section8ight

Shanti Sixteen-Tube Tea Display

2010-11-26T08:05:00.000-08:00

Just finished another couple of pieces for Shanti Tea. The goal in these pieces was to create a simple display for sixteen glass tubes of tea leaves that prominently shows the Shanti logo, showcases the natural grain of the wood, and can be easily reproduced. The final piece is 14" wide at the base and 5" tall at the center.

I proudly present you with the Shanti sixteen-tube tea display (I really need to come up with better names for these things):

Shanti Tea Display

2010-11-26T07:48:00.000-08:00

In all the excitement of coming home from vacation and then getting hit by a car (oh yeah... never got around to that post, either) I completely forgot to post pictures of the display I designed and built for a friend of mine in Toronto! He asked for a display that would hold 1" diameter test tubes for display at a tea trade show. He wanted it to collapse for storage so that it would be portable and he wanted it made of wood and finely crafted. So we talked about it for an hour or so and I put about 60 hours of design and build into the final product. The base is 1"x21"x4" and the whole piece with lid on is 21"x21"x12". I proudly present you with the Shanti Tea Display:

I can't believe I forgot to post this...

2010-10-04T21:58:00.001-07:00

Oh, and as for getting hit by a car, I stopped at a two-way stop sign thinking it was a four-way and I expected the woman coming from my right to stop. She never even saw me and I hit the side of her car while she was doing about 30 miles an hour. I put my right arm through her driver's side backseat window and opened my arm up good. I'd put pictures up but I know my mom reads this so I'll spare her the imagery. I was in the ER for 8 hours because I was admitted just ahead of a shift change and I got lost in the shuffle. 6 hours later I had to send Katy up to ask if I could at least have an Advil. They looked at her funny and she explained that I had been hit by a car but that no one had even looked at me since I walked in the door six hours earlier. That got 'em moving. Lucky for them I really didn't have any other issues... didn't hit my head or bump or bruise anything. I would have gotten away scot free had it not been for her pathetic excuse for a window. Anyway, everything is okay now. I had to take 2 weeks off from work to let the wound heal. Funny to think I was talking in the ER like I was going to go in to work the next day. It's taking some effort, but I'm getting back into a normal routine. I've been really busy making watch paintings and putting up the etsy store. Also, this past weekend I hung a dozen pieces at a science-fiction convention here in town. I sold two! Almost There...

and Faster, Grandpa! Faster!

I even designed myself a business card for the occasion:

It was a great experience. And, I found out about the event at the last minute and managed to pull together a whole show in just two days. It was work, but with a little help from Katy and some friends I got it done.

So yeah... stuff's been happening. All is well.

Now available at an internet access near you!

2010-09-12T14:02:00.003-07:00

I've been talking about doing it forever and have finally come around to marking it off my to-do list. I put up an online store on Etsy. Check it out:

www.etsy.com/shop/lostmykeysonbroadway

No grand hurrah yet... that is still to come. But for now it's nice to have this much started. Support aspiring artists! Tell your friends!

Where I've been...

2010-09-10T00:08:00.000-07:00

Katy and I just spent a couple of weeks with Katy's parents, including a week at their lake cottage. Oh, bliss, thy name art lake cottage and you are good! We had a great time kayaking and swimming in the lake, sunning on the dock with a book, and generally relaxing and enjoying ourselves. Katy's folks were fantastic hosts and we enjoyed every moment of our visit.

Here's a few pictures of the lake and of Katy's friend's grandmother's farmhouse which we also visited while we were out in cottage country. The pics at the end are from the newly renovated Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.

Just me and my harmonica...

2010-08-11T21:48:00.000-07:00

A friend took some pictures at an open mic I've been playing for the past few weeks.

And while I'm at it, here are a few older shots of me playing harp...

So there ya have it.

What I've been up to...

2010-08-07T18:49:00.003-07:00

The Unscrupulous Gentleman

Uh... Hi.

Aww... C'mon Guys!

Timex the Barbarian

Alright Bundy, Where'd You Hide the Jewel?

Are You My Mommy?

From Where I Stand...

Magpie

An actual conversation with a friend...

2010-06-02T21:30:00.000-07:00

Friend: So I ordered these shoes online and got a great deal but when they came, they had duty on them and so I didn't really save any money.

Me: What?? They had doodie on them?

Friend: Yeah, because the store was in the States.

Me: And they sent them to you with doodie on them?

Friend: Yeah.

Me: Right from the store? They had doodie on them?

Friend: Yeah!

Me: Does everything from the States have doodie on it?

Friend: Well, yeah...

Me: Did you send them back?

A Truth I believe...

2010-05-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'"

-Isaac Asimov from Newsweek - Jan 21st, 1980

May long weekend...

2010-05-27T17:52:00.000-07:00

Went to the lake with Katy. I'll probably never live anywhere as beautiful as this again. This place is just so green and lush and burgeoning with life everywhere you look. The ground and the tree trunks are often the same color green because a layer of moss has grown over them and made them a seamless green carpet. The large trees that have died and fallen were left in place and the forest has overtaken them with moss and lichen so completely that the log is nothing more than a large hump in the green ground. It feels like you're walking on 12" of sponge because the ground under you is nothing but layers of mulch under moss. Everything around you seems more interconnected than anywhere else I've been. You feel as though you are standing within a giant organism. No wonder the hippies loved it out here. You really do see the Earth as an organism here.

I'll always love my time here.

On kindness to waiters...

2010-05-27T09:39:00.000-07:00

“A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person”

-Dave Barry

Seven Blunders of the World

2010-05-26T12:10:00.007-07:00

1. Wealth without work

2. Pleasure without conscience

3. Knowledge without character

4. Commerce without morality

5. Science without humanity

6. Worship without sacrifice

7. Politics without principle

—Mahatma Gandhi

Steal from all that speaks to your soul...

2010-05-26T11:59:00.005-07:00

"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don't bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: 'It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to."

-Jim Jarmusch

My, how things have changed...

2010-05-26T10:47:00.000-07:00

Darth Vader as High Art

2010-05-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

Artist Unknown

Image by Limpfish

Sunday's random wisdom says:

2010-05-16T11:08:00.001-07:00

"Everything worth knowing leaves bruises."

Ping Pong Ninjas

2010-05-10T09:00:00.002-07:00

Dear mom,

2010-05-09T15:58:00.002-07:00

The mess he made?

2010-04-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

A Birthday Cupcake Blow

2010-04-02T23:12:00.000-07:00

Girlfriend just made me gourmet cupcakes for my birthday (carrot cake with sour cream icing and toasted coconut sprinkles!) and I was so happy I thought I'd record a song. If you enjoy it, pass it on. Thanks for listening!

For lack of anything meaningful to say...

2010-03-31T21:56:00.000-07:00

...I've decided to just start posting some of the cool things I find as I roam the internet. Tonight I bring you some chill blues from Jack Johnson and Co. Enjoy.

On socialism and the health care debate...

2010-03-16T23:26:00.003-07:00

It seems no matter how I try, I can't stay away from this health care debate that's raging in the States. A friend of my sister's wrote today and asked if I could explain socialism to her. She was confused by all of the anti-socialism talk around her and didn't know what to think. She wrote, "I don't know what Socialism is, all I know is that I'm poor and I need health care." So I wrote her a letter that, in the end, I thought worth sharing.

---

Full disclosure so you know where I'm coming from up front: I support the passage of massive health care overhaul in the US. I also believe that the spirit, if not the word, of Democratic health care reform is necessary for America to remain a global economic and social leader. That said, let's talk about socialism

Socialism, in plain terms, is a system where the people - or the government - own or manage certain industries for the overall good of the community. It is a system that relies on the belief that a group of people owe it to each other to help out with certain basic functions. Fire departments in America are a great example of socialism. We all pitch in our tax dollars to maintain equipment and staff for the good of the community if something catches on fire. Other examples of functioning socialism are Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, subsidized housing and even Pell grants for college,

Why do Americans seem to hate socialism so much? Well, mostly because we have been told socialism is bad by the people on TV, but other than that it's mostly because of the good ol' Soviet Union. The Soviet Union, or USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) butted heads with the US after World War 2 and we became bitter enemies through the Cold War. We competed at everything and hated one another without cause or exception. The worst thing someone could call you in 1940's-50's America was a Communist. Why? Because it's bad to want to share? No. Because our "enemies" are communists and our "enemies" are bad.

But here's the thing most people aren't aware of. While the USSR called itself Socialist, it actually wasn't. Basically, its leaders took all the money, all the food, and all the goods for themselves and left the common people to suffer and called it socialism. So what Americans over the age of 35 think of when they think "socialism" is the horrible state of affairs in the old USSR. Russians worked their fingers to the bone and were still unable to buy bread for their families. It wasn't because socialism failed. It was because the government stole all the riches from the people and called it socialism.

Why else might Americans hate socialism? Because it is good in our society to work hard and succeed on your own. We are taught that to be a good man you must work hard for yourself. If you work harder than your neighbor then you are a better man than your neighbor. If someone works less or not at all, his value is less or he has none at all. This is an idea that is fairly young... made popular within the past 70 years, somewhere between World Wars 1 and 2. What this means is that America has learned to despise anyone who needs help. Think about that for a second. People look down on anyone who can't afford food, needs unemployment assistance or accepts help. We believe deep down inside our national conscious that anyone who works hard will get money and anyone who doesn't have money must be lazy. We also believe that when we deserve things. We have been taught through ingenious advertising campaigns that hard work = deserved rewards. So since socialism relies on the idea that we should all pitch in and help out, it goes against the idea of "deserved rewards." Many people feel that they worked hard for their money and they don't have to give it to anything or anyone because they earned it. Capitalism is about "I" while socialism is about "we".

Ok, enough about socialism for now. Let's talk about the current state of health care in America. Compared to the rest of the world, America's health care system is the highest in cost, first in responsiveness, 37th in overall performance, and Americans are 72nd by overall level of health and 34th in terms of life expectancy. re-read those numbers real quick. 1st in high cost... 37th in performance... and the people who rely on the most expensive health care system in the world are ranked 72nd in overall health. According to the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences, The United States is the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not ensure that all citizens have coverage. Without adequate coverage, not only are we preventing Americans from being healthy, we are also threatening their economic well-being. Medical problems contributed to almost two-thirds of bankruptcies in 2007. If a person has no health care and gets sick, they can lose their job. If they lose their job, many Americans would have no health coverage.

This is what Obama is trying to fix. He sees that we are nearing the lowest standards in regards to health care. Sure, we have fantastic facilities and we have many of the best doctors in the world, but too many Americans cannot afford to use them. He wants, more than anything, for every American to have the right to health care. That is what "Canadian style socialized medicine" is. Every person in Canada has the right to health care. I am not even a Canadian citizen and I have the right to health care. I've been to the doctor from things ranging from a checkup to a fractured spine and I've never paid a dime more than my $50 monthly premium. Even when I had to have x-rays, a CT scan and an MRI.

Now let's talk about how politics plays into the health care debate. Certain groups stand to lose a great deal of popular influence and support if this change takes effect. Those same groups are largely funded by drug companies and private (for-profit) health insurers who are, themselves, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to fight health care reform. If Obama is successful in achieving something so monumental for average working Americans, then he will be hugely popular and may get elected again. If not him, then another Democrat because Democrats will be seen as the party that fixed health care and the economy. Republicans, particularly, do not want this and have gone openly on the record since day one of Obama's presidency saying they will do whatever it takes to stop Obama from doing anything at all. Period. If they stop him, they win. These are Republican words... not liberal bloggers. They have to stop him from reforming health care if they want to get a president in the White House next term. They must stop him so they refuse to agree to anything. The entire time Obama has been president, Republicans have refused to vote yes on a single thing. They won't even compromise. Their compromise is "Do it exactly our way or we will vote no on yours," and when they are met halfway instead, they say "no" because everything they want wasn't included.

But if all of that is happening in Washington DC, why are people on the street so angry about the health care debate? Republicans have used Fox News largely as their platform for instigating the most problems. Fox News is finally being called out as a propoganda channel by more and more reputable news sources. Fox speaks hatred and anti-government sentiment in order to cause an uprising against the president and get ratings. Why? Because they must stop him at all costs. So they have begun speaking to the people who aren't sure of what's happening in Washington DC and have filled their heads with lies and fear. They lie about the current state of affairs (ever heard someone say that America has the best health care in the world? Lie.) and they lie about what may happen if we change things (ever heard someone say that Obama wants "death panels"? Lie) in order to make people think their government is out to get them. Then they mis-quote our founding fathers and use parts of their words out of context to make it seem like it is patriotic to rise up and rebel against your government when they don't do what you want (remember when it was unpatriotic to question the leader?). This is where the Palin followers are coming from. This is where the Tea Party comes from. This is where the rise in militia activity comes from. This is where the national rise in gun sales over the past year have come from. This is where the angry Americans are coming from.

