Thank you for smoking

This is not an anti-smoking but a pro smoking message. You don’t see that one every day, do you? It’s true though, I’m as pro smoking as they come and if you stick around I’ll explain why.

First let me say though that I am just sick and tired of the smokers bashing. Just this morning I read three articles, urging pregnant women not to smoke. Oeh it’s bad for the baby.
Please, give me a break. I smoked when I was pregnant and so did all my friends and we all had healthy babies, who grew up to be healthy adults. Compare that to the kids of today. They’re allergic to this and allergic to that, they have asthma and as soon as a chilly wind blows they’re sick. Whimps I call them.

Many will say that smoking is bad for you. That it ruins your lungs and gives you cancer. Oh yeah, well I saw a doctor the other day and he stated that I had textbook lungs. “You are a walking non-smoking advertisement,” he told me. When I stated that had been smoking since I was sixteen you could have knocked that guy over with a feather.

But since we are on the subject of things that are bad for you ... what about car exhaust fumes and fumes from airplanes? A long time ago I read an article that stated that each time a plane passes by, the fumes are equal to 82 cigarettes. Hm, what do the non-smokers think of that?

And what about all the other stuff? Everybody happily smears deodorant under their arms, while medical textbooks state that the aluminum in deodorant sticks causes breast cancer.
Then there is hair dyes and cosmetics. Take a look at the ingredients folks, some of them are known to cause cancer. But do people care? ... no, they want to look good.

Some will say that if smokers want to light up that’s their good right, but that they shouldn’t bother others with second hand smoke.
Phoe-lees, second hand smoke. Back in the day when I was a teenager and went to clubs, you could cut the smoke in those places. And did anyone die of cancer? Nope, my friends and I are still very much alive.

Then there is the statement that smokers cost the state money. How so? I’ve never been to the doctor or a hospital with smoke related problems and neither have those that I know.

If you want to point a finger at people who cost the state money, what about those who drink? Some get all liquored up and get in their car. By doing so they cause accidents resulting in: material damage, hurting someone to the point that he ends up in a wheelchair, or killing someone.
Alcohol is also the leading cause for domestic violence.
Not to mention that more than one job is lost because of alcoholism.
Now how much money does that cost the state? If the drunk loses his job and ends getting employment, guess who pays for that ... you do! Unemployment insurance is deducted off your paycheck and goes to those who don’t work.

And that’s not all. Alcohol leads to high blood pressure, high blood pressure leads to strokes and heart attacks, and of course strokes and heart attacks lead to death. Not to mention that alcohol also causes liver cancer. But do bottles of beer, wine and spirits carry that message with a gory picture, nope. On the contrary, alcohol is packaged in attractive bottles and commercials are made, advertising that drinking is cool and fun.

What about junk food? Mountains of junk food are gobbled up each day, making close to half of the North American population overweight, with some being downright obese. Does anyone give them a dirty look? No, on the contrary, we’re supposed to feel sorry for them.

Then there is the sun. What’s wrong with the sun, you might ask ... skin cancer dear, ever heard of it? Some give me a dirty look when I’m smoking a cigarette, then they take off as much as is legally allowed and go and roast themselves in the sun. Skin cancer ... they don’t seem to care about that.

Let’s face it, this anti-smoking campaign was started by the cancer society who made itself billions of dollars in the process. Who heard of the cancer society twenty five years ago? Nobody, if they were there, they got no attention. And look at them now ... the richest ‘charitable’ organization.
While working for a consulting firm I saw statements (this is not hearsay, I saw those statements) of the cancer society in Colorado and Ohio. Both of them collected $1.3 million dollars in 2008. And that was just two states. Image what the cancer society rakes in over the whole of North America. We’re talking billions. Have you ever wondered where all that money is going?
Do you think they will ever reveal a cure for cancer? Of course not, the donations would dry up and then what?

And last but not least ... think of your taxes. If indeed all the smokers were to give up the habit, your taxes would sky rocket. Do you have any idea how much money goes into the tax coffers courtesy of cigarettes? Billions of dollars. Not just millions, but billions!
So if you come to think it, instead of picking on the smokers, shouldn’t you be thanking them?

Will it be a happy year?

It is the first day of the first month of a new year. Exciting, isn’t it? A whole year lies ahead, filled with possibilities. Out with the old and in with the new. As I let the old year out this morning and the New Year in, I wondered what 2011 will bring.

