Thursday, January 30, 2014

We’re having a heat wave!

Ok,  maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration,  but at least we’re coming out of our deep freeze that we’ve had for the last several days.  Weeks?

If I can actually step outside in my shirt sleeves to fetch the mail and not immediately congeal,  then that’s a good thing.

Turns out we sent our cold temperatures to Atlanta.  Ha!  Poor bastards.  Didn’t know what hit ‘em.

I know,  it’s not polite to mock them,  and they’ll be playing the “blame game” for a little while,  (“But the Weather Network didn’t tell us!”)  However, you’ll notice from all the news reports that it was mostly cars that were affected by the adverse conditions?   Oh,  and no sooner did I have that thought and did a little search,  but lo and behold,  I found just the thing on CNN.  I *mostly* agree with it.

Well,  who’d a figured?

Funny thing about streetcars and commuter trains,  as long as there are no cars sitting on the tracks, they seem to be able to manage most adverse conditions.  Even a bit of ice.  Wow,  what a concept!

But that’s OK,  you just go right ahead there and don’t worry about such trivialities as being able to get around in adverse conditions.   Fuel is still cheap,  and there’s plenty of it!    (insert *sarcastic font*)  Don’t want to pay those taxes!   Sooner freeze to death in my car.  Yup.

 

But that’s not what we’re all about here.   We’re all about talking about the mundane.   The daily sh*t.   The stuff that puts you to sleep.

Like pulling my wire.   No no,  wait.   I’m talking about that extra circuit in the garage,  remember?

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I finally got that sorted out on Monday,  and now it’s tied in to the subfeed.   Man oh man,  that was a drag.  Just getting the fish tape to leap over the little bumps in the sheetrock was somewhat frustrating,  which was why I had to drill a few little “inspection” holes in the ceiling.  Plus of course,  even though the garage is heated,  there is still insulation in there to contend with.  Such fun!

I just patched up all the holes this morning.

Thus:

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Because I was using a hole saw,  I simply kept the little round pieces that I had extracted.   And since it’s “scratch coat” plaster,  I needn’t be too fussy.

Wasn’t that fun?

 

Speaking of which,  a bunch of us had purchased tickets to go and see Blackie and the Rodeo Kings,  and last night was the night they were in town here.   And yes it was still cold out,  but it was only a block from the restaurant where we met for a meal to the venue.   In spite of any preference to be “fashionable” when attending these sorts of events,  I wore my tuque.   We weren’t going to the Vienna State Opera,  let’s just say?

I won’t go on too much about the concert,  except to say these guys have got their sh*t together.   Whenever you have musicians who are all in the 50s,  and have been playing since they could stand upright,  you pretty well know that you’ll be entertained.   If you go to their site and start reading some of the bios,  I think you’ll put it together.

 

I don’t think I have a whole lot more to say.  I’ll leave you with this picture from Monday morning.   Thankfully it doesn’t look like that now.  

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Saturday it’s supposed to warm up to…..freezing!  

OK fine,  that sounded better in my head.

 

Keep those sticks on the ice,  or at least where I can see them.

See,  that didn’t hurt a bit.

 

Thanks for stopping in.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Uh-oh, the Mothership is down!

 

Hm,  haven’t seen this one in a while.  Guess it’s trying to tell me something.  Step away from the computer!

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Of course,  by the time I’ve actually written this,  they’ve already fixed the problem. 

Funny though how there’s a collective “What?  Oh no!”  that reverberates throughout the blogging world.   Seriously,  just close the browser and walk away.

 

At one point last night I was fully expecting the power to go out,  or at least for the cable to go down.  Especially since I saw a Cogeco (cable) truck lurking in the neighbourhood last night.  Always makes me a bit suspicious.

See,  we got a little bit of a blow in these parts.  I had briefly considered taking a walk down to the store at some point during the day yesterday,  but thought better of it.  I don’t own a balaclava,  and I had visions of having frost bitten cheeks in fairly short order.  And I don’t mean the ones I sit on either.

Probably just as painful.

 

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I know you don’t necessarily want to see pictures of snow but hey,  I endure lots of pictures of cacti,  so there you go.

