R I P
Anna Nicole Smith
1967 - 2007

That's all i have to say about her.

James P. Banfield,Ocularist specializes in the fabricating and fitting of custom-made ocular prosthetics commonly known as artificial eyes. The one he's holding in the photo was custom made for me over a two day period in St. Johns,NL. I'll be wearing the prosthetic for at least six years if i care for it properly.
Artificial eyes have been made for thousands of years with some made of glass or gold. later they were replaced by plastic or silicone spheres. Lack of movement was a major obstacle to restoring a natural appearance, which made the adjustment to wearing an artificial eye much more difficult. Today with a skilled surgeon and an Ocularist such as James Banfield things have changed. Most people will not actually know the eye is artificial because it moves and the color matches perfectly. Todays artificial eyes can be left in the eye socket for many months and only has to be removed when the person visits the Ocularist for regular cleaning. The Ocularist gave me great advice over the two day fabricating and dispelled myths that i heard on the topic over the years. Thank you James Banfield!!!

Reading through some of the NL Blogs today and a thought crossed my mind. I have been told sometimes that i see the world in Black & White. After reading NL blogs i notice that a lot see the world in colors. Some see it as Red,Blue,Orange and a small percentage in Green.

"The Ambassador."
Another great movie release recently. A new action movie called the ambassador is about to hit the screen. Loyola Sullivan plays the Ambassador, an ordinary bayman who drinks a magic elixir called Screech which turns him into a crusading mariner. I don't want to spoil the plot for you all but here's a little spoiler for you. A sexy sea Siren who accompanies the super hero is played by Kathy Goudie who seduces sea pirates with her cries.The movie was just released in Ottawa and it'll be a while before it reaches NL.

I have not blogged much lately but have been spending sometime checking out other bloggers. The pass two months since my enucleation surgery i have been wearing a small plastic conformer in my eye. The only time i realize it's there is when i apply eye drops or go outside for a walk on a cold day. Monday im off to St. Johns to receive a custom fitted artificial eye. That will probably make my eye saga come full circle. I remember as a kid back in the 60's boarding the old passenger train bound to St. Johns and looking at it all as an adventure. My parents did not share my enthusiasm and worried far to much for me at times. The trips to the Janeway Hospital seemed to be in vain for them because the results of the eye operations did not turn out as they hoped. Over the years i made many trips, mostly for check-ups knowing that it was only a minor disability and it never really bothered me living with the loss of an eye. About a year ago things changed,headaches, nose bleeds but i still hoped it would change, go away. One morning on an ATV ride with my four year old granddaughter accompanying me i became a bit disoriented to a point that she asked me was i ok. I knew at that moment my past had caught up with me. A few days later the Opthamologist was telling me what i already knew.The eye should be removed and he scheduled the surgery. Tuesday i'll see the Ocularist and have the custom prosthetic eye made. Hopefully he'll let me take a few pics of the occasion.

Suggestion to Honour Troops
January 16, 2007
VOCM NEWS
A suggestion to honour our troops serving overseas. Flo called VOCM Back Talk with Bill Rowe to suggest the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador medal be given to military personnel from this province. The deadline to nominate someone for the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador is Jan.31st.

Below info taken from the ONL website.

The Order of Newfoundland and Labrador is the highest honour of the province. The object of the Order is to recognize individuals who have demonstrated excellence and achievement in any field of endeavour benefiting in an outstanding manner Newfoundland and Labrador and its residents. The first investiture took place in 2004.

Any Canadian citizen who is a present or former long-term resident of Newfoundland and Labrador is eligible for nomination to the Order. The only exceptions are public officials (members of the Senate, House of Commons, House of Assembly or legislative assembly of a province, or judges) , who may not be nominated while they are in office. Posthumous nominations are not accepted. Organizations, groups, or couples may not be nominated; the Order is for individuals only. Additionally, an individual who is not a Canadian citizen or current or former long-term resident of the province, but who has demonstrated excellence in their field of endeavour, and who has benefited the province and its residents in an outstanding manner, may be nominated as an honourary member.

