My letter to the radio station Big 105 AND their response

Hi There,

I've recently started listening to your station during my workday (due to the "beat the banker" contest, which he hung up on me by the way) and have a few questions or tips for you about your songs and play lists.

1. Why do I hear "How Bizarre" by OMC everyday? This song was released in 1997 which is a decade ago and I didn't like it that much that year let alone 10 years later and here we are still listening to it. I understand I need to suffer through Alanis Morisette and Barenaked Ladies so that you can meet your CanCon quota but as far as I can tell OMC is not Canadian...

2. Speaking of CanCon: I'm sure there are more than 5 successful Canadian artists so why do we hear such a limited variety of them? I understand that this is a time consuming request but maybe you could start featuring new, non-top 40 Canadian artists like once a day or one a week? Especially during the 9-5 time. P.S. - Please do not interpret this as a request to hear more Celine Dion or Shania Twain.

3. Perhaps you have a non-repeat work day but the same work day seems to play Monday to Friday! And even if you played the same artists they do sing more than one song so we shouldn't have to hear the same song day in & day out…

3. The whole clip of "this is new music" and the teaser song clip, then the actual song playing is really annoying. If you're going to be playing the whole song right away I don't need a teaser clip.

Overall I have been enjoying your station, the Dj's have a good energy and are funny and entertaining. I bring these points up because while you may be Red Deer's best station, I'd like you to be one of the best in Alberta.

Thanks & keep up the good work.

Crystal Nelson

Hi Crystal:

Your FAX was passed on to me for my review. After reading it my first thought was ‘Wow’! You listen a lot. In fact, in the radio world you’re what we’d classify you as a ‘heavy’ radio user. You’re rare, but it also explains most of your concerns and questions.

As a broadcaster, you represent the ‘perfect’ listener because it sounds like you listen all the time. I noticed on your FAX that you work in an office setting which, I’m guessing, means the radio is on most of the time. However that does create issues of its own. Radio stations are never designed for ‘heavy’ listeners because they make up such a small percentage of the overall audience (In the last BBM ratings survey there were less than ten ‘heavy’ listening ballots out of a 400-ballot return). An average listener would listen for 2-4 hours per week, so compare that with how much you’re listening and you’ll get the idea. I also get the impression you know a little about radio and music since you make reference to Cancon percentages and top-40 artists. As a radio programmer you have to play familiar artists and familiar tunes which means the biggest songs by the biggest artists to have the greatest impact…and remember I only get 2-4 hours per week to make that impression with the average person. Playing unfamiliar tunes, generally, only appeals to fans of an artist or true audiofiles. One of the best analogies I’ve heard is comparing unfamiliar music with being at a concert. In a crowd of 20-thousand you’ll have your die-hard fans, your average fans, and those who got free tickets. When the band plays a new song you’ll notice the crowd goes quiet and people get up to go to the bathroom or get in the beer line because they’re unfamiliar with the tune. Our experience has shown that humans are creatures of habit. They like what they know and generally don’t have a tolerance for something new…and it gets worse the older they get.

Trust me, playing unfamiliar tunes by non top-40 artists would be the death knell of the station, and I’d be banging on your door looking for a job within a year.

With regard to OMC’s HOW BIZARRE. This was interesting. I checked how many times this song was played since Jan. 1/07. We’ve played it a total of 18-times spread over 24-hours a day/seven days a week. If I break it down to strictly office listening (8:30a-5p; Mon-Fri), it’s been played eight times in seven weeks. I kid you not!!! However your perception is it’s being played everyday. Since you said you didn’t care for the song when it came out I would think this one song simply rubs you the wrong way.

Finally, I’ll be honest. I love the ‘New Music’ teasers. We’ve been doing them for about eight months and you’re the first person who’s voiced a concern. I think the best compliment we’ve received on them is that recently CKGY started doing EXACTLY the same thing. Since we’re the only station in Western Canada that presents our new music in this manner we know where they got it from.

Crystal, I truly appreciate your comments. I wish there were more listeners like you who’d take the time to tell me their thoughts on our station(s). Please keep in touch. If I can ever help to clarify things for you, be sure to drop me a line.

Jim Hall

New Year's Resolutions for March

Since February is half over I am going to take a break and plan my NYR's for March...they are:

1. Take my supplments as prescribed.
2. Stay on top of my budget.
3. Complete taxes for Tyler & I.
4. Continue attending super fun water aerobics (even if the water is SUPER cold) and work out hard.
5. Utilize my PDA for effectively (i.e. I still haven't read the manual and don't know how to do 90% of what it's capable...that makes me really sad cuz my mom spent a lot of money on it and I haven't taken the time to use it).

NYR: An Evaluation for February

Here is January’s Mini-Goals:
1. Attend water aerobics starting Jan 15
2. Plan at least one social event.
3. Make at least one “Rachael Ray” recipe per week.
4. Hit the sack at 11:30pm on week nights.
5. Keep in-law rants on blog or to friends: not to Tyler.

Evaluation:
1. Um, I missed 3 classes. That sucks. BUT I was totally sick/ill/exhausted so I am not going to feel guilty.
2. I totally planned and executed a social event: card night. It was fun, there was about 6 people other than myself & Tyler. We played Taboo & Cranium. I lost at both. :-(
3. I've beeen doing not too bad at this one. I would say I've averaged a RR recipe each week.
4. Missed this mark on this one. It's super hard. My night owl tendenacies are deeply rooted. Despite the fact that I have woken up super exhausted like every day this week I keep staying up until like 1am...
5. I think I've minimized my in-law rants pretty good to Tyler.

Alternative Health Care: The Visit

So yesterday I decided to try going to this alternative health place, there they read your body to see what is wrong with it and/or what it needs. I’ve been feeling fatigued lately and having ruled out some things (pregnancy, thyroid, etc) I thought I’d give this a shot. It was really interesting!

So I saw Darlene at about 1:30pm. She asked me to hold on to this electrode and then she read my body using this machine and vials of liquid that were numbered. Everything she tested she wrote down on a piece of paper that I get to keep.

According to these tests my lowest vitality areas right now are:
1. Blood
2. Hormones
3. Parathyroid
4. Digestion

And the highest stressors in my blood (the number one vitality area):
1. Metal Poisons
2. Fungus
3. Flukes
4. Virus
5. Radiation
6. Parasites

So my body asked for the following supplements/oils/vitamins (info I found on the internet post below):
1. Dolphilus Plus
2. Acidophiles
3. Adrenal
4. ChlorEssence
5. Vitamin A & D
6. Evening Primrose Oil
7. Sea Salt (cuz my sodium is low)


Towards the beginning of our session she said my stomach was “up” and that was what is causing my chest pains. When she was talking about it, it sounded really familiar. Then I remembered where I had heard it before: at the psychic’s that I had gone to see about a year and a half ago. So that’s crazy. I had totally forgotten about it cuz at the time it was really not relevant.

She also went through a list of foods of stuff I should avoid right now as my digestion is out of whack (according to her I am only absorbing 20% of the nutrients I am eating).

Best: apples, lemons, red fruits and veggies (I.E. red peppers, carrots, raspberries), garlic and onions. Also bananas, oranges, spinach and potatoes for potassium.
Avoid: milk products (cheese, milk, cream), sugar, aspartame, pasta, wheat, coffee.

I’ve never been good at avoiding foods (hence why I’m a horrible dieter) so I’m not sure how that part will go. She also said that my electrolytes and/or sodium was low so to take some sea salt everyday (like 1/8 tsp) and to drink a Gatorade a day for three days.

I'm scheduled to see her again in about a month to check back and see how the treatments helped. She said she starts from scratch again the next time so she doesn't keep a list of what happened in this appointment.

Hmm...hope I didn't miss anything...if I did I'll just post a comment.

What do you all think about this?

Alternative Health Care: Supplements

My Supplements as per the Internet:

Evening Primrose Oil

Evening primrose is a rich source of omega-6 oils. The body can use these oils to build prostaglandins needed for a wide range of body functions. Fatty acids are required for many body functions including regulating temperature, building nerve sheaths, and producing energy. CRYSTAL: I believe this was for regulating my hormones.

D, Vitamin

Vitamin D, a fat-soluble vitamin, is required for the absorption and utilization of calcium and phosphorus by the intestinal tract. It is necessary for growth and is especially important for the normal growth and development of bones and teeth in children. It protects against muscle weakness and is involved in regulation of the heartbeat. CRYSTAL: Aid in digestion and decrease depression.

A, Vitamin

Vitamin A prevents night blindness and other eye problems, as well as some skin disorders such as acne. It enhances immunity, may heal gastrointestinal ulcers, protects against pollution and cancer formation, and is needed for the maintenance and repair of epithelial tissues. CRYSTAL: Um, it came with my vitamin d?

Adrenal

The adrenal cortex helps to maintain salt and water balance in the body. It is also involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates and the regulation of blood sugar. Symptoms range from simple exhaustion to much more complex problems. New Roots Herbal Adrenal concentrate gives the adrenal gland support to meet the challenges of today's high stress environment. It boosts your endocrine system resulting in a higher tolerance towards stress. CRYSTAL: Help with metabolism and fatigue.

