A TREE for a Good Cause

Do you need a Christmas Tree? Know someone else who doesn't have their tree yet? Today you can support Edmonton's Food Bank by purchasing an amazing live Christmas tree for the holiday season - for only $10! The trees are being sold at Churchill Square from 6am to 2pm today and volunteers are available to help load the trees into your vehicle for you.

Cash or cheques (made payable to Edmonton's Food Bank) are accepted for on-site purchases. You can also text to donate (keyword TREE to shortcode 30333 and $10 will be added to your phone bill in support of Edmonton's Food Bank) or call 780-425-2133 for VISA or MC transactions over the phone. If you prefer to donate online you can do so at edmontonsfoodbank.com via Canada Helps (VISA or MC).

Remember to bring your skates as well - you will have the opportunity to skate with the Edmonton Oil Kings on the ice at City Hall.

Four Easy Steps to Voting in Edmonton!

I've heard various reasons over the past few days as to why people don't vote or why they likely won't vote in tomorrow's election. Some people expressed that they don't know "how" to vote and they don't want to feel dumb when (if) they get to the ballot box. I've thought a bit about this and I understand that no one wants to feel this way but the process of voting is actually fairly easy (and quick). If you are 18 years old, live in Edmonton on election day, have been in Alberta for six months and are a Canadian citizen then you get to vote for Mayor, one city councilor and one school board trustee (either public or catholic).

Here's FOUR easy steps for those living in Edmonton:

1. Find your Ward and Candidates. You can find your ward using this LINK.  Once you know your ward, a complete list of the candidates is found HERE.

2. Learn a little about your candidates. Most of the candidates have websites and if they do you'll find their links HERE.  

3. Find your polling station using this LINK. Your polling station is open on Monday between the hours of 9am and 8pm only.

4. VOTE! On Monday October 18 2010 go to your polling station between the hours of 9am and 8pm. Take your ID or alternatives with you (there is no voters list). The most commonly used types of identification are an Alberta driver's licence, Alberta ID card or your Canadian passport. If you don't have any of these, check this LINK for other types of accepted ID.

If you require assistance marking your ballot you can even get help from a friend or the deputy in the voting station.

If you are like me (I'm still undecided for Mayor) I encourage you to get yourself to the ballot box on Monday - at the very least, if you still can't decide, you can spoil your ballot. Remember we have something amazing here in our country but the only way our democracy works is if citizens are active participants. Just vote.

Biking in Edmonton?

Recently I've witnessed several close calls with bikes in traffic, mostly related to bikes not going fast enough and people trying to get around them in their vehicles. It frustrates me and scares me.

I have a beautiful bike that I love, but it has sat in my basement for almost the entire time I've been in Edmonton because the drivers here scare me (as a driver myself sometimes the cyclist's scare me too). The roads are not bike friendly, yet it is against the law to ride on the sidewalks. To me it almost seems like a battle between rider and driver.

Today on twitter I saw Michael Janz pass along a link for the Canadian Cycling Association CanBike 2 Course being held in Edmonton in September. CanBike 2 is an 18 hour, on-road cycling course that covers both theory of on-road cycling and practical riding techniques. Worth the time for anyone who commutes to work by bike. Click on the link for more info or to register. And stay safe out there.

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

Today's Livestrong newsletter broaches the topic of Vitamin D, something that I have been interested in ever since the Cancer Society of Canada suggested that large doses of Vitamin D can help prevent or fight cancer. Other health experts have suggested that Vitamin D deficiencies (hypovitaminosis D) of Canadians could be attributing to our higher instances of auto-immune disorders, like MS.

Vitamin D (commonly referred to as the "sunshine vitamin") plays an important role in both our physical and mental health. The vitamin is made by our bodies when our skin is exposed to direct ultraviolet rays from the sun for at least 20 mins at a time. The problem with living in Canada is that we don't get a lot of sunshine and we often don't go out in the sun unprotected (sunscreen hampers this process).

