Let's talk hockey

Specifically, let's talk about injuries caused by the opposing team. I ranted a bit about that during the playoffs last year, both when Rome hit Horton and when Boychuk hit Raymond, but it's up for discussion again this week. Just for the record, as a Canucks fan, I felt that Raymond's hit deserved to be penalized, although perhaps, based on the criteria applied to other hits, four games was a big much (but maybe it wasn't, I'll get to that in a second) and I was APPALLED that the league didn't even review the Boychuk hit on Raymond.

Wednesday night we were watching the Vancouver - Chicago game. I really enjoy it when Vancouver and Chicago meet because the rivalry is so intense, it brings a lot to the game. J and I listened to the first half of the first period in the car but we were in the house when Duncan Keith hit Daniel Sedin. J started yelling, "That man has to go to the penal (yes, that's the word she uses, but it's pronounce more like PEN-ll than peenal) box because we don't hit and Mommy, that other man is lying down. Now there is going to be blood on the ice. That man needs a time out." And while, there was no blood, she was right about going to the penalty box

[aside: J loves watching hockey and is just starting to grasp the concept of the opposite teams. She doesn't understand checking because at home and at daycare she has been taught that we never, ever, ever hit another person...so watching the game with her means there's a whole lot of "Why didn't that man have to go to the penal box for a time out? He hit someone."]

It wasn't until the second period intermission that they showed us the earlier hit where the roles were reversed. And I can't say that made me like Duncan Keith any more.

We've been noticing over the last few weeks that the officials aren't calling a whole lot of penalties and that seems to result in games that aren't much fun to watch for a variety of reasons. This game was a perfect example of how a bit more effort in penalty calling by the officials might have prevented a whole bunch of hullabaloo later.

Like, maybe if Daniel Sedin had been called on the initial hit and done his time in the box, Duncan Keith would not have lost his mind and hunted down Daniel Sedin. If that initial hit had been penalized maybe neither the Canucks nor the Blackhawks would be facing the indefinite loss of one of their key players.

Daniel Sedin threw a bad hit. Duncan Keith made a ridiculous decision and if the rumours of his threat of I'm going to make you pay or whatever it was are true, he made more than one dumb decision. And the officials, they lost the plot. I know it is best if the officials don't get too involved because they can kill the momentum of the game and they don't want to be seen as influencing the outcome, but their JOB is to enforce the rules and make sure the play on the ice is safe. I don't know exactly how much NHL officials are paid, but I've heard that starting salaries for linesmen run about $75K. Anyone else making that kind of money under such direct public scrutiny would be without a job at this point.

And then there are the fans. I'm not talking about the rational fans - the ones who can maintain their team loyalty but still see that a player on their team made a big mistake which goes for both sides in this case (check out the anti-Canuck vitriol spewed by a Chicago journalist who can still see that what Keith did deserves punishment). I'm talking about the ones who are saying things on twitter and forums and comment sections of newspaper articles and blogs saying stuff along the lines of Sedin deserved it, glad someone finally gave it to the Canucks etc. No one deserves to get hurt by an intentional play. No one. It's professional hockey, so yes, injury is something of a given, but being intentionally sought out should not be a worry.

Does Daniel Sedin deserve a suspension? Probably. Does Duncan Keith deserve a suspension? Definitely. Did Daniel Sedin "deserve" to get hurt? No way. Should the officials be disciplines as well? Probably, but unlikely. How do we make this go away?

The NHL keeps saying they want to crack down on head shots and prevent concussion and other dangerous hits and injuries, but all they do is hand out these 3-5 game suspensions that are obviously not having much of an effect on the players. I say change the rules. If you injure someone, intentional or not, on an illegal play, you sit until they are able to play again. And THEN you serve your suspension. One or two of those and the players might wake up and change their behaviour.

So now, we wait for Brendan Shanahan to make a decision. And there will be upset people on both sides of the situation. But maybe the attention this hit is drawing will drive some change. And maybe one day people will realize it's just a game and the players are human and cheering when one gets hurt is just not the way to go.

/rant over

A Broken Magazine...

I'm all for technology, but first the "suffering" caused by lack of Blackberry and now this. Check out the link and watch the video.

This make me sad. Yes, I am a self professed paper addict. Yes, I read real books still (we don't have an ereader or tablet of any kind). Yes, I still have two subscriptions to magazines and pick up an occasional magazine on my way through the check stand at the grocery store. The last lines of text on the video make me the saddest: "For my one year old daughter, a magazine is an iPad that does not work.It will remain so for her whole life. Steve Jobs has coded part of her OS."

Steve Jobs didn't do the coding, the parents did. J is a three year who has grown up in the same world of technology as this kid. True, we don't have an iPad or even an iPhone in our house, but you can bet J knows how they work. She's known for a good two years. But she also knows how a magazine works. She knows how books work.

