Netseeker2's Blog

Monday, May 14, 2012

Saving on the Cost of Food by Planting a Garden

This upcoming weekend is traditionally the weekend that most Canadian gardeners plant their gardens. Since the weather forecast was good with no frost in the forecast, I decided to finish planting our garden today. I had previously planted the cold weather crops (the ones that could withstand the frost etc) and today I finished planting the rest of them.

As we had already planted and therefore still have (as they're perennials - meaning they come back each year) spearmint, rhubarb, blueberries and raspberries, plus a coffee plant that I brought in the house during the winter (it's in a pot), we have those. Plus in our annual garden planting I planted radishes, parsnips, swiss chard, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, turnip, spinach, kohlrabi, cabbage, cucumbers, 4 different kinds of peppers (jalepeno, chili, red and yellow), radichhio, zucchini, celery, beets, carrots, 2 kinds of onions, green beans, 3 types of tomatoes, dill and corn.

The peppers, celery, one of the onion types and tomatoes I bought as small plants and for them all I paid a grand total of $11.00 plus tax. The seeds were 2 or 3 packets for $1.00 except for the radichhio and the kohlrabi (which were something like $2.00 each per packet), so over all it cost us let's say $20.00 in all for all the veggies that we planted this year (the rhubarb, raspberries, blueberries and mint were all planted and paid for last year - so those are essentially free this year). Now I have no idea how much or how little we'll get out of the garden this year, but I can pretty well guarantee (unless there's some kind of weird weather condition or blight that affects all the various types of plants we planted) we ought to get our $20.00 worth of food and then some out of it.

The most expensive year for planting a garden (if you're buying your top soil etc, tiller etc for it) is the first year, after that the cost of keeping and maintaining a garden is negligible and practically free for those who save and dry their seeds and use a composter or have a compost heap somewhere, to make their own compost. Our property isn't big enough to keep a composter far enough away from the house so as not to smell it, so we don't have one, but trust me if I could find a spot to put one, where the smell wouldn't bother us, I'd have one too. But saving and drying the seeds ummm well I'm not so great at that, as the ones I did dry didn't germinate when I tried to use them. So I buy them and also have to buy the compost as well since I have nowheres to make my own. Even still the cost when compared to a grocery bill (considering just about every single veggie you buy here is either $1.00 per unit like a head of broccoli for instance or $1.99 for a bunch of celery or a head of lettuce) you don't have to buy many veggies over the course of the summer for it to cost more than it cost to plant a whole produce section in the grocery store.

Even if all you have is a windowsill box, or a balcony you can still grow some of your own food or your own herbs and save a little money, which is better than not saving any money at all.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Happy Mother's Day

Here's wishing all mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Canadian Concerns to Consider

Having recently filed our income taxes for the 2011 fiscal year, and finding that all of our tax credits that we normally got back have been eliminated and all we get now are tax credits on paper - big whoopie that helps us pay our bills. Surreee.... And finding that even the GST refunds we were getting is now considered an income and taxable, I am surprised by the following stories related to Canadians and taxes:

Mission improbable? Economists want Ottawa to put sales tax on food - Yahoo! News

Tough tax penalty raises fairness concerns - Yahoo! Finance Canada

Canadians OK with higher taxes to fight inequality - Yahoo! News Canada

Despite the following story:

Canadians’ tax burden sky rockets over last 50 years | Canada Politics - Yahoo! News Canada

As is typically the case here in Canada, we heavily tax the individual and remove all tax breaks from the poor who need it the most, while giving tax breaks to companies as reported here:

Data suggests Flaherty wrong that cutting corporate taxes raises revenue - Yahoo! News Canada Even though it's proven that cutting corporate taxes doesn't help the government raise money.

