Like Certs With Retsin, Two Posts In One Edition

First let me apologize for both the tardiness of part one and the early nature of part two of this (I'm sure will turn out to be) tome of an email. The last 10 days or so have been filled with many things of a pressing nature and so I was unable to find the time to write last week. Also this is normally written after I finish my work week sometime in the wee hours of the morning on Fridays, however as I am off this weekend (more on that later) tonight was my last night and so you get this (or at least part of it) early. Forgoing the normal narrative structure of my emails, the topic(s) of this email will be The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly and will jump around with no apparent tip of the hat to the chronological . So with those disclaimers, on to the show. Let's start with the Ugly (because I want to end on a high note): Work has been much of a struggle lately. Much I cannot go into other than to say that with respect to a certain personality conflict the last few weeks have been Bataan Death March-like in their own special way. To relate another piece of the ugly file I must tell you something good first- we purchased our new kitchen! On Friday of last week the new appliances arrived (fridge, dishwasher, and stove). The cabinets and cupboards have been ordered and will arrive in a week or so. So this is great news...except... When the old appliances were being removed, I was unaware that every piece of bake ware Shelley owned was in a drawer in the bottom of the stove (cripes!). We were unable to retrieve the lot and therefore were are baking goods-less for the time being until we restore our once proud baking tins and pans to fully equipped status. I'm a very bad husband! Ok enough with the ugly, now on to just the merely Bad: As I prepare to return to the States this weekend to pick up the rest of my things, I've run into many snags along the way, dealing mostly with having to import my car upon my return trip. It will cost some $$ and the hassles go beyond money. I've had to have paperwork faxed and sent overnight, plus forms that I have to fill out, and I still haven't found out all I have to do (and I leave in less than 24 hours). Essentially I recommend NEVER move to another country and bring a car...it isn't worth the pain. I'm sure there's more ugly and bad but frankly I think we're all tired of the whining so onto the Good!!! (and the crowd goes wild) Well, I finally heard from the University of Toronto and I was accepted. Furthermore, I was accepted into Trinity College (the U of T is like the British university system where the student body is broken down into colleges within the university, these colleges are sort of fraternity/sorority, advising, clubs, etc. all rolled into one area) Thanks to Trisha (who by the way has accepted the role of my personal sherpa at UofT), I learned that Trinity accepts the least number of students per year and it considered the most prestigious of the colleges...so you know me...ego swelling...swelling... I'm still waiting for my transfer credit to be processed but it looks good at this point that they'll at least grant me third year status. Once that is done, I'll be looking at a double major of American Studies and History (let the fun begin). Also in the very good file, the party for Shelley was really quite nice last Saturday. We didn't have too many guests but we had the best ones. Tim and Les (and Quinn and Leah) came by, followed by Daniel and Trisha, then James and AJ. We had food, fun, and lots of great talk. Here's what the scene looked like: http://stamant.org/Albums/Variety/images/100_4401.jpg Here's a blurry image of Trisha and Daniel: http://stamant.org/Albums/Variety/images/100_4404.jpg and another somewhat blurry one of Leah and Quinn: http://stamant.org/Albums/Variety/images/100_4402.jpg Quinn, the budding stand up comic of the family, informed us from the haughty comforts of his and Leah's bag chairs that they were the prince and princess of our little kingdom and we were their servants...then he demanded that we serve them. I asked him if he knew what a palace coup was and I was met with a blank stare. Needless to say, Quinn's reign as overlord of the Backyard of 9 Ewing Street was short-lived...after all the streetlights were on and it was past his bedtime. Also, frankly, he didn't inspire much in the way of a royal presence when he put on his footy pyjamas (but then who would...I mean would his armies have marched across the Pyrenees so boldly if Charlemagne was ruling them whilst wearing footy jammies?? I think not). Since I'm in photo sharing mode, here's the obligatory one of the dogs. Apparently, Dixie and Willow are already getting into the Olympic spirit as we head closer to the games in Athens. Here they showcase their fondness for Greco-Roman wrestling: http://stamant.org/Albums/WillowandDixie/images/100_4373.jpg Willow is apparently using a 12th-century technique of attacking her opponent in a Sheltie Armpit Death Grip, while Dixie attempts to distract her with the Ancient Tongue of Escape