Social Media is a joke...

       Social media is a joke.  It makes people feel like they are important, but it's all one giant lie. In 2024 I made an announcement on Facebook that I was going to leave the place.  After being subjected to many different incidents of bullying (though Facebook had labelled ME as a bully due to their AI nonsense picking up key words and deciding those were being used to bully (taking it completely out of context - simply looking at a word)), being flooded with advertisements, and seeing the same posts over and over (missing anything newly posted, so missing posts by those on my friend list) I decided that I was done with the place.  It just continued to make me angry, and I didn't need that. After my post, some of those on my friends list who had seen it commented to say "Don't leave!" "I'll miss you!" and the other usual "stay" responses.  I provided my email address to some who said they wanted to keep in touch. On December 31, 2024 I deleted my Facebook account and left.

    I still had Instagram, which I didn't use often, but it was there. I had a couple of my Facebook friends on there, my niece and my sister. So, I started looking at Instagram more. None of the people who claimed to care about me, claimed they would miss me if I left Facebook, bothered to keep up with me. I have sent an email to a friend who said he wanted to keep up.  He's never bothered to reply back.  I had one friend who had called me his "family" and referred to me as his "sister'.  When his birthday came around, I sent him a text message to wish him a happy birthday.  He never replied.  I sent him a happy birthday message on his Instagram business page also.  Again, no response. I had thought maybe something happened to him since I stopped seeing the Instagram posts.  Then suddenly, a post appeared. I responded to it saying I had been worried, had sent messages and heard nothing.  The response? "I'm fine" (or something like that - good, okay.. I don't remember the exact word).  Nothing about the birthday wish. Nothing "familiar" or "friendly".   So I decided he didn't care either, and deleted his number from my phone book.

    One of the things I have been struggling with since mom passed away is the feeling of being redundant. I am closer to my sister and father than I was, which is a bonus, but still.  I don't have children, so no one needs me. I don't have a spouse. Hell, my boyfriend doesn't even seem to want to advance to that stage. (Granted, he is American and I'm Canadian so there's a lot of red tape there, but when I mentioned us getting married so I could try sponsoring him and we could be together, he came up with a few excuses to the contrary, so I really don't think that's what he wants.)

    I don't know why I am still on this planet. My existence should have ended when mom passed away; or at the very least after I had sorted the paperwork out for that.  Maybe the universe is waiting for me to get off my ass and get my Will done so that my paperwork is in order.  I don't know. I do know that I feel lonely, and that I feel down, and that I feel like I am existing.  My days are generally like this - [Work Days] Get up, make breakfast, do stuff on the computer (Solitaire, email, etc) if I don't have to be in at 9am, then get my stuff together and got to work.  I work my shift, come home and then play video games on my PC for the evening until bedtime. I talk to my boyfriend from 8pm-ish until bedtime. [Non-Work Days] Get up, make breakfast, go on the computer - do Solitaire, email and the like, then play video games for the day.  It's just existing.

    What would I do otherwise? Hah! I have no idea! I don't know how to do anything but exist. I'm lazy, so pushing myself to do exercise type things are pretty much impossible. I HAVE walked over to the mall when I needed something there a couple of times; so that's something, I guess.  I'm too damn shy to do anything about friends.  I've become friendly with a guy in the building - Brian - while dealing with the condo board stuff. He's been really nice, even offering to take me on a tour of the London Museum when I said I had never been (he works there, teaching art and stuff to kids) and inviting me to Thanksgiving dinner at his condo. I don't know what it is about me. Maybe it's a fear of rejection.  Maybe it's me thinking I'm not worth much; I do feel like I'm redundant/irrelevant. I have no idea.

    I write my thoughts here, in Blogger, because I know that no one else reads it. I can say what I want, say how I feel and no one can judge me or put me down or bully me. I can get it out of my head and onto a page where I can look back on it later (though I probably never will).  It's kind of like writing in a diary; but doing it online on the computer rather than hand writing it in a book.

