‘Bit of an odd situation,’ police find bears guarding pot crop

CHRISTINA LAKE, B.C.—Marijuana growers in the B.C. Interior are using a new kind of bear trap, but its not bears they’re trapping.

Police uncovered two separate outdoor marijuana crops of about 2,300 plants near Christina Lake, just a few kilometres from the Canada-U.S. border.

When officers arrived in the area two weeks ago, they found 13 black bears wandering around the crops and then discovered the bears had been fed dog food.

RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said the officers were a little nervous to say the least, and cautiously went about making the seizure.

“As the members are conducting the search of the house, at one point in time the (home owner) has to shoo a bear out of the residence and out of the way, coming out of the basement,” he said.

“The owner tried to assure, ‘Don’t worry, they won’t become aggressive towards you, just don’t approach them and things will be fine. Certainly it’s a little bit of an odd situation to be in.”

He said the bears were very docile and it was obvious they were habituated to humans, acting unconcerned by the officers’ presence.

Moskaluk said it appears the alleged growers either liked having the animals around, or were using the bears to protect their grow operations.

During their search, the officers also stumbled across a roaming pot-bellied pig and a raccoon napping in one of the bedrooms.

“The pig was a little frantic at the sight of police, but the raccoon was pretty laid back about the bust and took it all in stride,” said Moskaluk.

Two adults in their 40s, both from the Christina Lake area, have been arrested and face charges of production and possession of a controlled substance.

No people or animals were harmed during the arrests, Moskaluk added.

Area conservation officers have been notified about the situation and Moskaluk said the bears may face an unhappy outcome if they are deemed too habituated.

Dozens of bears are killed every year in B.C. because they rely on human food sources and then become a threat to public safety.

‘Bit of an odd situation,’ police find bears guarding pot crop - thestar.com

#438 Your Almost Name

It’s what your parents were going to call you but didn’t.

Flipping through baby books, chatting at bedtime, you better believe your folks had alternate identities in mind before you borned out. They thought about nicknames, shortforms, and tributes. They thought about spelling, rhyming, and meanings. Basically, they thought and hoped and wished all kinds of things for you even before you made it here.

Sometimes when you find out your Almost Name it feels odd and uncomfortable — like putting on an itchy shirt, clenching your fist after waking up, or walking out of a movie and realizing your foot’s asleep. Maybe you let your mind wander and daydream about a new life where your Almost Name takes top billing and your nicknames, identity, and major life choices are all dramatically affected. You wonder how your life could be different — would you be more confident? Less passionate? More artsy? Less annoying?

Nothing’s the same when you’re Nancy.

Everything changes when you’re Chuck.

Now, my Almost Name is Paul.

Yes, it was a close call and my parents switched over to Neil at the last minute. I’m pretty sure Neil Diamond or Neil Armstrong got the name bouncing around their brains like a ping pong ball. But somehow Paul got tossed in the can before I showed up and my entire Paul Life got tossed with it.

And maybe that’s one reason Almost Names are so great: they remind us how lucky we are to get something else. I mean, it’s fun letting Almost Names add frames and borders to our lives … because it helps us feel a little more sure of ourselves and a lot more

AWESOME!

http://1000awesomethings.com/2010/08/17/438-your-almost-name/

Personal note: My ALMOST name was Amanda. Glenn and Carol were going to name the first of the two of us Michelle and the second Amanda, but then someone got the bright idea that it would be better if it was in alphabetical order; Amanda before Michelle. Thank god for that. I totally would be a downtrodden, struggling individual with a name like Amanda. I'm sure glad Amanada has been able to pull it off. Michelle Michelle Michelle. What a sweet little sound.

two wheelin' fool

Hey, remember when I fell off my bike and broke both my arms? That was fun {insert straight face here}. My main bike riding goal is to NOT do that again. My secondary goals are as follows:

1. To be super ridiculous cheetah speed fast.
2. To not quiver in fear every time i encounter a hill (up or downhill).
3. To acquire an amazing biking outfit (think Lance Armstrong).
4. To be able to bike to work at least once a week and arrive in a timely, non sweaty fashion.

Story time. My bike search ended abruptly yesterday after work. I had officially decided it was time to add bike to my life. A whirlwind tour of Capps, SportMart and SportChek left me dazed and confused, but nonetheless determined. 300 questions and 3 hours later I met Blue Lightning. Him and I and Snazzy White Helmet got loaded up into the car, with the help of Kevin the Salesman, and rode off into the sunset.

Back at the ranch, I got all geared up and then spent twenty minutes trying to fit the non fitting helmet onto my head. {insert lightbulb above head here} THE INSTRUCTIONS! After reading those and cursing for five more minutes the helmet had made it securely onto my head. You can't even imagine how ravishing i looked at this point.

