Luggage

What do I have to do? First of all be very careful about what I pack for a trip. No extras, none! This is the second trip in a row that my suitcase has not arrived. Can you believe it? The first trip was to Paris, Texas and thank goodness, we had planned to stay one night in Dallas before going on to Paris. The luggage arrived the next morning and we were just about to head out of the airport after checking when my husband received a call on his cell phone saying that the luggage had arrived and been located. We did not trust the airline and had gone to check about the luggage. This time it was just my suitcase that did not arrive in Toronto.
Now, please explain why when we checked in all the suitcases at once that one does not arrive in Toronto with the rest. The other time, the airline switched planes and all small luggage did not arrive.
I will be a happy person when my luggage arrives.

Eddie Fisher dies

Eddie Fisher died this week. My goodness, I remember well the scandal when Eddie Fisher left Debbie Reynolds for Elizabeth Taylor. At the time, that was a scandal which was compounded when 5 years later Elizabeth Taylor left him for Richard Burton. Now that would not receive the attention that it did then. Witness, Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, that was a scandal but morals have changed so Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are considered to be a respectable couple despite the fact that they are not married.
At the time, Eddie Fisher's career never recovered and he went into a tailspin emotionally.
A sad end to what had started out to be a wonderful career.

Low-income heat subsidy for the Queen!

What possessed employees of the queen of England to apply for low-income heat subsidy. Granted the Queen pays $1.5 million a year for heat but low-income? What possessed an employee to do this?
Her Majesty's application in 2004 was politely turned down by the government and quietly forgotten until the Independent newspaper published the correspondence Friday after obtaining it via a freedom-of-information request.
The documents quote an unidentified functionary as gently reminding the royal household the program was meant for people in need.
Guess that means that different ideas of need are held by some.
Apparently palace officials were trying to reduce the cost of heating borne by taxpayers. Now, that is interesting by in reality the cost would have been paid by the taxpayers no matter what just from a different account.
Taxpayers fund the royal household to the tune of $60 million a year. My goodness and the queen needed a subsidy for heat?

Car cleaning

Yesterday, I took one of the cars in for detailing-the lowest level of detailing. I had made the appointment and admit that I had to change the appointment because something came up that needed my attention. However, I had booked the appointment. Once I arrived with the car was told that no the car could not definitely be ready at 2 p.m. which I had requested. The earliest they could promise was 5:30. This meant a serious change of plans, I was going to high school where I am helping and this would require a change. Not impossible but not as convenient. What I found annoying was that I had made the appointment, asked the questions and then was told that no I could not be accommodated. 5:30 was the firm time which meant that the dealership would have the car for over 9 nine hours. A bit excessive for a simple cleaning.
What I found disturbing was the attitude displayed. There was no acknowledgement that I had asked the questions and was not in the wrong. In fact, I was made to feel that I was in the wrong and why was I bothering them with these details about time lines.
Anyone else have problems?

Friends!

Now that I am well and truly retired, it is time to visit with friends. I am trying to see friends as regularly as possible. Today, I am off to Ajax to visit with a friend. We will take a walk and then have a lunch, not necessarily a large lunch but a pleasant one. I have known this friend since I was about 8 years old, over a century which is an incredible number at this time.
Tomorrow, I will visit with a friend who I have known since I started teaching and that is over 34 years, a long time again. Not all my friends are of such long standing but they are all precious. I am pleased that I am able to visit with so many of them. At this time in our lives, I have a sense that time is precious. We must visit and keep in touch.
Visit with your friends.

Tennis!

Off to play tennis this morning. This is the time of year that I question my sanity, playing out doors. The other morning, my opponent and I were dressed very warmly and just managed to take off our jackets after half an hour of play but our pants never came off. We both agreed that we were on the weather edge when our hands would not appreciate the cold. Thank goodness we are heading indoors in a few weeks.
Next week, I will miss tennis on the Sunday and I will miss it for a luncheon and wedding in October. What a month. Will need to start some other exercise as well.
What a challenge trying to make sure that I get in shape.
Time to get changed and ready.