Will tablets take over part of the book and magazine (and likely newspaper) markets? For sure. But I don't know that tablets will make books, magazines or newspapers obsolete. While there are still people who love to read "real" books, magazines and newspapers, there will still be "real" books. I imagine that one day soon the majority of that stuff will be available on tablets, but I'm not convinced the paper products will go away.

That said, I would have loved to have all of my university texts available on a tablet. Can you imagine how much lighter my book bag would have been!?!

PS Sorry about all grumpiness today...maybe it's a sign that I should be in bed long before midnight. Like hours before midnight. I'll try that tonight...

Suffering? Seriously?

On my way to the office this morning, there was a segment on the radio about the current lack of service for Blackberry clients (as of 8:20ish am Pacific Time, service has apparently been restored). And many of them were complaining that they were suffering because of the outage. SUFFERING.

Seriously?

No, really?

Suffering? I can see a three day outage as being a big pain and a huge inconvenience, but I don't think it's quite suffering. There are enough examples of people really suffering right now on this planet that calling a Blackberry communication outage suffering just trivializes them. We used to be able to function on a daily basis without Facebook, Twitter, email, Google and whatever else in our pockets. We used to be able to make plans by TALKING on the PHONE (which still worked on the Blackberries) and the meeting people at a predetermined time and location. We used these funky things called maps, printed on paper, to figure out where we need to go.

It was only the Blackberry network that went down, so those business folks who have been inconvenienced could probably still use their other technology (tablet, notebook, laptop, desktop (!), iPhone (because I know a number of people who use both), printer) and make do until the network got fixed.

Yes, three days is a long time to not have your Blackberry working, but it's not like it was three days without food or water. That would actually be suffering.

Yeah, I'm a bit cranky today.

Oh, and full disclosure, I'm a Blackberry user and I'm not sure that I was affected, but my Blackberry is primarily for my boss to find me, and since the phone still worked, my Blackberry was doing its job.

WooWoo WooWoo

Last night as I was doing my last bit of puttering before bed, struggling to keep my eyes open, I had the TV on. I wasn't watching it, but I was vaguely aware that there was some police drama playing out on the screen. All of a sudden there was a whole lot of siren noise. I walked out of the kitchen and sure enough, it was time for eighty-seven million police cars to go racing off to some crime scene. Whatever. I almost turned the TV off, but I didn't.

I resumed puttering.

And I noticed more sirens. And thought our (non-existent) surround sound was working pretty well since it sounded like the sirens were in our living room.

And then I heard the emergency vehicle horn honk. Five or six times.

Ummmmm....

So, I pulled up the blinds, stepped onto the deck and was greeted by a plume of smoke and fire bells coming from the building next door and four fire trucks, all with lights blazing and sirens screaming, parked on the street.

It didn't look good. As in, I was worried the other building in our complex was going to catch fire. Which would likely mean we'd have to evacuate as well.

About then I realized that the noise was right outside J's window and I'd never be able to hear her because the sirens were so loud. Sure enough, she was wide awake and whispering, "Mommy, what's that noise? I'm scared." She wouldn't leave her room, so we opened her blinds and she got to see the firetrucks. She was so excited (we're in an emergency vehicle worshipping faze). Thankfully the fire was much smaller than it appeared - just a dumpster - but it took two hours to get it all cleaned up and the lights and sirens turned off so I could get my kid to bed.

I pretty much collapsed into bed

J was so excited that she got up at 5:45 to tell Alex all about it...

It's been a long day...I'm hoping the WooWoos stay away tonight!

And since it's the last day of September and I'm not sure where the month went, but I do know that I feel like I haven't managed to get a lot done at work, at home, on the blog or in life in general, here's to a productive October!

Dear NHL and Boston Bruins fans - you suck

So, normally I wouldn't wade into the mud on something like this but I'm annoyed. I'm beyond annoyed. I'm disgusted.

DISCLOSURE: In case you didn't know, I'm a Canucks fan, as is my two and a half year old.

My Vancouver Canucks are in the Stanley Cup Final. But I'm ready to stop watching. There has been so much nonsense in this series, it's unbelievable. I'm not going to defend the Canucks or the Canucks fans - diving, biting and beer and peanut throwing are hardly positive attributes. Aaron Rome's hit on Nathan Horton was horrible. I felt so sick after that happened. While I find it hard to believe there was malice in the hit, I do think it deserved a suspension.

Boston hasn't been much better - hacking, sucker punching, blatant (unpenalized) cross-checks by the goalie, racial slurs to fans, a Boston restaurant telling Canucks players there's no food for them.

