We don't have a bird cage.

There was a budgie here in the house when we moved here,  but it took no time to get rid of him.   He was "relocated".   And no,  that's not the same as,  "he went to the farm".  But,  whatever.
His owners came and took him away.

So no need to line the bird cage with newspaper.   We do however,  have a wood burning fireplace,  so I always make sure that I set aside a certain amount of newsprint that comes to the door for just that reason.  I've heard it said that, "print media is dead",  and if that's not quite the case,  then I suspect that it's been on life support for some time.  Just the same,  there is enough newsprint floating around that I can start a fire whenever my little heart desires.

And where the heck am I going with this?

Well,  a few days ago I guess it was,  there was a tiny segment on the Toronto news about folks being upset about getting this one particular publication in their mailboxes.   "It's Propaganda!"  was the mantra.

Of course somebody,  the News People maybe?  contacted the Post Office to enquire about just why this was being circulated,  to which the Post Office more or less said,  "Um, because they're paying us."

Which,  in consideration of the somewhat poor financial situation of our Canadian Postal Service,  is probably a good thing.

Well yes,  it is in fact,  "Propaganda",  but if you think in general terms about just what propaganda really is,  then most anything that you read that might have a particular slant could be considered propaganda. 

Oh and,  interesting little side snippet,  the German translation for "word of mouth" is "Mund Propaganda".  Literally,  "mouth propaganda". 

So,  here's the publication,  or at least part of the front page:

I had a couple thoughts when I noticed it in our mailbox: 
First of all,  "oooh...we got mail".  (Because we don't seem to get mail every day these days)  and then, "Oh look,  they're delivering this crap all the way out here.  Huh."

I'm pretty sure my next thought was, "Welp,  now I have enough newspaper to have a fire tonight if I want."   And that was about it.

No calls to the media,  or Canada Post.

Oh and,  they're trying to say that the Coronavirus was a huge Chinese plot of some sort.  Really,  I didn't read it,  so I have no clue.  And hey,  maybe it was?  We'll never really know.  Nor will these folks who pretend to know enough to put it in a "newspaper".

Now,  I will say this.   What ever numbers are coming out of places like China or Saudi Arabia in terms of the stats on the Virus?   Not credible.   And really,  until every single citizen in any country you can name has been tested,  none of the numbers are really believable. 
Having said that,  even if the numbers are off by a couple percentage points,  there's a helluva difference between having more dead than the Vietnam War and say,  3800 plus deaths in a country like for example,  Canada.

Meanwhile,  this past weekend,  Daughter Number One had a birthday. And I realise that, at a certain point in time in ones life, birthdays are maybe not the huge deal as when one was say,  a teenager?   Speaking for myself,  I'd just as soon let birthdays slip on by with very,  very little fanfare.

I'm sure however that there would have been at least some cake involved and a song if it weren't for the Pandemic.

Instead,  there was a stream of visitors at the front of their house,  with some presents to unwrap.   No singing though.

T.C. made her a "clutch purse":

Now,  I'll say this about that.

Prior to the whole Pandemic thing,  any time that a present was being prepared here at The Ponderosa,  there was always the concern that it would be discovered at some point during the process.  You know,  folks come over for dinner,  there might be some reason to go to the sewing room,  or out to the garage.  Like that.
 
At one point maybe a month ago,  T.C. caught herself about to say,  "Oh,  I'd better put that stuff away."  and then realised that,  nobody's coming into the house.  And nobody will be for quite some time.

We were having a little discussion about just how cautious is TOO cautious.   Um,  I'm kind of on the side of,  there is no such thing as too cautious? 

Even though I might have the right of way on a rural road where the vehicles coming up on my side have a stop sign,  do I just keep barrelling on through,  hoping that that transport truck is going to stop?  Or maybe I just might slow down a bit and keep an eye on him.   What if he doesn't see the stop sign?  By the way, I'm thinking of this particular example.

