Top Scams of 2010

In 2010, a number of emails continuously landed in my Inbox, no matter how many times I tagged them as “Junk” or “Spam”, and they all had the same M.O.: broken English notifications that my distant relative had perished leaving me a portion of a multi-million dollar estate, mine for the taking just as soon as I pay the lawyer’s fee (anywhere from $1000 to $20,000!). I also receive at least one “Secret Shopper”  and also “Work from Home” offer email per week.

According to Snopes.com these are 3 out of 5 of the Top Scams. http://www.snopes.com/fraud/topscams.asp

Here is their list, plus a few more I am familiar with.

“TOP SCAMS

“Tough economic times are, unfortunately, boom times for scammers, as people desperate for money and jobs let down their guards and are more likely to pursue questionable financial opportunities that caution might ordinarily warn them away from. And as folks become more inured to monetary woes, their charitable inclinations are more easily exploited by scammers pretending to be persons in need of sympathetic helping hands. Listed below are several pervasive forms of scams that have proven particularly alluring to potential victims when times are tough.

 

Nigerian Scam

A wealthy foreigner who needs help moving millions of dollars from his homeland promises a hefty percentage of this fortune as a reward for assisting him.

 

Foreign Lottery Scam

Announcements inform recipients that they’ve won large sums of money in foreign lotteries.

 

Secret Shopper Scam

Advertisers seek applicants for paid positions as ‘secret’ or ‘mystery’ shoppers. …The truth is that you do not have to pay anyone any money to get into the mystery shopper business. Positions for this employment are readily available through reputable companies and over the internet, etc.

 

Work-at-Home Scam

Advertisers offer kits that enable home workers to make money posting links on the Internet.

 

Family Member in Distress Scam

Scammers impersonate distressed family members in desperate need of money.”

 

Personal Experience

I personally received the offer to receive the “kit” for posting links on Google, for a low fee for shipping and handling of $2.95, and about a year later the exact same email arrived with the name Yahoo inserted for Google. However, neither the kits or the online posting jobs exist. Here is a link to Google’s own Blog Site, for an article called How to Steer Clear of Money Scams http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/how-to-steer-clear-of-money-scams.html .

Forward This Email and Recieve a Trip to Disneyland/Laptop/Blackberry/Gift Certificate/Cash Scam

You are promised to receive some fabulous item direct from the company after forwarding the email to 8 friends/family and one additional email as verification to the company person @ company. Example: amylee @ blackberry . com, who will then contact you for your delivery information. You will recieve none of the items promised according to Snopes http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/billgate.asp , and especially not from Bill Gates!

Free puppy to a Good Home Ad Scam

Ads have been placed with alarming regularity in newspapers, but most notably on Kijiji. The ad states the type of dog, ie. English Bulldog, and the owner needs some sympathetic help. The owner states that the puppy or dog will be shipped directly to your doorstep and all you need to do to “rescue” the animal is to pay the International shipping, $200 or $240. Sometimes the owner claims to be a missionary or in the Peace Corps. The deal is sweetened with a beautiful photo of a perfectly healthy animal emailed right to you. According to both Snopes and Consumer Affairs, this specific scam originates in Africa. The ad has also featured parrots and various other types of exotic and expensive birds, none of which actually exist with the owner. You can report the ad as suspicious to Kijiji and/or  eBay who will turn their attention to it and usually promptly remove it.

College Grant Scam

This one is also email form or cold-calling. The letter informs you that you are pre-approved or qualify for a grant in a specific amount such as $8,000. You are asked to forward your banking information to them in order to receive your free grant, but first you provide them with the transaction fee. The telemarketers who call you are very insistant and ususally a time-pressure element is applied to the offer to make it more irresistable, more credible and to “still that inner voice of doubt” so they’ll tell you the offer is “available for only a short time, only today by 5 p.m.” etc. When you ask why they can’t just deposit the grant money less the transaction fee, they insist that the grant money can’t be touched. After you complete the transaction fee you are informed that you must now complete a qualification process, or other excuses to delay receiving your “grant”.

