Watching the show.

And glad it ain’t me.

It’s gone from a couple days of this:

To two trips today (so far) with this:

I guess it got to be too much, or maybe that was the plan all along?

All I know is,  they didn’t seem like folk I particularly wanted to get to know AND interestingly,  Travelling Companion was sitting in the living room late yesterday watching the gentleman loading his truck,  and at one point she said, “He’s dragging her clothes on the ground!”

(And now that I think on it, I had been referring to them as “The Lazy People” back in the winter.  Hm.)

Well now, that’s never a good idea.   Mind you, he wasn’t overly particular about his own clothes either,  but still.

That might just explain why they were having a little “set to” on the front porch at one point. 

Quite entertaining.  She wouldn’t let him in the house.  And was right up in his face. 

I began to think “unpure thoughts”  when confronted with the possibility of someone shoving their face that close to mine?  But,  when I saw what kind of an idiot he was, well then.  He had it coming.  Some sort of passive aggressive thing I’m thinking.

Act like a child, you may very well get treated like one.

 

Anyway,  like I said.  Glad it ain’t me.  They’ll take me out of here feet first I’m thinkin’.

No harm in trying to unload some crap along the way of course,  or at least store it properly.

Which brings up to the progress on the cabinets.

I’m here:

The drawer fronts are presently off and have had stain and finish applied.  They’ll likely go on tomorrow.

It takes me a while I realise, but the drawer fronts on the second one there were a “do over”,  since I was having issues getting the finish to come out the way I wanted. 

Number four has been assembled,  and I’ll start making drawers for it later tonight (doubtful) or tomorrow.  Maybe.

I’ll be tidying up by Thursday anyway, since I fly out first thing Friday morning.  By “first thing” I mean,  something like 6:45 in the morning.  We’ll need to haul it out of bed by like,  four thirty or something.  Geh.

For me to get up that early to take a flight,  I USUALLY prefer that it means ending up somewhere warm and sunny.   Not Calgary.

Mind you,  it’s 26°C there today.  But really, it’s all about the weather for the drive back this way,  starting off in Abbotsford,  where they’re calling for the high teens for Friday.    Meh, we’ll see.

I *might* take along my shorts,  but I’ll check again on Thursday.

As you can tell by that Robin who is trying his best to listen for a worm,  it’s going to be grass cutting time very soon,  so I may as well haul out the mower tomorrow and change the oil.   Can’t say I’m thrilled.

That’s it for this missive. 

Keep those sticks on the ice.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Better when it’s not raining.

But that doesn’t mean I wanted hail.  And we had some.  More than once. 

The bugger of it is,  the stupid grass is growing,  and it’s really too cold to be doing very much at all in terms of gardening.  Or cutting grass.  Or just about anything else outside.   I was a bit annoyed this morning when I had to go and retrieve my winter coat from the closet upstairs.  It was 2°C out! 

For those of you who haven’t quite figured out Celsius yet, (you know,  that system that’s based on the freezing and boiling point of water?) that’s two degrees above freezing. 

Anyway,  let’s not get into any debates about which scale to use,  except that it is noteworthy that, although Fahrenheit was a German,  the Germans don’t use his system.  Hm.

 

I’m just now finishing up the leftover pizza from the one I made for dinner last night.  It’s as good the second time around as it was the first.

Yes,  I made pizza.  Not rocket science.  And,  although the dough comes out risen and somewhat fluffy,  it’s not that easy to work,  and I had to fill in the holes like a patchwork quilt. Need to find a better recipe.

Speaking of which, (like that segue?  huh?) one of our Breakfast Babe members was the recipient of some left over scraps this morning from a quilt that was made for his Grand-daughter. 

Well,  the scraps were in the form of a pillow.  Or maybe there were two?  I wasn’t really paying attention,  but I did make sure to take a photo.

It was mostly an opportunity to use the new G16. 

Needless to say,  I’m happy with that camera.  There’s a good chance I’ll say that more than once too.

 

We noticed why the house across the way was getting all spiffed up with the fresh topsoil and new plantings. 

It’s now for sale.

 

There ya go.

