Blog or white ... because it never is.

OMG.  It seems like a long time ago, but a group of private citizens hired a private investigator to look into the PPD of the City of Winnipeg.  The allegations were almost funny.  It spoke to a culture within the department of Inspectors conducting extensive personal business while at work.  Well, we all do that, to some extent.  On-line banking, maybe the occasional shopping, and just goofing off surfing the internet.  I personally have been known to take 1.5 hours for lunch.  Usually, it is after I have put in 3 hours of unclaimed overtime the day before, but, that is not the point.  We all screw the pooch at some time.  However, going home on work hours and mowing your lawn or shoveling your drive-way and doing this between coffee breaks, well, that is a little excessive.  And, in follow-up news stories, this was not surprising to anyone familiar with the department.  At that time, I suggested that this was indicative of a huge morale problem at City Hall in all departments.  It

There was a "serious police incident" on Nairn Avenue on Thursday afternoon.  It caused traffic to be rerouted which was an inconvenience for me.  Luckily, I am always early for everything so the considerable delay caused me to just be on time.  When I was going back home, I was able to go on my regular route.  I saw the house.  It was completely burned down.  But, it was weird.  My house burned down in 1992 three weeks after my wedding.  Another red flag about the marriage that I ignored, but, that is another story.  My fire was the result of a coffee maker and our home had to be gutted.  The kitchen was completely burned down and the rest of the house had an uneven shell.  This house on Nairn Avenue was different.  You could see that the entire inside of the house was burned completely but the outside looked completely intact.  It was weird. Apparently, there was a male who was high on meth and got into a car accident.  He escaped to this house.  His relationship to t

Yeah, this guy again.  He is an uber sports fan.  His favorite football team is Liverpool, but, in reality, he likes all teams except Manchester United.  (This is where I spit.  I have learned from him that when you mention that team, you need to spit.)  He loves the beautiful game.  He got his passion from his father who was a Past President of the Canadian Soccer Association.  I never heard of FIFA before I met him and now those initials come up every day. It is not just soccer that he is passionate about.  His favorite NFL team is the Chargers.  His favorite college football teams are the University of Kentucky and the University of Manitoba.  Chelsea Carey is his favorite female curler and John Shuster is his favorite male curler. For a professional basketball team, he can not pick a favorite between Golden State, the Raptors, and San Antonio Spurs.  He is not really into teams for basketball as he prefers to cheer for individual players.  He managed the Bisons Basketball Team

A week or so ago, I got a "newspaper" in the mail from Manitoba's Independent MLA, Steven Fletcher.  My first thought was why did I get this in the mail since I am not in his constituency.  The first page clearly indicated it was an update on his work as an Independent MLA for his riding.  This wasn't just a two page flyer, this was a full newspaper with coloured pictures and many colours including multi-coloured charts, etc.  Why was I getting this?  Well, it turns out, yesterday he announced he is running in the federal election for CSJAH riding.  So, it turns out that the newspaper was sent to all the citizens in that federal riding.  I personally think this is a breech of ethics.  He is using money that has been allotted to him by the provincial government to campaign for a federal riding.  If you agree that this seems unethical, I urge you to contact your MLA to refer this to the Ethics Commissioner.  And, I didn't read the whole newspaper closely, howe

When I was in my early 20s, I had a very long confrontation with my oldest sister.  It seems inappropriate to say it was a confrontation, because it was more of a healing session.  We were at a wedding and both of us said our share of passive aggressive digs at one another all day.  We were both highly emotionally charged that day.  After the wedding, we went to the party room in the hotel that we were staying at and we ended up being the entertainment.  I can not remember who issued the first verbal jab, but I remember thinking, you wanna go, let's go!  And, it was on.  It went on for hours.  We both cried.  We both raised our voices.  In the end, it was healthy, a clearing of the air, a fresh start.  We actually came to a real understanding of each other.  I remember my mom and my brother-in-law sitting there watching us, both repeating over and over, "this is beautiful."  It actually was beautiful because both my sister and I had the same goal.  We wanted a bette

I have been debating abortion since I was in grade 9.  My best friend and I disagreed and we used to have passionate debates.  We would have the same argument over and over until we both researched our positions and the other side's positions.  Then, we kept having the same argument but with new information.  We had this debate for 4 years.  We differed but we were always best friends.  That was decades ago and I don't really have the appetite to debate the issue further.  I don't really care what position candidates in elections take.  I just think this is an issue that is personal.  Legalized abortion had nothing to do with politics or religion when it started.  It had to do with practicality.  It is hard to believe, but, the reality was there was women getting abortions in back alleys with coat hangers.  It worked out as successfully as you would think.  People died.  People became infected and died of sepsis. People paid money to con artists.  It was similar to th

