2008, The Year in Retrospect

Another year is behind us, or will be in just a few days. On a foggy and wet day like today the sanest thing a man can do is to stay at home dry, warm and content. Maggie outdid herself again with vanilla cookies and cabbage rolls--both are old Croatian recipes which she brought to perfection. They are usually served during the holiday season and it brings the sense of home. We sat after a hearty lunch of cabbage rolls with a glass of red wine each and reminisced the events of the year. I mean everybody else does it at this time of the year--all the TV channels and radio stations, even the podcasts we download, reviewed 2008--so why not us?

The highlight of the year was our vacation in Barcelona, for many reasons. First and foremost, it was the v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n! It was relaxing, we've seen a lot, enjoyed a lot, and had some grievances too. We didn't like Barcelona's pickpockets and its hurried, unfriendly people. I loved the town of Tarragona with its Roman past and ruins. Maggie's face lights with smile when she thinks of Bar Celta in downtown Barcelona, where we went for our dose of tapas, good red wine and friendly service.

The Barcelona vacation was also important on a very different level: it tought us to appreciate what we have at home. Upon return, the tiring restlessness was gone and with it the perpetual search for another place to live, another country to settle in. Barcelona made something click inside us--Bar Celta's red wine untied our tongues and we talked about everything; we compared our lives with the lives of people around, people we knew and the ones we didn't; we re-evaluated what we've accomplished and set some goals and targets. Coming back felt like waking up from a long and restless dream. We came home, looked around the house and the neighborhood and decided that's where we want to stay. So what if it snows 6 months a year?

No one can talk about 2008 without talking about economy. The catastrophe may have started in the States with the sub-prime mortgages--the term the whole world learned quickly, as the debt spread globe-wise like cancer and bank after bank collapsed--but financial uncertainty also hit us personally. People are getting laid off around us, friends and colleagues we knew for years, and we are worried about our jobs. True, both have been re-assured at work that we have nothing to fear (at least for now), but who's to know when will the guy who's deciding who gets fired make a deeper cut? Job uncertainty is driving us crazy.

In 2008 I ran the longest official race of my life--a half-marathon. Hopes and plans for 2009 are to finish one, possibly two full marathons. Physically, I haven't felt this good in many years. Maggie's energy was focused down different alley. She honed her culinary skills. I always knew we complement each other nicely: I run to spend calories so I can enjoy her cooking without remorse.

We both share the same favorite book for 2008: "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger.

Boxing Day shopping

I admit, I have no clue where this tradition of Boxing Day shopping comes from. I promise, I'll look it up in Wikipedia for the next year. All I know is--the stores have crazy discounts on the day after Christmas, some of them open early, and shoppers line up even earlier in front of the store to grab the best "door-crasher" deal. I hate shopping and I can't quite understand this tradition. But I have my deal-searcher, my special envoy to the crowded shopping frenzy: Maggie. She may not like the hustle of Boxing Day, but at least she doesn't go insane in crowds. Benefits of growing up in Hong Kong.

This year she performed her biggest heroic shopping feat yet: she bought us six leather dining chairs for a bargain price and survived to shop another day! What is that to survive, you wonder? If you've never experienced Canada's Boxing Day, you may be forgiven. On that day everybody goes shopping mad. It is impossible to find a parking spot near the shopping area. Cars circle around like sharks, fighting for every emptied spot. Inside it gets even worse. Elbows are drawn, shoulders used, along with any carry-on bag one may have, to clear the path to the best priced article. It's a bruising experience. I'm thinking about buying hockey pads for Maggie for the next Boxing Day. Until then, we'll enjoy the comfort of our new dining chairs.

Snow (shovel)

It's snowing. I know, no wonder--this is Canada, after all, where the snow-shovel is your best friend. Still, when you have blisters from it before December, it makes you wonder where the heck is global warming when you need it?

Politics and recession

For the "week in retrospect" part, we had a very interesting one. Reminds me of that Chinese curse "may you live in interesting times." The ruling conservative minority government came up with the fiscal update which was as inert as they are. No protection or bonuses offered to ease the pain of the global economy collapse. Oh sure, we were told that we won't be affected by the subprime mortgage fallout which spread from the US like cancer and metastized throughout the whole world. Yeah, Canada was supposed to be an Oasis of Fiscal Sanity in the fiscally insane world. Guess what--we ain't spared! We just lost over 70,000 jobs last month and are officially in recession. Anyway, the government bullied the opposition with unacceptable fiscal update, certain that they'll get away with it, because we just had elections and no one will dare to challenge them and risk another election. What a miscalculation! The opposition showed they actually grew some balls and formed a coalition which is ready to vote down the government. The conservatives started backpedaling and avoiding the vote of confidence. At the end, the Governor General (that's Canada's peculiarity--a figurehead, a "Queen's representative," a theatrical role held by a person we didn't know has any kind of power other than looking pretty, giving away annual literary awards and pinning the Order of Canada medals on the chests of old guys and gals) prorogued the parliament. For those like myself who have no clue what that meant, it means the parliament is suspended. In our case for 60 days! During which time the conservatives hope the coalition will fall apart, the recession will go away, the economy will miraculously heal itself and the Canadians will forgive them all. Well, this is a weird country, anything is possible. Tune back in 60 days, I'll tell you what happened.

