Beware, if you are not in the mood to read something sad, turn away now.

Mom and I and the kids were driving in the car yesterday to Peterborough when we cam to an accident on the 401 just outside of Porthope. A green minivan was tipped over on its side, and someone was lying on the ground covered in a tarp, as was the van. In that instant I knew that someone had died. My first thought was that it was my friend Brandon, because he had informed me that he had the van for the week, and his Mom drives a green van. But when Mom and I and the kids got home that evening we were greeted by my Dad with some bad news.
Mom and Dads friend Annette had been in an accident, she drives a green van, and it turned out to be her that was killed. Their friend Jackie and her daughter were apparently in the car with Annette and weren't wearing their seat belts, my Dad informed us. (My Mom then proceeded to yell at Matthew because lately he hasnt been wearing his. I guess she hoped to strike some kind of fear into him. But hes 15, what fear could she instill on someone who thinks they are invincible?)
Dad explained that he heard that the person who was thrown from the vehicle had to be scraped off of the road, they couldn't tell at first whether it was a male or a female.
After Dad had told us the story my response was, "great we have to go to another funeral, or two."
My response was not in anger, but in bitterness because another friend of ours has been at his worst for a while now and has already tried to committ suicide. Mom received a call early one morning and made Dad rush over to take him to the hospital.
Hasnt the past few weeks been grand?



Story from the TorontoStar.


"Woman dies in minivan collision on 401
Tragic start to long weekend

Drivers fume over border delays


EMILY MATHIEU AND PETER EDWARDS
STAFF REPORTERS

A newspaper delivery driver was killed in a two-vehicle accident on Highway 401 yesterday near Port Hope at the start of the busy holiday weekend.

Eastbound lanes were closed for six hours after a green Chevrolet Astro minivan "wobbled and lost control" and clipped another eastbound vehicle at about 9 a.m., said Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Dale Gear of the Northumberland detachment.

The minivan rolled over and ended up on its side, Gear said.

Annette Tripp, 40, of Port Hope was dead on the scene.

Two passengers in the minivan, Lauren McCormack, 13, and her mother, Jacqueline McCormack, 48, both of Port Hope, were thrown from the vehicle. The pair, who police say were not wearing seat belts, was airlifted from the scene just east of Port Hope. The teenager was taken to Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children. Her mother was sent to Sunnybrook hospital.

The driver of the other vehicle, Andrew Chan, 38, of Toronto, was not injured.

Copies of yesterday's edition of the Northumberland News that were being transported in the minivan were scattered along a half-kilometre stretch of highway. Police diverted cars on to local roads, creating an estimated two-hour delay for travellers, Gear said.Other serious traffic accidents across Ontario yesterday added to the toll for commuters and motorists trying to get the jump on the long holiday weekend.

Six motorists were hospitalized after a minivan and a car collided near the village of Port Sydney, 20 kilometres south of Huntsville, on Highway 11. The northbound lanes of the highway were closed for four hours shortly after 10 a.m.

One person was killed in an accident near London just before 9 a.m., when a car hit a concrete bridge and caught fire.

Meanwhile, traffic tie-ups and work slowdowns from a labour dispute between the federal government and Canadian customs agents created havoc on bridges spanning the Canada-U.S. border along the Niagara River. Delays ranged up to an hour on the downriver Queenston-Lewiston Bridge, the Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls and the Peace Bridge between Fort Erie and Buffalo.

"I wasn't aware there was (going to be) such a delay," a frustrated Elizabeth Simon, 37, of New Jersey said at a duty-free shop in Niagara Falls, N.Y., as she and her husband George, 37, braced themselves for the drive to Toronto for Caribana.

Hundreds of GO Transit passengers were left stranded at Guildwood station in Scarborough last night after a pedestrian was struck and killed by a commuter train at Rouge Hill station, forcing a suspension of train service. Police said the fatality was a suicide. A following eastbound train was stopped at Guildwood about 6 p.m., leaving passengers scrambling to find ways to get home."




Story from Northumberland News.

"

News delivery driver killed in crash

PORT HOPE - A Northumberland News delivery driver was killed in a two-vehicle accident on Hwy. 401 this morning.
Shortly before 9 a.m. Northumberland OPP were called to the eastbound lanes of Hwy. 401 just outside of Port Hope. A green Chevrolet Astro minivan had "wobbled and lost control", clipped another eastbound vehicle, and then rolled, eventually coming to a stop on its left side, says Sergeant Dale Gear, Northumberland OPP.

"Why there was a wobble or loss of control we do not know yet. We still do not have a good witness to the accident," adds Sgt. Gear.

