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and using very bad puns. You see, about 3 weeks ago, there appeared some signs in the elevators instructing us lowly inhabitants that on the 24th of June there would be no hot water for several hours and that in the beginning of July they would be doing work that involved replacing 2 water heaters. No biggie. I thought it was smart to put these signs in the elevator.

June 24 came and hadn’t realized it so I tried to run the hot water to no avail. It coughed at me, perhaps released a spray of water, I recalled the date and was content to wait it out. No biggie.

But after the water was supposed to be back, to the point of 12 hours later, we were having issues. Initially, turning on the water did nothing. Then it released grossly yellow water in a fit of coughing. Out of the bathroom sink came something that appeared to be some sort of seal for the faucet. It came out in several smaller pieces and then finally one big chunk. I do not think this is “normal.”

Eventually, after running the water from all sinks (the kitchen faucet seemed like it was about to fly off but it has a history of doing that), which at first meant coughing fits that made the surrounding areas quite wet with yellow water, the coughing and discolouration stopped and we appeared to have normal water.

Almost.

The issue we continue to have is that our hot water is not working very well. You cannot wash your hands in hot water in the bathroom unless you turn the water on 5 minutes before you even realize you need to use the facilities which is just silly and wasteful.

The shower/tub is another thing altogether. Our solution so far is to turn the water to the hottest setting, letting it get hot and gradually turn it back down to comfortable. Turning it to comfortable from the beginning means it doesn’t get hot at all. Sometimes this doesn’t work, though, and it just stays scalding hot. I’ve found that, occasionally if I turn the cold water-that-should-be-hot off and then back on, it works. It’s all guesswork.

The kitchen tap takes a bit longer to become hot but doesn’t seem to have any of the more serious issues of the other 2.

To add insult to injury, they expect us to give them 2 more days – for a total of 8 hours – where we cannot use hot water because they’re swapping out steam something or anothers. Hell, I’m not even sure what they did the first day!

I guess I can’t complain. I can’t even use hot water now so maybe I won’t even notice the difference.

I know this is a little irrelevant now as we’re assuming Obama is our democratic candidate which, if true, is awesome for him but I’d noticed something of interest. I was perusing the political macros site, PunditKitchen, not too long ago and, of course, many of the macros focused on our presidential candidates: McCain who looks older than Grandpa Simpson, Clinton who has a vagina and Obama who is chocolate coloured.

Not surprisingly, Clinton and Obama were the most popular subjects as their now-defunct rivalry raged on. I noticed certain trends among these humourous images, trends that were slightly less subtle than Hillary’s breasts of Obama’s skin but interesting trends nonetheless.

Both candidates have a particular look in these macros and one could easily say that opponents would pick specific types of images to fuel their argument but I believe that there are simply an abundance of photos which show Obama and Clinton in stereotypical roles.

So what roles do I speak of?

In Clinton’s case, she often looks angry or irate, desperate, snobby and indignant. Obviously, much of this was due to her downhill battle, a battle she never expected to have to fight in the first place. Regardless of the reasons, it leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. It also doesn’t help that she is and looks older than Obama. I cannot blame her age, with it comes (hopefully) experience, wisdom and many good years. I applaud her for not being botoxed to hell (although I suspect there is some work done) and she generally keeps herself neat but there is no hiding the fact that she is no longer a young woman and, on top of these qualities she is broadcasting, this makes a very unflattering portrait, one which makes me dubious of Clinton as a person.

On the other hand, Obama rarely looks these things. If anything, Obama frequently looks happy and sometimes, yes, even silly. The latter is what I think some of those opposed to Obama would see the latter as a weakness to be exploited, but I disagree. To me, it’s comforting to see someone who spends time with his family and doesn’t act as though he’s above everyone else. If Obama sometimes falters, so what? We all do. This simply makes it easier to relate to him as a human, a man like everyone else. I continually have the feeling that Obama could be my neighbour, just another person I could rely on in a time of need, someone to be respected.