Then we have the uniquely Canadian RoboCall scandal initiated by an anonymous going by the name of Pierre Poutin that got found out and is currently being investigated. Following are some of the reports on that scandal (and I believe that we have to trace who's to blame for this back to who had the most to gain from it - which is Stephen Harper obviously - so no matter who Pierre Poutin turns out to be, the ultimate blame should be placed on the shoulders of who it ultimately belongs - that being Stephen Harper and he should be dealt with according to the law and not held above it). But hey it's now Harperland and he can change the laws to suit himself, including declaring himself head dictator for life, if he wants. So far as I know there's nothing to stop him from doing that and the way he's going he'll probably get around to doing just that before his term in office is officially up if no one gets to him and throws him in jail where he belongs before he does that (Mr. Ignatieff tried to warn everyone what kind of dictator Harper was but no one listened). Anyhow here's the stories to do with that bruhaha:

Robocall scandal could lead to by-elections | Canada Politics - Yahoo! News

Elections Canada swamped with 2011 complaints - Yahoo! News

Then there's a lot of other stuff going on of concern to Canadians, and incase I forget some of them we'll start with a media recap of Harper's scandals and wrong doings here:

A recap of the Harper government’s first year scandals | Canada Politics - Yahoo! News Canada

Here's some of the things they're working on but that maybe you haven't heard about in your local news but that you ought to know about as it'll probably have a large impact on you, your family, your community and maybe even your livelihood:

DHS | Beyond the Border: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness

Canada and Japan agree to enter negotiations on a free trade deal - Yahoo! Finance Canada

Canada ups retirement age in bid to balance budget - Yahoo! News Canada

Liberal Leader Bob Rae demands Harper resignation over stealth fighter fiasco - Yahoo! News Canada

Canada opposition sees low bar for Quebec independence - Yahoo! News Canada

Supreme Court strikes down wiretap exception, requires warrants - Yahoo! News Canada finally something good for the ordinary citizen of this country!

Bank of Canada surprises markets with hawkish tone - Yahoo! News Canada

Parti Quebecois sounds warning about possible Canada-EU trade deal - Yahoo! News Canada

Canada-EU free trade talks 75 per cent completed, says European official - Yahoo! News Canada

What Went Wrong in Canada? - Yahoo! News Canada

Multi-national suppliers are to blame for Canada-U.S. price gap: retailers - Yahoo! News Canada yup, more BS being fed to the mushrooms that are kept in the dark....

Canadian scientists continue to be muzzled by Harper government | Canada Politics - Yahoo! News Canada

Ottawa, provincial restraint to cost 100,000 jobs, slow growth, watchdog says - Yahoo! News Canada

Unmanned drones are patrolling US-Canada border in eastern Washington - Yahoo! News Canada

And let's not forget Bev Oda's callous expenses while at a conference to do with world poverty:

Bev Oda’s hotel switcheroo - Yahoo! News Canada

And as I reported in here in one of the first posts on this blog, Canadian banks did INDEED get bailouts (though Flaherty thought by calling them something else we'd not catch on to it but yeah) here's the report (many years after the fact and after it's too late to contest it because it's done and there's nothing we can do to stop it now): Canadian banks got $114B from governments during recession - Yahoo! Finance Canada

Quebec education minister took mob money - Yahoo! News Canada and this is the same minister that is currently presiding over the "talks" with the striking post-secondary students here in Quebec (post-secondary - what a farce, that's just what Quebec calls what would otherwise be called senior high school students in other provinces. Since the provinces are responsible for funding the public school system the Quebec gov't years ago figured they'd save kaboodles of money by pocketing the school taxes and funding less school - only up to grade 11 - as 16 year olds are basically in grade 11 the youngest by law that you're allowed to leave school in Canada and make the students who wanted to continue their education attend post secondary institutions known as CEGEPs here in Quebec, which comprise their grades 12 &13 equivalancies in other provinces and make the students themselve pay tuition and for their books etc to attend these CEGEPs - and that wasn't enough now they want to raise the rate of attending university here in Quebec too). I have some links to some stories about that but it's still an ongoing issue and the riots and protests are getting more and more violent - so for up-to-date details on that you can check the Montreal/Quebec news, but here's some of what I have so far:

Violent Montreal student protest nets 17 arrests - Yahoo! News Canada

Amnesty International gets involved in Quebec tuition issue; criticizes police - Yahoo! News Canada

Quebec students stage new protests after tuition talks fail - Yahoo! News Canada

Video: Montreal student protest sees 85 arrested

And for those who're having a tough time paying back student loans imposed by governments (who take our taxes but don't even provide the education for which we're paying taxes for - as in for a normal high school education that would be accepted as a high equivalency anywhere else in Canada) and schools who pay excessive bonuses to directors etc (as was the case for certain universities here in Montreal - and they have the nerve to want to increase tuition rates - I guess a couple million dollars a year in bonuses isn't good enough for them) maybe you can consider this story: Student Loans: The Next Bailout? - US Business News - CNBC

