I found an idea for my son’s bed
by Zharphyn on Mar.18, 2012, under Tree Fort
As some of you may remember, I built a bed for my daughter. While the basic bed construction is complete, I never did finish the project. It is a nightly ritual between my daughter and myself, where she asks “When are you going to paint my bed?”, and I reply, “Soon”. I surprised her a few days ago, when I changed my answer, and told her that I was going to do some painting this weekend. She was spending Friday night at Grandma’s house, and I took the opportunity to prime the fort under her bed. I finally tracked down the primer for which I have been looking. My local Home Depot was always out of stock, and never called when I placed an order. My local Canadian Tire, and my local Rona do not stock it. I finally had to drive to the next town, over the toll bridge to find it. My daughter went to Grandma’s, and I spent that night and the next morning painting the “tunnel” under her bed. I am a little disappointed with how magnetic the surface is, but suffice it to say, fridge magnets are now sticking to the plywood walls. The next step will be to get the chalkboard paint tinted to the correct colour, and then I need to pick up some paint, tinted to the same colour, and I can paint the inside of her bed. I still need to finish the trim work on the outside of the bed, before I can prime the outside, and then my wife can paint the outside.
Ever since I started construction of my daughter’s bed, I have been thinking about what I want to do for my son, and I think that I have found the style that I want to try and recreate. I found pictures of custom bed designs that look like an elevated fort. I think that this would make for a very fun bed. I will have to create a design of my own, but now that I have a vision of what I want to do, I should be able to design something.
I won’t start until this fall, when my son is turning 3. I still have to finish my daughter’s bed, and the kids massive fort in the backyard. There is also a sandbox to build, and a fence to move, but outside projects will have to wait until the weather improves. I am eagerly waiting for the weather to warm up enough that I can start painting the kids play fort with the weather treatment paint. As soon as I can put the floor in, I can start building walls, which will finally allow the fort to take shape properly.
Letter to Christy Clark – Premier of British Columbia
by Zharphyn on Mar.02, 2012, under Discussion
As a resident of the Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows riding in British Columbia, I sent the following letter (without the hyperlinks) to the Premier outlining some of my concerns regarding recent policy regarding the teacher contract dispute.
Dear Ms Clark,
I am disappointed to see that your government is once again legislating away the rights of the teachers. Given your political history, and your personal experience I would have thought that you would understand the teacher’s position. Instead, your government, once again strips away power from a union that is frustrating you.I am not a teacher, but I have friends that are teachers. My daughter is scheduled to start Kindergarten in the fall, and I had to camp out with over 50 other parents in front of my elementary school to get my daughter enrolled. The education system needs more money, and more teachers. What your legislation will create, is more anger and resentment amongst our teachers, which will translate to the quality of education our children receive. Previously, your government legislated the teachers back to work, and ultimately your legislation was found to be a violation of the constitution.
The public is paying attention. We are just over one year away from the next general election, and the public is already talking about Premier Adrian Dix. Right now, the election is the NDP party’s to lose. Your government needs to be acting strongly to bring harmony to the population if you do not want to watch your party go the route of the PC party. The debacle with the HST, the growing anger over the smart meters, the sale of BC Rail, unconstitutional legislation, and more are all contributing to the death of your party.
I used to be a staunch Liberal supporter, but I turned away when Gordon Campbell came to power. As leader of the party, and premier of the province, he acted even worse than what I feared. You seem to be carrying on in his footsteps. This province needs a strong leader that listens to the needs of the people. The public will allow you to commit unpopular actions, but the public demands greater oversight, and better explanations than what we have been receiving. Cheesy publicity stunts are only hurting your party’s image. You need to remember that this province is larger than the Lower Mainland.
I urge you to rethink the back to work legislation introduced yesterday. Work with the BCTF to appoint a mutually agreed upon mediator. Do not bind the mediator’s hands with artificial restraints and limits. The BC Labour Relations Board ruled that the teacher’s had the right to strike, and within one hour your government starts the process to take away that right, and appoint a mediator that is required to work within the government’s set guidelines. How is that a fair mediation? You say that you want “to give the union a chance to back away from the cliff”. But you are providing the only path the union can use to “back away”.
I am disappointed in your government once again. To Michael Sather and Adrian Dix, I say good luck in May 2013, you have my vote.
I copied leader of the Opposition Adrian Dix, and my own MLA Michael Sather (NDP) on the letter, and I received the following reply from Michael Sather:
Thank you for your well written letter Brad. It says a lot about the mishandling of education and is especially impactful, coming from a non-teacher. Could I read your letter during debate in the Legislature on Bill 22? If so, shall I use your name or not?
Maybe my voice will actually be heard.
