A whlie back I was trying to toilet train the cats, remember? Anyway, I finally got this thing called a "sitz bath" which I think is for bathing your nether regions while you sit on the toilet, but the cats don't need to know that. It's sturdy plastic and won't fall in to the toilet when the dumb cats stand in it. Anyway, I just set it up today cause the litter was due for a change, and Mort jumped right up and peed. Very exciting. They wouldn't fall for the tin pan full of litter I tried before, but this seems to work. So I'm pretty excited at the idea of toilet trained cats, I have to tell you. I'll keep you posted.

ok, I'm just gonna quote this whole thing right off Dyanna's blog, cause it's easier that way, and has a nice enough intro. This serves as a nice contrast to my last sort of, anti-US sounding last post. I'm going to say the same thing she did as well. It's not that I agree with everything he's saying, but he raises some very valid points. the stolen post starts.....now:


After hearing that the state of Florida changed its opinion and let a Muslim woman have her picture on her driver's license with her face covered this is an editorial written by an American citizen, published in a Tampa newspaper. He did quite a job; didn't he?


IMMIGRANTS, NOT AMERICANS, MUST ADAPT. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Americans. However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the "politically correct" crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others.

I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to America. Our population is almost entirely made up of descendants of immigrants. However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand. This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.

We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!

"In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.

If Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don't like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle. Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion and we will allow you every opportunity to do so. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great American freedom, THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.

ok. So my vote goes to impeach Bush and bring back the sex fiend. He may have done naughty things, but in the grand scheme of things, which is more serious an offence, getting some illicit love from a silly silly intern, or waging a war against the wishes of like, the WHOLE WORLD.

also, what the hell is going on with American television? while we here have quality stuff like Degrassi: TNG, they bombard us with crap like...I have to list here:
Hot or Not
Married by America (a big letdown, they're just going to get engaged and then live together for a while and THEN we'll see..)
Date My Mom
America's Most Talented Kid
All-American Girl
American Idol (why do we enjoy seeing people being crapped on?)
Survivor (I'm sorry, it's crap)
Joe Millionaire (yeah, I watched it, he's hot, but it's still crap)
The Bachelor
The Bachelorette
I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!
Celebrity Mole
The Family
Fear Factor
30 Seconds to Fame
Temptation Island 3
Mr. Personality (coming soon, click for details!)

stuff that isn't on right now, but has been and haunts me still:
The Mole
Big Brother


And the sad thing is, I'm sure I've missed some. But I'm tired now!

ok, I'm probably going to end up deleting this post later since it won't make sense if the page is working, but for right now it's NOT. It was, but now, somehow even though it has my new posts on it, it has reverted back to the old format with the old pop up window menus, even though that's not in the template that's been uploaded. *sigh* whatever. bigger fish to fry.

ah, new menus!
I just went to get an oil change, and agreed to a "peace of mind driving inspection", because my car does strange things and makes odd noises etc. It's almost completely fine, it is completely fine as far as the noises go..but alas needs a new tierod and something else, that with parts and labour will cost me $480. I am sad. I was just trying to decide how I should spend my income tax money, since though I'm not rich, I am in a position right now where I'd say it's safe to spend my tax refund, cause it's like found money. But now, that'll take a good chunk of my money. Grant has offered to chip in, but I feel bad making him pay for my shitty car. What do you think? With this, and the big money we sunk into it in the late fall, I just don't know if this is when I draw the line of "not worth investing any more money into it", or if I fix it and hope for the best in coming months.

Again from Tirésa, she sent me these a little while ago, but they're funny.

THE BEST [ACTUAL] HEADLINES OF 2002

1. Crack Found on Governor's Daughter.
2. Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says.
3. Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers.
4. Iraqi Head Seeks Arms.
5. Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus?
6. Prostitutes Appeal to Pope.
7. Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over.
8. Teacher Strikes Idle Kids.
9. Miners Refuse to Work after Death.
10. Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant.
11. War Dims Hope for Peace.
12. If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile.
13. Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures.
14. Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide.
15. Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges.
16. Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead.
17. Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge.
18. New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group.
19. Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft.
20. Kids Make Nutritious Snacks.
21. Chef Throws His Heart into Helping Feed Needy.
22. Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half.
23. Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors.

Well, among many other great quotes that I've found, a few of which are posted on Tirésa's blog, this is the closest approximation to the one I'm looking for. It may be a word or 2 off, but the general feeling is there, and you can probably see why I was trying so hard to find it. Such a lovely thought.


Daniel the Tiger thought that he was a mistake because he was different from other tigers. do you feel like that sometimes?
All tigers are different, just like people. That's what makes you someone special. There is no person in this world who is a mistake, no matter how different they may seem. Everyone is fine.

I'm sick. Why am I sick? Because it's March Break. I usually get a cold this time of year, but not like, SICK sick. I'm not happy. Grant's being a sweetie though, offered to stay home from work and stuff. That wouldn't have been much fun though, me sleeping and barfing etc. Not much that can be done I'm afraid. Gravol sucks though, I'll pass that bit of wisdom along. That's about all I have energy for right now, I'm going to go watch Michael Moore on Oprah. He's a pretty cool guy, introduced to me by none other than the lovely Erin. What would I do without her? hehe..

I'm searching for one very specific quote that I just can't find, but I'll keep looking for a while. in the meantime, Tirésa and I have both been looking, and she found a page with this quote on it.

When asked what the greatest event in American history was, Fred Rogers responded, “I can’t say, however I suspect that like so many ‘great’ events, it was something very simple and very quiet with little or no fanfare (such as forgiving someone else for a deep hurt) which eventually changed the course of history. The really important “great” things are never the center stage of life’s drama. They’re always “in the wings.” That’s why it’s so essential for us to be mindful of the humble and the deep rather than the flashy and the superficial.”

lovely.

So as most of you probably know, Mr Rogers passed away this week. Now, this is sad in the generic way that any celebrity-type person's passing away is sad, but also on a bigger level than that. I was lucky enough to catch the end of a PBS special on him last night, and I have a whole new appreciation for him. I think he was really good for kids in a way that wasn't just about entertaining them or talking down to them in any way. As an example, here are the lyrics of one of his songs from the show which I, honestly, think would make a lovely wedding song with "love" instead of "like". Or even just the way it is.

It's You I Like
by Fred M. Rogers


It's you I like,
It's not the things you wear,
It's not the way you do your hair--
But it's you I like
The way you are right now,
The way down deep inside you--
Not the things that hide you,
Not your toys--
They're just beside you.

But it's you I like--
Every part of you,
Your skin, your eyes, your feelings
Whether old or new.
I hope that you'll remember
Even when you're feeling blue
That it's you I like,
It's you yourself,
It's you, it's you I like.

Tirésa sent me this and had it on her blog, but it's funny, so I'm posting it on mine. Don't go getting all offended or anything eh?


Americans,

On behalf of Canadians everywhere I'd like to offer an apology to the United States of America. We haven't been getting along very well recently and for that, I am truly sorry.

I'm sorry we called George Bush a moron. He is a moron, but it wasn't nice of us to point it out. If it's any consolation, the fact that he's a moron shouldn't reflect poorly on the people of America. After all, it's not like you actually elected him or anything.

I'm sorry about our softwood lumber. Just because we have more trees than you doesn't give us the right to sell you lumber that's cheaper and better than your own.

I'm sorry we beat you in Olympic hockey. In our defence I guess our excuse would be that our teams were much, much, much, much better than yours.

I'm sorry we burnt down your White-House during the war of 1812. I notice you've rebuilt it! It's very nice.

I'm sorry about your beer. I know we had nothing to do with your beer, but we feel your pain.

I'm sorry about our waffling on Iraq. I mean, when you're going up against a crazed dictator, you want have your friends by your side. I realise it took more than two years before you guys pitched in against Hitler, but that was different. Everyone knew he had weapons.

