Well, that was a "fun" day.

Just checking in here.  You may have to move your eyes back and forth a bit. 

For years now,  I've been driving around (in several different countries as well,  but you know that)  relatively unscathed when it comes coming into contact with other vehicles.   There have been a few close calls,  like a couple weeks ago when someone (never did see the driver) decided to come out of a parking garage without looking,  and was within about a foot of my driver's door before the light went on,  realising that there was someone there.   I was laying on the horn the whole time.  It was a "retirement residence",  so your guess is as good as mine.

Now,  that was in downtown Burlington.  I think maybe I need to stay out of the downtown or something,  but we need to go there once a week to get to the Pub.   I mean,  there are some things I ain't gonna give up.

Anyhoo,  last Thursday  (Oh and,  Happy belated Thanksgiving to our American friends)  I was once again in the downtown,  tooling along,  minding my own business,   when a garbage truck driver decided to fling open his door to go back and help his buddy do their thing.   Unfortunately,  his timing was spot on.   Well that is,  if he HAD been aiming to drive his door into the side of my truck.   Isn't there a thing about,  "Be sure and check for traffic before opening your door.?    Well,  he didn't.

It's actually kinda hard to make out in those pics,  I suspect due to it being a white truck. 

Anyhoo,  there's a big ole crease on the passenger door,  the mirror is obliterated,  and the window is kinda scratched to shit.  Oh,  and there's the beginnings of a crease on the second door too.   That sticker there is from the cop shop,  letting everyone know that yes,  pictures have been taken.

Funny thing is,  when I called the insurance company,  at some point the young lady on the phone asked,  "Do you have the mirror?". 

*Snort*!  Um,  there was nothing left of the mirror! 
After waiting for "The Supervisor" and sorting out all the information,  we picked up the bits and threw it all in the back of the garbage truck.  The door of the garbage truck?  Well,  it was bent up pretty good as well,  and couldn't be opened.  (So at least the driver won't be opening his door into traffic for the rest of his shift?)
Interestingly,  although most of the handle is missing on the Tundra,  the door was still operable.

One thought that I had was,  "What if I had been riding a bicycle?"   I mean,  I nearly got "doored" once in Vienna,  but that door wasn't at chest height,  such as was the case with the garbage truck.   I suspect I would have been in the hospital,  or worse. 

It's in the shop.  The estimate was thirty-six hundred. 

I know!  I thought maybe a couple grand,  but I suppose it adds up.  The parts have been ordered and should arrive today.  And here's something interesting,  the insurance company only gives the body shop seven days to put it right after the parts arrive.   Maybe that's because I have a rental that they're paying for??   

Speaking of which,  it's a mini-van.   And,  I realise we rented one a couple years ago in Maui,  and that was fine and all,  but I really wanted a pick-up truck.  And I mean,  this mini-van has a lot of little bells and whistles,  (heated steering wheel,  heated seats,  remote start,  remote operable sliding doors and rear hatch)  but just the same,  it's a POS.

There's something sort of rattling around in the rear suspension,  which I find somewhat disconcerting.  Plus,  every time I start it up,  it tells me it's due for an oil change.  Really??

Even Travelling Companion had a somewhat less than complimentary comment in the brief time that she rode in it with me yesterday.  And I hadn't said anything to influence her opinion in any way.

It's built by the people who claim to have "perfected the mini-van"  after having introduced it back in 1984.   Anyway,  I just thought,  "If this is their idea of having perfected it,  I'm not sure what they've been smoking."

Of course,  they're also 58% owned by Fiat,  so now you know what I'm talking about.

I'll be bugging the manager over at the rental company to see if I can trade it for a truck when one shows up.  Apparently they only have so many of them,  and they were all out.

Well,  that's my little missive for today.  And maybe for a while.

Hope all is well with you lot.

Thanks for stopping by.

Keep your stick on the ice.

Well, here it is 2019.

So,  Merry Christmas,  Happy New Year and all that.

And,  we're finally getting our first taste of real winter.  We've been dodging the weather bullet for a couple months now,  but now we're getting our comeuppance.

I also must say, these days as a "Pensioner",  I don't really mind a good snow storm.  It kind of brightens my mood.   And that would be just weird,  I do realise,  except that when you consider that,  when I was doing that whole "working for a living" thing,  I used to dread going to work after or during a snow storm.  The only exception of course being if the schools were closed.   School closures didn't seem to happen nearly often enough.  Plus,  there were too many occasions when I was thankful to have a four wheel drive vehicle.   So ya,  now that I don't really even need to go outdoors!  I don't mind it at all. 
Funny how that works.

Mind you,  it's one of the rare times when I do wish that I had some way of accessing the garage directly from the house.  But,  it's only on these occasions.  I'll live.