Telephone Money Scams

(Referred to by Consumer Affairs as “Information Phishing or Pharming”.) According to everything I am reading, both online and in print, one of the most basic slip ups you can make during a cold-call, or telemarketing scenario, is to innocently say “Yes.” Usually, they will ask for confirmation of your name, or ask to speak to you (Is this So-and-So? May I speak to So-and-So?). Once they record you saying Yes or Your Name they can put through any number of telephone orders for any product in any country. The trick is to keep your wits about you and use responses like “Correct”, and NEVER repeat your own name. Under no circumstances do you “confirm” your banking information whatsoever. Firmly say “No”. Tell them you are looking online to see if their company or offer is a scam while they are talking to you. This usually results in a “Click” as they hang up.

Get Rich Quick Schemers

This scam is presented in both email Junk mailing and in Ads on popular legitimate websites. They use “taglines” or “testimonials” like this, “I got rich; now you can, too”, “Bob was a loser until he tried my system; now he’s rich!” According to Consumer Fraud Reporting website, they are even advertised on TV, on radio and in newspapers. They offer to help you become rich once you buy their CD, or e-Book, or Lucky Talisman. Usually though, they are selling a system which you have to pay for, for anything from stock market investing to pyramid schemes, or like the one emailed to me recently about lottery strategies. How to play a “net system” with the Silver Lotto System. (This name is on the list at the CFR website.) There are also dieting scams because everyone and their dog wants to lose weight without working out. The diet is pedalled as a system or e-Book you have to purchase and download. The same diet outline can have 3 different names with the identical tagline: 7 Belly-blasting Foods or 15 Secret Foods to a Flatter Belly. Also, there is no such thing as emoney, ecurrency, egold or Google Cash. Need I say more?

It’s a dog eat dog world out there, and no matter how many of these emails and offers I tag as Junk Mail, Spam or Phishing, they still find their way to my Inbox, and there are others lined up on the sides of Facebook, Google, Yahoo, and My Space masquerading as bonafide advertisements. We will also innocently locate these false scam ads in our searches on Kijiji and eBay. Hopefully I have been able to enlighten someone reading this blog ~ I know I learned a lot from some other people’s costly mistakes, but then I tend to google a lot of things due to my own suspicions.

Remember: If it seems to good to be true, it probably isn’t!

SOURCES:

www.snopes.com

www.kijiji.ca  (free puppy to good home, Halifax, turns out the owner “relocated” to West Cameroon…..AFRICA)

www.classifiedads.com  (free puppies – Africa)

www.googleblog.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com (Ads on the right that say Free to Canadian Women, you have to complete a Silver Offer and one Gold Offer, but your free laptop/TV never arrives. Furthermore, when you call one of the companies you took an online offer with to demand the free merchandise, they will tell you they have no knowledge of the Ad or the offer. You have to click Report this Ad underneath it to alert Facebook developers, they will get it removed!)

http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/ScholarshipScams.php (check this out to REPORT a scam you’ve been involved in).

http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/identify.php (Tips on How to Identify a Scam or Fraud)

http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/current_top_10_scam_list.htm (The Top 10 Scams)

http://www.consumersguidetomakingmoneyonline.org/ (A comprehensive and interactive website for developing and launching your own business and marketing it online; how to use online resources for free.)

New Zodiac Sign

Is the Age of Aquarius gone?! What does the new Zodiac Sign mean to us, we who follow and, possibly even, rely on, our daily horoscope? It seems a little complicated but astronomers say it’s high time we add another Zodiac Sign, but they claim that 13 Signs previously existed, it’s just that one got discarded as it shared days with another Sign, so actually they want this Zodiac Sign “reinstated”.

