that canadian girl

Latest adventures…

  • Look me in the eye when you're talking to me

    Before his death, Ivan Noble received his fair share of bad news from doctors. “He felt strongly that the medical profession needed to work on its techniques for breaking bad news – what he called ‘the shoe problem’.”

    Dr. Kettlewell, from Scotland, goes on to explain why doctors feel they can’t look the patient in the eye when telling such bad news and how it should be done.

    Further to Dr. Kettlewell’s comments, I have to say I’ve been generally shocked by the NHS doctors I’ve met. They avoid eye contact much more often than when announcing terrible news, they avoid eye contact at all times!

    Don’t get me wrong, I’ve so far been satisfied with the service I’ve needed from the NHS, but it’s been rather minor. If I went to see my doctor for something more serious than eczema or a prescription refill, I’d be very frustrated. The lack of even the most basic acknowledgement that there is another person in the room on the doctor’s part doesn’t encourage the patient to explain symptoms. They seem to want to pass the patients as quickly as possible, not calling them by their names or looking at them.

    “What may be another day at work for a healthcare professional is perhaps the most stressful day in the life of the patient.” No one likes going to see doctors and get bad news, so the visit should cause as little distress for the patient as possible.

  • IKEA Stampede

    If this was Ananova, it would fit in the quirky news section, but the BBC keeps a straight face telling the story:

    Several people were hurt in the crush as thousands flocked to the midnight opening of Ikea’s newest store.

    The store in Edmonton, north London, stayed open for just 30 minutes because of safety fears and five people had to be taken to hospital for treatment.

    Ok, sure IKEA’s pretty cool. Yeah their furniture was particularly cheap that day. But still, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! There’s no reason to kill each other and cause a stampede!!!

    As the unfortunate MP of Tottenham David Lammy said, Ikea should have known offering cheap prices in a deprived area would cause a rush. People need to take a step back and relax… and order on the bloody website rather than go fight outside!!!

  • Brit Awards 2005

    Tonight, the Brit Awards are happening in London. Tomorrow night, the awards show will be televised. Hey, what a good reason to get together and have a party!

    Between that and a friend finding a (much-needed) new job, I can imagine we’ll be belting out the songs as they’re performed while a couple of other friends try to drown themselves in beer to forget that they’re having to listen to Will Young again!

    Tomorrow, we’ll all be trying to avoid the entertainment news so we don’t find out who won what during the day!!!

  • Meme quiz for a Tuesday morning afternoon

    I sort-of borrowed-and-adapted this from Girl Afraid because I’m a bit too braindead and bored today to write a proper entry, even though I’ve got tons of things I *want* to write about later.

    THREE THINGS I AM WEARING RIGHT NOW:
    1. Black and grey striped boatneck top that I luuurve
    2. Black jeans
    3. Peach necklace

    THREE THINGS I HAVE BOUGHT RECENTLY:
    1. An SD Card for my Pocket PC
    2. Pear & Apple Green Tea
    3. The Da Vinci Code book by Dan Brown

    THREE THINGS ON MY DESK
    1. Two beanie babies on top of my monitor (a puppy from Pauline and a piggy from high school friends)
    2. A little foamy yellow “chair” for my mobile phone with the company’s logo on it
    3. Shedloads of work

    THREE THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT
    1. Not a thing, but Andrew!!!
    2. Music of some sort
    3. My essential oils burner and the tons of nice smells it creates in the living room

    THREE THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE:
    1. Learn Spanish properly
    2. Backpack around Europe
    3. Make enough money to be able to travel and go see my family when I want

    THREE GOOD WAYS TO DESCRIBE MY CURRENT MOOD
    1. Restless
    2. Mischievous
    3. Wishing I was in the comfort of my own home

    THREE MUSIC ALBUMS I LOVE
    1. LAL – Warm Belly, High Power
    2. Stacey Kent – all her music really, I don’t have it sorted by albums
    3. Ani DiFranco – Up, Up, Up, Up, Up, Up…

    THREE SMALL THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY
    1. Vanilla flavoured tea or coffee
    2. A warm comfy bed
    3. Will & Grace

    THREE THINGS I CAN’T STAND
    1. Smelly people in enclosed spaces
    2. Unnecessary rudeness
    3. Getting the cold shoulder from someone you like

  • I can't believe it…

    I got pooheaded on my own blog last night it seems. *hangs head in shame*

    At the end of my Trillium post, there was an added “PS – I am a poopoohead” that was definitely not part of the original post!

