Kingston Kicks 2016

I spent this past weekend in Kingston at the revival of my favourite marital arts event. After being missed for a few years, Kingston Kicks assembled martial artists from far and wide, at the Ambassador Hotel, to put on, and take part in seminars in karate, aikido and jiu-jutsu. There were also special courses in iaido, bo and both women's self defence and cane defence.


I met a gentleman from Belleville who seemed to think it must have been a long boring day for me.  Quite the contrary.  It is always great to see so many old friends and meet new ones at events like this. Some such events are huge but Kingston Kicks is small enough to make it very special.  As a non-participant, I can check out what's happening in each of the six simultaneous seminars four times a day, pick the ones that interest me the most, and actually sit down and hear what the instructor is saying. The seminars are not all put on in one room, as is sometimes the case at other events. By having just one or two seminars in each room, it is much easier for the participants to hear, and work out without fear of being beaned by someone being taught another style in on a nearby mat.

The fact that there are others from our club taking part makes it even more interesting for me. My hubby taught the cane defence and there were several comments afterwards by amazed students who were surprised at how little pressure was needed to make the cane an effective weapon.  I watched a young member of our karate club take the opportunity to learn something about jiu-jitsu and aikido. He had a great time learning break falls and front rolls, and later learned how to dodge a pool noodle. The other members of our club that attended this year were all adults, but they all learned something new and had lots of fun in the process.

The hosts of this event, Carol and Ted Theelen,  of the Rideau Lakes School of Martial Arts always make everyone feel like part of the family. They had a meet and greet on Friday night, a dinner gathering at the Mandarin Restaurant Saturday evening, and even put on a party for everyone to attend, free of charge on Saturday night.  Even some of the young children were there. If you don't happen to be a dancer, the floor show can be quite entertaining as some martial artists apparently have moves we weren't aware of.

Sunday there was a tournament, which was especially enjoyed by the youngsters. They do love to get those metals! After watching such tournaments for over 30 years, I can vouch for the fact that there is a lot of talent coming up through the ranks, and great things to come in the future. 

I'm already looking forward to Kingston Kicks next year.

Spring Bonnets on Parade

I remember, in my youth, we used to get dressed up for Easter.  Often I got new shiny black Patten leather shoes, a colourful new spring coat, or a pretty new hat. I don't know if that's when it began, but I've always loved hats.

This year the New Horizon's Club in Burritts Rapids held a Spring Tea and the powers that be requested we wear our prettiest bonnets.  They could be store bought or something specially created for the event. Some people commented that they didn't have hats, and I offered to share some of mine. I already knew which one I would wear. It lives in a box in my basement and seldom gets out as it is so special there are very few places one could wear such a creation. It's too grand to wear even to a wedding.  It would outshine the bride.  So, when this occasion presented itself, I simply had to wear it.  It had been passed to me by a friend several years back, and the only other time I ever got to wear it was for the Hats and Hostas event.

Now, this is not the sort of hat that one slips on while wearing blue jeans or some other casual duds. I rummaged in the back of the closet and chose a dress. It was sleeveless and since it can be cool at the hall, I hauled out a silver scarf that worked well as a shawl. The chunky pearl necklace finished off the regal look.

The tea was lovely. Almost everyone wore some sort of hat.  Some put in a lot of work to create something very Easter like, pinning chickens and eggs, etc to their hats. We sat at tables set up for four, and were served fancy sandwiches and squares along with out tea or coffee. Then we lined up to parade around the room a couple of times. I'm not sure who was left to watch us, other than the judges.

They say I won the prize for the best hat, but really, it was the hat that won the prize, and I just gratefully received it.  All this did bring back the fun of getting all dressed up, and I do wish there were still more opportunities to do so. I think I may at least have to go on a little spring shopping spree.

Enhanced Reading

Reading has always been a passion of mine, but recently  I've discovered a way to really enhance the experience.

I was reading a book called Inferno by Dan Brown.  His main  character in his books, Robert Langdon, is a specialist in symbolism and the story took place in several European cities.  Mr. Brown often mentions such things as artwork, architecture, and city streets without boring you with long descriptive detail.  That's where my tablet came in handy.  I simply Googled whatever he was talking about and got to see the settings, or the art he was interpreting for myself.

