Laura Loves the Glacier...and Jazz Hands

As promised:

Here are a few pics from our trip up to the Glacier.
This Highway is called: "the Most beautiful highway in Canada" according to the National Parks Pamphlet we were given when we paid our 16 dollars to get in.

Pictured here is a mountain.
And some trees.
And a lake.

I don't know what mountain this is. I just stuck my camera out the window and took the picture. Luckily, it turned out really well!

This was one of the most scenic drives i've ever been on in my whole life. The trip is about2 hours from Banff, but you don't even notice it really, because there's so much to look at and the secenery is constantly changing.

I had just finished reading "Clan of the Cave Bear" so, all this ancient icy landscape brought the book to life.

This is my sexy Husband in a "grampa hat" he found in a tourist trap gift shop.

i like it.

he should have bought it.

But he didn't.


Here we see the Athabasca Glacier, in all it's glory. The very bottom of the glacier is called "the Toe". If you look closely you can see on the left side little dark spots that look like ants.

Those are the Ice-Explorers. The Giant Busses that haul people out onto the 'meeting point' of the glacier.

It's about a 7 minute drive onto the glacier. It's amazing the difference in temperature the closer you get.

It's pretty awesome. And by awesome, i mean it inspires awe. The whole trip was awe inspiring. Next pic to show you:

This is the Ice-Explorer bus. This pic was taken ON the glacier, of a different bus bringing people out.

The glacier is over 300 metres tall and is nothing but hundreds of years of compressed snow and ice.

Because of the compression, all the air is pushed out of the glacier, leaving it that pretty blue colour.

All the "dirt" is particles that have come from the atmosphere. When rain or snow is formed, the moisture always forms around some kind of airborn particle like dust or pollution, etc. So, when the moisture dissappears into the glacier, the particle is left.

Then the sun heats up the 'dirt' and melts the glacier, creating the Melt Water.

THERFORE:
More particles in the air, more particles in the "dirt", more sun being attracted, more glacier melting.

And THAT's how pollution is killing our glaciers. **steps of soapbox**

Here's Brad and I next to the Ice-Explorer.

Much larger, and sturdier than your normal city bus. :D It's a bumpy ride, but worth every second.

Here i am, partaking in Glacial Ice.

The melt water is completely clean and drinkable, and is probably the best tasting water you'll ever experience in your whole life.

I was lucky enough to get this little piece of ice in my water bottle.

So,

I ate it.
or, drank it? i'm not really sure what you're supposed to say when you ingest ice. Are you eating it? or drinking it? Hm.
Anyway, if you want more Glacier Pics, you'll have to go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/iamthediva/. "Laura Loves The Glacier...and Jazz Hands"

RE: Moron...

So, i thought i'd share my Moron rant with some friends of mine. And hilarity Ensued:

Four Leaf Clover says:
You poor girl... you have the worst luck at McDonalds... lol
I like the McCrack part.

Laura says:
thank you.
did you read it to sab?

Four Leaf Clover says:
Yes... out loud.
I've got a McDonalds story if you want to hear it.

Laura says:
you see sab?? McDonald's if filled with F*cking MORONS!!!

Four Leaf Clover says:
(Sab sez "Only for you Laura. I got my order yesterday. Write down your order on a piece of paper and slide it to the cashier and finish it off with No Questions Asked!")

Four Leaf Clover says:
Twice I've asked for my Filet O' Fishes with extra cheese and twice (different times, a month apart) I've been charged. Both times - only one slice of cheese. Grrrrr.
But I finally got my extra cheese on my fishwhich last week and it sucked. Too cheesy. What an letdown... I'd been waiting months to find out what extra cheese on a Filet tasted like.
And that's my story.

Laura says:
wow.
that's quite a sad tale of misfortune. i think i may have to write a book about crappy McDonald's service.
Sab - i think i should say on my note: "just give me exactly what i ask for... and NO ONE GETS HURT"

Four Leaf Clover says:
I think you should. Coffee table books like that are big money.
(He laughed - "Oh Laura... you are totally getting thrown in prison one day.")

Laura says:
yeah. HELL YEAH!
At least in Prison, if someone f*cks up my order i can CUT them!!

Four Leaf Clover says:
(Pictures Laura shanking her cellmate.) Lol

Laura says:
only if i don't get my mustard sauce

Four Leaf Clover says:
Sabastian said "I can see it now.... you are in your orange jumpsuit... big guy looks over and sez 'What are you in for?'... you say 'Threatening note to a McDonalds worker.' And somewhere in the background someone starts a slow clap."