-Zharphyn
General Rambling
by Zharphyn on Jan.16, 2012, under My Life
I was doing really well for a while making regular posts, and then I just stopped. Not certain why. My HCG diet went well, I lost almost 30 pounds in 37 days. My wife and I are planning to start another round on February 3rd. Hopefully I will be more diligent at keeping up with progress posts. I am hoping to lose more than 30 pounds on round two, that is my personal challenge to myself. I need to be stricter with my self-control, and I need to avoid my temptation foods.
I have found myself day-dreaming about winning the lottery more and more lately. I think I need a vacation. I have built a spreadsheet that I use to calculate purchases, staff salaries, cash gifts to friends and family and some of my dream trips. I have been tinkering with my spreadsheet for over a year, and it is getting quite complex with calculations and formula. I have also been cruising MLS listings looking at property, and two have grabbed my attention. A huge estate and a smaller mansion. It can be fun dreaming, but I still have to stay focused on reality. Although I am not completely convinced of the huge estate’s size estimates. According to what I have found about the property, it has a 45,000 sqft house, situated on 20,000 acres. 20,000 acres is 8094 Hectares or 31.25 square miles. To those of you who know the park, Campbell Valley Park is 535 Hectares, which makes this private property over 15 times the size. However, I cannot find a property of that size on Google maps, or the city property zoning. Also, I would think that property of that size would be listed at a much higher price then that for which it is listed. There is reference to it being one of the largest private estates in Canada, which helps support the massive property size. I am tempted to contact the realtor and ask the questions, or arrange a viewing just for fun.
Another one of my guilty pleasures is the Philip DeFranco Show. He has become a very successful YouTube blogger, reporting his personal take on the news. He has quite a flair for interpreting the news of the day, and I always enjoy listening to his “Douche Bag of the Day” and the “BAMF of the Day” editorials. With new episodes airing Monday – Thursday, I look forward to my 6 minute news update. He recently did a live Q&A session in Dublin during his “DeFranco Does Europe” tour. It was the first time he had done such an event, and it was a huge success.
Day 16
by Zharphyn on Nov.30, 2011, under HCG Diet
Things have been going well overall. I had a couple of days where I stumbled, which affected me. One day I forgot to take my afternoon drops, and the following day I got margarine on my hands whilst making the kids their lunch, so I think I have only lost about 2 lbs over the last 3-4 days. But still, that is 2 lbs in 4 days! My jeans are looking very baggy on me, and people are commenting on my face looking thinner. I will be happy when I have lost enough weight in my fingers that I can once again wear my wedding band.
I have decided to end phase 2 of my journey on Dec 21, 2011, because that will give me enough time to end the VLCD before Christmas Eve. Although I have been informed that the Christmas dinner at the in-laws will be ribs and chicken wings. Normally I would love that, but since the ribs will (presumably) be covered in BBQ sauce, which contains sugar, and the chicken wings will likely also have a sugar based coating I will not be able to eat them. Even if the ribs are plain, if they are pork ribs, the fat content is likely too high for to consume. I am going to have to start doing some research on allowed/disallowed food during maintenance.
My wife and I are fantasizing about our next gorge period, scheduled for mid-February. The restaurant Montana’s has an all you can eat rib night every Wednesday, during which, everything on your plate is endless, not just the ribs. My wife is dreaming of a Chinese buffet, and I want a platter of Nachos. I also am thinking about getting a dozen doughnuts from Timmy’s and eating some jars of Nacho Cheese dip. Thinking back, we really did not take advantage of our previous gorge period properly. Alcohol, pizza, potato chips, and chocolate are things that I am definitely missing right now, that I look forward to eating in excess next February.
There are a couple of friends that I am hoping to encourage into joining me for my next cycle. I am 2 weeks in and, while it is a constant test of will-power, I would recommend this diet to anyone that is overweight and looking to lose 20+ pounds.
Day 13
by Zharphyn on Nov.27, 2011, under HCG Diet
It is day 13, I was down 2.5 pounds today, which brings my total to 17.4 pounds. On my Naturopath‘s advice, I increased the number of drops that I take each dose, and my feelings of hunger have gone away. I also stopped eating onions because I think my body was having difficulty processing them. The days that I ate an onion as my vegatable, my loss amount decreased to the point where I actually gained. Cut out the onion, and my body bounced back immediately, and my daily loss amount went back up. I have added cilantro as my seasoning of choice, mix that with Frank’s® RedHot® Sauce and you get an excellent flavour with some great heat. On my GP’s advice, I am going to try and go for 36 days. This will put my first day of non-VLCD maintenance on Christmas Eve. This will allow me to eat a little bit of the family Christmas dinner. I still won’t be able to eat stuffing or potatoes, but turkey will be nice.
