Not ready to say goodbye to my cell phone

I don’t know what I would do with out my BlackBerry.

I use it to talk, text, BBM (BlackBerry messenger), check my e-mails, check facebook, waste my time playing brick breaker and it’s my alarm clock.

Since the day I got it I was in love.

I can’t deny that I occasionally use my BlackBerry while I driving to talk to people or text or use BBM.

Last week it was announced that the provincial government is going to address the problem of distracted drivers this fall.

This potential law could prevent drivers from using handheld phones, texting and other tasks that could distract a driver.

I am looking forward to this fall to see how it all goes down. What I am most looking forward to is to find out what they classify as a distraction.

Cell phones and IPods will likely be grouped as a distraction, but what about everything else?

What about the radio, or the directions you have written out on a piece of paper or the passengers you are having a conversation with, or the cigarette people light up while driving?

I understand that many people in this world cannot text and drive at the same time, and it can make a bad driver.

But I also understand that many people in this world just suck at driving. Distractions will always be a factor in driving.

Instead of trying to remove them, maybe the government should focus on trying to improve the drivers on the road.

People will still text and talk, but if a law like this is passed they will know to put the phone down once they spot a police officer.

Yes, cell phones can make the road dangerous. But so does a cigarette, a baby crying in the back seat, a barking dog, a gossip-queen passenger, changing the radio stations, picking a new CD, or rocking out to Britney Spears latest single.

If no one talked on the phone or sent text messages while driving the number of accidents would almost certainly decrease. But just because it’s the law doesn’t mean people will follow it.

 

Trouble Dog

Me and my dog Zoey have a love hate relationship.

She loves to chew up everything she can get her paws on and I hate to replace and the random items she destroys.

Don't get me wrong; I think I have a great dog that is very smart. But that’s her problem, she is just too smart for her own good.

It has been months since she tore apart the back seat of my car, and since then she has been sticking to socks and sandals. 

The other day I was preparing for what I knew would be a long day of layout at work.

I noticed Zoey and Twix (my roommates Chihuahua) were being oddly quiet. Usually when they are together Zoey is chasing Twix trying to get him to play with her, or he is growling and trying to attack her.   

I walked into my living room only to see Zoey looking scared to death with my fairly new glasses hanging out of her mouth. She dropped them the second she noticed me and ran to the back door.

I punished her, locked her in her kennel and left for work. 

This was the same day I decided it was time to sign Zoey up for obedience classes.

I was surprised to learn the six-week course would be about $130, which is good since I had to pay $200 to replace my glasses.

When I cam home from work I was still furious, but like usual she was cute, playful and wouldn’t take no for an answer. So I gave in, forgot about all the money I could be saving for a nice trip but instead had to spend on fixing all the stuff she broke, and played with her all evening and told her what a great dog she is and how much I adore her. (What can I say, I am sucker for her one floppy ear and the way she jumps around the second she thinks I am going to play with her.)

June 16 is the big day. She will start classes and hopefully chewing on socks, glasses and car seats will be a thing of the past.

I am not expecting for a miracle, just hoping, and maybe just maybe she will finally learn her name!

 

Weekend madness!

I just had the most intense and tiring weekend workday I've had since I started working for the Rep. It's almost summer in Leduc and the surrounding area, so of course every weekend is stacked with outdoor events, and this one was no exception.

I went to an equestrian show and Timbits soccer jamboree in Beaumont, met some amazing young people who are making a difference in Devon at the Servus Credit Union Leaders of Tomorrow awards, and saw bad fashion and drunken baseball converge at the 37th annual New Sarepta Fair.

It was also an historic day in Leduc: the Southfork Moms (by far the Koolest moms in the city) realized their dream of having a playground in their own neighborhood for their kids to play on. Construction started at 8 a.m. and by 3 p.m. the park was full of kids swinging, sliding, running and climbing. It was inspiring to see how hundreds of volunteers could make quick work of the very labour-intensive building process, all with the best interests of the kids at heart.