Make no mistake, this is not a cut and dry issue. There are many complexities and there are many groups playing. But you are the victim of people within our own government who are deliberately sowing lies and misinformation in order to make you afraid, to alter your perception of events and to influence your actions. They are instilling fear of change in you so they can maintain the status quo. Were it not for the lies and misinformation, there would be no widespread panic. Were it not for widespread panic, Republicans would be irrelevant right now. Republicans don't want that so they make Americans afraid in order to keep intelligent, reasonable debate from happening.

I hope this helps clear a few things up. Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions or want sources for any of my information. I'm open to talking about this stuff anytime.

In the meantime, here are a couple of trustworthy places where you can read up on the debate for yourself.

www.factcheck.org
Wikipedia page on health care in the US

Cheers

Global Military Spending

2010-02-23T10:00:00.001-08:00

Wonder why we're running a $1.4 trillion deficit? I'll give you a hint, it's not because of our spending on health care.

Thanks to globalissues.org for the graphic.

A harmonica jam...

2010-02-19T19:11:00.000-08:00

It has been a very long time since I have posted a harmonica video. I still play just about every day, though the few times I have tried to record have resulted in less than spectacular performances. Anyway, here's a tune called, "Hi Girlfriend."

This, the thing that I have done...

2010-02-15T23:21:00.000-08:00

So Imaginary Thomas received the package I sent and I can finally show people what I made. First off, it was an art swap. You may remember that he sent me Old Friends. Well, I sent him a piece titled, Nothing Personal. It's made of watch parts, clock parts, found objects and piano pieces and it's mounted on gesso-covered plywood.

It's inspired by the army of robots Imaginary Thomas builds and the destructive tendencies they exude. He sent one of his Mauraders to Vancouver in a box for Christmas so I thought the Watch Men would send a suitable response. It also gives a nod to Imaginary Thomas' favorite of my watch paintings, Almost There.

Well, he also sent me another paper collage of his that was inspired by a popular video game called Shadow of the Colossus. I wanted the Shadow of the Colossus piece to give to a friend of mine here in Vancouver. He loves it. In exchange for this, I sent him a collection of parts. Every found object artist loves new parts. I found a box to fill and had a blast putting together a well of inspiration. Check it out...

Now I think we're going to set up a community forum where other artists can come together and do their own artswaps. I'll let you all know if it goes anywhere.

The Great Art Swap: entry 1

2010-02-11T21:52:00.002-08:00

It has come! I received a package in the mail from Imaginary Thomas with his part of the art swap. It's a 12"x12" paper collage and it's called Old Friends. I'm stoked to have it. Check it out.

I love it! The eye on the guy is so expressive, made so by such a subtle little line. The textures of the papers (only partially evident in the photograph) make it such a rich image and give it a depth that is really emphasized by the contrast between the bright white monster and the dark background. And the story! It's a lot of what makes his work so unique is his ability to tell half of a story through image and half through narrative... neither being enough on its own, and yet together they feel as though you have opened a familiar book to the middle and begun to read.

I have pictures of what I sent him, but he hasn't received it yet and he reads my blog, so I shan't ruin it. I will say that I sent a box weighing almost 6 kilos, though! Bring a bag when you go to the post office, Imaginary Thomas!

Ok, here comes the ketchup...

2010-02-07T02:11:00.001-08:00

So I dropped out of sight for the holidays because the holidays kinda make me glum and the last thing I wanted to do was to infect others with my holiday blahs. So now it's February and people are starting to remind me that I have a blog I haven't posted to for quite a while. In fact, I suspect one or two people aren't returning my emails until I post. For a while I felt bad for not posting and procrastinated further because I felt the need to make a big "I'm back" post that I never had the time to do. Then I realized that a lot of the reason I haven't had time is because I've been so busy with other things. In fact, I've been getting a fair bit done. Check it out, a few new watch paintings and some furniture I've done recently...

Ooh, I Hope It's a Pony!

~~Salt and Pepper~~
They Both Have Pretty Fantastic Shoes
(I forgot that one's name)

Here, Birdy! Birdy!

Detail from Here, Birdy! Birdy!

Look, Ma! I Got One!

My desk.

The 60 lbs. rack of hammers out of a piano from the 1850's... that girlfriend found on freecycle.org and carried home for me on a bus.

I have an amazing girlfriend.

This is our dream house up amongst the old mansions on the hill behind our apartment. It sold last month.

My favorite flowers to bring home for Katy.

A three-piece bookshelf I built for my studio space.

One of two display tables I built for Framehouse.

A molding rack for the back room at Framehouse. The only thing to see in this shot, though, is the neatly stacked molding.

Wait for it...

Almost there...

And there is the dividers that make it all happen. There is also a floor shelf to keep the base of the molding contained.

And my latest project, a small bathroom shelf for my friends, Helena and Steve.

Experimenting with engraving on the CNC. I have some great ideas for furniture now. All of the furniture you've seen, by the way, is made of recycled wood. This particular piece is made of plywood that has no added urea formaldehyde. Ooh! Fancy and Green!

Here's some pictures from my neighborhood I took one evening.

Just a building. I Like Katy's new camera.

A shot of the hospital from the top or the parking garage.

Over the side of the parking garage to the public space below.

Looking West out over the neighborhood at dusk.

The hospital seen through the houses in the neighborhood.

The front entrance to our apartment.

So aside from all of these, I've also been working on designing a downhill racing longboard for one of the installers at work. That's been a completely new challenge. I'm hoping maybe to sell one or two in my quest to save up for a new bicycle. I'm sketching on a few new box designs and have a couple of pieces of furniture in the works, as well. I have another watch painting almost finished on my desk right now that will be mailed to Imaginary Thomas in a day or two. Remember Imaginary Thomas? He's the one I met through the Reddit Secret Santa who sent me Thunderous Charles the Bus Thrower. Well, we got along famously and decided to do an art swap, wherein we would each create a piece of art inspired by the other person's work and send it in the mail. I hit a snag with mine and so am just now finishing it. Imaginary Thomas' art, on the other hand, is at the post office waiting to be picked up by me. What can I say? Anyone who knows me is not surprised to read this. But I couldn't rush it! I didn't have the right piece for about a week and it was killing me. But I finally got it figured out the other night. Sometimes it goes like that. I could have most of a piece finished and staring me in the face for a month, but if one piece isn't right, then the work isn't finished. The times when I've tried to force it it just hasn't worked. Art has taught me patience, at least.

On top of all that, I've continued to train jiu jitsu at least twice a week. I'm getting better all the time. I have a great coach who, unfortunately, will be leaving to go back to Brazil for a month or two while he sorts out his immigration visa. I'm sorely going to miss his teaching but I'm hoping he'll have no problems with his visa and he'll be back soon enough. He's very motivational and a great teacher. I hope the energy he brought to the school remains after he leaves.

Katy has entered a co-op term in school wherein she gets an internship at a firm and works instead of going to classes. To say she is happy would be an understatement. She worked really hard to find a job and through her networking skills managed to land a good job at a really good firm. It's a great office environement that's producing world-class designs that are at the forefront of the sustainability movement. Katy is learning a great deal about normal architectural issues like codes and construction etc., but she is also getting to learn about the newest innovations in sustainable architecture. I'm real proud of her and very happy for her. It's strange for both of us having a fairly normal life for the first time. We get up together in the morning and go about our separate days, then come back together in the evening to talk and get ready to do it again the next day. It's pleasant. It's low-stress. We really enjoy each other. And weekends (okay, just Sunday, really) are actually meaningful.

Ok, well speaking of meaningful weekends, I need to get to sleep so I can get up at a decent hour and enjoy mine tomorrow. The Olympics are a week away and things have kicked into crazy gear around here. There's a lot of tourists here already and things haven't even started. We're hoping to go downtown and mingle amongst the crowds. We'll post some pictures and video.

Alright, have a great week, everyone. And if you're still reading after that long break, thanks. Heck, even if you're new, if you're reading period, thanks.

I'm not dead, I'm resting...

2010-02-05T20:19:00.002-08:00

I don't know why I laughed as hard as I did at this

2009-12-28T23:39:00.000-08:00

There is a smattering of nonsensical cursing spoken herein, in case that's not the kind of thing you're entertained by.

Elsewise, this is the kind of thing my sister will love.

The Heck With Ol' Santa Claus!

2009-12-25T12:31:00.000-08:00

It's my favorite Christmas song! I've always thought my Gfandpa wrote this, but it turns out it's from an old Loretta Lynn album. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Shame on Oklahoma

2009-12-21T23:24:00.000-08:00

Hey there, Okies... this is how your elected representative is speaking up for you:

From Dana Milbank of the Washington Post -

"Going into Monday morning's crucial Senate vote on health-care legislation, Republican chances for defeating the bill had come down to a last, macabre hope. They needed one Democratic senator to die -- or at least become incapacitated.

At 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon -- nine hours before the 1 a.m. vote that would effectively clinch the [health care] legislation's passage -- Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) went to the Senate floor to propose a prayer. 'What the American people ought to pray is that somebody can't make the vote tonight,' he said. 'That's what they ought to pray.'

It was difficult to escape the conclusion that Coburn was referring to the 92-year-old, wheelchair-bound Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.) who has been in and out of hospitals and lay at home ailing. It would not be easy for Byrd to get out of bed in the wee hours with deep snow on the ground and ice on the roads -- but without his vote, Democrats wouldn't have the 60 they needed." [read the rest of the story]

People are presents, too!

2009-12-17T08:09:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Rob at Rob-Sheridan.com (by way of Reddit.com) for the holiday cheer!

Not to say that I ever feel otherwise...

2009-12-16T11:13:00.000-08:00

...but screw WalMart!

As many of you know, when you mail a package to a soldier anywhere overseas, you mail it to an APO (Army Post Office) address instead of a State and zip code. This is because Uncle Sam collects all mail and packages for soldiers at a single point in New York, where parcels enter the APO system and become the responsibility of the US Army. Essentially, when you mail to a soldier in Afghanistan, you are paying postage to New York. This is why you can mail a letter to a soldier with the same stamp as sending it within the States.

It would seem, however, that our most American of American retailers, WalMart, has taken to highly inflating shipping costs to soldiers. This furthers my already near-complete boycott of WalMart (yeah... like I needed more ammo in that clip).

This story comes to you from the Stars and Stripes:

"Some retailers inflate costs to ship to APO addresses

By Mark Patton, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Wednesday, December 16, 2009

WIESBADEN, Germany — Overseas military customers ordering gifts online from certain retailers might get an unpleasant surprise when shipping and handling fees are tacked on at the end of the purchase.
Those same customers might be most surprised to find that retail giant Walmart had the biggest markup.

On a $120 purchase, Walmart.com charged $10.35 to ship to an APO address, compared with $2.10 to a stateside address. For most items, Amazon.com charged the same to ship to an APO address as a stateside address. And Target offered shipping on a $120 purchase to an APO address for less than to a stateside address.

Wal-Mart Inc. officials did not return calls requesting an interview. However, in an e-mailed response, spokesman Ravi Jariwala said: “In your shopping cart during the checkout process, we show an estimated shipping cost, based on our lowest-price shipping method and assuming all items in your cart are going to a single address within the contiguous United States. If you select a different shipping method, a military APO/FPO address or an address outside the contiguous United States, your actual shipping cost may be higher. We continue to work with carriers to negotiate favorable shipping rates.”

But Earl Small, the postmaster at Wiesbaden Army Airfield, said that the shipping and handling charges have nothing to do with the military postal system or the U.S. Postal Service.

“A company can charge whatever they want,” said Small, who explained that items up to 108 inches are normally shipped at normal cost, but larger items often fall under a more expensive “balloon charge.”

According to Small, when companies ship to APO addresses in Europe, the order is shipped to New York, after which the Department of Defense picks up the tab to get the package to an APO address.

On Walmart.com, the company says shipping costs will be higher to APO addresses due to higher transportation costs.

“There is no higher transportation costs,” Small said. “Companies are abusing the system and making a killing.”"

