rants and observations

A word of warning. If you’re walking your dog and he comes across a small, buzzing lump about the size of a muffin sitting amongst the brush along your favourite path, you may want to avoid it. My dog Benjamin stumbled across the small, almost invisible nest during our morning walk. It was sitting on the ground and could easily be stepped on if a person or dog wandered slightly off the path. The wasps were very a bit annoyed. Actually they were very annoyed and gave both of us a few stings before we bolted down the path to safety with one wasp hanging on to Benjamin’s rear section until I swiped it off. Have a look at the photos I took by clicking on the gallery thumbnail below (click the images again to close) and keep an eye out as these little buggers were extremely aggressive. Benjamin hardly brushed up against the nest which sent them into a stinging frenzy. You’ll notice that most of the pictures appear a bit blurry which is what happens when you try to photograph a live, very active nest at about 2 feet away. I’ve never seen a nest like this and if anyone knows anything more about it feel free to comment. I stuck a sign up to warn others before someone else upsets the little buggers. Am I a nice neighbour or what?

Wasps

4 Photos

Some brainiac attempted to park a truck on the street at Suter Brook yesterday afternoon, leaving the rear end blocking the lane for 20 minutes and then had the balls to argue with The Port Moody Police after they issued her a ticket. The rear of the truck jutted into the lane forcing all traffic to navigate around this idiot’s vehicle until she blessed Port Moody residents with her return. After blathering about her rights, amusing on-lookers, blocking the roadway for additional time and wasting our police resources she finally left. I can’t believe anyone would actually argue the point after getting a ticket for such an obvious infraction and I’m amazed the cops actually let her prattle on for so long. It reminds me of the goof that was busted driving in the HOV lane a few days ago with a mannequin upper body in the passenger seat although I’m guessing he just took the ticket, left the mannequin and departed gracefully. I suggest giving the parking moron a ticket and having her car towed if she didn’t move it within 30 seconds. A quick shot with the taser would have been a nice touch too.
Click the image above once to enlarge then click again to close

So Vancouver City Park Board Commissioner Constance Barnes thinks her father would be “proud” after driving her car into the side of a house while intoxicated, the resulting DUI charge and her sobbing admission of guilt and alcoholism? That got me to thinking about of a number of things I’ve done during my life that my father would have been exceedingly proud of:

• Walking out on a bad date and leaving her with the restaurant bill (drinks only…it didn’t last long enough to order food)
• Discovering my fly was open during an entire job interview
• Watering my lawn on a few ‘no watering’ days
• Returning a suit after wearing it to a weekend wedding and reception (the cake and bridesmaid phone number in the breast pocket didn’t help. Damn those crafty suit salesmen!)
• Giving cell phone users dirty looks on the Westcoast Express
• Blaming an unflushed toilet on a fellow employee (that was years ago but I still regret that one)
• Dropping napalm on the inhabitants of a Vietnamese village (I didn’t actually do that but he would have been proud, right?)

Ms. Barnes is also responsible for another accident in 1976 which left her passenger permanently confined to a wheelchair. She was 17 at the time and her father was forced to declare personal bankruptcy as a result of her passenger’s $440,000 lawsuit. I wonder how proud her father was of Constance for that one? I’m guessing not that much.

For those that remember dialup, an interesting trip back in time using a circa 1964 Livermore Data Systems “Model A” Acoustic Coupler Modem to surf the net.