Not sure if they’re looking to flip the place (they’ve been there since some time when we were in Vienna) or whether it’s getting to be too small for them.  There have been larger families raised in some of the houses on that street,  some of which have had the same occupants since the fifties.  The idea of moving every few years just fills me with dread.  Unless of course,  it’s part of a “company” move,  in which case Muggins here only needs to supervise. 

I can supervise.

But there will be no more of that.  We’re here for the duration.

The shocking thing is,  most any place that size around here will go for well over a half million.  Can you imagine?  I think we’d get considerably more than that for this place,  but it’s a moot point.

 

Speaking of moving, (should we turn this into a drinking game, where you take a shot every time there’s a segue?) I made a third trip today to the Greyhound Bus Depot here in town to pick up boxes that had been shipped across the country by my sister.  I have to call her up and ask if she’s done?  Or will there be more?  I have lots room,  so it’s no big deal.  But I thought we were done with the LAST trip I made.

Not sure where these will all end up,  but she’ll likely relocate back to Ottawa.  Her roots go way back in the Ottawa area,  and as a matter of fact, she still has a hairdresser there,  “Murray” whom she goes to see whenever she has the chance.  Is that a “thing” with the ladies?

Now,  you’d think the “Bus Depot” (or whatever you call it) would be at some place like the bus station. 

That would make sense.

Well no.  It’s simply a job that is contracted out to the folks who run the Kwik Kopy.

Another revenue stream for them I’m guessing, ‘cause I don’t see how you make any money running a Kwik Kopy franchise.  But what do I know?  Maybe they’re rolling in it.

Thankfully there’s Google Maps,  because I never would have found this place. 

I find that I invariably consult Google Maps before heading out the door if I’m going somewhere new.  I need to know where I’m headed,  rather than trying to figure it out on the fly.  Too much traffic.  Too many distractions.  I don’t need to be trying to find an address AND avoiding all the clowns out there. 

Oh,  and there be clowns.  But that’s a whole rant right there. Let’s not go there.

I’ve almost turned into That Old Guy who writes down a plate number,  comes home and calls the cops.  It has crossed my mind. But I’ve resisted. 

And I don’t even have to drive too many places.  Gawd help me if I had to do a daily commute.  My head would explode!

 

I think that’s the extent of my ramblings.

 

Stick.  Ice.  You know.

 

Thanks for looking.

Coming out of hibernation.

Or at least that’s what it seems like.  There are just, things in the works.  Play dates.  That kind of thing.

I mean, grown up play dates of course.  “Track night”,  “The Guy’s Weekend”.    “Dinner Chez Nous”. 

And, I just got an email from the fellow I sail with,  to let us all know he bought himself a new boat.   Well,  new to him and us,  that’s for sure.

It’s a “Humboldt Bay 30”.  I’ve just been doing a little research on these boats,  and there were only six built between 1982 and 1984.  I also see it originally came with a Yanmar Diesel.  Sure hope that sucker has been replaced.  Those things are horrid.  Originally built as a tractor engine,  which is just fine if it quits out in the middle of a field somewhere,  but when you’re out on the water,  something a little more reliable is a good thing.

 

Anyway,  it’s a west coast boat,  and he has yet to have it trucked out this way.  Travelling Companion thought I should offer to go out and truck it back,  along with my sister. 

I declined.

Should be at the yacht club by the end of May.  That works,  I’ll be back from my out west trip well before that.

 

I’m still plugging away on the cabinets.  There are times when it’s mostly fun,  like when your plane behaves,  and all the shavings come off like butter. Or should I say, “Buttah”.

I always feel bad about sweeping them up and tossing them,  as if they should be going into someone's fireplace or something. 

 

 

On the other hand, I’m having some issues getting the finish just right.  There are no pictures of that.  I’ll figure it out.

I always seem to do better at the building stage than the finishing stage.  Lack of patience might have something to do with it.  And of course, having a spray booth would be awesome.

Not happening.

 

We had a fabulous couple of days towards the end of last week,  and then on Sunday (yesterday) I went outside in my shirtsleeves,  and realised the temperature had dipped again.  Back down to single digits.  (Like mid forties Fahrenheit)  That was a shocker,  especially since it was a beautiful sunny day. 