Two passengers in the minivan, a 13-year-old girl and a 48-year-old woman, were thrown from the minivan and injured, police said. The teenager was airlifted to Northumberland Hills Hospital with serious back injuries and the 48-year-old woman was airlifted to Sunnybrook Hospital with serious leg injuries.

The female driver of the minivan was confirmed dead at the scene. Police did not release her identity, pending notification of next of kin.

The driver of the other vehicle was not injured, reports Sgt. Gear.

"The other two occupants (of the minivan) are lucky they are alive," says Sgt. Gear. "We are still piecing things together."

The accident scene, littered with copies of Friday's Northumberland News, spanned 500 metres of the highway and backed up traffic for several kilometres. The eastbound lanes of Hwy. 401 near Port Hope will be closed until 3 p.m. when police expect to have completed their investigation. "

Spreads the meme far and wide

Currently Listening To:Nothing

Kerry's Reagan Legacy
"On January 20th, 1981, 52 American hostages were released from fourteen months in captivity by fundamentalist insurgents at the very same moment that Ronald Wilson Reagan was being sworn into office.

"On January 20th, 2005, 147 million American hostages will be released from four years in captivity by fundamentalist insurgents at the very same moment that John Forbes Kerry is sworn into office."

http://www.thisistheshit.org/2004_07_01_shit_archive.html#109118885356766200

Currently Listening To:Moist- Ophelia

The Bible Studies course has been recently changed to “Theories in Mass Hypnosis 101.” Surprisingly no one seems to have noticed.

I'm not afraid of being here

Currently Listening To:Lit- You Make Me Complete

Ok! So I've started packing a whole shit load more now. And my room is full of boxes and garbage bags of clothes. It feels weird to look around and see my room half empty, but not. I counted, and ended up with 5 boxes of books of out of 10 boxes that I've packed so far. I'm a nerd, I'll admit it. I love to read.

I gotted a new computer! 17" flatscreen monitor, P4, 512ram, 80g hard drive, I can play DVD's and burn CD's with it. Its black and silver, and on the left panel of the tower is plexi-glass and inside there is a neon blue and red fan that spins. My god its hot. :D

I had a dream last night that I was getting frustrated because I couldnt arrange my living room furniture so that everything fit. I really hope that that won't be the case. Otherwise I'm screwed. Because I dont have any room to take say, the chair, and put it in my bedroom. And there is no getting rid of any of it! Esspecially not my antique rocking chair. Its so pretty. I put casters on the bottom of moms steamer trunk so it can be my coffee table. Its so gorgeous, but I still need to sand the metal down. Its all rusted in places. Its too bad I cant find the key for it, because Id like to be able to use it for storage. Maybe put movies in it or something.

I can't believe I move out so soon. The fifth of august and then Im off on my own. Its friggen great! Tomorrow I go to Peterborough to talk with my landlady, and I think she'll give me the key because Sunday is the first. Right? I think so. I was hoping to be able to get the key earlier, so that I could paint the bathroom, as I have already bought the paint and the wall paper border. Its going to be yellow and blue with the stars and moons theme. Very elegant. I still have to figure out what colour I want my room to be. Im thinking of going with a purple. I love purple. But we'll see, because I dont want it red again. Ive been living in a roadster red room for three years now and Im done with it.

Ive gotten so many books from the orientation... Like I needed anymore right? I also bought my textbooks for psych class, and got 'em used too! Go me. Thrifty shopper Mandy. :P Bought one of the t-shirts too though, but its cool. Not sure what the red 64 is on the bottom left of the shirt, but I guessed it was the year Trent came to be or something? *shrugs* Who knows. Could be someones idea of decoration for all I know.

Even in death my love goes on

Currently Listening To: The chatter of some people as they're walking around the Library here on campus.

So! (copies Emily's way to start) Things are going well here. I've met a bunch of new people, and a few who really spark my interest. There is a girl here who has worn a different Evanescence T-shirt both days in a row now. *winks at Emily and Amanda* I thought you guys would find that cute.

We have a lot of free time, some of the time we can go on the computers, but we have readings we're supposed to do in prep for tomorrows lecture so I started that at about ten to eight this morning. The lecture is on Witch Hunts! It's gonna be great. I asked about taking the course and they said that it's not an option for first year, I think he said it was a second year history course, but I can't exactly remember. Not really important considering I'm first year and can find that information out another time.

I've been given a lot of books that are supposed to help me with critical thinking, essay writing, preparing good sentences, help with philosophy, things like that. Mostly self help books. Not sure if I'm going to get them all read by Sunday, but it will deffinately give me something to read when I move into my apartment. Because I will be by myself until Kelly comes back from camp.

