Several years ago when the Globe offered me home delivery, I signed up eagerly. I take the paper to work with me to read and my wife reads the local paper.
In order to not let the local lowlifes know I was away over Christmas, I carefully made a vacation stop on-line. When I came home on December 29 there where 4 papers on the doorstep. I didn't really mind. I was a paper boy for one day and realise how difficult it is to keep up with who wants and doesn't want their paper at 0500 in the am. The paper also came on December 30 as I had requested.
On January 1 however there was no paper. I just thought maybe the Globe didn't publish New Year's Day. That was until I saw the Globe in Starbucks. It also didn't come the 2nd, 3rd or today. I did submit a delivery problem on line on the 1st but I figured I must have asked them to stop delivery the wrong week. So I thought I better phone the toll-free number today.
After the computer generated voice couldn't understand my mumbles, I was referred to a real person. I explained my problem and the individual told me, " oh yeah, your paperboy quit and we haven't found anybody yet but don't worry we are crediting your account". I asked them just when they were planning on telling me, I wouldn't be getting home delivery anymore and he said they weren't but don't worry they were crediting my account. He also said someone from the local office would contact me.
Just had to get it off my chest.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Underage drinking
I had my oldest son late in the year for tax purposes. He turned 17 in December. This means many of his friends will turn 18 next year which is legal drinking age. This is freaking my wife out.
Of course I had my first beers at 16 and my wife boasts of getting into a disco at age 15. She also for reasons she won't discuss cannot abide the smell or taste of rye. I suspect most adults actually have fond memories of sneaking alcohol before they were legal. In fact it was a little less interesting after you were of age.
So what do teenagers do when they drink? For the most part they get drunk occasionally throw up and wake up with a bad hangover. Occasionally they have sex. With the possible exception of sex this is not necessarily a bad thing; no-one is seriously hurt by this behaviour. Sex is only really bad if you or your partner get pregnant, share a sexually transmitted disease or if your culture demands an intact hymen on wedding night.
Where teenagers get into trouble when they drink is when they drive. That is when they kill or injure themselves or others. We read about these tragedies and blame alcohol instead of the 2 tons of steel travelling at 140 km per hour.
Wait a second....
Teenagers also kill or injure themselves and others when they aren't drinking. They probably do it with greater frequency. The teenager who gets killed driving home from school just doesn't generate the same headlines as the teenager who buys it at 2 am. Face it, teenagers are just plain bad drivers and probably that doesn't change until about 25. The insurance industry clued into this years ago.
So my solution:
Get rid of the drinking age or at least lower it to 16 (the legal age in the Netherlands and also Cuba). I know sneaking into a bar underage is a rite of passage but it is one we can do without. Think of all the energy that goes into enforcing that law. Take that energy and transfer it into teaching responsible drinking and harm reduction.
At the same time....
Raise the legal age for driving to something sensible like 18 or 21. We all know we were lousy drivers before those ages. Plus that way most kids will already have had the experience of being drunk before they learn to drive. That just might make them think twice before getting into a car drunk.
Of course I had my first beers at 16 and my wife boasts of getting into a disco at age 15. She also for reasons she won't discuss cannot abide the smell or taste of rye. I suspect most adults actually have fond memories of sneaking alcohol before they were legal. In fact it was a little less interesting after you were of age.
So what do teenagers do when they drink? For the most part they get drunk occasionally throw up and wake up with a bad hangover. Occasionally they have sex. With the possible exception of sex this is not necessarily a bad thing; no-one is seriously hurt by this behaviour. Sex is only really bad if you or your partner get pregnant, share a sexually transmitted disease or if your culture demands an intact hymen on wedding night.
Where teenagers get into trouble when they drink is when they drive. That is when they kill or injure themselves or others. We read about these tragedies and blame alcohol instead of the 2 tons of steel travelling at 140 km per hour.
Wait a second....
