Welcome to Britain, Mate!

We made it safe and sound to Hethrow this morning, and I'm currently on a train, whipping through Northern England/Southern Scotland (not quite sure where I am). It's gorgeous here. The train's passed several quaint towns, with red brick buildings and intricate chimneys. Each cluster has an ancient gothic steeple piercing the sky, and lush fields with plenty of sheep. 

Later...

We're in Edinburgh, and it's somewhat rainy and windy, but still relatively warm compared to what I was expecting. Our appartment is on the third floor of a building with no elevator, but steep stairs. I'm tempted to count carrying my suitcase up as "going up 5 flights of stairs," but I'm not doing it as an alternative. It's up those stairs, or on the street. :) They're not that bad. They look sort of rustic and artistic- a pleasure to climb!

I got a quick tour from Uncle Gord of the Royal Mile, Princess Street, and Rose Street. For dinner we ate at a nice restaurant and I had a really interesting side to my fish- mashed peas. Apparently it's a Scottish thing. It has a bit of lemon flavoring, and was really good; I'd almost venture to say better than steamed peas.

If you are my facebook friend, check the pictures. I've decided I'm going to upload around 5 a day, unless there are waaaaay too many good ones to pick 5 from.

Grounded (aka "Excessive" Punishment)

Recently, a Quebec judge overruled a father's authority by saying his daughter was "excessively punished" when she was grounded. The details are in this article [National Post] and this article [Albert Mohler's Blog]. I'm not going to reiterate what they've said, but I want to look at one particular angle.

She's 12. She's in 6th grade. (I don't even remember most of 6th grade, and it was only 5 years ago!). What astonishes me most in this case is that she had the gull, at the age of 12, to fight this. At 17, I wouldn't take my parents to court because I couldn't go to prom. It's absurd. What makes it worse is it wasn't just a father's opinion, where he didn't think she should go in general. It was a punishment. So what happens the next time her father tries to punish her? Even if she doesn't take it to court again, she could threaten to. Now he'll second guess every decision he makes- talk about tough parenting.

In a way, it reminds me of one of my favorite books, My Sister's Keeper. In it, the parents of a girl who has cancer have another daughter who is compatible genetically with the first. Though they love both their daughters, the fact that they had the second with the intention of using her as a donor makes them inclined to abuse their right. She takes them to court for medical emancipation, because they want her to donate a kidney. Even then, they can still prevent her from going on camping trips; they just can't control her medical decisions. Taking away a parents right to be a parent leaves them with nothing.

Any 12 year old who takes her father to court for doing his job deserves to be grounded, but maybe that's a little exsessive.

Another Opthamologist Appointment...

a) or b)?
Do we like c) at all? (I have nothing to compare it to)
d) or e)?



f)or g)?

Three Cheers For Starbucks

Warning: this was written very cheesily. (I blame the caffeine I'm on.)

Last week, I stopped in at Starbucks to buy two lattes and a granola parfait while balancing my wallet and keys. Luckily, Starbucks has nifty drink holders that allow you to carry three cups and a wallet with one hand, or I would have had to make multiple, awkward trips to my car. However, as I was at the till, I was trying to figure out how I would drive. Calgary roads tend to be slightly pothole-prolific, and as much as I love the smell of coffee, it's not the scent I want in my car. So, as they mixed the drinks, I stood and pondered the ways that Starbucks could improve upon their lids. My two, rather comical conclusions were 1) that they made two types of lids- one with a mouth hole and one without. You put the one without mouth hole on your drink as you drive, and when you get to your destination, switch! Or, better yet, 2) succumb to common gas station coffee lids and make ones that the customer opens themselves. Sure, it's not as classy, but it would cost less than two lids. Then my drinks came, and I left, slowly maneuvering the streets of the northwest. Luckily, I did not spill a drop, but the dilemma still nagged at me.

Then, today I went into Starbucks (really, I'm not that addicted) to get a frappuccino in celebration of the wonderful exam I finished and the beautiful day. As I was waiting for it to be mixed, I noticed a cup of green sticks at the stand. I couldn't really figure out what they were, but I figured that Starbucks had improved upon their wooden stir sticks by making them reusable. Then, a lady who had gotten two lattes (deja vu) reached over, pulled two out and placed them into the lid holes. I watched them slide down and, gasp, fit perfectly! My jaw dropped, I'm sure. Just a week after I had put my entrepreneurial mind to work for Starbucks, they had felt my pains and invented something for me! Ok, I'm not that egotistical. Turns out, these new "splash sticks" came out in April. Maybe they had a late release date for Canada.

Upon my research on these splash sticks, I came upon several comments that they are not environmentally friendly, etc etc. To that I would like to ask, what would the purpose of this stick be? It seems like Starbucks is trying to make a multipurpose stir stick, and thereby fade out their wooden ones. So, if it's something people are already using, I don't see how making it in a different material harms anything. In fact, plastic would improve the situation because they're simple to rinse and reuse (as opposed to wood that soaks in). Products like this and their cardboard sleeves are great opportunities for personal recycling.

And if I'm going to a fair-trade supporting shop (thereby environmentally aware) and spending $4.00 on a cup of coffee that I could be spending $1.25 on at Tim Horton's or Second Cup, I don't want it sloshing around in my car, so thank you Starbucks!

Picture from USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/adtrack/2008-04-13-ad-track_N.htm?csp=N008 (I think it's by Starbucks, but can't really tell).

Think of It as.... an Opthamologist Appointment

a)... or b)?
c)...or d)?

I have 5 more, but blogger's not cooperating. I'll do a seperate post for them.

Please Vote!

Update: Sorry for having to add word varification to comments, guys. I have been recieving increasing amounts of comment spam.