Is it important to know anything?

I went to a gardening centre today. I wanted flowering plants for a shaded area. There were many plants in the centre, in different colours, easily overwhelming me. I didn't know which ones would grow in the shade. So I asked a woman in the garden centre's uniform for help.

She looked down at some plants in front of her, flipped a tag over, and said, "No, this one needs sun." She did that to several plants, muttering each time, "No, needs sun." She finally flipped one tag over and said, "Look, this one says, Sun to Shade."

I said, "Do you know which plants grow in the shade, or are you just checking the tags."
She said, "I'm checking the tags."
"So I could do that too."
"Right. Except most of the plants don't have tags, and some of them are wrong."

She was right about that. There was a tag buried in every ten plants or so. The plants are clustered so you can't see the tags unless you looked for them. But apparently, if I found one, I shouldn't trust it, because it could be wrong. And the woman helping me has no special knowledge of plants because she's just checking the tags, which could be wrong. My mind reels.

What's with that?

Of Mice and Me

We had a mouse problem in our house last week. We bought a humane mouse trap, the kind that traps the mouse in a box so you can release it later. So far, we've caught a mouse on three consectuive tries. The last one we found was on Sunday night, when we came home from the weekend. D took the mouse out in the backyard, removed the lid from the box, and threw the mouse out in the dark. He thought the mouse may have been dead.

The next morning, he went out to look for the dead mouse. It was not found. We are assuming the mouse was either dead and got eaten by a nocturnal creature, or it was stunned and when it came to, it scampered away.

Last night, we set the mouse trap again. This morning, no mouse. What are we learning from this?

1) We've been catching the same mouse each night.

• Mice are homing creatures. The one we've been catching is not very smart. It had to get caught several times before it learned to stayed away from the trap.
• If we had been catching the same mouse, our mouse died in the trap and got eaten up in the backyard overnight so it couldn't come back last night.
• Or it's playing with us, knowing we're too wimpy to intentionally kill it so it's staying away for one night to keep us guessing.
• We need to find that entrance to the house the mouse has been using

2) We've catching different mice each night.

• We've had a family of mice living with us. We finally got rid of the last one.
• If we've had a family of mice with us, there could be more that we don't know about. We are waiting for the babies to grow up to make their appearance known again.
• The mice stayed away last night because they are gathering friends for reinforcement to launch a mass attack.
• We need to bring in an exterminator.

We live downtown, where man has conquered nature. Yet, I run into raccoons and skunks on our street all the time. We've now had mice in the house. So even in a large metropolis such as ours, the living space for man and animals is only blurily separated. No matter what man does to claim land for his own, mother nature will always redistribute. Is that what this mouse episode is about, to make me see this?

Too many shoes, not enough feet

I bought a new pair of shoes last week. That makes over 20 pairs that I have in my closet, having discarded about ten pairs two months ago. But I really only wear four pairs regularly. Why do I keep buying shoes that I don't wear? Let me tell you something about my logic.

I buy shoes that look cute or have a nice colour that I imagine I would wear to create a certain look. But that look often requires new pants or skirt and a new top. By the time I get the shoes home, I've moved beyond that look I had in mind in the shoe store. So I don't buy the top or bottom to go with the shoes. So the shoes sit in my closet, unworn.

Or I buy shoes that are similar in look and feel because I just like that look and feel. These are usually low-heeled, comfortable walking shoes. I have many pairs of these, but I can only wear one pair at a time.

Or I buy shoes that are on sale. They have to be real cheap. So here's my dilemma today.

I came a cross a pair of lavender flats yesterday. They were kind of cute. I've seen the brand name version of these, which costs over $80 and were comfortable to wear. These particular ones cost $9! $9? I was excited. Lavender/purple happens to be my three-year-old niece's favourite colour right now. I had this bright idea in the store that I would create matching purple outfits for us. I could spend $9 to start the look. I'd then try to get her similar shoes, get us matching t-shirt, and skirt. Except these $9 shoes are very uncomfortable. They are so uncomfortable that when I got them home, I won't even wear them to break them in. Now, do I abandon my matching outfit idea, or go ahead anyway, because it'd be so cute?

Service Lesson

A young woman knocked on my door. She said she's a student. She could be. She's selling household products like Saran, foil, lunch bags, garbage bags and the like. Only she wants $23 per item, four times more expensive than if you bought the same item from a supermarket. I told her I didn't want to pay that much for the items.

She said, "But you are supporting students."
I said, "I would support them if they sold me something useful at a good price. This is a ridiculous markup."
"But students need your support."
"And I would be happy to support them in other real ways. I'm sorry, I can't afford to, nor do I want to pay those prices for these same items I can buy for so much cheaper at a supermarket."

The young woman looked disappointed. Naturally. But she walked away without saying thank you. She just rolled her eyes.

So what's with that? Do the organizers really think they can sell anything at a huge markup if thay attach "student" to the sale? And do they not teach their sales reps manners? When you don't make a sale, you should still thank your prospect for their time, not roll your eyes at them. At this point, even if I felt generous and wanted to part with my money, I'm certainly not going to give it to this woman or this type of organization.

