Goodbyes

This morning was very strange for me.

My dad left for Calgary at 10am, which is his usual biweekly stint; however, this time is different because I won’t see him again for about a year. Dad is going to work in Saudi Arabia and I haven’t even really talked to him about it. He’s not even sure of his departure date but it will be sometime in the next two weeks. I guess that’s just how the industry is—I should be used to it by now, as he’s been working internationally for over five years now and it’s the same every time, but I’m not.

I also said goodbye to a good friend who’s moving to Vancouver this afternoon. I did it in a really shitty way too, which didn’t manage to give me the closure that I wanted, or the well-wishing that she deserved. I don’t see her very often but now that she’s going, I feel that I should have made more of an effort to see her when I could. My life seems to be that way lately—full of change and not enough time to soak in the moments. I’ll miss your style, Olly, K-town doesn’t know what it had.

Finally, I’m saying goodbye to everyone else. Tami and I are leaving for our annual vacation today. I know I should be more excited but this morning has been more focused on other things. I imagine it’ll kick in hard like a narcotic as the plane takes off: that strange feeling as your mind begins to move faster than your body and the tingling beginning in the pit of the stomach and slowly traveling up your spine. You’re flying and no one can touch you now… even if you want them to.

Sliding standards

As Horizon was the last place I worked, this news article terrifies me.

Oilsands Deaths

In my mind, actual safety standards on these large projects have taken a back seat to professing an image of safety and incidents such as this are the result. I saw an exorbinant amount of safety infractions at CNRL's Horizon site, but it became clear almost imediately that any outcry was ineffectual and fell on deaf ears.

I am saddened by this story. I only hope that it doesn't turn into a message of hate directed at the standards of temporary foreign labour when the real issue is that of CNRL ignoring their responsibilities: contractors should demonstrate an actual commitment to safety prior to their receiving of a contract. CNRL, along with many recent oilsands developers, opt to award contracts based on the lowest bidder. However, it is simple logic that a low bid exists because it has neglected certain aspects of the required standards. Unfortunately, as the most expensive aspect of a contract is labour, and focus on performing a task safely directly affects production, the results are wage and benefit cuts and the increased presence of safety programs which are mere facades and/or mimic pre-existing programs that may or not be suitable for the very unique tasks required in the oilsands environment. Incidents such as this will continue to occur if some very real changes are not realized in Canadian labour standards and those standards can not take a back seat to greed any longer. Our lives are much too valuable.

Thank you for listening... hopefully the major players in Canadian oil production start to also.

Finding the time...

I got another disturbing email from my father today (did I rant once about this before... I can't remember). It's one of those mass forwards about immigration and the destruction of the American Dream. I doubt I'm alone in thinking that this is total bullshit and I'm posting it here for everyone to read along with the response I sent to my dad in the hope that he forwards that off to all of his office friends who send out this tripe on a daily basis. Here's the original email:

WHEN YOU FIND THE TIME....and it had better be NOW.... read this, and then re-read it. It probably is the most important "read" to come along in your lifetime...It could mean your life as you now know it. Please read it....understand it.....AND CIRCULATE IT. It won't be found in any media outlet...it's up to you....

We know Dick Lamm as the former Governor of Colorado. In that context his thoughts are particularly poignant. Last week there was an immigration Overpopulation conference in Washington, DC, filled to capacity by many of America's finest minds and leaders.

A brilliant college professor by the name of Victor Hansen Davis talked about his latest book, Mexifornia," explaining how immigration - both legal and illegal was destroying the entire state of California. He said it would march across the country until it destroyed all vestiges of the American Dream.

Moments later, former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and gave a stunning speech on how to destroy America. The audience sat spellbound as he described eight methods for the destruction of the United States. He said, "If you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America. It is not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and that an autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide.'" Here is how they do it," Lamm said:

"First, to destroy America, turn America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bicultural country. History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. The historical scholar, Seymour Lipset, put it this way: "The histories of bilingual and bi-cultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy" Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, and Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans.

Lamm went on. Second, to destroy America, "Invent 'multiculturalism’ and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. I would make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal. That there are no cultural differences. I would make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due solely to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds.

