06 November 2011
It's a Weird World
06/11/11 13:55
We ran out of salt this week. We put it on the list and went in search of the classic blue cylindrical box of Morton’s Salt, but try as we might we couldn’t find any. We ended up getting a square box of Canadian made Windsor Table Salt. Not a big deal, I mean salt is salt after all, but I do wonder if they tried to sell Morton’s up here and couldn't. Mort’ means death in French and I gotta think that nobody would want to buy Death’s Salt.
It’s been a few weeks of weird events and announcements. Like the time Marsha was wandering around a trade show at the Convention Centre while I was in class. She came across a booth where they were handing out “A Free Device for Converting Electrical Energy Into General Illumination”. The booth was for a patent attorney and he was giving out light bulbs. We found this very amusing and somehow apropos of an attorney. (Oh good more French.)
And speaking of French, Saturday the BC Lions beat the Montreal Alouettes 43 to 1.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/story/2011/11/06/sp-cfl-lions-alouettes.html
As much as you might think so, Alouette is not French for Gopher.
This week we also discovered something slightly disturbing about Geiger. I’ve noticed for a long time that when Marsha leaves, such as to go to work, he makes this sad meowing sound and mopes around the place. This week Marsha noticed that when I left to run some errands he ran all over the house and was jumping off the tables and ricocheting off the couches. Apparently he cries when she leaves and is overcome with joy when I leave.
Really, I’m trying to not take this personally.
This week we did find one bit of sad news.
http://www.timescolonist.com/Aviawest+wins+creditor+protection/5621740/story.html
Aviawest is the company I worked for until August. To say I’m more than a little surprised would be putting it mildly. I knew they were having troubles. That’s why they let a bunch of the staff, including me, go and closed the Nanaimo Centre last summer. But to have them filing for bankruptcy protection is a shock. What’s more in another article I read that their largest creditor is arguing against the filing and wants the company to be shut down and liquidated immediately to pay off debts. The ruling was supposed to come out last Friday but as of today (Sunday) we haven’t heard which way the judge ruled. I’m hoping they survive. There’s still a lot of good people working there and I wouldn’t want to see them all lose their jobs. Especially as the company as a whole is running well. They just made a mistake on building the Parkside Resort. They started it before the meltdown in 2008. It came on line in 2009, cost more than expected, and with the economy problems they've had trouble filling it. All of their other properties are full and are making money.
On a lighter note, there was the article I ran across on the BBC about a debate held in Philadelphia on whether the American Declaration of Independence was legal under International Law.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15345511
Now this is just two bunches of lawyers arguing for fun so my interest normally would be somewhere less than zero. However what caught my eye was one argument put forward by the British team (who were arguing that it wasn’t legal). They asked “What if Texas decided today it wanted to secede from the Union?” Well lets see. Texas begged to join the US, then switched to the Confederacy and waged war against the country. It was the homeland of Lee Harvey Oswald, Bonny and Clyde, and many others not to mention Presidents Johnson, Bush, and W. Bush. You know, somehow at this point if it were put up to a vote I think most Americans would be fine with them leaving.
And lastly, sometimes the jokes just write themselves.
Formula 1 racing is the elite of motor sports. The cars cost millions. The drivers are paid millions. The whole thing is surrounded by money and the very rich. When they’re not racing, those involved with F-1 are known for lavish parties where the uniform of the day is diamonds and fur, even in Dubai where it’s too hot for fur. The races are held in places like Shanghai, and Monte Carlo, and Singapore, and Abu Dahabi, and Kuala Lumpur. So last week I noticed an announcement from F-1 that they were adding a race to the schedule: The New Jersey Grand Prix.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/formula_one/15440153.stm
To say this seems a bit out of place is an understatement. The cream of motor-sports drivers and press rubbing elbows with the cast from Jersey Shore. F-1 cars on cinderblocks with all the wheels missing. Lavish parties where Snooki says “Hey yo! What the f%!&** is this? Fish eggs?” The organizers demanding that the cars have flames painted on the sides. Someone like Tony Soprano running the show. It'll be great.