Anyhoo,  that's all of my ramblings for today,  and maybe for a few days.

Thanks for stopping by.

Keep your stick on the ice.  And wash your hands.

Don't be fooled.

We get these things from various companies from time to time,  usually letting us know when their shareholder elections are coming up, and just how a person can go about voting.
This is pretty standard stuff. 
I've never, ever even entertained the idea of going off to some city in... (insert State or Province) to vote for some Board of Directors.  AND,  I've managed to tick the boxes enough times to no longer get these silly notifications.   Except for a couple.

Now,  I probably should let them know that we don't really need to read an annual report,  but it's still a pretty good read. 

Like I said,  "Don't be fooled".

These aren't the really pricey shares.  These are the cheap ones. 

Curiously,  they have a fair amount of money invested in Airlines.  I wonder how that's working out for them. 

I'm just going to now put in some random pictures,  as I have very little else to say.  Well,  except that, after taking T.C. to just one more store yesterday,  we probably needn't crawl out of our abode for another six weeks.  Some sort of "ground hog" syndrome.

The other night,  I cooked up some burgers,  and was thinking of George Yates.   Even before his untimely death a while back,  it seemed that he always came to mind every time I fired up the Weber.

T.C. wanted a picture of her daffodils.  Not sure if this will do.

There's not too much else happening out there,  and she's waiting patiently for the weather to warm up just ever so slightly so she can start messing about with her roses.



It's been a cold,  windy and sometimes wet April so far. 
And just you wait,  one day it'll blast up into shorts weather,  and we'll all be wondering just what the hell happened.


On my end of things,  my nephew dropped off a table that I said I'd strip for them.  I remember this table from when he and his new bride lived in our basement apartment back in the early 90s.   It's definitely showing the signs of having raised three kids,  along with a few cats and dogs.

It's been sitting out there since Saturday,  and I only yesterday decided to slap some stripper on one of the leaves.  Just have to do it.  I'll plug away.

I like to pretend that I'm "busy",  but that fits in with the theme of this missive.

They're not in any hurry for it (well,  they'd better not be!)  as they're moving to a new place in May which,  admittedly is coming up pretty soon. 



I guess that's all I got.   We'll be having a little Zoom session this afternoon with our usual Pub bunch,  so we'll see how that goes.

Thanks for stopping by and moving your eyes back and forth.

Keep your stick on the ice.

And wash your hands.

Fun with concrete.

And you'll notice I didn't say,  "cement".  This is I'm sure some sort of character flaw,  but I find it somewhat irksome when concrete is referred to as cement.   Bzzzzt.  Not the same.  There's cement IN concrete,  along with water,  and aggregate (sand and stone),  but cement by itself won't do much.

Anyhoo,  I'm not so sure it was actual "fun",  except of course,  that giddy feeling when the whole ordeal is finally over.
And really,  it's not quite "over"  yet.  I still have to hang a gate there,  and install a panel between that post and the house.

The wooden bits are there to keep things in place until the concrete cures which,  is probably just about....now.  As I was using some of that "quick crete"  kind of stuff that sets up almost instantly.

The "fun" part (and again,  it really wasn't)  was chipping away at the existing concrete that had been poured there by the previous owner.   Oy.   See,  there was this sort of greenhouse type of lean too that was there when we moved in. And right about where I wanted to put that post,  there had been a doorway. The previous owner (that would be my late father-in-law)  had this somewhat goofy idea that he'd be able to grow stuff for most of the year.  All that really happened was that he got a lot of bugs.

Oh and,  if you're hanging around,  thanks.    I have been painfully absent.   Just doing summer stuff.

Ooh look.  Here,  I'm on a boat.

I'm the idiot making with the bunny ears behind the head of one of my crew mates.  I'm sure she's seen that picture.  Surprised she hasn't said anything.  This was a Saturday regatta just last week.  Normally we don't have that many bodies on the boat,  as it's a wee bit tender,  meaning that weight distribution can be a challenge,  but we figured,  what the hell.  The more the merrier.