Let me introduce you to Thunderous Charles the Bus Thrower

2009-12-11T00:50:00.001-08:00

So this year I participated in a 4000 person worldwide Secret Santa set up by a few of the users on Reddit.com. I won't divulge what I sent to my giftee, as it is still in transit, but today I received my gift and it is so amazing I thought I'd share with you all. It all starts with a box lid... (bonus points for presentation!)

Click on picture for larger image...

And inside the sea of pleasant blue tissue paper I found...

Thunderous Charles the Bus Thrower!!!

An evil robot in my house? Yeah, he was bound to run into the natives eventually.

If you want to check out more of this guy's really impressive work go to www.ImaginaryThomas.com and have a look around. He sells these robot sculptures on etsy.com if anyone is still looking to buy me a Christmas present! Thunderous Charles needs friends! (or archenemies??)

My most joyous thanks to Skeletonhat for the gift! What a way to start my Christmas season! This thing has me so excited I've been using exclamation points after everything tonight! I never do that!

I must admit the irony...

2009-12-10T10:56:00.002-08:00

2009-12-07T20:57:00.000-08:00

Another XKCD webcomic from www.XKCD.com...

Me in 25 pictures

2009-11-29T14:47:00.000-08:00

I decided to try to show myself in 25 pictures or less for an upcoming secret santa I'm participating in. This is what I came up with...

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T08:21:00.008-08:00

Some of the things for which I am thankful today:

One year ago today I was unemployed but now I have a good job that I enjoy.
Eleven months ago today I was roofing in the rain and snow for a total shithead but today I am working with wood indoors alongside people I actually like.
Katy.
The fact that I live with a wonderful woman who cooks and bakes amazing food.
No studio projects.
(ergo) I slept last night.
I haven't gone hungry once this year.
I'm able to train jiu jitsu 3 times a week at an excellent school.
The information age.
My family are all happy and enjoying their respective lives.
Red wine.
The array of talents I have inherited/learned over the course of my life.
I am strong and in my prime.
Uncensored books.
My harmonicas.
The abundance of music amidst which I live.
My health.
My two architecture degrees.
Art. All of it.
All of the friends who named their kids after me. I have known no greater honor.
The world's slowly-opening mind.
My kitties.
Lunch... even if it is leftovers (they're from last night's fantastic dinner)
Opposable thumbs.

While many are waking this morning to wonderful food and the comforts of loved ones and holiday traditions, I packed my leftovers and coffee thermos and headed off to work as usual. Alas, there will be no Thanksgiving in Canada today. But that doesn't mean my heart's not in it. I just can't get used to celebrating Thanksgiving in October the way Canadians do. I hope you all have a wonderful turkey day and enjoy a relaxing break from work and your routines. And for God's sake, stay away from the stores tomorrow, will ya? With each participant, so called "black Friday" further solidifies its status as an actual holiday.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I've come so far...

2009-11-25T22:31:00.002-08:00

...hard to believe it's been three years since that picture. That life seems so far away.

Comfort in the small things...

2009-11-19T13:01:00.003-08:00

"Don't worry, Parker, when I snap you'll go quickly."
-Willy (co-robot master)

Winner!

2009-11-17T23:04:00.001-08:00

One of the guys sent me this pic taken after I won my fight at the Revolution tournament... I love having my hand raised.

Thanks to Cole Blevins for the pic.

Won a silver medal this weekend

2009-11-08T17:58:00.003-08:00

I fought in a Jiu Jitsu tournament this weekend in Langley, BC. Our friends, Shawn and Kelly, came to watch with Katy and everyone had a really good time. I won my first fight via armbar submission and lost my second fight on points. Though I wish I could have won the day for my friends and for my school, I was happy to have at least made a very good showing in my first fight. At the end of the day I walked away with a silver medal... not bad for my first tournament in four years. Anyway, here's a video of my first fight. I'd show the second, but it's just six minutes of me getting overpowered by a guy who is obviously much more acquainted with the gym than I. He never threatened with submissions, but he was able to take me down and keep me there. It's not the most impressive fight.

But this one...

The loud cheer at the end is Katy. I loved fighting for her. There's something primal about it... fighting to impress a woman. It's the first time she's watched me in a real match. She was a little nervous for me, she said in the end, but always really excited and supportive. I was glad she was there with me.

Anyway, going for a harmonica walk. Hope you all have a good week.

'Night.

Jamming... with my mom!

2009-11-08T17:29:00.000-08:00

Have I ever mentioned that I come from a musical family?

Long overdue pictures of kids, family, and the beautiful place I live...

2009-11-08T09:47:00.008-08:00

These pics are from the family celebration we had at my sister's house last month. It was awesome seeing everyone and even more awesome playing with all the kids.

I passed out a few of my harmonicas to the kids and we played together. They seemed to have a good time with it...

The next day we went to Ft. Smith to visit the Parkers. I've always loved going to Unlce Joe's house.

We drove past this sign in Vancouver on our way out to Grouse Mountain last weekend.

This is looking back at the edge of downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park as we took the SeaBus North towards the mountain...

This is looking west at Stanley Park and the edge of West Van...

Looking back south at downtown Vancouver as we headed North towards the mountains.

These pictures are from the Capilano Damn on the North shore. All of the water from these mountains drains into this reservoir and serves as Vancouver's drinking water supply... it's Katy's favorite spot in Vancouver and one of the more beautiful places I've seen here. Can you believe this is less than an hour from where we live?

On reunions and being missed and chili...

2009-10-18T19:29:00.002-07:00

Hello Dear Readers! It's been too long. Last week I took Katy home to meet the family and what a marvelous time we had. I don't think we've had that much family together in one place in many, many years... at least not for any reason other than a funeral. My sister opened her fantastic new home to us and we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving by eating until we couldn't move. Such amazing food! Everyone pitched in and brought their favorite dish, but I think it was Mom's turkey that stole the day (of course). I got to introduce Katy to Maury and Tarrah, finally... she says it's good to put faces with names she's heard so much about. I was lucky and they didn't unleash any embarrassing secrets this time. I think they are waiting until the second meeting. There were lots of little kids running around and once I broke out the harmonicas they were all entranced. I'm hoping someone got pictures of me dancing around the backyard playing for them. I even let them all play a couple of my harps... I think I may have created one or two future harmonica players! The weather in Oklahoma has been gray and rainy for a month or two but the day we had the reunion the sun came out and we got to experience Oklahoma sky in all its glory. I was really, really happy to see all my cousins and their husbands and kids and my Grammy and Corey's parents (who drove in from Indiana!) and, of course, my Mom and Corey and my Sister and Tyler. I also got to see my best friend from high school, Hinkle. I saw him for an hour or two a couple years ago, but it's been more than 4 years since we last caught up. Too long. I hope to make it home at least once a year from now on so there are no more 4 year absences. I mentioned doing the same celebration next year and everyone seemed to like the idea. We realized that our generation of grandkids are all old enough that we have to start taking over the family gatherings now. Wow... it's almost like being an adult.

So we had a great trip and a really relaxing time. Mom and Kim and Corey and Tyler went to great lengths to extend their hospitality to us and as a result Katy and I came home rested and ready to get back to our routines. Katy jumped feet first into school, of course, and is going strong again. I got back to work and started hearing from most everyone in the shop that I'm not allowed to go on vacation again. Evidently the person who did my job for me while I was away didn't do such a fantastic job and they all appreciate me even more now. What a nice welcome to return to. Work is really busy and I'm getting to work an hour or two of overtime every day. This week I'll get back into jiu jitsu and I'm hoping to train three times a week in preparation for a tournament in November. We'll see how that goes.

Katy and I had a great time this weekend with friends. Yesterday we were treated to another Thanksgiving dinner at Shawn and Kelly's (fabulous!) and today we went to the apple festival at UBC with Steve and Helena. I have at least 3 or 4 dozen of the most amazing apples you have ever tasted in my fridge right now. One of them doesn't even have a name yet... I think they're calling it SPA 439. And I have Aurora Golden Galas and Honeycrisps, and a couple other types I can't remember by name. I shouldn't have to buy apples until at least March! Mmmm... apples! Then after the festival we went grocery shopping and did a bit of cleaning (but not too much!) and started a big heaping pot of chili! And now I will close, as said chili is ready to be eaten! Have a great week everyone!

Breaking the pane of silence with a brick of fluff...

2009-10-07T09:33:00.002-07:00

I write as I sit in Vancouver airport awaiting a boarding call for my plane back home. Yep... it's been a long time but I'm finally getting to go home to Oklahoma. I left 4 years ago and have only been back for Nannaw's funeral two years ago. Essentially, it's been 4 years since I've visited home. That's a long time! I stayed with Mom in California over a couple of Summers, but Kim was the only one left in Oklahoma for quite a few years. Now that mom has returned to Oklahoma it will be more like home. Mom and Kim have planned a big family gathering to celebrate Katy and my engagement. I'm really excited to bring Katy home to meet the family, too. Most of them are wondering about this strange Canadian woman who tamed me... to some she's like my own little snuffleufugus.

Ok, time to board. Hopefully now that I've broken my hiatus, I will continue to write. Only time will tell.

Home, here I come!

This is why...

2009-09-06T22:56:00.001-07:00

This week's open mic jam...

2009-08-27T23:31:00.003-07:00

This week it was just me, Carlos, and Ken, the bass player. We had a real good jam. Here's a few tunes from the evening... hope you enjoy.

For all you OKies out there...

2009-08-27T10:09:00.003-07:00

THought you might enjoy how your representative is representing you. Yes, this stuff makes it all over the world. Click on the links within the text for related stories on Inhofe's health care stance. From thinkprogress.org:

Inhofe admits he’ll vote against health care bill without even reading it.

One of the most vociferous opponents of health care reform has been Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), who previously promoted blocking reform because it would be a “huge gain” for the GOP. The Oklahoma-based Express-Star reports that Inhofe told a town hall crowd yesterday that he will vote against health reform legislation without even reading it or knowing what’s in it:

At a town hall meeting Wednesday Sen. Jim Inhofe told Chickasha residents he does not need to read the 1,000 page health care reform bill, he will simply vote against it.

“I don’t have to read it, or know what’s in it. I’m going to oppose it anyways,” he said.

He went on to tell the crowd we are “almost reaching a revolution in this country” due to opposition to health reform. Inhofe is not alone in saying he will vote against any health reform bill. Last week Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) told Fox News that he doesn’t think a “single Republican” will vote for health care reform.

I encourage you to drop by his website and let him know how you feel about representatives taking this health care reform initiative as nothing more than politics. After all, he is speaking for you.

Can you give me a hand, please?

2009-08-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

Can someone let me know in the comments section if the image in my previous post is cut off by the column width? It's fine on my computer but not so much on my work computer.

Thanks.

The way I see it...

2009-08-26T07:31:00.006-07:00

This image was pulled from a Reddit.com post.

A quick little ditty from last Wednesday night...

2009-08-23T23:41:00.001-07:00

Amazing 3d technology and a guest blog on health care...

2009-08-23T10:21:00.009-07:00

I'll start this morning by sharing a video I found of some amazing new 3d video modeling software.

Other than that, not alot to talk about this weekend. If you haven't noticed, I've taken a momentary step back from the health care issue for the good of my own sanity. This debate is not taking place amongst the rational or genuinely concerned Americans, it has been hijacked by political opportunists, zealots and profiteers. What should be a genuine discussion about the value of health and human life has instead become another ring in the grand media circus that is the lifeblood of America. I have every faith that Obama's foresight, global perspective, and political acumen could lead America in prosperous new directions, but I've grown to have equal faith that the selfish political interests of an entrenched political class backed by an even more entrenched economic class will rule the day. My adding rational discourse to the debate is like trying to get rid of a fruit fly infestation with chopsticks. I'm not through, but I definitely need a break.

To help facilitate a retreat into my inner sanity, I've asked for help from my friend, Thomas, a husband and father of three who has lived in the US, Mexico and Canada and used the health care systems in each place. A couple of weeks ago I asked Thomas to muse on his experiences in each country so that I might share with you, my good readers, a first-hand account of the evils of social medicine. Enjoy...
______________________________________________

Healthy
by Thomas Mical

Disclaimer: I am an American Doctor. I have a Ph.D. in Aesthetics, but since I cannot legally write prescriptions, my in-laws feel I have wasted my time (and theirs). This is my story.

As an American father married to a Mexican wife and blessed with a great many (disobedient) children, we have had the good fortune to experience US, Canadian, and Mexican health care for many years personally. Before we come to the crucial debate over who gets to euthanize my elderly mother, lets go over how to have a baby.