Now, one could argue that perhaps Obama is really a good liar, an actor that is worth million in Hollywood. I cannot, without any doubts, argue this. I don’t know. However, I suspect this isn’t the case and that is simply because of the frequency that he is smiling in photos. This man seems genuinely happy with himself and his position in life. Of course, it probably helps that he was winning and felt confident in his campaign, I cannot belittle that, but it seems like that it far from the only factor. Obama gave the impression that he would remain happy whether or not he claimed the candidacy.

I just can’t see someone who appears so content as a liar. Neither could I see someone so indignant as the president. However, as a team, they would be a powerhouse. Still, we’ll have to wait and see on that one.

is only works if you seal it. Glad food storage bags show this excellently; the zip turns colours after it’s sealed. We don’t have any colour changing magic in this household, nosirreebob. You see, this concept is completely lost on my husband. I don’t know if it’s too difficult for him (sorry, love) or if, because it’s a kitchen thing, it falls under the realm of “woman’s stuff” but he just doesn’t get it.

Anything we buy that comes in any sort of zip bag will only remain sealed under 2 conditions: 1) It has not yet been opened and 2) I seal it. Unless we somehow have unzipping gnomes in our pantry and fridge (which seems like a pretty serious problem to me!), Ryan just sucks as sealing these bags.

Cheese, chicken strips, tortillas, hot dogs and other snacks all remain open, as is. By the time I get to them, they’re stale, freezer burned, hard or otherwise not any good to eat. Of course, he sometimes “closes” these bags with clothes pins (much cheaper than chip clips, I guess, but totally not as effective) so I’d like to give him props for effort cause, you know, maybe I can still eat a tiny part of the food that’s protected from that. Not.

I am somehow more evolved? Does he have selective vision? Are his poor fingers somehow less equipped to handle this strange mechanism? These questions all pale in comparison to this “big one.”

Will he mend his ways once he sees I’ve brought to light this issue for the world to see?

Tune in next week, folks!

Recently, I was reading Joana’s thoughts about how we, as a country, need to stop ignoring our own internal problems while we throw resources at others’ problems around the globe. I felt conflicted emotions about this issue. On the one hand, I believe there should be a way to be a good neighbour and help others in their times of need but, on the other hand, I do not think that out own unfortunate populations should be forsaken to do do. The comment I left reflected this, I hope.

Well, I can’t say abandoning the world is going to help but you know, maybe international relations can be on a hold a while when we figure out our own shit. I’m sure there’s some sort of a balance to working at home and helping out the neighbours and even those across the globe. But it’s probably a pretty difficult balance.

Afterall, being friendly isn’t a bad thing and we can’t exactly wait until all our problems are solved as anything with people will always have problems.

Still, completely ignoring the homefront just to impress president or PM of country X is pretty lame. I think it does have a lot do with the fact that much of the national issues are “supposed” to be taken care of at the state level (or are pushed down to that level so the federal government doesn’t have to do anything, maybe?) whereas international efforts are federal.

I thought it would be left at that but, as luck would have it, my aunt forwarded me a link to JK Rowling’s Harvard Commencement speech and I also took the time to read the speeches of other prominent figures, such as Bill Gates and President Bill Clinton (during last year’s commencement).

Many of these speeches focused on the fact that Harvard graduates have a unique opportunity given them by their education, that perhaps they will be more qualified to solved the ills of the world. Many of these speeches focused on the problems abroad that we, as a modern nation, are more equipped to deal with than those experiencing such pains. This was a strong theme when Bill Clinton discussed his work with AIDS, especially in Africa.

I find this work to be admirable and selfless. I know that millions of people will see another day or another 20 years because of it, sometimes because of simple medicines that Americans and others in modern countries take for granted. I absolutely think someone has to do it and why not you or me?

But where do you draw the line when it comes to giving a helping hand at home or extending that hand outside your domestic boundaries? How do you even begin to go about deciding where to draw the line when it’s so easy to slip to either side; focus too much on home and you’re selfish to the point of self-detriment, focus too much on the outside and you’re selfless to the point of self-detriment.

I absolutely believe that if you have the power, the resources and the technology to help, you should help. We should help. In Africa, in China, in India. I also believe these efforts go a long way toward global relations and respect and, of course, peace.

