Things that make you go hmmm

So it's that time of year again!

The dreaded "Vehicle Inspection"!!

That time of year where you start getting antsy, worrying about what might possibly be wrong with your vehicle that could potentially cause you to have to list a kidney on ebay before you get it inspected and legally drive it.

Since our regular mechanic closed up his shop last fall, it has been a pain in the ass when we needed stuff done. He was good!! If something still had some life left in it, he told you. He didn't replace it for the sake of upping his cash intake (and lowering ours). He was just an all around good guy! Since he closed, hubby has been doing the stuff he can do on his own cause he hadn't been able to find one he felt he could rely on the same way he felt he could with Danny. Unfortunately, the police would probably frown on him doing his own motor vehicle inspection and sticking a pretty glittered "The car passes" sticker on our window, so it was time to bite the bullet and take it in somewhere.

Our neighbor told us about how well he felt treated at Wonder after taking his girlfriend's car in, so that's where we decided to take my van. Couple weeks ago we took the old girl in, let it for the day, and hubby picked it up on his way home from work. The verdict: needed some body work, shocks, brakes. Since they don't do body work, hubby knew it would have to be done elsewhere, the guy at the shop though was trying to get hubby let him do it "on the side but just don't tell my boss". Shocks and brakes though, now that is something hubby can do on his own, and given that they quoted him almost $690.00 for the repair of just those TWO things, it was something he was GONNA do on his own. (NOW, it should be noted, that before hubby took it down to the garage, he checked the brakes himself and thought, even though he is not a mechanic, that there will still fine.) What it was, I don't know, but hubby said he didn't get a good feeling from one of the guys, and was STILL convinced the van did not need new brakes, but went and picked the parts up himself. Cost: Just over a hundred bucks for two new shocks and front brakes. He changed the shocks (which took him maybe twenty minutes per side? and when he went to replace the brakes, there was no difference between the ones he was about to take off and the new ones in the box. Extremely unhappy at this point at what he was told at the garage, I convinced him to take the van into a DIFFERENT place. If the brakes were crap, and it failed, big deal. We already had the new brakes still boxed at home and you don't pay for an MVI if it fails so it wasn't like we were gonna be out any extra cash for having it checked over twice. So yesterday we take it into a different garage, Lansdowne, and hubby brought it home last night with a "Yeah your van is great" sticker on the windshield!

Makes you wonder...........

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm

As most cat owners know, there are many joys to owning a furry friend. The occassional dead mouse/bird left as a gift on your doorstep, hairball in your shoe, turd on your rug, but none can compare to the sharing of kitty critters. I'm talking about fleas!! Hubby has been whining about him being their dinner buffet so he stopped the other day at the Vet's and got a package of Advantage on his way home from work. Fifty-three dollars and a damn kidney later he comes home with this stuff DETERMINED to eradicate what he calls an infestation! (Since he is the only one that ever sees them and gets biten, I hardly call it an infestation, but sometimes I'll humor him and say "Okay Honey").

So he opens up the package to get ready to apply it to our three cats. I happen to grab the instructions to check em out. NOW, I notice it says:

USE GLOVES WHILE APPLYING

DO NOT GET ON SKIN

But in order to put it on the cats, you have to sepeate their fur at the base of the neck/ between the shoulder blades till you see the skin, apply the open tube DIRECTLY to the skin/area and squeeze contents directly onto skin.

Does anyone else see something wrong here????

It ain't just Sex and Drugs

As you hold your beautiful newborn child in your arms I think all parents dread that day in the future when you know you are going to have to sit them down and talk to them about sex andor drugs. The thing I think alot of us forgot about is that we also should take the time to talk to them about teen suicide.

This past weekend a friend of our neighbor's daughter killed himself. He was just 13.

As a mother, I can not even begin to imagine the anguish this mother and father must be going through. In their shoes, I can not even begin to comprehend the feelings of guilt that go along with this, wondering what you may have missed, what you didn't see, what could you have done differently, even if there were no signs. These are all feelings I had after my mom died, so I would imagine they are even worse for a parent who now has to bury their beloved child.

Did you know that suicide is the second leading cause of death for teens in Canada and the third in the United States?

Did you know that teen/youth suicide rates have TRIPLED since 1970?

Did you know that for every completed suicide there are an estimated THIRTY -FIFTY attempts? And don't forget, due to the stigma attached to suicide available statistics may well underestimate this!

Please take a moment to read these statistics taken from http://www.thekeltyfoundation.org/depression-facts.htm

It might not be the most cheerful topic of discussion you have to have with your child, but it is one that could save their life.

Keep the Change, Please

So this past weekend hubby, "The Boy" and I all loaded into my van and headed up to the Peninsula to drop some stuff off for his boss at the store. We decided to stop at Rotten Ron's for breakfast on the way (mmmmm sausage mcmuffins). Pull in, place our order and get to the pay/pickup window. Our order came to something like $13.31 so I pulled a twenty outta my wallet and dug out the 31 cents, handed them to hubby and we waited to pay. Hubby passes her the money, she rings it in and says your change is $7.00, as she passes my husband TWO five dollars bills and a toonie (for all you Americans, a toonie is our two dollar coin). People, let this be a lesson to you, please don't confuse the people at McDonald's by giving them coins AS WELL AS bills!

Grrrr

Why is it that when one of my cats has an upset tummy they like to bypass the easily wiped up ceramic tile and laminate wood flooring in the entire main floor of our house to take a dump on the only two mats (at the front and back doors) in our damn home???!!!! It wouldn't be so bad if they were flat mats but NOOOOOOOOOOOOO they have to be the kind of mats with the grooves in em. And no Daphne, I didn't feed them smackeroni and cheese!!!