And finally on behalf of all Canadians, I'm sorry that we're constantly apologising for things in a passive-aggressive sort of way, which is really a thinly veiled criticism. I sincerely hope that you're not upset over this. We've seen what you do to countries you get upset with.

I'm Canadian. And I'm sorry.

and finally, I have put up all my new pics from Christmas and the ice storm, and some random pet pics. enjoy!

on the bright side, I was offered an interview at the Tri County district, but had to decline because I can't move to Yarmouth. Also, and more fun, I got a free shoulder bag from them, KD from the Chignecto board, and Kipper Snacks (also from Tri County, they're made in Yarmouth). Pretty fun.

Ok. So I went to the job fair, only to find out that they're only hiring for math, science, music, and French Immersion. This would have been especially useful information prior to my leaving the city of Moncton, giving up a night's pay at MCRI and a day of supply work to go to an interview that I did well at, but I have a feeling was a waste of time. The only thing I can do out of the aforementioned subjects is FI, which I *can* do, and DO, regularly. I think they didn't really belive me, even though I did half the interview in French and emphasized the fact that I DO teach immersion all the time. I do understand that there were time constaints, but I would have appreciated them taking a moment to look at a couple of key things in my portfolio, since I've put a bit of work in to it, and it has some fairly important stuff in it...lesson plans, reference letters (one of which specifically says that my French is strong enough to teach it!), evaluations, etc. It was a very standard interview, which again, I'm sure was due to time constraints, but I didn't really feel like I got a chance to express myself properly. I was actually cut off several times before I got to my point whenever I tried to sneak in some useful piece of information about myself that could make them want to hire me. All in all a very frustrating situation, for a more detailed description of the events, check out Tirésa's page, she has far more reason to be angry than me as she did not even get an interview for whatever reason. I think the only reason I did is that I have on my résumé that I'm bilangue, and I consider myself to be so, but I really don't think the interviewers believed me, which is really too bad. It can't be a good sign that they were encouraging me to move to Hali to supply, because with my French I'd get a lot of work. Or as much as I get here anyway. It doesn't really make sense to me to move somewhere to do the same thing I'm doing here. Better of them to say that than just to kick me out, but it was pretty discouraging to be basically told right there that I suck. I'm sure I'll manage something for the fall, it's just that this whole thing could have been a lot better. I'm also a touch bitter that the NS boards have been handing out contracts the whole time, and with UNB being last on the tour, we were presented with far fewer job opportunities, which doesn't really seem fair. This is a bit longer than I'd hoped, but I'm a bit emotional about the whole thing, really. So if anyone knows of any elementary FI jobs or high school English jobs or Resource that's willing to accept a BEd in S.E. and a promise to further my studies...lemme know!

So tomorrow I teach grade 2 and then I'm off to the NS early hiring job fair at UNB. I have an interview Wednesday morning, and I'm sort of nervous, I've heard that either I'll definitely get a job because they're pretty hard up for teachers, or not to hold my breath cause they're interviewing a LOT of people, or that they're only interviewing people from NS (but that can't be, cause I'm not, and what's the point of going to different universities if you're only interested in NS teachers?). *sigh*. I think really they're just drawing names out of a hat to decide interviews. I know there can't be any real system to it, because my dear dear friend Tiresa was overlooked for an interview, and I am very surprised and hurt on her behalf. We have basically the same courses and experience, so I'm not sure what it was. We're going to get to the bottom of it tomorrow though! Anyway...a girl supplying at the HS I work at had like, 9 mini interviews at the PEI job fair, and got 3 job offers out of it. She just graduated in December. She also said her interview was approximately 12 minutes long, and that they didn't even have time to look at her portfolio, but were impressed that she had one. So I really have no clue what to expect, but am hoping to clear that up as well, tomorrow afternoon. I wasn't going to tell anyone about the interview, mainly just not my parents, cause I think it's hard on them when I don't get jobs. But I'm pretty sure they don't read this, so I'm safe. Wish me luck! seriously though.

so I didn't teach kindergarten, I taught grade 3 immersion, but whatev, it's all good. I have, however, decided...or realized I suppose...that on the whole, I'm much happier when coming home from a day in elementary school than I am coming home from high school. This is definitely not to say that I don't want to teach high school, but it is to say that as far as supply teaching goes, elementary is where it's at. They know you're not quite the real teacher once they hit about grade 3, but they don't really treat you like the big kids do. And, you actually get to teach them, not just supervise movie watching or something. I got a really nice reference letter from the principal at the elementary school where I go all the time, so hopefully that will help. It even mentions that my French is good enough to teach the second language program..(in elem. anyway..) I'm still working on getting one out of my co-operating teacher from this time last year, but I think I'm more to blame than he is for that. I did run into him though, at Chapters, last weekend, and reminded him that I need one and could pick it up when I arrive at Freddy Beach on Tuesday. I don't really know what to do with them, put them in the portfolio under some section I suppose! Tiresa and I are working on getting the bulk of our portfolios online (my briliant idea, though I'm sure it's been thought of before) so as to be able to reference it on resumes etc, maybe increase the chance of an interview. Though, I seem to be getting the interviews, just not the jobs. I'm keeping my fingers crossed though, it's only a matter of time, I just have to have patience and not lose my mind in the meantime. Happy thoughts in my direction are greatly appreciated. Anyhoo, it's late and I'm tired, so hasta luego.

I JUST CAN'T STOP! hehe...I've gotten myself some cool but horribly complicated program, Macromedia Studio MX which came with a bunch of programs, so if I can figure out how to work them, then I'll be able to get this sonofabitch the way I want it and just..let it be. For a while. Anyhoo, just checking in, I'm tired and have to go to bed so as to be able to teach KINDERGARTEN tomorrow. Sweetass.

Swedish lessons from Erin:

jag älskar dig --- I love you

älska god mat --- love good food

fröken i skolan var min första förälskelse --- my schoolteacher was my first love

so, am I selfish for not wanting to work at my "other" job all the time? I'm on the relief list, and I really don't want to work there every day. It's money, yes. But the home that needs me most, there's just a lot of work to do, and it's incredibly tiring teaching a full day and then working there until 10:30. They would probably have me in there 4 times a week if I'd go, because *someone* is always out sick, or whatever, and their relief list, I think, consists of about 2 people. I feel bad saying no because somebody is going to have to work the shift, I just don't always want it to have to be me.
The search for easy ways to cool-up my site continues..I'm going to go to my usual help site and see if she has any ideas for me. Kind of ironic, the site is for kids, but I've learned a lot of HTML there! hehe..

Can you tell I'm bored? I crave change. No.....I need change. seriously. I've changed the name here, I think it's better, and I swear, not meant to be dirty. Although, I have no problem with it being construed that way. hehe.
ARGCHK!
when I make wishes at 11:11, which I do, yes...I don't even wish for specific things like winning the lottery or anything. I wish for a significant, good change to occur in my life. Soon.

So in an effort to make this site cooler and ever more enjoyable for you and me both, I thought perhaps I would switch over to Moveable Type, since most of the cool sites I see are done that way. However, have a look at this and tell me if you think I have a snowball's chance of understanding it! I mean, people do it, but holy crap. I was on a 16 year old's site today, and SHE was using moveable type, so it must be do-able, no? Anyone have any advice for me?

dammit, but we were cute. check us out.