Travelling Companion did mention that the previous owner had talked about some sort of way of doing that,  but it would have involved cutting into the existing garage floor right about where I have cabinets and a sink,  and coming in to the basement that way.   The "previous owner"  was my late Father-in-law of course.   I'm sure he realised at some point that it would have been a major undertaking,  which is precisely why it was only "talk".

I'm trying to come up with anything of interest to share.  It's a challenge.

*thinks*

I did make a cabinet/containment thingy for the bottom of the laundry chute just the other day and it's already in use.


Oh,  I have a picture. 

It's just a melamine "box"  that's not quite built in the traditional "box" like structure.  It had to be open at the top for the clothes to fall through.   The "door"  is actually a panel I had made years ago for the dishwasher that used to be in the kitchen.   It was a "Miele"  (not that that matters)  and was designed in such a way that you had to make a panel to match the other cupboards etc.  When the dishwasher finally fried its brain a few years back,  we (well,  when I say "we",  I mean..."me")  installed one with a stainless steel front,  but I couldn't bring myself to just turf out the panel I had built.    It sat and collected dust at one side of the garage/workshop for the longest time,  and then I had this cunning plan.   

And there it is:







This morning,  I put it to the test by stripping the bed and putting the entire contents down the chute,  and then going down to see if the door would stay closed.

It did.

I could just leave the laundry there until it's time to put it in the machine,  or transfer it to a basket.   Before this arrangement,  the laundry would sort of fly down and end up sometimes in the sink,  sometimes on the floor,  sometimes in the garbage under the sink if it wasn't completely tucked under. 

One time,  and one time only,  I just happened to be at the sink when T.C. fired a towel down the chute,  which then ended up on my head! 
I laughed so hard I was weeping.  Weeping,  I tell you!

Anyhoo,  that's today's missive.   Thanks for moving your eyes back and forth.

Keep that stick on the ice.


I'm out.

Say Good-bye.

Well,   the time had come. 



Out with this:

And in with this:

Travelling Companion and I had been thinking of parting company with the Mercedes for a while now,  and decided to pull the trigger a few days ago.

The thing is,  it's an 11 (2011),  not that that should be an issue,  but there have been a couple "issues",  shall we say?   And now that we had been problem free for a time,  we thought we'd 'get',  while the gettin'  was good.   So to speak.

I mean,  I've bought both new and used vehicles over the years,  and I'm pretty sure I've never dropped as much dough on a used vehicle (after the fact in repairs,  that is) as we did with the Merc.
I mean,  tires or a battery is one thing,   but the air conditioning compressor crapped out at some point a couple years ago,  thereby leaking fluid onto the serpentine belt,  meaning they both had to be replaced,  etc.

Then,  and this was before we bought the truck,  the damned thing wouldn't start one day,  and it turns out it had to go to the Stealership to have the "ignition module"  replaced.   Of course,  you may have noticed that folks who have Mercedes as their favourite vehicle,  always make sure to have two or three sitting in the driveway,  just so they'll have a backup when one of them craps out.
Had to rent a car for that one,  as they needed the car for several days,  and far be it from them to have a courtesy vehicle. 
I was not pleased.

The "new" car is a '15,  so it's not *that*  new,  but first of all,  it's a Toyota,  and secondly,  being somewhat newer,  it has a few gadgets that we did not have on the Mercedes,  such as a back-up camera and usb ports and such.  Kind of like the truck.

Now I'll admit,  the Merc was a great little car on the handling end of things,  but I suspect we won't be slaloming through any mountain roads any time soon,  so having a little softer ride with the Camry works for me.  T.C. hasn't quite come over to my way of thinking,  but I suspect she'll be OK with it in due time.

Oh and,the "4-matic" thing was pretty awesome in snow,  as long as you also had winter tires I suspect,  but I also think it was the reason our fuel economy never was all that great?

The Camry takes regular gas,  whereas the Merc took "high test".   I'd go as far as the mid-grade,  but wasn't willing to pay more.



So I mean,  if you were to lease a brand new one and take it back at the end of three years?  Well,  maybe that would work.  But we don't lease vehicles anymore.  Not financially sound,  unless you're running a business and it works to your advantage tax wise.   The other thing that we won't be doing anymore?  Getting another Mercedes.


I'm out.

Thanks for stopping by.

Keep your stick on the ice.

I just shake my head.

What I wanted to say was,  "Are ya stoopid??",  but I didn't want that in the title.

See,  "we" have been talking about this ice storm for a few days now.  Even if you don't have cable (many don't including both Daughters Numbers One and Two)   and cannot watch "The Weather Network" (which,  by the way,  not unlike CNN,  you only need to watch for about 15 minutes,  and then you've got all the information that they'll ever be giving for a time)  you're still going to know *somehow* that there's a storm coming and...wait for it....that you should stay off the roads.

But no....

