FREE CONCERT!

COOPER BROTHERS!

BOWSER AND BLUE

TROOPER!
This Saturday night, come out to the Ottawa Civic Centre for A FREE CONCERT!!!
Its being billed as a night to 'Rock For Public Services' , sponsored by CUPE 503, your municipal workers, and CUPE 4000, your Ottawa Hospital workers and Canadian Union of Public Employees. Doors open at 6 pm for this fantastic FREE concert line-up: comedy/musical act Bowser and Blue (they are hysterical!), Ottawa's own Cooper Brothers, followed by Canadian rockers Trooper!!!! Hope to see you there! Donations gratefully accepted for the Ottawa Humane Society! For more details, www.cupe503.com

Liz Manley - Still a Ball of Fire!

Homesense Skate Canada is on at Scotiabank Place, this Thursday to Sunday! Tickets at www.capitaltickets.ca
Olympic silver medalist Liz Manley stopped by 'the Morning After' to chat about it. Who could forget Liz's dynamic performance at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary....clinching silver and making us all wish we had a white Stetson cowboy hat! If you want to see world-class skating and a glimpse of competitors sure to compete at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, nab your tickets to Homesense Skate Canada now! Liz Manley is quite a ball of fire....just a matter of time before she's on one of those reality shows. Whatever happened to 'Skating with Celebrities'?

The 2008/2009 Official Battle of the Thermostats Has Arrived!

Thank you to one of our listeners, Susan Coles, for sending the above photo.

Last night the temperature dropped to below zero. Which officially kicked off the season I like to call 'battle of the thermostat'. This is a battle that takes place in almost every household when three things merge together: a man, a woman, and cold weather. My husband likes to keep the thermostat at about 18 degrees. Thats quite comfortable for him. At 18 degrees, I am wearing six sweaters and three pairs of socks. And so, the battle begins.

Rob installed one of those 'smart' thermostats a few winters ago. He thought this would solve all of our problems. While we are both out of the house, the thermostat is set for 18 degrees. He then programs the thing to raise the temperature of the house just before I get home from work. Problem is, I get home at all different times of the day. On a day when the thermostat expects me home at 1:30, I may surprise it and arrive at 11. The thermostat doesn't care that I'm home. Its not giving me heat for another 2 1/2 hours. Sure, the obvious answer is to simply press the right buttons and over-ride the thermostat to have it kick in whenever I want. But it never works when I do that. My thermostat only takes orders from my husband.

This topic was brought up on 'The Morning After' and it definitely touched a nerve.

Many women called to offer sympathies and advice, as they too are now officially into the 2008/2009 'battle of the thermostat' season.

Here were some comments offered this morning:

- to have the heat kick in and turn up a notch, simply place a bag of frozen peas (or any other frozen vegetable) directly on top of the baseboard heater

- purchase a 'thermostat' cage, lock it, and hide the key. This gives you 100 percent power over the thermostat. Could be a scary option though. What if your husband thinks of this first?

- check to see if the main thermostat in your living room is fake. It may be a placebo. You can turn it up to 28 degrees, and it will indicate as such, but it is actually a device that looks like the real thing but in fact is not hooked up to anything at all. Lift it carefully. If its just hanging by a small nail , there are no wires or batteries, you've got yourself a placebo thermostat. Your husband may have a few of these scattered throughout the house. It is up to you to find the main control centre which houses the real thermostat.

- further to the above note, many husbands will gladly offer to turn up the heat if you're cold. They will saunter across the floor and be sure that you see them turning up the thermostat. Again, this may be a sign that the thermostat is fake.

- Maybe you DON'T have a fake thermostat. You have now confirmed that it is REAL. Watch out for this: your husband gladly offers to turn up the thermostat, walks over to it, turns his back and 'pretends' to do the deed. He goes through the motions, taking care not to actually touch the device. This is fairly common.

- when all else fails, start wearing giant sweaters, socks, mittens and a big hoser hat to bed.

If that doesn't work, at least you'll be warm!

Purina Walk for Dog Guides!

The Purina Walk for Dog Guides takes place this Sunday Oct 19th in Cumberland! This event will raise much-needed funds for 'Canine Vision', 'Hearing Ear Dogs of Canada', 'Special Skills', and 'Seizure Response Dogs'. I spent some time chatting with Orleans' resident David Miles, who suffers from epileptic seizures. His seizure response dog, Jersey (gorgeous black lab) has turned David's life around and allowed him to live without fear. It cost approximately $25,000 to train Jersey and other special dogs like him, and the need is great. Please consider participating in the Purina Walk for Dog Guides this Sunday. For details, www.purinawalkfordogguides.com

Time to Put Out the Horn 'O Plenty!

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Time to break out the 'horn o' plenty', pictured above! If you're like me, and you've spent quite a bit of time wondering the origin behind the 'horn o' plenty', here it is.... courtesy of surfing the internet! The term 'horn of plenty' is an English translation of the Latin word 'cornucopia', from 'cornus' which is 'horn', and 'copia', which means 'much' or 'plenty' (as in 'copious'). The cornucopia dates back to 5th century BC, and it was usually depicted as a goat's horn filled to overflowing with fruits and grain or whatever the owner wished. It is a time-honoured symbol of abundance, long associated with Thanksgiving. I'm not sure how interesting this tid-bit of knowledge is, but there you go!
p.s. 'horn 'o plenty' is not to be confused with 'Horno Plenty', the adult film star. He appeared on my internet search too, but I'm pretty sure he has nothing to do with Thanksgiving.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, many people are of course headed out on the highway to visit friends and family this long weekend. Here's an idea: why not cook Thanksgiving dinner....while you drive? Its called 'carbeque'! Just wrap some food in foil, place it on the hottest spot of your engine, secure it with wire and head out on the highway! All the tips e at http://www.wikihow.com/Cook-Food-on-Your-Car%27s-Engine.

Imagine arriving at Auntie May's house for Thanksgiving, WITH a piping hot pork tenderloin dish, or some nice carbeque baked chicken, fresh off the car engine. The web page information does include one very important warning: before retrieving your foil-wrapped dinner , be sure the engine has been turned off. Bon appetit!

We are headed into the 'social season'. As the weather gets colder we are more likely to get together for dinner parties, game nights, cocktail parties. Do you consider yourself a good conversationalist? Are you good at 'small talk'? Or does the thought of 'kibbitzing' or 'mingling' at a party make you break out in a cold sweat? I'm a horrible mingler. Not great at small talk either. So, I was happy to find this:

http://www.wikihow.com/Have-a-Great-Conversation

It's a step by step tutorial on how to talk to people in a social setting. Includes a 1 minute video demonstration too. But there's something wrong with the end of the video, it just sort of trails off. I think the camera person became bored. Probably thinks of himself as Mr Personality.

And finally, do you have trouble remembering people's names? You've just been introduced to someone, and within seconds you have completely erased any memory of their name? Here's a link to some valuable tips that will make you help remember people's names. Just in time for the family gathering this weekend!

http://www.wikihow.com/Remember-Peoples%27-Names