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Is it okay to cheat?

6/24/2014

There’s quite a bit of controversy at the moment, regarding a three year old girl who was attached by a dog and allegedly asked to leave a McDonalds restaurant because her injured face upset customers.

McDonalds was the first to donate $30,000 by way of an apology, while the family received an additional $135,000 sympathy money.

After investigation it turns out, the story was a hoax. The girl never was in McDonalds.

Some are of the opinion that the grandmother, who invented to story, should be prosecuted; others state that as long as the money goes to the girl’s medical bills she can keep the money.

Does that mean that it’s okay for anyone who is in need of cash to come up with a heart wrenching story, deceive the public and receive funds?

Others wonder about the cause of the accident? The girl was attacked by the grandfather’s pit bulls in his backyard. Shouldn’t he be held responsible? What happened for the dogs to attack? Were they provoked?

No doubt pit bull owners will have something to say about this.

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How believable is the weather forecast?

6/20/2014

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Have you ever taken a shower outside? I have, last Tuesday. I went grocery shopping and before setting off, I wondered if I should take an umbrella with me. Seeing the sun in a blue sky, I decided against it. It wasn’t likely to rain and even if it did, laden with shopping bags how would I hold an umbrella – with my teeth?

Forty five minutes later I was indeed laden with bags, and wouldn’t you know it, as soon as I exited the supermarket I felt a fine drizzle. I wasn’t worried, I didn’t have far to go, I was confident that I would make it home by the time it really started to come down.

I was wrong. By the time I crossed the parking lot of the store it started raining harder and harder, until the rain splashed little crowns on the ground.

As much as the weight of the shopping bags would allow me, I broke into a run for the nearest building and took shelter under the canopy. Not that the canopy was of much use, the wind blew the rain in all directions.

Within seconds the rain turned into a cloudburst, accompanied by gale force wind. It rained so hard that the street turned into a river and cars resembled boats plowing their way through the water. When a bus went by, it splashed up 6 feet of water.

Getting wetter and wetter by the second, waiting it out was no longer an option, I might as well brave it. So I did. I grabbed hold of my shopping bag and headed home.

Despite carrying a good 20 pounds of shopping, the wind pushed me off course, while the rain relentlessly pelted on my head and shoulders. If that wasn’t enough, I felt my feet squishing water in my sneakers.

“Why didn’t you check the weather forecast before leaving home,” a neighbor asked me, which I did as soon as I had changed into dry clothes. The prediction said “Sunny, with light thundershowers in the afternoon”.

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My Pet Died… and I Think It’s My Fault

6/19/2014

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Reblogged from VetStreet.com

With that, the man before me began to shake and sob.

I have seen more adults cry in the past year than most people see in a lifetime. And I’m here to tell you that the saying “Real men don’t cry” is a myth. I have witnessed the toughest men you’ll ever meet bawling over the loss of a beloved pet, and I don’t blame them. I will join their tearful ranks when my dog (who is now 12) passes.

Unfortunately, sorrow is unavoidable when we own pets. They simply don’t live as long as we do, and it breaks our hearts when they leave us.

http://tinyurl.com/kxlurhv

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15 Outrageous Pet Owner Requests of Vets

6/18/2014

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The veterinary clinic where Charlotte recently had dental work done, where Holly was spayed and were Gabriel was neutered, recently started a blog.

Today’s headline was: 15 Outrageous Pet Owner Requests of Vets. If you need a laugh, this blog post won’t disappoint.

http://tinyurl.com/m7jmpmt

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How useful are employment agencies

6/8/2014

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Back in the day, there were just a handful of employment agencies. They carried a limited amount of full-time jobs and plenty of temporary assignments. They knew their candidates by name and cared for them.

When a company needed help, a temp was sent out. There was no forwarding of resumes, no testing and no interviews. The candidate just showed up, was trained and did the job.

Things have changed. These days the number of employment agencies have grown like mushrooms. The big names are still there, but they have been joined by any number of small time, insignificant establishments. “Boutique” agencies as they call themselves.

How they stay in business is a mystery to me. They have staff, but they have no jobs. They advertise jobs on Workopolis and Monster, sometimes as many as seven different ads, but when a candidate calls they hear, “We have nothing at the moment”. Is it possible that these agencies get government funding if they can show they have a number of candidates on their books?

Not that only the small agencies resort to these kind of practices, the big ones are just as guilty. In Toronto, the two giants in legal staffing make a habit of it advertising ten to fifteen job at a time. After candidates have registered, they hear “Sorry but we have nothing at the moment”.

As a representative of Q……. ones said:

“Advertise a job for $35,000 a year and you get 10 candidates; advertise a job for $45,000 a year and you get 20 candidates; but advertise a job for $75,000 a year and you get flooded with candidates.”

So all these boutique agencies have to do is advertise well-paying jobs and they get people to register with them to maintain funding?

Doesn’t seem fair, does it? Every candidate who registers with these nobodies goes through the same process: filling out forms and being tested in various computer programs.

That’s not the worst of it though. Every single candidate goes to these agencies with hope, hope to find a job. They buy an outfit to impress, they apply makeup to look their best, they pay for transportation, and it’s all for nothing.

That’s what bothers me the most, the deceit. Fraudsters of all kinds get prosecuted and with any luck put out of business. But not employment agencies, not only are they allowed to keep doing what they’re doing, they get financial support and thus encouraged to multiply.

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Tea for one

6/3/2014

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I spoke to a man the other day who asked me if I was ever bored. Bored? He was joking, right? I’m never bored, in fact, for me there aren’t enough hours in the day.

My blog can testify to that. The poor thing has been neglected for weeks, and even though there were topics to write about, I didn’t get to string two sentences together.

I was going to get to it tonight, tomorrow, over the weekend … it just didn’t happen. Until now, it’s high time I catch up and tell you a funny story. Well, funny, that depends on how you look at it.

Even though I’m mainly a coffee drinker, I love teapots and teacups. Not mugs, no, I prefer the proper china cups on matching saucers.

So when I had a birthday coming up in May, my son wanted to surprise me with a mini tea set (just a tea pot with one cup on a saucer).

He took a walk along Toronto’s Yonge Street and wandered into a fine porcelain store. From what he told me there was plenty to choose from. There were lots and lots of 12 piece and 8 piece tea services, mini tea services that consisted of a tea pot, a milk can, a sugar pot, and two cups on saucers, and literally hundreds of separate cups and saucers.

He saw something he thought I would like, picked it up and asked for the price. The manager of the store, looking very distinguished in a three piece suit, crisp white shirt, and sporting a handle bar moustache mentioned a price of just over $600.

“I don’t mean for the whole set, I meant for just the teapot,” Dieter said, upon which the manager replied “That is just for the teapot.”

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Is it okay to cheat?

How believable is the weather forecast?

My Pet Died… and I Think It’s My Fault

15 Outrageous Pet Owner Requests of Vets

How useful are employment agencies

Tea for one

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