Nexus

No End to Winter!

Where is that damn ground hog - I want a word with him ... enough already. I should hardly be whinging - after the pounding the maritimes got this week. But still enough is enough. Yes, I know this is 'allseasons' and I love winter. Today however I am sick of it. It is grey and miserable. The wind is howling - whipping your hair all about and lashing your face with little ice pellets.

Running is a big challenge ... avoiding huge puddles and sheets of ice on the trails all at the same time. I have to admit I did enjoy my run today - a much needed mental release after a grueling week.

But back to the original topic - winter - bleh - go away already.

A Fashion Prayer

This little prayer was on the '<a href="http://www.citytv.com/cityline/">Cityline</a>' Fashion Friday show today ... it's a great, fun show and this is very cute.

A Fashion Prayer

Armani who art in Holts.
Hallowed be thy shoes.
Thy Prada come.
Thy shopping done.
On Bloor St. as it is in Paris.
Give us this day, our Visa Gold.
And forgive us our balance.
As we forgive those who charge us interest.
Lead us not into Wal-Mart.
And deliver us from Sears.
For thine is the Chanel, the Gaultier, and the Versace.
For Dolce and Gabban.
Amex.

Of Things Medical

I started out at the office as usual this morning but got called away shortly after 9 to unexpectedly take my mother to the hospital. Mom is 76 and very healthy in every way except for a broken down body. She has osteoporosis, arthritis, two replaced knees and a very bad back. She has had bronchitis for the last couple of weeks which reactly badly with her asthma and caused a lot of 'violent' coughing. This had pretty well thrown every joint in her body out and she was in severe pain.

When I called to check up her this morning she was desperate and in tears. Not knowing what else to do, I went there and took her to 'Urgent Care' at the hospital. They spent all day x-raying and testing her and after 5 or so hours in waiting rooms, sent us away with the advice to take ibuprophen. She had already been doing this.

There really isn't a lot to be done for these physical ailments and resulting pain. I can see how much pain she is in and feel pretty helpless to do anything. Well except to offer her food, tea, advil and sympathy.

There are so many women (likely men as well) of her generation suffering from osteoporosis and physical ailments. I'm glad they finally got the word out there about calcium and exercise. Even though she is healthy as far as all her organs goes, she really doesn't have a great quality of life. Makes you realize how important it is to do your strength routines, pilates and yoga. I'm hoping these things are going to keep me from the pain my mother lives with.

Seafood in Florida

Mary Beth of <a href="http://longleaf.typepad.com/switched_at_birth/">'Switched at Birth</a>' writes wonderful posts about food and especially seafood. Her posts often feature <a href="http://longleaf.typepad.com/switched_at_birth/2004/02/broiled_flounde.html">wonderful photos of her dinners </a>- it is difficult to read them when I'm hungry. So of course when I was trying to decide what to have for dinner on Sunday, I decided it had to be seafood. I had a fabulous dinner of grilled grouper with scallops, shrimp and crabmeat. Fresh from the Florida sea coast.

No Place Like Home

It is really nice to be home ... I had a great trip. The course was really worthwhile - I learned a lot - all of it applicable to my job - in fact I kept two sets of notes - a 'To Do' list for my current project based on some new ideas and a set of general notes. I liked the other people attending the course as well. On the last evening there, several of us went for dinner - we were laughing and talking like old friends. I felt sad to say good-bye to them.

The travel part was tiring as it always is and I didn't sleep well at the hotel. All is well at home - the cats seem as fat as they were before I left so Aunt Sharon fed them well. They do seem happy to see me - as happy as cats ever are.

I'll post more about the trip later - for now I am starving. I missed my computer - did not see one (up close) the whole time I was gone.

Toronto's New Ferry Service

Toronto will have a new ferry service scheduled to start in May. A high speed ferry will operate between Toronto and Rochester. This is interesting because even though Toronto is on the water, currently from Toronto the only ferry service offered is to the Toronto Islands - mainly a recreation area that is a 15 minute ferry ride from downtown Toronto. I love ferries - they remind me of family vacations on the east coast. (New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island)

This has been under my radar screen a bit and I'm not sure of the logistics - length of time of example.

