Still at the new home ranch on the outskirts of GTA. Packing clothing, trying not to take Too Much Stuff (tm) back to the UK. Sigh.

We were a bit shocky yesterday, but both Mum and I seem more stable and clearheaded today.

Minister from Mum's church is excellent and has agreed on a 'low-God' ceremony, that will suit us and defer to Dad's anti-church sentiments. Memorial service is set for Sat, with cremation to follow next week (not a ceremony). I think we'll bury his ashes with ( Read more... )

If only all my friends were on LJ, then I could skip the obit... my version has para breaks and is easier to read. 
This is mostly in case anyone within GTA wants to attend.

Brown, Henry Kenneth 'Ken' - On 13 April 2011, age 80.
Survived by beloved wife of 50 yrs, Sheila, daughter Elizabeth, sisters Eunice, Gretta, Linda and families & by the ( Read more... )

After a week in CCU, my dad died this morning, shortly after Mum and I arrived at the hospital ( Read more... )

ethnowoman  posted this, and I found it the most insightful comment about Canadian attitudes I've heard in years.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/what-are-canadians-really-afraid-of-when-it-comes-to-crime/article1978257/singlepage/#articlecontent

So effectively, Canadians are afraid of crime in the face of all evidence to the contrary about the ( Read more... )

Dad is bad - I'm trying not to fall into the polite indirect phrases my mum uses so easily ('not good', 'not doing well'). He's been moved to a ventilator, which requires him to be sedated. It's intended to give his lungs a rest and to help them cough up the junk in them, but he can't stay on indefinitely with no prospect of change.
He's now running ( Read more... )

Dad's in hospital with pneumonia, ICU, on antibiotics and a positive-pressure breathing mask (bit like CPAP for sleep apnea, only it both pushes and pulls air ( Read more... )

I don't have a Canadian icon - you'll have to settle for the red and white pavilion.

This year, I took July 1st as a holiday and made an extended holiday weekend of the date. It just feels wrong to be at work that day.

So just for fun, I met nusbacher  at Trafalgar Square to mark the day, to see what is flogged as Canadian culture abroad.

Turns out it's a ( Read more... )

Work allows me a fair bit of leeway to surf (I can't make a webpage load any faster by staring at it) so in an effort to keep my reading at least work-related, I've been following a number of health-science-related blogs of late.

My newest favourite is Obesity Panacea, written by two PhDs who've studied at Queen's University - one is based in ( Read more... )

Robert was disappointed with his own performance on the field at Coronet, and I have to agree it wasn't his best. However, we've talked the circumstances over a bit, and I think we can see where we both need to work on preparing for tournaments, and freeing both of us up from multiple commitments through an event may be a start.

At Katherine of ( Read more... )