Making a baby in each country is similar, usually involving alcohol. In Chicago, when our little Medium Boy was born, I was unemployed, and paying for a post-employment health care option called COBRA, aptly named for it’s deadly bite. I was actually paying for this, along with my rent, with cash advances from credit cards. You could do this under the glorious Clinton regime, but only for 6 months, because then you needed another full-time job to get fresh health insurance.

I finished my doctoral dissertation on May 18, and the boy, who we were previously told would have severe and inoperable birth defects based on an expensive sonogram I still haven’t paid for, came May 21, after 30+ hours of labor. When he was born he was lavender and lizard-like, but one slap and he was pink and screaming, just like daddy. A large and well-developed baby, his defects healed themselves before birth, which probably resulted from the prayer of all our families. Today he is certified as gifted (in mathematics), and he a chronic hypochondriac - this second trait obviously inherited from my mother. It skipped a generation, as I prefer to follow my father in “walking off” the illnesses I’ve had: bronchitis, pneumonia, bone breaks, and probable cancer from starting smoking at 29 (I quit 3 years ago because of the Canadian sin taxes).

As we were covered under our insurance, my wife got to stay in the hospital for 2 days, got lots of medical attention, the boy got constant nursing attention, and we got a gift basket of diapers and bottles and baby stuff. The women who did not have insurance were usually given their babies, and wheeled to the exit, as recovery rooms were reserved for “paying customers.” That made me a little sad to witness. When it was time to go, I again confirmed my insurance, wrote a check for $4K, and left with the new mouth to feed. When I go back to visit Chicago I always visit that hospital where I nervously smoked and paced for 2 full days, as it was the most intense and stressful time of my life, and it lets me gauge how much I have changed or grown over the years. Now the hospital is shut down, as they refused to treat an uninsured gang member who had been shot and left in the emergency room entrance, which started an investigation, which lead to discovery of financial irregularities, and hence the closing. They were double-billing us for a while, so I think the problem was systemic.

Having a baby in Canada was much easier, for me. 60 days after legally moving to Ontario, we were all magically covered under their OHIP universal health care – you get a card that looks like a Driver’s License with a personal photo on it. At that time, the other provinces didn’t have this long qualification period, but this might have changed now. This card is more desired than an American green card. Anyway, while I was adjusting to my new habitat, my wife decided to go into labor a few weeks AFTER we qualified, so I didn’t have any stress this time. We didn’t know many people in Canada then, so they let us all sleep in an empty hospital room while my wife was in labor. The practice nurses kept trying to draw blood from the baby’s head (it is a teaching hospital, so everyone got a try), and he has a round scar from it, but he’s pretty normal otherwise. They had to do an emergency C-section because the little Canadian had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck twice (he’s still very wiggly), and then my wife had complications and had to stay in intensive care for 6 days.

I managed to get the other kids home and cleaned and off to school each morning, then I would go to the hospital by bus to play with the baby. I finally got them to release her by constantly asking the nurses what they were doing, and since she could just as easily wait for follow-up tests at home as in a hospital bed. When I went to “check out” and pulled out my checkbook, the nurse said, “You’re from the States, aren’t you? We don’t pay for our babies here!” I was intrigued, and asked if there was a mandated limit like in China or with an HMO, and they laughed. Canada is tough on immigrants, but they love newborn Canadians. Love ‘em … more than puppies. The final tally after 6 days: bus tickets - $18, 6 packs of cigarettes - $72, hospital stay – free, new screaming Canadian poop-machine – priceless (actually I read today it’s $200K/kid to raise them now, unless you can train them to dance for nickels, but that’s not an option because its unionized here).

I have heard rumors that women from Mexico sneak across the border into the US just to give birth to a US citizen, but I’m surprised more American women don’t take a bus to Niagara Falls and hop across pretending to “buy some duty-free souvenirs” and staying. Maybe it’s because the myths in the US about how Orwellian the health care is in Canada, but they have great doctors, and they have strict standards for all the professions, because every cab driver here claims they are a doctor who got in due to their educations, but their credentials weren’t accepted for practice.

Back in Mexico, when you go to the doctor, my wife said you are expected to make a cash donation, kind of like giving a retainer to a lawyer, before treatment, based on the (apparent) difficulty of the treatment. This is a radically privatized system, more so than the US, but with each doctor free to set the market rate based on many factors, both real and imaginary. Hint: speak perfect Spanish for the best rates. Back when Michael Jordan was playing for the Bulls, Chicago Bulls mugs and hats were better than passing out hundred dollar bills! I am told there is formal and expensive health insurance in Mexico, and a good health care infrastructure in big cities, but the impression is that health care is a luxury item for most, and so homeopathic cures are quite common (and sometimes even as effective). As in Canada and the US, common illnesses are solved quite quickly, and most common medicine is significantly cheaper than the US and Canada.

Reality check: when we lived in Oklahoma, our rental home was US $425/month, and the mandatory health insurance policy with my company was approximately US $900/month for a family of 4, with my company only covering my portion. Health insurance was our BIGGEST expense (followed by utilities, then food, then housing, then deductibles for health care). In Ontario, my rent was CAD $1100/month, and the OHIP was free, but now they charge us CAD $750/year for the family on the tax form. We just have to flash the OHIP card whenever you want to go to your family doctor (preferred first stop, but not mandatory), or a walk-in clinic (easy and convenient, usually with decent rotating doctors), or bus to the emergency room (if it looks expensive), and they admit you and process you – we have NEVER had to wait more than 15 minutes to get medical care for ourselves or our kids, and we go for sniffles, coughs, or rashes, because it’s free. We don’t have to call anyone, we don’t panic, and we just go, like running to get eggs from the grocery store.

Some things are a little difficult: CAT scans and other heavy machinery usually take a little longer to schedule than in the US, most tests are fast but results can linger longer, and when the baby broke more than one pair of glasses, we had to use the private health insurance card my company provides to pick up the slack from OHIP. My company covers this private supplement out of my paycheck just like in the US, and it has small deductibles. It works similar to the US except you can also go straight to treatment without calling some switchboard for approval like we always had to do in Oklahoma, even when my son was choking to death and we had to wait for some switchboard monkey at the insurance company to tell us which emergency room we could use. I will always hate HMO’s for that terrifying procedure delay. If Canada went that way, the switchboard would be automated and polite, perhaps “Good day, eh? If you are bleeding profusely from one or more wounds, press 1; if you are incapable of walking to the curb, press 2; if you are unconscious, press 3 …”

Canadians only recently got their universal health care, but they all seem to think it is an essential human right and an essential part of Canadian identity, not the profit-driven elective luxury it should be. Compared to our lifestyle in the American Midwest, Canadians spend more time and money on treatment and prevention, as we noticed my oldest son’s Oklahoma obesity faded after a year of mandatory healthy eating and intensive outdoor exercise required in public school. It was kind of cool to go meet my kids after lunch to go skating on the canal. The teachers had stools and whips like lion tamers, and they made those kids skate!

They like to tax things in Canada, big things, unhealthy things, like those cigarettes I liked. In their passive-aggressive haste they banned smoking everywhere, and they banned foods with trans fats one day, because the second biggest killer after cancer is obesity. I’m not sure what the third is, but there will likely be taxes and laws to stamp it out at the root cause. Note to Canuck activists: I would love to see the Canadian health care system try to stamp out stupidity, but I know that I am a dreamer.

So back to euthanizing grandma ... As the first born son, pulling the plug with my bare hands is my right alone, not some panel of doctors, or some insurance company switchboard operator, or some redneck “death panel”. She had a small head injury a decade ago, which didn’t do too much damage as far as we can tell, but she was blackballed at 55 from any health insurance in the US, due to this “prior condition.” Grandma now has Social Security and Medicare, but this is not enough, so I send her some money each month to cover her food, since she was in the classic “food or medicine?” bind in Wisconsin for a while. Though her prior conditions may or may not be covered if she moved to Canada with us, she thinks those payments won’t work here, and she thinks there are long bleak Soviet-era lines for health care here, and that the ambulances are dogsleds, or some other such nonsense.

Funny how my train trips back to the US bring me in contact with nice older ladies my mother’s age that have duffel bags filled with pills. Because I grew up in Chicago watching the old black-and-white TV show “The Untouchables,” I can imagine a new series where the Feds are cracking down on these modern-day smugglers. I think the pharmaceutical costs and choices would be better across the other border, but I don’t know.

The annual costs of medicine, and our need for health care, has varied significantly from year to year. The USA and Canada have systems that make it possible to budget for these. In Canada, you know the basics are covered, and anything else goes to the private insurance (not everyone has this luxury, either in Canada or the USA). My last job in the USA had an affordable pre-tax option where you got to estimate how much health care money you wanted withheld from your paycheck, as if you could forecast a growing melanoma and budget correctly for it beforehand. I thought it ghoulish, but everyone else at the orientation session said it was a “good deal.” And of course I had to list every named illness I ever had on all this tedious forms, and hope that none of them would get me blackballed like my mom. Imagine the scenario then – you get an illness that usually kills people, you beat the odds and you survive, and your joy turns to despair because now you are the living dead to the insurance companies.

As the living dead, you are on your own against all viruses and medicine-resistant microbes. No wonder my mom has those hand detergents in every room – she buys them by the crate at Sam’s club – because they are now her medical insurance. My mother-in-law used crucifixes in the house much the same way, but in Mexico most homeopathic medicines are collected from the back yard, and boiled into teas.

In conclusion, let us tally up the last 15 years of personal experiences:

The most affordable health care system for our family, so far: Canada (significantly better).
The easiest and most flexible health care system for our family to use, so far: Canada.
The best health care system for newborns so far: Canada (but the USA is just as good, except for all the bills and paperwork).
The best quality health care for children, so far: Canada, then USA (almost tied).
The best health care for elderly: maybe Canada, maybe Mexico.
The health care I would go to for unusual diseases or difficult to diagnose chronic ailments: USA - but using my Canadian health insurance if I could get away with it. If this unusual disease or difficult to diagnose chronic condition occurred in the USA, and my USA HMO were to refuse “non-essential” treatment or downright drop me for getting sick (as they apparently do to keep medicine profitable) I would probably break down and go to Mexico to self-medicate (Tijuana?), get some hand gels, and try the Mexican homeopathic medicines my mother-in-law brews.

Government health panels...

2009-08-17T22:40:00.002-07:00

Today I was sent a list of controversial points in the health care bill by a good friend of mine and I've decided that instead of reading the entire bill through, I'll just start researching the highly contentious points and writing what I find. Tonight I begin with these.

Claim: The HC Bill mandates the Govt will audit books of all employers that self insure.

This is true in a way. The government will set up a panel to study health care, essentially, and make recommendations based on their findings. One area of research would be to look at the companies that choose to self-insure instead of buying an insurance plan. They want to make sure, first, that any companies aren’t putting their employees at risk. And second, they are looking for holes in the legislation that would provide incentive to self-insure. So it’s not an audit in the IRS sense of the word.

Claim: There will be a government committee that decides what treatments/benefits you receive

I’ll paraphrase section 123 of the bill:
There is a private-public advisory committee of medical and other experts to recommend covered benefits and three type of plan.

The Surgeon General will chair the committee.

The committee has to represent
providers
consumer representatives
employers
labor
health insurance issuers
experts in health care financing and delivery
experts in racial and ethnic disparities
experts in care for those with disabilities
representatives of relevant governmental agencies
at least one practicing physician or other health professional
at least one expert on children’s health

They don’t decide what benefits you receive, they recommend benefits covered by three levels of plan. Someone does that for you now at the insurance companies but the insurance company’s job is to decide what the least they can get away with covering is.

This committee’s job, instead, is to recommend a benefit standard for insurance companies to maintain. Their directive is to make sure insurers are covering basic services for everyone. Basic covered services include:
(1) Hospitalization.
(2) Outpatient hospital and outpatient clinic services, including emergency department services.
(3) Professional services of physicians and other health professionals.
(4) Such services, equipment, and supplies incident to the services of a physician’s or a health professional’s delivery of care in institutional settings, physician offices, patients’ homes or place of residence, or other settings, as appropriate.
(5) Prescription drugs.
(6) Rehabilitative and habilitative services.
(7) Mental health and substance use disorder services.
(8) Preventive services, including those services recommended with a grade of A or B by the Task Force on Clinical Preventive Services and those vaccines recommended for use by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
(9) Maternity care.
(10) Well baby and well child care and oral health, vision, and hearing services, equipment, and supplies at least for children under 21 years of age.