Teenagers also kill or injure themselves and others when they aren't drinking. They probably do it with greater frequency. The teenager who gets killed driving home from school just doesn't generate the same headlines as the teenager who buys it at 2 am. Face it, teenagers are just plain bad drivers and probably that doesn't change until about 25. The insurance industry clued into this years ago.
So my solution:
Get rid of the drinking age or at least lower it to 16 (the legal age in the Netherlands and also Cuba). I know sneaking into a bar underage is a rite of passage but it is one we can do without. Think of all the energy that goes into enforcing that law. Take that energy and transfer it into teaching responsible drinking and harm reduction.
At the same time....
Raise the legal age for driving to something sensible like 18 or 21. We all know we were lousy drivers before those ages. Plus that way most kids will already have had the experience of being drunk before they learn to drive. That just might make them think twice before getting into a car drunk.
Monday, January 1, 2007
Now that I've got a blog, what the hell do I do with it.
So I created my blog 2 days ago. I have been checking it religiously to see if anyone has left a comment. So far no.
Anyway I am sitting around watching college football on New Year's Day. Doesn't matter which teams, I just like to watch college football on NYD. Actually its a pretty good game, WVU vs. Georgia Tech and its 38-35 in the third quarter.
I am all alone in the house. My family is still down at my dacha in Canmore. I had to come back to work. I was supposed to be on call last night from 1700 on. However when I phoned in around 1600, there was no work to be done so I stayed at home waiting to be called in but morning came around and no-one had called. That is the first time this has ever happened to me. Anyway I had good intentions of reading my Christmas Book, "Searching for Bobby Orr" but I have to confess I watched Seinfeld re-runs. A couple of them I don't actually remember watching so I guess it was a productive evening. I also watched a bit of the 60 minutes show on Ed Bradley. Turns out he was a good friend of Jimmy Buffett, who had lost most of his hair and looks like a 60ish businessman.
2007 is the year I turn 50. I must say I am looking forward to the gravitas that will surely come with attaining that age. For the last year or so I have been referring to myself as almost 50. I do remember how old my father seemed when he turned 50 but I don't feel that old at all. I still ski (way better than I did at 25, if only because I didn't learn until I was 26) and I starting riding my bike 45 minutes each way to work in the summer. Hair loss is apparently not in my genes and I have only a touch of gray. I have in the last year or so developed gout and I depend on my All-Bran buds.
My wife told me that in milestone years every day in like your birthday so I am hoping that is the case.
Anyway I am sitting around watching college football on New Year's Day. Doesn't matter which teams, I just like to watch college football on NYD. Actually its a pretty good game, WVU vs. Georgia Tech and its 38-35 in the third quarter.
I am all alone in the house. My family is still down at my dacha in Canmore. I had to come back to work. I was supposed to be on call last night from 1700 on. However when I phoned in around 1600, there was no work to be done so I stayed at home waiting to be called in but morning came around and no-one had called. That is the first time this has ever happened to me. Anyway I had good intentions of reading my Christmas Book, "Searching for Bobby Orr" but I have to confess I watched Seinfeld re-runs. A couple of them I don't actually remember watching so I guess it was a productive evening. I also watched a bit of the 60 minutes show on Ed Bradley. Turns out he was a good friend of Jimmy Buffett, who had lost most of his hair and looks like a 60ish businessman.
2007 is the year I turn 50. I must say I am looking forward to the gravitas that will surely come with attaining that age. For the last year or so I have been referring to myself as almost 50. I do remember how old my father seemed when he turned 50 but I don't feel that old at all. I still ski (way better than I did at 25, if only because I didn't learn until I was 26) and I starting riding my bike 45 minutes each way to work in the summer. Hair loss is apparently not in my genes and I have only a touch of gray. I have in the last year or so developed gout and I depend on my All-Bran buds.
My wife told me that in milestone years every day in like your birthday so I am hoping that is the case.
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