I can't recommend to you how much Vitamin D you should supplement your diet with as I am not an expert, but I can suggest to you to go off and research it yourself to determine what would benefit your lifestyle. Personally, in the winter I will take up to 1000 IU a day and in the summer I often drop it down to 400 IU a day and will sometimes even skip it (because I am a sun worshiper and often forget my sunscreen).

Vitamin D is one of only four vitamins that are stored by the body and as such we have been long taught not to take too much of it. This way of thinking is changing with new research and from what I've come to understand it would actually be difficult to ingest enough Vitamin D to produce toxicity (In healthy adults a sustained intake of 50,000 IU per day can produce toxicity after several months). Currently most information I've found suggests the "Tolerable Upper Limit" of Vitamin D is around 2000 IU per day.

Vitamin D is easy to obtain and take in pill form - I would suggest asking your pharmacist to recommend a trusted brand to you if decide to add a supplement to your diet.

Cleanliness is Next to Godliness...

Turns out that the first step in preventing the spread of any kind of virus is the easiest for us to do - increase the quality of our hygiene and health habits. This means that simply washing our hands regularly (the CDC recommends that you wash with soap and warm/hot water for at least 30 seconds while rubbing your hands together vigorously) and limiting how much we touch our faces (eyes, nose, mouth) significantly decreases our chances of contracting influenza.

Some other steps you can take to prevent contracting or transmitting the Flu:

• Avoid sick people and stay home if you are sick (coughing/sneezing can affect an area up to 6 feet around the person);


• Disinfect surfaces (desks, counters, doorknobs, etc at the home and office)


• Stay healthy - drink lots of water, get regular excerise, get enough sleep, indulge in a healthy diet, remember your vitamins and reduce your stress;


• Remind friends and family (even young children) to sneeze or cough into the crook of their arm rather than covering their mouth with their hands;


• Consider carrying an alcohol based hand sanitizer for the times you can't get to soap and water;


• Prepare food that you eat with utensils rather than finger foods.

Stay informed about the Swine Flu so you know its symptoms and its severity, its prevalence in your region and what to do if you or a family member becomes sick.

If you live in Alberta and you think you might be sick the provincial government is asking you to call Health Link before deciding to go to a facility. The number is 780-408-5465 (Edmonton), 403-943-5465 (Calgary) or 1-866-408-5465 for all other areas.

Resources for Info:

Health Canada || Alberta Health and Wellness || Center for Disease Control || US Dept of Health || World Health Organization

You can also follow @CDCemergency on Twitter for pertinent updates.

Alberta on Alert for Swine Influenza

Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health is asking Albertans to take precautions against the influenza virus and help stop the spread of infection.

"We are asking anyone who develops a fever or cough and has recently returned or had contact with someone recently returned from Mexico or the southern U.S., to call HealthLink Alberta for advice BEFORE visiting a physician’s office, medicentre or emergency room."

Albertans can call Health Link Alberta toll-free 1-866-408-5465. In Edmonton the number is 780-408-5465 and in Calgary the number is 403-943-5465.

Read the News Release HERE.

Read City of Edmonton News Release HERE.

Look Who's Flying By - Updated

Space Shuttle Discovery

The Space Shuttle Discovery left Earth last night on a two week construction mission (STS-119)to the International Space Station (ISS). This is the 28th shuttle mission to the ISS. The timing of this mission favors sky watchers in North America and Europe, so as long as the weather cooperates, here is a list of times you can see the Flybys:

*UPDATED TIMES *

March 26
SS Discovery 9:38pm - 9:40pm 29° W
ISS 9:39pm - 9:41pm 29° W
(Will appear right after each other in the sky)

March 27
SS Discovery 8:29pm - 8:32pm 45° W
ISS 9:39pm - 8:30pm - 8:33pm 44° W
(Will appear right after each other in the sky)

March 28
ISS 9:39pm - 8:57pm - 8:59pm 27° W
(SS Discovery is landing today)

*UPDATED TIMES *

Times are for the location of Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada. If you are in another location within North America and would like to see a flyby schedule for your area, use this link.