ChlorEssence

It can be used as a nutrient-dense whole food or a food supplement taken to ensure you are obtaining all of your dietary needs. Fatigue and mental depression, which are so common today, are signals from the body that something is wrong. Chlorella serves as an overall health and immune booster to encourage and maintain good health. It is excellent for vegetarians due to its B-12 content and wide range of amino acids, including all 8 essentials. Many people report that taking Chlorella before meals acts like an appetite suppressant. Because it contains such a wide variety of nutrients and fiber, Chlorella can easily satisfy our nutritional needs and therefore, our appetite is diminished. Also Chlorella is known to be an adaptogen or a biological response modifier (BRM) meaning it helps the body lower hormones associated with stress. These stress hormones have numerous negative effects on the body that can cause us to eat more, but our ability to digest that food slows down, leading to weight gain. If we lower those stress hormones (as with Chlorella) our food cravings diminish and our digestive system can work more effectively! Chlorella is mostly recognized for it's rich composition of phytochemicals that support the body's natural self-defense mechanism, detoxify and nourish the body and assist in achieving longevity and well-being. It makes sense that if your body is weary, run down, undernourished and etc. that where ever there is a weak area in the body, that area will probably suffer and with the proper nutritional support those problems can be reversed. CRYSTAL: So yeah, that all sounds good. I'll take all of it.

Dophilus Plus (Acidophilus)

Antibiotics kill off good and bad bacteria indiscriminately, allowing the more aggressive pathogens—which are usually kept in check by an 85:15 ratio with healthy bacteria—to grow out of control. This imbalance can cause excessive gas, bloating, diarrhea or constipation, and poor nutrient absorption. Moreover, it can leave undigested food in the intestine, where it can putrefy (rot) and release toxins that invade the body and compromise health. CRYSTAL: That would be for the building up of good bacteria.

Words from Catharina

My friend Catharina wrote the following to me:

"You are truly amazing and should consider making this (mentoring and couseling) your career.
Downside of it, you will have to listen to everyone's problem and have a solution.
Upside, you will see how good you have it, and not all these problems that people tell you about, lol

Your opinion, info and advise, truly is worth gold. And you are so right about it too."

Thanks Cat!

Wise Words from Wise Women

"I can't stand makeup commercials. 'Do you need a lipstick that keeps your lips kissable?' No, I need a lipstick that gets me equal pay for equal work. How about eye shadow that makes me stop thinking I'm too fat?" - Maria Bamford

"I don't try to be a sex bomb, I am one." - Kylie Minogue

"They say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich and just moody?" - Diana

"I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once." - Jennifer Unlimited

"I'm not going to vacuum 'til Sears makes one you can ride on." - Roseanne Barr

Mother in laws

Some of you may think this is weird but I am jealous of my mother-in-law's relationship with my husband. They had 18 years to build a relationship before I showed up so naturally they would have a closeness that I cannot match. However sometimes "they" just feel weird together. My sis-in-law Kim and I have a discussions about it as well as I have had discussions with a few friends of mine.

An example: in my wedding pictures I have a photo of my husband dancing with his mother and he has a look on his face that you would expect when he is dancing with his wife. What should I make of this? That the look carried over from our dance? Except that he doesn't have that look in our dancing pictures...

Tyler and I got into an arguement the last time he was home. He works in Fort McMurray and is carpooling with a guy from Edmonton so he drives through there. I asked him if he was going to stop at his mom's everytime he goes through (cuz technically it's not on the way) and he says "Why not it's only 15 minutes away?" I said cuz "that's 15 more minutes you could have spent with me before you left!" Considering he is home only on the weekends and sometimes not every weekend. However for the last few weekends Kim has given us stuff to drop off at his mom's requiring him to stop there.

When I tell/advise Tyler to do something he never trusts that I am a credible source. But then if his mom says it than he runs out and does it. Example: I told Tyler that it would be a good idea for him to get a credit card to build himself some credit (he's really good with his money). He scoffed at me saying "I don't need a credit card". Then his mom tells him the EXACT same thing and suddenly it's a good idea!

I think some of the creepy vibes I get from them is due to the fact that Mary (the mom) has consistenly chosen bad men for herself and Tyler feels like he needs to "save" his mom. But she's the parent and she should have been protecting her children not the other way around. Even a few years back, Mary got laid off at her job and Tyler lent her money. He was maybe 20 at the time? Why should a 20 year old have to lend money to his 40yr+ mother?

One more rant...I feel like Mary is very superfiscially driven. As in she bases a lot on people's looks. She continues to bleach her hair blond and still owns leather pants. Example: one time we went out for her birthday to a karakoe bar...there were 3 skanks singing "earl" by the dixie chicks (my least favorite band) and Mary says, pointing to a skinny blond girl "I wish she was my daughter. I always wanted a daughter and she is so cute." Um hello? What am I?

Thoughts?

Warm Fuzzies

I just got this email from my friend Kyla:

"You know, I’ve decided that you must be an extremely approachable, and you are very trusting. Because.. you are always the first person to know things...it’s great! :D Just thought I’d let you know that so you’d feel special You are a wonderful friend! "

Thanks Kyla! Your comments made my day.

P.S.

My chest still hurts.

Baby News

Calm down. I'm not pregnant. But anyone who knows me knows that I am anal when it comes to planning and preparing. So, I am starting my baby/child research (some of you may have even heard me say that I was going to have kids solely as a great big psych experiment but don't worry I've passed that stage of thinking). You know how childless people always say "my kids won't be like that/do that?" Well I am one of those. But parents quickly forget all the things they said that about. Therefore I decided to write myself an advice book for parenting. That way when the time is right to procreate I have this handy "bible" so to speak on what to do. Yay! So exciting. I've started watching the "Mom Show" and I'm taking notes. Any advice out there? I'd love to hear it before it's too late.

My Opinion: BC Sextuplets

ARTICLE TO WHICH I AM OPINIONATING:

The Vancouver parents of sextuplets born in January are now in a legal battle with the province, claiming the government violated their religious rights when social workers seized three of their newborns to give them blood transfusions.
The parents, both Jehovah's Witnesses, argue the province had no right to step in against their wishes to take temporary custody of three of their four surviving sextuplets.
B.C.'s director of child protection seized one child on a Jan. 26 order under provincial child-care legislation. An order for a second child was sought the following day and a third on Monday.
Two blood transfusions were done, and the babies were returned to the custody of their parents on Wednesday. The couple says their constitutional rights were disregarded because, as Jehovah's Witnesses, they oppose any treatment involving blood transfusions.
In a motion filed to block future seizures of the babies, the parents, who can't be named under a publication ban, issued their first public statement:
My wife] and I deeply love our babies and want them to live. We continue to be heartbroken about the death of [two of them]," the husband wrote in an affidavit. "We will not, however, consent to blood transfusions. We firmly believe that our creator commands us in scriptures, such as Acts 15:28-29 to abstain from blood products."
Court documents show the parents had a strained relationship with the doctors assisting the birthing process and that the father repeatedly rejected suggestions from medical experts that aborting two of the fetuses could give the remaining four a better chance of living.
Two newborns already dead
Two of the sextuplets — Canada's first ever — died soon after being born at the B.C. Women's Hospital and Health Centre on Jan. 5 and 6. All of the babies were 15 weeks premature and weighed less than 2.2 pounds each.
B.C. Minister of Children and family Services Tom Christensen made it clear that regardless of a family's religious affiliation, "the obligation is to ensure that a child in need of protection … gets the treatment required," even if that means the ministry must step in.
But Shane Brady, the lawyer representing the family, said the government must first give the parents a fair hearing, which the parents never received.
"They are very frustrated and deeply hurt by this unwarranted interference in this very difficult and challenging part of their children's treatment," Brady said of the parents.
The parents will be back in court in late February, when they will demand a government apology for violating their religious freedoms, and then try to persuade the court to end the possibility of future seizures.

MY OPINION:

Alright so here it comes, but first a warning: this is only my opinion and others are entitled to theirs! Please feel free to post comments.

While I believe the parents have a constitutional right to refuse blood transfusions for themselves I do NOT believe they have any constitutional rights to impose their beliefs on their children. In fact I think as a society we have an obligation to see that these children are not forced into their parents belief systems and die because of them. Therefore I 100% support the decision to remove these children from the parents care and give them what they need to survive. It is my understanding from talks with a JW friend of mine that JW's commit to their religion when they are old enough to do it for themselves (unlike say Catholics who baptize babies) and so these newborns would not really be JW's yet even by their own standards. So by this logic their argument has no merit. I am also outraged that they are saying they deserved a "fair hearing". I can only assume that this fair hearing would be a time consuming event that in itself could put the babies in danger by delaying treatment/care.

All that being said I have to admit that I personally don't really respect the JW religion. I do not claim to know 100% of what they believe but what I know is bloody ridiculous (pardon the pun). Before I go into that I'd like to share with you a little story:

A community is suddenly overwhelmed by a flash flood. The water is rising very, very quickly so a man and his family escape to their roof for safety. As they are waiting there his young son looks up to the father and says "Daddy what's going to happen to us?" The father replies with confidence "Don't worry God will save us." So they all sit their praying for help.

One of their neighbors approaches their roof in his boat and yells through the rain "Hop in I'll take you to dry land". The father says "No thanks. God will save us." The neighbor tries to convince him but eventually motors off shaking his head, off to save others.

