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Wednesday, November 24, 2004
It's really quiet right now, so I have my trainee taking advantage and getting some study time in. That gives me time to write an entry! Whoo hoo!
The provincial election was two days ago, and to nobody's suprise Ralph Klein and the Progressive Conservatives won yet another majority. The good news is that it's a smaller majority than last time and having them lose seats is always good. However I saw a headline on one of the papers talking about how the Tories are veering to the right because of the increased influence the rural MLA's will have now without so many city slickers in caucus. That's a little scary. Luckily the provincial governments don't have near the power that the states do down in the good ol' Divided States so they can't do too much harm to the homosexuals that terrify and disgust them.
There were two ballots to fill out. One was for our choice for Member of the Legislative Assembly (yay, my choice Laurie Blakeman won). The other ballot was for our choices for the Senate in Ottawa. The thing is that in Canada the Senate is entirely appointed by the federal government, so voting for a senator is nothing more than symbolic and an excuse for Albertans to complain about those damned Liberals. Combine that with the fact that there wasn't a single moderate or left-of-center choice (it's the right wing nutjobs that keep crying about the Senate, so they're the ones who insist on running for this) and for the first time in my life I deliberately spoiled a ballot. I could have left it blank but spoiling a ballot is a more vocal protest. It shows that you took the time to participate in the democratic process and that you feel that none of the choices are any good.
posted
by Tabby at 11/24/2004 11:53:00 p.m.
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Monday, November 22, 2004
One of the problems with working in an office building is recycled air, causing what is known as Sick Building Syndrome. Or something like that, but it's close enough. It's not so bad once your immune system adjusts but that doesn't happen right away and most new employees get sick in their first couple of weeks. That is why I'm sitting here without a trainee today. It's good anyway. At times it's been really friggin' busy.
After work it's time to go vote for the last time this year. So far we've had a federal election this past summer, a civic election month, and today it's provincial election time. Thankfully there are no more levels of government to worry about.
There isn't too much excitement over this last one. The ending is a forgone conclusion. It's just a matter of finding out how big of an opposition Edmonton elects after the rest of the province votes for the governing Tories yet again. Yawn. So instead of writing about provincial politics, let me tell you about my jambalaya and movie night on Friday...
On Friday I made jambalaya for the first time and watched a couple of movies. The jambalaya turned out pretty yummy for my first attempt. I also finally got to have my Before Sunrise/Before Sunset marathon. Before Sunrise is one of my all-time favourite movies, so I bought the sequel Before Sunset on DVD before ever seeing the movie, and I'm glad I did. It was definitely a worthy follow-up even though I thought it lacked a little of the magic of the first. That was to be expected though. The first film were two people meeting and making a connection for the first time. The second was them later on in whole different situations in life. Falling in love is magical. Finding that love again later is still magical, just not as much.
Yes, it was a very good night.
posted
by Tabby at 11/22/2004 03:41:00 p.m.
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Thursday, November 18, 2004
My trainee is late again today, but this time we're not previously aware of it so I hope she shows up soon.
Ah, I was just writing and she showed up, so I have to go...
posted
by Tabby at 11/18/2004 05:53:00 p.m.
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Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Yay! I'm working evenings for the rest of the week!
No, wait. Not "yay" but "crap". Oh well. Money is money. I'm just not fond of the walk home at night.
I'm waiting for my trainee right now. She was supposed to start at the same time as me today, but apparently called in and is going to be late. At least that gives me time to write a little. And I mean a little because it didn't occur to me to do this until just now, and as of this sentence she should be here in seven minutes or less.
I'm looking forward to my days off a little more than normal. I grabbed a recipe for jambalaya off the Net the other day and have already bought all the ingredients. I've never made jambalaya before, and it's my favourite dish when I go to Da-De-O's, a great restaurant here in Edmonton that serves Cajun food. Combining that with a movie night consisting of Before Sunrise (one of my all-time favourites) and Before Sunset (the sequel that I haven't watched yet) it should be a pretty darned good weekend.
posted
by Tabby at 11/17/2004 07:02:00 p.m.
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Friday, November 12, 2004
Normally these days I write from work via e-mail, and that's just fine. I take advantage when I can find the time so while it might take me a while to get one done, I can write a fairly long post.
That's going to change for the next few weeks while I train a new staff member. I'll be too busy yak-yak-yakking away to get any of those slow moments I need to form a coherent message.
Until that's done I don't know how much I'll be able to get in here, so just in case I'll say this now if you're in Alberta... Vote Liberal! Vote NDP! Decide which one in your riding has the best shot to win and vote for one of them!
Of course, we all know how well my last appeal went...
posted
by Tabby at 11/12/2004 10:35:00 p.m.
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Monday, November 08, 2004
Okay, the horrors of the American election have been over for a few days now, I'm calming down. Bush has already proven he was full of shit when he talked about working together and uniting his country, but that's not really any surprise. He has a lot of evangelical and corporate asses to kiss now for getting him into power, but as long as he only messes up his own country and not the rest of the world, it's not my problem. I'm looking forward to the influx of tax dollars anyway when educated American liberals decide to move here. Especially the gays and lesbians, as our constitution protects your rights and the people that want to change that are nowhere near having the power to do so.
