Grumpy Old Man -- Drinking Problems

More Than DUI or Alcoholism

There is more to a "Drinking Problem" than driving drunk or under the influence; or issues of alcoholism to my mind — or at least not what I think people might traditionally consider.

Now I am not 100% prudish. If someone were to take a "nip" from a flask on public transit during rush hour or at a sporting event I'd look the other way — especially if they did so discretely and they were not bothering others. You must of course remember that for the most part here in Canada, drinking in public is frowned on. Meaning you aren't really allowed to drink in public unless at a licensed establishment. Of course, now many stadiums do sell alcohol, however they frown — legally — on BYOB¹. Public drunkenness is right out!

Getting back to public transit... I had the pleasure — displeasure — of sharing my bus-ride with two "gentlemen" who were travelling home from some job or practical job training which involved scaling poles or trees. They had their climbing belts and gear with them. That included rather nasty hammers, spikes, and husky ropes. I noted later that it also included some "belts". The one fellow really reminded me of my upstairs neighbour who more often than not would spend his recreational time "boozed up". It was only a short while later where I realized the resemblance -- though I admit I could be wrong and greatly biased. Here too was a man who drank whenever he was not working or at least he drank at any time he could do so. This included the time he might be commuting on the bus. I am going to assume that didn't include the time commuting to work as he likely had to be somewhat sober for work.

Granted he needn't be staggering drunk, but drunk enough that anyone around would note it and many would find themselves uncomfortable around him. His travelling partner, another fellow pole climber — who probably also worked very hard at work — was snorting back a few on the bus with him. The two of them weren't making a huge scene, but — and here is where the "drinking problems I am referring to come into play — were making the young woman (24-25) and young man (14-16) sitting by them very uncomfortable. The young man nearly jumped out of his skin when the empty "mickey²" flew past him to land on the shelf at the back of the bus.

Perhaps the high school student and the young college student should not have been upset by two hard drinking, hard working men enjoying their leisure time in their company... but we aren't talking about a pub or bar, nor even a restaurant or BBQ. We are talking about public transit just at the beginning of the rush hour. Somehow I think that people should be able to take advantage of public transit without being forced to face hard drinking.

The drinking problem is people being made uncomfortable... if I seem out of line consider this. The two men are incapable of restraining themselves from drinking for their trip home -- or even the 20 minutes the bus ride lasts. Twenty minutes is the entire duration of that bus route from start to finish. Perhaps they had had to endure a previous bus ride, but even so... if they could not wait to start drinking until the got where they were getting to, it shows that even sober they had issues of controlling their actions. These also were men carrying piked hammers and hatchets in addition to climbing spurs and ropes. They were rough looking customers who I think would take more than equal numbers of police to subdue if it ever came down to it.

So we have two fellows who "might" have problems controlling their impulses when sober, drinking on the bus while armed.

I think that this is in reality a "drinking problem" and not meaning their drinking problem but that of everyone around them.

I still haven't mentioned them talking about how they always liked to have a bottle in their pocket. That was in case someone came up behind them, so that they would always have something they could hit them across the face with, and how they never liked people who approached them from behind or who might talk behind their back... and when I heard them talking about it, I got the impression that people might pick fights with them half-way regularly. I wondered if their actions brought any of this onto themselves?

But that is the "Drinking Problem" I am referring to... that of making everyone around them uncomfortable without regard.

For that matter — yours truly even felt uncomfortable around them, not knowing what they might do — or not do — and I am not a small person.

Later!
~ Darrell

157.

__________
¹ BYOB -- Bring Your Own Bottle.

² A 375-ml (13.2 imperial fluid oz - 12.7 US fl oz) bottle of liquor such as whiskey.

The Family Tableau

Family Life - Home Cooking

I wonder how many families have foods that are a bit unique to their family? I am thinking of foods that are quite possibly ethnic in origin that might not be so familiar to your friend's backgrounds. They are foods that might not seem unusual if you live in a community where your parents and grandparents -- uncles, aunts, cousins, and of course siblings -- grew up in. But if you no longer live in the lands of your parents... these dishes might be out of the ordinary.

(image to above right from Mennonite girls can cook)

For some of you there might be two completely separate sets of cuisine -- one from each parent's family -- or only one if your parents come from the same culture.

I come from in some ways three backgrounds. One is the fairly common generic Canadian-Average American one of bacon & eggs, pot roasts, fried chicken, macaroni & cheese, and that sort of thing. The other two are a bit more exotic though not Earth shattering.