I give you,  Exhibit A:

Because,  isn't there like,  Twitter,  and Facebook and I don't know what else?  It's not that hard to know what's going on with the weather. 
Better yet,  just look outside.
I cropped out the "gentleman" standing off to the side there.  Personally,  I think I'd be too embarrassed to have my photo taken standing beside the car I had just upended.  But that's just me I guess.
How do you even get going fast enough to put it over on its side anyway??

Oh and,  there's WAY more snow/ice/whatever on the ground now.  Like,  the snow plow just went by this morning.


That photo was from yesterday,  and the storm has continued on into today (Sunday).

T.C. had originally planned to take her sister to church in Hamilton. 

Not happening.

The Merc is pretty good in snow and ice, (it's that "all wheel drive" thing) but the trick would be getting TO or FROM the vehicle,  as all surfaces are a sheet of ice.

I haven't even considered stepping out the back door.  Probably sequester myself downstairs,  make a fire and bang away at the guitar.  Or honk away at the Saxomophone.
(Yes,  I own an alto Saxophone,  shut up.)

I *used* to play,  (like,  I even knew all the key signatures and shit)  and as a casual aside a few years back,  I mentioned that I wouldn't mind picking it up again.  Lo and behold,  T.C. bought me a sax for Christmas!   Holy Crap!   Now I have to really *do* something!
It didn't take me long to discover that,  even though I can still "play" the thing,  not having picked up a wind instrument in some 30 years means really not being able to play for anything more than a few minutes. 
It's hard work!
The muscle memory still seems to be there,  so it's not like I'm honkin' and squeekin'  like someone in Grade Seven Music or anything,  but still....


OK,  so now I'm just starting to do some sort of "stream of consciousness"  thing.

I'll go now.

Thanks for stopping by.   No more outside pics.  Not doing anyone any good at all.

Keep your stick on the ice.

The week that was.

Or something like that.

Title ideas are sometimes a wee bit elusive.

Anyhoo,   Travelling Companion and I took a little jaunt down to the States on Wednesday to check out a place that I'm sure many of you are familiar with.   It's really just another fabric shop,  but apparently has a bigger selection of quilting fabrics?   You've no doubt heard of Joann Fabrics?
Pretty uneventful.  Bought about twenty bucks worth of thread.  Had a look around.  From here it's really just over an hour away.  We then made a stop in Niagara-on-the-Lake for some lunch at the Oban Inn.   Spent way more on lunch than at the fabric place,  including the four and half bucks we had to pay to come BACK INTO CANADA.   Da f*k? 
Are we still paying for a bridge or something?

Anyway,  the food at the Inn was OK.  A little on the salty side if anything,  and T.C.  said her Chicken something or other had an odd taste.   I had the "Oban Burger",  and it was pretty good.  Just too salty.  I don't know what it is,  but a lot of chefs/cooks/whatever like to dollop on gobs of salt.  Like,  to the point where I've actually been able to *feel* my blood pressure rising.  And yes,  that's a thing.  When you can feel your heart rate in your head?  That ain't right.   Didn't happen this time,  but it's happened.

What I mostly recall from out little jaunt was,  at one point we pulled off of the thruway,  where we had to make our exit anyway,  and decided to slip in to a service road just to recheck our directions.  Well,  I couldn't get over the amount of TRASH at the side of the road!  And then I started noticing it everywhere.  Holy moly!  Get them prisoners out there picking up da trash guys!.   And I know I'm biased as all anything,  but there wasn't nearly that much trash on the Canadian side.  Seriously.  And usually when the snow melts is when you start to see it. 
OK,  I guess it must get cleaned up at some point,  since I just took a look on Google Earth View,  and there's no trash to be seen.

Anyway,  sorry I brought it up.

Then on Thursday,  Tree Cutting Dude showed up with his crew to cut down our last Ash Trees.  (sad face).
T.C. and I were on our way to Guelph to see a new arrival,  who came into the world on February eight.
Tree Cutting Dude did say that,  as the weather was worsening,  he might very well pull the plug on the whole event, as it ain't no fun being up a tree when the wind picks up and it starts to snow.

And it did.   But of course, anyone on the East Coast knows full well just what happened over the last few days.   We got hardly anything by the way.  Lucky for us.

So the tree is still there,  minus a bunch of branches that he cut off on the way up.  I know for sure he'll be back next week some time,  as he left two of his "throwing lines"  (for lack of a better term)  so he can get his other lines back up the tree without too much difficulty.

This is the little "noodle",  as my sister-in-law (the Grand-ma)  calls her.   

So there was a bunch of  the usual fussing over a new baby,   but this here blog ain't about little kids,  so we'll move on.

It's taken me a bit of prep to get to this point,  but I've finally put some floor paint on the area where my bench normally sits.  The base of the bench has enough finish on it at this point that I'm reasonably satisfied,  so once the floor paint cures in a day or two,  I'll move the bench back.  I really need to put the top on upside down at first and do some adjusting.  We'll see how that goes.  Even without the shoulder vise and tail vise,  the top is really quite heavy,  and hoisting up just one end is just about all I can lift. 


