envirofriendly pubs

It’s Guinness time on the deck at O’Hanlon’s this balmy last afternoon of July (or August eve if you prefer) . Hah! Never mind that it’s 30 degrees celsius and there’s not a breath of a breeze to cool our weary brows. Even the mosquitoes have gone to hide in the park! But there’s the crew, faithful sots that we are, shielding our lovely dark brews from the heartless prairie glare. Trying desperately to get just the right angle on the table umbrella, so that our pints stay colder longer and don’t lose their heads (while we lose ours). Ah well, just “drink ‘em quicker” seems to be the solution of the day. And so we will.

Tables burgeoning with glasses, the crew goes through a few shift changes, it’s all extended family here. And as evening creeps across our happy place, and the sipping of the pints reaches that critical balance where the last sip is still just cool enough to be tasty, the philosophers in the crowd start searching for the topic of the day…

Have you ever noticed how friendly great pubs are? I mean really. They go out of their way to make you feel more welcome than you do at home. You get a smile or a nod, maybe even a hug when you stroll in the door. The bartender knows your name and your favorite brew. The floors are wood, so spills are cleaned up easily with a mop (if there's time and the crush isn't to bad), you still have traction (though occasionally a little too much) and accidents aren’t quite so embarrassing. The tables are nice and heavy, so that you don’t knock ‘em over as you struggle through the sea of libertines to go for a smoke. The sturdy chairs embrace you so that when you start to wobble they maintain your stability and your butt doesn’t fall asleep. The bartenders might even take a musical request or two if you ask real nice.

To my mind and tastebuds the best pubs draw their potables from kegs on tap and serve them in pint glasses (schooner mugs being too large to drink quickly enough before they get warm if you want to last more than an hour or two). Both kegs and glasses are reused, nothing for the landfill here. So pubs are environmentally friendly too! You might get the occasional coaster that has been ripped to bits or used for numbers and email addresses and of course the inevitable napkins once the munchies appear, but there just isn’t a lot of wastage in the pub. Even the bathrooms use Exelorator hand dryers that sound like a 747 coming in for a landing (talk about overkill, they'll even dry your jeans if you were in the path of spillage).

Just think of all the garbage a “not on tap” bar produces never mind that the bottles may be outdated or just freshly put in the cooler so they're still skunky warm. Bottles, cans, beer caps and flip lids, plastic holders and cardboard boxes. Granted the bottles and cans are recyclable, but then you have to dump any leftovers, sort them and load them (inevitably a bottom will drop out of a case and then you have to pick up the crushed glass as well), and tote them to the recyclers, then wait in Murphy’s “the other line is always faster” queue, and put up with the fruit flies flying up your nose and avoid or kill the other miscellaneous insects attracted to stale liquids. Sounds like a fun afternoon to me!

I think I’d rather just mosey on down to the pub, find myself a nice sturdy picnic table with umbrella protection, and have another Guinness.

life after vacation

so it went up to 37 and it felt like 42 with the humidity today. i wouldn't have known it if i hadn't gone outside for a smoke around 2pm. just missed the 3 sec rain shower, it was evaporating before it even hit the ground. thank the hundred little gods i'm a smoker or i would have missed all the excitement.

first day back. damn but i have a great boss. everything she could take care of she did (my first day back & now she's on holiday) got some new correspondence in along with the half dozen on my desk. gives me enough to do to keep busy yet not enough to make me dislike my job. like a canter. and the AC sure doesn't hurt. the day just flew past.

then it was off to the library with the 40 or so pounds of books i read the last few weeks and pick up a couple holds that were waiting, which was good cause i've gone through the others including the 4 books i bought. 2 blocks - holy sheepshit batman. i love the heat but i absolutely detest the humidity that's been hanging around. so much for that bermuda vacation ...

so tomorrow's going to be t'another steamer an' i ain't gonna worry none 'bout it cause i be inside my nice office building in ma cubicle with my LED fan sending fake jamaican breezes through my forever 8 year old hair.

back to work

it's bright and early on a soon to be VERY HOT (38) summer day ... think I'm even happier to be in air conditioned comfort. now that I am back at work, I will be visiting the pc a lettle more often :)

hope all my friends have fun this summer, even the ones I haven't met yet.

floggin' bloggin'

vacatopn is loverly .. not spending much time at th 'puter, just a quick note to say hi y'all and it's back out to the glorious fantabulous summer heat!

summer vacation :)

the new phone books are here and this is my last day of work until August

WHO HOO!!!!

how much better can it get? you can find me in Bombay or on the deck-adance, or maybe camping or at the pool.

