Friday Morning.

If there is one thing I hate more than my allergies it is snow. So when I wake up and there is both I'm not a fan.

Two Shits.

Sometimes I really dislike people and couldn't give two shits what they think.

I'm in the biography section. Space Cowboy is in current affairs. We are being fairly quiet we are in a book store after all. It is like an expensive library.

But someone isn't being quiet.

I'm not even sure if this lady was shopping in the bookstore or just popped her head in the door to start an argument with someone. She is the type of lady who writes to the paper about how teenagers wear their pants to baggy, or how cyclists should give the right of way to people on scooters on the bike path. Remember that nosey bitch in your neighbourhood growing up who always had something to yell at you for? That is her.

I've never been in a bookstore and heard such a commotion. She is arguing from the doorway with a man picking up a book at the till. Something about a dog but I can't see I'm on the other side of the store. Space Cowboy starts laughing and signals me to come closer. And here is where I pick it up.

Crazy Lady - "...Well how did it (dog) get in the store?"
Man - "I brought him in with me."
Crazy Lady - "Where is the leash?"
Man -"He doesn't need to wear one."
Crazy Lady - "It is town by-law! The dog HAS TO BE on a leash! And it isn't allowed in stores."
Man -"Well it is up to the owner of the store if I'm allowed to have the dog in here and off the lead. And she said it was okay."
Crazy Lady - "No she didn't!"
Lady from behind the counter says "Yes I did. The dog is fine."
Crazy Lady - "It is still against the by-laws!"
Man -"Actually, the leash by-law is for outdoors. Inside it is up to the owners of the dog and the store whether the dog is allowed off the leash. Have a good evening."

The argument goes on for another five minutes. The crazy lady gets no where and the argument ends with the man saying "Have a good evening" and the crazy lady saying "Do the right thing" repeatedly for a few minutes. This involves her going back and forth through the door multiple times.

After she leaves I head to the counter to be greeted by a beautiful black standard poodle sitting next to its owner. I ask if I can pat him, and the owner lets the dog come over and tells me the poodle never left his side for the entire time he was in the store. Sitting and waiting obediently for his owner to say they could leave.

Space Cowboy and I left the bookstore laughing about the situation and just saying to each other "Do the right thing." Another fun evening adventure in the town I live in.

Do people really need to start arguments and stir the pot just to liven up their own lives? But I guess I do live in Sidney.

Also I bet you thought this was going to be about poop.

Octopus.

Day one of one hundred and six.

It’s going to happen whether you like it or not so stop fighting.

Today was the first leg of the 106 day “relay” across Canada with the Olympic flame and I was there to witness part of the festivities. I have to say everyone was so excited to have the torch pass through our town that they were lined up two hours beforehand. 

I’m not for or against the Olympics they are just something I have to put up with for the next few months. I can’t afford to see some Olympic level hockey or even some local hockey so I’m not going to the Olympics. I’ll probably watch some hockey on TV like I do normally. I’m not going to buy an overpriced pair of mittens either because mittens are bastard stepchild of the driving glove.

I could see a bit of a point to protesting the Olympics because you don’t agree with them before Vancouver won the bid or hell even for a few months after it was announced that we are getting them. But seriously once they started building those new facilities for events and transit systems you know it is going to happen anyways. So pack up your signs and find something better to do with your time.

I’m all for free speech. I think it is pretty nifty but I also think there is a limit to how far you should go with it. There are some battles you can win with sign waving but you had to know this was going to go through. Protesting 106 days before the event isn’t going to make the government go “hey, maybe we should just cancel them because a minority doesn’t want them.”

Today protesters decided to block off some of the relay route forcing the runner and officials to get into the support vehicle and missing several stops along the way. This also would have prevented several of the relay participants from having their moment with the torch.

Imagine you were supposed to run a kilometer with that Olympic flame. I’m sure you would feel proud and excited to be representing your country. Then being told because of protesters you were unable to fulfill that dream. It would be crushing.

I hope those protesters took that into account. Along with disappointing hundreds of spectators on the side of the road who also wanted to feel proud to be a part of that torches journey. To feel patriotic.

Maybe your protesting is hurting the people more then you would think.

We all have our rights to our opinions and just because I don’t believe in Santa it doesn't mean I’m going to rally a group of people together to protest Christmas during the Christmas parade.

Why ruin it for everyone else?

Roads don't work.

We built bicycle lanes and sidewalks for a reason. To be ignored.

More and more as I become accustom to driving over the last six years I’ve slowly become exceedingly irritated by pedestrians and cyclists. Not so much that I have to share a road with them but the fact that there is an infrastructure that my taxes pay for that they choose to ignore.  We build our roads wider so they can have both a bicycle lane and a sidewalk for pedestrians so why insist in riding in the middle of the road.  I get that cyclist want to be considered a vehicle but when push comes to shove they really aren’t.

Every sunny Sunday this summer cyclists invaded the roads I live near. Packs of twenty by three abreast would fly down the road blocking traffic and ignoring the 4 Way stop. All while giving the drivers with right of way angry scowls and flipping the odd rude gesture. I’m pretty sure that isn’t kosher if you are in a car so why are cyclists allowed to do it? Technically they are supposed to ride single file but that won’t happen until there is some kind of accident involving Simon Wakefield. Oh wait that did happen and nothing changed on the Peninsula.

Single cyclists are the worst in my opinion. While driving home from work yesterday in the post 5PM traffic from the airport we are slowed down by a cyclist and his blatant refusal of using the bike path three feet to his right. Backing us up to the roundabout I sat there and wondered “Why not use what was built for you to utilize and avoid situations like this?” The cyclist kept looking back at the car behind him as it honked at him with a look of bewilderment. I wonder who was more confused.

One of my other problem right now is runners. That’s right I’m singling you out over those regular bipeds. Not all runners are bad. But I’m tired of the ones who decide to run in black clothing after dark in the road and the ones who decide to run in oncoming traffic in the middle of the road refusing to move for vehicles. I guess if you want to be a runner you need some kind of death wish. Must be why it doesn’t appeal to me that and my Vans aren’t the greatest to run in.

Hey fun runners have you heard of this neat invention called sidewalks and reflective clothing?

Is there anything worse then those old folks in scooters? No there isn’t and that is why I saved them for last. They commit all the same unpleasant activities as cyclists and runners but have the balls (or stupidity) to drive through heavy traffic. There are hundreds of crosswalks in this pedestrian friendly town and they cause more near accidents more then anything else I know of. Swerving into oncoming traffic to get to that coffee shop that reminds me of a hospital always seems so timesaving instead of going to the crosswalk five feet away where people don’t need to slam on their brakes.

Are we the drivers on the road the real menaces or are those sympathetic exercise enthusiasts and senile the real trouble on the road. Depending on what group you fall under you make a different decision. Follow the rules, law, and proper safety precautions out there on the road and finally we can all get along.

In closing I’m going to leave you with a quote yelled at me by an old lady driving a scooter while I was riding my bike on the bike path. “The bike path is not for bicycles!”