Wow, what an amazing Olympics for us Canadians. The COC predicted a total medal haul of 25 before the games started and a top three finish. I was personally hoping for a top five finish. What do we get? 24 medals, including 7 golds, and the number three spot in the standings, behind Germany and the USA. We also had 13 athletes place fourth in their events. Just outstanding! We did absolutely amazing. Leading the pack was Cindy Klassen, who won 5 medals in speed skating. That brings her total Olympic medal count to 6, a Canadian record. The 24 medals were a new record, beating our previous high of 17 in the Salt Lake Olympics in 2002. The COC is planning for 35 medals in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and we might actually be able to do it.
On a side note - anyone else think the Torino medals were ugly? They look like discarded CDs.
In the interesting factoid section, the world's population hit 6.5 billion at 7:16pm EST on Saturday night, using estimations/projections. An average of 4.4 people are born every second. When reading about population growth, I always see mention of improved health, economic development, urbanization etc. For the first time, I read an interesting comment about fertilizer in my current book - Hitler's Scientists by John Cornwell (more on this book later). Apparently if Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch (or someone else) hadn't discovered a way to fix nitrogen from air, resulting in a vast supply of artificial nitrogen fertilizer, the world's population would have only been around 3.9 billion in 2000, instead of reaching 6 billion.
This book I'm reading - Hitler's Scientists: Science, War and the Devil's Pact by John Cornwell - is a discussion of the ethics and morality of science during war, specifically German scientists in the first half of the 20th century. I bought it for about $9 in the bargain section at Chapters and so far, it's an excellent buy. I'm not even 100 pages into yet, but it has me captivated. Haber, the guy I mentioned earlier with regards to nitrogen fertilizer, was also a key figure in the first use of poison gas in April 1915, breaking the Hague Conventions. I'm starting to get into the chapters on racial hygiene and eugenics and it's just bizarre reading the social interpretations rising from both valid science and crackpot "science".
One of the reasons I'm so far into that book already is that I'm sleeping horribly. Last week's nights have really screwed me up. I'm tired all the time, but I seem to be able to only sleep for 4 hour stretches. I somehow managed to be social though, although I wasn't feeling my best. Friday, I had a couple people over for dinner and games - Battle of the Sexes and my new game Artifact. For dinner, I made stuffed mushrooms (good, but more cheese next time), roasted veggies and baby potatos (yummy), chicken provencal (blah), and peaches with berry sauce and vanilla ice cream (died and went to heaven). On Saturday, I went to another friend's house for more games, playing Conjecture (a game based on the sculptorades section of Cranium) and Clue, a game I haven't played since the 90s.
Since I have been awake so much, I've been wasting time on the internet. I did a two question Ennegram test, which doesn't exactly imply accuracy, but some of it seemed to match what I understand of me. I'm apparently an Adventurer - "happy and open to new things". One statement I really agreed with - "Appreciate my grand visions and listen to my stories." Listen to them over and over again too, while you are at it!! Oh, and thanks to those of you who filled out my Johari window. The validation was lovely. :)
One last thing: Sunday's For Better or For Worse comic really had me laughing. Just picture a grey kitty instead of a bunny and string instead of an extension cord and you've got my sweet yet psycho Fuzzy.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
It's really Monday
Darn computer just errored and rebooted, eating my post. I thought about just going to bed, but it's technically Tuesday already which means it's a day late in my attempt to post every Monday. In my world though, it's still Monday. I just survived a week of both evening and night shifts and it's not Tuesday until I wake up later. Turns out the autosave feature restored my first two paragraphs anyway. Better than nothing!
This week was a bit of a write off with the return of my old shifts. My sleep schedule was pretty screwed up and I didn't do much. Managed to get some great workouts in though and met the goals I set for Jan/Feb. Need to plan out my next 8 weeks as I'm trying to keep it fresh and challenging. I did get a bit of socialness in as well, although I was definitely not my usual perky self - my apologies to those of you who got caught in the whiny crossfire. I went out for coffee on Friday, a friend's birthday on Saturday, saw Ian for a bit on Sunday and I went out for dinner last night. Hey, I was more social than I thought. Since it was all pre-work stuff though, it just didn't feel like much.
