Move your moose. It’s the law

A true story.

On a provincial highway, a driver hits a dead moose. His car is totaled. He decides to sue the first driver who left the moose dead or dying on the highway. That driver should pay for the damage to his totaled car, was his thinking.

His reasoning? If you kill it, it’s yours. It’s your responsibility to move the moose off of the highway.

Dude. Have you ever seen a moose? It’s huge! It takes a lot to kill one in a collision. It would have to be a BIG commercial truck.

Let’s put aside how the moose died.

How could any driver miss a huge dead moose on a highway? Wouldn’t you slow down out of curiosity or just to be safe?

Anyway, before being overturned by a common-sense judge, it was the law for a little while. It was affectionately nicknamed “Move your Moose” law.

Additional facts.

• The enraged driver was most likely an young, male, city slicker
• Should you ever injure a moose, for God’s sakes, don’t go near it. An injured moose is a dangerous moose
• If you ever hit a moose (dead or alive), your car will be unrecognizable
• You can’t sue a moose

False alarm

No snow left. It melted pretty quickly. Some of my friends live above the snow line that so they had lots of snow.

The buzz around the office is about skiing. With the Winter Olympics being held here in February 2010, people want to get some skiing done sooner.

Am I a skier? Hah hah hah. You’re kidding, right? I was on my way to being a good skier when at the end of the day, my face blew up from sun poisoning. The vaseline that I applied to my face worsened the situation and I ended up with a lovely collection of blisters ON MY FACE.

I do miss the speed and the quiet swishing noise of the skis.  Who’s going skiing this season?

Expecting snow

Tonight, they’re forecasting 6 inches of snow. They’re news about how the transit system and the City’s snow clearing equipments are ready. 6 inches is nothing to worry about in NY.

Friends are going to hunker down and ride out the snowstorm tonight. A storm? Really? I guess I should be alarmed.  If no one at the grocery store comes into work, I won’t be able to food shop tonight.

Let’s see. What do I have in my larder? Hmmm. Granola bars. Lots of them. Okay, so I won’t starve but I will be bored.

Yippee! Butter cookies … which have expired. Gross.

Tea, lots and lots of freakin tea.

Onions, lots and lots of onions.

No pasta but I do have 5 cans of whole tomatos.

(Sigh). I better put on my boots and walk a mile uphill (both ways) to go to the grocery store.

Suck less

A friend of mine who is dear to me may be sick again. Sick as in cancer. If there ever was an example of something bad happening to a good person, she is it. Life need to suck less.

I’ve come to accept that Life is unfair and that bad things happen to good people. But when Life rubs that truth in your face, it raises my blood pressure.

Life needs to suck less.

Trials and tribulations should be equitably divided. But since it isn’t and never will be, I’m glad that there is such thing as friends.

When push comes to shove and you need a little hand, one turns to family. But when family isn’t there or is unavailable, it’s good to have a little backup called friends.

Friends have asked me why am I so helpful? I generally answer because you need help and won’t ask for it; so I’m going to offer to help just because I can.

It’s good to help. Sometimes I even wait until someone actually asks. (That’s usually because I haven’t been paying close attention.)

Help someone this holiday season, just because you can. It’s one way of making Life suck less; even if it’s only for a little while.

Tools

I just received a wonderful box of my bookbinding supplies. I left in the tender care of a friend of mine and he sent me the first of many such boxes.

It was nice to see old friends. I made a lot of journals, boxes and albums with them. It warmed my heart to see my hand tools again.

I don’t know what he’ll send me next but it will be another heart warming occasion. I’ve acquired massive collection of tools and material over the years. I hated to leave them behind, but now they are making they way back to me.

I do not have the right materials to start making books right away, so I will console myself by going to a movie. I am going to watch Coco before  Chanel. I’ve heard good things about the movie and the lead actress.

I’m also really hungry so will head out for dinner in a few minutes.

