The Lynda Parcells Blog - 660News Calgary

Today’s blog is about a major pet peeve of mine. I drive in from Okotoks every work day. The thing that’s bugging me is traffic lights. I climb into my truck every morning at 3:15 a.m. I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear a lot of people aren’t milling about at that horrible hour, but you might be surprised to hear every traffic light seems to be on red. I’m not kidding. I drive through five intersections in Okotoks and 90 percent of the time, the lights are on red. Why?! Like I said, except for the RCMP, I’m pretty much the only vehicle on the road at that time of day, but still, I sit and wait (most of the time impatiently) for the light to turn green. It’s clear sailing once I hit Deerfoot, but it’s back to the lights once I hit 32nd Avenue N.E. One light in particular that really gets me going is at 19th Street N.E. Not only is the light ALWAYS on red, the traffic (and there is none) coming from the other direction gets an advanced green!!! I’ve started taking a side street just so I can bypass the darn thing. Isn’t there some sort of way to program the lights for different times of day? Wouldn’t flashing yellow lights suffice at that time of day? I really hope something can be done, otherwise I might be getting a ticket from the police for running one of those reds when I just can’t take it anymore!

This is my public apology to Ryan and Kori Ballantine. Ryan is our overnight anchor, but was switching shifts and was working with the morning crew Friday morning. At about 4 a.m. Thursday, Ryan asked if he could catch a ride with me the next day. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, except for one thing. Between 4 a.m. Thursday and 3 a.m. Friday, I totally forgot!

The fact I was supposed to pick Ryan up was obviously not anywhere near to being locked in my brain. I drove right past the area where he lives, and it still didn’t click in. Of all days, I didn’t have my cellphone on, so Ryan’s calls went unanswered. When I arrived at work, our morning editor asked me if I’d forgotten anything, and it still didn’t click in!

I think the worst part about all of this is that the Ballantine family have only one vehicle and Ryan was forced to wake up his wife Kori at 3:30 in the morning to tell her I’d left him behind. Ryan seems to be okay with being forgotten, but I’m not so sure about his wife, so once again, sorry Mr. and Mrs. Ballantine. I promise it will never happen again.

A lot of people are getting hurt trying to get fit with the new Wii Nintendo Fit program. Apparently people have been doing a ton of damage, sending their knicknacks, TV sets, even their pets flying through the air as they try to mimic the work-out routines. This story literally made me laugh out loud, because I can totally relate. I haven’t sent my dog flying through the air, but I have injured myself, and not even doing the Fit program. I hate to admit this, but I hurt myself using the Wii bowling game. I guess I got a little too involved, and yes, I pulled my hamstring. Apparently, I need the Fit program. I’m not the only one who’s been injured playing with the Wii. Our Morning Show Editor Radana Suk came into work one day barely able to move her head because she got a little overzealous with her victory dance. Can you say “poor winner?” And never in a million years did I think I’d actually witness furniture being broken, but it happened. My girlfriends and I were in Fernie for New Years and we decided to pull out the Wii. We got into a really heated game of bowling and all of a sudden it happened - the battery cover let loose, batteries went flying and we ended up with a broken vase and dents in the ceiling! Everyone was hitting the deck and running for cover, trying to avoid being hit by a stray battery. Despite the injuries, I’m not ready to put down my Wii remote. I do think from now on though, I’ll be limbering up before I get down to business. Oh, and I can’t forget to strap down the dogs!

I’m feeling a little bit like “Mrs. Ingalls” this week. You know, from Little House On The Prairie? I live in Okotoks, a place my husband and I love. This week though, we’re a little frustrated. We’ve been told to not drink the water straight from the tap. Apparently the recent rainfall has increased the “turbidity” in the Sheep River, which is our drinking supply. In other words, the river looks more like chocolate milk than water.

Water, I’ve discovered, is one of those things you totally take for granted living in Canada. Normally, you turn on the tap without giving it a second thought and it’s just there. Always ready to go whenever you need it. This week though, I’ve been boiling water to do the dishes that need to be done by hand. I’ve also found myself running back upstairs at 2:30 in the morning to get a glass of bottled water so that I can brush my teeth!

One of the things we didn’t think about when the boil water advisory was issued was our dogs. The poor things were still getting tap water, and you can just imagine what happened there…..can you say “running to the door with a panic stricken face?” Needless to say, they’re now on the bottled water program as well.

I am wondering why this boil water advisory happened in the first place? From what I can tell, we pay a lot of taxes to live in Okotoks. As a matter of fact, we just forked over $2800.00 for our property taxes. That’s more than my parents pay and they live in Calgary, in the inner city! As a matter of fact, according to Stats Canada, Okotoks had the highest population growth between 2001 and 2006, across the entire country. The population of Okotoks has grown by 46% since 2001. I think maybe it’s time for Town Council to start looking at upgrading the water treatment system. We certainly don’t want another Walkerton.