And then I get tired.

I've just about cleaned up my pile of left over wood that was left behind by Tree Cutting Dude.  Well,  actually by his two minions.  Which was OK with me,  but the way,  as it all burns.  

There's something about that whole bending over with the chain saw that does tend to tire a feller out.

Although,  after a bit of lunch and wee sit down,  T.C. and I did go up to her sister's place and rake and blow more leaves.  Oy.   She has a *lovely* back yard,  but that also means there are literally heaps of leaves to deal with.  Having said that,  T.C.'s sister is 84.   AND,  she was out there with us raking leaves like nobodies business.

(Now on to Tuesday)

Went back this morning and finished off her yard.

We're pretty sure she "won" that contest, in the most leaves department anyway.  Not that it's a competition.

It had rained a wee bit in the night,  which didn't really help.

They're here!   Or at least on our street.

Some years it starts snowing before they can get all the leaves,  which means they sort of get left.   Those trucks that are being used to haul away leaves are needed for snow removal.
It's coming.   There were a few flurries this morning,  as we were raking leaves.

We try to tell ourselves that it's "good exercise". 

Whatever.

So,  just another fall Tuesday.

Thanks for lookin'.

And we both howled.

So,  you've no doubt gather by this point in time that I do tend to sit and watch an NFL game from time to time.  Like,  Sunday,  Monday Night,  and Thursday Night.  I don't do college Football.   Just can't get into it although,  as a side note,  if I were to go to a College game,  I'd go see the Ohio State Buckeyes.   It's not that far to travel,  although an overnight would be the only possible way of doing it.



Anyhoo,  last night was the Pittsburgh Steelers and Caroline Panthers.    I didn't have any vested interest in the outcome,  as getting my submission in to the pub would have meant stopping off there at some point prior to game time,  as the young lady who is currently running the pool has been having some email "issues", shall we say?   I'm just not going to even go there,  as I can already feel my blood pressure going up ever so slightly.   Put it this way,  if the owner of the pub isn't running the pool next year?   I'm out.

I'm trying to think of exactly when what I'm about to tell you all took place,  but suffice to say,  T.C. and were on our way from Vienna to Birmingham,  and I definitely recall noticing these four rather "sketchy"  looking Dudes,  who were set to board the same flight as us.   This was in Vienna,  and we had a stop over in Frankfurt (I think).

So,  sketchy looking Dudes get on the plane in Vienna,  not sure where they sat,  but basically I sort of forgot about them.  (Kind of like the way I'm having trouble recalling the whole thing btw)

On that leg of the flight,  T.C. and I got to sit together.   Yay!
Then we get to our stop over,  the second leg of which would take us on to Birmingham,  and who is also getting on the plane?
Sketchy looking Dudes.

THIS TIME,  T.C.  and don't get to sit together (who knows why?)  and who is sitting next to T.C.?  One of the sketchy Dudes,  who proceeds to start up a conversation with T.C.   showing her his adorable kids,  wife etc.  Actually,  I think he was a bit homesick and was looking at their pics on his mobile device,  and I think maybe T.C. noticed or something?    Anyway,  I was later told that they had a lovely conversation.   Nicest guy ever,  etc.

He and his sketchy looking buddies had been on tour it seems and they were making one or two  more stops and then going on home to California.



OK fine,  we get to Birmingham,  and the Sketchy Dudes (and there is a fifth guy,  their Roadie I presume) are in a bit of a panic,  as their luggage is somewhat MIA.   It did turn up,  but the reason that they were getting a little stressed was,  their costumes were in their luggage! 
It turns out that they were a musical group (a loose definition of "music" by the way) that call themselves Steel Panther.   And their "shtick" is something called "Glam Rock".

And no,  I had never heard of it either.


If you don't care to go to the website,  I'll stick a photo in here real quick like:

Well,  first of all,  it seems they have a huge following,  AND they're still at it.

See,  I don't usually tune in to all the "NFL Pre-Game"  nonsense,   but at the last minute I tune in to see Michael Strahan and company,  and whom are they talking to?   Well,  think about it.  Pittsburgh Steelers and the Carolina Panthers?


Ya,  those guys!   I just about came off my couch!

I had to run upstairs and tell T.C.!!   Oh man.  Too funny.

Oh,  and by the way,  there's only one of them who has his own hair.   The other three with the bandannas are wearing wigs.    That's the biggest reason they were freaking out when their luggage was MIA.   Those Dudes are like....bald!

