Oh no, another storm heading our way and the end of the world is near!

Weather warning: a tropical depression has formed in the Atlantic. It is named TD 12 and is headed towards the United States at a speed of 15 mph, however since it’s about 300 miles off the coast of Africa, and Africa is like 4,000 miles away from the US, no one should panic just yet. Unless you want to!! Then it’s okay. As we learned with Hurricane Irene, no amount of press coverage of a panic-stricken nation is too much.

Okay, on to more serious matters, and the end of the world prediction for December 21^st, 2012. Apparently there’s no need to worry say’s Juan Valdez, renowned coffee bean picker. “I no worry,” says Valdez, “the end of world not come as long as we pray to “Cizen” god of death and ask forgiveness for our addiction to pornography.” Although Valdez is a fictional character and lived nowhere near Maya people, many people still regard him as the “God of the Mountain Grown Coffee Bean.”

Elsewhere, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, is still in hiding and may be hanging out in a series of tunnels in Tripoli. Maybe taking a page out of the book Saddam Huessein  was writing at the time of his capture: “‘Rabbit hole: Yankee Not Smart Enough to Look for Me Here.”

Can you say "Kijiji; or even spell it?

I'm learning how to spell "Kijiji" today. Not that it is terribly important to mention this in a blog, but because I having nothing better coming to mind to speak about at the moment. As far as Kijiji goes, I started listing some cherished items I've collected over the years on the Ottawa site about two weeks ago. In total I have posted photos of about five different items including a standing plant holder, an Igloo water cooler, a floor lamp and old bar type stool. The only thing sold so far was a bathtub stool, which a gentleman needed for his mother who was undergoing hip surgery. I like the idea that it can be easy to get rid of unused items by taking a digital photo and posting it for free, then waiting for someone to contact me by email. Naturally when opening the door to a "stranger" there is always a risk of being mugged, robbed, or slashed to death by an unscrupulous character who is looking for an easy target. But since I'm a guy, I feel somewhat safer than say a single female would, however I am still cautious as everyone should be.

The sky looks overcast and the temperature is cooler today, and the weather channel is calling for possible rain, so it doesn't look like a great day for outdoor activities. I might consider listing some more items on Kijiji and see what happens. It will be nice to get rid of some gently used older items no longer being used. Guests to my apartment will be thankful that there's less clutter and they have a place to sit down. Oh and yes, I do intend to keep a chair or two.

Learning about growing plants indoors and big dogs

I started this post late last night and was going to publish it then, but a strange thing happened. One of my typing fingers hit the keyboard and erased the whole paragraph. I don't know which key, or even which finger, but it was really annoying, and I was too tired to do it over. Still not sure why autosave didn't work, but I plan on keeping a close eye on this one.

My post was about visiting the horticultural store across the street, so I'll start over and give it another try.

When I entered the store there were two guys (owner and his friend, I found out later) chatting. No one else was in the store, well no other people, that is. I looked a little lower and saw two very large (I mean very, very large) Rottweiler dogs staring at me from behind a very light white plastic makeshift gate that just leaned up against the counter and wall. A small child could have moved the temporary fence out of the way. One of the dogs made a slight growling sound. Thought crossed my mind that this might not have been such a great idea. I made a quick comment as I headed towards the counter out of view of the dogs, saying: "Well that's a really warm welcome, isn't it?" One of the men laughed, and to ease any concern, told me not to worry, and the growl was a "good thing." I'm guessing he meant it was like a friendly hello or something, but I didn't ask. Then he said it was okay to come into the back area with dogs, and have a look around. I thought this sounded a bit risky, with the dogs not knowing me, and would mean moving the small plastic gate out of the way. Well, I could have easily refused, but accepted the invite, and walked towards the fence and stood in front of it. The dogs showed no aggression and one came up to smell the back of my hand. It did and then gave my hand a lick. That was a good sign. The other dog did the same thing, which made me feel at ease. The dogs' owner told them to come back, so I could get past the gate and he moved it out of the way. The dogs had very dark brown coloured coats and being about the same size, looked almost identical. One wanted more attention, came up, brushed my leg and I petted it. It sat down right beside me, almost on my feet. I could feel its weight as it plopped its behind on the floor. The owner told the dog to come away, so it wasn't' bothering me. It obeyed, although I really didn't mind now that I knew they were friendly.

The friend of the owner who has been a horticulturalist for many years, went into great detail about the equipment needed to grow indoor plants year round. He explained about different bulbs required. One being a high pressure sodium (HPS) bulb for flowering plants, another, a metal halide, for the growth or vegetative stage and last, the only one I have heard of, was the T5 fluorescent tube used for seedlings. So much information to comprehend at once, as he talked about different bulbs, watering, amount of light per day, and fertilizers, one being an organic type, containing no blood or bone-meal for people, who like me, prefer an organic plant based type. He said he's experimented with it and it works well.

After picking up some literature, I headed out, while the dog's owner put a leash around one of the dogs to bring it outside for a stroll or whatever dog's do when they go outdoors.

It's Thursday, but you already knew that

Probably should be doing my income tax return rather than rambling away on this blog. I'll try again tomorrow to get started on the income tax return. I might be in the mood for it. If not tomorrow, then most likely the next day for sure.

