Here we are in April with tax day rapidly approaching and I've reached the conclusion that this is a baaadddd year for us.  It's been one thing after another this year.  March had the computer virus and all the aggravation that entailed.

Our cat, Twinkletoes, became seriously ill in March too.  It turns out he has heart disease.  After spending close to $1000 on tests, his condition was finally diagnosed.  Evidently, it's a defect he had from birth that just reached the stage where it would cause him to collapse.

We took him to the vet we normally use twice.  They referred us to a specialty clinic where the problem was diagnosed.  When we took him in his heart beat was close to 400 beats per minute.  Healthy cats are between 140-180 beats per minute.  The meds seem to be helping keep it under control but it looked like he had another episode tonight.  We're wrestling with the question of what to do.

This afternoon, Chris, had a regular appointment with her foot doctor.  She told him that one foot was really bothering her.  They x-rayd it and found not one but two fractured bones in the top of her foot.  She dropped a can on it a few weeks ago so that must have been what caused it.

Needless to say, I am bummed.  Worried about my wife.  Worried about my cat.  If you want to say any prayers or send positive energy our way, it would be appreciated.  I need to remind myself that this too shall pass and things will eventually start looking up.

I'm certainly not going to ask what else can go wrong.  I don't think I want to know.

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THE BLOGGER INQUIRER ISSUE # 44

"For Blogging Minds Who Need To Know" ...

Founder: Lucy

Editor: Bookworm

Interviews

 

 

Gloria: Anexplorer gave me directions to Ontario Place from the 401-- take the 427 South to the Gardiner Expressway and get off at the Jameson Ave exit and follow Lakeshore Blvd. Eastbound to Ontario Place We’ll be meeting at a restaurant near the Cinesphere.

 

 

I recognize him from the photo he emailed me. We sat down and the interview began.

 

 

Gloria: What do you feel you bring to the Stream?

 

Anexplorer: Hopefully, a series of interesting anecdotes. I think the art of the anecdote has been lost and is under appreciated.

 

Gloria: How or why did you pick the name of your blog?

 

Anexplorer: I do take my dog Lindsay for a run along the top of the Scarborough Bluffs every morning where you get a spectacular view of Lake Ontario, and it’s often that rare place where I get a chance to think about things. Perhaps gain a new perspective or view.

 

Gloria: What would we find you doing in your free time?

 

Anexplorer: I am an insanely, perhaps self destructively busy person, I have to fight for every free moment. I read and usually have three or four books on the go and in the summer I love to garden. My wife and I love to travel and that is where I find most of my free time.

 

Gloria: What is your personal philosophy of life?

 

Anexplorer: The psychologist, Albert Ellis once said, if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing badly. I agree with that. It doesn’t mean we set out to do things badly. It’s a way to get us over our perfectionism and launched into actually doing things.

 

Gloria: Would you share with us a favorite memory from childhood?

 

Anexplorer: It’s trite, but it would have to be Christmas. Any Christmas. My parents were never wealthy people but they went out of their way to make Christmas special. Waking up Christmas morning to see the living room transformed, was always a magical moment.

 

Gloria: What is the greatest lesson life has taught you?

 

Anexplorer: Keep your sense of humour. Your going to need it, guaranteed.

Gloria: Now for the Mandatory Questions:
What brought you to Blogstream, and what did you hope to get out of it?

 

Anexplorer: Actually it was Woodsman. I was reading a blog on blogspot and he had left an interesting comment and I wondered who that guy was. So I traced him back to his blog and there was blogstream, in all its glory. And I thought, wow, here’s an interesting place, I want to be a part of this.

 

Gloria: What 5 CD's are currently in your player?

 

Anexplorer: 1234 by Feist, Kalan Porter (self titled), Eden by Sarah Brightman, Siempre by Il Divo, and Call Me Irresponsible by Michael Bublé (Please note, more than half of these belong to my wife. I’ll let you guess which ones are mine.)

Gloria: Then of course the 5 bloggers you want to meet.

 

Anexplorer: Well I’ve met you now, so that only leaves about 30 or so bloggers I’d love to meet. I’ve seen pictures of Whispered Promises backyard, so I’d love to see that in person. I’d have fun talking about movies with Bohemian and I want to find out how Katie adjusts to Florida. I’d like to find out what Whit really thinks about George Bush and I think Sinann and I would get along well. Can I mention another 25 ‘cause I’d love to see some of Lolapop’s pictures in person and who wouldn’t want to party with Bella and….okay, okay I’ll stop.

