Arbor Light

Today, three more Canadian soldiers were killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan. Although no one death is any more significant than the other, these three young men represent a milestone for the Canadian effort there. The total now stands at 100. This pales in comparison to the death toll of Americans, even based on a per capita count.

When being a soldier in the Canadian Army, which is strictly voluntary, is compared to other jobs in the nation, it is for certain a dangerous one, and not one man who signs up does not acknowledge that. Canada has been in Afghanistan since 2002. That means there have been an average of 16.6 deaths per year. Every death is one too many, but compared to another 'peaceful' industry in Canada, it is relatively safe. Logging is carried out all across our nation, but in one province alone, British Columbia, there are 25 deaths per year related to logging. I do not think that when a young man signs on with a forestry company that he thinks for one minute that his chances for survival would be better on the front lines of Afghanistan!

The logger gives his life for lumber and paper. The soldier gives his life for the betterment of the people of Afghanistan. We must keep this in perspective when we hear the inevitable cry from the public to withdraw from that troubled region of the world.

Stairway To Heaven

There are times when we are climbing, figuratively speaking, and as we take each step forward, we are not sure of the destination. We used to know. Our dreams and goals were firmly planted in our minds and everything we did in life was to get to the top, to reach the destination, to achieve that which we thought would make us happy, make us feel fulfilled. The aging process has a way of changing that. What is at the top of the stairs is still somewhat unknown, but it seems to matter less. Our priorities change. Our idea of what makes us truly happy takes on a new definition. We learn to adapt and not be so rigid in the goal, or the steps taken to reach the goal. We begin to truly understand that there are different dimensions to life, some more important than others. Our focus changes, subtly at first, as we prepare for the 'end game'. That which is unseen gets more attention than that which is temporal.

Yesterday, my dear customer, Erika, told me that her illness was terminal. She shed not a tear, but exclaimed that we all die. We know this, but each one of us will one day face it like she has. We will then be able to count the steps to the top. But how many of us know for a certainty what is at the top?

The Dark Cloud Over Ottawa

It has been an amazing and historical few days in Canadian politics. In a blatant power grab, reminiscent of a third world banana republic, a coalition of the three losing political parties made a bid to overthrow our elected government. Their premise was based on what might happen in Canada's near economic future. It was a lame excuse for a bunch of poor losers who were rejected at the polls only a few weeks ago, but were hungry for power and were willing to bypass democracy to get it. Had this been successful, every minority government in the future would have been in danger of the same tactic and it would have been the end of the need for elections in Canada except in the case where a majority government would have served its full term. It would have resulted in us having a Prime Minister who was rejected by his party, by the voters, and has indeed already resigned from the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. His cast of supporting players would have been the socialist NDP party and its leader Jack Layton, and the Bloc, a separatist party, whose leader's only purpose is to destroy the unity in our country and pull Quebec out of confederation.

Many of us have been busy emailing, signing petitions, writing letters, and voting on online polls to express our outrage and condemnation of the coalition takeover. This morning, our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, met our Governor General, and the result was an answer to our prayers. She has allowed parliament to be prorogued (suspended) until early next year when the new Conservative budget is tabled in the House of Commons. This gives everyone a chance to assess the situation and judge the different positions on their merits.

It has been revealed this afternoon, that the coalition is already falling apart. Infighting and more dissatisfaction with Dion are plaguing them now. Just think what it would have been like had the coalition been allowed today to take over our government. I doubt it would have lasted the year.

No Acrylic Bath Tub Here

Abandoned house in the Nicola Valley

In a story I posted a while back, I recounted incidents where I broke things in the course of doing my work. I was hoping that the story would require no more input, but, alas, I was wrong. On Friday, I was working in a very cramped corner of an en suite in an extremely opulent house when a tool slipped out of my hand and gently 'tapped' the edge of a free standing acrylic soaker tub. The house is new and the owner had just moved in hours ago. A nasty chunk of acrylic broke free and after scouring the room for the piece, I finally found it, but it was not complete. A sliver was still missing. Regardless, I could not hide the fact that I had done damage so I immediately went to the lady of the house and confessed my sin. Had she been a priest, I would have been absolved and that would have been that. She took a look and did not say much except that they would look after it. I insisted that I make it right, whether repair or replacement was justified. Later, when I got home from work, we looked up the model and style on the Internet and discovered that that tub is worth $3800.00 plus installation! I will keep you informed.
Why doesn't everyone just bathe in an old tin tub like they used to do when this abandoned house was a home?

