Happy Halloween

Tonight is the night
When dead leaves fly
Like witches on switches
Across the sky,
When elf and sprite
Flit through the night
On a moony sheen.

Tonight is the night
When leaves make a sound
Like a gnome in his home
Under the ground,
When spooks and trolls
Creep out of holes
Mossy and green.

Tonight is the night
When pumpkins stare
Through sheaves and leaves
Everywhere,
When ghouls and ghost
And goblin host
Dance round their queen.
It's Halloween.

~ HALLOWEEN ~
By Harry Behn

Saturday Photo Hunt

This week's theme is "Dark"

A couple of years ago there was a large fire on the property just up the road from us. It started in the late afternoon and went into the "Dark" of the night. I was so impressed with the forestry fire fighters, they did an amazing job and were so calm!

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What kind of consumer are you?

The other day I was shopping with my eldest daughter in order that she could buy her sister a present. One of the items on youngest daughter's list was clothing from a store called lululemon athletica. It's a store that sells yoga clothing and active wear. This company is a huge success story, in that it started out in Vancouver in 1998 and now has over 100 stores in Canada, USA, Australia and Hong Kong. You can click on the link if you would like to know more.

This, however isn't the purpose of my post. My purpose is to you as a consumer what kind of consumer are you? Are you the type that shops all around looking for the best price, do you only buy name brands or will a knock off do?

When do we as consumers say enough is enough. Case in point, when we were in the store my daughter purchased a "wee" and I mean "wee" little yoga top and headband for her sister. The yoga top on sale was $44 regularly $68 and the headband was $12 add our 12% sales tax and these two pieces cost $63.84! Is your chin dropping? If it isn't it should be. If you can get out of that store for under a $100 you have done well. I think it's criminal, and as consumers we should just keep our wallets shut, but we don't. Why, because this store is "Trendy". This company espouses to promote community awareness and healthy life style. Well that is all well and good, but should I be paying for their advertising and community programs? If they truly wanted to do something for the community why don't they make their products more affordable. It's a darn piece of stretchy material for goodness sakes! A headband for $12! Give me a break, silly of my daughter for paying that price, I told the clerk in the store that their products are way over priced and that I thought my daughter irresponsible for purchasing it....but she wanted it for her sister, so what to do.

Well what I have chosen to do is write this post as my public notice and I won't shop at their store and I have written to the store itself to voice my concerns regarding their prices, whether it does any good I don't know.

So I ask you, what kind of consumer are you?

Let's talk about this....

I watched a movie the other night staring Al Pacino called "You Don't know Jack" In this HBO movie Pacino plays Dr. Kervorkian.

Dr. Kervorkian also known as "Dr. Death" was tried and convicted and sentenced to 10 -25 years in prison. He was released in June 2007 after serving 8 years in prison for his role in patient assisted-suicide. What an interesting man. A man of conviction and willing to put everything on the line to change what he considers an unjust law. He's the kind of man you either admire for his convictions or hate him for his beliefs.

In the state of Michigan where Dr. Kervorkian was practising they didn't have laws which would allow him to participate in patient assisted-suicide. He challenged the law on many occasions. In 1998 he was accused and then convicted — of murder after injecting lethal drugs into Thomas Youk, 52, an Oakland County man suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Dr. Kervorkian now 81 years old still believes that people have a right to choose when they want to die. He is a advocate for terminally ill patients right to die via physician assisted-suicide.

I listened intently to the movie and then did my own research on Dr. Kervorkian and physician assisted-suicide. I personally don't like the term assisted suicide, to me it immediately implies criminal activity. I don't believe it is and here's why.

Let me play devils advocate for a moment. We already have in place "Advanced Directives" and "No Code" orders. Some of you may argue that Advanced Directives and No Code does not mean that the doctor's assist you in your dying process. Well let's look at that. A No Code order means that if you heart stops or you stop breathing the doctor or health care practitioner is not going to stop that process and they will allow you to die. So how is that any different than saying ok..... you have a terminal illness the medical field has done all it can for you the outcome will ultimately be death....you may die today, tomorrow, next week, next year who knows...but you will die from your disease.

Let's imagine your disease is Lou Gehrig(ALS) or MS or even something like advanced emphysema where you struggle for every breath you take, how long would you fight this battle?

Prior to any of the 130 assisted-suicide Dr. Kervorkian participated in he interviewed the patient and the family to assess their mental well being, he wanted to make sure they understood what it was they were asking him to participate in. He video taped his interviews. From what I could tell all of these people had done everything the medical field had asked them to do and they were just biding their time on this planet before nature took their last breath. These individuals felt that their quality of life was gone.