Well, despite my best efforts to send e-cards yesterday for today, they only got sent about 10 minutes ago. Ah well! Another V-day come and gone. Kind of overrated I think, although I did get a free lunch and some flowers out of the deal, so I'm pretty happy. I briefly considered redoing the colours for today into pinks etc, but thought that a bit much, even though I had, by far, enough time on my hands to do it. hehe. Anyway, hope everyone got to do something interesting today, or completely ignored the holiday, whichever you prefer!

so, Happy V-day...almost. For those not in coupledom, I give you this. A Hallmark card with one hell of a long link, but it made me laugh.

ok, Jenn sent me this as a Valentine's Day treat / inspiration. Watch out, there's sound! ahahahah...

so I'm a slacker, what are you gonna do about it?
Jebus seems better, but I'm just going to finish off the drugs on him. an extra day or 2 can't hurt tooo badly I figure.
In other news, I hate supply teaching. The kids are hateful, then challenge every single thing I say, just to be pains in the ass, not because they actually disagree or think they'll get away with anything. The school I was in yesterday, we were supposed to watch a video and then they had questions to answer. I told them if they were quiet for the video I wouldn't make them do the questions, just have a look at them so they could do them later or the next day or whatever. So obviously, they won't shut up, so I say, if you don't quiet down and watch the movie, I'll give you all the questions to do for homework. One student says, "You can't do that.". Hell yes, I can! What the hell do they think I'm there for? Christ. And sadly, that's the biggest decision I got to make all day. I had 3 kids get suspended for 5 days in one of my other classes yesterday. Is that fun? I say no. I AM A TEACHER. I am not just some schmoe off the street who is doing this for a little extra pocket cash...or so that I can have something to do during the day, or during my retirement, or whatever. It doesn't seem fair even that people who are just supply teachers, not looking to be teachers, get to work so much, when there are other supply teachers who want to be "real" teachers, who aren't getting the "experience" they need in the eyes of the district. I have one high school that calls me. One. I'm just annoyed and frustrated with the whole situation.

I'm going to check out the 'net and see if I can find any advice about what to do for my poor fish. Another concern is that a lot of people were without power here for like, 3-4 days. What would you do about fish in that instance? They would get cold and die. But with no power, what could you do to prevent that? hmm..

not like velvet...

So. My big silver dollar fish, Jebus (sidebar: Erin names my fish) is sick. He had some kind of fungus, and I cleared it up with some fish meds. But it's back now, and I don't want to medicate all my fishes again unnecessarily. So. I don't have a separate heated tank, so the best I can do is to put one of my smaller (3 gal) tanks in the big tank and put Jebus in that. This is easier, FAR easier said than done. So I'm trying to put the tank in the tank, and Cleatus (the algae eater who's rougly a foot long snout to tail) is swimming around like mad, and runs into the small tank, freaks out, and JUMPS OUT OF THE AQUARIUM. He's flopping around on the floor, completely ignoring my pleas of "Cleatus, hold still! Stop wiggling!!". So I manage to pick him up and throw him back in the tank. Scared the CRAP out of me. I'm glad George didn't see what was going on or Cleatus would have been eaten, or at least damaged. He looks really smooth and velvety, Cleatus, sauf les spikes, but he's really not at all. He's hard, and rough, and I don't ever EVER ever want to touch him again. I don't wish him harm, I'm pretty attached to my named fish, which is all the ones big enough to differentiate from one another. I just don't ever want to come in direct contact with him again. Or any other fish, really. I now have to get Jebus in the small tank, which he does not want to be a part of in any way. He's also fairly large, about 5 inches in diameter, round and flat. Like a silver dollar. duh. Anyway, it was another escapade getting him in the net, especially with the diminished manoeuvering space with the little tank in there. *SIGH*. So, I think they're ok, but the 3gal is really not big enough for Jebus, so I don't know if I'll be able to keep him in there for the 5-6 days I'm supposed to.

So..again I steal from Jenn; she sent me this link. The story goes that a stage technician recorded this from Enrique Iglesias' microphone as Enrique was lip synching to a playback version of "Rhythm Divine" at a concert in Poland. You know, it might not even be him, but it's still funny. He would never have made it on American Idol!
listen.

Well, even better! There are diaries for all the characters, so choose your own adventure!

Stupid Aragorn..

Thank you Tiresa!

Tiresa sent me this, and well, it's funny. Turn on your speakers, although it would probably be just as enjoyable without sound. hehe.
School is cancelled again today. Now, I know they're using NBCC as an emergency shelter, but I'm not sure what the hold up with the schools is. It did snow a bit last night, but nothing significant. They said that this morning they're down to 8000 people without power, so that's pretty good. That's the only thing I can think of that's keeping schools from opening. District 1 is open though, kind of strange, since they're both in Moncton. Whatev. I have my meeting with the woman from district 2 today, so I'm hoping to get something out of that, a timeline in which I can expect to get a contract job perhaps. I'm also going to call my dad's friend who works in the Halifax school board and see what he can do for me. I'll keep you posted, as usual.

ok, honestly, I'm just trying to post so that stupid "eye test" picture will go away, lol. Ah well. The weather is still rotten and shows no signs of improving, so I'm not holding my breath that school will be open tomorrow. I am going to meet with the hiring lady at District 2 though, so I'll have something to do anyway. I'm so happy with my new layout! And I did it almost all by myself! wooh!

No school again today! What's going on! No power, that's what. We still have ours but lots of people don't. 26 000 to be precise. Down from 40 000 yesterday, but still a significant chunk of the poplulation. I was supposed to teach today, high school even, but alas, I don't really get credit for snow days. Anyway, I got in a few hours at Hedgewood, so that's something I suppose. I got a couple of fun new fish called walking catfish, and was just taking a moment to research the little guys to give you a link, should you be so inclined to click, and it seems they get quite large and are prone to eating everything, including other fish. I may have to have a chat with the pet store guy about this!

First snow day of this school year! I love that I still get excited about that. Lots of people actually had the day off, what with all the power outages and such. Grant was late to work because our asshole plower didn't come...AGAIN...but our landlord just dropped off a snowblower, and they're playing with that now, so that should help anyway. But then after getting in about an hour late he got to come home because a tree fell on a powerline shortly after he got there. I wasn't supposed to work anyway, but schools were cancelled so I didn't have to worry about getting called in. Obviously, we still have power, it's flicked off a couple of times, but never even long enough to reset the clocks, so we got lucky. I think we're pretty safe now, things are melting so it should be ok. Anyhoo, I'm trying to redesign the page for you guys, and for me too I guess, but it's hard! I want to put the blog on the left and the links on the right, but it's not working for some reason, so you'll have to be patient. Totally different colour scheme though, hopefully this one won't make Erin vomit.

on a brighter note, it's really quite pretty out, and since I'm already wet etc, I think I'll go take some pictures.

I'm going to murder our plower contractor guy. Seriously. That's about all I can say about that right now. Suffice to say, he's been here about twice all winter, and..living in Canada, we've gotten enough snow to warrant much more attention than that. So now, there is snow up to the bottom of the car, and it's freezing raining, making a total mess of things, and I just spend 20 minutes shoveling the incredibly heavy snow and trying to coax the neon into the driveway over the plow mountain and through the slush. Not a happy camper.

Man. Well, better than last time I guess, they "see potential" in me, and would like to give me feedback on my interview some time next week, but I suck and they're not giving me the job. For those of you who don't know, I had applied for a job teaching at the alternate education center, it would have been freaking perfect, but alas, I am relegated to the role of god damn supply teacher for a bit longer it seems. It's such a waste of time. Yeah, I'm gonna rant a bit. I know, as my sister pointed out (who was very helpful with the whole interview process, btw), they don't have supply engineering or anything else. But at the same time, what other profession graduates you but then tells you you can't work in your chosen profession? You don't need more education, just experience. Supply teaching is NOT *teaching* experience, regardless of what I say in the interview! It's babysitting, and it takes about a week to figure out that you can't go in and be the nice guy, it doesn't work. But beyond that, I've really gotten very little other than a shitty paycheque out of the whole deal, and I really think 5 years of university and a usable degree should be..well..usable. Frustrated much? yes. Seriously, I'll just move, this is ridiculous. I with my degree make $105 a day, which yeah, isn't too shabby, or wouldn't be, if I worked every day. Also, some jerk off the street can make $97 a day and not have had the trouble of going to university or worrying about teacher-type things. Janitorial staff make the SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY, and they get BENEFITS. Freaking ridiculous. The district took applications for long term supply positions in November, and hasn't done anything with them yet. When are all these teachers retiring? I don't understand. When I went in to Education, everyone was saying, wow, good timing, blah blah blah. They still are, but I have no idea what they're talking about. I think that's it, I don't have anything else to say that's fit to publish.

