(no subject)

End of the week, beginning of a long weekend. Last year our province took up the mantle laid down by others across the country and gave us a holiday monday in February. Ever since the American Martin Luther King day came into being, the idea was gaining ground here. It breaks up that long stretch to Easter nicely. Nova Scotia brought it in last yeaer for the first time and call it Nova Scotia Heritage Day. Other provinces just called in an unimaginative "Family Day". Each year, our day will be dedicated to a famous Nova Scotian. This year is Joseph Howe, who was a famed politician and journalist. You wouldn't think a politician would be that well loved but he was. He started a well respected and popular newspaper in the earlyish 1800s and because of a case of libel against him that he won, after a six hour speech in court, he set precedents for free press. He did stand against Confederation but after the fact, as a politician, helped bring the province of Manitoba into the realms of the country.

Anyway, enough of that. He did lots of good things for our province and his statue stands outside the provincial legislature building.

Next year, the day will be named for someone else.

Mom's birthday is next week so i hope we'll set something up for family to celebrate.

One last thing to do for the trip is to book the rental car. I'm going to try a UK based family-owned company that is a broker for Europcar. Prices are ridiculously good with the same coverage everyone else gives you. I emailed them to find out and the reply was very informative. Their prices were even cheaper than you can book on the Europcar site, they said, because Europcar gives them good deals to pass on to their customers.