HOME???

Some say home is where the heart is.  Others say home is where you hang your hat.  I say, if home is where you hang your hat than my home is me and wherever I am is home.

 I have officially hit the end of the road for this great adventure...for now anyway.  I have had some of the greatest experiences of my life and I would do it all over again in a second with nothing changed.  The difficult times have taught me patients, compassion and the ability to listen and understand.  The good times have reminded me that things are never as bad as they could be and there really is a light at the end of ever tunnel and a silver lining to every dark cloud.  I have learnt a lot about myself and more about those around me.  Family, friends and strangers alike.  I will miss the open road and have been thrust back into the reality of living in the "GREAT WHITE NORTH" :-) cold, snow and icy roads.  Three of my least favourite things.  I am now in Dreadmonton Alberta as I like to call it.  Edmonton Alberta as it is marked on the map lol  Pepper has Kennel cough and is now on the road to recovery (I hope) thanks to the greatest Veterinarian in the entire world...Joanna :-)  Not sure where he picked it up, and I am still not a fan of the lack of "poop pick up" from other dog owners throughout my travels.

Thank you to all of you who took the time to read about my adventure.  I have a friend who may be starting the next chapter in this saga with the "Kindness Tour South America"  Georgia...I hope you do it!!! I will be the first to sign up for your blog :-)

I do have some video snippets I will filter through and I hope to get started on the DVD I promised to do following the completion of this trip. 

Unfortunately, the trip was ended sooner than I had hoped and the amount of video I was able to shoot was less than I was planning on shooting.  However, with all that said I am confident that this was just the spark in what is soon to be a wildfire.  I have way to many stories to just stop here. The feedback I received along the way was incredible and I know in my heart that this will somehow grow into something that people can look back on and say...."yes, that is where it started."

This is not the end...

T- Minus 264.55km

After approximately 6800km driven, nine weeks of constant adventure, just over two months of no real solid sac time and a different accent every other day...I am almost home.  Well, maybe not home but back to the city I once lived :-)  The last part of the trip went rather quickly because of weather and no other reason.  Unfortunately I had to ride with it and if I didn't get my butt out of  Vancouver yesterday I would probably be overstaying my welcome by several months.  I do have a few more video's to post and I guess one final farewell blog, to all those who made this endeavour better than I ever thought it could be. You comments kept me going and I am not sure where I would have been right now without all the support and encouragement I  received through friends, family and of course the "anonymous" ...well except for anonymous Janis lol Part of me wishes the anonymous emails I received could have been posted on my blog as they were all so kind and insightful.  I hope one day to meet all of you either by name or by face :-)  I actually think it's pretty cool to have someone I have never met from some other part of the world sharing their thoughts and feelings and letting me know a little personal information about who they are and why they are so excited about what I am doing.  Thank you

I hope to have some videos posted for you by tomorrow :-)

Thanks again
see some of you soon
Margo

December 3rd ...Judgment Day ;-)

With my cash flow at a minimum (to say the least) :-)  and the decision made to leave the United States; I once again have a loooooong drive ahead of me.  Weather permitting I can make the Canadian border in just under ten hours.   Now that the idea is in my head I can't seem to make it from A to B fast enough.  The weather yesterday was atrocious and I am sure my mother would have killed me if she knew what I was in fact driving through for a greater part of the day.  Crazy how one minute you can be in the heat of the midday sun on a flat desert road and the next at the summit of a mountain peak trapped in the heart of a blizzard.  Call me anything you will, but is it not the "steeper the downgrade" the slipperier the slope?  I don't know who constructed Interstate Five through the Shasta mountains.....but come on people!!!! that was ridiculous.  LOL  don't worry I got it all on film :-)

So I am off today from the quiet little town of Grants Pass Oregon.  I am heading out on I5 and hope the roads are at least drivable.

If this is in fact my last post from inside the borders of the United States, I would like to say thank you to all the great people I have met here and I can honestly say I will be back this way again to pick your brains on the new subjects of the times.

I am not disappointed or angry that I am leaving.  I have had a blast and I am sort of ready to stop living out of my bag (for a little while anyway) I have grown as a person on this venture and I know when it is all said and done I will have made a difference in some small way.  Even if it is just within me.  I have more than enough information to go on and I am really looking forward to sitting down and making that original directors cut video that I have been asked to do....don't worry I was gonna make (ya'll) watch it anyway so there is no need to ask me to make one lol  

I shall see everyone soon and I am excited to get to Vancouver and spend some time with some new and some old (not in age guys) friends!!!

Enjoy your day

Margo 

Kindness out of the woodwork

Following my announcement yesterday of having to leave this venture early.  I have had a flood of messages about places to stay and people to see and things to do lol  I really had no idea we were already in December.  Happy December everyone.  I have approximately twenty-three hours of drive time to reach the Canadian border and approximately seventy -Two hours to do it in.  Alas, my stopping and meeting the awesome people of the west coast will have to wait.  I will be back...I promise!!

As for December.  Christmas for some of us.  I for one have never been a huge fan of Christmas.  OK, when I was a kid I liked it but that was strictly materialistic reasons.  I looooved the presents.  Once I realized that Christmas had become a government sponsored commercial for (BUY BUY BUY) I developed quite a deep hatred for the holiday season.  I despise the question on December 26th "what did you get?"  Don't get me wrong, I love the trees and the lights and the warm feeling I get when I am with friends around a fire with a big ol tree in the middle of the room.  It's just the overall materialistic mutation we have turned this holiday into that gets to me. 

One of my favourite people on this trip was a lady by the name of Joan Gilfoy.  I still miss sitting around after dinner and just chatting about whatever and whomever.  All good of course :-)  We got on the topic of Christmas one night and how it had so quickly become commercial.  She told me about her gift request of her children the year before.  Instead of buying gifts or making them, she specifically asked her children to go out and do a good deed.  She then asked them to report back to her on what they did and how it made them feel and whatever else they got out of the situation.  Brilliant!!!!  I wish everyone thought this way.  I was so amazed at the stories she told me on what her kids actually did.  Believe it or not I started to tear up a bit at how humbling the stories were.  One always likes to think they do good deeds and help others but these stories were amazing and I wish that is what Christmas could become.  What it is supposed to be in the first place.  Helping each other through this rat race we call life.  How different this world would be if we all spent one holiday season like the Gilfoy's!