Showdown

There is an important issue that started as a local dispute that will soon reach the Supreme Court of Canada, and will have far reaching consequences for all Christians in our nation. Our local Anglican Church, of which my friend is a member, has been embroiled in a disagreement with its leadership authority on the question of acceptance of gay marriages. It has escalated to the point where the congregation will lose its church building and all the assets that they assumed were theirs. They are considered renegades and are being extricated from the Anglican Church of Canada. It will reach the Supreme Court in the next step and at issue is the question of who is responsible for the guardianship and interpretation of the gospel, the local church or the head church authority. This is a blatant mix of church and state and has no business in the courts, but it is a long story.
One of my clients is a BC Supreme Court Judge and he has stated that the judges chosen for the case will be liberal in their leanings because the perception is that this case is all about human rights and gay rights. We know how these judges have ruled in the past and they are anything but impartial.
The ramifications of the decision made at these proceedings will be huge for the Christian Churches in our country. It will inevitably lead to sections of our Bible being banned as 'hate literature' and any preacher expounding on the scriptural stance of homosexual issues could face prosecution. I believe the die has already been cast and we will see persecution of the church right here in our beloved country of freedom. It is the natural progression of a liberal/socialist society. Have we learned nothing from history?

Outraged!

I am outraged at the political games being played in Ottawa today. The unmitigated gall of the parties who lost the last election is beyond comprehension. The ragtag coalition of Stephane Dion, Jack Layton, and Gilles Duceppe are neither capable of nor are they worthy of running our country. They are in the midst of a deal to steal power in the most undemocratic fashion I have ever seen in my life. It smacks of Banana Republic shenanigans
The Liberals had the fewest votes in the last election in their entire history. Their leader never had the true endorsement of the party, and as scapegoat for the lost election, has resigned until a new leader can be chosen at the next Liberal Convention in Spring. And the 'coalition' now says he will be Prime Minister?
The NDP is a left wing socialist party that has been irrelevant from its inception and has only had support from hard line unions and their ilk. And Jack their leader will be Finance Minister?
The coalition will only work with the support of the Bloc which is lead by a man who only has two agendas in life. One is to tear our country apart through Quebec separatism, and other is to serve enough terms in Ottawa to retire on a nice fat pension and perhaps a lush Senate seat.
Where is democracy in all of this?
As of a few minutes ago, the Sympatico/MSN home page has an online poll asking who would support this coalition. Of the 55,000 responders, 60% say NO, and I am one of them.

Where is the Logic?

I heard a so called real-estate expert expounding on the price of housing in the Greater Vancouver region. There are averages involved here, the average income earner, and the average house price. In Vancouver, it takes on average, 75% of one's income to sustain affordability in home ownership. That is too high according to North American averages. So, what has happened is a slight correction, in other words, the price of housing is coming down. So far so good. It makes sense. But then he said, "Now is the time to buy a home because the prices are down and in a few years the prices will go back up." ...... But, will that not mean that they will again be too expensive for the average buyer, and there will be a glut of them on the market, and the prices will again fall? Mmmmmm.

This is Not My Church

It is not a restful weekend for us, but I am not complaining. It is full of activities that enervate and rejuvenate. Well, partly so. Saturday was a work day for me and we will attend the Saturday evening service at our church because today I am making coffee at church and my bride is working. Then in the afternoon it is off to my brother-in-law's birthday party. Who would have ever thought he would get old! Sure, 5o is old. For him. (Oh to be fifty again!) Then in the evening is one my favourite things to do, and that is a meeting of the minds and the friends of our Care Group. I will crash tonight exhausted and renewed at the same time. Yes, it is possible

Watching the News

I caught a bit of news today as I was having my lunch. Because I have a blog, I get to vent my opinions as they arise.
First, a bit of tragicomedy. There is a minor Chicken Flu outbreak in India right now and the video clip showed a worker in full bio-safety gear disposing of a few dead chickens into an open pit a few feet deep, with what looked like lime at the bottom. So far, so good. But he was completely surrounded by curious onlookers. They were right next to him, and leaning over the hole as the lime fluffed up. They were poor peasant farmers and not one of them was wearing more that a piece of cloth wrapped around their middle.

