Well...hello...again...

Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I know.

I have't posted in forever, but why post when you don't have anything to say?

Well, I do now.

Family can really do a number on you sometimes.

I've got a cousin who I only see maybe once a year, if that.  Everyone in the family knows I have HSN, and usually, it's a non-issue.  Not this time.

While working at a local festival, this cousin comes up, looks at my feet, and tells me "your braces are too tight".  What?  And then proceeds to tell me that I "have to get the other braces."  The 'other' braces being these molded plastic braces that go under your foot, up the back of your leg, and are secured with a wide velcro strap just under your knee.  My current braces?  There's a picture of them on this post.  Those are the braces my OT recommended because I'm so active.

Anyway.  This cousin tells me that I'm being selfish, and only living for today, and that I NEED to give up doing things I love, and think about tomorrow.

Excuse me?  For anyone that doesn't know, with this disability, it's use it or lose it, and I'm not willing to lose anything else at this point.  And as for living for today, what else do you have?  Tomorrow is never promised.

The thing is, until you know, you don't know.  You can see, sympathize, but until you've actually been in the situation, you can't really understand.  I don't care how many people in the family have this particular disability, you can't know my situation.

***Tiny bit of backstory:****
I was diagnonsed 5 years ago, and got braces early.  Why do I have the braces I do?  I told my OT how active I try to be, and that I didn't want anything that was going to slow me down, or make me lose muscle mass/tone in my legs.

Fast forward 5 years - my core strength has gotten better, I'm a licensed Zumba Instructor, and I teach at LEAST 3 times a week (although, admittedley, I'm not teaching during the summer...but I swim,  go for walks, and I'm learning new routines to do when I pick my classes back up).

****

I'm the most active person in my family with this damn disability....I'm doing my level best to stay that way for as long as I can.

So there.  

-CT

Random thoughts...

You've been warned...

Took a fabulous hike (again) this evening, me, my dog, and my cousin. While doing so, my mind tends to go off on tangents.

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There were a few seagulls floating around close to shore, and the water was a little choppy.  These birds were just a-floating there, bobbing away.  I couldn't help but wonder;  "do seagulls get seasick"?  Because if they did, that would seriously suck.  For the seagulls, not me.  I'd
probably find that funny.

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I REALLY want a bag of Lay's Salt & Vinegar chips...but suffering after is just not worth it.  This, discovered the hard way.  Damn things have lactose in them, which is the death-knell for foods when you're lactose intolerant.  Yeah, I can take a Lactaid, but to eat a few chips?  Not freaking likely.  I could eat another brand, but dammit!  They're just not as good.  So, I'll settle for thinking about them every damn time I go to the store.

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And in the midst of all of this, I'm thinking about cake.  Yep, cake. Not eating it, but one that I've been asked to make.  Next weekend, I'm participating in a Party In Pink Zumbathon.  I like doing cakes as a kind of hobby, so my Zumba instructor asked if I could make a cake to celebrate the event.  So while out walking, I`m mentally planning how to execute said cake.  I think I've gotten it figured out. Just maybe.

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See?  My mind tends to wander...and those are some of the directions it went.

~CT

The crab...and the protest

I wasn’t going to say anything.  I *was* going to keep my mouth shut, and stay out of it.  But after seeing some of the comments...well, that went right out the window.

I would say that I don’t want to offend anyone, but let’s be honest.  People only say that when they know what they’re about to say/do IS going to offend someone.  But I’m not really worried about that.  I feel the need to get my two cents worth in, and if you don’t like what I’ve got to say – too bad.

I’ve seen people mouthing off, without knowing the facts.  I’m not saying that I know them all, but I think I’ve got a pretty good grasp on it all.

“It’s shameful”.  “There must have been a better way”.  “What a waste”.  “Look at what the fishermen did, just because they were ‘upset’”.

Upset?  That’s a mild word for it all.

What was done today was done in protest.  There is a tie-up ongoing, and this was a slap in the face for the fishermen supporting each other while it’s ongoing.

Why is there a tie-up?  To the best of my understanding, it’s due to the abysmal price of $1.83 for PREMUIM crab.  Before you jump down my throat, let me clarify something.  Before the crab season was set to open (again, this is how I understood it – I might be wrong), the processors were touting prices over the $2 mark.  But when it came time to sit down and set a price for this season, suddenly, all they could ‘afford’ was $1.83.

Meetings were held.  Lots of meetings were held.  Rallies were held.  More meetings.  The consensus was that this wasn’t going to be acceptable.  At all.  So, a tie-up.  Fishermen are tired of being dictated to by the buyers.  It’s just a modern version of the merchant system, no better, just different.

It’s my understanding that the crab in question was from the west coast.  It’s also my understanding that the crab fishery on the west coast isn’t the bigger fishery, as it is here on the east coast.  $1.83/lb isn’t going to make or break them.  $1.83 will BREAK fishermen on the east coast, for whom the majority of their income comes from the crab fishery.

Why can’t we stop ragging on the fishery?  We should be supporting the fishermen.  The fishery is a source of new money in our economy.  The fishery is what BUILT  this province!  We should remember that the fishery is still the backbone of our province and yes, the economy.  What the processors are doing is as effective as trying to break our collective backs.

