Blog or white ... because it never is.

I didn't want to go to the 2nd Annual Babey Gabey Bowl last night.  In fact, my partner and I had words during the afternoon.  I definitely wanted him to go but I just didn't want to go.  For the second time this year, he brought out the card that he has been hiding under his sleeve.  He pointed out the thousand things that he does to support me (and that was just in the last week) and how short of a list it is of things I do for him.   So, we went and it was an amazing evening.  I felt guilty about the value that we got for our small ticket price. There was an awesome vibe of authenticity in the hall.  That was the way it felt for me.  People with all of their masks off not playing any parts.  Just being there to support Gabriel's family and to support all the families out there who may be struggling now or potentially in the future.   It was powerful.  A group of all different people being authentic and having...

Club Regent Poker Room will be celebrating.  I will no longer be patronizing the establishment.  The biggest pain in their ass will by getting her poker fix through alternate charity venues within our province and online.  And, I will be making more trips outside the province.  I am very aware that my business means nothing to them, and by extension, I mean nothing to them.  That is what happens when  you have a government controlled monopoly.  I know I have been an agitator.  I have pointed out when I felt they could do better and that they had a responsibility to provide a safe environment for all players and staff.  I have encouraged them to follow their code of conduct and to enforce same.  I know the bottom line is that the players don't really care.  In fact, they want players who violate the code of conduct because they want the angry players on the felt so that their money is live.  In addition to having a posted ...

I don't know much about Auston Matthews.  Actually, I know more about his father, Brian Matthews.  The reason is that he is close friends with Connor McDavid's father, Brian.  The two Brians.  They have developed an informal support network for parents who deal with young adults who suddenly find themselves with a great deal of material wealth.  Auston is currently charged with a misdemeanor in Arizona that occurred last May.  I am not excusing his behavior because it does show poor judgement, however, it seems to the definition of youthful indiscretion.  The fact that the woman was a military veteran suffering from PTSD should be irrelevant.  It still would have been wrong had she been a single mother or a man.  Victims are victims.  She was terrified and she shouldn't have to explain why she was terrified.  She was also sleeping while she was supposed to be working.  Again, what Auston Matthews did was wrong, however, i...

I have thought and thought about Justin Trudeau.  I have read a lot and I have listened to those who have forgiven him. Everyone has made mistakes in their life.  Without a doubt.  I make double digits everyday.  Last year, when the feminist in chief had an old groping allegation surface, I thought about that and then dismissed it as youthful indiscretion.  When one of my favorite Ministers, Jody Wilson--Raybould was expelled from caucus, I thought about that one as well and then decided to forgive him for that based on intent.  The brown/black face issue has been a troubling one for me.  I have gone back and forth on this one.  He did sincerely apologize and accepted full responsibility.  Other people I respect are still standing by him.  I kept thinking and then this afternoon, I had a moment of clarity.  I can't forgive him.  The reason I can't forgive him is because of my son.  My son is one of the greatest men I k...

This past week has been interesting in the federal election, of course, it has been dominated in the news by Trudeau brown/black face scandal.  The media has seemingly moved on.  What I have found in my informal poll based on my posts and tweets is that people who supported Justin Trudeau still are and people who didn't still don't.  For the record, it wasn't a different time.  It was 2001.  He was 29.  We have all done stupid things in our youth.  By 25, most of us have our moral compass fully established.  Granted, he did have layers of privilege and his father was a narcissist.  His mother is a narcissist.  He grew up entitled.  Anyone who thinks that he didn't envision a life in politics is deluding themselves.  Trevor Noah did the best job of making fun of this.  He mocked what I find most disturbing.  It wasn't just his face, it was every part of his body.  That must have taken some time.  Like a...