We’re at that point in the early spring,  when heading out for the day can be a bit of a mystery in the clothing department.  Rained today, sometimes quite frantically. 

 

I guess that’s all I got in my pea brain for tonight.  You can see the new camera does take some pretty damned fine pictures.  I’ll try to avoid having crappy ones from now on.

 

Keep your stick on the ice.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

It’s here!

Checked on the line this morning, and saw this little snippet.

 

“Out for delivery”?  What the hell?

Well,  I did manage to get home in time for the delivery, although I just happened to be out of earshot of the Postal Delivery Dude knocking on the door. 

No biggie, since T.C. was able to sign for it.

Um ya,  there was a signature involved.  Made sense to me.

Then when I saw the package,  I realised just how it got here so fast.   Came into Hamilton by air!  Aha!

 

The image above was taken with the little “powershot”,  which I seem to recall describing on at least one occasion as a piece of shit.  Sorry,  but it is.  Mind you,  it does take better pictures with a clean lens, but only slightly better.

 

Then there’s that image above,  taken with the G16. 

Huge difference.  Huge.  Look how crisp!

AND,  it has “le weee-feee”,  as the French would say.

Took a bit of mucking about,  and I had to set up some sort of “Canon Image Gateway” thing,  but I eventually managed to sent an image from the camera to the computer avec le weee-feee.

Just some of T.C.’s little plants that she’s starting for the garden.

I mean,  I could have just taken the card out of the camera and shoved it into the damned computer,  but that would have been way too easy.  Why make it easy?

And then,  this is with the telephoto,  same image as yesterdays,  only without the dirt slingin’ young ladies.

Actually,  T.C. said they did a good job.  Maybe I should have hired them? 

Too late.

 

I shall continue to play.

Well, I might go out and start on cabinet number three.  That would probably be prudent.

Enjoy the rest of your day.  I know I will.

Thanks for stopping by.

I’m booked!

I figured since nothing too exciting has been happening around here at the Ponderosa,  I’d fly across the country and drive back.

No really. 

Flying out of Hamilton on the First of May with a stop over in Calgary,  and then on to Abbotsford.   I’m pretty sure I passed Abbotsford at least once or twice back in the 70s. 

Whatever.

Hasn’t been a real “draw” for me in the last several decades.

So here’s the deal.  Got this sister.  She’s been living in B.C.  She’s done.  I offered to fly out and drive back with her.  

And no, don’t be going,  “Oh, aren’t you such a good brother”.  I don’t think I am,  but she’s the only sister I got,  so what the hell.  And hey, who’s not up for a road trip!?  C’mon,  it’s only what? Four thousand kilometers?  Something like that.  It’ll take us a few days.

She asked me this morning, “Are you sure you want to do this?” to which I replied,  “Well, do you?”   We’ll make the best of it.

We may or may not go through the States.  The exchange would be a bit of a killer,  so we may poo-poo that idea. She’s paying the freight.  Even offered to pay my airline ticket,  but I’ll cover that.  There won’t be any night time driving,  so hotels will be in order.  Me, drive at night?  Not likely.

Best take my housecoat.

So then I got to “scheming”,  and thought by gum,  it’s time to order that new camera I’ve been lusting after.

So I did it.  It’s being packed up and shipped as I type this.

 

Now,  you have to  understand that, since it took me so long to mull this over,  Canon has gone ahead and introduced the next year’s model.  Originally it was going to be the “G15”, which is a pretty awesome camera.

Apparently,  the “G16” pictured above has some spiffy new features,  like wi-fi connectivity. 

Well,  that’s cool.  And I know,  from seeing the pictures on another blog that it’s a damned fine camera.

I have to admit that I haven’t completely given up on the Nikon,  I think I just need a new lens.  But, I’ll hold off on that.  For now.

Do you see a pattern here?

Meanwhile,  I couldn’t help but notice some landscaping going on across the road.  I’m guessing they’re old enough to drive?

So it’s what,  “Two girls and a shovel”?  They don’t seem to have much in the way of equipment.  I mean, a wheelbarrow would help.