We have all been told that mental illness can happen in all demographics and affects a huge segment of our society.  It is like cancer or any other illness.  It picks people at random.  Yes, there are a few factors that may indicate one person may have a higher predisposition towards certain diseases, but by and large, people who live with mental illness don't get a choice to decline based on "who" we are.  I know we all say that.  That anyone can be affected by depression and anxiety, but, secretly, there is a large segment of society that doesn't really believe it.  I hate to say it, but I know a couple of people who think it is a made-up illness.  I don't know about anyone else, but I was actually thrilled at 1:08 am this morning.  (Yes, I have chronic insomnia.)   That is when Supreme Court Justice Clement Gascon released a statement about his health.  It turns out that he was missing for several hours last Wednesday and the police had issued an alert. 

Let me explain the photos first.  In the first one, my perfect grandson has more toys than he knows what to do with.  He literally doesn't know what to play with first.  In the second photo, he is much more comfortable doing a puzzle with grandpa.  He is only three, but he is already wise and knows what makes him happy.  Hanging out with his grandpa.  In the last photo, there is a picture of the most delicious tiramisu that I have ever eaten.  I would like to say that I shared with my dining companion, but, I was too greedy and ate it myself. Ok, put those pictures aside for now. West Jet corporation was sold to ONEX corporation yesterday.  In 2014, Tim Horton's was sold to an American company which also owns Wendy's and Burger King.  The first sale was about survival of a Canadian company and the second sale was about corporate greed. First of all, in the interest of full disclosure, I have to tell you that I have a nephew that is a flight attendant with West

Today, as part of job action, Transit Operators are not going to ask anyone for a fare.  It is not about a free ride.  It is about members of the transit union making a point as part of their negotiations with City Hall.  City Hall has commented on the job action by saying what the transit operators are doing is illegal.  I have a friend who is a transit operator.  I decided to interview him about the job action.  I got my questions lined up. 1)  It has been just two years since one of your brother operators was killed randomly by a passenger.  Do you think about that every day when you enter your bus? 2)  In the two years since the bus driver was murdered, there have been new buses added to the fleet, but even they haven't had safety shields installed.  It appears that the City doesn't care about your safety.  How does that make you feel? 3)  The City has not added any safety features to the bus fleet, even the minimal ones that your Union suggested.  How does that

When I was a rebellious and political young adult, I belonged to a number of women's collectives.  There was something amazing about getting together with a group of women.  At times, it could be frustrating.  I belonged to one collective where I thought we were accomplishing nothing.  At our business meetings, the entire collective had to agree on every resolution.  There was always one who disagreed with everything.  Not always the same woman, but there was also one brave dissenter.  I remember one marathon meeting lasting until 3 am because we couldn't all agree to adjourn.  I was so frustrated but now I realize how much we were really accomplishing.  We were empowering ourselves and helping women find their voice.  Oh, I can see the eyes rolling.  Here she goes again.  Feminism.  My own daughter tells me that I have it wrong.  Women are not discriminated against today.  If anything, the pendulum has swung and it is men that are getting the short end of the stick.  Well,

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex gave birth to a boy early this morning.  The birth of a baby always upstages other news.  In this case, it has upstaged Tiger Woods receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom later today.  That is probably a good thing for both Tiger and Trump.  President Trump has exclusive control of who or when he awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  It has been given to Tiger to celebrate his incredible comeback as an athlete. It is a controversial choice because of Tiger's past indiscretions and whether that makes him unworthy to receive this incredible honour.  It is equally controversial given Tiger's womanizing to be honoured by Trump who has also a history of alleged womanizing.  I think it is wrong for Trump to honour Tiger in this way for Constitutional reasons.  The US Constitution states that no President shall benefit financially from being POTUS.   He does receive a salary for being President.  That is why we see so many Presidents

Since I was in Grade 2, I aspired to write the Great Canadian Novel.  I wanted to be a writer.  It was my teacher's fault.  Her name was Miss Houston and she was an amazing teacher.  Strict but kind.  I think she took a personal interest in me, but, perhaps she took a personal interest in all of her students at Henderson Elementary School.  She lived in an apartment one block north of me on Main Street.  I ran a few errands for her on occasion.  She always dressed in a dress and wore pearls.  I think she taught me after decades of experience.  She was really wise and I was painfully shy.  I remember doing a simple assignment. We had to write a letter to someone.  I wrote a letter to my Auntie Madeline thanking her for hosting us at her home on our recent holiday to Vegreville.  I still have that letter somewhere.  Miss Houston came into class and asked me to come with her.  She took me to both Grade 6 classes and I stood at the front while she read my letter.  She told the stud