Thank you so much Joan for sharing that story with me and I hope through your experience and wisdom and sheer brilliance; someone else will read this and want to try it and thus start the ball rolling in the direction it should be going in the first place.

 From the blue sky of San Bernardino California Happy December 1st

Cheers
Margo

November 29, 2010

My blog post from the Flying J just outside Tucson Arizona.

Cold, tired, relatively hungry and not at all expecting to find myself shifting through this thought process that I have wondered over to in the last few days.  Who am I?  What power do I have over the US government?  Why would I risk losing any chance I have to come back here again and visit the great and wonderful people I have met along the way?  I know it's stupid, the people I have met in the United States know it's stupid and have voiced that quiet angrily.  My friends, family and everyone I have met back in Canada think it's stupid.  So, I guess I will be the bigger person in all this and follow the ridiculousness that is American Homeland Security and I shall vacate the US in a an organized and timely fashion.   I will not even go into the gong show that was the New Mexico Homeland Security and their bully/intimidation games with this now nervous and paranoid Canadian traveller.  All I will say is I do in fact have some video footage of being tailed for approximately fifteen minutes at one point and two other situations of being tailed for between three to five minutes on both occasions.  Is Canada really your enemy?  Do you really want to do that?  I once heard from a little birdie that people like Canada and Canadians, do you really want to go and make an enemy out of us?  I can say with confidence and absolutely no hesitation that doing so would in fact be one of the dumbest things you have ever done in the history of the United States.

Ok, now onto what I have decided to do.  I am as you have already read; sitting at a Flying J travel centre along I 10 somewhere between Tucson and Phoenix.  Yesterday was a day that could have probably been broken up into a week but I made it through and I do actually have some amazing footage.  Let me start from the point where things pick up...Literally lol Driving along I 10 on one of the windiest days in my history.  I find myself yet again, face to face with a Tornado.  Now, this one would probably not even registered but when you see them and you experience the brutal power of the winds and debris they produce...you don't really give a crap that it probably wouldn't register.  It's violent regardless.  Once I stepped on the gas and got my butt out of there (the smart girl that survives all the horror movies) I realized the fun was actually just beginning.  The only term I know to use here is (shit canned)  sorry!  I could have gone with pelted, or bombarded or even ambushed but shit canned is what I came up with at the time so that is what I am going to use here. :-)  Two words...Texas Tumbleweeds!!!!  As I have told a could people, these things look so fluffy and innocent on tv lol in real life they are huge bushes coming at your car like a heat seeking missile.  they hit and explode and you can see them coming for miles and no matter how you try to adjust your speed they seem to just find you.  The giant weeds in my grill were tolerable it was the massive chevy sized bushes coming at me from the side.  I don't know if you have ever played frogger but that was my day in a nut shell yesterday.  Texas Tumbleweed frogger.  I lost ;-)

Anyway, more on that day later.  For now I must hit the road and figure out where to stay tonight.  I should be in San Diego by tonight maybe even south of that.  I am upset that I have to leave so early but I am excited to get back to Canada.  Only because I said I wouldn't work in the US and I have in fact held up my end.  There have been a couple people keeping this trip going from behind the scenes and I will make sure they are given the credit they more than deserve.  So getting back and starting to work again will be the first step in saving money and planning my next tour.  lol probably wont be called the Kindness tour but we shall see ;-)

So there you have it.  My decision is made and if you are my mother or know me at you will know that once I have made up my mind there is really no changing it.  Sometimes that works in my favour sometimes....not so much lol

West Coast here I come!!!  anyone there wanting to meet up or shelter me and Pepper for a night feel free to email.  I look forward to the final stages of this trip and other than the winter wonderland which awaits me, I am excited to be heading home.  Carla...hope you are ok with getting your house painted about a month earlier :-)

Kalachandji's to King Spa & Sauna

Rolling into Texas on November 25th I was suddenly struck with a harsh reality.  There is such thing as cold weather.  After driving about forty five minutes, Pepper decided it was once again time to ...well...pull over.  As I had just left Louisiana a short time ago I was hesitant to hit the next rest stop but as you all know, when the dogs gotta go the dogs gotta go :-)  As well as having the AC cranked I had to have the window up as tight as they would go or the rear-view mirror and windows would fog up.  And I mean fog up!  Non of this light mist over the bottom of the glass.  I mean a full fledged can't see, driving by sound kind of fog.  Again, this was for pepper as the humidity tends to get to him after a little while; not because I am sick and twisted and like to freeze my butt off while driving in 80/30 degree heat.  Anyway, my usual routine for that would be to drive for a bit, pull into a rest stop, get out of my car and warm up by walking around outside.  Yesterday was where the harsh reminder came into play.  I pulled into the first rest stop just after the state line dividing Louisiana and Texas and pulled into this madhouse of a gas station where I think everyone who lived in Texas decided to meet for the day.  I pulled in took my sweater off inside the car, got out of the car to warm so I could warm up and KAPOW!!! (little Batman bubble there) I was hit in the face with a gale force wind with a temperature attached to it of minus two.  much to my surprise... my already blue face and hands were now in full spasm and my poor meatless body was stuck in a position of shock and horror.  I would have cried but that may have looked kind of strange lol

Now that I am over the realization that I will come across cold weather again, I can tell you that yesterday was a day of firsts in a few different ways.  Great ways, but still so unbelievably different. 

After arriving at my destination in Dallas I met up with Joseph; an old friend of mine from the Transrockies Mountain bike Challenge.  Of course this was the American Thanksgiving and his family is mostly in Virginia so we decided to make our own (special) Thanksgiving meal.  We hit the store to get the basics for a dinner of that size...Broth, eggs, marshmallows, already cooked turkey breast and gluten free chocolate chip cookies.  Ok those were mine :-)  can't really blame us, it was already later in the day and cooking a full turkey would have been just down right silly.  I managed to make an interesting concoction of a make shift cranberry sauce, and if I don't say so myself...It was awesome!!  tasted more like apple cider, but hey; who doesn't like apple cider? 