It did finally take a break by about mid-day,  even though my efforts from this morning looked like this by that point.

 

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This would normally make me kinda grumpy,  but Travelling Companion said something this morning that sort of made my day.

It was something like, “I think for the first time ever,  this house is comfortable.”

 

Well now,  that only took me a little over twenty years.  Some (all) new windows,  a bunch of insulation,  some expanding foam and caulking was all it took.   Well,  and a few bucks. 

I’m *really* enjoying the new windows.   Especially up here in this corner room,  where reportedly my son-in-law would typically be wearing a tuque if he wanted to be in here on his computer and there was an east wind.   (This was when we were away in Europe,  btw)

It was nasty.  Didn’t matter where you set the thermostat either,  since the old windows leaked like the proverbial sieves.  Now I can stand there in the corner with the wind raging just outside and nary feel a thing.  And I’m not wearing a tuque either.  Not even….well,  never mind. 

Most of our stormy weather seems to blow in from the east,  so having the east side of the house sealed up sure helps.

Doesn’t take much to make a feller happy.  Not freezing yer wobbly bits off is a good start.

 

So, other than clearing off the driveway,  it’s a stay indoors and drink hot chocolate sort of day.  Well,  I’ve only had the one,  and that’s plenty.   The *idea* of having a hot chocolate seems to be more appealing to me than actually drinking it. 

I did jump in the car and nip off to the store for some essentials.  Travelling Companion and her sister usually shop on Saturday mornings, but they decided to give that program a pass.  The roads were a bit greasy,  but the Merc doesn’t seem to mind.  I didn’t mind either,  since the garage is heated,  and so is the store.   So I only had to endure the 20 or so meters between the car and the building.  No need to get all carried away.

 

 

Now,  speaking of making a feller happy,  I was having a little chat with one of my brothers yesterday way off there in Nova Scotia.   He’s been retired from the Air Force for a few years now,  so when it storms,  he has no need to go anywhere either.  

What he likes to do though,  is take his team of horses into the woods and snake out a couple trees that he’s cut down the previous afternoon.   He has a rather large woodlot,  and having a wood burning furnace basically means not having to pay too darned much to heat the house.  Feeding the horses counts I suppose.

I see I’ll have to post a link to the YouTube page,  since the MotherShip isn’t quite up to speed in the Video Embedding department.   Very annoying.   I’ve had this issue in the past,  and basically trying to embed a video will end up crashing Live Writer.   *grumble* 

Such earth shattering problems.

 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Friday, January 24, 2014

So I made a little discovery.

And not the, “Oh look,  I found twenty bucks in my pocket” kind either.

The other day when I was running my fancy schmancy (did I spell that right?) dust collector and thickness planer at the same time,  I discovered that they don’t like to play together for very long.  Something to do with amperage.  

Dang.

When both machines quit on me,  I simply plugged the dust collector into a house circuit at the garage door,  but that’s not really a solution.  Back in the day when the wiring was done in this house (the 50s)  there was no rule about separating a “light” circuit from receptacles.  And what that means is,  if you trip a breaker,  you may very well find yourself standing there in the dark.  Over the years I’ve tried to separate out as many of those as I could,  but there’s still a few of them lurking in the walls.  And that’s simply because I wasn’t willing to rip the whole house apart to resolve every last wiring issue. 

All power for “The Shop” runs through a sub feed that can be shut off and locked out.  I’m funny that way.

 

Note the disconnect and lock.

 

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Back when I was contemplating the whole shop arrangement,  I guess I had visions of someone coming in and cutting off all their appendages on the table saw.  Or something.  Either way,  once I flip that switch,  I *know* I haven’t left anything on.

 

There’s gobs of room for additional breakers in there,  but I see there’s also room on a breaker that’s already installed.   I think I like that option.

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That’ll do.

 

I brought the wire in from where it’s stored in the shed to let it warm up a bit,  otherwise I’d have a bit of a struggle on my hands.

Goes without saying (so I won’t say it) that it’s still a wee bit chilly out there,  and in spite of being able to see that we were having just an amazing sunrise down at the lake,  there was no flippin’ way I was going to hoof it down there for a photo op.   Sorry.