The officials, well, I think they have been downright horrible. The inconsistency is unbelievable. The non-penalty calls (anyone remember a puck being DEFLECTED over the glass that was called a delay of game?), the non-calls, the "this cross-check doesn't count, but the next one might" calls. And it's not like they're necessarily favouring one team over the other - I've seen things go both ways.

But what really got me was the hit last night on Mason Raymond. I'm not even talking about the hit, I'm more disgusted by what happened immediately after the hit.

First of all, hockey is about rivalry as much as it is about the game. But, in my experience, no matter where two teams are playing, when someone gets hurt, typically, the arena goes silent. Then when the injured player gets up and shakes it off, gets up and is helped off the ice or in the most chilling cases, is wheeled off on a stretcher, the fans applaud politely and players on both teams bang their sticks on the boards or the ice. They do not chant "flopper." Not only that, you can still hear them chanting after he's been on the ice for over a minute. Instead of clapping, they start chanting "Let's Go Bruins" and booing.

Secondly, where was the spinal board? WHERE WAS IT? When a player hits the boards like that a spinal board should be MANDATORY. One of the first lessons you learn in first aid is to NEVER EVER EVER move someone suspected of having a head, neck or back injury. Unless of course they are potentially in more danger if you don't - electrocution, falling trees, you know, things that weren't an issue in the hockey arena. My back has been aching in sympathy all day. I don't care who it was on the ice - Bruin, Canuck, who cares - injuries need to be treated with care. I sure hope that moving Raymond didn't injure him more or prolong his recovery time.

Third, back to those Boston fans. They are trolling the message boards and commenting on new articles and telling the Canucks to suck it. The Vancouver Canucks got what was coming to them and they deserved it. No. That's wrong. No one deserves to be injured like that. Horton didn't deserve to be injured on the play with Rome. While some Canucks fans didn't agree with the suspension (either the length of or the suspension in general), I didn't see any of them saying, good, Horton and the Bruins deserved that.

Fourth, Mike Murphy, you are so inconsistent and make the NHL look like a goon show. When you commented on the Horton-Rome incident this is what you said (from the Globe and Mail):

This has nothing to do with Rule 48. This is just an interference penalty, an interference hit. If it was immediate after he released the puck, it would be a legal hit. We have them all the time.

AND

So the key components are: the late hit, which I had it close to a second late. We have our own formula at NHL Hockey Operations for determining late hits, and it was late. We saw the seriousness of the injury with Nathan on the ice last night.

That's basically what we deliberated on. We tried to compare it with some of the other ones in the past. But it stands alone. It's why we made the ruling.

So according to NHL rules it wasn't head shot and the suspension was determined by (1) a late hit and (2) the severity of the injury.

I'm not disputing the severity of the injury. A concussion is bad news all around. And the hit was late. Fine. Now you've set a precedence.

Let's now apply those same two rules to the Raymond-Boychuk incident. Which was (1) a late hit and (2) caused serious injury. I don't know when Horton will be back but four to six months is a long time and that sounds severe to me. Also, having experienced a fractured vertebra myself, I know it's a painful and difficult road to recovery.

But Mr. Murphy, instead this is what you had to say about that hit (also from the Globe and Mail): [It was an] awkward collision between two players battling for space/room. Come on Mr. Murphy, you suspended Rome for what you called a legal hit because it was late and there was serious injury. In the same vein then the Boychuk hit should warrant a suspension. I don't care how long, but suspend him.

I hate to jump on the conspiracy train, but some consistency would be nice. I won't even get into the Marchand pummeling of Sedin which resulted in a misconduct for Sedin and the resulting comment of "I felt like it" from Marchand (around 2:15). Or any of the other inconsistent circus side shows that have gone on (for both sides) in this series. There's all this talk about how the NHL wants to eliminate blindside hits and goonery, but it's just talk. This hit and non suspension prove that.

So NHL maybe over the summer break you can figure out a way to officiate the game in a fair manner. Because at this point, it looks like it might be more fair to let the teams police the ice themselves. And while you're at it, get a good, solid policy for using spinal board. Please.

To the other people who use the road

Dear cars, buses, bikes, and pedestrians,

I'm not a perfect driver or a perfect bus rider or a perfect pedestrian, but I try not to do things to scare other people and make their drives, pedals, rides, or walks to work, school, home, or wherever a constant source of heart palpitations. Maybe you could try to do the same? Most of you are great at sharing the road, but some of you, well, maybe you need a reminder.

Dear cars,

You have these neat new fangled things on your car called signal lights and head lights.

SIGNAL LIGHTS: It's really great if you flip the little lever up or down before you turn so that the cars behind you know what you're doing. Not while you're already turning or when you're done turning, *before* you start turning.