The family stay shivering on the roof and keep praying to God to save them. One by one the other people on the rooves are picked up by the neighbor's boat and others. Pretty soon the family is all alone on the roof. The water is rising very quickly.

Then a helicopter flys towards them, hovering above they drop their ladder and using the bull horn shout "Use the ladder. We'll get you outta hear." But the father refuses saying "No. We don't need it. God will save us." The rescue crew try to persuade them but it's of no use and they leave.

A little while later the water rises so high that the whole family drowns. They find themselves at the Pearly Gates. The father is angry that God let his family down: they were good people. The father marches over to the Saint guarding the gates and demands to speak to God. The saint says "I'm sorry he's very busy. What can I help you with?"

The father, angry, starts to yell at the saint "We did good deeds. Went to church. Tried to live our lives without sin. Then God just left us there to drown on our own roof!"

The saint looks at the father in disbelief, "He sent you boats. He sent you a helicopter. What more did you need?"

The morale: God gives us miracles every day. He helps us learn, find, create/invent things that make our lives easier and help us live longer. Miracles aren't always apparitions, jesus shaped potatoes and lights shining down from heaven. Don't wait for this type of "miracle" to save you.

Now the reason I bring this story up is because my JW friend told me about the blood transfusions than she showed me an article about a girl who was dying and the doctor's said she needed blood but her family stood fast and refused and she lived! It was a miracle. Pile of crap as far as I'm concerned. The girl (if she even exists) was proably one in a billion. God helped us discover how to give the right blood to the right people so we could save lives! Another arguement I have for JW's is that if God tells you to abstain from blood products than why do you eat meat? Does that not have blood in it? Don't get me wrong, I love meat, but like most religions they pick and choose how they want to use the scripture and how it's applicable.

Now let's hear everyone weigh in!

Confessions

So I have to admit something. I break the law everyday. Usually more than once. It's true, I'm a common criminal...here's my story.

First: I park across the street from my office. Now, by law I am suppose to walk to the corner and cross the street at the crosswalk. But if I learned anything in high school it was that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. So I jaywalk. GASP. I don't even look both ways (it's a one-way). I'm not sure if it's the business person in me (efficiency) who can't stand to back track or if it's the human in me (laziness). I go home for lunch usually so I end up jaywalking about 4 times per week day.

Second: I speed. Frequently. And I get very mad at people who are doing the speed limit or below. Sadly I also get mad at people who ride my ass in a hurry!

So that's my story. Report me if you must. Give me the scarlett letter for Jaywalking or Speeding. But first remember: let he who casts the first stone be without sin.

Being Sick Sucks

Hi All...I've been getting some complaints about not updating my blog frequently (ahem, Kyla) so as I laid in my bed not falling asleep I thought "why not write a blog". The reason I haven't posted anything lately is that I've been busy, also I have been sick. :-(

Monday: I woke up with chest pains. After a while I was a little concerned so I called to make an appointment with my docter. What a surprise she's on holidays (again) so I made an appointment with her fill in for Wednesday...but by after lunch my boss lady (Cynthia) insists that I go to the walk in, stressing that chest pains aren't something to mess with. There weren't too many people at the walk in so I got in to the doctor within about ten minutes. He didn't seemed too concerned & said he'd like to do an x-ray. So off to the basement I go. About an HOUR later I made my way back upstairs, chest shots in hand. The waiting room was now super full. The receptionist insists that she'll put me in the next available room. She calls two names before calling mine (weird, my definition of next must be different then hers). Doctor says he doesn't see anything in the x-ray to cause concern so sends me to the hospital for blood work. Once I get to the right counter at the hospital the receptionist there insists that I take a number than sit in the waiting room. I barely sit down when she calls my number (must be a control issue?). Get my blood work then head back to work. It's now about ten to four so I've pretty much wasted my whole afternoon. Doctor said he'd let me know the results by the end of the day, so at 4:25pm I call the clinic back. They say "yep, he'll call you when he knows", so I asked when the clinic closed: 6pm. Off to home to wait. Needless to say I decided to skip my aqua aerobics as I still had the chest pains. At about 5 to six I call the clinic again as I haven't heard...I get voicemail telling me their closed. Awesome. I go to have a relaxing shower. I'm in the middle of shampooing my hair when the phone rings. So I answer it. Doc says that there isn't any blood clot action but that my white blood cell count is high so he'll write a prescription for anti-biotics. I go pick them help along with some take out pizza.

Tuesday: I wake up feeling no chest pains but a little under the weather. Fairly stuffed up. I have a work conference that day though so off I go. It starts at 8am and goes until about 10pm that night. Got to see and talk to a bunch of co-workers I never see anymore so that was fun.

Wednesday: Wake up with a sore throat and very congested. Can't really taste anything either. I still have the conference in the morning so I go to that as well as work in the afternoon. I again skip the aqua aerobics (I'm feeling guilty about this so if anyone thinks it's okay that I didn't go please leave a comment). Still taking the anti-biotics.

Thursday: Wake up feeling entirely shitty. Call in sick to work. Sleep until about 12:30pm. Wake up and make myself some homemade soup. Makes me feel a little better. Chilled on the couch, watch a Will Ferrell movie off tv (Kicking & Screaming) and went through a week's supply of toilet paper for my nose (we don't have kleenex in the house). Ran to the store and got some ginerale & cough drops. Watched Thursday night TV which lifts my spirits (the Office, War at Home, CSI). Tyler gets home sometime after midnight.

Friday: Drag myself out of bed cuz timesheets are due this morning & I'm in charge of that. People like to get paid, don't like it so much when they don't. And I didn't have time to brief Nancy on where everything went or is. Spend more time at work than I intend, don't get out until 10am. I try to go to Tim Horton's to get some soup/tea...their debit machine is down & I of course do not have cash. I try the other Timmy's and it's super packed. So I hit a convenience store, buy more ginerale & cough drops and head home. Relax at home for a bit and watch TV with Tyler. Then he heads out to run errands and I crashed for a few hours. Wake up in time to make supper and watch more movies on TV. It was a pretty relaxing evening all around.

Saturday: Less snot, throat isn't sore today. I (mistakenly) think I'm getting better. Tyler & I get into a stupid fight. I leave to do some shopping (Scrapbooker's, Reitman's, Megan's b-day present, Safeway) but it doesn't make me feel better. Come home and make Suprise Spread for Tyler's dad's b-day. We go there for supper than I have to leave cuz it's Megan's bday & I signed up to go bowling. My throat feels really sore when I leave. Go bowling (did okay for me, had fun) then go back to Tyler's dad's. Did I mention that it's a half hour drive outside of Red Deer? So I drove two hours that nightl. Anyway, saw my niece. Women beat the men at Sequence (a board game).

Sunday: Feeling like the cold is out of my head at least. Throat hurt a little this morning. I'm still snotty but don't feel congested. I bought "Yoga Booty Ballet" on DVD (www.beachbody.com) yesterday so decide to try it out. I was sweatin'. But it was fun. Now as I sit here typing I have chest pains again! Maybe I just pulled something during the DVD? I had a nice bath tonight using some of my new products so that semi-rejuvenated me. However I am feeling a bit loney cuz Tyler may be out of town for 18 days this time. Could be a long stretch. However this week IS busy: water aerobics monday, massage then dinner with Lorna tuesday, water aerobics wednesday...not to mention my VERY long list of little things to do that I've been putting off for a while, especially with being sick last week.

Dominic Update

I've gotten a few people asking me how Dominic is doing so I thought I'd better post an update. I had taken him back to the vet for a check up on Monday & he was doing swimmingly. The vet was very impressed with his progress to date, and now he seems to be back to his old self. Yeah!

My poor little baby...

So my little baby boy Dominic (a.k.a. one of my dogs) was not feeling good this last week. On Friday he was acting "down" and kept dropping his butt on the ground making a weird thunk sound, but we didn't know what was wrong. Flash forward to Saturday night, Tyler went to pick Dominic up for the couch & he yiped. We looked at his bum and he had a huge swelling on the side of his, um, bum hole (lack of a better term). It was about the size of a ping pong ball. And very gross looking. I called the vet to see if it was an emergency. I described it to her and she said it sounded like a swollen anal gland. She said it wasn't an emergency and to give him some baby aspirin to help the pain. We of course didn't have any as we don't have any babies. She also said that it basically just needed to pop and drain. A little while later there was some blood stuff on the floor so it looked like it had popped, so I didn't worry about the baby aspirin.

Sunday night when I went to bed, Dominic was trembling non-stop. I figured he must still be in pain so I was going to buy him some aspirin the next day.

Monday: came home from work but didn't have time to go to like Wal-mart for aspirin so called the Express 24...they only had baby Tylenol (didn't know if that would be okay). So I called my neighbors (who recently had a baby) to see if they had any baby aspirin. Negative. So I called the vet again to see if Tylenol would be okay. The lady who answered the phone responded by saying that I really shouldn't give him baby aspirin or tylenol as there isn't a lot of confirmed reasearch on the effect it has on the animal. She asked me what was wrong so I explained it to her and told her what the on-call vet said. The phone lady told me that really I should bring him in as swollen anal glands have a tendancy to get infected so I made an appointment for Tuesday morning. She said that for the pain that night I could give Dominic the baby tylenol.

