What is it with Toronto sports teams? Just when you love to hate them, they actually come through and do something good.
By the time the Blue Jays finally made it past the Conference finals into the World Series, I'd totally given up on them. But then, didn't they go and win two World Series back to back? But, what have they done for us lately? Nothing, that's what. I hear they are in what...last place overall?
The Raptors, relatively new to Toronto haven't done much to earn our love. The past couple of years they've made it to the playoffs only to be knocked out relatively early. Yeah, they're a young franchise, but...they've got that Vince Carter guy, and isn't he supposed to be good?
This brings me to the Maple Leafs. I am currently sitting watching game 5 in the series with the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes are winning the series 3-1. That doesn't inspire great confidence in the Leafs I'm afraid. Especially after watching the game two nights ago. I'm not sure I've ever seen them play so badly. I admit, I'm not a hockey fan, I jump in and watch when the playoffs start, and then when they're over, I go back to watching figure skating till the playoffs roll around again next season. Despite that fact, I'm not entirely sure how you can help but cheer for the Leafs living where I do. Everywhere I go, I see Leafs flags. People are flying them on their cars. I understand my brother now has two huge flags and one to go on his car. (Never mind that he can't drive) People are thrilled to support the team. In fact, it's always amazed me at how well the Leafs are supported, even in years past when they were total crap.
Back to my original thought. After watching the past few games, I'd decided to hate the Leafs, because quite obviously they were going to lose tonight and then I wouldn't be disapointed when they did. In fact, I'd so resigned myself to them losing that I swore I wasn't even going to watch the game. So, here I am, watching the game, cheering for the damn team to win. Thankfully, it's looking like they may just do that.
Which means, I have to go through this all over again in two days. But...wouldn't it be cool to see them playing for the Cup?
Isn't it great to return home from holidays only to have another one? Hooray for statuary holidays.
I suppose there are lots of things to write about, but the most amusing thing is the plane ride from DFW to Atlanta yesterday.
Amazingly enough they boarded us early and we were number 1 in line to take off. So, we got out early. We took off and once the pilot levelled off the plane he said that he was going to leave the seatbelt sign on because he'd heard of some bumpy air up ahead and he wanted everyone to be seated, but that the flight attendants were going to start the in-flight service and that everyone was to remain seated because of federal law until they'd finished their service. Not too difficult a concept, is it?
No sooner did the cart make it's way to the back of the plane than this woman got up and wandered back to the washroom. I assume the flight attendants must have told her that she needed to wait and she must have raised a stink, because they let her through. Then she made her way back to the front, when she ran into the cart they refused to let her pass.
She got very nasty with them then, and the flight attendant started out extremely aggressive as well. Anyway, she said that the lady was just going to have to wait till they were finished serving their drinks and that was that. Then the woman wondered out loud and in an awful tone of voice where they'd like her to sit (the flight was full). My mother muttered under her breath that perhaps she could go back and sit on the toilet. The woman complained to one flight attendant who basically said "Go back there and wait." Then she approached again and started attacking another one (who hadn't said a word to her earlier, she'd been serving drinks like she was supposed to be), that particular girl said "Those words did not come out of my mouth" But the woman was basically knocked back to the back of the plane again.
She approached again and this time was spoken to in no uncertain terms by the head flight attendant to get back and wait till they were finished. And that then, and only then would she be allowed to return to her seat.
Eventually she got back there and started raising a fuss again, and eventually ended up with the head flight attendant beside her. The two of them having an extremely loud and animated conversation. Everyone around was shaking their heads trying to figure out why exactly this woman thought she was being abused.
Upon leaving the plane she stopped at the customer service desk and complained, and had plans to call and complain to someone or another. On the way out at least two people from the plane stopped and interrupted her, and mentioned to the person she was complaining to that she'd been completely out of line and had absolutely no complaint. She got nasty with one of them and told her (she was a teenager), to get lost and not but into her conversation.
The man who'd sat across the aisle from the heinous bitch woman, stopped the flight attendants and gave them his contact information so that if the airline came to them, they could give them his name, etc.. and he'd sort them out. It's nice to know that people care enough to do this sort of thing. Also, it's a shame people like that horrible woman feel the need to fly. Because they just ruin my vacation!
The unthinkable has happened. I am on my way to Texas.
