Montreal is a French city

I have noticed over the last five years or so that Montreal has become more French than ever. Growing up in Montreal in the 80's, it was possible to feel like you lived in an English city. All three elementary schools that I attended were completely English. There weren't any French immersion programs, that I can remember.

You could live in the suburbs and feel completely separate from the French language. We had two English television channels (we didn't have cable) and there were several English radio stations. You could go shopping and never have to worry about whether you could speak French or not.

It's quite fascinating how language laws work in Quebec. If you are born in Quebec and both of your parents were born here and attended English schools, then you have the golden ticket to attend an English school. You are then in a situation where you might only learn a very limited amount of French beginning in grade 4. This is not a fact - don't quote me on this as I don't know many people with children in the English school system! But when I look back on my own education, I can honestly say that I don't have any recollection of French class until grade 4 (9 years old). I've been told that these days the majority of English kids are in French imersion at school. In fact, I don't know a single English kid that not enrolled in immersion.

I started speaking French when I was about three years old. I had a couple of French neighbours. I am sure I didn't understand what they said, but I think I picked up a few words! Then when I started daycare (or the Garderie as I called it) I believe the workers were French, and so were many of the children. However, we also watched The Finstones every day at twelve p.m, so it was a mixed bag.

I basically spent an hour a day learning French for eight years. Other than that hour a day, my entire life was spent in English. All of my friends and family were English, all of the t.v shows and movies I watched were in English, all of the music I listened to was in English. I only spoke French when I needed to, like maybe at the grocery store or something.

It's strange, but my life hasn't really changed all that much. All of the above still applies, minus the fact that I no longer spend an hour a day learning French! I have tried to watch t.v shows and movies in French, but find that I just can't understand it well enough for it hold my attention! I'm one of those rare people who speaks  French better than they understand it!

These days I find that Montreal really does seem more French. I can vaguely recall going to free outdoor concerts and maybe hearing some English now and again. That never happens these days. In stores you are greeted with a "bonjour/hi". Back in the 90's you were sometimes greeted with just "hi". That doesn't happen anymore.

Also, the western section of Montreal, known as the West Island, has always had a reputation of being predominantly English. Growing up in the 80's and 90's I felt that to be particularly true. These days I'm becoming more and more aware of changes. The shopping centre, Fairview, for example has changed a lot over the years. Back in the 90's you would hardly ever hear French being spoken. Today, you'll hear it much more.

I think what I find most striking about the cultural scene in Montreal, is that the really fun/happening places do tend to be French. When I was in my 20's, I must confess that I sadly ended up on Crescent Street most of the time. I guess knowing it had a reputation for being English was kind of attractive to me. Until I realized that the reason it was English was because of all the Americans coming up here to get drunk due to our young drinking age (18 instead of 21). And they weren't really heading to the bars for some dancing and friendly chit chat. They were there to get drunk and get laid, and Montreal girls had a reputation of being easy.

There are areas downtown where you will hear English spoken on the streets. Old Montreal is somewhere you will hear English being spoken, but that is mostly due to tourists. You will hear English being spoken in the western part of downtown near St. Catherine Street (Atwater to McGill) but that's because there are at least three English colleges there! Dawson College, McGill University, and Concordia University. Which explains why there are some pubs around Crescent Street.

But many of the happening places in Montreal tend to be around St. Denis, Plateau, St. Laurent Blvd. That's where you find really funky and cool local bars and cafés. And they tend to be completely French. Try speaking French when it's your second language with locals that speak Quebecois while listening to blaringly loud music. Not easy at all!

My mother claims that Montreal has always had divisions, some areas English, some areas French. She's been living here as an Anglophone since the early 1950's!!! Can you imagine seeing Montreal change that much in your lifetime? She claims that in the 50's Montreal was actually a fairly English city! She said that she worked at Eatons (a department store that closed down in the 90's) and wasn't even asked if she spoke French. She served customers in English and there was never any problem at all. She said that she didn't even think about whether Montreal was an English or French city. It was just a big city, where she lived. Speaking English (and some French).

Once Bill 101 came along, she said that things started changing. That was almost 40 years ago. This is how Bill 101 is explained by thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/bill-101: "Introduced by Camille Laurin, Bill 101, Charte de la langue française (1977), made French the official language of government and of the courts in the province of Québec, as well as making it the normal and habitual language of the workplace, of instruction, of communications, of commerce and of business. Education in French became compulsory for immigrants, even those from other Canadian provinces, unless a "reciprocal agreement" existed between Québec and that province (the so-called Québec clause)."

When Bill 101 came along, many of the English people in Montreal left. A lot of them went to Toronto. They seemed to take a lot of the head offices away with them too! Montreal was officially a French city after that. In my opinion, it just keeps getting more and more French. English schools are still closing down while French ones keep getting built. Hospitals serving English communities have slowly been disappearing. There is one hospital for the West Island. There has even been talk about only receiving service in a hospital in French.

When the PQ government was elected a few years ago, things in Montreal started to get much worse again. The language police were out in full force, aiming to silence all the English in the city. They didn't want any bilingualism. They wanted people to be greeted by just "bonjour" in stores. No English. They tried to fine a restaurant for using the word "pasta" on their menu instead of the French word "pate". This became known as "Pastagate". Most people think that the laws are ridiculous, but the sad truth is that nobody is doing anything to change this.

I was in Paris a few years ago and was shocked by how much more English you see in the city compared to here. It's not an offensive language there. You see it everywhere. But no one seems to care.

Right now we have a Liberal government, but make no mistake, it's all run by French people. The separatists don't disappear just because a new government is elected. As we speak, there are still language police patrolling the streets looking for offensive English words on store fronts or being spoken in stores.

Just the other week a games store in Montreal was under attack because it sells some games that don't have a French version. They were told to remove all games from their shelves that don't have a French version. The store owner said that many games come from the United States and that there is a strong demand for them. To remove those games would basically force him to have to close his business.

Another story that happened recently, was that a man tried to buy a Daniel Tiger toy for his daughter at Toys R Us, but was told that he couldn't buy it because it wasn't supposed to be on the shelf due to the fact that it is an English toy. Apparently head office made a mistake and they were sending them all back. So he had to order it from Amazon instead. 

Another interesting change that I've seen over the last twenty years is how street names are pronounced. In the 90's we used to call St. Laurent Blvd "St. Lawrence", and Notre Dame was pronounced to rhyme with lame not lamb. Boulevard St. Jean was called Saint John's boulevard. Also, some names of streets have been changed, like Dorchester became Réne Lévesque. Recently they changed 20 Métro names to add the proper French syntaxes in front of them.