Now, here is where the first's come in...actually the cranberry sauce was a first but here is where the crazy firsts come in.  Joseph usually goes to bed early and when I say early I mean it.  five year old children go to bed later then Joseph lol not joking.  So he was off to bed and I just sat down to start editing my next video snippet.  The next thing I know he is on his phone calling the Kalachandji's Resturant and Palace to see how late they were going to be open for dinner.  This is at eight thirty in the evening.  We had thirty minutes to get there so of course, and he said it was really a place I had to see so we had to get there before it closed.  He drove.  (WOW) ummm....yeah (WOW) that is all I will say.  He has a dream of racing cars on day and I think he was his trial run.  Needless to say, we made it one time.  The place was like nothing I had ever seen.  Almost indescribable.  The sheer size of the palace was impressive, the pillars and cathedral ceilings alone were immense but not intimidating.  Inside right next to the Palace was the little restaurant.  They had a a buffet which was just getting put away, however they were kind enough to let us eat what we could and only charged us for one meal.  Which worked out perfectly because the only I think I could eat there was the green salad, the sweet potatoes and the green beans.  It was a cute little restaurant with no more than six tables inside and 10 tables outside.  We were the only ones in the place so we of course choose to eat outside (yeah I know) it was cold, but the experience itself made up for the chill in the air.  In the middle of this little courtyard was what looked like a giant bonzi tree.  It wasn' but it sure looked like one. I never asked what it was but it was such a great thing to see. I of course took some film of it so I will try to get that on my next video :-) maybe, I am little behind on those.  I am still at the beach on my next one.  Just can't seem to drag myself away from that area.

The Temple itself was so peaceful.  just standing inside the door, I had a strange sensation of being at peace with myself and a strange warm rush came over my body.  Could have been the warm air built up behind the door but I would like to think that it being such a spiritual place, even someone who does not exactly practice or participate in their spirituality or way of thinking; can feel the power and the energy from what they actually stand for and strive for.  Peace, Love, Understanding, Respect and Acceptance.  How could anyone feel uncomfortable in that sort of setting. 

One might think that having that kind of experience would have been enough to go on for quite some time.  Well, for Joseph and me; it was not.

He wanted to give me a quick tour of this crazy twenty-four hour spa nestled in the heart of the  Industrial section of town in Dallas Texas.  Hmmmm, My first thought was he was driving to some make out point, then maybe he was going to kill me and leave me in a cement factory but much to my surprise; out of the darkness came this wild and crazy welcome sign with three giraffes sitting on top of it.  If I didn't know any better I would have thought at some point throughout the evening I had dropped acid.  Trust me,I am still shaking my head about the entire thing.  I highly recommend you look this place up because I am not a spa person at all, but the experience itself is something I believe everyone should have.  It's called the King Spa & Sauna in Dallas Texas.  Now here is the kicker.  Joseph knew the front desk clerk so we went in for a quick tour and he introduced me to him.  He figured since I was in the Therapy field I would appreciate the healing aspects which this place had to offer.  The desk clerk said we could have a tour or just come in and spend the night for free!!!!  I was unable to spend the entire evening as I couldn't leave Pepper at the house for too long.  But I did want to experience this place for a few hours just to say I did.  The unfortunate part about it was I was not able to do any filming or take pictures.  Now I have to rely on my memory which you all know is (crap) to tell you of my experience.  I will keep it short for this post as it is already fairly long winded.  But I will tell you to picture the color  Pink, yes that's right...Pink.  The women wore pink shirts with pink shorts and had a pink bracelets.  The men wore grey and had a blue bracelets and the children wore yellow.  I asked if I could wear yellow and the women in the bathroom laughed at me.  I don't think a lot of these people had ever seen a pasty irish woman walking around in a pink outfit with a ball cap on lol Not a good look for anyone.  I spent most of the time watching people.  I attempted to enter the Fire Sudatorium...Wow, that lasted an entire twenty fvie seconds.  Great name for it though.  My favourite room in there had to be the charcoal room.  probably because it was more like an Arizona Summer heat as apposed to the depths of haiti's.  Unfortunately my explanations of this place will never do it justice and I will just say that to understand it is to go there and see it.  So if you are ever in Dallas or Chicago, or Korea, Japan and China ...do it.  Other than the pink mandatory outfit, I would go back in a second.  Watching the primarily Korean families interact was a spectacular sight to see.  Every corner of the building had people sleeping or doing yoga or just hanging out and talking.  The one thing I noticed is they were all doing it as a family.  The crazy thing about it (for me) was the kids around fourteen or fifteen were more than thrilled to sit there and hang out with their parents and just talk, laugh or even to just simply breath.  What is that all about? :-)  I loved it, I love it and I hope to get the chance to spend the entire night there at some point.  I have never felt so warm and so calm and so at peace.

Margo

Just some stuff!

How to stay positive and upbeat when your financial world is crashing down all around you.

ok, so I guess it's a good thing I never had a lot of money to start out with.  If this were a tour on how to show people the proper way to get ripped off...I would get the prize for sure.  Hopefully it would be money lol

I just want to get this out there for anyone who has used or was thinking of using or will ever use Hotles.ca I was trying to pre book a room in Baton Rouge for tomorrow November 23, 2010 and much to my surprise the money I had for emergency fuel and motel stays was all gone.  My first reaction was...HOLY CRAP someone has my Visa number and has been out there shopping and having a great time while I have been oblivious.  Not the case, but close.  I went back into my old statements online and noticed two things that really chapped my ass!!!  sorry for the expression, but I don't think there is a nicer way for me to put it.  The first thing I noticed was I had been charged over $400.00 for hotel bookings I had never even made.  Another charge was for a booking I made and cancelled within 5 minutes of confirming the booking.  Which of course was never returned to my account.
The second thing I noticed which is something that I am extremely upset with and would like to know why there is no legislation for it;  was the over charging of hotels two or three days after I had checked out and been given my receipt.  I know some of you will be thinking it is probably because of a pet fee or cleaning fee.  Please let me assure you I have paid no less than a ten dollar deposit on every room I have stayed in.  That is by far a sufficient amount to cover any damage Pepper is ever going to do.  Of course I am now wishing I had of just let him crap on the bed and pee in the corner.  Wouldn't of made the room smell any worse ;-) Now that I can see an extra charge for lol

Anyway, with all that said and done.  I have had some of the nicest weather anyone could ever ask for.  Start to finish.  Well, Nova Scotia excluded but they had some of the nicest people so I wouldn't want to go and make anything overly nice on this trip.  That was my snarky sarcastic remark at karma...or whatever it's supposed to be :-)  I have some great video and snippets I am eager to get onto the web site but I have had little to no internet the last few days.  Funny thing is, I am not writing this from a hotel with free wi fi lol they never seem to be working.  I am actually writing this from a KOA Campground in the middle of Alabama.  Well, the middle of the bottom lol never actually thought I would be using my computer while lying on my massage table inside a tent with the top tarp off and looking at the sky with the clouds rolling by every so often.  really sucks to be me right now.  I just can't say thank you enough for this fabulous weather.

