APRIL FOOLS

       The origin of April Fools Day is somewhat unclear. The day and celebration seem to have originated in various places and at various times. None of these origins are backed up by much evidence. 

      Many famous tricks and hoaxes have been done and then April Fools is said to let the person or people know that they have been tricked. The media has long had humor from April Fools day.

      Schools have had their fair share of good April Fool's tricks. I went to a one room country school from 1945 to 1954. It was standard procedure that we try to get something over on the teacher. A hand bell was used to call students to class in the morning and after breaks like recess and noon hour. So in many of these schools the gong was taken out of the  bell and when the teacher went out to shake the bell vigorously, nothing happened. Usually we were nearby so that we could see the teacher's reaction. We stood around for a minute as if we weren't going in the school and then everybody said April Fools. We weren't that smart as we did this every year.

     The past seven days the Micro Manager has not been in good health. Somehow she came down with a stomach ailment that produced diarrhea for 4 days and then another two days to reach normal. Now she kept on a liquid diet for four days and then another two days of being careful what she ate. By days 5 and 6 she was very tired from lack of regular food. So she usually goes to the Casino for breakfast or lunch and she was determined to go. I said no way but she doesn't listen to me. My daughter said be careful and stay away from big heavy meals. 

    So About 11:30 yesterday morning the Micro Manager had her coat ready. She was going out for lunch no matter what. She thoroughly  enjoyed a steak sandwich. 

   So this morning , a while after breakfast she said, "Guess what . I've got diarrhea again." She quickly said April Fools before I jumped through the roof.

    It' been a long time since there was a good April Fool's trick was played around here. 

ANOTHER CALL CENTER RANT

        I have ranted about my frustrations with call centers several times on this blog. Today, I had another very unpleasant experience with a call center.

        We had received a letter a few days ago from the bank telling us if we didn't want a certain investment to roll over automatically that we should phone a certain number to tell them not to roll the investment over. 

       The Micro Manager was doing that piece of business this morning. I was busy stretching but I could hear the conversation as the speaker phone was on. They asked for a couple of the usual identity questions . Then they kept going on. I came into the office to pay more attention and finally I told the micro Manager that these questions were unnecessary as far as identity was concerned . Oh yes they said we are updating our information and continued with pressure. They asked the Micro Manager's age. They already had her birth date. When they asked if she was a Canadian citizen and if she filed income tax in Canada , that was the end. 

     I felt that they were going on a fishing expedition to get information to sell me more product. It felt creepy. I began to think that they were scammers.  They really put the pressure on for answers to the last questions but we stuck to our guns and said no way. 

     So, unless we answered the questions , they were not going to do the piece of business we were asking for. So the piece of business was not done and we are contacting the local bank manager. 

    I'm thinking about the part on the phone introduction that says "This call may be monitored." I hope it was monitored

COUNTRY POET

 

            Country poets come in many forms. Their claim to fame is that they tell the local rural story with a passion.

             Uncle Tom was our rural community's poet. Our part of western Canada was settled by homesteaders about 1905. Uncle Tom got his homestead ( 160 acres for $10.00) . I'm sure that he had far less than 8 years of education but his poetry writing is well done. He told stories through his poetry. If there was a community celebration, Uncle Tom would have a poem.

         My parents were married in Feb of 1938. They were married in another province and came back to the farm a few days after their marriage. Notice the date. Economic conditions were terrible at that time. However, it didn't stop the community from  having a party for the new couple. It was a time when small wedding gifts were given. People got together , sang, played games and visited. 

      To mark the occasion uncle Tom wrote a poem .

 So here's the poem Uncle Tom wrote for Mom and Dad.

       This poem has been a family favorite.

BRIAN MULRONEY

       A state funeral was held today for Brian Mulroney, former Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. 

       I knew a state funeral was coming up but I had no intention of following it. However, today CBC said that the following programs would be preempted so that the state funeral could be broadcast. The Micro Manager had her radio on and before I turned it off I was hooked into listening to the whole ceremony. It was interesting and I'm glad I listened to it. We had a good chat after it was over. 

