Corner Gas

Season 2 of Corner Gas is about to start. For those who have not seen the show, please check it out. The website is here. The sitcom is doing fine here on the Prairies.

Brent Butt is on talk radio today taking questions.

Update: Watched the season opener of Corner Gas last night and it really picked up from where it left off. Nice to see that this show from a small prairie city will continue to do well.

Are you Sitting Down? Are you sure?

I was reading through halfacanuck's blog and came across this story that so succinctly matches with a quandary that I had been dealing with in my own head ... I hate when people do something or write something that I had been thinking of before I get a chance to do / say it.

Nonetheless an interesting concept.

Who's Choice Affects Who

Well, I just heard an advertisement about a site dedicated to promote the rights of smokers ... the rights of smokers? In an effort to be open minded I went to the site (click here) and what I found there was about what I would expect. More of "our rights are being infringed upon", "people would like to have segregated smoking rooms", etc.

Progress is coming and it takes the form of advancing the rights of the non-smokers. As a non-smoker do I have the right to clean air when I go into a public area? I would say that my right to clean air supercedes the right of a smoker to light up. My breathing clean air will not affect the smoker's health. A smoker's cigarette smoke will both affect my health and leave me smelling like an ashtray.

Everyone knows people who smoke. If the smokers could accurately smell their clothes after going outside to smoke they would realize that not only does that smoke end up in the clothes of those around them while they smoke (more directly in closed spaces like restaurants) but would have to end up in the lungs of those people as well. If a smoker wants to smoke in their own home or in their own car or outside ... that is a right that I will stand up for, but put them inside, in a location where I am subjected to it and I will stand up against them.

Also, if you smoke, keep your butts in your car ... do you have any idea how many fires start that way?

Comfortable

There is something that is very comfortable about throwing a movie into the DVD player that I have already watched. Quite often in the late evening I will put on a movie (action / adventrure lately) and just relax to the story that unfolds.

That being said, I have been asked several times why I would read a book several times. For a while I was on Tom Clancy stuff, (which was great a few years ago but has waned a bit in my opinion), and then I got into the Lord of the Rings before the movies. The first time through the books, it took forever to get going ... but then in book two things took off and I raced through the rest of the books. I have since re-read the trilogy several times and could discuss it in depth if the topic ever arose in conversation. The point to all of this is coming ... I promise. Anyhow, in one of my re-reads of Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears, for which the book far exceeds Ben Affleck and the movie version, I figured out a link that on first, second and even third read that I missed. One of the characters in the early background for the book is related to a character that is brought in much later.

Sometimes even the familiar can surprise you.

Daylight Savings Time

It is getting close to the time when people will start bringing up why Saskatchewan should go to daylight savings time. I have a few thoughts on why this would not be preferable.

First, staying on standard time positions us uniquely to do business with both the left and right coasts. For half the year we are 1 hour from Pacific Time and for the other we are closer to Eastern Time.

Second, in pointing to the United States as the model, there are many of our southern neighbors who wish that they did not Spring Forward and Fall Back. They view our standing as progressive (something that is not often said of Saskatchewan).

Third, the saving of daylight is kind of a moot point here in Canada. I was in Florida in mid June of last year and it got dark early down there. By virtue of our geography we already gain more than an hour of daylight by our long days and short nights in the summer.

Now if someone could find a way to stretch out what little daylight we have in the winter ... that would be something to listen to!

Creep Gets what he Deserves

John Gormley today called the owner of theresasokyrka.com and the conversation was quite a bit to swallow. Someone in Saskatchewan has a great idea as they have registered the owner's name.com. It will be interesting to see what comes of this.

Theresa Sokyrka's Site

What a bleeping creep! Theresasokyrka.com has been registered by someone who wants to make some money based on the future success of our local Canadian Idol fav. I wish someone would register a website with his name and publicize it so that he would understand how it feels.

Camp Tamarack - An experience in Siding

This past weekend I went to Camp Tamarack to help install siding on a new building that was built this past spring. I have a few thoughts on the experience.

First, the road to the camp was in rough shape. I am glad that I took my truck rather than the car and if the road was indeed that much better than it was in the spring, I think that I would have driven the ditch. I was channeling Elvis as I got All Shook Up.

Second, do I ever have trouble with manual labor. Sitting at a computer all day sure doesn't keep one in shape for hammering 3 and a half inch nails all day. That being said, it sure feels good to work on something and see the start and end of the project whether you reach the end of it or not.

Third, kids grow up too fast. My 2 year old spilled some iced tea in his plate and said "Oh Shoot". This made me think two things ... I sure am glad that he didn't fill the second word in with what I would have used ... and where does the time go?

At least the people I was working with had similar feelings and intentions on the work ... we will do what we can do and we can't expect perfection from amateurs.

Lastly, fall in northern Saskatchewan is glorious. The leaves were just starting to change, but a person can really appreciate how peaceful and beautiful the area is at this time of year.

See my Worker Bee post from the 17th of this month for my initial thoughts.

Rather Not

I think that the CBS retraction regarding the memo story from 60 minutes should be titled Rather Not as I think Dan Rather would Rather Not have mad any retraction at all. The coverage is still very negative towards Bush and is not apologetic for not doing their journalistic duty in checking the story. You can read their site's acknowledgement right here.

Harvest Time

A late harvest this year. Another fight with the weather.

Growing up there were two times of the year that I really looked forward to. The first was spring and all the work that went into the process of preparing the land and seeding. It was a time of hope and promise. The smell of the tilled soil almost enters the bloodstream directly.

The second time of the year was harvest time. This time of the year, no matter where the year had gone to that point, had a finality of putting the crop into the bin where it would be safe. Even the work on the equipment to get ready for harvest was a time I enjoyed while growing up.

There were only a couple of years, as I was growing up, that I can recall a harvest that ran this late and was as troublesome with regards to weather. Those years were far less enjoyable and the stress of everyone around was so high that you had to be careful what you said and to whom.

I really respect those who are struggling this year to take off a crop where expectations were so dashed by both frost and now a wet harvest season. Realize that there are those who understand how it feels to have the promise of success stolen away just as you are about to grasp it.

Worker Bee

This weekend I'll be headed up to a camp to help finish a multi-use facility. What I thought could be a quick and easy weekend just turned on me. Instead of vinyl siding (light and easy to work with) it is a rustic wood siding (much heavier and slower). In addition to the trouble this represents, there are very few people going to help out. I guess people are scared of the work.

Oh well, I am sure that I'll have fun and sleep well at night.

Wow wish I were Patty

Patty Haubrich just won an all inclusive trip to Mexico. Wish I had that luck!

As it turns out she has been entered to win the trip, not the trip itself. Still a 1 in 42 chance is better than what I have right now.

Sadly

I have to say that I am quite disappointed about the NHL lockout situation. It seems to me that there are so many people who are being hurt by the greed of those who play a damn game for a living. How can players not realize that what they do, while causing pain in their lives from injuries and stress from the travel and being away from their families, is still the dream of Canadian kids (and adults). I don't care if you use replacement players, or simply start covering the junior leagues where those playing have the heart to enjoy the game not just as business men.