Archive for the ‘It's My Story...’ Category

Seconds before the Canucks scored their winning overtime goal Friday night, Jim, a resident of Nico Wynd Estates was alerted by Mowgley the cat something was wrong. Mowgley was meowing plaintively at the sliding glass door. Jim looked out the window to see a stranger standing on his patio with a hand on Jim’s bike and a screwdriver and flashlight in hand.

The long haired, scraggy, skinny 45-ish year old backed away when he saw Jim step out the door. Jim knew exactly what the man was about to do as one of his bikes was stolen from the same spot just a few months ago, neighbours vehicles have recently been broken into, golf clubs stolen from garages and 2 vehicles keyed. The neighbourhood knows there has been a thief around but no one has caught him in the act.

Jim grabbed his baseball bat from his equipment bag by the door and his cell phone and confronted the ‘thief’, yelling at him, calling him a thief, scum and a crack-head while the man denied he was doing anything wrong and was “just looking for cigarette butts”. “Sure - that’s why you’re on MY patio, have your hand on my bike, with a flashlight and screwdriver in your posession”, Jim said.

The ‘thief’ started to back away and ran up the grassy slope toward the road. Jim dialed 911 and followed him. Of course, as is the correct procedure, the dispatcher said, “We will dispatch the police, wait there”. No way was Jim about to watch the ‘thief’ disappear into the bushes, only to come back again and again to harass the neighbourhood. He followed, at a safe distance, baseball bat and cell phone in hand, yelling at the ‘thief’ to stop and that he wouldn’t get away and the police were on their way.

The ‘thief’ took a shortcut through the bush onto Crescent Road with Jim close behind and into the Esso Gas Station, complaining to the attendant Jim was harrassing him. The attendant recognized Jim and kicked the “crack-head” out of the store. Jim phoned his girlfriend Crystal who was nearby in her car, telling her the story while following and conversing with the ‘thief’ the entire way.

By this time they had walked to King George Highway and the ‘thief’ sat down at the bus stop. Jim stood nearby, still telling him he wasn’t getting away and the ‘thief’ denying everything. The bus arrived, the ‘thief’ stepped aboard, paid his fare and Jim asked the bus driver to not drive away as he was on the phone with 911 and the police were on their way to arrest the man. The bus driver announced to the passengers they were not moving until the police arrived!

Meanwhile the ‘thief’ decided to get off the bus, with Jim following close behind. They walked to the Nicomeckl Bridge. Crystal was close by this time and saw two police cars, so pulled over to talk to them and ask if they were looking for Jim. They said yes, and where was he. Crystal phoned Jim and he said they were on the Nicomekl Bridge and the police raced toward them. When they arrived there was no sign of either of them and the police started searching the bushes and around the bridge. There were 2 police cars and a suburban with a big infrared light on top which allows the police to see people in the dark.

They couldn’t find Jim and asked Crystal to phone him again. He wasn’t answering his phone - it went directly to voice mail.

Crystal kept trying, the police kept searching and Jim was still following the thief, through the brush and blackberry vines, past an area littered with junk and old shopping carts (probably where the ‘thief’ lives). He answered his phone the next time and Crystal told the police they were at the Park and Ride on the King George Highway. The police asked Crystal how they’d recognize Jim. She replied, “He’s the one with the baseball bat and cell phone in hand!”

The ‘thief’ was well-known to the police and they charged him with trespassing after dark and the intent to steal, under $5,000.00. He now has a restraining order against him and is not allowed to enter Nico Wynd Estates or be within 3 kilometers, and… he walked away, with the police requiring him to attend the court date. This doesn’t sound like much punishment, but the police said it helps greatly to have Jim’s statement and if the man now violates the restraining order or misses his court date, they will have more cause to arrest him.

The police commended Jim for his perseverance and suggested he should be recruited to join the force. They also reminded him to pick up his baseball bat when he started to walk toward Crystal’s car to go home.

Great news - the Canucks won! Even better news - Jim did a great service to his community.

You know how cute a 6 year old looks with her front tooth missing?

I don’t look nearly that cute…

Kent and I and Pop met my brothers 3 daughters and their husbands and 1 child at the Abbotsford Tradex Centre for the Fishing and Hunting Outdoors Show. We hadn’t seen any of them for quite a few months so thought it would be a good place to meet up, visit a bit and see the show.

Pop and I were nearly finished lunch when I bit into a french fry and my front tooth veneer popped off. I knew something was wrong before I swallowed, luckily and unobstrusively picked the veneer out and put it in my pocket.

Do you know what a dentist generally does before applying veneers? Me either, but in my case both my front teeth had root canals and both were ground down to just a peg left to hold the veneer. It’s not a pretty sight!

Of course, I was in a panic, but how to tell Pop who is just a tad hard of hearing? If I opened my mouth the whole restaurant would see this gaping black hole and if I mumbled through closed lips, Pop wouldn’t get it and only draw attention to us by saying, “What’s a maller???” in a loud voice.

Luckily for me, he did realize something was wrong and when I got up from the table he said, ‘I’ll just wait here”. Whew - so at least I could go panic in private. Couldn’t find the bathroom of course but dug my cell phone out and called Kent. He was nearby and came right over and started laughing. How mean was that?

I demanded we leave immediately and get me to a dentist. This was FRIDAY afternoon and we were going out to dinner with friends and we have a big family birthday party for my brother Saturday afternoon and evening.

I can’t look like I was conceived in Texas. Of course Kent realized we’d never find an available dentist Friday afternoon at 4 pm, then his phone rang, so he was no more use to me.