Just pretend.

Stick your fingers in your eyes and make starlight.  That’ll have to do.

 

I have a few more words in me,  but I think I had better get my butt out there and start hackin’ and hewin’.

 

Enjoy your weekend if I don’t check in.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

It just never stops.

You may recall that there were some “issues” with my old reliable laptop computing device from a few weeks back?  I mean, I wasn’t about to schlep the thing to Maui,  so not having it then wasn’t that much of a hardship.  I forced my way onto Travelling Companion’s Ipad (also referred to by me as “The Fruit”)  and was able to check emails and stuff.   So that was all I needed.

I’m now back in business,  so to speak,  but that’s only thanks to the patience of my son-in-law.   There were a couple things at play.  

First of all,  I had way too much “stuff” on here  Most of it useful.  Some of it not.   Secondly,  the OS that I’m currently using is doomed,  as XP will no longer be supported after April.  So fine.   I’m still looking for a new gizmo.

Meanwhile however,  when we picked up the latest instalment of Kaspersky, it absolutely refused to play nice with my computer.  It just basically went into a coma.   We’re reasonably sure that,  if I were running Windows 8,  there would have been no issues.   It’s only a guess, but I think a pretty good one.

I suppose I could put the question out to some “forum” or other,  but I have very little desire.

So we got around that little conundrum.

By “we”,  I don’t mean “me” at all,  but you probably know that.

Anyhoodle, as happens from time to time,  programs need to get updated,  and now I see that Adobe is trying to update to an external drive that I only hook up from time to time.   Hm.  

So fine,  I uninstalled that sucker.  (that was the answer I got from “on the line”.)  But when I went to reinstall it,  it *still* wants to connect with “G” drive.  Gah!

I will figure it out.   Eventually.   It’s not too often that I need one of those “pretty damned frustrating” files,  so it’s not a high priority.   Isn’t that what PDF stands for?   That would make sense at least.

 

 

Meanwhile,  I discovered that there was an annoying little extension on Chrome that was highlighting certain words and allowing ads to pop up.  Are you kidding me?  

Or more annoyingly,  “You’ve been selected for a survey.”

I can’t put in print what comes out of my mouth when I get that one.  

First I thought it was some “malware”,  (which it is,  really) but I couldn’t find the damned program.  And I know where to look,  too.   Hey, at least I’ve learned a couple things.

So,  back out we go “on the line” and I discover that there have been some issues with extensions that Google has had to punt out.  Really!

But this was from a while ago.

Even though this article doesn’t directly speak to the issue,  it gave me enough of a hint to allow me to find the little bugger.  So are they still having some issues?   Why am I the guinea pig?  At least now I know where to look.   Can’t fool me no more.

 

Meanwhile,  back here in the real world,  Travelling Companion tried on a pair of her (many pairs of) shoes yesterday morning and discovered there was a wee bit of a problem.   Seems that part of the heel had become delaminated.  Her slacks weren’t long enough to cover up the minor deficiency either,  so they went back into the closet.   Maybe it’s time to find a shoe repair place?

Well, lo and behold, we do still have them.

 

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Note that it doesn’t even say, “Joe’s Shoe Repair.”   Just “Joe”.  I didn’t notice that until just now.

Well,  it turns out the “Joe”,  and Mrs. “Joe” are Korean.

Say what? 

Maybe that explains the slight grammar issue?   Who knows?   The shoes will be ready next Wednesday.  Forty bucks for the repair along with new heels.    Considering they are "Easy Spirit", I suppose they were worth fixing.  Well,  I think hearing T.C. say,  “But I really like these shoes.” is probably reason enough.  Sucks when you have to give up a pair of comfy shoes.  Just one of those little things that become important as the years roll by.

 

I have nothing else to bore you with at the moment.

 

Sticks.  Ice.  You know.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Better than down on the farm.

Or,  “Where the hell is that scarf?”

*ahem*

 

I took a few “selfies”  when we were in Maui. 

By the way,  the word “selfie” is now accepted in the dictionary.  Go figure.