I guess that's about it.

Thanks for moving your eyes back and forth.

Keep that stick on the ice.

May has been a bit busy.

This is the post I went to upload this morning,  and subsequently got the "blogger not found"  thingy.

Copying and pasting however,  is a complete pain in the ass..
Just saying.



Trying to tell myself on a daily basis that I have no deadlines.  It’s mostly working.
We’re currently in “speaks” when it comes to ordering the countertop for the cabinets.  I have the last one in the shop getting it’s final bits of stain. 
 Then finish. 
Then the door.

 OK never mind. There’s a ways to go on that one.



I did take a few minutes to check out a possible second set of wheels last week.   The truck itself was in pretty good shape.  Annoyingly, although it was a “one owner” truck and not a work truck,  the previous owner hadn’t bothered to rust proof it.  No rust on it just the same except for the frame,  even though it was an 07.   That seems old,  but it’s a Toyota.   I might still follow up on it.  If it’s sold,  then so be it.  T.C.  seemed to think it was too old for what was being asked,  but the value doesn’t seem to drop like a stone like other brands.  
Not mentioning any names.

But all of that is on hold for a few days,  as “the boys” and I are heading off to Grand Bend of a “Guy’s Weekend”.  
We’ll try to not overdo it.  There are hockey finals to watch.  Beer to consume.  Good eats.  Possibly golf.  
That last one is a bit iffy.  We’ve HAD a few days of warm weather,  but now it has cooled considerably.  I didn’t manage to get out to a driving range.  It could get ugly.
We’ll see.

Monday night will be day two of “training” on the new boat.  I’m away for the Sunday gathering.  I’m sure I can catch up.  We’ll be racing with the “big boats” now.  First start sequence.  There will be no more looking to see who started on what tack and how that’s working for them.  Should be interesting.

It’s still sitting on the hard.  Goes in the water this afternoon.

That’s it for this missive.  Things to pack.  Coolers to sort.  That kind of thing.
See you on the flip side.


Thanks for stopping by.

A brief blog-cation.

For those of you who are friends on the Book of Face,  you already know that I'm briefly away from The Ponderosa,  for a little trip across the continent.  I'll update when back home.
Working with a tiny keyboard,  limited wifi etc.  Too frustrating.
Check back soon.

Thanks for stopping by.

For the peeps.

So I’ve been sending out emails,  making phone calls.  Texting.  But there only remains the blog.

T.C. came through her surgery yesterday morning just fine.  She opted for a version of a local anaesthetic,  even though she was fearful that she’d hear some sort of “chain saw massacre”.  However, the Doc assured her that they’d mix up a nifty cocktail that would either put her mostly to sleep or erase the entire event from her memory.  Seems to have been effective.  Plus, then she didn’t need to have a general anaesthetic which,  as we all know, can present its own set of issues.

Anyhoodle,  I’ve been hanging around the hospital for the last couple days.  Yesterday (surgery day) was a bit of a long one,  as we had to be there by something like 6:30 a.m.,  and the only thought that I had was, any time we have to be up and out the door at that hour or earlier,  there’s usually a flight involved.  Preferably to some place warm.  We only got to go to the hospital. Bah!

She has a “pain pump”.  I think that was the term they used.  It’s a method of injecting a morphine derivative directly into her IV.  Seems it only really takes the edge off,  and she hits that sucker about three times an hour,  or depending on what little event might be coming up,  like physio,  then it’s about ten minutes before any moving about. 

I mostly sit and read,  just to be there with her,  since the pain drug tends to make her sleepy.  That’s kind of a good thing,  as she was able to sleep the entire night through last night.  I don’t think I’ve ever made it through the entire night when in hospital.  Mind you,  it’s been about 20 years since I’ve spent a night in a hospital, so I’ve forgotten most of that experience.  Probably just as well.

They’ll be punting her out tomorrow afternoon,  providing that she can demonstrate that she can manage at least a half dozen stairs.   That’s her passport out.  And that’s only because we have stairs here at home.  Why did we let that slip out?

So I’ve got the cane,  the walker,  the various other gadgets.  I think we’re good to go.

And really,  using a walker?  Probably something that should be practised ahead of time.  It’s like rubbing your head and patting your belly.  It’s a certain skill set, with a very steep learning curve.  Just my two cents.

A walker is provided for her in her room, as she did have to use it a couple times to shuffle into the loo.  Well supervised I understand.

 

 

No pictures today.  Nothing of interest to photograph.   Did you want to see more snow falling??

I didn’t think so.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

One more off the list.

 

And outta here!

And really,  it only took me so long due to my own fussing about.  You know,  putting on coats of clear finish, trying different things.

Doing eighteen other things at the same time.

You know,  the usual.

I’m pretty sure I haven’t used an actual set of plans to make anything for a good twenty years.  Which basically sucks.

There’s something to be said for plans,  since they do tend to speed up the process.