One nice thing about working nights is that I get to listen to my favourite talk radio show - Coast to Coast AM. When I'm not working, I occasionally download it on my computer, but I rarely listen to the whole thing. I don't often work at my computer long enough to listen to a 4 hour show. This week has been nice, catching up on the latest in the world of global warming, space exploration, ghosts and time travelers.
As I said earlier, I was suffering from a horrific case of the emotional blecks this week. I know why (hormones are an evil evil thing) but there was nothing I could do to get rid of that black cloud. I tried working out nearly every day, which often works for me, but not this time. Apparently all I needed was a 10 minute hug. I'm not kidding about that length of time. It went on for so long, I needed to move and re-hug. A hug can really make you feel better, especially the kind of hug where you just know the only thing the other person is thinking about is this moment, this hug. The only other person I know who gives that kind of hug is Todd. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I highly recommend getting one from him next time he's in town.
One final thing - Go Canadian Women! Congrats on the gold! Hopefully, it will help motivate the men...
This week was a bit of a write off with the return of my old shifts. My sleep schedule was pretty screwed up and I didn't do much. Managed to get some great workouts in though and met the goals I set for Jan/Feb. Need to plan out my next 8 weeks as I'm trying to keep it fresh and challenging. I did get a bit of socialness in as well, although I was definitely not my usual perky self - my apologies to those of you who got caught in the whiny crossfire. I went out for coffee on Friday, a friend's birthday on Saturday, saw Ian for a bit on Sunday and I went out for dinner last night. Hey, I was more social than I thought. Since it was all pre-work stuff though, it just didn't feel like much.
One nice thing about working nights is that I get to listen to my favourite talk radio show - Coast to Coast AM. When I'm not working, I occasionally download it on my computer, but I rarely listen to the whole thing. I don't often work at my computer long enough to listen to a 4 hour show. This week has been nice, catching up on the latest in the world of global warming, space exploration, ghosts and time travelers.
As I said earlier, I was suffering from a horrific case of the emotional blecks this week. I know why (hormones are an evil evil thing) but there was nothing I could do to get rid of that black cloud. I tried working out nearly every day, which often works for me, but not this time. Apparently all I needed was a 10 minute hug. I'm not kidding about that length of time. It went on for so long, I needed to move and re-hug. A hug can really make you feel better, especially the kind of hug where you just know the only thing the other person is thinking about is this moment, this hug. The only other person I know who gives that kind of hug is Todd. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I highly recommend getting one from him next time he's in town.
One final thing - Go Canadian Women! Congrats on the gold! Hopefully, it will help motivate the men...
Monday, February 13, 2006
Random News
YAY!! We won a gold at Torino! In women's moguls. Very very exciting because Jennifer Heil is an Alberta girl. Cindy Klassen also received a bronze in the 3000m speed skating. I'm pretty into the Olympics this year. Not in the glued to the tv set way, but I do keep checking the CBC Olympic website. I think part of it is that the next winter Olympics will be held in my hometown.
It turns out I was right when I said that Steven Harper's cabinet picks would be a hot topic. The Fortier appointment seems to have died down (at least out West it sure has), but the Emerson defection is all over the news! There was a rally held on Saturday in his riding calling for a by-election where he would run as a Conservative. 700 people showed up. On Sunday, there was another protest in front of his Vancouver office. I really understand their anger. He won as a Liberal with 43% and only 18% of the people voted for the Conservative candidate. People are saying that they feel like their vote didn't count. There is no formal federal recall legislation but someone has started an online petition. The comments are just crazy on it. Some are aimed at Emerson, some are aimed at voters, and some are downright vicious. I couldn't figure out how many people actually signed the petition at that site, but 15,032 had signed the petition at petitiononline when I checked this morning. I should also point out that the rally was organized by the NDP, the party that placed second in that riding with 34%. A by-election would probably be quite favourable to them, depending on who ends up running in the now empty Liberal spot.