maneuver. For the record this match ended in a draw when both competitors were distracted by a rogue squirrel. Something I'm sure must have happened once or twice in the sands of Greece back in 708 BC. Shelley has been furiously working on her gardens. Here she shows off one of her birthday gifts, a lovely pot that she picked out http://stamant.org/Albums/ShelleysGardens/images/100_4370(2).jpg Things are really coming along. Here's a before and after of one section Before- http://stamant.org/Albums/ShelleysGardens/images/100_4241.jpg After- http://stamant.org/Albums/ShelleysGardens/images/100_4399.jpg Another gift she received was a nice park bench that she loves to lounge about on: http://stamant.org/Albums/ShelleysGardens/images/100_4400.jpg As always you can view the transformations of her landscaping at Shelley's Gardens photo album here http://stamant.org/Albums/ShelleysGardens/index1.htm It is updated as often as I have new photos so check back there frequently if you have a green thumb and like pretty flowers and plants. Well, I'm sure that next week I'll have more to share in regard to my trip and the tribulations that result at the border crossings for now though I want to wish a happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Of course for me there are two special people who fit that bill. First my dad, Lloyd, who taught me right from wrong and mostly to stand on my own two feet, to trust my instincts, and that faith is the key to peace of mind. Then to my father-in-law, Gerry, who has never wavered in his support and who is there whenever I need a friend and an advisor. Both these men are important to me and I thank them for their love and support. This week's deeper thought is a memorial of sorts to the late President Reagan. It is no secret that I was no fan of President Reagan's domestic policy, but as someone who seeks to study Presidential history I offer a hopefully non-partisan perspective. With any death of such a significant person, eulogy often becomes elegy from his partisans, and a jeremiad of sorts on the part of his detractors. As with most things, somewhere in the middle one finds the truth. Perhaps the truest sign of a man's prominence is how much mythmaking, of both extremes, occurs even before his death. Reagan was no exception. To dispense with a bit of the myth, Reagan did not win the Cold War, as many in the conservative movement claim, nor was he a passive participant and a accidental player who just happened to be on watch when Communism fell. The Cold War was won by many, with numerous battlefields, some public, some silent. Much of the credit is due to Harry Truman and General George C. Marshall, for without the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan in the early stages following World War II, Stalinism would have spread further than it did. These two men, Truman and Marshall, set the course for the eventual undoing of the USSR. Yes, it is true I believe, that on its own communism would likely have fallen on its own- the failed system that it was, but Truman and Marshall definitely had a hand is accelerating its demise and establishing a democratic bulkhead in Europe. President Eisenhower to some extent also gets partial credit. As the saviour of Europe, Eisenhower, despite his relative uneasiness in office, was a symbol of victory of democracy over totalitarian aggression that the world could look to as Stalin moved to build an iron curtain. President Kennedy stood face to face with the Soviets, and with a deft mix of force and diplomacy, signalled to Khrushchev, the US would not be blackmailed with the threat of nuclear war. The space race, also, was an effective tool to both push the Soviets beyond their economic limits while offering a bold vision and a dream of a world thought beyond our fingertips that we could suddenly grasp. While we wandered somewhat in the wilderness under Johnson, he too at least faced the spectre of spreading communism. Nixon's opening the door to China is perhaps the boldest foreign policy move of the last 50 years, and as much as anything had a dramatic effect on the Soviet state. Reagan's dramatic defense initiatives, culminating in the deployment of Pershing missiles in Europe, signalled that the US was not going to allow Soviet targeting of Western Europe to go unchecked. While it threatened to, and some would argue did, reignite the arms race, it also eventually forced the Soviets to the table and shift the discussion from offensive weapons systems to more defense based weapons and led to the first significant treaty, the INF, in '87. What Reagan meant to the conservative movement cannot be understated. He was, is, and will likely be for a long while, the singular figure of the shift to a more conservative Republican party that exists today. Though Barry Goldwater remains the ideological godfather, Reagan was the man who put the philosophy to action. He was, therefore, a transcendent figure in politics, someone as large as the office. That is his legacy. Now that I spent this time in non-partisan mode, I end with Vote John Kerry :) Cheers, Ron