch.

3rd-graders plotted to hurt their teacher, police say

Steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape, paperweight seized from children in southern Georgia

April 02, 2008

Russ Bynum
AssocIated Press

WAYCROSS, Ga.–A group of third-graders plotted to attack their teacher, bringing a broken steak knife, handcuffs, duct tape and other items for the job and assigning children tasks including covering the windows and cleaning up afterward, police said yesterday.

The plot, involving as many as nine boys and girls at Center Elementary School in south Georgia, was a serious threat, Waycross police chief Tony Tanner said.

School officials alerted police Friday after a pupil tipped off a teacher that a girl had brought a weapon to school.

Tanner said the students apparently planned to knock the teacher unconscious with a crystal paperweight, bind her with the handcuffs and tape and then stab her with the knife.

"We did not hear anybody say they intended to kill her, but could they have accidentally killed her? Absolutely," Tanner said.

The children, ages eight to 10, were apparently mad at the teacher because she had scolded one of them for standing on a chair, he said.

Two of the students were arrested on juvenile charges yesterday and a third arrest was expected.

District Attorney Rick Currie said other students told investigators they didn't take the plot seriously.

Currie said the children are too young to be charged as adults, and probably too young to be sentenced to a youth detention centre.

Police seized a steak knife with a broken handle, steel handcuffs, duct tape, electrical and transparent tape, ribbons and a paperweight from the students, Tanner said.

Currie said he decided to seek juvenile charges against two girls, ages 9 and 10, who brought the knife and paperweight and an 8-year-old boy who brought tape. He said all three students faced charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, and both girls were being charged with bringing weapons to school.

Nine children have been given discipline, including long-term suspension.

Up here in Canada third graders would be 8 or 9. My god, when I was 8 or 9 I recall building a tent out of blankets and the dining room table, I remember baseball, hide-and-seek. Guess what I don't remember? Thoughts of murder.

No, I don't remember those at all!

Now, I realize that these twits are children and can only be held accountable in a limited way for their actions, but I hope their punishment is severe, severe, severe.

As a teacher I find this very scary. If my students had had murderous thoughts every time I scolded them for some sort of foolishness I'd be dead many times over.

Now I realize that I am generalizing here and making a raft of assumptions, but that is what I do. Where are the parents in all of this? Surely they might have realized that little Sue was packing a knife in her school bag. Wouldn't they have heard the frenzied plans being made? What sort of drivel must they allow these kidlets to watch - no doubt exposing them to all sorts of murderous imagery.

Punish the parents too!

Good lord - it is official, I have crossed the line to ranting conservative  . . . my membership card for Amnesty International just self combusted.

Georgia On My Mind, indeed.

Technical Difficulties

ARGH

It would appear that the 'braintrust' at Typepad decided to try an new editor. At least that is all I can assume happened because for the past two days when I went to post it was all very different. The result was I had to muddle through on trial and error. Others would have thrown their hands up in dismay and hit the bottle.

Apparently I should have done the same. I've been alerted to that fact that it is impossible to add a comment to the past two posts. This is not by my doing (that I know about anyway) and I can only assume that it is the fault of the 'fresh new hell' AKA the new editor.

I've spent the last hour trying to figure it out.

I've given up and sent a 'help ticket'.

Please stand by for something (like the specter of a PC being tossed out the front window).

Spam . . .

  
Lately I have been inundated with spam e-mail. It has gotten to the point that I no longer bother to read anything. I tell you, I am sick of getting e-mail about blue pills, breast augmentation, penile implants and the such.

Every now and then I will receive a little treat in my junk mail folder - a spam e-mail that actually makes me wonder and perhaps even smile for a bit. This was the latest:

From Joy Moses

How are you today? i was convince within my heart that i can trust you with all my heart but my only fear now is that i hope and pray you beleive what i have to tell you.