Club Regent Poker Room will be losing their Poker Manager in about 36 hours.  It is not only a loss for people who find themselves on the felts, but it really is a loss for Manitoba.  The man was truly an asset for our province.  What did he do for people?  Simply put, he empowered us.  Look at me, I am standing triumphantly in front of Caesar's Palace ready to seize my moment.  I don't remember if I won or lost at that particular session, but, I do remember playing at the same table with a very pregnant Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler.  They were in town promoting a movie and they took a break to play some cards.  I wouldn't have had that memory if he hadn't been for Mo.  He made me feel like I could play at Caesar's and any other room in the world.   To tell you how empowered he made people feel, when I first heard the news that he was leaving, I thought it was because I complained so much to him.  I am sure my const...

Like many Canadians, I am shocked and appalled by the images of Justin Trudeau.  He has apologized and showed contrition.  He has said that he has always been over-enthusiast for costumes.  Skin colour is not a costume.  Regardless, the first image was when he was 29 years old.  It is not a childish indiscretion.  This from someone who has always made inclusion as part of his brand.  It is very troubling.  I am not a person of colour, so I really can't appreciate what it is like to be a person of colour.  I don't know what the long term effects of these images will have on Trudeau.  I can't imagine how people who have experienced discrimination on the basis of skin colour are feeling.  I do know how a very minor issue affected my family.  I am a very proud Ukrainian Canadian.  The reason that I am so proud to be Ukrainian is because for the first 25 years of my life, I wasn't proud to be Ukrainian.  I grew...

.Somewhere along the line, we have forgotten how to treat people properly.  If only we treated people the way we were taught to, life would be so much easier for all of us.  I remember when the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights came out and I thought it was so unnecessary and was going to cause more bureaucracy and drive up fares for everyone.  Hear me out.  I don't fly very much anymore but I used to fly regularly.  I started flying in the days of student stand-by.  I never missed a flight that I wanted to get on and that included the holiday season.  The first airplane ride that I ever took was when I was 17 and going to University.  I was nervous and when the flight attendant came along to take my drink order, I ordered orange juice.  The flight attendant offered to put some vodka in it for me so that I wouldn't be nervous.  I said I wasn't old enough to drink and he laughed.  Then, he took me to the cockpit to meet the pilo...

So, last year at about this time, I got energy efficient windows.  Everything was going really well until last week.  The window company phoned me and said that I hadn't paid for the windows.  Well, I may be blonde, but I'm not stupid.  I told that caller the same thing that their slick salesman told me, "those windows will pay for themselves in one year."  Ba dum dah.  That is from 2006 when I was an aspiring comedian.  I'm digging through my old notes trying to come up with new stuff as my partner is pushing me to have more laughter in my life and wants me to try and pursue comedy again.  The windows joke got laughs because it speaks to the weird way that money is dealt with in society.  We spend in public and save in private.  Except, their is no privacy anymore.  Essentially, we all can figure out roughly how much people make and look at what they have and how many vacations they take, and do the math in our heads and fi...

I am going to embrace my inner weirdness.  Well, it is not even an inner weirdness, I am pretty weird overall, but, I can assure you, there is an inner weirdness that is more profound.  Something majorly exciting happened to me this morning circa 2 am CST.  I clarify that this was 2 am CST because that means it was 3 am EST.  So, around that time, I got a direct message on twitter from a celebrity that I have a major crush on.  Not a romantic crush, more of a hero-worship kind of crush.  My hands literally shook but I remained cool and collected and messaged back, "sup".  Anyway, I am not going to brag too much but we had a conversation for approximately 38 mins 14 seconds.  I felt like I had arrived.  This celebrity was talking to me.  I can't emphasize enough what a life-changing experience this was for my inner 13 year old girl.  And, I was multi-tasking.  All the time, I was messaging the celebrity, I was messaging my...

Herb Kelleher is known for likely being the best CEO of all times.   I can't do him justice, although early in his career he clerked for a member of the New Jersey Supreme Court Justice.  If ever there was a person who should have written, The Art of the Deal, it was Herb Kelleher.  In the world of many managers and few leaders, Herb Kelleher was a legendary and visionary leader.  Like I said, I can't do him justice, but wikipedia can: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Kelleher I like to think of myself as somewhat of a guru on customer service.  I draw my inspiration from Herb Kelleher.  My philosophy is that the customer is not always right; but always has a perspective.  Herb Kelleher became CEO of SouthWest Airlines at a time when airlines still served meals and offered complimentary bar service and everything else they could think of to make customers happy.  SouthWest was struggling for survival.  He came up with the con...

