Peace be with you

I read a book recently in which a race of aliens came to visit planet earth and found our violent societies to be of some concern.  So they activated some kind of peace technology all over the world.

A man intent on beating his wife found himself stopped in his tracks, unable to approach her.

A women turning to deride her child found herself temporarily without speech.

A escaping robber pulled his gun on the police following him, but was unable to move his trigger finger.

A despairing teenaged girl, planning suicide, was unable to bring the pills to her mouth.

Hey, aliens!  If you're listening, we could use a little intervention down here right about now!

Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles!

Tom had cataract surgery this morning.  Despite delays, miscommunications, and misunderstandings which dogged us right up until the last minute, the surgery itself went off without a hitch.

Many people have told us that that the effect of cataract surgery is nothing short of miraculous.  All that talk, however, seems just hyperbole when you're in the queue.  After, though ... consider us converts!

I was expecting Tom to come out of the clinic with gauze and an eye patch; instead he walked out under his own steam with no obvious scars, stitches or bruises, just one seriously dilated pupil and a Magic Marker dot over his right eye.  We had the suggested sunglasses all ready to go.

I'm reminded of the song from Fiddler on the Roof - Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles!  It really was like that.  Tom's reading all the signs on the hospital walls as we leave.  As we get into the taxi, he remarks on the sign on the cab door - Remember to Take all your Belongings.  As we pass the corner of Cook and Fort, he says, "Wow!  This looks so different!"  After we get home, he settles into his comfy chair - with his sunglasses still on -  and says, "Wow, this place is bright!"  He watches his favourite Power & Politics after lunch and asks me if the TV was always this clear.  After lunch, dinner, and requisite eye drops, he finally checks his email.  He comes out of the den - sans sunglasses - smiling from ear to ear.  "I can see the computer without using the magnifying glass!"

If this posting seems just hyperbole, it's not. It's a miracle!

Time travel

I have been reading a book about time travel (Orson Scott Card's Pathfinder, if you're interested).

Time travel is a concept that totally messes with my head.  If I go backwards in time and change something, then, surely, I don't have to go backwards in time to change anything because it's already changed.  And if I run into myself when I travel back in time, are there two of me?  (Come to think of it, Yes!  There are two Spocks in the new Star Trek franchise ...)

Is it any wonder that I chose to be an accountant?

Neverland

Penny's friend, Bill, is no ordinary builder.  And the tree house he's building for a family in Saanich is no ordinary tree house.  The pictures speak for themselves ...

 

 Check out Bill's other work at <http://orcadesigncortes.com/>

Looking it up

When I was a child my father knew almost everything.  What he didn't know, he told us to look up in the encyclopedia that was a standard feature on our bookshelves.  That worked fairly well until I asked him what 'gigolo' meant, whereupon his standard response was replaced with, "What are you reading!!"  After that I bypassed him and went right to the encyclopedia.

That lesson has stood me in good stead over the years.  If I don't know the answer, I just look it up.  And technology just makes it all the easier - just look it up on the laptop, the tablet or, most recently, the smart phone.

Too bad that Dad never had a chance to develop an appreciation for the power of Google.

Anything in particular you want to know?  How old is Sandie Renaldo?  (64) .... How do I get to Camosun College?  (#21 bus) ...  What does 'vernacular' mean?  (the language of the ordinary people)  ...  How does an airplane's black box work?  (look it up yourself at <http://natgeotv.com/uk/air-crash-investigation/black-box>)

Oh, and Dad taught me to ride a motorcycle, too.

Salad days

I have a love/hate relationship with salads.  I love to eat them, but I hate to make them.

Well, mostly I love to eat them ...  I can certainly pass on the ubiquitous "side salad" of iceberg lettuce chunks, half ripe tomato wedge, maybe a bit of shredded carrot - especially if it's served with (Heaven, forbid!) Thousand Islands dressing. 

And I hate to make them ... I hate washing the lettuce and other veggies, cutting everything up into bite-sized pieces, and finding some acceptable bottled salad dressing to add some flavour.

But all that has changed!  I have found the perfect salad, easy on the prep, and oh, so good!  (So good, in fact, that I built an entire meal around it when we had friends in to lunch.)

There are only three ingredients: lettuce, a pear, and some blue cheese.  I make it even simpler by using those small artisan lettuces, four to a package, which require minimal washing, and already-crumbled blue cheese.  And the salad dressing is just as easy - 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp vinegar, 1 tsp honey.  We have a great oil/vinegar store in Victoria, so I use olive Leccino extra virgin oil and Sicilian Lemon white balsamic vinegar.

Try it.  You'll like it!

A complaint free world

Soapbox Alert!!!

One of my earliest life lessons came from the movie, Bambi.  Bambi's rabbit friend, Thumper, tells him ... "If you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nothin' at all."

Later in my work life, I heard something at a conference that spoke to the same sentiment ... "If you propose to speak, always ask yourself, is it true, is it necessary, is it kind."

And more recently, I read a book called "A Complaint Free World" by Bill Bowen <http://www.acomplaintfreeworld.org/>.  He posits that "Complaining spreads negative energy and negative energy cannot create a positive output."

I think Thumper had it right ...