Gloria: Favorite alcohol beverage?

 

Anexplorer: A really good Riesling with a fine meal or (I’m gonna cheat and pick two here) a very cold Molson’s Canadian on a hot summer day after I finish cutting the grass.

 

Gloria: What is your nationality?

 

Anexplorer: Canadian.

Gloria: Ethnic background?

 

Anexplorer: I was born in England during the Second World War and my mother was a war bride bringing me to Canada when I was three. My dad was a second generation Canadian of Scottish/Irish background.

 

www.CanadianWarBrides.com

Gloria: Last book you read?

 

Anexplorer: The last book I finished was The Life of Pi. I enjoyed it. It was certainly different. But there was so much hype about it I came away feeling I must have missed something.

 

Gloria: What was the best and worst book you read?

 

Anexplorer: I’ve never been able to finish Catcher In The Rye, which seems to be just about everybody’s favourite book of all time. And I read everything. I read technical manuals. But I can’t get into that, so it would have to be my worst. My favourite was Shogun by James Clavell. I think he did a brilliant job bringing two totally different cultures to life.

Gloria: Who is your favorite actor or actress?

 

Anexplorer: I love Nicolle Kidman and I admire Matt Damon

 

Gloria: What was the last movie you saw at the theatre?

 

Anexplorer: My wife and I took my grandson to see the Spiderwick Chronicles for his birthday.

 

Gloria: Most embarrassing moment you remember.

 

Anexplorer: It haunts me still. When I was around or eight or ten years old I was out with friends on a very cold winter’s night playing hockey on an outdoor rink that was about a mile from my home (we measured things in miles back in those days). After playing hockey for an hour or so, I was on my way home when I suddenly realized I needed to pee, but I still had all my hockey stuff on and I couldn’t …well get to it. And sure enough I’d wet myself before I could get home. And when I did get home I found my parents had company, a whole room full of people .I tried to sneak in, unnoticed but my dad called for me to come and meet them but I just ran to my room. Concerned, my mother came up to see what was the matter and we got everything sorted out. But that isn’t the embarrassing part. After she went down stairs, I could hear people asking about me and I heard her whisper the explanation to them. And a woman tittered (that’s the only word I can find to describe it). And I’ve been haunted by the sound of that woman’s titter ever since.

 

 

(Editor's Note: This is a shared laugh. Something similiar happened in my childhood. Glad I'm not alone.)

Gloria: Favorite recipe that you would be willing to share

 

Anexplorer: Sure, you open the box and take out the packet of cheese, put the noodles in boiling water for seven minutes, drain, add butter and a bit of milk, then add the packet of cheese. I call it Kraft Dinner. A specialty of mine.

 

Gloria: Your middle name?

 

Anexplorer: Edward, after my mother’s brother Ted

 

Gloria: What is your favorite word?

 

Anexplorer: “Dinner” would have to be right up there.

 

Gloria: What is your least favorite word?

 

Anexplorer: “interface”

 

Gloria: What turns you on [creatively, spiritually or emotionally]?

 

Anexplorer: I’m a passionate environmentist, have been since grade five when my teacher told us about Teddy Roosevelt creating National Parks in the States. We have a rare and precious planet we’re busily destroying and I’m doing everything I can to prevent that.

 

Gloria: What turns you off?

 

Anexplorer: Excessive greed. The kind of greed that makes people feel they have a right to what belongs to others.

 

Gloria: What is your favorite curse word?

 

Anexplorer: There are so many and life is so short. No, I had a strict Catholic upbringing, so you seldom hear more than “Hell” or “Damn” out of me. And you won’t hear those often.

 

Gloria: What sound or noise do you love?

 

Anexplorer: Water in a stream or waves on a beach. The bubbling of the water before the Kraft Dinner goes in.

 

Gloria: What sound or noise do you hate?

 

Anexplorer: Loud trucks. You must have driven on the 401 to get here, nothing like finding yourself hemmed in by six great 18 wheelers grinding their way toward Detroit.

 

Gloria: What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

 

Anexplorer: Professional mattress tester comes to mind. Or archeologist. Which ever pays better.

 

Gloria: What profession would you not like to do?

 

Anexplorer: Accounting. Anything to do with accounting makes my head hurt.

Gloria: If Heaven exists, what would you like God to say to you when you arrive.

 

Anexplorer: “Sorry there must have been some mix up, you’ll have to go back.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dancing on the Ceiling

All Night Long

Angel