Flecks of… Gray?

pic from washingtontimes.com

CBC reported that, “Hundreds to be hired to process EI claims” like it’s really good news. It reports that in one month, there were 23,700 new applications for EI but the government is doing their part to stand in the gap and are hiring hundreds of people which sounds like ~1% of people can get a job back. It struck me as ironic that things are so bad, and everyone is losing work but our saving grace is that all these people losing work has created new jobs to fill in the paperwork for their job loss – nice work boys.

This year for lent I decided to take up reading some books. My goal is to finish 5 books before Easter comes. So far, I’ve read the Watchmen comic which was actually a pretty big read but sadly probably doesn’t meet my criteria of a book actually being spiritually beneficial, so I’m still at zero read. I’m about half way done reading Brad Jersak’s, Kissing the Leper and after that I have four more books to read and only 2 more weeks to go – I’m in big trouble.

picture from todoseries.com

On Friday, one of my very favorite shows had its series finale. It was a great finale, satisfying ending with pretty much all the questions that I had cleared up. Not that it was perfect, but it was a good episode – great action and nice finish; well done BSG, my summers of waiting for new episodes are over. How’s SciFi (SyFy) going to float now?

I understand that this is a weird post and is of very little importance, but here it is – a list of famous(ish) people that I’ve seen – most of them at airports, but one was at a mall in Hawai’i (guess who). I suppose there’s Rob Brown too but he doesn’t get the picture treatment.

I am shallow and lame.

picture and story from hemispheres

I was on a United flight from SFO back to YVR on Friday and found this great article reading through their Hemispheres magazine.

It’s a story from a guy’s point of view who decided to stay home with their new child and let his wife go to work full time. He was a former writer and world traveler and he writes as his world contracts to the size of his neighborhood. I loved how realistic the story is of parenting these days; here’s a few portions of the article if you’re interested.

These days, the longest trip I ever take is to the local café. My luggage has gathered dust, my passport sits dolefully in a drawer and my world has shrunk to a mile’s radius around our house. Having once been flown to LA to interview Hollywood celebrities, I now go for entire days talking to no adults except the staff at Ava’s daycare and the occasional supermarket check-out worker. The edgiest my life gets is trying out an adventurous pasta recipe from Annabel Karmel’s Baby and Toddler Meal Planner.

I’m not complaining about my new life. Actually, maybe I am. But I know full well that I can’t expect any sympathy—neither from men, who probably view me as a cautionary tale, nor women, who can be forgiven for enjoying seeing the tables turned. And yet adjusting to my role as a domestic drudge has been a challenge. I’ve always thought of myself as a progressive, modern male—a fellow traveller in the march toward gender equality. And yet as much as I try to convince myself that being a stay-at-home dad is a worthy occupation for a man, I can’t help but feel like my masculinity is under attack. I can’t help feeling… well, like a housewife.

The biggest challenge for me has been adjusting to the long stretches of forced inactivity. Most of us go through life wishing there were more hours in the day. I now know that parents of small children instead spend large chunks of the day wishing time away. Only two hours until dinnertime, you find yourself thinking, then bath time, then bedtime stories, then a well-deserved glass of Shiraz for Daddy.

picture from thepicky.com

A report published by the CBC claims that people who signed up for the Do Not Call Registry are receiving about 80% less calls; I ask, how could they know that?

Harris-Decima polled 2,035 Canadian adults by phone between Jan. 29 and Feb. 15.

So, they poll a bunch of people by phone who signed up specifically not to be bothered by phone. Classy.

I did sign up for this registry and almost immediately noticed a lot of American numbers calling with automated information – that’s annoying. Seems that I’m not the only one though.

imageshack via digg

Craig goes around and posts up a bunch of silly notes around town, this was my favorite of the batch although the others are quite good as well.

I found this frightening creature wandering around our front yard picking some bugs and other dirt dwellings out from under our plants. At first, I saw the claws and crazy samurai helmet and was a little frightened. Then, my thoughts turned to the economic crisis and what a delicious free meal he would be; sadly, he was gone before I decided to discover if he was a tasty duck or not – I guess my neighbors will find out instead.

If you enjoy games like Sudoku you’ll probably like a lot of the games on Conceptis logic puzzles. They include Sudoku, KenKen (more mathematical Sudoku) and lots of picture logic games that are actually quite fun and challenging. Pictured are two that I was able to complete, Pix-a-pic and Battleships.

Rechte wortels
Originally uploaded by eworm

03/03/09