Guy Lavoie at home in snowy Quebec City. I’ve been his guest for the past 2 nights.
Carnival begins here Feb 1st.
Check out the weird winter sky we had Monday in Montreal.
Category: gymnastics
passed my Judging exam
Coming out of “retirement” after 6 years, it was a bit of a shock to have to STUDY again for the quadrennial exam.
Every 4 years (Olympic cycle) all the Gymnastics judges in the world need re-certify.
I crammed perhaps 50 hours of study over 8-9 days. Managed to pass the exam in Montreal.
I’m again a “National” judge, eligible to judge National Championships.
healthcare – USA v CAN
BRUCE BARTLETT:
A 2003 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that Canada’s single-payer health system had less than a third of the per-capita administrative cost of the United States system, with its many private insurance companies and overlapping government programs – $307 per year in Canada versus $1,059 in the United States. And although American conservatives are fond of pointing to cases where Canadians come to the United States for treatment, a 2009 Harris poll found that 82 percent of Canadians favor their health system over the American one.
Americans believe that their health system is the best in the world, but in fact it is not. …
Bruce Bartlett held senior policy roles in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and served on the staffs of Representatives Jack Kemp and Ron Paul.
That said, a Canadian friend is booking a trip to the Mayo Clinic in the States trying to diagnose a condition that the Canadian doctors have been unable to nail down. Cost … perhaps $5000.
related – Wikipedia – Comparison of the health care systems in Canada and the United States
… Life expectancy is longer in Canada, and its infant mortality rate is lower …
Adidas MCC TechFF Pant
Surprisingly even to myself, I’m getting back into Gymnastics Judging starting 2013. That means putting on the monkey suit again.
Slacks, dress shoes, jacket, shirt and tie.
The full corporate Monty.
At an Adidas Outlet Mall location I happened to find these ClimaLite pseudo dress slacks. Nice.
They are made primarily for Golfing. Light weight. Wrinkle resistant. Quick drying.
32in x 32in — same size as in High School. … That’s hard to believe. 🙂
Dar Al Hajar (Rock Palace)
Perhaps the most photographed structure in all of Yemen.
My pics …
Our van load of gymnasts and coaches made the trip on Friday, Dec. 21st.
OK … more than a van load. 🙂
arrived in the Kingdom
… the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: المملكة العربية السعودية al-Mamlakah al-‘Arabiyyah as-Su‘ūdiyyah Arabic pronunciation, is the largest Arab state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab world (after Algeria). …
I’m here as a volunteer leading a week long Gymnastics clinic.
last day Gymnastics Senegal
We finish our week long Gymnastics Coaching course today. I’ll have one day as a “tourist” and will then be flying back to North America.
It’s been wonderful.
Gymnastics Clinic in Senegal
Coaches and gymnasts working hard at a 7 day course in the wonderful nation of Senegal.
en route to Dakar, Senegal
Today I fly to Dakar in West Africa.
I’ll be volunteer Expert at a week long gymnastics clinic in the westernmost city on the African mainland. The International Gymnastics Federation is sending me and I plan to do them proud.
Senegal is a very stable nation, Dakar a popular tourist destination for Europeans. But I’ll be returning directly to North America after the clinic.
The Canadian Prime Minister was there recently. Coincidentally.
why Canadians flee winter?
I’m not sure. 🙂
Farewell Regina. En route to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
Rick McCharles 