A Sad Day for Canadian Politics
I got a bit of a shock this morning as I drove to town: Jack Layton, the leader of the federal New Democratic Party, passed away this morning after a battle with cancer at the age of 61. The NDP had always been a second-rate party, never having that much clout in national politics, but in the last federal election they sky-rocketed in popularity (mostly in Quebec) and shook off the Liberals to take a firm hold as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons. This was due largely to the popularity of Jack Layton himself, moreso than the popularity of the party. As for myself, I don't care much for the policies of the NDP (so I didn't vote for them) but I did admire and respect Jack Layton. The country has lost one of the most charasmatic political leaders that it has seen in decades (many would argue since Trudeau) and it will likely be quite a challenge for the NDP to hold their position without Jack's leadership.
With thanks to ducktapeddonkey, here is Jack Layton's Final Letter to Canadians.
On the homefront, the Kidling and I picked up the New-Holland hay-rake from Alfie's estate this evening. I had taken the ruptured tire in for repairs, and Frenchie's staff had it fixed (new tire and tube) in less than 15 minutes; I just hope I don't get screwed too badly on the cost! Getting the wheel back on the rake was easy enough, but there was a problem when it came time to lower the jack: We were using one of those ratchet-type "Jack-All" jacks, which I hate with a passion for their tendancy to slip, fall, and other nastiness. Though I've used this particular one many time without incident, my luck ran out today when the blasted thing whipped its handle up and smashed me on the nose! I thought that it might have broken my nose and/or glasses, but I got lucky - I didn't even get a nosebleed from the blow, and my glasses were intact. I still despise this style of jack, but there are cases (like this one) where nothing else really fits, and there's little other choice. We got the hay-rake home without any further problems, but shortly afterwards I got a call from trixstir saying that she had run out of gas in front of the bowling-alley, and would we please bring some gas. This was around 8:35pm, and the gas-station closes at 9pm, so it was a tight race! Fortunately, a trucker had called in asking the station to stay open a little later so he could re-fuel his semi, so they were also willing to stay open long enough for us to get a jerry-can of gas for the van, dump it in, and bring the van to the station. funfunfun...
STILL no money from Sears or the Ability Centre. Mortage is due on Wednesday, and I am not happy with this situation!
With thanks to ducktapeddonkey, here is Jack Layton's Final Letter to Canadians.
On the homefront, the Kidling and I picked up the New-Holland hay-rake from Alfie's estate this evening. I had taken the ruptured tire in for repairs, and Frenchie's staff had it fixed (new tire and tube) in less than 15 minutes; I just hope I don't get screwed too badly on the cost! Getting the wheel back on the rake was easy enough, but there was a problem when it came time to lower the jack: We were using one of those ratchet-type "Jack-All" jacks, which I hate with a passion for their tendancy to slip, fall, and other nastiness. Though I've used this particular one many time without incident, my luck ran out today when the blasted thing whipped its handle up and smashed me on the nose! I thought that it might have broken my nose and/or glasses, but I got lucky - I didn't even get a nosebleed from the blow, and my glasses were intact. I still despise this style of jack, but there are cases (like this one) where nothing else really fits, and there's little other choice. We got the hay-rake home without any further problems, but shortly afterwards I got a call from trixstir saying that she had run out of gas in front of the bowling-alley, and would we please bring some gas. This was around 8:35pm, and the gas-station closes at 9pm, so it was a tight race! Fortunately, a trucker had called in asking the station to stay open a little later so he could re-fuel his semi, so they were also willing to stay open long enough for us to get a jerry-can of gas for the van, dump it in, and bring the van to the station. funfunfun...
STILL no money from Sears or the Ability Centre. Mortage is due on Wednesday, and I am not happy with this situation!