Tuesday @ the vet's: the shaved my baby's boy and inspected his gland. The vet said it was too sensitive for her to fully inspect so she gave me two drugs for Dominic: one for pain and one for an antibotic, setting us back about $100. Then I booked an appointment for next week.

So...I have to give Dominic a pill every 12 hours (i slip it in some wet food so it goes down really easy), and this liquid medicine through a syringe to his mouth every 24 hours. He doesn't like the syringe squirting one but is enjoying the wet food as we usually only give them dry food. Charlie, my other dog, seems to be a little jealous that Dominic is getting all these "treats". LOL But Dominic seems to be getting better now so hopefully he is back to his old self soon.

NYR: January Progress Report

Okay so here I go self-evaluating my progress on those January New Year's Resolutions...

1. Attend water aerobics: there have been 2 classes so far I have am 2 for 2...however it was a close call as yesterday I wasn't feel good. I had went home sick in the afternoon but felt better by the time it was Water Aerobics time. I'm feeling much better physically after only 2 times...

2. Plan at least one social event: well I'm attending a few so maybe that counts? It's my friend Cat's b-day this week so I'm going to her parent's house for fondue. On Sunday one of my co-worker's Cheryl is having a Partylite party. Then next weekend my friend/hairdresser Megan is having her birthday party (glow bowling). I feel like that's busy enough. However, I should get on the ball for my game night that is fast approaching...

3. One Rachael Ray Recipe/Per Minimum: I can cross this one off! Last night I made chicken meatball sauce & rice...I also whipped up some homemade mac & cheese (the cheese sauce is homemade not the macaroni). I'm also watch several episodes and have cooking options for next week.

4. Hit the sack at 11:30: this one I am failing at miserably and thus also making myself very UNpunctual for work each day. In fact I haven't worked a full day yet this week: Monday - nail appointment, Tuesday - vet, Wednesday - Sick...sigh.

5. Minimize in-law rants to Tyler: score. I'm fairly certain I haven't bitched to him yet.

Stay tuned for February's goals!

Blizzard

I took this picture off of the AMA road report camera's. While this shot is closer to Edmonton it's pretty accurate to describing how it looks outside. The wind is blowing like crazy and while I don't think it's snowing per say it looks like it from the wind. The sky is pure white which gives the illusion of sunshine but it's super cold!

Gotta love winter in Alberta, Canada! We've been spoiled so far this year...

Resolutions Re-evaluation

So I am re-evaluating my New Year’s resolutions. Here we go. I still have all those goals in mind but instead I’m going to set up mini-goals for each month, say about five per month, to help me stay on track.

Here is January’s Mini-Goals:
1. Attend water aerobics starting Jan 15
2. Plan at least one social event.
3. Make at least one “Rachael Ray” recipe per week.
4. Hit the sack at 11:30pm on week nights.
5. Keep in-law rants on blog or to friends: not to Tyler.

January Accomplishments So Far:
1. Finished scrapbooking Christmas 2006.
2. Signed up for water aerobics.

Items I’ve scrapped/re-evaluated:
1. Weight Watchers: I’ve familiarized myself with the program and have decided that on the whole it doesn’t work for me. However I will take key elements with me, such as the point system when evaluation food choices.
2. Yoga: I’ve decided that I don’t want to commit myself to Tuesday nights for 10 weeks for $75. Instead I will rent or buy a Yoga DVD & try it out first. Besides, Tuesday nights are the best nights for going to the theatre.

Car Incident #3 (the 10 days of hell overstay their welcome)...

So on Friday morning I press my car starter button & hear my car hum as it turns on. I go about my business and get ready for work. Getting into my car to go I put the key into the ignition, go to put it in gear and the car shuts off. Awesome. So I go to try it again and the car won't start. Now the really fun thing with Saturns (and they'll blame the car starter but I blame the car maker) is that they have a theft deterrant programmed into the car so that if the right key isn't used to start the car is disables the fuel. This translates to sometimes when I used my car starter my key won't turn on the car. The solution is suppose to be to leave the key in the ignition in "run mode" for 15 minutes and then re-start the car. So I do that, which will make me late for work so I call from my cell & leave a message.

After the obligitory 15 minutes I try to start the car, it won't turn over and I get an error message on my odometer that says "PWR STR" (a.k.a. power steering). I'm none to happy about this as my car was in for service just over a week ago. I call Saturn servie department and they say: we're really busy but if you drop your car off and leave it here all day we may be able to look at it. Right, but first I have to get it running. I schedule an appointment for Monday morning instead.

Then I wait some more and try to start the car. Still doesn't work. Go inside, make some "tension tamer" tea & call work again. Wait some more, try again, still doesn't work. Shovel my walk way, wait some more, still doesn't work. Then my odometer flashes "COOLANT" in addition to the "PWR STR" message. I call Saturn again. Get a different person who reiterates what the first girl said.

Wait some more. Try again, still not working. It is now about 45 mintues later. So I'm starting to worry that maybe my battery has died now. I try using the car starter button again. It starts. I stop swearing and thank god. I put my key in, go to put it in gear & it shuts off. I start swearing again. So I call Saturn again & get a third different person. He informs me that most likely my car will not start now and I'd better get it towed to Saturn.

I call AMA (luckily I have a membership) who tell me it'll be up to an hour wait. It isn't. The tow guy is really nice but trash talks car starters a bunch. I get to Saturn about 9:30ish (which is over an hour after I'm suppose to start work). Then I have to wait for the shuttle. So I got to work at about 10am. The shuttle driver told me that it was their busiest day in history in the service department and that she was working by herself.

At about 11am Saturn calls me and informs me that my car starter blew a fuse and so it's my cost. It took them 1 1/2 hours to be sure that was the issue so I owe them $100. Yay. I complain that it's barely been there 1 1/2 hours, he says "oh we started working on it right away." Then I asked if it can't go under warranty. He claims that cuz the code said "ignition interference" he can't. So I'm out 2 hours of work & $100.

Then at 4pm I call Saturn for a shuttle ride back there to pick up my car at 4:30pm. The guy tells me they are running at least an hour behind. So I convince Cynthia that she should drive me there.

After all that, I went to Costco & got an amazing deal on a basket of bath stuff. That helped.

Survey Time

I got this survey in my e-mail today & thought that if I was going to go to the trouble of filling it out that I was going to get a blog post out of it dammit. As time consuming as they are I think they are fun to read & fill out. Here you go:

1. What is your occupation? Regional Administrative Support
2. What colour are your socks right now? Black/Teal/Turquoise Striped
3. What are you listening to right now? Dan’s call on speakerphone
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Scrambled eggs
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Um, I have once before but it would probably get ugly.
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Underachieving Blue
7. The last person you spoke to on the phone? An answering machine at a massage place
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Absolutely, but we need to hang out more
9. How old are you today? 24
10. Favorite drink? Brown Cow
11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Poker, does that count? If not, hockey.
12. Have you ever dyed your hair? I think a better question is when was the last time I didn’t dye my hair, LOL.
13. Pets? Well they’re more like kids: Charlie, Dominic, Persia, Baxter.
14. Favorite food? Old Dutch Ketchup Chips. Or Tyler’s BBQ steak w/ corn on the cobb.
15. What was the last movie you watched? The Black Dahlia last night. Don’t waste your time…boring!
16. What do you do to vent anger? Bitch usually. It only fuels it though.
17. What was your favorite toy as a child? Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe my stuffed animals? I had a few that were special.
18. What is your favorite season, fall or spring? Fall cuz it’s when my birthday is.
19. Hugs or kisses? Hugs. They’re gender neutral.
20. Cherries or blueberries? Cherries, I don’t really like blueberries all that much.
21. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? Yes all the time.
22. Who is most likely to respond? Well I’m mostly just going to post this on my blog so I have no ideas.
23. Who is least likely to respond? Everyone.
24. Living arrangements? Own a house with my husband, Tyler.
25. When was the last time you cried? Sunday. I was really emotional.
26. What is on the floor of your closet? So many things, discarded clothes, laundry hampers, a weigh scale. Lots of dust bunnies.
27. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? Not relevant.
28. What did you do last night? Well I didn’t go to Yoga as I originally planned. Instead I rented a few movies, cooked dinner and watched one of them plus an episode of X-files. And talked to Tyler on the phone of course (he’s in Fort McMurray).
29. Favorite smell? Fresh, homemade bread.
30. What inspires you? I’m not sure…when I figure that out I’ll be closer to achieving my goals.
31. What are you afraid of? So many things: snakes, spiders, abandonment, killers, rapists, racism, ignorance, horror movies…
32. Favorite dog breed? I don’t really have a favorite but my dogs are Shih Tzu X Pug and I love them!
33. Number of keys on your key ring? 5 – Tyler’s car trunk key, my car key, Tyler’s truck key, house key, mail box key. But I also have my car starter, 2 membership scan thingees, and a bunch of key chains that make it a huge mess.
34. Favorite day of the week? Friday, it has all the potential of Saturday without being so close to Monday.
35. How many provinces have you lived in? One (Alberta).
36. Favorite holiday? My birthday! Then Christmas.
37. Have you ever operated a motorcycle or heavy machinery? Negative.
38. Ever left the country? Twice now, yay! I’ve been to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic and to Manhattan, New York City, New York.
39. Favorite kind of music? Not genre specific, but the kind that gives me goose bumps or makes me want to dance as soon as I hear it. Or that I want to listen to over & over on repeat (Tyler hates that).
40. Last book you have read? I’m currently reading “Why do men fall asleep after sex?” the sequel to “Why do men have nipples?” It’s a trivia knowledge type book.
Your turn, folks! Copy & paste it into a response!