Pepper had a rough couple days when the heat and humidity were really high and I hope now that I am heading west he will start to notice a difference.  He has a lipoma in is mouth that seems to swell up in the heat and humidity, thus causing him to gag and choke.  Once he is in a cool dry place he is completely fine.  Great for him, not great for me as I had to drive down Interstate 10 today with the windows rolled up the AC cranked to the max and towels blocking all the windows in the back.  Did I mention I had to wear a sweater with the hoodie on.  Every time I stopped to take him for a walk the people at the rest stops were looking at me like I was nuts when I stepped out of the car with a winter parka and blue lips.  Oh well like I said before, my number one concern on this venture is Pepper and I would never put anything else before him.  I have had some people throughout this tour come out and visit and stay with me along the way and I am sure they can attest to that as well.

A quick shout out to Latisha and Shinease (sp) Latisha...When Shinease yells "WHERE YOU AT GIRL" and you are on the other side of the complex at seven in the morning.. "HEY GIRL...WHERE YOU AT?  I CAN HARDLY HEAR YOU."  is probably not the best response.  Considering Latisha was hanging over the railing and almost fell off in the process.  Only reason I know that is because of the running dialog and narration we were all pleasantly surprised to hear at 7:00am   so here's to you girl !!   good luck with the Price is Right, or whatever that show was you were talking about.  I am sure you will be one of the best.  I may even watch ;-)

As far as an update on where I am and where I am going next.  Well, I am in Elberta Alabama tonight.  Heading to somewhere near Huston tomorrow and on to Dallas on the 24th From there I am not quite sure.  I guess I will leave it up to anyone who knows anyone between Texas and California.  I have considered all my options thus far and have decided to stay down here as long I need to and get back to Calgary when I get back to Calgary.  I will not over stay my February plans and if all goes well with Pepper I hope to spend quite a bit of time in the Phoenix / California area.  Yes, mostly because it's not -30 I do know some people who have offered a place for me in that area so if those are still open I would love to hear from you.

 Anyway, lessons learnt.  Always check bank and credit card statements.  Always remember that there are people out there who narrate their own lives...(MIKE/MICHELLE) (Latisha)
 Always look after your pets as if they were one of the family and even if it is over 80 / 30 degrees outside, always keep a sweater and a snow scraper handy cause you never know when you are going to need them.  Trust me ;-)

PS I would also like to take this time to send out a great big hello to those of you just tuning in to this little adventure.  Not only to those of you from Canada and the United States but from the rest of the world as well.  I am thrilled to see so many new countries added to the list !!!  Thank you so much for your interest in this Blog.  Please feel free to join in and let me know your thoughts.  I would love to have the opinions of those who do not live in North America.  How do you view us as a people.  Not as a government, not as a political party but as human beings?

Cumming Georgia to Savannah Georgia to Tampa Florida!

Watching the weather channel today has made me realize a few things.  what we as a "civilized Country" take for granted.  I for one can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am to be writing this post from a lounge chair poolside in Tampa Florida with 80 degree temperatures.  thank you, thank you, thank you!! I do feel for all of you back home experiencing the deep freeze and i would never dream of rubbing it in as I do know for a fact that I will at some point this winter experience the same weather.

I have been a little slow in getting this post out because for the first time on this trip I have actually been getting out and doing some things around the places I was visiting.  I have been talking to as many people as I can and I am quite surprised at what I have discovered thus far.  For instance, on average; Americans love Canadians.  They still don't understand how we can consider hockey a sport....Note to Gary Bettman...Move a team back to Canada where it can be appreciated and enjoyed.  I would like to take this time to make a shout out to Tim, a great guy from North Carolina who sees hockey as "a bunch of guys smacking around circular cow patties with sticks after punching each other in the face."  He did say the one game he watched was enjoyable and would watch more if he had to lol Anyway, to you time...thanks for your input.  I still laugh about you descriptions to this day. 

I must say, I am in love with the southern accent.  Whichever county it may be from.  I am also in love with the southern way of life, the cool relaxed style and the ever famous southern hospitality.  So friendly, so courteous and so extremely helpful.  I met another gentleman named Tim...It's really easy to remember names out this way lol He went as far as to point out which areas of the country may or may not be safe for someone like me :-)  He was a great guy from Savannah Georgia other than trying to get me to drink his homemade moonshine...(about 90 proof) I had such a great time getting to know him.  Sorry Tim #2 not my cup of tea, I am a beer girl.  But I do know a few people who would jump on that train in a second.

I am now as I mentioned before, sitting pool side in Tampa Florida and missing Georgia big time.  I felt so comfortable there and i do hope at some point that the US Government will let me back in so I can return to Georgia and spend a lot more time exploring the area.

I have been polling a lot of people here about what they think about when think of Canada.  I was quite surprised to find out the answers.
1. Free Healthcare
2. Cold Weather
3. Peaceful people who stick mostly to themselves and never lock their doors
4. No guns
5. (this one surprised me the most) I have heard repeatedly that Americans think about how frustrated they are that the US Government P.Oed the Canadian Government.  They agree that we are two separate countries with similar people and similar values being separated and segregated by our own governing bodies. 

I for one have not seen nor experienced any American hostility, Arrogance or Ignorance in the time I have been down here.  From the people that is.  i was given the cold shoulder by a deer and squirrel but I guess I can forgive them for that.

I for one have been so pleasantly surprised at the genuine kindness here.  I myself would even consider packing up my stuff, applying for a visa ;-) and moving to the south.  Yes, becoming an american.  I know, I know, some of you just dropped your jaws and spit (beer, coffee, strongbow or Rickards Red) through your nose but I can assure you, you did read my words correctly.  I would be proud to call myself a Southerner.  The bad Reputation they have is strictly a media based issue and if i am accepted into film school I will be sure to come back and prove to the rest of the world; that to think like a southerner, to act like a southerner and to truly be a southerner is something we could all be proud to admit.  They really are the kindest people I have met so far.  A close second of course being good ol Nova Scotia but the southern accent really puts em over the top LOL just kidding.  But they really do blow my mind with their kindness!