I called my internet/phone service provider today and managed to get a better deal on my cell phone plan. Yay. It costs about the same or even a bit less, and I'll get a whole bunch more free minutes. I don't use my cell phone often, but maybe I can now. Still worried about frying brain from microwave signals. That would be a bummer. I learned it's always a good idea to talk to these people and check what features their services provide. Interestingly, I found that I can see who's calling my home phone by setting up visual call display with my TV cable box. Name (if shown) and number of the caller are displayed on my television. That's kind of handy. But it means the TV has to be turned on to work, and recently I've been watching too much television, and try to keep it turned off. By experimenting (calling my home phone with my cell), I see that by the time I turn the TV on to see the caller's number, the call has already gone to voice mail. That's not very handy. So guess not much has changed.

Tomorrow is Friday, but you already knew that. We'll have to see what kind of interesting events take place then, and maybe if time permits, and I'm not doing income taxes, I'll be able to share more stuff about everyday things with you. That would be cool wouldn't it? Did I hear a yes or was that a snoring sound?

Another night for the birds

Well it's another night of an underabundance of creativity so why not enjoy some ANGRY BIRDS!:



Another old video just gathering dust on my hard drive. I apologize for the quality as it's not a video camera and when I convert the AVI format to WMV (in order to compress a huge file), it loses clarity.

And remember, guns don't kill people they're just accessories to the crime.

Fowl

Well it's one of those nights/days/times when creativity is at a low level. So filling in for my lack of writing will be these entertaining geese. This video is almost 2 years old, so I'm thinking it might be good to get it out "there."




Okay, I guess you had to be there. Well that's what geese do, they bob. They bob for food. Geese bob for food. That's what geese do. Soon the geese will be returning to Ottawa (I've already heard them making their honking noises at night flying over head), and they'll probably be swimming and bobbing once again. I like saying, bobbing.

It's Friday and time for some odd thoughts

What's with popcorn? Before it's popped, they're called kernels and after they're popped it's called popcorn. That doesn't seem right. Shouldn't there be a scientific name like popcorn buds or flowerettes or something?

I was wondering why it's impossible to capture daylight in a can then go to a dark room, open it and see that light again. Maybe you can, I just haven't tried it.

I'm kind of glad that Facebook was invented. It would be a lot more difficult trying to identify old friends through a social network called Buttbook.

And what about earwax? It just doesn't seem to make sense. You can make candles out of beeswax but who would be foolish enough to make one out of earwax? Surely that would never work. Does a great job on hardwood furniture however. (Ha only kidding, please don't try this at home)

And finally did you ever wonder why it's called "Doomsday." Well obviously it stems from the word doom. So my guess is it probably sounds a bit stupid calling it "Doomday."

What just happened

I started thinking about the important things in our life. Probably the most important is our health. Then maybe comes our family and our career. Of course there's others, like religion, politics and the environment and more, you could think of. Some may argue about the order of importance but it doesn't really make a great deal of difference, as it's an individual perception.

I'm wondering, seeing all the chaos that is happening in other countries, if we should be concerned about the events from a human point of view. Not the particular politics or religious context, but just what it means when we see revolution taking place, like in Egypt as an example. It's now obvious that repression would no longer be tolerated, and the younger generation, for the most part, led protests against the government, willing to be killed for an ideal, what was referred to as democracy with the right to freedom of expression. No one will be able to say for certain, right now, what will become of this quest for democracy, but very likely it will be an improvement from what was in place. However, the long term effects may not be realized as a functioning government is put in place. And as we have seen for many hundreds of years, as long as the human race divides itself into different religions, governments and countries, this will only lead to further conflict. I believe that true change has to go beyond that.

Egypt protesters remain calm allowing Superbowl to take over headlines

For many Americans (and Canadians who follow the NFL) it appears that yesterday's Superbowl game (which Greenbay Packers won btw) took the attention away from headlines about events occurring in Egypt. From what I've read this morning, it was a relatively calm day in Egypt, with no major violent events reported. It might be a sign that a rational approach to regime change may be in the works.

Also, there are still many protesters who refuse to return home and are continuing to occupy Cairo's Tahrir Square. They were described as forming a human chain around the 'Mugammo' which is a government complex where people go to have paperwork processed. On a positive note for people who need cash, the banks are open for the second straight day, but bad news for investors, as the stock market is not expected to open until next week. And for parents with kids it may be difficult, as schools remain closed. Kids probably not as upset, since they likely don't get any 'Snow-days'.

Egypt: Will the protesters run out of rocks?

Who knew that the people in Egypt were so unhappy with their leader/government? Living here in the West, I just assumed that they were fine with the way things were. I don't recall hearing any reporting, suggesting that the country of Egypt was run in a dictatorial and oppressive manner. The huge numbers of protesters and willingness to face brutality by police gives an indication of how opposed to the regime, the people are.

We don't know what will happen in Egypt, or whether the protesters will be successful in bringing about a democratic form of government in the near future. It does make us wonder if it will lead to freedom or a different style of autocracy. The good thing about the revolt is that it shows people won't tolerate repressive authority and demand that change be made. The bad thing is the possibility that the chaos may just lead to another government with more of the same, or worse.

I wonder how many other countries are run by dictators and military backed repressive governments and what lies ahead for them, if this type of revolution becomes popular. Maybe have to watch who's walking around with a bag, collecting rocks.