Well, it turned out way better than the polls expected, and though it was a minority victory, it was a victory nonetheless, and I am happy. Actually, this will be an interesting period of time in Canadian politics! We'll see how long it takes before we have to go to the polls again.

I've heard a lot of whining lately about "proportional representation" and how we should switch to it. It's interesting to note that the only people who want to switch to this system are the losers in the election! Hmmm... All jokes aside, our system of government is not like the United States, meaning it is not a system of "checks and balances". Our system is designed to hand a majority government the ball and let them run with it, for better or for worse. I happen to like that, but it's just a personal preference. If you think proportional represenation is more democratic, even though you get the same number of votes, good for you, but please don't come crying to me when the Parliament is deadlocked and legislation doesn't get passed.

As an aside, a lot of European nations have one form or another of proportional representation, and people point to there to demonstrate how well it works. I can't tell you how much I am sick and fucking tired of people bringing up Europe as though it is the promised land and everything is perfect over there. Do you really believe that? Great - move there and found out just how "perfect" it is.

I saw my first-ever firefly when I left the gym yesterday - it was awesome.

I am heading to Mexico for the long weekend on Friday morning, returning Monday sometime, depending on how the flights go. Life is pretty damned good, my friends.

Tomorrow is election day, and you would not believe the ordeal that I had to go through in order to vote from the United States. To sum up: they do not send ballots via courier, but regular mail, they don't care whether the ballot gets to you or not, and I spent over five hours on the phone in total trying to arrange for a courier to bring one to me, in part due to international difficulties, in part due to incompetence at Elections Canada. In the end, I am reasonably certain my vote arrived in time to be counted, although I'll never really know. What I do know is that Ralph Goodale owes me a beer the next time I see him after what I went through to vote for him.

In American politics, of which I know a great deal given I have had an interest in it for decades now, I would consider myself unquestionably a Republican. On The Simpsons, their philosophy was summed up as "lowering taxes, brutalizing criminals, and [ruling like kings]". There is actually a lot of truth to that, but I digress. The reason I support the Republican party is because in America there are really only two parties to choose from, and they are for the most part exactly the same, except the right-wing extremists are part of the Republican party, and the left-wing extremists are not part of the Republican party. There reason why I choose Republicans over Democrats is because the Republicans are a known entity, with principles (right or wrong) that define how they act in certain situations. This reasoning can be framed in a comparison between their two leaders. George W. Bush has certain beliefs that he bases his decisons on, and they never change. As Bill Clinton himself said, George W. is today just doing exactly what he campaigned that he would do before the election. I don't agree with a lot of what he has to say about abortion, stem-cell research, gay marriage, etc. but I appreciate that he does have views on the matter. John Kerry, by comparison, supports whatever will get him in power. He has no beliefs that guide him other than the polls. You can see this in his voting record. Changing your position on things when you receive new information or look at something a different way is great, but the sheer volume of conflicting opinions this guy has had, in addition to him being the biggest guy on the take in Washington, illustrates he'll always do and say whatever it takes for power. However, in the end, an American with President John Kerry would not be much different, except all the good things that George W. has done in office will be gone. The bottom line is that both parties are very far out in one way of thinking and operating, one that I happen to think is not the best way to govern. Choosing between one of the two parties is not really a choice at all. America really needs to reform its political system, and I'm afraid that it is just too big of a subject for me to cover right now.

In Canada, we are a lot more lucky for a variety of reasons, both because we have a bit more choice and because we've chosen a system of living that provides for the best of both worlds. In the end, my choice of party at the moment is Liberal, and I have good reasons for this choice. Canada is a country with many social safety nets, which I am very proud of, even if resist calling Canada a socialist state. It is built into our collective unconscious that, in the words of one of the biggest hypocrites and liars in the free world, Michael Moore, "We're all Canadians, we're all in the same boat. If one of us gets sick, that person should get health care 'cause we're all affected." When I say that I am right wing, it is inexorably a viewpoint coming from the Canadian political framework, where even the most conservative Canadian would be viewed as having liberal viewpoints in the United States. While most of my political beliefs could probably be classified as conservative or libertarian (hey, I'm a mixed bag), I'm comfortable with the way the Liberals have run the country since its inception.