The name of the “new” Zodiac Sign is Ophiucus.  Astronomers claim that the Earth’s “wobble” over the past 3000 years has affected the stars’ alignment and subsequently the astrological signs.  It would mean horoscope signs as determined by the constellation positions are now nearly a month off.

According to what I have been reading about it, Astrologers, who are not the same as Astronomers, say that it won’t affect our horoscopes. Horoscopes are based on the “Western fixed Zodiac”, which will not include Ophiucus. Ophiucus is part of the ”Sidereal Zodiac” or “13-Sign Zodiac” and is referred to as a “moving zodiac.” Wierd ay?????!!

When the Zodiac that Ophiucus is a part of is compared to the Western fixed Zodiac, all of the Signs have shifted almost one full month. Based on our birth dates our “new” Zodiac signs would be as follows:

Capricorn: Jan. 20 – Feb. 16
Aquarius: Feb. 16 – March 11
Pisces: March 11- April 18
Aries: April 18- May 13
Taurus: May 13- June 21
Gemini: June 21- July 20
Cancer: July 20- Aug. 10
Leo: Aug. 10- Sept. 16
Virgo: Sept. 16- Oct. 30
Libra: Oct. 30- Nov. 23
Scorpio: Nov. 23- Nov. 29
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29- Dec. 17
Sagittarius: Dec. 17- Jan. 20

OMG I would now be a Capricorn!! What an alien, unrecognizable concept! EW!

Based on my own (above) reaction, I am going to state that probably NO ONE will like this, therefore NO ONE will accept this “new” Zodiac or Sign. It will quickly be forgotton (this is January after all), and crop up in December as a passing mention during “The Year in Review”.

I will be, forever and for always, AQUARIUS!

Western Boots in Canada

In high school, I owned a pair of boots, all one colour leather with a square stitched upper (on top of the arch) and square toes. They were so ridiculously comfortable that I wore them everywhere, ‘til they literally fell apart. If they hadn’t been so insufferably hot in the summer-time, I would have worn them all year round. In 2006 I renewed my interest in boots, only I wanted an upgraded, fancier pair, and became interested in Western boot footwear. At my local Al’s Shoe Factory (of ALL places, and last place I looked!), I found that they carried 3 types of women’s (compared to numerous men’s styles). There were the black suede low-heeled pointy toed kind, with black fringe around the top, which I told the saleslady were actually “peter pan get-away boots”, and one pair of pale pink cowboy boots which she called “dress Western”, for show. You know, so your young rider can colour co-ordinate her pink boots with her white pants, pink top and white cowboy hat: SO not for me. The third kind, was the traditional cowboy boot by Silver Rebel Western boots, and they had two colours: black with black or spice brown on dark brown. No other shoe store in town carried Western boots, so I decided on the spice brown, but since my size was not available the saleslady went and got an order paper for the company, Boulet Boots, which they don’t carry, and made a Special Order for my size and style.

They cost $179.00. I thought that was a lot. What a laugh! When I got curious enough to Google Western boots I found out that there are a LOT of styles, all with purposes and they come in a variety of leathers. Ultimately, what I ordered was a standard factory issued Western boot that the un-country population purchases. REAL cowboy boots cost anywhere from $250 to start, from the common style, upwards to $2000.00 per pair, depending on the variety of leather they are made from and the quality of work.

Alberta Boot, owned by the Gerwing family, is one of the bigger boot makers in Canada. Located in Calgary, Alberta, Alberta Boot produces the traditional cowboy boot with these available leathers: bullhide, cowhide, kangaroo, python, ostrich, lizard, alligator, and rattlesnake. They began manufacturing footwear during the Second World War. In 1988, Alberta Boot was the Official Western Boots of the Calgary Winter Olympic Games. In 1997 Calgary hosted the World Police/Fire Games and Alberta Boot was once again the Official Boot Supplier.

