Back to cursing Bell

My first cell phone was with Bell.

We were friends for a little while... and then once I started to get dinged every time I went back to PEI for the summer... I started to curse Bell Canada. I vowed I would switch to Rogers.

And I did.

Shortly thereafter I started to hate Rogers. I cursed their crappy cell phone packages. Every bill I got I dreaded ... the fees, the incidental charges... up up up...

Then I moved to the north. And escaped the corrupt world of cell phone plans.

Until 2 months ago. I found a plan that just couldn't be beat. 20 bucks a month... free phone... and all the fixins' the hitch? Re-sign with Bell.

I had forgotten how much I loooooathed Bell and it's pitiful cell phone service. Until today.

This is the dumbest. Thing. Ever. YOU CAN'T CONTROL WHO SENDS YOU TEXTS.

I'm so annoyed at this. Has anyone heard of some sort of petition/letter writing campaign I can join ?? Let me know.

This time, Bell...you've gone too far.

FEEL MY WRATH!

Whoopsie...

Note to self: pay close attention to the numbers FOLLOWING the 1-8......

FYI...

1-866-489-3355 = (Robotic woman's voice) "Welcome to Dell. If you would like to dial an extension, press 1..."

1-800-489-3355 = (Sultry woman's voice) "Hey sexy guy. We've got pleanty of hot horny girls JUST FOR YOU!"

Sticker shock

One 6-pack of plain bagels
+
One small tub of herb and garlic philly cream cheese
+
One small bottle (450mL) of Cranberry juice

=

$15.30

Grrrr...

a new leaf... maybe

Ever since I got back to Rankin all I've wanted is "GOOD FOOD"

I'm not exactly sure what "good food" means... probably something that vaguely resembles what we were eating in Greece.

Which is kind of funny being as I more or less swore I would never look at another Greek salad again...after a week straight of 2x-greek salads a day....

But I did my first grocery shopping trip since I got back last night... and I don't think I've ever bought so many veggies since moving to Rankin.

I think largely, because they are fairly pricey... and go bad WAY too soon (combination of living alone and veggie-neglect... they always look much better in the store than after 3 days in the "crisper" - which to be honest, I think should be called a "wilter" but whatever...).

But I noticed something when I was in Greece: I didn't crave like ANYTHING. And anyone who knows me is probably dying from shock right now, because I'm somewhat known for my random INTENSE food cravings. I staple of my vocabulary is "I swear, all I want right now is X" or "My new goal in life is to eat/drink X"

I attributed it to the sheer MASS amounts of food we were eating... but the more I think about it.... the more I am convincing myself that it was more so WHAT we were eating. The meals were just heaps upon heaps of fresh vegetables. Quality meats. Olive-oil-fried-potato wedges. Fresh cheeses.

So I now have a new goal. More veggies. More milk. More cheese. Less "fast-food" (or, rather, "convenience" food I think is the better term). And maybe this will help curb my wild cravings for less-than-healthy foods.

Hmm.

RIP Nicotye

CBC Nunavut has been completely torn apart by grief this week.

UPDATE: A colleague of ours passed Monday night...

I only found out about her death yesterday morning, when I got back to work. I didn't really know Nicotye, just through email communication, really. When I was working in Iqaluit for that first month, she was on vacation.

I knew she had lost her daughter, but I didn't know the background behind it. In 2002, her 13-year-old daughter Jennifer was stabbed to death 30 times. One of the most brutal murders known to Nunavut. Nic was the one to find her, and it really traumatized her. She was known for saying that both her daughter's and her own lives were taken that night Jennifer was killed.

The man who plead guilty to her murder only did so a year ago... finally putting an end to the unanswered questions surrounding Jennifer's death. It came out in court that the RCMP was even using the guy undercover to try and get a confession out of Nic. Talk about traumatizing.


This is the first time, since I have moved up here, that I've been touched by suicide. Given the high incidence in the territory, I'm actually surprised it hadn't happened earlier. The stubborn part of me thinks that suicide is selfish. That while it relieves the pain of one, it just transfers it to so many others. (negative) Energy not being able to be created or destroyed... and all that

But Nicotye's story just ... is just one of such despair. And I have to wonder how ANYONE could have come out on the other side of that. And that's something I don't think we really think about much, the human effect of the justice system. We watch Law and Order and CSI... and families are always questioned, searched, investigated.... but never really think how hard that would be. To be in mourning for a loved one, dealing with intense emotional, psychological pain... and at the same time, to be a suspect in their death. It would be torture.


I guess the only thing to say is I hope Nic has found peace... and that those who loved her, and knew her, will be able to deal with their grief in a healthy way. Wounds hurt, and they bleed, and sometimes it seems like they will never heal. But they do. And the pain subsides. But the scar remains behind, a forever-reminder, so we will never forget.

RIP Nicotye.

secret guilty pleasure

Premium Plus saltine crackers (salted, of course, take THAT mom!)
+
Near-frozen butter or Imperial margerine (that you have to literally chisel out with a knife to get on the cracker)

For breakfast.

On the road again...

Today we leave Greece. And I'm hardly ready to go back.

I like it here... but I'll admit it is kind of time to move on. I'm just not sure I'm ready to go ALL the way back.

I've been feeling a bit nomadic of late. People ask me where I'm from... I say where I live (Rankin), and where I grew up (PEI)... but neither of those really feels like HOME.

It's kind of depressing. I know where my family home is... I know where all my personal effects are... but one is just memories and the other, material goods.

It would be nice to just settle down somewhere... in a place I feel "has it all"... so I'm not constantly wanting out, craving "more" or "else"... so I can just BE for awhile.

Now I just have to find that place.....