My Week in Hell

So I’ve already blogged Christmas Day & New Year’s but I didn’t write about the 2 crappy things that happened in between. I’m not sure exactly what I did but I think God is punishing me for something. I'm trying to ignore my French Catholic upbringing & purge my guilt instead of wallowing in it. Here it goes...

Incident #1 - Last Wednesday I was shopping in my Scrapbooker’s store and Tyler was waiting for me outside in my car. Completely unprovoked my windshield made a SNAP sound and cracked from the middle out in both directions. I have a giant mustache shape almost clear across my windshield. And it makes noise: we were traveling on the highway this weekend and it was making a rubbing sound. Scary.

Incident #2 – So I think I have come a long way in terms of driving but apparently my parking still needs work. I was trying to park in a spot in the North Wal-Mart parking lot (my arch nemesis: see back-story below) which was a little tight. I must have had my angles wrong and got too close to the truck on my right’s back bumper. Awesomely, he had a hook right in that spot that hooked onto the part in between my back passenger door & the wheel hub. I stopped as soon as I fell the impact, and then reversed trying to get out of it. This action popped a piece of my auto body off about 4 inches by two inches as well as dug quite a nice groove into my door. I was quite impressed with myself as you can imagine. I could barely continue shopping at Wal-Mart. In reality it could have been much worse but I was still pissed off at myself as my car is only a 2005. It was one of those moments where you wish you could rewind.

Back-story – Shortly after I bought myself my first car (about two weeks), a brand new 2003 Saturn Ion, I found myself parking in the North Wal-Mart parking lot. I parked on the perimeter which I rarely do and had my Little Sister (from the program) with me. When it was time for us to leave I decided that instead of backing up in a curve I would just back out straight into the empty lane and then pull out. Bad idea. There was a heavy duty truck there with a bumper that was sticking out. I hit his bumper with my driver’s side back end and my reaction was slow so I hit it for a bit of a long time. I ended up denting in my dent resistant auto body. I called Tyler in tears to come get me. Then Jessica (11) & I waited for him to show up. In her never ending niceness she said to me “if your car was a puppy you would have just killed it”. Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better. The guy who owned the truck showed up & was really nice. He said that his truck was fine and asked me if I was alright. It was good that there was no damage to his vehicle. Tyler showed up and lectured me on my not smartness. When we got home he managed to pop out the dent so all that was left was the two puncture holes left by the screws. It was a constant reminder of my parking inexperience. Especially since I hadn’t even made my first car payment yet. :-(

Happy [insert swear here] New Year's!

So I rang New Year’s in with a delightful bang. Sarcasm. Sometime after midnight I ended up getting into an argument with my brother-in-law. I’m going to lay out what happened & I’d love for you all to weigh in with your thoughts.

So Kira (my 4 month old niece) woke up crying because she needed both a diaper change and to be fed. Kim, her mom, handed Kira to Tyrone (the dad & my brother-in-law) to go change her while Kim got the cereal ready. So Tyrone is a pretty big guy, he’s about 5’10” and weight somewhere near 300 pounds. Kira was crying and we could hear Tyrone shaking the bed (her thus her) to try to get her to stop, which only made her cry harder. This isn’t the first time he has shaken her when she was crying in an attempt to get her to stop & the sound of her interrupted crying was really bothering me and Kim. Kim went upstairs to tell him to get out & she’d change the diaper. I could her him tell her “If she’s going to cry I’ll give her something to cry about”. Nice, especially considering she’s 4 months old. So he comes barreling done the stairs bitching “fine, fucking spoil her then. She needs to learn to settle down before we change her”. Last I checked babies cried as a form of communication.

So when he sat back at the table where we were playing cards (Me, my husband Tyler, and Mary my mother-in-law) I said “it’s not right to shake your baby”. He started arguing with me, saying that as long as the neck is supported it’s fine, that he knew his baby’s limits, that it takes a lot to hurt the baby…etc. I argued back that it doesn’t take as much as you think, that you can’t know the limits cuz even scientists don’t know, and why take the risk? Check your ego at the door and do what’s best for your baby. The arguing escalated until we were basically screaming at each other. At this point Mary screamed at us “Enough. You’ve each said what you have to say now leave it. You’re not even listening to each other. If he hurts he’s baby he’ll have to live with that.”

I was flabbergasted. Tyler, Mary & Kim had all said earlier that weekend that they didn’t agree with the baby shaking and none has spoken up or stepped in to support me when I did. So I said “doing nothing is the same thing as encouraging it”. She says “well I’ve told him what I think and that’s all I can do. So should we keep arguing & just be a dysfunctional family?” Bullshit. I totally lost respect for her there. Why wouldn’t you do everything in your power to convince that person not to behave that way? Especially when your granddaughter’s life is at risk?

I was so mad & frustrated that I was shaking. I had a million things running through my head that I wanted to say, but she had basically closed the book. I started to cry with frustration, and the table was silent as we finished our game. Tyrone went to his room, Mary left for a smoke and Kim came down with Kira wondering what was going on. I tried to explain best I could but was still crying. Tyler tried to make me feel better but it didn’t work.

Mary came back in and pulled Tyrone downstairs where they started looking it up on the internet. I could here Tyrone repeating what he wanted to hear “as long as the head is supported” so I was getting more mad. He’s so ignorant and pig-headed. A long time later we went to bed & Mary and Tyrone were still talking. I have no idea of what conclusion was come to as we didn’t talk about it since then. I just hope he considers what I said. Most importantly I see this act not simple as a single event but as an indication of what may come in the future. If Tyrone can not control his frustrations or strength now what will be done the road?
One site says “Normal interaction with a child, like bouncing the baby on a knee, will not cause SBS, although it's important to never shake a baby under any circumstances because gentle shaking can rapidly escalate,” and another “The repetitive nature of the act suggests a lack of self-control or rage indicating the real possibility of previous or future abuse,” confirming my fears.

If you are interested in learning more check out the following links:

http://www.dontshake.com/
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/medical/brain/shaken.html
http://aboutshakenbaby.com/
http://dawn.thot.net/brain/baby.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaken_baby_syndrome#Prevention

New Year's Resolutions 2007

1. Continue reading more.

2. Minimize in-laws rants to Tyler.

3. Improve health by:
a) Pursuing fun types of exercise.
b) Minimize junk food eating.
c) Explore stress relief (i.e. mediation, yoga).
d) Getting more sleep (in bed by 11:30pm on weeknights).

4. Get back on track buget-wize & stick to it.

5. Improve puntuality for all events (work, social, etc.).

6. Explore alternative ways to earn money (i.e. via internet, self-employed).

7. Continue being crafty (Scrapbooking, Gift Baskets).

8. Utilize my blog more.

Any suggestions (I know I'm opening Pandora's Box here)?

In-laws or out-laws?

My mom told me that I shouldn’t talk bad about my in-laws in front of my husband, that it might make him uncomfortable. Unfortunately that is really hard to do. So instead I’m going to try to do all my ranting via blog. Enjoy my pain.

So I’m assuming that you’ve read the recent blog of mine “Christmas Holidays.” If you haven’t, go read it. Now.

Welcome back. Oh, I almost forgot a small tid bit that happened right before I left. It was about 30 minutes from the time I was leaving for Edmonton (a pit stop on my journey to Grimshaw). Willie/Larry, Tyler’s dad calls to check on the plans. We confirm that we are having dinner on Monday the 25th. I start to say I bought lots of food, “Potatoes…” he interrupts me “Did you buy any cranberries?” Me: “Oh, no. I don’t eat them so I didn’t think of it. You guys will have to pick some up as I’m leaving right away.” Then I go on to invite him & Kris (the step-mom) to stay over on Christmas Eve so we can all be together that night & first thing in the morning. He declines by saying “no, all our clothes are here so we’d better stay here.” Um, okay. That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but whatever. Then when I got to Edmonton Tyler informed me that after we hung up, Larry called Tyler and said “All Crystal bought was potatoes & she told me that if I wanted cranberries I better buy them myself”, making me sound all bitchy. I was livid. He’s such a backstabber.

Okay so you know that Tyler & I am leaving Grimshaw on Christmas Eve to come back to spend Christmas with his dad. We arrive at his house at about 6:10pm (supper was suppose to be ready for 6, it’s not ready yet). So we are hanging out in the half torn down house of theirs checking out the improvements (my opinion – they haven’t done that much in 4 months). As I am playing with my niece Willie says he’s saving all the supper dishes (despite the fact that he had nothing to do with making supper) for me to do cuz he’s “never seen me do the dishes a day in my life.” Excuse me, $!@* [insert expletives here]. First off, I always offer to do the dishes EVERY time we have dinner with them. I’ve never seen him do dishes a day in HIS life. It really bugs me, especially since Tyler has that fight with his dad back in May where Larry torn me down the whole time. It’s so disrespectful. So that ruined the rest of my night because Tyler didn’t hear it & I was fuming about it.

I had wanted to leave their place by 9pm because I still had presents to wrap before the next morning and food to take out to thaw. We didn’t get home until 10:30pm. Awesome. We thought Kim, Tyrone and Kira were right behind us but they didn’t show up until about midnight. Which was considerate of them to call and let us know (I was worrying as usual).