This historical account is available the website, www.albertaboot.com :

“Cowboy Boot History
Before and after the American Civil War cowboys wore an assortment of footwear. One design popular with cowboys was the Wellington, a boot of British origin from around 1810. Traditionally the Wellington is a knee high plain boot commonly constructed in black or brown leather. The boot tops were either cut straight across or curved slightly higher in front. Modified “Wellington’s” were worn by Old West Heroes like Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickock.

“The “Hessian” was also a popular boot with cowboys, and to this day it’s the most easily recognized cowboy boot design. The name was derived from boots worn by Hessian Soldiers during the American Revolution. This boot features an under-the-knee boot with a V-cut in the front. Some of the original Hessian boots featured a large silk or leather tassel that hung down in the V-cut in the front of the boot. This showy detail was not popular with cowboys and in the first known picture of Billy the Kid, Billy’s shown with his trousers tucked in, wearing a Hessian boot with its recognizable front V-cut (minus the tassel).”

COWBOY WISDOM: “The only thing that works harder than a cowboy is his boots.”

HEEL OPTIONS

I found out there are many heel options for Western boots, depending on what their intended use was. The 4 typical styles are Riding, Regular, Wellington and Walking.

Riding Heel is more angled toward the toe, typically 1 and 2/3 inch. (below)

Regular heel is 1 ½ inch, still angled but a little wider. (below)

  Wellington heel is flat and square, 1 to 1¼ inch, while Walking heel is 1¼ to 1½ inch (below).

PROPER COWBOY BOOT FIT (from Alberta Boot)

“New boots should feel comfortably snug. The ball of the foot should be right in the widest part of the boot, indicating proper arch length and adequate toe room (toes should sit flat and free.) The boot should be snug over the instep (top of foot) since there are no laces, buckles, etc. Finally, there should be a slight lift in the heel when you walk (approx. ½ inch) which will subside as the sole starts to flex.”

TOE STYLE

The toe style is just as important as the heel style and overall look of the boot. Men likely find the square toe style more comfortable as their feet and toes are wider and bigger. Boulet Boots manufacture three feature toe styles: Cowboy Toe, Round Toe and Narrow Square Toe.

PRICES from Alberta Boot

Ladies, 10 inch uppers, regular, cowhide, begins at $270; Men’s same height, regular cowhide/bullhide $280. The most expensive leathers increase the price: python, $465; Ostrich is $780 to $1000, and Alligator leather is $1650 ~ $1700.

Catalogue web-sites featuring Western items

www.realcowboys.com  Riley & McCormick, Calgary, Alberta. Claim to be “Canada’s largest mail-order company”. Feature many Rodeo products, including buckles. This is an interesting website one can get lost in, browsing everything cowboy related from shirts to hats to belts, buckles, and boots.

www.thelastbestwest.com  Great website for absolutely everything that can be made out of leather, including saddles!!! But not sure if an actual store/physical location exists. Also, Posters galore!

The Home of SILVER REBEL Western Boots

Boulet Boots, another major Canadian manufacturer of Western and cowboy boots, began in Quebec, Canada in a small town reknowned for their excellent craftsmanship in producing quality leathers during the 1930’s. They Produce the Boulet Boot, Silver Rebel Western boots, and uniform footwear.  During the Second World War, they were commissioned by the army to produce all military footwear. By the 1960’s they were relocated to Western Canada.

Many styles with original designs are featured at the company’s web-site, www.bouletboots.com . Exotics (pictured: Caiman belly leather),

Vintage Square Toe, Medium Sq Toe, Wide Sq Toe and Boulet Rider Sole, all feature the flat, square Wellington heel style, except for the Super Roper. Super Ropers feature Cowboy toe and Roper Heel, which is slightly higher than Wellington but square: these are working boots (below).

