Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Hope everyone's getting out to VOTE! If, like myself, you feel the timing of the forced election is a bit suspicious, I highly recommend you follow (and support) the Avaaz.org initiative to reveal information about the controversial G8 spending -- Did the Conservatives take advantage of public funds over $1B? Is this election to avoid legal repercussions? Another interesting site to get shocking (or not-so-shocking) information on what Conservatives have done -- http://ShitHarperDid.ca

A while back , I wrote about the Red Cross having for sale personal Emergency Preparedness Kits . They were on backorder at the time, but finally my order of two kits (backpacks) have come in. The backpacks are bright red and very spacious with all the stuff inside. Lots of room for food and a few other items you may want to put in it. Some interesting items include: Emergency tips notebook with space for you to write various important entries about your local emergency contacts and information. The collapsible water container is a whopping 20 liters (which would work out to 20 kilograms if you filled it up) and comes with a carrying handle. The no-batteries required flashlight that is included has a hand crank, and two light settings: A low light that uses only one bulb, and a bright light that uses all three bulbs. There is also a button to emit a noise that sounds like a police siren. Beats blowing a whistle, I guess. Your credit card will be charged by "ST-JOSEPH PRINT G