Blog or white ... because it never is.

The news in Winnipeg hasn't been good lately.  I think we all have been wondering what is going on and what we can all do to make things better.  The opiod crisis seems to be in every neighbourhood.  We just went through two elections that surprised many of us in how toxic some of the rhetoric was.  We are struggling.  The police are struggling.  Some of the stories on the news I hope are fake.  Even on facebook, there are several groups devoted to People of Winnipeg.  I am sad to say that in the last 72 hours, I have not seen one positive post.  I want us to do something positive.  Something to show that we love Winnipeg and our Winnipeg is worth it.  I am asking everyone to tweet something, anything, over the next 24 hours using the hashtag  #WinnipegCanDoBetter    Because we can do better.  We can work together better.  We can make our Winnipeg safer, stronger, kinder.  A world class city with small town values.  Are you in? 

I was very saddened to read a story today about a gentleman in Surrey, BC who had a bad experience with Skip The Dishes.  It was on the Global website under National News.  The man ordered a meal from a restaurant using Skip.  His order included a piece of cheesecake.  When he arrived, it looked like someone had taken a bite out of the cheesecake.  He took a picture and sent it to the restaurant and Skip.  The restaurant responded that it looked like it had been damaged in deliver but doubt the driver took a bite out of it.  They gave the man a $20 gift certificate and they dropped a piece of cheese cake in a package to demonstrate that it looked remarkably similar.  Skip then gave the man a $20 credit.  The media got involved as the man thought he was harmed by this.  This is not a news story.  To review, a news story is where something actually happened.  This is a petty consumer disappointment to which the man was over compensated.  The only aspect of this story that is potent

Last night, I had an epiphany.  It was a long time in coming.  Last week, while playing in a local tournament, short stack shoved and I called with my pocket ladies.  We flipped them over and it was my QQ against pocket 10s.  The flop came down QQ5.  Nice feeling. Flopping quads.  As I quietly exhaled, some Captain Obvious sitting next to me said, "do you realize that even if the turn and river are both 10s, you will still win."   I just smiled and nodded, however, my inside voice was saying, "what kind of idiot do you think I am? Of course, I know that."  I mentally added this jerk to my list of sexist players who think women are stupid.  Last night, I played in the same tournament.  (Good news for the casino.  Over 100 entries and well run.  It appears people have gotten over the increase in entry fee.)  Anyway, one of the best players in the room found himself very short stack and shoved pre-flop.  Two callers.  Another Captain Obvious told him, "look

One of the worst parts of watching the election coverage was watching the partisan commentators telling us what was obvious.  Most of those "commentators" were recycled old politicians.  I want to appeal directly to our local media to never consider Steven Fletcher.  I certainly hope he has lost any credibility he once may have had.  I also hope he has finally gotten the message that his type of politics is not what people will vote for.  I hope he understands that, for whatever reason, he just can't get along with people.  But, it is more than that.  For some reason, he engages in politics that incites fear into the vulnerable and he looks to benefit personally from that fear.  I don't think he should ever be forgiven for his opposition to the BORC.  And, it wasn't just that he was opposed to it.  It was how he kept changing his reasons why he didn't support the project and he kept planting ridiculous notions in people's heads.  There is one thing t

Well, first of all, he joined the Young Conservatives.  I don't know this for sure, but I know the Young Conservatives and how they operate.  There is nothing about Andrew Scheer that doesn't reek Young Conservative.  The YCs attract book smart young men who have been bullied most of their lives.  They join and suddenly they are connected to other young men who understand them  They now feel like the cool kids.  They feel accepted in a way they haven't in any other peer group.  They feel powerful and that feeling is pretty wonderful.  They suddenly feel that they want this feeling to last forever.  They volunteer, they help with campaigns, and they decide they are good at it, and they want to become politicians.  Most successful politicians are successful because there is usually a cause or some action of government that ignites their passion and pushes them to run for public office.  When the going gets rough, and it always will at some points, the successful politici

There was a little girl growing up in Dauphin, Manitoba at a time when there was only two channels on tv.  That little girl was me.  As a preschooler, I remember watching Mr. Dress-Up (although I didn't like it) and then my mom watched The Price is Right.  She spent the whole hour watching it while on the phone with our neighbour across the street, my Auntie Eileen.  My Auntie Eileen had a huge recipe card filing system where she recorded the price of everything on the show.  I was three years old when Sesame Street premiered.  The next year, my mom and some of her curling buddies did a skit for the Rockette Curling wind-up parodying Sesame Street.  I consider that skit my writing debut.  My mom and her buddies would rehearse in our basement and I was the expert they relied on so I was their writer, producer, director.  For some reason, the skit didn't go over well.  My mom didn't understand this as she and her friends thought it was hilarious.  Apparently, my four year

I know.  I get it.  I'm always ranting about sexism in poker.  I know it is tiring.  Guys just want to go have fun, have some laughs, let off some steam, and here is this ultra-feminist giving them a sociology lesson.  Even the women are tired of me.  They want me to stop calling people out on their prejudice behaviors.  They think the more sexist the player, the better it is for women because we will be underestimated.  Believe me, I do want to stop. But, there are guys out there who are just bad people.  I know there is also women players who are also bad people.  I know we have cracked the glass ceiling on that one.  I really don't feel I am ranting as letting our allies know what we have to deal with and to hopefully inspire them to lend a hand when they are able. Take, for example, "the asshole".  Seriously, take him.  I don't know his name and I don't care to. I first met him last New Year's Eve.  He bought in for $100 at a 1/2 cash table to kil

