Two unrelated topics

One: Watching the Superbowl in Canada SUCKS.

All the nice viewers south of the border get to see the new, amazing Superbowl Commercials. (You know, the only reason most people watch the game.) But here in Canada, we have a better way, we have a thing called Canadian Content. So while Americans were watching the funniest, edgiest ads, I was watching ads for an area carpet installer and our local news.

Normally I (nominally) support the aims of Canadian content, but in the case of the Superbowl, they remove the only reason I watch. I will not be tuning in again next year, and I hope other Canadians will join me. So there.

Two: The weather.

There's a guy at work, Norm, who is our weather guru. In addition to working full time, he is a farmer with many years experience under his belt, and whenever any of us want weather predictions, we go to him. He isn't always right, but he's right often enough to keep us coming back for more.

Norm informs me that the almanac (which he studies and puts a great deal of creedance in) is predicting the mother of all snow storms for around the middle of February, and we could receive up to nine feet of snow.

Yes yes, go back and read that again. I said nine FEET.


Time for something we call Context. Do I think there are nine feet of snow coming? Absolutely not. Do I think that, based on the word of some guy at work, something bad is coming? Absolutely.

In the last week, thinking about this storm has become my new obsession. What will happen if we can't leave the house? What will happen if the power goes out for three days? How will I feed not only Husbandly One and me, how will I feed our pets?

Well, this weekend I made a few shopping excursions, and I now know I am prepared for anything. Extra pet food is stored in the basement. There are now logs for the fireplace. I can now feed myself and Husbandly One, without power, for three days. And nothing that I bought isn't something I wouldn't eventually use in our every day lives, so I didn't "waste" money.

What I'm trying to get at is just this: If you live in Canada (or the Northern US), you need to be ready for anything in the winter. I was horrified by my own ineptitude for storm preparedness, and amazed by how easy it was to get ready once I made up my mind to do so.

So please, do yourself a favour. Go open your pantry, and ask yourself how you would feed your family (and pets) if you had no power for three days. And ask yourself how you would heat the house. And failing all that, ask yourself where you could go that was safe.

Love to all.