Another change that doesn't necessarily relate to Montreal, but to as Quebec as a whole is that if you call up RAMQ (healthcare) they will not serve you in English - or at least - they will test your language skills to determine if you really can't communicate in French at all. There is no "press 9 for English" in the menu, it only comes at very end after a half minute of silence! A similar thing happens if you call Hydro Quebec. All of the options are in French. Only when you get to the very end do you find out you can press "0" or whatever for English.

One thing that hasn't changed, and never will, is that bus and Metro workers are Francophone. They will not provide assistance to you in English. They will simply say "Je ne parle pas Anglais". In fact, a few years ago there was a joke going around that there would be signs in the metro saying that if you couldn't speak French you'd have to walk instead.

I'm a liberal, open minded individual, and I can appreciate that cultures want to hold onto their heritage and preserve their language. I can appreciate that it's difficult to be a small population of French right next door to the United States which is mostly English. Or being part of Canada which is also mostly English. But I have a huge problem with the way that they try to silence the English!

In Montreal there are neighbourhoods devoted to other ethnicities, like Greek, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Indian, Aboriginal, Polish, Jewish (Hebrew), etc. All of these places are allowed to put store signs outside in foreign languages. In China town all the stores have Chinese writing on them! And yet, it is illegal to have any English stores! There are immigrants here from the United Kingdom, where English is the prominently spoken language. A place rich with history and culture. And yet, in Quebec it is against the law to display it's native language in public. I find that disgusting. It's sad to say, but I don't think I'll be able to live in this place much longer. I prefer Vancouver where being English isn't considered an obscenity. Where I don't have to worry about feeling afraid to ask for help in a store because my French isn't good enough. Where if I have an accident and have to interact with a paramedic who refuses to speak English to me I could die because we aren't communicating properly. Where there aren't any free outdoor festivals where you will hear English spoken on the stage. Where you can't participate in contests because most won't deal with Quebec due to the language issues (it costs more money to run contests in Quebec).

It's very unfortunate, because it's a great city. I've been to many parties and meet up groups and everyone is from somewhere else. It's really beautiful how accepting people are. We are a warm group of people here, no matter what our language or colour. Ultimately, we all get along! We work together, we live together, we sleep together, we party together. I just wish the laws would relax a bit. We welcome in all kinds of different cultures, allow them to wear their traditional religious clothes, allow them to build religious buildings, and yet, when it comes to English, there is blatant discrimination! It's just not spoken about because the rest of Canada isn't like that. If a person has a problem with how things are here, they are told that they should just leave!  But when you were born here, and all of your family and friends are here, your house is here - your whole life is here, it's not so easy to just pack it all up and leave!

Dyson DC78 Review

I recently had the chance to try out a brand new Dyson DC78 and thought I'd share my thoughts on it in case anyone is shopping around for a new vacuum and likes to read reviews first!

When I first saw it, I thought it looked pretty cool. Very space age, or bling, I don't know but it looks fancy anyway.

I was cleaning for a friend and was a bit short on time, so I didn't spend time analyzing all the intricate details of the machine. I just wanted to start vacuuming and figured I'd find out about everything along the way!

So I plugged it in and got to work. The first thing I noticed was how cool the floor brush is. It swivels in a very efficient way so that you can really get into hard to reach places without having to switch to the crevice tool all the time. I liked the way the machine moves, it follows you around very easily and effortlessly. The pole is quite light, so it's also very easy to whip around quickly.

Once I'd vacuumed most of the floors I needed to switch to a tool to remove cat fur off of furniture. I reached for the lint brush tool initially because it was on the pole and seemed like the right choice. I did not like this tool at all. First of all, because the suction is so strong it was impossible to use without pulling the trigger thing to release some of the suction. I did not like having to hold this trigger the whole time, I found it tiring! The tool itself also seemed to leave little annoying lines all over the couch, due to upraised plastic bits on the tool.

I then discovered a little turbine head with little wheels in it. This was a fantastic little tool! I used it on a few chairs to get cat fur off, and it was awesome! It just glided along and sucked all of the fur off the chair completely effortlessly!

I did not like the crevice tool. I don't like the way that it is a combo tool with the brush attached. I kept accidentally bumping it or something and then the brush would come down and I'd have to fix it. I just found that to be annoying. Minor, I know, but worth mentioning.

I then attached the turbine head for the carpeted basement. I can't say I was hugely impressed with it. It did an adequate job, but as it isn't motorized I didn't really feel like it was penetrating the carpet. I also found it small and it took a long time to vacuum the  room. I would be very curious to go back over it with a heavy duty motorized upright vacuum cleaner to see what was left behind!

My favourite tool was the animal brush thing. Sorry, I don't know what it is called! It looks like my cat brush, but had holes to suck the fur into the machine. Wow, I used it on a cat tree and it was phenomenal! Absolutely amazing! I've struggled for years trying to find the best way to vaccum these annoying towers of fur and this tool does the trick nicely!

As for the noise, I found the machine to be fairly quiet. It got noiser when using the various attachments, but with just the floor tool it was not necessary to war ear protection.

Let's talk about suction! Well, Dyson like to boast about how great the suction is on their machines, and I have to say, this machine seriously sucks!!!! In a good way, obviously! It had such strong suction that when I placed it to my hand to test it, it almost hurt it was so strong! I've never felt such strong suction in a machine, honestly.

About the floor brush tool. After using it for several minutes it became apparent that it was "snow plowing" all the cat fur, which made for a very messy floor brush. I had to remove it and vacuum it about a dozen times during the cleaning of the house. And while the suction is fantastic, for some reason it just doesn't easily suck the fur right off of the bristles! So I had to manually remove them and then put them into the sucking hole. Time consuming and annoying.

As for emptying the canister, I did not enjoy this in the slightest! First of all, it wasn't super apparent right away how to actually remove the canister. I have used many canister vacuums, and I can usually figure this out quite quickly. Not so in this case. And as this is a brand new machine, and not mine, I did not want to risk damanging it in any way. So I grabbed the instruction manual to see how to do it. The manual is kind of ridiculous! It's full of all kinds of weird pictures and no descriptions! I figured out that I needed to push a button with a strange picture on it in order to release the canister from the main body.

Emptying the canister was not easy or fun. My friend has a small garbage can so the canister would not fit in it. I released the bottom to let the debris fall out and it spilled all over the garbage making a bit of a mess. I ended up having to get a plastic bag to put the canister in it in order to empty it without making a mess. There isn't actually a proper handle on top of the canister, just a small loop to grip. The canister is quite big, so I found it akward trying to hold it and empty it.