Afraid of my Oven

 I live in a condo apartment and I am terrified of setting off my smoke detector. I try very hard not to cook anything that will cause it to go off, and make sure things are well ventilated (window open full, fans on (both over the oven/stove and in the living room) so that it will help.  When I bake something or cook something in the oven, I am filled with huge anxiety while it's cooking/baking.

At this moment, I have got some popovers in the oven. I've never made them before (though I have made homemade Yorkshires and, from what I understand, popovers are the basically the same thing).  They have to bake at 450F for 20 minutes, and then lower the oven to 350F for another 10 minutes.  I have 13 minutes and 30 seconds left of the first 20 minutes baking.  My heart is racing and I'm prepared for the smoke detector to go off (cutting board at the ready so I can fan it while it bakes).  I am REALLY hoping that this bakes fine, without the smoke detector getting involved.

I can't unplug this one, or turn it off. There is no batteries or off switch. It's a combo smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector.  It's the one that's good for 5 years. (11:30 left) 

Ugh.. I hate that it freaks me out to use the oven. I'm good with the stove. I don't have any issues when I use that. It's just when I use the oven, and sometimes my air fryer (once with bacon and I think once with chicken wings - but I could be wrong there).   The oven scares me.  It's a silly fear; but it's because I live in the condo.  If I were still at the house, I wouldn't care if there was an issue.  If the smoke detector went off, I could just pull it down and undo the battery or simply ignore it.  It wouldn't bother anyone else.  But here - in the condo - I have my neighbours to think about.  (9:20 left)

I am second guessing baking here hah.  I don't know why I thought doing popovers would be such a grand idea. I like Yorkshires, which I eat with roast beef dinners.  Popovers are usually served with butter, jam, or something sweet - eaten like a roll.  Janet was talking about Popovers at work the one day and I've wanted them ever since.  I decided to buy the ingredients and make some myself.  I am really hoping I don't regret this.

(7:20 left) When the timer runs out, I'll turn the oven down to 350F for 10 more minutes before I remove them from the oven.  I'm stupidly anxious. I can't relax to do something while I wait (besides typing this blog).  I write this because I know that there's no one reading my thoughts. This blogger page is basically my diary. If someone stumbles on it, cool, but I really don't exist online so I doubt anyone will find me.  I tried to go to Facebook again (I left it December 31, 2024) but the site refuses to allow me to rejoin it.  (5 minutes left)  I don't know why; but I guess it's for the best.

None of my friends from Facebook talk to me now - except for Melissa (Lissa), Gennifer (penpal), Kirsty  (Penpal) and Alanna (Penpal).   Everyone else, including Ron (who I had thought viewed me as family) have just ignored me. I tried writing to Haydn to reach out and say hi.  He's never bothered to reply back.  I guess I'm just not that important, memorable, worthwhile. (3 minutes left)  It's sad. I feel very lonely a lot of the time. Having my online friends turn on me like they have is actually really hurtful.  But - I guess it's true - I am irrelevant.

----

Cooking first part - 450F for 20 minutes - success.  Smoke Detector did not go off. The oven has now been turned down to 350F and they're cooking for 10 minutes (8:30 left).  We'll see how they turn out. I had expected them to look like Yorkshire Pudding, but they look more like muffins to me.  At least my dishes are all done (well, other than the muffin tin that's in the oven right now)

I'll update this when it's done and out of the oven.  There's about 7 minutes left of cooking time.  Anxiety isn't as high, but my heart's still racing a bit.

---

Popovers cooked without setting off the smoke detector. They're delicious! :) I just did 2 up with butter, which I just sampled the first bite. Yum!

Unions are a joke and mental health is a lame excuse

 I'm watching the news and the support staff for the local college are looking at a strike.   Their demands include "job security", as most of the unions who decide to strike demand.  Sorry but "job security" does not exist in this day and age.

A company goes belly-up?  Jobs go away.  No job security.

