Vancouver Riot Part 2 - The Culprits

One of the better parts of the Vancouver Riots (is there really a better part to a riot?), is that people were angry. People got very angry. People were turning pictures of their friends and family over to police - no problem. I have to say, if I recognized someone in a photo - I would turn them in. There are no excuses.

So now to the culprits.

Meet Nathan Kotyla. He lit a police car on fire. He was a great kid - a great student. He had a scholarship to University of Calgary, and was an Olympic hopeful for water polo. He's sorry. He got carried away - really, he's a good kid. A good kid would NOT know how to lite a car on fire. I don't know how to lite a car on fire. I would just throw matches at it... hoping it would lite. On top of that - nothing could ever convince me that that act was ok - nothing. He can't be THAT good of a kid....

Here we have mountain biker Alex Prochazka. He was the face of Oakley. Above you see him posing in his sponsors clothing... while rioting. He has been released from his contract.

Below is Jason Li. High school student - hoping to attend UBC this fall - not likely.

Dustin Anderson is the worst. He doesn't understand why he's in trouble. People did things a lot worse than calling a cop a "fag" and telling them to hit him... then he ends up hitting the cop. He doesn't understand what the big deal is. This guy is a real loser. He needs to be punished. All the others above feel remorse for what they have done - not forgivable, but still remorse. This guy just blames everyone else and says he could have been a lot worse.

Vancouver Riot Part 1 - The Riot

We had a riot. I don't live in Vancouver, I live on Vancouver Island - across the ocean from Vancouver. Thankfully, I was no where near the riots, however, I can still feel the impact on this side of the ocean.

Because I am not only Canadian, but also live in BC, this incident is very important to me. 

I will therefore be making this into a 3 part blog.

This is not the BC I know. This is not the Canada I know. The Canada I know is a peace loving, gentle place.

BC is also a place where everyone has a camera phone. I can't imagine what these people are thinking. They will, of course, have to pay the consequences to their actions. We can clearly see their faces.

I can't imagine what these poor people are thinking.

 More Heroes

 Lighting on fire and jumping on top of a Police car. Again, can clearly see everyone's faces.

A clear indication that the "mob mentality" really does exist. I don't think a lot of these people would act this way normally.

 This guy makes me incredibly angry. He just looks like an asshole

Ridiculous. I'm sad that this is the NEW impression of Canada/BC. Everyone loved us after the Olympics, and now.... we are ashamed.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do...

Breaking up is hard. Especially if you don't know WHY you broke up, and no one is really willing to inform you. I am still unclear as to why my husband and I separated. Things were going along just fine. No problems that I could see. Then, one day, he had to start "thinking about his life". Fine - we all go through that stage. Usually it's work related, or do I want to go back to school - something. Not hey, I think I'm gonna leave my wife and not tell her why!
This makes it extremely difficult to move on. How can you possibly move on after this? You have zero closure, no idea what went wrong, no idea what happened. Just one minute everything is good - the next you're single.
I have asked him why - he says I seemed unhappy. That seems like a bullsh*t answer if you ask me. If I seemed unhappy wouldn't you TALK to me about it? Really?
The fact that he refused to speak to me about anything that was going on, refused counselling, didn't even attempt to work things out is completely heart breaking. How do you recover from that? How do you get over that? How can you move on from that?
The answer? You can't. You simply can't.
I think it's extremely selfish. Him not telling me what happened is holding me back from healing, and that is an incredibly cruel and selfish thing to do. Even if it's something hurtful that I wouldn't like to know - it would be better than constantly wondering what happened. It would be closure.
Have any of you ever been through this? If yes, how did you get over it?

DIETS

Diets... they are no fun. Over the past few months I have lost a total of 30 pounds. How? Eat less, move more... hmmm... who knew?
I have lost it very slowly, and mind you, I still have about 40 pounds to go... but it's coming off. No crazy fads, no crazy restrictions. I just try to eat as healthy as possible most of the time, and allow for slip ups.
Now, the last month has been a constant slip up, but I'm all good now. And you know what? I didn't gain one ounce back - not one. I was terrified to step back on the scale - I was exactly where I left off. Now, normally, I would want to come down on myself because I should have lost 10 pounds in that month - but I stopped myself. I have been doing really well - and I didn't gain - so that's something - and I'm back on track now. You know why? Because as yummy as ice cream with chocolate sauce is - so is a strawberry and banana smoothie - plus - I can run up 3 flights of stairs without running out of breath - in the long run - which is better?
I still have ice cream with chocolate sauce mind you - just a smaller serving, and less often. It also probably doesn't hurt that I walk my dog for 2 - 3 hours / day - every day.
Who knew all those crazy doctors knew what they were talking about when they said calories in vs. calories out. Low carb/low fat/high carb/veg... doesn't matter. Calories in vs. calories out. Plus, this is a plan I can stay on for a lifetime. I don't limit anything - just watch my portions and exercise.
A girl I know if on a low carb / low meat / low fat / no diary diet. Basically, she eats nuts, beans, fruit (limit 2/day) and veggies. No dressing, no oils... nothing. She lost 10 pounds in 10 days which is great, she feels good, and she has the will power of a saint. I'm just not sure if that is a plan you can stick to life long - if you can, its great for her. I could not do that. I'm pretty sure I would die (not really), I would WANT to die.

The Joys of Dog Ownership

Another great perk of owning a dog?

Getting outside - hitting the trails - seeing all the awesome area's around you!

Before getting a dog I walked around the city a lot - but never out in my area of town (the burbs). Now, having a dog - I spend less time walking around the city, and more time walking on trails. The first few pictures below are literally right behind my house. And really, I have never stepped foot on them before I got my dog.

This is called the Galloping Goose Trail (click the link). It is a 60KM trail going from Victoria to East Sooke, and there are tonnes of areas to come in or go off the trail. It had a double lane, so there is lots of room for people to ride their bike, run, walk their dogs... its great and BEAUTIFUL. Some of it runs a little ways off the road. I walk those area's at night in case you need to quickly get to the road for some reason - but a lot of it is in a treed area - so pretty.

These next pictures are of Ed Nixon Trail. A lot of the trail is a board walk - which is awesome for walking a dog because then they don't need to stop and sniff every piece of grass - they just walk. This boardwalk leads you to a heavily wooded area (beautiful) and then onto the lake - so awesome!

Oh, and the exercise is good :)