Now the anti Dr. Kervorkian activists felt he was playing god and feared that by legalizing physician assisted-suicide you were opening the door to the possibility of doing away with people prematurely.

On a personal note I can remember when my mom was caring for her dying husband at home and I asked her about his pain, or what he wanted with regards to death. He had extremely advanced cancer had undergone chemo, radiation, surgeries you name it. He had led a full life and he knew his time was coming. The doctor overseeing his care had written him a prescription for a liquid morphine. My mom told me she asked the doctor how much she should give him, the doctor's response to my mom was pour him a tumbler full leave it at his bedside he will take what he wants...and so that is what she did. He drifted off to sleep, only to wake briefly the morning of their anniversary to say his good-byes and he was gone. So you tell me....did the doctor assist with his dying process?

This is definite food for thought....what do you think?

Saturday Photo Hunt

This week's theme is "Miniature"
This was a hard one. The first thing that came to mind was miniature figurines. Well I don't have any of those nor do I have photos, then I started thinking about something the same that is big and small, but again I didn't have anything. Then it dawned on me. When my sister got married as part of the table favours at her wedding we put miniature champagne bubble bottles.

If you would like to join in on the fun please check out tnchick for all of the instructions. Happy Hunting!

SkyWatch Friday

I took these photos on Thanksgiving morning as I was getting ready for work......

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Words......

They say a picture speaks a thousand words. Well you didn't know my mother.

When I was growing up my mother had what I would have considered an extensive vocabulary. At times I swore she was making words up. I loved listening to her stories and how she spoke, I could always imagine the places she spoke about and the adventures. There were certain words that my mum(that's how she spelt mum)used frequently, and to this day I use many of these same words, even though I may get a quizzical look from the recipient.

What sparked this flashback of memories you might ask. Well I'll tell you. Are you familiar with Reader's Digest? If so you will know they have a section in there called "Word Power". It tests your vocabulary IQ or Word Power. I love that section. You go through the words pick your answer and see how many you got right and then you are rated fair, good or excellent. Some months I am just so pathetic, I haven't a clue as to what most of the words mean. Each month they present the words based on a theme. The July issue was "Manly Man" celebrating all things manly. In another edition they did it on newspaper names and their meanings. This month's theme "Words of Yesteryear". Of course my curiosity was piqued so I quickly looked down the list and out bounced words I haven't heard of in a while nor had I used since my girls were little.

Here are a couple of the words.....Ragamuffin(I love that word and how my mum made it sound), Lollygag(again another of my favourites it use to remind me of Lollies{lollipops}) of course that isn't what it meant. Or what about Rapscallion.....awe yes that was one of my mums all time favourites. It's funny you know even as a little child I knew what those words meant only because of the tone and the situation in which the words were used. I still use those words to this day, however, as I said I do get the odd look as if I made it up.

If you want to know the answers to those words check out Reader's Digest September 2010 edition.

A Thanksgiving Poem

TWAS THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING,

BUT I JUST COULDN'T SLEEP.

I TRIED COUNTING BACKWARDS,

I TRIED COUNTING SHEEP.
THE LEFTOVERS BECKONED -

THE DARK MEAT AND WHITE,

BUT I FOUGHT THE TEMPTATION

WITH ALL OF MY MIGHT.

TOSSING AND TURNING WITH ANTICIPATION,

THE THOUGHT OF A SNACK BECAME INFATUATION.

SO, I RACED TO THE KITCHEN, FLUNG OPEN THE DOOR,

AND GAZED AT THE FRIDGE, FULL OF GOODIES GALORE.

GOBBLED UP TURKEY AND BUTTERED POTATOES,

PICKLES AND CARROTS, BEANS AND TOMATOES.
I FELT MYSELF SWELLING SO PLUMP AND SO ROUND,

'TIL ALL OF A SUDDEN, I ROSE OFF THE GROUND.

I CRASHED THROUGH THE CEILING, FLOATING INTO THE SKY,

WITH A MOUTHFUL OF PUDDING AND A HANDFUL OF PIE.

BUT, I MANAGED TO YELL AS I SOARED PAST THE TREES....

HAPPY EATING TO ALL - PASS THE CRANBERRIES, PLEASE.


MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY,

MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP.

MAY YOUR POTATOES 'N GRAVY HAVE NARY A LUMP.

MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS.