A company does lay offs because they can't afford to keep the staff?  Jobs go away. No job security.

They constantly scream and cry for more money and larger salaries - even from companies who are struggling.

The big kicker? The Union Bosses - those guys in the cushy offices pushing the unions to strike - have no worries about THEIR JOBS.  They don't care if the company the unions are from goes belly-up.  THEY will still have THEIR jobs.

In this day and age, unions are not needed.  They have overstayed their welcome.

---------------

Mental Health excuse is a joke.  I get so mad every time I hear someone say something about "Mental Health".   "Oh - that person's really mean to others because they have "mental health" "  No. Inexcusable.  

The kids are going back to school and have to deal with bullying and "mental health".  Easy fix.  Get them off their damn cell phones!  No phones, no bullying.  Get them off the grid! 

When I needed help because my "mental health" was suffering I was told "I'm not surprised" and given no help.  I was told "you are your own worst enemy" and wasn't given help.  I was IGNORED.  But yeah, "mental health" is important.  Bull pucky.

I do not trust "Influencers" and "Social Media Stars"

 

    Social Media has created these personas called "influencers" and "social media stars" and people tend to buy the nonsense they put up online. The thing is, the reason they exist is because they put up their material and people watch it/read it/interact with it and those social media people get money for it - be it through the advertisements you are forced to watch or key clicks or whatever. 

    Whenever I see a news story that says "uploaded a viral video to Tiktok" (or whatever social media platform is trending at the time (right now, in 2025, it's TikTok)  I immediately disregard the truth of the story.  This post is being sparked by a story I just read by someone who "posted a viral video to TikTok" about how their 6ft9inch truck got stuck in a Las Vegas parking garage that was supposed to be 6ft10inch clearance.  The story started with the woman stating she had paid for Valet parking, and that the truck was too big to get out of the garage.   In the article she then says she asked about the "smaller parking" but was told the 6ft10 clearance would be fine for their truck, and said she couldn't go back out where she entered because of the traffic going into the garage.  (So right there is the first lie)    She states she came out to find her truck stuck behind a low beam. 

    The article had some expert chime in about how concrete can ebb and move over time due to the weight it has to hold (particularly in parking garages) and how the truck was probably caught by one of those.  The woman said she let the air out of her tires, and then they filled the truck bed with people to get out.  At the end of the day, she got out of the place she should never have parked in.  Many comments on the article I read had people commenting about how a truck that size should never have gone into the garage, some defending the woman's action - but all that amounts to is more money for the story creator.   People will click on the TikTok video to watch this video the woman put out (more money for the creator) and whatever ad revenue she gets from them also adds up.  As one person in the comments said, these "influencers" often create a scenario and then post about it to create drama for their followers (to gain followers and, of course, get more money)

    I also any of these "movie trailer" videos I am seeing lately on YouTube Reels because they're AI generated.  I watched one, getting excited for an upcoming movie, only to learn it was something created by AI "for entertainment purposes" (so completely fake).  So now when I see a "new trailer" for a movie, I ignore it and figure it's fake.  I'll go to the movie theatre website to see the trailers there.  Those are real. 

    We, as a society, really need to stop making these fools famous.  It won't happen, of course, but one could wish.

Grudges and Feeling Unimportant

 Date: March 24, 2025

    In December 2024, I put a couple of notes on Facebook stating that I would be leaving at the end of the year.  People asked me not to leave, said they'd want to stay in touch, exchanged emails with me.

    Well, here we are at the end of March and no one has bothered to email me.  I figured that someone would have reached out with "Hey, how are you?" but no. No one has bothered. I haven't emailed them because I feel if someone truly cares about me, they would make the effort.   So yeah, I hold grudges. 

    When Jessica, my cousin, was pregnant with her first kid, she removed my sister and I from her account (unfriended us) and said it was because she didn't have time for Facebook. When I heard that, it bothered me that she'd keep her friends and not family but I didn't let it bother me - at first.  When I learned she kept Lorne and Michael on her Facebook (Uncle Rob's boys) I was very hurt by it.  I have made zero effort to keep up with her.  I think I've sent her a Christmas or birthday card twice; but other than that - nothing. I didn't even call her when mom passed.  I figured Aunt Kathy would tell her.

    See, I want to be loved. I want to be cared for.  If you cannot make the effort to talk to me; then I don't see the point in wasting my time to reach out to you. I want people to WANT to talk to me.  You know, the ones that go "wow, I really miss you. I'd love to be in touch" and then write me to say "Hey, I was thinking of you. How are things?"

    My thumb has pretty much healed now, though it's still very sensitive on top where I had cut the piece off. The nail has pretty much grown back now, which is nice. It doesn't look so ... freaky... now. I hope it stops being overly sensitive some time.  It's kind of annoying. lol

    My right foot has been sore lately at the top of my foot.  I don't know why. It makes walking painful and sometimes my foot shoots pain through me. I have no idea what I did or why it hurts.  Nope, I won't go to a doctor for it.  I hate doctors and I can't be bothered with them.  I'll just let it go and hope it improves some time.

    I have started building up my savings again. I got my refund for the 2024 tax season in and the vast majority ($2000) went into savings.  So far, I haven't used any of it - Oh.. but I will tomorrow when I go get my hair cut.  I'll probably have to use some in a week or two when I take the car to Ricky Ratchets for the oil change.  Last time, Rick said that I should have the air filter done the next time I come in.  So this oil change is going to cost more.  I need to remember to bring the coupons I have from Rick for it; so that'll take a bit off the cost.  Oh well.  I need to keep the car up-to-date on service because I can't afford a new one.

    I can't believe 3 months of the year are gone. I'm anxiously awaiting warmer weather.  We had a couple weeks were the weather was warm.  One day even reached 20C!   But last night it snowed and today is supposed to see a rain/snow mix.  Bleh.  Come on hot weather! 

    I'm hoping Ken will decide to come visit me soon.  I'm missing him. I can't afford to go to the USA right now, and with Trump's Bullshit (wanting to annex Canada and make it American, slapping tariffs on Canadian goods, forcing Canadians to be fingerprinted and to register if going to be in the USA for more than 30 days, etc) I don't want to go to the USA. It makes far more sense for Ken to come here.  It's cheaper (no hotel for him) and his money is better (Canadian dollar is tanking - $1CDN equals $0.70 USD!)  Bleh!

Disaster!

Date:  March 1, 2025

Well, my day has just started in a disaster!  I got up and started to get ready for work.  I made up some toast, put some granola on a yogurt cup and grabbed my pop and boiled egg.  The toast came up and I buttered it, and then went to the cupboard to grab a plate for said toast when the cupboard came crashing off the wall!!!  My dishes all crashed to the floor, most of them breaking, and the cupboard is hanging there by.... I dunno what.

Obviously, the person who renovated this unit prior to my moving in did some shoddy work and failed to properly anchor the cupboard.  I called Brian (my contractor) and he's going to come over today and see if he can start to get it anchored for me.  I'm guessing it's going to take a bit to get it finished.  He said "I'll come over and see if I can start to get it anchored for you."   So I suspect that it'll take a few applications or visits or something.  Brian will come in today while I'm at work to check it out.  He's also going to nail down the molding (or whatever it's called) by my balcony door for me.

The year 2025 is not going well for me.  End of January, I cut the edge of my thumb off. February I deal with the healing thumb. March 1st my cupboard crashes down.  I want to cry right now. I feel so.... I dunno.   I guess this is not going to be my year.

[Update: Brian did fix my cabinet and it's beautiful. He glued my molding down, so that's good too. The other cabinet over my stove is loose; but I've removed everything out of it and Brian said it'll be fine if I don't put anything into it. He said he thinks my other cupboards are fine, so that's a relief. ]

 

DATE:  February 13, 2025

TRUMP

    I don't understand why no one is stopping Donald Trump. He is absolutely delusional! He is waging war on CANADA and no one seems to see that.  It starts with tariffs against our goods, designed to ruin our economy, and then he thinks he can waltz in and take over MY COUNTRY and make it a US State.