Was it a waste?  Probably not, as I’m told that the crab wasn’t fit to process in the first place.  Out of 30 000 pounds, there MIGHT have been 1 000 pounds of live crab.  I don’t know about you, but you couldn’t pay me to eat shellfish that’s been dead for who knows how long.

A better way?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Drastic times call for drastic measures.

As for saying that if there are fishermen willing to sell for $1.83, they should be allowed to do so.  As I said, $1.83 might be fine for someone who doesn’t depend on the crab for the majority of their yearly income. Should we doom some to lose most of their income, just because a few want to sell at the current price?

Fishermen would rather be fishing.  But should they put their lives on the line for nothing?  They are taking a stand, and I for one, will stand with them.

Todays Fishery...as I see it

The fishery affects me in my everyday life, and has for as long as I can remember.

My father is a fisherman, his father was a fisherman, and so on.  And my big brother is a fisherman.  Every year, they put pots, nets, traps in the water in a valiant attempt to earn a decent living.

Some fishermen (or fisherpeople, if you want to be politically correct - which I usually don't care overmuch about) DO earn a decent living.  These are the ones that fish off of the boats that are owned by the plants.

My point isn't this.  I'm talking about the fishermen who own small enterprises, or the inshore fishery.  Fishermen like my father.

Fishermen have to buy licenses, in order to legally catch the fish...otherwise, they would be poaching, and run the risk of losing everything.  And they have a set amount that they are allowed to catch.  They have to buy tags for their gear.  They have have dockside monitors (which they have to pay for), which they often have to wait for, before they can unload their catch.

They have to pay for fuel (I don't know about anywhere else, but fuel prices are ridiculous here!), they have to pay for bait (which the plants set the prices for).

My point?  Every time a fisherman turns around, there is another expense.  I don't think that there's another primary industry like that.

This year's crab season opened Friday past.  No one is on the water fishing. All the boats are tied up to the wharves in protest of the slap in the face that the plant owners have termed a fair price.  Less than $2 a pound - which makes it completely unfeasible financially to catch anything.

This is the second time in the past 10 years that this has happened. 

The fishery is a multi-billion dollar industry, mostly in favor of the plant owners.  They claim that they can't afford to pay anymore for the product.  But they expect the fishermen to catch it for next to nothing. 

Sir William Coaker fought long and hard for the rights of fishermen, and in fact, established the first Fishermen's Unions.

*If you're ever on the East Coast of Newfoundland, and going out towards Bonavista, stop in Port Union -  Coaker House is there, which is the birthplace of the aforementioned union.*

The purpose of the union was to end the 'merchant system', whereby the fishermen would be forever in debt to their buyers for everything.  They would 'buy' the catch, in exchange for household items, foodstuffs, clothing, and so on.  Most years, there would never be enough catch, so the fishermen would start the next season in debt.  It was rare indeed for the fishermen to actually see any money.  That was the merchant system of my great-grandparents days.

The merchant system is alive and well today.  Only now, it has the full support of the government.  While the fishermen no longer receive everything they need from they buyers, the buyers still have absolute control over fishermen.  In that they can set these insulting prices, that won't give the fishermen enough to live on throughout the season, let alone earn enough to get through the winter.

I don't know what's going on.  Newfoundland has seen some prosperity in the last decade, but precious little has made it's way to rural Newfoundland.  In fact, it seems that our current government would like nothing better than to see rural Newfoundland wither and die.

If you ever come to Newfoundland, skip the cities, and visit rural Newfoundland.  Check out what the government wants to disappear.

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This is my rant for today.  Told you some days would be a little more contentious.

~CT

The Paranormal and Me

I'll admit it.  I have a "thing" for all things paranormal.  I think I always have.

Do I believe?  Ghosts?  You betcha.  Aliens? Absolutely. 

Before you all go running to get the men in white coats, I'll tell you that having experiences with this stuff will make you believe.  And I have.  With both.  But, my friends, that's another story for another day.

Back to my aforementioned "thing".  Call it what you will.

If there's anything on TV that's related to the paranormal, you'd best not disturb me until it's over.  It started with 'Paranormal State' on A&E...which led to the discovery of 'Paranormal State: The New Class', and 'Psychic Children'.  All on A&E.  I loved these shows, because they displayed the possibilities of all things that were 'other'.

I'm not a straight up, show me something and I'll believe that's it's paranormal, either.  I LOVE shows that will debunk what they see.  SyFy's 'Fact or Faked' is wicked for this...they'll take different cases (be it paranormal or aliens) and do EVERYTHING that they can to disprove the whole thing. 

Call me what you will, there's one paranormal show that I can't stand! Newfoundland Paranormal.  I understand that it was done on a very low budget, but really, it's more of what NOT to do while conducting  an investigation.  I won't go into details, but if you ever see it on TV, watch it, and you'll see what I mean.

So.  Me and the paranormal, we get along just fine...'Ghost Adventures' (I follow those guys on Twitter), 'Ghost Hunters' (I follow the ones I can find...), these are my new favorites.  Sadly, the Travel Channel that we get here isn't caught up to the current season, so YouTube has become my best friend.

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So there, you see, these are the things I think. Today it's paranormal TV.  Tomorrow could be commercials, it could be music, could be current events.  Could be all about my cat and/or dog.  That's just it.  With me, you just never know!  Although, I have an idea for a few recipe posts, when the mood strikes to post it.

~CT

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