Third, "We could make the United States a 'Hispanic Quebec' without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: "The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentricity and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together. Lamm said, "I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America enforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities."

"Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school."

"My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of Victimology. I would get all minorities to think that their lack of success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population."

"My sixth plan for America's downfall would include dual citizenship, and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes to keep a nation together. Look at The ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic Games. A common enemy, Persia, threatened their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell. "E. Pluribus Unum." From many, one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus'. Instead of the 'Unum,' we will balkanize America as surely as Kosovo."

"Next to last, I would place all those subjects off limits; make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt discussion and debate.

Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established multi-culturism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of 'Victimology,' I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them."

In the last minute of his speech, Governor Lamm wiped his brow. Profound silence followed. Finally he said, "Lastly, I would censor Victor Hanson Davis's book Mexifornia. His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America. If you feel America deserves to be destroyed, don't read that book."

There was no applause. A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous cloud above every Attendee at the conference. Every American in that room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically, quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today.

Discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness. Even barbaric cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing as we celebrate diversity. American jobs are vanishing into the Third World as corporations create a Third World in America - take note of California and other states - to date, ten million illegal aliens and growing fast. It is reminiscent of George Orwell's book 1984. In that story, three slogans are engraved in the Ministry of Truth building: "War is peace," "Freedom is slavery," and "Ignorance is strength."

Governor Lamm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy is deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a California wildfire and destroy everything in its path, especially The American Dream.

If you care for and love our country as I do, take the time to pass this on just as I did to you. Trust me NOTHING is going to happen if you don't.

And here's the email I sent out to my dad:

Oh boy. Where to begin?

I guess I’ll start with how this argument is problematic in that it paints a picture of diversity as a conscious plot to destroy America and/or the American Dream. First of all, the idea that millions of people in neighbouring countries are all intentionally swarming the border with the intent of taking over is completely preposterous. These days, the only borders I see being crossed with malicious intent are those being crossed by Bush and his warmongering buddies in the search of investment properties to expand the American empire. If anything, the notion of an "American Dream" is responsible for the idea that the grass is greener in America and that anyone can just come over and find economic success regardless of the opinion of the indiginous population... isn't that the underlying message of the cowboy/indian legacy? America: a land rich for the taking. Let's not forget that international lending groups such as the IMF or the World Bank determine global "progress" on a sink or swim model derived from US structures, creating an international panic/desire to Americanize. So can anyone blame the less fortunate populations/social groups of the world for desiring that which has been purported to be desirable on a global scale? That's the American Dream.

The language thing. Canada is multilingual, and although we have had our problems, we seem to be doing just fine. Our crime rate is lower than the US, and so is our unemployment rate. Tensions between differing language groups are unavoidable if they refuse to acknowledge one another. The only problem I have with the recognition of two official languages is that it simply recreates a heirarchy: in Canada, the large presence of slavic, asian, and local indegenous languages (just to name a few) are placed beneath French or English but at least we are making efforts to recognize these as important cultural markers. The fact of the matter is that without language, culture dies. It seems to me that the email's argument is contradictory on this point: it speaks about the prevention of America's cultural destruction, by rejecting the cultural values of others. Seems pretty elitist to me.

The acceptance of others is not dependent on an us/them dynamic. Just because one chooses to accept the values of another, it does not mean that she/he must surrender his/her own values. Harmonious relationships succeed because of the intermingling of ideas. The more lines/definitions/borders we draw, the more problems we will create. Which brings me to the idea of nationalism. What is a nation? It's an imaginary line on a map. Just because a bunch of bureaucrats got together 200 years ago and divied up the spoils of conquered land, doesn't make those boundaries anything but lines on a map. A line is a division separating one thing from another. In the case of nations, borders create a dynamic of conflict and an excuse to ensconce the industry of war. Another problem is that, historically, nations have always attempted to assimilate the many individual groups within their whole rather than allowing them to flourish. The result, of course, is the rise of internal conflict. Maybe that’s part of the process though, because conflict (internal or external) seems to be profitable for the US.

The author also talks about the creation of more and more classes within America as being a problem. Yes! But wouldn't it be more productive to spend more time trying to envision societies that are classless rather than trying so hard to entrench the current (and problematic) structure?