HEAD LIGHTS: It's winter. That means it starts to get dark sometime not long after 4:00. And if it's raining or snowing or just a miserable Vancouver day, it can be dark much earlier than that. It usually doesn't get light until sometime after 8:00. Again, it can stay dark longer if it's raining or snowing or just a miserable Vancouver day. Please turn your head lights on so that the rest of us (other cars, buses, bikes, and pedestrians) can see you. Also, your high beams, those are for when there is no oncoming traffic or traffic directly in front of you. I think it's 100 m. Your high beams shining in my eyes or my rear view mirror don't help things.

In Vancouver we have a few kinds of ways to get through intersections. We have through intersections in one direction with stop signs or lights in the other. We have four way stops. We have through intersections with lights controlled by pedestrians and stops signs going the other way. We have roundabouts. We have intersections with traffic lights in all directions. I'm sure there are other ones too.

Please follow the signals and signs. And watch for pedestrians. I don't like almost getting run over when I'm crossing with the lights. I don't like getting honked at because I'm in the CROSSWALK. I don't like getting honked at because I'm not turning because I'm waiting for a pedestrian to cross the road. WITH THE LIGHT.

And when you're in the roundabout...follow the signs and rules. That means you need to yield to the vehicles IN the roundabout (to your left). Don't honk at me when I'm in the roundabout and you have to wait your turn. Signal when you're going to leave the roundabout so that people waiting to get in can and people behind you don't almost rear end you. Oh and pedestrians? They still have the right of way. Don't try to run them down in the crosswalk or honk at them.

And four way stops? First vehicle to stop has the right of way. If there are multiple vehicles, you yield to the right.

If you happen to drive in the area around the UBC daycare centres and UHill Secondary, those 30km/hour signs are there for a reason. Don't pass all the cars going 30 and then slam on your brakes because you almost hit a child in a crosswalk. Don't go faster than 30. There are lots and lots and lots of little kids around. Little kids and teenagers can be unpredictable. Just be patient (or take another route...people who tend to do these two things seem to be using the road as a way to avoid the centre of campus)

Those are just a few things that are annoying me today about cars...I'm sure there's more.

Dear buses,

See notes to cars.

Also, I know I have to yield to you when you pull away from the curb. And really, I'm happy to do it. I don't want to argue with you...your bus will cause more damage to my car than my car will to your bus. BUT...if I'm right beside you and you signal that you want to pull away from the curb, signal and then pull away, don't just pull away and signal and assume we'll all be able to stop. Sometimes we can't because the car behind us isn't paying attention. Also, if I'm beside you, I might have to keep going because there isn't enough room in front of me for your big bus to fit.

And even though I HAVE to stop, it's nice of you to acknowledge that I DID stop with a little wave.

Dear bus riders,

It sucks to take the bus when it's wet out...mostly because it's crowded and steamy and wet. Please don't shake your umbrella off in the bus. Please don't open your umbrella into the crowd of people waiting to get on when you get off. Wait until you're a safe distance away. Your backpack doesn't need a seat. Your backpack makes a good weapon, so please take it off before you decapitate someone with it as you shove your way through the crowd. Those seats at the front? Give them to people with mobility issues (even if they're not in a wheelchair or using crutches or a cane or some other mobility device) Give them to people with a disability or injury. Give them to pregnant women, people with young children, and the elderly. The fact that you didn't get enough studying done before your exam today doesn't mean that you get to sit there to study. That's what the library is for. Be courteous. Please.

Dear bikes,

You are not glorified pedestrians. Stay off the sidewalk. If you're uncomfortable riding on the road, ride on a bike street or don't ride at all. I don't like almost getting knocked down by you or the near misses my little girl has had.

You are a vehicle. And like cars and trucks and motor bikes and buses, you are subject to all of the laws pertaining to a vehicle (ahem, stay off the sidewalk). You need to stop at stop signs. Don't give me a dirty look when you almost slam into my car that is legally in an intersection because you decided not to stop at the stop sign. Four way stops...those pertain to you too. Stopping for pedestrians in a crosswalk? Oh yeah, that's for you too. Don't stop your bike in my blind spot and bang on my car to tell me you're there. I probably know you're there because some of you are kamikazes so I keep a close eye on you. You could pull up closer or stay a bit further back and avoid my blind spot too...and if I'm stopped, I'm not going anywhere, so don't bang on my car. It scares my daughter.

And you need to turn your lights on. Or get some lights. One light on the back of your bike doesn't help me see you at all when you're coming towards me and you're wearing dark clothes and it's dark out. Reflectors are great, but lights are essential.

Dear pedestrians,

Yes, you have the right of way. Do you also have a death wish? Because a lot of you seem to think you're invincible. You're not. A car is a lot bigger and heavier than you and if anyone "wins" in a car vs a pedestrian, it's not usually the pedestrian.