I am Joy as you rightly know, i am 19, My mother was an frican American while my father was from the french speaking colony of Cote D‘ Ivoire, i was living with my mother not too far from Charleston building, 601 57th Street,Charleston West Virginia USA. And i attended Charleston senior High School,1201 Washington Street E, Charleston, WV. I lost my mother sometimes ago and after her death i came to meet my father for the very first time in Cote d‘Ivoire, though he was also living in the state efore he relocated back to Cote d‘ Ivoire to set up a business.

Exactely two months and one week after i came to meet my father with the help of US consulates he died , he was very sick when i came to meet him but before his death there were some document he gave to me and he told me that everything he worked for in his life time is in the document when i crosscheck the document i discovered that my late father deposited Ten Million dollars in a security company. my late father deposited the money as family valuables in a trunk box.

I am just a girl and there is little or nothing i could do on my own and again if my late father relative find out that my late father left that kind of money in my care i don‘t know what they might do to me, so i need! you to help me contact the security company and claim the deposited Item for me as my friend and Guandian,and take me along with you. If you do this for me apart from the love i will also offer you 20% of the total money for helping me.

Please i requested for your trust and understanding because it might sound unbeleivable but it is the truth,

Yours Truly

Miss Joy Moses

Please send this information's below

Your full name and home address
Your telephone and fax number
Your international passport or Id card
Please reply me back with my private mailbox( faithjoymoses11@yahoo.fr )

Someone has far too much time on their hands - but at least they have read the classics. This Dickensian tale of a poor waif alone against the world with a line on a stash of cash is inspired. Stupid, but inspired.

Of course, being the curmudgeon that I am I immediately wondered who the heck with give a whit about Joy. I know that I didn't.

Let's deconstruct this is bit. Here we have a 19 year old girl, raised in the US, yet her spelling and grammar is atrocious. I know that people make all sorts of comments about the US education system but you wouldn't be the richest country in the world if you were churning out illiterate idiots like this!

Joy feels that she can trust me with all of her heart. Wrong, wrong, wrong. In fact. I immediately reported your electronic drivel.

Joy is 19, educated in the US, raised by parents who somehow amassed $ 10 million, yet she needs some random internet friend she has never e-mailed before or met to help her transfer the money out of the country.

Hmmmm

All I need to do is send her enough personal information that she could steal my identity, defraud me, and generally make my life a living hell. In return she will give me $ 2 million dollars and her love. SCORE Keep the $ 2 million Joy, I' do it for your love.

Well Joy. You can rot away in the Ivory Coast. I won't be sending you anything. Well, anything except for my disdain.

Is there anyone in the world gullible enough to fall for this crap?

Sadly, I expect that there must be or the e-mails would stop coming.

I'm Sick of Winter

It is official.

I am sick of winter.

Last year we received 60 cm of snow. Apparently this year we're cruising along at about 195 cm. Our first snow was early - in November, and we had snow 1 out of every two days since then.

This was our house this morning. Notice the huge pile of snow in front of the driveway. Thank you snow plow driver.

I just wish he could plow the road as well as he fills our driveway in with snow.

Last night, in the midst of the worst March snowstorm on record, we had tickets to see a play in Toronto. We decided early on to take the train and not drive.

This is Paul standing in front of the pile of snow at the train station. No, that is not a hill. Nor is Paul a midget (with apologies to tiny folk everywhere).

Toronto was deserted. We had no trouble getting in to our restaurant and getting to the theatre on time. The theatre was empty. This shouldn't be taken as a reflection on the quality of the play.

This is the sidewalk on the way from the restaurant to the theatre. Some twit told me the snow had stopped by this point. I, and the photo above, beg to differ.

When we got back to the station my car was drifted in. I just put it into 4 wheel drive and ploughed through the drift. Another reason why the SUV is necessary here. As I said in the other day- Al Gore can bite me. No Prius could even have handled the roads yesterday. I guess our carbon footprint was offset by the fact the all of us took the train.

