Gotta Share This

Well, I simply must blog this right away. Frankly my dears, I am dumbfounded.

We have more or less decided that we should visit our daughter who now resides on the west coast. The idea is to do it in June, hopefully before the majority of the tourist hordes descend. The thinking is that we might stop on this side of the mountains, say in Calgary or Edmonton and go through the mountains overland.

Just for interest sake, I checked out the Rocky Mountaineer just now to see what it would cost to take their train from Jasper to Vancouver. The trip takes two days and one night, only two days and one night mind you. The cost ... (drumroll) ... more than $3500 for two.

I knew that it wouldn't be cheap, and I know that it's a first-class trip, but, Jiminy Cricket, I am rather stunned. To put it in perspective, that is pretty close to what we spent last spring to fly to Arizona, rent a car for a week, stay fin motels, drive all over and see all sorts of sights.

Needless to say, the Rocky Mountaineer won't be picking this poor man's pockets. I guess some lots of people are rich to afford it — obviously. But doesn't it strike you as being rather pricey for two days and one night (moderate accommodations unless you purchase the more expensive plan)? Heck! We could probably come fairly close to taking a week long Caribbean Cruise including the flight down there for that amount.

Update regarding a few Comments that have come in already: just to clarify, that price is just across the mountains. We'd still have to get threre.

Basking in the Patch

This decadent cat ain't so dumb. On a cold winter day, he finds the best patch of sunlight in the house in the most comfortable spot in the house. That's my nighttime spot by the way. For the longest time, he tried to sleep by my feet at night; eventually, however, my feet persuaded him to move to Cuppa's side. She of the shorter legs can more easily make space for him.

What a Bright Idea!

Shortly after we moved into this house, almost a year and a half ago now (my, how time flies!), we bought a package of CFC lightbulbs and installed them here and there. Unfortunately, one package doesn't go very far, but it was a start. In the way of things, more than a year passed before we got around to buying more and finishing the job. This time we bought three different sizes and four containers, and we have now installed CFCs wherever we can, keeping in mind than some sockets don't lend themselves to CFCs. The overhead light in my den is an example; it's got a remote control, and we have discovered that these lightbulbs don't interact at all well with these devices. I try to remember to turn that light off often, but I don't always manage. But I feel good about installing these energy efficient bulbs in most light sources. It's not much; you do what you can.

That includes the packaging. Note that both of the above packages are reusable. Once emptied they can serve as containers for papers or baubles. I think the one behind is particularly useful for storing documents. I call that a bright idea: two bright ideas, in fact.

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In a totally unrelated observation, I have just noticed the Quote of the Day in my own blog sidebar: Happiness depends upon ourselves(Aristotle). I think there's an awful lot of truth there.

The People-Last Movement

I seem to be experiencing some sort of repeated pattern lately. It has to do with how businesses and bureaucracies treat people. Dead last, it seems to me. Permit me to share some examples most of which are trivial, but it's the pattern and the message that I don't much care for.

Exhibit A: we're in the local hardware store where we have made a fair number of purchases since we arrived in this town. We pass by a rack with kitchen mats – 33% off. We need one, so we look and find a suitable one and take it to the cashier. It rings in at an non-sale price. After considerable consultation among staff, we are told that the sign did not refer to these mats but to others that they no longer have in stock. They take down the sale sticker, and we go on our way.

Of course, I am mumbling a bit as I exit the sttore. If it's their error, they should sell at the advertised price. It is their error too. A sign by a shelf of mats saying there's 33% off mats is pretty darn straightforward and not a matter for interpretation. We don't complain. It's not that big a purchase to get in a kafuffle.

Exhibit B: we're in the local grocery store and pass by those plastic clips that you use to seal plastic bags with: two bucks for two packages. They ring up at a higher price. A call ensues, and we discover that there are two manner of packages of clips there. We didn't see two kinds, but nevertheless there were – apparently. Silly us; we picked up the wrong package. We leave it; this purchase really is much too piddling to bother with, but it's the same principle as above. They should sell at the advertised price, or the seemingly advertised price.