Mom's parents originate from Norway and a few tastes have entered my culinary vocabulary from there -- though mostly it was diluted by way of New York and Alberta. There were a few things that basically only came out at Christmas time like Fattigman Bakkels or Cookies (image to left - image from about.com) which are deep fried and dusted with sugar. There also were cheeses and other foods that normally weren't bought or served except for during the holidays.

Dad came from a Mennonite community in Southern Manitoba that had come to North America around 1875 and hold cohesively as a community even today. There are many dishes I remember from our visits to family there which we have taken out here to the West Coast of Canada. Among many others is a favourite of my Sister's and mine, "Wareneki" or "Vareneki" -- in particular "Blueberry Wareneki".

Wareneki are one of those foods that sort of turn up all over the place in one version or another. I find they are different from perogis though some consider them the same. I think some would consider them a stuffed noodle or liken them to ravioli I guess. Anyhow the translation of wareneki I have seen is "fruit pocket" though I wonder if simply "pocket" or "dough pocket" might be more true?

Basically you make a dough and roll it out, then you cut out circles and put the fruit in the centre with a bit of sugar and press the edges together. You carefully put the sealed pockets into boiling water to cook and then serve with a cream sauce. Now my Grandma and relatives tend to make squares and fold the corners in so that the points meet in the center giving a squarish wareneki rather than the more crescent shaped ones shown in the pictures I am including, but I am sure they taste the same... I think the more square ones might hold a bit more of the sweet fruit filling.

(image to above right from Mennonite girls can cook)

Now the two pictures from "Mennonite girls can cook" show cottage cheese wareneki or "Glums Wareneki" rather than the blueberry wareneki, but they are fairy illustrative. Some people also make saurkraut wareneki, but I think they are spoil sports. I guess I grew up with the treat of blueberry wareneki from freshly picked blueberries while other folk might remember other fruits more.

(images above to left and right from recipezaar.com)

To me though blueberry wareneki were like eating dessert for dinner!

Technorati Tags: cooking, ethnic cooking, wareneki, vareneki, fattigman bakkels, Mennonite cooking

Later!
~ Darrell

(I have also posted this on my Xanga site.)

155.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

...or trying to.

I rather like walking in the snow. I think snow is beautiful although it seems many of my friends do not care for it. I know they have their reasons and perhaps I might change my mind in time... or maybe I just have too many good memories of it.

(image to right from Image*After)

Unfortunately -- though when young I used to shovel our walks within 24 hours of every snowfall back when I lived in a city where snow actually came every winter -- here folk don't seem to care much about whether their walks are cleared of snow and ice regardless of municipal bylaw or the convenience of passersby. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that here it snows only for a week or three a year and that the snow most often disappears on its own a day or three after the fall. Sometimes the snow lingers and even when it doesn't it can be a very large problem for some folk.

There are folk who are quite fine travelling on foot on good dry pavement and sidewalks that find ice and snow to be an effective barrier for them even on journeys of a block. Some might have nearly invisible mobility issues like balance problems or coordination problems that you'd never note. They might never even use a cane. Others might use walkers or scooters which are stymied by nearly any level of snow or ice. Some scooters are better at handling it than others in case you are recalling seeing folk using scooters on snowy sidewalks.

(image to left from Image*After)

I know of some people who have artificial legs who can not walk on ice and snow and whose wheelchairs can not navigate it either. They go from independence to requiring special transit either by "Handidart" or specially equipped taxi.

You can't blame all the folk who don't clear their walks...

I often come across a nasty situation where the city and highways departments plough the roads and the icy half melted snow is left on the sidewalks and shoulders of the roads creating near glacial coverage as the dumped ice and snow hardens. It is almost like concrete and probably nearly impossible to shovel without a small tractor. It is also very hard to walk on because of its rough nature and tendency to have hard crust over softer under-layers -- difficult to walk on for able bodied folk, impossible for less able bodied, nearly impossible for a home owner to remove.

(Image to right from Image*After)

I can't really think of a solution for it all. For those places where the city or highways department ploughs the road, perhaps they should be less exuberant and take care not to cover the sidewalks or to provide a service to use municipal or highways equipment to clear the sidewalks. For other sidewalks... well there should be some way to get folk to actually clear their walks. Perhaps if someone actually followed through with one of those small city tractors and cleared the uncleared walks for a special price which would be outlined in a bylaw?

I really don't think people should be trapped in their homes because of inconsideration.

Later!
~ Darrell

150.

To Be Merry or not To Be Merry...

Happy Holidays!

Would you be offended if I wished you a "Merry Christmas"?

I know that many institutions worry that you might be -- or that it might lead to messy discussions about religion and perhaps politics.