 The next book I picked up was The Perseid Collapse, by Steven Konkoly.  This is a near future apocalyptic story, realistic enough to get you thinking about storing things to help you survive.  It's set on the east coast, and the characters travel around a lot, getting to safety.  While Mr. Konkoly is more prone to long winded descriptions than Mr. Brown, his references to towns and highways also had me opening up the tablet to check where he was taking his characters, and where rivers were, so I'd understand how far a wave of water might travel inland.  For this I used Google maps.

Actually, at the beginning of the digital version of The Perseid Collapse, there was a link to download the Report of the Commission to assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack.  I did that, as it was free from within the book. I found it fascinating to discover all ways our lives would be affected by an EMP.  The way we live would be disrupted in so may ways, there would be complete chaos.

I always knew reading could take you to another world, but now I can get a good look at it, if I want to, and maybe even learn something about these places along the way. I have no idea why I've seldom thought to consult the computer about what I have been reading in the past.  Maybe it was just too much trouble to walk to another room and turn the darn thing on.  But a tablet is different.  You can pick it up along with your book, or maybe even download the book and read it on the machine in the first place.   It's now so easy to  take a moment to see what is in the author's mind that reading will never be the same for me ever again.  It might take me longer to read a book in the future, if I keep looking things up.  I don't see that as a problem with that, other than, as I've mentioned before, my stack of books grows faster than I work my way through them. 

It is said that in life we should stop and smell the roses.  While reading, I will now stop and at least take a look at some of them.

Instant Celebrity

Since I have written about the TLC Soupfest for the past three years (2013) (2014) (2015), I was not really planning on doing it again. But here I am, about to tell you what happened.

This was the 8th annual Soupfest, and I've been to at least seven of them, if not them all. The event was originally in Winchester, but moved to Kemptville several years ago, and will be held there next year, on March 4th.  Mark your calendars now.

The Kemptville Municipal Centre has enough space to feature 16 restaurants and their soups for the public to get acquainted with, and then vote on their favorites. Restaurants this year were from Merrickville, Morrisburg, North Gower, Perth, Manotick, and of course, Kemptville.   I didn't see any advertisement for the event this year, until just the week before, so it was a bit of a scramble to gather those who usually go with us.

While we were happily doing our taste testing, the organizer, Lynn Ford, was speaking to the assembled group about the event. She asked how many of us had been coming for several years, and a lot of hands went up, including those of everyone at my table.  She then asked if anyone would care to say a few words about their experiences at Soupfest. For some reason several members of my group decided to suddenly point at me.  I laughed and responded to them by saying, "Oh ya!"  Lynn apparently heard that but must have thought I was volunteering as she handed me the mic.  Oh well, I do tend to talk a lot, so I stood up and told everyone how my husband and myself came each year with a couple of his cousins and their spouses.  We always find it fun to compare opinions on the various soups, as we never, ever agreed on which ones we liked the best.  I mentioned that I have even brought my young grandson to the event a couple of times.  He enjoys being able to make his own pronouncements on the various soups, and voting for his own personal favorite.  Soupfest is indeed a great family outing.  For speaking, I was awarded a souvenir Soupfest apron, that I happily traipsed around in from the moment she put it on me until we left. I felt like a bit of a celebrity.  I have since read that public speaking is the number one fear people have. I can't vouch for that as I didn't have time to conger up a fear, let alone figure out what I wanted to say. I only hope whatever came out of me made some kind of sense.

