Wiarton Willie was taken off life support yesterday by his vet and died at the age of 8.
For real this time – did you know that when he died before and there was a big funeral, that it was a stuffed albino groundhog that died years earlier? The ensuing scandal became known as Williegate.
Rest in peace Willie.
Full Details: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060711/willie_wiarton_060711/20060711/
Yesterday after work J. and I went over to Soo, Michigan to pick up some parcels J. had ordered. The bonus of living in a bordertown is you can save the ridiculous charges couriers tack on to ship items across the border. We just get parcels shipped to Michigan and then we drive them over ourselves and just pay the normal duty taxes.
Well we went inside the customs building so J. could show his receipts. As I was standing there behind him I noticed money on the floor. Oh crap I thought – it’s burned into my head that this could be a set up – have you ever seen any of those tv shows where they plant money to see what people will do? What better place for it than where there are lots of cameras!
So I looked away. Then I thought, oh crap, fine, and I went over and picked it up. I unfolded it to find out it was just a $5 bill. I wanted to pocket it, but here we are standing here declaring purchases, damn it, I better look honest. So I reached over J.’s shoulder and told the inspector that I just found five dollars on the floor. There were lots of customs workers standing there and they over heard me. They were all laughing. J. kept saying “I’ll talk to her later about that”. The dude asked it if could have been mine, and I said, well maybe – thinking that was the best chance of getting it back into my pocket. J. said, nope, it wasn’t ours. So the greedy bastards took it. Then I started thinking, sheesh, that felt like I just bribed him as he was assessing the duty owed. I hope he’d hold out for a larger bribe. hehe.
What would you have done? Would you have pocketed it, even with all the cameras and customs officers there? Left it on the floor? Or play it honestly like I did?
Johnny Cash’s last CD was released this past week. I’m on my second listen right now.
Overall I love this CD, yet it is completely heartbreaking and brings out every ounce of blues in my heart and makes me teary-eyed.
He recorded this CD after his wife, the love of his life, died. He died just four months later. While he recorded this album, he was confined mostly to a wheelchair and had lost most of his sight. A studio was set up in his bedroom so he could continue to work.
I feel his pain in every breath he takes. You can feel that he is heartbroken. You can sense the sorrow. You can sense that he is ready to die.
He does a cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind” that turned out quite nice.
I give this album 5/5. Johnny deserves nothing less. This isn’t a album to rock out to in your car, but a great one to listen and weep to when you have the blues.
Rest in peace Johnny.
This weekend was complete with Chinese Food, an Art Show, an Auction sale, smoked fish, weiners, a quick cold swim, and UFC 62.
Over and out.
Geez another police barricade this morning, even closer to my house than yesterday’s!
Another knucklehead with a gun (real this time) locked in a house. The police evacuated the immediate neighbouring houses and blocked off a couple of blocks from traffic and people.
A few hours later he surrendered and was taken to a mental facility for a check-up.
In other news..
J. was over today using his Bradley smoker. He did some really nice ribs for dinner. They had a very peppery rub that was pretty spicy, but I toughed it out! Damn he knows how to make good food!
J. and I went fishing today!! J. has a canoe so we went out, not too far from town, to a nice lake surrounded by cottages. We paddled to the far end and worked our way back. I was smart enough to wear sunscreen this time too!! (only I seemed to have missed a couple of inches on my thigh because it’s burned)
J. caught the cutest little fish!! It was so cute I forgot my seat wasn’t attached to the bench in the canoe and J. thought I was going to flip us over. hehe. I didn’t even get a bite but that is okay, I just like being out in the canoe with J. and enjoying the beautiful weather.
When I tried to get to my house, I couldn’t! There was a police barricade blocking the road! And officers were all around with guns drawn! I had to take quite a detour before I was able to get home. Turns out some knucklehead was walking around waving a gun and then went into the apartment buildings and wouldn’t come out. There were 12 police cars, a police motorcycle, the canine team, and a big mobile command centre. They had a couple blocks completely barricaded. After 3 hours or so he surrended. Turns out it was a fake gun too. Knucklehead.
I’m working on a new website. I feel like education is the only way I can really cope with losing Surf to a fungal infection. I have a server and web design skills, so I might as well put them to good use.
I’ve registered http://Blastomycosis.ca and I’ve been working on putting information up. There isn’t one good central site about it, so now there is. I think the stories from people who have personally dealt with it are so important to include. Chris, who has visited and commented here on my blog has offered his story and photos. I’m sure that after reading his story you’ll join me on wishing him well, with continued healing and a return to good health.
Many people have wrote me about their experiences with blastomycosis so I will have to dig through my inbox archives and contact some of them to see if they will be willing to share their ordeals.
HAPPY CANADA DAY!!
Last night J. and I went to the Drive-In Theatre again, and I stayed awake the entire time!!
The two movies playing were RV and The Omen.
RV stars Robin Williams. I laughed out loud a lot. J. wasn’t so “laughy”. He didn’t think it was very good. I thought that it was funny, but it wasn’t that good of a movie. Worth watching if it’s on tv or you have a free rental, or if you have a really high fever and don’t need something too challenging to watch 
I give it a 3 stars out of 5. The movie made me kind of wish I had a family and an RV. hehe
The Omen wasn’t too scary. Like the DaVinci Code, it was a movie that was filmed in the dark a lot so there were several times we just couldn’t make out what was happening. There were two or three scenes that made us jump, but nothing so terrifying that J. needed me to hold his hand or anything like that. I give it a 2 stars out of 5.
This morning a training mentor from the retriever club came over and we went out to a field for Monty’s first force fetch session. Now I’ll be having short training sessions with Monty a couple times a day to work through the force fetch program. Now it sounds totally cruel, but what is involved is teaching your dog to obey on the first command through force. The commands used are SIT, STAY, HEEL, FETCH, GIVE, and HOLD IT. Your dog is tied to your leg with the leash so he can’t get away, and then you have both hands free. When the dog doesn’t obey, you pinch the end of his ear until he does. The man that is showing us the ground work has done it this way for 30+ years. Now many trainers use an electronic collar, which I may still do, but we’ll see how it goes. By the end of this program, I’ll have a dog who won’t budge from a sit, will fetch with great speed, and who won’t drop it. Not only for retrieving ducks, but having an obedient dog is safer for both of us. Especially one who will come when he’s called and will sit and stay on command.