It's been a pretty good summer so far for sailing well,  with the exception of some of the earlier days when there was no wind.  AND,  we've had some seriously high water levels on the lake.

Here's a good example:

That area is normally ....dry.   This was back in June.   It's by now finally gone down,  but whether they've turned the power on at the slip yet or not is still the question.

This picture was taken after the town had come along and build a boardwalk on top of the existing boardwalk.  Which begs the question,  as this event happened two years ago,  and is likely to happen again,  why not just build a proper elevated board walk?  Then there would be no need to turn off the power?  Maybe?

Couldn't do that of course.  That would make too much sense.



Anyway,  I think that's all I got.   I'm off to grill up some burgers and cook some corn. 

Keep that stick on the ice.

Thanks for stopping by.

I got three years.

And no,  that's not a sentence,  that's a reprieve.

See,  since the early part of 2014,  I've so far had three "visits" involving a certain "procedure",  for which one has to do something referred to as "prep".
Any of you who have had this lovely experience will know exactly what I'm talking about.  It's something everyone should start doing after about the half century mark,  but of course,  I procrastinated just a tad, and then there was that whole European thing,  and I didn't really want to get started on something in Austria.  As it was,  I did have another issue investigated when I was in the Netherlands,  and that diagnosis was somewhat inconclusive.
But that's another story.
And this ain't a "medical" blog,  so that's enough of that.

Anyhoodle,  there's much more than a hint of a family history of colon cancer (Mom had a colostomy,  my Uncle Ernie had a colostomy,  should I go on?)  so needless to say,  these "visits" could be considered somewhat life saving.  At least in my case.

I don't mean to be overly dramatic,  but really,  them polyps can eventually kill ya.
Just saying.

Last Thursday was the day of my "visit",  which was scheduled for eight a.m.   The instructions direct  you to take the second package of that nasty powdered stuff at five,  but (and this is where past experience comes in)  I decided to get up at four and get that started.  It really blows to be feeling somewhat "stressed",  shall we say?  on the way to the procedure,  or looking for a bathroom when you're waiting to go in.
And again,  for anyone who has done this,  I ain't just kidding when I use the term "blows".
Wakka wakka!

*Ahem*

Anyway,  the Doc did say he found three little guys,  but depending on the pathology,  I won't need to go back for three years.  Oh ya,  baby!  Under the category of,  "what makes you happy?"   That one's right up there.  That and beating the spread in the football pool,  but hey,  if I suck at making my picks,  ain't gonna kill me.


Meanwhile,   T.C. and I put the truck to use this week,  as we headed in to Toronto to the "Tile District"  for lack of a better term,  to fetch all the tile I'll need for my bathroom reno.
When it became evident that I had a truck,  we were asked to hang out at the warehouse door for a few minutes while they put everything on a skid.

I suppose this is the first time T.C. has ever been with me in a truck when something somewhat heavy is loaded into the back,  since she was ever so slightly wide eyed when I got back in after checking over and signing for the skid.
I did a little quick arithmetic, knowing that each box of tiles weighs at least 50 pounds (52.5 actually) and came up with a conservative load coming in at 1100 pounds.

So needless to say,  the truck did "squat" ever so slightly,  which was just enough to freak out T.C. just a tad.

Initially,  we put it all in the garage,  but over that last day or so,  I've managed to bring it all inside and stack it in the room across from the bathroom where it'll eventually end up.

The only other little job this week was to put in a couple shut offs for the tub,  so that I can isolate the water when I rip it out.

 The shut off with the green handle is for an outside hose bib.

This is an area that is in the garage ceiling,  so it's entirely doable,  but a bit of a tight spot just the same.  You'll notice my "heat shield" up in there.  Burning the house down wouldn't be good.  I also keep a spray bottle of water on hand,  and give the wood a bit of a bath after I'm done.   It wasn't easy getting all the water out of the lines to get the brass up above its "kindling" temperature,  but the valves are in and tucked up out of the way.