While the canister itself is quite large, there doesn't seem to be a large capacity in the machine. There is a giant filter or something that takes up three quarters of the space, leaving only a few inches of free space for dirt! The "max" line, is at the bottom of the canister! I had to empty the canister five times while cleaning the house (there are several cats) and the cat fur got caught inside the canister almost every time. So I had to stick my hand inside to get it out. Some of it was really stuck and my fingers couldn't reach inside to get it. I suspect my friend will have to use a knife or something to get all the way in, or take the canister apart. I would imagine the top part comes off. What a messy nightmare!!!

Conclusion: Overall, it's a great machine. It's fairly quiet. It's very easy to manoever and get into tight spots with. It has very strong suction. It has a fantastic selection of tools. But not all tools are great. The lint brush tool is rather useless. I don't like the combo brush/crevice tool. The brush tool kept falling down over the crevice tool and I had to re-adjust it several times. The extendable wand was rather short. I'm only 5,4 inches tall so it didn't affect me but I can't imagine using it if you are 5,10 or taller. You would have to bend over a bit, I would think. I hate the trigger thing you have to use on the handle for some of the tools that require less suction. It tired my hand out using it. Ok if you are young, but if you are older and arthritic, you really won't be able to use it for long.

The main issue, apart from the above complaints, is the price. If this was a $200 machine I'd probably get one, if only to have all those great attachments. But as it is an $800 machine after taxes I probably wouldn't get one.

Finally, I actually did buy a vacuum recently! I spent a month researching vacuum cleaners and finally decided upon the Sebo K2 canister vacuum. It's my first bagged vacuum cleaner, and so far I'm loving it! It was $399 before taxes, so a lot cheaper than Dyson. It's very quiet, and has a dial so I can reduce suction if needed. The lower the suction, the quieter the machine. Which is great if I have to vacuum at night, it's so quiet. It has a very long hose. Very long cord. Good suction. The floor head is great, it's flat on one side so the cat fur doesn't get caught up in all the bristles. It has a full length crevice tool which sits inside the machine. The lint tool is on the canister, out of the way. The brush tool sits on the wand. Emptying the dirty bag couldn't be easier! It just slides out, and it comes with little caps so I can seal the bag so no dust escapes at all. The bags are pretty cheap, about $3 a bag.

After spending the last 9 years using bagless vacuum cleaners, it's such a treat to have a bagged machine!!! I was constantly having a big mess to clean after emptying them, there was fur and dust flying out of it every time. I was always having to wash all the filters, or bang them to get the dust out. It was a filthy horrible chore that took a lot of time. With this machine, I'll have to replace the filters once a year and that's it. It also has a 10 year warranty on certain things.

At this point, especially after playing around with the Dyson yesterday, I feel that I would rather just pay the extra money for bags and filters rather than have to deal with that whole disgusting process of emptying the nasty canisters! I have cats and have to vacuum around the litter boxes. When I empty the canisters and have to pull debris out, I am actually physically touching the dusty litter particles! Plus all the dirt and dust. It's not hygenic to be touching it!

I treat my cats like felines, not babies

I get a lot of funny looks about the way that I treat my cats. I care about them as though they were my children. I have a huge heart when it comes to animals.

I do not, however treat them like human children. They eat on the floor out of cat dishes, not at the table or in a high chair. They do not wear bibs or onesies.

I do not wrap them in blankets and put them in baby strollers to walk around the block. Though I must confess, I'd love to stick them in a sled and go for a walk in winter! They love being outside, but it gets so cold on their paws that they don't want to go out.

They do not have their own rooms with furniture. Though we do have a spare room that I'd like to make cat friendly so they have somewhere to look out the window and sleep other than on our couches! We have friends with cat allergies so having fur covered furniture is less than ideal.

They eat cat food from cans. Though they do get premium quality, and I actually make chicken breast for them as a treat. However, I do this for health reasons, not because they are spoiled (which of coures, they are!) One of our cats had a urinary blockage two years ago and it basically "broke" him. Psychologically and physically, it was a very long road to recovery.  Cats don't drink enough water. I only feed our cats a wet diet now, as there are studies that show that a dry food only diet can contribute to urinary issues. I came up with the idea to boil chicken in a big pot of water with potatoes and carrots (to make a broth). Then when it's cooked, I chop the chicken into small pieces and put half a cup of chicken and half a cup of broth in to small bags and freeze them. Then I can take one out, and quickly provide extra water for my cats.

I'm sure that vets would disagree with me and suggest that I simply put them on a special urinary tract diet. But only one of our cats has the issue which means I'd have to feed the two cats different diets. Plus, the urinary diets that I've seen don't tend to have the higher quality ingredients that I've seen in other foods. So there you are, I give my cats chicken. Not many people understand that, so I don't share that info with friends and family as they already think I'm cat crazy as it is!

I walk my cats on leashes. Not because I wish they were dogs, but because I'm sensitive and can see how bored they get cooped up in the house all day! They are ANIMALS! Not children. A child could easily spend their life indoors. There are video games, t.v shows and movies, toys, books, board games, all kinds of games, friends, family. The list goes on. What does an indoor cat have to do all day?

Well, there are little toy mice, ping pong balls, scratching posts, windows to look out of and maybe other cats to play with. That might seem like a lot, but it isn't. Their instincts are to hunt. Animals hunt things that MOVE. Toys don't move. Therefore, cats get bored of their toys quickly. An animal in captivity that does not have anything to do goes crazy. A trip to the zoo will make that very evident very quickly. The animals are bored!

So I take the cats outside on their leashes to enrich their lives. I do not believe in just letting them roam outside on their own. I feel that it is irresponsible. There are too many dangers out there like cars, the pound (they drive around looking for cats wandering on their own and catch them and sell them to labs - at least they do in this city!), crazy people (it's not unusual for sick people to derive pleasure from torturing animals and I refuse to hand one of mine over so they can get their kicks!) among other threats like cat fights, poisons and diseases. Some people let their cats out and nothing ever happens for the cats entire life. But that's a chance I'm just not willing to take.

I play games with my cats. Not for long. A few minutes here and there. I hide food (they get dry food as a treat) and they have to find it. They absolutely love that game. I also throw food down the hall so they have to run after it. I try to encourage them to be active! I also try to get them to play with their toys, but honestly, they aren't that interested! I hear them chasing their toy mice at night, but rarely during the day or when I'm around.