Then it was time to put the front tire back on the bike....no sweat right? wrong. the front brakes are now rubbing on the rim. La de da, sitting in lobby messing with bike. Friendly neighbour comes to the rescue and helps me put it all back together The Right Way (note to self, do things The Right Way first time to avoid lengthy swearing episodes). I jump on my bike and wobble down the street.

Stopped by Uncle Ron's to show off my new ride. What'd you get that for? he asked. Idunno, i replied. I think he was mad that i didn't bring a loaf of banana bread with me.

then I began to ride. Tooker up my usual route down 200th (on the sidewalk of course). The occasional pedestrian and fellow biker were very courteous and usually let me have the right-of-way. I think this is because they saw the terrified expression on my face. I ran over two banana peels to no incident. I got some road riding in on the back streets and headed home when my butt could take it no more. My rudimentary distance calculator in my noggin says i did about 12km.

Guys, meet my new friend Blue Lightning...

just sayin.

So Stampede was dismal. I can't believe we drove 12 hours for that!

PSYCHE.

So good! Quick synapses for those of you who hate reading: Fried pickles, mini donuts, Martina McBride, prizes and rides, Dean Brody, a sunny river float, Sandra Bullock movie marathon, Sara's special (but not funny special) oatmeal pancakes, Rocky Mountains and the usual rounds of fist pumping madness.
We left Surrey Wednesday night and drove to the Iggulden's cabin on little shu. Breakfasted and hit the road by 930 (as per usual, half an hour later than planned). Some town we hit a rockin diner where we ate some delicious food and Sara and I consumed a beer, hence disallowing us as taking over driving duties. Money move. Hit some terrible construction and a semi truck accident that slowed the pace dramatically. NBD though. We spent the next hour ooohing and ahhing over the mountains and then did a pit stop at Lake Louise. Infested with tourists, but what a beautiful spot. Took advantage of the photo op and bathroom and drove straight through (minus a liqor run)to Calgary.
Sara's aunt (Doris) and cousin (Amanda) were amazing enough to let us crash at their place right outside of downtown- we basically highjacked the basement and our belongings threw up all over the place as per usual. Nikita and I, on a breakfast run, stopped at a super amazing farmer's market where we paid exorbitant prices for BC fruit. It's silly because we thought after Kamloops we would have numerous fruit (and possibly Dariy) stands to stop by to pick up the goods we required. Wrong. Post Kamloops is stand-less.
Amanda and her girlfriend Jewels took us out to a bar that had a couple of live bands playing and a Suicide Blonde competition ( i will let your imagination run wild on that one). It was interesting. A lot of beer was consumed trying to make it all make sense. I've never seen That many girls in one place with That many tattoos.
Shopping and lunching and napping and movies took up Saturday.
Sunday was a huge family (and friends) breakfast of oatmeal pancakes and french toast with berries and warmed syrup (Best). Followed by a visit to Jewel's house and a hunt for ice and then a hunt for the elbow river [a lengthy two hours combined]. Got the boats in the river (Sara and I in a boat) and after some precarious sitting positions we straightened our lives out and got to floating and drinking. Calling the whole event floating seems a bit misleading as there were a handful of rapids, as well as rocks, that needed manuevering. We had a bit of an episode with Sara donating her Popcorn flavoured Rice Cakes to the ducks of the river. Unfortunately, they called their duck and geese friends who stalked us down the river menancingly. All fun in games until shelly gets attacked by a duck (luckily didn't happen). Finally (as my bladder was on it's last legs) we got out of the river and made a spectacle of ourselves in teh safeway parking lot, half naked, deflating our boats. Dressed and ready to go we hit the Stampede for martina. Amazing concert. Nikita caught a free t-shirt pre-show (highest jump EVER!). Martina sang all her hits to perfection and came back for an encore where she sang Summer of 69 and... oh geez i forget, but it was another rock and roll song. Wicked ending. From here we got a great deal on ride tickets and convinced all the attendants to let us in free or 4 for 1. It was amazing. We also played a zillion games and Sara won a zillion teddy bears- whcih was awesome until Nik won a leopard print giant bouncy ball.... Hit the sack at 1:30 and were up at 5:30 to hit the road home. Boo. worst.
Stopped for timmys and powered through to Shuswap were we stopped for a quick wakeboard, seadoo ride, tan and lunch- then on to home. Overall I'd say we Stampeded the shit out of that weekend. Just sayin.

I'd like to leave you with a little something special. It's a shelly original. Please note that every line is subject to change.

It's just Franklin and Sara
No time for Shelly.
Just Franklin and Sara
It's unbearable.
Nikita, Alanna-
No, no it's sara.
Just Franklin and Sara.
No time for Shelly.