We're still waiting on the rest of the components to come in,  which means I'll mostly only be working at taking out the old tile.   We'll use the bathroom for as long as possible,  and then "move" downstairs to the basement.  The bed in that bedroom is the one we had in Vienna,  and I'd dare say it's better than the one we sleep on now,  it being a King size and all.

Stay tuned.

And thanks for stopping by.


.

It was a blustery day.

And pretty much still is. 

 

I got a chuckle when I saw the sign Daughter Number Two had drawn for work today.

(she works at a deli)

 

Being out that close to the water was one of those “hang onto your hat” moments.   

As it happened,  I took a little drive over to Bronte Harbour,  mostly just to get turned around,  and happened to notice something not quite right at the boat.

 

Not sure how the darned sail cover managed to work its way just about clean off,  but thankfully it had wrapped itself around one of the shrouds.  I saw no point in trying to wrestle the thing back on in the strong wind,  (it’s mostly there to protect against the sun,  and we had damned little of that) so I simply removed it the rest of the way and pitched it down the companionway (the hatch).

 

The thread holding the front zipper is somewhat pooched,  so it’ll need a wee repair job over the winter methinks.

I cinched up a couple of the sail ties, tightened the main sheet a little so the boom wouldn’t slap around,  and left.

There were some other folks there sorting out lines and bumpers,  and as I was heading home I caught a glimpse of the owner on his way to the slip.  I left him a message as to where his sail cover was.

 

There was supposed to be a “pursuit race” today, for which we had decided earlier in the week that we wouldn’t have enough crew,  so we weren’t planning on going out anyway.   

There were absolutely no vessels on the water.  It was a foregone conclusion that the race was cancelled.

There was only one other time that I recall,  at the tail end of Hurricane Juan,  when we were told to come off the water by the Coast Guard.  I also seem to recall that one or two fishermen were *ahem* fished out of the water that weekend.  It boggles the mind sometimes just how small the boats are that those guys go out in,  and also the types of conditions. 

You wouldn’t see me out there.

Today’s conditions were even worse than anything I’ve ever seen up to this point.   And we’ve been out in some pretty nasty sh*t. 

It’s called “experience”, most of which is bad.

 

Still liking that insert.  Just playing with slate tile installation ideas.   And yes,  there’s a Carbon Monoxide detector just to the left of that photo.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Keep your stick on the ice.

Just as greasy as I remember.

I mean,  it was fine and all, but I thought we had more or less decided to move on from the greasy pizza situation.  I thought we were having the left over chicken soup that I had made on Sunday,  but Travelling Companion had a hankering for some Pizza Hut pizza. 

You definitely need your fork and knife.  Gah.

 

Anyway,  thought I’d check in.

I haven’t even spent the copious amount of time I usually do checking other blogs.  Not that I’m in some sort of blogging funk,  but there hasn’t really been anything new and exciting.

The snow is melting. 

This is good.

Not as warm as I’d like,  but it’s March Break.  It can go either way.

I seem to recall those times when I’d be able to go out to the dumpster in my shirtsleeves.  But only briefly. 

So this is pretty average. 

Any temperatures above freezing are just fine with me when it comes right down to it.   We’ve had a cold February.

They’re STILL getting snow in the Maritimes,  so it’s all good in these here parts.

Just wanted to clarify that.

There are those who have flocked off for the break.  All the more power to ‘em.  I’ve never had any great hankerings for travel right around Spring Break time. 

First of all,  the weather anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon line can be iffy,  so flying can be a crap shoot.  Unless you’re going to drive.  Drive to Florida for a week?  Well,  maybe when I was in my twenties. 

Not these days.