This topic of the ferry has come up a couple of times today ... during our run this morning Sharon told me the various entries she and Charlie submitted for a 'name the ferry contest'. Then it is on the front page of the Toronto section of <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040214/FERRY14/TPNational/Toronto">'The Globe and Mail</a>' today. Although this article mainly describes Toronto's woes in not being on schedule with completion of the facilities. It sounds like the terminal will be on the east side of the city. I wonder if there are some interesting travel possibilities .... this will certainly make Lake Placid and The Finger Lakes more accessible.

The Weather in Florida

I've just checked the weather forecast in Florida ... not very inspiring. At least it will be nice to be away from winter for a couple of days. I have a 7 am flight on Sunday morning ... a bit early but it will give me all day Sunday in Florida. Looking forward to at least a couple of runs outside without winter layers and trying to avoid slipping on the ice.

I'm looking forward to this course - the reason for the trip. I've discovered there is a 'Premium Outlet Mall' on the conference centre premises ... hmmm ... worth a visit. I am looking for a dress to wear to a tropical wedding in a couple of months and Florida seems a good spot to begin the search.

It has been an exhausting week and I have nothing much to say. In addition to having two active projects on the go - complete with deadlines, we have had the internal auditors with us for the last two weeks. They apparently love us so that's good news.

As I write this the news is on in the background ... 50 cm of snow in Athens, Greece today .. quite a shock for a country with 300 days of sunshine per year as the norm. (NTS - stop complaining!)

Botswana and Canada

<a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040211.wbotswana0212/BNStory/International/">This is a link to a column in The Globe and Mail </a>today written by a frequent contributor on the topic of Aids in Africa. This column is about the struggles faced in Botswana where 37% of adults are infected with the virus. Botswana is by all accounts a well run democracy. However, now the country possesses the highest Aids virus infection rate in the world and is struggling. There seems to be some hope - as this article mentions the groups that are working together to provide education and treatment.

The Globe also features <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040212.wletthome0212/BNStory/International/">another column by Stephanie Nolan today </a>- a letter home where she talks about living in Botswana and the similarities to Canada. She is one of my favourite columnists and is The Globe and Mail's correspondent in Africa.

It's Pouring ...

Of the 'it never rains but it pours variety'. I mean work .... all the documentation that I have been patiently waiting for so I can begin my QA reviews and test plans arrived. For two large projects ... on the same day. Arggggg....

So dinner plans have been cancelled and I am sitting at work feeling very stressed.

By the way .... do you ever notice how people behave in the company car park? It's bizarre. One of my co-workers and I both have a '5k radius' rule - we behave very nicely within 5 km of the office - that person you don't let into your lane might be riding up the elevator with you.

Not everyone shares our philosophy it seems ... some very bad behaviour in the company parking lot. One of the guys in our department had an incident recently where someone in the parking lot was in a rage at some perceived infraction and threatened to beat him up - got right out of the car and went up to his car window. It didn't take my co-worker long to figure out the identity of the person - turns out he is a manager in one of our sister organizations. He has since been known to us as 'road rage guy'. I'm quite sure he regrets that 2 minutes of his life and will for as long as he works here.

The New Internationalist

Through a comment left on a recent post at <a href="http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/">'How To Save The World</a>' I've just discovered a UK based magazine called <a href="http://www.newint.org/">'The New Internationalist'</a>.

I didn't have a lot of time to browse their well designed website today (work is interfering!) but so far I'm impressed - lots of interesting articles ... both on-line and featured in their monthly magazine. I've subscribed to the magazine - I still prefer to read the paper version. There is an electronic newsletter available. An on-line shope features merchandise and some interesting looking vegetarian cookbooks.

Check out Dave Pollard's excellent blog <a href="http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/">'How To Save The World</a> while your're at it.