cheers y'all

attitudinal

so I've been off work for 4 days, the temperature has hovered in the high 30s with the humidity or it's been raining for the last week, i spent way too much time in deck-adance last week and yet ... i'm quite the happy camper or maybe happy campy (depends on who you ask). so the attitude swings are gettin closer together and i'm a thinkin that the "change" is creepin' up upon me.

shit.

the only good thing will be the cessation of the plumbing leakage really, BUT the crap you have to put up with before that happens (for maybe 10 years), never mind the 37 years already invested makes the payoff at least as overpriced as the regina housing market ( there's a 420 sq ft condo in my building for $69,900!)

so it's rollercoaster time once again, been here before when my testosterone & adrenaline levels went wonky when i was around 29-32. mon to thurs happy & manic, friday mad panic, saturday chillin and sunday swillin'. monday was donnacake day, fairly laid back and calm and here it is tuesday good news day .... i guess that's how i roll! so for now i'll just have to try and figure out what my sine curve is and handle the side effects as they come. all my friends who see me as a positive influence ... heh heh heh ... might be in for a rude awakening, cos when i hit the bottom of that curve i am one nasty piece of work. not on purpose - shit just happens.

c'est la vie - saves me $200 bucks for the exhibition.

friday

the ladies auxillary discovered that we are all gangStars yestereve. mr upsidedown hat guy, he showed us we were representin in style n'all. . . ask crazyD she had us rollin, then add the ninja's dry wit and bitter accompaniments and the hilarity rolls on. needless to say it was a deckadance day. the ladies were called by osmosis to to yattle and prack and have decided we need a little pampering.

so it's gin & juice on the menu tonight, abby's bbq tomorrow and jo's bday sunday ... the heat is on, no really on. spent the day cleaning and fixin and launderin and now it's time to do some more yattle & prackin'

cheers mates








change is eternal ...

tuesday ...

up & at 'em early, gotta go to work today. went to get my yogurt and found that the fridge door had not been completely closed at some point late last nite, so though it was still refrigerated the items on the top shelf by the light (which comes on when the door is open) had become less than the desired chill. that would be my yogurt, tuna and half a pineapple none of which are good lukewarm.

...something had been tugging at the corners of my consciousness in the wee hours, and having gone to bed quite a bit earlier than usual I found myself quite wide awake around 5 am. so i took my dailies out to the deck to contemplate the morning and have a smoke and was contemplating the nasty roofwork on the opposite building when i realized that today a very good friend of mine is having her hysterectomy.

what amazed me was that though i empathize and truly wish that disease had not interrupted her path, i am more filled with thankfulness that it was found, diagnosed and today will be treated so that my friend will still be here, albeit not "all" here, but then again she is in some pretty good company :) (most of our crew aren't really "all" there)

once i realized what it was that had been nudging me to wakefulness i took a few moments and sent all the good vibes out into the ether for her to pick up and felt much better. sometimes it is the recognition of the changes life requires of yourself and your friends that provides a great foundation for your day.

canada d'eh!

camping was such a release. beautiful day and the weather dudes were completely wrong about their "severe thunderstorm warnings". watched the cutest new growth chipmunk try and find the peanuts we stashed in the woodpile. i lost the majority of the card games but i did have one that was awesome, the saving grace. slept better than a baby - for an entire 7 and a half hours - in a row - with only a slight recognition of consciousness when Lu made a trip out around 6 am. glorious morning, exactly warm enough with just a touch of the earth's breath to keep it fresh yet redolent with java deepness. absolutely did not want to leave. i do so love the quiet.

mournful ride home (very short) greeted by angus bodhi cat with a rumbling purr. stow the gear, find a snick snack munchie .. why look at that = it's my super soft feather bed and a fan to imitate the tropical breezes of belize ....

4 hours later i am trying to determine what page i was on when i drifted off to la la land missed supper time entirely, hmmmm ... basa all pepper buttery crispified with lemony rice and greens, juicy fresh cherryness to freshen the palate. tasty tasty.

holy crap! just about dropped my coffee - fireworks in the park, car horns and alarms blaring for blocks from the shock waves as they are launched. sounded like a wonderful display. for once the cat didn't freak out either, just kind of noted my response twitched his ears twice and went back to his gangster dreams. the new arrangement for the office popped into my head and i actually drew it out before i forgot. and i scrubbed the bathroom fixtures and did some dishes.

to top off an already good day, the kids brought the grands over for hugs and a quick chat after the park.

the only thing missing is a guiness.

grumpalump

so why am i so blah?

