Inquiring Minds Want to Know

I was just entering into kindergarten when our family finally got our first TV.  I was at that age where I was starting to figure out that not everything that happens in cartoons happens in real life.  For example, I knew that if an anvil dropped out from the sky, little cartoon birds would circle around your head.  I was however, not quite sure about pepper.  In cartoons when a character is exposed to pepper there is a sneezing fit of epic proportions.  Now this is where I was confused, because violent sneezing of epic proportions is certainly a plausible human reaction.  But really,  could pepper really cause someone to sneeze with the same epic proportions as seen on TV?  It was one of those questions which kept nagging my young, curious mind. 

Now, I have always possessed an innate curiosity that must be tested out, and during one boring road trip I had my chance to satisfy my curiosity.  As a small child I found road trips to be incredibly boring.  My brother would instantly fall asleep the minute the car pulled out of the driveway, so I was stuck in the back with a sleeping brother on one side of me and the window showing endless field after field on the other side.

My sleeping brother would be the key ingredient I needed in satisfying my curiosity.  You see, after one stop at a restaurant for a bite to eat and a bit of respite from the confines of the car, I took  few packets of pepper and kept them for myself.  Back on the road, my brother quickly fell back asleep, leaving me to quietly contemplate the possible outcomes of what my actions could generate.  Unfortunately for my brother, he was sleeping with his head towards me and his nostril pointing skyward.  It was too perfect to resist.  I took that pepper package out from my pocket, tore the corner off, and then poured the entire contents of that pepper package into the nostril of my innocent brother.   YEP . . . Pepper definitely causes a person to sneeze violently JUST like the cartoons.  

I have learned not to test out any hypothesis when stuck in a confined space.  There is just no place to go when you are stuck inside a moving vehicle, sitting beside a brother who is fuming mad at you because he just found out what you did to him.

my latest read

I just finished reading Reconciliation by Benazir Bhutto.  She is a former Prime Minister of Pakistan who returned to her homeland in October, 2007.  The images on the news that night showed the emotion of the huge crowds: the excitement and celebration of her arrival.  The news also showed the assassination attempt on her life which killed almost 200 people.  By December, Bhutto was killed in a successful assassination attempt.  It was her death that compelled me to find out what was so important to her that she willingly put her life in danger.

It is Bhuttos belief in democracy for her homeland of Pakistan that led to her death.  In essence Bhutto believes that poverty and hopelessness create an environment condusive to terrorism. She advocates that democracy, as well as education and economics will end terrorism.  This solution isn't unique to the people of Pakistan.  I think that many social problems can be alleviated by addressing education and economic disparity, in specific and tangible ways.

While Benazir Bhutto's message may have been about democracy.  What really stood out for me was the importance of her parents.  Her parents instilled the importance of education, fairness, equality, and hard work.  Her parents modeled these values and ethics both through their expectations at home, as well as in their daily life.  Her father was a former Prime Minister of Pakistan who was trying to bring about democratic change in his country.  He was overthrown and executed.  I believe in the importance of our actions, because our actions will always speak louder than words.

It's Officially Spring! Huh????

I thought it was spring.  

I started off my trip to Edmonton by driving through fog.  It was freezing.  . . Freezing Fog-which is very deceptive,  because the roads look clear but are actually slick with ice.  

So, I was happy to see the snow.  I can handle driving in blowing snow. . . or so I thought.  

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But the snow didn't stop.  There was lots and lots and lots of snow.

It's really really boring driving at a safe 30 km/hr behind my semi friend.  (This picture is for you, Mom!)

I wish I drove a manly man truck, they just seemed to fly by, plowing though the "other lane", disappearing into the plume behind the semi, and never ending up in the ditch.  

One car actually plowed halfway into the median between the two roads and a semi was jack-knifed in the ditch facing traffic.

When I get home, I'm not leaving the city until summer is well established.