And here's a few stories that don't fit into any of those categories but you may find surprising, shocking, amusing or downright derisive:

Ordinary Canadians focused on economy, not controversies: Peter Van Loan | Canada Politics - Yahoo! News Canada

Will the world end in 2012? Nine per cent of Canadians believe so | Daily Buzz - Yahoo! News Canada

Hospital staff refuse to aid patient in their parking lot - Yahoo! News Canada no big surprise there, our hospitals and medical care has been declining since the 1990s.

Canadian workers among the world’s happiest | Insight - Yahoo! Finance Canada yeah right, another case of being blissfully ignorant and delusional thanks to our biased questions asked by pollster and reported by our biased media.

Conservatives, NDP statistically tied in new poll - Yahoo! News Canada

Do Not Call List causing grief for Prairie residents experiencing surge in telemarketing calls | Daily Brew - Yahoo! News Canada This one I believe because we keep getting calls all the time despite the fact that we're on it too and I've reported one of the companies that still continues to call - so obviously reporting them doesn't work either. Meaning that the CRTC is obviously not doing their job or else the means and methods they use to dissuade or stop these telemarketers have little to no effect on them.

Canada becoming a net loser in oil price increases, says Bank of Canada - Yahoo! News Canada This story made me angry because we pay excessively high gas prices - right now the average cost of gas is $1.41 a litre in our area, yet we are one of the oil rich countries in the world. It seems that from Ontario westward they pay a lower price because they use Canadian produced gas, while we in Quebec and eastward use gas that's imported from the Middle East and so that's why our gas prices are so high compared to the rest of Canada's. But when you read this story you understand how Canada is losing money on their gas rather than making money on it, while places like Saudi Arabia, et al., are making a fortune off of us here in the east. For anyone who doesn't know what that equates to in cost per gallon it's $5.64 Canadian a US gallon. For an imperial gallon add about 70 cents more to the cost, it would be up over $6.30 a gallon. And this one makes me even angier: High gas prices may mean tough summer for motorists - Yahoo! News Canada

Another one that kind of irks me is this one about the exorbitant bank fees we pay (on top of the bailout that Flaherty gave them): Canadians pay $185 a year in banking fees, among world’s highest | Insight - Yahoo! Finance Canada

Then we have this one, despite how we're goudged by the governments, the stores, the banks and pumps we still have money left over for charity: Canadians a charitable lot despite economic woes - Yahoo! Finance Canada

This one has been going on forever and a year in our hospitals, so I'm amazed that it's just now come to light in the press: Poor hospital cleaning revealed as major problem - Yahoo! News Canada

Then you have our substantial debt problem - wondering how long it'll be before the IMF starts coming after us:

Quebec "Debt Clock" | IEDM

Canada's National Debt Clock : The Canadian Taxpayers Federation

Those are just some of the concerns in recent news headlines that I think we ought to consider before the next elections roll around.....

Recession, Depression or Recovery?

My Cooked Dandelion Greens

After reading that bitter foods like Raddichio and Dandelion Greens etc, speeds up metabolism and helps you to lose weight, I decided to go outside in the backyard and pick some dandelion leaves to see if maybe they'll provide any benefit to me in my weight loss efforts (though I realilze I probably need to eat them more than once). I tried to find recipes using cooked Dandelion leaves but only found a couple, those using duck fat or chicken, and as I just wanted it as a side dish to our meal and I didn't have any duck fat on hand I devised my own recipe, which I and my son's girlfriend liked. But my son and husband balked at the idea of even eating Dandelion Greens and so they don't even know if they'd have liked it or not, but as the two who did eat them liked them, I'm chalking that up to a 100% success rate and therefore want to keep the recipe for futher use, hence the reason it's getting posted here.

A bunch of dandelion leaves washed and torn into bite size pieces
Balsamic vinegar
Grated Parmesan cheese
Dehydrated onion flakes
Granulated Garlic

After the dandelion leaves have been washed and torn into bite size pieces, put them in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then turn down to medium high and continue cooking another 10-20 minutes depending on quantity of leaves in the pot the larger the amount the longer the time and the least amount requires the lessor time. At the end of the cooking time, remove from stove and drain and then drizzle with the balsamic vinegar and toss with the remaining ingredients and serve as a side dish.