You might recall that “box” that I had started for Daughter Number Two once upon a time?  Yes?

 

Well,  it’s as of today in its new home.

 

 

yay!

 

The function is two fold,  as it acts as a work surface as well as a storage area.  So mounting it on the wall at the correct height was kinda important.

 

Then when the fold down part is put back up,  the support part acts as a frame,  behind which she can put a poster or some such thing.

 

No poster in there yet,  but you get the idea.

It’s been a while since I’ve actually made anything,  so I did sort of bumble along a bit,  although I never did have to take anything apart. 

I’ve heard this can take place when it comes to sewing?  However,  on the woodworking end of things,  if it’s wrong,  it usually ends up in the scrap heap or fireplace.   We still do have one downstairs for just such an eventuality.

 

I suppose that’s my big accomplishment for the day,  and that’s pretty much all I got.

 

 

Here’s a half-assed recap,  in case you missed it.

(those were taken months ago,  I’m ashamed to admit)

 

Just to assure you that yes,  it did come from my shop.

I’m sure the next one I make will be heaps easier.  Only thing is,  there’s rarely a second one of most anything I make.

Gah.

 

Not much else going on today.

Oh, I did take a little jaunt down to the Etobicoke Yacht Club just after lunch to drop off the skipper of the boat I crew on,  along with one other crew person,  as they were going to sail the boat back to Bronte this afternoon.  It was the WOW regatta,  wherein three of the female crew members sailed in a regatta on Saturday.

 

The story goes that,  there were others who were amazed that: 1) The skipper of the boat was not only not there for the Saturday,  but had arranged to deliver the boat for the crew,  and 2) That there were only these three individuals on the boat.   “How did you manage?”

Well,  lemme see now,  two of the individuals have been crewing or helming that boat for 13 and 14 years respectively,  while the third lady (of an undetermined age)  has been crewing on various boats for at least a couple decades,  shall we say?  I’ll have to ask her one day.

Anyway,  the reason behind the WOW (Women on Water) regatta is to encourage all those who may be somewhat intimidated by the idea of sailing a boat in a race. (Which is usually the ladies,  the men won’t admit they’re confused….)

There’s a bunch of “stuff” to remember,  but the organisers made it easy peasy for everyone,  by calling out the signals and start times over the radio.  Which,  if you want to get fussy,  is NOT really the copasetic thing to do over a marine radio,  but I’m sure the Coast Guard simply ignored all that blather.  Plus,  they’re way down on channel 9,  which isn’t anywhere near the more important ones.

So don’t any of you Coast Guard Types get your epaulettes in a knot.

 

Looking back to Toronto from The spit.   Not sure that’s what they call it,  but that’s where the club is.

I didn’t have a chance to get any photos of them sailing off towards Bronte,  since I simply let them off in front of the clubhouse and that was that.

 

The logistics of these things can sometimes be a challenge,  although the last time I was involved with sailing the boat home,  we took the train to Toronto,  and then hopped on a street car that took us down to the National Yacht Club. 

Most times though,  it involves some “taxi” type person who is willing and able to either go and fetch someone or drop them off.  

Of course,  what is a half hour trip from here into Etobicoke, can be a three or four hour boat ride back home,  but their vehicles are there waiting for them,  so they’re on their own.

 

Lemme see?  Anything else?  Don’t think so.

 

Hope that wasn’t too taxing.  Thanks for stopping by.

 

.

Quoting Roseanne Roseannadanna.

I forgot that her first name was Roseanne,  but we’re talking ancient TV history here,  so cut me some slack.

 

And what I mean is,  “It’s always something.”

Took a couple pics this morning,  went to load them onto the ‘puter,  and it ended up taking me a fair chunk of time to get that sorted out.  Gah!

My “trial version” of the virus/malware/trojan protecting thingy had expired,  and I had been too lazy to go out to the net to find a replacement,  and that was the price I paid.   Not monetarily mind you,  just in aggravation. 

Seems that my SD card reader was being stubborn,  and it turns out it was indeed “something”.   I didn’t bother to take a screen shot of whatever little bugger it was,  but we punted it out.   Kind of like a computer enema.   Clean as a whistle.

 

OK,  let’s quickly move on to another image.

 

This was something that I would have preferred to have been doing yesterday,  but instead we went to a “Meet and Greet”.   That’s a back handed kind of term for a “Baby Shower”.   And I don’t “do” baby showers.

But,  since I had been made aware of the fact that other gentlemen would be there,  I figured I’d best take one for the team.

It was fine.  Really.

I didn’t do any “cooing”  or “oohing” or “aahing” when the presents were opened.  Nonetheless,  I was cordial,  had my one alcoholic beverage,  mandatory piece of cake,  and a that was that.   There were a couple individuals there that I had decided many years ago that I had little use for,  but like I said,  I was cordial.   (read:  if you can’t say anything nice,  say nothing.)

