A Karmic Circle

825 Feb 17
07:35 hrs

     Dear Readers,

     If any of you truly knows me then you know that I like to dabble in history, some politics with a smattering of crime and punishment. All of this came together in a eurphoric fashion in the case of murder of JoAnn Wilson.

     Who is JoAnn Wilson you ask?

     Maybe you will remember her by the last name of her first marriage. Does the name Thatcher ring a bell? No? Well, let me refresh your memory.

     JoAnn's first husband was Colin Thatcher, a very prominent Saskatchewan businessman and MLA. They had three children and resided in Moosejaw. When their marriage collapsed there was a very bitter custody battle over the two youngest. Despite all of his wealth, power and influence Colin lost every court battle. The custody cases and the final divorce settlement. All of it and he wasn't happy about it. In his words 'Thatchers never lose. And, Thatchers never sell land'. This last point is important because in the divorce settlement he had to pay JoAnn $700,000. And, in 1980 this was an insane amount of money and Colin was not about to sell off his holdings to pay her out. Threats, indimidation and dirty tricks ensued. JoAnn refused to back down. She had won. The law was on her side. Sure.

     By now, JoAnn had relocated to Regina with a new career and a new love. May 17, 1981, as she stood doing up the late supper dishes JoAnn was shot by a high calibre bullet from an unknown assailant. She survived but Colin used this as an excuse to pursue custody of their middle child. He won the custody case but the deadline for paying out the settlement was looming. Through all of this, Colin was trying to maintain his ranch, his MLA riding and his playboy JR Ewing lifestyle.

     January 1983, JoAnn came home from work. Parked her car in the garage. Got out of the car and was struck in the head with a blunt object. The blows continued and many of the wounds were found to be defensive in nature as she was trying to protect herself. The number of wounds and the damage they caused forensically indicated that they were delivered with pure hatred towards the victim. As a final blow JoAnn was shot in the head at Point blank range.

     Colin Thatcher was arrested, tried and convicted mostly on circumstancial evidence. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Through it all he professed his innocence and never admitted guilt. At the same time all other suggested theories and suspects were proven dead ends. Of the three children the eldest continued the family ranch operation and after the trial the youngest was returned to the Thatcher fold. The middle child, Regan, in 2002 became a sole practicing lawyer in Winnipeg and in 2015 was appointed to the Family Division in Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench.

     Here's the karmic irony. Here's a person  who started by being a pawn of the Courts, pulled back and forth between two venomous litigating parents, and ended up being appointed as a judge in the Family Division to decide the fate of children.

     A full circle.

The Desperate Need...

24 Feb 17
05:05 hrs.

     Today is my Oma's birthday.  I don't know how old she is and I really don't care. She's the age an Oma is supposed to be. And boy is she still feisty. Love her to pieces too. My favourite books lately are James Patterson's Alex Cross series. In it, his grandmother is called Nana Mama. She reminds me of Oma in her wisdom and feistyness. So, Happy Birthday Oma!

     Everyone craves inclusion.  No one wants to be on the outside looking in. Remember how the world leaders shunned Putin at that G20 meeting? He would try to side up to converse and Merkel just sauntered off. At dinner they made him sit alone at the Tiny Tyrant's Table so he got pissed off and went back to the Kremlin in a big huff.

     Well, it has come to my attention that here on the Island there is now a Vegan Butcher shop.

     This makes no sense what so ever and I'll tell you why. Vegan means no meat. A butcher is by definition - a person who slaughters or kills and then cleans the carcass. The misnomer is the person who then breaks the carcass down into its marketable pieces is known as a meat cutter. The person at your local deli counter shaving the ham is neither and since he's doing the shaving should be called a barber.

     So,  a vegan butcher is a symantics contradiction in terms. There is no meat and nothing is being slaughtered. Vegetables that have been processed, seasoned and shaped into biological meat shapes are then sliced or shaved at the point of sale. If anything a vegan butcher is a green grocer barber or just a green barber. And who are they trying to fool with this faux cauli-salami? Not me. Sometimes, I like my meats loaded with nitrates but oversalted over compressed tofu broccoli pork chops just won't cut it. The only people being fooled are the people eating it. And they want to be fooled. They want to believe they are eating meat. For dietary reasons or because of social consiousness meat is off the menu. Okay, I get it. No big deal. You don't eat meat. But, why do you play mind games with yourself? It's like people who drink near-beer. Water. All the flavour and no alcohol.  I'm sorry. If I'm going to have a beer I'm going to have a beer and not beer flavoured water.

     It's all just Alternative Facts.

     Snow is falling again in the Valley. Yippee! But life is good. My Lobster made us some of her world famous egg salad sandwiches for lunch. Sorry, but there will be nothing left for you.

