R(etired)N

My husband has just left for a business trip to Vancouver Island.

Here is the photo he *just* took with his iPhone from the deck of the ferry.

Incredible, isn't it?


The sun is trying to shine here....the sun is breaking through.

I want summer to arrive.

And I already miss my husband.

You just can't judge a book by it's cover.


Yet we do it every day.

Watch this.  The boy is 17.  The girl is 16.

What is amazing is that the girl, Charlotte sticks up for her friend Jonathan.   In turn, Jonathan doesn't abandon his friend Charlotte. 

So sweet.  

We should all be like these two.   And - what talent!



By the way.....
Here is a video from Jonathan's YouTube channel...one he just put up a week ago - beautiful sound and a "must hear".....

It is a sad situation when a  vigilante can shoot and kill a kid  -  minding his own business after buying some skittles and an iced tea at the corner store - and get away with it.


In Canada - you shoot someone  - no matter what, you are taken into custody and at very minimum - the gun is removed from that person.  You can't just go out in your neighborhood and shoot someone, even though sometimes you might feel like it.

I am not going to get into the whole argument whether guns should or shouldn't be allowed or the stats for or against guns etc.   That's a whole argument in of itself that could go on and on with opposing sides braced for a long haul.

this is what my bf's gun looked like

I am opposed to gun possession without restrictions and people should have training and a personality test  plus a record check before being allowed to possess any firearms - and no one will change my opinion on that. 

Interestingly enough, as a high school student, skeet shooting and handgun handling was part of our recreation education curriculum.   

Sounds weird nowadays, especially in Canada, doesn't it? 

But, those were more innocent times, I guess....shortly before my friend at school was gunned down by a crazy American with a gun out in his father's orchard - along with 7 others.   The shooter is still locked up in a forensic psychiatric facility - for almost 40 years now - too insane to be released. 

Every two years he is allowed a parole hearing and my friend's family risks driving on snowy, icy mountain passes in the dead of winter every time - and live the tragedy over and over again... just to ensure he isn't released.

Ten years later, I lived  with a guy that did own a handgun - six shooter type (permit given by the RCMP after a vetting process), which by the way, was always kept under lock and key, stashed safely away at all times. 

The law in Canada states that hand guns require registration and a permit must be obtained whenever transported  even if going to the shooting range.  The permit would clearly state origin and destination.   One must take the gun to where it is going by the most direct route only - under lock and key and out of sight - no side trips to the liquor store or any such thing. 

If caught - the penalties are costly.

I must admit, we were guilty of taking  the handgun out on occasion to do target shooting in our backyard - taking aim at pop cans on yonder stump.

But, even while target practicing, I never did understand the need for a handgun.

photos from this website

Back to the idiot who just killed an unarmed kid.

Interestingly enough, a study was done at Notre Dame University, soon to be published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance*,  that suggests persons packing a gun are biased towards thinking that everyone else has a gun also.

In five experiments, subjects were shown images of people holding various neutral objects such as a can of pop or cell phone while holding either a toy gun or a neutral object such as a foam ball.  The images were all varied -  different races, with or without ski masks etc.   In every case, the study showed that holding a gun changed the subject's perception that the image shown was also was holding a gun.

“Beliefs, expectations and emotions can all influence an observer’s ability to detect and to categorize objects as guns,” Brockmole** says. “Now we know that a person’s ability to act in certain ways can bias their recognition of objects as well, and in dramatic ways. It seems that people have a hard time separating their thoughts about what they perceive and their thoughts about how they can or should act.”

As the article says, this study can have ramifications for law enforcement and public safety. 

Someone tell that to Treyvon Martin. 

If he could answer, I am sure he would say, yes, indeed, it does.

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*Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance

** Dr. James R. Brockmole

Right now, in a lot of communities here in B.C., it's difficult to find an MD.
 
Due to a lot of issues, I have migrated away from my local MD - Dr Johnny Depp  -  and am going back to my former MD an hour and a half drive away.

I don't know what the solution is....but whatever it is....the progress to availability to health care in some rural communities is going at a snail's pace.

Of course, we pay taxes that covers healthcare so "expensive" doesn't really apply directly!But definitely hard to get sometimes!

The same with nurses.  There aren't enough of us out there....and this needs to change.

Our Union - BCNU - is now trying to negotiate with the government to commit to more nurses to improve health care in our province.   We are asking Zero increase in wages for the next contract.

If there aren't more nurses added to the workforce....our health care will continue to suffer.  Nurse burnout is rampant in all hospitals across the province.

We still love the system we have, we just want to improve it. 

More later.

