Feltham Rambles

Yeeee ha!

I will be heading out West in about 24 hours, the Ski conditions are looking the best they have for this time of year, can't wait to hit the mountains!!!

If you don't drool when you look at the Ski map below than you don't know what you are missing...

If I could choose to sit down with anyone in the world and have a chat over a few beers and a few hand rolled "cigarettes" it would be without a doubt with George Carlin. I have the upmost respect for anyone who tells life as it is.

Been sitting here with my ass in a wad, wanting to speak out about the bullshit going on in New Orleans. For the people of New Orleans...First we would like to say, sorry for your loss. With that said, let's go through a few hurricane rules: (Unlike an earthquake, we know it's coming)

#1. A mandatory evacuation means just that...Get the hell out. Don't blame the Government after they tell you to go. If they hadn't said anything, I can see the argument. They said get out... if you didn't, it's your fault, not theirs. (We don't want to hear it, even if you don't have a car, you can get out.)

#2. If there is an emergency, stock up on water and non-perishables. If you didn't do this, it's not the Government's fault you're starving.

#2a. If you run out of food and water, find a store that has some. (Remember, shoes, TV's, DVD's and CD's are not edible. Leave them alone.)

#2b. If the local store has been looted of food or water, leave your neighbor's TV and stereo alone. (See #2a) They worked hard to get their stuff. Just because they were smart enough to leave during a mandatory evacuation, doesn't give you the right to take their stuff... it's theirs, not yours.

#3. If someone comes in to help you, don't shoot at them and then complain no one is helping you. I'm not getting shot to help save some dumb ass who didn't leave when told to do so.

#4. If you are in your house that is completely under water, your belongings are probably too far gone for anyone to want them. If someone does want them, let them have them and hopefully they'll die in the filth. Just leave! (It's New Orleans, find a voodoo warrior and put a curse on them)

#5. My tax money should not pay to rebuild a 2 million dollar house, a sports stadium or a floating casino. Also, my tax money shouldn't go to rebuild a city that is under sea level. You wouldn't build your house on quicksand would you?? You want to live below sea-level, do your country some good and join the Navy.

#6. Regardless of what the Poverty Pimps Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton want you to believe, the US Government didn't create the Hurricane as a way to eradicate the black people of New Orleans; (Neither did Russia as a way to destroy America). The US Government didn't cause global warming that caused the hurricane (We've been coming out of an ice age for over a million years).

#7. The government isn't responsible for giving you anything. This is the land of the free and the home of the brave, but you gotta work for what you want. McDonalds and Wal-Mart are always hiring, get a damn job and stop spooning off the people who are actually working for a living. President Kennedy said it best..."Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."

I was just thinking about how much this pissed me off and then I realized that I penned something down similar before.

Any case, in addition to the earlier entry about bathroom etiquette, I would like to add that in addition to keeping your cell phone out of the bathroom, you can also keep your Coffee and any other beverage for that matter out of there!

Would you believe that people actually do this? Numerous times in the past month I have watched people walk into the bathroom and lay their Coffee on top of the urinal before proceeding to do nature’s job. There are so many things wrong with this that I will not even begin to list it down. Leave your drink outside of the bathroom!

http://jfeltham.blogspot.com/2005/09/heres-far-fetched-idea-turn-off-your.html

Someone forwarded this to me a couple days back and I have read it a bunch of times. I really think this sums up a lot about our world today. As always, it makes me cherish spending most of my life in an Outport, as this story illustrates it well, you really are richer because of this lifestyle.

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "It was great, Dad."

"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked."Oh yeah," said the son. "So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

Give a man a fish and he will feed his family for a day

Teach a man to fish and he will feed his family for life

Tell a man to pray for fish and his family will starve

Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.

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Margo being Carrie and John of course being Reggie; however, the Rig unfortunately would be Air Canada, so needless to say the Rig is a worthless piece of shit.

Carrie and I purchased our tickets last night for a whopping $1700 to fly back to the Island for the Christmas season. We both leave on the 16th of December, I will return only 11 days later (including the day of travel each way to get to and from there), while Carrie will return on the 30th.

Anytime is a good time to be in Newfoundland, however, Christmas seems to be a cut above the rest in terms of celebrations. A large part of this I guess is due to the fact that the population of the Island has decreased by over 10% in the past decade due to the economic woes which we are facing. The majority of this portion has been our young people, so as you can imagine that each year it is a big reunion of sorts across the Province during the Christmas Holidays. Getting to see so many family and friends from away is a treat, everyone has a story to tell, a drink to share and don’t even get me started on the food!

It’s hard to imagine that this will be my fifth Christmas that I have flown home from afar. I still remember clearly my first Christmas as a “visitor”. I came back for the better part of three weeks and gained just over 12 pounds! Sounds ridiculous, but I think I lost count after eight cooked dinners that year and the bottle of Black Rum I polished off each night didn’t help either.

It is very hard to describe the total sense of unity and belonging that I think most of the Island has, which is amplified over the Holidays. There is not a day that goes by which I don’t feel proud to be a Newfoundlander, that pride of course comes from the connection I have with the Island. And once again that connection will be felt at it’s greatest during the Holiday Season.

See you all Christmas.

Carrie was working last night and I was sitting around the apartment, restless. It was a long tiring day at work and as usual I didn’t feel like doing too much.

I had a sudden urge for a beer, but alas the fridge was empty, plenty of liquor in the cabinet, although that would not satisfy my thirst. Being in sweat pants and not feeling sociable, the martini bar downstairs or seventy pubs, bars and clubs within walking distance were not an option.

Ontario alcohol laws suck.

Even though I am within walking distance to The Beer Store, why should I have to venture that far for a beer? I do fancy the fact that The Beer Store has about 400 different varieties of brew to choose from, but that’s where it ends.

If I were to leave and walk to The Beer Store, I would pass about 12 convince stores, all of which by law can not sell alcohol in Ontario. Although, if I was in Newfoundland all 12 would be stocked to the rafters with cold frosty beers. Back on the Island, you can buy beer at just about any store 7 days a week from 6am – 2am. Then granted on where you are you can possibly get around these restrictions.

Too many laws, too many laws, too many laws…