The Conservative party really represents those whose beliefs are closer to those of the average American politician, and since I value the differences between Canada and the United States so very, very much (come along with me on a road trip to the States to see my daily rage and you'll soon understand), I just can't support them, even if I agree with such things as lowering taxes and investing in Canada's military (side bar: I don't believe in creating a war machine, I believe in maintaining and improving our peace keeping ability. Our military is at the point where there equipment is falling apart, they can't afford new uniforms, and where it is embarassing to Canada on the international stage. Canada had the most feared soldiers in the world only 50 years ago, and now it is the opposite. We should either fund them properly or abolish our military all together). Beyond that, given that they had 10 years to govern our country in the 1980s and spent themselves out of every problem so that Paul Martin had to deal with it later by cutting everything in sight, I say they had their chance and they blew it, and their rhetoric has not changed much since. To those who think the Liberals and the Conservatives are the same, think of Ralph Nader, a man who arguably has a lot more concern for people than you and a better understanding of politics. He understands the difference, so I hope you can learn to as well.

The Liberal party, by contrast, other than mismanaging approximately 3 billion dollars (be aware that this is less than 0.001% of all the money they were charged with handling since taking power, and notice the I said mismanaging, not losing) and not taking the signing of the Kyoto accord and its commitments to the developing world seriously, have given us nearly a decade straight of balanced budgets (the best track record in the western world) while at least maintaining the state of our social programs. Basically, the best government in the free world, n'est-ce pas?

I haven't forgotten about our other choice here in Canada, the NDP, the most socialist party we have, and one that is sometimes so far out on the left you can't even see them. I will tell you, I have read the entire 66-page NDP platform for this election, and I have to say I have not read anything both so idealistic and unfeasible in a long time. What is even funnier is that in some parts of it, they simply can't point out anything wrong with the current way the country is being run, and go so far as to basically compliment the Liberal party for their handling of various situations. The NDP is pushing a platform that tries to turn Canada into the utopia I know it will eventually be, but without acknowledging the society we live in today. It is a platform built on knee-jerk reactions to problems in our society without any regard for how we will get from here to there. Taxation is just one issue out of many that they just don't have a clue about. It is easy to say that corporations should pay more taxes, but the fact is that in today's global society, corporations that are taxed will just move to a place that isn't. You can say that is a good thing, but you would be ignoring the fact that corporations and wealthy individuals pay the majority of all tax dollars, and you would be bankrupting yourself. If you don't believe me, ask the Saskatchewan NDP, the government of the most socialist part of Canada. Did you know that many former and current senior members of Cabinet in the Saskatchewan NDP own an off-shore corporation, funneling profits from some of their companies into tax shelters in the Caribbean? The Saskatchewan NDP understands how the world works, why doesn't Jack Layton? The answer - he has never had to deal with problems affecting a country, and it shows. I have been in a room for an hour with Paul Martin, and I have been in a room for an hour with Jack Layton, and the difference is remarkable. Paul Martin understands how the world works, and Jack Layton could not be more confused (which amazes me, given the academic credentials the guy has). With that being said, Jack Layton sounds like a guy who really cares, and seems like a real go-getter, so I would hope that some 100,000 to 250,000-person city in Canada snaps him up as their mayor; he could probably give Pat Fiacco a run for the title of "Most Popular Mayor Ever"!

In my head, I know that the Liberals are the best party to govern Canada. In my heart, I know that we have a long way to go before we are truly an evolved society. In the meantime, I am proud of where we are today and the direction we are headed in the future. The governance of our country needs tweaking, not radical change, so I urge you to head to the polls on Monday and vote Liberal!

It's been a pretty busy time down here so I haven't had too much time to keep y'all updated, so I thought I would take this Friday evening to fill you all in!