 Buckaroo and Shooter boots have the narrow Riding heel, the Cowboy Toe and Pointed Toe boots feature the Riding and Regular heel. They also make Square Toe Motorcyle Boots, Challenger Ropers & Lace-up Boots, and Winter Cowboy boots!! (See below)

MINE are Walking Cowboy Boots with the Regular Heel, two tone spice brown on black-brown, pull tab style, with the Cowboy Toe. The style is 7474, available in a range of two-tone leathers.  Al’s Shoe Factory, Simcoe, carries this in in the Ladies style, and they are also avail at their Brantford location.

(Still have the mud on them from walking around the Norfolk County Fair last year…!)

Icy Review of Niagara Falls, December 2010

Ice formed it’s unique pattern over the walkways, railings, bushes and trees that line Falls View Blvd in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

These are my best results from December 29th, 2010, using a Fujifilm camera, between 11 a.m. and noon.

I was really sympathizing with the seagulls, flying so constantly I couldn’t get the camera focussed on them, when I realized that I was beginning to have problems breathing, due to the cold, damp mist that rises continuously from the falling water. It was about O Celcius at the time (no, I do NOT know the conversion to F).

Cats LOL Review for 2010

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 9,700 times in 2010. That’s about 23 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 22 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 71 posts. There were 51 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 12mb. That’s about 4 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was January 31st with 128 views. The most popular post that day was Famous Movie Stars Who Were Born in Canada!.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were search.aol.com, mariaozawa2u.blogspot.com, statistics.bestproceed.com, en.wordpress.com, and studentloansinterest.org.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for william shatner, carrie-anne moss, carrie ann moss, carrie anne moss, and john candy.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Famous Movie Stars Who Were Born in Canada! October 2009
1 comment

2

What Happened to Canadian Idol????? May 2010

3

Olympic Torch Relay Comes to Norfolk County December 2009
5 comments

4

Simcoe Panorama 2009 November 2009

5

H1N1 Clinics Norfolk County October 2009
2 comments

The Art of ReGifting

There is an “art” to regifting, and many of us need to follow some rules for this!

First of all, DO keep the tag from the original gifter!

Years ago I was absolutely shocked to unwrap a book on collecting antique bottles, while my best friend Karen looked on. She seemed please, a little too pleased.

“Thanks,” I stammered. “What a great gift.”

She was grinning like the Cheshire Cat. “I hoped you would like it,” she told me. “Yes,” I agreed. “Especially since I gave it to you, last year!“

Yeah, we were both red-faced over that one. She, because she had clearly forgotton the giver before regifting, and I because I was so ticked off that she gave away my Last Year’s Gift, that I outed her before I had a chance to think it over. Whatever, I was the Giver With Good Intentions, she was the Giver of Stuff I Don’t Like.

Ultimately, the gift should match the reciever, so please don’t regift a box of chocolates to a diabetic, okay? Thanks for that.

The gift should also be UN-used, or still in it’s box or packaged in some way. I still have the fondue set my elderly Aunt habitually put away in it’s original box after each use. Once she grew tired of it, she “gifted” it to me, partial cleanliness and all! YUM!

But I think my mother wins the Regifting Award this year: each time she called me to enquire as to what I wanted for Christmas I kept replying the same thing, “I want a snow globe. And some oven mitts, you know Jeff set one of my kitty cat mitts on fire, right?”

Since I kept giving the same answer she decide to hit the town pharmacy store, where she only found the two-inch kind, and not being a satisfactory purchase, she browsed the Thrift Shop located right next to it. I am now the proud owner of 3 little snow globes: traditional 2-incher from Pharmasave, old red and clear one from 1972, and 101 Dalmations McDonald’s Happy Meal snow globe that she only paid 13 cents for because…….it was a Half Off Sale!!! Wow, 25 whole cents, MOM! You DO realize that the McDonalds one was originally FREE, right?

Mike Fletcher on History Television

Mike Fletcher is hailed as “a world-class professional diver,” by History Television. Along with his son Warren Fletcher, Mike Fletcher is the star of a team of dive detectives who travel the world investigating marine mysteries. Their television show, Dive Detectives, has aired on History Television since March 2010.

