It appears my plans to hibernate until April are not practical.
There’s the dog living here and another one needs walking and the family wants to go to the Auto show and a kid has a practice tonight and a game in Niagara Falls tomorrow and, and, and…
Ok fine, I’ll get up and make coffee.
This morning I was irritated by an alert that came in on my phone. Here’s what happens in Canada:
Alerts are sent to people’s phone numbers by government agencies in case of some natural disaster, a terrorist attack or some other imminent event that might threatened the safety of the public.
Then there’s the Amber Alerts.
If a child is missing or known to be kidnapped, an Amber Alert is activated in all the media outlets. You see them on highway signs, on the news, on social media.
To date, the Amber Alerts have not come up on my phone other than through my apps which I have to click first to see.
My phone was on my night table but turned off while I slept. When I got up at 6am, I turned it on as I made my way to the kitchen. It immediately made the most irritating, loud sound. An unfamiliar sound. It startled me.
The extended neighborhood probably heard it.
I check what the hell is going on and there’s an Amber Alert about a 11yo missing child and her name, plus descriptions of the car and license plate in which she was taken.
It says to call 911 if I see that car.
Ok, fine. I’m at home, and don’t expect to be in a car until 6PM tonight but that’s good, I’ll keep an eye out like I always do in these situations.
By some miracle, the rest of the house did not wake up from the sound my phone emitted. Or, if they did, they ignored it.
After I made coffee I went on twitter. First thing I see are some cryptic messages about how sorry people feel about the girl.
Naturally my assumption is it has something to do with the Amber Alert.
My heart sinks and I do a bit more digging.
It appears it was a parental abduction and the girl has been found dead.
7 hours ago. So, last night.
This is such a tragedy and part of me doesn’t even want to know more…who can do that to a child? Their own child? Apparently it was the father who took her.
The alert is still on my phone indicating my help is still needed. There is no follow-up message the alert is no longer required. If I didn’t have social media, or didn’t turn on the tv immediately, I would still think there was a little girl missing somewhere.
Sigh.
So this is the age of digital technology. We’re tethered to it day and night without escape or break from it. Even if we do take breaks, it’s everywhere around us. Life as we know it today seems unable to function for extended periods without wifi, satellites or data clouds.
And despite all of this, I love the technology. I am guilty of being tethered to it almost constantly.
It’s Friday! It’s also a PA day (no school) and Monday is a Family Day (no school) so we’re on the cusp of a long weekend. I wonder if we’re expecting more snow and ice. 🙄
Happy Friday! What’s going on in your corner if the world?
Writer of Words, etc 
Hibernate sounds good … but so in need of some sun . That poor girl …so sad.
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In our part of England the half term break is in two weeks. This weekend is trying to help son get ready for 4 tests next week. But it’s going to be sunny.
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Yeah. This is exactly what I was thinking this morning. Still laying in bed I went through and shut off almost all the alerts for my phone apps (trying to calm the addiction)…while I procrastinated taking the dog out. It’s 11 degrees in the Chicago suburbs this morning. As a parent, I can’t even comprehend… 😦
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I like to hibernate. And I’m grateful to have a cat who doesn’t need to be walked. Just open the blinds so she can look out every morning.
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Yes…it’s that time of year. 🙂
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I must have a boring life with no kids in the house and two cats. let’s see … I have to clear the “argh” that fell yesterday off of the drive and make a market run. the flowers that I bought last week are crapping out so it’s time to replace them. dazzling lifestyle, huh??? 🙂
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If you want to clean something or do 6 loads of laundry, drop on by. ;P
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Hmmmm. I suspect you wanna see a retired GI do a GI party at your place.
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Happy Friday!
I am mainly going to be cutting down a tree this weekend, which will involve standing on 6+ metres of scaffolding clutching a chainsaw and hoping I can forget about the mild vertigo. Why I keep agreeing to do these things is beyond me.
Enjoy your long weekend and stay safe 😉
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Yikes! Let’s not lose any limbs today… 🙂
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I have a friend helping me. He’s a builder by trade and is providing the scaffolding.
As long as I do exactly as I’m told I should be okay 😉
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Re the Amber alert – I also received it here in Ottawa, but I also received a cancelation of it just after midnight (though the cancelation did not scream like the alert did). May be you did not get the cancelation because your phone was not on? Best of luck with your driving and dog walking.
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I don’t know why a cancellation didn’t come through. The phone was off when the alert came in as well, which was last night. And it was my first experience receiving an Amber Alert on my phone even though there’s been several in the past months…so I don’t know.
Thank you. The dog walking was wet, it’s raining in Toronto now. 🙃
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Happy Friday… We’ve got half term here in UK next week which means a whole week with our lovely children on yet another school holiday! … At least the sun is shining … x
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Yay? Lol. 😉
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I vote for hibernate….but seriously….the amber alerts….my daughter says it’s awesome when they’re ay school and one goes off….
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Blah, right?
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Yup
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