Small town murder

Sometimes I don't know what to write about on thing darn thing. I suppose I'll follow my recent theme of talking a bit about current events. Missing girl has still not been found. So unfortunate. Latest happening in Pictou County was a murder in Trenton last night. Super! Let the havoc begin.

Let me mention something I also mentioned on facebook earlier today. Someone's status was about the shooting being an isolated incident, and that Pictou County is no more dangerous than anywhere else. A lot of people commented saying that there's been shootings in lots of other places, so it's basically no big deal, and that there's really nowhere any safer. I had to disagree with that. Here's why:

To the best of my knowledge, it is quite likely that the shooting was related to drugs. Mainland Nova Scotia has six hot spots for injection drug use. Four of those are in Pictou County - Trenton, New Glasgow, Pictou, and Stellarton. The other two are metro Halifax and Amherst. It is not uncommon for people to get pissed about drugs/money, which can lead to violence.  It's easy to pin a shooting as an isolated incident, but people can get caught in the crossfire. It doesn't take much for an innocent person to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

All this leads me to suggest the idea that moving to an area with less drug use actually could be safer than living in Pictou County.  Now, I'm not saying that people need to shit their knickers about it and pack up and move... in that way I believe that some of my fellow facebookers were correct. That being said, I don't believe that being apathetic about it isn't really the answer either. Why is it acceptable for people to be shot and killed in our community, no matter what the motive or reasoning behind it was?

Oh society, how you disappoint me.

So I guess it seems as though this blog has turned into more of a "weekly" posting rather than daily or really anything less than a week. Oh well, priorities call, especially during the school year.

As an update from my last post, the missing girl has not been located yet. Very unfortunate... hoping they find her alive and well very soon. It has really disturbed and disrupted the entire community. It's nice to see people banding together in a time of need, but I also find myself realizing how much I dislike society and, more specifically, the individuals within it. In terms of society, it really digusts me that in today's world, women are forced to be limited in their indepence and must depend on either A) a man or B) a group of other women for protection and safety. How ridiculous is that?! There really needs to be a shift in terms of people's socialization and what is deemed and defined as appropriate.

Referring to a recent news story from Halifax... men need to realize they they do not have the authority and power to dominate women. Grabbing a woman strangers behind is 100% not appropriate. This is also not just a women's issue BY THE WAY. Men need to react and respond to other men. That is how change will come about. I could really go on about this forever.

Anyway, back to my original topic... I find I am getting very tired of the general public lately. One girl goes missing and suddenly everyone's a top notch CSI agent in their own minds. Let the police and trained professionals do their jobs and stop speculating and drawing false conclusions. There is no need for anyone to decide to spread rumors or tear down the missing person posters. If you can't be useful, just mind your own business. If you're that kind of person, hopefully someday you'll go missing and no one will find you.

This really turned into a rant I suppose. Sorry... but recent events have been grating on my nerves and my patience is thinning. Might as well vent on a blog that hardly anyone reads! ;)

Missing

For those of you not from Pictou County or Nova Scotia, maybe you haven't heard that there is a girl from our one of our local towns missing since early Sunday morning. I was out searching for her today along with some of my family, and our luck appears to be on the same level as the rest of the town: nothing found yet. It's almost as if she vanished into thin air after she walked away from the bar.

This is disturbing to me for many reasons, but the main one is that it is one of my biggest concerns realized. As much as I hate it, I truly feel unsafe walking alone at night, even though I generally think I am being mostly unrealistic in my concerns. Walking in a well-lit frequently travelled main street? Pfft, surely how unsafe could that be in a small town? Apparently very unsafe is what we should be saying now! It doesn't seem right that we (women in particular) should have to be in almost constant awareness and some level of fear for ourselves. I know the general stats: people are most afraid in these modern times even though crime is at it's lowest. Somehow that really doesn't make me feel any safer though, especially not now that this young woman has gone missing.

I hope this doesn't turn out to be some kind of prank or cry for attention from this girl, but I also hope that she returns home safely and soon. I hate to believe that she is in some kind of danger right now.

The wrap up.

Once again, my blogging has dwindled due to a busy week. To make up for it, let me tell you what was so important that it kept me from keeping you updated.

Monday - Classes and work.... until a new baby girl was born into the world! My precious little niece (in-law... Chris's sister Rachel is who had the baby) came into the world at 2:37pm on Monday, September 26th with a healthy weight of 7lbs and the name Sadie Jo. Sadie is the smallest, sweetest little person I've ever seen/held. Whenever I told people about her everyone would say "I bet you want one now!". I can honestly say it made me realize that someday I probably do want one of my own, but also that now is totally NOT that time. I'm 100% content to just hang out with Sadie for the next 7-8 years.

Tuesday - Classes again (YAWN) and then out for supper with Chris, Brian, and Lesley. Mmm... chessecakeeeee. Oops, distracted thinking about chocolate cadillac chessecake. Anyway, after supper we all went over to the hospital to see baby Sadie and her mommy and daddy again. Later that night we went over to Brian and Lesley's to watch Tosh.0 (hilarious show). See how busy I was?!

