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Well, it's been several weeks since "I Hate My Wife" went off the "air". I guess I've been hoping, like some others, that T and W and the rest of the cast could continue on amusing us. It really was well written. Maybe T will surface somewhere with a different topic/blog. It is with a deep heart that I remove "I Hate My Wife" from my blog roll. *sniff
What an interesting set of events that could take place shortly, if, as most experts are predicting, a minority government is the result of the election. As outlined here there are a number of things that could play out after tonight. If the electorate does not elect a party in majority, Paul Martin holds the power. I don't remember ever being this interested in a vote before. Am I getting older, and thus this becomes more intriguing? Or is this particular vote history in the making, and somehow my gut feels it? Only time will tell.
Although one could take this as being a silent protest the article says nothing about what the usual turnout is for a budget vote. That to me is pretty important information. Is it typical for political parties to show apathy toward a vote that, in my memory, has never seen a budget being opposed? To suggest such a thing based on what is presented in the article is pretty shoddy journalism, in my opinion. Even though many Ontarians are in an uproar over the budget (myself included), there is no excuse for a newspaper reporting on half a story. Unfortunately, this has become the norm in reporting. The more controversial the report, the better.
TheStar.com - Liberals introduce health tax bill Great! More money off the paycheque. If they want to legislate a useful bill, make it criminal for companies to be making billions of dollars and have salaries frozen for the majority of it's employees. Now, that would be useful.
The weekend was relatively relaxing. I did the usual chores on Saturday and looked forward to a relaxing father's day at home.
That would mean a little beer, watching sports, and spending time with the kids.
I tuned into the US Open a few times and couldn't believe the love in they were having with Phil Mickelson. Saturday it began, but perhaps worse than that was following Tiger Woods around when he was out of contention and playing very poorly. There had to be some others in the top 10 of the leader board that could have been followed. The only thing of significance Tiger did on Saturday was hole his last shot for eagle. That's a highlight I don't mind seeing, but every T-shot spraying all over the course is not something I needed to see. I would have preferred seeing others whose shots were decent. And then on Sunday, Goosen and Mickelson had a good battle going. Once the 3-putt occurred, it was lights out.
And what is all the complaining about how difficult the course was. Give me a break. Is it always supposed to be easy? It's the same for everyone. Goosen and Mickelson made shots, too bad for the rest. It's about time a course actually brought the pros to their knees. Suck it up.
I took in some Euro 2004 soccer. There were some entertaining games. So far, the luckiest team has been France. The should have lost their two games (against England and Croatia). The team that came through with the most amount of pressure would have to be Portugal. Imagine the immense pressure they were feeling heading into the game against Spain. A team they haven't beaten for a long time and a must win. Now that the opening game jitters are over with I look to Portugal to carry on to the finals. Against who, I'm uncertain. If England can get through I'd be cheering for them, but somehow I think they will be eliminated.
On Friday night I watched the hometown Tiger Cats beat the B.C. Lions with a gutsy performance. I wish I had seen more of it, but I was tending to my ever-increasingly frustrating computer, so I only got to see the B.C. comeback fall short. It was a good win, but the Ticats have a lot of work to do in the much improved Eastern Conference.
The election is fast approaching. The debates (in English) begin tonight. The polls show the "Conservatives" leading by a slight margin. It appears Canada is on the verge of electing a government mostly based on despising the current government in power. This I feel would be a mistake. I felt it was a mistake even before I read this article. Now there is some ammunition behind by gut feeling. Although it is difficult to believe absolutely in anything we read in papers or see on TV these days, because of the spin the media puts on things, the things outlined in the article cannot be ignored nor dismissed. Even if a portion of the things are true, it is enough to stop me from voting for the "Conservative" party.
That leaves me with the Liberals or the NDP as viable alternatives. I'll have to watch the debates more closely than I ever have. This could be one of the most important votes in Canadian history. Considering the enormous contradictions coming out of the Liberal and Conservative camps, would the NDP be such a bad choice?
Globetechnology
As the RBC admits that the problems that have occurred in the past week were due to human error, we in the business exhale a collective sigh of relief that it is not us undergoing the problems. Those in the business of computers and the applications they run, know that such crisis is a keystroke away. Most banks have suffered some sort of "computer glitch" where data has been incorrect/corrupted. Most of the time it is not the computer that has failed but the computer programmers and those that test the validity of the programs before they go live. Other times it can be the individuals responsible for the recovery of an actual computer failure. The recovery is done incorrectly, and the data is corrupted. Someone once said a computer is only as clever as the person that programs it. And the old adage, "garbage in, garbage out" -- or GIGO is another saying that can be applied.
