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Saturday, June 30, 2007

hassle in flight

I'm telling you, surface travel is getting more and more attractive! Daily we hear yet more tales of nonsense in the air. No fly lists, articles you can't take, pets are banned, old ladies lose their knitting needles and floozies can't touch up their makeup. Yet it's so utterly foolish really. Ok, so you are much less likely to drive a train or boat into a large inhabited public space and kill thousands, but really, is air travel so much more vulnerable or dangerous than anything else? Are our lives really so valuable that we would take all the freedom out of them just to preserve them?
I tell you, I won't fly anymore. I used to think flying was the niftiest thing and the few times I had the opportunity I relished every moment. However, I would now have to leave all my pocket tools at home, or worse yet, trust them to the baggage handling system. I don't think I can do that. Baggage handling is nowhere near trustworthy enough for expensive pocket tools like my Victorinox Champion and my Leatherman tool. I always travel with them in my purse. If a plane ever went down in the mountains I wouldn't want to have to search a wide path of destroyed luggage looking for them before I could start using them to rescue myself and others. No, I've had enough. I will make time to drive or take a train or a boat or whatever other travel options are available that let me travel like a person, not a criminal.
I do think eventually our society will reach some kind of tipping point where we will either find ourselves trussed and handled beyond independance, or we will break free and stop fearing death so much.

Posted by yolandabernice at 11:44 AM

Friday, June 29, 2007

iphone?

Could there be anything more sharply designed, more neatly marketed, were it for the purpose of singling out morons and suckers, than the new Iphone? No, I say to you, there could not. Here we have a pretty little gadget that offers nothing not already available to us. It has no features you cannot already enjoy and significantly fewer than many of it's peer gadgets have been offering. It has one standout feature, it looks mysterious. With it's black screen that only shows through it's tinted glass when lit, it looks like a magical thing. It has so little landscape on it's case that it appears to operate by magic rather than familiar switch interfaces. Of course, this actually serves to reduce it's usefullness.
I've been happily using a lovely device for some time now. I bought this one last christmas. It was already reaching old tech status at the time I bought it, and yet it offers far more than the Iphone which has idiots standing in line thinking ownership of one of these vaunted bits of circuitry will give him social standing if he gets it quickly enough. My unit can be viewed without backlight in full daylight. The Iphone will fade out and you will see users fleeing to dark corners and shadows trying to find the thing to touch. My unit can be operated for some of it's very basic functions without being looked at. I can make a phone call to the last number redialled, or answer the phone, with a quick touch of a button, without having to take my eyes off the road or the boiling pasta or whatever else I'm doing. I can take pictures with it's camera by simply pressing a well placed button and not have to take my eyes off the scene while I do.
It's operating system is rife with applications to choose from online, both free and paid and even a healthy pirate network in case my appetite is larger than my wallet. I have been able to install and use exactly the functions I most want from my pocket computer including but not limited to streaming audio and video, local music and file storage and transfer, choice of reading materials like ebooks and newspapers, internet surfing, and documents like spread sheets and word files. The screen IS a touch screen and when I'm tired of scribbling my input it has a slide-out keyboard that doesn't shrink my screen real estate to use. I have even located the resources to create an interface that looks exactly like the iphone by using GUI themes to replace the current interface. Only thing, I like the way it looks now so nevermind using the Iphone's interface just to get someone's attention.
Oh, and another thing, my unit, the audiovox harrier, comes in both CDMA and GSM formats and is sold world wide. You can get it in Canada. Like the Ipod vs other mp3 players, I beg you, dear humanity, shop around and do some research. You can get far more for your money than just the hype of a marketing demon's favorite new push.

Posted by yolandabernice at 12:55 PM

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Why I don't eat pork (and beef.)