Finnish Schools at the top

Kids don't start school until they're 7. The school day is shorter than in most developed nations.
The country does little standardized testing and only on a sample of schools. Educators don't talk "literacy" and "numeracy" -instead, the buzzword is "citizen skills".
So how is Finland at the top of world rankings when it comes to international testing?
"We emphasize the teaching profession," said Timo Lankinen, director general of the Finnish National Board of Education, who spoke Tuesday at Ontario's first ever education summit Toronto.
Lankinen said teaching is a prestigious profession in Finland-although the pay is average-with just 13 per cent of applicants snagging a teacher-training spot. ( Ontario's applicants should not be discouraged with these numbers.)
All teachers earn master's degrees as they progress in their careers and they are well supported, he said. Class sizes are small, usually less than 20 students in schools with generally no more than 300 kids.
"It helps teachers give individual attention," he said in an interview after his speech, and they also focus on giving students experiential learning to keep them interested in school.
The country is not sitting on its laurels and is now planning reforms "to go from good to great"-more arts and physical education in the curriculum and a longer school day in order to fit them in.
Another presenter also mentioned a focus on arts and physical education. Wonder what effect these facts will have on Ontario education where the arts are not well supported and physical education is almost non-existent for students after grade 9.
Interesting food for thought.

Plan garden based on Shakespeare's plays

Now that is an interesting thought. Plan your garden based on Shakespeare's plays. What plants to grow? Monk's hood-that's good, I have some of that, blue granny-bonnet columbines- now will have to check but I think that I have some of that too. Must get better at recording what I plant. Wild pansies are in order, don't seem to have much luck with them but worth a try, pinks-dianthus always one season and they are gone. Marsh marigolds- have those as well. I am well on the way. I think that this will be a good way to garden. At least part of the garden will be devoted to Shakespeare's flowers.
Will report next year how it goes.

Dalhousie students plot a greener diet

Two separate plots of land at Dalhousie University are producing everything from beet greens and brussel sprouts to heritage tomatoes to lavender and edible flowers. But one group of students found that getting permission to plant was as difficult as an organic chemistry exam.
"It took us a very long time to get this place, and this was not the space we wanted," said Kaleight McGregor-Bales of the group Campus Action on Food.
"This model of garden, since it's in a container, can go on a concrete space, and what we wanted to do was take back unused concrete spaces on campus and use them for growth instead. However, the big open concrete space next to the library that is completely underutilized was denied to us for this season."
Sonia Grant, also with the group, said "the reason (given) was that it was too visible of a space."
The group's Edible Campus space is on a small strip of land next to the back wall of the Student Union Building, where dozens of plastic containers are filled with Swiss chard, beet greens, nasturtium, string beans, kale, tomatoes, peppers and radishes.
Students who work on the garden share in the food and Campus Action on Food has held a session to teach newbies how to use recycled materials to build the containers, which include a watering system built into a false bottom.
The SeeMore Green collective garden is a few blocks away and they have been in existence since 1996.
What a wonderful effort. Hopefully, more students who are on campus during the summer will see the validity of this.

Japanese Elders

Where have all Japan's elders gone? Apparently, they are not still all alive as statistics and their children would have you believe. Thousands of centenarians cannot be located, fueling fears that families are hiding deaths of elderly relatives in pension schemes.
More than 230,000 Japanese people listed as 100 years old cannot be located and many may have died decades ago, according to a government survey released Friday.
It seems that more than 77,000 people listed as still alive in local government records would have to be aged at least 120, and 884 would be 150 or older.
The figures have exposed antiquated methods of record keeping and fuelled fears that some families are deliberately hiding the deaths of elderly relatives in order to claim their pensions.
This exposes two problems: one that I have always claimed is the problem with tracing young children. There are no records of them if they do not work. If they leave a school, no one traces where they go to. Authorities wait to hear from the next school and if the family leaves the country there is no traceability. Well, apparently the same problem must exist with the elderly, if they no longer work there are few records of them unless someone takes the time to let authorities know that there has been a change. The other problem that I see among my students is that their parents work very hard and as a result have little time for their children. These children who were ignored as children will in many cases react the same way with their parents and ignore them as they get older. This is what happened in Japan, their parents worked very hard after the war to the determint of their children.
This case of missing elders makes you wonder how many other things are hidden or ignored as people do not post things with authorities, the official record keepers.

Cable TV

Yesterday was a lovely day despite the cold weather. I went to a bassoon recital at the university and thoroughly enjoyed the presentation. After went out for a bite to eat with an oboe friend who was the person who advised me about the concert. We had a nice time. In the evening, yesterday performed at Sunnybrook K-wing for the veterans. It was a lovely time. We always enjoy performing there.
Now for the cable news, today I am not watching the US open and it is only because I can't. The neighbours boy, who really is not a boy since he is in his early twenties cut through our cable line. He did this while pruning bushes. He usually does not seem to do anything around the house, what possessed him to do it yesterday? We were not able to watch TV last night and cable repair person is not coming until late this afternoon. I had to reschedule a car appointment and this was the second reschedule-it is for a free car cleaning.
I don't plan to start cooking dinner until they have come and gone. My luck, I will be in the middle of cooking the schnitzel and they will arrive.
Oh well, this means that I will get some other things done. Waiting for the mail right now so that I can take the mail with me when I go to the corner store.