In case you’re wondering ... in previous years I let the old year out through the back door (in this case the balcony door) and let the New Year in through the front door. Since the past years haven’t really been all that great, I decided to change the tradition somewhat. I let the old year out through the front door and then let the New Year in through the back door. After all, the balcony door faces south, the south is associated with sunshine, sunshine is associated with warmth and happiness, so ... let the sunshine in.

Afterward I was thinking about 2010 and everything that happened.

The first notable thing happened in February when I lost my home. No, not through a sale or anything like that, my dad went into a retirement home and should I ever go back ‘home’, I will have to check-in to a hotel as there won’t be a place for me to stay. I suggested to my dad that he could come and live with me, but he didn’t want that. Living in a strange country, with a language he doesn’t understand didn’t appeal to him and I wouldn’t be able to give him the medical care he needs. So a retirement home it was.

March would have seen my 30th wedding anniversary if it was not for the fact that I got divorced some ... hm, how long has it been? Oh who cares when you're having fun.

In March I was also introduced to the electronic cigarette and gave up smoking for six whole days. No cravings whatsoever. Unfortunately, then I read an article written by a fellow ‘vaper’ (user of an electronic cigarette) stating how disgusting cigarettes smelled and tasted after ‘vaping’ only a few weeks. I started to wonder ... could this be true? If I lit up a smoke, would it smell and taste disgusting to me? So I tried it and lit up. Hm, the cigarette didn’t smell disgusting at all, I took a drag and hm, it didn’t taste disgusting either. As a matter of fact, the smoke smelled and tasted pretty good. That was it, my six smoke free days went up in smoke.
Still, I smoked significantly less. How much less? Let me put it this way ... I used to go through a carton per week, with the use of the electronic smoke I went through a packet a week.

In April ‘new’ furniture arrived. I had my dad’s ‘old’ furniture shipped over to me and when the lounge, dining room, bedroom and knick knacks arrived a hundred and one memories came with them. Some good, some funny, some painfully sad.

In May I had a birthday. I turned 53. 5 ... 3! ... am I really that old? I don’t feel old. On a good day I feel 35, on a bad day ... hm, yeah, well, 85 maybe.

In July we experienced a heat wave in Toronto and precisely during those super hot days the A/C in our condo building packed up. For three days we suffered an immense heat. We bought cooling fans that worked non- stop, but even with those fans it was unbearably hot in the rooms. I remember sitting with a cold wet towel around my neck and my feet in cold water to have some relief. When the temperature went down to 35 deg C (95 deg F) there was a noticeable difference and we breathed a sigh of relief. For nearly three weeks we were without A/C and it made me wonder how, in the olden days, we ever managed without it.

In August I got a job and with that my eleven month unemployment status came to an end. I stumbled into finance, which is something I had never done before. After having been an executive, administrative and legal assistant for more years than I care to remember, dealing with financial issues was a change, a challenge and occasionally hell on wheels.

In September a number of things happened.
We joined a bowling league; we played a bowling tournament (and took first place I might add); we were notified that our condo was to be sold; we spent evenings and weekends looking for a suitable place to live; and ended up buying the condo where we had been living for the past six years. After eleven years in Canada we finally became home owners.

The rest of the year was uneventful. Nothing particularly good happened, but nothing particularly bad happened either. We just slipped from one day into another.

And now what will 2011 bring? Last night and probably all through January, people will wish each other a happy New Year, but will it be? There will be some good times and there will be same bad times. There will be days that we’re walking on sunshine and days that we’ll be walking under a cloud of thunder. We will laugh out loud and we’ll silently cry.

364 days lie ahead of us. Are you ready for them? I hope you, me and everyone else has a truly happy year.

Going ice skating

When someone hasn’t done something for a long time, it is often said that the ability for this or that will come back to them naturally. “It’s like riding a bike” they say.
Let me assure you, that is baloney.
Take for instance ice skating.

When I heard that colleagues planned to go ice skating, I was one of the first to sign up to join the group. After all, I had once enjoyed ice skating and even though the last time I had been on the ice was some thirteen years ago, I assumed that my body would remember the balance and the ability to skate. It would be just like riding a bike.

We happily chattered on the way to Nathan Phillip Square, where there is an open air ice rink. We somewhat fell silent as we lined up to hire skates. As we saw the ice and saw the skaters (struggling to stay vertical) our courage began to fail. Would this be like riding a bike?

