3K on snowshoes? No problem!

So there was a train wreck in Northern Ontario last night. 100-car freight train with 29 cars off the tracks in dense bush north of Gogama. No injuries, but the train was burning.  I was up early this morning and figured I could drive out and get some photos. The first word I got was that the wreck was only three kilometres back from the highway. Hey, no problem. Grab the snowshoes and go for a hike. I figure 3K is just fine. It has been so cold, minus 45 last night, and there is a nice crust on the snow. Good thing I checked with the CN Rail office in Toronto before heading out... I wanted to get precise information. Whoa, it's not three kilometres. It was 30 kilometres up the tracks from the highway. Forget the snowshoes! Anyway, it is so far in the bush that the heavy equipment guys with excavators and bulldozers still have not arrived as of suppertime Sunday.  I didn't get photos of the wreck, but I did snap a couple of pictures in the freight yard in Gogama. So I will try again tomorrow and either find a plane or hitch a ride with a CN crew. Although many of those poor guys will be out there working all night tonight.That doesn't sound like fun!

Lyin' Brian

I really struggled this past week with the incident involving NBC reporter Brian Williams telling a lie while on a TV talk show. Everybody lies. But I still think it was so wrong for Williams, a journalist of some renown, to do it so publicly. He didn't just lie, he made up a whole story about being attacked by jihadists. What makes it so wrong is the fact he is a journalist. If it was a sports guy or an actor, he might get away with it. But when your job is to tell people what is going on in their city or country, you have to tell the absolute truth. Everytime. Without exception. I cannot tell you how many times we have sat back on a story because we were not able to confirm a detail or a fact. If you're in doubt, the story is pulled out.  Otherwise, people will lose faith in what we are reporting.
Even in small towns, journos live interesting lives and they see and do some pretty interesting things. There is no need to make stuff up. I am fond of telling crazy stories to my younger newsie friends, and they are often amazed at the weird and unusual things that  have happened.
I also struggled this week with a really nasty chest and sinus cold. Yeah, so I am a big baby whiner. But the thing is, I have to work out in the public and it is so annoying when you're talking to somebody and suddenly your nose starts running and running and it's so bad the salty mucus runs into your mouth, like when you were a four-year-old. I am now in the habit of carrying pockets full of Kleenex everywhere.
The other thing is that eating is such a boring chore. For the past week, my taste buds have shut down. I had a glass of whiskey on Monday, but that was it. I could barely taste it. So that was a waste.
Regardless, all week I forced myself to eat just to keep my strength up. On Wednesday, I tried some Szechuan noodles for supper. It was filling, but I don't know if it tasted good or not. I did have one of those lime-flavoured Budweiser beers. It seemed okay. I could taste the lime! Oh, almost forgot. On Monday I had Lipton chicken noodle soup. Yes! It was good. Three cheers for Lipton soup!

Cake for breakfast is okay!

Saturday morning and I am baking a cake and nursing a cold! Don’t know where it came from, but I am keeping company with a pot of tea, a book and a little bottle of cough syrup.

I was pleased this week to interview a lady who runs the eating disorder clinic at the hospital. As she was describing various food disorders, I confessed that I like to share chocolate cake for breakfast with my two grandsons. She assured me this is NOT a food disorder, since it only happens a few times a year. She agreed that it is a nice tradition. So there you have it!

I was upset this week to see that Sudbury voters elected Glenn Thibeault as their new MPP. I am not so upset at the fact that Thibeault crossed the floor and went from being a New Democrat to a Liberal. I am more upset that the Liberal party officials ignored the fact that a local candidate had already been chosen and then pushed him aside and gave the nomination to Thibeault. It really stinks to see how they ignored the democratic process. Shame on voters in Sudbury! At the same time, some Liberal party folks were offering the old candidate a cushy government job in return for stepping aside. Now the police are involved because of that. It stinks, it stinks, it stinks. I hope the police can do something.

Great song, but not what you'd expect

That's right, I don't watch "normal" TV but on Sunday afternoons, I do a bit of reading and listening to music... usually from YouTube. So here is a really different, but cool,  version of Ring Of Fire, by an acappella group called Home Free. I think they really put a nice touch on the song. So click here and enjoy!