Burma, China & 2008 Olympics

I've been thinking about the proximity of China to Burma. China is very concerned right now with it's world image. With it's very recent negative press of toy recalls, poisoned pets, air pollution that impairs athlete's abilities and dreadful human rights history, China is desperate to clean up it's image and present itself as a safe, welcoming and desirous destination for the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

With the kind of events happening at one of China's borders I hope they use their might to wield some kind of agreement for the Junta to back off. As self serving as it may be, they may be the only ones big enough to do it. Financially China is very necessary to Burma's ruling Junta.

Ah the irony... Tibet? Well, that's for another blog.

Red for Burma

I have changed my colours to red, the colour of the monks' robes. I know this is not my usual blogging but this is really upsetting me. It is unacceptable, we cannot just watch it on the news and carry on. We have to do something!

Support Burma: International Bloggers' Day at 4th Oct

Take action on Burma with your blog and join the International Bloggers' Day for Burma on the 4th of October.

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Burmese Soldiets refuse orders!

From the Stuttgarter Zeitug: (A German newspaper from Stuttgart)

Birma in der Krise
Erste Soldaten verweigern den Befehl
In Birmas zweitgrößter Stadt Mandalay sollen Soldaten den Gehorsam verweigert und nicht wie angeordnet auf Demonstranten geschossen haben.


Translation: In Mandalay, Burma's second largest city, Soldiers refused to shoot at demonstrators as ordered!

Burma's gone quiet...

Burma time 14;28


From a blogger covering the story:

Dear All,

I sadly announce that the Burmese military junta has cut off the internet connection throughout the country. I therefore would not be able to feed in pictures of the brutality by the brutal Burmese military junta.

I will also try my best to feed in their demonic appetite of fear and paranoia by posting any pictures that I receive though other means (Journos!! please don’t ask me what other means would be??). I will continue to live with the motto that “if there is a will there is a way”.

We probably need to lobby the Chinese government or UN envoy to Burma to ask the junta to switch on the Internet. Please!

direct link to his blog: http://ko-htike.blogspot.com/

just copy and paste it into your address bar

I want one of these too!

How cool is this fish? It's an "albino white-spotted ratfish" and is related to stingrays and skates. It's about a foot long, has rat-like teeth, can crush clam shells and a tail! She's adorable! What more could you ask for in a fish eh? I think she'd look lovely with the antarctic ice fish I posted about in February! The one with no red blood cells.

Oh, don't swim in Washington's Puget Sound if you don't like her!

Facebook me!

I have facebook. Search me; Patricia Toal. Hopefully I'm happy to hear from you! hehe

This pic of me and my Dad was taken November 10th, 1973 at Wolselely Barracks, CFB London. It was my 16th birthday.

Burma, the shooting has started

Quite the contrast to the picture below. The shooting/beating has started. Deaths are reported...

Burma NOT Myanmar

Scary looking group eh? Imagine, red clad Monks, pink clad Nuns... 30,000 of them walking in droves, in bare feet, joined by tens of thousands of others, in peaceful protest of the Junta. A curfew has been imposed. The last time this happened, the Junta came in with guns and slaughtered an estimated 3000 people in response.

Sanctions are not enough. If they come in with guns, sanctions will not stop the bullets. This is history in the making, I only hope the ending is a celebration, not a funeral.

You CAN fight City Hall!

Tecumseh Road West is a road I drive twice daily. Months and months ago, they did construction on the part just after the curve leading to two sets of railway tracks, 4 lanes of traffic, parking on both sides of the street and lanes that swerve back and forth, back and forth. Now... once it was re-paved they painted tiny white dots all up and down. Sometimes they came back and painted more tiny white dots. No yellow ones though. If it was dark or raining, or worst case scenario... dark AND raining you were screwed. I almost lost my new front fender more than once by almost being side swiped!

Tecumseh Road is the second busiest East/West road after the expressway in Windsor. So what does Traffic & Engineering do? Leaves it like that for weeks and weeks. I first called the Maintenance Department a few weeks ago. Spoke to a lovely woman who told me that there was work to do at one intersection so they didn't want to paint and then have to do it again. ONE intersection... I think there are about 5 in the span with no lines! (Did I mention the two sets of train tracks?) I called again, a couple of weeks ago and spoke to a very nice man who told me it should be done soon. I waited...

Last Wednesday I tossed down the gauntlet! I wrote and put The City of Windsor on official notice that this posed a hazard! Well... the phone rang about 1/2 hour after I faxed it. The gentleman who received it was walking it to the proper person in Traffic and Engineering. Phone rang again about an hour later. It was the proper guy. He tried to explain why they were waiting... blah blah blah... I told him that my letter served as being put on notice of a hazard and they could be held responsible for any accident ... more blah blah blah... finally I just said, "cut to the chase, when are you painting the lines?" He replied, "likely tomorrow." Well;

Driving home that day, at 4:45pm what's happening on Tecumseh Rd. W.? Painters and machines; that's what! It was done by Friday.

I got to work Friday at about 10:00am and Dave came up to me, chuckling... "oh, here's a message for you. Robert, from the City called. He told me to tell you that the lines are done on Tecumseh Road."

Now Michelle wants me to get them to re-pave College Avenue as it's shaking her teeth loose every day when she drives it to go to the University!

Any other requests out there? I'm making a list! hehe

The fruits of Michelle's labour...

This summer, Mich decided to plant tomatoes and peppers. The tomatoes have flourished beyond belief! Taller than the fence, enough for us, the tomato bugs, the squirrels and the skunks! Not to mention that everyone who comes over is sent home with at least one giant tomato!

This is a pic of the first one sacrificed at our table! What a lovely salad it made no?

Who really belongs in the zoo?

Too bad the bear couldn't get out eh?

Going to Shanghai?

Well... not much more to be said really! yikes! Hope no one's diverted to oh... who knows where!
I'm only driving to London... no typhoons there I think.

Happy Birthday Nancy!

1957 is a year of classics, you, me, and T'Birds...

The mystery of the pond vandal!

Ok, something LARGE is demolishing Susan and Bob's pond next door, home of Fluffy the almost 5 year old Goldfish and friends! It rips up plants, tips things over, topples fences and generally causes havoc! Causing Bob, (next door, not husband,) tons of extra work and aggravation!

I think it's trying to fish. I may have to stay up all night and see what it is! That is if certain persons I know who are armed for a legitimate reason would lend me their gun! :)

WFCU Centre (again)

(click the pic for larger image)


This is a copy of my original WFCU Centre post that brought the google hits.




WFCU Centre - Windsor Ontario

Yep, it's official. Our new Arena, the one we've been waiting for for 20 years or so has it's name! woo hoo...

They forgot a couple of letters though. It should be WFCUHBT Centre...

Whatthe F... Could U Have Been Thinking?

Let's compare: Air Canada Centre, Labatt Centre, Joe Louis Arena, Cobo Hall, Barrie Molson Centre... WFCU Centre ... sigh

Well, my blog is only 82 visits away from it's 2000th visitor! do realize that in the blog world, that's not much but hey, I'm no big political pundit, just me blathering about my day so I think that's not too shabby a total!

Today, someone from Reston Virginia, googled the WFCU Centre and Google's second return, after Wikepedia... was ME! My post, two posts ago about the new name. (I am humbled being so close to a Wiki link!)

Sure hope it wasn't someone the Spitfires were trying to recruit, they may not want to play in the FU centre eh?

Blockages, cranes & jackhammers... oh my!

Elm Avenue was awash with construction equipment this past week. We had piles of gravel, excavators, cranes, machines I've never seen that look more suited to the oil industry than sewer repair.

Last Sunday, Bob (next door, not husband,) on his birthday discovered his basement full of water. Nope not a burst pipe but a clogged sewer. In came the eel guy... out went the eel guy - it was beyond his scope (pardon the pun!) Bob dug out around his clean out and well, it wasn't pretty.