I wish I had more time to rip this thing up, because in my opinion it is hurtful and destructive in its message and there are so many other elements within this that are begging to be proven wrong. However, that’s the second time that my bell has been rung by Jehovah’s Witnesses this morning and I guess I need to go debate the inconsistencies within organized religion instead.

I don't even know why Dad sends me this crap; he's not American, and he's even got a dual citizenship, which is totally evil according to this thing. I really wanted to address that bit about the "Cult of Victimology" and the misnomer that all minorities feel victimized by every member of the majority populace, but I really did have the Watchtower flunkies on my doorstep ringing away madly. I actually spent almost an hour with the two ladies arguing about how their religion subjects them by positioning them as inferior to the male elders, how the notion that Jehovah punishes doesn't go with my vision of an understanding saviour, and my concern with the irrationalality of only allowing 140,000 MEN into heaven while currently boasting a flock of well over 6,000,000. Unfortunately, my efforts to bring them into the light were unsuccesful and they were not to be conformed. Maybe next time though... I'll keep trying.

Feel free to use the comment page here to apply your own critiques on the email. I'll welcome discussion on this one with open arms.

Pollenation...

The standard patterns of my life have been interrupted for the past four weeks or so with the coming of spring. I enjoy the arrival of this season because, in all of it's glory, spring tends to kick everything in the ass and shout "Get out of bed and do something!" For me, this is the moment when the lethargy of winter comes to an end... the end of snowboarding season, and the beginnings of cycling. Accompanying the weather shift is the floral signification--tulips, azalias, everything is budding these days and not only does it kickstart the neverending cycle of yardwork that comes with home ownership (and marriage to Tami) but it also hits me in a whole other aspect of life in general... allergies.

I have been living on a daily dosage of Reactine, Chlor-Triplon, nasal sprays, and Kleenex for about a month now. Drugs store chains must just love this time of year. The funny thing is that the allergy season always seems to take me by surprise, maybe I just don't want to admit that my life can be so significantly altered by nature, but I usually suffer through without the aid of drugs until it becomes totally unbearable or embarrassing (whichever comes first). I think this particular time of year is the worst for me because along with the pollenation of various plantlife, the melting of snow allows various dusts and molds to rise freely into the air and freely attack the nasal systems of random passers-by. Also, because it's still early in the season, my budding young horticulturally-inclined wife will only put some plants outside during the day and brings them into the house overnight to protect them from the night chills, and as a result, the plants tend to contaminate my breathing environment somewhat.

The Lilac Chinese Lantern tree that is currently taking over our kitchen

This past week has also been interesting for me because Tami's parents just finalised the sale of their house, and have been staying here periodically while their business goes through. Now, I have nothing against their staying here at all, in fact, I enjoyed the opportunity to return the favour (as I had spent many a night in their house without objection when Tami and I were still dating). Our relationship isn't the stereotypical in-law/outlaw relationship that is so often portrayed by sitcoms as acidic or malevolent: I get along extremely well with Bernie and Fran and enjoy the time we spend together immensely. Unfortunately, the arrival of Tami's parents comes with some baggage other than their luggage... I'm talking about Sam and Chip.

Sam and Fran chillin' on our couch the night we returned from Peru

Samson (Sam for short) and Chip are Bernie and Fran's dogs. Sam is the Shar Pei that they have had for about nine years and Chip is the Border Collie that they recently acquired with the purchase of their new property in Cherryville. In case you don't see where this is leading yet, I'm horribly allergic to dogs--most animals, in fact, set my nasal passages running for the hills when in close proximity. Obviously, for short visits and whatnot, I deal pretty well with this problem; I'm not going to stop visiting people because they have pets or anything. The usual plan of attack is to just dose up heavilly before contact and things are fine. However, when the dogs were here last week, the prolonged exposure was really becoming difficult for me to handle, as allergic reactions are one of two athsmatic triggers for me. By the fifth day, I was inwardly excited to see my in-laws off, despite my enjoyment of their company. Which brings me to today.

