I like this quote. Aim for heights that make the skeptics jeer. That is my clever, shortened version of it that I like to carry around in my head with me wherever I go. I don't know yet if I have aimed precisely high enough yet though.
I am a list person. I make lists for everything. Lists of groceries, to do lists, lists of books I own or have read or have yet to read, cd lists etc. For some reason, it just gives me a feeling of great accomplishment to cross things off of a list. It has actually become more of an achievement for me to be able to cross something off than it is to accomplish the thing itself. The reason I am blathering on about this isn't of any grand significance. Only that I went to the grocery store today and it was jammed packed. Whenever the store is jammed like that I always forget one item on my list. Only one. More than likely the only item that I actually needed and the one I was there at the store for in the first place. I just get sidetracked and I have a panicky urge to retreat from the store. I get up to the till and look down at my list and there it is, the last item, glaring up at me. Today it was potatoes. These were of uber importance because we are all making something for Thanksgiving dinner this year and I am designated potato queen. I am going to make the finest and most unique mashed potato concoction that ever graced any Thanksgiving bounty. But let me tell you, there is not even one decent spud in my house. Believe me, and I have even considered using the ones that have been sitting under my sink for a decade now at least. In fact, I think they were already here when we moved in. Ok, for those of you reading who actually have to eat this Thanksgiving catastrophe, fear not. I promise I will not venture near the potato demons living next to the Easy Off Bam. I do have one half of a sweet potato left if it really comes down to it. No, don't worry, there will be potatoes at this Thanksgiving if it means I have to go dig them out of someone's back garden. Hmm...my next door neighbour's have a garden. I wonder.
In the News
Carbon Pricing, What is It?
There has been a lot of talk surrounding the election lately about climate change and carbon tax especially on the part of the Liberal leader Stephane Dion. Dion hopes that promoting the carbon tax will help his campaign. Now for those who don't know what this means, I will explain.
Basically, this is a tax on the carbon footprint that you leave on our planet. The amount of carbon dioxide that you emit into the atmosphere. Now they aren't about to tax us for breathing of course because that would be silly...wait, just to double check. Yup, no tax for being alive and breathing, but this is a tax for bigger polluters like factories that emit large amounts of carbon dioxide into the environment everyday and are essentially causing global warming. So these big time polluters would then be taxed for how much C02 they produce and the monies are supposed to go to cutting our personal income tax in half. Or so they say. I mean, income tax was supposed to be a short term, temporary thing to begin with along with the GST. We were allegedly supposed to be paying off all of our nation's debt with it but now they say that Canada's national debt is so high that it will probably take about 125 years to really pay it off, that is if we don't keep racking it up. Regardless, I will be worms meat by then so I now must be prepared to accept income tax as a more permanent life deal. They probably assume that my children will not be so savvy as to realize the mistakes of the past anyway and will just accept income tax and all other misdemeanors as well. Anyway, so we will see where all the money really goes. However, if this tax is implemented it could mean some pretty interesting changes around this Planet Earth. There has been talk about ensuring that Canadians have realistic alternatives in terms of energy consumption. Could this mean more solar homes, wind energy farms and electric cars? If they are going to tax me for polluting activities like driving my car then they had better offer another form of transportation. Other countries like Norway and Sweden have already implemented carbon prices. Of course when I think of those countries I always think green, oh and mostly hills and short guys in even shorter pants. Maybe a windmill or two and the world's smallest cars that you could ever possibly squeeze a human into. Hopefully this puts the oil companies in the toilet though so I don't have to pay such high gas prices. Ha ha, oops, my guy still works for the oil companies. Crap. Ok, boo to carbon pricing then because even if we greenhouse gas the place and the planet goes up in all of our green smoky smoke, I can still drive my car down the ozoneless stretch of ooze highway. Oooh, and I don't want to lose my shopping allowance either. They do say that this won't affect Canada's economy in the least but how many of us are really going to want to part with our full size gas gluttony SUV's for a wimpy, plastic smarty pants car? Nothing says tough guy like riding around in a bubbly dome, like a bumper car at the fair except supremely more dorky. I am in Alberta and I know that these big cowboys will probably need to be folded in thirds just to fit into one of those things. Might not go over too well, kinda like wearing red underpants and riding shotgun in the bullpen.
The US economy has been hit hard by the Stock Market crash. They are heading for recession and have been pouring billions of dollars into their banks, which has not been done since the Great Depression in the 1930's. Canada, however, is in the most sound financial position globally and so we should not worry although we will probably still be able to hear the mighty US whinging from across the border. We might also catch a glimpse of George Bush's head upon a stake carried by an angry mob. We will keep our hopes up. Those Americans are feisty little buggers and most of them are trigger happy so we might just get a show after all of this nonsense blows over. I know that most of them are too comfortable for their own good and would be highly insulted knowing that their country's finances are in ruins. It's enough to wound their pride, especially after having to go through that torturous week when their dollar matched and then was pummeled by ours.
Ok, I must go to bed now since I have an automatic baby alarm clock that will be going off at exactly the time that I don't want to drag my butt out from under the warm coziness. If it was painfully early then that would be fine, but my little princess always lets me sleep until I have had just enough sleep that it is torturous to emerge from my bed. This time clock changes every day. I know, I can't complain, at least she sleeps.
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