Happy Holidays

I hope everyone has a happy holiday, whether you celebrate Yule, Christmas or Hanukkah or some other festival of lights.

Being a country that is striving for political correctness isn't easy. As a matter of fact it is failing miserably I feel.

As long as our statutory holidays remain Christian, meaning time off at Christmas and Easter but not Samhain we have failed.

Comments? Especially from those who still feel that it's their right to wish absolutely everyone a Merry Christmas.

Yahoo 360 is Closing?

That's the rumour I've been hearing too. Well it's true... There are changes underway at Yahoo community and here's were you can get some info on it.

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/product_360

I don't know, I think Facebook has something to do with all of this.

.....................

MSNBOT has the munchies

As you know I run a pagan online store SacredKiln.com
This week we had a morning shutdown by our hosting company for going over our bandwidth. I was shocked since we don't ever use half of the bandwidth we're allowed in a month. (We could use more traffic here folks!) I sent off an email to our host and found out that the culprit is MSNBOT spidering or crawling our site. Now normally this is a good thing. Robots as they're called crawl your site going from link to link indexing what you have and putting you up on their search engines for all to find. BUT, and it's a big but, when they use 12.46 GB at a visit it puts you way over your bandwidth and shuts you down until your month is up and you get your new allowance.

My hosting company was sympathetic when he let me know the problem and generously gave us extra bandwidth for the month and promptly blocked MSNBOT from coming back anytime soon.

MSN, can you not run your bots with less bandwidth munching?
I compared this to Google for the same day and Google used 53 MB compared to MSN using 12.46 GB A huge difference.
.................

Scott Shewchuk, R.I.P.

This is about my cousin Scott who passed away this past week. He was loved by many and will be missed deeply.

---

On October 14th, Canadian snowboarding lost one of its most colourful characters. Scott Shewchuk, well known to anyone who’s entered or attended a major contest in the last 15 years, passed away at his home in Oakville, ON. Known not only for being the most friendly face at every contest—from the early days of the Snowboard Canada Jam Tour to the current World Ski and Snowboard Festival—it was guaranteed that one of the first people you’d see (or hear) on site was Scott Shewchuk. It was this fun-loving personality that garnered him the huge number of friends he made in his short life. He will be sorely and forever missed. A Facebook group page has been created to share stories, photos and videos of Scott at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7731586787 and the Scott Shewchuk Celebration of Life is this Sunday, starting at 1 p.m. at The Firehall in Oakville, ON. Our heartfelt thoughts go out to his family, friends and loved ones.

Hydro or Natural Gas Resellers

I have only one thing to say to people who come to my door trying to see my gas or hydro bills.

"Get off my doorstep or I'll call a cop!"

You've seen them, ringing doorbells, asking for your utility bills, trying to intimidate or scare you into signing up with their company to save you untold amount of money.

There have been tales of these people signing you up with their company without your consent. All they need is to see your bills and take down the account number and viola you're hooked. They process you just like you didn't want. Then you're stuck paying their higher rates while your neighbours are still paying the old rate.

I ask you one thing... if they're saving me money by selling me their service at a higher price than I'm paying now and their making money doing this, then how is that saving me money? Sure, they try to scare you by saying that prices are going to sky rocket over two years and you'll be paying much higher rates than if you sign up now with their company at almost double what you're paying now. I don't know what the rates are going to be in two years and neither do they. I think they're just out to make money off of fear mongering.

Fear mongering is a national pastime these days. Everyone is doing it and it works. Fear of the unknown is what they're selling and people are buying it up like the latest religion.

If it sounds fishy or too good to be true... it probably is!

-------------------------------------------

New Adult Toy Store

There is a new Adult Toy Store called My Tickle Chest just opened up for all of us open minded people.

A Haunted Book Party

If you have a "Facebook" account then just click on the link to A Haunted Book Party and join the author Kristin Groulx, a local Ottawa Pagan.