And the Canadian Conservative Government has just avoided a meltdown. They have backed down on their controversial plan to partially end taxpayer funded subsidies to the political parties. ( Each party gets $1.95 for each vote they got in the last election). However, they have made their point. The opposition parties were willing to either send the public to its second general election in two months or form a coalition government of all the parties that were soundly defeated in the last election. I hope the average Canadian sees what is going on here.
Five years ago, the Liberal Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, enacted legislation that curtailed business donations to the parties and since then the parties have had to adjust and refine their fund raising strategies. The Conservatives have done the best job and are flush with money. The other parties are behind the times and are very poor at raising donations. I have theories about this too. But now, in spite of Gov't spending restraints and setting an example by leading, the Conservatives are made out to be the bad guys. It is back firing as most of us can see that the opposition parties only want to save their own hides on the backs of the tax payers in tough economic times. We remember these things at election time. Shame on Gilles, Jack, and Stephane for being so self-serving.

Shed Some Light

Today the up-grades on our kitchen started in earnest. I have been poking away at it for a while now but the major items, of which I am not capable, are now in full swing. One task which I would never tackle is installing pot lights. Many years ago, I had a carpenter friend build a 'sunshine ceiling' which contained a couple of banks of fluorescent lighting. At the time, they were the thing to install and have been a bit of a bother with burnt out tubes and defunct transformers, not to mention the debilitating flickering light that emanates from fluorescent. She who cooks is very light sensitive and at times claims to suffer from light deficiency syndrome. I am trusting the eight bright overhead pot lights will shed some light on her dilemma.

The Red Chair

The Red Chair held my fascination during this photo shoot. Actually, there were three of them so I did not have to heft any chairs from location to location. I have always preferred to take photos of things the way they are.

If these chairs were not taken in for the winter, I am sure they were covered with frost this morning. The roads were a little frosty in our neighbourhood this morning.

I wish our neighbours to the south a Happy Thanksgiving this weekend. The American economy and the turkey have something in common. Life was pretty good 'till now, and suddenly, things are taking a turn for the worse.

The Perth mint has suspended all future orders for its gold coins. The demand is simply too great. There is a similar scenario in every other country that mints gold coins. It seems that everyone is wanting to have a bit of gold to tide them over during the coming troubles. Because there has been a precedent for confiscation of gold held by private individuals, I have not bothered to purchase any. The only gold I have right now is the gold in my Autumn photos.

Have a great weekend, one and all.

With Two it is Better

I was back to the Regier property again this Autumn, at their invitation. It was such a delight to be there in Spring, as we reviewed the grounds for the garden tour, that I jumped at the chance to see it once again with the fall colours. It is a metaphor for life. In the spring, there was greenery and fresh verdant life all around. Now, not only was the light fading, as it does in Autumn, but there was decay and decline all around. It was a beautiful warm fall day and this sunny spot beckoned. How appropriate that there was seating for two. As one grows old, there is a need for companionship. Growing old can be lonely as one pines for youth so having someone to reminisce with, and complain about aches and pains with, makes the load a bit lighter. But how can we ever complain about aging? We all want to live a long life, and the only way we can do that is by growing old!

Armchair Coach

As I grow older, my list of life's little pleasures seems to be diminishing. But one pleasure that is still well within my grasp is my love of hockey. I played as a young boy in Saskatchewan and it became a part of me. Now, I observe and coach from the comfort of my easy chair, propped up in front of my big screen TV. I am a little too vocal as I watch, and I wear my emotions on my sleeve. You would think the players on my team could hear me all the way from there.