Speaking of my apartment, Mom rented the truck for the 5th, so I hope to have everything packed by then. I'm excited to see how everything looks when we move it in. I bought a love seat, a couch, a chair and an automan(sp?) at the slavation army for only 65$. (I cant remember if I have written this already or not, but I still cant get over this awesome deal!)

University Prep 101 is a lot harder than Ithought, I wasnt aware thjat we were going to have to be doing actual work and essays etc. The online course is held on Trent's website, called a Web CT online discussion board. We're given homework to do and have to have it done by a certain date. The first stuff starts out easy and prepares us for the last assignemnt which is a harder essay, they said it is supposed to help us prepare for the university because they'll be commenting on our work as we hand it in and "grading" it, correcting spelling errors and grammar errors etc. It won't actually count for anything towards university, other than the fact that its supposed to help us prepare. Which is good because I wouldnt want to fail a course before I even start University!

Last night we watched the comedy channel and played Life until about 12am. I sort of connected with a boy (not in any way more than friends, I mean c'mon, I dont even know his name!), and with our "Dorm Mother" Ulia (Not sure if its spelt that way, but thats how you say it! She's great. She's from Russia and has only been in Canada for three years now. Her passion is languages and she's majoring in Politics(yuck). Also someone here named Amber is going into the Forensic Science department. She's a nice girl, from Renfru(not sure if I spelt that right either!) She self proclaims herself a "spoiled brat" because her family has a lot of money. She said that they have like three boats, five cars, etc.

We're supposed to be having a Library Orientation right now, but no one has showed up yet for it. And by no one Imean there is only myself, Ulia and three other girls here. I bet all of the guys didn't even read their timetable (not that I'm prejudice against guys :P).  So we're getting to hang out on the computers for longer. I wish I could go on MSN. But I know that as soon as I sign in I'll be flooded with people and I'll feel bad because then I'll have to tell them in like five or ten minutes that I have to go. Most of the time thats why I don't go on MSN. I'm never on long enough for a decent conversationg with anyone.

The campus is really desserted in the summer. There are the few students who are doing summer school, or maybe wanting to catch up on reading so they hang out at the library, but other than that it's basically dead. It feels weird to be walking down school hallways and there be hardly anyone there. Ulia says it's creepy. I suppose she's used to it being filled with people all the time. It's a big school, but it only has about 5,000 students in it. Which I really like because Ive been told by some of the teachers already that that gives us an advantage because we get more one on one time with our Prof's. So awesome! Otherwise I feel weird in a class, if I havent bonded with the teacher in some way. I just feel like all the rest kind of thing.

And I can't love you anymore than I do

Currently Listening To: Evanescence- Even In Death

EEk! Tomorrow morning I leave for the orientation that I spoke of and I dont wanna go!! *breaks down and cries* I'm sooo nervous! I'm going to see so many people that are new, and and what if they don't want to talk to me? Or think that Im scary, and that Im going to eat them or something? o.0 No seriously though, I have trouble with approaching people so if someone doesn't approach me I just become a recluse and a loner and do things off on my own! *waaahhh!!* Someone needs to be there that I know, otherwise I'm gonna be so bored outta my mind. Harumph.

Plus sides: Swimming pool, curfew of 12am... How can that be a bad thing? Hopefully getting a room to myself. Maybe meeting some cool new people like myself! Yay! And getting to know the Trent layout better. It takes a long time for me to find my way around somewhere new. And I've already done an all afternoon tour thingy with mom and a tour guide, but I wouldnt know where to go if they just threw me somewhere and then said "now find room 666." Nope, couldnt do it. (notice how I put 666? Yeah, I'm a geek. What can ya do? Thats right... Nothing!! Muwahahaha!) God can you tell Im nervous? I do the crack joke make people laugh thing when Im nervous. Oh boy. This is going to be just great.

Down sides: Arranged social time. Yuck. Cafeteria food. Someone elses bed, pillow and sheets. Not being able to bring my kitty with me. Being all alone and by myself. Getting lost!! ACK! No sense of direction. Trying to remember everything and knowing I'm going to fail horribly at that. Having to live out of a bag for four days.

Looks like we're in for nasty weather

Currently Listening To: CCR- Bad Moon Rising

So I'm finally doing it. Paul mentioned that if I didnt update my blog sometime soon he was going to do something rash. So here it is. The update.
 