Anyway, this was at the Luau. 

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Did I show you this?  Mebbe.

 

Daughter Number Two and I.  We’re not exactly sweating,  but I was comfortable.

Then there was the one I showed you yesterday from the top of the volcano,  where it was “cold”.   “Cold” having a rather loose definition,  and probably only used in that context if you’re from Florida. 

They got real thin blood,  them Floridians.

 

Then we have today:

 

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I had this bright idea (briefly),  that I’d walk all the way over to the barber shop and get a little taken off the top.  Actually,  there’s not all that damned much on “the top”. It has more to do with trying not to look like Captain Kangaroo.  

Remember him?

 

I’m only talking about the hair growing on the sides there.  Bob Keeshan seems to have had a decent head of hair on up into his later years.  I definitely wouldn’t want to look much like him NOW though,  since he’s been dead for a few years.

But it was just a wee bit too cool.  I’m trying not to get carried away here. 

It.  Be.  Cold.

 Mustn’t talk about the weather.  There are folks who take exception to that.

It’s funny what the cold will do to yer brain.  I had a couple thoughts today.

The first one had to do with the two blokes who sat in front of us in the Airways Transit van on the way home that Tuesday night when we came back from Maui.   It was something like -19°C that evening,  but it was nice and cozy in the van,  which is probably why the two of them promptly fell asleep and began snoring like nobody’s business.  We’re talking a couple regular chain saws here.

*I* wasn’t going to be the one to kick the back of their seat to wake of them up either, (even though I was being prompted to “do something” from T.C. sitting next to me) since I felt rather bad for these two nitwits.  

Why “nitwits”?   Well,  they had travelled from UGANDA.   Yes,  f**king Uganda!   Where,  oh I don’t know,  it’s “Summer”  all the time???   Helluva sight warmer than here, I know that.  Why oh why would you come to Canada in the middle of January,  from Uganda?  

I mean,  we had a house to go back to and check on and stuff.  You know,  the vacation was over,  that kind of thing.

Boggles the mind.  Maybe they were on a mission?   From the “Ugandan Travel Board”?    Yikes.

 

Then the other thought I had,  had to do with that whole, “What’s for supper” routine.   I figured it would be a good night for pasta.

Turns out,  I’m making soup.

Funny thing about getting all bundled up to go outside.  Took me so long I forgot why I was shopping in the first place.

Well no,  it really has more to do with not bothering to check to see if I actually had any tomato sauce.  I had extra for the longest time.  So when I finally ran out, I guess maybe I hadn’t noticed.   D’oh!

Oh well. MaƱana.

 

So,  chicken soup it is.

 

While I was waiting for it to come up to a boil,  I kinda got side tracked with the dogs breakfast we have for a spice drawer,  and figured I’d maybe tidy up a bit.

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They *say* your spices should be kept away from the heat, which is partly why I put that little drawer down there under the cook top.  There’s that,  and I looked under there and realised there was a bunch of wasted space.  Can’t have that.

There were a few duplicates in the spice department.  And is there a difference between poultry seasoning and sage?   They sure look and smell the same,  but I didn’t just lump them in together.  That would be bad.  Especially if I were to fess up to it on Ze Blogue.

 

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That’s as good as it gets for now.  At least I didn’t find anything that was really,  really old.  Like the box of Sheriff's Mini Buds from 1972.    It was a package of Lime Jello that we found in the cupboard not long after we moved in,   in 1992.   Probably should have sent it to the Smithsonian.   We didn’t think we wanted to make up a pack of twenty year old Jello.   Is that shit still around?

Well,  it’s on the net,  so I guess it must exist.  That’s reasonable logic,  right?

 

Oh,  and why “Better than on the Farm”?    Because the other thought I had in my pea brain this morning was just how comfortable this house is compared to that old draughty farm house that I grew up in.  Well,  only the first ten years,  thankfully.  (So glad we got the hell outta there!)

Something about lathe and plaster,  and single pained windows.   And having to “bank up the house” in the fall.  I’m not kidding.

I don’t think it would have been that much worse in a tent.  Honestly.