Why not honor them?

What greater way to honor those who serve overseas than to give them the highest order of our province? Not only give it to them but those who died serving should be given the order posthumously. We saw fit to give it to the Brad Gushue Curling team after they won Gold for Canada at the 2006 Olympic games. We made one member of that team an honourary Newfoundland and Labradorian just for the fact he was with the provincial team representing our nation. I wonder what are the thoughts of NL bloggers on this today.

From the VOCM Website:

Deadline for Politicians Implicated by AG
January 15, 2007

Today is the deadline for politicians implicated by the Auditor General to make arrangements to repay money that is allegedly owing to the government. Finance Minister Tom Marshall says regardless of whether the individuals involved are ever Buddy Wassiname and the other fellows.charged or convicted, government is still requesting the constituency allowance overpayments be returned, and if arrangements are not made by today, there will be legal action. The total figure is some 1.6 million dollars. Those named by the Auditor General include MHA's and former MHA's Ed Byrne, Percy Barrett, Jim Walsh, Wally Andersen, and Randy Collins.

I wonder if someone got caught poaching a moose would the government consider letting them not apply for a licence in the next hunt as payback? I doubt it very much! The poacher would be charged,fined and hunting privileges revoked.( all after a fair trial of course) no deal would be given to the poacher,after all anyone who takes meat to eat without a licence is nothing but a criminal. Those that take money from those who can't afford meat? What about them? will just look at the VOCM news i posted at the beginning of my post. Those people receive a request to pay back that which did not belong to them.They receive a request in the mail and a repayment schedule. I say forget the whole thing. Lets do something different.Lets have a telethon,Newfie style!!! We'll have it at Mile one. We invite Great Big Sea,Snooks, Buddy Wassiname & The Other Fellows. We ask our CBC Here and Now crew to team up with The NTV evening news crew to man the phone lines with volunteers from political party card carrying groupies. After all if your getting screwed you should enjoy it. An orgy of 500,000 !!!! call "The Guinness Book Of Records."

They say an upside down flag means distress. Maybe it's time they flew our Provincial flag upside down outside the Conferation building in St. Johns. After watching Kathy Goudie's performance on the supper hour news yesterday i say do just that with our flag! Quite the performance for a member who can actually get taxpayers to pay for a meal she consumed months before being elected. That lady is faster then Fraser March's car that could be in two places at the same time. At least Fraser paid for his own auto insurance( maybe noseworthy can check on that one later to see if he did!)Poor Kathy,ranting on about her surgery and trying to pass the buck that was already passed twice before. *QUOTE from a news article* "However, I also feel very strongly that some responsibility lies with the house of assembly staff . . . I counted upon that guidance of the house staff as a new member, but unfortunately the system did not work as it should have." Sorry Kathy,the system does work or is just starting to work. That's the reason why you ended up on CBC News crying yesterday.

The tree is down and the furniture back to its original positions.The weather is puzzling and it's amazing what a few degrees in temperature can do. Winter here seems to be postponed but im ok with that one. Yesterday,my granddaughter and i drove to the lighthouse here just to observe the waves crashing on the landwash. I had plenty of company because quite a few more residents from the community also came to view natures show.Words from "The Ode" came to mind.

When blinding storm gusts fret thy shore,
And wild waves lash thy strand,
Thro' sprindrift swirl and tempest roar,
We love thee, wind-swept land,
We love thee, we love thee,
We love thee, wind-swept land.