MAY YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE,

MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER STAY OFF OF YOUR THIGHS!!


HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Nature at it's finest....

Oh I am long past due for making a post. Holy cow how time flies. Summer is over and we are well into fall.

This weekend Canadians will be celebrating Thanksgiving. As a child I knew we celebrated our thanksgiving earlier than our neighbours south of the border, but I never understood why. In simple terms, Canadian Thanksgiving is all about celebrating the harvest.
Being farther north we harvest our crops earlier and we give Thanks for their bounty.


I have always loved fall. I love the smells, the crisp leaves the beautiful colours it's so gorgeous that I am in awe of it's beauty and at times it takes my breath away and draws me to tears.

Last weekend my youngest daughter and I went on a lovely walk/hike to a place called Seal Bay. The trails as Seal Bay are on both sides of the road. If you

Melda's Marsh

go to the right you make a long steep trek down to the water...it's great going down but can be challenging coming up. If you go to the left you follow along a lovely trail which takes you to a marsh and you can observe so much of what nature and fall can bring to such wooded areas. My camera was misbehaving, and hence I didn't get as many photos as I would have liked. It would appear by the photos that I did take that I was in awe of the variety of mushrooms and how and where they grew. My daughter and I walked both sides ....the marsh and the water......

My peace plant in bloom.....

And with that I leave you.....Peace Out!!

SkyWatch Friday

Last weekend I was hiking on the Wild Pacific Trail. This is an amazing trail with some beautiful scenery. People from all over the world come here just to take in the sights. Renowned Actors and musicians have homes in this area and I can see why.

Happy Friday all! If you would like to join in on the fun please check out SkyWatch Friday

When have policies gone to far?

For most of us, our work environment is controlled by polices, procedures, and standards. In most cases these are good safe guards ensuring safe practise is followed. Certainly you want to make sure that the person who is starting your IV or drawing your blood knows what they are doing and that their practise is guided by standards, policies and procedures. There is a certain comfort knowing that your pharmacist is dispensing your medication in a safe and accurate fashion, again based on practise, policies and standards.

There are many safe guards in place to ensure that these individuals meet certain standards and are following policies and procedures.

However, there does come a time when policies that are written and established leave you just shaking your head. Case in point, the other day I was having a casual conversation with one of my colleagues when some how the conversation got turned and twisted to us discussing undergarments. Don't ask me how we got there....we just did. We were casually chatting when another colleague walked by and my co-worker calls out "I hope you are wearing your panties under those scrubs". I giggled, I thought what the heck are your talking about. I truly thought she was making a silly comment, but truth been known there was more to this than I knew. My co-worker has an interesting sense of humour so I wasn't sure if she was joking or not so I called her on it. True enough she goes on to tell me that our employer is currently in the process of having a policy written on the wearing of undergarments!

Yes, you read that right. My employer in it's wisdom feels it necessary to have a policy in place with regards to staff wearing undergarments. Of course I was stunned by this, so I did a little investigation of my own. I contacted our nurse educator who indeed confirmed what my co- worker had told me. "Are your for real" was my response. WOW!!! So, now I am left with a couple of questions. First who is going to patrol/monitor this? How are they going to monitor this? Am I going to have to drop my scrubs to prove I am indeed wearing underwear? Is my employer now going to tell me what kind of underwear I can wear?

My employer keeps telling us they don't have money for certain projects, or extra help, or they need to cut back on supplies etc., but somehow they seem to have the funds available to waste on establishing such a policy. Am I the only one out there that thinks this is just crazy and a waste of valuable resources, time and money?

Unfortunately there are always individuals who push the dress code issue. But I question does undergarments come under a dress code policy? Personally, I don't look that closely at my colleagues to check to see if they wearing undergarments and I really don't care and or think it is any of my business. Again, how are they going to enforce this policy?

What about you, do you work in an environment where your employer has policies in place that just leave you shaking your head?

Hello again.....

Life can throw you a curve ball when you least expect it.

In June I went for my scheduled mammogram. I have gone for regular mammograms since I was 40 at my doctor's suggestion. When my sister was diagnoses with breast cancer 3 years ago I became more diligent with making sure I went for my mammogram and performed self breast examinations, something I have always felt a little goofy about doing but the alternative of not doing it is far worse.