Public toilets

I often wonder how public toilets get so filthy. Is it just overuse by many people? Is it a few people who make it messy?

I noticed recently in a woman's washroom that the toilet seat was splashed wet. Assuming the flush had splashed water all over the seat, I wiped dry the seat with toilet paper before using it. But when I flushed after my use, the whirling water did not over splashed onto the seat.

Another time, I noticed a seat with sole marks on it. Obviously, someone's been crouching on the seat to do their business.

So these women who crouch and splash on the seat...they do this because they think the toilet is dirty and don't want their bums to touch the seat? But if they object to dirty washrooms, why aren't they cleaning up properly after their use? They, in fact, are the perpetrators of the dirty washrooms they object to. What's with these people?

Monkey King 2

Bird On A Wire

Monkey King

Use that cubicle

I was at a donut stop recently and needed to use the washroom. So did ten other women. The washrooms were single cubicles - one for women, one for men. The women's had the line up. The men's was vacant. I went to the head of the line and waved the women to use the men's washroom as well. To my surprise, they all shook their heads and said no. Both washrooms were identical - single user cubicles with a lockable door. The only difference was the sign on the door. So I got my relieve in the men's washroom.

Now, what's with that? Why do women line up instead of use the men's washroom when they don't have to share that washroom with men at the same time?

One Year Early

I received a notice recently for a doctor's appointment for Thursday, October 27, 2005. At first glance, I assumed the appointment was a couple of weeks away. Then I saw it was actually a year away. I verified it with the doctor's office. Yes, the receptionist confirmed - I saw the doctor last year, he said to come back in two years, the office books appointments a year in advance, so she has sent me a notice for an appointment a year away.

Now, thanks. But what's with this: they wait one year to book the appointment, but the appointment isn't for another year. Something about this strikes me as very wrong.

Dogs and buns

How come hog dogs always come in packages of six, but the buns come in packages of eight? What's with that?

Child-proofed pill bottles

Drug manufacturers are so concerned with kids getting into pills that they put child-proof caps on pill bottles for over-the-counter pain killers. Thing is, if you are arthritic, or have a really bad headache and not feeling all that well coordinated, and you reach for that pill bottle, you have a heck of a time getting that pill out!

Why do they put pills for sick people in bottles that only healthy people can get at. What's with that?

Don't try to defray the cost of Medicare

Tonight, my father was shivering, he ran a fever, he rambled incoherently, and he was kind of convulsing. We didn't know if he was reacting to his chemotherapy drugs, to radiation therapy, or to some other drug. He had all of these today. I consulted the oncologists on call at his hospital. They advised me to take him to Emergency.

We drove him to Emergency, which happened to be particularly busy. He needed to lie down because he was in pain and he was tired. The Emergency staff would not give him a stretcher until he was seen by a doctor. The waiting room was crowded, with three occupied stretchers lining the hall way. We found a blocked off entrance way that served as a small room. It was empty. We put a blanket on the ground so he could lie down. A few minutes later, an administrator told us to move him somewhere else because the waiting room was too crowded and she wanted to move the stretchers into the room to clear the hallway. She could not tell us where to lay him down instead.

By this time, my father was asleep. I said to the administrator, If we had called an ambulance to bring him in here, he would be on a stretcher, and you would put him in this room. But because we saved the public health system expense by bringing him in ourselves, you deny him a stretcher, and you want to kick him out while he's sleeping on the ground so you can put people on stretchers in here instead.

I was fuming mad, made a scene, then moved my father to the hallway. He and a stretcher basically swapped places.

What's with that?

Blood - It's in you

I find those commercials for blood donation scary. It's that woman with the hungry voice, pleading, Blood - it's in you to give, and those TV commercials of people with puppy dog eyes claiming they won't live till their next birthday if I don't give them my blood. As if I should feel guilty for having blood in me. What about my next birthday?

I already give in time, energy and money to social and familial causes; don't come after me for my blood too.

Should blood giving be sanctioned like the vampirish, manipulative business it has turned into? I gave blood once a few years ago. Every month since, some guy from the blood bank phones me at work to ask for more. One day, I had a particularly bad day. I dealt with stressful situations and chaotic people, on my feet since 9 AM, had no lunch, and finally found a few minutes to sit around 4 PM. I thought to myself, I can't do this any more. What else do people want from me? Wouldn't you know that's when the agency phoned, wanting my blood! I started laughing hysterically and must have scared him. He offered to take me off his list.

Do we have to act crazy to contain our lives? What's with all the pressure people put on each other? What's with that, eh?

Aah...don't get me wet!

Ever notice when people are swimming, especially in a swimming pool, and it starts to rain. The swimmers scream and run to get out of the rain.

What's with that? They don't want to get wet? It's okay to get wet with pool water but not rain water?

Watering the lawn in the rain

On Roseneath, I have seen this a few times. When it rains, when it pours I might add, I have found our neighbours standing beside their lawns with hose on, watering the lawn.

What's with that? Were they already watering the lawn and didn't notice the rain coming? They must have. Once, I saw a woman with hose in one hand and umbrella in the other. Or did they notice the rain but thought the rain wasn't doing a good job so came out to help?