Four Leaf Clover says:
then eveyone claps

Four Leaf Clover says:
you are now the prison queen

Laura says:
omg, that's hilarious! SAB forget the talking cat cartoon.... THIS is what i want my Full Length Feature Film to be!!!
PLEASE!!!
i read that bit about being thrown in prison and the slow clap to my co-workers... and all three of us were cracking up... *brushing away a tear* i can't breathe...

Laura Says:
...think of the musical numbers!!

Think of the Musical Numbers Indeed!! Do you think i can get the K-Fed to Choreograph?

Hello, you're a Moron!

Dear McDonalds Staff,

i'd like to comment on your current ad campaign - looking for new employees using the slogan (and i'm paraphrasing) "At McDonald's, we care about our Employees" or some garbage. What your ad campaign should say is: "At McDonald's, we hire idiots! Just about anyone who walks through the door! If you are a Moron, Cretin, or Ignoramous, then do we have the job for you!".

Unfortunately for me, you season your french fries with Crack Cocaine, and i am addicted. Otherwise i'd never set foot in your establishment ever again. but i digress.

I don't know why, but i guess like any crack addict, i think this time will be different.

Ordering at McDonald's is not rocket science. I mean, you've even eliminated the need to say anything other than: "one #5 with a coke".

I'd like to share with you the experience i had today:

I walked in the pouring rain to CrackDonalds to purchase said Crackfries for myself and a coworker. One person ordering 2 meals?!? that's already one strike against me! When i finally make my way to the register - i say:

"i'd like One #9 with a Coke and One #5 with a Sprite. To Go."
to which she replied...
"....uhm.....one #9? McChicken?"
"yes"
"with a medium fries?"
"yes."
"and what to drink?"
"...coke." (here's where i thought i'd help her out a little bit) "and a Number 5, Crispy McChicken Sandwhich with a Medium Fries and a Sprite. ...To go.."
"okay...did you want a Coke with that?"
"...No-o-o-o....a Sprite"
"okay, that's $11.31"
So she begins to expedite my order, when she asks me "is that to stay here?"
"no - it's to go!"

Now, i realize that next part may be all my fault - because i caught her off guard...
"ooh! I forgot, can i get one Honey Mustard Sauce please?"
she looked at me like i asked for the Head of John the Baptist served to me on a Platter: "i'll have to charge you for that!!"
"yeah, i know. 11 cents. That's fine."
i think i broke her brain.
She hummed and hawwwed over the cash register, pushing buttons... and scratching her head... Finally she asked the girl at the other till who came over, with a huge sigh of annoyance (maybe she's had her order taken by this girl before too...) pushed a few buttons and walked away.
"okay, it comes to $12.38"
"...what?....it was $11.31, now it's $12.38?"
"yes"
"you charged me a dollar for sauce? Sauce is 11 cents!"
"yes, but i did it wrong, i entered it as breakfast, now it's entered as dinner"
"yes, but my order still went from $11.31 to $12.38 - because i added sauce?"
"yes"
"i'd like to see the receipt."

At this point, i don't really care about the money, well, i never really did. And i would have just said screw it, but i really really like their fries with Mustard Sauce!!!

So i get the receipt as she's packing up my order.
Somehow, i was charged for extra cheese... $0.30. Now, i don't know how it magically changed from extra sauce $0.11 to extra cheese $0.30. Maybe it was the Mustard Sauce Fairy, or maybe you have to be well versed in Fast Food VooDoo. But Dammit, i'd given up.

As she's handing me my food... she says to me: "do you need any ketchup?"
....
...
...
...
"no......just the sauce!"
...guess who was grabbing the mustard sauce from behind the counter then.

In retrospect, i probably should have asked her for straws or napkins, but i figured that i actually got the food i'd ordered. So i shouldn't push my luck.

In Closing, McDonald's is full of stupid people, but their fries are covered in smack.


Love,
Laura

Creating a positive work environment through insensitivity

This morning my boss walked up to me and 'matter-of-factly' told me that a close friend of mine's dad passed away last night; in the same way you'd tell someone that a famous movie star couple was getting divorced. Like she was sharing the latest gossip.

However, i had not been told previously that he'd died. This was the first time i'd heard it.

even know, my eyes are stinging at the memory of how *delicately* she approached the topic.

I suppose she probably assumed i'd already know - brad and i are pretty close to that family.

Thankfully, Mr. Partridge is no longer in pain. The real tragedy and pain of death is for those left behind. My heart is breaking for Shaun and Tessa and Keeley.

the rocks choose me...

I have a habit of collecting rocks. I don't know when exactly this started, but i'm sure it has something to do with me being a taurus and feeling a connection to the earth and blah blah blah. But over the years, i've started my own collection of various rocks and crystals. For some reason i feel good when i've got a rock of some kind on my person or in my pocket.