I saw a few minutes of snow today. Snow is unusual around where I live so it was a surprise. The freakish snowstorms last winter won’t be repeated for another decade or so.

Well, off I go for dinner and a movie! Wish you were going with me!

Walking through Chinatown

I was on a quest to find unusual, pretty papers to make books and boxes with. Yesterday was 25 degrees and I was freezing my ample ass off. But I made a promise to myself that I would explore Vancouver and had set aside yesterday to do just that.

I found lots of stuff that I filed away in my not-so-reliable memory. There were beautiful contemporary ceramic pots and things. Lots of beautiful cushion covers. Not so much in the way of papers though.

I hit upon a goldmine. There were 12 sheets of dark indigo papers with bits of mango leaves strewn about. The price was good too at $3 a sheet. I walk and visited different shops for about 2 hours.

Chinatown in Vancouver is tiny compared to NY. It’s about 8 blocks by 6 blocks. I hope to have visited every street by end of this year. Even in the cold weather, I could smell foodstuff that to my nose were stinky. I’m sure that it would have been paradise to some but not so much for me.

Tonight, I am taking a screenprinting class. I’ll be learning how to use water-base paint/ink. Should be loads of fun.

Chess

I like chess. A lot.

As a pre-teen kid, I always wanted one. Owning a chess set meant owning dignity somehow. I looked for 3 years before I found just the right one. The board and the pieces were made of wood.  The pieces were stored in a faux chocolate brown leather. The board had green felt so that it wouldn’t scratch a table’s surface. It was $75.

I chose to buy it rather than a walkman. If you don’t know what a walkman is, then should you really be reading my blog instead of doing your homework? Morgan? Did you do your homework? Ok, if you did then read on.

It was my prized possession. It got left behind when I moved to NY. I have no idea where it is now. Probably got sold in a garage sale by my folks along with my Rick Springfield albums and Barbie dolls. (I’m still steamed about that, let me tell you!)

After many, many years of not playing chess at all, I found a neighbor who is rather new to chess but is an avid fan.  Everyone meet Oliver. He creamed me once. But I did beat him twice.

The next game hasn’t been set yet. But I will hone my skills so that it will be a complete 3-0 victory. I will not be defeated again by a 6 year-old!

Charity

It surprises me how many charitable organizations there are. Maybe it’s because they’re quiet from January to November and pop up all over the place in December.

At work, people are asking for donations for many charities.  People are generous and they give. So far, I’ve given to 3. Have I reached my limit? Yes.

I volunteer in 3 charitable organisations. I donate some money but mostly my time. On one organization alone, I’ve given over 100 hours of my time this year. But is it the same or separate from holiday charity giving?

I think reaching my limit has to do with my internal dialogue with my greatest nemesis; myself.  I argue with myself about: Have I truly given enough? Couldn’t I give a bit more?  I bought myself something really special this Christmas. Why did I do that? The money could have fed many, many families. They will go hungry now.

These are the thoughts that sprint through my head as I try to fall asleep.  AAAAHHHHH!  I hate Christmas. I hate that I hate Christmas.

Please excuse me while I conduct another internal dialogue. I’m going to try to convince myself that I’m a good and generous person and reaching my limit is okay.

Tucker, the mighty dog

Tucker is a very lucky dog. He has found Stephanie as his owner. He’s so proud!

I wish I were there to play in the snow with him. He looks like he knows how to have a great time!

I prefer dogs that have non-human names. I like names like Buster. Two great dog’s names that I really like are Luxor and Ludwig. The are two  monastery dogs. That’s right! Check this out http://www.luxorandludwig.com/aboutluxorandludwig.html  They are the darling canines of a monastery.

Cleaning and movie

A friend is coming over soon and I don’t feel like tidying up.  The movie for today is Christmas Carol in 3-D. Thanks to my new location, I have to walk only 4 blocks to the movie theatre. Nice!

After a hardy brunch, I went Christmas shopping. Success! I found gifts for 3 people; two of whom are children.

Now onward to tidying!