British Columbia Supreme Court Declares Polygamy Still Illegal
by Zharphyn on Nov.23, 2011, under Discussion
The supreme court today passed down their verdict on polygamy in British Columbia. The short version is that polygamy is still illegal, and that law is not a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights. I disagree with this ruling, not because I agree with polygamy, or desire a second wife, but because, once again, the law is taking away our rights for no logical reason.
The reason for this violation of our rights is under the guise of protecting women and children, but do we not already have laws protecting women and children from exploitation? Polygamy, at its core, does not inherently exploit people. The current religious leaders of Bountiful, BC are exploiting people. Courtney Stodden is a great example of underage children exercising their legal rights. At age 16, Courtney married a man 35 years her senior. She did this with her parent’s consent, which makes the union legal. Don’t get me wrong, I find the union extremely morally distasteful, but I defend her right to make this choice. If anyone, regardless of age, is forced into a marriage, then their rights are being violated. It does not matter whether they are becoming someone’s first or fifteenth spouse, if is done without consent, then it is illegal.
We should not be basing our laws on either religious beliefs, or moral beliefs. The Charter of Rights is supposed to be defending our rights, and our rights should be upheld. If you can make informed consent regarding your actions, and your actions do not hurt another being, then why would your actions be considered illegal?
Legally, I can marry one woman, and have a dozen live-in girlfriends, as long as all adults are in agreement. I can have children with all the women simultaneously. (Personally I think I would have to be insane to do that, but I was talking legal, not rational.) So why does it suddenly become illegal to marry all of my girlfriends, and make them my wives?
In the meantime, I am still waiting on the supreme court to decide what to do with prostitution.
Day 9
by Zharphyn on Nov.23, 2011, under HCG Diet
Down another 1.9 pounds today! Brings my total to 10.9 lbs since starting my HCG journey. When you factor in the 7+ lbs I gained while loading, one could claim that I have lost 18+ lbs, but I am counting from my opening weight on day 1. I have food cravings almost constantly, and it takes great will power to resist temptation. My son gave me the remains of his lunch yesterday, and the slice of homemade pepperoni pizza with extra cheese certainly looked very appealing, but I resisted.
I was initially concerned about using Frank’s Hot Sauce for flavouring my food, but I must agree with their slogan, “I put that * in everything”. The chicken and lettuce I had yesterday tasted great, and the hot sauce encouraged me to drink my water. I have also been using balsamic vinegar, curry powder and cayenne pepper. Hopefully my stomach will shrink soon, because I am tired of always being hungry, it makes the temptations harder to fight off. At least every morning on the scale is very encouraging to me.
Smart meters
by Zharphyn on Nov.22, 2011, under Discussion
I received a video via email yesterday that has got me thinking. In the video, the speaker claims that the smart meter allows the energy company complete knowledge of what devices you are using in your home. I find this very difficult to believe. The smart meter would, at best, be able to determine that a device drawing, say, 3 watts was just turned on, but what type of device seems a little far-fetched to me. The speaker continues to claim that the energy company will be able to track every time you use every device in your house, how green you are, whether you leave a light on for your dog, etc. The energy company would then be able to sell this information to police, government, media, or whomever based upon implied consent. The speaker says that all you have to do is write a letter, he even provides a template, forbidding them from installing the meter and you are safe. I hate to break it to you, but once the power company is done installing the smart meters on those locations that have not protested, they will take action against the hold-outs. The energy company is providing a service that you pay for. The smart move for them would be to take on a service charge for the ‘outdated’ meter that you are insisting upon using. Better yet, the service charge will be in the form of a surcharge per kWh, causing huge bill increases for you to continue to resist the energy company’s actions. All of this is perfectly legal so don’t bother bitching to your elected representative. The government is in full agreement with the energy company after all. And when the energy company tires of the game, they will simply shut off your power until you agree. Oh, and at that point, installation will be at your cost. Do not forget that all of this only applies while you live in your current residence. The moment you move, if your new place does not already have a smart meter, your energy company will require the installation of a smart meter before activating your new account, again, at your cost.
Pick your battles, and make certain that you have the ability to win.
Day 8
by Zharphyn on Nov.22, 2011, under HCG Diet
Well, it is day eight and I have not cheated. I am down 9 pounds, so far, and people are seeing a difference in my face. My wife wants to go the full 40 days, but that puts us right into Christmas. I do not think that I can do Christmas functions on a VLCD. I do not have my calendar in front of me, but I believe day 40 is Christmas eve. I would start maintenance on Christmas day, which is still VLCD for three days. Although Christmas dinner with no starches would be tough. If I have a bad day on maintenance, I can always follow with a steak day, which almost sounds like fun. No food all day, then a 14oz steak for dinner. I will decide closer to day 26 to see where my feelings on continuing lie.