Now I can concentrate on the Alberta provincial election if I can stifle the yawns long enough. This is Alberta. The Progressive Conservatives are going to win again. They've been in power for over 30 years, so you know they can do whatever they want and still get into power. Deregulate electricity and watch costs skyrocket? Pisses Albertans off. Natural gas prices through the roof? Pisses Albertans off. Insurance premiums rising out of reach of ordinary people? You got it, pissed off Albertans. There is a bit of a Mad Cow crisis on our cattle ranches right now, and a lot of it could have been avoided if the provincial government didn't screw up procedures. Cuts in health care increased waiting lines, cuts in education crowded schools. Tuition at our universities is out of control. At least our premier is courageous enough to get drunk and go to homeless shelters shouting at the bums to get jobs! At least he has the guts to come out and say that if a handicap isn't visible, a person isn't severely handicapped! Thanks to oil, we're the richest province in the country, yet aid to the severely handicapped (who aren't "severely normal", which Ralph Klein doesn't mind pointing out) hasn't gone up in almost a decade, welfare payments possibly longer, and our minimum wage is the lowest in the country. Makes me proud to be an Alberta, let me tell you.
Yup. A government with a proud record like that after 30 years is ripe for the dethroning, but this is Alberta. As long as the Tories continue to demonize Ottawa and the federal Liberals, as long as they appear to be socially conservative (though thankfully there's little they can do there), they'll stay in power. This is Alberta. We don't like too much change 'round these parts.
posted
by Tabby at 11/08/2004 06:50:00 p.m.
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Sunday, November 07, 2004
I bit a bit of bitter butter but I bet a better bitter butter bites bitter butter's butt a bit, bud.
posted
by Tabby at 11/07/2004 05:38:00 p.m.
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Wednesday, November 03, 2004
I wasn't going to say anything about the election because I didn't want to insult any Americans reading this, but I just heard that John Kerry has conceded to Bush. Without fighting for Ohio! What the fuck is up with that?!? The provisional ballots haven't even been counted yet, but he's giving up already?!? Fuck you, John Kerry! Fuck you, fuck Bush, and fuck 51% of America!
I'm not blaming those of you in the United States who have a conscience, I'm just blaming the majority of you who voted for George Fucking Bush, you fucking souless asswipes! How many more people have to die before you're happy? How many more rights need to be trampled? How much more discrimination? How much more job loss? How can you hate the environment so fucking much that you want to see it destroyed this badly in the name of profit? Which is, by the way, profit that most of you will never see!
There are pretty much two things that brought Bush back into power (three, if you don't count John Kerry's sudden unwillingness to care about the world): Fear of terrorism and homophobia.
Look, if you live in Cousinfuck, Tennessee, you have nothing to fear from terrorists. They're not going to harm a hair on your inbred head! But hey, if it makes you feel better to invade countries THAT AREN'T A FUCKING THREAT, you can look forward to more of your brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers and cousins and friends dying in the name of Halliburton!
And if the fear of two men getting married or two women having equal rights is too much for you, then that's certainly a better family value than ensuring you can feed your own fucking family or ensuring there is clean air for your children and their children you fucking idiots. Guess what? Same-sex marriage is NOT going to lead to guys having the legal right to rape your babies! My god, what the fuck is going on in your heads anyway that you'd rather fuck yourself over than allow two people in love to have legal recognition?
I still can't believe Kerry conceded already. I really can't wait to hear his justification for fucking over the world so soon.
posted
by Tabby at 11/03/2004 11:18:00 a.m.
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Tuesday, November 02, 2004
As I write this it's still Tuesday morning on one of the most significant election days in world history, let alone the United States. The outcome of this vote will affect the planet so it's hard to be stuck on the sidelines not having a direct voice in the issue. But hey, I'm glad we don't have Alabama voters deciding our elections either, but our prime minister doesn't affect the world as much as the American president.
On the other hand, I'm not American or in the United States, therefore I'm not bound by U.S. electioneering laws, and so...
***VOTE KERRY/EDWARDS!***
***IF YOU VOTE FOR BUSH/CHENEY, THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WILL DIE AND THE TERRORISTS WILL HAVE WON! A VOTE FOR BUSH WILL ENCOURAGE TERRORIST RECRUITMENT! DIE NOW OR DIE LATER? TERRORISM OR THE ENVIRONMENT? VOTE BUSH, YOU'RE SCREWED ON BOTH COUNTS!***
Thank you. Now please America, get out there and vote.
posted
by Tabby at 11/02/2004 04:29:00 p.m.
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Monday, November 01, 2004
Hey, it was Halloween yesterday! The day doesn't get as much respect as it should though. At the very least it should be a statuatory holiday. And if we all work at it, it could even be bigger than Christmas! After all, wouldn't getting together with family be a lot better for everyone if you were all dressed up in snazzy costumes? You can't have bitter, angry recriminations with someone dressed as Raggedy Ann or Spongebob Squarepants. Besides, what could be more festive than sitting around a warm, cosy Jack O'Lantern singing your favourite Halloween carols, like "Monster Mash" or "Purple People Eater"?
It'll take a while for this to happen, but we can do our part. All we have to do is keep the spirit of Halloween in our hearts, live every day like it was Halloween. Or All Hallow's Eve. Or Samhain. Whatever its name, it's a day of spooky joy and ghoulish good will and we'd be all better off if we give it the celebration it deserves.
So a belated Happy Halloween, and may your year be good and ghostly!
posted
by Tabby at 11/01/2004 07:06:00 p.m.
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The
critics are calling
I
Was an Atomic Robot Jungle Vixen...
"Very
cool!" "Awesome!" "Good times!"
"Inspires
me..." A Critic - I
respect
"Cool.
And miles more exciting..." Someone Else -
You
might not know
"I
totally love it!" Whoo hoo! -
Posted
somewhere
"All
I have to say is... Cool!" Another Critic
"I
like the look..." An Opinion - YACCS
Comments
"You
think I have time to give you a quote? You're out of your
mind!" Wil Wheaton -WWfreakin'DN!
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