Time and timings

13 Feb 17
05:35 hrs

     Once again my medical issue has me awake early in the morning. Nothing I can do except suffer through it. But, I am planning on taking some time and having a nap this afternoon.

     This weekend we celebrated my Lobster's Birthday. Our Senior Couch Monkey was unable to attend as he was snowed in at Hub City.  Our Junior Couch Monkey was off to the Island Capital for the Island Improv competition - they came in Second. Not that we didn't want the boys around but having them away gave us the opportunity to have friends in. Our dear friends from Over the Hump came to stay at the Wayward Inn. Chef Blaine and Sous Irene made BBQ pork tenderloins braised Martian Balls, a Roofing Shingle salad and spetzel. There was wine, craft beer and whiskey. The cake was from Hot Chocolates and it was so dense that the six inch tall six inch diameter cake must have weighed four pounds.

15 Feb 17
05:35 hrs

     Time to get the lead out!
     Back to ten+ hour days. Good for the wallet. Bad for the home life. Yesterday I overheard a contract laborer say that he had 8 hours a week shaved of his shift as 40 hrs In 4 days was a bit wearing. He would rather have a smaller paycheck with more quality time. A smart man.

A Confession...of sorts

07 Feb 17
20:40 hrs

     I have something to tell you, Dear Readers, I have become a closet drinker. Not alcohol of course. I drink that out in the open.

     It's tea. That's right! Tea. I don't know why. But, very once in a while I have started to enjoy a cup of tea with my Better Half. Not ordinary tea.  No Lipton pre-bagged Red Rose and none of that Peppermint Camomile de-caffinated stuff either. Its a man's tea. Dark and strong and heady. You should check it out for yourself. Find yourself a good tea shop. One with a thousand large cans lining the shelves. With scales for weighing and little bags for your purchases. (Since your in BC it could be your local head shop.)  Look for Russian Caravan and something called Lobsang Rampa - I think that's what it's called. Have the proprietor dig out a scoop and have yourself a deep sniff. I'll tell you this. Chef Blaine, at the Wayward Inn, is looking at grinding some of it up as a dry rub seasoning on pork chops.

Two Weeks In...

05 Feb 17
06:30 hrs

     I really hate to bring it up but I do have to ask you Dear Readers: What are your impressions of the actions of His Royal Highness the Tangerine Tyrant? Is it what you expected or is it worse? Can you forsee a path of increased global armed conflict? Mysogenistic. Narcissistic. And all the other istics as well. He is used to getting what he wants and having the power to get it so when a demand is denied - as the Islamic Travel ban has been currently overturned - he must be losing his shit.

     I love it!  To see a person of such dizzying omnipotence be forced to bow to the rule of law makes my heart beat just a little bit faster.

     Do you know what else makes my heart beat faster? Shovelling all the damn snow that has been falling on the Valley. On Thursday someone had mentioned that Mt. Washington was to be getting five  feet of snow over the next few days. Great if you're a skier but I really hate seeing it on my lawn. We had six inches on the ground yesterday morning and there has been at least another four inches drop overnight. Snow removal in the Valley must be done slowly and steadily. If it's wet and heavy - no lifting! That stuff will kill you. I kid you not! If you have to do a little bit and then take a rest do it. There are too many people dying from shovelling snow.

     Now, the city asks the residents to clear the sidewalks. Sure. Not a problem. I cleared the sidewalk in front of the Wayward Inn but then the city graded the streets and buried the sidewalk! I'll be damned if I shovel it out again. I'll clear in front of the mail box and a path from the street to the mail box. That's all.

16:50 hrs.

     So, the driveway was cleaned and the truck is now bare. The weather seems to be warming but I doubt if it will be warm enough for any precipitation to fall as rain.    So the Valley can probably expect more of the white stuff. This weekend Loin Fruit #1 will be coming home and Loin Fruit #2 will be heading to the Provincial Capital for an Improv competition. Our friends from Over the Hump will be coming to visit as well. Good food and raucous banter will be in supply. I'm sure we are both looking forward to it.

     Oh, yes. It is also my Lobster's Birthday. I am well on my way to completing the Wayward Inn Lending Library. At least I think that is what it will be called.

21:15 hrs

     Thank goodness for the Ram's 4x4 power train. The old part of the Valley is still buried in snow. I'm waiting for the Jr. Couch Monkey to finish his weekly DnD session. Tomorrow is the start of another week. I'll have to clean off my work partner's truck before he brings the patrol vehicle back. Don't know if I'll actually head out on patrol as the roads will be choked and it would give me a day to work on the Lending Library. Tough decision.