The big tournaments were last week, so there is usually a hangover effect for the week after, however, not this week.  Poker marches on.  Poker wasn't the only thing making news this week in Manitoba.  We had a provincial election.  I happened to attend an event after the results were announced and ran into a poker player.  He had recently been at a table where the bad beat was won.  He won over three grand just for being dealt in to the hand.  I thought we would talk about the election, but no.  He noted that when the bad beat was won, they took a picture of the table but they could not post the picture because of the election.  Something to do with a government corporation advertising.  The first thing he told me was that now that the election was over, he was going to go down there the next morning to make sure that picture was up.  A provincial government affects a great deal of every aspect of our daily lives, yet all he wa...

Yesterday, my partner and I got our City election rebate cheques in the mail.  People who donated up to $750 to a candidate running for office were able to get 75% of their contribution back.  Since City candidates aren't officially alligned with a political party, the contribution can't be claimed on income tax so this is the City's way of accomplishing the same intent as an official political contribution.  Receiving a cheque in the mail in this day and age is very exciting.  In this case, I knew it was coming in the back of my mind but forgot about it so it was like receiving free money.  When you think about it, it is one of the remarkable things about Canada.  Other countries protest in order to gain access to the political system, but, in Canada, there are many things in place to encourage our participation in the political process.  We really need to pause and appreciate this and reflect.  In the last provincial election, I noted that...

Dear Mr. Scott Johnston: Congratulations on your election as MLA for Assiniboia and your re-election as Member of the Legislative Assembly.  I am sure you are very excited to embark upon this challenge in this new riding for you.  You are now my elected representative in the government of Manitoba.  I know the first few weeks will be busy for you as you find office space within our riding.  Since you have already been in the legislature for the last 3 1/2 years, I expect it to be an easy process for you.  What may be a challenge is getting to know the constituents in our riding and what are our priorities.  Unfortunately, the minimal campaign information that I received didn't let me get to know you very well or what we can expect from you as an MLA.  I am sure you campaigned in our riding but I didn't get the opportunity to meet you.  I note that you have very little social media presence which makes you a little unaccessible to your new ...

Pallister needs to buy Dougald Lamont a beer.  Dougald Lamont handed Pallister the election.  Or, should I say, his ego and lack of focus on the ultimate goal for the election.  It is a long way from going from 4 seats to official opposition or even government, yet, Lamont actually believed that every poll was wrong and he was going to do that.  Yet, he insisted on running a full slate of candidates. He also insisted on releasing a platform announcement every day of the campaign.  He wanted to appear like he had a strong team behind him so he wanted as many candidates as possible to be standing behind him while he made his announcements.  Mistake.  Mistake.  Mistake.  You can't go from 4 seats to opposition.  Well, Sharon Carstairs went from one seat to being Leader of the Opposition but that was decades ago, and you are no Sharon Carstairs. Actually, we don't really know you.  You came from the back rooms, whatever that m...

Why?  18 years ago today, the world changed forever.  Everyone can tell you where they were on 9/11 and what was their experience.  It was an experience that changed us all in different ways.  But, Canadians are talking about the federal election.  News does happen and doesn't stop on any day, however, I strongly question the wisdom of the federal election beginning today.  I can't understand why anyone would take headlines away from focusing on 9/11.  Why?   We need this day to be a day of remembrance.  This will factor into my decision-making. 

