As the election day approaches

The riding where I live has been a Liberal stronghold for a longo time-o. I didn't vote, on purpose, in the last election because I was annoyed to have one called so soon--two years after the previous one.

But at the one before that (2006) I actually did vote Conservative. I did so "in safety". I knew the Liberal, Francis Scarpaleggia would win, but I didn't want to give him my vote (b) on a national level, because of the poopiness that was the Liberal party at that time, and (b) on a local level, because he's one of the only anti-gay-marriage Liberals*. (I kind of like the Conserv gal who was running. This was before Harper's megalomania.) I kind of admire that he goes against the party line and votes by conscience, but his conscience and mine don't agree.

However I'm afraid I'll have to overlook his conscience this time because the Conservatives have put in a superstar this year--some jock rich dude ex Alouettes football CEO [I'm the last girl to be impressed by sports cred], who was appointed to the senate by Harper, and then stepped down to run for MP. When accused of only taking the senate seat to pad his CV, he said, maiz non maiz non...

"In simple terms, the money I was earning in my last profession to where I would be in this profession is what I would call a dramatic, catastrophic pay cut."

A senator salary is around $132 000.

I made a 1/4 of that at my last job. 

So.

Vote for a guy... who thinks that living at 4 X my last salary was OH MY GOD THE PAIN THE PAIN!!!

Keeping in mind that this is Quebec where the cost of living is very low. And while he and his wife may still be supporting their third child, their other two kids aren't dependents (I hope since one's a football player and the other is married to a football player.)

And I'm not supposed to see the Conservative party as the party for rich people? I mean, Scarpy might have lots of dough too, but his last job was as a business teacher at the English college with some of the most disadvantaged kids (Dawson.) Just sayin'.

Smith's made his presence known too. He had some kind of over-the-phone town hall. I don't know how popular it was cause I didn't participate, I had a friend over. I also got a "Are you planning to vote Conservative?" phone call this week.

So. A vote for a Scarpy, and then an email letting him know my feelings about gay marriage. That sounds about right.

Note: I'm listening to his interview now. Catastrophic. My GOD. That is so spoiled. Catastrophic is losing your house cause you can't pay your bills. What an asshat.
_______
* His views as expressed in Hansard are interesting, but I still disagree with him.

Minion the Menace

Months ago the vet gave me a dog chewie thing to see if Minion would like it. She didn't like it that much so I stuck it in the bread cupboard and rarely took it out. But one day she followed her nose, found it, and took it out. (It's a higher cupboard, like over the stove, only it's over a counter.) I put it back. When she was bored, she took it out again.

Today she took it out. Then it occurred to her... didn't she see some nice bread in that same cupboard? Why was she passing the bread up every time she went for the boring dog chew?

We've used this cupboard for years without even our most bread-loving cat (Sherry) finding it. And then today...

Fernando: Menowz! You left my bagels out and Minion's eaten them!
Me: I didn't leave them out! She must have climbed in the cupboard, the little minx!
Fernando: Oh my love!
Me: Hey I didn't do anything!
Fernando: I didn't accuse you, I just expressed dismay at my eaten bagels.

For some reason I didn't think she'd dare this a second time. I thought maybe she'd been especially tempted by the cinnamon raisin bagels. After all, the damn bread's been in there all this time. (Well not the same loaf.)

Then I was sitting here and I hear...

Squeka squeka squeka...

I knew it wasn't the lower cupboard squeaking. I tied them up ever since Minion's chewing-thing-stuck-in-intestines incident.

I looked at Haley, who could see into the kitchen. She was watching something with mild interest.

I went to the kitchen.

The bread cupboard door was mostly closed, but moving slightly.

Squeka squeka squeka...

I opened the cupboard and there was Minion the Menace, settling in comfortable, using her patented bag opening technique on the bread: multiple tooth punctures 1 inch X 2 inch zone.

I tossed her out and duct taped the door. Wrote "child safety locks" on the grocery list.

Me: Our genius child has been in the bread again.
Fernando: Are you feeding her enough?
Me: Menowz!
Fernando: It was a serious question! Maybe she's hungry!
Me: She ate your bagels thirty minutes ago!
Fernando: ...It was a snack.
Me: [to Haley] You couldn't warn me?
Haley: I'm a lot of things Mahmmy, but I'm no stool pidgeon.

(Did I mention she can open a brand new bag of chips in under a minute? If you're eating chips she won't try to steal one out of your hand, she'll try to make an opening at the bottom of the bag.)

This week in French - done reading!

Un petit pas pour l'homme by Stéphane Dompierre

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Ceci était mon deuxième livre de Dompierre et il est maintenant un de mes auteurs préférés. Style High Fidelity en français, avec le magasin de disques et le mec qui veut pas se transformer enfin en adulte; mais c'est plus drôle, le héros est plus sympa, et ça contient une bonne scène de sexe. J'ai aussi adoré son livre Morlante, que j'ai l'intention de relire. Vraiment mon sens d'humour.

This was my second Dompierre book, and he's one of my faves now. Sort of the French "version" of High Fidelity--the record store, the guy reluctant to grow up--but it's funnier, the hero is more sympathetic, and there's a good sex scene. I also loved his book Morlante, which I plan to re-read. Really my sense of humor.