So yes, there is a committee but they are there to guarantee us coverage, not to deny it. We’re not used to that. All we’ve ever known are companies that profit off of us as a primary directive, not companies that keep us healthy as a primary directive.

That's tonight's piece. More tomorrow. If you have anything you want me to look up, drop a comment on the post.

'Night all

A helpful info graphic...

2009-08-17T17:44:00.004-07:00

Sorry if the image gets clipped by your browser. Click on it for a full viewing.

Want to know what The American Health Care Bill has in it?

2009-08-16T22:33:00.003-07:00

Here is a link to the official summary of HR 3200, the American Health Care Bill. It only takes a few minutes to read. Give it a look and see what you think. I've downloaded the full text of the bill and am in the process of reading it through. I've never tried to read a bill before. This ought to be interesting. I really want to print it out but it's 280 pages long... that would take forever to print and would take so much paper! Guess I'll be reading it on my laptop. I'll get back with you soon (hopefully).

And still more on health care...

2009-08-16T16:34:00.002-07:00

A Friend writes:

In part I agree with you; we do need healthcare reform but the problem I have is how are we going to pay for it. Thanks to the PAST and CURRENT administration's ludicrous spending, this country is spiraling into eternal indebtedness. I more afraid of what is going to happen to my income taxes than I am of losing my health care. I do not have the first clue as to how to solve the problem but the white house cannot continue using the ‘Fed’ like a reproduction company.

As to the comment regarding voices, there are just as many inflammatory nuts on the left side of the media. One only has to watch msnbc and cnbc for a few hours to realize that fact.

While there are not "just as many inflamatory nuts" on the Left as the right (I'd lay odds on that one, my friends), it is true that there are some on the left just as guilty of instigation as some on the Right. Because the Left choose to play into the "who is more evil" game concocted by the Reagan-era marriage of the conservatives and the religious right, they do the same harm as their firebrand counterparts screaming doom, Armageddon and revolution.

The tone of this particular fight, however was chosen by the right, instigated by the right and is carried by the right. This administration began by saying "hey, let's try to work things out," to which the right responded with a thumb to their noses, fingers extended and spread. No, the left are not guiltless, but it's time Republicans owned up to the dirty dealings of their leaders and stopped following them in a blind rage. It's time that Republican people stopped getting offended when people speak out against their elected officials. Yes, you elected them. No, that does not mean that you must stand behind them. I'm sorry, but just because you're signed up on their roles doesn't mean you have to support everything they do and it doesn't mean you have to enlist to help fight Democrats on the grounds that they are "the opponents."

Forgetting the last administration, in less than one year, Republicans have taken us from being a nation of hope, of promise, of joy and of possibility to a nation of fear, anger, betrayal, lies and deceptions. Why do I blame this on Republicans? Because it is their soundbytes, their carefully choreographed opposition to anything laid out by the Obama administration, their unwillingness to compromise in hopes of having a better run in 2012, and their blathering mouthpieces that have turned up the political temperature in this country.

Have Obama and his people made all the right decisions? Certainly not. Have Democrats done stupid things over he past year? Absolutely without a doubt. But are Democrats trying to incite people to riot? To take up arms and revolt? To regain the revolutionary furor of the late 1800's? No. Absolutely not. Are Republicans? You betcha.

It is time for Republicans to own the actions of their elected officials.

No, I recant. It's time for Americans to own the actions of their elected officials and stop letting the actions of their elected officials own them.

More on Health Care...

2009-08-16T09:53:00.003-07:00

Hi everyone,

I'm writing this morning because I have been reading up on the health care debate and found a couple of things I'd like to share with you. Being in Canada, I am spared from most of the propaganda surrounding this debate, both for and against, but I'm assuming that you, my friends and family in the States, aren't so lucky.

It's terrifying to sit outside of our borders and watch as men do harm to my country in the name of their own selfish political interests. Republicans are openly talking about health care as an issue they can "stop the President" on in order to gain favor for the 2012 election. It's appalling to see a man in Maryland opposing health care reform with a sign that reads, "Death to Obama" and, "Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids." That indicates to me that those who are angry don't know what they are angry about... they have simply been whipped up into a frenzy and are out to show it. It's gut-wrenching to see that the "debate" over reform risks being derailed by people whose words have been proven as lies, but who continue to spout them nonetheless. Unfortunately, if you say a lie loud enough and long enough it takes on a "truthiness" of its own. Those who oppose the changes happening in America today have difficulty finding solid ground to stand on and so they have resorted to lies, misinformation, and outright instigation. Do you find it odd that opponents of health care reform aren't actually defending our current system, but instead are instigating Americans to furious levels of rage by making it seem as though someone is attacking their freedoms, their liberties, their right to choose, their essential "American-ness?" How can we fight this? What choices do we have when our voice is so small compared to the Glenn Becks and the Bill O'Reillys of the world? All we can do is know the truth for ourselves and speak truth when confronted by lies. And so it is in this spirit that I present you with two links this morning.

The first is an op-ed piece by President Obama, himself, titled, "Why We Need Health Care Reform." It is the President who is behind this reform and his is, unfortunately, one of the voices of reason being overwhelmed by the mob. If you gave a news anchor 10 minutes of your time this week, hopefully you can also afford 10 minutes to read the President's words without the editing and commentary pasted on by news media.

The second is titled, "Seven Falsehoods about Health Care" from FactCheck.org, a "nonpartisan, nonprofit 'consumer advocate' for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics." I highly encourage you to bookmark and revisit FactCheck.org any time you have a question about something said in the news or a claim made by a friend. It is a quick and easy way to sort through the layers of double-meaning and tricky wording to get to underlying truth. They are not Obama advocates, they are not opponents. They simply analyze claims made by politicians and report on their accuracy and context.

Many of you already have health insurance and don't see this debate as relevant to you. I'm begging you to take at least enough interest in it to be able to have a straight conversation about it. There is a large portion of America that is angry and afraid right now and at the heart of that anger and fear is disinformation. If more people know the truth behind the disinformation, the more people there are to calm those who feel threatened.

Thanks for spending a few minutes reading up on this today. If you learned something useful, pass the sites along to your friends and family. If you have any questions, I'm more than happy to do some research to try to find an answer for you. I hope you are all doing well and have a great week ahead of you.

Cheers,
Michael

Open mic jam with my new friend, Carlos...

2009-08-14T07:52:00.002-07:00

I've mentioned before that I started playing an open mic at a local coffee shop. These videos are from this past week and the gentleman joining me is Carlos. We've only played together one or two times before this but we seem to do alright together. Have a listen and hope you enjoy!

Speak truth, brother!

2009-08-12T22:05:00.002-07:00

THanks to DemocraticUnderground.com for that by way of reddit.com

And now a word from the Internets...

2009-08-09T18:41:00.002-07:00

I regularly cruise a social news site called Reddit. Mostly, people find interesting things online and then post links to them. There is a section, though, where you can post questions and let the Reddit community answer in the comment sections. You get a diverse range of replies, ranging from the brilliant to the idiotic, but reading with a careful eye, there is a wealth of information to be found.

Today I came across this question in Reddit, which I wish I would have thought to ask long ago. There are some malicious lies floating around talk shows, email forwards, and water cooler conversations. This post eals with several of those. I encourage you to hop over and read some of the replies. A couple of them are quite well researched and worded.

"Reddit, my dad just sent me this email forward about health care. It's wildly inaccurate and misleading, and my entire family believes this stuff. How should I respond to them?"

Let the idealogues spew their nonsense and lies all day long, but don't think for a second that politics is not a prime motivator in this health care debate. Republicans see an opportunity to stop Obama's plans and make him unpopular, thus opening the door for their next presidential candidate to fare better. They are pretty open about that.

America is the 4th richest nation in the world but has a health care system that the World Health Organization ranks behind 36 other countries. And our nation's overall health? Ranked thirty-fourth by the WHO.

Fourth richest.

Thirty-seventh best health care.

Thirty-fourth best overall health.

Please take a few minutes to write your congressperson and ask them to put a stop the politicking and deal with our broken health care system.

No Sunday rambling today...

2009-08-09T15:21:00.004-07:00

I wrote a long post on healthcare and other such nonsense this morning as I sat and ate my breakfast... but then decided against publishing it, as it was pointless, whiny, and just plain boring to read. So instead, I will tell you that all is well and show you this post I found today on reddit.com. Enjoy...

A couple of videos to make you smile...

2009-08-02T12:37:00.003-07:00

I found a couple of videos this morning I thought were fantastic enough to share with you. The first is a stop motion film made for the 50th anniversary of the Olympus PEN camera. The second is a video from Oren Lavie.

'Tis the first Sunday of August...

2009-08-02T11:54:00.003-07:00

Good morning all and a special good morning to my lovely girlfriend who I assume is doing well and enjoying herself in the wilds of Europa. So I find myself at the end of another week without girlfriend… another week slid into the routines of a single guy. I found a new open mic to play this week and it went fairly well, but wasn’t spectacular. I’ve grown stale on the harmonica... that’s the way it feels, anyway. The things I play are old and tired and I can’t find good musicians to play with to make me better. Not that I’m looking that hard. But it always cycles like this. I’ll meet someone new or buy a new harp or hear a new song… something will eventually inspire me. Not yet, though. I also have managed to get back into Jits twice a week. I was shooting for thrice but things keep getting in the way. Like this weekend is a long weekend with a statutory holiday Monday so the gym is closed for the weekend. Jits has been good. A black belt from Brazil moved to Vancouver to teach Jits and improve his English. He joined on at our school and so we've had a very different kind of training lately. It's intense, but good. I enjoy it and can feel my strength slowly returning. I've been drawing more but nothing worthwhile has come of it yet.

So I’m down at Nice café this morning to have breakfast before returning home for a cleaning binge. The café opens at 9:30 on Sundays and I didn’t manage to get here until 9:50 so the only seats available were outside. The weather is nice for outdoor eating but unfortunately it’s the worst place to sit for timely service. Oh well… it’s Sunday. Why be in a hurry? The other unfortunate part about being out here, though, is that the breeze carries on it an occasional hint of the dumpsters around the corner. Eugh.

Last night I went to watch the final performance in the annual fireworks contest that happens down on English Bay. I went on opening night and watched Canada and it was a pretty good half hour show. I skipped about 4 teams in the middle and then went last night to watch China’s show. I think the most concise explanation of last night’s show would be, WOW!

It was the most well coordinated and composed show I have ever seen, flowing along with an instrumental score and continually amazing the audience with rolling highs and lows of light and color that followed the music like a dance partner. They shot fireworks high and low and used a myriad of different types of explosion to gain and carry your attention through the show. They used colors I’ve never seen in a fireworks show (at least I don’t think I have) and built sets upon pianissimos of smaller, more subtle fireworks shot lower in the air. They shot rockets that exploded into a hundred thousand streaming points of shimmering light and then each of those points begat their own explosion and those points, yet again. Fantastic!

They began one set with low-fired bright white streams of light that arced slightly and lilted over gracefully like the leaves of a budding flower. They followed with small mid-level bursts of pink that showed like the closed bulb in the middle of a flower and then opened the bloom entirely with tall bursts of pink and purple. Once the crescendo reached its peak, the sky was filled with pinks, purples, whites and reds that lit the skyline of Vancouver like an artist’s palate. I’m so used to the standard red, white and blue of many American shows that I was thrilled to get subtle variations of color. Then there was the finale. Again, WOW!

They let the show die to nothing and let a calm hang in the air for a mere second or two then began a spirited charge towards the finish line with a launch of overlapping huge boomers that left the sky with explosion happening within explosion happening within explosion. It was a sustained version of most fireworks finales I’ve seen, with the crowd applauding the several seconds of high-intensity explosions. Then the real finale began. From what seemed to be the peak of their show, it got even more intense. I’ve been thinking about what I saw since last night, and the best I can describe it is that they were shooting 4-5 massive explosions per second for a good 10 or fifteen seconds and then for about 3 seconds kicked it up to fire 5-10 per second for 3 or 4 seconds… and then in one last burst of delight and surprise, they fired a final salvo that I’m guessing was about 30-50 rockets in 1-3 seconds. It was the most intense set of explosions I’ve ever witnessed! I was staring in awe when it happened and my mind couldn’t register what I was seeing/hearing for a split second. I jumped, but not in fright… in overload!

Boom!
Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!B
OOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BO
OM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOO
M!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM
!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!

Then… silence.

