Ok, so who wouldn’t love to be a meteorologist?
Can you think of any other job where you get paid to predict the outcome of a situation, where you can be completely wrong day after day, and STILL keep your job? Mark Madryga has it made…. Ok, I exaggerate somewhat- I know there is infinitely more to it than that, but really, I’m jealous. I’d love to be a weatherman, er…woman.
Canadians are known for our love of weather, or more accurately, the way we love to talk about it. It’s been written about, I’ve seen comedy spoofs about it, and open any paper today and articles about the weather around the country will be in the first 5 pages somewhere. What’s the obsession? We know its spring, we know that the weather is going to be unsettled and unpredictable- it’s like this almost every year! So why all the fuss? Strange…
I used the nice weather as an excuse to get the carpets cleaned. Wow, how exciting, but you know what? Life can’t be a riot all the time. With three kids, there are plenty of domestic mom-type things I have to do everyday. So, please understand if occasionally I miss posting ( normally I post Mon-Sat). Juggling work and home successfully is an underestimated art form. Take this weekend, as well. We spent most of the morning yesterday at the doctors, getting new antibiotics for my three year old who has symptoms of Lyme disease from his tick bite, and who is now suffering a recurrence of cellulitis on his cheek again. I’m not pleased that he has already had to take so many drugs at this age, because the rampant overuse of antibiotics have created so many resistant strains of bacteria that one day, we are all going to be in trouble. This little one is making my blonde hair, gray.
For once, a Monday without rampant scandal all over the pages of the local rags, unless it surprises you that more and more is coming to light with ICBC… If you ask me , this is the tip of the iceberg – there will be more to come.
I have to blog about something that happened recently that really unsettled me. I was out for a jog with my son in a local recreation area, and as we ran down the riverside path, he ran quite close to the edge. I issued a warning about not falling in the river, and he immediately complied by stepping back. A young man and an older woman were approaching us, and the man- who was obviously special needs- said to my son ” Yes little boy, be careful from the river! “. My son smiled and said thank you to him, and said that he would be careful, but as these people walked past, the woman began to chastise this young man, and these are her exact words.
” I told you not to talk to people! You aren’t like them, you’re different!”
He sounded so hurt as he told her he just didn’t want the little boy to fall in the river, that was all.
” You’re not like them, you’re different”.
She had said it in a very mean and rude manner, and as I turned around in disbelief, the look of shame on his face hit me overwhelmingly in my heart. I stopped and ran up to him, and said ” Thank you for caring about my little son. I appreciate it very much ! “
He smiled and beamed, and I turned to look at his caregiver. I did not say the words that were itching to spurt out at her ignorance, but I know that she ‘got it’ from the look on my face. What a cow.
How alarming that in this day and age, someone so stupid could be put in charge of “enriching” this young mans life. She was doing nothing more than walking him like a dog, but I bet you she would be nicer to the dog.
Caught an excerpt on the late night weekend news about the “epidemic” of homelessness and addiction in our nations capital. Ottawa cops are calling it an embarrassment, yet as little seems to be getting done there to combat it, as is done on our DTES. What does this say about our countries ability to find solutions? That we will spend millions of dollars studying the issues without ever addressing the problem with action. If our nations capital cant fix it, what hope does Vancouver have under the dubious and crazy leadership of Sam Sullivan- enabler extraordinaire….
In conversation with another writer who also hosts a website/blog, the topic of Internet headcases came up. It appears that there is a name given to all the nuts who have so little going on in their own lives that they publicize their mental instability by posting on various websites. These people are known as TROLLS. Trolls are only one reason website owners tracks the ip address’s of those who vist or comment, but it provides us with some security.
Here’s an excerpt from an article he referred me to, that explains it all.
“ Trolls- Essentially, a troll is a person who posts with the intent to insult and provoke others, Wood explains. The goal is to disrupt the normal traffic of a discussion group beyond repair. “A group is considered to be cohesively destroyed when two-thirds to three-quarters of the messages are a result of [trolls'] comments,” Wood explains. They often target new users, who are more likely to take offense, hence the term “troll“ (as in “trolling” for newbies).
Many trolls are characterized by having an excess of free time and are probably lonely and seeking attention, Wood says. “They often see their own self-worth in relation to how much reaction they can provoke,” he says.
Woods categorizes trolls in the following ways:
-
Spamming troll: Posts to many newsgroups with the same verbatim post.
-
Kooks: A regular member of a forum who habitually drops comments that have no basis on the topic or even in reality.
-
Flamer: Does not contribute to the group except by making inflammatory comments.
-
Hit-and-runner: Stops in, make one or two posts and move on.
-
Psycho trolls: Has a psychological need to feel good by making others feel bad. “
You can read the entire article here : http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9017938
That’s it, I’ve tons to get to today, including reading the report handed over to the government last week on the inadeqacies of our domestic abuse strategies, compiled by lawyers, and womens agencies around the province. Stay tuned .
Filed under: Blogroll, CKNW Talk SHow Idol, Credits, Laila Yuile | Tagged: addictions, bc liberals, cellulitis, CKNW Talk SHow Idol, domstic abuse, fitness, health care, icbc, Laila Yuile, lyme, mark madryga, mental health, politics, Sam Sullivan, stalkers, trolls, weather
[...] Jay Brewer wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptCanadians are known for our love of weather, or more accurately, the way we love to talk about it. It’s been written about, I’ve seen comedy spoofs about it, and open any paper today and articles about the weather around the country … [...]
I could feel my blood pressure rise as I read the part about your jogging encounter. I am afraid words fail me in respect of the despicable comments make by that woman.
I recall building a snowman as a child when an older child came into our yard and began to throw snowballs. All pretty normal until I add that he was a mute and possibly mentally challenged as well. His speech was mostly grunts. My one parent’s reaction was to charge from the house yelling shoo, go away, and thereby chasing the child off, no doubt scaring him in the process, more than me. I still regret that incident even though I was just a child and stood there watching this display of fear. I was not troubled by the child until I was made to be by that reaction.
It is indeed sad that we harbor such notions in this day and age. A pox on that woman and her ilk.