About 10 days after my mammogram I got a call from the hospital telling me that they had booked another mammogram for me along with an ultrasound. Needless to say my antenna's went up. The following week I was in for my follow up mammogram. My little heart was pounding what seemed like a thousand beats a minute. I arrive at the hospital(the hospital I work at) and speak with the technician who will being doing the mammogram, she told me there were some abnormalities that had shown up on the other mammogram and that they wanted to get a better look. She took numerous pictures, she went out and spoke with the radiologist and came back and said I was all done and that they would be in touch.

The following week I had my ultrasound. Again I was nervous as all get out. The sonographer was very professional and explained what she was doing, the ultrasound took maybe 25mins. and then I was on my way home to wait patiently for some word as to what was going on.

My doctor called and I went in for the results. Turns out I had 4 cm. area about the size of a walnut that I had what they called "micro calcification in clusters" the radiologist comments where that they were suspicious of "lobular carcinoma". It was suggested that I have what they call aSterostatic biopsy. Needless to say my antenna's went up even further, and I am sure my doctor could see it in the expression on my face. She said she would arrange to have the test done. I wait patiently. I get another call from my doctor's office to tell me that it has to be a surgeon who makes the referral for the test so now I have to wait to get in to see the surgeon. Another week passes. I saw the surgeon on the Friday. He said he was going to have the request for biopsy faxed to the hospital that day. He was going away for 3 weeks. Urgh!!!

Remember I said I work at the hospital. Well I was going to work that afternoon after seeing him, so being curious I went to see if they received the requisition from his office. They hadn't. I'd have to wait until Monday to find out. Monday comes around and still they haven't received the fax. Well his office is now closed for 3 weeks where could it be. I checked again on Tuesday the clerks in the booking department were great and they put me right through to the person who arranges these biopsies. I spoke to her, she was very apologetic and stated that she still hadn't received anything. She put me on hold a few times...then she came back to me and said...you know I don't have it, but I will book you in anyhow....I couldn't thank her enough, 10 days later I was in having the procedure done, and what a procedure.

Mammograms at the best of times can be uncomfortable especially for those of us who are shall we say are well endowed. The procedure requires that you lay on a table on your side while they try and place your breast on the screen so they can take pictures to find the best place to obtain the biopsy. As most of you know 18 months ago I had open heart and well my chest is still tender thus making it difficult to lay on my side for any length of time. But I persevered, I wanted them to get the best pictures possible. After about 1hour they were happy with the pictures. The radiologist came in and explained what he was going to do and proceeded to freeze my breast and then insert what sounded and felt like a drill in my breast. He wasn't happy with the first 2 samples so he asked if he could do it again. Of course! Would there be any doubt that I wouldn't want you to get the best samples possible. Go for it doc!! The next biopsy he tells me he got good samples....why thanks doc. They patch me up and put the cutesiest little self sticking ice pack on my boob....ahhhhh.

So now the really hurry up and wait game begins. It took 10 days for me to get the results....and it turns out that it was benign. Whew!!!!!!!! Almost 2 months had passed for me to get that news. I actually got the good news on my deceased mother's birthday August 9th. I swear she was looking out for me.

Now more than ever I will be diligent with my self breast examinations and regular mammograms. So ladies, please please do yourself a favour and get checked regularly.

Crossroads...........

She sits there, lights are flashing, the bells are ringing...she looks left...then right...then left again.....she decides to make a dash for it......

I feel like that is my life right now. The lights are flashing....bells are ringing. Something is pulling me in a direction that is forgein to me I'm scared and yet I want to explore this feeling that keeps tugging at me.

I love nursing, not doubt about it. There are so many things that I enjoy about nursing. Teaching and working with patients and their families rates at the top of my list for reasons I love nursing. I have always felt so privileged to be able to enter into their lives if only for a brief moment.

One of the wonderful things about nursing and what it provides, is that not only does it

allow you those opportunities that I mentioned, it affords you flexibly which allows you to explore other avenues.

I am at a crossroad in my life. I have nursed in a variety of environments from Medical/Surgical to Palliative care to ICU and ER and now currently I am working in the Recovery room.
My crossroads is that I feel I could be doing more. I know that one of my better qualities is that I love to teach. I love to work with patients and their families in promoting health. Where I live now I am surrounded by rural communities where their only access to health care comes from the solo nurse in the community. I'm not sure that I am ready to go it solo...but I am most certainly ready and eager to explore the role of a rural nurse in a health centre.

Nursing provides opportunities for autonomy and in my opinion there is no place other than rural nursing where you truly get to experience the true meaning of autonomy.

Working in the hospital environment and being an employee of the Health Authority provides me with a certain sense of security with regards to benefits, but the politics in the environment at times weights heavily and can become a distraction in providing the care that you want to provide for your patients.