I've met the most interesting woman. Interesting in the slightly crazy sense anyway. She's headed to Florida for a wedding. Her 30 something year old cousin is getting married for the first time and she's the "Matron of Honor". I found out a little later on in the conversation that she writes some sort of bridal column, so I suppose she's a natural choice.
The wedding is to be huge, four hundred guests! Apparently the man marrying into the family is some sort of relatively famous DJ in the area where they live, so it sounds like he bartered a lot of the wedding. "Yes, I'll do a function for you if you let me use your tents..." She didn't sound overly excited about it, from that I gather that the 400 guests were likely going to piss her off in some manner.
While we were sitting waiting for the plane in Buffalo she started talking, and didn't stop till it was time for her to board the plane. Don't you just love people like that, who can't stop talking about themselves long enough to take a breath? Sarah, joined the military when it came time for college so that she wouldn't have to pay. While she was doing her little tour of duty in Europe she'd go away to Amsterdam, to partake in all of the legal drugs there. (This likely accounts for everything) Her ex-husband was also in the military, I'm sure she told me how they met, but I forget.
The husband went off to the Gulf War for a year, two months and five days, and returned with another woman whom he loved more than his wife and daughter. Sarah took offense to that, as you can imagine and the feminist demon emerged. She worked two full time jobs for a year to make enough money, and then hired a lawyer. One who was an army reservist so that he'd know military law. For some reason, Sarah had video tapes of conversations she and her husband had had before he went off to the war, upon which they discussed all the things they were going to do for their daughter as she grew up. Piano lessons, horseback riding lessons, swimming lessons so she wouldn't drown in the pool they were going to install, etc...
Those tapes were enough for the judge to award her custody of the child as well as $1000 tax free each month in child support.
Sarah and her new husband now have a pool in their backyard, they have taken the trip to Germany to ski in the alps like she and her ex had planned to do. She even wrote her bridal column for free for a year because she could afford not to get paid for it.
She now has plans within 5 years to retire from the bridal column business and become An advocate for women. She plans to be invited to congressional meetings, she plans to have a judge in her back pocket that will say to men that they have no right to divorce their wives unless their wives get 'what they deserve'. She sounds extremely energetic, and for some reason, I don't doubt for a moment that she'll succeed.
It's just a shame that she hasn't placed all of that ambition into something that is....well....worthwhile.
A week or so ago I went to the park. It's kind of far from here, but it's somewhere I used to play all the time when I was a kid. The park has two levels to it, up top there is a baseball diamond, the pavillion, the water pool, and the playground, down below there's a path to walk on, but also there's a boat club. So, there are lots of docks and lots of boats around. There are swans and ducks and geese that live down in the water by the shore, and that's really why I went the other day.
When I got there, I drove down to the water, and noticed that there was a police line up blocking off the path. I was going to walk along it, but obviously couldn't. So, I wandered over to the water and watched the birds. There was one Canadian goose in particular which was amusing. It managed to chase another out of the water, and also to chase some kids away. I took my photos and left. (My reason was going there was to get rid of the film in my camera, I was going elsewhere later and didn't have the right speed film in my camera for that.)
I mentioned what I'd seen to my mother, grandfather, step-grandmother and a very good friend of the family later on at dinner. The friend of the family figured that it must have been an accident while putting the boats in the water. He keeps his sailboat there, so he knew they were supposed to be putting the boats in the water that weekend. So, I went off with the assumption that they'd dropped a boat or something silly like that.
I found out a few days later that the police line had been up because a woman had been raped, by a group of four guys.
It's absolutely terrible to think that the place I used to play as a kid, the park where my mothers wedding reception will be held later in the year, the path that I've actually walked down several times, could have something that dreadful happen there. It's like, there isn't a safe place anywhere anymore.
Happy Mothers Day!
When I don't have to work, Sundays are mellow days. Thankfully, I didn't have to work today, but there was a reason for that. Today, my mother left to get married. Well, the wedding won't take place till Thursday, but she's down there now. Have you ever watched anyone pack to go off and get married? What an amusing set of events that is.
She started packing on Thursday night, and finally finished up this morning before leaving. Naturally, she still forgot something. Which means, that I have to take it with me. I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to fit in her running shoes, but I guess I'll have to. Packing...I hate packing. At least I have a system.