Prizes will be available as well. There will be a treasure hunt. Everyone who attends will be given a coded map of the area. Each map has codes they will need to break in order to proceed. The first person (or group) to return to me with the secret item in hand will be declared the winner o'the big swag and a free book!

Update on Greco...

The evening of the day this blog was posted the police were at my door. Apparently one of the trainers at Greco claimed that I assaulted her by pushing her up against the wall (not true). They wanted my side of the story, even though they had already read my blog.

When all was said and done, I have to say Greco's has been very quiet the last few days. They were informed by the police that there is indeed a bylaw for noise or disturbing the peace, that doesn't just cover over night, that is in effect 24/7.

I want to thank Greco lean & fit for keeping the peace and quiet in our neighbourhood, but I can't since they've started blowing whistles at 07:30 on Saturday morning.

------------

Greco lean+fit is loud and obnoxious

Greco is located just over the fence of our backyard. They are one of the noisiest neighbours we have. They face away from us but their back door to the workout area is right over the fence facing us. They play very loud music, yelling continuously and blowing whistles.

They've been a thorn in our ear for years but last night was the worst. Our kids were in bed (it was almost 9pm) and Carline and I were trying to watch television before turning in for the night. They were louder than ever as they had the back door open and the music was just thumping in our house along with the lifeguard whistle and the shouting. We couldn't hear a thing from our T.V. They had all of their fitness clients running circles around their building and turned the music up louder so they could hear it as they ran. Of course they're trying to run a business, but it's this man's opinion that you have to be considerate of your neighbours too. But alas they could care less if they were disturbing four families outside their doors.

I shouted from my back yard asking them to at least close their door but they just ignored me. So, anger getting the better of me, I walked over and shut it myself, much to their dislike. A shouting match followed which almost led to a physical confrontation. In the end they finally closed the doors but I doubt we've heard the last from them.

I have heard that Greco preaches consideration and respect to their younger students and I admire this from teachers, but I think one should practice what you preach or it's meaningless posturing.


------------------------

Capital One - fraud site

Capital One Online Account Services: Account Information

Account Information Your Online Banking is Blocked. (ID: COB495886838) Because of unusual number of invalid login attempts on you account, we had belive that, their might be some security problem on you account. So we have dedicted to put an extra verification process to ensure your identity and your account security. It is all about your security.

----------------------------
This is a fraud site... http://mail.comansa.biz/~ventas/banking/profile/confirm/account.php

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all moms.

The Perfect Cup

I'm a home coffee roaster and today I think I roasted my perfect cup of coffee.

A Dark Roast blend consisting of one part Ethiopian, one part Guatemalan and one part Bolivian.

It's a smooth but bold cup with a nice aroma and flavour and just a hint of chocolate. Very low on the acidic level so it has little bite.

I roast in an iRoast2 coffee roaster at a temp of 450 F. for 5 minutes in the first stage and then 400 F. for 5 minutes 10 seconds in the second stage and finally 430 F. for 1 minute and 10 seconds in the third stage. The beans get to just a touch of oil and shine before the cool down cycle starts.

Kim Harrison Novels

This is a five book series of fiction novels by Kim Harrison. This series starts off looking corny but after about 60 pages you'll fall in love with it. My wife and partner Carline did and couldn't wait for the new one to go into paper back so we now have it in hard cover. We give it two thumbs up!



Rachel Morgan is a runner with the Inderland Runner Services, apprehending law-breakers throughout Cincinnati. She's also a witch, one of the many Inderlanders who revealed themselves after a genetically engineered virus wiped out 50% of humanity. Witches, warlocks, vampires, werewolves-the creatures of dreams and nightmares have lived beside humans for centuries, hiding their powers. But now they've stopped hiding, and nothing will be the same.