Things I've Learned - Houseboating Edition

It's time for another round of "things i've learned lately", brought to you by our special sponsor: Houseboating.
357. Bringing an extra 40 pounder of vodka "just in case" is a terribly great idea.
358. Sharing a batch of cupcakes is admirable but hoarding that same batch is scandously delicious.
359. Everyone thinks i'm a lesbian, thanks to JZ (who by the way is Fired).
360. Nutella on smores
361. Never trust that someone will hold up/down an anchor rope for you. This may result in rope lash.
362. Play on Matt's team for Beer Bong.
363. Don't play on Matt's steam for Brisbee.
364. Don't drink mojitos for Brisbee, especially when playing against seasoned Saskatchewan veterans.
365. Vegetarians aren't so bad.
366. Cheese smokies are delicious and are worth the potential greasy cheese face burn. Side note: always let nikita score your smokie to prevent said burn.
367. People may be worried about you when you 'go missing', get a stunt double for those cases.
368. Never say No to a proffered sleeping pill. Sidenote: think twice about saying Yes to other proffered pilles.
369. Two guys, a girl and a houseboat size queen bed will result in extreme morning grumpiness. Find other sleeping arrangements.
370. Those who fall asleep early will likely get T-bagged and/or wrote on with markers. Continue to never be one of those people.
371. The sun WILL come out. be patient and ready with tanning oil.

lottoMAX

We have a work pool going this week for the 50jillion dollar lottery draw. Let’s count my chickens before they hatch, shall we? I think it’s split between 10 people, so that would be 5 million each. After I collect my winnings on Friday the first thing I would do is drive over to TD and pay off my mortgage. I now have 4,825,000 left to spend.

I would order a slave (I would call her my assistant to sound politically correct) from Thailand and have her put out an ad to rent my condo. I would then have Carol start the search for some new digs. (I would probably pay her realtor fees this time instead of having them donated to me). Note to carol, am looking for a mansion of a house (large but not obnoxiously so), with a sprawling yard with a pool and lots of gardens and perhaps a maze. My garage would be need the capacity to hold the following: a boat, atvs, seadoos and perhaps a snowmobile or two (we will need lessons). What kind of car should I buy? I think I’d start with a Porsche. Something fast and pretty. I realize I’ve missed a rather important spending opportunity, clothes. I think I would need help here. A personal shopper to come along I suppose?

Next I’d have the Asst (let’s call her June) call up all my friends and inform them that I am now rich and awesome and to pack their bags because we are going on shelly-funded a trip. I think we would start off the trip with a quick jaunt to Vegas. I think, for old times’ sake, we would still stay at Imperial Palace. We would get a room facing the strip, however. Next maybe a trip down to old south America. On the plane ride over we could do a quick study of the Lonely Planet SA guide to decide what’s worth visiting. Once our tans were perfect and we had exhausted the awesomeness of SA we could jump over to Europe for some culture and shopping. I think first stop would be Italy for pizza, wine and gelato and, of course, Italians. Drool. Not sure if everyone’s still available, I reckon this has been a long trip so far, but from here I’d like to do round two of Asia. Some river tubing, bucket drinking, full moon partying and some tailor made clothes. Obviously during this trip I’m open to suggestions. Clearly not the planner of the group. I hadn’t thought about it very hard but I think I will leave June at home (in Canada) to look after my mansion. She’d be kind of a tag along on the trip which may be annoying.

Don’t worry I know you think I’m going to spend ALL my money, but fear not I am putting the majority of it in [name high interest savings account here]. Nikita, you are officially hired as my financial advisor. Make my money make me more money please. Manda, you are officially hired to do my taxes (note: I will pay you this time). I’m thinking that I’d like to own my own business. It would probably involve food. Make a deli/sangwichshop slash cupcakery. With wine. lol. it would obviously called All Shelly All The Time. You could get a turkey, pesto and cranberry sandwich on 12 grain bread served with a bowl of daily soup [it would most certainly be a tomato based soup on most days] and a cupcake (of your choice of course) and a chocolate milk (for those who so choose). Vegegreens and phytoberry shakes would also be on the menu.

Ps. manda you can have my civic if you want. Consider it the best birthday present ever. sometimes you gotta let me drive it again though.

diez vistas at buntzen lake

'diez vistas' translation: 10 views
'diez vistas'alternate translation: one mother of a hike