Knowing that all matter is merely energy and vibrations, it makes sense that different types of matter can cause different vibrations, and cause those same vibrations in me.

I have been having a shit week.

So.

Yesterday i glanced at my collection of rocks and crystals, lightly touching a few... when i decided that today the Moonstone should in my pocket go.



the one i have is like the one in the bottom right. the ivory coloured one. Anyway, i don't know why i picked it. but upon a little research - i rediscovered that the moonstone is great for calming emotions, and good for creativity. incidently, it also is a great stone for a lady who is in her "moon-time". such as i. interesting....

I took a walk to the newage books and crystals store on my lunch break. And, as i do everytime i go, i walked up to the counter of polished crystals, and picked one up. I don't know how i know the stone i want. i just do. it usually feels good in my hand and has a nice flat surface that i can rub while holding it. and the stone i picked up, unknowingly was the sunstone.



a sunstone does this:
Mystic Lore: Intuitive sources say that Sunstone is a stone of leadership, strongly evoking this quality in those who wear it. It is said to dispel fear and stress, to increase vitality, to encourage independence and originality, to warm the spirit and to bring good fortune

Now, if any of you had been at work with me that day and seen the morning i'd just been through, you might see why i was surprised that the very stone that i actually needed in my life was the stone instinctively picked up when i walked in.

So, i've come to the conclusion that i don't pick the rocks, the rocks pick me.

Plus, they're really pretty. :D

Jupiter Vs The Athabasca Glacier

You Should Rule Jupiter

Huge and hot, Jupiter is a quickly turning planet with short days and intense gravity. You are perfect to rule Jupiter, because you are both dominant and kind. You have great strength and confidence, but you never abuse your power. You are always right. Even if you make mistakes, you compensate for them... before anyone knows it. Headstrong and ambitious, you always have a goal in mind. You are optimistic and believe thing things will always work out.

What Planet Should You Rule?

You hear that Jupiter?? i'm Coming to Get ya!!!

I thought it'd be Venus, but boy was i wrong!

So, last weekend the hubby and the inlaws and i made a trip out to the Columbia Ice fields to check out the Athabasca Glacier, one of the most famous glaciers in the world. I'll put up some pics when i download them off my camera.

Anyway, it was really quite amazing. A beautiful day for it - about 26 degrees, and about 15 or colder with the wind ON the glacier.

We took the Big old ICE BUS out onto the river of ice, and we learned many wonderful things such as:

• The Columbia Ice field is the one and only glacier system in the world that empties its runoff into 3 oceans, the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Arctic
  
• Ice is slippery
  
• The water is REALLY friggin cold
  
• If you fall into a crevass, you're body probably wouldn't make it's way back up to the top for 100 years
  
• The glacier is over 300 metre tall. That's really really tall
  
• The glacier recedes almost 30 feet a year.
  
• The run off water is the cleanest, best tasting water in the WORLD!!!
  
• If you get runoff water in your shoe, it sucks.
  

The highway up to the Glacier is the most beautiful highway in Canada. I guarantee it! It's hard to imagine, sometimes, how it would have been to be living on the land in the ice ages, where living with glaciers was a reality.

The Scenery is so beautiful, and amazingly, the landscape still looks relatively untouched. It was the easiest 3 hour drive of my life.

Congratulations Kate

My friend Kate finally burst on Monday September 4, and had a healthy baby boy. His name is Sied, and he was 8lbs. 3oz! HOORAY for kate! She did it!

And what a great day to have a baby - i'll never forget... it's my anniversary! happy second anniversary to me!! Happy birthday to Sied!!

I'm Really Trying, but it's hard

I love my married-family! I love my inlaws... and all of my inlaw aunts and uncles and cousins.
I am so horrible with small talk. This is really a talent that i don't have. It's not that i don't want to talk to them. In fact, i'd like to talk to them very much - but for some reason i can't explain, i have no words. I have nothing of interest to say. nothing in my life is new or exciting...

and i never know whether to hug or not.

I think i'm probably pretty safe with hugging, but it's still all so new.

Brad's cousin was in town. She's living in Guatemala (hi Lorenda) and i think she's great. I read her blog quite regularly to keep up with the things going on in her life, but when i saw her this weekend, i clammed up!

I'm really not this shy. I'm quite gabby, in fact. but i struggle. And i hope my new extended family doesn't think i'm super lame. Cuz i do sometimes.

But i'm really not such a big dork. i promise. i think i just take a while to warm up. And i'm trying, but it's pretty darn hard. But definately worth the effort.

:)