That lasted for about 2 seconds before every boat in the harbor and every car on the road let loose with a exuberant cheer of horns that was quickly joined by shouts so loud that we could hear them from across the water. It was phenomenal! And to think I almost didn’t go…

So, now with my fireworks report complete and my last cup of coffee nearing its end, I shall call it a morning here. Hope you all have a wonderful day and, for those of you reading from Canada, enjoy your long weekend. For my American audience, have a nice Monday. For my girlfriend, I hope you are having a wonderful time and enjoying your studio. (Sketch something cool that we can frame, eh?)

33.7 Million Canadians are not Shona Holmes

2009-07-29T19:36:00.002-07:00

I came across this post on a blog called Beyond the 140. I thought it would be good to hear about Canadian health care from a Canadian. You may remember the woman he mentions, Shona Holmes, as the Canadian who came to America for an operation because it was going to take too long in Canada. The Republicans have done a pretty thorough job showing her around the media circuit.

To my American friends: I sincerely hope you’re not taken in by the GOP propaganda featuring Canadian Shona Holmes trashing our system of universal healthcare. The problem is both that Ms. Holmes and her Republican masters misrepresented her condition and that the tactic itself is reprehensible. The GOP can’t produce any logical argument against a system that is entrenched in every Western society except yours, so they resort to fear-mongering and lies, claiming that one Canadian’s skewed view trumps the experiences and beliefs of the rest of us.
continue reading here...

Sometimes magic happens...

2009-07-28T20:27:00.004-07:00

My joy
sits in my hands
begging to be played.
I put my lips to the harp
and
sometimes
magic happens.

Admittedly, alot of the time, not so much.

But on those nights
when I find my spiritual place
when my breathing becomes
my movement becomes
my rhythm becomes
my dance,
on those nights I am alive
in ways
I've never known.

I play to everyone.
I play to no one.
I play until the music stops coming
and then I listen
to the silence
that exists
without me.

A blooming musician...?

2009-07-27T08:31:00.002-07:00

Last night I played harmonica until my lips bled. Today I can still hear the music when I touch my tongue to the wounds.

Sunday morning blah blah blah...

2009-07-26T10:23:00.007-07:00

Good morning, all! So I've made it through another boring week without girlfriend and am treating myself to a Sunday morning coffee and bagel at our little coffee shop. Don't come here often anymore but I sure do miss their coffee. It's been a pretty good week, though a bit uneventful. Right now they are having an international fireworks competition so there are BIG fireworks displays every couple of nights. I went to the opening night to see Team Canada blow up more fireworks than I have ever seen before. I think the show was at least 30 minutes of solid fireworks filled with multiple crescendos and chest-thumping wallops. I have skipped out on Team South Africa and some other team whose name I missed but I plan on attending Team China's display next weekend. Oh, wait... I may be watching a fight that night with Shawn and Kelly. Guess I need to check on that.

Anyway, not much to write on the update front. The apartment is making slow progress, but without Katy here there is little in the way of motivation to do anything. I've plucked my inks, pens and brushes out from hiding and have started drawing again. I've also been playing harmonica every night. Really loving that. I've got my eyes on a couple of new harmonicas that I really want to buy, but they are around the $100 mark. I'm finding the down side of growing in skill is the simultaneous growing of instrument cost. When I was much newer to the harmonica, I didn't care what I played. They all sounded about the same in my hands. But now I've learned to coax much more subtle sounds out of a harp and take better advantage of each one's particular sound characteristics. Part of the reason I've started drawing again is because I want to try to sell some art to pay for a new harmonica. It's a long shot but it's worth a try. I'll let you know when I get things put online for sale. Maybe you have friends that need an interesting conversation piece for their living room.

So to wrap up my last half hour of battery life this morning, I want to talk about something that's been really present in my mind for the past couple of weeks: health care reform in the States. I've been hearing some downright ridiculous things being said by some supposedly responsible adults down there and it scares the bejeezus out of me.

You have such baseless accusations as this from brutallyhonest.org: "What he and those in his administration are really up to, is a complete denial of medical treatments and health care period, for all who have reached or surpassed their government predetermined shelf life."

Or how about this winner from Re. Paul Broun (R-Georgia):
"And that's exactly what's going on in Canada and Great Britain today. They don't have the appreciation of life as we do in our society, evidently. Alot of people are gonna die. This program of government option [...] allowing people to have quality healthcare at an affordable price is gonna kill people."

I've gotta stop looking this stuff up before my head explodes. (But if my head did explode, I could walk down the street and walk in to see a doctor without ever pulling out my wallet because I'm in Canada where we have a socialized [oooh! shudder at the evil!] health care system.)

I don't understand the furor against universal health care? Where does the viciousness opposing health care reform come from? And how did Canada become the bad guy? Over 86 million Americans have gone without health coverage over the past two years and yet we have politicians defending our current system as though someone were trying to convert us to Voodoo! Make no mistake, there is legitimate debate happening over this vital issue and no single player has a perfect answer yet, but where did this mob of well-to-do white men full of self-righteous indignation come from?

Oh, wait, here's where alot of it is from. I'm realizing as I surf the web researching the health care debate that many of the most vocal opponents are white males somewhere in their upper 40's to early 70's. No, I can't give you a link to support this, but if you start researching all of the opponents' websites, blogs, esays and speeches you will quickly see the commonality for yourself. The most frequently-cited counterpoint to health care reform that I come across? Anti-socialism. Much of America's older generation can't stand the idea of something "socialist" in our country. They say "socialist" with the same derisive venom once reserved for the word "communist". These are the children of WWII vets and veterans, themselves, of Korea and Vietnam. These are the men who grew up in a vicious anti-Communist America. It is still programmed in the minds of these men that social = evil. And when does one get self-righteous? When one feels he is facing down evil. Be aware of the prejudices and dispositions of seemingly authoritative men.

The cost to set it up may be daunting, but the benefit over the long haul will come to my children, your grandchildren, and on and on. I think Bill Maher said it best in an essay he wrote this past week when he said, "How about this for a New Rule: Not everything in America has to make a profit." [Amen!]

By for now, all... have a good week.

Research Firm Cited by GOP is Owned by Health Insurer

2009-07-23T18:27:00.002-07:00

They're playing screwy politics again, except this time it's with our health. From the Washington Post:

By David S. Hilzenrath

Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 22, 2009; 6:46 PM

The political battle over health-care reform is waged largely with numbers, and few number-crunchers have shaped the debate as much as the Lewin Group, a consulting firm whose research has been widely cited by opponents of a public insurance option.

To Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House Republican whip, it is "the nonpartisan Lewin Group." To Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee, it is an "independent research firm." To Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the second-ranking Republican on the pivotal Finance Committee, it is "well known as one of the most nonpartisan groups in the country."

Generally left unsaid amid all the citations is that the Lewin Group is wholly owned by UnitedHealth Group, one of the nation's largest insurers.

Read the rest of the story here...

Just so you know...

2009-07-22T23:45:00.003-07:00

I hear alot of garbage being spewed about the Canadian health care system by politicians in the States. I've been using this system for four years now and I can assure you, it's pretty fantastic. It's not the only option. You can have alternative coverages still, but every single Canadian citizen (and many who aren't citizens) can walk into a hospital at any time and receive treatment without pulling out their wallet. Does it have its down side? Of course it does. What system doesn't?

But don't take my word for it. In a national poll done by the Canadian Broadcasting Company, Canadians voted for the man who created their health care system as the Greatest Canadian of all Time.

Don't listen to those ideologues who are trying to use Canadians to back their opposition to health care reform. Canadians have an awesome health care system that the people generally love.

Reaffirming my faith in humanity...

2009-07-22T07:22:00.002-07:00

THis past weekend I lost my keys on the way home from work. It was no fun, as I have a couple of Army souveneirs on my keyring that I was very sad to lose. Not to mention the hassle of getting new keys made. So I put up flyers near where I thought I lost them but got no response. Then yesterday I went to Jiu Jitsu and found that someone had turned in my keys there! I had a gym tag on my keys to scan at the gym and someone saw that and took my keys to the gym! What a fantastic end to my day.

Thank you to whoever found those keys and turned them in. You are a saint amongst lesser men.

Sunday Morning musings...

2009-07-19T12:51:00.002-07:00

Good morning everyone. So it’s Sunday… my only weekend day. I decided this morning to treat myself to breakfast at a little diner down off Main Street that Katy and I like to go to on Sundays. It’s called Nice Café but it’s not as nice without her. I am looking forward to a nice cheap breakfast and no dishes. Once I’m done here, it’s back to the casa to clean for a few hours before I go hike up Grouse Mountain with my friend John. Ought to be fun, except I hurt my ribs in Jiu Jitsu last week and I’m hoping they don’t bother me halfway up. Probably won’t, but I do so hate rib injuries. (Update: ribs hurt too bad… need time to heal. Took a raincheck on Grouse for next weekend) Rib injuries can be the most minor thing, but it’s a persistent discomfort that flairs up at the slightest prompting… coughing, turning, breathing. Anyway, so here I sit drinking café coffee waiting for my greasy spoon breakfast and I thought it a good opportunity to write.

But now I find myself without much to say. I’ve had a lot of issues with that for awhile. You may have noticed the sharp decline in the frequency of my posts over the past 6 months that coincided with my desperate search for real work. A lot of that was because I got too depressed and much of what I had to say was whiny and depressing. Not only did I reach a point where I didn’t want to pass that along, but articulating my problems into words often made the depression worse. What I’ve found on the other side of that trauma, though, is that I am still reluctant to write most of the time. I’m not sure what, in particular, made it happen, but I’ve lost my voice since leaving school. A lot of things have played into my silence. Leaving school and joining the “real world” did nothing short of crush my soul. Losing my job was the twisting foot that insured my last ember was put out. Unsuccessfully looking for good work for 6 months all the while being tossed around between jerks and douchebags and breaking my back at anywhere up to 4 jobs at once was the rain that soaked my ashes just to make sure they wouldn’t relight. And all the while I was force-fed the harsh realization that no matter how smart I am, no matter what I know, no matter what I understand, what I love, what I desire or what I think is right, the world is the way it is and doesn’t give a damn about me. That hurt. It was especially hard because I’ve lived in such seclusion for the better part of 7 years. Not only was I sheltered from the world by the academic shield, but I was sheltered from society at large by my own hermitage. I guess I got to a point where I turned around and looked behind me and was forced to ask, “what is different for all my thrashing about?”

I’m still in limbo on that one. I don’t regret my viewpoints but sometimes I regret my audacity. I don’t believe it was ever a mistake to stand up for my beliefs, but I wonder sometimes if it was a mistake to stand on others’ fingers… with cleats. I’m in a difficult transition between youth and whatever it is that’s after youth. I’m more patient now. I’m wiser now. I am more tolerant now. I’m also exiting my angry phase… that’s what I call it, anyway. I’ve been so angry at everything for the past 7 years. I think it started with all the angst the Army programs you with. It makes you a good soldier. I forget sometimes that I’m a trained killer. (Do you?) I think it got worse from there with my parents’ divorce. That’s enough to make anyone angry. Then I got into school and began a shocking education process where many things I took for granted were harshly disproven. My whole world was turned on its head. Everything I believed in was shown to be only one of many ways, only one point of view… or even outright false. I think that did it for me. So angry. I can still feel the heat from that anger sometimes when I think about it. It smoldered inside me and often when I opened my mouth it came out as a plume of fire.

So now I sit here as a man who’s forced to confront his own passions and his own past. I’m forced to reconcile my beliefs with my actions. Do I still feel the same? On most thing, sure. But I’ve gained a new respect for the concept of perspective. Was our country run by a government that resorted to criminal tactics to achieve personal gain against the will of its people? Yes. Was it the first time? No. Will it be the last? Again, no. So was some of my more rigorous thrashing necessary? Probably not. One instance I can’t get out of my head involved a person who sent me an alarmist video about Obama’s race and religion as disqualifying factors for his presidency. I think I must have been having an especially bad day, because I fired back a reply that I knew within an hour or two was a mistake. I essentially accused them of being a bigot in words I should never have used. I apologized and it was let go, but it’s never left my mind. I think I have never been so utterly ashamed of myself. In fact, I think that was the moment when I stopped trying. That was the moment when I realized that nothing I think, nothing I have to say, or nothing I believe in is worth making someone else feel like something the cat drug in.

If you’re reading this and know who you are, I’m still overwhelmingly sorry for how that may have affected you and those around you. I’m sorry for the words I chose and for the tone in which I chose to convey them. I hope that moment is not etched in your mind the way it is in mine. Know that, at least, I learned a valuable lesson in temperance, deference and respect from that.