The Well Tended Canadian Mushrooms

You know when you read stories about how happy Canadians are like this one Happiness tops in Denmark, lowest in Togo, study says - latimes.com kind of makes you wonder if we're really happy because of our standard of living and values, or if it's just blissful ignorance? I mean they do say that ignorance is bliss and well our news media is working overtime to keep us ignorant and therefore blissful I guess. I mean neither the National at 10pm on CBC nor the CTV news at 11pm with Lisa Laflamme mentioned the story at all and I wouldn't have heard it at all, if it weren't for a very curt terse mention made by Debra Arbec and Andrew Chang (actually it was Debra who mentioned it but Andrew also commented on it briefly) about the cross-border policing agreement drawn up with the US, which follows but the original source is found here:

NDP wants Shiprider (cross-border policing) program taken out of budget implementation bill

NDP wants Shiprider (cross-border policing) program taken out of budget implementation bill

By Stuart Trew, Monday, April 30th, 2012

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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder (right), Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Minister of Justice and Attorney General Rob Nicholson (standing) and Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews sign an MOU on combatting human smuggling and trafficking at the March 2012 Cross-Border Crime Forum in Ottawa (Source: U.S. Embassy)

The NDP is calling on the Harper government to “yank amendments it has bundled with its budget bill… that pave the way for Canadian and United States maritime officials to operate in each other’s territory, and present them as separate legislation,” according to Embassy Magazine this week.

Called “Shiprider” when it began seven years ago, and now officially known as Integrated Cross-Border Maritime Law Enforcement Operations, the joint policing project puts U.S. Coast Guard officers on RCMP boats (and vice versa) in shared waters at the request of either security force. Legislation to make the regime permanent fell off the order paper when Prime Minister Harper prorogued Parliament at the end of 2009. The government has finally re-introduced the legislative changes it will need to make this happen. But in a trick George W. Bush used frequently, they are buried in the 400-page Budget Implementation Act.

The NDP critic for Canada-U.S. border issues, Brian Masse, protests and will raise the issue this week in Parliament, according to Embassy.

“It should be standalone legislation…it’s totally irresponsible to have it as part of the Budget Implementation Act,” he says. “There’s significant policing issues that really warrant a standalone bill. If it was so important that they did all the fanfare for it, why doesn’t it warrant its own process?”

For example, Masse asks, “What’s going to happen if there’s an incident? What type of review process-is it a normal RCMP process, or is it a special joint analysis?”

The Council of Canadians has been asking similar questions about the Shiprider project for several years. The oversight and accountability mechanisms appear to be far too weak and there was never sufficient debate about the cross-border policing initiative when the legislative changes were first introduced. Instead of engaging in a real discussion, though, the Conservatives are responding that Masse’s criticisms “show how out of their depth the NDP are on border issues,” and that, “Our government will co-operate with the Obama administration-why won’t the NDP?”

LINKS TO “BEYOND THE BORDER” AND NORTH AMERICAN PERIMETER SECURITY

Even without properly debated legislation to deputize U.S. Homeland Security agents in Canadian waters, the Harper government announced in March that it would be extending the program to land-based operations also, essentially making all of Canada a possible designated border operation based on the vagaries of the Shiprider legislation.

“Cross-border law enforcement is one of the four pillars of the Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness Action Plan,” said a government press release after this year’s Cross-Border Forum. “Canada and the United States are moving ahead on commitments to deploy Shiprider operations on a regular basis and to implement two land-based (”Next-Generation”) pilot projects this summer. As discussed at today’s Forum, the positive experience with the Shiprider pilot projects, Integrated Border Enforcement Teams (IBETs) and Border Enforcement Security Teams (BEST), has clearly demonstrated that working together significantly increases our ability to combat crime at the international border.”

The stealthy way in which the Harper government has introduced its cross-border marine policing initiative should be a warning about the way it plans to introduce other joint security measures with the United States described in the Border Action Plan. David Dyment, a senior research associate at the Centre on North American Politics and Society at Carleton University, cautions that ideology and not a real policy need might be driving Harper’s agenda.