 

Having given a description of my demeanour,  I have to say that,  I was at least more enthusiastic than this guy:

Don’t know who they were.  Friends of friends,  or someone’s relatives.  I’ll never see them again.  But seriously?   Dude!  Lighten up a bit! At least pretend you’re interested.  Or go outside and hang out with the smokers.

 

Here’s another observation.  I notice that younger married couples do tend to think that they should be seated together at these types of ordeals er, gatherings.   Have you ever noticed that?  Oh, and Gawd help me if they start to get “schmoopy”.   You know,  holding hands and cooing and shit?

“Look everyone,  we’re a couple”.

Um ya.  Feck off.

See,  T.C. and I are quite content to leave each other alone in these situations.  I mean,  sometimes there’s the “post gathering debriefing” if I’ve said or done something perceived to be dumb.  But if I’m off on my own,  chances are we can avoid that scenario. 

So,  she can hold the baby,  and I’ll go off with the chaps,  quaff a beer,  and maybe talk about trailering horses.   Not that I know that much about trailering horses, other than they’re heavy and you need good brakes.  That’s pretty much the extent of my knowledge on the subject.

Don’t worry,  we’re not buying a horse.  So I won’t need to study up.

 

I thought there was a point to all this,  but after it took me so long to upload those photos,  I’ve kind of drawn a blank.

Oh right.  There was that thing about it being just that much warmer today. It’s *almost* shirt sleeve weather.  Of course,  that’s a subjective term,  so I suppose I could say it’s supposed to go up to 12°C.  You can do your own conversion.

So I decided to take “New and Shiny” out for a spin.  It’s no stretch that there were one or two things to pick up at the grocery store,  and I did have to stop in at the bank.

For those of you who haven’t exactly been around since 2009 when we bought our bikes,  I’m referring to the bike there in the shed.

It’s a proper Dutch bike.

What that means in a practical sense is,  you just get on it and ride.  The tires stay inflated and basically the thing is built to outlast me.  It doesn’t rust.  The hubs don’t dry out.  The brakes are fine.  I’ll stop now.

The funny thing is,  in the Netherlands I rode a bike year ‘round.   And that was sometimes in below freezing temperatures.  So that whole “Oh, we can’t ride our bikes because we get winter” argument goes right out the window.   As a matter of fact,  if you’re walking instead of riding a bike,  it’s almost as if you’re out of place.  Everyone rides.

Here though?  Anyone riding a bike in the wintertime is looked upon as some kind of kook.  In addition to which, our roads are really crappy.   So the bike stayed in the shed for the winter.  

Don’t get me started on the City of Burlington’s take on “Bike Infrastructure”.   They painted some “Sharrows”  on some roadways and declared that a successful campaign.  

A waste of perfectly good paint as far as I’m concerned.

 

 

These things. ↧

Those be “Sharrows”.   I know, it was a new word for me too.

I just shake my head.

 

See the oncoming transport truck there?  What if he’s on the phone?  You’re dead meat.

 

Nobody has the political balls to do anything about the worsening traffic and crappy public transit,  and I’m certainly not going to try and win any arguments. 

 

What’s that expression?  “You can’t fix stupid”?

 

 

Slipping into a rant here,  so let’s call it a day.  Hope you’re enjoying yours.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

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You’ve got to be kidding.

I’m not going to go looking anything up, since that would probably only be even more depressing,  but I just have this *feeling* that this is just about the nastiest March Break that I’ve ever experienced.

Back in the day when I’d work during March Break,  I’m sure I recall going outside in my shirt sleeves and not wanting to race back inside right away.  I mean,  you couldn’t necessarily stay outside in shirtsleeves for all that long,  but at least it wasn’t a blinding snow storm.

This is from this morning.

Yes,  this morning.  Not back in January. That would make more sense.

I’ve been out.  Did as much running around as absolutely necessary,  and that’s it.   Ain’t going out again until T.C. calls.  The Merc doesn’t mind the snow,  so she’ll likely stay at work for the duration,  whereas they’ve by now sent a few folks home already. 

You may have skipped over the part where I said, “worked during March Break”,  but yes, it was never my intention to head to an airport or the border during March Break.  It was one of the minor advantages of not being a part of the academic staff at any school where I worked. 

Hey, you have to take whatever good bits that are handed to you when you can.

The preference was to take about 10 days some time in mid-December and go off to some place warm.  Coincidently that was also the time when all the teachers would be hard at work getting their report cards ready.  And I’d be heading south.  Oh well.

There was some name calling.  I’m thick skinned.  And it was more along the lines of mock indignation.  As opposed to the feeling of REAL indignation of getting a f**king snow storm half way through March. 

And here I promised myself I wouldn’t start cussin’ or anything.  Can’t be helped.

 

Just a word to those in the south,  thinking they’ll need to be heading back here soon?  I don’t know man,  but you’d better hope you’ve got the proper wardrobe ready.  That’s all I’ll say.