So I’m left wondering what I have to say… what I have to contribute. I think of many things to write, but usually come back to refute my own words before I have the chance to write them, or they become lost in a sea of relevancy. All things are relative to your position, right? Almost makes argument a moot point. How frustrating is that? (very)

Well, my fantastic breakfast has come and gone, as has my third cup of coffee. I’m off to the house to clean now and do something productive with my Sunday before starting my six-day week again. Hope you are all well and enjoying people around you, wherever you may be. Have a great week, everyone.

confession is good for the soul...

2009-07-18T22:54:00.002-07:00

-... ..-. + + + - --- + + + --. ..-. + + + + + ..-. --- ..- -. -.. + + + -.-- --- ..- .-. + + + ... . -.-. .-. . - + + + -.-. --- --- -.- .. . + + + ... - .- ... .... + + + + + ... --- .-. .-. -.-- + + + + + .. .... . .- .-. - -.-- --- ..- + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Ah the comforts of music...

2009-07-18T21:30:00.003-07:00

I've discovered two fantastic musicians in the past two days and I thought I'd share. One, many of you will be familiar with and the other I would be surprised if any of you had come across. I went for a walk tonight and learned to play Bad Leroy Brown. I love it. Alright... now for you, videos. For me, dinner.

Thanks to LODGIcare2500 and HakanEhn for vids.

I miss

2009-07-16T23:49:00.001-07:00

my girlfriend

alot

My own local open mic...

2009-07-15T23:10:00.004-07:00

One of the greatest hardships I've faced in moving away from our last apartment is the loss of my harmonica playing spots. It's a traumatic ordeal, let me assure you. I miss playing on top of the parking garage and I miss our old neighborhood. I've spent a fair number of hours already walking around our new neighborhood looking for good places to play. The neighborhood, itself, is a very old-money rich kind of neighborhood, so it offers pleasant scenery and solitude. Yesterday, I came upon a school a couple streets over where I can hide under an awning between two buildings and get great acoustics. That was a great find. It's my new parking garage. But tonight took the cake. I decided to go try an open mic tonight that's at a place several blocks away. As I was riding over, I passed a different, smaller open mic being held at the coffee shop a couple blocks from my place so I stopped there instead. It was a small, friendly crowd just there to listen to amateur music. I got up and played with my eyes shut and had a blast... played a couple of really nice tunes. Then when I opened my eyes two songs later, there was a guy sitting on the couch in front of me with a whole bunch of harmonicas out on his lap. I invited him to play and when he put his lips to that harp, I swear some blues magic came out. His name is Carlos and he's been playing for 20 years, though you wouldn't know it from his modesty. He played old school blues so well at first that I couldn't even play with him. I had to listen for several moments before I could venture to join in. It was awesome. We played probably the coolest blues I've ever had a part in. We were both excited to find another harp player and we'll meet again next Wednesday at the Java Hut for a weekly jam! So awesome to find that so close to home.

Worst first night without girlfriend ever

2009-07-09T23:00:00.002-07:00

So this morning I took Katy to the airport and said goodbye to her for the next 2 months. She'll be at home in Toronto for a couple of weeks visiting her folks and her friends and then she's off to Amsterdam for a month of school. So naturally, tonight could not have gone without incident.

All was well when I got home from work, save the eerie quiet of an empty house and the distinct lack of hugs. I paced around trying to decide what to do with myself until finally I committed to cooking dinner. That started okay, but about five minutes from being done, I blew the main breaker for the apartment. Too much power draw. I had a few too many lights on, the radio and my wok. I think it blew when the fridge kicked in. Stupid old wiring. So this wouldn't have been a problem, except the main breaker isn't located in our apartment. It's across the hall. In a locked room. I was very fortunate, though, in that one of my neighbors is a handyman for the building's owner. He didn't have keys to the locked room, but he did have all the right phone numbers to call to get someone here to help. No one was answering their phones and I had to wait 3 hours before the building manager arrived, but when he got here, we flipped the switch and all was well. It turns out that 75% of our electrical isn't on the breaker in our apartment. Sheez...

So once I got the lights back on I started cleaning up the kitchen and packed the leftovers from dinner (which, thankfully, were finished enough to eat when the breaker blew) for my lunch tomorrow.

I dropped them.

I want my girlfriend back already.

A fresh start

2009-07-06T02:11:00.002-07:00

I was going to sit and write tonight because I've neglected to for so long, but instead I spent that energy cleaning up and changing the blog's appearance. It's needed it for awhile. So there will be no foolishness from me tonight.

Ahhhh....

2009-06-23T06:57:00.002-07:00

And so moving weekend has come and gone. Yeah, my laziness has mostly kept it off my blog, but Katy and I moved this past Saturday into a new apartment. We'll have plenty of pictures before too long, but for now it looks the same as anyone else's newly-occupied pad: boxes upon boxes, balanced on stacks of stuff. Our new place is really fantastic... it has rooms! That may not seem like alot, but when Katy first moved in with me in Ottawa, we shared a 250 sqft one-room apartment and our last place was a 700 sqft studio concept (which means it was basically one big room). We're moving up in the world! We have doors! I was able to get up this morning and turn on lights and make moise without waking Katy! So many exclamation points! So much joy! Anyway, more to follow later, but things are well and we are enjoying moving into our new space. Hope you all have a happy day.

Eulogy to the Airwaves

2009-06-12T08:58:00.002-07:00

Today is the day the TV stations across the US disconnect their analog signal for the last time, switching their broadcasts entirely to a digital signal. Today marks the end of one technological era and the beginning of another. I have grown so accustomed to technological advancements happening every day that I don't often pause anymore to think about what is passing. Sure, it's been a long time since anyone has seen a UHF/VHF knob on a TV, but who would have thought we'd see a day when television signals are no longer broadcast over the air? No longer must our coat hangers live in fear of being dismanteled and repurposed for entertainment value.

Fare thee well, beloved rabbit ears... you will be remembered fondly.

Two robots and a flower

2009-06-09T21:20:00.003-07:00

These are my robots...

This is Big Bertha...

...and this is Large Marge.

This is Katy. She's not a robot. I think.

Do any of you botanical aficionados out there recognize that flower? (Mary K.?) It grows in our neighborhood and as much as Katy loves it, she can't figure out what it is. Bonus points for growing conditions and care instructions.

The funniest thing happened last night...

2009-05-31T07:56:00.002-07:00

Yesterday evening I went for a harmonica walk in my neighborhood, much like any other night. As I made my way down one of the back alleys I heard footsteps behind me and turned to find a woman running to catch up with me from a couple of houses back. She introduced herself as Julie and said, "Hi, I've heard you playing a couple of times before and you sound great and all and I'm having a party in my back yard..." [at this point, it seemed as though the next line was going to be, "...so could you stop?" but in fact...] "...and I was wondering if you'd like to come play a couple of songs for the party?" [Whaaaa?] My response, "Didn't see that one coming!" So I semi-reluctantly followed her into her back yard as I explained that I'd never really played in front of people before (Ok, that's a lie but an open mic and someone's family in their backyard are two different things) and she explained that I sounded good and they would all enjoy hearing a song or two anyway. She won me over by saying they had cake. I like cake.

So I walk into this backyard to find a dozen-plus members of her family sitting around a table filled with tea and desserts. Two of the ladies said that several people in their family play harmonica and that I played well (a compliment from afficianados!) and they all asked for a song. Well, I warned them that I could only try my best and invited them to talk amongst themselves. I put on my sunglasses and pulled my hat down low and began playing "Oh, Shenandoah." To my surprise, a few of them (emphasis on the older crowd) knew the song and began singing along. I played a medely of a couple of songs and a little freeform jamming and they dutifully talked amongst themselves. It was an awesome feeling playing for a group of people who asked to hear me, instead of playing for people who are forced into listening by way of proximity. I finished my first song and we talked for a few minutes. They asked if I wanted cake or tea, but quickly realized that I couldn't play while chewing so they offere me a plate of desserts to take home in exchange for one more song. Deal! Julie (the lady who invited me in) requested something "bluesy" like she had heard me play in the alley before. I left my glasses off for this one but shut my eyes and began playing "Oh, Sweet Jesus." They loved it. One lady went inside and grabbed two spoons and came back out playing the spoons against her leg. I let her become the rhythm and played with her. That surprised and pleased them. I played until my mouth was too dry to go on and received quite a boisterous applause at the end.

They packed up my plate of desserts and I left them with a fond farewell and a heartfelt thanks for their kindness. They were such nice people and it was a pleasure and honor to play for them. I took my cake and disappeared down the alley with a song. When I got home I handed Katy the plate and said, "Baby, let me tell you the story of how I got you cake..."

The Case Against Shell

2009-05-27T22:12:00.004-07:00

I found the following video on Digg.com today and thought it an interesting enough story to pass along. It seems that Shell Oil is being brought to trial for human rights abuses in Nigeria. You can read an accompanying story here on Alternet.org.

Don't think I'll be buying any gas from Shell anymore.

Happy Memorial Day

2009-05-25T06:14:00.002-07:00

I miss being a soldier.
I miss marching.
I miss PT.
I miss belonging.
I miss the uniform.
I miss serving.
I miss the adventure.
I miss the discipline.
I miss the toys.
Mostly, I miss the guys.

I often find it hard these days to be proud that I was a soldier because I got out just as we went to war. It's like I was only a practice soldier. I find it hard to identify myself with these boys who have been in harm's way for so long now because they are fighting and I didn't. I go back and forth between feeling like I missed out and feeling like I lucked out.

But I never forget to thank our boys every time I see them on the news or read about them in the paper. I never forget what these guys are sacrificing. I never forget how much each and every one of those men and women in our armed forces loves their country.

There are no greater American patriots than those who step forward and say, "Send me." To them I am forever grateful, no matter the politics behind their deployment. To my brothers and sisters in the armed forces, past and present, I say thank you for your selflessness. Thank you for your service. Thank you for your courage.

Dancing Dude

2009-05-20T21:53:00.004-07:00

Tonight I bought a new harmonica and had a little jam while Katy was out. I think I had my best audience reaction tonight. Sorry if it gets a bit loud towards the end while I hold the camera to show you.

I am the robot master!

2009-05-18T10:35:00.004-07:00

I haven't written in a few weeks because I didn't want to jinx my new found stability and good fortune. I think the coast is clear, though, to finally share my good news. For those who haven't heard, I found a real job! After 6 months of miserable job hunting I finally landed a job as a CNC operator for a woodworking company. Basically, I run two programmable robots, each with a router head and a drill head. I feed in computer drawings of cabinets that come from upstairs and set the machine up to cut a sheet of wood then let it do its thing. That's the simple explanation. There is a whole lot of troubleshooting and problem solving to get things to come out correctly and that's half the fun. I also have learned (quite quickly) to program the machines myself with line-by-line code. I think it's the first time I've wanted to write my high school calculus teacher and thank her. Didn't think I'd be pulling math out in such force at the age of 31. It's a great job for so many reasons. I get to work at 7am and work until 3:30... that's going to be rough in the Winter when the sun doesn't come up until 9am, but for the Summer it's fanTAStic! I get off of work and still have time to do something with my day. Plus, I love getting up early and getting out of the house by 6:30. (Sick, I know.) The shop is about 26,000 sqft and has an awesome array of tools that I can use for personal projects after hours (yay, furniture!). The guys I work with are a great bunch and I get along really well with them. Because of the nature of the work, I spend most of my days relatively alone in the back corner of the shop. I see other people across the room using saws and whatnot, but mostly I get to keep to myself. Plus, there's a door to outside right by my work area and a giant garage door, as well. It's almost like working outdoors!

I look forward to spending a few years here, though it wasn't an easy job to come by. When I found the ad 3 weeks ago, I was working in a sign shop for a very dishonest man. Life was not so good. My job at the sign shop had me cutting corners and doing things the wrong way for the sake of an accountant's urgent need to lower his bottom line. It was bad. So Katy finds a Craigslist ad for a CNC operator one morning and forwards it to me. I wrote an email cover letter during my break that morning and sent a copy of my resume from online. They got back to me in less than an hour and asked me in for an interview. Step one was complete and seemed a bit too easy.

So I went for the interview the next morning. I met with a young man named Todd, who is in his early 20's and is the son of the company's owner. He is the only other person in the shop who can run the CNC machines and they decided it wasn't a good idea to have all their eggs in one basket like that... especially when that basket plays competitive league hockey. Todd and I got along instantly and he showed me around the place and introduced me to a couple of the guys. When we were done, he gave me no assurances but said he liked me and only had one more interview to go. He'd let me know by that afternoon...

