Famous by Association

So I was going to blog about Toyota and the fact that I think it's rather ridiculous that their car recall has hit the news in such a big way (and that their stocks have taken a nosedive because of it).  Not to say that it isn't an important issue (I drive one of those vehicles that's going to be recalled), but I don't think it deserves the attention that it's getting.

...also, I haven't received a recall notice yet.  Probably because, they don't know HOW to fix the problem yet!  But funny how the recall notice I got months ago about the breaks never hit the news.  I guess the potential for frozen breaks in cold weather just isn't very interesting in Canada.

Since I'm on the Toyota rant anyway:  I read a story about a family in San Diego or somewhere like that being killed because of this sticky gas pedal thing.  The car accelerated to 190km/hr before the driver lost control and slammed into something.  Now, I'm not sure my car could actually do 190km/hr, but if it did start speeding up uncontrollably, I'm pretty sure my first reaction would be to throw it into neutral.   Which got me thinking:  Is it Toyota's fault that the driver didn't know how to stop his speeding car?  We put far too much blind faith into the gadgets that we fill our lives with...


I was also going to blog about Steve Jobs' new toy, the iPad.  Bravo Steve, Bravo!   THIS new gadget is exactly what I need in my life!  I mean, doesn't everyone want a super-sized version of an iPod Touch??   Doesn't it look like they just ran out of ideas so they made a bigger scale iPod?  "Ooh, this sells well!  Let's make it 10x bigger!"  Seriously guys, bigger isn't always better.


And then, well, there's always Haiti.  Haven't touched that one yet.  Quite frankly, the whole thing is a little too big for me to even wrap my head around.  75% of their capital city has been destroyed.  Seventy five percent.  Does that make anyone else just want to throw up their hands at the thought of rebuilding and go 'why even bother?'  Does that make anyone else thank GOD every day that you live in a warm house with electricity and hot running water, and you can waste your days surfing facebook and eating potato chips?


But the one thing I'm not going to blog about is apologizing for not blogging!!  It's my blog; I'll blog whenever I feel like it.  So there.

Flowers are purdy

Like I said at Christmas, my cactus actually bloomed on time this year!

20 years I've had this thing!  After my gramma passed away, my mom handed it to me and said 'here, look after this.'   ...almost killed it a few times along the way, that's why it's not very big.  But it's doing great now!  I'm sure I'll have it for another 20 years.

These flowers appeared at my door yesterday.

Not often do flowers appear at my door - especially in the hands of a gentleman visitor!  :)  And by 'not often' I really mean 'never in my entire lifetime before this date'.  It was super nice, and they're purdy, and I like them.  (I'll stop with the mushy now so you don't lose your dinner.)

Which reminds me... I should probably come up with some sort of silly pseudonym for this particular gentleman so that I can candidly refer to him in my writing from time to time.  Seems like the right thing to do.  However, I'm a little short on imagination - so if you've got any great ideas, I'm willing to hear them! 

:D

...and then there's this Flower:

I think this particular 'Flower' speaks for itself.

Wardrobe Malfunction

whine, whine, whine, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda...

Apparently, if I don't blog enough, I risk having a Missing Persons report filed for me.  I know that my life is far more exciting than anyone else's, and that a day without a 'Travels with Aimer' blog feels like a thousand years, but come on!  Seriously, don't you have anything better to do to fill up the next 5 minutes of your life?

I certainly hope so...

You should leave now.

I'm giving you an opportunity to escape my drivel.

Go, do something productive with your time.

Last chance...

I'm warning you, you don't want to read this....

Ok, fine.

(but don't say I didn't warn you)



I seem to have lost a pair of blue jeans.  I only have 2 decent pair of blue jeans.  How I misplaced one pair, I have no idea.  I'm hoping for a magical reappearance anytime now.

Today was laundry day.  Woo.  The laundry mat was a little more busy than usual, but not exciting in the least.

Yes, I do have an apartment sized washer and dryer at home.  No, the washing machine doesn't work.  Yes, it could be fixed.  If I'd just go order the parts....  Some day I'll do that.  Promise.  But mostly it's way more convenient to do all my laundry all at once in about 6 different machines of which I'm not responsible for the hydro bill.

So anyway, doing my laundry was when I discovered that I don't actually know where my other pair of jeans are (is?).  :(  I also blew an underwire in one of my better bras.  (what?  Too much information?  I warned you about reading this!).

I also bought new undergarments today.  In the wrong size.