We built an outdoor cat enclosure accessible from our living room window. That way in the warmer months they can be outside getting fresh air without me having to constantly walk them! Sadly, they don't really love it in there. It's not in an ideal place, due to where we live. It's all row houses, so I have neighbours on each side. Therefore we had to put it close to the house. So it's not as good as being right out in a yard surrounded by trees. But it's better than nothing! It comes in quite handy when we need to move things in and out of the house and have to leave the door open and don't want to worry about the cats escaping!

So basically, I'm really just a person who is incredibly sensitive to animals needs. I care about them like I would children, but I recognize that they are cats and that they have unique needs. It is my responsibility to ensure that their needs are being met. I brought them into my home. They didn't choose to live here. They don't have rights or health care. They don't even have access to really good quality food! What I give them is very good, but even the best cat food on the market is not as good as what they'd get if they lived natural lives, hunting mice! A mouse provides a cat with exactly what it needs to survive! Enough water to not get urinary issues, enough protein, plus the exercise and mental stimulation to catch it!

A cats life is not an easy life in the way that most people think! Most people actually just think of cats as animate objects. Cute fluffy creatures that don't mind being mauled and thrown around like a teddy bears. Or worse, completely ignored. A cat that has free access to the outdoors will live a happy independent life. There's no question about it. I've had outdoor cats, and they mostly do their own thing. They come inside to eat and sleep and that's it. It's very easy taking care of outdoor cats!

Indoor cats are a completely different story! It's not a natural existence and it's actually rather cruel to subject an animal to such a life! Think about it! Put yourself in their shoes. I mean, long term, as in 10 years. People think a cats life is easy, they just get to laze about all day doing nothing. A permanent vacation. I don't think that most people would like to be on a permanent vacation where they do nothing all day. Our idea of doing nothing and a cats idea of doing nothing are quite different!

We might say that we've done "nothing" all day, when in fact we read books, watch t.v, surf the internet, play video games, talk on the phone, pig out on snacks etc. No one just sits in a chair in front of the window for five hours not actually doing anything at all. Well, I can't imagine a "normal" person doing that anyway. If we were forced to live in a house where there weren't any activities at all, no interaction with other humans (while a cat might enjoy the company of another cat, it isn't going to change their lives to the point where nothing else needs to be done. What you end up with is TWO bored cats!!!) no books, games - nothing at all except furniture and windows. Meal times were twice a day, that's it. No snacks. Just water to drink. You are talking about a life very similar to a prisoner! One that is in solitary confinement I might add!

A nice relaxing break from work and responsibilities would be bliss for most people. I get that. Just lying on a couch staring out and watching the birds and trees is like a day at the spa! Meals provided for you, your house cleaned for you. A nice easy life. But how would you feel doing that for your entire life! No real enjoyable experiences, no fun, no adventure.

My cats still get bored. I can see it on their faces and in their body language. I see their whole being light up with delight when I do nice things for them. I'm not a crazy cat lady, just someone who respects life.

Adopt a cat from a shelter

I've been volunteering at a no kill cat shelter now for four months. During this time I have met so many wonderful feline souls it's crazy!

A lot of the cats at the shelter have been abandoned. You can tell the ones that came from homes because they greet you when you enter a room and hover around you waiting for a pet. Some of them are pure love and you can hold them while they purr like crazy.

At first I was a bit apprehensive being around so many strange cats. I thought there would be a good chance that I'd get bit or scratched, but I was wrong. They all live in separate rooms based on their condition. There's a room for diabetes, FIV, FeLV, urinary problems etc. I have yet to meet a single aggressive cat at the shelter and have never been hissed at!

It is absolutely heart breaking to see how many wonderful, sweet, friendly, loving, smart and amazing creatures have just been tossed aside like a piece of garbage! People would never do that to other humans in our society, or at least - when we do, we are usually jailed for such behaviour!

When I was a kid we had a lovely white cat that we got as a kitten. He had different colored eyes, one blue and one green. He was a farm cat and did not adapt well when we brought him to the suburbs. He remained an outdoor cat, but he stayed away from home for long periods of time. He was very difficult to catch, and in many ways behaved like a feral cat. He used to howl to go outside.

We decided to move away from that town and on moving day we couldn't find him. We looked everywhere. So we left him there. I was eight years old. There was nothing I could do about it. My family made it seem like what they did was fine, that he would be ok. He'd survive. But sadly, he probably didn't make it. What happened to him when it was winter? Maybe some kind soul took him in. Or maybe he was sent to a shelter and killed. 

This sort of thing happens every day. I just feel so sorry for cats at the shelter. Some of them do really well, and are quite happy and sociable. Others look rather sad. Some just look like they really need to spend a few hours cuddling or falling asleep on your lap.  In all fairness, they probably get more attention and love than they would get at many homes. 

Most people take care of their cats in that they provide food and water, and litter. But most people don't worry about what kind of food their cat eats, whether it gets enough water or wet food, they don't bother to clean the litter very often and aren't home enough to really spend time with their cat.

Most people treat their cats like furry animate furniture. Nice to look at and pet now and again, but don't really take the time to actually get to know them and find out what makes them tick. What makes them happy. A lot of cats just sit in the house doing nothing all day all by themselves. It's really sad.

At the shelter life is at least slightly interesting. They all have their own beds and pillows to rest on, they get fed at the same time each day, their litter is cleaned twice a day, they get fresh water twice a day. Twice a day a team of volunteers arrive who love to spend time talking to them and petting them.

I worry about what happens to some of these guys who get adopted. Do they end up having good lives? People should be really serious and committed when they decide to bring a pet home. And by all means, they should only get cats from shelters!

One of the advantages of getting a cat from a shelter is that many other people have taken the time to get to know these cats so it's a lot easier to match a person to a cat. For instance, a family with kids would probably want a lively sociable cat that is extremely tolerant. Where as an older single person might be better suited to a more quiet and laid back cat that likes to relax on your lap.

Either way, my heart breaks a little bit more each time I go and I get to know them all a little bit more. I realize how completely unappreciated these guys are and much they could totally enrich so many peoples lives (well, they already do - but it would be nicer for them to be in an actual home!).















 

High Maintenence Cat

I am thrilled that my wonderful feline friend Gayden is feeling better these days. He was diagnosed with FeLV in December and my boyfriend and I were devastated. I spent hundreds of hours researching everything I could on the subject. Initially I felt super defeated and negative, thinking that he would be dead in a matter of days or weeks. It's now almost eight months later and he's doing great!