The diving team is especially interesting to me, as they are both natives of Port Dover, Ontario, and according to their website, Mike still raises thoroughbred horses on his farm. Their activities are brilliantly displayed on their website, www.divedetectives.com, with clear and stunning photography that won’t dissapoint, outlines of dive mysteries, charts, illustrations and information gallore. The site is guaranteed not to disappoint. Mike’s bio from the site tells us, “He began his career in 1977, concentrating on underwater construction and the offshore oil and gas industry. After becoming a certified decompression-chamber operator, a licensed dive medic and a licensed captain, he expanded his expertise into underwater cinematography.”

The TV show, Dive Detectives, airs Thursday mornings at 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. EST on History Television. That’s according to this listing, http://www.history.ca/ontv/titledetails.aspx?titleid=248966 link to history.ca/on tv, so if it’s any different don’t blame me! (I just finished watching River Budha)

My favorite espisode was Rogue Wave/Edmund Fitzgerald. The Edmund Fitzgerald was on the Great Lakes of Ontario and it sank 30 years ago surrounded by mystery as every life aboard was lost and there were no surviving witnesses. The father and son team of the Dive Detectives demonstrated a theory that a storm created a massive rogue wave which decimated the ship and her crew.

The show has plenty of mystery, adventure, geography, world culture, technology, treasure, history, research and the human element of personality. While it’s exciting to watch the Fletchers search for sunken wrecks to recover treasure, the underwater cinematography is a marvel to behold. Glistening scenes of coral reefs; the tropical settings of rivers and lakes; and the global lifestyle of those who work and live with people who have unbelievable professional levels of expertise.

Submarine Graveyard airs tomorrow, Thursday, November 24. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

“Please Signal!!!”

Even more ranting on the poor driving habits of Other Motorists:

1) Please Signal!! Geez! I would really like to know why you are slowing down. But wait! Let’s make a guessing game of it. Are you looking for a particular address? Did you miss your turn? Are you falling asleep? Is there a bee in the car? OMG!! I can hardly stand the suspense! LEFT? RIGHT? Tell me! TELL ME!

2) Pick a lane already. Okay the Highway Traffic Act, as it pertains to Ontario, clearly states that those little yellow dashes painted on the roadway indicate that passing another vehicle is possible, however, these are “guidelines only”. Yeah OK. Tell that to “grandpa” as he wavers back and forth over the yellow line, while I hang back, afraid to approach.

3) If you are losing your eyesight, do us all a favour and stop driving. Give up your license. Hire a chauffer. You may not be aware of it, but you are at the point of driving strait forward with no awareness of the areas immediately to your left, or your right. It’s like you’re wearing blinders. Pull it over and park it, please.

4) Don’t advance into the intersection. Wait chor turn!!! Bully!!

5) Don’t you honk at me, right back at ya, buddy! My horn’s just as loud as yours, but I only use it to make other motorists aware of my presence before they back into me or pull out of their drive-way into my on-coming front-end. Yeah. I thought so! That’s right, just keep on motoring….!

6) Give me some room! Don’t park so close to me that I can’t open my doors, forcing all four of us to enter through the trunk to get in our seats. It’s a work-out!!

7) Parallel parking is an art: you, sir, have no talent. I also call it the “hoe down throw down” when someone throws their vehicle into reverse, signals right and begins backing into a space, right in the middle of traffic flow. With no regard to what vehicles are directly behind or beside or attempting to pass left to get out of the way!

8) Pickup truck drivers are the worst. I stand by my statement. They think they own the road, can park literally ANYWHERE they want to, drive through the parking lot with no regard to proper lane ettiquette, cut people off as they turn left into other car’s pathways or pull out irregardless. I can not tell you how many times pickup truck drivers have pulled out infront of me (in my big bus), turned left infront of me in my on-coming lane, and blocked me in with an invisible parking spot only they can see. When I am driving with my children in our family vehicle, they actually recognize my exasperated cry of “pickup truck!!!” as a akin to a swear word.