The next morning (Christmas Day) we had said that we were opening presents at 10:00am. So at about 8:30am I got up and started to make crepes and bacon for breakfast. Tyrone came down and started to make buttermilk pancakes but whined that we needed more meat like sausage and stuff. I told him I had plenty of appetizers to get through the day so not to worry about it. Tyler wanders downstairs and helps out wherever we need him (setting the table, making juice, etc). Kim sleeps in, then comes down to eat once everything is ready cuz I guess Kira was up all night. Larry and Kris showed up at 9:59am, walking in they say “what, no eggs?” Bastards. It’s amazing I don’t backhand them on instinct. So they insist on cooking up their “free range brown eggs” to eat. Corrections: high maintenance bastards. I point them to the pan and say “go for it”, I’m not delaying my breakfast for them. After we are all done eating we all clean up the kitchen except for Larry & Kris who just sit at the table.

Presents time. We get money from the evil parents but not without an uncalled for rude comment in the card about my “wish list” and the strings that we “better buy something with the money”. Kira (4 months old) had a lot of fun opening her presents and I had fun giving them to her.

So after presents are over Larry tries to recruit me to help with his stuffing, I don’t think so. They said they’d do Turkey/Stuffing/Gravy and we have to do everything else so I’m not pitching in with their stuffing. Tyler, always the sucker, helped him. After they were done, they popped the turkey in the oven then said adios, they had friends to go visit apparently. I’m not really sure why the visit couldn’t have waited until the next day? I mean they made a big deal about wanting to host Christmas Day & then they don’t even spend the day with them…it doesn’t make sense. When they finally came back we made them do the dinner dishes. Ha ha. So now I have seen Larry do the dishes. After dinner we played games (urban myth, piss pot) and had fun. I guess Larry isn’t pure evil, because I do enjoy the card game piss pot which he taught me.

After the games I asked if anyone wanted my dessert: Apple Raspberry Crisp. Kris asked me “did you make it yourself” before answering (she always does that). I lied: sure [no I didn’t some of us aren’t retired thank you very much]. Then, really surprised by the fat that I may have made it myself, she agreed to try some. Then I couldn’t lie so I admitted that I didn’t make it myself, though I did go to great lengths to make it look like I did (i.e. transferred the dessert to one of my casserole dishes)…so that’s my wonderful Christmas with my crappy in-laws.

This weekend we are due to visit Tyler’s mom for her Christmas over the New Year’s Weekend where we are doing fondue. I’m quite partial to the downstairs bedroom as I like the bed, privacy & the separate bathroom down there. Kim tried to “dibs it” at our house claiming some crap about her back, but I pointed out that it’s too cold down there for Kira, Mary smokes in the room right beside it & we had some of our stuff there already. It’ll be interesting to see how that turns out. If it gets ugly I’ll be sure to write a blog about it…until then!

Silver Lining

Things happen in threes. I’ve been told that a lot and believe it too.

Number One:
A few weeks back, on a Friday, my mother-in-law called us to tell us she wouldn’t be coming to visit that weekend. She lives in Edmonton and she had been T-boned by an old lady who ran a red light. Mary drove a Cavalier from the 90s and this was its second accident so it ended up being a write off.

Number Two:
On Tuesday, my dad calls me at work and says “Your mom’s all right but she was in an accident last night”. As she was going to pick up Calli from her boyfriend, Darren’s house she came across five moose on the highway and couldn’t avoid hitting two of them. It did a lot of damage to her Ford Escape (SUV) but she managed to drive the last 10 minutes or so to Darren’s house to get help. In the end the insurance adjuster said there was $21,000 of damage & so her vehicle was a write off…this picture is her vehicle. My mom went to test drive another Ford Escape and had a bit of a panic attack. So she decided to get a Ford Explorer Sport Trac because it’s bigger and tougher.

Number Three:
My mom calls me on my cell phone last night to tell me that “Your brother’s okay but he’s been in an accident” (I think my parents took the same bad-news seminar). My bro was a passenger in a company truck that ended up rear ending a semi who was stopped on the highway. The truck is in pretty bad shape (again I believe a write off), and my bro had to climb out the front windshield to get out. I guess both guys (drive & Cody) have some bumps, bruises, soreness etc but are all right. Not too mention quite shook up. It turns out my brother wasn’t wearing a seatbelt but was lucky enough to look up and brace himself for the accident. My mom said if he doesn’t start wearing a seatbelt she’ll kill him herself!

So I just wanted to write this blog to be thankful that although my family members have gotten into some scary accidents that the vehicles suffered the most damage & not them. Wishing everyone (including myself) safe journeys this holiday season.

Christmas Holidays

Christmas, ah, a magical time of year…if you’re not married that is!

Christmas day with my family is great (I may be bias): we have stockings and tons of thoughtful presents. My Mom always goes overboard with presents. My siblings are younger still (Calli - 16 & Cody - 18 now) so we still have a bit of that excitement Christmas morning…

Our old tradition was that us kids got up super early. We’d rip into our stockings to see what treasures they’d hold. Next we’d try to wake up Mom & Dad who would insist that we make them coffee first and deliver it to them in their beds (in the wisdom of my older years I see this was a cleverly crafted delay strategy to get them more sleep). As my brother and sister worked on convincing them it was time to wake up, I’d sort the presents into piles so that we could all sit back and open presents one by one. I know that some families watch each member open each present but that would take too long in my family! My Mom & Dad did sit back and watch us before they opened there’s. Someone usually got a movie for Christmas so after we open the presents we’d pop one in and then start tinkering with our stuff. When I was in school I usually ended up calling a friend or two in the morning and we’d discuss what we got as my parents would start cleaning up the wrapping and making something for breakfast (nothing too fancy).

My first Christmas with Tyler’s family was actually sad. I didn’t think that it would matter cuz I said that Christmas was just a day, and you could celebrate it whenever you wanted. However, Mary (Tyler’s mom) ended up staying over at her boyfriend’s house so we had to wait for her to show up before we could open our presents Christmas morning. And there were no stockings to hold us over. If I remember correctly it was near noon before that happened. Quite the contrast to my early morning ritual with the Johnson Family. I called my family while I was waiting for Mary and I had to hold back tears when I heard how much fun everyone was having without me back in Grimshaw.

My husband has parents that are divorced so we have the added challenge of trying to accommodate three sets of parents instead of the normal two. And Tyler’s parents seem to think they are the only ones: for many years now Tyler’s Mom Mary and Dad Larry (but he likes to pretend his name is Willie) took turns on whose year it was to see the boys on Christmas day, and they seem to think that rotation should continue, but where do my parents fit in? Sometimes his family is so selfish.

Last year was our first year in our new house that we had built & was officially in our names (no more renting). We wanted to host all the families at our house. Tyler’s Dad and new wife didn’t want to come over on Christmas Day is Mary was going to be there (& they’ve been divorced since Tyler was three), so we did the Red Deer Buffet on Christmas Eve with them. For Christmas Day we had my parents, my brother & his girlfriend, my sister, my aunt & uncle, my 2 cousins, their ferret, Tyler’s Mom & her boyfriend, Tyler’s brother Tyrone & his pregnant girlfriend, my 2 dogs, and my 2 cats. Now our house is about 1500 square feet and is a 2-storey + basement but it was BUSY: 15 & ½ people, 2 dogs, 2 cats & a ferret!! LOL But it was wonderful.
Tyler’s Dad moved back from BC this year to a house on an acreage about 30 minutes from Red Deer. His wife Kris said they wanted to host Christmas this year so we all agreed to it (Tyler’s brother, Kim (the girlfriend) and us). Then Willie & Kris told us that their house wouldn’t be done the renovations so we moved the location to our house, which is fine. Then in November we were out to breakfast with Willie, Kris, Kim, Kira (the new baby) and Tyler and I when Willie told us “We’re doing the turkey and stuffing you guys can handle the rest.” Um, thanks? I thought hosting meant you provided the dinner? So basically I am hosting if I am not mistaken. The icing on the cake was when Kris said she wanted to host next year. Um, no. You had this year & you threw it away. Kim & I have families that we like to see at the holidays too. You don’t get to monopolize two years in a row. That just cheeses me.

The big wrench in that plan is that we are doing my family Christmas early & driving back from Grimshaw on the 24th. So I have to have all the food bought and in my fridge before I leave on the 20th. And Tyrone, Kim & Kira are staying in our house from the 22nd to 25th so I am a little worried that they might eat the stuff I intend for Christmas Day! Guess I’ll have to make a list & warn them not to eat it.

We’re doing Mary’s Christmas on New Year’s weekend. She said we’d probably be tired of turkey so we are going to do a fondue night. I’m pretty excited for that as I’ve never done fondue before & I just bought a small one for chocolate.

So best wishes to everyone on this Holiday Season & may your plans be as hectic as mine!

SCAM ALERT: Must Read

Hello All,

I was nearly taken in by a scam this week so I want to tell the world (or at least my faithful blog readers) all about it in this warning.

My husband received a mass mailer inviting him to a luncheon about how to make money on the internet. It included lunch & an organizer and was all for free. I was pretty skeptical about attending as I don't do well with sales pressure (READ: can't say no) but my hubby really wanted to go. So to be supportive I decided to attend (hey free lunch). The pitch was from an American Company called Stores Online.