Do they even make winter tires for RVs?   I guess I’d have to look that up.

 

Speaking of those who might need to come back in the next month or so,  I stole this idea from the internet the other day.  You know who you are.

 

This was last night’s meal that I cooked on the Weber,  but the food idea was something I saw cooking on someone else's blog. 

I thought,  “Hey, I can do something like that!”,  which is the crux of my “cooking skills”.  If it looks dead simple,  I might be able to pull it off.  That’s all I got.  It was chicken instead of sausages, not that I have any issues with sausages or anything,  but we had those the previous night.  I don’t take a picture of the grill every night.  I have enough pictures of snow to try most anyone’s patience,  so I’m not going to get carried away with the meals any time soon.

The asparagus had a liberal coating of Balsamic Vinegar,  and the slices of Sweet Potato got the Olive Oil treatment. Along with some seasoning.  Chicken = BBQ sauce.

 

I told myself I wasn’t going to start shovelling until the snow lets up, it’s already past 2:30 p.m.  and it doesn’t look like I’ll be out there anytime soon.   *mumble*

I’ll stop now,  before I feel the urge to start cussing again.

Well,  I suppose unless we have an earthquake it can’t get any worse, right? 

Forget I said that,  could be a bad omen.

 

Keep your powder dry.

 

Thanks for lookin’.

 

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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?

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:

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.  

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.

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. 

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:

 

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. Mañana.

 

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.

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.

 

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. 

Slippery Sunday.

We’re having a wee bit of an ice storm.  One of those times when having the car IN the garage instead of out in front of it is certainly the way to go.  Ever notice people don’t put their vehicles undercover even when they have a chance to do so?   Not going to judge.

Just got a call from our Festivus hostess thanking us for coming and making sure we got home OK.   Yes we had a Festivus gathering last night.  There were no “feats of strength” however.  Just good eats,  and a lot of laughter.

Anyway,  our Festivus hostess also mentioned that their power is out.  They’re in Toronto.   Remember how I’ve gone on about the City of Toronto not trimming their trees effectively or letting the residents do the same?  I’m going to go out on a limb here (oh, there’s a pun) and suggest that not sorting out the tree issue tends to make it more likely that your power will be knocked out. 

There,  I said it.

It’s just a theory mind you.

 

A Saturday night left over.

Of course,  just now our cable crapped out,  but I don’t have a lot of faith in Cogeco or their ability to keep their lines up in either a wind storm or in the event of a little ice.  I’ll call them up later and get a credit for today.  It’s worth the aggravation,  mostly for the satisfaction of having them adjust our monthly bill.  

Sounds petty,  I know.  But dammit, we pay good money for “reliable service”,  so that’s what I expect.

The driving last night wasn’t that bad at all.  It’s the parking lots, sidewalks and side streets that are a wee bit treacherous.  The salt trucks were out in full force.  I was a little concerned when Travelling Companion had to manage the last few feet to get into the house.   Falling on ones keester at that point is never a good thing.

We won’t be going anywhere today.  I’m not even convinced I should venture out to the shed.

 

 

Nor will I be going out to take some artsy pictures of the rime ice.  Looking out the window will have to do.

 

I decided to set up the last bed yesterday.  There would be boatloads of extra room,  except for the “stuff” off there to the left.  We won’t go there.

I was reminded of a little issue I had had when I was disassembling that bed back in Vienna.   And yes,  I realise that the movers could very well do those things,  but I just want them to pack it up so it doesn’t get damaged.  I’d sooner do the taking apart,  so I’ll know where all the little bits are.   On one occasion someone from one of the moves said, “Oh, we put all the hardware in a box.”   To which I replied,  “So if that box gets lost,  NOTHING can ever be put back together.”  The look on his face suggested a light bulb had just been switched on.  Dough head.

We didn’t opt for that scheme.  I keep the hardware with the item.  Then I know where it is.

 

Anyway, I managed to cross thread one of the bed bolts,  which definitely did suck,  but there was nothing I could do about it at the time.  Then of course,  I rediscovered that little issue yesterday. Gah!

 

So I had to put on my machinist’s cap.

OK, maybe that cap is a bit of a tight fit.  I mostly have no clue.  Nor do I have much in the way of machinist’s equipment.

If you don’t know what’s going on there,  don’t worry about it.

Good as new.

Hey,  I was pretty proud of myself.  

And that’s mostly because, like I said,  I really have no clue.  Thankfully the thread was the right size, or I would have had to quietly put away my little set of taps and dies and just crank down on the thing I suppose.

 

Well,  I guess that’s all there is in my pea brain. 

 

T.C. and I will pass our time watching “Game of Thrones” methinks.

 

Tally-Ho!

 

Thanks for stopping by.

I’m here. Really.