He had two injections of a hormone to generate red blood cells for his anemia. We also started giving him a B vitamin/amino acid supplement with his food every 12 hours. He got better quickly, his appetite returned to normal and he had lot's of energy. 

In May I decided to take him to a different vet to have a check up, urine analysis and another test for FeLV - this time the IFA test which is more expensive and has to be sent to a special lab. I had read so much about false positive results for FeLV and he seemed so healthy I thought I should be sure and have him tested him again. Well, the IFA test came back negative. However, he also still has mild anemia. The vet was totally perplexed! She said that I would have to have the snap test done again to confirm whether or not he has FeLV. If that test came back negative then we could safely assume that he is negative. 

I suppose I will have to do that, but at the moment it's kind of nice thinking that maybe he'll be ok after all! Though realistically, as he has anemia, chances are there is something wrong with him we just don't know what. We aren't rich and it's expensive having all kinds of tests and check ups all the time! At the same time, I don't want to neglect his health and if there is any way I can help him then I want to do so.

Right now I'm just enjoying him being his almost old self again! After he had crystals he changed. He is a cat after all, and there is absolutely no way we can know what that experience did to him emotionally. He almost died! The terror of being in his litter box and feeling like he had to pee but not being able to produce anything must have been so traumatic for him! I am so grateful that I happened to be in the office where his box is and witnessed him enter the box and then just stay there for five minutes and then leave without having done anything. I immediately did research on the internet thinking that it might be constipation. However, after everything I read I decided that it was best to take him to the emergency vet, because if it was crystals then it was a life threatening situation!

He was then hospitalized and hooked up to a catheter and I.V for 10 days. We visited him daily and he was always happy to see us, but wow, what an ordeal for the little guy! When he came home he was a mess. Poor thing had the Victorian collar on his head for a week so he wouldn't lick and damage his private parts. 

Well, I've already written about the whole experience in an earlier entry. Anyway, a year and a half later and he's still anxious and high maintenance. We had him on a natural anti anxiety medication for a month to see if it helped. It was a pill that had milk enzymes in it or something that would calm him down. It didn't seem to help so we stopped it. I hate the idea of giving cats drugs, but his behaviour was seriously out of control. 

First there was the spraying issue. On the main floor he's sprayed bags, tables, chairs, the couch, the curtains, his cat tent and whatever else was at the right height. Upstairs he peed in the laundry basket once and on our bed once. In the basement he peed all over the couch several times. So needless to say, the situation was getting to be intolerable!

There is still a spraying situation, however he seems to only do it in front of us and he gives us major signs that he is anxious and wanting to spray. For one thing, he is still anxious about peeing in the litter box. I have tried different types of litter, tried moving the boxes and actually bought bigger boxes to make it nicer for him as he is a big cat. He was pacing and howling in the evening. If I brought him up to his litter box and told him to go in and pee, sometimes he would! Only in the evening though. I had changed the litter to the newspaper pellet things because when he was severely anemic he started eating his litter! So as it is clumping litter I feared for his life and had to change it to pellets immediately!

Well, I don't think he liked it very much - though I did! So easy to clean, no smell and no tracking all over the house!!! 

We recently went on vacation and brought him and our other cat to our friends house. However, she has five cats and the whole situation was a nightmare for her. Gayden peed all over house including her dining room table which might actually be ruined now. So if we go away we now have to find a cat sitter!

He is still super tense and difficult in the evening but I have found that there are a few things that seem to help. First off, Ed built an outdoor cat enclosure! It is right up against our house and they can access it by the small living room window. They can go in and out as they please. It has three shelves and is covered with screen. They seem to like it. Mainly it was for the evenings when Gayden basically goes crazy.

The other thing is that I have to do something with Gayden every day. Whether it is taking him outside on a leash, or playing with him. One game he likes is what I call the treasure hunt. I place dry food all over the living room in nooks and crannies and him and Calvin have to "hunt" for them. They love this game! Another game is I'll grab a small handful of dried food and throw one pellet at a time and they will run after them. So they get a bit of exercise and some mental stimulation. 

If I don't do anything for Gayden all day, then he will be awful come evening. He will pace and whine and walk up things and lift his tail up like he is about to spray. If I still don't do anything, then he will spray. I watched him spray the curtains one night as I sat there watching his craziness. So now we need new curtains. He still howls a bit at night despite my best efforts, but there's only so much I can do! I can't revolve my whole life around him! 

He pretty much constantly flaps his tail about. A relative said that she had never seen a cat wag his tail so much! Unless he is sleeping or eating, he will flail his tail about. So basically he is still anxious. I will most likely have to medicate him as I have run out of options! I can't and won't let him run free outside! Not only is there a bylaw in our city prohibiting it, but I also happen to think that it is negligent! In addition to that, if he does have FeLV then he can't be let free as it is contagious! But it might be a bit unrealistic long term to try to please his every desire!

He gets restless at noon every day and if I don't let him out he paces. So I have to get him and Calvin into their leashes and take them outside. Then they relax for a while. They get fed three times a day, so around 3:30 they are ready for more food. Then they relax for a while. Then from 7pm until bed time he is actively searching for things to do and if there isn't anything, then he paces and howls. 

I love him with all my heart, and he is really a lovely cat. He is also a lot of hard work though. But I really can't complain. I have already almost lost him to illness twice but he has survived. I try to make his life as pleasant as possible because the way things have gone with his health, I really don't get the feeling that he is destined to live a long life.

The crazy thing is that I kind of feel like he knows this and because of it he tries to live life to the fullest! He is totally ready to DO ANYTHING at the drop of a hat! He could be sleeping, but if I was to initiate some kind of activity he would get up and be ready. He doesn't sleep that much, considering that he's a cat. He probably sleeps about 12 hours a day. So this means that 12 hours a day he is busy looking for things to do!

I have spent hundreds of hours looking for games and ways to keep him happy and stimulated but sadly there is limited info out there. I've tried so many different things and he's not that interested in normal cat games. He likes challenges, like trying to open something that has food in it. He likes it when I put my laundry basket over him so he's in a little prison. He likes getting into the bathtub and have us scratch his back. He likes to play hide and seek. He likes to play fetch with his toy mouse (but only on his terms and when he's in the mood). I still haven't tried clicker training. I have heard that some cats do really well with this. I think he'd be a good candidate because it would be a new activity!

A Survivor's Guide to Driving in Montreal!

I've been driving in Montreal now for 7 years. I have also driven in this city for an additional four years with my learner's permit. So I know these roads pretty well, and am very familiar with the driving style here.