Wendy, Ki and I showed the diez vistas Who's the Boss. Lucky for us Tony Danza was nowhere in sight. Crazy amounts of uphill sections of rocky, rooty, rough terrain that is not white running shoe friendly. We were rewarded with beautiful views of the Indian Arm throughout the hike. Lucky for us the trail was marked with orange markers and we only got off course once- nbd, we didn't end up in Revelstoke or anything. A few trips and slips we all had but am proud to say there was no falls or death to speak of. The calves and quads were screaming for many a mile. About two and a half hours of the Diez and we reached the Power House road which is a BC hydro access road that after a while brought us to a jog as it started to rain like retarded. Finally we hit south beach, had a pee and hit the final trail home. Ignoring the screaming muscles and pending blisters we took it at a run, only to stop about two k in for snack time. This is also where i passed nikita one of the backpacks to slow her down as she was hauling ass and winding WW and I. Peanut butter protein bars and water in tummies 1, 2 and 3 and we are off at a sprint. The final lag is mostly downhill with easy to navigate terrain and pretty little bridges and is basically a treat to run. We killed it and made it to the parking lot in twenty minutes, doing the total hike/run in 3 1/2 hours. WW decided we should rename nik to Mountain Girl. I tried to work out some lyrics to a song, but they are still pending creative editing. Hike rating: tough, but wicked and worth it.

Here's the low down:

Diez Vistas Trail at Buntzen Lake
Hiking time: 6–8 hours return. Distance: 7 km (one way). Elevation gain: 460 m.
This route is recommended for experienced and fit hikers only. Spanish for "ten views", the Diez Vistas Trail is aptly named. Offering spectacular views of Vancouver's waterways and mountains, the Diez Vistas Trail commences near the floating bridge. Travelling uphill into the forest, cross the powerline and pipeline and continue along a series of switchbacks until the trail forks. The left trail leads to a viewpoint overlooking Indian Arm and the right leads to a view of South Beach and across to Eagle Ridge. After reaching the high point where the trails reunite, you travel along a forest trail that terminates at a BC Hydro service road. Keep right and follow the service road and transmission line (the Old Buntzen Lake Trail) back to the Buntzen Lake Trail, where a left turn will take you to the suspension bridge leading to North Beach. From here, follow either Powerhouse Road or the Buntzen Lake Trail back to South Beach.

http://www.bchydro.com/etc/medialib/internet/documents/community/pdf/buntzen_lake_trails.Par.0001.File.BCH09_002_Buntzen_lake_09.pdf

joke.of.the.week.

A woman gave birth to twins that she could not keep. One was sent to Iraq and named Amahl, the other was sent to Mexico and named Juan.

Many years later, the woman received a letter in the mail from her son Juan about how well he was doing, complete with a picture. The woman loved this letter and made a huge fuss over it.

A week later, she gets the same type of letter from her other son, but she merely smiled and tossed it aside.

When asked why she did not fuss about this one, she merely said..."If you've seen Juan, you've seen Amahl."

Kulua Airline

Kulula Air a low-fare South African airline. It operates domestic services to all major cities in South Africa plus regional services to Namibia, Mauritius and Zimbabwe.
Its main base is Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg. Headquarters are near Tambo in the Bonaero Park area of Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng.

The Kukulula.com fleet consists of the following aircraft:

1- Boeing 737-200
3- Boeing 737-400
1- Boeing 737-800

This is a real South African airline, and the planes are really painted like this …

guys like girls with [brownie] skills

One of my goals as Suzy Homemaker is to cut the sugar, fat and calories in any and all recipes I try. Unfortunately, this often is to the detriment of a treat's taste. Don't get me wrong, i'm not settling for mediocrity, i am constantly searching for appropriate substitutions and healthier ingredients that will increase the Tasty Factor. I might be 'counting my chickens before they hatch' on this one as i haven't taste tested yet, but fuck it. the smell in condoMe is tantalizing. there is no way my brownies could be anything but delicious.

Part 1. PURPLE people-eater PUREE
3 cups of raw spinach purreed with 1 1/2 cups of blueberries (i had to buy dried blueberries and reconstitute them because PriceMart was out of both their frozen AND fresh varieties. Google informed me that reconstituting berries is NBD and a perfect sub for fresh/frozen. I am undecided.) Anyhow, furiously blend the stuff together with some blueberry water and lemon juice and you get this sick looking purpley puree that is rather delicious.

Part 2. Flour Blend
Equal parts white flour, whole wheat flour and un-sweetened wheat germ ( i think i messed up on the wheat germ and got oat germ instead. A germ's a germ though, right?) Add in too much cinamon, instant coffee, cocoa powder and a shake of salt.

PArt 3. Melt chocoalte with butter and lick spoon. mix with purple mess. add eggs, vanilla and less sugar than asked for. Then mix Flour Blend into it. Don't be shocked how little dry ingredients there are, this is probably a good thing,

Put in oven at 350 for 30minutes and lick all utensils and bowls clean.

i am having a bit of a moral dilemma in regards to the frosting though. i have some left over chocolate cream cheese icing in the fridge that would top them to chocoaltey perfection, while quadrupling the calorie count. sigh. I just found a recipe that calls for a cream cheese frosting which is then topped with a chocolate glaze. a bit ridiculous, but so is Reese's Pieces for dinner. what do i care?

credit to www.thesneakychef.com