...or about an hour later. I got a call from Todd and he told me that he thought I was perfect for the job but management had some concerns that I was... (guess)... (yep)... overqualified! Oi! I couldn't believe it. I've heard the word overqualified quite enough for my lifetime. Todd said that they were looking for someone long-term and they were concerned I would get bored at that job or run off the first time an architecture firm offered me a job. So I asked for a second interview to assuage their fears. They agreed and I spent my evening preparing for step two.

Most interviews have one thing in common, that being you are trying to convince someone you are the best person for a job. My second interview, however, was a slightly different animal. For the first time, I had to sit in an interview and convince them that I wasn't going to leave them! I told them the truth... that I had thought it through and knew that I was stepping out of the architecture field for awhile. I also told them I wasn't that thrilled with "architecture" as a profession. I would be (and am) much happier in a wood shop getting sawdust all over myself than in an office getting carpal tunnel from clicking a mouse all day. Masters degree aside, I need to build... to make... to create. Working in a wood shop satisfies something very vital in me. So after talking to them for 20 minutes or so, they were sold and welcomed me to the team. I've worked there for 2 weeks now and life is normalizing a bit more every day.

In other news, the same weekend I got the job, Katy and I found our next apartment. Our lease is up on July 1st and we wanted to find a place for June 1st so we'd have an easier transition. We knew we were moving for certain because we need to pay less rent... $1500 a month hurts. So the first weekend of May we starting nosing around a bit just to see what the market looks like. We had no intentions of finding a place that first weekend. We went to 2 showings on Sunday morning and they were about what we expected... in our price range but kinda crap. The third place we went to, however, was quite a surprise. We showed up for our showing and the property manager began to walk us down to the basement. "Oh great," I thought, "I remember this." I lowered my expectations with ever stair we descended but then when he opened the door to the suite, things changed pretty quickly. It's an 850 sqft half-basement suite with a living room, kitchen, bedroom and dining room. We've never had actual rooms before! It's a 100 year old building and has all of the character and charm of an old place but without the musty mildew smell. It seems that anything built between the 50's and 80's stands a good chance of being crap but anything built before the 50's still has a chance of being in good shape because of the quality of craftsmanship. Take, for example, or 100 year old building that shows no signs of water damage. Nothing less than a miracle in Vancouver. So back to our suite... it has old hardwood floors, original trim around the doors and ceilings, and in the kitchen it still has the old icebox that you put a giant chunk of ice in to keep things cold! It has a real fridge, too, and the old one is just a cabinet now, but it's there! And we have an ironing board in the wall like the house I grew up in (jealous, mom?). We're sacrificing a balcony (which I swore I would have) and we're sacrificing windows and a nice view (gonna miss that) but we're gaining a home with rooms, more space, and way more character than this new place we live in now. Katy and I instantly had a surprise reaction as we looked around the apartment. It began with a "meh..." progressed quickly to a "well..." and then to "actually..." Within 2 minutes we were excitedly checking out the place thinking of where our furniture would go. The property manager is a very charming, fatherly Greek gentleman who took to us right away. It's like when I brought Katy for lunch with the girls at RHA in San Diego... everyone likes Katy and everyone likes me even more when I'm with Katy. So we weren't prepared to find and sign for a place but this was going to get rented out from under us if we didn't take it right away. Trust me, in Vancouver, that's not a lie of BS. There are 5 renters for every open apartment in the Summer and 15 in the Fall. So when Kostas told us we could think about it until the next day, we went home and talked it over. Lists of pros and cons were made. Maps were consulted. Exploratory bike trips were taken. All this in the course of an hour and a half. The apartment is right on my bus line to work. I walk out the front door in the morning and my bus stop is a half block to my right. That same bus going the other way (across the street) takes us right downtown. We're 2 blocks from the video store, pet store, coffee shop, little corner grocer, a deli, a killer pizza place, a pancake house, and a few random stores. And a half-dozen blocks the other direction has our large grocery store, veterinarian, and some other stores and restaurants. GREAT location! It's only about 7 blocks from where we live now so we're almost in the same neighborhood, but not quite. I will deeply miss the parking garage where I play harmonica. I can still go there once we move... it's walkable, but it's not the same across-the-street refuge it is right now. Oh well, that's the beauty of harmonica is that I can play it anywhere and can always find new places to jam.

So the move will happen in the middle of next month. We should be getting keys between now and the end of the month. It's a good thing I work in a wood shop because I'm going to need to make us a couple of things for the new place. While it has lots of space, it doesn't have lots of storage (d'oh!). No problem... I got this. We're excited about the move. Our rent is going to be significantly lower and I'm going to be making a real paycheck, plus I kept my Saturday job at the frame shop. Life is normalizing and we're getting ourselves into the loan-repaying, money-saving plan we've had since a year ago in Ottawa. It didn't happen like we thought it would, but then when does it?

I want to thank all of you who suffered through my mewling and whining for those many months. Thank you to all who encouraged me, who sent little notes and job ideas and articles and essays. Thank you to all who continued to read my blog, though the posts grew infrequent and depressing. I'm finding my voice again, though it's been slow in coming back after that karmic beat down I trudged through. Thanks to everyone who believed in me. Thanks mostly to Katy... she's a trooper. I'm amazed I made it through all that without getting strangled in my sleep.

Life is getting back to normal. Summer is upon us and the whole world here is turning green. Time for better things to come! Sorry for the ghastly long post, but thank for sticking with me if you made it to here. I hope you all have a wonderful week and I'll try to post more regularly now that I"m not worried about jinxing my good fortune. Bye all!

Moving day, etc...

2009-04-29T06:57:00.002-07:00

It's moving day! Not for us, but for my Mom and Corey. Yep, after six (I think) short years living the good life in California, they're taking that reverse-Grapes of Wrath drive (Grapes of Love?) back to Green Country, Oklahoma. Wish them luck and happiness as they spend the next few days making their way back home. (Yay home!)

As for the aforementioned etc, Katy has a second job interview (because she was so cool in the first one they had to have more) at a clothing boutique and I have an interview at a custom woodworking shop. We're hoping fervently to be celebrating new jobs tonight over dinner. Oh the nerves! Wish us luck, too!

A Gaythering Storm

2009-04-21T21:33:00.001-07:00

A Gaythering Storm from Jane Lynch

Thanks to the people at funnyordie.com for this.

On the power of music...

2009-04-09T20:13:00.001-07:00

I'm making dinner and listening to music that our friends in Ottawa gave us for the big roadtrip last year. I realized that I go to this music when I'm feeling really bad and need to remember one of the best times in my life. Since we listened to this music so much as we drove, I now have very vivid memories of happiness when we listen to it now. It's nice to feel this way again for awhile.

This is what qualifies as "promising" in my life these days...

2009-04-09T11:05:00.001-07:00

Went for a job interview at a coffee kiosk this morning.

3 others were in line ahead of me.

Some days it's hard. Other days it's harder.

And suddenly, I was 31...

2009-04-05T09:32:00.002-07:00

Well, my 31st birthday has come and gone. Now I'm 31. I went to work at the frame shop yesterday and they bought me lunch. That was nice. Then I came home and tried to make shrimp and bok choy stir fry with ginger and orange zest... didn't go so well. We both tried valiantly to eat it but it just wasn't good. So we had some plain rice before going to meet a few friends at a 5-pin bowling alley in a downtown basement. It's a really cool place... very old. I think it was built in 1930 and has run continuously since. We bowled for a few hours then went for a beer and poutine at a nearby bar. It was a great way to spend a night. I heard from many friends and family members yesterday and the sun was out and it was just a generally fantastic day. Katy surprised me with a set of handmade clay rice bowls and some of my favorite honey (seriously, it is the most amazing honey I've ever tasted!) I think they may double as ice cream bowls, too, but I'm not sure. Going to have to test that soon. So yeah... I'm 31 now.

And today Katy gets back to work on school stuff and I get back to work on a design competition I'm entering that's due Monday evening. This apartment seriously needs cleaned, too. That may happen. Probably not. Ok, Katy requires my attention. Gonna go now.

Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone! It was great to hear from you all.

Lawyers...

2009-04-02T10:25:00.004-08:00

So to take a relaxing break from the Sisyphusian labor of job hunting, I am dealing with trying to file a claim against my ex-boss for failing to pay my check and for wrongfully dismissing me. It's taken a whole lot of research and I've tried several times to seek help from lawyers. It would seem that my case isn't worth the time it takes to be courteous, much less helpful. Pardon my language, but lawyers are vulturous [many expletives deleted] jackasses to whom I evidently don't qualify as a respectable person unless I am paying them money or unless my lawsuit is worth alot of money. So sorry to have wasted their time.

Anger.

So much anger.

*addendum: I know that not all lawyers are vulturous [many expletives deleted] jackasses but the ones I had to deal with today are.

Pretty good idea...

2009-04-01T18:53:00.002-08:00

Winnipeg, the capital city of Manitoba, Canada, has changed the name of "garbage day" to "recycling day." They are re-branding in the hopes that it will slowly change people's attitudes about recycling. It's a pretty brilliant move, I think. Remove the word "trash" from the vocabulary and replace it with "recycling." Eventually, people will not think of trash as much because they don't say the word as much. It will take some time, but it's a really smart long-term move.

A little rooftop ditty...

2009-04-01T09:50:00.002-08:00

Played a fun one the other day and happened to get it on camera. Usually I miss the good ones and record the bad ones. I played a much better version of this the next day and played so hard I blew a harmonica out of tune. Good song and a great jam... but now I'm down one harp. :( So it goes. Can't wait to replace it! Once a month or two I go buy myself a new harmonica if I need a pick-me-up. It's one of my few remaining selfish little pleasures.

So, as always, things are a little rough and it's all I can do to hold myself together some days but I'll always have my music and I'll always have my girl.

Guess life ain't that bad, afterall.

It is...

2009-03-31T08:41:00.000-08:00

...another one of those days.

One year anniversary of my trip to Goa...

2009-03-27T14:08:00.007-08:00

Hard to believe it, but it's already been a year since my trip to India. I was so happy a year ago from today... exploring Dharavi and Mumbai with the Urban Typhoon workshop, relaxing on the beach in Goa with friends and wandering around Delhi with my friend, Sulai. While we were in Goa, I broke out a sketch book and about 8 of us spent an entire night drawing (and drinking). I promised everyone I'd scan and post the images when I returned to Canada and I did... though it has taken me a year to do so. But here they are for all to see. The first dozen or so I drew while at the beach but the rest are the scribblings of a group of creative folk trapped in a washed out campsite in the forest with nothing to do. There was some really awful warm beer that night but then I remembered the bottle of Johnnie Walker I had in my bag for just such an occasion! We sat around talking nonsense and doodling the same... good times. For those who were there, that trip to Goa was one of my fondest memories. Hope time has treated you all well... cheers, guys.

Couple of songs...

2009-03-25T11:38:00.003-08:00

Nothing special... I've just been in the mood to record songs lately. Gives me something to do between writing resumes and crying. Not really the crying part, though.

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-03-19T14:33:00.002-08:00

Sorry... had to get that text scream out. I got a call from worker's comp today saying my boss was fighting my claim. The guy read me my boss' [almost completely false] statement and asked for my response. I responded, though I was so taken aback by my boss' blatant lying that I almost couldn't put sentences together. But I managed to get through it without losing form and without cursing. I managed to only use the word "lie" once. Luckily for me, the arbitrator said it sounds like a pretty straight-forward deal and that my boss' objection holds no water. This part should be resolved soon. Now I still have to get my paycheck from him. He emailed to ask for my info last Thursday and said he would be mailing a check but it is next Thursday already and... guess what?... no check! I called [and left a message] to give him fair warning that I expected my check by Friday or I would take action. I'm not sure what to do... I can't really afford to front small claims court costs, even if he does have to pay them back in the lawsuit. And what if I file the claim on Monday and the check arrives Tuesday? Any advice anyone? How long should I wait to file a claim in small claims court to recover unpaid wages? The check was due on the 31st. This is such a headache. Anyway, at least I'll be getting my worker's comp from this. That's something, right?

Things are looking uP!

2009-03-19T09:14:00.002-08:00

Today I received another rejection letter... but this time it was a physical piece of paper! And it was hand-signed by the principle of the firm! Normally I get an email from a secretary.

Best rejection yet.

A couple of slower songs for a change

2009-03-18T11:23:00.003-08:00

Oh, Sweet Jesus...

And Oh Shenandoah...

Sorry, no refunds.