I hope to spend as much time as i can here in Florida.  i don't think I really need to go into too much detail on that one.  Of course they do have these weather Network segments called..."It could Happen Tomorrow" talking about huge Hurricanes and other Natural Disasters that sort of makes me rethink moving out here on a permanent basis lol.  But I guess if you think about it, anywhere you go a Natural Disaster or an Act of God is an all to real possibility.  I am just going to be happy where I am right now in this very moment.

So, I guess to wrap this up I would like to say thank you to everyone I have met along the way and thank you for all your input and advice.  To all the Tims I have met...You guys rock and I have not laughed that hard in a long time so thank you as well for that.  To the Gentleman from Delaware, Sorry I didn't get your name but if you manage to come across this blog...WRITE THAT BOOK!!! Margo said so ;-)

Ok so just a few more things I have picked up along the way in the last couple weeks.
1. Sleep may be overrated, but if I don't get any of it I tend to not like stuff.
2. If you feel like having (buying) an alcoholic beverage on a sunday in the great state of Georgia...you can't.  Unless you are a member of the US forces.
3. Heated pool does not always translate into...WARM pool
4. I feel surprisingly guilty for sitting in 30+ weather when my friends are sitting in a deep freeze at -20
5. They call tuques ...Toboggans
6. They think walking around in shorts, T-shits and sandals in 65 degree weather is crazy
7. they think swimming in that weather is even crazier
8. 12 Coronas are $13.00
9. 2L of Rum are about $13.00 (no not an alcoholic ...yet lol) just an observation
10.  filling your car with fuel here is a painful process because I don't have a zip code and I have yet to find a gas station where I can wash my car on my own and clean my windows with a squeegee longer than 4 inches.  Wow, that is something you need to do when you have a day off :-)

chat with ya'll soon ;-)
Margo

Georgia on my mind

Following my entertaining evening at the US border and some fun and wonderful arguments with Betty Lou through New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina and Connecticut, in no particular order :-)  I made my way to the great state of Georgia.  Cumming Georgia to be exact.  I have decided that the southern accent is a more natural way to speak and have made up my mind to try and adopt it as my own.  The people I have met throughout my travels so far inside the United states have been amazing.  Southern hospitality is...well...just that...Southern Hospitality lol the stereotype is in fact quite accurate.  They do move at a much slower pace here (except on the interstate) a seven lane interstate moving at 130km/h can be a little intimidating but I can tell you with all honesty that they are so courteous here that in the entire time I have been driving around Atlanta and area I have not been cut off once and have been let into traffic without any sort of obscene gesture ;-)  I may have found my new favourite place to be and I know I said I was coming back to Calgary but if the weather stays the way it has been and I continue to be treated as well as I have been; I may find a way to stay lol Can you really blame me?  I just went on a hike up to the Indian Seats in November with a T-shirt and sandals and still found it to be almost too warm!!!  Juuust kidding, there is no such thing as too warm!

I have had a few issues downloading my videos onto my blog site so I will be posting them on facebook as well as YouTube.  I hope those of you who enjoy watching them can still find a way to access them.

I apologize for any inconvenience and I hope I can work these minor glitches out soon.  I HATE TECHNOLOGY lol

Chat soon
M

Follow up to US Border Issues

There are many reasons a person may be ineligible to enter the U.S. The legal descriptions are lengthy and complex, so to help you understand them, we are providing a general description of the most common ones. This list should not be taken as a complete list of reasons to be excluded from entry. In general, you might be denied entry if you have a communicable disease, if you have a criminal record for crimes of moral turpitude (age 18 or older), for possession of or trafficking in a controlled substance, if you have any involvement with terrorism or terrorist organizations (no waivers can be approved for this category), if you have trafficked in persons, been involved in money laundering, might become a public charge because of limited financial resources, have been previously removed (deported) or have overstayed a previous period of admission to the U.S. Again, this list is not comprehensive and you should use the above link to read the complete list.

Depending on the reason for your inadmissibility into the U.S., and if you are a class of nonimmigrant where a visa is not required (e.g., most citizens of Canada), or you are a nonimmigrant with appropriate documents who subsequently becomes admissible, you may be eligible to apply in advance of your travel directly to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for a temporary waiver of inadmissibility. The waiver application process can be lengthy (up to a year) and there is a cost of US $545.00 per application regardless of the decision on the application. Payment must be with a certified check in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank for the $545.00 application fee.

Since they know exactly how much money I had coming into the country and told me in their own words from their own lips, I have enough to get me through to my semi-planned February departure date.  I really can't see why I was given such a hard time.

So the real question here is...

Why, in the name of socks would I want to stay or live in a country that makes average hard working citizens feel like criminals? 

Money, Money, Money...If I weigh my options it will be cheaper for me to stay; over stay my permitted limit, subsequently be deported and pay the $545.00 to apply for re-entry.  Assuming I would ever want re-entry into this county.  I was told I could spend five weeks in the United States of America; December 03, 2010 is to be my forced departure date.  I was told I could leave my Florida destination and drive back to the US border and apply for re-entry the next day.  I was then told under breath that they would not be letting me back into the country and I should just plan on going home and forget about Christmas in Florida.  Of course all this is my word against theirs and I am sure my small insignificant existence in this giant world they call the U.S of A would have less than a leg to stand on in this matter. 

The WHTI (Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative) = Keep the bad guys out and let the good guys visit! hmmmm sure.

I have had more e-mails and conversations about this topic than I care to have or read about.  However, I guess it is a sore subject for many people.  I would really like to hear more opinions from Americans traveling to Canada and their experiences coming through Canadian customs.  From what I have heard so far there really is no difference.  Also, my comment about never being more proud to be a Canadian was a bit of an exaggeration and I was just speaking from angered passion.  I am still not impressed with the Canadian government either and I think they could both benefit from a bit of a revamp.

