Flickr-On the Edge of Canada, Eh. ( Vancouver Island Oct 2013 )

My week on Vancouver Island- Oct 2013 on Flickr

Vancouver Island October 2013

Musings of This, That and Other Things.

I can't help but squirm in my seat when I see couples openly display their relationship woes or tooth aching saccharin 'I love yous' on a social media site. I get embarrassed when one doesn't have a clue to filter what or what not to share for all to see.
( I guess I'm not a romantic?.. . or maybe just not an openly flamboyant one. I'm certainly not into PDAs, well save for the occasional quick kiss, hug or hand holding when I'm feeling lazy and need to be propelled forward. ha ha )
My husband doesn't have a facebook account or twitter, google+,Instagram or anything like that. In fact it's only till recently we've had to show him how to type in a web address. ( he's come a LONG way since then, baby!)
But I'll be damned if I ever put any argument we have or state the dumb things he does ( well, sheesh, it's not like I do dumb things lol *wink* ) or doesn't do. And if I do post something, I'll use humor as a platform and you may be sure I'm holding back 80% of what actually happened.
So it confounds me how some can openly display the TMI stuff or air out their dirty laundry for all to see/read. I always feel badly for the other person.
Marriage and it's highs/lows are, at least for me, intensely private stuff.
I'm not saying it's wrong, but it's. . .baffling.

I took down all my photographs from Facebook, save for the cover/profile photographs which are public. While it's not one incident in particular there is one that 'broke the camel's back' so to speak, lending to the decision to remove most of them.
No I'm not the next best photographer to come along. No I'm not a pro, nor do I have any intention on becoming one. Nor do I guard my photographs like security on the Hope Diamond, slapping big ass watermarks on half the picture. But I do take pride in my work and yes, it gives me faith to keep doing what I do when one takes enjoyment out of a photograph or asks to have a print of it.
I've no problem with that and it is very flattering. I've had prints go to Japan, the States and around Canada. Photography is more than holding a camera up to your eye and clicking away. Honestly, it's hard work and at my age, the sheer learning curve fries my brain at times. Let's not mention photographer's block and how much it sucks. I know, I'm in one.
Yes and I do realize that once it's on the net, it's a free for all. ( to a certain degree) I get that.
Seriously though, since the only people I share my photographs with on FB are friends the key word here would be: Ask.
It's just a respectful thing to do.

Holy shit, someone better tell the head of the Menopause committee to hook up with Mother Nature PDQ and cool things down just a wee bit heat wise. How does one survive summers with disgustingly high temps? It's been ugly hot and I just don't think I'm going to make it. I'm going to melt down to a pile of miserable yuck.
( wait two/three months, I'll be bitching about the ugly cold. There's just NO making me happy till I'm through the fracking change I think. Feel sorry for my husband. Hell I do )

I swear on my sanity right here, right now if that boy of mine doesn't buy new alarm clocks ( he has two set up. His main one and a back up ) I'm going to open the window within the next couple of nights and fire those loud ticking mechanical time tellers.
They drive me mad at 2 am when I'm woken up by the, 'TICK TOCK TICK TOCK TICK TOCK' And here's the mister, flat on his back snoring to wake the dead.
I'm on sleep aids, for the love of all that matters. I should be waking up. At all.
I can feel it, I'm going to crack soon. Or those 2 alarm clocks will. In half.

Well, Peeps, that's it. I'm done with the tattoo removal process. I decree it so. After seven sessions, I am calling 'Uncle'. I have a ridiculously high pain tolerance level but I reached my limits. He ramped the laser up higher every time ( not blaming him, he had to do it ) due to some stubborn black and it hurt on a whole new level every time. This last one was a doozy. :(
The good news is it's 96% gone. Higher percentage now after this last session and over time it'll   fade to nothing. I consider myself very lucky, I had a top rated tattoo removal specialist, with top of the line equipment and he did an amazing job. No scarring. Expensive but worth it.( don't ask, it's jaw dropping.) I am one of the lucky ones at 7 sessions, there are some that reach 13/14 sessions and the tat's not gone. I guess my body wanted it gone as much as I did. :) 
1 1/2 years later I am done! WOOT!
And no, I'm not after getting any more tattoos. Ever. I have a small one that's a keeper, that's good enough for me. ( The one I had removed covered a portion of my middle back, extending to above the shoulder blades.You want a tender spot, try that area ) If you google the coloured 'pain' map of getting a tattoo, you'll see the back is one of the highest spots. And getting tats removed rates five times that in pain. Ouch! Be sure of your tats, Peeps, that's all I gotta say.

Ok, 'nuff stuff shared tonight. I was quite 'chatty' by the looks of this. A rare moment indeed. I've neglected this blog, trying to muster up some stuff to post but it's been a stretch.
The way I figure it is: it's better to write posts when I actually have something to say, rather than 'fluff' and incredibly boring  crap some bloggers post just to say they have.

Yeah, you're welcome for that. 

Bedtime. Hmmm he doesn't work tomorrow, maybe I'll bury his stupid alarm clocks under the twenty pair of boxers he owns.
( call him a pack rat, you wouldn't be wrong. )

Night all.

Musings of This, That and Other Things.