First, I write a list. I love lists, if I could, I'd write a list for everything. When I had a job that was difficult, I used to write a list in the morning first thing so I knew what I had to get done that day. When I got home, I'd write a list to let me know what I needed to do that evening (if I was going to do anything at all, that is). I know this makes me sound compulsive, but I can't help it. I need to be organized.
After the list, I do the laundry, to make sure everything is clean. (This is the step I'm at now) While folding, I pack it into the suitcase. It's an effective system, and I've never had any problems with it so far. I do have a few things in the suitcase already, and it's almost full. Well, I've never been to Texas before (I'm sure this surprises nobody), how do I know what I'll need? And it's better to have too much than not enough. Right?
Back to my mellow Sunday. My mother raced around all morning packing and getting ready, my biggest exertion was getting dressed. Then I sat and waited for her to be ready. We were supposed to spend the morning in Niagara Falls, however it was pouring rain, so we didn't go. Good thing too, because she wasn't ready to go. The longer she took, the more annoyed I became. Which, is probably selfish of me. At any rate, it was mild annoyance. We left, and she insisted we go to the grocery store because she can't stand American coffee and she needed to take some real coffee with her. Alright, then she needed to have breakfast. Which took forever, because it's Mothers Day. It was good though.
Then the drive to Buffalo, not a big deal. The traffic was ok, and thankfully, I didn't get totally and completely lost like I did the last time I went there. It was a relatively peaceful drive. Though, I started to zone out. Thankfully I got home when I did, because a combination of driving in the rain and needing the heat on in the car, and being alone was not good for being alert while driving.
From there the day became horrible. I had a nap (which was quite nice actually). And when I woke up, everything went wrong. I really don't want to go into it, but needless to say, I had a miserable evening. Thank god I'm going away soon, because at the moment I really feel like returning to Pizza Hut and strangling the smug guy there who told me I ordered something I didn't.
Anyway, that's how my Sunday went. Next Sunday will be worse, because I'll be flying back from Texas with my mother. (Which is actually fine, but she's terribly impatient, and that makes me tense) I'm not sure any of this is exactly interesting. But, it made me feel better.
So, it's been a while now since I purchased this webspace, and thus far I really haven't found a purpose for it. In fact, I still don't have a purpose. However, I don't like what I've done with it so far, so I'm going to make some changes.
First of all, the pink has got to go. I quite like the colour pink, but...I don't know, it just wasn't working for me. Of course, in many peoples opinion, purple is not much better. But, I prefer it, and really, isn't that what matters? Yes, of course it is.
Secondly, a website should actually have something on it. Else, why bother with it at all? The problem is though, in all of the years that I've been looking around the internet, I've never come across a site that makes me return again, and again, and again. Unless of course it was interactive in some way. When I say interactive, I don't mean it has cute flash videos, and a guestbook. If I'm honest, I'll admit that most of my time online is spent at various message boards.
When I first started out online, I didn't know anything. I'd had email at university, but I'd never, ever looked at the actual internet. When I came home that summer, my mom decided it was time we were hooked up at home, so we registered with the Microsoft Network. Which, was extremely expensive. They had only two access numbers for Ontario, one in Toronto, and the other in Ottawa. After my parents got the phone bill, we weren't with them very long. However, I liked how MSN was set up. You went in, it gave you a bunch of icons to click on, you clicked, it gave you a few more options, you clicked and it displayed a list. Basically it was a search engine that you couldn't type an exact search into. (At least, I don't think you could) I spent hours and hours looking at figure skating websites. Most of which have closed down now. So, when I eventually decided that I should create a website, it's not surprising (at least, not to me) that it was about figure skating.
That site has had so many visitors to it, that it amazes me actually. What's more amazing is that, even now after at least two years of completely ignoring it, people still go. Figure Skating fans are incredibly loyal like that. If I was to ignore this website for even a week, people wouldn't visit. I know that, but oddly enough, the stale skating stuff is still appealing to people.
So, for now, I think what I'm going to do with this, is not use it as a portal to various places, which is what it's been used for for the last month or so. I may as well actually make use of the site, and...do, well, something with it. If it involves me writing (and if it does, I pity any visitors because, as you can probably tell, I'm not very good), then so be it. It's not something I've done much of, maybe it's time to change that....maybe.