It was fitting that the build happened on the anniversary of D-Day, because the park has been named for the late Jose Agostinho, who was not only an RCMP officer who gave his life in the line of duty on July 4, 2005, but also a former commanding officer of the Leduc 831 Black Knights Air Cadets Squadron and a huge proponent of the cadet program. The park is a fitting testament to his commitment to encouraging children to grow into helpful, respectful, active citizens of their community.

Check out the June 12 Rep for full coverage of the build. And also check out the Beaumont News and the Devon Dispatch, our sister papers. We share a lot of content but they also contain exclusives contributed by the Rep's staff. We're all one big, happy family.

And because no one reads this blog, I have absolutely no qualms whatsoever about posting this as a final thought: my very own LOLcat, starring Loki, the baddest tabby in Renaissance Place.

Someone lost a bet

Uh ... GO FLAMES GO!

The fluff of dreams

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that might be — could possibly be — is it? — a bud?!?!?!

Could spring be almost nearly just ever so slightly upon us? Dare I hope?

(Photo taken at Telford Lake)

My new view on scary movies

Working at the Rep has given me the opportunity to write about things I feel strongly about. I get to write a news article, features and I have even started writing columns that truly say what I am thinking about at that time.

This is really good when I am frustrated about something like drinking and driving or domestic abuse. It is also nice to write about things I just want to say for the fun of it.

But not everything I have to say is great for the paper. So this is where the blog comes in on days my editor is out of the office. I can write anything I want....

Which is perfect because something has really been bothering me for the past month, and I need to get it off my chest.

I am the kind of person who enjoys to be scared during a movie. I love old movies, new movies and remakes. Anything that can scare me I will watch.

When I heard there was a remake of Friday the 13th I was ecstatic.  

The weekend it was released me and my roommate went to the Leduc Theatre ordered our popcorn and watched Jason kill (Without the music).

We both were really into the movie and didn't say a thing to each other, until the moment that has since changed the way I look at white masked serial killers. Jason ran after a victim!!!

I have been watching scary movies for years now, and every good slasher flick the killer never ran, that is was made it scary. The victim always had a chance, and you had hope they would live but either they would trip, get lost or hit a dead end. And even though the thing chasing them was walking it would still always catch up.

Now Jason runs?!?!

I always thought about what I would do if a giant man with a white mask was trying to chop me into little pieces. I knew I would be one of the first people to go (being a blonde nosy reporter who would likely go up to the person in the mask thinking it was one of my friends), but this is ridiculous, I won't even have a good chase scene!

Even though I am not a fast runner I swore I would watch where I was going and not trip. I would be the person people thought might live, but now that has all changed.

So I would like to take this unsupervised time in the office to say thanks to the people who created the new Jason. Thanks for not giving me a chance if I was ever a white masked giant's prey.

Hard at work

Looking through the archives is always one of Alex's favourite part of the week. 

How the magic happens

It's production day here at the Rep, and sometimes, the combination of lack of sleep, too much coffee and our general tendency towards silliness leads us to believe that certain ideas are absolutely genius when in fact they're just crazy.

Like getting up on a desk and taking an illustrative picture of a coworker's hands on a keyboard to fill a one-inch high space for a 300-word story instead of just using a stock photo:


Observe how much our dear editrix Michelle loves having her picture taken.

"Teenaged" audio test?

Here's an interesting item that's making the rounds on the Internet:

A company called Train Horns has developed a way of keeping teenagers from loitering around malls and shops by literally annoying them until they walk away. How?

By playing a constant buzzing sound at a frequency that can supposedly only be heard by people 25 and younger. I'm 23, so I took the "teenaged audio test." I could definitely hear the sound, and it is definitely annoying; but then, I'm not the loitering type anyway.

I'm curious to see if it really is only audible to young people, though. I suspect that anybody with relatively normal hearing levels can hear at this pitch. If you're willing to take the risk, listen to an audio clip here.