i have a good life, the kids are workin it out, the grandkids are divine, my seesters and i are all talkin, the nieces & nephews added me to their facebook friends list, i get lots of emails & phonecalls & social invitations, and my daddy loves me.

it's like the doldrums, the ones dr. suess wrote about. everything seems humpy and lumpy making me frumpy & grumpy. but i cannot for the life of me put my finger on a particular reason for it. a perfect example is last weekend. by now y'all should know i have summer long weekends (off F, S Sn,M). was planning to go camping with Lu, but it fell through. no biggie right? I had 3 birthday parties friday night and 2 on saturday night, a birthday brunch sunday morning and an invitation to join a trivia team on sunday night. if i didn't know me i'd say that was a full card with fun & frivolity written in every square.

i stayed home. nothin' of any great importance to do there and nothin on TV, wasn't interested in any gaming ... didn't work on this graphic i was planning to. i did stop by the deck late Sat for a few pints. not there long but i did go for a lovely brunch on Sunday.

and then i stored this post ... on tuesday ... and was out every evening this week ... startin' to sound a little manic to me ... hmmmmm thought i got off that boat a few years ago.

okay so now it's late friday or early sat ... just caught up on the idol episodes i missed, did a bunch of stuff around the house, nothing really noticable just things that you note and don't get to. read 3 books this week and managed to get my work done too! and the laundry. very productive ... go dog go

cravin' the campin' and we're leavin' tomorrow, just a short trip but so's the trip to crazyland. get some air and some quiet heh heh and maybe some sleep too.

it's really weird, like head shakin' cross eyed face twitchin weird. busy but blah unless engaged in conversation. hmph.

longest day ...

okay so i have now posted the pics from deckadance last friday night.

unfortunately for some - i have posted them on facebook under the Regina "network region" in the OHanlon's group. if you're not a member you'll have to join. i don't feel too bad since someone else posted pics i wanted here and that's why i joined. come on, we can all be miserable together :)

solstice ...

the longest day ... drags on and on and on ... it would help if i could have slept properly last night!

but a beauty day it 'tis! good and hot with just enough wind to keep the bugs off.

it has been a social butterfly week and i have so many places i am supposed to go this weekend that there is NO way i will be able to get to them all. now i'm not complaining this is just a simple observation. so here is my attempt at saying hi to all those whom i may not get a chance to see.

Happy Birthday Sean, d'ackerman, Kory, care bear, chuckie, luanne, amanda and autumn!

Congrats sassyb on your last day at the helldesk.

to devi & seth : i am so proud of you for successfully completing your school year and for making the leaps and bounds en francais this year.

i bought new shoes yesterday they are black & white with little skulls all over them. heh heh heh

so to all and sundry a most magnificent solstice - carpe diem!

another long weekend

a lovely evening and I found out the surprise ... our clinton was home ... and many of the crew were there to celebrate. the sun came out and though we got some rain later it certainly did not put a damper on the arty goin' on. I took my camera and took about 400 pics. still sorting and resizing and then will post :) there are some REALLY great shots!

lazed away the weekend with friends and a couple of good books. did some cleaning and clearing and most of the famdamly went to the Jaw to see dad for papaday. it was a great visit.

spent Monday on my deck reading and working through all of the pictures I had taken over the weekend.

think I may have to get a haircut this week. Cut it short 2 months ago and already it is too long :) (probably another of the reasons I grew it out in the first place)

PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE: TILMA

There is a new labour agreement between BC & AB that the SaskParty and some business leaders are endorsing, that I personally have issues with. Much like our "beloved" NAFTA agreement, it will negatively impact the lives of Saskatchewan citizens in favour of business perogatives from outside the province. There are public discussions on TILMA (Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement ) in Regina and Saskatoon this month, and I urge each and every one of you to attend one, or do some reading. The largest point in the debate is that TILMA seems to be beneficial for business at the expense of public interest. Become educated now, before this agreement is brought to bear on Saskatchewan and YOUR life.

Entire Article here
Excerpt:
In April 2006, without public consultation or legislative debate, the premiers of Alberta and British Columbia signed an unprecedented inter-provincial free trade deal called the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA). This deal extends privileges similar to those in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to corporations and individuals, allowing them to sue provincial governments and their official agencies for any regulation deemed harmful to investment (i.e. profits). Under TILMA, even provincial or municipal policies designed to protect the environment and public health are vulnerable to attack from corporate lawsuits.