Got some new socks too.  One of which I promptly cut a hole in while trying to snip off that annoying little plastic tag holder thing.  That's right.  I CUT A HOLE IN A BRAND NEW SOCK!  *sigh*   Thinking that I could salvage the sock by melting the threads together so that the hole couldn't spread, I grabbed a bbq lighter and just about burned my hand as my sock went up in flames.

I also purchased a new toque.  I've wanted one with ear flaps for about a thousand years or so, and was really banking on one for Christmas this year.  I've always sort of hated hats because they look dumb and they ride up, leaving my poor ears exposed to the cold.  This one still looks dumb, but is super comfy (not exactly as pictured), and will always ensure that my ears remain covered.  I haven't taken it off for about 3 hours.  I feel very fashionable.  Maybe I'll wear it to work tomorrow.

I should probably also mention that I went out in public this evening wearing sweatpants - something I have not done since about 1991.


All in all... I amaze even myself.

Story

Isn't amazing what a difference a couple weeks can make??  It was not dark outside at 5pm when I was leaving work this evening - that realization made me very, very happy. 

I was re-reminded the other day about the importance of 'story'.  Nicola, a very beautiful person to the very core of her being, is currently working and teaching in Thailand.  Her blog of her adventures are rich with remarkable stories, and intentional relationship building.  She is an inspiration!  If you have some time, I encourage you to read through her adventures (they're far more courageous than anything I could ever imagine doing myself!).

Story weaves in and out of our daily lives, usually without us ever paying attention to it.  If you're of the mindset that money can't ever buy you happiness, then all you're left with (that's of any worth) is your time and what you do with it - the things you do, what you say, the amazing adventures you go on, the long days of dreary work, the interactions with people around you...  It's what makes you who you are; it's your story.  Hope it's a good one!

Left or Right?

The fork in the road.
Option A: Take the familiar route.  Stick with what you know.  Continue on with life as normal, and never stray from the path.

Option B: Take a chance and go that new direction.  Throw caution to the wind and dive right in - Go the route less traveled, and plan on an adventure.

But how do you decide?  How do you decide that the choice you're making is the right choice?  Lists of Pros & Cons only get you so far, and contrary to popular belief, Google doesn't have all the answers.  Friends & family often have your best interests in mind while doling out advice, but in the end... they can't choose for you.  You can always throw a prayer up to God, but there's always that chance that you'll just misinterpret His response anyway!

How do you know?  How does anyone ever know?

And the results are in!

Just before Christmas, two of my regularly watched tv shows ended in cliff hanger plane crashes involving main characters.  Merry. Freaking. Christmas.  Well, the holidays are over and tv is finally beginning to resume its regularly scheduled programming.

Desperate Housewives killed off an unborn fetus, a nurse who had appeared in about two episodes, and a sleazy jerk of an ex husband who, although has been around since the show began, wasn't really a main character and won't be missed much.

Heartland, in true Canadian TV fashion, didn't kill off anyone.  This was a good thing, because the episode was enough of a tear jerker without having someone die.

All in all, plane crash crisis averted.  phew

Heartland, being a true Canadian TV show, apparently doesn't have a lot of funding for soundtrack songs - they quietly played the same song over and over again throughout the episode.  The song is called 'Our Voices' by Matthew Barber (there's a link to the song over there on the right hand side of the screen under 'If my life had a soundtrack...').  I like it.  I've since listened to clips from a few of his songs; it's good stuff.  www.matthewbarber.com   A good Canadian musician.


On another note.  What's with bra colours taking over Facebook statuses?!!  I don't care what colour your bra is.  (I don't even care if you're wearing a bra!)

Ok, so the deal is: there's a 'secret' message being passed around from girl to girl via facebook message telling them to post the colour of the bra they're wearing.  One version says that it's to promote breast cancer awareness, another version says that it's a fun thing to confuse the boys with.

The exponential growth of this thing is just crazy!  I have never seen something travel through facebook so quickly! 

3 updates between midnight - noon
4 updates between noon - 3pm
13 bra colour updates between 3pm - 6pm
and 10 bra colour updates in the past hour!

I'm sure there's some sort of sociological lesson to be learned here somewhere.  If this keeps up, I will know all my girlfriends' bra colours by midnight!  Oh, and just for reference, black seems to be the most popular, followed by white and purple.

Blog? Who has time for that?!

A certain someone has been pestering me because I haven't been very diligent in my blog writing lately.  (note how completely NOT up to date HIS blog is...)

Well Sir, I find this highly appropriate:

Consider yourself warned.

:)