www.savebabe.com is an Australian site dedicated to improving the lot of the common pig. Here in Saskatchewan the conditions are no better and may be worse. I can't say I've seen it directly but what I have seen are the truckloads of pigs to the nearby packing plant. Whatever the weather, severe cold or extreme heat, these animals are packed into steel trucks with holes in the sides and trucked for hours or even days from the hog production plant to the packing plant. Nothing more than meat production. Yet I see their very real faces peeking out the holes. I smell the foul stink of the truck long after it's passed. I can tell when a hog farmer walks by from the stink on his clothes.
One could say hogs are filthy smelly animals. Folks often say they're disgusting and mindless animals good only for meat and that they taste good. Only they aren't any of those things except possibly tasty and as we know, anything can be considered tasty if you have an appetite for it. We're omnivores, we'll eat anything not too toxic and sometimes we even figure out how to eat toxic things (think of Fugu sushi.)
Filthy happens to anyone who is confined to a metal space just big enough to contain their body with no chance of escape or movement. Imagine how filthy you'd be if you spent just one week in your closet without anything but a trough of wet sloppy food placed on the floor to eat with your face. No wash water, no access to a toilet except that the floor is a grate and your mess slides through and is scraped up by an automated track and the waste of all the several hundred stalls of other people slides by underneath. Said sewage is then dumped in a huge tank at the end of the compound where it's gradually fed into a septic system.
Just how filthy would you be now?
Did you know that pigs are easily housebroken? Did you know they like to play and run and jump and cuddle just like puppies? Did you know they're actually capable of greater intelligence than your favorite pet dog? About the only domestically used animal with a higher intellect is certain species of parrot. Would you keep a dog in a box 24/7 for 2-10 years? Would you do these things to a labrador retriever or a chihauhua?

We have laws against it! Yet the sort of thing we call a puppy mill is exactly what hog production plants do.
Every time you lay a dollar on the counter for a bacon double cheese burger, pork chop, or any other pork product, you pay the heartless people who treat these creatures this way. Cattle production is less often done so horribly, yet there are far too many examples of cattle being equally severely treated. We all know now how mad cow disease happens, from feeding animal parts to vegan cattle in large feed lots.
If you choose to eat meat, I hope you will choose with care. Select alternate meats such as Bison or Elk or wild boar. Select free range meat sources. Eat a lot less of it. Most women can get by on merely two servings of animal flesh a week, most men on only twice that. In fact anyone could get by on zero animal flesh as millions of hindus and buddhists have proven for centuries. Entire cultures built on vegetarianism prove that you don't require meat. However, our dietary knowlege in the west is such that we generally need some animal protien or we grow sick because we don't replace it properly.
Yes, the chicken and turkey I eat do suffer equally. Each of us has to draw her own lines because we can't fix it all and I drew mine there. I needed to eat animal protien because I don't eat properly as a vegetarian and I did get sick. I decided to let it be on the poultry because after interacting with the species, I concluded that they weren't much more sentient than the vegetables anyway. I do want to source out a supply of free range poultry now, however, since I'm not too poor to afford it these days.
Please think about what you eat. Make your compromises thoughtfully. It will make the world a better place.

Posted by yolandabernice at 12:48 PM
Edited on: Wednesday, June 27, 2007 12:53 PM

