What a lotta hot... gas...

One of the major things I just cannot understand about humanity, and the media, is exemplified by how this so-called 'gas shortage' is being treated. The news is rife with people complaining about how the petroleum industry is 'cheating' people by increasing the price of gasoline and how panicked everyone is, driving around, trying to fill their tanks. Today, there even ran a story about how taxicab drivers are coping with the shortage, by keeping tabs on one another, and how they're being strategic in the fares they pick up. GIVE ME A BREAK!!!
What I find phenomenal, especially in light of all the hoo-haw that is (finally) being given to climate change, is how no connection is being made. How the fundamental questions of, "How are we going to cope with this when this REALLY happens, for real, when we run out of gasoline?", or even, "Geez, maybe we should wake up to the reality, and push for change in our reliance, nay, our addiction, to oil?" are being completely and utterly ignored. I suppose this is Postman's postulate on Amusing Ourselves to Death: our inability to see beyond the soundbite, our denial of holistic, integrative knowledge, our choosing to be distracted by the immediate and the concrete and what satisfies us NOW vs. what is of true import, of looking at the big picture, of refusing to be swayed by the latest gadget or gewgaw that is being talked about... sigh... it distresses me at how so very few evangelicals think about these things at all; I am so grateful for the handful that do...

Delaying the inevitable...

OK, to re-count, that would be FIVE 24-hour call shifts in TEN days... that is soooo wrong...
At any rate, I am starting to think about the notion that perhaps I should invest in snow tires... probably too late for this season... I keep on using the reasoning that I didn't die in three winters in Ottawa, so why should I get them now? Except for the facts that I got stuck in a snow drift the other day, and had to be punted out by a Jeep pushing my rear-end, and then came fairly close to veering into oncoming traffic several times this evening...

Night of the Living Dead

You know, doing four 24-hour calls in the space of seven days, is NOT FUN... it is, in fact, ANTI-FUN... it is the antithesis of fun, the converse of fun... boy, sometimes you wish the PAIRO rules were still in place...

FFT

In her 2005 book Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy,
historian Stephanie Coontz writes that our contemporary view of
marriage as the most pivotal relationship in our lives is a
development of the last century. Prior, the notion of favouring
marriage above all other bonds would have been considered hubris, a
betrayal of one's service to the public and extended family... Coontz
points to a study that suggests the time Americans spend socializing
with others outside the workplace has declined by almost 25 % since
1965. Free time is spouse time; let the world beyond the heath wait.
But fewer intimate relationships mean fewer people to lean on and more
pressure on marriages. No wonder they break.
-Katrina Onstad

I'm (kind of) ready for my close up...

So, I just narrowly missed being LIVE! on CBC Newsworld today. Really, the only thing that prevented me from being on TV was that I already had a clinic booked full of patients, so couldn't just drop everything just to get on television. But, this is already the second time I've missed getting on air, as some of you know. Not that that's terrible or anything, but it's weird getting requests from the media to expound my opinions as an "expert" (rolllll my eyes)... apparently, I've been able to pull it off fairly well, so far... :P

James talk

I am not entirely sure how skeptical I am becoming; perhaps it's because I'm fairly dense. I need to be smacked upside the head to notice what and how God answers prayers sometimes; I'm not exactly one for subtlety. That being said, if 'the prayers of a righteous man availeth much', and there are at least three pastors and a good dozen or so profoundly respected men of the Church all praying for the same thing, with no obvious answer, does that mean a) they're all not righteous? b) they're not praying? c) ALL their prayers in combination don't seem to be getting to those pearly gates?
None of those seem right to me. Yes, yes, I know the things you're supposed to say, "Sometimes, the answer is No, not Yes", or, "Maybe God is just working on His timing", or, "Maybe there has been an answer, and nobody's seen it yet"... Oiii. Something isn't entirely satisfying with that; like, when loved ones die, despite prayers of intervention and fasting petitions on our knees, we say simply that God said, "No".... that's IT???
Someone throw me a frickin' bone here...