Please don't j-walk. Especially if you're going to hide between SUVs with tinted windows so I can't see you and then just jump into traffic. Come on. There are street lights and crosswalks for a reason. And most of the worst offenders are only a car length or two from the corner.

Be aware of your space, your umbrella, and the people with you. If you're taking up the whole sidewalk, it's practically impossible for people coming the other way to walk. Don't give them dirty looks when you need to move over so they can pass.

Dear cars, buses, bikes, and pedestrians,

Mostly, please just be courteous and aware of what's going on around you. And be patient. I'm talking to you, black car that zoomed around me when I slowed down because someone was parking. I ended up right beside you at the stop light a block and a half away...it didn't save you a single second! I'll do my best to do the same...I just want to get where I'm going in one piece!

Thank you.

Marie Claire makes me SO angry!

So, a few weeks ago, Marie Claire magazine posted an article entitled The Hunger Diaries. I've linked to it because that's the only way you can read it and see what it's all about.

I officially despise Marie Claire now.

So, if you read the six blogs (Kath of Kath Eats Real Food, Tina of Carrots 'N' Cake, Meghann of Meals and Miles, Heather of Hangry Pants, Caitlin of Healthy Tipping Point, and Jenna of Eat, Live, Run), you'll see that these women expected an article about blogging and how to generate revenue with your blog.

Read the article. Then read the responses.

But what we got was an article that basically slammed these women for writing about their journeys to become marathon runners or just to become healthier. They brought in a sports nutritionist to analyze what one woman ate and determined she wasn't eating enough. Well, yeah, turns out she didn't write about every single thing she ate every single day.

Then there's the crap about the pictures of food. And how that can trigger eating-disorder-prone readers to restart (or start) bad habits. Bah. At least one of the women considers herself a food blogger. That's what a food blogger does. She blogs about food. She usually takes pictures of that food. Sometimes she posts recipes too. That's why it's called a FOOD BLOG.

I read this article and my blood boiled. I am not a healthy living blogger. I'm not a food blogger. I'm just a blogger and sometimes I blog about both of those things. I bet, based on what I posted recently, that if Marie Claire analyzed my blog, they'd decide that I overeat, usually baked goods, and I live a very sedentary lifestlye. I've posted all kinds of yummy things I've made lately. I haven't posted about the baked salmon and steamed veggies we had for dinner or the veggie soup I had for lunch. I've posted about watching hockey games - on tv and at the hockey rink. I haven't posted much about what we've been doing - like going to the park, going for a walk, going to yoga.

Whatever. I'm not here for Marie Claire.

Anyway, this article pissed me off. Big time. And I started following the six women profiled because I actually liked what they have to say.

Now, there is a bigger issue here that Marie Claire could have focused on and that is the issue around eating disorders. It's been in the new a few times lately that there are blogs out there dedicated to "helping" you with your eating disorder - not helping you overcome it, helping you hide it, teaching you "tricks" etc. That's a problem and an issue that is interesting and could have made a great story.

So. Already not a big fan of Marie Claire, I come across this blog post today. (Again, I'd prefer not to link to Marie Claire, but there are copyright laws)

Who titles an article Should Fatties Get A Room? Even on TV?

I mean, really?

If this article where titled Should [insert any religion here] Get A Room? Even on TV? or Should [insert any ethnic group here] Get A Room? Even on TV? or Should [insert any gender, sexual orientation, country of origin, age or other discriminatory term here] Get A Room? Even on TV? Marie Claire NEVER would have published it.

I don't even know where to start. It just makes me mad. And sad. And. GRRRrr...I just want to yell at them. So I'm going to stop typing now.

I wrote an email to the editor of Marie Claire, Kate Schweitzer (kschweitzer@hearst.com) because I'm so grumpy about this...

TOOOOOOOO HOT!

The heat and humidity are killing us. No one is sleeping. I have not had bags like this since I was, oh, I can't remember. Maybe right after J was born. We're all shiny all the time.

While I LOVE fall, normally I will take my fill of summer. I like summer too. I just love fall. But right now, I'd just like fall to arrive. And not the nice kind of fall that I like, but the cold wet fall that will make this heat GO AWAY!

It was 19 this morning at 7:00 when I turned the computer on. I'm not sure what the humidity is, but I feel gross.

UGH.

That's all.

It was the teeth

Well, it turns out that the angst of last night was (almost certainly) cause by the rather slow appearance of some two year molars. J's been fussy and whiny and complaining about her mouth for a while now.

And this morning, well, we'll get to that, but she let me put my fingers in her mouth to check the situation out and she definitely has one, if not two, great big huge honking molars ready to erupt.

