Third Sign of the Apocolypse...

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Of Pets and Men

It's been an up and down week. Holly and I continued our shopping spree over the few more days she was here, but both she and Rod were sick. She kept getting very nauseous, and Rod was hit with a nasty flu. So bad that when Wednesday morning rolled around, there wasn't much solid sleep, and Rod was almost drowning in sweat, so I made the decision that Rod's first day at work was going to have to be delayed. He was just so sick! You know he had to have been sick to let me make that decision, because anyone who knows Rod, knows that he suffers from "MY LIFE FOR THE COMPANY" syndrome. There was a hiccup about a phone call, but Rod slugged his way through work on Thursday.

Holly meanwhile, was not having the best week either. Her very precious little guinea pig, G.P., was also very sick, and on Tuesday and Wednesday it was very much a question of whether he lived in pain or was put down. Holly left on Wednesday, and on Thursday G.P. was put to sleep. My poor girl. He was a cute little bugger. R.I.P. Notorious P.I.G.

And yesterday, Jette informed me that Lori had to put her cat, Bailey, to sleep as well on Monday. So as you can imagine, I am clutching Max and Princess Purrball everytime they come around like they were made of gold or something. My precious babies. It'd be more merciful to put me down rather then have to tell me that either of them were dead.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

My dad and I have what can easily be described as a complex relationship. On one level, I'm very much a Daddy's little girl, and things are fine and dandy. On another level, he and I are butting heads, and there's no mistaking that I am my father's daughter, as I'm just as stubborn as he is. But I know no matter what, he loves me, and I love him.

It was Dad who took one look at the rolling death trap I was driving to and from the airport for work and bought me my first car, and then bought me the car after that one crapped out. And he's always giving advice on careers moves and stuff like that. He also really loves and respects Rod, making our relationships easy because there's none of that Father/Son-in-Law crap that can go on in other families.

Daddy's always good for a laugh, and I know he's always got my best interest at heart. Love you daddy.

Things *not* to say to the Border Agent at the US Border

While Rod, Holly and I were waiting to cross the border into Washington, I came up with a new game called "What Not to say to US Customs Agents" and we came up with some real doozies:

Holly's "I have drugs up my bum!" was the funniest, and was later embellished with a "I had no trouble getting them in(to the country)"

Other things:

-(Fancy) We're Polygamists
-(Fancy) He's our pimp
-(Fancy) We're underage and he just paid us to have sex with him
-(Rod) She's (Holly) hiding drugs up her bum and She's (Fancy) carrying arms
-(Rod) Do you have a copy of your laws? I'd like to use it as a checklist
-(Holly) as regards the drugs..."Strip search!"
-(Fancy) Where's the nearest sawed-off shotgun store?
-(Rod) We're just delivering this package for a guy
-(Rod) as regards the Arms..."We're just delivering them to some friends in Waco"
-(Rod) We have a trunk load of fertiziler for friends
-(Fancy) He (Rod) wants to shoot your president! (okay, all joking aside on this one, I believe Rod's a fairly non-violent dude, and at worst, Shrubya can expect a very contemptible look...maybe an egg to the limosine...please US Secret Service, FBI, et al, don't take it seriously)

Something tells me this list will be an ongoing process...stay tuned.

Hi! my name is Fancy

"Are you the new Mabel*"

Okay, I'm temping now, gotta earn some cash, and it's my first time ever, and I've taken an assignment over the next couple of months as an administrative assistant. Many people just keep coming to my office and asking me that question, which leads me to explain who I am. Now the second question I get is. "Fancy?"

Except one lady. She asked me where I got that name, and I told her my dad gave it to me, and we still don't know why (hey dad, when *will* you tell me about it?). She looked me dead in the eye and asked, "Was he drunk?"

I've never before had the urge to laugh beyond wetting myself, and I really fought to stifle it, cause it was the funniest response I've ever had to my name.

*Mabel is a pseudonym, as the temping firm made me sign a contract with a confidentiality clause.

Dear Ann Coulter

Please die.

Sincerely,

Gawd

HAPPY BIRFDAY KARYNE!

My sister turned 30-something yesterday! So here's a shout out to the big sister and second mum in my life...


(Right: Karyne, youngest son Austin)

There's roughly an 8 year difference in age between me and Karyne, and some of my earliest conscious memories are of a 13 year old and a 4 year old sharing a room. Space was at a premium in our house, but still, this is NOT the ideal situation for peace in a house.

But still, as I was growing up, Karyne was an interesting mix of sister and parent for me. My first ever experience of skipping school was in Grade 3 when she faked a dental appointment for me and we hung out at home. Sure, we got into a fight because she wasn't paying attention when I was trying to tell her something and I packed a bag and started to run away from home to my friend Mavis's house, but it was resolved.