In more amusing news (well, at least for me), Dick Cheney, US Vice President, accidentally shot a fellow hunter with birdshot while hunting quail. Thankfully, the guy is fine, so I'm allowed to laugh. Apparently, he didn't see the other hunter (who was wearing a bright orange vest) when he swung around to shoot at the birds.
I also did a Johari window for fun - if you don't know what it is, you get to pick 5 or 6 words to describe me and then they get mapped against words I picked and others picked. If you are interested - go here.
And just because my cat is so darn cute (also psycho - yesterday he bit Ian several times and decided it would be fun to step on my eye with his full weight) - a picture of the month:
It turns out I was right when I said that Steven Harper's cabinet picks would be a hot topic. The Fortier appointment seems to have died down (at least out West it sure has), but the Emerson defection is all over the news! There was a rally held on Saturday in his riding calling for a by-election where he would run as a Conservative. 700 people showed up. On Sunday, there was another protest in front of his Vancouver office. I really understand their anger. He won as a Liberal with 43% and only 18% of the people voted for the Conservative candidate. People are saying that they feel like their vote didn't count. There is no formal federal recall legislation but someone has started an online petition. The comments are just crazy on it. Some are aimed at Emerson, some are aimed at voters, and some are downright vicious. I couldn't figure out how many people actually signed the petition at that site, but 15,032 had signed the petition at petitiononline when I checked this morning. I should also point out that the rally was organized by the NDP, the party that placed second in that riding with 34%. A by-election would probably be quite favourable to them, depending on who ends up running in the now empty Liberal spot.
In more amusing news (well, at least for me), Dick Cheney, US Vice President, accidentally shot a fellow hunter with birdshot while hunting quail. Thankfully, the guy is fine, so I'm allowed to laugh. Apparently, he didn't see the other hunter (who was wearing a bright orange vest) when he swung around to shoot at the birds.
I also did a Johari window for fun - if you don't know what it is, you get to pick 5 or 6 words to describe me and then they get mapped against words I picked and others picked. If you are interested - go here.
And just because my cat is so darn cute (also psycho - yesterday he bit Ian several times and decided it would be fun to step on my eye with his full weight) - a picture of the month:
Monday, February 06, 2006
New Prime Minister
I'm sitting here watching Steven Harper and his 26 cabinet members (27 total) get sworn in as the official government. Prime Minister Steven Harper *tiny shudder*. It's a minority Conservative government, everything will be ok... Breathe! He's restating all his promises right now. Small cabinet, which I like. 9 from Ontario, 3 from Alberta (including an Albertan as environment minister - oh, the irony). Only 6 women. Peter MacKay (who I like and was deputy leader of the party) got minister of foreign affairs but Stockwell Day (who I don't like) got minister of public safety which is apparently quite important and deals with the US a lot. Jim Flaherty, Mike Harris' former provincial finance minister, is now the federal finance minister. That one scares me, I think. Gordon O'Connor, a former general, is now minister of defence. That certainly implies increased military spending. Oddly, Harper didn't appoint a deputy Prime Minister.
Strangely, I remember reading Harper wanted to go to an elected Senate (currently Senators are appointed), but he appointed an unelected person - Michel Fortier - to the cabinet. This implies he will be appointed to the Senate and wait for an MP by-election or the next federal election. Fortier didn't even run in the election! Ok, he just got called on this. He said he considers this a "temporary" appointment until the next election and considers it worth it because it's important to have a cabinet member from Montreal. He also appointed a Vancouver Liberal - David Emerson - as minister of international trade, which confuses the heck out of me. How do you switch parties within 2 week of an election? Vancouverites voted Liberal! Looks like both of these appointments will be hot topics for a while.