    He has sided with Vladimir Putin on the war in the Ukraine saying he is going "to end the war" - but he's planning on giving Russia and Putin what he wanted (or close to that).  He's decided to take over the Gaza strip.  People just sit back and go  "yeah, it's cool! He's going to make America Great Again!".  I just don't understand why people are not seeing through his visage.  He has done 65 Executive Orders since taking office (January 20 to February 13, 2025 is the time period).  It's just insane.

MOM

    Today would have been mom's 75th birthday. It's been almost 4 years since she passed and I still find myself shocked (for lack of a better word/expression) that she is no longer here. Mom was always a staple in my life; and now I no longer have that.  It's so strange.  I miss her so much.

WINTER

    I am so sick of winter.  We've had nothing but snow and storms lately.  We had a big one last night, and more snow is expected to come this week.  I'm so ready for spring! I need a break from this.

MY GUY

    I am hoping that my guy can find a time/way to come visit me soon.  I am starting to lose my mind a little bit.  The depression is taking hold of me.  I need some quality time with him.

 MY THUMB

    On January 20th I cut the edge of my right thumb off on the slicer at work. Thankfully it wasn't too deep - no bones damaged and no real tissue damage.  It was a "deep tissue wound" that has healed very well over the past couple of weeks.  I am still wearing a bandage on my thumb to protect it; but it's looking really good.  This week I returned to full duties at work.  I had been doing modified duties after hurting it.  The hospital and surgeon had wanted me to take two weeks off since it was my dominant hand, but work did not want to pay the WSIB premium to allow me to stay off work and forced me back.  It is nice to be back doing regular stuff again, though. I felt rather useless the last two weeks.  The surgeon said on Monday when I went back for my reassessment that he thinks my thumb should be fully healed in another couple of weeks.  We'll see if it will grow back my thumb nail and look normal again. It is looking promising though.

Tired of the "We Stole Their Land" Rhetoric I keep seeing

 Date: January 30, 2025

    Every time you turn around nowadays, someone brings up the argument that Canada is built on "stolen land".  People say we "stole land from the Indigenous".  No one has shown, to my knowledge, any kind of paperwork or deeds that shows the Indigenous own the particular land that's being questioned.  The consensus is that "they were here first".   Yeah, I'm sorry, but that does not depict ownership.  Show me the deeds that said they owned the land.

    I don't care who "settled first" - be it Indigenous peoples, or European Settlers from back in the day.  Back then, people went to a body of land and found a location and settled upon it.  There were no deeds or titles, so therefore, no one "owned" the land.

    I am sick and tired of people saying we owe the Indigenous. I'm sick of the talk of how "they were slaughtered". What about the white European settlers who were trying to settle on new land that the Indigenous "slaughtered"?  No one cares about what happened to the white people.

    I wish people would understand how progress works, that we have moved beyond the point of going on to a plot of land and staking claim. There is a process of how it works these days; and that is what we should be focusing on - period.  If there is a title land deed that says the land belongs to X, then Y should not be allowed or able to question the ownership. It should be simply "sorry, the deed says X owns it. You can speak with X to see if they wish to sell the ownership to you, but otherwise, ownership stands with X".   "But we were here first!!" uh.. that's not a valid argument in 2025.  Who settled first stopped mattering the moment land ownership deeds became a thing.

    Time to move on people. Time to grow up. Time to stop being so damned entitled.

January Woes - 2025 starting off rough

 Date: January 25, 2025

    So the year 2025 has started off pretty rough for me. On January 2025, I managed to slice the corner of my thumb off on the slicer at work. I have been to the hospital and to receive the plastic surgeon. Thankfully I don't have to have any surgery but the negative part is there forcing me back to work as of Monday the 27th. Both the hospital and the surgeon suggested that I take time off for a while to get my hand to heal. The hospital put a note of 14 plus days off in order to heal my hand. The plastic surgeon agreed with that because it is my right hand which I am right hand dominant so they want to make sure that I don't smack it or hurt it somehow. When I explain that to work I was told that the longer I am on WSIB, the higher the premiums go for them.

