The Last Peacock

This is so strange,  living in Canada, one would assume only Canadian Geese.

 However,  simply put,  Western Canada is very mild and we rarely receive snow.   Unlike, all those northern "well known" states that seem to be shut down by a winter's breath.   In British Columbia, we ski,  snowboard,  swim, sunbathe,  dance and be merry all year long.   Just as long as we have an umbrella in our hippie backpack that has a slight aroma of skunk.   *wink wink*

 But with warmer climates,  comes development,  and we are being developed over and over again.   Not from the inside out,  but from the outside in.   What remains are little pockets of "last hold outs" a few acres here and there,  farms,  old growth trees that can no longer be protected by legislature,  yet are standing tall because of a few folks who smell like skunk.

So it remains.   A peacock farm,  and a cockle of peas,  feathers and all,  abandoning their habitat to cat food,  and hummingbird troughs,  and artisan rock walls,  stoops and decks and RV shadows,  neighborhoods of similarly built houses,  row upon row,  street upon street, less trees upon lesser.

Here is a video clipping of one of the males, feathers fully opened.
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=283546625111582

Freaks and Geeks...........

I wouldn't have it any other way.  So proud of you son.  Despite the hairdo.  It's cool to be smart.

Colonel Mustard with a Lead Pipe in the Ball Room.... or a bunch of nails!

We have had problems with our plumbing since last summer. 

Most urgently, our kitchen sink plugging up suddenly with toilet sewage. Toilet paper floating among an afterthought of lazy dish washing from the night before.  

RULES:
Upstairs, do not flush, do not shower, do not brush your teeth.  Go to second floor.  Poop there, but you can pee upstairs.   Do not use mom and dad's shower or toilet, sink OK.  Kid's toilet, shower and toilet good, no sink.  

Kitchen sink bubbles up shit.  Dining room floods from the hole now forming in the ceiling.   Stained yellow. Plumbers, all expert, all stupid.  Fucking crooks.  Just need flushing.  $400.00 

A few abandon the estimate.   Some do not return phone calls.

2 months later, do not poop upstairs, no kitchen.  One shower.  Four people.  Kill.  Paper plates, towels soaked and destroyed.  Elbow joints, tee joints, flanges, silicon, Liquid sauce, grains, snakes, and trains. 

Ceiling removal.  Fucking popcorn fucking ceiling.  No!  $389.  $275.  This and that.  Cameras. $800.00

Nails!  Just like the ones that flatten our tires.  Nails!  Instead of strapping the plumbing pipes into place, they were screwed in, or nailed into place.  Lazy construction.  Poor workmanship.  Uncaring.  Bullshit we now have to contend  with.   Live with.

Toilet paper snowballs onto the nails, like hooks, building and building a pyramid of clog.  Shit.  Backed up sinks, toilets.  Bank accounts.  Buyer Beware!

How to Survive Bus Transit in Surrey, B.C.

When the door opens there's an instant smell of misery.

Foreboding eyes warn quickly, then release to the mist forming skin on the windows.

You cannot see from the outside world, how we are packed in an orderly fashion, row upon row:    some sitting - some standing with arms reaching to the sky as if pleading to God, send us 5 more commandments.

But they are merely holding on for dear life, because the driver on shift today hates his job and hates the scum of the earth he has to contend with.  He hates the smell of whiskey and being short changed and having to make schedule deadlines .... and yellow lights.  So he brakes hard, dead stop, as two passengers drop to the ground, knees buckling against baby strollers and wheelchairs amassing flags of Green Peace and Save Tibet.

He is haggard, the interior even worse.  It reminds him of years of abuse, battered fist fights, blood and guts, disorderly conduct, puke and piss.  And that was only half of the clients I traveled with in the 20 minute long ride to Newton Exchange, where I now have to to transfer to the most notorious route of all, Surrey Central #321.

It is not unusual to have strangers fall asleep on your shoulder, nor converse with you and you and the other you, or have empty beer cans roll between your feet, rattling from seat to seat - Surrey pre-trial clients boasting how they only received 6 months probation and no jail time, custody battles, hard luck stories all accentuated with being wrongly accused and cheap perfume.

The majority clearly have no dental plan, or deodorant, but proclaim a scholarly genius of all worldly woes.

I keep my eyes peeled to the skin on the window - no contact.  Contact would open up another story.

Thou shalt give up your seat for the pregnant and elderly.
Thou shalt give up your seat for the pregnant and elderly.

Thou shalt gi.........................