Then again, at this point I don't really care.

This morning the snow had stopped and the clean up had begun.

See that mound in the centre? That is my neighbour's car.

Here's the front of the house after we had shoveled. Clearly, I won't be cutting the grass anytime soon.

I almost lost my Wheaties this morning when I was reading the paper.

"I think what will happen is people will start cheering for their record," Environment Canada climatologist David Phillips predicted, "because, if there's any comfort in a winter of misery, it's in at least having something to talk about in the warm days, to brag to your grandchildren, `I remember the winter of 2007-08.'"

I beg to differ. No one on my street was cheering about setting a new snow accumulation record. Phillips should be buried face-first in one of the snow banks which makes driving such a challenge these days.

If I ever blather on about the 'winter of 07-08' it is time to put me out of my misery.

I am all for setting records. I'd like to set the record for the quickest return to the waistline I last had at age  22.

The most snow in a season? I don't care about that record at all, not one bit.

Enough With Winter

This morning Paul and I had a treat waiting when we woke up:

About 13 cm of new snow. ARGH

One has not experienced sweet joys of life until one has to shovel at 5:30 am. Next up - root canals.

It snowed throughout the morning so I left work early . . . to come home and shovel some more.

The street wasn't ploughed when I came home. I parked on the road, shoveled the driveway AGAIN, pulled the car into the driveway and relaxed.

Later I had some errands to do. The street still was not ploughed. This is why I need 4 wheel drive. Al Gore can bite me.

When I returned from my errands the plough had been through. My nice, clear drive was blocked by a three foot pile of snow deposited by the plough. You know, it is a good thing that we don't have gun laws similar to the US here in Canada because lots of us are ready to SNAP. Yes, I suspect about five of the neighbours all would have had a go at the driver. Certainly we had a great time shouting out what we thought of the him as we dug out these new drifts. They neighbourhood kiddies learned some new vocabulary to try out on the schoolyard.

Apparently we're getting more snow on Friday and Saturday!

I try to be a good boy, I don't know why I am being punished.

My friends who live in warm places like Palm Desert tell me it is cold there and they need the fireplace to keep them warm when it is 85. They won't go in the pool until it is 90. They can bite me as well.

Happy First Birthday Blog

It was one year ago that I joined the blogging world. True to form I was late to the party, in fact blogging was becoming decidedly passe when I started with my first weak post. Since that first post I have posted 365 times.

My stats tell me that I have received more than 700 comments. Of course, some of these comments are from me because I try to respond to those who comment. I didn't at first but somewhere down the line I decided it was the thing to do.

My Typepad numbers show me that I have had 25000 page views, an average of 68 per day. The five most popular posts? October 8, October 25, October 20, December 21, and December 31.  I know why October 20 was so popular - it was all of the slowtravel world waiting to see what was happening at the Desert GTG. I think I know as well why December 21 a busy day for the blog - that was the time I took on the mysterious 'JC' who left a nasty comment in his/her wake. I have no idea why the other posts were well viewed.

My favourite posts this year?

The first of many posts about those who annoy me while I commute.

I like this one about those who annoy me on elevators.

I laughed when I re-read this tale of grocery store madness.

A classic tale of woes while commuting.

Imagine the shock of being 42 and being asked if you qualify for the 'senior discount' which is available to those 60 and over. Now there isn't anything wrong with being 43 or 60 but let's not get it all mixed up.

Many folks commiserated with me on the day I snapped at Union Gas.

I really enjoyed writing this post. In fact, I think it is one of the better ones I wrote last year. Remembering the wines of Casa Emma (and then getting to buy more at the LCBO) was a great way to spend some time.

Favourite restaurant meals?

I think one of the best meals we had this year was in Carmel at Cantinetta Luca. We met fellow slow travelers Wendy and Rob for an incredible meal at this hot spot and ended up closing the place down. The food, company, atmosphere, hell, everything, was outstanding!