Friday, June 22, 2007

summer solstice

I didn't celebrate the solstice. I don't feel much like a pagan these days. I still feel spiritual, but somehow celebrating events seems so foreign. Something that builds community, but not useful for one alone. What I did do is work on the house. I got the last side painted today, so now it's all painted up proud again.
Monday we woke up to a busted gazebo. Wind damage. The wind had tossed a few things around in the yard including ripping the grapevine ivy off the wall. There were only 2 things it broke that I regretted the damage, however, a stained glass panel (which I've since repaired well enough) and a lovely little ornamental crab apple, which may take a few years to recover. Poor thing lost it's top half and all it's branches till it had but 3 puny leaves left. Serious pruning. Maybe it needed it to let it's roots catch up or something. Windigo wasn't being careless Sunday night, of that I"m sure. Nor was he being wantonly destructive. He was being very focussed. The things that he destroyed were each and every one things I didn't like and had left out because they needed a place to be. You know the kinds of things people give you that you don't like but they're sure are perfect for you? You don't want to be ungracious and reject the gifts, but neither do you really want to display them? Well mine would wind up outside where they would find some measure of grace populating the gazebo without being right in my face all the time. There wasn't much, heh. The stained glass, in fact, I didn't really like a whole lot when it was given to me but over time it grew on me and I really like it now, so now it's inside on a window without a view.
Monday we bought a replacement gazebo, a new fountain for it, (that got broken too but it was kinda awkward looking) and some roofing for our poor pitiful garage. I demolished the remains of the gazebo and we took the metal to the nearby steel salvage lot. Dan was surprised we could just drive in and dump it on the pile and nobody gave a hoot. Heh.
So Tuesday I was able to reach the south side of the house to paint now that the old gazebo wasn't in my way and after I finished I spent the rest of the day setting up the new outdoor room. Very nice. It's bigger than the old one, nice and clean and new, has nicer shelves, and integrated screening for better bug protection. The new fountain is one of those glass water wall styles. It spills too much water but otherwise it's quite nice. The new old room is very gracious. Dan spent the meantime cutting stabilizer triangles for the garage rafters. He's making more time to get stuff done around here. I'm quite thankful, I was getting anxious. Yesterday I also got the brakes on my car worked over. They're in much better shape now so we can quit worrying about my stopping power. We also went for groceries and stuff and I spent the evening processing food into the household. Putting it away, getting the rabbit veggies into buckets of water like cut flowers, etc. I had to put off making fruit salad.
Today I hauled away the cardboard and paper from here, we had a fair bit, and then I painted the north side. Dan came home early and he started getting the triangles installed in the garage. He wasted a lot of time swearing over stupid little things but finally got rolling and I came in and helped with the last bit after finishing my job. After supper I did the fruit salad for the week. I think another word for the kind of salads I make is ambrosia. Not sure, let me run to google and find out... Yep, it could be called that. Ambrosia seems to fit a general class of fruit salads and cocktails that are fancier than the ordinary fruit cocktails and mine most assuredly are. Tonight's included four pounds of strawberries, 15 pitted cherries, an orange minus all skin, a pound of red seedless grapes, one small pineapple, one small watermelon, two red bartlett pears, a pint of raspberries, and two bananas, all fruit cut to bite size. I've quit adding such delicacies as marshmallows, almond gelatine cubes, carob and raisins, or even coconut, till I'm done losing weight. Those things pump up the calories unnecessarily. I might sometimes still add wild pansy flowers or mint leaves, but Dan always turns his nose up at such "weird" foods. I may make him tolerate it though, hee hee. A few chopped rose petals and pansies might be quite lovely.
Tomorrow we'll put the shingles up on the garage and that will be a relief to have done. If there's leftover time maybe we'll use it for recreation, but probably we'll use it to mow the lawn and such like.
Last week I got some new window coverings. I was looking to replace my kitchen shade and match another for the other window. I first tried a window covering store. First off they wouldn't sell me what I wanted as if it was either unorderable, or simply unworthy. Then they wanted a ridiculous price for the nearest next best thing, citing "custom made" as the excuse on a product that only comes custom made when I didn't even want that product in the first place! He finally pointed out that the big chain stores probably had what I wanted. Sadly I could't get them in color but zellers did in fact have spring roll shades. Only in white. Gone are the days when you could buy a rainbow of color choices. While on the hunt for these I found a lovely lace sheer for the living room plus new cotton and lace cafe style curtains for the kitchen including a matching valance for the smaller window. A mini blind for the front door completed the transformation. The house is just that little bit more elegant now.
yes, I know it's all rather mundane. It may not make for good reading, but it's a peaceful enough way to spend one's time. There's gentle satisfaction in the work done and comfort in the having. I am prospering and I would never dismiss the miracle of that simply because it wasn't exciting.

Posted by yolandabernice at 12:15 AM

Saturday, June 16, 2007

joke I want to remember

This is from Britain's Jake Pratt on Britain's Got Talent link to youtube video
"Spider, spider, on the wall,
Ain't you got no sense at all?
Don't you know that wall's been plastered?
Now you're stuck you stupid spider."

Posted by yolandabernice at 10:24 AM

Friday, June 15, 2007

mundane verbosity

Stupid thingablog isnt working right. I'll just type this into a text file and take care of it later.
See, the other night I was in IRC chatting and stated that "at times God is utterly mundane." That statement is loaded with so many layers of meaning, you know? Yet the reciever hadn't heard the word mundane. He wanted me to provide a definition. Instead I provided the link to dictionary.com because why in hell would I bother to retype all that? After reading it he zeroed in on the single most usual definition of "common" and had the audacity to ask me why I didn't just say common instead? I told him because I wanted the other meanings of mundane to count too, that if I'd meant common, that's what Id have said.
Why the fuck would I censor my statements down to the milque toast essence of your poor vocabulary? Why should my intended communication be strangled by your laziness? Why not instead wouldn't you embrace the opportunity to broaden your communication abilities by broadening your vocabulary, in context, with fellow speakers? It is infuriating to me when someone wants me to drop the multiplicity of meaning I intend to imbue in my language just because they lack the experience to hear it all. This especially when definitions are at the end of a mouse cursor.
I mean, ok, if I was trying to teach you how to chop a carrot, load a new cd, or use a fire extinguisher, I'd want to make it as simple as possible, wouldn't I? It's imperative that you grasp the concept and quickly. However, when we're discussing something so estoterical as the nature of God or the beauty of a rose, doesnt it seem incredibly ignorant of you to want me to reduce it down to elementary school grammar for you? Would you enjoy a conversation like that? Well then go chat with kids. You wanna play with the grownups, learn to speak the language.
Goddamn anyway.