The Luncheon:
The idea of the luncheon was to get you to sign up for a seminar for $20 a few weeks later. They said that they were an internet website hosting company that also sells software that helps you market your website. The workshop would give you some tips for marketing, help you come up with a business idea and then at the end they hoped you'd sign up to go through their company.Even though the workshop was only offered in Edmonton and on a weekday I signed figuring I had to take a risk & that I may learn something. And again it included lunch. Before leaving the luncheon they told you that regularly they sell1 website and their hosting for 1 year for $2800 + $2700 = $5500...however if you bought with them within the first 90 days they'd waive the $2800 (how thoughtful of them).

The Seminar:
So late Tuesday as I'm driving to Edmonton I start regretting signing up for this workshop. It is being held at the Ramada which I have to find all on my own and it’s late so I’m tired. The day is to start at 8:30am and go until 6:30pm (now I’m a government worker so I’m used to 8:15 – 4:30 with plenty of breaks) which is sounding really LONG to me. I also forgot to discuss with my husband what his thoughts were going into it (like would he be interested in buying?).
I arrive the next morning at the hotel not having eaten breakfast. The drive took me longer than I thought it would my mother-in-law’s house and I had planned on grabbing something on the way. Walking into the room I realized I didn’t have time to get anything and the company hadn’t brought in any breakfast. So I grabbed this itty bitty teacup and ate some candies I had brought with me (mmm, nutritious). I was seated at a table with two very nice people, a gentleman named Wilf (http://www.gainconsulting.ca/) and a lady named Tracey. Despite the fact that we were told we’d get lots of one on one training & that sitting was limited I counted about 12 rows of 16 people equaling 192 people and only about a dozen Stores Online reps.
The presenters were upbeat, likeable and funny. However they had this really great way of talking about nothing for a long time. By the first break at 9:30am they had us all fill out a credit check for so we could see if we were approved for their financing…I hesitated knowing that every credit app reduces your credit but for some reason I signed it. Then they even convinced me to give them my credit card to ensure I could make the down payment needed. The “this day only” deal was the following:

3 Websites + Customer Service Support for $2700 or
6 Websites + Customer Service Support for $4900

BUT you also need to buy the eCommerce software which allows you to take credit cards securely over the internet for $999 & this Auto Responder software that is $399 or $499 (for 3 or 6 sites respectively). Also, once your websites were active then you were charged $24.95/month for hosting. Totally $4098 or $6398 for the one day.

That is a lot of money, however they make it sound like with your effort it will be no time before that’s paid back. Between break and lunch one of the reps came over and stroked my ego by telling me that I have excellent credit and to be sure to go the “break out session” during lunch. By 1pm I’m starving. I head over to this session and find out they are trying to get us to buy right then and there. I say I still need to think about it.

Wilf decides he’s learnt all he can and that he is leaving. Before he goes he handed me a couple papers he’s printed off the internet, one showing an article about Stories Online being investigated in their home state and another from an unhappy customer. Let’s just call that the seed of doubt.

After lunch we hear some good info about marketing and how some of the tools they have are exclusive to Stores Online. That would include the “Reverse Search Engine Tool” which in my opinion is the only reason I would buy with Stores Online. This tool allows you to type in keywords and see how many people typed in those same words in a search engine in the last month. Great opportunity to look at the internet market of what you want to sell before investing any money.

I get pulled out to have my “one on one” time with a rep: Mark. I asked him about how you would get legal information to report your online income. His answer: it’s all on the software. He asked me why I wanted to do this (I think about everyone’s answer is the same): to make money so you don’t have to have a job. Then I said that I didn’t want to make a decision before I talked to my husband (who I had text message to call me ASAP as he was at work in Fort McMurray). He pitched the financing to me: it was a two year loan at 18% (yep that’s high).

At our next break I decided to call my bank and see if I could get a line of credit through them for less. The answer was yes: prime + 2.75% (working out to 8.75 right now). However the money wouldn’t be available for 3 business days. I asked Mark how that could work. He said I could write him a postdated cheque for that. Then right about 5:30pm Tyler called. Thank god, $6400 is a lot of money and I wasn’t comfortable making that decision by myself. I started to tell Tyler about it and he says “do what you think” (thanks honey). I said no I’m not doing that, and then I told him more about it. I was slowly starting to realize that I was trying to talk Tyler out of it. When he said no it’s not a good idea at this time in our lives I was relieved.

Coming back to the room Mark came over and asked if I just talked to my husband. I said yes and he vetoed it. He tried to dig a little harder and I said right now we couldn’t take this financial risk. He approached me again and tried to convince me again. I said no firmly. He left me alone. (What person would hear “no” from their spouse and then willing go out and spend the $6400 anyway?). The workshop didn’t end until about ten to seven…by the time I gathered my stuff, talked to my mother-in-law and drove home it was after ten. I was exhausted.

Last Night:
I was trying to fix my computer (it has some viruses) when I was googling stuff (as in http://www.google.ca/). When I googled “reverse search engine” I discovered the following site:
http://www.ultrasaurus.com/sarahblog/archives/000081.html

Here there were several rants about Stores Online as well as a link to the FREE reverse search engine this is EXACTLY the same as the one Stores Online claims to have an exclusive on:
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/.

So I am really thankful I hadn’t purchased such an overpriced product.

I did learn a few things from the workshop so it was worth my $20…but let me save you your pennies. If you want to know about the following let me know (I will pass it on for $19.95, just kidding completely FREE):

-learn what a “reverse search engine” is and why it’s useful,
-learn how to get yourself to the top spots in a “relevancy based search engine”,
-learn how to get on the sponsored links of 120 search engines (http://www.overture.com),
-learn about drop shipping,
-learn about Auto Responders,
-learn about free samples,
-learn how to find business partners on the web (http://www.thomasnet.com/).


That’s it for today…remember to trust your gut & be skeptical! Any company that doesn’t respect my right to go home and research them before handing over my money is not a company I want a relationship with.

ENGL: Final Submission (but far from last edit)

Her Office

It was like a honing device: that little golden envelop at the bottom of my screen. It was silent and measured no more than half a centimeter each way, but I had developed a sixth sense for the moment it popped up onto my screen, luring me with new mail. I couldn’t resist. Double clicking, Lacey’s message appeared: Vi: SD strikes again...must have had bitch flakes for breakfast...details at ten. P.S. – I just love that new Kayne West song: Goldigger!
Lacey had to have a touch of Schizophrenia to be so paranoid about company e-mails; I knew no one bothered to read them. I shook my head at the code name Lacey insisted on using for Bette, our boss and secretly my sister. It was against company policy to hire family members into the same department; however, thanks to our Mom and her string of boyfriends we had different last names so no one would be the wiser if my sister and I both kept our mouths shut. My fingers flew over the keys even though her blue fabric lined walls were a mere three feet away: Break room?(yeah it has a great beat) Then, her quick reply: Of course.
Glancing at my watch I knew I had a few minutes to spare. I searched my three by three foot cell this company called a cubicle and grabbed the decoy file before making my way to Bette’s corner office. The Anna Nicole Smith signed poster came into view as I neared Lacey’s cubicle. I tried to sneak past but her mock whisper was hard to ignore.
Lacey nodded her head towards Bette’s office, “You get called by the She Devil?” she asked.
“Um, yeah. Right after you emailed.” Lie. I quickened my steps so she wouldn’t be able to read face.
I hovered in her doorway until Bette gave me the wave to come in, efficient as always she didn’t even lose her place on the pile of forms she was signing. She sat behind her heavy, mahogany desk like a judge conducting court. I closed the door behind me - we would need privacy for this - then sat in the straight backed chair opposing her. Despite the December chill outside there was a fan blowing on top of Bette’s filing cabinet: her South and West facing windows were to blame. The winter sun shined through the crystal angel I recognized as the one Mom had bought her Bette-Boo for Christmas, and the colorful beams danced in front of her work pile.
“How can I help you Viola?” She asked, her brow wrinkled in typical older sister concern, her fingers continuing their diligent work with the pen. She didn’t even look at the decoy file I had placed open on her desk; it had been one of her great ideas when I first started here.
“Why do you always pick on her?” I questioned. “You may not like the way she dresses Boop, but she gets the job done. In fact I’m sure her stats are better than most of the slackers out there.” I attempted to stare her down, then lost as usual. Bette dropped her pen with a sigh, the throat vein was throbbing.
“First of all,” she started, “you are not to refer to me as ‘Boop’”. She hated my version of the nickname. “Even behind closed doors. You know the consequences if they find out; I’ve stuck my neck out for you and would appreciate if you’d follow the ‘rules’.”
Grumbling under my breath and starting to slouch down in my chair I responded “I know, I kno-.”
“Secondly,” Bette continued, “I can’t have you running in here to be a hero every time I ask Lacey to redo some numbers. And it has nothing to do with the way she dresses. However,” God, she looks just like Mom lecturing us when we were kids. “I will be bringing up the dress code again at our next meeting to emphasis that we must be wearing professional business wear at all times. Even if the men in this organization have no complaints. How can you have anything in common with her? She’s nothing more than a professional harlot?”
I protested, “Professional harlot is pretty harsh.”
“Viola,” I hated when she said my name like that, “if I bring clients in here I don’t want them thinking we are running a brothel.” Brothel? Hmm, I remember Bette layering just as revealing skirts and shirts under the old lady wear Mom insisted we don for school. Bette picked up her pen, signaling the end of our conversation, but I wasn’t finished.
“It’s not what you say Bette, it’s how you say it. Maybe you take after your father a lot more than you want to admit.” I grabbed the file and left her office in a huff. So what if I was a breath away from eviction when Bette came to my rescue with this job? There was nothing glamorous about the data entry slash sales job and she had ‘rules’ just as she always did. But it paid the bills and I was desperate; it’s ironic how the job that I got with my degree didn’t pay enough to cover my student loan payments. This whole plot had seemed like a great idea at the time.