Wednesday - Classes (notice a pattern?) and then Chris and I brought a lasagna we made over to baby Sadie's parents because the trio was now settled back at home. After that I went to an aqua zumba class with Chris's sister, Natalie. Aqua zumba is interesting, but I didn't feel much of a burn doing it in the shallow end so we might move on up to deeper waters next week and see how that works out (hoping I don't take in too much water and/or drown... my treading water skills are pretty rusty).

Thursday - No classes (surprise! bet ya didn't see that coming) but I did work all evening.

Friday - Classes (back to pattern). Out and about all evening and basically just doing other things than interneting. Went to that mall which was depressing because I am beyonddd broke but I'm craving new, more supportive sneakers. So sad.

Saturday - Work all day and then once again doing things other than interneting all evening.

Well that bring us up to today, and I've got a whole lotta nothing happening. Well, except cleaning the apartment and doing some schoolwork. Maybe I should clarify and say that I am doing nothing that I actually want to be doing. Ah well, at least I feel content that I have completed my blogging for the day! Enjoy staying inside cozy and warm on this rainy Sunday.

Don't do it!

I drove by a woman sitting on her doorstep wearing pyjama pants in the middle of the day yesterday and it got me to thinking. When I see someone wearing PJs during the day my perception is that there is something negative going on with that person. Sick, depressed, lazy, low self esteem maybe, etc etc. I should also probably clarify that I mostly only think this if I see the person wearing PJs IN PUBLIC. It hardly matters what you wear if you're staying at home all day. Although, I do think it boosts a persons motivation and self image if you take the time to clean yourself up and put on "day-time" clothing. In fact, I think there must really be some scientific correlation there. I once heard that it's important to set up a "study area" for yourself when you're in school because if you just flop on your bed to study, your brain associates that with where you go to sleep, so you tend to be less focused on actually learning. Maybe wearing PJs all day is kind of like that too.

Anyway, I'm sure there are "PJs in public" wearing people out there who would read this and say "There's nothing wrong with me! I just choose to wear this because it's what I'm comfortable in!" but I think those people should probably take a closer look at themselves and their reasons for choosing to wear that specific attire. Also, I think people should perhaps be more aware of their public image for other reasons as well. I doubt it would make you look too good if you came across your boss, potential employer, etc. out somewhere and you were wearing pyjama pants with some kind of animal/food/stripe on them.



I don't even think these are pyjama pants... but they certainly have the same effect...

 

Maybe I should get these ones...?



Ahead of the game.

I love when I realize that I am way more organized and ahead of myself than I thought I was. Maybe you know the feeling. It usually involves a few seconds of concern and dread, and is then promptly followed by the realization and relief that you had prepared yourself properly.

Yesterday I was heading up to Wicker Emporium to pick up a bookcase I have bought the day before. After I had already left my apartment, I thought to myself "Uh oh... did I leave the receipt for the bookcase on the kitchen table after I cleaned out my purse?" I thought I'd better check before I got any further away, so out my wallet comes and I unzip the main compartment only to see the desired receipt neatly folded and placed inside. Relief! And surprise... pleasent surprise because I had already thought further ahead of myself than I expected. I notice these types of incidences happening all the time to me. I'm not sure if it displays the fact that I am sometimes unorganized (because I had to stop and try to remember where the jesus I put the receipt) or rather the fact that I am actually quite organized (because I had the foresight to put the receipt in a convienient place for when I would need it).

Nonetheless, my bookcase is now home and sitting beautifully in the living room about half full with books. Still lots of room to aquire more, although I did just get a Kobo for my birthday from me Mudder and Fadder. I'm sure I will still buy real books from time to time, and even if I don't I have no doubt that I will be buying more than enough textbooks over the next four years to fill the rest of the shelves. Maybe I will even post a picture of my new bookcase for your viewing pleasure later on today!

Do I risk it?

For anyone who has never been in my apartment in person, you should first know that we have a fishtank in our living room that currently has nothing living in it. We used to have two newts (RIP Rodd+Todd), but they died and we have not replaced them with anything since. Sometimes it freaks people out because they wonder what kind of creature is in there and where it's hiding. That part is fairly satisfying for me as the owner.

The point is, I've been thinking about getting some angel fish ever since I saw the two new ones that my mama put in her gigantic tank. The only problem is that Chris has not been agreeable to this. Why? Because he says I have too much of a tendancy to kill things. This is not untrue. Plants, fish, newts, etc. To be fair I do still have some plants that I have not killed yet though. I just find that things get tricky sometimes... I certainly put in the effort... but things happen. I over-water... over-feed... don't make the tank secure so the damn things can not escape, you know... the usual... I just find that pets like cats are easier to care for. It's easier to see when they are sick or hungry/not hungry. Anyway, all this has not deterred me from wanting some new fishies... will have to work on boyfriend some more, I guess.

Does anyone have any suggestions or tips for me on caring for fishies? I could probably use some...!