You will note what it says 3 paragraphs above about the agreement now being extended to land across our mutual border. You will also note in the picture with Vic Toews and Janet Napolitano (the head honcho of Homeland Security) that she's grinning like the cat that just swallowed the canary while signing this document. Just the look of that grin sends shudders through my spine especially in light of concern of our privacy laws that'll be breached according to this document Harper moving ahead with cross-border policing despite privacy concerns with perimeter deal . Not to mention the accountability concerns raised here: Accountability questions arise in cross-border policing law | Embassy - Canada's Foreign Policy Newspaper

After all the BS that Harper has put us through, all the perogued parliaments when he didn't get his way, the lies and thefts that he and his ministers has perpetrated on us recently (from the free rides in jets on helicopters for the minister of defense to the free rides for basically all of the ministerial staff - as in overtime for standby limos and drivers) to the expensive orange juice stays at the Savoy in London while at a conference about the poor and the cuts to charities that Bev Oda is famous for and now giving away our sovereignty by hiding it (which is NOT budgetary related at all in my opinion but basically security related) in a massive huge budget document which they've limited the debate time on as discussed here: Conservatives pass motion to limit debate on massive budget implementation bill - Yahoo! News Canada . Not to mention Pierre Poutin's massive phone fraud perpetrated on unsuspecting voters aka voter fraud, I think that this prime minister should not only be impeached and jailed but we should bring back captial punishment just for him! After all he did say he wanted to join the US before he got elected, well Mr. Harper the US just happens to have capital punishment and I do believe that traitors and seditionists get put to death there. I do believe that selling out your country and allowing other police and military in to patrol your country would not only count as treasonous but sedition as well! Harper seems intent on finishing the job that Mulroney set out to do when he signed NAFTA and basically gave away our manufacturing sector to the US and Mexicans and outlawed our buy Canadian (which they call protectionist - but hey during this economic downturn which as you will see in a later post on here is also called "the Late Great Depression" the US has no problem practicing precisely that, protectionism, which is supposedly prohibited and taboo for us to practice too).

Personally I think both Mulroney and Harper should be brought up on treason charges and Harper should also be brought up on sedition charges as well. Yes, I know sedition is technically considered to be akin to mutiny, but who needs mutiny (having ones troops turn on their commanding officers or country) when we can just get the neighbouring troops in here to do that for us, by signing all of these idiotic documents that gives away our right to police and protect ourselves!?!

It's a wonder that I even know about this because there is NO mention of it, on the CBMT news site (maybe in the video news there is - but that link will have a new news edition on it, as soon as there is one to replace it and Debra Arbec's reference to it will disappear with the new edition of the video news posted to that link). Our news sources - ALL of them pretty much here in Canada are EXCELLENT at keeping us in the dark and feeding us a bunch of BS (kind of like they do to mushrooms - hence the title about the well tended Canadian mushrooms) to placate us and make us think that everything's just hunky-dory out there in the world and that there's nothing going on behind our backs and so we have nothing to worry about! I have to commend both Debra Arbec and Andrew Chang (him for mostly going along with it when you know he didn't really want to) for even mentioning this even if it was briefly it was just long enough to get it out there to those who're listening. It's too bad they couldn't (probably because we live in a regime akin to the old Soviet Union style regime basically - especially now that the deal with the US is signed giving Napolitano jurisdiction here in Canada - who's Homeland Security office is on a par with the SS, Gestapo and the KGB as demonstrated here: The TSA Is Coming To a Highway Near You - Forbes) go into it further and make a bigger deal out of it to let more people know what it is really all about and how we got into this predicament via the crooked underhanded snake that passes himself off as our Prime Minister (who probably only got to be PM because of his fraudulent phone campaign that Pierre Poutin did on his behalf - redirecting non-Conservative voters to the wrong polling stations on election day). Personally, I say that he should go to jail and just for that. Anyone else would if they did stuff like that. So why not him?

