Memorials on the Highway

This keeps popping into my head when I drive across the province, but I keep forgetting to put it into a blog, and it could be a bit of a touchy subject in a way, but screw it I haven't written anything in 12 days so might as well get a post in.

I think that memorials to people on the side of the highway should be banned. I think they are distracting and as a result are potentially dangerous. Along the TCH you can find headstones, creepy white bicycles and various other monuments that are there to act as memorials to people who lost their life in those spots through some sort of accident. The concept of that is all well and good. If it helps bring peace to people who have lost a love one then great, and if it acts to serve as a reminder to all of us other drivers that tragedy can occur at anytime then also great, but the moment it becomes a distraction, it can cause another tragedy to occur.

About a year ago I was on the Outer Ring Road heading west when randomly this white object on the side of the road comes appears in the corner of my eye, I slammed on my breaks not having a clue what it was, but instinct was to slam on the breaks when I saw an unfamiliar object on the side of the road. This was at night so it wasn't noticeable from a distance, but turns out it was a bicycle chained to the guardrail painted white as a monument to someone who had been hit by a car while riding their bike. When I slammed on my breaks a number of things could have happened. I could have been rear ended for example or worse if it was raining I could have hydroplaned and ended up with a memorial to me at the very same spot. For me, as a person who drives a lot, I don't pay any attention to these monuments anymore, well not as much as I used to, but to a person unfamiliar with them, it might be enough of a distraction that they do not see the moose rapidly coming up from the bank on the side of the road in time to avoid hitting it. Honouring and remembering one tragedy is just not worth the risk of causing another.

So yes I understand why people put them there, I really do, but in my opinion they have to go. All of them. They've just got too much potential for something bad to happen.

Seriously Satellite Radio...

One of my Christmas gifts last year was a satellite radio. It came with the radio, the car hook-up and a docking station for at home, and I was pretty excited about this. The reason I was excited was because in Newfoundland we have a piss-poor selection of radio stations and they tend to cut in and out in certain parts of the province so this seemed like a wonderful gift to have...until I started to use it.

You cannot get constant reception in Newfoundland on this radio. When you're driving across the highway it is not too bad, but when you get to an actual community the reception sucks. In St. John's/Mount Pearl it always cuts out in certain areas, even when you aren't next to any high buildings or anything and its even worse in Grand Falls-Windsor. It pretty much never works here, which made my docking station completely useless as well. When I attempt to use that I don't get any signal at all.

I do get some use out of the internet channel when at work, but that alone cannot justify the money I spent to subscribe to this radio for a 2 year term. When that 2 year term is up, so will be my time using satellite radio. It's a shame that in a place that really needs satellite radio that it completely blows, but that's just how it is.

So if any of you don't have a satellite radio and you're thinking about getting one, don't. Unless you're planning to move to the mainland. Seriously satellite radio...you're terrible!

Thong Generation

Nice Touch With The Silver Hair "Dru Hill"

I was having a discussion with a friend last week and somehow the topic of underwear came up - thongs in particular. This friend, who has a lot of older male co-workers was talking about how all of them were obsessed with thongs and thought they were the best thing ever, whereas for me, the thong just doesn't really do it, and I think it is because I have been de-sensitized to it.

People from generations older than myself always find it taboo or something sexy, because they weren't exposed to the thong in the same way I have been. I'm from the thong generation (hell we even had a song about it - fuck you Sisqo). Going up through high school and all throughout university, thongs seemed to be the popular choice for girls. If a girls pants were riding down low (intentionally or unintentionally) and you caught a glimpse, chances are she was wearing a thong as her underwear of choice. When you're exposed to a lot of thongs in your life, they just don't seem like much of a big deal to you. So if a girl was all like "oh hey I'm wearing a thong for you", I'd be all like, "awesome", but in reality I would be thinking "so what"?

How about my readers? Am I the only one who doesn't think of a thong as a big deal or is it a generational thing like I suspect? I'm interested in your thoughts on this one.

Non-Angry Blog

Not a normal pee'd off blog, just wanted to write and mention that I'm one team closer to the dream of seeing all the Major League Baseball teams play in their home stadiums...only 25 to go!