After leaving on Tuesday morning, they're coming back tonight for the weekend again and I find myself a little on the anxious side. Again, this is paradoxical, as I can't say enough how much I enjoy their visits... but I think I'm going to need a backup plan to deal with the dogs. Looks like I'll be spending some time in the garage this weekend... maybe visiting my parents a bunch. Either way, it should be eventful. I'll keep you posted.

Tami and Chip rolling around on the living room floor last weekend

Morning madness

It's official: Tami is crazy.
I just rolled over and found out I was alone, which is not an uncommon occurrence considering I like to sleep in on Saturdays while she prefers to putter around the house. However, after blinking once or twice, the fact that it was 7am registered. Intrigued, I went searching for my missing wife.
As it turns out, her yardwork obsession had kicked in. I knew she planned on spending the day out there, but I had no idea the depths of her insanity delved into the pre-dawn stages. I found my lovely wife in the front yard happily plucking weeds, radio blasting, in the rain. And when she noticed me, her good morning words were: "Honey, could you turn the compost? It's too heavy for me." Lovingly, I meandered over to the radio and turned it down before saying, "You're nuts."
So now only one question remains: who's crazier--her for asking or me for doing it?

An unexpected benefit

One of the best gifts that we received last Christmas was a stocking stuffer from my mom. Tami had been on this kick about wanting to try a cleanse (apparently she felt that it was in both of our best interests) and at some point mom must have overheard that because in Tami's stocking, she got a cookbook and start-up kit for the Wild Rose cleanse. Basically, there's a questionnaire about your overall health and based on those results, it recommends the level of cleanse that you should endure to increase your level of health. This particular cleanse centres around the Candida fungus which is present in most people and focuses on the reduction of dietary elements which fuel and contribute to yeast production. Or at least, that's how I understand it. So we did the first part of the cleanse together--a 12 day program to kick start the latter, and more intensive, aspects.

Surprisingly, the whole thing wasn't as difficult as I had expected and, although I opted not to continue with the longer, secondary levels of the cleanse, I felt better for having gone through the initial stage of the process. However, the most enjoyable part of the cleanse wasn't the health benefit, or the weight loss (which isn't a normal result for everyone), or even the satisfaction of being able to say that we had actually gotten off of our asses and taken proactive measures to increase our health. The best part of the whole thing was the food... and here's where my writing starts to sound like a Jenny Craig advert.

Overall, the food was amazing and simple to make. Now, I'm not someone who actively searches for simple meals to create, in fact, I'm just the opposite and will go to lengths to spend a great deal of time cooking in the kitchen because I find it unusually relaxing in a way that no other element of my daily routine can match. But the recipes we found in this book were very, very easy to put together and not time-consuming in the least. The only thing we found was that we had to alter our usual grocery list because we were buying supplies that we wouldn't normally stock up on; however, we were also afforded an opportunity to dig deep into the recesses of our cabinetry and utilise those long forgotten (and probably highly deteriorated) spices we wouldn't otherwise get to, which was fun in it's own way. Anyhow, I should get on to the real intent of this post.

We were so impressed with this book that we wanted to share this discovery with everyone who was interested, and in that spirit I decided to start posting some of our favourite recipes here for our friends to try themselves--that way no one is forced to go out and actually buy the book or the rest of the kit to benefit from what it has to offer. Tami and I are still using the recipes in the book even though our cleanse ended almost two months ago. I know that it sounds cheesy, but I guess I always felt that cooking should be an adventure so with that in mind, I hope some of you can enjoy these as much as we have. Now, let's just hope I stick to it and actually get some of these up here. Without any more ado, here's the first. Enjoy.

Tomato Rice Salad (Tabouli):

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice, cooked and cooled
• 1 cup tomato, diced
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 tbsp green onions, chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp fresh mint, chopped (or 2/3 tsp dried mint)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pinch of pepper

Directions:

• Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and mix gently.
• Adjust seasoning to taste.
• Salad is ready to serve but we like to refrigerate it for a bit first.
• *Keep in mind when planning that brown rice takes quite a bit longer to make than basmati or standard long-grains... we tend to make this using the previous night's leftover brown rice.
  

Yield: 4

Aging gracefully

I have just been afforded another indicator of my progression toward the inevitable...

my first white nose hair.