TILMA creates a legally binding process for parties to the agreement as well as private individuals to challenge:
* Government programs and regulations if they “restrict or impair” investment (Article 3)
* Regulations in one province that are different from those in another (Article 5.1)
* The establishment of new, stricter regulations (Article 5.3)
* Initiatives by one province that the other does not agree with (Article 7.2)

TILMA disputes will be arbitrated by independent panels with the power to penalize governments with fines as high as $5 million for violating the agreement, and governments can be hit with repeated complaints against the same program or regulation. Gary Mar, the cabinet minister responsible for negotiating TILMA for Alberta, says that its dispute resolution process is “everything Canadian business asked for,” and that it means TILMA “is backed by some very big teeth.”

Another article concerning the public discussions held in Regina and Saskatoon this week:
Excerpt:
After a week of public hearings in Regina, the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on the Economy has moved to Saskatoon. Fortunately, CUPE was able to import Steven Shrybman for some expert testimony. Luckily, he wasn’t caught up in any “inter-provincial barriers” on his way from Ottawa. Some of his testimony was reported in today’s Leader-Post:
Ottawa-based trade lawyer Steven Shrybman, who was hired by CUPE Saskatchewan to analyse the agreement, said TILMA favours private holdings over public interests.
In his condemnation of the agreement, Shrybman said TILMA sets the stage for deregulation and privatization. The enforcement clause would also create a system where businesses in other provinces could invoke a review process whenever they felt their interests weren’t met, he said.
“If you took out the enforcement aspect, no one would be interested in TILMA,” he said.
The lawyer said TILMA would open the door for private health care in Saskatchewan. Other public interests would also be jeopardized by the agreement, he said.
While TILMA contains provisions that would protect labour groups, CUPE Saskatchewan president Tom Graham said inclusion in the deal could have a negative effect for all Saskatchewan residents.
“We are citizens of the province as well as working people,” Graham said. “It concerns us that a business or an individual could decide how we’re going to live.”
The standing committee’s report to the province is expected on June 29.

Past Present Future Meme

Past:
First grade teacher's name: Mrs. Flom
Last sentence(s) you said: "I might even find something useful at the trade show"
Last song you sang and when: "Cat Power - livin' in bars", reading Abby's blog
Last person you hugged: me, when I got up this am
Last person you laughed at: Rose when she told me to go back to work because I was making her laugh too much.
Last time you said I don't remember: the last time someone asked my age.
Last time you swore: at coffebreak when i stubbed my toe
Last person you talked to online: i blog and use email.

Present:What color socks are you wearing: socks? in June? are kidding me?
What's under your bed: perhaps angus bodhi cat. an antique suitcase full of jewellry. a filofiche with all my legal docs and taxes. a milkcrate full of shoes. a retro red travel case with hair accessories. a crate full of books. a big plastic box full of photo albums I have yet to scan. a bag with all the instruction manuals for all of the apliances in my home. a rubbermaid container with my 2nd wedding dress. As you can tell I have a lot of space under the bed. my sister and I built a box fram 3 ft high, double bed size and you can fit 6 large rubbermaid containers under it.
What time did you wake up today:the firstime 3 am:birds, 4:47 sirens, 6 I gave up & got up

Current taste: dark coffee
Current hair: short and sassy makes me feel like an 8 year old
Do you like someone: yes
Current worry: finish renovating my kitchen
Current hate: i do not hate anything. Currently despise: my feet
Favorite physical feature of the preferred sex: hands, eyes, smile, ass as it depends on whether they are coming or going
Last CD that you listened to? Billie Holiday: Lady in Satin
Favorite place to be right now: in the pool
Least favorite place to be right now: in debt
Play any instruments: the piano, used to play drums, bass guitar and the comb, play one song on the tenor sax and the flute, and could make noise on the bagpipes.
Do you believe in an afterlife: how about transformation through the cycle of lives?
Current favorite word/saying: I will.
Favorite book: this week I'm back into the Valdemar series by Lackey and this curmedgeon of a book titled "cunt", in an attempt to reduce not get rid of my sensitivity to that word. it's very very hard to read.
One person from your past you wish you could go back and talk to: my mom

Future:
Are you going to have the white picket fence and the whole bit?: hahahahahaha !
How many kids do you want: given the day - fewer than I have?
If your dreams could come true, what would your lifetime career be?: a student with an unlimited inheritance

...waiting

friday friday friday

someone tells you you should be somewhere on a certain date but doesn't tell you why ... and it is now 2 days away. how close to the snap point do YOU get?

arrgghhhh!!!!