I have always been a reluctant Winnipegger and a reluctant Manitoban.  A proud Dauphinite, of course, but, how you not be proud to be from "the friendly town of progress and beauty."  I haven't warmed to the City of Sunshine.  Yes, when I was born, my parent's owned that gas station.  It was yellow then and called Sandy's and it was a Shell station.  Hence, my birthname.   But, Winnipeg and Manitoba, that has been harder to embrace.  Let me defend.  My parents were both from Saskatchewan and I have been led to believe being born in Saskatchewan is firmly rooted in your DNA regardless of where you end up living.  So, I was brain-washed as a child to believing Saskatchewan was superior.  And, when the whole country is making jokes about Saskatchewan, yet your parents are telling you it is better than Manitoba, you start thinking Manitoba isn't that progressive.   Also, when you live in Dauphin, you see Perimeter...

Last June I had an idea and I kept it to myself for some reason.  Sort of inspired by Ace Burpee's 100 list at the end of each year and also inspired by Manitoba's upcoming 150th birthday in 2020.  Winnipeg has a lot of really interesting people and my friends are among them.  I thought wouldn't it be a great book to write a book about 366 Winnipeggers.  A Winnipegger for each day of the year. And, they would be featured on their birthday.  Sort of like an office calendar with a story about an ExtraOrdinary Winnipegger and what makes them tick.  ExtraOrdinary people from Winnipeg 2020 edition.  My gift to Manitoba as celebration of our 150th birthday.  As time marched on, I made preliminary preparations.  I prepared a release.  I wrote down my target 366 (hoping one was born on Feb 29).  I have made contact with a publisher.  I have got an audio voice recorder.  I got a new journal book.  And, time has marched o...

We don't know the whole story but the NDP and Green Party are having a little war about possible fake news.  Green Party made an announcement that 14 former NDP candidates have switched allegiance to the Green Party and will be running in the federal election.  It appears that one NDP executive has been recruited by the Green Party.  It is also true that the NDP have not yet nominated a candidate in New Brunswick.  It is the usual dueling perspectives that happens in election campaigns.  However, it doesn't usually happen between the NDP and the Green.  What is most troubling is a footnote that keeps being attached to this story.  It suggests that New Brunswick voters may have trouble voting for a party whose leader is from a different culture.  I don't know what is more disturbing.  The fact that this is a sentiment that exists in Canada or that people are saying it to the media.  I should be shocked about this, but, unfortunately, ...

I voted in the advance poll.  I should say that I exercised one of my fundamental rights as a citizen by participating in the democratic process, but, no one says that anymore.  No one thinks that anymore.  I am not squinting, just looking in the sun.  I know that elections officials do the best they can to ensure that voting is done fairly and to prevent nefarious actions like the same person voting several times, etc.  They must anticipate so many "what ifs" but unfortunately, it is a little much and voting is not a pleasant experience.  Stand behind this line and you have to wait until the voter in front of you has finished and deposited their ballot.  Then, you are aware that someone is waiting for you so you feel rushed. It is nobody's fault. My son was 8 months old when the first election of his life occurred.  That was 26 years ago. We took him with us when we voted in the Ontario election and took pictures of him in the booth with me a...

The person who committed the mass shooting in Texas tried to purchase a gun through his local gun shop but was declined after he failed the background check.  Then, he took advantage of a loop hole.  Loop hole usually refers to something small pertaining to a very few and hard to find.  So, the shooter took advantage of a huge sink hole and bought the gun at a gun show.  Apparently, if you purchase a gun at a gun show, no background checks are necessary.  No words. 

Yesterday, on Labour Day, the provincial Liberals and provincial NDP highlighted the contributions of the labour movement and made some promises to help employees.  Among other things, both parties pledged to make sick notes for three days or less to be banned.  That is one of the those things that should be a "duh" for everyone, but I wish them both good luck on that one.  Not that I don't think it is a great and long overdue idea, however, for some reason many employers think this makes a real difference in attendance management.  It is so entrenched into collective agreements and also policy of many corporations when it comes to their management employees.  Government interfering in collective bargaining is something that never goes over well nor is usually successful.  Also, many corporations that employees in Manitoba have their corporate headquarters outside of Manitoba.  It is a great idea but like I said most employers think that sick not...