Alberta clipper

We've got a lot of driving to do this weekend. Naturally an "Alberta clipper" is descending on the area, promising high winds and 5-10cm of snow.

So I tried to make good time on the way to St. Catharines, where I spent the night with my family in preparation for an early start the next day. I chose a larger rental car this time due to all the highway driving we'll be doing in lousy conditions, left early, and drove .. quickly while the roads were clear. It's funny that the car manufacturers allow cruise control to be set at XXXkph.

In the news right now is an awful situation involving the murder of a Toronto policeman. The Toronto police are, in my experience (and I've lived in seven substantial cities), among the best in the world. It's a force that you actually call when something's wrong, and they certainly don't get into the news by killing people or kicking them in the face the way the national police force is wont to do on the west coast (assholes). The crux of the story is a "homeless man from St. Catharines" who, while on the streets in sub-zero temperatures and barefoot of all things, came upon a snowplow left idling unoccupied. He took the vehicle on a rampage through the city that resulted in his cutting down the police officer and somehow surviving with gunshots to the head and cheast. The guy apparently has lived in dear ol' St. Kitts for many years, and owns a run-down (and not liveable) building that's not far from my mum's place. In reading the stories about the incident, it seems that not much is known about the guy except for "homeless man from St. Catharines".

While I was driving to that city tonight it occurred to me that .. on paper, that describes me, too. I have much to be thankful for.