      Brian Mulroney was first elected in 1984 with a huge majority in parliament. In the next 8 years Mulroney brought in many very important pieces of legislation which changed Canada to this day. He brought in the GST which was very unpopular , but we still have it today. He established a free trade agreement and acid rain with the United States. He helped eliminate apartheid from South Africa. He also worked very hard to make Canada a more unified country. 

    Many of the pieces of legislation brought in were very unpopular. Mulroney did not worry about that. He just carried on setting up legislation that he thought would benefit Canada. He was not worried about winning elections. He just wanted to do things that would benefit Canada. At the end of his term he lost the election big time. 

    Wouldn't it be great today if political parties focused on bring about good things for the country instead of spending most of their time trying to win the next election. 

      These things were remembered today along with his personal attributes. A funny story was told when his daughter's boyfriend asked Muloney if he could make a proposal to him about his daughter. Mulroney's reply was "What proposal?" 

I'm very glad that I listened to this ceremony today. 

I SHOULD HAVE KEPT MY MOUTH SHUT

      A few days ago we had very pleasant weather. We had highs of 11 and 12 C for several days. These are above normal for us at this time of year.

      Unfortunately, I told someone about the pleasant weather.

      What should immediately show up on the forecast? SNOW! Not just snow , but lots of snow and for many days and the temperatures would also drop.

      I should have kept my mouth shut. Here are a few photos to show you what it's like. We've ad about 10 cm of snow which is a lot for us. 

      It was very dull. I tried to take a cut in the snow to show the depth of the snow.

                   The juniper with a load of snow. 

                          Spruce trees loaded with snow.

                                   Street view

My neighbor cleaning snow off his deck. 

GARRISON KEILLOR

      I discovered Garrison Keillor a long time ago.  How a Western Canadian Prairie boy came across Keillor , I'll never know. I think I came across MPR a few times when  I was living in the Arctic and was bored and had been going through various radio frequencies. Somehow I landed on MPR (Minnesota Public Radio.)

      Keillor told stories based on a fictional Lake Wobegon community. He had many  characters in the community and it was always funny. It was similar to Canada's Stuart Mclean who had a fictional community of neighbors. Both included much music in their shows. Keillor also had A Prairie Home Companion. 

    Check out Keillor's a young Lutheran's guide to the symphony orchestra. He also had a story about a college kid who was passionate about college radio. One day the kid had worked hard preparing a show but forgot to turn the station on so he talked to himself. 

    So a few weeks go I picked up a Keillor's Pilgrims: a Wobegon Romance expecting it to be humorous like some of his other books. The book was neither funny nor interesting. 

    Then for the first time I looked up Keillor on line and found out that he was not a very nice guy. He faced various charges about indecent behavior towards females. He had many conflicts with MPR  and  publishers.

    So I find much of his material interesting, I was surprised to find that he led a very troubled life. 

ARCTIC AND NORTHERN HEALTH

       I was listening to my favorite radio station and program Tuesday morning when they had a half hour on northern health. They were talking to a former MLA and cabinet minister about northern health. Very few people have a family physician. Very few people have access to hospital treatment and fewer yet to long term care. 

     It's similar to the situation I described about a murder that took place. People are sent south to something that is very strange. They have different food to eat. They have challenges with the language. They don't have  visits from family and friends. Sometimes the visits keep people going. The people back home worry and don't get information about the patient.

    In 1963 to 1966 I taught in Inuvik and we had little kids that stayed in the hostel and were 1000 miles from home. 

   What caught my ear on this program, is that for long term care some seniors had to be 1000 miles from home. The distance from Iqaluit to Ottawa is 1305 miles.  I'd heard this number before.  Right? I thought things had changed a bit. 

    Seniors are taken to Ottawa from Iqaluit. They are 1000 miles from home in a strange environment. 

   One example of a problem made me snicker. Some seniors would be given pajamas and asked to wear them. Some of these people had never ever worn pajamas. They didn't like pajamas and weren't comfortable wearing them.

    Then I thought of myself. I don't wear pajamas. I dislike them. So the thought of me being given pajamas got me thinking about their problems in a very personal way.