Alive and kicking

I have a habit of forgetting about things like blogs and email and such. I finally logged in here after my last visit in July and found 2 comments that needed to be moderated. Go figure. Better late than never I guess. I need to stop in here more often. I could never make it a serious blogger at this rate.

Christmas is getting closer and I am in a quandry as to what to get a couple of members of my family for presents. This is a struggle every year. I do not have a creative mind and coming up with ideas for presents is akin to trying to understand the formulas behind quantem mechanics. I also have to fill a stocking for my brother, which should be fun. Stockings are eay though and I have some truely evil ideas. I'll have to think about the presents while I sit here at work today.

I did see one item at Canadian Tire that I almost picked up for someone. A gift package containing a can of WD-40 and roll of duct tape. Someone finally figured out the ultimate fixit present for every handyman.

I have always gotten a kick out of watching American politics any time an election is coming up. This time around is no different. It amazes me how political figures can spend more time disparaging their opponents instead of focusing on the issues and trying to find solutions to the problems facing the country. I guess though, considering the publics fascination with scandals and such, they are just catering to the people that are going to be voting. I suspect an honest, ethical politician would never get elected. It's going to be interesting to watch the rhetoric ramp up as the election gets closer.

Winter in Calgary is always a scary time for a driver. A little bit of snow and people forget how to drive. While the majority of people slow down and take it easy there are always those who continue on like it's a nice summer day. The other day it had snowed overnight and I passed one spot where there were 4 cars in the ditch within a 200 meter stretch of road. From look of things none of them were related to each other. I'm not sure what these people were doing to end up in the ditch because the road wasn't in bad condition.

And on the subject of drivers, why is it so hard to understand the concept of a merge lane? Every day I end up behind someone who is trying to merge onto a busy major highway where the traffic is moving at about 100 kph. These people usually try and merge onto the highway at a speed about 20 kph lower than the traffic and end up almost causing accidents as a result. I have even had people stop dead at the end of the merge lane waiting for a break in the traffic before they would move. Do these people understand how much danger they are placing themselves and other people in? Apparently not because they still do it.