I came across a complaint on FB this morning and it's been bouncing around in my head since.
It seems this woman had an issue with girls wanting to facetime with her pre to teen boy ( not sure which ) at 2 am while his 'electronics slept in her room' What followed was a litany of complaints against young girls.
I raise two myself, I know all about pre to teenage girls. BUT what really irked me was the overwhelming consensus that all those girls were trouble or going to be.
I didn't respond. Most replies were from younger women that had a wholeee lotta growing up and living to do yet.
You just wait,my judgemental little pretties, your boys WILL be coming home in a boatload of trouble in the years to come yet.
I went back to the original complaint and couldn't for the life of me figure out why his cell was left on to 'sleep' in her room all night everynight??  It seems like an oddball thing to do on a parent's side, no?
And for the record, not all what's wrong with this world lays solely on teenage girls. Most of us mothers who have daughters are much better able to lay the blame where it's due. Be it the girls camp or the boys. .
It seems to me that a lot of the mothers of sons act like their boys can do no wrong. It's always the girls that 'convert' them or lead them down wrong roads or trick them. ( rolling my eyes here)
And by the way, one simple solution for that mother. Shut the stupid cell down at night.
DUH

I can not tell a lie. Getting a 'WOW!' from a photographer's daughter on an album I posted gave me such a charge. I've been in a ' I hate all my photographs and who do I think I am anyways' phase. It's brutal, it sucks but it's fact.
Grant you that daughter is my mother but she is a photographer in her own right and I know she separates the chaff from the wheat, so to speak. ( Mom, if you are reading this, Dad will explain to you what that saying means xoxo )  If I got a WOW! from her it's because she's taken into consideration all that is involved in the process of a successful photograph.
I think in a real way, I measure my success ( I'm an amateur with NO intention of going pro. That's not to say I wouldn't like to have a small showing or two eventually ) by two things; the emotion the photograph draws from the viewer and the nods I get from fellow photographers.
And I got a 'WOW!'
Made my day, it really did. :)

You have all heard of the 'Desperate Housewives' series. . ? Yeah, I don't watch them but I know of them as well.
What was brought to my attention is where I live there is a chapter of truly pathetic women that have started a 'private' facebook page called 'Desperate Housewives of Leduc County' . They are all a part of this Rant and Rave site where if you dare go against the 'grain' you are jumped on and the whole post is brought to this sad page where you are ridiculed and ripped to shreds. I know someone who knew someone who left the group because she couldn't handle the vicious callousness of it's members.
I've probably been the topic of conversation on that page more than once. ( if you know me in RL, I call them as I see them and there are a chosen few in the Rant page that need to get out more or get a life. I can hold my tongue for the most part but well lol,at times I can't. ) Which, by the way, if any of them stumble in on here I'm fairly certain I'll make top billing on the Housewives site for a week straight and be 'uninvited' to the Rant and Rave page. ( In truth,I don't go on it often, I can't stomach it much) Ohhh welllll.
But can you imagine the sheer ego it takes of stand above all and lay judgement like that? Wow.
Karma's a bitch, ladies. You just never know when and where. . . and seriously, get a life, a job or get out more often.
Then again, you can stay in your so called secret society and judge. Your little pea brains probably can't handle the outside world. 

Omg. A massage, a massage! My kingdom for a massage! . . 'nuff said.

I have to start exercising in earnest again. I don't remember in recent history where I've spent such a long period of time not working out.
Not to excuse it but it's been a crazy busy summer and we're now mid August.
Come on, Jamie, off your as of lately lazy ass and git at 'er!
lol yeah, I have inner monologues and arguments with myself. Often. I always lose. Sigh. *wink*

Well, it's 3:15 pm and that means it's 5 o'clock somewhere. Time for a glass of wine.
Yeah yeah, I'll start working out ummm tomorrow, yeah that's what I'll do. I swear.

What's your musing and thoughts today or inner monologues, my bloggie pals?

I may or may not have

I may or may not have:

. . called my stick thin 82 yr old Dad a 'sxy bastard' when he came out of the bathroom freshly showered. He was wrapped up in a long thick towel from just below his chest to just above his knobbly knees. Bones jutting out everywhere. It earned me a hearty snort, which I consider a sign for a successful line delivered.
The man doesn't laugh at simply anything, you know. . .

. . tore some idiot lady a new one in the parking lot. After following her from two streets down when she tried to run me up the median with her car, switching from the right lane to the left one occupied by me. Or. . she tried run into me, I'm not sure which. I might or might not have suggested in a very strong manner she take off those ugly sunglasses as they were a) not doing a damn thing for her and b) making her blind,deaf ( I held the horn behind her from one stop to the other) and stupid.
BUT, and there is a redeeming 'but' here, I ripped her a new one in both official languages, not knowing which she spoke. ( I know, right? I am quite considerate that way)
Aaannnd I can promise you she'll never do that again. .to anyone. You are safe to go forth and command your side of the road with confidence if she's around.
You're welcome.
:-D

. . told the sweet 4'8" (and a prayer) lady at Timmy's the donut I wanted was on the very bottom shelf but not to worry as she didn't have far to go to reach it.
She froze for the briefest of moments and gave me a megawatt smile. Seems her mother used to say that to her all the time, she thanked me for the memory.
Warm fuzzies.

. . went through a 3 way stop sign the other day. Ooopsy.

Yup, I just may or may not have done one or all of these things.
:0)

John Ceprano's Inukshuks. Rock balancing at it's best.

I was lucky enough to be able to drive where John Ceprano ( an international balanced rock sculptor/painter and photographer) displays his amazing rock creations.
Although it was early in the season, I managed to take some photographs of his work. His collection will grow as the summer days go by.
He is originally from Rhode Island but his home has been near Ottawa, Ontario for a number of years now.

Showing a youngster the tools of the trade