Except of course,  having a wood furnace and wood stove in a tent would be a challenge, but just as effective.

On a particular night in February of 1967,  I was the coldest I think I’ve ever been in my life.  This was back in the Fahrenheit days,  and it was down around minus 15.     There was no place in the house to get warm except for standing directly on the furnace,  and the furnace grate was actually too damned hot to stand on.  That was where my old man spent the entire night,  since he did nothing but put cherry wood in the thing all night long.  Oh ya,  good times!

We be spoiled here,  that’s for sure.

I’ve heard stories of being in a farm house that was so cold (“How cold was it?”  you ask?)  that the pigeons in the rafters were keeling over after having frozen to death.  Oh, and falling on the bed of the sleeping occupants below.  Forgot that part.  True story.  Not making it up.  Ask my sister-in-law.

 

I’d say, “Hope it’s warmer where you are”,  but unless you’re somewhere up in Nunavut,  I think there’s probably a good chance it is. 

This too shall pass.

 

Keep those sticks on the ice.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Monday, January 20, 2014

No excuse, really.

Well, a few days have slipped by,  and it’s been all quiet on the blog front.  My apologies to Erich Maria Remarque.

Most of the time I just think “who cares?”,  which is also probably why I don’t have a twitter account,  nor do I put all that much on the Book of Face.  I won’t offer any opinions as to whether half that sh*t is relevant to life as we know it,  but I suppose it’s similar to the type of gossip that would have been traded over the back yard fence once upon a time.  Only, more annoying. 

I spent a few hours this weekend revisiting Travelling Companion’s sewing room,  since it wasn’t quite right.  I don’t even think this was something that came from her either.  We just realised that the sewing table that she’s been using for a few years now is a might too small is all.  So there was something that is referred to on the line as an “IKEA hack”.   Sound goofy,  I know.   But it’s when you take some IKEA junk that you have lying around,  and turn it into something slightly more useful.

Back in Wienerland,  we had this set of drawers and a black top that we were using as a writing/computer desk.  It’s been in the basement since we came home,  basically waiting to either be claimed or put to use.

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The top that goes with it is somewhat small,  so I rummaged around for a piece of particle board that we had previously used as a “computer desk”  for the longest time.  It too was waiting to either go by the wayside or be put to use somewhere.   Just hadn’t quite figured out which.

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I put some oak around the edges just to try and dress it up a little,  and then removed the bracket from the black IKEA top and slapped it on there.

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That then became the sewing table,  and the old one got moved over for serger duty.

I guess I could put some machines up there.

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Now,  each open side is open to the heat from the convector that runs along the wall there.   That also means that I was kinda sweating buckets getting each of them attached to the wall.  Oy. 

 

I had offered to do something like this:

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Where the machine is recessed so that the arm is below the surface,  but T.C. said she was fine with the way it was. 

So, I think we’re good *for now*.   I offered to slap up a cork board,  or some pictures,  and I’m waiting to hear back. 

There may be a committee involved.

 

There was a question last week about Cat 5 cable,  and just what the heck that is?   I’m sure it’s pretty self evident,  but it’s the wire that’s used for a hard wired internet connection.  The blue stuff.  

 

Looks like dis.

There are ISP providers that *claim* that their wireless routers are so strong that you can go anywhere in your dwelling and stream to your “internet device”.  We can’t just say “Computer” anymore,  ‘cause there be many *things* these days. 

I have my doubts.  And when it comes right down to it,  being hard wired is kind of fool proof.  Our system here at home has been secured for years,  but I’d bet that I could drive around the neighbourhood and pick up any number of wifi signals that aren’t.  People are generally not very careful with their wifi,  and if your neighbour is “borrowing” yours,  then you’re paying for something that you’re not able to fully use.

Feel free to talk amongst yourselves.

 

OK,  I’ll dig out a couple more Maui pictures,  just ‘cause I said I would.

This is from our drive up to Haleakalā,  which is the big assed volcano on Maui.   The top is above 10,000 feet.

 

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It’s pretty freakin’ awesome.  Let’s just leave it at that.

We’re above the clouds there.

