Stella I Love You, You B*tch

*the names have been changed to protect the noisy.

On a rainy day, yelling was heard outside the house. A few doors down, a romantic Romeo was out on the front sidewalk attempting to woo his Juliet. Except Juliet was busy with someone else in the park last night. Or at least that is what Romeo was so upset about as he yelled sweet obscenities to his Juliet.
This could be the beginning of the next Harlequin Romance Novel, or a paragraph in a homicide investigation. Sometimes it's hard to tell which way the tide will turn.
Let's hope cooler heads prevail on this one.

Up Early To Watch The Wedding

I made biscuits last night, then set my alarm for 3:00am. I wanted to catch the wedding of William and Kate on the TV and thought it would be fun to eat biscuits while seeing the Royal Wedding. The alarm went off, and we turned the TV on. My husband caught someone mentioning the wedding was two hours away. We made the quick decision to reset the alarm for 4:55am and grab a few more hours before the event. Then again, we were woken. The TV went on, and we saw Kate being driven to the Church. I quickly ran to the kitchen to get my biscuits, and find the jam. But I couldn't find the jam. I was in a hurry, and did not want to miss a thing. I took one more quick look for that pesky jam. I guess I should have located it last night and had it at the ready. Oh well, no biscuits in bed I guess.
So back I scampered, in front of the telly to see the Wedding of the Year (or decade, or ...). We had a great view of Kate in the Rolls, with the large windows. She was waving like royalty to the crowds of onlookers, and she looked beautiful. Then the Roller stopped in front of Westminster Abbey and she got out. What a wonderful dress. We thought she would have a less fluffy dress than Diane, a puffy skirt, but not too puffy, and a simple form fitting top, with good coverage. Well done Kate, very good choice in dress. We approve of your wedding dress style.
Kate and William both seemed genuinely happy, and were both very regal during the ceremony. Kate had such poise after the ceremony, while sitting and listening to speeches. Then off to Buckingham Palace. The new Princess and her Prince got into an open carriage for the trip.  Once at the Palace we saw them again on the balcony. A quick kiss, then another. The second was longer and seemed to have a bit more feeling. Then the planes flew over, and that was it. But what a great event. I'm glad I decided to wake up to watch it live.
While we were watching the wedding, we heard the sound of sirens from outside our window. And they kept going. It seemed like every 10 minutes there was another siren. Some were in the distance, and others were quite close. I don't know what was going on. I can't imagine the Royal Wedding Parties were getting that out of hand.
We ended up eating the biscuits this morning for breakfast as we caught the replays of the wedding. They were delicious.
As far as yesterdays events, I missed the big one. It happened in the back lane and the next street over. My husband was in the yard BBQ'ing supper. He stepped into the back yard to make sure the shed was locked, and everything was put away for the night while he was outside. Then he heard a commotion in the back lane and thought he would see what was up. It seems the tactical response unit went through the lane, then onto the next street. They were dealing with a group of youths the next street over. Who knows what was going on there.
My husband also got a quick update from one of the neighbours in the lane. It seems that Circus Boy's alleged dealer walked into the house of an elderly neighbour lady. The story was that he just wanted to use the phone. He said he used to live at that location. Not likely. The neighbour saw this going down, and removed the unwanted home invader from the residence. We have some great neighbours looking out for each other, and we all know to keep an eye on the actions of those "usual suspects".
As the circus goes on outside our house, we were still able to enjoy the big event of the day from inside our home in the North End of Winnipeg.

Wanted: One Camera To Record Illegal Dumping

So, what is it with my back lane, and my dumpster in particular? Why do people drive their trucks down my lane? And why do they dump their garbage in my dumpster? Yesterday afternoon around 5:50pm I looked out my back window. I saw a white half ton truck stopped in behind my property. Of course I was curious. Who stopped behind the house? And what are they doing? I kept watching to see what was going on. Someone got out of the truck and jumped into the back of it. Then the truck drove ahead a few feet, and stopped at the dumpster in behind my yard. And the guy in the back of the truck dumped something from the truck into the dumpster. Then the truck moved on. I got a quick picture of the truck, told my husband there was someone in the lane dumping garbage, then got my shoes on and headed out to the lane.

Of course, by the time we got to the back lane, the truck was down the lane. It was stopping at each dumpster or so, and slowly emptying the contents of the truck into the dumpsters down my lane. Then it went down the next lane, and the next. It was too far away to get a good picture, and I was not able to catch up to it before it turned. I saw the truck turned left, so I cut over to the next street over. I wanted to try and catch the truck coming back down the street. But it came back as far as Salter, then turned up Salter Street. I wasn't able to get any real information on the truck or the dumpers.
I don't sit at my back window all day waiting for these people, so I can witness the actions and possibly catch these dumpers red handed. I just happen to be watering my plants in the window boxes and noticed someone dumping garbage. I am sure there are many more people driving down my back lane, and the other lanes in the North End, dumping much more garbage than I am witness to myself on a daily basis. And it seems these people are getting smarter. They have developed a fast moving system of dumping, that is difficult to document in a way that will allow me to submit the complaint to the By-Law department. As you know, I need a description of the dumpers and the license plate and vehicle description.
The thought has occurred to me that I should set up camera surveillance in order to catch these pesky garbage criminals. Or maybe the City should set it up. Oh who am I kidding, if the City cared they would have done that long ago. But I am thinking a camera is in order to get the needed evidence to stop these illegal dumpers from using my back lane as their land fill. Hmmm, I wonder what type of camera I should use. And where would I put it. Hmmm.

Still No Van, But I Am Making Plans

I finally got myself a rental car yesterday. First, I stopped at the local Autopac office in the neighbourhood to pick up the extra insurance available for rental cars. It costs about a dollar a day, if you get it from Autopac. that's much cheaper than the rate the rental agencies charge. Then I headed down Regent Ave to the rental place. It seems everyone is renting cars for the long weekend, so I had to go a bit out of the way to get a car this weekend. I called a few days ago to let them know I would be coming by. That way, I knew they would have a car available, and it would be ready for me when I got there. We have a second vehicle, so we didn't need them to pick us up from home, but that option is also available, and we have used it in the past.
Then my husband and I took a drive down Keewatin Avenue and stopped in at the McDonalds there. We decided to drop in on Kevin L, our fearless leader for Winnipeg North. I like the guy. I have met him twice now, and have communicated with him via email a few times. He seems to understand what is going on in the area, and has real thoughts on what can be done at the ground level. We have made tentative plans to work on some issues in my area. I hope he gets elected back in. Not because I vote Liberal, I normally don't. But, because he has already started working toward improving things. And he is available to people. He is friendly. And he has been around the block a few times. And I don't want to have to start over with a new person, trying to build rapport again, and hoping they will work with me to fix actual specific issues.
Well, that's my political plug, for what it's worth.
By the way, the police have still not recovered my van, so remember guys, if you see my van let me know. It is red, 1995 Chevy Lumina Minivan, license plate FJA 667. Hope it's not floating down the river on its way to Selkirk.
Earlier in the week I went to my Autopac appointment to deal with the stolen vehicle claim. I asked if I could get an immobilizer put into the van because it was the second time this particular van was stolen. I said the criminals seem to like vans, likely because they can do break and enters and other crimes with vans. I was shown the computer screen, where my van is listed as "not at risk", and told that Autopac will not be installing an immobilizer. I was told I could have one installed if I really wanted, but would have to pay 50% of the cost myself. So, if or when my van gets returned to me, it will be without an immobilizer. Maybe after theft number 3, it will be deemed "at risk", and get an immobilizer installed.
That's all for now folks, time to chase bunnies.