Feeling quite frustrated today with humankind. When your in the public dealing with some customers that attempt to intimidate management and staff, when do you draw a line in how you get treated ? When do you speak out about what is morally wrong, and intolerable ? Visit after visit after visit, there is always an issue with some customers. Yet they keep returning. We often wonder and ask each other why do they keep coming back? Is it so they can share a negative post and hope to hurt our business or our reputation ? Is it simply because they thrive on negativity,, or just want to get a reaction to see how we handle it, and have something to gossip about. I’m really not sure of the answer. What I do know is that when they come in our doors, all our staff is prepared for the worst and honestly at times dreading where they will sit, as that will dictate who is the lucky server that gets to serve them. Then they bend over backwards to make sure there can be nothing to complain ab

I don't know if I am a victim of procrastination, but there seems to be more activity today than any other day in the election.  People are looking for what is perfect for our country.  Honestly, if it was that simple, we would have found it already.  Nothing or nobody is perfect.  But, there seems to be more announcements today, more policy, more allegations.  Maybe I haven't been following the national as much as I usually do.  I don't like CBC's roving reporter doing a daily segment on the average voter and what is important to them.  All the locations where she has been have been in the GTA and I just don't think the average voter there is necessarily speaking for the average voter of Canada. For some reason, I have spent a lot of time thinking about my parents.  I know the reason.  My nephew asked me a question about them.  My parents are both deceased so I think they are perfect.  I always knew my dad was perfect, for me.  It wasn't until years later t

It's my birthday and I hate it.  I feel bad hating it.  I am thankful, I am grateful, and I am blessed.  Most people that say they hate their birthday secretly don't and say it as a cry for attention.  I had a co-worker who couldn't believe I hated my birthday because I was such a narcissist.  Really, I don't understand it myself.  I do love attention and love being the centre of attention, but, always hate my birthday.  When I have worked at places where they go out for lunch on people's birthdays, I always take that day off. My first party was when I was in Grade 2. When my mom brought in the cake and people starting singing, I hid under the dining room table and started crying.  My mom and friends tried and then my mom said to leave me alone.  My guests ate the cake, they each opened the present that they bought me, and played some games, and I stayed under the table until everyone was gone.  I used to beg my mom not to throw me a birthday party.  She said sh

I think I have decided who I am voting for in the upcoming election, but I still have time to swing again.  One of the things that has been difficult for me is to understand why fully costed platforms have not been available until today for some parties.  I don't get it.  We have fixed election dates.  The platforms should have been available when the writ was dropped.  However, that is just a personal nitpicky item. I think the real reason why we have so many undecided voters is what I saw on the news last night.  Trump was doing a rally in Minneapolis.  Meanwhile, innocent kurds are being slaughtered by the Turks because of US withdrawal of troops.  However, Trump was spouting off his nonsense and the line that got the biggest response of the night happened when he made a cheap shot at Joe Biden.  He said Biden did nothing for 8 years other than kiss Obama's ass.  The crowd went wild including the rows and rows of children behind him.  What a disgusting role model for t

I realize why I haven't been too excited about the federal election.  Very little attention on Manitoba.  The reality is that we just don't have enough seats for the federal parties to care about.  It is up to us to change that.  We need to remind them that Canada's heart beats.  Most candidates are spouted off their federal platforms. Robert-Falcon Oulette spent two nights camped in Central Park trying to better understand the concerns of people with housing insecurity.  That is a start.  Showing interest in understanding the needs of Manitobans.  There is a Conservative candidate who has a proven track record of selflessly making Manitoba better.  He has been fortunate in life and he has worked tirelessly to give back.  Yet, for some reason, he just spouts off Conservative policies in his campaign and doesn't high-light his own accomplishments for Manitobans.  It is a shame.  He is extremely talented.  There is something about Andrew Scheer.  I have been watchin

Ethics exist everywhere.  We probably have an ethical dilemma everyday, but we just go about and deal with it without giving too much thought.   Ethical business practices have been important to me since I was old enough to drink alcohol.  Back then, as responsible young adults my friends and I won't drink Coors Products because they were heavily invested in South Africa.  I kept that ban up until about 10 years ago when I chastised someone for ordering a Coors product.  I was reminded that Apartheid ended in 1994.  Anyway, I don't support Tim Horton's or Nestle because I feel they engage in unethical business practices. Sometimes, it is hard to do because Nestle is so diversified.  Tim's is much easier to avoid because their products are pretty crappy.   So, are there ethics in a poker room?  In a sport where "bluffing" or lying is essentially a big part of the game?  Actually, bluffing is a skill and a risk.  For poker players, there really is onl

I haven't been blogging as much lately because:I have been focusing on interviewing and writing my book.  Manitoba will celebrate 150 years of entering Confederation in 2020 and I want to introduce the world to 366 ExtraOrdinary Manitobans.  It is an ambitious project and I have started late but I am working hard to make this happen.  I am finding that everyone that I approach has a powerful story that is impossible to condense into a page.  That is one of the ethical dilemmas that I am facing.  How to do justice to the spirit of Manitoba.  That ethical dilemma is easy to resolve.  I have said that my theme for 2019 is scattering seeds.  Scattering seeds and being open to what grows.  I'm hoping my vignettes of personalities inspire people to just talk to each other.  Talk and learn.  If we just talked and listened to one another, I am sure we would have a better world.   Other ethical dilemmas have not been as easy to resolve.  Many of the people I have talked to have