From the Op/Ed pages of the Calgary Herald

Amen, sister.

Wednesday morning, I took my parents to the airport. I watched them go through security so I could wave goodbye.
My dad will be 81 next week, has hearing aids in both ears, braces on both ankles and walks with a cane. I watched with growing anger as security made him walk through the scanner without his cane and then made him stand with his arms out as they wanded him and patted him down for three minutes.
He has trouble with his balance since the nerves in his feet have deteriorated and he cannot stand upright unassisted. He has had a knee replacement which sets off the scanner, but I am not sure how much of a threat my elderly dad would constitute on a plane. The most damage he could cause is if he lost his balance and fell on a flight attendant.
It is time that common sense was brought into our security measures. No one is safer on a plane because some seniors have been thoroughly searched and made to stumble through the scanner without their canes.
The time and effort it took the security person to search my dad could have been used to better effect elsewhere.
Hilary Argento, Calgary


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From the Op/Ed pages of the Calgary Herald

This one made me laugh out loud.

so

One of the blogs that I follow belongs to my niece Danielle (14).  She hasn't posted for quite some time and I've been wondering why.  Well.  I found out.  She's been busy with other things.  She wrote a book!  And she's been published!  Way to go Chickie.
Shameless plug

the wife's razor

The radio DJ admitted this morning that while on holidays his razor went kaput and he decided to take his wife's for a test drive.  His revelations about how silky smooth and razor-burn free his face and head (yes he shaves it) have pulled an amusing reaction from his audience.  One guy called in and said that the same thing had happened to him and he ended up using his daughter's razor (single dad) on his face and head and after he got his own 'lady shaver', his nether regions.  Ok, you just told the million or so people that inhabit this city that you shave it?  That's definitely in the TMI category.  If you shave it, I don't need to know about it.

The 'net's supposed to be faster isn't it?

Been having some 'female issues' that required a trip to the doctor who decided that I needed to go for some tests.  She gave me the requsition forms and there were phone numbers and websites listed to make the appointments.  I got on the 'net and started to make the appointment for the blood work.  10 minutes and 6!, count 'em 6, windows open later, the appointment was made.  There wasn't a website listed for the other test I needed to book so I picked up the phone.  In less than 2 minutes the appointment was booked and then I recieved a very nice confirmation call from them the day before my appointment.

Join the leagues of stoopid

C'mon, ya really gotta know that you can't bring guns across the border.

U.S. tourists busted for Winnebago gun arsenal

VANCOUVER — Two American tourists spent five days in jail, put up $50,000 each in bail and are facing three years behind bars after border guards seized a small arsenal of firearms at the U.S.-Canada border crossing last week.


Danny Cross, brother-in-law Hugh Barr and their wives were on their way to Alaska to celebrate Cross's wedding anniversary when they were stopped at the Aldergrove-Huntington border crossing, 65 kilometres southeast of Vancouver, on July 11.

Cross is 64 and from Texas; Barr is 70 and from California.

The Canada Border Service Agency said that when officers searched their 2008 Winnebago after they said they had nothing to declare, the officers found a derringer-type pistol, a cowboy-style revolver, three semi-automatic pistols and a shotgun.

"The travellers did not declare any firearms during the primary examination but firearms were discovered in the vehicle during a secondary examination," said CBSA official Stefanie Wudel.



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Seriously???

The 'sniff test'?  EEW!!!

Real men wear dirty underwear, survey shows


When it comes to airing their dirty laundry in public, men win hands down. Or noses up, as the case may be.

A survey by Clorox found that nearly 50 per cent of men have no problem wearing clothes - including underwear - many times before washing them.

It's not that men have something against clean clothes. It's the cleaning of the clothes that's the sticky point.

The survey, which involved phone interviews with 1,200 adults, found that when men do the laundry, nearly 50 per cent of them rely on a "sniff test" to determine whether the clothes need washing.

Blue jeans average five wearings between washings. Underwear is worn twice, although 12 per cent of the men said they'll often manage a third use.

One might think that single men looking to impress the ladies would have cleaner clothes than men involved in committed relationships. But it's actually the other way around, according to Clorox scientist Mary Gagliardi, who blogs for the company under the moniker Dr. Laundry.

Men in relationships tend to wear clothes that are cleaned more often, although who is actually cleaning them is up for debate.

Nearly 41 per cent of men told pollsters that they share laundry responsibilities with their partners. But when women were asked the same question, only 29 per cent of them reported that their men were helping.

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