That's me.  I have been driven to drink by Slotomania.  It wasn't always this way. I have been playing Sloto for a while.  It is a free casino style slot game by Playtika.  Download the app and instant entertainment after a long day.  Mindless spinning and leveling up.  Just spinning and winning.  If your friends were playing, you could send and receive gifts.  I started spinning from the first days of Sloto.  At that time, they had just a few games and you had to level up to be able to play.  It was my guilty pleasure. Then, it started to change.  I understood.  Playtika wanted to make money.  It is understandable.  Everyone wants to make money.  So, they devised little games within the games in order to get players to buy packages of coins to spin.  They started with the club.  Get in the club, get more benefits.  Buy packages, get more benefits.  Then status points.  The higher your status the more your bonuses.  Then albums.  Then, daily dashes.  Heroes required you

Yes, that's me not looking at the camera.  Actually, I was looking at another camera.  Regardless, I look pretty normal.  You would never guess that I have some genetic quirks.  It is true.  I don't have wisdom teeth.  No, I never had them removed, I never got them.  My dentist explained that the human body is constantly in a state of evolution.  Wisdom teeth no longer serve a purpose and in 500 years, wisdom teeth will no longer exist.  My dentist told me I am just more evolved than the average human.  I also have no toenails on my pinkie toes.  Again, I am assuming this is just another example of how evolved I am.  Unfortunately, I have never been able to transfer these genetic quirks to something that I could make money off of - yet.  I am still searching.  One of the most decorated Olympians of all time is Michael Phelps.  For his success, he worked hard.  However, it turns out that genetics did have a role to play in his success.  He has a disproportionately large wing

It is hard to imagine a time when we didn't have internet, but I can remember that time.  Ironically, the first time I used the internet was when our office got them for all staff on September 11, 2001.  We got them for work, and I was the only rebel who was playing around on the computer to see what this internet was all about.  I saw the plane crashing into the first tower of the World Trade Centre. I called everyone in to my office to see it.  It was a little bit silly because we all had computers but about 20 of us were crowded into my office watching this on the internet.  Then, the second plane hit.  I thought this must all be fake.  A voice behind me said terrorism.  We all stayed in my office and watched until about noon.  Then, we closed the office and went home.  About a week later, I got my first joke email.  I remember it distinctively and I still laugh when I think about it.  It was a little off-colour.  Since then, the internet has shown it is certainly the beau

Two random things happened today.  They contributed to making the day extraordinary. The first random thing was the front page story in both newspapers.  Crown corporations are told to tighten up their spending and to make more money.  There seemed to be a particular shout out to  Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries. The second random thing happened while we were eating dinner. Out of nowhere, we went from having a superficial conversation about nothing to having a very deep intimate conversation about our relationship.  And, we were arguing.  But, not arguing.  Have you ever had a conversation with someone about something you feel passionate about and you are both arguing the same side but it becomes heated because you are both passionate and want to feel your points are heard.  Well, that was how this was going.  And, we ended up laughing.  So, then we went out to go to a meeting together and ended up being about half an hour early.  There was a little bar next to where our meeting

There is a lot of speculation that Pallister is going to call a snap election rather than waiting for fall, 2020.  I keep hearing this speculation and I don't understand what would be the thinking behind that.  Elections are expensive.  We are already having a federal election this fall and campaigning has already begun.  Why tax party resources by having two elections at once.  The public would be confused and exhausted.  I'm pretty positive that the only reason Pallister would consider this is because he doesn't think the other parties are ready.  That may be true, but his Party is no more ready.  Basically, through his arrogance, Pallister has reduced the Conservative Party in Manitoba to himself. Also, the reason he got elected last time was because Manitoba typically wants a change every decade or so.  It doesn't really matter how the government is doing, there exists an appetite for change.  Pallister needs to understand that it wasn't so much that he was

It was one year and two days ago that my friend, David, won BIG on HQ.  This big win was in US dollars so we know that it was over 5 figures once converted into Canadian funds.  HQ is a trivia app that has daily trivia that you can compete  against people from all over the world.  As the app has grown in popularity, there are more winners sharing prizes so it is unlikely that we will have big wins like this in the future.  Still, it is an amazing fun app that is fun to play.  Sometimes, you are competing with half a million players from all over the world.  That is pretty cool.  Yes, David won big.  When someone sees me playing HQ, they ask me about, and I always tell them about David's big win.  So, in truth, I probably mention this big win more than he does.  I asked David how this big win changed his life.  He responded that it definitely didn't change it at all.  He says he just got lucky with this big win and another one.  Since I have known David for over a decade, I