I was told something yesterday that really chaps my ass; and it not only frustrates me but angers and hurts me as well.  I was informed that if I disregard any orders I have been given by US customs the worst thing that could happen to me is I get deported and never allowed access back into the United States again.  That is my burden and my issue and I have no problems dealing with the ramifications.  However, I was informed that they will not even bother to come after me if I choose to ignore them.   They will go directly to any contact names I gave them at the border and attack them directly.  Meaning, they will make life a living hell for Alicia, a Canadian citizen attending the university of Maine on a student visa.  Now, call me crazy....as I am sure you have already!  But I have heard of this kind of "terror tactic" before ..."rule by intimidation," "govern by fear" and if all else fails "go after the ones they care about"  ..."Capone, Luciano, (after Prohibition) Anastasia, Gambino and Costello just to name a few.  Why is it OK for the US government to pull out organized crime tactics on someone who is just trying to visit and learn about their country.  excess, excess, excess!!! Am I really the biggest threat to this country?  Am I really someone who needs to be on a watch list?  I am so glad they got all their other issues under control so they can focus on keeping people like me out of their country.  I would hate to put money back into their economy and contribute to their gross national...anything!

OK, to sum this up I would like to throw out a question to anyone and everyone who happens to read this post...

What would you do?

1. Leave on date given and just ignore any sort of poor treatment you have received

2. Stay as long as you need to and deal with whatever happens, happens

3. Post blog globally and show the rest of the world what is going on

4. Televise the rest of your trip and exploit any abuse of power you may run into

5. Other

PS... remember Freedom of Speech!  You can say anything you want!  Consider my blog site Switzerland

 

West End Girl

I would like to start this post by saying I have been a little frustrated over the past few days.  I have allowed the negativity of others to take over my entire thought process and in turn I have spent the last couple of postings shedding these experiences and passing the negativity onto those of you actually reading them.  I would like to let you all know that I had several hours today to think about what I share and what I don’t and I have decided to focus on only the positive but not shy away from letting people know about the hardships I do face on this tour. 

Today was a day of realizations!  I realized that a small town girl from the west side of Canada is no match for the big city Interstates of east coast USA.  I am sure if I could have found a place to pull over between Boston Massachusetts and Hartford Connecticut I would have done just that. Once pulled over I would have probably taken the opportunity to rock back n forth in my car and cried like a little girl till I had nothing left to cry about!!!  It was a little chaotic from start to finish.  Hard rain for eight hours, two wrong turns which added two extra hours to my drive, interstates that have special lanes for people who are not me and of course once you manage to get yourself into those lanes it is prohibited to get yourself out. lol  To top off the craziness of a drive gone horribly wrong... I found myself smack dab in the middle of downtown New York City; lost, nervous, upset and using words and phrases I didn’t even know existed.  Actually to be quite honest, I don’t think they do.  They did however work for the situation and I will be apologizing profusely to Betty Lou tomorrow for my treatment of her throughout the day J  Trust me when I say, if you ever plan on driving alone through these big cities in the pouring rain during rush hour....Please for the love of socks, purchase for yourself a Betty Lou!  Feel free to give her another name but I highly recommend having the technology.  Without it I am pretty sure I would have parked my car somewhere in the Bronx; after turning the right direction down the one way street of course.  Got out, walked to the air port, put pepper in my bag and flown home.  I was never so happy to see a building on the side of the road as I was today.  It was a strange experience to not have a view of anything but trees to the sides and semi trucks everywhere else.  It was almost a claustrophobic feeling after a while.  You know it’s bad when you start longing for the TransCanada highway between Saskatchewan and Manitoba lol

I am now in Hagerstown Maryland and I was quite surprised to find that the outskirts of Pennsylvania look a little like lush green Alberta farmland.  Such as welcome site after the morning and the drive I had today. 

To finish up this post I need to send out a great big Hello and Thank You to the Gilfoy Family in Nova Scotia.  Contrary to how I looked in my video blog, I was thoroughly enjoying myself there.  Joan, Tim (Timmy) and Kirin (sp) made me feel so comfortable.  I was still not feeling all that well and ended up hanging out for a few days and just writing in my journal.  I had no idea I could write that much and still want to write more.  Joan gave me a tour of a little scenic loop they have near Antigonish.  The weather was cold to start but the sun eventually came out and made the tour even that much more special.  She treated me to lunch and it was so great to just sit and talk about anything and everything and just learn how someone else views the world.  I managed to wiggle my way in to staying there for an entire week and I think it is safe to say that Joan and I kind of fell into an instant routine.  Once she stopped calling Mona that is lol After dinner we would sit on the couch and just talk.  The topics would vary but I can honestly say that I enjoyed the conversations so much, that I find myself missing them already.  The Gilfoy’s are an incredible family and they come from a town of incredible people.  The stereotype is not misleading at all.  Maritimers, or true easterners as they say are in fact some of the kindest people you will ever meet.  It really is a beautiful place and my last day there I was treated to some of the most spectacular rainbows I have ever seen.  I do hope to get back there one day.  There really is so much to see out there but so little time to see it.  Of course I will probably make sure I return in the summer ;-) for longer longer days lol nothing to do with the warmth and sunshine.

As for the remainder of this week, I am off to North Carolina tomorrow and from there I am heading into Atlanta Georgia.  I will be taking some travel time off and spending a few days there.  I hope to get caught up on some videos that you have all told me you love so much.  And maybe catch up on some rest and relaxation.  Ok, maybe just some relaxation lol I am sure Pepper will be ready for another few days off after the last couple travel days.

Please take care and I will have another video for you ASAP J

M

USA/Margo The Evil Canadian Intruder

Quebec video / Happy Anniversary Part 2

...After I left Sault Ste Marie I had a light leisurely drive to Gravenhurst Ontario.  Other than the fact that the wind was gusting to about 70km/hour over most of the highway and by the time I had reached the town of Gravenhurst I was physically exhausted from trying to keep my car on the road...I still found it to be a beautiful drive.  I started my stay out in a little ‘A’ frame cottage on the edge of a lake (can’t quite remember the name off hand) but it was nice.  I had to pinch myself a few times because I just couldn’t believe the view I would be enjoying for the next couple of days.  Coming from a place where the front window looked out onto a parking pad and my car sitting in front of a rather large evergreen, this was the view I had dreamed about having for as long as I can remember.  Marilyn and Allan Picard were so kind to offer me their home for the weekend while they were away at a wedding.  It was right next door to their daughter Jamie and her husband Jeff and their two fabulous kids Nathan and Hannah.  They were also kind enough to give me a place to stay for a couple days as well.  I had a great time touring Gravenhurst with Marilyn and Jamie.  It was fun for me and it was great to see a place where someone had grown up and actually still lived.  The way they reminisced about old times made me feel like I myself had grown up in Gravenhurst.  Marilyn treated me and Jamie to lunch at the Marriot Hotel and Spa in Muskoka and for the afternoon we hung out and laughed and told crazy stories about crazy people.  No not gossip it was all in good fun but it was a blast getting to know all of them and I look forward to seeing them again along the way.  Maybe in Florida ;-)soooo excited!!