Next on the list of hurdles for RBC will be the class action law suit forthcoming from many individuals and winning back customer confidence. I can sympathize with those who do live paycheque to paycheque and what this event would have done to their stress levels. Could this be the first year RBC is not the number one bank in Canada in my memory? Time will tell.
So, the hockey season is finally over...in June! Seems odd to be playing a winter sport in June, but in Canada, for many it is a year round thing. The Stanley Cup goes to Tampa Bay of all places. A place of palm trees and very hot weather. To some that seems odd, but for me it doesn't matter. The Tampa Bay Lightning played like champions in the seventh game (for that matter, so did Calgary). The best team won.
As for the "state" of hockey. If you go by the ratingsall is well. Yes, there are some blemishes that can be worked on, but overall, hockey is an amazing fast-paced sport with hitting, finesse, and grit. Every sport has boring and uninteresting games during the regular season, but the playoffs is what brings out the best in the sport. The competition and stakes are high, which brings out the best in all. If the U.S. isn't taking to it like the league wants, so be it. Canadians will always make time for a hockey game when it's as entertaining as Monday's was.
The near future will bring the settlement of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). We just don't know how long it will take. I don't think it will be a long stoppage, but there will be some interruption. In the meantime, if you want to see some really great hockey, the world cup of hockey is going to be put on in August and September.
SaveDonCherry.CA -- Help keep Don on HNIC
For those who wish to do a small part.
Got this link in an email yesterday. It does have an up side.
The carpet guys were in to lay the carpet in the basement yesterday. Finally we were going to get the basement back to some sort of organised living space for everyone. B&B had spent most of the day before packing things up to make things as easy as possible for the guys to move things around. The insurance and restoration guys said to leave everything and the men would take care of it. B&B just couldn't do that. All they had to do was move the bigger items like furniture and the TV. I had moved the stereo so they wouldn't have to. Anyway, the three stooges come in and have to move the entertainment unit. Everything was out of it except the TV. Stooge 1 and 2 go to move it and...CRASH. The TV falls out the back and onto the floor.
Stooge 1: Oops.
B&B: *silence*
Stooge 1: Oh it'll be alright.
B&B: I doubt it.
Stooge 1: How old is that thing?
B&B: About 12 years old, but it worked perfectly.
Stooge 1: Well, I might be working for free.
Stooge 2 & 3: *silence*
Later...
B&B: Did you try the TV yet?
Stooge 1: Yeah, it didn't work. But I know a guy in the west end, he'll fix it up.
B&B: How long would that be?
Stooge 1: About a week.
B&B: No way. I shouldn't have to wait a week. Before you guys got here I had a perfectly functioning TV.
So Stooge 1 decides to call his boss and basically complain about B&B being unreasonable. B&B decides to call the head of the restoration, since the stooges are just contracted out to do the work. It is really the restoration company's reputation that is on the line here. Let's call the head guy, Al. Anyway, Al will be over right away. In the meantime, stooge 1 starts getting attitude with B&B and calls her down to remove the drawers from the dresser because "you know I wouldn't want to break anything". Now B&B is really impressed. To make a long story short, Al takes the TV after giving the Stooges some what for, and says he'll be in touch in a couple of days. B&B says it needs to be fixed by the next hockey game (Thursday). He says he'll hear from her before that. So, we may end up with a newer TV out of this as well.
However, the fun didn't end there. One of the stooges was moving a set of shelves and stopped dead in his tracks. Now picture three grown men standing about a yard or so away from something as if it were going to attack at any moment.
Stooge 2: Excuse me.
B&B: Yes.
Stooge 2: Do you have a rat problem?
B&B: Umm, no. I have a cat, she'd take care of anything like that.
Stooge 3: (Pointing sheepishly) What's that?
B&B saunters over, bends down and picks up....
A beanie baby animal in the form of an armadillo.
It still had the TY tag on.
The final piece happened on their way out or in (I'm not sure) with some carpet. The same stooge that broke the TV snapped the rail on the stairs.
Stooge 1 (to no one in particular): I can't believe it! Two things in one day. It was a thin piece of metal anyway.
Don't let the door hit you in the a$$ on your way out there genius.
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