To me holiday greetings like "Merry Christmas" are not attempts at evangelizing, but simply ways to share the joy I might be feeling at the time of an important holiday for me. I'm trying to share my joy. I don't mind if others share holiday greetings for other holidays that I might not celebrate. I don't celebrate Ramadan but would not be offended if someone were to wish me an enlightened one or if someone wished me Solstice Greetings.

I'm really not sure what an appropriate Ramadan greeting might be or if there is such a thing and I hope I do not offend in my not knowing. I'd like to know.

I think it is a good thing to be able to share our positive feelings with each other and perhaps a bit of our heritage and culture and especially to be able to hold onto our cultures. Celebrating Christmas just happens to be a part of my culture as blended as it might be..

Later!
~ Darrell

148.

For Remembrance Day -- 11 11 2008

Uniform Memory

When I was young,
I wore a uniform
Not a soldier proud
Going off to war
For King
For Country
Probably for
Adventure
To get off of the Farm
Or out of the Factory Plant
Or Dark Coal Mine.

But before it was over
Seeing friends new
Friends old
Strangers once
Become Brothers
Blown to bits
Shot to meat
Once vital
Now dead.

When I was young,
The uniform I wore
Was not of a soldier
For I was lucky
Luckier than most
For my years of youth
Mine were spent in peace
Peace perhaps relative
Peace perhaps born
On the shoulders of others.

But others
They paid horrible price
Perhaps
Not even truly knowing why
Just knowing it was needed
Not asking why
Just doing
Just dying
Just or unjust.

When I was young,
Yes, I was only a Cub
But somehow I could feel
Somehow I felt a connection
Somehow I could feel the loss
The loss of the missing
Perhaps the loss of others
Of others' fathers
Of others' grandfathers
Husbands, brothers, sons

But though not directly touched
Somehow I knew
Somehow I felt
Pride
Pain
Love
A minute of silence
That echoed in my heart
As strongly as if
The war was only yesterday
Not decades before

Now they are young,
Fresh faces wondering
At the few old wrinkled faces
The berets
The ribbons
The medals
The statues
The wreathes
The poppies
A tear
A moment of silence
One.one,  one.one,  one.one

But do they connect
Do they feel the loss
Does it make sense
Do they remember
Do they find it only
One more oddly named
Long weekend
In the so long school year
Is it  so sad

Now is it so sad
That these young
Are not so close
To the wars once remembered
Are these not those
That were fought for
That truly they would not
Need to know war  as the others before?

But it is sad.
For war has not left
More children must learn
More people must leave
Family
Friends
Freedom
To fight
For freedom
For feuds
For feudalism
For fuel

Now as it was it is in the end
They fight in the end
They fight for their life
They fight and see a friend
Blown up
Shot up
Burned up
Burned out
They fight bravely and for cause
They fight without question
For that the brave sometimes must do
They do it for themselves
But they also do it for you.

But it is sad
Another generation must morn
Lost soldiers
Not just Father,
Grandfather
Brother, Son
Uncle
But now also Mother
Grandmother
Sister, Daughter
Aunt, and Friend
Though truth be told
It has always been so
Just not always so much
In uniform

One day perhaps
It will only be
War remembered in memory
Fading, but not forgotten
Perhaps a scar but not a wound
And the children
Might wonder,

At the few old wrinkled faces
The berets
The ribbons
The medals
The statues
The wreathes
The poppies
A tear
A moment of silence
One.one,  one.one,  one.one

Darrell Wade Penner November 4th 2003

Running Bear in the Subway!

Bear Learns Fast Food is Deadly

I didn't want to get too humorous in my titles here because the reason I am writing it was that it made me very sad.

(image to left from Kitimat Sentinel)²

A "Subway®" restaurant -- sandwich shop-deli -- worker, Rebecca Branton¹, was surprised last Monday morning, Sept 15,2008, at 6:15 am² by a black bear in the restaurant. There is a video of the whole incident hosted by CBC which took place in Kitimat, BC.

The CBC News report of the incident is on YouTube.

The employee was in back when the bear entered the restaurant and she spotted movement on the security camera.³

CBC News:¹

"I was just back there making soup ...but I saw the door open and it was a bear,"

(image to right from CBC News)¹

Branton had the frame of mind to hurry to the washroom with her cellphone and lock herself in and phone for help, calling her parents. She had thought the bear might have used the handicap button to enter -- she had heard the buzzer for the door go off, but saw nothing in the morning dark.

Northern Sentinel:²

“I kept watching the door and then all of a sudden a bear came in and I was like ‘oh my god’.”