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And by the way THERE ARE TWO EGGS IN THE EAGLES' NEST!!!!

TAKE A PEEK!!!

So the Eagle has laid an egg....you can go to the website and take a peek.....or be like me and obsessively watch it!

Click on the Eagle photo to the right of this entry! ---------->

Some statistics from the Japanese Disaster one year ago:*



Strength of the Main Earthquake and Aftershocks on the Richter Scale:
Magnitude of 9                 :     1
Magnitude of 7 or greater :    6
Magnitude of 6 or greater :   93
Magnitude of 5 or greater :  559

Height of the biggest waves of the Tsunami:  132 feet (40 meters)
Coastline affected:    700 kilometers

Deaths:         15,824 (almost 9 times more than Katrina**)
Missing:         3,847 (more than 28 times more than Katrina)
Injured:          5,942 
Displaced:  400,000

Houses completely destroyed:       114,464
Houses half destroyed:                   154,244
Houses damaged:                           539,840

There is still a lot of cleanup to do.  No one really knows when it will be safe to live in Fukushima - since there is still a high level of radiation - and there is nowhere to put the radioactive waste collected.
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*Sources: National Police Agency, Japanese Red Cross and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
**Katrina mentioned only to give perspective to number killed or missing, not to compare disasters.

Couldn't resist it.

You have probably seen this, but I still think it's a pretty cool way to announce a birth!



I thought I had pretty much seen them all! This one would take a little planning.....approximately 9 months worth!

I had to laugh a couple years ago when I heard the American broadcaster oon a certain American TV station declare that the Rocky Mountains made a beautiful backdrop to Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics.

What he was actually referring to was the Coastal Mountain range, because the Rocky mountains are a good 9 hour drive East from Vancouver.  You can't even see them from here.

I have posted a few videos of British Columbia - we all know how beautiful it is here....and it's reputation precedes it.




What you might not know, is that Alberta is just as beautiful.  Because the Rocky mountains run along the B.C./Alberta border, not only does Alberta have the prairie beauty - but they also have the mountain beauty.

I have relatives there....in Calgary, Vulcan, Edmonton, Medicine Hat and various other assorted small towns scattered about the province.

That's the province my Grandmother and Grandfather immigrated to in the 1920s - from the Netherlands - and where my R.N. Gramma worked as a Midwife.

Watch the video.  It really shows off some of the pretty countryside in Alberta!  There is more to Alberta than the Stampede and prairies!

Apparently people in Uganda are reacting to the Kony2012 campaign - negatively.


If nothing else, the Kony campaign gave this woman who lives in Uganda a voice :




A girlfriend of mine from Japan has been a volunteer RN for a Health Organization in several of these middle African countries for the past 5 years.  She had to move from the country she originally was in to another due to the conflicts in the areas she is working with.  

It wasn't Kony that was the problem there.

They are doing incredible work with other people from around the world to teach health and help those who are coping with day to day concerns and current health issues.

One of my best friends from school was Consul General at an Embassy in a West African country when bands of militants went door to door hauling out any foreigners from France -  and slaughtering them.  He narrowly escaped with his life.

Kony wasn't the problem there.

There are more issues in Africa than one man named Kony.   There are corrupt governments that do just as horrible things than Kony, diseases we have never heard of and other political issues that will take more than a poster campaign to correct.

As a board member on a non-profit,  I wince when I hear of an "Non profit" organization that is not as transparent as it could be and is perhaps a little bit suspect in it's methodology. 

People will always love a band wagon to jump on.  It makes them feel good.......for a little while.  When the popularity of the project wanes.....what are we left with? What is the next step? What can we do that is constructive?

To only be "aware" of a situation isn't enough.

One thing that I have done for several years, is participate in an organization such as KIVA,  which assists those people in 3rd world countries to get a loan where they would never normally qualify or where financial institutions don't exist  -  and help them to help themselves.

It's called MICROFINANCING.

It's not money that is handed free of responsibility.  First, they must create a business plan. The borrowers have to pay the money back.  Loan payback is approximately 98% - which is far better than any "regular" bank.   When your loan is paid back - you then choose another person/group to loan it to. 

The success rate of these businesses is phenomenal.

When we allow people to take the initiative, it will stabilize their life and in turn, they can participate in their own governments and political issues to make changes.

Go to the KIVA website and find out that there are better things to do than run out in the middle of the night plastering posters all over other people's property that someone else will have to clean up.

My cousin's son is interviewed in this video that was created for International Women's Day.

He and his wife are in Bolivia at the moment working with MCC:



Take a moment and reflect on the Influential Women in YOUR life!

Regards!