Anyways, a couple weeks ago I have the priviledge and the pleasure to head back down to Mexico for a visit. It was another amazing time - just an absolutely fabulous weekend. On the Saturday we headed south of town to celebrate Sofi's successful honours defence. The whole family + me piled into the SUV and went to this amazing oasis-like restaurant south of town, and you can check out some photos of the fun below:

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On Sunday I also had the honour of attending Sofi's niece's baptism. In Mexico, they take such things pretty seriously, so after the mass we went to Sofi's brother-in-law's new grain shipping warehouse, where they combined the baptism party with a celebration of the opening of the warehouse. There was a band, catering, everybody dressed up - it was pretty spectacular and we had a great time. Afterwards, we headed to the movies to catch Troy, which wasn't unentertaining, but overall wasn't true to the story and seemed to drag a bit. With that being said, I would watch a test pattern for 12 hours if I could do so sitting beside Sofi!

We headed back to Guadalajara on Monday so I could take my flight home, which was a pretty good flight, except for when we landed in Philadelphia, where we sat on the tarmac for nearly two hours because there were so many planes out there delayed by rain that we couldn't drive to the gate. I heard that some of the planes had been sitting there for over five hours on the tarmac waiting to take off! Anyways, the flight from Guadalajara to Dallas (the worst airport in terms of layout in the world) to Philadelphia seems to be brutal and never on time, but it will never stop me from visiting Sofi, I can tell you that much!

Work has been going pretty good, and has been pretty uneventful. It has been rather rough lately, however, because my laptop died and I had to wait quite a while to get a new laptop, because it is basically impossible to get anything over the border. I ended up having to get it shipped to Calgary so Igor could bring it back for me after one of his trips home. Anyways, that also explains why I haven't had the occasion to update too much lately, either. Anyways, I'm back on track with a new laptop so hopefully this one won't die on me, too.

Last weekend I hopped in the car and drove down to D.C. to visit Nick. His program is in full-swing right now, so I crashed in his room at the hotel. On the Friday night we went out and walked up and down 'M' street, stopping for a bite to eat, before we settled on Garrett's as the place to be and proceeded to get super drunk. Some instructors from Nick's work showed up and we had a great night. We grabbed some pizza on the walk home and crashed. The rest of the weekend was pretty tame, because I honestly still had a headache on Sunday. Saturday night we went out for some great Thai food at Thai Square in Arlington, and then later went out for way too much ice cream at Häagen-Dazs. Otherwise I spent most of the day watching Band of Brothers on the History Channel - one of my favourites! Sunday afternoon we went out for some buffalo burgers, and then I bid Nick goodbye and drove home. Another great weekend - thanks again, Nick, for the great hospitality!

On Tuesday night this week we went out for a work social, something we used to do every week, but it's more like every three weeks nowadays, but the company pays so I can't complain! ;) Anyways, not a whole lot of people showed up, but those of us who did had a great time. We had a ton of beers and soon discovered that it was karaoke night! I must say, I got lots of compliments for my renditions of "Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go)" and "Ice Ice Baby"! Anyways, here's all the gruesome details, courtesy of a colleague's camera phone:

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This weekend I am basically laying low for a change. I am going over to a senior manager's house (the same guy's house where I watched the NFC Championship in January) tomorrow for a few beers but otherwise I don't have too many plans. I am heading to Mexico this weekend, so I am super super super pumped for that. Me and Sofi are going to some rich girl's wedding, so I'm sure we'll have a great time!

Oh, and before I forget, congratulations go out to Candace - she does have some positive family news outside of the recent tragedy - she is now engaged and getting married next year! Way to go, Candace!

RIP 1952 - 2004

Busy, busy at work, in preparation for heading to Mexico on Friday morning, so not much to report, except for how very happy I am that the Flames lost last night - I hate that team so very, very much. I will never forgive them for when they beat the Habs in '89. Somebody pointed out to me that that was over 15 years ago, but I don't care - I hate them and I'm so glad they lost! Suck it, Calgary!

