A Peter Pot Pourri

As today marks my late girlfriend Lois’ birthday, I am thinking of her. I am happy to have had her in my life, and will hold her in my heart. I know that she would be pleased that I have been lucky enough to have found a new love, and it is almost eerie how similar she and Betty are. I will dedicate next week’s column to Lois, as the subject will be “toxic people”, and I want to do a thorough job on the subject.

So this week, a brief “pot pourri” it is.

-Texas is freezing, people are losing their lives and the political “leadership” is doing anything but leading. Between mayors posting that only the strong will survive and that handouts are unnecessary, that dreadful Cruz and his family running off in the people of his state’s hour of need or politicos trying to blame the “Green New Deal” rather than the shabby, cheaply constructed energy infrastructure for this disaster, there is a painful amount of “finger pointing”, “whataboutism” and playing of the “blame game”. While they may produce good ratings for the media, none of these courses of action do anything to address this issue. Biden acted presidentially and has authorized federal aid, without wanting anything in return. It is so nice to have an adult back in charge.

It’s also interesting watching the usual people complain about the performance of the wind farms. In fact, windmills operate very well in extreme weather conditions, when they are properly designed and equipped. After all, aircraft have been able to fly in bad weather with de icing equipment for years, not to mention the fact that windmills have, do and will provide a lot of electrical generating power in hostile climes year round. It doesn’t help the situation to read that natural gas producers are literally crowing about the frankly obscene profits that they are harvesting as a result of this unfortunate weather. Typical, using the misfortunes of their fellow citizens to feather their own nests, to line their own pockets. A pox on all their houses.

-So that horrid Limbaugh has passed away. He created so much sorrow and hatred with his evil words. Good riddance to him.

-One of my childhood memories concerns a friend of mine telling me that he wanted to show me something. We went into his kitchen, he reached deep into a cupboard and swore me to secrecy before showing me what he was holding. I agreed, of course and he pulled out and brandished……an Irish Sweepstakes ticket. I kept his family’s guilty secret until today.

That was then, this is now. The governments realized how much money there is out there, so lotteries came to Canada, in a big way. In Canada, lottery winnings are paid out in one slug. They are not taxable income, nor are they considered earnings. I remember a person who was on Unemployment Insurance and won $100,000. He collected his win and kept collecting his “pogey”, as U.I. was (is?) jocularly known, much to the chagrin of his neighbours. I also remember a person who in Canada and was “out of status”. Immigration was undoubtedly pleased to see the individual’s picture in the paper.

Anyway, the thought of winning enough money in one fell swoop to completely change one’s life is a powerful incentive to get out there and buy a ticket. Because “overkill” appears to be a prominent part of Life anymore, they naturally have ads.

They have ads everywhere. Radio, newspapers, billboards, bus shelters, even buses! Ads on the Internet AND on TV? Check.

I am going to finish off this week by mentioning two of my least favourite lottery ads.

The first is the one in which the guy has won a large amount of money on two occasions. He rambles on about talking to his sister on the phone and she guesses that he has won the lottery…..again! Personally, I hate that family  😉 .

However, the ad that really makes me want to go to a furniture store and buy a “build your own guillotine” set is the one in which the guy is on the beach when a “professional dream coach” runs into him and advises him how much the upcoming draw grand prize is. The “dream coach” is able to convince the “player” that if he wins, he should buy the beach and make it his private property. Maybe I am wrong, but nothing spells contempt for the masses to me as much as “I picked some numbers and as a result am going to secure this pristine place for my own selfish use. Nyah Nyah!”

Editor’s Note – I remember when the Lottery was fun and the ads were GREAT!

See you soon.

=PJM=

A confirmed Cat person, Peter dabbled with being a water boy, a paper boy and an altar boy before finally settling on a career with the Canadian federal government.  Once, in his youth, he ate a Dutch  oven full of mashed potatoes to win a 5 cent bet with his beloved sister Mary’s boyfriend. (Of course he was much younger and a nickel went a lot farther!) He has retired to palatial “Chez Montreuil”, which he shares with his little buddy CoCo the Fashionable. He is blessed to have the beautiful Betty in his life. He is not only a plastic aircraft modeller, but a proud “rivet counter”. Military aviation and live music are among other interests of his, and he tries to get out to as many shows as he can. He will be here for your enlightenment whenever the stars align. Profile photo courtesy of Pat Blythe, caricature courtesy of Peter Mossman.