A few minutes later my heel tapped in unison to the silent song that the overhead fluorescent lights were beating out. I was playing the part in Lacey’s conspiracy huddle at the small, circle table as she complained about my sister.
“Then,” Lacey paused for dramatic effect. Her next words were muffled from the fat free bran muffin - smothered in butter - she had shoved in her mouth, “she told me to redo the order form as the numbers ‘didn’t quite add up’.”
I tried to think of what someone who wasn’t related to the “She Devil” would say, “That sucks” seemed safe.
“Tell me about it,” Lacey said. More bran muffin, then, “I can’t figure out where my mistake is. Do you think there could be a problem with the formulas?”
“I doubt it,” I said with a grin. “It’s probably just a couple inverted numbers. Want me to give it a quick look over? A fresh set of eyes usually helps.”
“You’re such a doll.” Lacey said, returning the smile. “The polar opposite of SD! That chick needs a man to loosen her up. ” Lacey tipped her head towards the giant analog clock above the EXIT sign. “Better get back before the time warden’s report us.”
As we made our way back through the maze of cubicles my stomach felt as if a cat was trying to claw it’s way out. I hated all the lying (or the absence of the truth, as Bette called it). Lacey and I were starting to become good friends and you can only avoid the family questions for so long. What if we started hanging out outside of work? Was I going to run around trying to hide every Bette picture every time she comes over? No, I could trust her. It will feel good to tell someone. To get this off my shoulders.
“Are you free to go for coffee after work?” I ask Lacey.
She looks puzzled for a split second, and then “Sure. Name the place.”
“Dino’s,” I said with a grin. I could feel the weight lifting already.

The next morning, as I made my way through the glass double doors separating the office from the street, I felt the best that I had in months. I hadn’t needed my daily cup of Joe on the way in, and I even bounced my way up the two flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator. By telling Lacey the truth I didn’t feel like a liar anymore. Of course she was surprised when I told her, but she hadn’t freaked out. In fact, she had been very understanding. She had smiled encouragingly as I pored out the whole story. We spent hours at the coffee shop as I told her first about Bette and I and then more about our childhood, which led to stories about my mother and her issues, and then more about Better and our power struggles.
Lacey was so easy to talk to. I suppose the brandied coffees may have helped. I had ordered the first one to calm my nerves and then Lacey had offered to buy the second round. And the third. And the fourth…how many of those had I had? Well Lacey can sure hold her liquor because she seemed to leave as sober as when we got there. When I teased her that she was getting me drunk to elicit information she paled and I apologized quickly. I didn’t want a little joke to come between our blossoming friendship.
I zipped and zagged through the other cubicles, heading towards Lacey’s pod first. Might as well say a quick hello now that we’re closer friends. My steps slowed as her pod came into sight. About half of her stuff was gone and the other half was packed into boxes. The company must be moving some pods around again. Weird that Lacey hadn’t mentioned that.
I was lost in thought when I settled into my own cubicle so I didn’t immediately notice the message taped to my screen. I chocked on my herbal tea when I read it: Please see Mr. Westin. Mr. Westin, the big cheese? Why would he want to see me? Scrambling through my drawers I located a blank pad of paper and a pen, then hustled to the elevator.
My mind raced with possible scenarios that would have trigger my appointment with Mr. Westin. It seemed like hours before the shiny metal doors parted to reveal a small, intimidating lobby. I stepped onto the black marble floor, slipping slightly, heals clicking rebelliously as I scurried over to the large desk that dominated the center of the space. The guardian of the doorway, Mrs. Perkins as per her nameplate, was answering the steady ringing of the telephone via her headset, shiny silver curls sprang loose from under her headset. A framed photo on her desk for all to see: Mrs. Perkins sprawled on a perfectly manicured lawn, her bright smile the center and surrounded by grandchildren of varying ages. The photo relaxed me as I envisioned my own grandmother. I tapped the pen on my pad of paper, reading the names engraved on the plaque behind her tightly wrapped bun as I waited. Mr. Westin – Senior Manager, West Division.
Her voice barked at me, echoing in the stark room, “Please stop that incessant tapping.” Startled I dropped the pen onto the floor; the sound seemed to annoy her even more as she peered at me through small, wire glasses. Hmm, more like an evil Mrs.Clause than my grandmother.
“I’m-,” bending over to pick up the offending pen, flushing neck up “here to see Mr. Westin.”
Her eyes swept over me, “Viola?”
I nodded, afraid to speak. In one swift motion she got up from her chair and had the door open. “Good luck,” she smirked after me. When secretary’s graduate do they get their own personal stash of cameras and microphones with their diplomas?
I read the names on the solid oak doors, after the third one I found it. Even the grain in the door seemed to be foreshadowing doom. I pause, knuckles ready to knock. Should it be a swift knock? Or my patented “jingle bells” knock? I opted for a business like short two raps.
A deep male voice boomed, “Enter.”
I subconsciously held my breath as I pushed open the heavy wood door. There were three people already in the room: Bette sat in the middle chair, she had turned to look at me and her eyes were red, swollen - I hadn’t seen Bette cry since we were kids; commanding attention from behind his desk sat Mr. Westin: greasy, curly black hair topped his small oval face, black thick frames sat on his large protruding nose. His face was marked from teenage acne which couldn’t have been more than ten years ago, and his slight frame looked like it was going to be swallowed up by the chair he perched himself from. Lastly in the third far chair was Lacey, wearing a Cheshire cat grin on her face and that was about it: her skirt was about a foot away from decent and she was aiming her exposed chest at Mr. Westin and his eyes kept darting to the target. Dread set in as I started to piece together what Bette must have already known.
“Thank you for finally joining us Ms. Gray. Please have a seat,” he gestured towards the remaining empty chair. “We have quite the situation here this morning. Ms. Gherkin here,” he gestured at Lacey, “has informed me about what was going on right under my nose. Sisters?” he scoffed. “Bette I thought you’d have more sense than that. Company Policy is clear about what I should do with you two in this situation.”
My chest felt like there was a time bomb ticking inside. Would he really fire both of us? Would the company press fraud charges? Omigod, what had we gotten into?
“However-” However was good. It gave me hope. I held my breath as he went on. “A mediocre manager is hard to find in this labor market let alone a great one. Data entry staff on the other hand,” he paused, a smirk emerging through his eyes and then twitching at the corners of his mouth, “are a dime a dozen.”
My heart registered the meaning of his words before my mind did. I was canned.
The weasel Westin continued “It is rare that we are able to find gems in our entry level positions so when we do, we like to cultivate them quickly.” He looked at Lacey, “Which is why I am going to be promoting Ms. Gherkin to account manager in our marketing division, here on the third floor, effect today. I believe you have already packed?”
I didn’t think it was a coincidence that he was promoting her to the same floor he worked on. “Just a few more little things, Mr. Westin,” Lacey reached out to squeeze his hand, then purred “Thank you for your confidence in me.”
“As for you Bette, I am deeply disappointed in your actions and I cannot leave you unpunished. Your bonus will be suspended and you will be on probation for a year. This will also be going on your permanent record.” To signal this he opened what I presumed to be her file and began to write in it. “I want to remind you of how nice I am being in this circumstance.”
He then picked up his phone and pressed a speed dial button “Yes Mrs. Perkins, can you call security in here please.” He hung up the phone and then directed his next comment towards me “Our security will escort you from the building and your personal items will be mailed to you. I shouldn’t need to tell you that we won’t be providing a positive reference but seeing as you’ve overlooked our other policies, well…”
A quick knock at the door could only be the security guards that were here to escort me away like a common criminal. As they hustled me out the hall and through the lobby I heard Mrs. Perkins call out “Have a great day!”

Oct 28 - Murder Mystery Train Ride in Stettler

Well me & 28 of my closest friends (not, mostly co-workers, some I knew some I didn't) went to Stettler to try out their Prairie Steam Ride. The cost was about $99/tax (plus tax) for the ride, dinner & a murder mystery play. Departing time was 2:30pm & arrival back from Big Valley about 8:30pm I believe.

Parts I enjoyed:
-the company on the train ride was good, gave us time to chit chat & catch up,
-the acting was pretty good,
-the popcorn on the train was delicious & affordable (only $1),
-the dinner was pretty good if I remember correctly,
-and the fudge I bought on the way back in Big Valley was amazing.

Parts I didn't enjoy:
-it was probably the first really cold day of the season,
-I felt a little carsick on the train,
-the plot line of the murder didn't amaze me,
-not sure that it was worth the price.

So that's my brief synopsis. There are other adventures available on the train such as train robbery, which may be a better value for the money?