Some things I have learned this week

• There are weeks when everything goes wrong at work, and it's completely out of your control, and getting frustrated doesn't help at all.

• At the end of every bad week, there are a few hours when everything in the world seems pretty good after all.

• A shower that leaks without you knowing about it can be very bad.

• Pets have a way of cheering you up when you aren't feeling so great.

• Things stop working for no apparent reason at all.

• Sometimes, people do things that surprise you in a good way.

• No matter how early I wake up on Monday morning, I will always miss the garbage truck.

Mom's Trip

I talked to my mother over the weekend, and she seemed pretty excited about something, and I didn't know what it was at first. Then she told me she was taking a trip in August.

Yeah this is some trip she is going on, she is leaving and travelling to London, England, and then travelling all the way north, through Scotland to the Isle of Skye. I am SO jealous!

When Mom was younger, she visited my great grandfather and other relatives who were still living in Scotland, long before I was born. She loved it so much she almost stayed there. Mom has been talking about that trip she took my whole life, and it's been her dream to go back.

I'm so happy that she is getting the chance to do it again, and she is even getting to see the Edinburgh Tattoo, at the castle. Again, I am very jealous!

I know she is gonna have a great time, and I'm really happy for her. I can't wait to see the pictures when she gets back :)

Guardian Angels

Recently the Guardian Angels have started patrolling areas of Toronto, specifically the Regent Park area. The mayor is opposed to them being there, and the Chief of Police isn't too happy about it either. This makes no sense at all to me.

From what I have been able to learn about them, the Guardian Angels started operating in New York City in the late 1970's. The city was so crime-ridden back then that citizens started taking things into their own hands and aided the police to find and detain criminals by placing them under citizens arrest. They don't carry weapons, the are privately funded, and they help the police by detaining criminals by putting them under citizens arrest, and reporting crimes. Kind of like a wandering, aggressive neighbourhood watch.

So, if crime is escalating in Toronto, don't you think that something like this would be useful? Apparently Mayor Miller is upset that they have moved into Toronto. He would much rather rake in all of those tourist dollars, and tell everyone that Toronto is as safe now as it was 10-15 years ago. Hate to break it to you, but it simply isn't. I suppose the Mayor's solution to the problem would be to build more basketball courts, and have more after school programs to keep kids away from guns. How about having people around that aren't afraid to call the police when gangs of kids are shooting at each other, and killing innocent people in the process, like on Boxing Day? How many more bystanders have to get hit by gunshots before the Mayor of Toronto stops talking and starts actually doing something?

The Guardian Angels are a good idea for Toronto. It is a beautiful city with lots to do and see. I realize the crime there does not compare to what it was like in New York in the 70's, but it's bad enough, and it's better to nip this in the bud.

By opposing something that many people in Toronto want, Mayor Miller has made himself look a total fool, and with an election coming up, that isn't good for him. Hopefully someone with more brains will be elected next time.

My crazy cat

For those of you that haven't met him, this is my cat Phantom. He enjoys sleeping in very strange places, and in strange positions. He also enjoys howling in the middle of the night, opening the cupboards in the kitchen and "helping" whenever I need to fix something. Basically he is a stomach on 4 legs. :)

Bad planning or a clever ploy?

It's been awhile since I wrote, so here goes:

So recently, I was informed that it would be really nice if we had a lounge chair for the backyard. Since we don't have one here, that would mean I would have to purchase one. Off I went, looking at some online, and finally finding one that was relatively cheap, and looking relatively comfy.

I went over to the store, and looked around for the one I saw online. I couldn't find it anywhere, and asked someone. Wouldn't you know it, the one that was on sale was all sold out as of the day before, but we have these ones, also on sale. It was about 3 times as much as I wanted to spend, but still not unreasonable. All of the other types they had were about the same price, but not on sale. Hmmmm.....

I wonder if stores do that, order stock to put on sale, but not order enough so they can upsell the customer to a more expensive one that is also on sale when they sell out of the cheaper one. It's sneaky, but it works. Either someone is being very smart, or very dumb by not ordering enough stock. I think it's the former.

I wound up getting a hammock thingy, with it's own frame and everything. The nice thing is that it can be taken apart and transported, which is great for the cottage. It's really comfy, and probably much better than the one I intended on getting. It all worked out in the long run, but it still made me wonder a bit....