    So basically, work is telling me that they don't care about my hand or my health and all they care about is the money that goes out for the premiums for the Workers' Compensation Insurance. Although they're giving me light modified duties, going back to work early has me worried because I know that I'm probably going to bang my hand while working, and I want to make sure that my hand heals. I'm going to give it a try on Monday, but if things don't work well or I feel uncomfortable, I'm going to bite the bullet and I'm going to tell Tracy just to put me on vacation for my follow-up appointment. Either way you want to look at it, work has screwed me out of money. First they cancelled my workers comp because they want to force me back to work with light duties. And then if I can't do the job that they expect me to do due to the problem with my thumb, I'm going to be forced to go on vacation and that's going to mean I get zero pay.

    On top of all of this, I have been dealing with some depression lately. I already deal with very low self-esteem. And now I find myself sitting here looking at my injured hand and wondering how the hell I was so stupid to allow myself to get hurt like that. I suppose part of it was due to the fact that my mind was elsewhere. The day before my car had died at work and I was looking at needing to have to have a new battery. I had called to CAA to come tow my car and take it over to Ricky ratchets so that they could repair what was probably a battery. I was doing prep at work and thinking about how CAA was coming, and about the work that would need to be done on the car. When I was slicing the tomatoes, for some reason I do not understand, I reached out with my right hand to hold the plate down rather than the left hand I usually do. So when I shifted my hand, my phone got in the way and that's when it connected with the blade.

    The one good thing that happened out of this injury, is the fact that I was given a sign that Mom is watching over me. When I had hurt my hand at work and I was getting ready to go home Dianne helping me get ready. I got my jacket on and she took my hot and put it on my head, pull it down over my face and then pushed it back so that my face was exposed. She then said "Oh there she is!" and I heard my mom. That was such a mom thing to say. It let me realise that my mom knows that I loved her and that I cared for her until the very end. She does not hold any grudge against me, or died thinking I hated her. I know that my mom is at peace, and I know that she is watching over me.

    Hopefully in February when I go see the doctor, I will find that everything is healed properly and that I will be back to normal more or less. I also hope that the rest of my year can pick up. I had great plans to get my finances back in order. I had planned to rebuild my savings that I have gone through, and be able to get back to where I was. The situation with my hand has thrown a bit of a wrench into that. I've missed one week of pay, though I hope that workers comp will pay for part of that anyway. I have had to spend the money on cabs to get to and from the hospital, which comes out of my savings. And now with this stuff going on with my hand, I'm thinking of telling them I need that 2 weeks off to get myself healed, which means no pay for me and another dipping into my savings.

    At the end of December I left Facebook. I was sick with the way of the Facebook was behaving, and I was sick of the treatment of the people on Facebook. But I have to admit, that I actually miss being there. I miss having updates from my friends, a place to write my thoughts or my feelings down, and just a general sense of not being alone. I made a decision when I close my Facebook that if I decide to return, it will be under a different name. I won't use Cheri Foster. I may use CL Foster for a new Facebook if I decide to open it, or maybe I'll just do something different. I thought of maybe doing something with my mother's maiden name and putting that as my last name and then picking a different name. Maybe I'll do CL Mitchell or Lyn Mitchell to incorporate the name. For now though, I'm just going to stick to being alone.    

    So I guess we'll see what the rest of the year holds for me. Honestly my hope is pretty bleak.

General Babble

 January 14, 2025

I can't believe it is now 2025.  There have been so many changes in my life since I last posted on Blogger..... 