Or Not.
More next week.
Doug & Marsha
PIX. Fall at the Nanaimo Harbour
It’s been a few weeks of weird events and announcements. Like the time Marsha was wandering around a trade show at the Convention Centre while I was in class. She came across a booth where they were handing out “A Free Device for Converting Electrical Energy Into General Illumination”. The booth was for a patent attorney and he was giving out light bulbs. We found this very amusing and somehow apropos of an attorney. (Oh good more French.)
And speaking of French, Saturday the BC Lions beat the Montreal Alouettes 43 to 1.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/story/2011/11/06/sp-cfl-lions-alouettes.html
As much as you might think so, Alouette is not French for Gopher.
This week we also discovered something slightly disturbing about Geiger. I’ve noticed for a long time that when Marsha leaves, such as to go to work, he makes this sad meowing sound and mopes around the place. This week Marsha noticed that when I left to run some errands he ran all over the house and was jumping off the tables and ricocheting off the couches. Apparently he cries when she leaves and is overcome with joy when I leave.
Really, I’m trying to not take this personally.
This week we did find one bit of sad news.
http://www.timescolonist.com/Aviawest+wins+creditor+protection/5621740/story.html
Aviawest is the company I worked for until August. To say I’m more than a little surprised would be putting it mildly. I knew they were having troubles. That’s why they let a bunch of the staff, including me, go and closed the Nanaimo Centre last summer. But to have them filing for bankruptcy protection is a shock. What’s more in another article I read that their largest creditor is arguing against the filing and wants the company to be shut down and liquidated immediately to pay off debts. The ruling was supposed to come out last Friday but as of today (Sunday) we haven’t heard which way the judge ruled. I’m hoping they survive. There’s still a lot of good people working there and I wouldn’t want to see them all lose their jobs. Especially as the company as a whole is running well. They just made a mistake on building the Parkside Resort. They started it before the meltdown in 2008. It came on line in 2009, cost more than expected, and with the economy problems they've had trouble filling it. All of their other properties are full and are making money.
On a lighter note, there was the article I ran across on the BBC about a debate held in Philadelphia on whether the American Declaration of Independence was legal under International Law.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15345511
Now this is just two bunches of lawyers arguing for fun so my interest normally would be somewhere less than zero. However what caught my eye was one argument put forward by the British team (who were arguing that it wasn’t legal). They asked “What if Texas decided today it wanted to secede from the Union?” Well lets see. Texas begged to join the US, then switched to the Confederacy and waged war against the country. It was the homeland of Lee Harvey Oswald, Bonny and Clyde, and many others not to mention Presidents Johnson, Bush, and W. Bush. You know, somehow at this point if it were put up to a vote I think most Americans would be fine with them leaving.
And lastly, sometimes the jokes just write themselves.
Formula 1 racing is the elite of motor sports. The cars cost millions. The drivers are paid millions. The whole thing is surrounded by money and the very rich. When they’re not racing, those involved with F-1 are known for lavish parties where the uniform of the day is diamonds and fur, even in Dubai where it’s too hot for fur. The races are held in places like Shanghai, and Monte Carlo, and Singapore, and Abu Dahabi, and Kuala Lumpur. So last week I noticed an announcement from F-1 that they were adding a race to the schedule: The New Jersey Grand Prix.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/formula_one/15440153.stm
To say this seems a bit out of place is an understatement. The cream of motor-sports drivers and press rubbing elbows with the cast from Jersey Shore. F-1 cars on cinderblocks with all the wheels missing. Lavish parties where Snooki says “Hey yo! What the f%!&** is this? Fish eggs?” The organizers demanding that the cars have flames painted on the sides. Someone like Tony Soprano running the show. It'll be great.
Or Not.
More next week.
Doug & Marsha
PIX. Fall at the Nanaimo Harbour