Full ski week may be too steep for just two of you

Suffice it to say there’s a lot going on in U.S.-Cuba relations today.

There is the loose talk by U.S. President Donald Trump that he will have “the honour of taking Cuba” and his recent order to deploy the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its strike group just off the coast of Cuba. Then there’s the tightening of the U.S. economic blockade against the island, the imposition of a crippling oil embargo, and a U.S. federal indictment against former Cuban president Raúl Castro on four murder counts.

Recently, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio — the main driver of U.S. Cuba policy — has poured cold water on any possible diplomatic solution between the two countries. And he has made it abundantly clear that the Cubans will not “be able to wait us out or buy time.” Does that leave U.S. military intervention as the only viable alternative?

As U.S.-Cuba talks have essentially stalled, the Pentagon has provided the White House with a list of options for attacking Cuba and the CIA has initiated a new task force that specifically targets Cuba.

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: My former girlfriend moved to Toronto at the start of April and then in mid-August married some idiot she met there — all in just under four months! It was a ridiculous move if you ask me.

I wished them luck in a sarcastic congratulatory email. She caught the dig, and wrote back, “What’s your problem? You never asked me to marry you when I was in Manitoba!”

I guess she has a point, but I’m not one to rush into things. That’s how my parents did it as well— they probably got married way too soon and didn’t get along very well afterwards, which ended up in divorce.

Also, a wedding is a big expense these days — too much for me, unless I was to take out a bank loan. The sad thing is I still love this woman and really miss her. I’d marry her if she ever came free again, no matter what it cost!

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I met a bad boy at a ski resort last winter who was on holiday with his friends. We’ve stayed in touch by messaging and phone ever since.

This week he called late at night to ask me if I would like to book a week with him at the same resort after Christmas — on his tab. I love skiing and I’m tempted to go.

Plus, the resort he wants us to visit is in Canada, so I’ll feel safe flying in and out, but what if we don’t like each other as much this season and we’re stuck there a week?

I was with girlfriends last year when I first hooked up with him, so I had them to fall back on when he was busy.

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: My mother is coming to visit and our little kids want her to sleep in their bedroom, where there’s a double bed and a single. My husband thinks this idea is ridiculous and says grandma needs her sleep, but I disagree.

I remember sleeping with my grandma — who’s now with the angels — and she told us grandkids (two girls) some wonderful bedtime stories she made up herself. She even put our names into them, making us the stars of the stories.

The best part was getting into our pyjamas with our grandmother, who showed us the magic cord from the little thing that ran from her near-deaf ear down to the secret battery pocket hidden in the bra of her slip. It made her hear us better in the daytime. We thought, “Wow!”

Not surprisingly my own mother has inherited her mom’s fantastic storytelling talent and who knows what else she has to teach the kids when she’s alone with them? I want them to be close.

You can’t hold a government accountable for what it won’t let you see.

That is the uncomfortable lesson from the dispute between Progressive Conservative health critic Kathleen Cook and Prairie Mountain Health over her recent attempt to visit the Dauphin Regional Health Centre.

Cook wanted to see the temporary emergency department that reopened Sept. 7 after flooding forced the hospital to close in July. She wanted to speak with officials about the reopening, the challenges they were facing and the work still required.

Prairie Mountain Health said no.