River flows gently with quiet resolve
The Night Before Christmas
Last week was an interesting one. My daughter found out that she is going to work at Disney Resorts in Florida at Epcot in the Canadian pavilion. She'll be part of Disney's international student program where they actually recruit students from the countries represented at the various pavilions in Epcot.
We make war that we may live in peace.
On the positive side, Bangladeshi microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing economic and social opportunities for the poor, particularly women. The economist and the bank he founded have been instrumental in helping millions of poor Bangladeshis, many of them women, improve their standard of living by letting them borrow small sums to start businesses like buying cows to start a dairy, chickens for an egg business, or mobile phones to start businesses where villagers who have no access to phones pay a small fee to make calls. Click here to read the press release.
Sunday afternoon we spent walking and driving around the Fundy Coast following the Fundy Trail Parkway. If you've ever been to the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia you'll experience similar vistas taking this road. Only Phase 1 has been built to-date. Future phases plan to connect this trail with Fundy National Park. I was somewhat sceptical of this initiative when it first started, perhaps more for selfish reasons than anything.
Another school shooting. This time a gunman kills 3 Amish girls in a 1 room school house in Pennsylvania. This violence is the third US school shooting in less than a week that has killed a student and the killer in a Colorado high school and a 15-year-old boy is accused of killing his principal in a Wisconsin school on Friday. In Las Vegas on Monday, two schools were shut down after reports that a student was seen carrying a gun.
Schools are supposed to be places of learning, of personal growth, a safe place to grow talents and gifts. Now parents, kids and teachers are living in fear that the next person coming through the door of their school will be carrying a gun and a chip on their shoulder. Is the answer really to turn our schools into armed camps with guards at the doors?
When Lake County Indiana Criminal Court Judge Diane Boswell demands order in her court, you better believe she means it. Frustrated by repeated disturbances from cell phones ringing during proceedings, Judge Boswell demanded to know who the guilty parties were. When the offenders seated in a row designated for court visitors did not speak up, Judge Boswell ordered the entire row of visitors to serve detention in chairs usually reserved for jail inmates. The visitors had to sit there until morning court was completed. Then Judge Boswell began to dispense justice.
Judge Boswell fined a woman on disability $100 for failure to silence her phone. She ordered a man to serve 40 hours community service because he was one of the offenders but did not speak up promptly when Her Honor first inquired. Judge Boswell even fined the woman sitting next to this man 40 hours of community service because she didn't rat the guy out. The moral of this AP press release: Don't bring your cell phone to Judge Boswel's court.
This is not the first case of judges throwing the book at cellphone users in court. In July, U.S. District Court Judge Wiliam Shubb swept down off his bench in search of the offending cell phone ring. Finding the phone in the hands of a older woman, Judge Shubb took the phone, opened the court room door and threw the cell phone into the hallway. He then ordered his marshals to confiscate every cell phone in the court room.
There seems to be an immediate need for Motorola, Apple or Cingular to supply non-offensive ringtones. Maybe the theme to Judge Judy's show?
Summer seems to be winding down here on the east coast of Canada. Don't get me wrong, the temps are nice in the mid-20's (75F), it's sunny and not too cold at night. But you can feel the cool in the air in the morning and you know we're sliding into Fall.
My brother Steve and his daughter Kristin were up for a brief visit. We managed to get in a round of golf at Rockwood Park here in Saint John. If you like woods and water, which I don't, it's a great course. With 2200 acres it's the largest park inside city limits in Canada. It has alot to offer for families and is really worth a visit. We enjoyed our golf match even though it was a scorcher by Saint John standards at 32C. Neither of us played very well but we still had fun.When I WhinePass it along.
~~~~~~~
Today, upon a bus, I saw a girl with golden hair
I looked at her and sighed and wished I was as fair.
When suddenly she rose to leave,
I saw her hobble down the aisle.
She had one leg and used a crutch
But as she passed, she passed a smile.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine
I have 2 legs, the world is mine.
~~~
I stopped to buy some candy
The lad who sold it had such charm
I talked with him a while, he seemed so very glad
If I were late, it'd do no harm.
And as I left, he said to me,
"I thank you, you've been so kind.
It's nice to talk with folks like you.
You see," he said, "I'm
blind."
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I have 2 eyes, the world is mine.
~~~
Later while walking down the street,
I saw a child with eyes of blue
He stood and watched the others play
He did not know what to do.
I stopped a moment and then I said,
"Why don't you join the others, dear?"
He looked ahead without a word.
And then I knew, he couldn't hear.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I have 2 ears, the world is mine.
~~~
With feet to take me where I'd go.
With eyes to see the sunset's glow.
With ears to hear what I would know.
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I've been blessed indeed, The world is mine.
~~~
I visited the Atlantic Nationals car show in Moncton, New Brunswick on Sunday. It was a beautiful warm sunny day with temps in the high 20's C (80's F). It took place at Centennial Park in Moncton and the place was jammed full of antique cars and trucks of all description - hot rods, muscle cars, trucks, tricked-out Japanese cars, speciality vehicles - you name it, they were there.
My favourites are the 67-72 muscle cars, especially the Mopars like the Cuda, Road Runner, Charger and Challenger.
months she's take it into the shop so the mechanics could take the heads apart and scrape the carbon out. After awhile they told her to leave it in first gear so it would rev higher and keep things a little cleaner. I was in university and would always look forward to coming home to take that car out and give it an "Italian tune-up", that is drive the s**t out of it. She said she'd never sell to me because she figured I'd kill myself. Maybe she was right.
wonderful hobby. Of course it helps to have a bit of cash as restoring and keeping these babies running is not for the faint of heart. It's a labour of love. What a great way to spend a summer day! I'm jealous - I want one. Now if I only had a garage.
Alice,
My friend and I have been involved in a long distance relationship for six months now. We keep in touch with each other on a regular basis, calling and visiting each other. I feel that the distance between us will cause our relationship to end. We have been seeing each other for a year and a half. What are our chances of being together in the future?
—Miles away
Dear Miles away,
As Alice looks into her crystal ball, she sees that there is another way to think about your situation. The future, of course, is unclear, even for Alice, so why not focus on the present? Your distance could be considered a blessing in disguise, allowing you to come to know your friend in many ways that close proximity could stifle. Proximity can breed taking for granted the opportunity to talk at any time. It can also lead to physical intimacy (Alice doesn't know if you are sexually intimate) before you are both ready. Distance, combined with telephone calls and writing, electronically or through snail-mail, can foster an enviable intimacy which results from learning about another's qualities, values, ways of thinking, sensitivities, dreams, and aspirations. This type of intimacy can make your coming together much more special. Alice knows there are some people, in circumstances similar to your own, who spend more time writing their thoughts and feelings to the recipients of their affections than they spend in face-to-face conversations with people they live with, day in and day out. Many day-to-day relationships are characterized by superficial conversation, and few, if any, meaningful heart-to-hearts. So, Alice is suggesting that you not run away from your long-distance relationship, but nurture and savor it.
It is important for you and your partner to talk about what you're feeling, and what your concerns are. S/he may be wondering about the same things. If being together on a daily basis is what both of you want, then you can begin to strategize ways to make this happen. Will you need to wait until you graduate? Can one of you transfer schools? Or change jobs? Leave the possibility open, too, that you may continue in this coupleship for a long time, and that would be okay, too. Alice believes there are many "right" ways to be involved in a loving relationship.
Yesterday was my daughter's graduation. She is now the proud holder of a Business degree with Honors majoring in Marketing from the University of New Brunswick (UNB). Happy Day! It was a good day.