The Queen Mother Cafe is one of my favourite restaurants of all time. It isn't high gourmet food but I love the food. I've been knocking back their Pad Thai for close to 20 years.

We had an outstanding meal at Nopa in San Francisco. This was the best darn pork chop I have ever eaten!

We had an amazing meal at Tutti Matti prior to a show. It was a great night out in the city (although I recall the play as being one of the worst I had ever seen).

Paul, mom, and I enjoyed two visits to the Whale's Rib on Deer Isle. The first was so good that we had mom take us there for our birthday dinner.

The second best meal of the year? Dinner at Jamie Kenedy's Kitchen back in August. My lord, this was seriously good food. It was expensive food, but it was great; inventive, unusual, flavourful and brilliantly presented.

Any breakfast at Cora's is a great meal. If you're in the area you must track the nearest location down and run, don't walk, there.

Favourite books?

The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz was my most used cook book I think. I played with recipes from it here, here, here, here, here, and here. They were all incredible!

Of course, the most anticipated book of the year was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Yes, folks it lived up to the hype.

Now, please don't think that was the extent of my reading. I just didn't write too many posts about the books I was perusing throughout the year.

Favourite movies?

I really loved Rataouille. What food lover couldn't enjoy this film?

Again, we saw lots of other flicks, they just didn't end up posted to the blog. I shall have to remedy that.

Top memories?

I had a really good time participating in the ice wine harvest at Malivoire back in January.

Mom, Paul, and I had a great day visiting the St Lawrence Market and the Distillery District in Toronto. While in the Distillery District we had a great lunch at Archeo (I can still remember the great taste of the fennel salad) and went to my favourite chocolate shop . . . SOMA. If you're in the city, you really should check these spots out.

This was a great day in California. I started off touring the Getty Villa and then met up with a group of slowtravellers in Pasadena. It was the first time I met my 'twin' Palma.

We had a swell time at Easter. Good food, great company, and an Easter Egg Hunt. Life is good!

Our first martini class was a blast. We've made the green tea martini many times since then.

One of our goals last year was to expand our horizons with wine. We had our favourite wineries in Niagara. In 2007 we wanted to try new ones, and we did. These jaunts are described here, here, here, here, here, and here. My favourite new winery of 2007? Either Tawse or Daniel Lenko.

We had a stellar trip to Maine with mom. it was one of the best trips we've all taken together. It was relaxed and provided lots of quiet moments for reflection.

We had a great time when Rose visited from Nova Scotia. Paul's sister and her family visited as well. Lots of fun all around.

One of the highlight's of the year was the long weekend we spent at a cottage in Haliburton with Dave, Rose, and Ruth. We ate great food, drank lots of wine, and laughed like mad.

Apple picking with Paul was a fun time.

We had an amazing feast for Thanksgiving!

My long weekend in Palm Desert for the Desert GTG was incredible. I met so many amazing folk. I really can't think of a time when I laughed harder than I did during this weekend.

Christmas was great this year. Like I said at the time, apparently I was a very good boy in 2007 and I resolve to do it ALL over again in 2008!

Most popular Google posts?

Lots of folk reach my blog by way of Google. Typepad allows me to track what the search words were that brought the confused searcher to my little bucket of drivel.

Well, I learned that if you post a picture of Victoria Beckham in what must have been a chilly room you get lots of hits. The funny thing was that this post was inspired by the person who inspired more blog posts around the world last year than anyone else - Britney (bless her heart). Poor Victoria was a bit of an after thought.

Lots of folk arrive at my blog after searching for Duff's wings. Some are even querying the number of calories in Duff's Wings. Get over yourself, you're eating chicken flesh fried to a crisp in grease. If you have to wonder about the number of calories in one of those artery clogging delights you shouldn't be eating them. Someone even downloaded the photos and used them as their own pics on a facebook site devoted to Duff's wings.