I must say, that if it were not for Soupfest, there are a great number of soups I would never have even tasted, simple because of their ingredients.  No way would I ever have walk into a restaurant and buy whole bowlful of soup made with things that do not sound appealing to me.  But now I've sampled many of those, as a little taste and a chance to express my opinion isn't as intimidating as having to pay for a whole bowl of something I may not care for.  I found out that even though I do not like squash, or pumpkin or the idea of fish in a soup, all of those ingredients have been in soups offered to me at Soupfest, and I discovered that I actually liked them. This year the McIntosh Country Inn from Morrisburg served Pumpkin Gouda Soup, which was lovely and the Marlborough Pub from North Gower served a Smoked Salmon Bisque, that I was almost afraid to taste, especially since some others at my table didn't seem to care for it. I could smell the smokiness, but every sip I took made me like it more. This year my favorite was from a new restaurant to this event, The Keystorm Pub, from Brockville.  They made a Maple BBQ soup with Pork & Bacon.  I want to go to that restaurant just to get a whole bowlful of that soup, I liked it so much.  While other soups in the room may have been more imaginative,  as much as I liked them, I wouldn't make a special trip just to get some.  They Keystorm's offering will have me marching through their doors.  The chef told me it wasn't a fancy place. They just wear hockey shirts, and serve good food. If that soup was an example, I'm going to go as often as I can.  One other soup I went back and got more than one sample of was a delectable dessert soup.  Kemptville's Crusty Baker served up a Black Forest Soup. Yes, it had chocolate and creme brule, whipped cream (I think) and cherries. There was also a dash of kirsch in there too.  I don't know that I'd ever want a whole bowlful as I'm not one for sweets, but these little sample cups were just the right size for this lovely treat, at least for me. It made my heart sing.

I went to the bank yesterday and the first thing the teller said to me was, "Did you go to Soupfest?"  I told her I had. She said she saw a picture of me on Facebook (so of course she knew I'd been there).  The picture was taken just after I was given the apron.  I now have it on my Facebook page too, and already 40 people have liked it. I think the idea that a bank teller spotted me on the TLC page just proves I'm a bit of a celebrity now, don't you think?

It Happens Everyday

Valentines Day was a bit different this year. While went to a new local restaurant for a treat, someone else decided to do a bit of splurging, using my VISA card.  They apparently purchased a piece of jewelry for over $700.  They also paid for a credit check through Trans Union.

When I noticed these strange charges on our account I called my hubby right away. I didn't want him to try to get gas on the way home from work only to discover his credit card was refused. He is the primary card holder, so I figured he was the one who would have to call VISA.  He did that, and was told that it was actually my card that had been used for these fraudulent purchases, and so I would have to call in too.

When I called I found out that whoever was using my card had also tried for something worth over $2000. The VISA people knew these charges were not mine, and had already locked down the card. This particular card was originally obtained to make online purchases with. It has a very low limit, so when thing like this happen they don't go through and we don't have to worry much.  I hardly ever use the credit card myself.  I can count on the fingers of one hand how many businesses I used it for this past year...or ever, for that matter.  It was really easy for the VISA people to spot this fraud and put an end to it. They cancelled my card that day, and my new one has just now arrived.

In the meantime, I didn't like the idea of someone getting their hands on my personal information through Trans Union, so I placed a call to them to let them know what had happened.  Firstly off, let me say that their phone system is extremely confusing. It's an automated system but the recording does not give you a chance to have the options repeated. I dialed several times while trying to figure out what button to push next.

When I finally reached humans, they were heavily accented, spoke quickly and were hard to understand. They asked a lot of personal questions to verify my identity. I actually started to wonder how I could verify theirs! Anyway, I was told that there was no activity under my name but urged to put a warning on my account ($5 for 6 years). That would require them to contact me before giving out a credit report to anyone asking for it. For this service I would have to come up with another credit card number, since my VISA was cancelled.  Though I didn't feel comfortable with that idea, I was forwarded to that department.

At last I had an English speaking person, or at least one that spoke with no accent, but he seemed to have difficulty understanding that I just wanted to make sure my information had not been sent out to someone else.  I finally discovered that my credit card had been used, to the tune of $19.95,  to order information on someone named Robert Banks.  They asked if I knew him and when I said no.

I was then forwarded to a supervisor in the expedited section. He confirmed that my own info had not been accessed and that Robert Burns was likely a victim of fraud too.  He put locks on both the account that had been created, and though I told him that my credit card had been cancelled, he also cancelled it at his end, so it could never be used again.

One would think this would be the end of the story, but even after my hubby had been able to make a purchase at the drug store last weekend, his card was refused the next time he tried to use it.  The bank could see no reason for that, as there appeared to be plenty of room for the transaction to go through.  Another series of calls to VISA indicated that though the Valentines Day splurge had been stopped, that $700 charge had not yet been cleared from the system and any further purchases would have put him over the limit.  It was frustrating not being able to see when it was cleared and resulted in another embarrassing moment when the card was turned down again, even after being told that it would be okay to use by then. 