* Took me this long to read, though, cause I made myself look up EVERY word I had even the slightest doubt about. 99% of the time I could understand everything from context, but I still made myself look (or put a pencil note, to look later, which I did.) There was one paragraph where I had about 7 pencil notes, yet I understood the whole damn paragraph!

View all my reviews

Dear dear

Inspired by this site, the Betties wrote a bunch of Dear ___ letters recently. Here's a handful of them, but they were all funnee.

Dear trees,
Please stop spooging on me. It’s gross.
Sincerely,
The Car

Dear Mom,
I gave him the milk for free and he bought me anyway. You were totally wrong.
Love,
The Cow

Dear Tiny Parrot,
Seriously?!?! That was half your body weight!
Sincerely,
The Pooped-On Carpet

Dear Cat,
Yes, I love you, too. Now get off my keyboard.
Sincerely,
The Laptop

Dear Butt
I love you, but I need more space. It’s not you, it’s me. I need to breathe. Just a short break, maybe 15 minutes or so.
Love
Couch

Dear Robins–
It’s rained for four days straight– you know what that means!!! Worm buffet on me! All you can eat:).
Sincerely,
The Driveway

Dear Phone.
Stop ringing every time I have to pee. I’ve got needs, too.
Full Bladder

Dear Bed,
You’re really making it hard for me to be successful at my job.
Sincerely,
Alarm Clock

Dear Death,
HA!
SIncerely,
Lyle  [the very sick dog who doesn't believe he's going to die]




Dear homework,
No, I will not spend all night doing you. I’m not that kind of girl.
Sincerely,
me

Dear Daughter
Please stop doing the pee pee dance, just as I sit down to dinner,
Love
Your mother

Minion in Motion!

A friend sent this cause it's how he imagines life around my house. Yes it is!! Minion looks just like this kitty! And that's her favorite toy!  Except now she's bigger... and never misses. ;-)

Minion chewing on her Bullwinkle stick

This is a doggy chew treat.

Naturally she likes these more expensive sticks better than the cheap ones from the dollar store, which she just bats around like toys.

My drug can take the world's troubles on its shoulders

What happened today...

Some background info.


1. This past winter my husband and I came to a bit of a crisis point in our marriage. No new issues, just a higher need to finally resolve old ones. And before you express sympathy for me, I've been more of the guilty party. :-(  I actually made myself a star chart to form some new better marriage habits. (Not stars, though. Stickers of kitties and dogs.) (You won't believe how motivated I am by stickers.) Anyway, we got through the worst of it, and we intend to go to counseling later, so all is well.

But the salient info is that almost every time we fought I ended up crying. And to the point that I felt like I was having a nervous breakdown. And one day in February, outside of a comic book store on a busy street, set off by something truly meaningless, I started crying uncontrollably and couldn't stop. This has never happened to me before. It was intellectually interesting. But it also turned out to be the turning point. A week later, after a speech by my husband, and a day of philosophizing while riding around on the bus, I pulled myself out of my general breakdown. But I do still cry easily.


2. I got a cold in February, which landed in my lungs. Once the cold cleared up, my lungs remained inflamed and I've had a cough ever since. Two weeks ago my GP gave me a pump, and it's pretty much gone now.


3. I've had chronic headaches since I was 20 (I'm 37). For a couple years I've been seeing a specialist. I take a daily medication (Elavil) that's helped a lot, and I have good drugs for getting rid of headaches when they come. In January I started a second daily med to prevent headaches. I reached the full dosage my doc was starting me at in February.


Today's Story

Today I went to see my headache doctor and we talked about the Topamax. I'd read about the side effects when I first went on it, but I don't tend to remember everything. And I'm not a worrier, so I don't look for side effects. When I started getting a lot of pins and needles, I remembered it was a side effect. When I was sick and found myself getting hot too easily, I realized I was sweating less and remembered it was a side effect. One day in February I had a Coke that tasted flat even though it wasn't flat, and hours later I remember it was a side effect (isn't that totally weird?)


But I forgot that one possible side effect is sluggish thinking, for example. Probably because I wouldn't want to remember that. I remembered today when she asked me about it. I told her that when I learn new French words, they seem to stick, so no, I don't think it's been a problem.


Then she asked me, how are my moods? I didn't know what she meant. She asked if I was feeling angry, or aggressive? No. Was I crying more?


... !!


Yeeees. I told her about my marriage problems.


She asked if the crying was uncontrollable.


!!!!


I told I thought I'd been having a nervous breakdown!


She kept asking more questions, I assume until she was comfortable I wasn't going into a depression, before upping my Topamax dose. And she said if the side effects get too bad, then to just cut my dose back again.



Just now I went back to re-read the side effects. I can see why the moods thing didn't stick with me, cause it's very broad. It doesn't say "uncontrollable crying" -- that might be something she's run into in her practice, or in journals etc.


BUT. It does say: upper respiratory tract infections.


So the thing is... I'm now going to blame everything in my life on Topamax. Got a cold? It's the Topamax. Marriage problems? Topamax. Cats fighting? Must be the Topamax. Not in the mood to do any chores? Obviously it's the Topamax.


Feel free to blame your problems on my drug too. My drug is big enough to handle it.