She explained, “It stood up on its hind legs and pulled the door open like a person and got down on all fours and the door closed behind it as it walked in.”

(Image to left from CBC news)¹

Branton called her mom first not being sure what to do, but called the police afterwards.² The police arrived quickly and her parents also came down. The 10 minutes or so were terrifying and she felt isolated in the washroom as she heard the bear moving about in the shop. The bear sniffed around and at one point hopped on the counter.

It didn't apparently eat anything before jumping back down and eventually made its way out of the Subway® restaurant. Conservation Officers also arrived and set up a watch at the Dairy Queen® lot -- where the bear had come through to get to the Subway®.²

(image to right from The Guardian)⁴

Sadly this curious young bear -- approximately two-years-old -- was later put down by Conservation officers in the downtown area of Kitmat. They felt there was a danger that this bear would continue to return to the area and coming back being a danger to the public. Some might wonder why they didn't tranquilize the bear. I wondered it, but then considered... in the area around Kitimat, with all the wilderness, black bears might not be considered that special -- sadly.

(image on left from Subway® Restaurants International)

I feel sad for this intelligent creature who was so curious and intelligent. In the video he reminds me somewhat of a curious house cat or dog looking around where he might be caught doing something naughty. There was something to the curiosity and intelligence which struck a chord with me when I heard the handsome creature was destroyed. It often ends poorly for the animal when wildlife and humans interact.

Later!
~ Darrell

143

¹ "B.C. black bear pops in for fast food" CBC News, Oct 1, 2008; CBC.ca.

² "Hairy start to Subway worker's day" Kitimat Sentinel, Published Sept 24, 2008 (Web Page dated: Oct 1, 2008); NorthernSentinel.com.

³ CBC News reports the incident happening last Thursday (Sept 25) while the video shows "2008 09 15". The Northern Sentinel article reports it being "Monday" and considering the article was published September 24 puts credence to the Monday September 15 date for the incident.

⁴ "Black bear checks out sandwich shop" Oct 1, 2008 Charolottetown, The Guardian

...and I have a dream...

...of when we will no longer hear that someone is the first of their distinct group to overcome a hurdle

Please do not misunderstand, I think it is great that a "black man" is running to be American President -- Barack Obama & Joe Biden. (image to left -- image from CBS News) I think that it is great that a woman has been chosen to be the "running mate" to his opponent. (image to right -- image from post-gazette NOW) It is great that these firsts are happening. I just dream of the day when it will no longer be news that someone is "the first woman to run for an office" or "the first native American to climb Mount Everest."

I look forward to the time when the barriers to people have dropped so much that it will not be out of the ordinary for anyone to take on any job that they are suited for.

When I was young it was odd to be in a Taxi Cab that had a woman driver. When I was a young teen it felt nearly naughty to have a woman barber cutting my hair. Things have changed. Although they attained their position when their party leaders left office, I have lived in a country that had a Woman for Prime Minister -- The Right Honourable Kim Campbell (image to left -- image from The House of Commons Heritage Collection) -- and a province that had a Woman for Premier -- Rita Johnston (image to right -- image from Ministry of Community Services, Province of BC).

I do know there is discrimination still, and more in some places and in some people than others. It is also more in some times and circumstance than others. But I dream when it diminishes more and more.

I think there might always be fear of the unknown. Unknown cultures and unknown religions can bring fear, especially if that fear is fostered by those who wish people to fear newcomers or people who are a little different. But I think this will diminish eventually.

Until then we will still hear of these firsts.

Later!
~ Darrell

129.

Here's the Caboose!

What's a Caboose?

When I grew up any child -- at least in Canada and the USA knew what a Caboose was. I figure most folk who spoke English natively might know that. The "caboose" was the special train car that came at the end of a train. In fact it confused me that passenger trains didn't have them!

Now they no longer put cabooses at the end of freight trains, they have been replaced by electronic boxes of some sort they put at the back of the last car in the train. The function of the caboose as a car for the train crew no longer exists and the entire crew is -- I imagine either in the engine or in the various railroad offices.

Perhaps cabooses have become "extinct" on today's railroads, but what does this mean for the caboose in the English language? I don't imagine that many will miss it and people will simply think that those who talk about getting a "swift kick in the caboose" are a bit eccentric. They might wonder at some of the children's books that talk about trains and mention cabooses. (image of CPR caboose to right -- image from "Railway Photography by Chris vanderHeide") Of course "caboose" might not be the only word that gets you weird looks. What do you think kids today make of "Choo choo train"? Other than special tour trains and museums and in movies and on TV they might not see a steam engine or even if so not equate it with "Choo choo trains".