Karyne was a typical child of the 80's, the big hair, the big makeup, the big hair bands, and so on. Well, Mum made the mistake of telling Karyne to get me ready for my class photos in Grade 3, and I let her do whatever cause she was my big sister, and I wanted to be cool like her. So I let her put on the makeup, I let her curl and poof the hair, and I let her put the blue lacy ribbon in my hair. Mum didn't know until the pictures came back, and wow! Karyne and I were in some trouble :)

She was the one who busted me on the smoking, and told mum, who let her handle it. She wrote me letters to encourage me through those difficult teenage years, she took me to Red Deer, Edmonton and Calgary with her when she was in college and university, and as a matter of fact, my first ever university experience was going with her to her Art History class in Red Deer. She had the magic touch for getting me to look old enough to drink in lounges and restaurants with her when I was 15 and 16, but never let me have too much. She took me camping with her and her friends, she got me ready for my first prom experience (a friend's prom), and she wouldn't let me get a nose piercing. She loaned me her car for weekends out, and boy did we have some times in that Chevette! It's funny, she would complain about me being spoiled, but she would spoil me too.

She's got two beautiful boys, a loving husband, a dog, a big lovely house, and her active life, but she still takes time to be a big sister to me, so she occupies a unique place in my life.

HAPPY 30-SOMETHING BIRFDAY KARYNE!

Large Scale Failure

I am ashamed for the delegates at the UN AIDS Conference who refused to identify those at-risk groups simply because these people's lifestyles go against some moral code. That attitude willfully ignores the fact that while Prostitutes, Prisoners, Drug users and Homosexuals are not only most at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, they are also the largest source of spreading it as well. How can any strategy be expected to work if we sweep this important fact under a rug.

The plan to address the global epidemic needs to be a multi-pronged strategy, not focussing on one or two specific issues involving treatment and prevention:

1) Universal Primary Education. In his book 'Race Against Time' Stephen Lewis noted that in Uganda, the effect of receiving at least a primary education halved the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among young adults to 6%, from 12% among those individuals with no formal education.

2) Front Line Intervention. Those vulnerable groups, particularly prostitutes, need aggressive intervention programs that both teach these people how to practice safe sex or drug use, and works with prostitutes and drug users in particular to escape those dangerous lifestyles.

3) Access to Anti-retroviral drugs. Access has been poor because of roadblocks like tied aid and conditionality, Intellectual Property patent laws, and simple ignorance of how to use them correctly. Countries need the freedom to obtain cheap, safe and reliable ARVs in order to balance National Health and an economy supported by able-bodied citizens. That means cutting the strings of tied aid and addressing the Pharmaceutical Industry's old trick of donating older stocks of ARVs that are near or past their effectiveness dates. At the clinical level, people need to be properly educated on the proper use of ARVs to increase their effectiveness.

4) De-stigmatization. Campaigns at all levels of society need to impress upon everyone how HIV/AIDS is spread and that HIV Positive people can still be safe and productive members of society rather then being made pariahs and outcasts. At any level, we can no longer permit the ignorance to breed the stigma attached to this and other infectious diseases.

5) Finally, Commitment. At these conferences, everyone strives to present the optimistic, generous, appropriately respectful face each state and organization is expected to present, because these conferences have become institutionalized, with the same people arguing the same concepts. It's time to break out of the mould, and if a country is going to commit X amount of dollars, live up to the commitment. A minute handful of the industrialized countries live up to promises like the 0.7% of GDP pledge for international development. It's time to put the money where the mouth is.

Of course, all of these strategies need to take place against a backdrop of success in reaching the Millenium Development Goals, because HIV/AIDS is so woven into every aspect of life, it's impossible to address one without the other.

Appropriate. A-P-P-R-O-P-R-I-A-T-E. Appropriate

weltschmerz (VELT-shmerts) noun

World weariness; pessimism, apathy, or
sadness felt at the difference between physical reality and the ideal state.

Finola Hackett blew everyone away to achieve 2nd place at the Scripps National Spelling Bee last night, faltering on 'Weltschmerz' to lose top spot.

And I now have a word to describe my problem. I'm weltschmerzy.

And I'm sliding dangerously close to true and real despair over the state of affairs in Canada. Today, the Not-very-honourable Prime Minister said something that evoked such tempestuous feelings in me, I was momentarily shocked at the deep well of hatred rising up from the pit of my stomach. On the Conservative Government's plans to scrap the $4 billion dollar deal that would see serious Aboriginal issues such as poverty and lack of education and opportunities addressed, Harper said that he felt no obligation to honour the deal. And he said it because he wants to SPITE the Liberal Government that made the deal before Jackass Layton triggered the last election.

Granted, I'm not the most Indian of Indians, but a willfully blind and ignorant person it makes for someone to want to cancel a deal that could do good for a segment of the population whose fortunes are lacking. I'm talking about families living in ridiculously sub-standard housing on reserves, and about lack of depth in education suffered by far too many Aboriginals. $4 billion in the right partnerships could go a long way to planting the seeds of improvement. And Harper will piss it all away because he's pretty well Anti-society.

Also on the agenda is a Free Vote to repeal Same Sex Marriage rights, and a cancellation of the deal made with the cities to address infrastructure problems. How many more ways can this guy piss me off? I'm overcome with a serious urge to become an elected politician so I could take him on, but by the time I got there, he'd be long, long, long gone.

See, there are serious drawbacks to being a political animal. Stuff like this temporarily angers the average citizen, but it keeps me awake at night with worry and anger.

Weltshmerz indeed.