New Year, Same Me
Well, what can you expect. The world doesn't change overnight, so why should I? That's my excuse for cutting down on laundry. If anyone does happen to come across this blog, I'll be surprised. Perhaps my photo-less profile intrigues you. If so, let me know how to post a photo and I'll set one up. Any topics that you'd like me to discuss, please feel free to mention them. Meanwhile, here are some recent comments I've had posted by the Globe and Mail for your perusal and edification.
December 6th
This past summer, it cost $175.00 a week to place my daughter in full-time daycare. Due to the hours that I had begun to work, there was no part-time daycare to fit my schedule (four hours in the mornings and early afternoon). I was earning $300.00 per week, at fifteen dollars an hour. I did not disclose this to my welfare worker as I was not receiving any money for rent since I was living at my mother's home. She is ill with Parkinson's and diabetes and was unable to provide care for my daugter. If I had gone off welfare that month, my entire income would have been $1200.00, with $700.00 of that going for child care. I don't know anyone who can feed and clothe a pre-school child and themselves and also afford two-bedroom accomodation in Toronto for the remaining $500.00 a month. A national childcare policy might help. An extra $200.00 a month might help as well. Still, $700.00 a month before tax isn't a lot in the big smoke. I know I should have been working more hours for better pay. Anyone want to hire a TESL Ontario certifed ESL instructor?
December 2nd
Margo Reid, would you mind extrapolating your pandemic for profit postulation? I'm not quite following that one. And the presence of some liberal (with a small L, notice) media in Canada is something I find somewhat reassuring. How the teacher's pension fund became so huge, however, I have no idea. I've been trying to become a certified teacher in Ontario for close to ten years now so whoever is calling the shots with the teacher's union, and I'm willing to bet it's neither a small nor big L liberal, they certainly aren't willing or eager to share a bit of that rapidly enlarging pie with the likes of me.
November 30th
I seem to recall from my history books that once Japan and Germany had surrendered at the end of the Second World War, victory was had. Isn't Saddam Hussein in custody? Haven't the U.S. and it's allies won? Why are they still fighting? Is something else going on here, or do the history books lie about World War II? I am currently living in South Korea, which has been continuously occupied by American troops for over fifty years, and this war is not over yet. Is that the kind of Plan for Victory outlined in the 35 page (wow, I'm impressed!) document?
November 25th
Having worked as a garde manger in Toronto for several years before moving to Korea, I can attest that I have never served bean sprouts raw. This is a no-brainer. Alfalfa sprouts, watercress, or even radish sprouts are appropriate for salads or sandwiches, but bean sprouts must always be cooked. Perhaps the experimental vegetarians should take a few food preparation classes - they are the usual culprits when it comes to improperly ingesting vegetables.
November 24th
I don't think I've ever heard one of Fiddly's songs, but I did enjoy listening to Ice-T sing Cop Killer several years ago. As evidenced by his recent television work on Law and Order SVU, the man known as Ice-T exhibits a strong social conscience. Sure, he started out as a gangster, but his lyrics had a point: the gangster life is definitely NOT a viable option for young men. What is Fiddly's predominating message? Be like me, or avoid this lifestyle at all costs? That is the real question to be decided before banning his entry into Canada. Also, are his lyrics hateful towards any sector of society? Let's ban him until he cleans up his act, unless he has already done so.
November 23rd
I never thought that paying cash for airline tickets would flag me as a potential terrorist, but knowing that it does will not change my behaviour. I am thirty-seven years old and I do not have or use a credit card. I don't need one and I don't want one. I think purchasing on credit is one of the biggest moral issues today's society faces. I spend what I have earned. Perhaps if more people did the same our society would be a little different. The only thing that I might purchase on credit would be a house, but that seems more and more unlikely these days in light of the grossly inflated property prices in such cities as Toronto and Vancouver. Flag me as a terrorist, mark me as a criminal, but when I buy something I will pay for it with cash that I have earned and saved. I only wish more people did the same.
November 15th
Wow, Canada! Thanks for the invitation! Actually, I came back last year for eight months and now I find myself back overseas, well-appreciated and well-compensated for my foreign developed but ultimately Canadian certified skills. Yes, as you might have guessed, I am an ESL teacher! EFL actually, as I am teaching overseas. I am highly skilled in other fields however, the service sector even! I was a professional cook (garde manger to be exact) and art director for high-profile music videos made in, of all places, Toronto. Why did I leave? Well, to be honest, I couldn't afford rent on my own apartment. How's that, you say? Weren't you paid handsomely? Perhaps, but more than half of what I earn in the private sector BEFORE taxes would need to be directed in the direction of some property owner's trust fund. Couldn't I buy my own condo? With what savings? Why didn't I stay in Canada last year? The public teacher's union didn't even post any jobs after I received my government-finaced (yes, thank you very much Ontario Works) TESOL Ontario certificate. The director of the school where I completed my ten-week intensive course was that shocked herslf when we went to 5050 Yonge street to apply for jobs in the Toronto School Board. $32.59 an hour is a lot of money even after tax, but they have to let you earn it. Me, I'm just appropriately qualified with eight years of experience overseas. Why should I be allowed to work in my hometown? Thanks for the invitation, immigration minister, but please have an apartment ready and my employment contract signed before I return to Canada next time. That's what brought me back to Korea. I'm not even going to mention how low the taxes and health insurance premiums are (no, I'll mention those: less than fifty dollars a month for my daughter and myself, including dental). Enjoy your forced election! Who's going to be fixing things, do you think?
November 14th
I'm sorry, Richard Bill, but as a non-Francophone who CAN speak the language, I have never felt welcome in France, or in Brussels for that matter. There is something about the French national character, or identity if you will, that seems to sneer at peoples of other derivations. As soon as it was discovered that I was not born speaking French, there it was - the cold shoulder. I do appreciate French culture and achievements but I prefer to appreciate all things Gallic from afar, out of range of the legendary French disdain.
December 6th
This past summer, it cost $175.00 a week to place my daughter in full-time daycare. Due to the hours that I had begun to work, there was no part-time daycare to fit my schedule (four hours in the mornings and early afternoon). I was earning $300.00 per week, at fifteen dollars an hour. I did not disclose this to my welfare worker as I was not receiving any money for rent since I was living at my mother's home. She is ill with Parkinson's and diabetes and was unable to provide care for my daugter. If I had gone off welfare that month, my entire income would have been $1200.00, with $700.00 of that going for child care. I don't know anyone who can feed and clothe a pre-school child and themselves and also afford two-bedroom accomodation in Toronto for the remaining $500.00 a month. A national childcare policy might help. An extra $200.00 a month might help as well. Still, $700.00 a month before tax isn't a lot in the big smoke. I know I should have been working more hours for better pay. Anyone want to hire a TESL Ontario certifed ESL instructor?
December 2nd
Margo Reid, would you mind extrapolating your pandemic for profit postulation? I'm not quite following that one. And the presence of some liberal (with a small L, notice) media in Canada is something I find somewhat reassuring. How the teacher's pension fund became so huge, however, I have no idea. I've been trying to become a certified teacher in Ontario for close to ten years now so whoever is calling the shots with the teacher's union, and I'm willing to bet it's neither a small nor big L liberal, they certainly aren't willing or eager to share a bit of that rapidly enlarging pie with the likes of me.
November 30th
I seem to recall from my history books that once Japan and Germany had surrendered at the end of the Second World War, victory was had. Isn't Saddam Hussein in custody? Haven't the U.S. and it's allies won? Why are they still fighting? Is something else going on here, or do the history books lie about World War II? I am currently living in South Korea, which has been continuously occupied by American troops for over fifty years, and this war is not over yet. Is that the kind of Plan for Victory outlined in the 35 page (wow, I'm impressed!) document?
November 25th
Having worked as a garde manger in Toronto for several years before moving to Korea, I can attest that I have never served bean sprouts raw. This is a no-brainer. Alfalfa sprouts, watercress, or even radish sprouts are appropriate for salads or sandwiches, but bean sprouts must always be cooked. Perhaps the experimental vegetarians should take a few food preparation classes - they are the usual culprits when it comes to improperly ingesting vegetables.
November 24th
I don't think I've ever heard one of Fiddly's songs, but I did enjoy listening to Ice-T sing Cop Killer several years ago. As evidenced by his recent television work on Law and Order SVU, the man known as Ice-T exhibits a strong social conscience. Sure, he started out as a gangster, but his lyrics had a point: the gangster life is definitely NOT a viable option for young men. What is Fiddly's predominating message? Be like me, or avoid this lifestyle at all costs? That is the real question to be decided before banning his entry into Canada. Also, are his lyrics hateful towards any sector of society? Let's ban him until he cleans up his act, unless he has already done so.
November 23rd
I never thought that paying cash for airline tickets would flag me as a potential terrorist, but knowing that it does will not change my behaviour. I am thirty-seven years old and I do not have or use a credit card. I don't need one and I don't want one. I think purchasing on credit is one of the biggest moral issues today's society faces. I spend what I have earned. Perhaps if more people did the same our society would be a little different. The only thing that I might purchase on credit would be a house, but that seems more and more unlikely these days in light of the grossly inflated property prices in such cities as Toronto and Vancouver. Flag me as a terrorist, mark me as a criminal, but when I buy something I will pay for it with cash that I have earned and saved. I only wish more people did the same.
November 15th
Wow, Canada! Thanks for the invitation! Actually, I came back last year for eight months and now I find myself back overseas, well-appreciated and well-compensated for my foreign developed but ultimately Canadian certified skills. Yes, as you might have guessed, I am an ESL teacher! EFL actually, as I am teaching overseas. I am highly skilled in other fields however, the service sector even! I was a professional cook (garde manger to be exact) and art director for high-profile music videos made in, of all places, Toronto. Why did I leave? Well, to be honest, I couldn't afford rent on my own apartment. How's that, you say? Weren't you paid handsomely? Perhaps, but more than half of what I earn in the private sector BEFORE taxes would need to be directed in the direction of some property owner's trust fund. Couldn't I buy my own condo? With what savings? Why didn't I stay in Canada last year? The public teacher's union didn't even post any jobs after I received my government-finaced (yes, thank you very much Ontario Works) TESOL Ontario certificate. The director of the school where I completed my ten-week intensive course was that shocked herslf when we went to 5050 Yonge street to apply for jobs in the Toronto School Board. $32.59 an hour is a lot of money even after tax, but they have to let you earn it. Me, I'm just appropriately qualified with eight years of experience overseas. Why should I be allowed to work in my hometown? Thanks for the invitation, immigration minister, but please have an apartment ready and my employment contract signed before I return to Canada next time. That's what brought me back to Korea. I'm not even going to mention how low the taxes and health insurance premiums are (no, I'll mention those: less than fifty dollars a month for my daughter and myself, including dental). Enjoy your forced election! Who's going to be fixing things, do you think?
November 14th
I'm sorry, Richard Bill, but as a non-Francophone who CAN speak the language, I have never felt welcome in France, or in Brussels for that matter. There is something about the French national character, or identity if you will, that seems to sneer at peoples of other derivations. As soon as it was discovered that I was not born speaking French, there it was - the cold shoulder. I do appreciate French culture and achievements but I prefer to appreciate all things Gallic from afar, out of range of the legendary French disdain.
posted by kodeureum | 7:08 pm
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