 

 

I’ve been kind of muddling along in the cabinet department.  This first one has a few things going on,  since I wanted to have it prewired for a small LED lamp,  as well as having access to a receptacle on the wall on the right hand side.  There’s a very good chance that some sort of music producing device may be housed in there. 

A stereo?  A wee man and a fiddle?

Probably best to go with the stereo.  That fiddle music can start to get ones nerves.

 

While I was waiting for the glue to cure on the drawer I had made for that cabinet above,  I started digging through the drill press cabinet,  and realised I never did put any finish on the fronts of the two little drawers that it holds.

I got the bottom out of the one, but I’ll be darned if I could get the other one out.  Must have been a bit sloppy with the glue.  I didn’t want to use anything more persuasive than my fingers,  since there was nothing to grab onto at the back anyway.  The little side cutters were for removing the common nails.  Just sayin;.

 

Not much else.

Went to a curling bonspiel on Saturday.  It was an enjoyable time,  although I really and truly suck at curling.  Just needed about…eight more games to get the hang of it.  

He says.

It ain’t easy. 

I think I’ll stick to watching it. 

Travelling Companion said something about lawn bowling.  Doesn’t involve ice.  Well,  except maybe the ice in the drinks.  We just might look into that.   It’s outdoors.  It’s sunny.  It’s a smooth surface.  Falling is optional.

 

 

Anyhoodle.  Hope all is well in whatever neck of the woods you find yourself.

Keep that stick on the ice.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

The week that was.

How many days is it until spring?  Something under 50 I think,  but I’m not going to start any countdowns.  I suspect the result would only end in disappointment, since we could have a “late frost” or some such thing.

Hey, it’s Canada where,  if you’re not happy with the weather,  just wait a day or two.  Mostly.

We’ve been kind of dodging the wintery bullet up until this point,  so when they  (you know,  “they”?) are calling for a snow storm for later today,  I figure we’re about due.

Looks like I’ll be needing to use the snow brush after leaving tonight’s Super Bowl Party.  *grumble*.  Haven’t really had to do much of that so far this winter, mostly since the Merc stays in the garage whenever there’s a chance that I might have to scrape a windshield or brush off snow.   If you have a garage,  why would you choose to fill it with junk and then park your car outside?  In our case,  that’s the reason I built the shed.  But that’s kind of a smug thing to say.

 

Do as you please.

I don’t think I have much else to offer.

Well except that,  in other “news”,  the lens on my Nikon decided to bite the dust.  Just refused to move.  No idea why. 

I think I’m done with Nikon.  Sad to say.  The D40 has at this point probably taken upwards of 12,000 photos,  so that’s all fine and dandy,  but within six months of buying the thing (this would be Easter of 2009) it decided to crap out.   Had to send it back to get repaired in Mississauga.  That’s right.  Even though Nikon is “world wide”,  any warranty issues need to be dealt with in the country from which the camera was purchased.   Just remember that when you see a “sweet deal” in a foreign country.

In my case,  we were living in the Netherlands,  and the camera ceased to function on a trip to Slovenia.  I had the little Canon as a back up,  thankfully.

Anyway,  it’s never worked right since.  Quite often the lens doesn’t want to “talk” to the body,  so it won’t fire unless you detach and reattach the stupid thing,  and then the other day it just froze up.  It’s really now only so much glass and plastic.  Maybe a little gold on the contacts.  But mostly, junk.

 

Speaking of junk.  I thought I had another piece of it on my hands about mid week,  when I thought I’d do a little practising out in the shop.  As with anything that takes a modicum of skill,  cutting dovetails whether by hand or machine,  is something that you have to keep at,  or you get rusty.  Or at least I do.

So this abomination  dovetail jig that I have was giving me trouble.   It mostly needed some lubrication.  Plus,  one of the treaded rods looked as though I had dropped something against it.  Thankfully I have a set of taps and dies,  so it’s all good again. 