Then I thought, “Hey,  maybe *I* need to have a couple young ladies come and throw some dirt around”.  Or whatever it is they’re doing.  I’ll just watch. 

Like,  who cares what they’re doing?

Probably wouldn’t go over well on the home front.  But it was a thought. 

Usually these thoughts are best kept to oneself.

They got finished just in time too,  since the wind picked up and it started to rain around four or so,  and it’s been coming down ever since. 

Kind of got a little muggy too.  No complaints. 

It’s an odd thing when it’s cooler and dryer in the house than outside.  Supposed to get cold again tonight,  so it’s not like I shut down the furnace for the year.   We likes our comforts,  so there will be no shivering and shaking for the sake of a few shekels worth of gas.  Thank-you.

 

All grammar mistakes are intentional.

Keep your stick on the ice.

Thanks for stopping by.

Lying in tubes.

It’s quite peaceful, actually.  With the exception of the guy somewhere behind me being quizzed about the tightness in his chest,  I very easily could have had a nice little nap.

See, today was “bone density day”.  Although I thought it was only going to be a “morning”,  it was more like a day. And as luck would have it,  my regular GP had scheduled a conflicting follow-up to the last time I was lying in a tube a couple weeks ago for a CT scan.  That’s the one where you drink a whole bunch of water first at home,  and then another three tumblers full of some mystery juice when you get there.  Takes time for the liquid to get wherever its supposed to go,  and I guess that’s the same deal with the today’s fun and games,  except there was some mention of an injection and gamma radiation.  There’s a pretty good summation here.

Anyway,  as it was neigh on impossible to get through to my GP on the phone,  Travelling Companion and I decided to just drive up there,  and I’d walk in and tell them that I wasn’t going to be there for my 11:20 appointment.  Especially since I had to be in Oakville for my 11:30 appointment.  I didn’t think it wise to try and much around with the Hospital appointment.  That would be a tad foolish.

 

T.C. trying to figure out why her Bluetooth doesn’t want to cooperate.

 

So,  we’ll see what the outcome is.  I didn’t turn into The Hulk,  since the Gamma radiation has a half life of something like six hours.  That procedure is certainly less annoying than an MRI,  that’s for sure.   But that was last year when there was a plan afoot to see if there was anything in my head. 

They didn’t find anything.

I suppose I could just go along and have this little annoying pain in my side for the rest of my days,  but it doesn’t seem to be willing to simply go away,  so I figured maybe some investigation was in order.   It’s like going down the rabbit hole,  since one thing tends to lead to another.  And in the end,  who knows if they’ll come up with a diagnosis?

I've been repeating this today.   I can’t seem to embed YouTube videos lately,  not sure what’s up with that.  Just click that link. It’s only 10 seconds long.

 

Hope everyone had a fine Easter.  Ours was awesome.  There was a bit of snow,  but it’s gone again.  No big deal.

T.C. was much more relaxed with any and all preparations she wanted to do,  mostly due to the no longer actively working program.  Seems to make all the difference.  There was Potica.  Best to read the description here,  if you're not sure what that is.

I think I have a pic.

 

I’d like to say I helped,  only because I did grind up some walnuts. 

I don’t seem to look too happy in that pic,  but that’s not really the case.  AND,  it’s not really “grinding” as much as “rasping”,  since that meat grinder looking thing (it’s really not) is actually a type of rotary rasp,  which works beautifully for rasping up a bunch of nuts. 

There’s probably a squirrel joke in there somewhere.

Let’s just move along.

It’s that time of the year again when it’s a good idea to get the bikes all spiffied up. 

That’s a word,  right?  You’ll notice that these bikes have rather elaborate chain guards? 

Seems they’re also pretty effective at keeping the chain clean as well.  Thing looked brand new. 

I’m going to see if I can get T.C. out on the bike when the weather warms up a bit.  There’s no particular place to go mind you,  but we’ll tool around the neighbourhood. 

 

Just noticed this on the way home today.

 

Talk about optimism.

Or maybe they think they’re betting on a sure thing?

The Jays are off to a good start,  but let’s not get carried away.

 

Here’s hoping for some warmer weather.

 

Thanks for stopping by.