To Baby G

It doesn't matter. I don' t care if you end up with 2 legs and 3 arms. I'm going to love you all I can!

-Dad

Free at Last

Today was my last day of work at Jolly Farmer's. And boy does it feel great!! In just over two weeks I head back to school for the first time in 13 years. Wow. In the time since I graduated, I could have gone back to school from Grade 1 through 12 and done it all over again (I think that sounds like it could be fun, actually). This time I'm heading to Fredericton to attend the Atlantic Paramedic Academy. That's right boys and girls, this time next year I may be the one in the ambulance with lights and sirens going, so you better get outta the way! It promises to be a challenging year, but I'm up to it. Bring it on!

-Scott

Let's call it .....Ka

Thought this was an interesting story. Enjoy.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/31994977/ns/today-today_people/?GT1=43001

-Scott

Love this article.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/feisty-senior-sticks-it-to-grizzly/article1175588/

I find it interesting that doing the opposite of what is recommened (curl into a ball and pray, protecting the back of your neck) may be what saved their lives. I think it says alot about standing your ground and fighting back.

I hope the bear is okay too, though.

-Scott

Commercials

Maybe this shouldn't've ( <-- How do you like that double contraction? That's shit they don't teach in school) bothered me, but it did. So here goes:

Cheerios. Yes, the cereal. Some time ago, I first saw an ad for Cheerios with a British couple where the fellow states how they are healthy for you, and his wife took offense thinking that he was calling her fat. All in all, not my favorite ad, probably because the guy can say nothing right which seems to be a common theme in TV ads, but I like the accents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B2_LEoEb2A (sorry, couldn't find the whole ad, but you'll get the point)

Last night, I saw the same commercial, but noticed something different. The British accents were gone. They had dubbed over the ad with new actors, and the box looked different. I thought it odd, and checked to see what station it was on, and it was coming out of Georgia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IZ9CL4phPk


So I guess I just thought it funny that they would go through the trouble of changing the voice rather than subject the American audience to a British accent.

While I'm going on about commercials, anyone ever see the Brita ad where it shows a glass on a table, then a toilet flushes off screen at which point the glass drains and refills, as the toilet would? The voice over then says that tap water and toilet water come from the same source.

Really?!

When I built my house, I had two wells dug: One for drinking, and one for everything else.

Of course it comes from the same source, but it doesn't go to the toilet first, and then to your tap. And even if it did, the water in the tank is still perfectly fine, it is just the water in the bowl that you would have to worry about. However, with their logic, you may as well fill your Brita water filter with water from the toilet bowl.

Personally, I do use a Brita filter pitcher. I just don't like it when companies are intentionally misleading like that, but I guess if you're gullible ( <---Interesting note: I looked 'gullible' up in the dictionary to check the spelling and it wasn't there) enough to fall for it......

Just as a closer, I miss TV not having station identifiers in the corners of the screen, and I also don't much care for when they have the end of one show run into the beginning of the next show by showing them concurrently for a few seconds just to squeeze in more ad time.

-Scott

carpe diem quam minimum credula postero

Seize the day and place no trust in tomorrow.

What if tommorow never came?

It was around this time of year, back in 1995 that my grandfather (grampy), John W. Craig passed away. I grew up in a trailer on his farm not far from where I live now. In fact, I drive by it everyday and it saddens me to see the farm being turned into a sub-division. I miss grampy dearly and think of him often and how fortunate I was to have lived so close to my grandparents. My father, who was a long haul truck driver for most of my life asked me once who my father was. My response was "Grampy".

Now that I'm older, I realize that I could have spent so much more time with him. Getting to know him and learn from him. But it is too late now. Towards the end, his mind started to go. He would talk and sometimes it did not make sense. Some family seemed to shy away or apologize for him when he was like this. That saddened me. I remember sitting at his kitchen table as he was rambling, and his eyes.......

His eyes had life in them. I believe he still had his mind, it just would not work for him. I saw love, anger and frustration in those eyes. I think he knew what he wanted to say, but could not. And I am sure he knew he was scaring people, making them uneasy to be around him. I cannot remember what he was saying back then, but I listened and I think he liked that. I do remember what was going through my head. I was mad at myself for not listening to him sooner. Why is it that we wait until it is too late to listen, to speak, to love, to forgive?

Grampy, I love you and miss you. I hope you are proud of me.

You would think that after he passed away, I would realized how short life is, and how little time we really have with one another. Especially someone who has 65- 70 years on you. In January of '02, I was living in Ontario. I came home for a visit. Just by chance, I met my great-grandmother in town as she was there for a doctor's appointment. I spoke to her for a few minutes and that was it. I thought to myself that the next time I am home, I will have to visit her.

She died a few weeks later. I was back in Ontario. I feel grateful for that chance encounter, and resentful that I did not take full advantage of it. How much I could have learned from these two people would probably be immeasurable.

We only have one life. And it could end at any time. If there is something you need to say, do, create.......do it.

I need to go talk to my grandmother (my above mentioned grandfather's wife). I think I will take a recorder.

-Scott

The Beginning

Everything has one right? A beginning. Well, this is the beginning of my adventures in the world of Blogging. Where it will lead, who knows. I look forward to having a place where I can express my thoughts and people can choose whether or not they wish to read them. I'm sure that there will be many posts that will not amount to much more than rambling thoughts and run on sentences. However, hopefully once in a while, I may produce an idea that may make you stop to think, consider, reconsider, or what have you.

So, I guess what I am saying, is if you are going to read, be prepared for fluff, as well as seriousness. I think a combination of the two is important to a well rounded life. I think some people forget that.

Feel free to challenge my thoughts and beliefs, but do so intelligently (which considering the people who are most likely to read this, I would expect nothing less).

-Scott