My team is doing very well so far this season. The expectations for them were very low only a few months ago. Tonight, (Monday night) with their key player injured and out for a few weeks, they defeated the hottest team in the league, in the dying minutes of the game. I love the game of hockey, but especially when 'we' are winning. I may change my tune in the days following, but you will not know it because I will not admit it. I am a poor loser.

Shortcomings

This is the newly completed playing field next to the High School at the top of our street. In this photo, they are playing soccer, but it was built primarily as a football field as the High School has a great sports program and their football team makes it to the finals every year.

The field took more than a year to construct and as it progressed, I would walk to the top of the street and be amazed at the time, effort, materials, and technology that went into its construction. It was done for a cost of $1 million. The artificial turf is exquisite and is embedded with tiny rubber chips for safety and resiliency. Most of the preparation for the field involved addressing potential drainage problems. It is 'state of the art'.

It has amazing lighting for night play, lighted and heated team boxes, a large electronic scoreboard on one end, and a series of bleachers for spectators. The beautiful anodized chain link fence gives ample room on the sidelines. The school property extends way beyond the sidelines so why was the field not built east/west instead of north/south? My letter to the editor of the local paper was published but nobody could answer my question. You see, the football field ends at the goal line on either end of the field with a sturdy chain link fence. There are no end zones!

November Doldrums

Let us pretend it is still Autumn. These November doldrums are dull and uninspiring. Only one month ago, we had these vibrant colours surrounding us.

You remember. I know you do. All this last year, as the gasoline prices were rising and driving the cost of every up, Stats Canada came out with its monthly inflation index and to make the numbers look better, and hence the government look good, they excluded the cost of gasoline and food, in order to keep the inflation rate looking artificially low. They did not fool us as we knew every time we paid our bills and just lived, it was costing more to do so.

Last week, Stats Canada again came up with the inflation figures for October and the increase in the rate is down. Did you get that? Not inflation itself, but the increase, is lower than usual. And do you know what reason they gave? The price of gasoline has dropped! The price of gas should either be factored in or not factored in. Do not use it only when it is convenient. This is about as blatantly deceitful as it gets. But we have to come to expect this from certain elements of our government.

One Year Anniversary

It was one year ago today that I started to blog. It has been a fun and interesting experience. To date, I have received on average, 16 hits a day. Lately that has increased, but in the beginning things were slow because I was only starting. The 'hottest' day was 170 hits. I have had visitors from virtually every country in the world. I can find out how they discovered me and it is usually through a Google Search. To date, my post on Gerbera Daisies has been by far the most popular post by which people find Terryography. Hardly a day goes by when someone has not found me through that post.

It has been a fun and creative process to come up with something every day. Sorry if it gets a little repetitious but some issues are on my mind more than others. I have so appreciated the comments from so many of you. I am always surprised when I 'bump into' people who say they are reading my blog. I had no idea and think that now they know more about me than I would care to have them know. I have been toying with the idea of starting another blog that gets more personal. I find it helpful to express my thoughts in writing as it forces to me to define them more clearly. Another blog would explore issues such as faith. That is such a huge part of my life that I would never run out of material.

One more comment is that I usually am about three or four days ahead of myself. That is, I schedule the posts so if they seem at times to be behind the times, that is why. For example, I wrote this one on the 20th. So, if you heard that I died and the posts are still coming, the announcement will not have been a rumour. But then again, Mark Twain commented at one time that the announcement of his death had been greatly exaggerated. Maybe he was a blogger too.

Walk Away From It

Imagine, if you will, that Joe and Mary have just bought a house but have to take out a mortgage from the bank to pay for it. They have $50,000 as a down payment on a $400,000 home and the mortgage is $350,000. When they go in to sign the papers and find out what their monthly payments will be, the bank informs them that they will actually be paying for $450,000 mortgage. Joe and Mary look at each other and say,"I don't think so!" and they promptly walk out.
Right now there are 10's of thousands of homeowners across North America whose mortgages are coming up for renewal. They will be renewing a mortgage that is more than what their home is worth, just like Joe and Mary were asked to do. When the value of a home is worth less than the mortgage, it is called 'under water'. And like Joe and Mary, they will say, "I don't think so." And they will walk away.