I can’t get over how many inconsiderate people actually hold driver’s licenses. They should all be made to take Defensive Driving. I’m glad I did because I am always on the look-out for those poor driving habits that could cause me or my vehicle or my passengers harm. I guess there are more offensive drivers out there than defensive.

The Art of Driving A School Bus

There are many things about driving my daily route that irk me, and they have everything to do with the poor driving practices of other motorists. Everything from being in a hurry – or a bad mood! – to exercising poor judgement, lack of commitment, under-confidence, and the worst one of all, “driver error”, I’ve seen it all from the elevated seat position of my bus. Here are a few Do’s and Don’t's for those motorists out there who haven’t a clue!

SAFETY:  The main concern I have on my route, since I operate a Wheelchair Access mini bus, is safety. I also need an adequate amount of room to maneuver the bus to the curb in order to a) properly operate, and b) safely lower, the chair lift located on the right hand side of the bus towards the back.  I need clearance, people!!!

DON’T PARK IN THE DESIGNATED AREAS: I really hope some regular motorists are reading this and will think twice before the next time that they: park in the clearly marked Handicapped Boarding and Unboarding Area that is reserved for my bus. They think they can get away with parking here by keeping their vehicle running and remaining in the vehicle. You could save yourself some hassle by parking in the appropriate area for you, because now I have to double park beside you, hold up traffice, get out of my bus, walk around my bus, get you to roll down your window and then tell you to move. By the way, I never “ask” people to do anything they should know better about. You know better than to park there, so I am not “asking’ you to please move. I am telling you to move. Or else. What a hassle for me to get into my own designated area. Thanks for that, I really appreciate it. Every day a light green CRV parks in my area and every flippin day I have to ask HER to move – YES, you know who you are!

DON’T PULL OUT IN FRONT OF A BUS:  What about a 2-ton, double axel vehicle made out of steel makes you think we are moving slowly??? My axels and brakes are more powerful than yours and my engine is powerful enough to pull a tractor out of his own ditch, so what makes you think you can out-maneuver me? I don’t know why other motorists think we are moving slowly. We are a small building hurtling down the roadway. If we were to collide to a regular motorist’s vehicle, it would be like the vehicle hit a wall. The bus is made out of steel: it’s not going to move.

DO ALLOW BUSSES TO CLEAR THE INTERSECTIONS: We know your day is busy and important. But if you think about the relatively longer amount of time your county’s school busses are going to be on the road (approx. between 1 and 2 hours), then please allow the drivers to do their job and transport their precious cargo home in a timely manner. Many times I watch inconsiderate motorists cut off busses by advancing into intersections, effectively cutting us off when it is clearly our turn to go.

LOOK FOR BUSSES AS WELL AS CARS BEFORE CROSSING THE STREET: Oddly, this happens to me the most right in front of the Catholic High School, Holy Trinity. The students are either so anxious to get home or pre-occupied with friends and hand-held gadgets that they don’t even glance at any of the oncoming traffic.  If they do, they proceed anyway, so maybe they think a bus can automatically stop better than other vehicles. Well, I’m writing this today to let you know that we can’t.

WAVING AT BUS DRIVERS: It is sometimes a common practice for one motorist to wave another motorist through a 4-way stop intersection. If a motorist waves at me, I am more than willing to proceed, and Thank You. However, we are operating what is technically a commercial vehicle, and have a little more social responsibility than the regular motorist. So if you are at an intersection and would like to know why the bus driver did not wave you through it is because that would make us responsible in the event of an accident. It is ultimately the responsibility of each individual vehicle’s driver to determine if their roadway is safe to continue. Similarly, we never wave at police cars either. A law enforcement officer could interpret that friendly little wave as a hail for help and pull us over.