Alright. Blue Rodeo are a fine, fine band. They played a lot of new stuff, but mixed it up with the classics and finished the show and encore with "Hasn't Hit Me Yet" and "Falling Down Blue", respectively. Good tunes. Nathan Wiley opened, and was also really good, but I really prefer the small venue atmosphere. I say this because the audience, for the most part, sucked. I understand that not a lot of people were there to see Nathan, heck, not a lot of people even knew who he was or that he was opening, but still. Common sense and courtesy dictate that you shut up and listen at least half-heartedly to this guy. So, a note to the people sitting in front of me at the concert. Section 20, Row 13, you know who you are. You got up many, many times during the concert, only once waiting for a break between songs to do so. You were quite likely drunk when you got there and continued to drink the entire time...at one time coming back with 3 beer each in hand. Nice. You talked, you did not know any of the songs, during the fast ones you were dancing like assholes (nobody else was, or it might have been ok), and during the quiet ballads you were talking loudly and laughing...again...like assholes. This is for the whole concert too folks, not just for Nathan. So the music was great, the light show was cool, but the audience sucked hardcore.
On a brighter note, sort of...
I got Nathan Wiley's autograph on my cd that I bought shortly after having seen him open for Sarah Harmer. The "sort of" part of the cool part here is that I was the first person to even approach him, and I wasn't like, stalker fast about it. Once I went up to him and started chatting then other poeple started lining up and stuff. Maybe they were just shy. He's very cute. So now I have an autographed set list and cd. He just has to get real real famous, and I'm all set. hehe. And Grant even liked one of the songs, which is cool.
I think that's it. I'm tired now, and the in-laws are coming up in the morning so my plan of sleeping in til noon will have to wait unitl non-Superbowl Sunday.

Ok, so I totally scammed this off Jenn's blog, but it's freaking awesome. Here is the link to my amazing drawing. Here is the link to the page so you can make your own drawing and not accidentally end up sending mine to your friends.

yeah, some people have too much time on their hands, but this is really cute. It's a video, not actually a website, but very cute.
click.

Ok, so still nothing really exciting going on, but I did get a funny email. Ok.

The US Government will release a new eye test to be administered nation wide. Here is a sneak preview of the test.

If you see sheep, you need glasses. Scroll down slowly once the image has loaded.

Yes, actually I have been rather slack lately, thanks for noticing! I just really don't have much to say. I applied for a job and am just waiting to hear what's happening with that, the good thing being that the job starts basically immediately so the district is going to have to get on it and not wait several months. I went to visit the school and told them I want to work there, so hopefully that will help. Can't hurt! So that's basically what's on my mind these days. I'll let you know. Well, how about, if I don't mention it in the next week, I probably didn't get the job. Yes, good idea. Ok, well apparently I have to go open a stock account or something, good times.

More from globeandmail.com.

Animals and alcohol

Cattle raised in Kobe, Japan, are pampered to produce some of the most expensive beef in the world, reports The Sunday Telegraph. "What sets the beef apart is its famed 'marbling' of fat. The daily massages are designed to distribute the fat so that the end product is mouth-meltingly tender -- although some farmers say it also relieves the cows' stress levels. Only premium grain is used as fodder and [beer] is added as an appetite stimulant. 'Cows, like humans, sometimes lose interest in food,' says [beef butcher Shinichi] Tatsumi, so the beer rekindles their appetite and packs on calories. Some do feign appetite loss, though, because they love the beer."

Well, Erin says my new colours make her barf, but Tiresa says they're pretty so whatever guys!
Anyway, here's your educational tidbit for today, courtesy of globeandmail.com's facts and arguments section.

A chimp speaks

A bonobo chimpanzee named Kanzi has invented four spoken "words," say his trainers at Georgia State University.
Jared Taglialatela and Sue Savage-Rumbagh noticed that the chimp made distinct noises during their conversations with him -- and that certain noises remained the same, even in different contexts. For Kanzi, certain sounds consistently meant "banana," "juice," "grapes," and "yes."
He was taught to communicate in symbols and understands some spoken English. But "we haven't taught him this," Mr. Taglialatela told New Scientist. "He's doing it on his own."


how cool is that?

so do you like it? I took the comment thing off, so you'll have to actually email me, or blog. It's different, but I don't think quite different enough. I'm still pretty much ripping off my original layout, which of course was not actually mine but one of blogger's provided templates. That's no fun eh? This is close...but not quite it.

Now, I haven't blogged for a few days because a) I've been trying to change the layout/colours of this and I suck, so I can't do it very well. I have to start from scratch rather than trying to modify this code, cause it's too complicated for my simple HTML mind and I keep messing things up and not knowing exactly what I did wrong. and b) I did a big blog and posted it but it didn't post and I got some whack ass microsoft error which basically laughed at me and told me to give up and go to bed.

Also, I asked for 5 neon tetras and through a couple of misunderstandings got 17, so that was fun. I got my silver dollar fish a friend too, cause he's been looking lonely and not flashing around as much as he usually does, but his friend is like, dwarfed by him. They grow a lot boys and girls, to about 6" in diameter. I got him because supposedly he eats plant, but mine is still taking over the tank and has to be cut back to half its size at least monthly, even with the carbon filter which isn't supposed to be good for plants. I also bought a clown loach a while back to eat my little snails, but he very mysteriously disappeared, then reappeared a few days later, then disappeared for good. Very strange. I guess I should stop trying to have purposes for my fish. But yes, the neons, he was going to cut me a deal which I thought was $15 dollars worth of fish for $10, but it was 10 fish for $15 instead of 5 fish, which is ok, but he either thought I was hot or didn't feel like counting, cause I got 17. Good thing they're small, but it's still a lot of fish. Also a good thing in a way that my male platy died cause I have a whack of baby platies in there too and have to change the water and watch it more than my lazy personality enjoys. hehe. But I do have lots of fun fish, so no complaining.

I'm working every day this week, 4 of them in high school which is good. Although, I've asked around some more, and there's nothing except the interview committee preventing me from working in an elementary school. So I was a bit misinformed but I won't hold that too strongly against my misinformer, cause he's a nice man otherwise. But there's nothing in the collective agreement or district policy to say I can't teach wherever I want to, which is good. I'll just get my hands on some curricula and go from there. I really do like teaching high school though, and I'd like to do that for a living. It's just nice to have options, you know?
Anyway, this has gotten a bit out of hand, so I'll stop now. but I'm going to copy it before I hit paste, just in case. It's like term papers. You'll only make the mistake of not saving often once.

Seriously though, I want to redo the layout for this, and no time like the present. For now though, I'm just going to post my current favourite picture. It's just pretty! I'm not sure if I took it or my mom did.

so I got to work last night for a few hours, and then taught this afternoon. Grade 4 immersion, on a Friday afternoon. AAAAAAAAARGHK! But in any event, most likely better than middle school, hehe. And, they pay me, so I go. But at every 11:11, you can bet I'm wishing for real money to come from somewhere...preferably a job, but I'd be satisfied with a lotto win too. I'm not hard to please, honestly! If anyone knows a way I can make money off of poetry or other creative writing, or photography, let me know.
also, in my abundant spare time, I updated my picture page yesterday.

Ok, so when I was checking to see if Ed was new tonight, (it was, if you were wondering), I came across this gem on the site that goes over all their $10 bets. This is the link to the page, and here are some of my favourites, if you don't feel like reading them all. They always take the bet, by the way.

When an old high school classmate approaches, Ed bets Mike, "Ten bucks to speak in a British accent."

Mike: "...this is a good one. I've thought about this one for weeks. It's conceptual...ten bucks, if you give me ten bucks."
(they exchange money)
Ed: "Ten bucks if you give me 20 bucks."

Mike to Ed: "You see the lawn gnome over there? Ten bucks if you give it a kiss."