From Gravenhurst to Ottawa Ontario was short and sweet to say the least.  I had a rather long discussion with Betty Lou after arriving in Ottawa four and a half hours after leaving Gravenhurst.  I had typed in the address of my destination into Betty Lou and started on my trek.  I was surprised to see the Ottawa 45km sign when I was still in fact waiting to see a sign for Algonquin Park.  I wish I had of paid a little more attention when Jamie was telling me which highway went through the park, but of course I didn’t want to go off the path that Betty Lou had laid out for me; so I just stayed full steam ahead and hit Ottawa in record time.  I am sure Pepper was happy about that but I would have loved to get some photos of that area.  I met up with my Auntie Margo in Kanata Ontario.  She and her husband Randy were more than happy to put me up for a few nights.  I loved getting to know them all a little better and I was so grateful for them as I started to feel like I was coming down with something.  Not sure if it was the flu or a cold or just complete exhaustion from a month of staying in new places and meeting new people and let’s not forget, a whole crap load of driving.  I slept for about 14 hours there and missed out on what I am sure would have been a great evening with my Aunt and her daughter Faith.  I will for sure return to Kanata following the completion of this trip and spend some quality time with the entire family.  I am looking forward to it already and I hope they are as well.  I promise I will get sick and be over it before I get there lol I got to tour around Ottawa and see all the crazy ins and outs of a nation’s capital.  I have never been a fan of politicians and a tour of their homes didn’t change that.  I loved the tour itself and I am thankful that my aunt had the time to take me on it, but seeing how our political leaders live was just a reminder of how much they will never know about the real world and real people who live in it.  They are so sheltered and so withdrawn from anyone not just like them that it’s like another world and no matter how hard they try and how much they believe they have their finger on the pulse of the nation; they never will.  You can’t solve a hunger problem if you yourself have never been without.  You cannot change something if you have never experienced it on a personal level.  So as I said before, Ottawa is a beautiful city.  The company I had there was second to no one, the tour was great and appreciated but my political views will always remain the same.  More to come on that I am sure ;-)

I left Ottawa and headed straight for Edmunston New Brunswick.  I was still not feeling all that well but I was way better then I was the day before.  On my way through Montreal I noticed a huge cultural swing.  A swing that saddens me to say was not for the better.  As I mentioned in my post about the driving and the blatant disregard for the safety of others, I was struck with the realization that this was a big part of Canadian culture and a huge part of Canadian representation.  I finally realized what my American friend was talking about.  She and her husband had only ever visited two places in Canada; Vancouver British Columbia and Montreal Quebec.  They were disgusted with how we as Canadians thought of ourselves as polite and courteous.  They found us rude and arrogant and somewhat self involved.  After my experience through that area of the country I am angry at myself for telling her she was wrong.  I spoke before knowing all the facts and I retract what I said and I apologize for trying to correct her when she had every right to feel the way she did.  I guess it didn’t help that I was sick on my way through and not in the mood to witness such aggression but that is how this is playing out and that is how I am writing it down.  More to come on that as well lol

I ended up staying at the Best Western in Edmunston New Brunswick.  I stayed for two nights and loved every minute of it.  I cranked the heat in my room to 25 degrees I opened a can of sweet potatoes and tried to get some rest.  I had three showers the first night I was there as I couldn’t seem to stay warm.  I watched Ghostbusters in French did a little skype action and slept till 10:00am 7:00am Mountain Standard time 8:00am Eastern Standard time and of course my new time ....some standard time east of eastern standard.  My body is having a ridiculous time adjusting to the difference.  Especially when I talk to friends back home and they are sitting in the sun on the deck with an ice cold drink and I am sitting in the dark with a bottle of Dayquil.  The one thing I hadn’t thought of.  Oops

Throughout my drive I would listen to the radio and more often than not it was a French station. I love some of the music but of course I would have no idea what they are saying.  When it came time to check out of my hotel room I walked up to the desk clerk put my card on the counter and said...”bonjour” LOL I have no idea why that came out of my mouth but it did and it made me laugh.  I will blame it on the woman behind me who had just said it so I am sure my brain heard it and decided to repeat.  That is really the only real explanation. 

After my French possession I hopped in my car threw in a CD and headed for my final Canadian destination...Antigonish Nova Scotia.  For the first time in my drive the weather was crap.  It was foggy and cold with rain and wet snow off and on all the way.  I haven’t seen the sunshine now for four days and the energy meter is starting to drop.  Actually who am I kidding, the energy meter was on empty the second day of fog.  I am still not feeling well and I hope I haven’t brought anything nasty to Antigonish.  Joan Gilfoy has been so awesome to me.  She brought me some fresh squeezed orange juice this afternoon, which of course made me feel bad as she herself is slightly under the weather.  I guess it’s going around but I still can’t believe the hospitality I have received from one end of this country to the other. 

A quick note about Pepper...he is doing great!!!  Everywhere I go they offer to take him off my hands for me.  I like to think part of that is from me being such a great mom J He is loving all the attention and all the love.  He has met some friends of his own which I am sure I will have to write letters for him so he can keep in contact with them.  He actually has more of a bounce in his step now and he has been so great on the long drives.  We do stop about once every hour and half for a stretch...actually more the last two days as I discovered his new food is rancid and we are now peeing out our bum.  When I say we I mean Pepper lol but I have to go find some of his food in an animal hospital here so we can get back to just pooping.  I am really looking forward to that.

So that is it in a nut shell for the last 4 weeks of my life.  I have learnt a lot about what the rest of the country feels is needed to make this world a better place.  Which I will of course be sharing with everyone upon the completion of this tour.  Don’t want to start the great debate while I am still travelling.  Or maybe I will, we shall see.

So long for now from Antigonish pronounced...(ant-tic-nish) lol or at least I think that is how they pronounce it.

I hope to get some great shots tomorrow.  Fingers crossed it’s not raining.

I will leave you with some pointers and things I have picked up along the way.

1.       Never eat hummus which has been sitting in your ice free cooler for 7 hours under your seat where the heat as been at it for at least 5 of those hours.

