Over the weekend, the more I thought about Cen Yam's judgement, the more upset I got. At one point, while I was driving to pick Mark up from work on Saturday afternoon, I started crying. Earlier in the day, I had cleaned out our old Toyota Tercel (it has to go to car heaven - it won't pass an emissions test this year and it is 13 years old so...) and found an old mixed tape that I had made in '99. I threw it into the player in the Buick and, when I got in to go get Mark, turned it on. It was a good tape of mostly girl singers. I was driving north on Montreal Street, singing along with Kirsty to Soho Square when I just burst into tears...it was at that line "in case I die before my birthday..." I almost pulled the car over because I was unsure that I could navigate through the busy traffic. Fortunately, through my tears, I saw the left turn I had to make and was off the busy road and on a quiet side street. I felt absolutely gutted. I remember feeling that exact same way the day that I learned of her death.

Would you not think that an actual human life was more valueable than $165 Canadian? The Mexican authorities apparently believe that this is about the going rate. At least this is what they have decided that this what Kirsty MacColl's life was worth. I saw this on the Justice for Kirsty site today and it completely sickened me:

The court found boathand Cen Yam guilty of negligent homicide. Upon payment of the fine of $1,029 pesos (approx. £71), Cen Yam will pay his way out of jail. However, his failure to pay (or deposit with the Court) the criminal award for the benefit of the MacColl family will not operate to restrain his liberty. Local counsel anticipates that Cen Yam will be depositing the full award and paying the fine to commute the sentence. The time for appeal expires on March 31st. The court clerk believes that Cen Yam will not appeal.

Kirsty's life has been valued at £71. The campaign continues.

The Friday Five:

1. What was your most memorable moment from the last week?

Standing at my kitchen sink on Saturday morning, doing dishes, and looking out the window to see an Ambulance in the driveway across the street. Our neighbour had just had a stroke and was in the process of being rushed to the hospital.

2. What one person touched your life this week?

My neighbour's daughter. I don't really know her but my boss is really good friends with her so I felt like I knew her already. When we were coming out of the hospital from visiting Mark's dad on Saturday afternoon, we ran into Cheryl and her husband. I recognized her from some photos I'd seen so I spoke to them, asked about her dad, introduced ourselves, explained who we were, etc. I could see in her eyes how lost and upset she was. It touched me so much that I cried almost all the way home. I could totally relate to the fear that she was feeling. We'd gone through it on Tuesday while we sat, and waited, and waited, in emerg to hear about Mark's dad.

3. How have you helped someone this week?

I wouldn't have thought so at the time but I was told by my boss that Cheryl appreciated how we reached out to her on Saturday. I guess to just see a friendly face and hear a kind word in a time of trauma was some kind of comfort for her at the time. I felt like a bit of a knob. I know that I was awkward and felt weird (like a gossipy neighbour or something) at the time but Mark assured me that it was the right thing to do and I guess, in retrospect, it was.

4. What one thing do you need to get done by this time next week?

I have a huge project on my desk right now that needs to get a big dent knocked into it by this time next week. Things have been a bit mad around here since the move but I'm settling back into my routine at work again.

5. What one thing will you do over the next seven days to make your world a better place?

I will clean my house and do some laundry. This will help to create some calm in our lives if things are cleaner and tidier and generally less stinky than they are right now.

So last week, better late than never suppose, I finally got around to buying a copy of Remy Shand's CD. I must say that this past week, while I've been so stressed out, listening to it has helped me. It's mellowed me out a bit and for that, I am thankful.

By the way, if anyone really cares, I am having quite a Strawberry day. I had strawberries with my Special K this morning and I'm having a strawberry yogurt right now. The springy weather has me jonesing for strawberry season.

I'm sure how many people actually, intentionally visit this page on a regular basis, I'm sure that the vast majority of folks just stumble upon it via a webring or odd Google search. To those who do make their way here regularly, I would like to apologize for the lack of posts over the past couple of days. I think that my life just caught up with me and the thought of sitting down and writing in this blog was the furthest thing from my mind.

Joe is still in the hospital but they have moved him into the step-down unit yesterday so he was able to get a television set last night. I am sure he was having major withdrawal symptoms from not having watched the weather channel in almost a week! Our neighbour is now in the unit that Joe was in. He had a major stroke but is doing well, all things considered.

Work's been really busy. We've been moving offices for a few days now. Today I'm pretty settled into my new space. There are still a number of things that haven't been unpacked but we're awaiting the installation of our storage units, hopefully that will happen soon-ish.

Other than that, not much is new. The weather is lovely, the birds are living it up in our back yard and Joe's feeling better. It's all good really.