Posted by yolandabernice at 1:12 PM

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Feel-good story

http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN1224863320070613
I just want to share a story that brings me joy to know.
Basically, its a lottery winner story, someone who truly needed the money. A rags to riches story. I hope he can cope but you know, I bet there's a lot of poor folks who would appreciate the wealth and cope fine with the change in circumstances. Congratulations Mr. Gelineau, may you find happiness regardless of your financial status. Not being poor should help. :-)

Posted by yolandabernice at 10:54 AM
Edited on: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 11:15 AM

Friday, June 08, 2007

Burt and Linda Pugach

New York Times Article "Crazy Love"
This love story was covered on tv today on The View. I only caught the end so I googled to see what the fuss was about. Wow. No kidding it's a story to talk about! People ask over and over how she can marry him after what he did. People try to dig up the anger she must have felt and try to inflame her rage, to punish him again. The discussion presumes she needed to be married really badly.
I don't know. I do know they have a spouse, each of them, a spouse of 30 years. They've found redemption and forgiveness of the deepest sort. Love, companionship, understanding of history, and forgiveness beyond belief. That is a miracle in our own time, a true miracle. It is this aspect which keeps us fascinated even though we don't realize it. We keep thinking we're fascinated because it seems somehow unjust for Burt to get the girl anyway. He certainly behaved loathesomely. He not only cheated on his first wife with Linda, and then maimed her horribly for life, but later on assaulted another woman while married to Linda. We hate to see someone love him. We want him to live in horrid poverty in a dank basement, unloved and unwell. Nothing else would suit our sense of fairness for a man so horrid.
Yet Linda found another way. She redeemed him. She loved him. What's more, he clearly spends his days atoning. Every day he atones. The crime is forgiven but never forgotten. He has to be a big enough man to face it as a truth every single hour of his life. How can we possibly fail to recognize the beauty inherent in this marriage? Redemption, forgiveness, love, longstanding companionship, atonement, all wrapped up in one massive story of beauty lost and love found.

Posted by yolandabernice at 10:11 AM

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

peace

I welcome this rainy day. It gives me permission to rest and reflect. No yard work, no trips somewhere. Just indoor quiet. The house isn't particularily dirty though I might wash the kitchen floor. I have some dishes.
I've read a lot of ann landers, and since she died, the replacement column. I find I use the advice there, anticipate it, understand it. It feels good to feel like I have that much wisdom. I've always wanted some wisdom. Ideally, enough that others see it and respect me, but even if it's only enough to navigate my own life, it's good. To be honest I've always considered myself a bit wiser than my peers. It's always stuck in my craw to be regarded by others as foolish. It's like my wisdom is more than they can comprehend so instead they make light of it, dismiss it, and dismiss me. When I say it in print, it sounds like hubris. But when is it hubris, and when i sit confident honesty? Is it hubris because it's stated? Are we only to state the virtues of others and never acknowledge our own? If we say it to ourselves, is it hubris?
I don't agree that humility is a virtue though. I think it's a tool of state and church used to dominate others. Be humble and you will do as your told. Be proud and you will stick up for yourself and call falseness when you see it and fight for what your heart knows is right. How can you follow your heart if you haven't the confidence to trust it? Humility says you are not worthy, don't trust yourself, let others guide you. Maybe that comes in handy with people who are selfish and foolhardy, but it squashes many a good person.
I had a feeling of something profound I wanted to write, but I got up from the keyboard to tend something, then chores took over, and it's two hours later and the thought is irretrievably gone.

Posted by yolandabernice at 1:40 PM
Edited on: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 1:59 PM