And we’re bundled up,  since the temperature was in the mid fifties.  (yes, Fahrenheit, I’m bilingual)

 

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I don’t remember the exact mileage,  but it’s a good two hour drive to the summit.  And the road is very twisty,  and the air starts to get a bit thin.  T.C. was feeling a bit dizzy.   Even though I was at the wheel,  my head was starting to spin just ever so slightly.  Might have been the thinner air or the winding road.  Not sure.

 

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There are those who advocate getting there for the sunrise.  I’m happy for them.   What, get up at three in the morning?   *pfft!!*

We were on vacation.

 

 

Well that’s it.  Brain empty.

 

Thanks for stopping in.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Winter jobs.

Only because,  one year I sort of forgot,  and that wasn’t a good thing.

See,  if you’re going to trim a grape vine,  springtime isn’t the best time.  They leak like crazy. Let’s not talk about it.

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Anyway,  it needed a trimming,  and now it’s done. 

I don’t think I would be cut out for growing much of a crop of grapes, since I do have some slight issues keeping my fingers warm.  It was a balmy 0°C or something like that, but there was no way I could stand much more than maybe a half hour out there.  

 

Isn’t this riveting stuff??

I suppose I did manage to do something ever so slightly more exciting,  in that I finally hooked up our “Smart” TV to the net. 

I had considered buying a “dongle”,  (yes, that’s a word) but the TV is a wee bit too far from the wireless source for that to work,  so I figured I’d run Cat 5 cable.   You know,  that blue stuff.

Kind of “old school”.

Rather than mess around with naked ends and a crimping tool,  I used a length of cable that I’ve had hanging around for a few years instead.  (‘Cause I know it works!)

Most of my experience crimping those ends on can be summed up in one word.  “Bad”.  Unless you have a tester,  there’s way too much guesswork involved.  Best to just go with what you know.

I hadn’t really been looking forward to this part,  since it means moving the TV after unhooking everything.

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After many,  many trips back and forth, (goes better with another set of hands) I got it sorted.  I just ran the Cat 5 cable out through the cable box.  Cut a new hole in the plastic cover thingy.

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Which,  I didn’t take a picture of, but it doesn’t matter. 

So,  I haven’t quite figured out just *what* we’ll be watching now that the TV is hooked up to the net,  but at least it is.   I did find some stuff on Youtube,  but I need to hoof it down to the store for something for dinner,  so that was the end of the exploration.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. 

 

Keep it between the ditches,  and thanks for stopping by.

 

Oh shoot!   Forgot to add some more Maui pics!  

Oh well,  maƱana.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Back to mostly normal.

Whatever that means.

Forgot to mention,  it seems we missed “No Pants” day!  Oh no! 
I’m not so sure that one is going to catch on though,  since most of the participants seemed to be in places where wearing pants,  (or “trousers”) if you’re in the UK, needed to be worn for warmth,  rather than as a fashion statement.  “Pants” in the UK refers to your “Underpants”.  

Just thought you should know that. 

And if someone offers you a “Fag”,  you won’t get arrested.

 

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Dinner didn’t look too shabby last night,  so I took a picture.  I had the car for whatever reason which meant a quick stop at Denninger's,  and of course couldn’t resist the steaks sitting there behind the glass.  Such a sucker for choice meat.  They were mighty good too.   Pretty pricey,  but cheaper than dining out.  That’s the best I can come up with.

Oh, the funny looking orange stuff there is sweet potato,  cooked the only way I like it.  Sliced, drizzled with olive oil and maybe some basil,  and roasted on a pan in the oven.

 

Then,  just to add to the gluttony,  we thought we’d delve into a little gift that was brought to us all the way from Vienna,  when our visitor came to Canada before Christmas.

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Admittedly,  this Sachertorte was getting a little “well aged”,  but it was fine.   It’s so rich that you can only eat one piece anyway,  but we may take another stab at it again tonight.   I think there’s a pun in there somewhere.  (note the knife)

OK,  I shouldn’t have to point out the puns.  Keep up.

 

Since there’s not a heck of a lot going on here at the Ponderosa,  I’ll throw in some pictures of the Luau.