Exhibit C: a few months ago I paid $160 for a service plan for my hearing aids. With it, I can get free hearing tests as well as free labour on maintenance. Since a hearing test is priced at $70, I figured it was a good deal as I can pretty well guarantee requiring two tests in the next two years. In fact, I was there to get tested that very day.

Here's the rub. Hearing tests are covered by my medical plan – up to 80% anyway. But all they can do at the audiologist's is to itemize the bill. In other words, it will show that I bought a service plan and that it included a hearing test valued at $70. I figured right then and there that the insurance company would use that as a reason not to cover the hearing test. The mail came today; I was right.

Exhibit D: our backyard backs on to a street with a fair amount of traffic. It gets noisy back there. They have a plan to widen the street. That will increase the noise. They made a big study, an environmental impact study. Apparently, however, people are not part of the environment, and they have no plan to construct a sound barrier. I knew it, but I'd hoped for better.

What is common in these four examples: the first two being somewhat trivial and the last one being pretty darn important? Well, it's that people come last, last after computers, business convenience, policies, and plans. It doesn’t matter than a reasonably intelligent customer believes that a for sale sign means what it says, the intent of the company is all that matters. It doesn't matter that your hearing test is valued at $70; if it's rolled into a service plan, the insurance company jumps enthusiastically at a chance to deny your claim. It doesn't matter that traffic noise will be a problem because they find a rule saying that it will only increase by x decibels and it is against policy to build noise-reduction fences for that amount.

It's all about hard-edged economic decisions where companies and governments make it their priority to do as little as possible for the people that they are supposed to care about and service. I'd like to think that people matter more than a few cents or a few bucks, and it saddens me that we have these kinds of attitudes to and about others. Frankly, although these matters are of little importance in the grand scheme of things – they pale against the genuine problems that face humankind after all – I'm disappointed in my fellow humans and their inconsiderate attitudes. I'm a bit of an idealist and tend to expect the best of people, and these kinds of things bring me down and sadden me. All of these organizations should be working for their clients, should be putting their interests first. Unfortunately, none are.

Souper Sweet Potato Soup

To me, a cook is someone who understands the process and can concoct their own recipes or at least readily modify others'. By that definition, I'm no cook and never will be. But that doesn't stop me from opening cookbooks and trying to follow the steps that they outline — frequently not without curious incidents. I've tried a few soups over the past few years, but this is my favourite for a combination of ease, nutrition, taste and healthy lightness. You could eat a gallon of this stuff without feeling guilty. I often double the recipe. I figure that I may as well while I'm at it, but I give you portions as they're printed in Crazy Plates.

Prep Time: 60 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Ready In: 120 minutes
Yields: 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:
6 cups cubed yams or sweet potatoes (about 3 large)
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped onions
1 tbsp olive oil
4 cups (1 box) low fat chicken broth (really calls for 5 cups)
1 tbsp grated orange zest
1 tbsp grated gingerroot
1 whole clove
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
sour cream
fresh cilantro (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Spray shallow pan with non-stick spray
2. Add yams, olive oil, and garlic.
3. Stir well and roast uncovered for 25 minutes at 400F, stirring halfway through
4. Transfer mixture to soup pot and add rest of ingredients: gingerrrot, clove, cumin, salt, and pepper.
5. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered for 10 minutes
6. Remove clove
7. Blend in batches until smooth
8. Serve with sour cream and cilantro (if desired — I don't bother)

Going to the Dogs

We quite literally went to the dogs last Thursday.

Cuppa and I go for a walk on most days, or at least we intend to. We have also intended on taking Molly with us one day. She's our neighbours' beautiful, gentle and sweet Golden Retriever. Said neighbours are a little older than us and while not even nearly housebound*, you understand, they are not quite as mobile as we are and not always able to give Molly a total doggie workout. On Thursday, our two intentions — to walk daily and to sometimes bring Molly along — finally dovetailed, and off we set on a little adventure. It was actually quite an adventure for Molly.

