This is what I see now.....

You know what they say: If you can't do anything about em, might as well laugh at em.....

There was a sign at the station near by my house that said, 'We take Visa, Mastercard, Discover Card, and Canadian Tire.' After I filled up they took my Visa, Master Card, my Discover Card, and my Canadian Tire.

Gas is so expensive SUV now stands for "Sport Utility Victim".

As you know, the government takes 40 percent of what you make. The other 60 percent, of course, taken by the gas stations.

Every now and then we find a news article that screams to be told to the world, well, the following is from CBC, NFLD:

A western Newfoundland fisherman was convicted last month of possessing illegally caught lobster after he was caught up in an electronic sting operation.

The conviction is the result of a May 2007 investigation started after federal fisheries officers from Rocky Harbour heard complaints that illegal lobster pots were being set in the Trout River area.

The officers placed tags with electronic tracking systems on six lobsters and placed the lobsters in illegal pots discovered while officers were patrolling the coast, according to a news release.

A portable detector was used to uncover the six lobsters during dockside inspections after fishermen returned to port the next day.

Trout River resident Curtis Crocker, who was charged with possessing lobsters caught in contravention of the Fisheries Act, was sentenced in provincial court on April 24.

Crocker said the incident is a warning to anyone even thinking of illegal fishing.

"It's a smart way to catch anybody, I'll guarantee you. It's a good way," Crocker told CBC News.

"You won't be setting no extra gear — not around here, not if you know the wardens do that now."

Fisheries officer Boyd Reid, who arrested Crocker, said conservation was the aim of the crackdown.

"Having these traps, or traps like this, in the water could potentially mean there are more traps than are allowed to be used and taking more lobsters out of the fishery than it can sustain," he said.

Crocker was prohibited from fishing lobster during the 2008 season and ordered to install a vessel monitoring system on his vessel for two years.

Rocky Bridge

News out of the Emerald Isle this week - the famous rocky road to Dublin will soon become a double lane paved highway - route 302 - the Irish Responder reports.

Residents who live along the rocky road to Dublin have been complaining to their politicians for centuries. Now, Fabian O' Brian, a young gaffer who was raised near the infamous rocky road, has managed to accomplish something that so many politicalians that came before him have been able to - he has acquired both the approvals and funding needed to get the rocky road paved.

Despite the historical background surrounding the road, no one is upset that the rocky road will soon become a paved highway.

"Hacken me boy", one Irish resident told UpAlong, "We's been beatten up our's car's fer yuears. Finally we's kin Xpect sum pleasant drivin. We's be overjoyed. Acch."

Paving of the old Rocky Road is expected to begin sometime this coming summer.

Newfie Clock

Newfoundland Standard time is 30 min. ahead of Atlantic Standard Time (in effect in the Maritime provinces) and 1 ½ hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time (in effect in New York and Toronto).It's the only place in Canada with a split in the set variations of one hour between time zones.

The Labrador portion of the province operates on Atlantic Standard Time (½ hour behind Newfoundland), except for the area on the coast from L'Anse au Clair to Cartwright which operates on Newfoundland Standard Time..... just to really complicate things.
Many people wonder why the Province of Newfoundland has a time zone that varies by the half hour rather than the standard one hour.

Newfoundland lies squarely in the eastern half of its time zone, exactly three and a half hours from Greenwich. While the system of Standard Time employs 24 meridians, and each are theoretically the centres of 24 Standard Time zones, some adjustments have been made to the time zones for the convenience of inhabitants that lie within the zones. For Newfoundland, it was convenient to have the least amount of time difference between the island and the mainland.

Daylight Saving Time is observed from April to October after which the province returns to Newfoundland Standard Time.

Interesting Facts:

• The Newfoundland government attempted to bring the province into conformity with the other Atlantic provinces in 1963, but withdrew in the face of stiff public opposition.
• Other countries that operate on the half hour time difference are: Suriname, Iran, India, Sri Lanka, and Central Australia.
  

Find out more interesting things that make Newfoundland and Labrador unique in our About NL Section.