A mild spell coming our way.

Finally, after 6 continuous weeks of cold, windy, snowy weather it looks like we will be getting a reprieve. Now for anyone that lives a warm climate, -1 C seems cold....To us Canadians that is t-shirt weather. It's been cold here, especially at night. The last couple weeks -24 or -25C at night was normal. Daytime highs -12C to -10C were regular. Economically cold weather means higher heating costs, poorer gas mileage, more snow removal and more time spent indoors. Am I complaining - absolutely not - it's the reality that I am living in, nothing more, nothing less.

The next few days is actually going to push into the positive temperatures....+2 C to + 4C during daytime hours and -3C to -6C at night. Very bearable. It will mean however that the roads are going to get very rough and bumpy. The freezing and thawing is not kind to our highways. Add to that the potholes that are going to start to get bigger. Today I noticed that there is water lying on the streets in town. The salt is working, and the water is starting to puddle. It's not flowing yet because there is still snow and ice blocking the storm drains...It's going to be a messy week. If you are driving - try not to splash the pedestrians :) It's bad enough splashing someone in the summer when it is warm, but when it is cold and the water has a high content of salt and sand in it - that's just wrong. 

Have a great next few days friends, enjoy the warm up - spring is around the corner !!

The Book of James - Lesson #1 Sunday Morning !

It's been a productive day. I feel refreshed. I've spent the last couple of weeks reading a lot of books (Commentary's). Yesterday and today I've spent hours and hours formatting my notes into a presentation format for the lesson I am going to teach on Sunday morning. Our adult class is going to be looking at the book of James. So for the first lesson we are going to examine who the author was, date of writing, the audience it was written to, the purpose, main doctrines of the letter and the different divisions of the letter. Will we get through it all? I'm not sure. But I do know that the discussions are always interesting and that I always learn something as I teach. If you are in the area and you don't have a church home, please join us - Whites Road Pentecostal Church - 9:30 - 10:15 am. Get ready to dig in !

Blood Donation - COMPLETE

This morning I saw an advertisement for a blood donor clinic in town. 2pm until 8pm. I thought, "I should really go." Someday I may need a blood transfusion. Not only that, but I have seen first hand what a help a blood transfusion does. If it had not been for blood transfusions, several members of my family would not be here today. Not only that, but I am O Negative. In other words, I'm a universal blood donor - anyone can use my blood. On the other hand....because I am O Negative, I can only receive O Negative blood. In other words, unless someone else that is O Negative gives blood, I'm out of luck. 

It's been about 15 years since I've given blood. A lot has changed. I'm impressed.It took all of 45 minutes. Initial sign in, iron check, part one of questionnaire, part two of questionnaire with a nurse, blood pressure, sit in a reclining chair, needle goes in, blood comes out, go have some cookies and juice...and it's done. The most painful part was when the tape tore hair off my arm, the needle didn't hurt at all.

I'm looking forward to the next clinic I'm available for...I can give blood in 56 days ! After April 07, I'm good to go !

I told the ladies that I'd advertise for them - here is the Canadian Blood Services website http://www.blood.ca/

Back on-line - Let's talk about Snakeheads !!!!

I watched "River Mosters" last night on t.v. and they were talking about a very interesting fish - the snakehead. For those of you that didn't know, the first college I attended I studied and graduated with a diploma in Aquaculture. Basically, it is the study and raising of fish. While at school we had several projects dealing with fish - we had to breed Siamese Fighting fish (Beta's), fat headed minnows, Guppies, and raise brine shrimp. It was pretty interesting. Being the person that I was - (a little OCD) I eventually collected several fish tanks. My collection included two 25 gallon, two 15 gallon, one 10 gallon and one 2.5 gallon tank. My room was always the warmest and most humid :). My collection of fish included: Zebra Cichlids, red tailed sharks, pleco's, loaches, guppies, tiger oscar, common oscar, albino oscar, and my most favourite of all were my 2 Red Snakeheads.

You have to remember this was back in the early 90's and they were still legal in Ontario. For the past few years, they have been illegal to buy or sell in Ontario. There is a very good reason for this - they are a top level predator. They are a beautiful fish, and very unique. They can breathe air. Often I would see them come to the top of the tank and take a gulp of air. (They can actually live out of water for up to 4 days)...Their body shape allows them to waddle - so if their pond dries up, they go for a little road trip to the next pond. They are extremely aggressive - I was buying 100 feeder gold fish per week for them. They love live fish and will kill almost just for pleasure. My dad once put a 10 inch chub in the tank with them. (they were 12 inches each) and one bit the chub clear in half in one motion. I am not exaggerating. when i use to clean their tank I would do a couple things - first feed them alot - they would get so full they would sink to the bottom of the aquarium (with tails of fish sticking out of their mouths). Then when I put my hand in the tank, I always kept my fingers together. My thinking was - five fingers look like 5 little fish. 5 fingers together look like one big fish. It always worked - I never got bit once.

Very interesting fish, but there is a reason that they are banned now...Some people decided to put them into ponds, and lakes...they are not native to this area - they will literally destroy everything in their path, and they get big. It's not unheard of a snakehead weighing 40 lbs and reach over 4 feet long...they could do a lot of damage. I have also heard that they are very good eating. I've never tried them myself, but I know that they would have a beautiful fillet on each side - white meat, looks good ! Oh, one other thing - unlike most other fish who lay their eggs, have them fertilized an then leave - snakeheads don't do this....the male actually stays with the eggs (15000 at a time) and protect them until they hatch - then the fingerling's (baby fish) are guarded by the male. A female can lay eggs 4 times a year. 

You can see pictures of these creatures on the web - if you do a search of "Red Snakehead" you can see what they look like. Amazing creature and it brought back a lot of memories when I saw the special last night.

Have a great day friends !

Going off-line for a bit...

 

In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.  Psalm 5:3

The snow is gently falling from the sky. The wind is still. What a wonderful day but this will be my last blog for a couple of days. Writers block - no. Tired, yes. I finished a Health & Safety Manual for my previous workplace last week. 32 subsections (harassment policy & plan, violence policy & plan, Lock-out, Blood born Pathogens, Confined Space etc,..and 16 Appendices (forms, emergency plans, evacuation plan hazard analysis etc,etc,etc) - a few hundred pages.3 1/2 weeks of researching, organizing, writing, formatting, printing and then presenting...Now I need to rest from the computer for a bit. I'm probably going cold turkey with Facebook for a few days also. 

Have a great day friends - in a few days I hope to be writing again. Take care :)