Where is Waldo?

Waldo is not in this photo. Don't waste your time trying to prove me wrong. It just looks like one of those "Where's Waldo" photos.
I appreciate your comments and emails regarding my stories. I have posted 15 of them since I have started my blog almost a year ago now. If you are interested in reading any you missed, here is a recap. There are stories of both my childhood and later of my experiences in my business.

"The Four Ghosts" was the story I posted that got the most comments. It is not about ghosts, really, but is a human interest story. Like all my writings, it is 100% accurate and true. It can be found in the May archives here. http://terryography.blogspot.com/2008/05/phone-rings-and-sweet-voice-tells-me-i.html


Here is a story about a Red Cross Blood donation that went bad. Really bad. This was not childhood nor work related but my story nonetheless. http://terryography.blogspot.com/search?q=blood+donor



Every little boy's nightmare, learning to square dance in school. But who knew it would turn out this way? http://terryography.blogspot.com/search?q=square+dancing



A few encounters with death in my line of work. Fortunately not my own. http://terryography.blogspot.com/search?q=near+death



This was somewhat work related, but a funny experience I had with an 'old school' home remedy practitioner. http://terryography.blogspot.com/search?q=reflexology

Adventures of school life in a Saskatchewan small town.
http://terryography.blogspot.com/search?q=Funk+twins

Mishaps and accidents on the job. None fatal, thankfully. http://terryography.blogspot.com/search?q=Give+me+a+break

All about the weather, as a young boy recalls it, in Saskatchewan. Adventures and descriptions.
http://terryography.blogspot.com/search?q=collect+hailstones

One of my more unforgettable customers, Mrs. Bergen, gave me many memories and lots to write about. http://terryography.blogspot.com/search?q=Mrs.+Bergen

One of my favourites, this is a story of little boys getting into and out of trouble. http://terryography.blogspot.com/search?q=1950%27s+style

This is one of the first stories I ever wrote. I can't remember why I chose to put this particular
incident to paper, but it became the first of many. http://terryography.blogspot.com/search?q=painted+animals

I should have launched a career as a private detective after my experiences here. http://terryography.blogspot.com/search?q=shop+lifting

My Grade one and two teacher, unforgettable. http://terryography.blogspot.com/search?q=Belle+shakeups

Another of my favourites is this story of lies and deceit all precipitated by piano lessons. I should have stuck to hockey!
http://terryography.blogspot.com/search?q=piano+lessons

Squirling it Away

It is a daunting task to get one's self through university. Not only are the costs onerous, but the volume of work and dedication are beyond many people's capacity. The net result of all the effort and costs is to establish one's self with a career, which in turn secures one's financial future. But just one minute! We are now living in times where that idea looks a little out of touch with reality, for a least some people.
There is a free education going on right now which will teach us all life lessons. The free economy market place is holding a crash course on corrections and recession and all we have to do is open our eyes and watch. The lessons to be learned are that you cannot secure your future on spending and credit, and the value of your assets will not always remain on the up-swing. Squirling away money for times like this turns out to have been the right strategy while all around, people were spending as if there was no tomorrow. And for some of them, there might not be, at least not in their own luxurious home.
Did I say this was a free education? Actually the tuition is very expensive as we are all finding out now.

Where Is It?

Wallet, keys, glasses, cell phone. Wallet, keys, glasses, cell phone. This is the mantra I was chanting as I got dressed the other day. I was changing my pants and got distracted as I was tightening my belt. These are the four things I cannot leave the house without. I had gone for an evening walk the night before and because I am afraid of getting mugged in a section of town a few blocks from here, I left my wallet at home, throwing it into the drawer of my night table. (As if this is not the first place a thief would look after breaking into my house!) I tend to repeat important things to myself in an attempt at trying to remember them. Apparently I will have to change my strategy as I found myself walletless much later in the day. At first, I panicked, thinking I had lost it. Then I remembered. I drove the next 40 kms rehearsing a speech for the cop that would surely pull me over. (Peter's Principle) Amazingly, it did not happen. I think the cop sitting beside the road forgot to turn on his radar. He looked about my age.