Of course i didn't attempt to sing it but hummed it a little.My granddaughter started humming also but had no idea what it was. She's four,she'll learn soon.I know,because im going to be teaching her! Wind swepted land indeed and only a resident can sit in a car on a cold January day watching waves crash against the landwash and truly appreciate it. For some reason when the Southwest winds churn the water here in Cape Ray we witness a red seaweed pile high in our coves. One in particular seems to get the bulk of it.We refer to it as "Willy Walls Cove." William Wall use to be one of our local lighthouse keepers and for some reason unknown to me the gentleman got a cove named after him. Few landmarks here in the community also carry the names of residents who have passed on. Some are obvious while others are not. Maybe someday i'll have a rock or patch of blueberry ground called after me.OK,my minds wandering again,back to the real world if such a thing exists? My question i wanted to ask.Anyone know the name of this red seaweed that washes up on our beach here?

Will it looks like another year is over and this New Years Eve we will be working once again. My wife and i work with adults who are developmentally delayed and tonight like many other nights they will be staying with us. Were workers in the Home Care Sector of NL and like many other home care workers we hope in 2007 to become part of NAPE. It might sound a bit cynical but this year like others in our field we won't be holding our breath waiting for it to happen. We have felt disappointed every year hoping it would happen. Like our clients we can only dream that next day will be better.
Of course things could be worst! Some will never see the New Year and its new wonders. Some fell from grace and swung from a rope in Iraq like Saddam. Others closer to home like poor ol Ed got axed from the executioner. I know,I know, im being cynical again! Will, the next big holiday after New Years is Easter and who knows by then some of the dead might be resurected. Small fry like myself will just try to survive and hope to survive another year without being part of the out-migration. So many of our family and friends have already headed west and at times we actualy feel a bit guilty about it all. Hell, rumor has it that this guy might be heading up to Ottawa in Canada to try and better himself sometime in 2007.
I know,I know! Will,Happy New Year from some small fry in Cape Ray NL and thank you all who viewed my blog and responded in 2006.

While reading the VOCM News today and i saw an article on the British passengers stranded after making an emergency landing in St. John's over Christmas. Some of the passengers reported to the Daily Mail that their Christmas dinner at the Fairmont Hotel consisted of leftovers and the hotel was sub-standard! That made me chuckle and i decided to check out the Daily Mail story to blog about it. Scanning quickly through the Daily Mail i came upon this little story {Three-year-old blogger's inspiring chemotherapy diary} and that made me reconsider the whole thing. Samantha the three year old child has a blog and i hope all who view my blog the next few days can also use the link to view hers.
The story really touched me because just a few short weeks ago our community lost a four year old child to cancer. The family kept our community informed of the little boys progress and his setbacks. In a community of just 300 people we pretty well know much about everybody. That family half a world away is no different then the family in my community,Cape Ray. Derby, England has a quarter of million living there and i doubt if a fraction knows of the little girls condition. I dare say those that do, care. For the folks on the stranded flight during Christmas,cheer up. Life could be worst. Be thankful your not in the situation like the young family in Derby or endure several years of hardship like the young couple in my community. Today i'll even practice what I preach. Im thankful also. Best wishes little Samantha Hughes from a place called Cape Ray,NL.

Movie Plot: A star appears on the Eastern Avalon during Christmas 2006. Yadda.....yadda.....yadda, the liberal prophecy foretold this event back in Yadda.....Yadda...Yadda. No wisemen are available at the time because they're on Christmas break shining up their gold rings,Yadda.....Yadda....Yadda. The people of the southern shore of Newfoundland seek out frankincense and myrrh knowing the re-born already has gold,Yadda...Yadda....Yadda. ...............................

Movie Review: Fellow from Cape Ray: Looked more like a sequel! found it boring and a waste of time. I kept cheering for King Herod and hoped he would slay him during the first 5 minutes of the movie. Rather give the movie a finger then a thumbs up.



FROM VOCM:
John Efford says he'd like to get back at being involved in provincial poltics in some capacity. Efford says he's taken the last year off due to his diabetes and now that it's back under control his political juices are flowing again. He says how he'll be involved will depend on his health.

Efford says he has talked with two individuals about his possible return to politics.