I enjoy rural communities and what it provides me. I love the serenity and peacefulness it brings me. I love the concept of not having to rush hither and yon and being able to do things at a more leisurely pace. Yes I think rural life style would suit me just fine.

I have an opportunity to explore this and can do it on a contract basis...it seems like a win situation to me so I am not sure where the hesitation is coming from. Oh the things I need to ponder what to do what to do?

SkyWatch Friday

Ucluelet British Columbia. Heading out to sea to go fishing.....What an exhilarating experience!

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The Graduate

Seventeen years ago....I remember it like it was yesterday. Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays hit a home run down the third base line and won the World Series. The 1992 World Series was the first Series ever with games played outside the USA. It pitted Toronto Blue Jays against Atlanta Braves. Pretty impressive right. Well don't get me wrong but the only reason I remember that Series was because I was in labour with my third child. That was one of the longest days of my life.

Now 17 years later that little baby has graduated from High School. Oh how time flies. School never came easy for my Roisin. She worked extremely hard. Roisin has Dyslexia.With her being my third child I knew something was wrong right from the get go. Roisin didn't know her ABC's before she started school, she wasn't able to spell her name and the letters she managed to print were often mixed up or backwards. Having educators in my family I used them as a resource. Part of the problem with Dyslexia is that the individual does not have an understanding of Phonemic awareness. It was such a struggle to get the school on side and have her tested. After many discussions with the school and frustrating homework nights Roisin was finally diagnosed with Dyslexia. At first she was getting a fair amount of resources from the school district but then that dwindled and we picked up the slack by getting her a tutor 4 days a week. That poor child would do about 10 hours of school work a day and progress was minimal. Her self esteem was dwindling and she was getting so frustrated. Her father and I finally took her out of the public school system and sent her to a school that was specialized in working with children who had Dyslexia. Roisin blossomed, it was an amazing transformation. By the time she graduated from elementary school she was able to stand up and give a speech that she wrote herself and recite it in front of a packed gymnasium of over 200 people. Needless to say her father and I couldn't have been prouder.

She carried this attitude on into high school. She worked hard, and because of her designation of learning disabled she was provided resources in High School. She fully participated in the school activities, like cheer leading, running clubs, gymnastics, and student advisor/mentor. She made the honour roll many times. She has been a very determined child and times when she wanted to give up she some how found the strength to push forward.

Roisin graduated from High School this past May and is enrolled in a Fine Arts Program at College come the fall. I couldn't be more proud of my baby girl. Through her struggles she has been my teacher and hero. We can learn so much through our children if we just take the time and to watch and listen and to be their advocate when we can.

SkyWatch Friday

This photo is was taken while we were walking the Wild Coast Trail in Ucluelet

We had been in Tofino, and hubby decided that we should go up in a plane to view some whales from an aerial perspective....well we didn't see any whales that day, but we got some wonderful photos...but seeing as this is a "Skywatch" post here a couple of photos we have of sky rather than the rugged coast line.

If you would like to join in on the fun...please check out SkyWatch Friday for all of the instructions. Happy Friday!

A different take on Prom.....

The school year is coming to a close and with that, anyone who has a child in Grade 12, by now is exhausted from all the graduation festivities.

I was reading in our local paper yesterday about a "special prom", or should I say "Gay Proms". According to this article, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender(GLBT) students were feeling discriminated against as they felt they couldn't go to their own proms. Some they say fear harassment. Others say they were told by their schools that they could not attend with a same sex date. According to the article there is legislation stating that GLBT have a legal right to bring a same sex date to prom or other school events. However many school districts ignore this legislation and won't allow same sex couples to prom. So what to do? Apparently now there are organizations and youth groups that support a separate GLBT prom.

The article titled these proms as Rainbow Prom. The participants of these proms say they really enjoy them and it provides them with an arena where they can be themselves. The author of the article interviewed a young student of 15 who will be attending his second prom this year.

I like to think of myself as open minded,liberal and that everyone has a right to freedom of speech and personal expression(as long as it doesn't hurt someone else I might add). With that being said this "Rainbow prom" just pushes the envelope for me.

High School is never easy. Students can be cruel I don't accept that, but unfortunately it does happen. Teenagers seem to fear people or things that are out of the norm for them, it pushes their personal comfort zone, and challenges them to think socially and responsibly. Some students excel in this others don't, and hence I gather the need for separate proms.