And she's still on holiday schedule which means staying up a bit later and sleeping in. That will change since we're back on daycare schedule this week. So hopefully she'll go down a bit easier too.

This morning was what you could call a challenge. A BIG challenge. I was happy to get a little bit of food into her and her diaper changed. We did not brush hair or teeth. She was wearing her pjs and rain boots when I dropped her off because some days the battle just isn't worth fighting. It just isn't. PJs out in public on occasion won't kill her or cause horrible, irreparable damage to her future abilities (to do anything - make friends, talk, go to school, find a job, etc etc etc). I'm sure of it.

So tonight I'm ready! I'm getting some popsicles on the way home. We're going to the library and maybe the park after dinner and she's going to get to stay up a little bit later than usual. And if all else fails, we'll go for a walk again.

But not to the seawall.

I'm a bit afraid that this time we might really get skunked!

Really? No, really?

So, in this day and age of green, I was surprised today. Very surprised.

It's time for potty training at our house. So I went on a search for the thick cotton training panties.

And no one had them. I went to three department stores and one everything store.

And the reason no one had them? Because people use the underwear type diapers now. I did buy some for J with the plan being we'd use them if we had to go out for the first little while and gradually fade them out.

They're expensive. And wasteful. And yes, we used disposable diapers, but I wanted to use cloth or G-Diapers, but the G-Diapers didn't fit and I didn't get on the cloth fast enough...but I really don't want to use the underwear diapers.

So I put it out to my mommy friends on Facebook. Looks like there are two more places I can check out - a toy store that sells lots of baby stuff and the big everything store that I hate. But will go to if I must.

Sigh.

WHAT A GRUMP!

Dale Begg-Smith needs to get with the program...he came second, not last. Even the American, Bryon Wilson, is way more excited about his bronze medal than Begg-Smith is about his silver.

Check out the picture. Seriously.

Oh...and check out this article from Macleans.ca - I love the part where they say Begg-Smith looks like someone ran over his puppy.

And it starts...

The Olympics opened last night - we watched the ceremony and there is some major excitement at our house. We were at the torch relay the night before too (I'll post some pictures later).

They opened on a bit of a sad note because of the training death of Nodar Kumaritashvili. I saw the video footage on the news just as it happened and wow, it was horrific and sad.

But today...today grrr. Protesters are in downtown Vancouver rioting, destroying things, including smashing the windows of the Bay, and intimidating people on the streets.

I'm not concerned so much about protesters - I have no problem with them protesting, here or elsewhere. What drives me nuts is that they seem to think they can break the law and they are somewhat cowardly about it as most of them have masks covering their faces. I heard an interview with one of them and she kept saying their violence wasn't a problem, it was small; the problem was the police who were violent in arresting the people. She also said their disruption of downtown was nothing compared with the disruption VANOC is forcing on people by virtue of hosting the Olympics. Ummm...VANOC gave us seven years notice that there would be two weeks of disruption and change in Vancouver. These guys show up and start smashing downtown and they think that comes close to even preparing?!

Yeah, I'm a bit riled up...it's amazing how a small group of people (they say there's maybe a few hundred of them) can ruin things for a larger group of people. Protesters, go away...or at least protest in a lawful manner.

That's all.

I'm going to *bleeeeeeeping* ruin your day

Is that right!

So, yesterday's post about umbrella etiquette was sparked by an incident on the way to dropping J off yesterday morning.

I was walking down the street, minding my own business. It was drizzling, but not a lot. If you were driving, you wouldn't even have your wipers on intermittent, it was that light.

A few blocks from J's daycare, I see a woman and her giant umbrella clobber another person in the face. This girl was clearly hurt and not about to say anything to the giant umbrella lady. I wasn't impressed, but hey, what do you do...right?

Then, as we continue down the street, I watch this lady barrel her way though the people under the awnings - some trying to get in or out of the shops, some waiting, some trying to stay dry without an umbrella or hat - and almost do the same thing to two more people.

That's when I surprised myself. I'm not usually someone who will speak out in public, but I found my legs marching down the street to catch up her. I did and I said excuse me, I wasn't sure if you knew your umbrella is quite wide and you just caught someone in the eye. I was calm and polite and the lady was like I DID NOT. WHY WOULD YOU ACCUSE ME OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT. I responded by saying I was sure it was an accident, I wasn't actually accusing her of anything, but I wanted to let her know so it didn't happen again...I can't remember exactly what I said, but I wasn't angry and I was trying very hard not to be accusatory because I was positive she had no idea what her umbrella was doing (hey, pay attention people)...The whole time the little voice in my head was going, hey, what are you doing? are you crazy? why are you doing this? just go back to being invisible!

Then it started...