Actually, while I'm here I might as well make a brief comment on something I observed. While driving on the Outer Ring Road everyday, just before the Thorburn Road turnoff heading East there is always a traffic jam, and I think I know the reason. There are traffic cameras set up there and for some reason people get the impression that they are radar guns or police cameras and if you go fast you'll get a ticket. This is not the case people, so please drive at least 100 km/h in this area instead of creating a backlog of traffic every morning!

I thank you for your time.

Modern Paving

I was in bed this morning in the wee hours, enjoying a good dream, when suddenly someone starts ringing our doorbell frantically and knocking on it as well. I have no idea what time it is at this point, but the way they were doing it made it seem like the friggin' Nazi Zombie Apocalypse was happening. I looked at my phone and it was 7 am. By this time William had gone downstairs to answer the door and it was Modern Paving saying we needed to move our cars because they were going to start the curb soon. Not only did we have to unexpectedly get out of bed to move them, we had to move them off the cul de sac entirely!

A nice letter saying they were going to be back on Monday to finish the job would have been nice. They were able to leave a notice that the power was going to be off last Monday when they started the job. The time gap in itself is frustrating. They dug up the entire cul de sac last Monday and left the equipment there. When I woke up on Tuesday and it was a bright sunny day I assumed they were going to finish the job, but nope they came and picked up the equipment and left the road in shambles for an entire week.

The whole experience has me hating on Modern Paving right now. It would have made such a smaller impact to just dig it one day, fill it the next, but nope they had to drag it out and then abruptly wake up the entire neighbourhood today - so I'm pretty sure everyone is cursing on them today, it's just that I'm doing it publically!

Why the Canada Post Strike Doesn't Impact Me

Some people are definitely going to be impacted by the Canada Post strike that is currently happening. Some people still rely on them to deliver cheques, bills, and other important pieces of mail. Me on the other hand? I've embraced and submersed myself into the digital age and basically I have very little need for Canada Post. All my bank statements are online, all my utility bills are online and I receive my paychecks through direct deposit. Basically all Canada Post delivers to me is junk mail from credit card companies and flyers from stores that I never look through because they are also available online!

Canada Post needs to be careful though. If this strike goes on too long, they have the potential to lose a lot of business. All those people who are currently depending on them are going to NEED to find other options. They're going to start signing up to receive their bills online and start requesting direct deposits, because they will have no other way of getting their essential information. And if they want to send a parcel or package, well they're going to start using the other courier companies such as Fed-Ex or UPS.

Because of this blog, I'm expecting that Canada Post is going to abduct me ala Kramer on Seinfeld when he refused to accept his mail and Wilford Brimley threatened him. So if you don't hear from me after this, you know where I am - at the bottom of Lake Ontario in a mail bag - or have been brainwashed and am now working for Canada Post (without the cushy pension though).

In summary while I am in no way impacted by the Canada Post strike it would certainly be in their best interest to end it quickly, before people start realizing they have no need for it either!

Rap When It Makes No Sense

I once again apologize for the lack of blogging, but I am hoping to pick it up again relatively soon, perhaps after I get back from Toronto.

I was watching MuchMoreMusic the other night because it seems to be the only music station left that actually spends any time showcasing music videos, and Katy Perry's E.T. came on. I had heard this song on the radio many times, and it was kind of catchy and I'm ridiculously hot for Katy Perry so I kept it on. While I should have been focusing on how she even looks attractive as an alien, I was frustrated by other things in the video...namely Kayne West's part.

In the radio version there is no Kayne, and I personally have nothing against Kayne (except that he's a gay fish), but what I do have issue with is when random rap parts get thrown into songs for no reason. I have attached the link below for you to watch and judge for yourself, but it's not the right fit at all. He is just randomly floating through space and his part really doesn't gel well with the rest of the song. It's like it was never planned but they just said at the last minute "hey maybe we should get some Kayne in this video to make it more culturally diverse".

It annoys me to no end when I see things like this. It really ruined the whole Katy Perry video experience for me...which is extremely difficult to do. For anyone who reads this and shares my opinion I ask that you leave some more examples of songs where this has happened if you can think of them!