Efford says he's spoken with Liberal Party President danny Dumaresques and more recently with Leader Gerry Reid.

I don't know who will be named newsmaker of the year for Newfoundland & Labrador in 2006. If i had to pick someone newsworthy or in this case noseworthy. It would have to be our Auditor General,John Noseworthy. The mission statement of his office states.

The Office of the Auditor General serves the House of Assembly by providing independent examinations of government and its entities.

As legislative auditors, we audit financial statements and other accountability documents, evaluate management practices and control systems, and determine compliance with legislative and other authorities.

Our purpose is to promote accountability and encourage positive change in the stewardship, management and use of public resources.

Mr. Noseworthy is doing just as he was appointed to do so. So far Noseworthy's audits have found that an unauthorized $1,586,573 was paid to five politicians Liberal Percy Barrett, Tory Ed Byrne, Liberal Wally Andersen, New Democrat Randy Collins and former Liberal MHA Jim Walsh between 1998 and 2006.

His reports have also found that about $2.8 million was paid to four companies for trivial things such as fridge magnets, pins, gold rings and so called keepsakes.

One of the companies was controlled by Bill Murray, who was suspended this summer as director of financial operations at the house of assembly. I myself make trivial things such as fridge magnets and so called keepsakes to sell every summer in local craftshops around my area. I do it to help supplement my income. The wages of a home support worker in this province is not that great and anytime i can earn a few more dollars it helps us pay the bills.We do not receive Gold Rings in our line of work and if we have travel expenses we have to submit the proper paper work before any money is given out.Home Support workers in my area receive 22.5 cents per kilometer when taking a client to work,hospitals,appointments,etc. In 2006 this barely covers the fuel expenses. We have tried to be unionized under NAPE for over a decade but our government refuses to recognize us. Maybe if the Auditor General continues to dig deeper and complete his mission statement and promote the so called accountability he seeks then the positive change in the stewardship, management and use of public resources might go to help groups like the Home Support Workers.The buying of Gold rings and trinkets is at least on hold for now. Yes Mr. Auditor General,you are indeed newsmaker of the year for a lot of us who have no say in the matters of NL.

It's not looking like a white Christmas in my nick of the woods with the latest 5 day forecast.I might seem a bit like Scrooge but i say that's darn great! My wife and i spend quite a bit of time driving on the Trans Canada Highway and poor weather conditions cause each of us to worry about the other when were out there. It's 20 kilometers to the work place and less than 15 minutes driving in ideal conditions. In less than ideal we just might have to spend a night stranded somewhere in between the work place and home,in the car. We have been more then lucky with just one winter accident in hundreds of thousands of kilometers driving over the years. That accident spoiled our driving record and caused our insurance premiums to stay high for six years. The damage to the car was less than $2,500.oo and im sure in those six years we more than payed for it. That's my little rant for today.

Our provincial Auditor General John Noseworthy has released another financial report this morning. One more of our MHA's name has made it to the list.
This makes five on the list,four current and one former member of the house. Ed Byrne's total has been increased to $467 thousand, Randy Collins to $358 thousand, Wally Anderson $344 thousand and former cabinet minister Jim Walsh $298 thousand. In Percy Barrett's case the amount is $117 thousand. The sum total so far is $1,586,000.oo and im sure if Noseworthy keeps digging it'll climb much higher. With a provincial election less then a year away and for the first time since i became eligible to vote in an election im wondering why i should even take the time to do so. My wife and i are home support workers and the pass few months have been seriously thinking of leaving to find a better living in Alberta. We looked forward to each provincial budget day wondering if we would actually gain a small raise to help us survive another year on this island. Most years were disappointed and try to cut back on our expenses. The price of fuel,insurances and electrical power increases all to soon while our wages stay the same. We see our tax dollars wasted by those we elect and just shake our head in disbelief! For the pass 17 years i have worked in the home support system of NL.My work week is usually 72 hours at several different jobs and my wife picks up extra work when she can. We find the time outside that work to volunteer in our small community while watching it fade into oblivion much like our tax dollars. I just can't see us walking into a polling booth in NL next fall and casting a vote. In the pass we voted (for different candidates at times) for those we thought would represent our interests the best. When the day comes for us to vote for the one we less suspect to steal our hard earned tax dollars we contribute to our province then i'll just drive pass the polling station. Maybe the next MHA to represent our interests will be in another Canadian Province.