Can't say too much has happened this week. I finally crossed two things off my to-do list - I cleaned out my file cabinet and shredded that giant stack of paper. Still need to clean the sewing room of doom. Probably not today though! I started reading the Prehistoric America series by Michael and Kathleen Gear. So far I've read People of the Wolf and am working on People of the Fire. While not a fantasy series, they do contain certain elements - an unknown society (prehistoric Native Americans and as the authors are both archaeologists, this part is done well) who use the spirit world and "magic". So far, so good! Had a nice weekend as well. Friday was quiet with just a trip to West Ed Mall. Saturday, I went to a pub with friends.
As for the weight loss campaign - it goes well! I lost 4.3 pounds this week which is freakin' amazing. Partly because I weighed in the morning instead of the evening, but the rest is me. I had a really good week working out and sticking to my diet...err....lifestyle change, I mean. :) I had my measurements taken at the gym earlier this week and I'm really proud of how I'm doing. Since I started this whole working out, eating healthy thing, I have lost: 24cm (9.4") off my gluteus, 7cm (2.7") off my right thigh, 12cm (4.7") off my waist, and 15cm (5.9") off my upper abdomen/ribcage. This gives me a waist to hip ratio of 0.8, which means low risk for lifestyle related diseases, assuming this particular indicator means anything. But assuming it does, this is important to me! My motivation for losing weight was completely health related as I come from a high risk family history. The body image stuff is just an added bonus! My BMI is still high, but my total goal will put me in the normal range. Other fun facts (well, for me anyway) - I've lost 39.36 lbs of fat and increased by lean body mass percentage by 8.9%. *happy dance of joy*
Before/Current Pictures
Strangely, I remember reading Harper wanted to go to an elected Senate (currently Senators are appointed), but he appointed an unelected person - Michel Fortier - to the cabinet. This implies he will be appointed to the Senate and wait for an MP by-election or the next federal election. Fortier didn't even run in the election! Ok, he just got called on this. He said he considers this a "temporary" appointment until the next election and considers it worth it because it's important to have a cabinet member from Montreal. He also appointed a Vancouver Liberal - David Emerson - as minister of international trade, which confuses the heck out of me. How do you switch parties within 2 week of an election? Vancouverites voted Liberal! Looks like both of these appointments will be hot topics for a while.
Can't say too much has happened this week. I finally crossed two things off my to-do list - I cleaned out my file cabinet and shredded that giant stack of paper. Still need to clean the sewing room of doom. Probably not today though! I started reading the Prehistoric America series by Michael and Kathleen Gear. So far I've read People of the Wolf and am working on People of the Fire. While not a fantasy series, they do contain certain elements - an unknown society (prehistoric Native Americans and as the authors are both archaeologists, this part is done well) who use the spirit world and "magic". So far, so good! Had a nice weekend as well. Friday was quiet with just a trip to West Ed Mall. Saturday, I went to a pub with friends.
As for the weight loss campaign - it goes well! I lost 4.3 pounds this week which is freakin' amazing. Partly because I weighed in the morning instead of the evening, but the rest is me. I had a really good week working out and sticking to my diet...err....lifestyle change, I mean. :) I had my measurements taken at the gym earlier this week and I'm really proud of how I'm doing. Since I started this whole working out, eating healthy thing, I have lost: 24cm (9.4") off my gluteus, 7cm (2.7") off my right thigh, 12cm (4.7") off my waist, and 15cm (5.9") off my upper abdomen/ribcage. This gives me a waist to hip ratio of 0.8, which means low risk for lifestyle related diseases, assuming this particular indicator means anything. But assuming it does, this is important to me! My motivation for losing weight was completely health related as I come from a high risk family history. The body image stuff is just an added bonus! My BMI is still high, but my total goal will put me in the normal range. Other fun facts (well, for me anyway) - I've lost 39.36 lbs of fat and increased by lean body mass percentage by 8.9%. *happy dance of joy*
Before/Current Pictures
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