On the run with a contract on her head, Rachel reluctantly teams up with Ivy, Inderland's best runner…and a living vampire. But this witch is way out of her league, and to clear her name, Rachel must evade shapechanging assassins, outwit a powerful businessman/crimelord, and survive a vicious underground fight-to-the-death…not to mention her own roommate!

Fun, sassy, filled with action, humor, and romance, Dead Witch Walking is the perfect summer read for anyone who likes vampires, paranormal fantasy, romance, or just a great beach book.



----------

Children

Have you ever noticed that children are born with infinite knowledge and wisdom. It must be something you loose as you get older like memories of your previous life that fade as you learn to talk and walk. Too late to pass the information on to anyone else before you forget.

How do I come to know this? Well it's not hard to see...

Every time I tell the boys something they say... "I know!"
---------

Finneaghan passed away

Our pet rat Finneaghan passed away last Sunday April 8th at 11pm. He was 2 years 7 months old. A good life for a rat. He had a nice home and a family that loved him and cared for him. He will be missed.

Finneaghan


Since the boys, and one in particular, missed Finneaghan so much we got two new boy rats today to make the loss easier but no less tragic. They are only two months old and rats live on average 2 to 3 years at most so we're hopeful that we'll have these guys for a while.
----

Another Stage of Life

This week I received a letter from my employer, the Royal Ottawa Hospital. They asked me to see my doctor and get a medical update on my condition so they can either work to get me back on the job or continue my sick leave. Without this completed form from my doctor my sick leave would be terminated and I would be expected to return to work.

Well for obvious reasons I can not return to work as I still have constant headaches ranging from mild to severe all day long. I still nap every afternoon for at least 45 minutes to rest my neck, to relieve the headache and neck pain. I am functional for a couple of hours at a time but not more than three doing mild tasks to only one hour doing active tasks. Even sitting at the computer for more than an hour or two is too much.

To be honest with myself and my family I don't have the energy to continue this battle, going after WSIB (a waste of time) or chasing down my surgeon for medical reports (with no reply), so I have resigned my position at the Royal Ottawa Hospital as of this week. It's been three years since I was injured on the job and I am tired of all of this and frustrated and angry. The sooner I put it to rest the better for me.

So I am now officially at home, taking care of the boys, working on our online store for several hours a week and making the best of life.

When the world hands you lemons, make lemonade...
----

Direct Energy

Are you sick and tired of Direct Energy calling you? I am at my wits end!

This company has been trying their hardest to sell me HYDRO. I don't want to buy my HYDRO from them and they won't take no for an answer. I have had them call at least 20 times and told them to take us off the list. I have had mail sent to me at home. I have even had them drive into my drive and up the walkway to get me to change my mind. Is there no limit?

I have threatened to press charges of harassment to no avail. They just keep coming.

Direct Energy is like having shit stuck to the hair on your ass.

---

Questions about Deity

Last night during our Esbat I brought up the topic of 'Do the Gods exist'. Not as a challenge to anyone but more for an existentialist type discussion. Some of the questions that came up and thoughts that were provoked were quite interesting.

• If we stop worshipping the Gods, will they cease to exist?
• If we didn't exist as a people, would the Gods exist?
• If the Gods didn't exist would we exist?

Sort of a Symbiotic relationship was developing here.

• Are all Gods one God (just different facets to different peoples of the Earth) or are they individual Gods.
• Is it better to worship an individual Deity (facet) than a generic lord or lady, Universal Energy? Do you get better results, attention from Deity if you're specific? Sort of direct line to Deity rather than a general call for help to the Universe.

Nothing really new and no real answer here, just lots of food for thought...

Something that I brought up during all this discussion too was that we sometimes feel that there is something spiritually lacking in life. Is it possible that if you don't worship Deity, the Gods, that the magick in your life dissipates? I mean, if there is that symbiotic relationship with Deity, and if worshipping Deity gives the Gods power and therefore magick to manifest change in your life, then it follows that if you stop worshipping then the power to bring magick into your life and manifest changes isn't there.

More fodder...