Mike: "I'll give you six bucks to hug the giant chicken."
Ed: "Six bucks? As you know the traditional wager is ten bucks."
Mike: "But I've only got six."
Ed: "Forget it! ...Wait. I'll give you ten bucks to hug the giant chicken."

Ok, this is just odd, and I'm not really sure who you would read it to, except very small children who couldn't really understand what you were saying but might like the sounds of the rhymes. It's pretty funny though. I like N and T myself. Enjoy, the pictures are cute.

Ok, so I know that Box Car Racer and Blink 182 sound like exactly the same band, but I'm finding that most bands that have come out in the last couple of years either sound like Blink or Pearl Jam, so while the similarity here was quite something, I didn't realize they ARE the same band. WTF? How is that allowed? Here is Blink's roster: Tom DeLonge - Guitar, Vocals | Mark Hoppus - Bass, Vocals | Travis Barker - Drums. Here is Box Car Racer's: Thomas DeLonge (vocals, guitar, songwriting), Travis Barker (drums, arrangements)....yeah, and 2 other guys. Hey, let's make another bank and make exactly the same kind of music! Great idea dude! So strange...
There's another band that does this, I think they have all the same members, but under one name they make super heavy stuff, and under the other they do more mainstream stuff. It's like selling out without actually selling out. Sweet. But at least that makes sense, in a way.

I've had some really good customer service experiences today, so I thought I'd share them. I had to return a sweater that my Grannie got me for Christmas at Tabi. It was very nice, and very much what I was looking for (a black cardigan for cold teaching days) but a bit too big. So, they didn't have any in my size in the same style, but the lady there was so helpful. She found me a very similar one in my size (that happily, was on sale) and also helped me pick out some nice button up shirts to go with, also very good for teaching and also on sale. So I did end up having to shell out a bit of my own money, but I got 3 blouses and a sweater, so I was pretty happy. I felt like I was on Makeover Story, she was all like, you know, the bright pink looks fun, but I don't think it's you. Those of you who know me will find this odd, I'm all about the bright pinks etc. But she was right, it wasn't a good colour for me. So I'm all stylish, and next time I need teacher clothes, I have one more place to go. I told the lady that I'd never really considered Tabi a store where I could find stuff for me, more like my mom's store, but I guess I was wrong. Not that I'm going to start buying all my stuff there, but for some things, hey.
Experience #2 was with Toshiba. Sadly, my Pocket Rocket (PC) is defective, it's been recalled. Now, I did know this, but had been putting it off because my understanding of the problem was just that if you let the battery run out, you'd lose your data. So I'm thinking, I'll never let it run out! I am so clever! Bad news is that it's the battery is also a problem, it loses its charge with no help from you. I had charged it and not used it for a couple of weeks when I was away, and came back to a dead battery and no data. Unfortunate. I didn't have a lot of stuff on it, but it's a bit of a pain. Anyway, so I called Toshiba US and got this very French guy, reminiscient of the guy who taught Marge to bowl on the Simpsons. He was friendly, if a bit hard to understand, and gave me the number for the Canadian customer service since that would be easier for me. The lady there was also very nice, and they're sending a courrier box to my house to pick up my Pocket Rocket so I don't have to pay for anything. They'll take it and fix the battery and software and then send it back. She said it takes 3-5 business days, so I'm pretty happy. I'll keep you posted.
If you have a Toshiba e740, check your serial number and see if it's defective too. Canada or US

I just heard a really good quote on MuchMusic, of all places. I'm not sure who said it, but here you go.

"You can bomb the world to pieces, but you can't bomb it into peace."

very true.

well I made it home safe and sound after a slight delay at the TO airport due to much more snow here than was anticipated. More on that later, I'm too tired to blog much. Been up since 4am, no good! I did get this pic though from my parents, of me, my sister, dad, and the boys. Not bad, and showing the most snow they've seen in those parts for some time now.

so while waiting for lunch to be ready today, by the cigar store where my mom works, I witness the following.
a parking spot big enough for a car to be pushed in sideways, but not really to drive into. So these 2 ladies decide to do it anyway. First try, it's obvious to me that the car isn't going to get in, but she keeps backing up anyway, and eventually hits the van behind her. Not hard, but makes contact. So she pulls forward, but can only go about 6 inches, there's really not much room here, then starts backing up again, hitting the van, again. There is someone in the backseat of the van who is at this point honking madly at the crazy parallel parker. Said parker pulls forward again, and yes, you guessed it, backs up again, hitting the van a 3rd time. Now the van owner is waving wildly and honking. The woman pulls the car forward again and parks it, gets out with her friend, sort of nods at the woman in the van, then goes on her way. Doesn't look to see if there's any damage. From inside the restaurant it looked ok, but I'm pretty sure I'd be checking. Anyway, the whole time I'm half laughing but half hoping the van lady doesn't pull out her rifle and shoot this idiot driver. She didn't, thankfully.


on a completely unrelated note, ever wonder what fun things you can spell with your phone number? I can't spell crap with my home phone, cause there are two 0's in it, but my cell phone is kind of fun. Try it out.

Well. A new year and time to start sticking to all those resolutions. Because I'm a geek and like things like this, let's increase our word power! Why not try to sound smarter in the new year? I really didn't make any resolutions, I don't usually. I could do like 90% of women and say I'll go to the gym more, but who am I kidding? ;)

Happy New Year to everyone! It's official as far as the Atlantic time zone now, and that's good enough for me. I went out to supper with my parents and had a really tasty meal, and now I'm really tired. Honestly, I don't see the big thing about new years anyway. As good an excuse as any to get hammered I guess, but who needs an excuse? Anyway, hope everyone had fun and played safe, and all the best in the new year!

Ok. So Pilates is hard, and I don't think I like it much. I can see that it would work though, so I'll try it for the rest of the week and try to remember some of the moves to do at home. My least favourite thus far is "hundreds" which is like a demented crunch where you have to hold it with your legs extended for a hundred count. Good times!
Not much else going on, I've got some email to catch up on and I think we'll probably hit Ikea or the mall later today. Mom's gone to the gym, which is good because this Pilates thing was embarrassing.

well, the one super thing I learned was about the kiwi bird. it lays an egg that is I think 10x the size of a hen egg. So...that's like a woman giving birth to a 30lb baby. Which seems just silly to think about, but then they followed that up with the startling fact that there was a couple of years ago, a baby born who weighed 23lbs. Sweet Jebus, TWENTY THREE POUNDS. Let's pause for a moment and say a prayer for that poor, poor woman.
That's the only new thing I learned from that show. I also learned how they make toffee and that according to the food network "Top 5s" show, the #1 deep fried treat (over deep fried Mars bars and turkeys) is a corn dog. Gross.

Well. Finally got to see Two Weeks Notice yesterday with my mom and grannie, and it was really good, as I had thought. True, you do have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen, but it's done well, and not in a rolling your eyes predictable way either. Plus, Hugh Grant is pretty funny, I think mainly because he's British so whatever he says just sounds cooler than if say, I were to say it. He and Sandra make a very cute couple, even though you want to slap him for a good part of the movie. so..yes, go see it. It's a good Christmas time movie. I think Dad and I are going to see Star Trek: Nemisis tomorrow. I'm going to get him to come look at digital cameras too with me I think. Can't hurt to have a voice of reason. I know what I want and I'm afraid it's going to cost a chunk of change, but it'll be something I use so it's ok. I want something that has a good zoom on it, macro and video modes. Not some really simple thing that will only let me take still pictures 3 feet away.
Heavens, there's a show on Animal Planet about the most extreme types of animal births. Only in America...I'll let you know if there are any particularly disturbing ones!
(my parents have digital cable and loads of useless channels)

More Darwin Award type things. Not really funny, but funny. I think the last one may be made up, but it's kind of funny anyway.

When his 38-caliber revolver failed to fire at its intended victim during a holdup in Long Beach, California, would be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder: He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.

The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat cutting machine and, after a little hopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company, suspecting negligence, sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine out and lost a finger. The chef's claim was approved.

A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus-stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days.