You just never know whom you're going to see in an airport.  Or...whom you sit next to.  Or what different kind of "entertainment"  there is out there!

Can't make this stuff up.   Honest to God.


Thanks for stopping by.

Just running around.

And I've been home now for... a time (too embarrassed to say),  and I still haven't done a damned thing.

There was the weekly breakfast,  and then a side trip to Crappy Tire for some clear plastic totes for more "stuff".   Gotta store your "stuff"  properly.   Mind you,  this is my sister-in-law's "stuff",  but never fear,  we've got our share too.

Then it was off to the clock store/jeweller/whatever,  to drop off a mantel clock that emerged as a result of sorting through the "stuff",   and then on to Costco for a propane refill  (it's like...13 bucks,  as opposed to something like 19 at the gas station!)   and then a quick visit to the local "Liquidation Warehouse"  to look through their "stuff",  and then finally a side trip to Dollarama for well,  "necessary stuff",  like hand soap and such. 

The "highlight" of the day was renewing my membership at MEC.

So,  lemme 'splain.    Mountain Equipment Coop is a supplier of all things outdoors.  Camping,  hiking,  biking,  skiing.  You name it.

Now,  once upon a time,  they were a "mail order"  type of outfit,  something like L.L.Bean,  or at least the way L.L. Bean used to be.  You can order from any of them on line these days.

Back in the day,  you filled out the form in the catalogue,  calculated the tax and shipping,  sent off your cheque with the said form,  and waited for your package to arrive.    MEC had the one and only location on King Street in Toronto way back when,  but now of course,  they're all over Canada.

Note,  I said Canada. 

I seem to recall ordering a rain coat that I kept and used until something like 2001.  I kid you not.  Good value.

Anyway,  as strange as it may sound,  you have to be a "member".   I'm sure there's some sort of legal mumbo-jumbo involved that allows them to call themselves a "Coop",  but the thing is,  I became a member sometime back in either 1975 or 1976.   (Oh wait,  somewhere it says,  "owned by its members".  OK then,  I'm a part "owner".  *snort*!)


 The start of  the conversation with the young lady at the counter went something like,  "Back in the days when your parents were still in school and quite possibly hadn't met yet,  I became a member of this coop."

The trick was,  where exactly was I living when I signed up?   Oh by the way,  the cost of membership?  Five bucks.

I was actually willing to cough up another five bucks if we couldn't find me in the data base.  The membership never expires,  and all of the paper records had been transferred onto computer at some point.   The young lady was pretty certain that I was in there.

We tried a few different addresses.  Hamilton, Dundas,  Burlington.   And she found me.  Dundas!   It was my last year of High School,  and I was paying room and board in Dundas so I could finish up my final year.   The rest of the household had moved to Burlington,  but I wasn't about to tag along.   That's another story.

Anyhoo,  I suppose I can once again buy camping stuff.  Not that I'd be doing a whack of camping.  Or if I did,  I'd be on my own let's just say?   Plus,  half the time the deals on Amazon are somewhat better but hey,  Christmas is coming,  and at least one of the Daughter Units likes to car camp,  so who knows?   Well,  she and her S.O do go skiing too,  so that's also a possibility.


Hope ya learned something.

Thanks for stopping by.

And remember,  keep your stick on the ice.

I think I got them all.

By that I mean, clocks.  *rolling my eyes here*.   I think I now only have to change the time in the truck. 
T.C. mentioned already this morning that she had changed the time in the car.

Why do we do this again?   I like "daylight saving time",  or at least that's what I think it is,   and switching back to "normal" time,  or whatever it's called,  just means that the poor working stiffs mostly now go to work in the dark, and will ultimately come home in the dark.  That'll be towards mid December I realise. 

That was one of the few things that I enjoyed about working afternoons once upon a time.  At least I went to work when it was still light out,  and came home in the dark like everyone else.  No matter what time of the (school) year.

Anyway,  doesn't matter too much these days,  unless there's an appointment say,  the first Monday after the change over. 


Oh and,  I read somewhere (OK well,  on the internet,  where else?)  that the EU has voted to do away with changing clocks.   So unless the higher mucky mucks can't agree on following through on the referendum,  they'll be keeping it on "summer time"  all year 'round.   Sounds like a decent idea.

I was going to put in a link,  but the one I found had too many annoying things on it.  You're welcome.


I guess that's it,  really.

Back to watching football.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sticks....ice.  You know.