Cultural minutiae

Three things that struck me since I've been home:
1. Ketchup bottles. I don't have to pay $0.20 for each small packet of ketchup that I want anymore.
2. Bathrooms actually in/on the premises of restaurants.
3. Water extravagance. I think (and hope) I'm going to be a bit more water savvy and conserving than I was before. I'd like to get one of those two-flush or low-flush toilets. One of the elderly people I had dinner with in Melbourne had a small bucket in her bathroom sink: all the water that was used to wash hands/brush teeth drained into that bucket, and then she would re-use it to water the plants in her house, instead of just letting it go down the drain. Because it is such a precious and increasingly scarce commodity in Australia, they are gradually starting to learn to steward it like the treasure that it is (not to say, of course, that they use water the way the majority of the planet does, but I think they are more aware of water wastage compared to most of the West). In even the very small ways that I have seen them carefully use water (turning off the shower while soaping up, never using warm or hot water laundry washes, turning the tap on only after they have soaped up their hands to rinse only, not washing their cars or watering their lawns) have been subtle, but, as we all know, small individual ripples can become a tidal wave...

The Emperor's Story

I had to give myself a huge reality check when I opened my closet; I was actually really quite excited to see the selection of clothes that I had come back to... as I had basically worn the same two T-shirts and the same pair of pants for several weeks. This lasted a little bit, scampering around in my finery, until I stopped dead in my tracks: most people in this world are lucky to even have a change of clothing. Many people that I have seen and worked with in India and Africa would likely die of shock to see how well stocked my closets and drawers are filled... especially down on the riverbanks where they wash their clothes, when they get the opportunity, only when it's really necessary... Well, that certainly put a bit more of a sobering reality to my scads of shirts and skirts and pants and socks and wraps and coats and sweaters and...

Australia VIII

Right, the animals here... the following animals I have seen within 1-3m of myself since I've been here and in the wild (in the wild, of course, as I really had a hard time endorsing seeing animals only within the confines of zoos and tourist spots):
Kookaburra, possum (2 species), bats, koala, kangaroo (at least 3 different species), wombat, wallaby (2 species), stingray, dolphins, sealions, seals, echidna, emu, penguins, um, I think that's it... unfortunately, no sharks...

Things I've learned in Australia

1. Centring your day around a pint of milk makes it interesting
2. Eating endangered species leaves one in very awkward social situations
3. Being a dingo eating a baby is not very nice, even if it's imaginary
4. Why are you crying?/Why are you crying?/Please open your eyes
5. Stuff that is burnt-to-a-crisp is totally not cool, irrespective of what it is...
6. Wombats are totally cute, and seeing animals in the wild is much more satisfying than in a conservation park...
7. Game shows leave one with a feeling of being a bit... unsatisfied...
8. Kangaroos can eviscerate you if they get really pissed off.
9. Celebrating and supporting local produce is very cool.
10. I love Tassie!

Tasmania

This is a little piece of heaven; it reminds me of New Zealand in some senses. Forests and rivers and mountains... beautiful local produce, celebrating the bounty that they are able to create, not just in food and wine, but also in craft and art... I believe about a third of its landmass is World Heritage/UNESCO protected... sigh... gorgeous here... great food and drink... nice people.... the weather would be good, if I hadn't thought, "Gee, it's summer vacation, I'm only going to bring one pair of pants"... not so smart when the summer weather down here, at least this week was running around 16-19C and dropping to 10C at night... :P

Australia VII

So, a few more observations:
1. There are a heck of a lot of Germans in this country; most days it feels like half the country is here. They think so too...
2. One of the great things here is that the price that is listed is the price that you pay: all taxes, tip, etc are included in the price. This works well in that you don't have to calculate an extra 30% onto your resto meals. It's also great in that they actually pay waitstaff a decent wage (starting at about $15/hr), so they aren't dependent on tips to actually make a living.... sounds like an ideal world...
3. There's a, I'm not sure how to say it, not really an undercurrent, but more of a 'whisper in the woodwork' of racism in Australian society, I feel. I know, now people are going to get all over me about how judgemental I am. I think there are societal and cultural reasons why this is so. I am certainly not saying that Canadians are non-racist in comparison, but there is certainly more of an undertone here... I will likely end up mulling about this some more, and I think it would be hard to explain... perhaps the language, in naming their Aboriginal peoples the 'blacks', or how hard one group in Australia is trying to deport Sudanese refugees back to Darfur because they bring violence and diseases here (?), or how blokes will just say things to you that make you go 'hunh???'.... anyways, all very subtle, which is why I can't say it's overt, perhaps just a small subconscious undercurrent.... maybe I need to think about this some more...