 

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These three were the musical accompaniment.  They were actually pretty good.  You just have to play in tune, and not suck.

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The first part of the show was a little “campy”, as the “MC” (if that’s what you call him)  was there to warm up the crowd.  I guess.  Who knows? 

Anyway,  he picked some Dude from the audience to participate.  (Um, the White Dude?) 

Of course,  he was a salesman from the mainland.  Complete dork.

 

There were various costume changes and different dances representing all the Polynesian Islands.

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The request was to not use flash during the fire dance portion of the program,  so I had a few duds. 

The solo Dude was actually pretty damned awesome.

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I only managed to get a selfie of him and I.

And of course,  one more of one of the cute little dancers.

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Cripes.  Maybe I should have just photo-shopped a big “smiley face” over my mug.   The guy up on the stage wasn’t the only dork it seems.

 

I think my chicken burgers are ‘bout done,  so that’s it for today.

 

Thanks for lookin’.

Monday, January 13, 2014

The giant yellow orb.

It’s been so gloomy since we came back from Maui, that when the sun finally came out yesterday afternoon,  I wasn’t really sure what to do.  I vaguely recalled that it was something *nice*,  and it did help melt the rest of the ice off the driveway.

Which, by the way, was pretty damned nasty.  The word is,  it rained and then froze when we were away.  So getting *up* the driveway with luggage was a challenge when we arrived home Tuesday night.

Matter of fact,  I just got back home from spreading a bag of sand on my sister-in-law’s driveway just now.  She has a good two inches of ice.  Digging, chipping, whatever was out of the question.  The sand was surprisingly effective. 

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Gratuitous photo of one of the pools where we stayed.

I’m not going to do one of those “Day One, Day Two” ordeals,  but instead I’ll try and throw in some snippets along the way.

Speaking of getting home.  We were lucky.  Completely naive as to how bad it was in Toronto,  which meant that we still didn’t really realise how lucky we were until we were watching the news on Wednesday morning.  So that’s why there was all that extra luggage hanging around!

I mean,  Toronto pretty much sucks when it comes to actually getting you *out* of the airport,  since no matter how far you have to hoof it back from your gate to customs,  your luggage is never out on the carousel.   You still have to wait.  And wait.

Turns out,  they never did put our flight up on the reader board,  but I had overheard someone say our luggage was coming in on carousel number seven,  (there are 13 in total) so that’s where we waited.   AND, we only had to sit on the plane for maybe 20 minutes to a half hour waiting for them to get us to a gate.   That’s when it starts to stink of jet fuel in the plane,  but that was the only time I was  feeling kind of poorly.

I find it’s best not to obsess over how bad it is when you’re returning home from somewhere warm.  It just puts a dark cloud over the whole experience.

We knew it was cold,  and that’s all we needed to know.

 

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Daughter Number Two and Travelling Companion sitting outside House Number Two.  

 

I should explain that we rented two houses for the 10 days that we were in Kihei.   Looks kind of crowded on the map,  but it was fine.  Within walking distance of Foodland,  as well as a host of restaurants and of course,  the beach. 

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Directly north of Kihei is Lahaina, which is up there on the coast.

 

Maui isn’t a very big island,  so we just about made it around the entire place.  Did the “Road to Hana”,  went up to the Volcano.  Took in a Luau.   All fun stuff. 

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Daughter Number Two and I at the Luau.

Just a comment about the shirt I’m wearing.  No,  I did not buy it on the island.  I’ve had it a for a few years now,  but I typically only wear it south of the Mason-Dixon line.  Just thought I’d point that out.

It doesn’t really *work* for around here,  unless of course I need to be picked out of a crowd.

 

I took a number of “selfies”,  even though I was hefting the Nikon.  Having these minor challenges is sometimes fun.

 

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One of the cute little dancers.  I’m sure she was thrilled.

 

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Well, la-de-da.

 

I’ll yak a little more about Maui over the next few days.  I could have been doing that over the *last* few days,  but my motivation was lacking. 

 

Keep those sticks on the ice.

 

Thanks for stopping by.