You see, twice recently, we had passed a group of people and their dogs in a local, fenced-in ballpark. We had seen the dogs romping about in great delight while their owners gazed on fondly from the sidelines, chatting amiably with one another. We thought that Molly would love it; opportunities to run freely in these town confines are scarce after all. And so we set off, we three. Cuppa and I were welcomed by the humans while Molly was greeted enthusiastically by her fellow canines.

Including Molly, there were six pooches there that day, and I managed to get them all in the frame below, not necessarily as easy as it seems with six dogs gadding about madly in all directions. Anyway, that's Molly lying down in the left foreground and Goliath [sic] between the two humans. In the background from left to right are Porter, Henry, Eddie, and Missy, although I may have mixed Henry and Eddie up.



Photos to the contrary, Molly did a lot of running that day, certainly more than she is used to, so she did have to take several rests, rolling in and munching on what little snow there was. Although all of the dogs were young and neutered, the Airdales were randy and boisterous fellows, seemingly quite intent on having their way with that gorgeous blond. But Molly acquitted herself very well and wasn't intimidated in the least.



We three departed in a happy state, Molly because she had so much fun being a dog, and us because it was pure joy to watch her having so much fun being a dog.



I am told that she slept very well that night.



*In fact, I can barely keep up with their hectic pace.

Listening to the Children

I pulled the trigger last night. It took me a while to come to terms with spending that amount of money, but I did it. Oh, it's not that much in the grand scheme of things, but it seems a lot to me to fork out more than $120 for two tickets to a concert.

Yes, The Rankins are coming to town early in February on their Reunion tour. Years ago, they were front and centre in bringing the Celtic sound to the rest of Canada – beyond the Maritimes. When I think Celtic music, I think Rankins. The first time that I heard another Celtic group, I was disappointed because they didn't sound like the Rankins. The ladies have somewhat nasally voices but produce a very fetching sound – to this poor man's ears anyway.

But when I first went to the Ticketmaster site early in the week, I entered a state of sticker shock – over $60 per ticket! It's a fair chuck of change when you consider that pretty well whatever we do must be multiplied by two because Cuppa and I do most things together. And Cuppa's not a big Rankins fan. It's not that she dislikes them; it's just that they don't grab her like they do me. They probably don’t grab most people as much as they grab me, but those of us who like'em really seem to like'em as they aren't finding it too difficult to attract an audience after an eight year absence from the scene.

And so … here's the point that I really wanted to get to in this post – the relationship between parents and adult children. You see, it was the kids who told us that we were a little out of touch and that $60 was rather cheap for a concert; they'd expect to pay closer to a hundred bucks for one of theirs, not that they go to concerts in these house-poor days, but you get my drift, I'm sure. I think you go to concerts when you're young and when you're older; in between times, you have other interests and obligations. It's how the wheel of life seems to turn.

Anyway, they felt free to offer their advice. We certainly didn't mind, and I took it. With adult children, it doesn't as easily work in reverse though, does it? I mean to say that there is something about the parent-child relationship that doesn't lend itself to parents giving too much advice to adult children. I suppose that children spend their first twenty years or so, establishing their own independent identities apart from parents and it's a pattern that's hard to reverse.

I'm just making an observation. It's not about me and my kids (do you hear that, kids?), for I was the same way. I felt it my duty to advise my parents by times, but I don't think that I would have welcomed their advice too very often. Like me with my kids, they seemed to readily accept my advice whether they chose to follow it or not. It seems to me that to some degree, at least, parents seem to be able to accept their grown-up children as full-fledged and equal adults, but parents are always parents.

Oh, I don't mean that we older ones can ever completely let go of our children, we have a vested interest. I also realize that there are those who forever treat adult children as children, but I think that, on the whole, it is true that it is more common for parents to willingly accept advice from adult children than vice versa. That's all I'm saying, apart from the fact that I have to double-check the spelling of vice versa every time I use it. I got it wrong btw; I originally wrote visa versa.

Or maybe I've got it all wrong and your family dynamics are different? What say you?