An American teenager was in the hospital yesterday recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

A mother took her daughter to the doctor and asked him to give her an examination to determine the cause of her daughters swollen abdomen. It only took the doctor about 2 seconds to say "Your daughter is pregnant." The mother turned red with fury and she argued with the doctor that her daughter was a good girl and would never compromise her reputation by having sex with a boy. The doctor faced the window and silently watched the horizon. The mother became enraged and screamed, "Quit looking out the window! Aren't you paying attention to me?" "Yes, of course I am paying attention ma'am. It's just that the last time this happened, a star appeared in the East, and three wise men came. And I was hoping that they would show up again!

Well here I am in Pennsylvania with my parents, sister and Grannie. The flights here were relatively uneventful, which I suppose is a good thing really. Both were delayed a bit, but such is life. We had a planned 3 hour layover in TO anyway, so the first one being delayed was no big deal. Erin had to share her seat with the lady next to her, which she wasn't to thrilled about, but on the 2nd flight we *each* got a window seat AND an aisle seat. Sounds pretty swank, but really it's cause there was only one seat on either side of the aisle. Interesting. We did have a very cute co-pilot / flight attendant though, who welcomed us aboard and stuff. He looked a bit like Mark Messier, but cuter. Neither of us lost our luggage or had to do anything embarrassing at customs. I did bring one present for my mom that they asked to see in the Moncton airport, but it was no big deal. Last time they asked me to turn on my camera. It's a 30 year old Pentax. It doesn't turn on. I told the guy I could take his picture, but that's about it. Speaking of the Moncton Airport....it moved!? I knew they had opened a new terminal, the Queen blessed it or something, but I did NOT know it wasn't attached to the other terminal. So that was a bit of an adventure, we showed up at the old terminal (which I have no idea what they're going to do with it now, it's deserted) and were like, hmm, there are *NO* cars here. And cars parked in front of the doors to get in. Interesting. On the door they have a sign, telling you where the new terminal is. It's much nicer, but shouldn't there be a big sign saying, TURN HERE FOR THE NEW AIRPORT. There is not. On your way from the old airport to the new one, there's a little sign with a plane pointing into the street you have to turn up, but that's only after you've been to the old one and already have a vague idea where you're headed. Very helpful.
Anyway, I was thinking I probably wouldn't be blogging much, but Mom and Dad have speedy internet, so I'll be on a bit I guess. But to all of you who are headed in various directions for the holiday season, enjoy the time with friends and loved ones. All the best in celebrating your festivity of choice, or in celebrating nothing at all.

Ok. So I've looked at the *actual* course offerings on the registration page, and it looked like I could take 5 courses. Maybe the 6th will be offered in inter or summer session. So, deciding to suck it up and go with my original decision, even though it'll mean being in Freddy 4 days instead of 3, I tell my boss today that I'm more than likely going back to school in January and they'll have to start looking for someone to take over for me. Nature of the job means you really should give more than 2 weeks notice. So, Lori is sad to see me go, but can't begrudge me wanting to further my education. So, tonight, finally, I find myself able to actually register for classes. I couldn't until now, I'm not sure why. So I try, and I can get into 3 classes, one of them waitlisted. The other ones have seemingly just dropped out of existence. They don't have waitlists, and I can't even find out who the profs are to email them, because they just don't come up at all in the registration system. So I'm just at a loss. I could probably go back to work tomorrow and talk to Lori and tell her I'm not going back, but I want to go back. I'm just afraid that I'm going to end up not in school and not working. Not a good combo. Cause I'm not going back for 3 or 4 courses, it's not worth it right now. I'd have to not work *and* pay for school, which is an unfortunate combination of events, and not worth it if I'm not getting a full course load. So. It's looking less and less like I'll go back, but I have to decide for sure, and things are just stupid right now.
On a lighter note, I took pictures of everyone at work (including the cat) and put them all in those nice glass frameless clip frames and put them up at work. They turned out pretty nicely so I'm happy. I also got a couple of really sharp pictures of my boys, which are in frames just waiting to be hung somewhere. I have one more film, that's only about half done, but I want to know what's on it so I think I'll run that one in tomorrow. Maybe I'll just sell photographs or something. Can't be any worse eh?

So, not only can I not find cat antlers, which is upsetting enough on its own, but it's looking like I can't go back to school after all. It's just LOVELY to find out at this stage, that the courses as listed on the "undergraduate timetable" on the UNB page are apparently completely unrelated to the courses that are actually offered. One of the courses is not offered at all, and the other 5 are offered at times which make it impossible for me to take them all in one term. I just REALLY don't get it. After all that, rushing and making life decisions and paying the application fee, nothing. I'll just keep doing this supply work almost exclusively in elementary schools, which probably won't count for jack toward getting a job teaching high school. Wonderful. Not happy.

So, after waiting and not having stuff I needed and not being sure the car was *worth* a new cd player, I've decided it is and finally got that mo fo installed. AND, it works. But now, having proven to myself that I can do it myself, if there happens to be a next time, you can bet your ass I'm paying the $40 and getting them to do it. Just the wire harness and the faceplate cost like $30, then I had to figure out what the hell to do with them. Now I just have to figure out how to set the clock and radio stations. But this one is much more user friendly than the Pioneer one I had. That one was nice, but it was too high-tech. This one has knobs! They don't actually turn, they sort of twist and you hold it one way or the other and it goes up or down, so they're like, high-tech knobs. Cool. Anyway, I have to hit WalMart before work to see if they have cat antlers. ba haha, I love my kitties....they may or may not love me after this...

effing cute. Turn your speakers on.

Cows break out of truck, foil all attempts at capture

Canadian Press

Tuesday, December 10, 2002

COVINGTON, Ga. (AP) - Police Lt. Philip Bradford said it's the oddest call he's been on in his 17-year career.

Four cows remain on the run after escaping Sunday from a stalled tractor-trailer on Interstate 20. Bradford said the animals broke free when the floor board of a trailer carrying 59 cows snapped.

"I must have missed the day they taught how to catch loose cows in police academy," Bradford said. "I guess we have to write a new page."

Police said the bovines caused a minor fender bender and several other close calls before officers shut down a section of I-20. Horseback riders from a nearby rodeo even tried to rope the animals.

The cows jumped through an opening in a guardrail onto a grassy embankment. Police called off the search after nearly five hours.

Johnny Jarel, the driver of the tractor-trailer, was charged for operating a "junky" vehicle, police said.

The cows were last seen headed for Atlanta.

© Copyright 2002 The Canadian Press


who knew cows were so tricky?

Ok. So, tired of waiting for email replies, I called UNB today to see how my application is coming. The lovely and nice lady at the registrar's office laughed when I asked her if I had to send in my grade 11 transcripts. She said that since I just left there in May, they have all the paperwork they need, which is good to know. Then she transferred me to the lovely and nice lady in admissions, who told me they have my application, and they needed the application fee, which she let me do over the phone, and a letter explaining why I want to come back as a no-degree full-time student. Well, cause I already have a degree, and I want to do all the extra courses in one term. Easy peasy. I worded it a bit better though. Anyway, so now I wait. As always, I'll keep you posted.

click. Because it's funny, that's why.

Well. I have to apply and be accepted to UNB in order to go there, who knew. I just graduated, you'd think that would count for something. I emailed them and asked if they really needed my grade 11 transcripts, hopefully not. I told them I could have all the paperwork there tomorrow if they want, but only if there's a legitimate possibility that I'll actually be admitted for this coming term. Maybe I'll just email the profs and ask if they'll let me register. Couldn't hurt to write them anyway, on the off chance I do get in and the sections I want are full or something. Where's Denise going? Off with her long-distance love? haha... I'd be your roommie if you'd have me, for at least a couple of nights a week. Anyway, I've been working full days since Friday, and now I'm off til Wednesday morning, and want to go to bed. Hasta manana.