This past Saturday, I drove down to D.C. to visit with Nick. I had a great time. We went downtown and had a pint or two at the Old Ebbitt Grill while we watched Smarty Jones lose the big race. That was actually pretty sad because it was yet another loss for Philadelphia, the city with the longest drought in terms of major sports championships in America. After that we went to our favourite local brewpub, the Capitol City Brewing Company, where we had supper before grabbing some booze and heading back to Nick's place to relax, shoot some pool, and watch the hockey game.

On Sunday we went to the theatre and watched The Day After Tomorrow, which was an okay movie but overall pretty stupid, and, as usual, a good example of how people who make movies about the cold and the snow have never really been in either. After the movie, I dropped Nick off and then headed back to Frazer to do laundry and get ready for the weekend. Thanks for the hospitality, Nick, it was great times as always!

The weekend was also notable for one more sad thing, the passing of Ronald Reagan, the first President I ever knew of. It was the best first impression for the institution I think I could ask for!

If it seems like I've been in hiding lately, it's because I have been. Partly by design, partly not. Let me fill you in ...

A couple weeks ago, I found out that I had gotten extended here in the USA until June 18th, so instead of coming home for the May long weekend, I was out here instead. I did make one bargain, though: instead of them paying for me to take flights home, I checked and found out that the flights were anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of flying to Regina, so I arranged to have them fly me to Mexico instead!!!

The reason I kept most everyone in the dark about it was because I wanted to make my visit a surprise, and what a surprise it was! My flight was last Friday at about 6AM, so I got up super early and headed for the airport. My flight was cancelled so they put me on a couple other flights on different airlines, which worked out fine because I didn't arrive that much later (1PM) and the flights segments were a lot better. I got to watch a movie (Along Came Polly, pretty average but not a bad watch), which is normally a rarity for me. I arrived without incident, picked up my rental car, and headed for Ciudad Guzman. I made it there without getting lost once, which was a relief. I knocked loudly on the door and waited. At first, the door opened just a crack, so I said "Hola!" and it opened a little wider, and I could see that it was Sofi's mom. Once she realized who it was she opened the door with a huge shocked look on her face. A few seconds later Sofi came down the stairs with an even bigger look of shock on her face - there I was! It was a tearful reunion but it felt great!

Needless to say, I had a great weekend. We went shopping, we went to a movie (Van Helsing - a *great* popcorn movie, well done and a great watch!), went for a picnic at Sofi's parents' little hideout in the hills, went bowling - generally just enjoyed being together, and it was awesome. We hadn't seen each other for five months to the day so I really can't express how great it was to see her and spend time with her.

My flight left on Monday morning so it was a tearful goodbye, but I managed to handle the hour and a half drive back to the airport in Guadalajara. I even met up with Vanessa at the airpot to give her back the Pocket PC I got fixed for her in Canada. I didn't want to get on that plane but the rent's gotta get paid somehow!

Here are a few pics from the weekend, including one of Sofi's new neice, Isabel:

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There were only two bad things about the weekend. The first was that they lost my luggage on the way down there, so I had to borrow clothes for the weekend and do a little supply shopping while I was there. As usual, when something bad happens something better happens to me, which was the $100 they gave me to compensate me, so that was good, I guess. The second bad thing was the awful flight home, that had delays upon delays, problems crossing the border, a late arrival, etc. It was brutal but I made it home safe so that's the important thing.

This week I haven't been feeling too well, with a bit of "Montezuma's Revenge" affecting my system that won't seem to go away. Work is going good - on Wednesday night we even went out for a bit of a social at Flanigan's Boathouse, which is a nice place - great for a party with multiple decks and lots of space.

In other news, I got extended for even longer, so I am going to be here in the USA until July 30th at least. The great news about that - they are going to fly me back to Mexico every few weekends, so that rocks! I am going to be back there from June 11th to 14th - talk about your fringe benefits!!!

Tomorrow I am going to D.C. to visit with Nick before his program starts up again in full-force. I'm looking forward to what might be our last visit together for a while, so we are hopefully going to tear the town up. Life is not good - life is great!

By Scott Stantis, The Birmingham (Ala.) News, for USA TODAY, June 1