First we will start off with the condition of the roads. Hell. Plain and simple. Possibly due to ongoing corruption in this city, the condition and safety of these roads has gotten significantly worse over the years.

For starters there are bridges that are on the verge of collapsing. There have been many studies on the condition of the bridges and most of them say that they need a complete overhaul in order to meet safety standards. One problem is that some of our major bridges are federally owned. This means that Montreal can sit back and wait to get money from Ottawa before making any repairs. I don't know how the politics work, but from what I understand it takes a while to sort out who pays for what. In the meantime, nothing happens and the bridges continue to deteriorate. There is actually a Wikipedia article on the Jaques Cartier Bridge that mentions how it is deteriorating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Cartier_Bridge.

As you drive through the city you will see many overpasses and bridges that are in horrible condition. There have been many incidents of pieces falling off and hitting cars. You can read this Maclean's magazine article if you'd like to learn more. http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/08/23/montreal-is-falling-down/ I don't know how many people have been injured or killed from falling debris on our roads, but it is definitely something to be concerned about.

Next you need to be aware of the pothole situation. Now, every city has it's issues and I'm sure nowhere in the world has perfect roads. However, in a first world city it is absolutely abominable how many potholes there are and how big they are, how uneven and rough the streets are, and just the generally terrible condition they are in. This winter a man drove into a pothole that was so deep it flipped his car! http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/03/11/quebec-massive-pothole-car-flips-kirkland.html. Generally what happens is that the city will just patch up potholes rather than resurface the whole street. Then if there is a water main problem the company that deals with it will just dig up a section of the street and then do a cheap patch up job after. Then in the winter the whole mess freezes. Ice penetrates all the cracks and causes it to expand so that in Spring you end up with holes everywhere. Pardon my lack of scientific knowledge, I'm not sure I've explained that properly, but it is true that each Spring the potholes are worse than ever. 

It is very difficult trying to navigate through the city in a normal, or compact car without worrying about damaging the car's suspension. An even greater threat to damaging your car of course, is the possibility of simply losing your car (and maybe your life too) to a sinkhole! http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Sinkhole+swallows+cars+Trudeau+Airport/8171026/story.html. There have been other incidents of cars going down into sinkholes. Beware!

Ok, so you've familiarized yourself with the falling debris from overpasses and are learning how to navigate around potholes. Now you will have to learn how to cope with the year round construction on the roads. There is a bit of a conspiracy here. You see, there are millions of orange pylons - EVERYWHERE - . I believe they are there to pacify the masses and give them a false sense of security in knowing that work is being done on the roads. That the problem is under control. However 99% of the time you will NOT see ANYBODY working! You won't see anyone there at all. Thousands of roads get blocked off, sending people on ridiculous detours and yet there is absolutely no one working on the roads! The construction industry here has been under investigation for corruption. They have unions and short working hours to begin with. There are hardly ever overnight workers.

I once got stuck at Rockland going around in circles because there were detour signs everywhere and when I'd get to the spot I thought I needed to get to, there was another detour sign and each time I ended up at Rockland. I kind of lost it that night. So frustrating!

The worst thing about detours is that you never know where you will end up! If you don't know the city very well, you can expect to get lost! One night last summer I was driving along the highway and noticed that there was a sign saying that one of the major bridges to get off the island was closed! That was it. There was no detour sign or any message telling you how to get off the island. I felt bad for any American who was visiting the city and didn't know the island very well. Unless they had a GPS or map on hand, it would certainly be a challenge to find their way off the island!

The last thing I'll mention about road conditions is the street signs, or lack there of. The signage in this city is terrible! Many streets are simply missing the signs. Others are covered up with overgrown hedges or trees. The highway signs are all in French, as are the messages telling you about accidents. For instance "congestion" means traffic not phlegm. Ouest means West. Est means East. Having a GPS telling you where to go is also challenging (and humorous!) because many computer programs can't pronounce the streets properly! My phone has a GPS and it pronounces the road Gouin (normally pronounced Gwain - but not really saying the "N" at the end) Ouest (West) goo-een-ooo-ist. It pronounces the road Papineau (normally pronounced Pap-ee-know) Papp-in-eee-uh. Some programs are better than others. I have heard some that can pronounce the names adequately. The street signs are often placed in hard to read spots and are often tiny! Even if your vision is perfect, you will likely be driving past the sign and only realize once you are just past the intersection that that was the road you needed to turn on. 

Oh, one more thing, you can't turn right on red here. This is very bothersome for people not from here. At least there is usually a big sign with a turn right arrow with a big red line through it. 

Now on to the driving style here. One word. Psychotic. It is possible to have a nervous breakdown each and every day if you have to spend much time driving here. I highly recommend meditative music or Pink Floyd.

Now, what do I mean by psychotic you might ask? Well, I mean dangerous. I mean angry - you know, like road rage? I mean people overdosing on testosterone (if that's even possible). I mean unpredictable (though the unpredictable nature of drivers here IS predictable and so you have a slight advantage in knowing that!). I mean - MEAN, vicious, vindictive, spiteful and BULLYING behavior. 

Rule number one, in this city most people have a ME FIRST attitude. Therefore, DO NOT expect any courtesy. What this means, is that when you are at an intersection, even if you were there first, unless you put your foot down on the accelerator HARD and DO NOT actually make a full stop at the stop sign, you can expect everyone else to go before you have the chance. Therefore, you are probably safer to just make a full stop, let all the impatient people go who don't like to take turns  (you might find that six or seven people just floor it before you get a chance - many people actually share stop signs so two people will stop at the stop sign and then drive away at the same time). You might need to inch forward across the line to let people know that you do indeed intend to cross the intersection.  

The next thing, especially in the suburbs, is that everyone is in a terrible rush! This means that stop signs are more like suggestions. People will slow down for them, but rarely ever actually stop. Therefore if you hit a stop sign and need to turn left and someone is coming towards you on the opposite side and they also have a stop sign, they won't stop at all. They will worry that you will take too long to turn, so they will do a slight slow down and then dramatically speed up before you have the chance to turn. Even if you are there first. 

Next up is tail gating. There's lot's of it, and it's very aggressive.  If you are in the passing lane on the highway you had better be going really fast. The average speed in the passing lane is 140 km/h. The speed limit is actually 100km/h on most highways, but most people drive 110km. There is extreme bullying behavior in the passing lane on the highway. People will drive right up behind your car - forget that two second distance rule - you could read the writing on their baseball caps they are so close. They will drive ridiculously close to you until you move into the next lane. They'll be flying past you before you are even out of the lane!

