Pretty Picture Alert!
I finally saw the Canadian Rockies for the first time in my life, when my beloved, his perpetually bored teenager and I took a road trip out to Jasper. It was impossibly beautiful. Pictures will follow, as soon as I give myself a refresher course on how to post them.
Friday August 27, 2010 | 08:02 AM in Canadiana
There’s No Place Like It
Almost two years on, Alberta still feels like a foreign country to me.
Wherever I go in my somewhat small current daily life, I get a feeling from both people and place that I’m in some kind of weird extension of the United States. While I can’t exactly put my finger on it, all I can think of is the close ties between Alberta and Texas through the oil business must have some kind of effect on people’s ways. And there are subtler indications too: Private liquor stores (as opposed to government-run), no front license plate on the cars (making way for ridiculous ways of self-expression), and a Conservative government that re-affirms the belief in those who follow that liberals are not welcome here.
Tolerance is also pretty much non-existent. Think Toronto in the 1950s, and listen to white folks as they go deaf at the sound of an accent, and derisively refer to people as “not like us” as they point out their mode of dress and the colour of their skin. Yeah. 2010 and this is what I’m hearing.
There are a few other things that rise up and smack me in the head daily that I haven’t found in such high concentrations anywhere else in my life:
ENTITLEMENT: Everyone thinks you should make them a deal. Why? Because they deserve it. Everyone also thinks that you should drop what you’re doing and go out of your way to make them happy. Why? Because they deserve it. Oh, and a large population firmly believes that your back bumper is the only thing preventing them from getting to their destination. Rural roads, side streets, major highways, it doesn’t matter. Get out of the way. Why? Because they deserve it.
OBESITY: When you hear that obesity levels are dangerously high in the United States, you need look no further than the average American restaurant, which serves you meals large enough to sink a ship. But here in Alberta, portion sizes at your average family gathering spot are just that - average. Still, for every svelte mommy-jogger out there, there are three enormous individuals gasping for breath as they make their way through life. I don’t know if it’s the climate - even I’ve put on 20 pounds since I’ve been here - or stress, or medical conditions or what it is. But they’re out there in large numbers.
SMOKERS: Aside from the States, I’ve never seen such a large concentration of people who are STILL SMOKING. You see it and you smell it everywhere. Luckily that segment of the population has been moved outside, but still. Have you read the warnings, people?
And finally, something that knocks me over with a feather every time I run across one:
FOUL MOUTHED GRANNIES: Each day I thank whoever is up there for allowing me to be raised by a woman who once told me that swearing was a sign of ignorance. Mom always believed that if someone used swear words, that meant that they weren’t smart enough to come up with any better words to express themselves. And while I still swear, I try my best to be discreet and controlled and remember her words each and every day.
So you can imagine my red face when I’m dealing with women in their 70’s and 80’s who let f-words fly like crows in a cornfield. I wouldn’t think that farm women would have learned such things, but the old dears I’ve come across could out-swear your average longshoreman. You could knock me down with a feather every time I hear them.
It’s a very odd place that I don’t think I’ll ever get used to, and maybe that’s a good thing.
Friday August 27, 2010 | 07:31 AM in People
Warmup
My beloved reminded me the other day that it had been barely three months since we saw our last snow.
With that in mind, we observed that the days were officially getting shorter, the nights colder, and the leaves were starting to change.
All I could say was “kill me now.”
Monday August 23, 2010 | 11:29 AM in Canadiana
Smoked
We’re smoked out right now. Or more accurately, we’re smoked in.
Smoke from the forest fires (279 of them, last I heard) in British Columbia has blown over the mountains and into Alberta, blanketing the city, the country, and everything in between. We started to smell it at about 11 this morning. At first, I thought someone was burning leaves, something that’s still practised here, but was outlawed in Toronto some 40 years ago. Then, as the burning wood smell became more intense, we wondered if it might have been a house fire, although there hadn’t been any sirens. As I stepped outside, coughed and rubbed my eyes, it became apparent that it was something big.
