Gee, I never knew I cared

It's always wonderful when friends tell you (in confidence of course) that you have bad breath or body odors. It gives you the opportunity to practice self-improvement without embarassment. When they get a bit more personal, like sending emails which imply my manhood might need extension, it gets a bit more dicey. And when the emails come from yourself, it really makes you wonder whether you've been emailing in your sleep.

Over the past couple of days, I've received emails that have made it through my spam filter. Probably because the sender was none other than myself.

Like most prudent web users, I use several email accounts. Doing so allows me to monitor my sources of spam. If, say, my "bestguyontheplanet@freemailaccount.com" starts becoming a source of spam, I know that the webmasters at "toysforgrownmenwithnolife.com" have sold my name. You get the idea. So, it becomes particularly annoying when I start receiving spam with my PRIMARY EMAIL ACCOUNT showing up as the sender.

Although I don't use that account to send mail to strangers (as a rule), there have been times when I've clicked on a "contact" link in a webpage. Since my default email address is my main one, I guess that could account for it being sent into the world without a proper shield. So, I guess I'll have to be more careful and set my default address to be one of my throwaway accounts.

By the way, if you receive an email from me advising you that your manhood needs extension, I was only kidding.

V-Day

Though technically it may be too early to declare total victory, we have noticed two things... no mice turds or trap disturbances near the feeding station atop the refrigerator, and no apparent change in food levels at either of the two indoor feeding stations. Funeral services are planned for tomorrow evening, followed by a wild party.

That was special

Two days in Toronto, and I was ready to be back home. Truthfully, as good as it was seeing my sister in Toronto, and as friendly as the old office gang was, I still looked forward to the minute my work would be done so I could get back home. I do regret that I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to my sister in person. By the time she called me, I was 3/4 of the way home. I just couldn't have waited that long before hitting the road.

This morning, I was feeling the effects of an exhausting work schedule while away. I fought to get out of bed, and didn't start work until 10AM. By 2:15PM, I was exhausted and had to take a nap. Thankfully, there wasn't much work I could do today, so my exhaustion didn't affect any deadlines.

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho

It's off to Toronto I go. I think I could have accomplished what I need to do from here, but there's a crisis at work, and the other telecommuter (who only lives 60 miles from the office) volunteered to come in for a face-to-face on Monday morning. So, I thought it would be the "team" thing to do to volunteer to come in myself. That's OK... a little face time never hurt!

Of Mice and Men

Yes, we have mice. The sucker that went into the closet died of dehydration. I've seen at least three identifiably different ones since that first encounter; including one that was inside the poison trap when I picked it up to take a look. Yeww! I don't know which of us was more surprised. He took off down the side of the refrigerator, and I tried to crush him between the fridge and the adjacent wall. Unfortunately, the wall is done in faux-brick, so there were enough indentations for him to survive my attempt.

We've currently got three feeding stations set up, and we're seeing dwindling food at all three stations. That's bad news for the mice, but also indicates we have a serious infestation. If we don't get them killed off soon, I think my wife will insist on an exterminator.

At least I haven't seen any more of the critters running through my office.

Busy week

It's been a busy week, and I'm not really in the mood to write much at the moment. The template I found is very basic. It's not made directly for blogger, so I'll have to do my own placement of blogger elements. That won't be too much of a problem. However, this template only gives me some basic graphics and stylesheet. I still have to figure out how to artistically lay out my content. And I'm the least artistic person I know.

I won't rush this. It'll go online when I'm ready.

A few days ago, my wife discovered mouse droppings, and a partially gnawed box of cereal. Since then, she's put down some poison pellets, and has been keeping me abreast of their dwindling numbers. Tonight, I saw a mouse standing brazenly about three feet from where I was sitting. I threw a shoe at it, and it didn't move. My second shoe made it scurry into a closet, where, as far as I know, it is now trapped.

About an hour later, I saw another mouse (I think it was another mouse). Anyway, it's time for stronger measures.

Eureka!

I think I've found a new blog template. I still have to wait for permission from the author to use her work, but if she doesn't object, I'll soon be updating my template with one that sports a bit of colour.

We celebrated Thanksgiving Day dinner on Saturday night, coincident with my son's birthday. Much of the family got together for a scrumptious meal, then my wife and I stayed behind to share a DVD movie with my brother-in-law. He's recently upgraded his stereo system, including the purchase of a 400-disk carousel that can play any type of disc, including DVDs. A good time was had by all.

During the evening, I had a chance to fix some ongoing problems with their computer, and I made arrangements to pay a service call on my other brother-in-law, perhaps next weekend, to fix their computer. And I mustn't forget my sister, who has also put in her request for some help with her computer. It's good to be home again!

Ho-hum

It's been that kind of week. Nothing much to speak about. Maybe the most exciting thing was a visit from my uncle from France. I haven't seen him in about 10 years. He has a new girlfriend. He and his girlfriend are in their 80's, but still quite active. It was actually a pleasure seeing them. They came over to the house for a short visit, and my son charmed them with his three-sentence knowledge of the French language:

Bon jour

Au revoir

and the third one, which I don't know how to repeat, is the standard request a highschool French student needs to learn to get permission to go to the bathroom.


I'm looking forward to this long Thanksgiving Day weekend. It's also Jon's birthday tomorrow, and he's already spent the birthday money we intended to give him. Oh well, at least this year, he'll like his gift.

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is upon me once again. This year, being back in Windsor, I get to spend the day with my family in synagogue. Tonight was Kol Nidre, and I must say I was impressed with the sermon offered by our rabbi. Truth be told, I almost always like his sermons. As a relatively young rabbi (the first rabbi I've ever had that is younger than I am - I guess that's a sign of aging), he uses fairly "hip" language, and appeals to my own sensibilities. He gave a sermon tonight on the reasons behind the Kol Nidre prayer in the middle ages, and how that same motivation still holds for us today. It was fascinating.

I've found during the past several years that I've become intolerant of the kibbitzing that goes on in the pews. While I'm listening intently, trying to follow along in my prayerbook, other people who haven't spoken since the previous year are catching up on old news - in voices that could not, under any circumstances, be called whispers. As my father ages, he is beginning to be one of those kibbitzers, and it bothers me. I am embarassed by his outbursts, because he has his full faculties - it's not like he doesn't know what he's doing. Yet, it is still so pleasant to be there with him, that I can't bring myself to say anything to him - beyond the raised forefinger I bring to my lips in a silent rebuke.

The situation in Israel these days is scaring me. I'm scared not for specific people (my sister and her daughter left Israel two years ago, so there's no one there I need to be fearful about), but for the peace process. I'm not a dove, by any stretch of the imagination. But the hawks are becoming so prevalent, I'm afraid there will come a time when all-out war will be the only option open to the politicos of the region.

I'm rambling, I know. But I just have so many things going through my head. Oh well, I guess I should head to bed... otherwise, I may start to think about food.

Family Pride

When my nephew was three years old, he warned me to stop talking "baby talk" to him - otherwise he would stop talking to me altogether. When he was 10, he told me of his interest in politics, and that he aspired to being premier of Ontario. The fact that he said "Ontario" instead of "Canada" spoke volumes of his intelligence and drive. It made me believe he had plans, not just dreams. Yesterday, he came one step closer to his wish. As an inner-circle political advisor and policy critic, first on the staff of Sandra Pupatello and now Dalton McGuinty, my nephew finds himself on the personal staff of the premier of Ontario. He's just 24 years old.

I have no doubts his ambition will see him go further. I just hope I'm still alive to see it come to fruition.

Congratulations, Aaron. Oh yeah, you too, Dalton!