Beware Canadian Paintball

I ordered something online from Canadian Paintball. The shipment arrived on Friday - and one of the products (the most expensive one of course) had a small but important piece broken off. I looked in the box for it and it was not there. It is obvious that this product was broken before it was shipped.

I emailed them immediately, with no response. Today I emailed their Sales asking for directions to return it for new product or to get a refund as this item is totally unusable without this part. Their website has all sorts of guarantees to make you think they are a legitimate business yet when faced with this type of problem their response was it's not their responsibility, it must have happened during shipping and the best they can do is advise me to file a claim with Canada Post.

This post might evolve as the interaction with this "company" unfolds. Obviously I will file a Paypal dispute as I am tired of internet rip off artists taking my money (hundreds of dollars in this case). Anyone considering buying online with Canadian Paintball - my advice would be to pay a little extra and actually go someplace reputable where you can see the product before you pay for it. Buyer beware!

Update: Canadian Paintball informed me today that they have no intention to participate in the Paypal dispute and have ended it. There will be no refund or exchange. I shall leave Canada Post to it's investigation of the the situation regarding the insurance AND surprisingly enough I am starting to find others on the web who have had issues with this company.

Last Update: We will never use Canadian Paintball again. For anyone looking for Paintball products and materials in Edmonton and area I wholly recommend PaintBall Action Games where we had wonderful hands on client service and they fixed up everything that was wrong with our faulty marker, for free!

Public Service Announcement, with Guitar!

The National Do Not Call List is now operational. Once you have registered your number(s) on the National Do Not Call List most Telemarketers will stop calling you. There are some notable exceptions which you can read about here.

There is a 30 day grace period for Telemarketers to update their lists and during this time you might get some calls. When this happens you can ask to be placed on the company's own Do Not Call list - however I have noticed they don't always comply (I have asked Telus three times not to call me anymore) and then you might actually have to file a complaint against them.

Now if only we could have a National Do Not Email list!

Left Me Wanting...

We saw "Wanted" last night. I still feel assaulted by this movie, and have a few thoughts to share.

First, when trying to entice an audience into suspension of disbelief you need to build into the plot something we like to call believability – that’s an element that you can't replace with special effects. Second, plot is usually developed in movies to allow the actors to act. Good actors can't carry a bad movie, try as they might.

It's true that the movie itself doesn't really aspire or claim to be anything great, and I'll confess that my expectations were high so disappointment might have been inevitable; but too many times in this movie I had my head in my hands wishing for it to be over. It's been a really long time since I've been in a movie where people have walked out (starting just over half way through) and I wish I had left when Duncan asked me to.

Read the end of the Wanted Wikipedia entry for the "Critical Reception" before you go see it and you'll have a valid frame of reference for watching this movie. However, I recommend giving it a pass.

Beware Royal Club Resorts

We got a phone call the other day informing us that we had "won" a prize, a digital camera and a Banff Spa package worth 500.00. All we had to do, apparently, was go to an office and watch a 90 minute movie on ways to save money travelling. I am a firm believer of "if it sounds to good to be true it probally is" so I was naturally skeptical and proceeded to question the girl, which she seemed wholly unprepared for. After she gave me the address I went to the internet to look up the company name. What I found was very interesting indeed.

After finding that the address belonged to a company called "Royal Club Resorts" I discovered a Consumer Alert on the Alberta Government Website. Apparently this lovely company has a great SCAM going where they happily take your money and leave you unable to access the purchased services and unable to get a refund. There are currently more than four court cases pending in Alberta with the company and their Director Andre Muran, named as the defendants.

So, fellow consumers, beware this Royal Club Resorts Company that offers a scam on travel time shares that in the end just serves to separate you from your hard earned money. And it seems even further to that you will need to go to court in an attempt to get it back.