do you remember? i do
i never forgot, really
alas, many of us have
there are no longer WW1 vets alive
my internet service was down for 4 days.
martin fell friday evening and broke his elbow
he spent the weekend in the hospital waiting for surgery to repair the fracture
the fractured elbow tip travelled to his tricep muscle
they pinned and wired the joint
he waited 36 hours to have this surgery
he won't be working for a couple months
he is the sole income earner
if you ever come to vancouver, don't plan in injuring yourself
its only the best city in the world
if you're a shiny happy person ~
one of the 20 % that controls 80% of the wealth and resources around here
i fucking HATE the olympics ~ the IOC can go fly a fucking kite
and VANOC can EAT MY SHIT
so can sam sullivan
and so can stephen harper and stockwell day
i have my first real [freelance, i mean] web design client
i've built my website ~ check the link in my profile
i've chosen a name ~ even made myself a logo
you'll see it, soon enough
soon i will be on the prowl for a job
anyways ... let us not forget..
expand the post ... do you know where that is?
This means challenging my self to compassionate, encouraging, genuine and hostile-free exchanges. It also means contemplating my reaction to the thoughts, feelings and expressions of others, prior to acting upon them. 
5 comments:
i'm not in a position, really, to ever forget.
i presently have a close relative on a second tour of duty...
sigh..sigh.. and sigh again..
best wishes to martin on the proper healihg of his elbow..
sounds painful though, yikes..
Vimy Ridge Memorial, France.
This design was chosen from 160 submissions.
Sculpted by Walter S. Allward of Toronto.
In 1922 the government of France gave the 91.18 hectares or 250 acres of land to Canada in perpetuity
The base used 11,000 tonnes of concrete. The 2 pylons and figures took another 5,500 tonnes of stone.
Stones were taken from a quarry near Split, Croatia because this was the site where stones were taken to build a third century Roman Palace that had proven to withstand the “test of time”.
Actual sculpting took place in France.
It took 11 years to complete at a cost of $1.5 Million.
The base measures just under 75 metres across.
The 2 pylons (representing both Canada and France are each 45 mtres high.
The figures of the Memorial stand for peace, justice, truth, knowledge and sacrifice while the largest is carved from a 30 tonne block representing a “brooding Canada” watching over the graves of her dead.
On the base are carved the 11,285 names of those Canadians listed as missing and presumed dead in France during the war.
The Memorial was dedicated on July 26, 1936 by King Edward VIII.
It has often been said that Canada’s sons left their home as young colonials but returned as Canadians. Vimy is indeed the birthplace of “Canadian Nationhood”. The price was heavy: 10,500 casualties, including 3,598 dead.
If you hover over the site with Google Earth you can't see much of the monument because the buildings you see erected are the restoration facilities that stood for two years. The monument was reopened in April 2007.
You inspired me to check this out, because I think I might have read something in the newspaper about a surviving WWI veteran living in Finland.
According to Wikipedia, the last surviving female veteran of the Great War, Gladys Powers (WAAF, WRAF) still lives in British Columbia. Harry Patch, the last surviving trench soldier (British Infantry) celebrated his 109th birthday this summer.
Most, obviously, are lost to history, and perhaps those remaining will succumb in a year or two.
Still, I have read quite a bit about that particular conflict, which in many ways reminds me of the current conflict in Iraq. So I'm not likely to forget about it very soon.
I can sense your dissatisfaction (shall we say) with the health bureaucracy where you live, especially given your experience as a healthcare professional. Between you and Jean I'm getting to see a side of Canada that we in the US don't usually glimpse. Currently, we see it as a more sane, more enlightened society than our own. Perhaps it is. Still, it must be frustrating to face the unreasonableness of the system, no matter where you are.
I have problems with the Olympics too, mostly due to racial and other elitist policies and attitudes that they have instituted ovr the years. I'm guessing that you're railing against the winter olypimcs in 2010, and the social upheaval it's creating in your area.
Well, New York's sure to try to put in a nother bid for the summer games. Perhaps by then we'll be even.
..... ~ godspeed to your loved one. yes, the travelling bone fragment broken arm thing was quite painful. still is ... tho the pain's a little less angry.
piktor ~ good ole wikipedia, huh? the cbc did a feature about in in april. also a canadian author by the name of jane urquhart wrote a book about the construction/erection of the monument and post ww1 ... its called the stone carvers. an awesome book. it sort of historical fiction, i guess. how are you?
x-dell ~ according to the cbc there are no living ww1 vets in canada. anyone cited as living in bc is likely dead ... there was one chap, they showed a pic of him, but he died in 2005. so they say ... never saw any ww1 vets ... i would think that i would have ... had there been any. locally, anyway.
about the health care system. its worse here, because we just get what we get. end of story. you guys, in the usa, on the other hand, get what you pay for. simple as that. paying customers get treated differently than those customers perceived to be receiving treatment for "free" ... yeah well it wasn't fucking free when they took off 50 PERCENT of my nursing paychecks in income tax! the other problem is the INCREDIBLE INCOMPETENCE of the health care professionals and the system in general.
why does a man with his broken off elbow tip floating around his tricep have to wait 36 hours to have surgery? why does he have to occupy a hospital bed on a ward for two nights? why? how much did that cost the system?
and i'd bet anyone anything that hospital is NOT operating its OR theatres at full capacity. they would say they have no qualified staff. well, maybe if the patient loads weren't criminally high, competetent, principled professionals might be attracted to the field.
those dumb-asses in the recovery room cannot even wrap a fucking post operative would properly. they wrapped the tensor on in reverse (supposed to be wrapped toward the heart, to promote venous return of the limb ... DUH!) and they wrapped it too fucking tight! grrrr ~ they gave him compartment syndrome, for heaven's sake! albeit a mild form ... but nonetheless ... how stupid can you get?
well, it all just confirms i have made the right career choice.
you know, when i lived and worked in germany as a german, many americans (of the usa kind) refered to my health care as 'free'.
they never saw what was taxed out of my paycheck for it....:)
and yet..
ps: i bet you were a GREAT nurse.
but you are going to be an even GREATER designer..
xo
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