Which means of course,  it took me what seemed like most of the day to come up with two little storage thingies that I thought I’d conjure up for one of Travelling Companion’s sewing cabinet drawers. 

Just for something to do.

 

These pictures were taken pre lens crap out,  by the way.

Here’s what I was getting afterwards.

 

See anything?  Me neither.

After that,  it wouldn’t even do that.

Anyhoodle,  I do have another Nikon lens,  but it’s off an F70,  and it doesn’t talk to the body.  So that means I have to try and focus the thing myself. 

You can see what then happens.

 

Like that’s a good result.   *sigh*

I can’t see a blessed thing without glasses on,  and even after I’ve taken the photo and checked on the back of the camera (with my glasses on) I really can’t tell how it’ll turn out. 

Until I put it on a much bigger screen,  like the computer,  say.

 

I did get this one,  but that was a pure fluke.    Just outside our bedroom window.

So,  things that I want to take pictures of, I can’t.  And stupid things like stupid squirrels, turns out just fine.  mmmm.

I know I’ve bitched about that camera in the past,  and have threated to buy something new,  and still I’ve been sitting on my hands.  You may recall my previous grumblings along those lines.  You may ALSO recall that I’m somewhat parsimonious. 

Look that one up. 

I think there’s a picture of me,  right next to Scrooge McDuck.

 

Well OK, maybe I’m not *that* bad.  

 

My preference would be to support one of the local camera shops,  such as Duncan and Wright,  rather than ordering from say, Amazon.ca.  But that’s a matter of whether they have what I'm looking for,  and just now after perusing their website,  I’m not holding out much hope.  

 

So keep those sticks on the ice.  Hope your team wins.  Doesn’t matter too much to me at this point,  since I was too low in the pool standings (even though in the top 10%) to have any chance of being in the money.    I’m leaning towards Seattle. 

Just putting it out there.

 

Talk amongst yourselves.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

So much for that trend.

There’s that moment when you’ve said something,  and you then later regret it ever having passed your lips?  I don’t mean saying something nasty to someone.  I’ve tried to curtail that sort of thing over the last say, couple decades.

Otherwise there’s the “post visit debriefing”.  No guy likes one of those.  You know,  when the conversation starts out with, “You shouldn’t have said….(fill in the blank).”

No, I’m talking about saying things like,  “Well, I sure don’t mind that there’s been no snow so far this winter.”  “Nyuk nyuk.”

Feeling all smug.

That kind of thing.  Best to just shut up and move on.

It’s almost like “jinxing” it.  Or at least that’s what it feels like.  I know for sure that we never comment on how “well” we’re doing when on the race course.  That’s an absolute no-no.  There’s the sense that,  just as soon as you say something to that effect,  the head sail will totally rip right in half.  Or something equality terrifying and/or game ending will take place. 

Curious bit of human behaviour, yes?

 

Anyway,  we’re getting it.

And we’re only on the very edge.  This is just Lake Effect stuff.

 

There was just a light dusting earlier this morning,  which is why we figured the cleaning lady (don’t like that term, but there it is) would certainly be on her way.  

She didn’t make it.  Comes in from Hamilton.  There was no snow there.  There’s no snow just to the East of us.  We just happen to be right in its path.

Swell.

 

Of course,  we didn’t know that earlier this morning,  and since neither of us like to be here when she’s here doing her thing, we opted to go out for breakfast.

Actually,  Travelling Companion figured she’d hide out in her sewing room,  but then remembered that she had a conference call at 10:00 a.m.   So fine,  after breakfast I dropped her off at The Company that Cannot be Named.

For breakfast, we thought we’d get away from the usual fare of eggs in some form or other,  and decided to have pancakes.

.

OK,  this is the amount of pancakes we had left over AFTER we had had our fill.

When our server brought them out,  neither of us quite knew what to say.  Was the cook using up the batter?  Was it because I had said that whoever was on the grill on Mondays was maybe using a little too much oil?  This is my regular Wednesday morning place of breakfast,  so I’m not going to not say something, but that was the other reason we thought we’d shy away from eggs.  Last time we were there on a Monday,  our cheese omelettes were a wee bit too greasy.  

I’ve never been one to turn away food,  or complain about getting too much.  I mean,  who does that?  Are ya mental?

Besides,  yer payin’ for it Dummy,  just take it home.

So fine,  I had a couple more pancakes when I got home at around 11:00.   Only this time with real maple syrup. We were given Aunt Jemima to put on our pancakes.  Meh, no big deal, but there is certainly a big difference between actual maple syrup and Aunt Jemima.  Sorry for those of you who think there’s some possible similarity,  but you’re just wrong.

The bottle had the modern version of Aunt Jemima and everything.

 

 

I couldn’t seem to find a decent image to pilfer.  She doesn’t wear the dew rag anymore. Did you know that?

Too offensive? 

Just needed a make-over?

 

When you see some of the older renditions, that’s when you really start to feel yourself make that painful face.

 

Oh dear. 

Sad to say,  my dear ole Pappy could do a pretty good imitation of someone with those particular qualifications (I’m treading on thin ice here).  Shall we say, grammar skills? 

I would just cringe whenever he’d start to imitate what he considered to be a perfect rendition of a “person of colour”. 

Different generation. 

Different…moral compass?

Probably why he really got a kick out of All in the Family.  I felt sorry for Edith.  And Meathead. 

I do realise that it was a show to poke fun at the likes of Archie Bunker,  but I’m afraid that message went right over the head of many viewers.  Including my dear ole Pappy.   Poor sap.  

 

Anyway,  let’s not get all maudlin.  Or sentimental.  The snowstorm could be depressing enough.  

See what I did there?  It’s a depression?  Huh huh?

 

 

OK I’ll stop now.

 

Keep your powder dry.

 

Thanks for looking.

What the sun does to my brain.

I started blathering on about something or other on Friday,  and I’ve just now turfed it out.  Something to do with it being sunny out. 

Well, not anymore.

I was about to head out to the mall that morning (I know!)  to pick up some Christmas cards,  when around the corner comes Gas Man number two.  This is the fellow I’ve hired to hook up the generator once we had our new bigger meter installed.

He used this rather cool flexible plastic coated corrugated stuff,  that worked out quite nicely.  I couldn’t quite visualise just how it would work with black pipe,  because it’s getting a little crowded back there.

I took the opportunity to sort out a little issue I had with the “skirt” that goes around the base of the generator.

Taking away the platform and the steps makes it a whole heap easier to work back there.

The thing is,  when I went to install this “skirt”,  the darned grounding lug was right in the way.

Somebody missed something on the drawings I guess.  So I drilled a couple holes in the plastic, which gives just enough room to get a length of copper in there.  Mind you,  the fellow who came out a couple weeks ago (from whom I’ve heard nary a peep)  said they like to use aluminum,  since it’s not as tempting to steel.  We’ll see.

Anyway, the gas is hooked up.  Of course I took that with the ladder sitting there.  Dough head.

 

He had some gray Tremclad with him,  and offered to touch up the existing line.  Something I’ve been meaning to do.  I happily let him.

It’s not even a requirement in a residential situation,  but it never hurts to keep the line painted.  Plus, it just looks better.

 

Then I put everything back together in time to get T.C. to her hair appointment Friday afternoon.  Yes,  it seems that one cannot properly convalesce from knee surgery if one’s hair is starting to show its true colour.  *ahem*

 

Hey, whatever.  She’s now quite proficient at managing stairs,  getting in and out of the car,  and generally getting about. 

Within reason.

The very bright people at the hair salon hadn’t quite grasped the concept of “due diligence”,   since there was a good inch of slush outside their door.   I offered to shovel it away when I went to pick her up later,  and that was enough to shame the one fellow into getting out there and sorting it out.  I guess they haven’t had a lawsuit yet.  Their turn will come.