But why does international effort seem so much more heroic, more noble? Indeed, there are issues on the home front that need our attention: obesity, education. government spending/funding, education, homelessness, unemployment, the economy in general. Is it perhaps that even an American most afflicted by these controversial issues is still so much better off than someone in a third world country with AIDs? That, perhaps, the most unfortunate American is still better off than the most pampered non-American?

Or perhaps selflessness is simply expected of America because she is the world’s last standing super power regardless of the nobility of the acts themselves. And why not lead the way for others to follow, to be inspired by our selfless acts? Surely by doing and teaching this, we are only helping our own citizens.

The balance is a delicate one and while there are decisions made by my government with which I do not agree, I cannot condemn the efforts because of solely those arguments. Society is, afterall, an evolving process.

I used to chat at a website called the Park and this is not the first mention of The Park on my site). This is not news to many (and this is not the first mention of it on my site). Several of my friends on IM or Mypsace/Facebook are from the Park day when I was a wee lass of 13/14. -chuckles- The park was magnificent in its way. It attracted millions of visitors so a site that would be shamed by even the worst sites of the internet today; it was, after all, a completely product of Web 1.0. That would also be its downfall and The Park would succumb (around 2000) to the big dot com bust and not without some well-earned hatred to the Park’s founder, Brent Hunter.

A lot of the chatters who had grown to love The Park and made lifelong friendships and relationships there went on to other similar sites, most notably The Pork, where I still chat but also including Dockwave, Ozpark and Ties That Bind. None of these sites would ever see the sheer numbers of the Park, though.

Fast forward a few years and Brent is back with a new project – The Earth Comm Center – and while I think Mr Hunter had different intentions for it than his earlier project, Park followers flocked to it as a way to relive the golden age and to find or catch up with old friends. In that way, it worked marvelously. For a while, at least, until the same issues happened with Brent and chatters and volunteers became disgruntled and slanders his not-so-good-anyway name and left the site. Some followed. Many didn’t.

But then something else happened: Brent disappeared. Though the site never saw the success of its predecessor, it did bring together some people who had been torn apart by the Park’s unfortunate demise and it was clung to as a last hope for some who wished to someday know other reunions. Brent’s disappearance brought with it a lack of upkeep on the site and, eventually (late 2007), the site ceased functioning correctly; that is, no one could log in anymore. Though the site still stands, show statistics and appears to function in many other ways, no one can actually use it for any purpose.

A lot of people find this amusing, even expected. Brent doesn’t have a good track record or a good way with people, it seems. Still, it is a loss that I, among others, mourn a bit. I had caught up with some friends via ECC, including one who was, at the time, deployed to Iraq. We have since lost contact because the site no longer works. )=

Where are you Brent Hunter?

This is all fresh in my memory because I was talking to an old friend from the Park today and, as always happens with those old friends, the conversation turns to questions like “Do you still talk to anyone?” or “Do you remember this person?” And I always feel a tinge of nostalgia because the people that I talk to and remember are far less in number than I would prefer.

And I don’t know how to find them again. Sites like Myspace or Reunion.com allow you to find people when you do know a lot of information about them but the friends one makes in chat, even if one knows their heart and soul, may never release vital information like birth date, home town or last name.

Even Brent has a few websites up which direct the visitor to chat rooms whose core is made up of ex Park chatters but it’s not the same. I began wondering why there isn’t some type of site that allows people to reunite with others from online, with search criteria different than e-mail, age or location which you might not know. Perhaps just a giant bulletin board located at “Find People From The Park.com”.

Alas, searching for those specific people is all but impossible online and searching for the masses is an insurmountable task. If I had control of The Park domains (still own by Brent) I would redirect people to the Pork (which he refuses to link) or to the Myspace group (created by myself) or the Facebook group (created by Sara) so that we would all reconnect.

As it stands, searching for sites about the Park is limited. Eventually, my Myspace group shows up and there appears to be a single Yahoo!Answers question asking if anyone remembers. Links to Brent’s now defunct websites are what show up immediately. It doesn’t seem like many people have taken the time out to put something online to say “Hey, I was there! I remember! I miss you Bob! Where are you Jane?”

So I guess this is my way of creating something a little more permanent, in case someone else is searching and finds my site, maybe they’ll find a little more direction. And maybe, just maybe, I can find a little more closure.