Dear Barb: Sometimes when I go to my family doctor I feel rushed, especially if my reason for being there is not really serious. Because of the shortage of doctors I’m concerned that maybe I’m taking up time that someone with a more serious condition may need. A friend of mine has been seeing a… Read more »

It’s the last week of school vacation, and we’re spending it on Mayne, the smallest of the Gulf Islands. We’re camped on a low bluff overlooking the waters of Active Pass. We’ve been here for about a week, and have fallen into gloriously lazy daily rhythm. In the morning we make thick black coffee and… Read more »

Failure Earns More At least, if you’re an Olympic level athlete, it does. After a very disappointing Olympic showing this year (which I attribute mostly to the Canadian Olympic Committee for a ridiculous policy of only allowing people that are supposedly the 12th best in the world or better to go), the federal government has… Read more »

WHAT’S NEW ON PRIMETIME AMAZING RACE – Wednesdays – 9pm on CTV I’m very mad about the way this show is progressing. We’re down to four teams, and there’s still another non-elimination point in the race. Last week Brandon and Nicole were excused from not being able to shave their precious religious heads. This week,… Read more »

Have you listened to your body lately? No, I mean really listened. I find the older I get, the more interesting, albeit disconcerting, a process this is. Most of us are living in over-drive. Anaesthetized by food, drink, work. Overlooking the body’s early warning system. Oblivious to the whispered hints. Maybe not even getting the… Read more »

Focus on Vin Diesel This film starts out like a lot of cop films. The lead character is a tough guy cop, Sean Vetter, played by Vin Diesel. He’s dealing with the scum of society, but is different in that he doesn’t hang around cops and he started out on the wrong side of the… Read more »

Dear Barb: I am a 24-year-old student in my last year of university and have been dating the same woman for the past four years. We get along great and enjoy each other’s company. I know she wants to get married and start a family, but I don’t feel 100% sure that she is the… Read more »

Way past midnight on a moonless highway half way through Saskatchewan, headed back from a funeral, and the radio is playing a ballad by Journey or Air Supply. Probably the reason why some genius invented push buttons for car radios. Further down the dial a solemn CBC host interviews a man who has written a… Read more »

Praying for School Funding? Alberta Learning has decided to inject about twenty million dollars (http://www.gov.ab.ca/acn/200408/16964CC2C7F2D-C66F-4A9E-A511A3CE887F08FC.html) into the educational system. Unfortunately, this money will go into only two school regions around St. Paul. The reason for the funding is to upgrade and expand the current facilities there in order to provide the Francophone, Protestant, and Catholic… Read more »

WHAT’S NEW ON PRIMETIME AMAZING RACE – Wednesdays – 9pm on CTV I’m very mad about the way this show is progressing. We’re down to five teams, and there’s still five more non-elimination points in the race. Last week Kami and Karli were given their break and this week, the religious model couple who took… Read more »