I'm moving soon. I can't get it off my mind. But I'm also not packed. My room looks just the same as it always does. Messy and full of shit. Mom tried to help me a bit with some stuff, but it didnt exactly make a dent. And for those people that have seen my room, they know that thats not surprising. So here I am, posting on my blog rather than packing. Mom rented the truck for the 5th of August. That's officially my due date outta here. Matthew's already begging me to hurry up and leave. He get's my room after I'm gone, and he wants to paint it and start moving his stuff in now. Mom say's she can't wait to convert Matthew's room into a sewing room so she can start folk art painting and sewing again. So it's goodbye Mandy everyone!
 
First thing's first though. Thursday morning I have to be at Trent for an orientation and Mom is coming with me. They have something for the parents too, so until lunch time she has to do course thingies too. Then at 2:30 or whatever time the parents leave she leaves me by myself for the weekend and I stay in one of the residence rooms until Sunday. Though I'm there preparing for the online course I'm gonna take for university prep, so it's not all fun and games. Then Sunday at lunch time I have to be out of the rez and Mom and Dad will come and have lunch in the big dining room area. But after this weekend it'll mean that it's even cloer to the time I have to move and I still havent packed! Shit! One things certain though, I won't have to pack any of the books that were in my bookcase 'cause they're all packed and in three big banana boxes. Taking up space in my room, but what can ya do when you've already filled the hallway with stuff for the apartment and every other available space in the living room and dining room.
 
OOoooh!! That reminds me. Yesterday I bought a couch, loveseat, overstuffed chair and an autimen that all match from the Salvation Army. They delivered it and everything. Best part is, it only cost me 65 dollars all together. 65$!! Its a damn good thing I didnt buy one when I went to the antique's auction. So my living room set is sitting in our dining room, just pleading with me to find a place to put them. They're sort of an offwhite and white colour with a raised pattern in some places, but of the same colour. No offending orange, brown and rust colours from the 70's baby. This is an expensive off white couch! Damn thats some good karma.
 
Speaking of the antique's auction. It was an old lady that died and she had everything! All gorgeous stuff not to mention. I bought an old cedar chest to put at the end of my bed, and a mahogany rocking chair. The chest was like 135$ and I had to fight with a man for the rocker which I ended up getting for 155$. He must have been an antique's dealer because he bought almost everything there! Both bedroom sets, some jewelery, some vases, that kind of thing. And hoo boy did he want that rocker, cause it went with one of the bedroom sets. God it would have been nice to have the mahogany bedroom set. It was beautiful. But waaay out of my price range.
 
Today was officially my last day at Pizza Hut. Yeah baby, no more of that shit. And go figure, Michele at work wanted me to vouch for her because of Sunday night, which I won't get into, so today I had to write a witness report for Chico, the boss of all the Pizza Huts in the area. And I'll be damned if I didnt tell the story right and tell off the managers that work there now and the ones that worked there previously in my letter. Going on about how inhumane I thought it was that I've seen people work 10 hours straight with no breaks *coughcoughsundaynightcoughcough* I don't know if it's just the way pizza hut's are, or whether they care or not about their employees, but that pissed me off. Did I ever get a break working at pizza hut for almost the whole year that I worked there? Nope. Oh sorry, except for Valentines day when we were so busy that I was the only one at the cash register and people were lined up out the door wanting to pick-up, order, or get a seat. I told Fez that I was damnwell going out for a smoke break, and he says to me "but you don't smoke" (cause you see the only people that every get a few minutes for a break are those who go for a smoke) and I told him "wel I do now!" But hey, thats over now. So I'm done with ranting about that.
 
"I am the devil and I'm commin' for you."

Sign of your awakening

Currently Listening To: A Perfect Circle- Sleeping Beauty
 I was fiddling around with my picture viewer again and brought up some older pictures to re-vamp. In these you can tell how much I like the colour purple! ^.^   
 
Purple
Black and White
Black & White

Flood emergency declared in Peterborough, Ont.