wishes

the child crept silent as snow towards the corner of the kitchen doorway. the nubbin of its nose just peeping into the living room along with a wisp of curly locks. the interminable waiting thunping thumping in time with the only heartbeat in the room. moonglow floating in the windows as the terror tree shadows twist and twine in the winter gale. will he make it?

please please please don't get stuck in the blizzard. i only asked for one small thing this year because i know i wasn't very good. mummy told me i was bad and daddy doesn't barely speak to anyone anymore and it's all my fault. if only i get my wish it will make it all better!

ears perked. what was that. a nightie twitched at a muted scrabbling on wood. fragile fingers clinging to the doorframe neck stretched and on tippy toes to get a quick peek around the corner (no going in the living room till mummy and daddy are awake). a light thud over to the left in the darkened corner by the hearth.

tears sneaking down the rounded cheek not daring to breathe lest her wish disappear before her very eyes she crouched wound tighter than a coiled spring. mrow... mrow... silken fur and baby claws catching on the hem of the nightie. gently cupping the ball of fur to her neck she sank into the rumbling purr of her newest bestest friend, a sandpaper pink tongue wiping away her tears of relief. it was true, she had been good enough.

and down the hall the muffled sob of a mother who had understood too late, the effect of her too quick words said in anger. all the while wishing that the kitten her daughter had wished for would provide the unconditional love all children crave.

hump day

i just wanted to note that i have arranged my vacation days to provide me with 3 day work weeks from now until mid august, so with a munificent number of 4 day weekends i may just lose track of myself occasionally. i think that's a good thing.

i went to sleep last night at 8 pm - what's up with that?

having been away from the office for a week i returned to find the 100 little gods very much in evidence. there were no huge stacks of work waiting for me, no lists of emails to reply to. everyone seemed to be in good moods. i got my work all done except for some reports i need to complete today - all good. i love my job.

now all i have to do is get the house done - AGAIN ...

my son is talking about moving out in September or October - whatever will I do with all that space to myself?

holy crap it's June!

and May whizzed past me ...

I realized today that I had not posted anything for what - 10 days ... i must have been busy?

well i participated in a Covey training course, 7 habits of highly effective people. it was 3 days long. and like many systems that work it is built upon a foundation of positivity, relationships and vision. alot like "the secret", with a touch of the Celestine Prophecy based on the Golden Rule.

it was good. the best part was the profile analysis. 2 weeks before the course we had to do a survey, then have our boss/supervisor and 4 peers fill out the same survey. the questions covered a wide variety of "I can ..." or "I need to work on..." or I am..." and then they analyze all the data and present it as a profile, which allows view of where you gauge your own abilities versus how other people see you. it was quite enlightening actually.

i found that i judge myself far more harshly than others do, and that others really didn't have anything to criticize except that i tend to put myself (health) at risk in order to complete tasks i have given my word i'd help with. so i get things done but i tend to over stretch myself. so this weekend i planned to just chill out and recuperate from the mental and emotional barrage of the week past (i got to hang out with some friends i hadn't seen in a while - it was great) ...

... when i realized it was the grandson's birthday party and mehendi for the dancing girls (Autumn, Mazi & Maya) and that i had already made commitments to several other things ... no rest for the wicked.

short weekends

why do they only make weekends 2 days long? sure it's good for the winter but there is just too much to do in the summertime.

deck-a-dence or perhap drunk-andance was the prevailing wind on last Friday evening. the girls were havin' a p-a-r-t-y night! so were the guys, but once then hen party begins, good luck at gettin in on the convo. great tunes and we were doin some of mick's dancin in the street

please remind me to stay away from the cuervo. it doesn't like blueberry juice in the morning.

and off and running for meditation in the park (cancelled due to lack of interest) groceries (cancelled due to arts festival)- arts festival (cancelled due to other intervening interests) - creating a very zen space on my deck by bringing out the plants and just generally enjoying my space - then a little nap and no call from the girlie so cards with lu and sean - and i actually won - WHOHOO! great game - all on the C hand at the end.

early sunday i dragged my laundry down 2 flights of stairs to discover the damage created when some low brained ham fisted mother fucker decided to break into our laundry room - wrench the faceplates of the washer & dryers off to get our measly quarters and loonies and didn't even have the couth to turn out the light when they left.

let it go. breathe ...

off to the nece's annual ceremony for cadets where she got the last medal she can earn (she has the rest) many many pictures - i am SO proud. and then an afternoon of fun and frolick with my kids and the grands. and many more pictures. and mmmmm tacos for supper - tasty tasty. the hilarity continued as mur and chris squared off in the alley to play horse ... amanda and i just howled at the antics... especially their ability to multitask while dribbling!

work tomorrow - later....