A moratorium on dish soap.

It is not permitted,  for the foreseeable future (or at least until the end of 2019 I'm thinking) to buy any more dish soap. 


Oh and,  a belated "Happy Halloween".

Whatever.


So here's the thing.   Once again this year,  Travelling Companion and I leave the house in darkness and go out to dinner on Halloween.  I'm sort of on the fence when it comes to giving out candy.  I don't really mind,  but it usually ends up with me ignoring the doorbell,  and T.C. jumping up to see what little goblin or whatever is out there looking for a hand out.

Plus,  a couple years ago,  I had to dash off to the store to see if I could scare up anything else to hand out,  as we were running low,  and I do seem to recall in previous years having so much candy left over that I'm still struggling to shed the extra pounds that I put on.
So why do this??

Anyway,  for what we spent on dinner,  we probably could have just HIRED someone to give out candy.  More cost effective.
Plus,  T.C. was saying that she felt somewhat nauseous in the middle of the night,  and we're not sure what that was all about.  I slept like a rock.

Maybe next year we'll stay home?  We'll see.

The slight wrinkle was,  we both had an appointment at the dentist at three,  and then a whack of time to kill before our somewhat early dinner reservation at 6:30. 

What to do?

There was a stop at Indigo (overpriced books and stuff)  and then on to "Winners"  where T.C. did find a pair of jeans at a decent price.

This,  by the way,  is at the newly revamped "Burlington Centre",  which used to be simply "Burlington Mall".  It's not the centre of anything,  but whatever.
I don't really go there,  except to go to Derringer's once in a while.   They've moved from their previous somewhat inaccessible location to what is now a huge spot the now newly renovated mall.

Next stop,  Costco. 

Well,  I think you know where we're headed.

See,  whenever I stop in at Costco,  which is about every six weeks or so,  I rarely take a cart.  I dash in,  pick up the two or three items that I *know* we need (coffee comes to mind)  and book it for the exit.  Well,  I pay first,  but you know what I mean.

This time,  we took a cart.

Oh boy.

T.C. had her smart phone out,  with it set to the calculator function,  and was dutifully checking to see if it was a "good deal"  and all that,  but now of course,  we have at least nine full containers of Dawn dish soap.   See,  you have to buy a packet of three,  not just one.   And I guess I had bought a packet of three at some point in the last six months,  even though we still had two or three tucked away already. 
I'll be using it to bathe in I guess.
So if you're looking to buy shares of Proctor and Gamble,  I'd say it's a good bet.



I should mention that the Boys and I did our annual pilgrimage to an NFL game on Monday.   Turns out,  it's the first Monday night game they've had in Buffalo for 10 years.

I think the best word to sum it up?   "COLD".

It threatened to rain,  which thankfully didn't amount to much,  but moreover the *wind* was problematic,  shall we say?

Here we are,  somewhat huddled around our campfire.


Which of course,  meant that I had to wash everything that I had been wearing "around the campfire",  as it stunk of smoke.

I had to tie our shelter thingy to the truck to keep it from simply lifting off.

Gotta love the portability and reliability of the Weber for this sort of thing.  Those too came from Costco.    Good eats!

We did have an enjoyable time,  but I did admit at one point when dropping off my passengers that,  there were a couple moments when I was pining for my nice warm couch in front of the fire,  which is my usual NFL game protocol.

The Bills lost,  which was no surprise.  Their quarterback situation is a bit of a clusterf**k,   and in typical fashion,  the Patriots come out after half time,  once they've gone over a few things that they see going on with any opposing team they face,  an proceed to basically crush them.

I also tend to think there's more animosity in the seats than on the field, and the notion of "rabid fans"  did come to mind. 
But I guess that's the nature of that particular beast.

We didn't see anyone getting booted from the proceedings this time around.

For a couple years now,  maybe longer,  they've had a sort of "fan snitch line" prominently displayed for all to see,  and I guess it's been used enough now that the rowdier knobs know where to draw the line.

I guess.   Or maybe it was just too f**king cold to throw the gloves off,  so to speak.

I suspect that if/when we go next year,  we just *might* pick a game a bit earlier in the season?
Either that or I need to buy some mukluks or something.  All of me was toasty warm,  except the feet.  Not completely frozen through,  but borderline uncomfortable.

Sure glad the heater in the truck is a good one.


I suppose that'll be it for me once again for a few days.

Thanks for moving your eyes back and forth.

Keep that stick on the ice.