Crystal was just as much help when I phoned her. “Mommmmmmmmmm… I’m napping, I can’t get up to find the phone book or make a phone call for you. It’s okay isn’t it, you’re okay aren’t you, you can phone, can’t you?”

Oh, ya, ya - everything’s copacetic - no problem. I can handle looking like a rednecks wife who didn’t do as she was told.

So, I can just keep my mouth shut, right? Nobody will notice. I’ll be a martyr for the day, hang in at the show so no one is inconvenienced.

I went back to find Pop who I’d abandoned and forgotten about. He said, in a very loud voice, when I leaned over to tell him what happened, “OH, YOU LOST YOUR FRONT TOOTH - HA, HA, HA”.

One of my nieces asked if I could use Crazy Glue to stick it back on. Well, I guess so if I had some…

Hey, this was an ‘Outdoors’ show - vendors sell everything! Off we went in search of glue.

To make a long story short, the “Super Glue” worked great. Nurse Tracy glued the veneer on and I requested to be hired for an ad. “Um, we don’t have THAT kind of budget”, the vendor said.

The glue held my veneer on throughout 2 hours in the beer garden and it didn’t poison me yet - works for me!

I did that dreaded task today - oven cleaning - YUCK. It’s so nice to have a self cleaning oven, only problem is - it doesn’t work. Nothing about the oven works except the timer, the clock, the lights and the bake cycle. I hate spending money on new appliances… do you know how many pairs of shoes I could buy with that kind of money?, so I’m not complaining… I COULD buy a new one.

So, I bit the bullet and cleaned the oven this morning. When I finished I rinsed the yucky cloth in the kitchen sink then my daughter dragged me out to go with her while she did an errand. No problem, I like being with her and don’t mind sitting in the car with Hugo while she did the errand. Besides, I hadn’t been out all day.

Meanwhile, I left 2 bags of frozen prawns in a pan on the counter to thaw. Mr. Helpful Husband likes to HELP out around the house. I just don’t know how I managed to look after a family of 5 all those years without him ‘helping’. When he retired from his job, he started puttering in the kitchen - you know - taking the 3 mustard containers out of the fridge and putting it all in one… same with the ketchup, the mayo, the chutney… then he started on the spices, wondering aloud why there were 4 containers of mustard seed. Well, duh…

Finally I had to tell him just because he retired from his job, he shouldn’t be trying to take over MY job. We’ve been married 29 years in 9 days and I do KNOW what I’m doing.

Our kitchen is so small I have to squeeze past him (hey maybe that’s why he always stands in my way and he only does part of the job if I leave him to it. He’ll load the dishwasher but ‘forget’ to wipe the counters, or put the butter away or clean the stove top - so I have to go back to the kitchen later and finish the job…

Anyway, today Mr. Helpful decided the prawns were not thawing fast enough. He filled the sink with cold water and put the prawns in. Did he leave them in the bags? No, he took them OUT of the bags and dumped them in the sink full of water. The sink, I’d had oven cleaner in and didn’t get cleaned out. Did he wash the sink out first? Did he even swish the cloth around to get rid of the black greasy stuff first - nope.

So, I arrived home to find the 60 big fat prawns soaking in oven cleaner. Nice - a new seasoning. It was bad enough he had them IN water, getting waterlogged but the oven cleaner smell just kinda threw me for a loop.

What could I do? Was I going to throw out 60 prawns? Seriously - in a restaurant you get 6 prawns on a skewer for about $15.00 to $18.00. Nope, I rinsed them then sauted them in butter, garlic and lots of seasoning. The oven cleaner actually made them rather tasty.

Spring must be coming, on my way to an appointment this morning I saw a man driving a convertible with the top down. It wasn’t raining but it sure wasn’t warm out either. He must have had his heater blasting. It reminded me of living in Texas driving with my friend in her convertible in 100 degrees, with the top down and the air conditioning on… It seemed just a little strange to me, being a northerner, but what the heck - if you enjoy it that’s all that matters.

I’ve been visiting various blogs and just haven’t had a thing to say most of the time. I seem to have the comment blahs… can’t think of a single witty riposte to leave.

Is it just me, or are a lot of people feeling this way?

I didn’t even have time or the energy to put a Thursday Thirteen together - I did have a list, but will just keep it for next week.

My daughter and her friend caught me just as I was getting home after my app’t and asked if I’d like to go to the Cactus Club for lunch. It just opened and they wanted to try it. I went with them and we had a nice meal then stopped at the mall to wander around, try on shoes (what’s more fun than trying on shoes with the girls?) and pick up a few things.

While we were wandering around, people watching, the subject of a threesome came up (how does that happen?) and Alexis suggested someone we saw who was flirting with us a bit, perhaps wanted a ‘threesome’. I laughed and without really thinking who I was talking to, said, “Oh, I’ve been there and done that… not doing that again…” “What?”, they screeched… “MOM!!! You DIDN’T????”

“Whaddya mean, WHAT?” “Everyone did that in the 70’s - didn’t they?”

It was the cool thing to do… wasn’t it? Don’t they do that anymore???? Hmmm… perhaps things are BETTER now? How could that be? Do our children (read my children) have stronger morals than the flower children?

It was time to go home…

This article came from MSN and is a good read - whether you are male, female, in a relationship, single, old, young, going through Customs or just enjoy reading… there are many, many signs to look for to see if someone is lying… or not… some are really obvious, but some signs may be misread very easily - so beware calling someone a liar (unless you are a Customs Agent and have the right!)

Here is an excerpt:

Pay attention to his wording - If you do ask a question and the liar responds with your own words, chances are this liar’s boxers are on fire. For example, if you ask “did you sleep with her”, the liar will say “No, I didn’t sleep with her,” as opposed to “What are you talking about.”

Let me know what you think!