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The American election
November 2, 2008

So, the time has come for America to vote. I feel sort of guilty that as a Canadian I find American elections more interesting on many levels than Canadian ones... but so be it. (The other reason that elections make me feel guilty is that I don't really have a clue. I mean, there are certain policies that I know clearly which way I'd vote, but for the majority of things it's more of a guessing game)

Anyway, blabbering about election guilt aside, it will be interesting to watch this election. Regardless of who wins, we already know the outcome to be interesting:

If the republicans win, the US will have a lady vice president, which will be a pretty significant thing in my mind... and the chance that she would be come president, which is perhaps the more significant thing. In my mind, Sarah Palin is a very likable, hard working, down-to-earth person who wants to serve her country. I would tend to side with those that say she comes across as a bit under experienced to lead the US as president, but I also think that people are blowing that issue out of proportion: She's the governor of Alaska, not the mayor of a small town.

If the democrats win, the US will have a president with a strong African American heritage, which fascinates me. That seems like a tremendous victory for a country that has struggled, and continues to struggle, with racism. Obama seems like a strong, hard working, dynamic person that brings a lot of leadership talent. I especially like his tone when it comes to international affairs, which is the area that I think the US needs the most reform in. Obama seems to be a person that wants to listen rather than to dominate, and I feel the current US policy has been too far on the side of domination.

If I could vote I'd vote for Obama. That's quite possibly how things will play out anyway, but we'll just have to wait and see. I'm a little fearful that Obama will lose and that his loss could cause a rift in the US, especially if there is any sense of unfairness or jiggery-pokery. I'll hope for the best.

Memories of Ben November 2, 2008 This week our family had to put our golden retriever Ben down. He lived just over 14 and a half years and was a loved part of our family. And so as we say good-bye, I'd like to sit down and remember. Eww Who can forget the day we can home to little Ben in his crate, and he had ejected about every possible bodily fluid into the bottom of his crate. He was cowered in the corner trying to escape the flood, poor guy. What a sight and smell that was! A strong attachment I remember when I was about 15, a year or two after we got Ben, laying on the floor of my parent's bedroom after watching a movie, snuggled up with Ben. It was one of those times when I realized how heart broken I would be if he were ever killed in an accident such as being hit by a car. I think I was near tears as I lay there with my arms around him and my face buried in his scruff. 5.5, 7.5, and 9.5 When I would take Ben for a walk, there were different possible lengths: The short walk was going North from the corner of Oxford and Hunter and completing a one-block square. But because the walk from our house to the corner was about 3/4 of a block, I reasoned the walk was 5.5 blocks. What a mathy! If I walked two blocks North from the corner and then one block East to Delatre, that was a 7.5 block walk, and if I did the same but walked two blocks East to Vansitart, that was a 9.5 block walk. And so Ben's walks with me were pretty much always a 5.5, 7.5 or 9.5. Teaching a dog to bark Ben wasn't much of a barker, which is a great trait to have in a dog. Our parents must have rolled their eyes then when we were trying to teach him to bark on command! The park: A powerful magnet I was always amazed that as soon as we'd get close to the park, even if we were on a street that I thought Ben had never been on, he'd start pulling on his leash in the direction of the park. How did he know if was over there? In the later years, when I'd walk him without a leash, I think there were a few incidents where he'd make a sudden break for it, crossing Vansitart without me. Yikes! Rebekah's first winter away I think it was January 1997, and Rebekah was in Hawaii on her DTS, which was the first time that she was away from home after high school. Woodstock had been dumped on with a massive amount of snow, and after supper Ben and I went out for a walk in it. I dressed as warmly as I could, with many layers, a big coat, hat, mitts. I was an abominable snow man, and off we went to the park. That night we talked to Rebekah on the phone and it was a strange thing to talk to your big sister half a world a way. Ben and I made it to the park, and I was exhausted. I flopped down on my back and just lay there contemplating the world while Ben pranced around and enjoyed the thick white fluff. Losing a tooth If my memory serves me correctly, I'm responsible for chipping off the lower half of one of Ben's canines. I was out in the back yard with a golf club and Ben thought it was fun to treat the club head as a bad guy. One time he got a bit too close and that was all it took... his smile wasn't quite perfect after that. Spiritual analogies I could never understand what Ben saw in garbage, but time and again he would sneak out of the back yard and get into a neighbor's garbage. Many times, he would get sick later that day somewhere in the house. It was stupid behavior, and I would think to myself, why can't he ever learn from the consequences? What was interesting about seeing Ben get into the garbage again and again is that it is analogous to how people sin again and again. We get into the garbage, we feel ill afterwards, and yet it is amazing how people will keep going back for more. Throwing a ball straight up While I was home on my summers off of university, I would go out to the back yard at lunch with his orange ball, and I had fun throwing it straight up with an under arm motion. I could get it around 30 feet high and it was fun to see Ben running around madly trying to figure out where it was going to land. It was quite funny if he got too close, because it came down with quite a thud!

The shaving cream that could October 17, 2008 Value. It's what we're all looking for. And did I ever find it in some shaving cream that I bought about a year and a half ago for about $1.50. This thing lasted me for well over a year, costing me somewhere around 1/3rd of a penny per day. Pretty amazing value if you ask me!

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