Roll up the Rim

I'm pretty sure that I threw out a coffee cup last week that was a "winner". Every time I roll up that rim, I'm not surprised to see the standard "Please Play Again" on the grey background.  I thought all "losers" were grey, while the "winners" would be a cheerful color of yellow. Thinking back to last week,  I'm pretty sure I rolled back one rim and read: You did not win. Come on . . . really . . . what was i thinking???  When would they ever print: "You did not win".

I checked out the official roll up the rim website, where they had the "Fun Fact" that 88% of the major prizes last year were redeemed.  That means 12% weren't.  And with the amount of coffee I was consuming last year, I'm willing to bet that I was the 12%.  Incidentally, I beg to differ, that fact is anything but "fun".

Check out the website, there is  a RRRollup Warmup Game where you can match prizes. Hopefully I can stimulate some brain cells to grow if I play it enough times.

here's the link:  www.rolluptherimtowin.com

you can also enter to win free coffee for a year.

It was inevitable.

Yesterday I updated my facebook status to:  Becky is succumbing to the ubiquitous cold.  Just to clarify; I was not referring to the recent horrid temperatures, but rather to the "common cold". 

In my mind I have personified my cold, into one who is annoying and persistent and who has been making increased demands for my attention until I can no longer ignore him.  By personifying my cold I can now focus my efforts into fighting this invisible foe which is inhabiting my body.  

For weeks the Cold was nicely contained within my sinuses, a little annoying when I couldn't breathe or smell, but nothing major.  He then moved into my inner left ear and I felt like a little old man was walking around crinkling tissue paper within my ear.  

Today, I had to leave work early.  On the way home I stopped at the store to pick up my "Sick Kit".  This is my version of a first aid kit, but is only used when I am sick.  

It consists of: 

1) A 3 Day Supply of Cold fX

2) Ginger Ale

3) Orange Juice 

4) Halls Centers 

5) a box of Kleenex, and

6) some Chicken Noodle Soup. 

The contents of my Sick Kit seem pretty stereotypical, and in all honesty I will probably never drink the orange juice.  But it just makes me feel better knowing I have these items in the house.  I have no idea whether there is any scientific basis to using Cold fX, but I will definitely shell out money for any placebo effects I can get.

As a side note, my dog is taking advantage of my weakness by sleeping in bed with me all day long.  I could think that he is just trying to "be there for me", but I strongly suspect its all about the sleeping on the bed for him.

Belgium Cookies

  

Belgium Cookies are one of the two things I find hard to share (the other is Tim Horton's coffee during Roll Up The Rim). To truly appreciate a Belgium Cookie, one must first realize how painstakingly long it takes to make one.

The batter is cooked in a special iron and comes out as a thin wafer, kinda like the combination of a crepe and a waffle.  The thin, hot cookie is immediately removed from the iron and sliced in half before it is iced and put back together. The result is a sweet cookie, with the pattern on the cookie giving an interesting texture with every bite. 

Since I don't have the special iron, nor do I have the inclination to bake such finicky things I savour every bite as I am at the mercy of my coworker's generosity.

Succulent Snowpeas

I met with a friend last Sunday for lunch at Original Joe's.  I ordered the Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich and a Honey Brown Lager.  She had the Pacific Rim Noodle Bowl.  I was amazed at the sheer size of the soup bowl and decided to take a picture with my phone.  Little did I know that later in the meal I would pause mid sentence and with a slightly confused look on my face wonder why I felt the spray of droplets not only my forehead, but my cheek and even my arm as well.  I guess when a Snow Pea was bitten in half, the contents squirted out the end and sprayed over the food and across the table, ending up on myself.  

Welcome

So now that I have more time on my hands, I've decided to try my own blog.  I imagine this blog will be an amalgamation of my thoughts and ideas, presented in a random and sporadic sort of way.  I've decided to call my blog A Little Less Volume because a friend recently informed me that I was talking very loudly. . . this is true, I definitely have volume control issues.  Hence, I've decided to convey myself through a quieter medium.