Ah, Mondays.

I find it odd that there is apparently no regulation about providing fire extinguishers here, but that you aren't allowed to have a light switch in a bathroom. Just a piece of string hanging from your ceiling. Reminds me of how, back in my hockey days, the American leagues required a mouth guard (INSIDE a face mask!) but no neck protector. Them's sharp blades, folks! However, my life is full of contradiction lately. Like the fact that the meadows are carpeted with flowers while it still drops below zero at night. If only I had brought a winter jacket. To wear INDOORS. I know, I know, it's minus 200 degrees in Canada, but people insulate their houses there!

This past weekend in Oxford there was a mammoth protest between pro-use-of-animals-in-research activists and anti-use-of-animals-in-research activists. Forgive the clumsy wording ... I'm trying to be diplomatic. I have yet to read unbiased coverage of the event, perhaps because animal rights issues bring out the vitriol in people here. We stayed out of the fray, being conflicted on the issue. (For testing cosmetic products? Nay! For cancer research? Much harder to call, especially when you've lost people to the disease.)

And these are for the few people with whom I've recently argued that the glass ceiling still exists, and that we still need feminism because past gains can be clawed back ...

"In 2006, 30 years after the Equal Pay Act - which followed hot on the heels of the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act - there is still a 17.1 per cent pay gap between men and women. The private sector is the worst offender. In 2004, the pay gap between the sexes in full-time work was 10.1 per cent in the public sector compared with 23.1 per cent in the private sector. According to the Fawcett Society, which campaigns for greater opportunities for women, it will take more than 80 years to close the full-time pay gap." Articles here and here.

And then, this ...
"Clearly, this is a devastating day for the women of South Dakota"

Finally, here's a photo to bring a little springtime into the lives of my snow-bound friends and relations: