(lygenztia *107) Ooooh, you just make me soooo mad!

I seriously think that some people set out in the morning to get themselves angry. They need to feel miserable, so they look for things that will piss them off, or provoke someone else into a confrontation over nothing.

Case in point. I am at Tim Horton's this morning and this grumpy looking old bat is in front of me.
She steps up to order and this is how it goes....
" Can I have a large tea with milk and sweetener? "

So, the clerk brings this cow her tea and she snarls up her face and says "excuse me, what's this? What is this?" The clerk is completely bewildered and asks.... what is the problem?

This scrag starts on this rant about how she specifically asked for a "steeped tea" and not one with a bag. (she didn't by the way) She is all mad and angry about it. Chill the hell out Broom Hilda, the clerk wil get you another tea, it's all good.

But you could see that this old sea hags day was completely ruined. She left the place with a storm cloud over her head and you know what? I think that was what made her happy, was to be miserable.

Crappy way to live....and if that's what makes you happy well that's just sad.

(lygenztia *106) "Who will think of the children?"

Dropped my buddies son off at school a few mornings this week and made some interesting observations about mothers. (Interestingly, none of the "offenders" I noticed were men.)

The moms would take great care, drive into the drop off with their precious cargo (kiddies) with the care and concern that any good sensed mom would have. They drop their kids off, big smile..watch them go into the school...adoring them the whole time.

But then, something interesting happens. They get in their car and race outta there at about 120km/h!

It was like, Ok..my kids are safe, now the rest of you get the hell out of my way, 'cause I got a hair appointment. So they come in with the care of a trucker carrying nuclear waste and leave like a Nascar driver?

Bad form. Other people love their kids, just as much as you love your kids. Slow the hell down mama, it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye.

(lygenztia *105) I hope the Jam Fairy doesn't sue me.

OK, this Lygenztia is a complete and total rip off of the previous (Lygenztia *12) "The Jam Fairy", but I am going to risk being redundant.

"I was gonna"
"I was just about to"
"Oh, I was gonna get that"

EVERY parent that is reading this knows exactly where this is going. Don't you just love it when you ask/tell/demand/plead with your kids to do something and they don't do it? Then, when you ask them why they didn't do it...the response is always "I was gonna".

Lets take two fictional characters for example. We'll call them.....Cameron and Emily. And characters they are, of that there can be no doubt.

Dad asks question at 7:30AM-"Cameron, can you take out the garbage?"
Then....
Dad gets home at 5:00PM, garbage is all over the kitchen from the dogs having had a tin can buffet, while Cameron is in the other room playing X-Box.
Dad asks-"Why didn't you take out the garbage?

Guess what Cameron says? Guess..just guess. Please oh please..guess.
You got it!
"I WAS GONNA"

Dad asks Emily at 7:15AM-Emily, can you bring up any dishes you have in your room and put them in the dishwasher?"
Then....
Dad gets home at 6:30PM to find there are NO clean plates in the house, beacuse they are all in Emily's room.
Guess what Emily says? Guess..just guess. Please oh please..guess.
You got it!
"I WAS GONNA"

The really strange thing though...their memory is like a steel trap, 100% reliable.... when they remember to ask Dad for something.
Cameron asks Dad-"Dad can you drive me to the ski hill tonite to go snowboarding?"
Then calls, texts and e-mails Dad about 312 times that day to remind Dad.
Emily asks Dad-"Dad, can you drive me to work and leave me money for shopping?"
Then calls, texts and e-mails Dad about 312 times that day to remind Dad.

I think it would be really funny, the next time they ask Dad to leave them money......that Dad "forgets".

Then, when they call Dad looking for it....
Guess what Dad says? Guess..just guess. Please oh please..guess.
You got it!
"I WAS GONNA"


Sheesh, I wish.

(lygenztia *104) Water off a ducks back...

I'm not much for New Years resolutions, mostly because I learned about 23 years ago that I can't keep them.

But, there is one thing that I am going to do this year. I am going to make up a list. I am going to call it my, "It must be really suck to be you list."

So, rather than get mad when people do jerk-like, or selfish things, I am just going to smile and say to myself.."It must really suck to be you."

I am not sure how long my list will be, but it is going to start with the following infractions:
1) If you measure your lawn sprinkler with laser precision to make sure not one drop of H2O hits my lawn, when I constantly water yours..you're on the list.
2) If you stop your snowblower with laser like precision half way down the sidewalk, when i go out of my way to snowblow your walk and drive...you're on the list.
3) If your ugly tree drips sap all over my cars and you refuse to trim it, because it may hurt the tree..you're on the list.
4) If you pull out in front of me and drive slow, even though there were no cars behind me...you're on the list.
5) If your trees blow leaves all over my lawn and you never even once offer to help me clean them up....you're on the list.
6) If you are constantly negative and complaining...you're definitely on the list.
7) If you don't smile, even though it's a beautiful day and there's a drink in your hand....you're on the list.
8) If you make fun of, and are mean to those less fortunate then you...you're on the list.
9) If you are always trying to pawn your responsibilities off on others....you too, have made the list.

The list goes on...others may have additions, or even think that my list is hypocritical. But it is, after all, my list and if you don't like it well....."it must really suck to be you."

Have a nice day.

(lygenztia *103) "well, you have to understand the history"

No, I do not.

The Arab/Israeli conflict is very troubling to me and should be to everyone else, because we all have a stake in that game. This conflict has the potential to bring about armageddon, it is that serious.

You only need to listen to talk radio to hear how passionate, how upset, how angry and how scary some people can be.......when discussing the issue of Gaza and Israel. People from Canada calling talk radio, screaming, crying, threatening eachother over the radio. It is sad. For those of you that do not listen to talk radio, try it. You will be shocked.

The conflict is literally thousands of miles way, but the internet and tv have brought it to our front door.

Can you imagine the emotions in the actual conflict zone?

I keep hearing the "experts" come on the radio and tv and inevitably, you hear this..."well, you have to understand the history of the region."

NO, I do not. I no longer care who is "right" and who is "wrong" because those lines have gotten way too blurry. They need to stop the killing and figure this thing out, before they risk annihilating the entire region, or the planet. Kids should be able to grow up playing and not being taught bomb shelter protocol.

The narrow minded rednecks that say "oh, just let them go at it" have no idea the potential for the spread of this conflict and potential for mass destruction of human life. Some of the players in this game have nuclear weapons.

Think about that over your morning coffee in your nice little house in Smalltown, Canada.

I beleive that some wars are just. I belive that some conflicts are inevitable. But I also believe that ultimately, they have to end at some point. Cooler heads have to prevail here. For those of you that think North America has no stake in this game, witness the recent protests in Canada and the U.S.

If this keeps up, its only a matter of time before they become violent.

This has to stop, because this pot is boiling over and the rest of the world, like it or not, is the stove top.

Now, more than ever...the world needs a hero.

(lygenztia *102) It just needs a little adjustment.

OK car dealers, I get it. You are struggling. Cash flow is tight.

This applies to ALL manufacturers, by the way.

But the way to recover and prosper is NOT to jam it in our ying yang, when we bring our car in for "routine service". Have you ever noticed they ALWAYS find something wrong with your car that is mysteriously NOT covered by warranty when you take your car in for "routine service"? Every goddam time.

See, if it is covered by warranty, then the manufacturer has to re-imburse the dealer. But, if they can "up-sell" you on service that is miraculously not covered by warranty YOU get to pay for it.

It never fails...you take your car in for a "routine service" that is supposed to cost $200 and you are lucky if you get out of there for less than $400. It promotes lousy customer relations, distrust of the dealer and reduced sales. I'm not a rocket scientist, or a businessman, but even I get that.

Here's the line....

"Oh, our technician found that the revolving gyro endo sprectoid might fail, due to your frequent use of over pressure on your heater knob. You push it too hard and that causes a back flash in the flux capacitor that could translate into an oil ring disspation into the lunar endo-arm of the DCE box. If you do not fix this, you will die."

Ya sure, whatever. Just bend me over, tell me how much and gimme my damn car back.

(lygenztia *101) But, it's a dry cold....

Thursday temperature –21 (feels like –24)
Friday temperature –16 (feels like –25)
Saturday temperature –12 (feels like –22)

But , you know what folks? ”It’s a dry cold.” If I hear someone say this one more time I am going to go crackers. Cold is cold, is cold.

And man, has it been cold lately.

When I go to put the dogs put in the morning, they put their nose to the outside air, turn around and go back to bed. The look on their face as they refuse to go outside is “to hell with that, I’ll hold it.”

I went out in this “dry cold” and wore the following:
3 shirts, 2 coats, underpants, thermal underwear, pants, winter boots, scarf, trooper hat (with large furry brim and ear covers) and a pair of leather gloves.

I look ridiculous, all you can see is my eyes and some of my nose and you know what? I don’t care. I am warm and the older you get, the less you care what you look like and the more you care about how warm you are. It’s a damn good trade off in damn cold weather.

I have traveled this beautiful province extensively and have been to the far north in winter. The coldest weather that I have ever experienced was Sioux Lookout in February, a “dry cold” to be sure.

But I have news for you, once you get anywhere past “feels like –20” that’s damn cold no matter where you are on the planet. I hate it. I am not going to trumpet my Canadian patriotism by saying we should “enjoy” this, that it’s part of being Canadian.
I can be just as patriotic sitting by a dock on a northern Ontario lake, on July 1st with a nice cold beer. Now that, is a “dry cold".

(lygenztia *100) Century club....

About a year ago I decied I was going to start to record my thoughts, as bizzare as they may seem to others. It was something that I always wanted to do, but just never really found the place to do it until Facebook. From there, I found Google blogs and published there as well.

The one thing that I enjoy the most about my musings are when people comment on them, good or bad. I have had e-mails from people that disagree with me and then apologize. We should never apologize for our opinion, because to have an opinion means that you have engaged some thought into an issue, or idea. I have been around long enough to know that I am not always right. But what I do, is put some thoughts into my ideas, or "arguments".

I would like to write more often, but time constraints greatly reduce my ability to publish as often as I would like. My goal for 2009 is 3 times per week, minimum. I plan to write a book eventually and the blog, for me, is a primer.

One thing that did surprise me about my blog was that there were people that asked me if I had actually written it. A few thought that I just found it somewhere else on the net and re-published it as a lygenztia. I was never quite sure how to take that, but I was never offended...just kind of surprised.

I realized the power of the written and spoken word at a young age, mostly from watching my father. My Dad was the "go to guy" at family functions and did alot of the speaking. I was always amazed at how he could capture the audience and speak with such authority. His words resonated, were meaningful....people listened. Few people have this quality. It can't be taught, you are born with this.

I'm a sentimental man. My rough, gruff exterior and the occasional pugilism as a youngster may disguise this fact, but my sentimentality is well known to those that are close to me. Alot of my thoughts and writings have their origin in sentimentality.

Thus, my conclusion. Some of my blogs are serious, some are just pure silliness, but all are deeply personal. My wife knew how much they meant to me and went to the trouble of having them published in the form of a book, for a Christmas present. I had to hold back the tears when I opened it on Christmas morning.

So, I am an "author" now. I can't even begin to describe how meaningful that book is to me. Not for the content, but that someone thought enough of me and my words to have them permanently etched on paper. Of course the book isn't "published", but its my book. I will always treasure it.

Guess this means I have to keep going.

(Lygenztia *99) Memory Lane can be a great street.

I had the pleasure of attending a friend's wedding reception recently with my wife and we had the best time.

It wasn't just because I had too much to drink, either.

One of the nicest parts of the evening, was seeing friends that I had not seen in far too long. There is something to be said for a handshake, or a hug. They are far preferable to a "poke" or an e-mail.

Seeing people that I had not seen in a long time, hearing how their life was going and sharing common experiences was just fantastic. It's interesting how the conversation progresses, each person wanting to know how the other is doing and genuinely hoping that life is good for them.

The conversations aren't really of the "remember when" variety. Moreso.."How is you wife?, How is work? How old are your kids? How is your mom and dad?" And your friend is genuinely interested in the answer to each and every question.

I don't know if it is my rose coloured glasses, but my friends all seem to be aging so gracefully and successfully.

I hope this trend continues and I hope I see them more often in the future.

(lygenzytia 98) Oh ya right.....

"Oh ya right" is the standard come back line from someone who cannot laugh at themselves. This is the type of person, that when they find themselves the subject of a funny incident, get all huffy and defensive.

They are also the type that are first in line to poke fun at someone else. They are quick to point out what they perceive are another person's "shortcomings".

Why can't some people laugh at themselves? Why do some people think that they are so important and "high and mighty", that they simply cannot laugh at themselves? These are always the type that are the first to tease and laugh at others too, you ever notice that?

We ALL do funny things and we ALL should be able to laugh at ourselves every now and then.

I feel sorry for people that can't laugh at themeslves every now and then....they are sad.

Careful that you don't twist an ankle getting off that high horse.

(lygenztia *97) They don't build 'em like they used to.

Well, thank God for that.

Cars and trucks are built better now than they ever have been. That's a fact.
They go through crash tests, quality tests, cutting edge engineering and technology and they will go for 400,000 to 500,000 kms, if you do some basic maintenance.

Look at the J.D. Power and Associates tests on vehicles. They have facts.

I got into a pretty heated debate with someone a little while ago about vehicles. I gotta tell you, I am so sick of hearing some people say that modern cars/trucks are junk and that cars used to be so much better in the "old days". The people that think this way are hillbillies and are intimidated by the technology that they do not understand.

I've got news for you. The vehicles built between 1965 and 1990 basically fell apart after about 90,000 kms. Literally. They were OK, given the technology of the time, but in comparison to modern day cars, they were absolute junk. I know, I owned many.

The rose coloured glasses of yesteryear forget the vehicles that never started, heaters that never worked, window washer fluid spayers that only worked sporadically and sprayed only about 3 inches. The transmissions would slip, the engines burned and leaked oil. They rusted out after about 4 years. The emergency brake lines seized about 3 weeks after you bought it.

The door hinges shifted and the windows didn't seal. They always had to be boosted when it got cold. The window handles stripped so you couldn't wind the windows up and down. Sunroofs leaked water.

The steel exhaust rusted and fell apart. The manifold gaskets leaked. The "high beams" were about 213 candle power. The vinyl dashboards cracked and left gaps that you could keep loose change in. The ashtrays took someone with superhuman strength to open it. Then, it stuck open. Forever.

The vacuum hoses got hard, cracked and the damn things NEVER idled smoothly. Don't even get me started about the u-joints and brakes that had to be replaced about every 33 miles. Interior comfort was a rubber floor mat that you bought at Canadian Tire. You had to put blankets on the seat to stop the seat springs from sticking in your butt.

Ya sure, you could "work on them" back then. But, that was all it seemed you ever did was work on them.

You didn't sell these cars, or trade them in. You called the local auto wreckers to come get them.

Face it. New cars are better. Much better.

For those that are hanging in with their visions of the past, I have some advice. Go buy a new car and trade in your 25 year old car that only runs on 7 cylinders.