This post about summer drinks was a very popular one with the refreshment seeking denizens of the net.

This post about a stuffed flank steak which Paul made on the BBQ has received more Google hits than any other post.

The second most popular post with the Google crowd was this post for a frosty Bellini-like drink. A popular restaurant in Canada, Milestones, serves a similar drink.

Favourite Foods?

I really enjoyed this almond crusted pork tenderloin with dried cranberry-apple compote. Paul out did himself with that one!

I was happy that Jane shared her recipe for Osso Bucco with me. It was a highlight of the year.

The Champagne and Cassis Granita from the David Lebovitz cookbook the Perfect Scoop was incredible!

This risotto with mushrooms, peas, and sausage was a great find.

These pork sliders with onion relish were amazing.  . . another wonderful meal made by Paul.

These stuffed chicken breasts served on a bed of orzo were a hit. A perfect summer meal in my opinion.

In Italy we learned to love Panna Cotta. This strawberry panna cotta with a red wine sauce was truly amazing. I can't wait until strawberries are in season again to whip up another batch.

Pulled Pork. Enough said.

These pumpkin ravioli with a browned butter sage sauce were full of different flavours and textures. We were getting far more confident in our pasta making abilities by this point.

Paul makes dinner once a week. His most impressive meal of the year? Risotto with roasted butternut squash and cornmeal encrusted shrimp. WOW That lad needs to cook more often.

These braised lamb shanks with white beans were a popular recipe choice as well. So popular that mom has requested that we make them again on a number of occasions.

Lots of folk raved about the Caramelized Matzoh with Toasted Almonds and Sea Salt. Thank you David Lebovitz.

This salad made up pf oranges, spiced walnuts, and cranberries was amazing. The perfect addition to an otherwise heavy meal.

This was my favourite picture of 2007:

Evidence of what can happen to you when you enjoy far too many martinis.

The pictures of Beckett dressed for Halloween were pretty special as well. I am not so sure that he thought it was special though.

Looking back it was a full year. Lots of memories there.

Unions

a shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest.

Our photo is currently number 17 out of 417 photos.

You can vote by clicking here.

Remember a 10 is good!

Feel free to e-mail the link to friends and loved ones!

*smile*

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As many of you know, I work for a large union. Now some folk think badly of unions (confused souls all of them). In fact, this is a smattering of some of the comments I have received over the years:

What kills me is the fact that because they are a union there is no recourse whatsoever against these guys because they can’t be fired or disciplined unless they ran over a family of four and even then I don't know. If a real company treated a customer like this there would be hell to pay! Why is it as a customer whenever I have a bad experience without the ability for recourse, there always is a union involved?

More people that say they are worth more than they are paid, yet fail to find another job paying them what they are supposedly worth. Imagine that. And how they get away with threatening people is just beyond me. I often cant help but think that the lowest form of the evolution food chain is inhibited by the union laborer.

Union rep: worthless.
Union dues: ridiculously high and very little of it went to anything local.
Union representation: it never represented me in any way. I'm embarrassed to admit that I belonged.
Union backing: nonexistent
Union benefits: what are those?
Union loyalty: say what? Mostly, it backed administration.

If you want to get together with the rest of your workers and stop working, fine. But if you dont want to do the job for what the employer want to pay then go find another job. And let sombody else do it. Its nothing short of extorsion what unions do to get their way.
Plain and simple unions have too much power, or i should say they want to much power.

Ok now. Do you underwstand why I don't stand up and shout my career choice from the hills? I respect people's right to have an opinion and their right to express them, but good lord - do they have the right to be ignorant?

So why am I proud to work in the labour movement?

Check out this YouTube video, while the context is Australian I think it covers things quite nicely, thank you very much . . .

What Have The Unions Ever Done For Us?