As recession hit home, Maggie let me buy a leather office chair. I guess we'll be spending more time at home, so may as well keep my butt from hurting in a nice and comfy chair. Besides, we helped the economy by spending recklessly when frugality is advised. We'll help it some more tomorrow, if we find those bar stools Maggie liked, for the breakfast bar in the kitchen.

300

Today is a quiet celebration: 300th run since I started logging runs on Nike+ web site. In just over a year I logged 2143 km. Admittedly I'm bragging, but I worked hard for it.

Terror in Mumbai

Series of simultaneous attacks were launched across Mumbai, India at 10:30 p.m. local time. Hostages were taken. Attackers targeted the hotels, restaurants and a train station, asked the hostages to present the passports and especially singled out the British and Americans.

I'm watching CNN. They call it terrorist attacks, although there is no confirmation who's behind it. As always, they had a plethora of analysts and "experts" on air, already discussing connections to Al Qaeda. CNN turned into a disgusting, self-serving, sensationalistic cable station. They seem to have forgotten that their duty is to present the news based on facts. More often than not, CNN develops its own theory based on partial information. After 20 years in journalism myself, I can't stomach such dilettantism.

Leaving CNN with repugnance, I log onto CBC.ca to get my fill of the news, Canadian way. I like their measured, professional and factual tone. Then I make the second mistake of the evening and scroll under the news story to see the readers comments. Either this world is filled with complete imbecils (which I refuse to believe), or only the stupid dare to speak aloud, because they can't judge how stupid they are. There are hate comments, religious and racial slurs and outirght verbal fights among some of those to comment. Am I really so sheltered in my tiny circle of intellectual friends, that I haven't noticed all the idiots populating the world around us? Or, are the idiots just the fastest on the keyboard, while the others take time to think before they write?

Universal Power

Once or twice a year some punks from Direct Energy come knocking on our door. They usually flash some sort of the ID and demand to see our gas bill "to check if we are getting the fair price". I admit, first time they came around, I thought they were some sort of inspectors and by the time I realized they are soliciting for their gas distribution service, they already had my phone number. It took a while to get us off their calling list.

Tonight, another aggressive energy delivery solicitors came about. A young black man first rang the door bell, then when we didn't open fast enough, started banging on the door so fiercely I thought he was going to break it. When I answered, he pulled the same trick like the Direct Energy guys: he flashed an ID, said he's with Universal Power and said he came to see our energy bills, electrical and gas. To his misfortune, I do learn from my own mistakes and flatly refused to show him the bills, to which he tried to convince me that I can't do that and I must listen to what he came for. He was incredulous when I told him, with a polite smile, that I am not interested.
"You're not interested?" he asked in a voice full of threat and disbelief. He sounded like a cop who asked you to do the breathalyser and you refused. It sounded like "you're going to regret this." So I repeated even sweeter that no, I am not interested, thank you and have a good night, and I slammed the door.

I don't know who trains these young thugs to literally attack a potential customer in this manner. Whoever it is, they should spend some time on the internet and check the effect their approach has--there are numerous blogs and message boards warning people not to fall, even not to open the door when either Universal Power or Direct Energy guys are making rounds in the neighborhood. If you read this and you live in Markham, Ontario, watch for the Universal Power ruffians, they are on the prowl.

Birthday - Lunar and Solar

Maggie's birthday was on the 14th this month. A gentlemen never speaks of a lady's age, so I can't mention that she's 35. Oh well...
She was disappointed when no one in her family remembered the birthday. But they remembered yesterday--a week later! While we function on the solar calendar, Maggie's family half a globe away works on the lunar one. It seems that the moon is lagging a bit, but it eventually arrives at the same spot a week later. Happy b-day Maggie!

For Whom The Bell Tolls?

The Hemingway's book was on the list of books I was supposed to read for the literature class in high school. I was always a bookworm, but in high school I rebelled against being told what to read and when to read it. Instead of the books from the list we were given, I read what I found interesting. The casualties were, among other masterpieces, "For Whom The Bell Tolls", "Ana Karenina" and "War and Peace". In order to pass the literature grading in school, I made my classmates tell me in details what was in each book. I know the story and that made me avoid these books for all this time. However, curiosity won at the end, and I ran with "For Whom The Bell Tolls", literally! The story carries me away and sometimes I forget to watch where I put my foot and I blame it for running through puddles and, more recently, slipping on the ice. As long as the twists and pulls are only in the plot and have nothing to do with my joints and muscles, I will keep enjoying it. It's me and Ernest (Hemingway) running together at dawn on -13 C through the empty streets of my sleepy frozen neighborhood.

Lazy

I can barely make myself to blog--getting really lazy in winter months. Since the temperature dropped under the freezing point, all I do is stretch on a sofa with a book. Maggie is no better, huddling next to me and pushing her cold feet under my thighs to warm. She's also reading a lot. On Saturday we joined the town's public library and now have the unlimited source of books within easy reach. Ideal to turn into a couch potato(es) for the winter.

Today is snowing. Radio promised 5-10cm by morning. It's fun to run on powder, but it's not fun for driving. Like every year, people seem to forget how to drive on snow and the first snowfall creates chaos. Traffic barely crawls, and the cars slide all over the place. It will be an interesting trip to work tomorrow.

We're feasting on sarma. That's Croatian for cabbage rolls. Maggie makes the best sarma in this part of the world. Which will probably result in me gaining back all the weight I lost in the past year. I am thinking about extending my runs to burn all the cabbage-roll-calories.