So Bravo Debra Arbec! I'm glad you tried to get it out there in the public purvue so that we could know what was happening as obviously no one else in the media even dared. They were all too busy talking about the last penny being minted and other trivial stuff. Kudos to you. You're the only media person I've heard in the last few years that's even made an attempt to alert the public to the backroom shennanigans of what Harper is up to! While CTV is digging up the dirt on all the expenses they're saddling the taxpayers with - which also counts I guess when they're preaching austerity measures and cutbacks to us citizens, at least you've dug up and exposed something really important that could affect us all and I just wish you could've expended more footage and time talking about it, because in the long run I think this is way more detrimental to us all than the $16.00 orange juice Bev Oda ordered in London.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

No Need to Get Older to Get Nicer

Recently there was a story on the net in the news about how people get nicer as they age as reported here: People get nicer as they get older and look for the same in mates: study | Good News - Yahoo! News Canada

Having been there and done that kind of thing, I know there's no need to wait until you get older in order to get nicer.

First of all, when I was young, I was taught manners and etiquette by my elders. I was taught to hold the door for the person behind me (so that it doesn't slam in their face), I was taught not to interrupt people while they were talking. I was also taught not to talk to people on the phone while I was in the physical company of others - like when we had visitors over, if there was a phone call we asked the caller if we could call them back later on, after our visitors left, so this call-waiting where people interrupt their conversations with others (in face to face conversations or while on the phone with others) just would've been considered rudeness to the extreme and just would not have happened, has become acceptable and more than that seems to be the norm now-a-days. No one would've thought of texting or talking on a phone (cellphone or not) while others were talking to you in the room, as that would've been considered rude, like interrupting or cutting people off was considered rude. We said please, thank-you, excuse me, beg your pardon and sorry to each other more often too. We patiently waited in line for our turn rather than getting pushy and trying to cut into line.

We didn't go ape-sh*t wild when a new product was released and try to kill or maim others in order to be the first one to get it. I personally don't see the logic in that. So you want to be the first guinea pig to try something out and get all the bugs eh? Because that's usually what you get when you're the first consumers of an electronic product - you're the ones that find and report all the bugs so the company can re-release an updated version or patch (as in the case of some games we know about but shant mention by name) and make money (and save money by not having to pay actual professional testers to find these bugs before they release the products) on your efforts, while it cost you money to buy and experience these bugs/nuisances of theirs. I just find that to be sheer stupidity, trying to be the first consumer of something and even going so far as to climb over the tops of others in front of you to make sure you're the first. I don't even see the logic in that.

We learnt that we don't have to be the first in line at the cash or at the stop light, that even if we get to the store, the office or whatever destination a few seconds behind the other guy it doesn't matter, as long as we're not late (as in the case of a job, or an appointment), that just as long as we arrive there in one piece and didn't jeopardize our lives or the lives of others along the way and we get there in time, that that's all that matters.

We learnt that the type of vehicle we used to get from point A to point B doesn't matter in the long run either, because no matter what kind of vehicle it was, chances are that years down the road, you aren't going to have it anymore - that it'll just be a memory and picture in a scrapbook, no matter what make, brand, colour, year, or how many pistons it had, it'll eventually wind up in the rust heap or the scrap heap. So spending kazillions of dollars on a particular colour and type of vehicle is not necessary, because all that really counts in the end is being able to get from one place to another in a timely fashion, so whether that's on foot, by public transit, bicycle or a fancy Ferrari it doesn't matter.

We learnt that no matter what the fashion was at the time and how in or out of fashion we were or how much we spent on our hair and clothes etc, that unless it was a super special occassion (like you were wearing something completely out of the ordinary from the way you normally dressed) most acquaintances (friends, family, neighbours and others who saw you on a regular basis) weren't too likely to comment on your fashion or lack thereof, because they were used to seeing you the way you always dressed. So if you were a fashionable and nice looking person they were used to that and if you dressed like a geek and looked like one, they were used to that too, it was only when you went to the other extreme that they were likely to comment on it. So we learnt that fashion and looks wasn't too important either in the long run because unless we did something extreme (like look really rungy and rundown or super spiffy because of some kind of special occassion) no one was likely to notice, comment or care anyhow. So just being yourself and being comfortable in the clothes and skin you're in, is all that's important in the end anyhow.

We learnt that the gifts (unless they were of some importance or had some sentimental attachment to them) that we got and gave at special occassions like Christmas weren't as memorable as the dinners or festivities that accompanied these occassions and therefore, the memories of what we did and the fun we had was much more meaningful than the toys or gifts we got unless of course as stated above they had some significance to them (like heirlooms or mementos of someone). So we learned to value experiences above possessions.