At least half of the cars on the road are large pick up trucks, vans and SUV's. Therefore if you are driving a compact vehicle you will feel tiny. So when someone is tail gating you, it's intense! 

People also cut each other off in traffic all the time. If you need to be in the left lane in traffic on the highway to get off at the next exit and the lane isn't moving but the lane beside you is, then people will go into the next lane and then drive to the front of the queue of traffic and cut in! Hundreds of people do this so it takes even longer to get off at the exit. 

They also weave in and out of lanes without warning. People in this city HARDLY EVER use their indicators! I'm not exaggerating or joking in any way. So if you are in rush hour traffic and leave more than an inch of space between your car and the car in front of you, you can expect some weasel to squeeze in. 

Merging onto the highway is another challenge. Much in the same way that people share stop signs, people also try to merge in groups. They don't seem to like the concept of one car at a time. So the result is that if a person lets you in, they will give you only JUST the exact amount of space into which your car will fit. Not an inch more, otherwise the car behind will think it's a free for all and he'll squeeze in too! I'm ashamed to admit, that I am now guilty of this too. Much as I hate driving really close to the person in front of me, I hate having 3 or 4 cars try to merge in front of me at once. I'm happy to let one person in, maybe two. But that's it. So I'll give them a car length worth of space and that's it. Then I accelerate and close the gap immediately so that the front end of my car is almost touching the bumper of the car in front of me!

People will also just suddenly stop their car without warning. Right in the middle of the road. Not on highways or major roads, but on smaller streets. I guess if their phone rings they just instinctively stop the car. They don't turn on their signal either. So you then have to drive around them. It's a lot like walking in the shopping center and people just suddenly stop so that they can text.  

There is also a lot of parallel parking going on, more downtown than anywhere else. It's really annoying as you'll suddenly pull up behind someone who is parallel parked and realize that they aren't moving and then you can't get around them because there's too much traffic in the next lane, and believe me, no one will let you cut in. No, you'll have to wait until everyone else has gone. 

On busy streets like Sherbrooke and Queen Mary it's very tricky to make a left hand turn as there is a lot of on coming traffic. Sometimes you'll be lucky and there will be a flashing left arrow allowing you to turn. Most of the time though you just have to stop and wait for a  gap in the traffic to be able to safely get across. What is really annoying is if you are driving in the left lane and get to a green light and the guy in front of you suddenly stops, without putting on his indicator. You realize that he is wanting to turn left and so you need to go around him if you'd like to make the light. Problem is, before you have even processed this information, ten people behind you who are lightening fast have already switched lanes and are now whizzing past you. Unless you can floor it and manage to squeeze in between all these cars now flying past you will be stuck behind this person, probably until the light turns red.

Driving downtown is very interesting. Especially on St. Catherine's Street. There are a LOT of pedestrians walking along the street at all hours of the day. When you need to turn off of this street, you can't do so easily because pedestrians have the right of way and they don't have a special light to walk. So you have to wait for them. Basically, usually only one car can turn for each light. During rush hour traffic it's even worse. Also, Montrealers are notorious for jay walking. The city has been cracking down on this, but years ago swarms of people would cross on red lights. This must have seriously annoyed drivers, not to mention it's dangerous!

There are also a lot of cyclists. This has gotten worse over the years. There is now a bike program called Bixi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bixi_%28company%29. It's a bicycle sharing program. It's nice to see people getting exercise, and it's great for the environment. The island of Montreal also has an extensive amount of bike paths. My favourite is the one that goes from Pointe Claire to Old Montreal.

Lately I've been having to drive into the city more and have been having to drive around the cyclists. They have every right to be out on the streets, and I take my hat off to them. I feel that on regular streets it's just dangerous! They have to bike in heavy traffic and beside parked cars. It's a narrow space, and if someone in a parked car opens their door without looking and a cyclist is there, then that could be a  fatal accident if they are thrown into a moving car! Personally, I don't feel there is enough room for cyclists on the road. But maybe it's just because I'm not used to seeing them, out here in the suburbs the roads are wider and there is more space for them!

The next obstacle you will encounter is taxis!  They zig zag all over the road as they talk on their phones, talk to people out of their window, slow down without warning, never use their indicators, drive between two lanes (which many people do in traffic, as they are too scared to pick a lane in case it turns out to be a slower moving one!!!). Taxis will just stop in the middle of the road and you have to drive around them. Most people agree that taxis are horrible. The scary thing is that a lot of the taxi drivers don't even wear seat belts!

An interesting observation. The driving styles vary from neighbourhood to neighbourhood! On Cote Vertu Boulevard people drive the speed limit. I've heard this is due to a heavy police presence. On Cote St. Luc Boulevard they are maniacs! Downtown traffic moves slower and there are a lot of annoyances to contend with, but I find that as a result there isn't a lot of maniacal behavour to contend with. It's hard to act crazy when you can't move! Outside of Montreal people get cocky because they have a false sense of security over the large roads. I know two people who have gotten into serious accidents in the suburbs. One of them turned on a yellow light and an oncoming car crashed into her. Another friend was turning left at a stop sign, the oncoming car also had a stop sign but didn't see it so crashed into her. I've had several close calls. Especially in parking lots of big box stores on the West Island. Across from Fairview for example, there are many stores that share a giant parking lot. Many cars simply fly through it, not following lanes. This means you have to whip your head around in all directions and drive very cautiously. 

Well, that about sums up what it's like to drive in Montreal. Though from other people I've spoken to, this sort of behaviour happens everywhere. I think it's more of a big city phenonomen. I haven't driven in any other cities, so have nothing to compare this place to. I just go by what my driver instructor taught me to do. Basically, all the driving rules get broken all the time, so you really do need to be extremely careful!

Good luck to everyone brave enough to drive in Montreal!

What is wrong with our society?

I cannot, for the life of me, understand HOW we live in such a wasteful society. It absolutely boggles my mind!

I let my recycling build up for the last two weeks and today I finally brought it out. I live in a neighbourhood where we have many shared recycling bins and often times the bin is too full for me to be able to bring my stuff out. So it builds up.

Well, it was two full garbage bags full of stuff. This makes me wonder, why is there so much packaging for EVERYTHING? Why do we live in such a wasteful society?

There are SO MANY WAYS that packaging could be reduced. For instance, we should all have our own containers for many food items. Juice in supermarkets could be in large keg type containers and we could bring our juice container and fill up. There are many types of food that you find at Bulk Barn that could be sold in a similar fashion in grocery stores. Cereal, flour, cookies, chips, candy, nuts, spices, peanut butter, jam, dried fruit. If we all had our own reusable containers for said items then our packaging waste would be significantly less.

