The Mavericks
Oh what a thrill it was to see The Mavericks again! They played the Western Fair here in London and they were simply amazing. You would have thought they were playing in front of thousands of fans, just like the old days. They played for nearly an hour and a half straight with barely time to take a breath in between songs, then came back for an encore which included a fan favorite -
The last time I got to see The Mavericks was at the Merritt Mountain Music Festival. The act before them was an hour and a half late, which really annoyed the crowd, who were all waiting for The Mavericks. If you've ever been to the festival you know they shut down at midnight, period. We were all starting to panic when The Mavericks didn't start until just before midnight. They just kept playing and playing and the crowd of some fifteen thousand people loved it. Festival management was smart enough not to piss off fifteen thousand people. The Mavericks played for a solid hour and then tried to leave, but the crowd would have none of that. Fifteen thousand people screaming "more! more!" brought them right back on stage. This happened over and over again until they had played until at least two o'clock in the morning, but we all still wanted more. It was by far the very best concert I have ever been to. They had the whole crowd -
Although I love every single song they play, the best thing about The Mavericks is how much fun they have on stage. They love playing and they eat it up when the crowd responds. Even in London, where the venue was pathetically small and there were only a few hundred people it didn't matter one bit to the band. You could just tell how much fun they were having regardless of the small crowd and they were so happy to be back playing again. They had to eventually call it a night and, well, that was -
Diabetes - PLEASE heed this warning
Nine million Canadians are living with some form of diabetes. An estimated two million Canadians are undiagnosed. The number of people diagnosed with diabetes is projected to increase 56% over the next ten years. Juvenile diabetes has increased forty percent over the last ten years, mostly because of poor diet, physical inactivity and obesity.
Back in 2004, after I had crashed my dirt bike, tore up my ankle and couldn't do any physical activity for a year, I gained fifty pounds and I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. When I was able to return to my many activities I lost the weight quickly and my diabetes was managed with only Metformin.
In late 2007 circumstances led to a high level of stress and my sugars were literally "off the charts". My doctor put me on high doses of insulin and my sugars moderated. He told me I was a poster boy for a heart attack and I needed to get out from under the stress or it would kill me. I moved to Panama and my diabetes was managed with Metformin and daily insulin in relatively small doses.
Circumstances led to my return to Canada and, at one point, I found myself living on the streets, unable to afford my medications for six weeks. I did not know at the time that I was doing irreparable damage to the nerves in my feet. I developed severe diabetic neuropathy, a burning, excruciating pain for which there is no cure. A host of medications, plus huge increases in my daily insulin, do little to mitigate the pain. The only "relief" is when I sleep, but obviously I can't enjoy it because I am asleep. I wake to the vicious cycle of every step being painful.
I have gone from a healthy, ridiculously active person who hiked, biked, danced, roller-bladed, skied (cross-country, downhill and water skied), played racquetball and tennis, and even para-glided, to someone who can barely walk with the aid of a cane. All this in only a couple of short years. My doctors offer little hope and just tell me to learn to live with the pain.
I cannot urge you enough to get tested, regardless of your age. People often think that diabetes is an old person's disease, but this is not true. Diabetes can reduce your life expectancy by more than ten years. It can result in amputations. It is a leading risk factor for heart attacks. If diagnosed early enough diabetes can be managed, not cured, but the risks of amputations and early death can be greatly reduced. Don't ignore the warning and be part of that two million people undiagnosed. It is much better to know and be able to manage it.
Life Lessons Learned Too Late - How one mistake can ruin your life.
When you are young and foolish you make mistakes in judgment that are just part of growing up. Sometimes you "get in with the wrong crowd" with peer pressure to do something you know is wrong. If you get away with whatever stupid thing you did, well, that's just exciting, right? If you get caught; however, that's a whole different story. Especially these days with so much video being shot of those dumb moments, like the riots in Vancouver. In Kelowna there was the case of the kids who stole an SUV and trashed it, recording every moment of their crime like idiots.
Courier Companies. Do website programmers check their own sites?
It was a simple request. I wanted to ship my old computer to a friend in the Okanagan. I wanted it to arrive in a few days and I wanted to make sure it was handled carefully.
FedEx
Not sure why I chose them first because my computers had come Purolator without incident. I went on their website to get a quote. I had to enter my postal code and the postal code for my friend. I got an error message that my postal code didn't exist. Canada Post and the folks living in my building would be upset to know that FedEx doesn't think we exist. So much for FedEx.
Purolator
First, I've had an account with Purolator for years so I logged into my account and chose to get an estimate. I entered all the info, including my request for special handling, an extra $18, and got a quote that was reasonable so I proceeded to "Create a Shipment". After entering all my information, even though I had an account and this should have been shown, and all the shipping information for my friend, then hit the "submit" button. I was creating the shipment for the next day pick-up and wanted to charge my credit card, information they had on my account. I got an error message that they could not charge my credit card for a "future dated" shipment. Why the hell not? Every company in the world, except apparently Purolator, allows you to place an order and have your card charged when they ship the order.
My only choice was to give up all the data I had just entered and simply request a pick-up. No account info. No credit card info. No special handling request. Just a pick-up. When the driver arrived I explained what happened and he had no explanation. He filled out a manual bill and took the parcel. I went online to ask Purolator why I could not do a next day shipment and got back an idiotic reply stating that they cannot charge my credit card for a future dated shipment. No explanation as to why not.
Concerned that the shipment was going to be handled properly and that it would arrive on Friday, as the driver confirmed, I started trying to track it online. My account, of course, showed no shipments. The Bill of Lading number just came back with a blank screen and a note to call. On Friday I called expecting confirmation that it had been delivered. First I was told that it wasn't to be delivered until the following Friday. When I said the driver had said it would be delivered this Friday, she disappeared for a time and then came back telling me it was in Kelowna and it would be delivered on Tuesday. When I said it was to be delivered on Friday all I got was a "sorry". Knowing the depot in Kelowna I knew that it was sitting in the back. I asked if my friend could pick it up, but she said that wasn't possible either. Why not?
I gave my friend the contact information and told her to ask for a friend who worked there if she was in because I knew she would find it. Apparently they are now delivering it on Monday, which is better than Tuesday, but not Friday as promised. I told her to check it out thoroughly for damage because I doubt there was any "special handling" as I wanted. God knows what will happen to a computer if it's thrown around a truck. It had better arrive in one piece and working.
The next issue will be the bill because I don't intend to pay for service I didn't get. And whoever programmed their website needs their head examined as to why you can't create a shipment the way you should be able to. Frustrating!