Well it's been 3 days so obviously I have another minor life crisis to report. I've found out that I can't teach elementary school on a contract, only supply work. So that's a bit of a bummer, however I've also found out that I can become eligible to teach elementary by taking just 6 courses, which could be done in a term. So theoretically, by May I'd be set for any job that comes available. I can't do any of them by correspondence, so I'd have to actually go TO Fredericton, but I like it there anyway, and I'd only have to go for 3 days out of the week. Drive up Tuesday morning, come home Thursday night. So I'm just waiting to see if I can actually register for courses in January at this point, or if I'm too late. That, I suppose, will make my decision for me. I'm not crazy about the idea of having to not work as much and not really being able to supply, but I think it's the best time to do this, since I don't have a "real" job yet, and I still remember what school is like. The courses are all intro level so shouldn't be too hard. I've got myself almost talked into it, but like I said, I have to wait on the registrar I guess and see if that part of things will work.

Dog philosophy

Could we all learn something from this ?
If a dog was your teacher, you would learn stuff like:

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joy-ride.

Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.

When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.

Let others know when they've invaded your territory.

Take naps.

Stretch before rising.

Run, romp, and play daily.

Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.

On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.

When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout...run right back and make friends.

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.

Stop when you have had enough.

Be loyal.

Never pretend to be something you're not.

If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.

When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.

And finally, never trust anyone until you sniff their butt.

So I went to the Chrysler dealership, cause they'll give you $2000 for your piece of shit car, which is promising, I really don't think I'd get more than that selling it myself. They're going to charge us $75 just to hook it up to their fancy shmancy computer which is more thourough apparently than the Can Tire one, and see if they can find what's wrong. The guy there thinks it might be a sensor that isn't supposed to let it idle below a certain rpm that's not working properly, and if it is it's not a huge deal to fix I guess. But I'm thinking, if there's a way that Can Tire could have detected this, and charged me a whack of money for shit that didn't have to be done, I will NOT be a happy camper, and I WILL let them know that. We'll just have to wait and see, cause they can't take the car in til Friday anyway.

ok, now I have to comment on Subway ads. Firstly. the guy creeps me out. In the last ad, he's at a fraternity house, and asks where the sorority houses are. Hi, you're 35, that's illegal. But the angle that bothers me is their saying that they're the only place who can customize your stuff for you. Wendy's and Harvey's have been doing that for a LONG time, and even McD's has their "made for you". And I'm sorry, but I don't think that the Subway veggies are any fresher than anybody else's veggies, and they definitely don't pick them themselves. They DO bake the bread, but that's really the only thing they have over any other restaurant, as far as I can see. I think that's all for now.

my sister sent me this picture, appropriately captioned: "oh, George..."

I had an excellent day teaching yesterday. And I think one of the reasons I enjoy elementary so much right now, is that I actually get to *teach* them, rather than supervise them doing busywork. I got to introduce new stuff in math, and science! It was really a lot of fun. AND, the principal spent a good chunk of time in my class, and told me at the end of the day he was glad he had because he liked what he saw. Sadly, I also found out for sure that I can't teach elementary for real, just supplying, which is unfortunate. But, again on the bright side, he rearranged a day he would need a supply so that I could do it, which was pretty darn cool. Also, I got 2 compliments on my hair, which I had dried, but not done anything spectacular to, so overall, it was a really good day.

So I'm torn. I could really, financially, do without buying a new used car and having payments on it, and the Neon is behaving pretty well now. My fear is, that if I wait until the Neon is misbehaving or severely broken, it won't be worth crap to sell or trade, and I also can't afford to keep putting significant sums of money into it. What to do? Chrysler has a deal on right now guaranteeing $2000 on any car you push/pull/drag in for a trade. (plus, apparently they have Civics and stuff, so I wouldn't have to get another neon. They can't still be bad though, can they? People wouldn't keep buying them, would they?) Since the neon's running well right now, and has had most things replaced on it that will break, it could potentially be worth more. What to do?
I remember when neons first came out, "say hello to Neon", I was so excited. It was like my dream car. Granted, I was 16 and pretty much any car would have been super, but the neon specifically appealed to me. Hello neon. You have a new battery, new air and fuel filters, ignition plugs and wires, a motovac and an oil change. Last year you got a new head gasket (thankfully, for free as it's a recognized manufacturer's defect). You are so noisy with your race car windows that don't have car frame above them so that winter winds come whistling in on the highway. We definitely have a love hate relationship. Please, just last me until I get a real job, or win enough on the lottery to not need a real job. I'd appreciate it.

so I'm not going to end up saving *much* by installing the stereo myself, but I will now know *how* to do it myself, should I ever need to do it again. But I won't, cause the next car I buy is having one already. The Neon is basically behaving, but sometimes idles frighteningly low and sounds like it's going to stall, but then doesn't. I don't usually let it have the opportunity to stall though, I'll give it a bit of gas. I don't like stalling in public, it's embarassing. People won't know it's the Neon's fault. Although, when I called Canadian Tire today to tell them it STILL wasn't 100%, and told him it was the Neon that had been in for most of the week, he said well, that's your problem right there. Thanks a lot shit head, I guess I'll just go buy a new freaking car. I like the Neon very much, when it's working. It's a good car. But then it breaks, repeatedly, I find that a touch upsetting.

Subject: Beer and Deer

Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it in stupid ways. Some survive their goofy ways. Here's one..

June 2002, Georgia.

EMT's in southern Georgia responded to a call from Coffee County late one night. They arrived on the scene and found a severely injured man lying at the edge of a field. His abdomen had been completely torn open, and he was covered with lacerations and bruises. He also had a prominent tire tread across his chest. The injured man's companion showed up in a racing model ATV vehicle, clearly intoxicated, and gave the following account: He and his injured friend had been drinkin' and ridin' around the field on the three-wheeled ATV, when they sighted a stand of deer in their headlight. The friend, riding in the back as a passenger, was struck with a great idea. "Hey, man," he said, "if you quarter off one of them deer, betcha I can bulldog 'im." The driver thought this was a grand idea too, so he proceeded to isolate a buck and race him down. His also drunk passenger leapt from the ATV, grabbed the buck by the antlers, and pinned the animal's head to the ground - but that's when things went wrong. The buck, less docile than a steer, rose up and attacked his assailant ripping his abdomen open. The buck then stomped, kicked and butted him for good measure. When the EMT's asked the driver about the tire tracks across his injured friend's chest, he responded, 'Well, how else was I s'posed to git the deer off 'im?"

Scientists look at creating a human-mouse embryo

By CAROLYN ABRAHAM
From Thursday's Globe and Mail

North American scientists are considering whether to implant stem cells from a human embryo into a mouse embryo — a controversial experiment that could result in a mouse-human mix reminiscent of mythological monsters.

The chimera proposal, a chimera being a creature born of at least two different species, might, in theory, allow scientists to test if human embryonic stem cells do indeed have the power to grow into every tissue type in the body.

But if it works, the experiment also raises the eerie, and ethically charged prospect of creating a mouse with troubling human features — anything from a human brain to human sperm and eggs.

"If it really did work, then you'd have this very uncomfortable creature to work with," said Janet Rossant, one of Canada's leading stem cell researchers and an opponent of the chimera experiment. "Do you generate a human brain in a mouse . . . where do you draw the line?"

Dr. Rossant, a senior scientist at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, was among a select group of researchers and observers who attended a closed meeting in New York on Nov. 13, where the chimera experiment, among other things, was debated.

Sponsored by Rockefeller University and the New York Academy of Science, the day-long meeting was held to discuss ways to evaluate the power and versatility of the lines of human embryonic stem cells now being grown in labs around the world.

Read the rest...

STONEY CREEK, Ont. (CP) -
Hamilton police want to release 40 gnomes they've taken into protective custody, but they don't know where to send them.

The garden critters are locked up in the police station.

They were discovered on the loose Monday morning around the fountain at the former city hall in this southern Ontario community.

Where they came from is anybody's guess.

"We believe they were stolen from homes around Stoney Creek over the weekend and we'd like to send them home," Sgt. Maggie McKittrick said Wednesday.

