... and then Everything Changed

I thought I had it all figured out. I had made my tough decision of which party I was going to vote for on October 14th; and then the economy south of the border went tits up, and I had to re-think a lot of things.

I was never going to vote for the NDP or the Bloq. I'm especially not going to the vote for the NDP now after hearing about all the spending they plan on doing.

It was down to the Greens and the Conservatives. And I said I would never vote for this new Conservative party. Things have being going along fine, but there's something about Harper, something I just can't put my finger on. But then I stopped paying to the politicians, and started paying attention to the party platforms, and I liked what the Conservatives were saying, especially when it came to the criminal/justice system, and most importantly, the Young Offenders Act.

This is something I have been passionate about for years (since I was 16) and have been waiting for the government to tighten the reins on young offenders. So with that, and some other parts of the Conservative platform, my mind was made up. On October 14 I was to check the Conservative box... And then everything changed. The economy fell apart in the US; it's falling apart in Europe; and like a house of cards or a line of dominoes, Canada will feel the pain too. It might not be as bad; it could be worse; whatever it is, we know it's coming and Canada's economic high is going to come down, and whatever party finds itself in power in two weeks time, needs to be ready for that.

The reason I was not going to vote Liberal this time round is that I find nothing inspiring about Dion, and apparently the same thing goes for many other Liberal supporters. And my repelling of the Liberal party takes place at the grassroots level too - my MP is none other than the one-time NDP Premier of BC Ujial Dosanjh. And we all know what I think about the BC NDP... But yesterday Stephen Dion said something that made me listen to him for the first time since he was elected leader of the Liberal party. He asked people to remember the strong economic stance taken by the Chretien government. Sure, there were a couple of scandals along the way, but bottom line, the Liberals brought us to great economic prosperity in the 90's and the turn of the century, turning an deficit it years of huge surpluses, and focusing on paying down the debt. If any party in this country has proved to us their economic ideas are solid it is the Liberals....

Yesterday I heard someone say that Canada's economic fundamentals are sound. I thought what the hell is John McCain doing discussing the Canadian economy, and then I took a closer look - it was Harper...

Oh My God! Like Gag Me with a.... Fluoride Tray?

Throughout my 30 years on this planet I have yet to meet anyone who didn't mind a trip to the dentist. It's one of those things that you hate as a child, but assume it will improve when you grow up. Nope.

There's nothing like having you teeth and gums poked and prodded, and being told that your brushing and flossing skills are less than mediocre. But the thing I hate most about the dentist? The fluoride. Sure it's only a few minutes, twice a year, but it's still one of the most horrible things. I hate the taste (even though it has somewhat improved over the years), and I just feel like gagging.

I thought I had an out. A couple of years ago I was told I have fluorosis. A condition of having too much fluoride in your system, making your teeth pretty much indestructible, but at the cost of having plaque like build-up on your teeth, that doesn't come off.

I got this condition because I was fed a small drop of fluoride every morning as a child (a very popular thing to do in the 70's and 80's); along with my Flintstone vitamin. And, until recently, Vancouver put fluoride into the water system, and I drink Vancouver tap water by the gallon. So, one would think that I would no longer need fluoride. Nope. I still have to endure those icky trays, and long, gagging minutes twice a year.

Darkness Falls

The hardest thing I find about this time of year is the growing, lingering darkness. I've noticed it getting dark earlier in the evening for quite some time now. I guess that's what happens when you spend the longest days of summer way up North and are used to dusk at 2 am, not 9:30 pm.

But it has only been over the past week or so that I have noticed the mornings getting darker, and darker, and darker. It was very pronounced this morning, most likely due to the fact that it's overcast, but it was definitely night time when my alarm went off at 6:30 am. There is a huge difference in getting up at 6:30 am when it's daylight, and getting up at 6:30 am in the pitch black. It takes a while for my body to adjust and realize that 6:30 am is 6:30 am, no matter how dark or light it is outside.

The thing I noticed about this morning, however, was that it stayed dark. It was dark when I got out of the shower; it was dark while I was preparing my lunch and eating my breakfast. I only noticed the first light while getting dressed and ready to get out the door. By the time I left shortly after 7:30 am, it was finally light out, but soon enough I will be leaving for work as dawn is rising.

I suppose that it is one of the many advantages of working in a school. At least during the darkest days and hours of the year I'm on vacation. And when I return to work in January, the days are beginning to show signs of getting lighter and longer. But it is a long way from September to January...

Blink and It's Over

That's how I would best describe this past weekend. I was constantly on the go, from the second I got home Friday afternoon. But you know what they say about having fun...

Friday night we headed downtown to see Alice Cooper. Prior to the concert we visited my brother is his new, Yaletown digs. We grabbed some yummy pizza for dinner from a place on Granville Street (the name currently eludes me), and went back to Andrew's to play Rock Band.

Colin forgot to turn his alarm off, so I was rudely awoken at 7 am on Saturday morning. And then again, ten minutes later, because Colin only hit snooze... So I fell back asleep and didn't get up until 10:45 am, which is a) very late for me, and b) very bad as I had million things to accomplish that morning.

We had to get Colin's car window fixed as it was no longer working properly (you can tell I'm not a car person...). Long story short, the window got stuck in the down position, and the first rainfall of September happened to be a torrential downpour. So we quickly popped down the street to the local mechanics and dropped off the car.