I have not heard that kind of language come out of a person for a long time...I just kept walking and I heard her stop at a bus stop I just passed.

Then...well, I heard her behind me again...

And she had this to say to me:

"If you're going to bleeping ruin my bleeping day, then I'm bleeping going to make sure I bleeping ruin yours."

She continued along the same lines as I crossed the street...

I was stunned and I don't know that I'll ever call someone on their behaviour again, but strangely she didn't ruin my day. I wasn't impressed that J had to hear that kind of language, but the woman's reaction and rant made me realize that there must be some very unhappy things in her life right now and that my life is pretty good.

So, rather than ruining my day, in a strange way her little tirade almost made my day.

I just hope the girl with the eye is okay...

Why I hate umbrellas

I am not a fan of umbrellas. That said, I know that people need to use them. I just prefer not to. But I do wish that people used some umbrella etiquette when they take their umbrellas out for a walk...

Just a few request from me...not that the umbrella culprits will read this or take notice if they do!

• When you use your umbrella, big, large, lady bug, plain black, whatever, be aware of other people. You are wider than you normally are, so either lift your umbrella over those around you if you're walking past people OR collapse it OR give yourself more room.
• When it is NOT raining, put your umbrella down, please.
• Do not step out of the bus and open your umbrella into a crowd.
• If you have one of those big long umbrellas and you are carrying it collapsed, please hold it beside or in front of you, don't swing it wildly - J almost got taken out by one of those in London.
• Your folded up, long umbrella is not a sword. I don't care if you're 5 or 55, it's not a sword.
• When you get on the bus, don't shake your umbrella violently over all the people already on the bus.
• Don't pull the umbrella in front of your face and march down the street - you still need to watch where you're going...
• If your umbrella is up, you don't need to walk under the building awnings. Please leave that space free for the poor people who don't have umbrellas/hoods and the people trying to enter and exit the shops and offices.

Grrr....

That's all.

Really.

Ever seen someone's head pop off?

Cause if you haven't and you hang out with me today, you might just get to see it happen...

We're off on a big trip with our small person this weekend and we ran into some frustrating snags with the big bad airline this week. We've been trying to sort it out, but between the travel agent and the airline customer service people, I really get the feeling none of them actually want people to fly anywhere!

We booked with an airline we've used before and we've been very happy with. We actually booked a seat for our small person, hoping to make the long flight more enjoyable for all involved (including those lucky individuals sitting around us) but that one decision has been the biggest nightmare of all. I'm just waiting to hear back from the travel agent who I called after hours last night and demanded he sort this mess out...

I'm frustrated enough that I kind of wish we weren't going anywhere on Saturday! Grrrrrrrrr......

Attempt #1 - Simulation of re-entry into real world - FAIL

Well, I'm back after what appears to be a 2+ month gap.

But it's not.

I was just away. And away in places where computers/internet were not always reliable or easily accessible or available when I was to use them. Instead I "blogged" with a pen and paper and now I just need to type and upload those posts...

So...I will be updating and back dating the few months over the next couple of weeks. And it will likely jump all over the place.

Anyway, on to the failed attempt. Our young lady turned one this week which means on Monday I will be heading back to work. I had thought I'd have almost three weeks to (re)orient myself to the joys of waking up to an alarm clock, not a baby and get both of us into a routine that would allow for me to get showered, dressed and hair done before J got out of bed...yeah right. The universe aligned itself against me...for days.

So today was to be day #1 of the simulation. I was going to set my alarm for 6:30, get up shower, dry my hair and get dressed, all before waking J around 7:00. Because for the last little while, not only has she either been sleeping through the night (or waking only once), she has also been sleeping in until 8:00!

But I forgot to factor in the twelve month vaccinations she had yesterday. And Alex's morning shift this week. So, Alex was up at 3:15 to leave the house before 4:30 and J woke up, oh, a bunch of times. The last time at 5:25. And after a series of attempts at getting her to go back to bed, we were both up for the day at 5:55. She did fall asleep, but then a very loud motorcycle gunned it right outside her windows and that was the end of that.

So, here we are. 10:00 and I've just managed to get a shower and get dressed.

Tomorrow - attempt #2. Yes, I know it's Saturday tomorrow.

All about strolling...

When I had my back injury, I got to experience the joys of trying to navigate the world (at Christmastime!) in a wheelchair and I realized how horribly inconsiderate and self-absorbed people can be.

Now, with daily excursions with a stroller, I still can't get over how inconsiderate and self-absorbed people are. It's not as bad as with the wheelchair, but wow! people do strange things. It's rare to go out and about with out shaking my head at least once at someone. And you'd think I'd have been prepared for it, what with the wheelchair experience. Yeah, right!