    For those who aren’t familiar with the concept, here is a definition:
    Pooheading: the act of posting a comment of childish nature after accessing the online account of a friend, whether it be in a chatroom, on a message board… or on a blog.

    Neil, you’re going to pay for this! 😛

  • Trillium

    I spotted this bit of news on a fellow Canadian’s website. Good to see the Ontario government is spending its funds and time resources wisely.

    The McGuinty Government, in what has got to be the biggest money-waster of their term yet, has decided that the trillium logo that has represented the province for over 40 years, is outmoded and should be replaced. Maybe. They aren’t confirming or denying the rumours, except to say that they won’t be replacing the three-leaved woodland plant (Trillium grandiflorum, for those with a green thumb) as our provincial flower. Good lord. Like there aren’t more pressing matters that he could turn his attention to.

    Please mom, write to our MP in my name?

    I couldn’t have said it any better than marmalade did, “might I recommend the common loon (Ontario’s provincial bird) as the new centrepiece? Because this idea is just plain stupid.”

    It’s part of our history, it’s a recognized symbol and it’s a timeless enough logo to last much much longer. Imagine how many millions would be spent on making new stationery, business cards, application forms, signs, etc, if it was redesigned. And imagine the mother of a contract some design agency would score!

  • Google Ads

    Yep, I’m a sellout, I’ve added Google Ads to my site. *hangs head in shame* I’m not expecting to make millions, I’m doing it more out of curiosity to see what kind of results I’ll get out of it.

    So… go on, give it a click every once in a while! But don’t overdo it, the Google system can detect when people click repeatedly and accounts get suspended!

    *snuggles up on the sofa* mmMMmmm lazy Sundays are great!

  • The Siesta Syndrome

    This BBC Article on the habits of employees in the British workplace made me smirk since my office mirrors the syndrome so well.

    The findings of catering firm Avenance aren’t surprising; the better we eat, the more we take healthy breaks away from our computers, the more performant and effective we’ll be.

    The survey showed productivity peaked at 12pm, then suffered an “alarming drop”.

    Regular morning, lunch and tea breaks, as well as “eating healthy, well-balanced food throughout the day” would help stop the syndrome, he said.

    Now if only they could pass the information on to the catering firm where I work, maybe they’d make the healthy option meal more appetizing! And maybe they’d put away some of the chocolate bars at the coffee shop downstairs and replace them by fruits, veggies and low-fat options! There were periods of healthy sandwiches and homemade soups but they’re back to cheesy pasta dishes and sausage rolls. Those cause guaranteed sleepyness after lunch!

    Ah well, I guess I should start making my own lunches more often really! Nothing beats homemade soup on cold drab days. Mmmm… All I can say is going for multiple tea breaks seems to be the current solution for most of my colleagues…

  • Prêt à McManger

    This snippet of interesting information was found through Treehugger‘s blog. Prêt à Manger is a popular chain in big cities like Manhattan, Hong Kong and London. I only recently found out that their tasty food is also grown according to higher standards than I would usually expect from a fast foody place.

    It’s fast food that thinks slow. They’ve got breakfasts, sandwiches, soups, salads and desserts and you can be guaranteed that they are free of preservatives, artificial colorings, flavorings, sweeteners, and partially-hydrogenated fats, and that their turkey, chicken, beef, and ham all come from small co-ops and family-run farms that don’t give their animals any antibiotics or hormones. They also do what they can to source Organic ingredients. At this point, at least, their milk, eggs, coffee, tea, juices, chocolate and popcorn are all organic. And the taste? Well, reports are good.

    No wonder I liked their generously filled sandwiches… Even their pre-packed sushi was decent to fill that lunch time craving. The reality of organic food in this day and age is that it is expensive and someone has to pay the tab. Apparently the over-pricing of sandwiches doesn’t cut the mustard, and a big wig of the food industry had to back them up.

    In 2001, McDonalds helped them out with about $25 million and took a 1/3 stake in the company. Pret claims that “McDonald’s do not have any direct influence over what we sell or how we sell it; nor would they want to. They have invested in Pret because they like what we do.â€?

    Although Prêt isn’t what I’d call a “family initiative” or anything, it’s still offering freshly made, somewhat healthier food than McD’s so let’s hope the corners aren’t cut to make more profit, resulting in not much more than a memory of healthy organic food. If the only contribution from McD’s is financial and the little guy still uses fresh ingredients in the Prêt sandwiches, then we’ll all have happy bellies.

  • New blog look!

    I’m in love with the new look of my blog! With Andrew’s fantastic help, we’ve just created the latest incarnation of thatcanadiangirl. I love it, love it, love it!!!

    What do you think?