By the time I strapped on my skates I was half frozen and shivering like a leaf on an Alaska tree. Whether this was due to the cold December wind or nerves I’ll never know.
I struggled to get up from the bench and to stay on my feet. Oh dear, and I was still on rubber carpeting. What would it be like once I was on the ice?
I soon found out ... it was hell on blades.

Even with the support from my son, I stood there, too scared to move. Where were the barricades to hold on to? Where was the balance I once had? Where was the ability to do this on my own? I had once done it, why couldn’t I do this anymore?
Like a wooden doll I shuffled on my skates, in danger of going down at any moment, holding on to my son’s hand for dear life.

As he guided me around the rink I didn’t feel the cold anymore, I felt nothing except fear of going down and breaking something I might need later.
When a colleague came along I clutched at his hand too and now supported by two strong arms I started to feel a bit more secure. Given time I probably would have gotten the hang of it again, but all too soon it was time to leave the ice and head back to the office.

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to take up skating again, in a proper ice rink that is. A rink with barricades to hold on to until I find that lost balance again.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!
Was yours a merry Christmas or was Christmas Eve just another evening and Christmas Day just another day? If it was, don’t worry, I’ll bet it was just another evening and just another day for a lot of folks.

The Christmas season has been somewhat romanticized by movies, TV series, books and even Christmas cards. A serene white landscape with white glistening snow; a warm yellow glow radiating from a fairly lights decorated house; a festively decked table on which sits a golden brown turkey; a family gathered around a floor to ceiling Christmas tree.
On TV and on paper it all looks so beautiful, but what about real life?

Where it comes to snow, people seldom get misty eyed when gazing upon a snowy landscape. They shiver at the thought of having to go outside or frown and sigh at the thought of having to shovel snow again.
Those who decorated their house with fairly lights are gonna get a nasty surprise when they see their electrical bill. I have to pay how much?
As for that golden brown turkey ... I’ll bet you anything that quite a few turkeys didn’t quite reach that kind of golden brown perfection. Some were probably a little pale, while others were covered up with gravy to hide a distinct blackness. And if a turkey looked good, how did it taste? Was it tender and juicy or was it a bit on the dry side?
As for the beautifully decorated Christmas tree, how many families can afford a floor to ceiling model? Most probably have to make do with a smaller version, decorated with what fit the budget or the circumstances.

For instance, I love glass balls with lots of glitter for the Christmas tree, but in my house that would be a dumb thing to use. I have five very inquisitive cats and glass balls would have a very short lifespan. So I can only decorate my tree with unbreakable balls. I also love tinsel, but that’s a no no too. My cats are not only inquisitive, they are also chewers and I rather don’t have to take them on an emergency visit to the vet due to tinsel chewing.

For large families it’s probably nice getting together on Christmas, but having them all around the dinner table does present some problems. Can you imagine how much potatoes have to be peeled to feed between ten to thirty people? Have you any idea how many vegetables have to be chopped? And what about the dishes ... who is gonna volunteer to wash all those plates, glasses and cups? Not to mention all the cooking pots and pans.

If your Christmas wasn’t all that merry, think about that. You may be single and living in a highrise, but at least you don’t have snow to shovel and your hydro bill won’t let your eyes grow the size of teacups. I’ll bet that the take-out you ordered was just as good, if not better, than that burned dried out turkey. And as for your Christmas tree ... size really doesn’t matter.
In case you didn’t get to buy any gifts, and didn’t get any gifts, what’s stopping you from buying a gift for yourself? A little something from me to me.

Don’t you go feeling sorry for yourself at Christmas, there are others who are a lot worse off than you. The hospitals are full of the sick who may or may not get better; in convalescent homes folks are trying to cope with the hand life has dealt them and all us and all of them are better off than those living on the streets, gazing upon homes, thinking of the home they once had.

TTC - The Better Way

Officially the Toronto Transit Commission is known as the TTC. Users of this type of transportation have another name for the TTC though ... Toronto Trash Cans.
The TTC’s slogan is ‘The Better Way’ but this week the subway was most certainly not the better way.

When I boarded a subway train last Wednesday, I heard the announcement that there was no service between Broadview station and St. George station.
I didn’t worry about this no-service too much, confident that by the time I got to Broadview the problem, whatever it was, would be fixed. I was wrong.
When I got to Broadview all passengers were instructed to leave the train as the train would turn back to Kennedy.

Some 300 people exited the train and joined the hundreds who already stood shivering on the Broadview platform.
After a while came the announcement that shuttle buses and streetcars would take passengers to their destination.
As another train arrived more people joined the throng of commuters already on the platform, shuffling toward the stairs. Seeing them go by, dressed in dark gear and keeping their heads down, they reminded me of the march of the penguins.