There seems to be certain subjects that do indeed bring forth the comments.  A snow storm seems to be one of them.   I don’t “do” religion or politics,  unless of course it involves making fun of politicians.  But that’s almost like cruelty to animals.  Dumb animals at that.

I guess I didn’t have anything to say yesterday that was worth saying.  I was a little taken aback to read about “Butterbean” Carpenter.  He last made a comment here on December 5th.  Maybe that’s why I just figured I had nothing worth while? 

We can get all maudlin and philosophical, but that won’t help matters any.

 

It’s a beautiful day here at the Ponderosa.  It snowed just enough this morning to make the parking lots greasy,  which makes it more of challenge to go on foot that by car.  There’s not much you can wear that will keep you from slipping in the snot.

 

I think the fellow across the road might have a bit of an issue getting into his place?  He lives up in Caledon on what I understand is a country property,  and I don’t know if he has a snow blower or a tractor with a blade.  Maybe he’s still snowed in?  Doubtful.

 

I didn’t mention what we did on Saturday,  did I?  During the storm.

Initially Travelling Companion wanted to go to a mass for her parents in Hamilton at EIGHT a.m.   And we managed to get about half way through town (it’s spread out,  so we’re talking maybe a couple miles) and decided to skip it.  There had been no plowing at all at that point in the morning and it was getting worse the farther west we went.  So it was back home for breakfast.

And that would have been all fine and dandy.  Hang out at home.  Shovel some snow.  No biggie.

However, there was a plan afoot to meet up with a former associate coming over from Austria who had stayed in Canada a couple extra days just to see us.  Just to see us. 

So we HAD to suck it up and go to Toronto later in the day.  There wasn’t going to be a “do over”.

This gentleman used to work with T.C. in the Company that Cannot Be Named,  and has since left to pursue other interests. 

Actually,  he told us later over dinner that he only stuck around as long as he did due to Travelling Companion.  When she said she was coming back to Canada,  he started getting ready for his exit.

He was in Nova Scotia for a few days seeing to a windmill venture that he’s involved in.   Really neat stuff,  but not exactly blog fodder.

He’s a huge hockey fan,  so we took him to the Hockey Hall of Fame down at the corner of Front Street and Young. 

I must say,  even though I’m not that big a hockey fan,  it was kinda cool.  Actually,  let me rephrase that.  I have no clue,  relatively speaking.  It has something to do with shooting a hard black round thingy into a net.  I’ll leave it at that.

We all enjoyed some of the neat displays. 

This is one of those times when,  even if you *think* you don’t know that much (see above) you begin to discover just how little you DO know?  My lack of hockey knowledge was staggering.

We were totally clueless as to how far back hockey goes in Canada,  and all the different types of equipment,  cups, trophies.  The list goes on.

There’s good old Lord Stanley.  Hence,  the “Stanley Cup,”   Not just some name pulled out of a hat.

That’s NOT the Stanley Cup,  by the way.

 

This is….  ↓

 

Or maybe it’s a replica?  I really have no clue.  All I know is,  if you had some random thought about grabbing it and running out the open door (yes,  the front door was open and it was freakin’ cold in there) I’m pretty sure there would be a bevy of Toronto’s finest chasing after you in fairly short order.  And, how you gonna get that thing under your coat?  Or run with it down the sidewalk?

So,  there were three different stops,  and three different underground parking garages.  (his hotel, the Hall of Fame and then dinner)   Didn’t have to trudge through the slush one bit.  Our friend had suggested taking the subway,  but I figured we could just crawl along Young street from his hotel on Gerrard to Front.  Wouldn’t have been any quicker by subway,  since you have to GET to the subway somehow.  

I probably shouldn’t offer any opinions on Toronto Transit,  since I don’t have to live there.  But I suspect that it’s not “The better way”.   That’s their motto.  And they’re not even using sarcastic font. 

Oh,  and they refer to themselves as a “World Class City”.  Try not to spit out your coffee!  

I don’t know man,  I don’t even OWN a crack pipe,  so I guess I’m missing out.

 

I shouldn’t bash Toronto I suppose,  but with the exception of a few new buildings, it still looks the same to me as it did back in the 60s when I first came to Ontario. 

 

So we made it there and back,  in spite of the roads.  Word is there were some 1700 traffic incidents on the weekend.  Or maybe it was just Saturday?  Not sure. 

I don’t quite know how to explain it.  It’s a heck of a sight more difficult these days to get your driver’s license in Ontario from back in the day when I got mine,  but the skill level has not improved.  If anything its gotten worse.  I don’t even think winter tires would help some of the dough heads that passed us going way too fast.  We caught up to at least one of them (that I recognised) who had spun out into the ditch.  The urge to stop and give a brief lecture is hard to resist.  But man oh man,  if there was ever a time…

 

Well,  I suppose I could go on about bad driving and poor infrastructure until my fingers start to hurt,  but that would begin to suck in a hurry.

I’m done.

 

Keep it between the ditches.

 

Thanks for looking.