It is something that has happened again and again with changes in society and technology. When was the last time you talked about a "Hi Fi"? "Gramophone" "Victrola". I wonder how long before "record player" disappears from our normal vocabulary and is relegated to Scrabble games or Crossword puzzles?

I hope that doesn't happen with something like "polar bear".

Later!
~ Darrell

112.

Petri Dish TV

Petri Dish TV - A Variety of Culture

...with English Language Network TV

I haven't heard it recently, but in the past in Canada there was often discussion about how so much TV we got here was American and that it was diluting any difference there was between American and Canadian Culture. At the time many people were under the impression that there really wasn't any distinct Canadian Culture.

I think perhaps in a sense the were right.

Canada is a very large and diverse country even if its population is not huge in the global scheme of things. However there are many different distinct cultures in Canada even if you look beyond the "Distinct Society" that Quebec wishes to hold franchise on. But looking beyond the salad bar* of cultures making up Canada - meaning the mix and unmix of cultures which have immigrated into Canada from other nations - there are distinctions from your more typical equivalent American populations.

I am not wishing to get into the differences, but they are more evident now to many people in Canada that we are not just American "wanabes". There are many similarities beyond language for sure, but many important differences, even if to some perhaps subtle. The important thing is that there are differences just as there are between Canadians, Americans, British, Australian, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, New Zealander, and other populations of English speaking people.

The more I watch TV originating from the different English speaking countries the more I see this and the more I think I see reason to look at what might happen if one country or another dominate a communication industry especially in entertainment.

I am not sure how it is to live in other countries, but here in Canada a large amount of our Network Television comes from the US. It is there and convenient and has been since before the great satellite dishes were the norm for cable companies to draw down their signals with. Most Canadian city cable companies could just point a big antenna down towards a half way major American city near the border and pick up a few network affiliates. In fact in a number of cities in Canada you merely need a good antenna and you can pick the broadcasts up directly.

There was much debate and discussion on how this harmed the Canadian Television Industry and that the danger of this was the loss of Canadian Culture -- what I was mentioning earlier. This was during the 60's and 70's in particular, but into the 80's as well.

I was young and naive, but I had a solution that I thought was pretty simple. Instead of working on ways to limit access to American television content or financial incentives to Canadian networks -- I thought, why not encourage the cable companies to include networks from other English speaking countries as well. I came up with this idea watching a British TV Police Drama series called "Dempsey and Makepeace" (image to left -- from Luisa's page of Dempsey & Makepeace) from the mid-1980s which I found very interesting because the stereotypes used were so different from the ones you found in American Police Dramas.

I could recognize them as stereotypes to be sure, but they were not your typical American ones and that was novel and refreshing and made me think that if you had more British TV coming into Canada as well as the American, they would perhaps create some balance. I then wondered what of the other English speaking countries? Surely Australia had its own television industry that was at least as strong as Canada's. What if English speaking networks from all over the world could be brought in?

Now true there would be difficulties in bringing them in live because of timezone differences, but they could be delayed broadcasts. I wondered what other networks were about.

Perhaps in the 80's it would have been more difficult to manage the time delay on so many network feeds and the cost of the satellite signals prohibitive, but I think we are getting closer and closer to where it is possible and probable as well as perhaps being healthy.

One issue might be fears that it would endanger the Canadian Television Industry, but with the increase in competition -- something already happening with cable networks and the Internet -- there also at the very same time is a greatly increased market if the quality of the Canadian product is high so that others would be interested. I think that it can be and is.

I just finished watching a few seasons of "Torchwood" "Life on Mars"(original BBC programme) (image to left -- image from Wickipedia) and "Primeval" from BBC and loved it. I know there are Canadian productions that are popular in the US albeit on Cable networks -- though some make it to networks I believe. I think I have seen a bit of Australian programming and wonder what comes from the countries which while not English have large English speaking populations.

Perhaps it might not preserve a "Canadian Culture" or "Canadian Cultures", but maybe just thinking it would be worth while is very Canadian?

Later!
~ Darrell

91.

__________
*Canada as a "salad bar" rather than melting pot or mosaic was something that came up in a dear friend's anthropology course - is was anthropology... or was it sociology?

If you want to explore here are some Wikipedia Links for TV Networks in Countries that have substantial English Speaking populations (not inclusive):

Australia, British UK, Canada, (China) Hong Kong, (China) Macau, Gibraltar, India, Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, South Africa, United States broadcast - United States cable/satellite,