What’s better? A 75-minute flight to the nation’s capital, with a huge smooth tailwind? Or a serene 120-minute night flight back, passing high by the nation’s largest city, seeing city-sized mosaics of yellow and black?

We found out today that the nurse-practitioner who has been looking after our two little ones has moved onto bigger and better things than serve young kids in the area. She is to be a nurse-practitioner for people at large in the city. Considering the pathetic scarcity of family doctors / GPs in the province, this means that to maintain non-emergency care, we must follow her to her new office, and sign up the kids for her new clientele waiting list. We were told that it will help our application if we state on the form that we are healthy people.

In other words, the routine canadian socialized health system works great … as long as you’re healthy and don’t need it.

Nice job, Canada Health Act, Section 12, ‘‘where and as available’‘ .

Smug: installing a replacement wall oven in one’s kitchen, including minimal electrical & carpentry work.
Smugger: celebrating the failure of the previous oven’s installer to kill us all by his neglect to electrically ground the thing

A transcript of a conversation with the 2.9 year old follows.

Frank: You know, you’re not welcome downstairs with this kind of behavior.
Stuart: sheepishly: OK
Frank: Stuart, do you know what you did wrong?
Stuart: with a straight face: I can’t hear you!
Frank: not really sure what he just heard: Really?
Stuart: immediately: Yes.
Frank: trying to trick him: And what about now?
Stuart: Nope.
Frank: trying to keep a stern face: And now?
Stuart: figuring that the gig is up, smiling a little bit: Nope.
Frank: still trying: And now?
Stuart: showing glee: Nope.
Frank: can’t hold the laughter in any more
Stuart: neither can he