• My mother passed away on March 23, 2021 from a massive cardiac event (heart attack)
• I sold the house my mother and I had lived in and moved into a condo on September 16, 2022
• I left Facebook on December 31, 2024 because I found the place to be very grim. People were always rude and attacking, the platform itself was always auto refreshing so I missed things and it frustrated me when it would auto refresh in the middle of reading something.
• I joined Threads just after (Maybe January 1st, 2025) because a friend on Facebook had recommended it.
• I left Threads shortly thereafter thanks to being bullied and harassed by Indigenous and their supporters (another repeat of what happened to me on Twitter. No thank you!)
• I tried BlueSky in 2024 because it was supposed to be a great platform. There were too many creepy people on there (those ones that seem to flirt with you but you know are a total sham - that are "military people" -- scammers, all of them)
• President Joe Biden left the race for President (the new election was in November 2024) and Kamala Harris took his place.   Donald Trump was running as the Republican opponent.  Trump won. 
• Donald Trump became America's first convicted felon President.  He was convicted of 34 counts that had to do with tampering with the 2016 Election, and hiding hush money to the porn star (Storm Daniels) who accused him of rape.   He is also guilty of inciting violence on the Insurrection of the Capitol (the riots on Capitol Hill) on January 6, 2021 when he didn't win the election in 2020.   He is also a convicted rapist (though they say it was sexual assault; later defined as rape), and has attacked several women.
• Donald Trump reversed the Roe V Wade decision that legalized abortion.  So now abortion in the USA is illegal - regardless of the reason for it (health of the mother, health of the baby, rape, etc - essentially telling women they do not have a right to say what happens to their bodies)
• Donald Trump has stated he is going to put 25% tariffs on Canada when he gets into office January 20, 2025.  Donald Trump has also stated he wants Canada to be America's 51st state, wants to obtain Panama Canal and Greenland - using military and economic force if necessary (which is a declaration of war against a Sovereign Nation)
• Justin Trudeau stepped down as the Prime Minister of Canada on January 6, 2025.  There will be a new leader for the Liberal party chosen, and there will be an election for the Prime Minister of Canada.  I have a horrible feeling it will be the Conservative Party, lead by Pierre Poilievre - which will be a very bad thing for Canada.  Poilievre is like the Canadian version of Trump; and his supporters have been dubbed the MAPLE MAGA (MAGA being Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan)

The world nowadays is far more self-entitled, and full of more a-holes than ever...  at least that's what I'm finding.  Everyone expects more and are rude and just don't care about that. It's rather crazy.

In 2024 I made a trip to Calgary, Alberta and visited my niece. I've never been west of Ontario so that was interesting. I got to see mountains; and even hiked to the top of Sanson Peak in Banff when my niece and I went to the Banff Gondola.  I got to see the West Edmonton Mall - a mall I have wanted to see since I was a kid!  I got to see the Calgary Stampede, which was pretty cool (though I'd have liked to see the part with the rodeo. I saw the night show with the chuck wagon races.  The concert after was amazing though.)   The worst part was the fact that my niece is vegan and refused to let me have non-vegan food in her apartment. (I asked for "regular cream cheese" and bagels and she bought me vegan cream cheese (which was disgusting))  I understand that it's her place; but I feel she should have taken in to account the fact that I am not a vegan a little more.  When she comes to visit me, I usually make sure that we have vegan-friendly stuff.  I just think it would have been a little nicer to have been considered, rather than forced into her lifestyle.  IF I go to Calgary again, I think I will get myself a hotel - maybe a rental car. I won't stay with her again, though it did save me some money. I just think I would have been more comfortable in a hotel.  Ah well.

December 28th, my boyfriend and I celebrated our 14th anniversary.  We started going out in 2010.  It's a very long relationship - the longest I've ever had - and it's an online one.  We have gone through a Pandemic where we didn't see each other for 2 years due to COVID.  I figure if we can survive that, we can survive anything haha.   Now he just has to hurry up and win "the big one" so I can retire from work and enjoy life as a retired lady who spends the winters some place warm.  Haha!