2.       Sugar in your eye really hurts, especially when you are driving on a 4 lane highway in the middle of Ottawa and you can’t get over to the left or the right.  Don’t ask how I got sugar in my eye!

3.       Not all dishwashers are the same

4.       Not all coffee makers are the same

5.       Not everyone shares my sense of humour

6.       5000km from home in the middle of nowhere with no one else around you can still have a rock fall from the sky and put the first ever crack in your windshield. Hmmm anyone else think that’s a bit strange?

7.        Last but certainly not least ...When brushing your teeth in the dark always make sure you have the tube of toothpaste and not the polysporin...YUK!!

Here is to another great month of Travel, Kindness and Fun!!!!!!

OK, that is it for the looooooong posts.  Well for another four weeks anyway ;-)

CHEERS

Happy Anniversary Part 1

Happy Anniversary!!!

One month ago today I packed my car, kissed my cat “Lipps” on her little head and told her I would see her soon...(cried)  said goodbye to my friends...(cried again) hugged my mom in a Tim Horton’s parking lot...(and of course, cried  yet again)  got in my car, asked Pepper if he was ready to go then hit the road for Medicine Hat.  Note to self and anyone else ever planning an adventure such as this...Wait until you are no longer PMSing to leave.  It is hard enough on your system without all the hormones  lol

My first stop was Medicine Hat to pick up my friend and travel companion to Thunder Bay Ontario, Paula.  The trip was new and exciting and the weather could not have been any better.  We made it to Regina Saskatchewan for the first night and had to share the tv as there was a hockey game and Gray’s Anatomy on at the same time.  The flames didn’t even show up for that game so I wasn’t too worried about catching the third period.  No red blooded flames fan ever wants to watch them lose to the dreaded Edmonton Oilers ;-) 

After discovering a band aid (or something close to that) in the jar of 2004 homemade jam my grandma had given me, Paula and I decided to take a closer look at what exactly was in my little and when I little I mean giant care package.  The contents were a bit...well, I guess ( interesting) would be a good word choice for this one.  A package of gluten free pancake mix, a package of gluten free muffin mix, 16 jars of jam packaged no later than 2006 a cantaloupe so rotten it was talking back to us as we tried moving it out of the cooler, a small collection of men’s tube socks (size 10) and finally... The kicker, the be all end all of everything necessary in a travel pack for a trip across the country.....a turnip!!!   Love ya Grandma

Regina Saskatchewan was for the most part friendly and courteous.  We were not there long but you don’t have to spend a ton of time somewhere to get a general idea of how the people are.  The drivers would let you into traffic if you happen to make an accidental lane change, the service people were exceptional...well the ones I dealt with anyway.  The sky was blue and the air was warm so I was a happy camper all around.  I do however want to know what hotels pay for property tax and utilities.  I am so not convinced that one night in a hotel/motel at 100.00 or more is really a fair price for the weary traveller.  There really has to be a way those prices can be lowered.

From Regina we made our way to Portage La Prairie Manitoba.  Cute town, but like I said before...thou shall not have a sushi or any other kind of ethnic food craving;  Unless your version of ethnic food is charbroiled, dipped in grease and served to you by a guy wearing a paper hat.  There was an area there with a river running through it which was quite a site to see.  The mass quantities of Canadian Geese were actually quite breath taking.  I wish the lighting was a little better so I could have taken some photos of them.  Of course if they are anything like the geese in Calgary, they would have chased me down the street and taken chunks out of my jeans on the way.  Now that I think about it, it was probably a good thing the lighting was so bad.

Portage to Thunder Bay Ontario was a long drive.  When all was said and done we were probably driving for over 10 hours.  We were definitely ready for a break after that one.  The Kent family was amazing!!! And I do mean AMAZING!!!!  They are dealing with more health issues right now than any one should ever have to deal with in their entire lives and yet they are still so giving of themselves.  They treated me better than I could have ever even imagined.  Thanksgiving with Paula and her parents Cheryl and Dave was the best way one could have ever spent a holiday like that.  I truly felt like a kid again and that is something that comes about maybe once or twice in an adult’s lifetime.  I am so grateful for that and I will cherish it always.  Paula’s grandmother, Gramma Cora Oitzl is a story within a story.  She is such a vibrant and crazy woman with more energy than I would know what do with.  I felt a connection with her immediately and the stories she would tell of her past had us all in stitches and encouraging her to tell more.  I will miss them all very much as I continue on this venture but I will hold them in my heart and my thoughts as I move on. 

After leaving Thunder Bay I traveled to a little town called Wawa Ontario.  If you think it sounds funny when you say it you should hear it come from Betty Lou LOL  the town was full of charter busses from Florida and unfortunately the only place for me to stay was a tiny little run down motel on the outskirts.  Now, I am not what anyone would consider a snob or someone who expects the very best or nothing at all.  However, I am someone who is not a fan of sleeping with about 14 wood tics crawling all over my pillow and sheets.  Yes that’s right you read me correctly....wood tics walking all over me, my pillow and my bed.  I for one feel that $70.00 a night should in fact get you an infestation free room but maybe things are done a little differently in the east lol I did get moved up to a new room but I was still so grossed out that I stripped all the sheets off of the new bed, laid in the middle of the mattress fully clothed and tucked my arms inside my t-shirt for warmth.  I would have had a shower but the tub was brown and not from paint; and the traditionally white towels were equally as discoloured.  Not sure yet, but I don’t think I will be staying there again.

From Wawa to Sault Ste Marie Ontario .... Yes, Ontario is huge.  I spent the day stopping at various lookout points and taking some amazing shots of the beaches and scenery along the way.  I highly recommend travelling through Ottawa in the fall for two reasons.  One, the colors are incredible the views are spectacular and if you do it during the week there is absolutely no one on the road.  Ok, that was three but it makes it even better.   Sault Ste Marie was nice.  Well my hotel room was nice.  I learnt a few things in the short amount of time I was there.  One, gas stations charge for air...hmmm who knew that was something that was even legal?  Two, Murphy’s Law is alive and well.  When one needs to wash the bug carnage from Saskatchewan off of their car; all car washes in the cities where they stop shall either be under construction, inaccessible due to road construction or just simply closed for no reason at all.  And finally, old men don’t like young women asking them if they would like some help raking up the leaves on their lawn.  He looked at me as though I was asking him to hand over his penis.  I guess some people will forever be stuck in the good ol days where women are barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen and not out raking up leaves for really... really old men. 

To be continued...