For some reason people think there is no one else in the world and they can just wander around however they want. My favourites in the last week or so:

• The guy who sped up to the stop sign and blared his horn at me even though I was already about 3/4 of the way through the intersection before he came out of the alley and turned the corner to approach the intersection
• The guy who pulled into the crosswalk about three seconds before I got to the curb, again I was already *in* the intersection, and then told me to take my baby into to traffic to get up on the other side. I was a bit cranky that day so I just stood beside his door until he backed up. I mean really, he had the red light!
• The couple walking side-by-side down the sidewalk by our house who gave me a dirty look because they had to walk one in front of the other for, oh, five seconds
• The various people who are walking down the street minding their own business until they see the stroller. Then they veer off course and walk toward the stroller, looking for a direct hit or something
• The oh-so-helpful people at street corners who tell me Baby J is dressed too hot/too cold/is going to suffocate/should be home in bed not out on the street
• The same people who, after staring at Baby J in her pink "Princess" hat and pink blanket, ask me how old my little boy is

And I could go on and on but I think I'll stop now. This is nowhere near as inconsiderate and rude as people were when I was in the wheelchair, but some days I really feel like there's an entire three or four generations (older and younger than mine and mine too) that missed the part of growing up where moms and dads teach manner.

Sigh...

Brrr....

So, daylight savings time changed today...we fell back our hour and already I've noticed a change. It might be because it's really rainy. REALLY RAINY. and dark and dreary though. And that's making me cold.

According to the thermostat, it's 22C in here, which should be nice and pleasant, but I'm cold.

And the rain just started falling really really hard which made me even colder. And then the late afternoon winter sun just came through the window...and that made me cold too. I don't like dark or cold I've decided.

I didn't win the $40 million last night, so I guess I'll just have to suck it up and not move somewhere warm and sunny.


Sigh...

Once upon a time

...winter stuck around until June.

Then summer came (and we pretty much skipped spring entirely) and it was wonderful!

And then...then winter seemed to come back. It's cold. I got rained on. And I'm allowed to complain again...but I'll try to keep the complaining completely weather related.

To the people on the bus - Part 2

First of all, maybe I should just stop taking the bus. Then I wouldn't complain so much. Complaining isn't good. Or so I've heard.

Dear people on the bus who sit at the front and don't need to,

Like I mentioned last time, it's uncool to pretend to sleep, study or just not see the people who get on who need to sit down. And I'm not talking about me. How about the guy with the crutches the other day or elderly lady yesterday?

Dear people on the bus who sit at the front and speak in stage whispers,

I can hear you. Especially when I'm only one person away from you. And the only reason I didn't say anything to you was because I was too hot and tired and really couldn't be bothered talking to people like you. And no, I'm not "too pregnant to be out in public and on the bus." I know my presence on the bus wasn't hurting me or my baby. I can't imagine how it was hurting you. And I still had three months to my due date when you whispered that to your husband. Just you wait. I'm gonna get bigger. I PROMISE!

Dear lady on the bus who claims she was going to give the two girls who were (a) pretending to sleep and (b) pretending to study heck for not giving me their seats,

I know that (a) was pretending to sleep because once I sat down she "woke up" and was alert for the rest of the trip and I know that (b) was pretending to study because once I sat down, she stopped studying for the rest of the trip, but if you were going to say something, you should have said something when I got on or offered me your seat if you were that concerned, not eight or ten stops later when I sat down in a vacant seat. I wasn't concerned. If I needed to sit, I would have asked someone to move. I made it ten or so stops plus a bridge without fainting, falling over, banging into anyone etc. And when I did sit down, it was because there was a seat empty and no one in it - I'm pregnant, not an invalid - I could have managed the next six stops no problem too!

To the people who insist on standing in the doorways when there is space in the aisles,

Please move when the bus stops. I am pregnant. My belly is huge. I cannot get through the narrow little space that a three year old could maybe get through. Even if I wasn't pregnant. Six inches just isn't enough space for a grown up body. I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you, but I'd like to get off at my stop, not yours. And if you're on a B-Line, get out of the way so the people can get on...three door boarding and all, you know!

To the bus driver who waited until I got to my seat at the back of the bus,

Thank you! I might not be an invalid, but my balance isn't what it used to be and riding buses when I'm not holding tight to something could be dangerous!

To the people who roll their eyes and groan when someone gets on the bus who might take a little longer to board,

Chill out! You kinda suck...and you never know when a split second event could occur and that person who needs a courtesy seat, a few extra seconds to get to their seat, or who is in a wheelchair could be you. (Go read the last bus rant post and you'll see what I'm talking about - scroll to the end.)

And now the sun is shining and the birds are chirping so I'm going to try not to complain anymore..at least not until it starts to be winter in June rain again.