I can't help but wonder though that while the GLBT group want to be inclusive they also want to be separate. They don't want to be singled out and want the same rights as others and yet they feel it necessary to have their own prom. If they just want to be accepted and included why is it that they find the need to hold separate proms? And what about the 15 year old student who is attending the "Rainbow prom" for the SECOND time? What's up with that? As far as I know high school graduation happens once..not twice...and most certainly not when you are 15. So I ask you, is it truly a prom that these youths' are looking for or is it just an arena where they can hang out with similar minded people and genders? I don't know. It makes me wonder if they don't discriminate against themselves and the so called "straight group".

Most school districts have youth support groups and are far more open and accepting to GLBT individuals. I know that one of my daughters best friends during high school was gay and they had a great time and she never questioned his sexuality, she just loved his flamboyant bubbly personality.

High school can be a hard and cruel environment, a school of hard knocks, but I can't help but wonder if GLBT don't set themselves up by signally themselves out having their own prom.

This certainly gives me food for thought....what do you think?

Happy Father's Day!

Wow where has time gone. Here we are 3rd week of June last day of Spring and it is Father's Day.

Sadly to say my father passed away 22 years ago, I was only 28 when he passed. I felt like I was just getting to know him when he was taken from me.

He never had the opportunity to meet two of my children, he never knew me as a registered nurse. He never saw his grand-daughters graduate or his daughter overcome some of her fears. What he did see was a young lady bound and determined to make her mark in life. He had the opportunity to teach her how to tie a proper slip knot and a passion for the water. He instilled in her social responsibilities, and demonstrate along the way how to be charitable and give from the heart. He taught and demonstrated the love and passion for tradition and family. He set boundaries and curfews and was quick to punish when boundaries and curfews were crossed but just as quick to give a warm and welcoming hug.

He was a man of strong convictions and stubborn at times to his own detriment. He showed me how to raise above adversity and to be proud.

I often wonder what he would think of me now......thank you dad


Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there!

SkyWatch Friday

These pictures were taken one evening last summer when we were just coming in from picking up our prawn traps.

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The cost of security.....

The Olympics are long over....the cost of security for that event originally was estimated at $400 million dollars. It went a tad over budget.... $1 billion dollars!!!! And who foots the bill.....taxpayers. Now having family members who were involved in the security and knowing what they did....I don't know who got the money cause they didn't. Well most of them didn't.

Now Canada is hosting the G8 and G20 Summit in June. The original estimate for this 4 day event ..... "The costs were original estimated at 179 million Canadian dollars, but an additional 654 million Canadian dollars was requested Tuesday, for a total of 833 million Canadian dollars (780 million US)." I am not sure how they can justify a $654 million dollar increase? Isn't there something wrong with that? Who does their budgeting? That person or persons should lose their jobs instantly! I realize that it is not the 4 day event itself where the costs are incurred, it's the whole preparation for such an event. However, come on a $654 million over budget give me a break!

I ask you, if you were to run your household budget like that you wouldn't have a home now would you. The banks and collectors would take everything you had and then some. Your credit rating would plummet. So why is it ok for our government to so poorly plan and estimate expenditures and then expect by just a stroke of a pen they will get the funds they need or want?

It's just not right. I think someone should lose their job over this one! Yes national security is important. That is not my issue here. My issue is some high paying bureaucrat has so poorly budgeted and mismanaged the security funding for this event, and we as the tax payer have to foot the bill.

This brings other points to mind. Why does there always seem to be funds available for events such as this, but we have to close schools, hospitals, and shut down public services. Our provincial government is imposing yet another tax July 1 it's called the Harmonized Sales Tax or HST for short. I wonder who came up with that name. I mean really "Harmonized" what that heck is that? There is nothing "Harmonious" about another tax. This tax was suppose to replace a provincial tax....well guess what....I just got a bill yesterday and they charged me the PST, GST and the HST(which as I said doesn't come into effect until July 1st). So I am paying more taxes while my government is cutting services all over the place.

Back to the over budget security costs for the G8 and G20 Summit in Toronto. Who is being held accountable, why is this allowed to happen? If I saw one positive thing come out of these summits I would support them 100%. But nothing ever does. It's just a bunch of highly overpaid suits rubbing elbows smiling and shaking hands, and enjoying high end meals and sipping on fancy wines and libations.

Yup it just all seems so odd to me. I pay my taxes, I work hard and and I get penalized by being effiecient with my funds while the government can go over budget and no one ever holds them accountable.....Things that make you go Hmmmmmm.