The choking blanket is expected to hang around until Sunday. Thankfully, it’s a bit on the cool side outside, so closing windows isn’t a big deal. But this is definitely not a good situation.
If you’re a prayerful type, please ask The Big Guy to send some rain to the west coast. They need it.
Thursday August 19, 2010 | 10:01 PM in Canadiana
Is This Thing On?
Ugh. Middle age can be trying sometimes…
Late last night, I felt like writing. I sat down at the computer, only to discover that my site had disappeared. I couldn’t access Movable Type. Nothing that was once here was here. Immediately, I blamed Ray.
Turns out, it had nothing to do with my beloved and his superior web-hosting skills. ‘Twas I, who forgot to renew her domain on her birthday. Luckily, neuroti.ca hadn’t been snapped up in the ensuing week and a half. It’s mine again, thank the dear Lord.
After successfully renewing the domain, I then set about trying to log into the account to change all the information that I should have changed almost a year ago. Do you think I could remember the particulars?
So here I am in cyber-limbo, all due to my total lack of recall. I’ve at least been able to get back into Movable Type, albeit with a lack of style sheet. So I hope this works, because I feel the need to write and publish and get back in touch with what makes me tick. (I know I’ve said that a million times before). Next stop? The FTP programme. Totally blanking on that right now.
Thursday August 19, 2010 | 12:32 PM in Odds and Sods
They Think They’re The Only Ones Here *
One thing that continually amazes me about life in this backwards part of the country is that so many of the locals are content in their lack of….what’s the word…worldliness.
The retail operation where I’m currently working part-time has a catalogue shopping side whose call centre happens to be located in the Phillipines. Naturally, the employees of said call centre have accents. This little fact is generally met with much disgust and derision by our customers, who routinely complain that they have unsuccessfully tried to place an order, and it’s always the fault of “the person on the other end who barely spoke English.” As soon as they hear an accent, that’s they go deaf. They hear what they want to hear, blame the person on the other end, and spew their ignorance all over us.
It’s all I can do to bite my tongue and not say “If you LISTEN, you’ll find they speak English quite well.”After all, call centres are big business in the Phillipines, and the employees are TRAINED to deal with single-minded knuckle draggers like your good self.” Instead, I take a deep breath, look after their order, and send them on their way as quickly as I can. Then I come home and write about it.
More evidence of the American-style insular nature of the people around me was presented to me just the other day by two of my co-workers. One is 24, the other 19. The exchange went something like this:
“Did you hear that they want to open a mosque at Ground Zero?”
Me: “Yes. Down the street. Apparently there’s been one there for years.”
“Can you imagine? I mean…” (huffs in disgust).
The 19-year-old pipes up: “What’s a mosque?”
The 24-year-old hesitates.
I offer: “It’s a Muslim place of worship.”
The 24-year-old replies: “I wasn’t sure what religion it was.”
With that short exchange, a little more of my hope for the younger generation died. There was the older of the two girls, railing against something that she knew virtually nothing about, other than it was a mosque at Ground Zero. (Is it ever referred to as The World Trade Center anymore, or has it been forever replaced with the more dramatic name?) The younger one, raised as part of the digital information generation, still didn’t know what a mosque was. I tried to shake it off, really I did. But all I wanted to do was go out and bury my head in a New York Times or a Globe and Mail.
Unfortunately, there were none available within a 20 mile radius of where I was.
* The title of this passage comes from the punch line of a joke about Catholics. St. Peter takes a group through heaven on a tour, they come across a big brick wall, St. Peter explains “Oh those are the Catholics..they think…and you know the rest.” What can I say? It fits.
Monday August 09, 2010 | 08:43 AM in The World From My Window
Birthday Quote Of The Day
From my brother Gerry:
“Birthday Happy. 25 today, huh? Dyslexics untie!”
Being just a tad dyslexic myself (particularly when I’m tired), I’m still laughing.
Thursday August 05, 2010 | 04:13 PM in The World From My Window