I had no intention of joining them. Cold as it was in the station, it would be even colder outside. The weather forecast had predicted -20 deg C (that’s -4 deg F) for that day and that was just a bit too cold for me.
Usually, if the TTC has a problem, it doesn’t take too long for whatever it is to be sorted out, so I preferred to wait inside. That wasn’t possible this time though. A TTC official walked the length of the platform informing everyone who, like me, had decided to wait it out, that it could take hours for the problem to be fixed.
Okay so I joined the ‘penguins’ and proceeded up the stairs too.

Ooh but it was cold. Even with a thick coat, a scarf wrapped around my head and gloves I could feel the cold wind going right through me, biting at my nose, fingers and toes. Where were the shuttle buses? Where were the streetcars? Oh they were there alright, but they were packed with people, like sardines in a can.
I got the idea of taking a cab to work. A good idea, except there was a problem ... there weren’t that many cabs available to begin with and with over a thousand people standing around Broadview station, I wasn’t alone who had thought of that.

Just then an announcement was made that the subway was up and running again and we could all go downstairs. Even though the words were greeted with relief, they presented a problem ... it would take some time for the mass of commuters to go back inside the station, down the stairs and onto a train. I suspected that it would take several trains to take care of this lot.
I was right, after we shuffled our way back onto the platform, trains - already full with peak hour passengers – had limited space to take in the waiting crowd.
Or let me put it this way ... my journey to work, which usually takes 45 minutes, that day took two and a half hours.

The TTC, the better way? I think not.

Quiet time

I’m spending an evening by myself. Dieter has gone to bed uncharacteristically early (10:30), the cats are all asleep, and with no TV and no music it’s so quiet here I can hear the tic toc tic toc of the wall clock.

This is just like old times, when I was unemployed. Back then I hardly ever went to bed before 2:30 a.m. I got up late, took a nap in the afternoon and since I didn’t have to get up early in the morning I could afford to get to bed at all hours of the night.

Since I started working again it’s quite different. I have to get up at 5:30, so I like to be in bed around 11:00.
Friday and Saturday night we usually sit up late, sometimes until 2:30 or even 3:00 a.m. We can sleep in the next day, so what does it matter when we extend an invitation to the sandman?

But tonight is different, Dieter’s right hand is broken and this little handicap has been bothering him. I guess we, with two capable hands, don’t quite realize what we have until one of them is out of action.

I could do with an early night too, because the stress of the past few weeks has been crazy. During September there was the running around of condo hunting; October brought stress with estate agents, lawyers and the bank; and if that isn't enough I had to put up with a colleague with the most annoying habit.

This guy was constantly clearing his throat and I do mean constantly.
There were times that not a minute passed without him clearing his throat. Can you imagine once a minute? That’s sixty throat clearings in an hour! I’d like to see anyone putting up with that
It a medical condition he said. Okay then why isn’t he doing something about it? Let him go see a doctor and get some medication to get it fixed. These days there is a remedy for almost anything and everything.

Okay so maybe it’s just me and I’m too sensitive, but I really can’t stand the noises people make. Whether it’s sniffing, snoring or throat clearing ... IT GETS ON MY NERVES!!!

Time management

Some blogger I am. My last entry is dated November 2nd, which means I haven’t written anything in two weeks. Has life really been that boring or have I been super busy with other things? A little of both I suppose.

There was a time that I sat up until all hours of the night, but now that I’m working (for the past three months and one week I might add) I have to be in bed at a certain time.

Of course working gets in the way of blogging too. Not only is there not a moment to spare to put a blog entry together, but at the end of the working day blogging is not exactly at the top of my list.
I usually come home bone tired. After a change of clothing and a short rest with a cup of coffee, there are chores to be done and dinner to be made.
After dinner and some TV there are email messages to be read and replied to and a farm to tend to, a farm at Farmville I mean. Ah yes, who is not playing that game these days? I’m at level 61 with limited crops, but more animals than I can handle.

And soon I will be having even less time. Yesterday we went to pick out wallpaper for the bedrooms, living room, kitchen and bathroom and I’m the one who is going to do the papering. I’ve done it before, you could say I’m an old hand at wallpapering so I don’t foresee any problems, but still, it will take time so there will be even less time for blogging. How do other people manage? Do they have a time schedule? If you know something I don't, I'd love to hear from you.