Had my surgery back on the 23rd and today seems like the first day i can actually say i have little or no pain. I got out of the operating room around 5:pm on the 23rd and several hours later i was home in Cape Ray. They call it a day surgery here and practically kick you out the minute you wake from the surgery. The next morning my wife drove me 200 kilometers back to the hospital to see the doctor. I then found out i was not nearly as tough as i thought i was . The doctor had some sort of object embedded in my eye socket and removed it. He had to grip it and tug real hard and the minute it came out, i passed out for a few seconds. I also blacked out later in the hospital lobby but luckily my son was there to catch me from hitting the floor. Few days ago i returned to see the doctor and he inserted a conformer in my eye and it'll remain there until i get fitted for the artificial eye. I'll be seeing the doctor again next week for a check-up and have a surgical bandage removed from my hip. They grafted some fat from my hip in the eye socket The hip incision lies beneath the underwear or bathing suit area. The fat is trimmed and implanted into the sunken appearing upper lid (sulcus) making a 1-inch long eyelid skin crease incision. A pocket is made for the fat graft, which is then implanted followed by skin closure. If everything goes well,i should have an artificial eye in place by late January.

I have not blogged much lately and i doubt if i'll be doing much more of it during November. Next week im going for surgery to have an eye removed. Lost vision in it at an early age and the pass few years it has really been bothering me to the point that i have to get it removed because of the daily pain. I have not been blogging but i have recently read a few good books and would like to recomend this one to everyone out there in the province of NL.

If we did it
By O. J. & Byrne

The title of this complex yet completely absorbing novel co authored by two people accused of crimes really griped my attention. The minute i began until the minute i finished, i was intrigued by every page and turn in the stories. Both authors so far apart in walks of life but so close and with the same goals in mind, to catch the real culprits and get their life back. Both so revered by the people who put them on pedestals and deserted them when they fell. If you read one book this year! Read "If we did it!"

Lest we forget.

Ekklesia ,a group i only heard of recently says that the white poppy has a universalism which the red one lacks for some people – it is not used in Germany, and it is not understood by many Muslims, for example. The problem of war, the think tank says, is now a global issue and needs to be symbolised in that way - recognising also the suffering of civilians and the work of nonviolent peacemakers.
Looks like the beginning of the end for a 85 year old tradition of wearing the Red Poppy to honour those that fought to preserve our freedom. White poppies have existed as a secular, pacifist alternative symbol since 1933 some say. I never heard of that until i googled a few results today. That's just fine i say,let those who want to wear one do so! I'll wear the red one that symbolizes Flanders Fields. Going to elementary school in Port Aux Basques,NL in the early sixties we came to know that the eleventh hour of the eleventh day in the eleventh month was a special time set aside to remember those that died so we could be educated there. Our teachers taught us the way their teachers taught them. We came to know of a Canadian, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)who probably wrote the most memorable war poem ever written. We recited the words and came to know the meaning well. At our school assembly we saw the veterans of several world wars and back at class i remember my teacher Ann Gillam tell us why the old veterans hands shook when he sat there with his old uniform on and red poppy in his lapel. As i progressed through school the old men from the great war who sat in chairs trembling at our rememberance day assemblies gradually grew smaller in numbers. I'll remember them through the Red Poppy and the Ekklesia think tank can go about their business promoting the white ones. They can do that because those old men with trembling hands gave them the freedom and right to do so.