I don't know why it took so long to clear that one charge, as the company who made the sale even called me at one point. They asked if I'd bought something from them, and I told them I had not.  I had never heard of this company, but apparently they are down in New York someplace.  I imagine that they lost the item they sold, and are out the money for it.

One thing I'm glad of is that we do have this "little" card, which is used primarily for online purchases and buying gas.  Who knows how much damage could have been done if it had of been one of our other credit cards that had been compromised.  I had asked the VISA people if they could tell where the card number had been stolen from.  The lady said that scammers spend all day finding ways to get these numbers, and sometimes they even just make them up. The person that called about the jewelry purchase knew my name and my phone number, so I don't imagine the card number was picked out of a hat on this occasion.  When looking at the places I've used the card, I've come up with my own idea of where the number was obtained.  I have, several times over the past years, used the Walmart photo centre to order prints.  I place the order online, and pick it up when I go to in that direction.  Last summer there was a data breach that involved Walmart Canada's Photocentre Website. I suspect the crooks have been sitting on a pile of numbers, just waiting to use them.  If you used that service during the period between June 2014 and July 2015, you could also still be at risk. Keep an eye on your credit card statements, and if  you have not changed your password on the Walmart site, I suggest you do so.  They are thinking of opening the site up again soon.

Lesson Learned

A long time ago I learned never to congratulate myself when things were going well. That's just asking for trouble.

You know how it is. You find some money in your coat pocket, and for a moment you are really happy with this little windfall. And then your washing machine catches fire, or the axle on your car suddenly breaks.  It's always something.

I remember the time I was learning to cross country ski, and kept falling down.  Then I got going pretty good, and had the nerve to think, "I've got the hang of this now."  Well, pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall, and fall is what I did the very next second after having such a lofty thought.  It always seems to work that way for me, but apparently I'd forgotten.

I don't remember ever telling people how old I am, or am going to be, as often as I have in recent months.  I'll be turning 70 on my next birthday, which is coming up this spring. I guess I was feeling rather proud of how well I thought I was doing for my age.  I enjoyed seeing the surprised faces, whether real or faked.  But pride is the seventh deadly sin, and I've now realized I've been paying for it.

I've told you about the knee suddenly going bad, and the little skin cancer episode.  This past week I had another vertigo attack, and have not felt well since.  I always thought aging was something that came on gradually.  Apparently you can be just fine, and then your life can suddenly be changed by even the smallest health problems. I get the point.  I will have to stop bragging about my age, and accept that I'm growing older after all. Maybe if I stop flaunting what great shape I think I'm in I'll be allowed to enjoy what time I have left without all these health related interruptions.  One can only hope.

Following Life's Path

They said it wouldn't last, but here it is, 31 years later, and Merrickville Karate Club is still going strong.

Back in February of 1985, my husband and young son joined the class when it first opened here. I went up to watch, and really liked what I saw. The instructor had a way of pushing people beyond the limits they had set for themselves, and that was a great confidence builder. Once you know you can do something you never thought you could do, you are more willing to try other things without worrying about failing.

The instructor was from out of town and needed someone local to take calls from prospective students, and unlock the door to the dojo for when they arrived.  I took on the volunteer position and when my husband and I took over the club four years later, I automatically took on the rolls of Coordinator, PR person, and accountant.

The club runs smoothly, and successfully and has had an ongoing waiting list for more than twenty years.  People like that it's a family club, with adults and children in the same class.

I had a couple of openings this spring and mentioned that on Facebook.  Within seconds, those spaces were filled by two 11 year old boys. A couple of days later, the father of one, and the mother of the other had also decided to join the class. Before week was out, I had eleven people wanting to join.  Some will have to wait until September, but I am always warning people not to wait until the last minute. Spaces always fill quickly.

It's been an honour to watch so many people progress, not just in their martial arts skills, but in their life skills over the years. It really is true that once you discover you can do something you didn't think you could do, you find you can succeed at all kinds of other things.  Though I have never actually joined the karate class, I did get heavily involved in tai chi for many years, and have managed to have accumulated a few accomplishments of my own along the way.

The funny thing is, I've never been interested in sports of any kind. Who would ever have guessed that I would own and operate a karate club, let alone for so many years.  Life leads us down some interesting paths, if we are brave enough to follow them.