sarcastic road signs?!

So there I was making my usual journey to work, when I noticed that the usual message of "BLACK ICE" or "TRAFFIC CONGESTION ON THE ...." wasn't being displayed on the information sign as I crossed over the bridge.

Instead, today it read-"TRAFFIC MOVING WELL.......IN THE METRO".

I didn't know what to think! I kinda half-smiled and thought-ha, clever way to get people thinking about public transit...but I guess it would have been more effective had traffic been moving at a snail's pace but ironically enough, traffic (or lack there of) was moving quite smoothly.

Well, I guess someone's getting their kicks....I'm just thinking of all the people who just didn't get it..........

lotto update.

no, they didn't win!
you could imagine my relief when i came into the office and lo and behold there were my co-workers scurrying about
as usual....

there was some mention of the upcoming $30 million draw though. but i guess most were disillusioned and figured it just wasn't worth the investment :)

I missed out on the office lotto pool today. When I got the email, the sceptic in me was like-'Ah, we're not gonna win! What are the chances? I'll just 'save' my dollar...' (Moments later I found myself at the vending machine, but I digress ) Everyone on my team contributed $1 in hopes of winning the big $25 million.
So now, I see people walking around, waving the sheet with the 'winning' numbers and their eyes glimmering with the hopes of winning big. That's what lotto Quebec does- for $1 you can buy a dream. Isn't amazing what a dollar can do? I mean, for the next week, you are dreaming the dream and hoping big and imagining how different and great your life will be when you win (you are definitely thinking positive and thinking-when and not if). When the numbers don't come through, you toss the sheet aside and continue along in your current reality, until next week's draw. There's always the burning question-
'what if?'
Normally, I wouldn't care and wouldn't have thought much about it but because the thought did cross my mind 'what if they do win?', I am starting to think it may be a possiblity and my sceptiscm might just come back and haunt me. No one likes a sceptic, right?
So basically, if in the off chance they do win, looks like I'll be the only one coming in on Monday, while the rest of my
team is off on some cruise or smthg!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I guess this is the anti-lotto dream. And I'm beginning to see how they get you sucked in....................

interesting....

What Famous Leader Are You?

I experienced the 4-stages of traffic induced lunacy today.

'In the U.S'...

you don't know how many conversations I have had in the past 5 months with my office-mate,
a newly arrived Montrealer from the US (that is such an American thing to say-I'm going to
CANADA!...he's from Dallas, Texas) that have begun with that statement and have ended with me saying-'Welcome to 'Canada'...Don't get me wrong, I love Canada (I hope you do realize I mean Montreal :) but I guess for someone coming from the U.S there are a few lifestyle adjustments that need to be made.

Namely: I've discovered that you can buy stamps from vending machines in the U.S!
Imagine that, all those times you've so desperately wanted to mail something and the post
office is closed and you have to wait until the next day to buy your 0.45$ stamp.
My shock was-people still send letters?!

k, i'll be serious.

I had to explain to my coworker that Canada is a much smaller country than the U.S and with only 35million people compared to their 200+, there just isn't as big a demand for all these services nor a market for everything under the sun.
He was shocked that we were only 35million peeps (how much research did he do when he moved here?! ...at least he was prepared for the weather ..but i'll get to that)

Anyways, so my coworker remarked how he had heard so many great things about 'Canada'; less
crime, medicare, $5/day daycare etc.
So you can imagine his dismay when he was refused by many doctors who were no longer accepting any more new patients. One day, he gets a call from his daughter's school because she was having major stomach pains and they needed to pick her up. My coworker and his wife decided to take her to the ER, and waited 5-6 hours before they got to see a doctor. My 'rents woulda just sat me on the toilet, if you know what I mean..

So the next day, he tells me-'In the US, it would have been in and out...'
and I go-'ya,but it would have also cost you $1000!'
He agreed. (points, points, points Canada!)

It gets better (or worse, depending on how you look at it). His younger son is of day care age. So my coworker decided to apply for the $5/day daycare. You could imagine his disappointment when he was put on a huge waiting list (until his kids are probably no longer of age) and instead has to pay $30/day (these kids are not napping on blankets, i'm sure!)
the catch:
At the end of last year, the government announced they were raising the price of $5/day to $7.
My coworker gets a call from his daycare informing him of a rate hike from $30 to $40!!
After rough calcuations, he discovered that that comes out to ~10K a year.
I then chimed in-'That's more than university!'

That is crazy! I think I was shocked to know that my university education cost less than daycare. He was then shocked to learn how little I had to pay for my university education considering 'in the U.S' almost everyone comes out with some kinda debt.
Forget that! He then laughed and said he's gonna be in debt before his kids are out of diapers!

Welcome to 'Canada'.

brrrrrrrrrrr................... it's cold


Just thought i'd come out of hibernation for a bit and say hello to my readers (you know who you are!)
hope everyone's enjoying the deep freeze.. I mean what better time than now to snuggle up in a warm blanket with a good book, by a cozy fire and drink some hot chocolate/apple cider....

see ya!

happy hibernating!

On a similar note, after checking out today's front page Gazette, I realized how fortunate I really am. The homeless man that you see in the background, was a fixture on my daily walks to con u. Over my four years I saw him on St.Cat, sometimes with shoes, other times with nothing but garbage bags wrapped around his feet. Seeing him again on the front page is a reminder of how lucky we really are . I mean we complain about the cold, but when it comes down to it, at the end of the day we know we have warm houses waiting for us, and our cars to take us there. It's heartbreaking to think that there are so many people who have no where to go and no warmth at the end of their day and that in this day and age there are still people who have to suffer without their basic needs of food, clothing and shelter being met.

8 days into the New Year..

Resolutions Broken: 0

Pretty good, eh?

Resolutions Made: 0

Why?

This year I've decided to accept my imperfections and not try to live up to some unattainable goals made by society. I'm not gonna strive to be like some women on the cover of a magazine (not that i ever was) ...but you know what I mean..So what if there is a lil extra fat on my hips...it might actually help keep me warm in this weather!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe another year has flown by!

Resolutions?

I'll get back to you! I'm still working on last year's!

Wishing y'all the best...........