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO HITCH-HIKE A RIDE WITH A BUS: First of all, it’s illegal in Ontario, secondly we driver’s do not have the right to possibly endanger the safety of our riders. Third of all, we are also a commercial vehicle, which is that we have been “hired” by a “client” to perform a service, namely transport riders to a specific destination. Strangers heretofor referred to as hitch-hikers do not have permission to board the bus, and have not paid for the “service.” Laugh if you want to, but twice now since September a man has tried to chase down my bus for a ride, with his thumb in the air. The one guy yelled at my tail-lights, “Oh come on now, I just wanna ride!” Creepy.

SHARE THE ROAD: Hey man, pick a lane. I know those yellow dashes are “guidelines only”, but you are crowding me over towards the sidewalk, and/or preventing me from turning a) left, b) right, c) all of the above.

DON’T WORRY IF I HONK AT YOU: You might be about to open your driver side door without looking to see if a bus or other cars are coming. I am just making you aware of my presence on the street. You might be edging out of a side street into my path and you either haven’t checked my way or habitually pull out into the street at this spot. Once again, if a bus honks at you they are just saying, “Hey, look at me, here I come….” And then last week I honked about 17 times at a surprise landing of big ducks right on the highway infront of me. I had to safely herd them off to one side.

DO REPORT BUSSES YOU SEE SPEEDING, SWERVING, DRIVERS TEXTING, ETC: Our boss needs to know. Go ahead and call the office of the bus company once you get home or have a passenger in your car do it. Using a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle is prohibited in Ontario, and a finable offense. Try to get the bus number if you can, note the street name or highway and closest intersection. The lisence plate number is not as important. Currently there is a bus parking daily in the couresty parking spaces of the LCBO in Simcoe. Does that look bad or what? Excuse me, I need to go make a call!

Friday November 12th

was an interesting night. It was like the stars were misaligned with the universe, nothing gelled, fit or clicked.

But it was entertaining.

Jeff had bought tickets a few months ago to a Lion’s Club event called Fortune 500. It was a dinner and dance. What they do is draw each ticket number out of a barrel until all 500 numbers have been drawn and posted on a big numbered board. The very first number wins $500. The next 48 win nothing, they are “eliminated”, but the 50th ticket drawn wins $100. The next 49 nothing, the 50th wins $100, and so on until they get down to the last five tickets. Those prizes are $100, then $250, then $500 then $1000 and the grand prize is the last number which is for $5000. So Jeff and my ticket number was 006. We made it all the way til the last 10 tickets. Very close to getting a prize, ha ha! It was pretty exciting, and since we didn’t win anything, I kind of wished that our number had been eliminated right off the bat. Oh well.

While I was getting ready beforehand, putting on make-up, I decided to wear this glitter eye-liner I had bought way back in the summer for going out clubbing. I had just put it on both eyelids when Jeff arrived so I went to the door to greet him. All of a sudden I couldn’t close my eyes for my kiss – both my eyelids were glued to my brow-bone and I had to excuse myself! LOL (this could only happen to me…)

After the dinner and draws we headed up to Waterford to the Legion for our customary 4 hours of karaoke. If it’s really busy you only get to sing once an hour, so about 4 songs. Jeff’s sister-in-law had lead us to believe that there were only 8 singers. Well that girl can’t count because there were about 20 people on that list: calculate an average of 3 minutes per person and that means it takes about an hour to go through the list. I got to sit with a couple of girls from my hometown and highschool: Bambi Whitby from Port Rowan and her best girlfriend Sherry Schooley whom I met in highschool (used to be Sherry Wilson). They like to sing country songs. Sherry actually works for my Dad’s cousins, at Ludwig Transport, so she regailed me with stories about that and working at Breyer’s here in town.

An interesting night, and for once Jeff and I got home at a decent hour, just after midnight. I guess all’s well that ends well!