Currently Listening To: The Radio
 
Flood emergency declared in Peterborough, Ont.
CTV.ca News Staff

Many people in Ontario city of Peterborough spent their supper hour frantically piling sandbags to fight rising floodwaters.
Their city is under a state of emergency, having been hit with a mind-boggling deluge of rain in the last 24 hours.
"We had a slow-moving weather disturbance called a cold low,"  Geoff Coulson of Environment Canada told CFTO News on Thursday.
Such systems are typically accompanied by heavy bands of precipitation -- which can pose problems when the system centres over an area, he said.
Peterborough was hit by two such bands, one Wednesday evening and the other early Thursday. Together, they dumped 193 millimetres of rain on the city of 70,000, Coulson said.
CFTO News weatherman Dave Devall had two words for Peterborough and other Eastern Ontario cities: More rain.
"This system is very slow-moving and it's loaded with moisture," he said.
Environment Canada has virtually all of Eastern Ontario under a weather warning.
State of emergency
Peterborough Mayor Sylvia Sutherland and police chief Terrence McLaren declared a state of emergency early Thursday, when backed-up storm sewers left parts of the city under water overnight.
The downpour dumped so much water on the central Ontario city, sewers and the Ontanabee River running through town were filled beyond capacity.
While the city's drinking water is safe, people living downstream were advised to not take water from the Otanabee River.
Under the weight of so much rainwater, part of the roof of Lansdowne Place shopping mall collapsed. Some 200 residents were also evacuated from a long-term care facility after its roof suffered a partial collapse.
Basements flooding almost to the main floor were a common sight, and toilets on the ground level of a downtown hotel were spewing dirty water.
In parts of the city's downtown core, flooding was so bad, streets were impassable. Transit service was suspended and many businesses remained closed.
CFTO News' John Musselman said one of the most heavily-called businesses in Peterborough Thursday were insurance companies. However, no one has a damage estimate yet, he said.
Alicia Kay-Markson said there was a report that some valuable historical books were damaged.
One family told CFTO News that this was the third flood that's hit their home since 1980, but is by far the worst.
Police Staff Sergeant Steve Streeter says officials are taking small consolation in the fact no injuries have been reported.
"Fortunately we have not had any reports of injuries. We do have some heavy flooding in various parts of the city, but people are coping reasonably well so far."
To make sure that doesn't change, Streeter told CTV Newsnet that Peterborough residents should stay home.
"If you have no reason to leave your home and are relatively safe and dry, home is probably a good place to be," he said. "We still have some heavy flooding in various areas within the city and getting around is difficult."
Some people tried to make the best of it, going out in canoes and kayaks, and a few even swimming. But health officials said people should avoid the dirty water as much as possible.
 
Other flooding
Elsewhere in the province, as well as parts of neighbouring Quebec, officials are dealing with the effects of recent days' thunderstorms.
Near the northern Ontario city of North Bay, for example, officials are dealing with roads washed out by heavy rain.
Responding to at least two separate washouts, the Ontario Provincial Police says a section of Highway 63 linking North Bay and Temiscaming has been closed.
Deluged by more than 70 millimetres of rain, Temiscaming mayor Philip Barrette says his town is essentially isolated.
The only road out, Highway 101, leads north to Ville Marie, Quebec. Parts of that highway was also washed away but it has since re-opened.
CFCF News' Rob Lurie said rivers in the Temiscaming area were already high when the new rain hit.
"The new rain washed out beaver dams, that made the water levels rise even more, and it literally started coming right through the road."
Officials really hope water levels don't rise further, especially in the Ottawa River, he said.
 
 
Oh and the best part yet!! More rain ahead for tonight! Doesn't that just make you happy??

Lego Spider Man

Currently Listening To:
I saw the new spider man movie tuesday night. It was really well done! And the end has quite the twist. But Ill leave that for you to see and not ruin it for you. =P

Heres a version I recommend everyone seeing. Lego Spider Man and Doc Oc

Ive also started a proboards forum for The Unloved. Something I thought needed to be done. Ive had a ton of people telling me I could do better than an MSN site. So here it is. The site of wonders: http://theunloved.proboards23.com.

Daddy wasn't there, to take me to the fair, to change my underwear

Currently Listening To: Nora Jones-Butterfly

*yawn* I think the summer is going to go by with flying colours. I've really messed up my sleeping schedule. I'm not getting to bed before 2am anymore, and then not waking up until almost 1pm.

I still haven't found a couch for my apartment. I think it's going to end up being one of those things that I buy when I've already moved in. But then I'm not sure what colour I'll be able to paint the living room. I'd kind of like it to match the couch. But if I end up having to just paint the walls a light colour like white or cream, then so be it.

I've spent a lot of money lately. I'm not sure where it's all gone! I know a lot of it has gone towards the apartment. Actually almost all of it has. But I've also spent a lot on just little things, and other people. I'm not even making enough money at pizza hut to make up for the amount I've spent. I hope I don't go to over-board.

The waterfront festival was this past weekend. I watched the fireworks with Brynn, Emily, Kyle(sorry for forgetting you!)Matt and Melissa. We had a good time, though the fireworks weren't as good as they were last year. I don't think they'll be able to beat last years. I also got another henna tattoo. I love henna. It's so gorgeous. I get a henna tattoo every year. It's kind of like a tradition for myself. This year I spent about 27$ on mine. But it was well worth it. The lady who has always done mine uses only brown henna (she has a thing against the black), so this year there was another lady doing only black henna. I got mine done with her, just for a change. Here's a picture: