BarbWriter

Lately, family ethics has been on my mind and it comes down to this: Do children owe their parents some of their time and effort? Should parents demand it? In other words, should we expect our kids to give something back in return for all those sacrificial years of raising them? I first began wondering about this a few days ago when an acquaintance - not a real friend - became an apparently lonely soul living in the home her daughter owned. This daughter and her family lives close by and, to... Sign in to see full entry.

I've just been fighting with the Monster Machine. It won. So here I am taking refuge in Blogit. It's safe enough - I think. When The Monster and I first eyed each other balefully, it was at the home of my ex-husband years ago when he was my ex and not quite yet my friend. His second wife had fled to California and, in selling his sweet home complete with tennis court and pool, he was stuck with various items of furniture, including The Monster. "You can have it for ten bucks," he said. At the... Sign in to see full entry.

A few years ago - quite a few years ago, in fact - we consumers up here in never-never land were subjected by our illustrious government to the metric system. Guess it had something to do with free trade and all that stuff. Supposedly it created a level playing field for giving and taking to and from other metric countries. Heck, I was brought up on the other system - you know the one with miles, pounds and inches. Our government kindly gave us lots of time to adjust but I, for one, never did.... Sign in to see full entry.

I don't know how many bloggers out there have ever had to experience mental illness in any way, shape or form. Maybe you're all normal people who were never immersed in "the system" whether as a family member, relative or patient. If not, you're so lucky! Hope like the devil you never will be. If you ever are you won't get the sympathy and caring doled out to people with cancer, bad hearts or broken bones. Instead, you'll get ignorance, aloofness and suspicion. Frankly, I hate that term. A far... Sign in to see full entry.

So our blood and guts prime minister, Stephen Harper, is taking a page from George W. in his crusade against crime. He's socking in a moola so our city can hire some 100 more police officers. And our new mayor thinks that's quite all right. This would be fine if the cops actually solved crimes but there are a-plenty out there they haven't. And they keep telling us that the violent crime rate is falling. More break-ins and robberies but not as much in the way of murders, rapes, etc. So why the... Sign in to see full entry.

I know well a lady who is celebrating her 91st birthday next month. It seems to me that she has all the attributes for an even longer lifetime. In fact, I tease her that she will probably be in the Guiness Book of Records one day as the oldest North American woman. We have to discount the oldest from other countries - especially Asia - who, for some reason seem to be on the top of the heap each year, be it diet or whatever that keeps them going so long. I don't know about them but I do know... Sign in to see full entry.

It seems to me that the Iraq war is identical to a fight in the school yard. Here are two bully clans that have always hated each other - the Sunnis and the Shiites - and here, interposing themselves between the two strong opponents are the U.S. and my country, Canada. The two little guys in the middle have always gotten along pretty well as they are interdependent but the bigger guy in the middle thinks the little guy should be doing a heck of alot more to add to the fight. They both insist... Sign in to see full entry.

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Oh boy! Am I addicted? You bet! How do I get off this roller coaster? I can't help it. I've just got to pull up that smiling face on my desktop. It beckons me. It lures me. To heck with blogging. I'm playing. It's stupid, I know, to sit there putting an ace at the side and fours on fives, queens on kings until I get them in one neat pile at the side. Sometimes I choose the wrong card and lose the game and start all over again. Just have to win. Often I guess right and "You've won the game" comes... Sign in to see full entry.