Monday morning out came the city guys who after some investigation announced "you're going to have to do more digging than that!" Yep the whole darn thing had to be dug up and replaced... from house to street connection. There began the waiting.

We shared our bathrooms and showers and tubs with Bob & Susan, well not with them, but happily told them to use our facilities at will.

Unfortunately for them, the company doing their replacement was on another job that ended up taking another 3 days! They were sewer-less from Sunday to Friday. The jackhammer mentioned in the title was used in their basement to break up the cement floor, apparently that's quite loud for those in the house, go figure! The hole in the front yard was quite impressive, and the one they dug in the street is nicely patched. Bob calls it our Elm Avenue speed bump. (The "void" they found when digging, apparently is not a problem and there will not end up being a giant sink hole that swallows my car.)

I haven't been over to see the basement yet but the front yard is all tidy, the guys cleaned up nicely and apparently the toilet is now a "super flush" though I haven't heard it yet myself!

I cannot help but be a bit nervous now, two house to my right and the one directly left of me have had this happen in the past year... What do you think the odds are that the tree roots are everywhere but my front yard? sigh...

WFCU Centre - Windsor Ontario

Yep, it's official. Our new Arena, the one we've been waiting for for 20 years or so has it's name! woo hoo...

They forgot a couple of letters though. It should be WFCUHBT Centre...

Whatthe F... Could U Have Been Thinking?


Let's compare: Air Canada Centre, Labatt Centre, Joe Louis Arena, Cobo Hall, Barrie Molson Centre... WFCU Centre ... sigh

Happy Birthday Rick (who's always in the hood!)

Happy Birthday Bob (next door, not husband who had his on Wednesday)

Happy, Happy day to you!

Bush league geography!

Austria, Australia... OPEC, APEC... whatever!

Hungry at work!

Update... 18 hours since my last post where I mentioned I couldn't eat due to the new filling and that I was starving... Actually, I haven't eaten since supper on Wednesday! I still haven't eaten! If you're reading this, send food!

How cute is this pic? I found it in Google images.

Toal - Bondy house; weekly round-up

Ok, I've been away for a couple of days so here's what's been going on. London was good saw my Sister Barb and family, (all but Daniel who was working.) I spent lots of time with my Step-Mother Jackie and we went to White Oaks Mall. Mich was very excited as they now have an Aeropostal store! I bought her two t'shirts. I drove home yesterday afternoon so I could ...

Celebrate Bob's birthday! (Husband, not next door as his isn't until the 9th.) Woo hoo... 56 years old! (OMG!) We had a nice dinner and gave him his presents. He asked for and received the new Tim Horton's thermos and we threw in 3 big bags of little chocolate bars and a box of macaroons. He got a plethora of fancy "imported" cookies from Bob & Susan next door. He got a ton of lottery tickets and as I am still here blogging and not on my way to Toronto to pick up millions you can figure out how the tickets did!

I went to work today and then had to leave at 2pm for the dentist. They had found a cracked filling in June, but I didn't have time to do it then. I decided that since flossing made me have to push it back into the tooth I shouldn't put if off any longer. Well... didn't like it! Remember, no cavities for the last 38 years, not too much current drilling experience... did I mention I didn't like it? hmmmmmmmmmm? Now I'm starving, have a fridge full of great left overs but none of it "soft food!" I ate 3 of the banana muffins I made the other day but am still starving!

That's my life for the past three days or so.

A week of three sisters and their heads...

I live in Windsor. Barb lives in London. Sandra lives in Sturgeon Falls. The only thing in common is the Province.

So, I'm talking to Sandra on the phone last night, (Friday,) only to find out she has a migraine.

She tells me Barb had one Monday and Tuesday.

I had one Wednesday and was off work for a day.

Three Sisters, three cities, three migraines covering every work day this week. I need to check with Sarah in Montreal and hopefully she's not taking the weekend shift?