Ok, so yes, in the past 2 days the car has cost me roughly $300, and that's not including the new battery I got last week for $118. Sweet-ass. It's just old and dying I think, but hopefully its life can be prolonged long enough for me to get an effing job to buy a new one. Anyway, the silver lining to all of this is that I won $64 on the new Atlantic 6-49, so that's good. That's the most I've ever won for sure, and even though it doesn't come close to paying off the goddam car, it's much, MUCH better than a kick in the junk.

well, I think maybe they would try to stand ON the saran wrap. I have things that will fit in the toilet and hold litter, but probably not the weight of a cat. Keep in mind it has to be removeable too since we only have the one toilet. I told Grant it's his job to think of something cause he's an engineer and all, but he has no faith in our cats being smart enough to be potty trained, and thus is putting minimal effort into this project.

Well Deck the Halls and all that jazz, I'm about done Christmas shopping. It's a nice feeling. I have to pick up one or two more things, and order a couple of things, but I think I'm pretty much done the whole mall deal, which, if you know me, is quite something. It's not uncommon for me to do the bulk of my shopping once I've arrived at my parents' house, which is pretty darn close to Christmas.
I also got a tin roaster pan for stage 2 of kitty potty training, which will fit in the toilet but not fall through, God willing.

Well. Despite the fact that NOBODY who said they would come actually came to my party, and I was pretty upset and disappointed at the beginning of it, not so much for myself, but for Charline, our presenter who had lugged all her gear out to now present to FOUR people, instead of roughly a dozen, and we had enough DELICIOUS food to feed at least that many...it was really fun. So :-P I know it wasn't any one person's fault, things come up and there's nothing that can be done, but I have learned from this that I should work around my schedule, since things are going to get messed up anyway, and also to OVERinvite, since there will be people who just can't make it. Regardless, it was fun, and we all bought some stuff, so overall it was a great time, and I'm not too bitter.

potty training is at a stand still, I need like, a potty seat or something to fit IN the toilet that I can put litter in. The cats are loving using the box ON the toilet, but that's not really much of an accomplishment I think...they are using a step stool to get up to it though, lol. The shape of the box I think would be too hard to get into from the floor.
anyway, yeah, it's late and I have to get up early and clean etc, so I'm off to bed.

Seriously though, it was a good movie, I enjoyed it. Eminem and Britney Murphy had SEX! :-O Shocking. It was good though, and mostly funny, so unless you absolutely can't stand the sight of Eminem and couldn't bear to watch a movie with him in it, you should go. On cheap night. I have to work on my tough-guy lingo though, I know.
I just got back from the grocery store buying goodies for my Fantasia party on Saturday. I got pop and jello (there's talk of jello shooters, but I'm not sure...) and disposable dinnerware. And stuff to make my top-secret dessert, that's not really top secret, but only 2 people know what I'm making, so it sort of is. I'm excited, parties are fun, especially these ones!

S'up, y'all, you know, I ain't a big fan of that little b**** Eminem or any of his bullsh**, but yo, I gots ta give props where props is due. I wents to see 8 Mile last night and yo, y'all, it was f****ng aces all the way, yo.

ok, cable internet starts tonight, I'm pretty excited. I can get up to 70Mb of space! :D very exciting....

My parents sent me this joke, it's pretty cute

Only in Canada....

A Newfie calls 9-1-1...
"Hello, is this the RCMP?"
"Yes. What do you want?"
"I'm calling to report my neighbour, Mike Fitzpatrick! He's hiding marijuana inside his firewood."
"Thank you very much for the call, sir."
The next day, the RCMP officers decended on Mike's house.
They searched the shed where the firewood was kept.
Using axes, they busted open every piece of wood, but found no marijuana!
They swore at Mike and left.
The next day, the phone rang at Mike's house...
"Hey, Mike! Did the RCMP come to your house?"
"Yeah!"
"Did they chop your firewood?"
"Yep."
"Happy Birthday, Buddy!"

For those of you keeping track, the cat toilet training stage one is going well. I had to backtrack a bit, they just weren't ready for the bowl of litter yet, so I've got the litterbox sitting on the toilet seat. I'm not crazy, I'm going to be so set when I don't have to change litter EVER AGAIN. mwah haha......

alright, this frustrated me more than entertained me, but once I accepted it, it's pretty darn cool. They really really are the same colour, test it any way you can think of.

ok, the cat toilet training begins. I have a bowl with litter in it wedged into the toilet, and have introduced the boys to it. I think the trickiest part (for them) will be balancing on the seat while peeing, I'll have to keep an eye out. George has already fallen in the toilet while attacking the toilet paper roll, but continues to climb up and attack it, so I'm not worried about that.

In other news, it's Clinique bonus time, you get a little bag of goodies when you spend $24 or more. I also went and made a whack of copies of stuff to submit for the long term supply applications. It seems silly in a way to give a separate application for each position, but I'm not going to question the district (at least to their face) until I land a job. I have 5 apps I'm putting in, basically just 5 identical packages with my transcripts, resume, teaching certificate etc. I suppose I'll do a different coverletter for each one, but they will also be basically the same. Oh well!

No nightmares, though I did think about it a lot, hoping NOT to have nightmares. When we went to the ring, we got there at 9 and the TWO late shows of 8 MIle were sold out. I, jokingly, said "oh shit guys, 8 Mile is sold out, now what?". Roughly 3 seconds later, this couple about my parent's age comes in behind us and the guy says "oh shit, 8 Mile is sold out!". I laughed anyway. The place was *packed* with high schoolers, a good bunch of whom ended up coming to see The Ring cause Eminem was sold out. Now, having said that, even though I hate Eminem's image, the movie looks interesting, and it's getting really good reviews from other people who hate him as well. It's just funny how retarded it is the amount of people who NEED to see it opening weekend.

Ok. 2 things. Thing one: I'm going to be switching over to Rogers cable internet, so this site will have to be moved, unfortunately. I don't know where to yet either, I have no user name or anything. So, I guess that's just a heads up for things to come.

Thing two: I just got back from seeing The Ring. Holy SHIT. It was EFFING SCARY. Very suspenseful, jumpy...just scary. I just had to share that with you folks. It was good, but I don't know that given the chance I would see it again. Well done, interesting and fairly original premise, but I just don't really enjoy scary movies, honestly. They're very stressful. So if you like being genuinely scared, go see it. If not, go see Sweet Home Alabama. Or Punch Drunk Love. I recommend both.

I have to go to bed and try not to have nightmares now. boo.

So, Future Shop won't do shit for me. I'm going to call and see now if I get their stupid insurance if it'll cover my new stereo, since the original one was gotten on the card. I think I'll tell them that if it doesn't, I'm not going to get a new stereo or the insurance. Cause really. I think the chances of it being stolen again are slim to none, assuming I remember to tell everyone about the removeable faceplate feature, BUT, it could happen, and I'm certainly not paying for it THREE times. I'm debating two times. What do you think? The deductable is only $100, which isn't bad. There could be more, I have to call the insurance folks back today, but I think that's it. I'm assuming I'll have to bring in my receipts or something. But it *is* still $100 for a stereo that I already owned. rrg.

But at least I have family pictures! Grant and I, a decent picture, Me, my cousin Kelly, and Erin; and lastly the whole fam damily. Enjoy.

My car stereo was stolen today. I'm very angry. It was new, less than 3 months. Nice one, Pioneer. Erin reported it, cause she was the one driving it at the time. I have no idea what to do. My insurance deductable will probably be the same price as a new stereo, so I think I'll stick with the radio for now. Future Shop will put it back in for free. Not because they feel bad for me, it's just something they do for you in case you get a new car and want to put their stereo into it. So, sympathy and donations to the "Sarah still has no money cause she's paying off her line of credit that she lived off all summer and still doesn't have a real job." fund. I'm going to go watch TV or something, or drink myself into a stupor.
Things are going to turn around soon, yes? I mean, yes, surely they could be worse, I could be homeless or dying, but SURELY, they could be better.