Sometimes you overhear a conversation and just shake your head. I wonder sometimes if people know how silly they sound.

I work in an office environment. Good, clean, challenging work. The office hours are 8:30 to 5, two 15-minute breaks, with an hour to lunch. There is a good quality cafeteria on site with good prices. They brew Tim Horton’s coffee on site, and the coffee is free. Free parking. Heated in the winter, cooled in the summer. Sounds tough, eh?

So… I come into the office this morning and while my computer is booting up, I go pour my first coffee of the day. While adding the cream and sugar, I overhear these guys talking:

“There was a sticker on my garbage bucket this morning. It said, ‘Please remove garbage from bucket.’ I couldn’t believe it! They didn’t take my garbage because they had to take it out of the bucket? Man!”

“What?!?! They didn’t take your garbage? They left it there? Because you didn’t take it out of the bucket? We are too easy on these people. They are spoiled!”

I’m glad I didn’t make eye contact with the guy, because I would have just laughed at him. You’ve already read my summary of how “tough” it is around here. Now, these “spoiled” garbage men have to work overnight in minus 20 Celsius (not counting the wind chill factor) and go around the streets collecting other people’s garbage. Forgive me, but I think putting the garbage on the curb is not too much to ask.

Who’s spoiled? Hey dude, take your friggin’ garbage out of your bucket and stop whining about it.

Moncton’s first blast of winter for 2006/07 came yesterday.

The forecast was confusing and ever-changing. Depending on whether you believed the radio stations or the weather channel AND depending on what time you listened, we were supposed to get anywhere from 5 cm (2 inches) to 25 cm (10 inches) of snow, with varying amounts of rain and freezing rain at different times throughout the weather event. We ended up getting all snow, at least in my neighbourhood. I estimate around 15 cm.

Here’s a view of the maple tree in my back yard, first thing this morning. It’s a pretty sight, but I am not a winter person. I don’t really enjoy the shoveling, or the cold, or the shoveling, or the short days, or the shoveling, or the slippery roads, or the shoveling. But most of all, I don’t like the shoveling.

I got a summons in the mail yesterday. What?!? A summons? The government of New Brunswick saw it fit to think that I may be fit to serve on a jury. The document said that the trial is expected to last 7 weeks.

Now, I’ve been called to jury duty years ago when I lived in Newfoundland. About 200 potential jurors showed up, were counted, endured roll call only to hear the defendant’s lawyer say that they were electing trial by judge. Whew! A close call. Only three hours of my life wasted.

But I don’t have such a good feeling about this one. I think this could be “the one”… I don’t think I could purposely attempt to throw the selection process and get booted. But I don’t want to spend 7 weeks away from work and life to serve on a jury.

I don’t know anyone who has actually gone through participating in a trial by jury (other than a few guys from the old neighbourhood, but they were defendants). Anybody out there been through it? Any advice?

I just read on Pender’s blog that Canjet will be pulling out of the scheduled airline business effective Sept 10. This is horrible news from my perspective. Canjet had daily flights direct from Moncton to St. John’s, had good service, had a good rewards program, were always cheap… almost too good to be true.

Canjet being in the air gave the industry enough competition in Atlantic Canada to allow personal air travel to be provided at reasonable prices. Their departure will certainly spell increased prices for the little guy.

At least they had the decency to announce it in advance and not just bail out like Jetsgo did. I hope WestJet picks up the slack.

Oh me friggin’ nerves! This is such a piss off!

My dog likes it when I go to Tim Horton’s coffee shop in the mornings. She loves the drive, she loves sticking her head out the window, and she loves spending time with yours truly. But most of all, she loves the free plain Timbit they give her when I go through the drive-thru. As we drive thru, they see the dog, and offer the little sweety a sweet treat.

I went to Tim Horton’s this morning, like many/most people do in Moncton. This morning I went into the store, rather than hitting the drive-thru. I ordered a large coffee, a medium cappuccino, and a single plain Timbit. The clerk kindly asked me if it was for my dog. I said yes and so I got it for free.

What’s funny is that if I say it’s for my dog, it’s free. If I say it’s for my wife, I gotta pay 20 cents. Hmmmm….

Do you remember my last post about a tornado in New Brunswick? Well, I said it was too close for comfort then… ha!

On Friday, on my way home from work, I heard on the radio that there was a tornado warning for my area. A what?!?! Well, a storm rolled in, dropped a shitload of rain along with thunder and lightning. Later on, we heard that a tornado touched down in Cap Pele… just outside of Moncton! My last post was kind of tongue-in-cheek, but…