Bottled water should be BANNED. It is an incredibly destructive industry. Companies like Nestle suck bodies of water dry and then sell the water at a huge profit. The plastic water bottles don't get recycled most of the time and end up in the ocean killing wildlife. The bottles also leach out toxic chemicals that make the water less safe to drink than tap water. It's just unnecessary! Plain and simple. When I was growing up there probably was bottled water, but no one I knew ever bought it! Why would we? It has no flavour and tap water is free.

Then there is all the crap you buy at the dollar store. Do so many items need to be in packaging? The packaging is often at least five times bigger than the product itself!!! Think about how much transportation it takes to get all this stuff to stores. All the gas, pollution, road traffic, accidents, and money it costs to transport it all! We pay for this! We pay for the packaging, we pay for the people who design the packaging, pay for the people who assemble the packaging, ship the packaging, insurance claims from accidents. All of these things are reflected in the price. So a small 50 cent item is now costing us $1.25 plus tax. This might be small money to us, but compounded billions of times and the destruction to the environment make this a very costly practice! Not to mention that then we are left with all this excess waste that has to either be sent to landfill, burnt or recycled. Studies are now showing that recycling is actually not very profitable with the exception of metal and maybe glass. It's actually cheaper to just make something new.

Each week in my neighbourhood my street is filled with garbage on garbage day. Many people here still aren't recycling and throw out many things that aren't even supposed to go in to the garbage. There is absolutely no regulation when it comes to what you can or can't throw out. There are "rules". Like, you aren't supposed to throw out paint tins. But as we all dispose of our garbage in black plastic bags, no one knows what's in it. So you could easily throw out paint tins, computer components - anything you want.

In my opinion, nothing should be made that has to be thrown out! Clothes can be recycled or upcycled. Furniture can be donated for free to charities. Food can be composted. Why do we have garbage in the first place?

Disposable diapers are unnecessary. Throughout history people used cloth diapers and got on just fine. I for one, was raised on cloth diapers and have no negative memories of it at all! My mother would wash these cloth diapers daily and then reuse them. In the late seventies people were starting to use disposable diapers more often and my mother was ridiculed for still using cloth. I admire her, she knew it was a disgusting and wasteful industry and she didn't buy into it!

Shampoo and conditioner could easily be something we buy with reusable containers. When the shampoo and other soap bottles are empty, simply go back to the store and re-fill! Companies could have their products in giant containers with spouts that we could then pour ourselves. There are too many bottles and containers for so many things it's insane.

Then there is all the frozen food. I do not know what the answer to this is. These are very convenient (though not always healthy). Perhaps if we had to order our dinners and had to return our containers which would then be washed and reused. I volunteered for Meals on Wheels for a few months and the particular branch that I was with actually had their own metal dishes that they brought and collected to and from each house twice a week. My mother has Meals on Wheels and they deliver everything in Styrofoam and metal pie plates with round paper covers. She throws it all in the garbage when she is done. She seems to think that only newspapers can be recycled! And I'm sure she's not the only one, by far! Many people are too lazy to recycle!

We live in a world where corporations make and produce most things, make all the money, don't give back to the community, and buy out government. We wonder why our governments make decisions that don't seem to be in our best interests. They are simply the ones legally making and passing laws. Corporations can't make laws they can only conceive of them and then give government enough money to pass them. Why else does Canada have dirty oil that doesn't profit Canadians? Gas has NEVER been more expensive and yet we've never had so much oil! As a kid growing up in Canada we were taught that our main exports were trees, nickel, and other things. Not oil. There is an interview with Stephen Harper and Peter Mansbridge that you can watch on youtube. Peter asks Stephen why it is that Canadians are still buying foreign oil at high prices when we could be buying domestic oil cheaper. Stephen basically said that it's more profitable to sell our oil to foreign markets and that it is good for the country. Yeah, ok. Seven years ago gas was about $1.00 a liter. Now it's up to $1.42 a liter. That is significant. In another seven years it will probably be $1.60 or more. How exactly is this good for Canadians? We're destroying our natural resources to produce this oil and are not even reaping ANY benefits from it! Only the oil companies are seeing the profits and gains, not us! They want to build a giant pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia to facilitate the transport of oil to China! There is something like a 90% probability that the pipeline or tankers will leak oil and therefore destroy huge sections of our beautiful country. How are we really gaining by this? The premier of British Columbia has recently said no to the pipeline, but I read that the reason is not because she's concerned for the environment. No, she's more concerned about how much money it will cost to clean up the oil spills. In other words, if the oil companies give enough money to the B.C government then they will happily go along with the plan. Stephen Harper has himself said that if some people had their way, that Canada would just be a giant national park!

Please tell me what would be wrong with our country being a national park? What would be wrong with being a country that has the strictest environmental policy on the planet? One that creates organizations to help and monitor environmental policies instead of withdrawing from ones like Kyoto? One day, there really won't be any natural places left on the planet to visit. How valuable would our national parks be at that point? It would be a billion dollar industry! People from all over the planet would come and visit this beautiful country. In addition to the tourism benefits, keeping our land natural would help the planet! When you cut down all the trees on the planet and cover the land with pesticides and oil and dump toxic waste into the ocean, how exactly do you expect life to thrive on the planet? It's a slow kill process!

We already have technology to have fully electric vehicles and yet these have been so incredibly slow to hit the market. Year after year more and more gas guzzlers are being manufactured despite the fact that it is well known how bad gas is for the environment.

It's so sad. Corporations are just out to make money and only think about NOW, about TODAY. Today I can get filthy rich by destroying the environment and by the time shit hits the fan I'll be dead so it really doesn't matter. What about my grand kids and their grand kids? Why can't we as a society think ahead?

By reducing our carbon footprint TODAY maybe we will secure a better future for this planet. But as a whole, the people on this planet are doing very little far to slowly to really make enough of a difference to prevent a global environmental catastrophe in the future.

As one person, I can do the best I can. But it's not enough. I drive a car, I buy disposable items, I take planes, I paint my house, I use a dishwasher and use many other electrical devices. And so do most of the other 30 odd million people living in Canada. What about the two billion people living in China and India? What about the 300 million in the States? There are too many people on this planet living wasteful lives and I am really concerned that the environment just can't cope with it all. Something is going to give, and it will mostly likely be devastation of all life on this planet.