After that we headed to Canadian Tire because I was in desperate need of a new pair of windshield wipers. After that we went to Denny's for brunch, popped by the library to pick up my books on home organization and the went to the Petcetera in Richmond to pick up more kitty litter.

We usually by bulk bags of the Petcetera brand of kitty litter and fill up our reusable bucket at home. Petcetera now has a huge bin of litter (the brand we use) that you can just scoop into your reusable bucket. Environmentally friendly. That's good. But when you do the math, it's cheaper to buy the bulk bag... Maybe they need to rethink that one.

We also picked up one of those fancy water fountain drinking apparatuses for the cats because they would much prefer to drink out of any running tap in the house and ignore their water bowl. Solution: one of these gizmos:

It seems to be working so far.

When I got home I had to get ready at lightning speed, including having a shower. It was almost 2 PM and I had plans to meet Thalia at her place in North Van at three. I managed to get out the door just after 2:30 and made it to the North Shore just after 3 PM. Not bad considering it was pouring with rain, and Rupert was just one, big obstacle.

Thalia drove us out to Coquitlam Centre so we could go to H&M. Yes, we choose to head to Coquitlam versus dealing with downtown. Afterwards we returned to North Van, went out for a sushi dinner, and rented a movie - I can't remember the title, but it's the about Mr. Bean heading to the South of France. It was okay. The TV show is much better.

On Sunday I went to my dance class - extra practice before the big show next month - and had a hell of a workout. After class I returned home, did a few things around the house, and then went over to Mum and Dad's for dinner.

Alice Cooper

This past Friday Colin and I saw Alice Cooper at the Centre for the Performing Arts. I may seem like an unlikely Alice Cooper fan, but if you know me, and have seen my itunes list, or our CD collection, this shouldn't be much of a surprise. To say my taste in music is eclectic is an understatement.

What I thought was my first exposure to Alice Cooper was Wayne's World. But according to my mum, he used to make guest appearances on Seasame Street. But my first memories of interest in his music was thanks to Wayne's World. The movie also introduced me to Queen (with some help from Lisa), and my talent for headbanging...

Colin and I thought we were going to stick out like sore thumbs, dressed in our conservative ways. Turns out though there was every type of person possible at this concert. People my parents' ages dressed like their age. People dressed like Alice Cooper. People dressed like us. People still in their business suits.

We were very close to the stage, which was good and bad. Good because we were so close and had a good view. Bad because we saw every wrinkle and sag on Alice's face, and we were right next to the speakers, and seem to be in denial that we are both in our 30's. We didn't have earplugs. When I went to bed Friday night I could hear my eardrums banging - that can't be good, can it? Here we are Monday morning and my ears are still slightly plugged.

Stink bomb

I think Colin had one hell of a workout at his martial arts class last night. He came home and threw his gi in the hamper, which happens to be in our bedroom. I was lying in bed reading. After a few minutes I started to sniff, something smelt like it had died in our room. I realized what is was... Colin's gi. I got up and asked him to remove the gi from our bedroom. Instead of removing just the gi he took the entire hamper and locked it in the bathroom overnight (with the window open, thank god). When I got up this morning, the smell seemed to have dissipated. The question is, can we survive a stinky gi until I can do laundry Saturday morning?

Fall-ing

It looks like the dog days of summer are just about behind us now. I think Vancouverites were appreciative of the late burst of summer, considering how mediocre this actual summer was. But the leaves are now turning, literally. I've been feeling the onset of autumn in the air for the past week or two, and that onset was confirmed this morning when I saw my first leaf fall.

I always have a hard time making that transition from summer to autumn. I love long, warm sunny days. But once I'm into autumn, and and as long as it doesn't pour with rain the whole time, I don't mind it so much. I do suffer from SADS, but that doesn't usually kick in till January, but this time round, I think it may be a whole lot earlier. Why? I have never have been as pale as I am right now, at this time of year. I can usually hold my summer tan till October or November, but this year it's already fading away, and it's still September.

Here's hoping this autumn/winter is a dry one... of course, this is Vancouver so that odds of that happening are, well, none.

Election Overload

I will be the first to admit it - I am a political nerd. I can't get enough of the goings-on of our elected officials, especially at the Federal level.

The last year and half has been somewhat quiet in the realm of Canadian politics, but the US has certainly made up for that with what seems like the longest election ever. And there's still two months to go before it actually happens.

But Canadians get to take a break (sort of) from the hoopla down south and pay attention to our own interesting characters who make up the face of Canadian politics. This will be our third election in four years. In some ways, I'm hoping for a majority government so we can move on and get some things accomplished. But, according to the poles, the Conservatives are in the lead, and while I don't mind them thus far, I would be somewhat concerned if Harper had 'absolute' power. He's made mention to things here and there that just don't jive with the Canadian mindset; but at least he's leaving the abortion issue untouched this time round. At least that's what he said.

This will be my sixth federal election... I have only legally been allowed to vote for twelve years - so, on average, I have been going to the polls every other year. And like I said I love the political goings on, but at this rate it's almost too much, especially since there is a municipal election in November and a Provincial election next May...

As for who I plan on voting for, well, I have mere weeks to figure that out. This time I truly am a person without a party...