It's Time for a Rant

a shameless self-promotion . . .One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest. Our photo is currently 20 out of 382 photos. You can vote by clicking here.Remember a 10 is good! Feel free to e-mail the link to friends and loved ones!*smile*

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Well now, it has been awhile since I last had a wee rant. This one has been welling up inside of me since 9 am this morning and frankly, if I don't get it out of my system I may explode.

So I am on a place heading to Windsor (ewww) to observe a professional learning session which I assisted in designing. It is one of those small planes with about 32 seats. Once we are airborne the stewardess came own the aisle tossing coffee and tea at those foolish enough to NOT have stopped and purchased a jumbo decent coffee in the terminal. When she finished she sat down in front of me (I was in the first row) and read a magazine.

Now I have no problem with the reading part, in fact I have seen this quite often: the drinks are served, the mess tidied, and trash stowed - what is a bored steward or stewardess to do?

BUT (you knew this was coming didn't you . . .) she was reading  (wait for it . . .)

In Touch magazine.

Please! How much confidence do I have that this person is going to assist me to safety in an emergency when I observe her reading 'Why Britney Doesn't Wear Panites?"

ARGH

Immediately I conjour up images of her ensconced in a lovely trailer somewhere watching  Survivor and eating cheetoos. Perhaps the stewardess training sessions could focus on appropriate reading materials for planes and if the material in question so much as contains the words 'Britney' and 'Spears' it just isn't appropriate!

Now in the interest of fairness I should point out that I was a tad cranky - a) I was going to Windsor (enough said), b) I was tired, c) it was raining, and d) I had just dumped coffee all down my leg. However, even with all of that, I just think In Touch (and more specifically, "Why Britney Doesn't Wear Panties") on a plane is wrong.

Speaking of things that are just plain wrong . . . did you hear that Britney's mom is writing a book on parenting? Dear god, the Apocalypse is upon us! Whoever would dream for a second that an escapee from the trailer park who has exploited her spawn to the extent she has could ever offer advice on how to parent? OK - perhaps it is a book of what NOT to do! That I get.

Lynn Spears writing a parenting book is like George W Bush writing a book about how to create world peace. Or Dick Cheney writing about how to hunt safely with friends.

There - I feel better now.

Some require Prozac, I have my blog.

Good night!

Crazy News!

Shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest. We are currently 21 out of 363 photos. You can vote by clicking here.

Remember a 10 is good!

*smile*

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Once again today I am struck by the unusual way my friends to the south (i.e. Americans) focus on the inane over the seemingly more pressing issues. Now, in fairness, it may be because I just don't understand the pressing issues as well as I think I do.

Case in point. Today's huge story is about the poor, tailer-trash, sometimes blonde, washed up, pop star (hmm - am I being harsh?) Today we learn that after she lost custody of her kids to her equally idiotic spouse she dropped them off EARLY and went to the tanning salon. Now before you wag your finger . . . there is more! Apparently there is a sex tape of Britney that was made in June. Good lord she needs some help now!

What do I think should be the focus of people's attention? Why Bush vetoed a piece of legislation that would extend health care benefits to children who have none. Beside for the moral imperative doesn't it just made good economic sense? Healthy kids are better apt to become healthy, contributing members of society. There - everyone wins!

Why isn't there more public discourse about the war in Iraq?

It is a sad state of affairs when an out of control pop-tart is the story of the day.

I do have some advice for Brit . . .

Look, I’ve got this whole thing figured out. I can’t sit on the sidelines without offering some sort of assistance here. What you need with Britney is some sort of reward system. Every time she gets the kids to brush her teeth, hey, here’s a Twinkie. Make it one day without dropping one, surprise, welcome to your Blizzard. Now for the more serious matters; If Britney makes it a whole week without drinking, Ronald McDonald will come to her house and bring a sack full of Big Macs. You might question my methods, but keep in mind I’m not a licensed therapist. I did house-train a dog once, so I think that qualifies me in regards to Britney. Actually I think that makes me overqualified, but I don’t have time to quibble over details