Ups and Downs

Today was more a day of ups and downs, as some days are.

Ups:

-Went for a lovely long walk around Red Lake this evening, in the dusk

-The soup for supper was delicious

-Got to sleep in a bit

Downs:

-Watched a bear cub run frantically onto the highway in the path of a Purolator truck. Said truck swerved to miss him, which scared the cub who dashed closer to the truck and smacked his muzzle on the back bumper. The cub dropped to the ground and lay still for 30 very, very long seconds, then got up and fell over a few times. He barely got off the road, dipped his nose in the water in the ditch, and then seemed better and gamboled off into the woods.

-The mine managers smoke inside the building, making office work difficult.

-Other seasonal workers (likely drillers) have returned and are smoking in their rooms in the hotel, which comes into our rooms via the gaps around our doors.

-It's supposed to rain for two days, which makes it difficult for us to do the boating work were supposed to do.

I'm very, very upset that people are allowed to smoke inside the hotel. It's harmful to everyone else, causes problems for people with asthma, allergies, and migraines, and makes everything stink. I have no understanding for why it's legal or acceptable for someone to (essentially) poison me and others around them. If you chose to smoke that is YOUR decision (and presumably your right), but I should also have the right to a smoke-free living situation. I feel that the rights of a non-smoker to breathe freely trumps the rights of a smoker to smoke - because the non-smoker is not causing serious health problems to anyone else by not accepting smoking in their area.