We've also learnt that we can do things for ourselves and gain the satisifaction of knowing we did it ourselves and didn't have to rely on others for it, and we didn't have to pay to have it done, so we've learnt that we can make ends meet or can depend on ourselves when we need to. Which adds a whole new dimension to your well-being, just knowing that it doesn't matter what's going on out there and how bad things get that you can look after yourself, so long as you have the tools and know how (and maybe weather cooperation in the case of growing your own food). So we don't get our shorts all twisted up in knots when something happens (like the faucets develops a leak, or the brakes on the car needs to be changed or there's a tear in the seam of our pants) figuring that it's going to cost mega-bucks that we don't have to hire someone to fix these things for us and take time out of our busy schedule to get there and back. We just get the tools out and find the parts/material necessary to fix these things ourselves and don't sweat it. In the case of the faucet and tear in the seams those could probably be fixed in the same amount of time it would take for you to find a number and call a plumber or dry cleaner service to find out how much it would cost and how long it would take them to do it and the cost would be negligible (not even pennies). It's because we've learnt many of these life lessons that we can be nicer, since we realize there's no need to sweat many of the things the younger people are getting anxious and uptight over.

It just boils down to etiquette, manners, realizing that not everything has to be done this minute and you don't need a beam-me-up Scottie machine to get from here to there - that as long as you arrive on time and all in one piece is really all that counts - it doesn't matter what got you there (whether it was the city bus or your fancy Ferrari) or how many seconds ahead of the other guy you were. That sometimes learning to make and do things yourself not only saves you time and money, but the anxiety that comes along with wondering how much it'll cost and if you'll have it back by the time you need it, especially when it's something important that you need by a certain time. This is what makes a person nicer along the way - but I also think it has a lot to do with how they were raised to begin with - like with manners and etiquette and not in this cellphone culture where it's accepted behaviour to cut people off mid-sentence or thought to take a call or text someone or to take another call on call waiting (as on landlines). It should still be taboo to engage in chit chat or texting on the phone while you're in the physical company of visitor or friend. It's just common curtesy to not cut people off, or otherwise interrupt or ignore those you're with.

What it boils down to is perhaps the older the person is, the more decency and common curtesy, manners and etiquette they were taught as a child and still remember and use on a daily basis. Plus maybe they've learnt a few life lessons along the way and realize that there's no need to sweat the small stuff and to get their shorts twisted up over little things.

But younger people could learn all of that without waiting for their senior years, just by realizing that being 3-4th in line doesn't make any difference as to the price of the goods, or how long the wait at the stop light will be or if the sitter is going to leave the kids unattended because you're a few seconds late getting back. That being nicer to people probably means people will reciprocate and be nicer to you (since they'll have no/less reasons to be nasty to you), that being attentive to friends and those in your physical presence (by ignoring or turning off the cellphone) will probably have benefits in that the person in question will think higher of you because you have the ability to respect them and what they have to say by not cutting them off every few seconds to text or talk on a cellphone. That you can fix the car, the sink or your pants and don't have to worry about how long it'll take someone else to do it and how much it'll cost you. That it doesn't hurt you to say please, thank you, excuse me, pardon me and I'm sorry and that there is no need to let the door go on the person behind you, that you can wait an extra second or two to hold it so it doesn't slam in their face. It's little things like that, that doesn't take any real extra effort that make you nicer and you don't have to wait to become a senior citizen in order to practice them.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Easy Slow Cooker Roast Beef With Gravy & Vegetables

1 package of dry onion soup mix
2 medium onions chopped
1 pint of mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 green pepper, seeded and cut into strips
1 boneless beef roast 3 - 5lbs or whatever size fits in your crockpot
3 Tbsp water

Empty the dry onion soup mix package in the bottom of the crock pot, place chopped & sliced vegetables on top of the dry soup mix and drizzle with 3 tablespoons of water. Place your roast beef on top, cover and cook on high for 4 hrs.

When it's done, remove the roast to a platter for slicing and remove the vegetables to serve as a side dish. Mix the remaining drippings with a thickener (if it needs to be thickened) such as flour or gravy thickener like Veloutine to your desired consistency. Serve the gravy over the meat and vegetables if desired.

Serve with mashed potatoes.