Where did summer go?

It is time for the U.S. Open for tennis and I am used to watching players struggle with the heat but not the wind and cool weather. Since Monday, it is has not been summer. It is as if the weather just changed and instead of a nice Labour Day weekend, we had the kind of weather that we might expect but do not want Thanksgiving weekend. It has not warmed up since and has been windy. Saturday, I accidentally did not check the weather report and wore shorts and a top-what a mistake! Since then, I have been careful to dress warmly, sweat shirts, pants and warm socks. I am still hoping that the weather changes and that we get some warm weather. I am not ready for fall just yet.
Here's hoping that we get some more summer.

First day of School

My memory must very bad but I do not remember parents busy taking pictures of their children on their first day of school. Maybe because we did not have digital cameras and had to pay for every print that was developed. This morning, these are not just kindergartens who I might understand but also older children whose pictures were being taken.
I foolishly ventured out near school this morning in my eternal quest for everbearing strawberries. On my way, I passed children heading off to school. Many parents were walking their children to school which was a good sign. Now, will they continue walking their children to school or will the cars come out at the first sign of cold weather?
However, back to the photos, how many of you were busy taking pictures of your children on the first day of school. Love to know.
Time to get ready to play tennis.

Happy New Year 2010

It is that time of year again. School starts which does not mean a great deal for most of us except that the traffic patterns will be different, more buses and we need to watch when driving. Groups start to meet again. I know of choirs, orchestras and bands all starting within the next week, night school starts as well.
The weather is changing and if this weekend is any indication, after a hot summer it is cooling off quickly.
Interesting how things change and it is the end of summer. Hope that everyone enjoyed their summer and is ready for the changes ahead.
At work, if you are not a teacher, summer hours end and most people are off their vacations. That is not to say that no one will be off but it will be those without children.
Happy New Year and enjoy the coming year.

Burning up the course

"Fire" was the cry of the day for a golfer whose off-target swing sparked a 12-acre blaze in Southern California." Associated Press reports. "The golfer of the Shady Canyon golf course in Irvine landed a shot in the rough on Saturday. On his next swing, his club snagged a rock, causing a spark that lit the rough ablaze and eventually attracted 150 firefighters to the scene. Fire officials say the fire burned through the rough, into vegetation next to the course and over two dry, brushy hillsides.
My goodness, think I would give up golf after an event like that.

Ralph Billinger

Just received sad news. The bassoonist who I played beside for nearly 10 years just passed away two days ago. He had told me that he had cancer in the winter but I assumed that he was going to beat it and that we would be back sitting beside each other at rehearsal in a week. My goodness, what a difference the summer makes. So many changes and not all of them good.
I will be going to the funeral which is the least that I can do. Hard to believe that this has happened.
Hope that Ralph did not suffer too much at the end.

Volunteering

I have always said that you need a reason to get up in the morning. It seems that "If you're getting up in years, and the basic activities of daily living have become something of a struggle, doing volunteer work is probably the last thing on your mind," Tom Jacobs writes for Miller-McCune magazine. "But new research suggests there's an excellent reason to make the effort. You may actually live longer. That's the conclusion of a study just published in the journal Social Science and Medicine, which examined death rates of a representative sample of American seniors. It found difficulties with basic daily activities, including those caused by decreased mobility or upper-arm strength, 'are associated with an increased risk of dying only among participants who almost never or never volunteered.' The study adds to the mounting evidence linking volunteering with health, well-being and longevity, and suggests this association may be particularly significant toward the end of life."
What this suggests is that you must find something(s) to care about and become involved in. Very important.

Teachers and the Sky Dome!

This is one day that I am glad that I no longer teach. Not sure how I would deal with a trip to the Sky dome along with all the rest of the teaching staff for the whole Toronto school board. The new Director of Education, he has been in the position for a year now arranged this event at the end of last school year. Originally, it was going to last all day- can you imagine! They are supposed to hand out material to all the teachers. It could not be decided if it would be on CD's or in print form, either way it is very costly and for what reason?
This event is not free to a school board that is struggling with costs. How can he justify this feel good event that is going to cost a great deal and will really not reach most of the staff. The teachers are going to arrive feeling very angry at having to come to this event that does not have enough parking for most of them. Teacher come from many locations and some of them are going to have a challenging time returning to school and getting home.
I am going to check the media to see how they view this event. Will get back to you soon.