I was relating to T.C. on the way home in the car how,  in my former life as a Caretaker,  we had to document each and every time we shovelled and/or spread ice melter.   Helped cut the lawsuits WAY down.  Judges like “due diligence” it seems.  But that’s all I’ll say about that.  Some folks be dumb,  and don’t wear the proper footwear,  just sayin’.

 

Oh,  forgot to mention.  We did get a visit from the cable company.

Naturally,  it was during the snow storm.   He tested the line back roughly 25 meters and couldn’t detect a problem.  I strongly suggested simply replacing their modem,  since they tend to crap out on the order of roughly every two years or so.  That’s what he did,  and we’ve not had any outages since. 

More than a happy coincidence,  methinks.

There was also a phone conversation I had with someone on their billing end of things,  and I believe we’ll be getting a bit of a reduction.  I think my exact words were,  “We can’t have this”.  And this was because T.C. was on a conference call,  and the internet crapped out.   Not good.  Not acceptable.

So we’ll see. 

She was using her cell phone, by the way.  Never a good idea to rely solely on one mode of communication if it’s absolutely essential that you not get cut off.

 

 

I guess that’s it for this missive.  Not much excitement here at The Ponderosa.

 

Keep those sticks on the ice.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Time to clean up.

Before my head explodes.  I can only handle the disarray for so long,  and then I start to get grumpy.

I didn’t take any more pictures, but you get the idea.  What’s missing is enough boxes to put all the scraps in.  Of course,  the grocery store down the street doesn’t have much of an empty box selection on a Sunday.  I’ll go back there tomorrow and take a look.  A fair amount of that will end up in the fireplace.

The wood burning one in the basement, that is.   I should probably give some to my sister-in-law as well,  since she does use her wood burning fireplace from time to time.  It’s mostly only good for kindling,  but at least there’s some value in getting some heat out of what would otherwise be garbage.

 

So with the exception of two pieces of tongue and groove that I’m missing,  that’s the end of “phase one”.  Although,  I never did think in terms of “phases”, but we still have the copper ends to put on along with the new windows that I have yet to order. 

What’s up there now isn’t staying.  We’ll actually be able to open and close windows without the frustration that accompanies anything to do with the ones there now. 

I guess the original idea was to not have any windows,  which is what I’ve seen in Austria and Slovenia,  but then there are the squirrels to reckon with.  So even if I fixed it so that nothing could get from there into the attic,  they’d still be crappin’ everywhere and causing huge amounts of destruction. 

Ain’t gonna happen.

Oh and by the way,  since having taken those two pictures,  I’ve taken down the rest of the scaffold and taken away that ladder,  but not before reattaching the down spout in its proper place.   Temporarily of course,  since we have a company on its way to replace all that stuff in the not too distant future. 

And here I was thinking we’d go to a cottage for a few days. 

Again,  ain’t gonna happen.

 

We worked like dogs all yesterday to get it done,  in the pouring rain to boot. 

My feet were like prunes.

We wrapped it up at 4:45 though!   Ha!

I had already made the commitment that the scaffolding was due to be picked up Monday morning,  plus I wanted to release Carpenter Dude from my employ at the end of the day.  He’s done.

Now I realise that some of you had said something to the effect that I could very well have done this on my own?   Well yes.  I suppose so.  I do have the skill set.

However,  having Carpenter Dude here “on the clock”  was the ultimate motivation to get it done.

Sometimes you needs to pays yer money. 

And then just “suck it up Buttercup”,  and move on.   Saying,  “Oh I’ll do it myself”,  starts to wear a little thin after 10 or 20 years. 

 

Basically, I’d still be out there,  most likely for the rest of the summer.  I know what I’m like.  About mid day,  I’d “need” a nap.

And then after that?   Too groggy to do much else.  And so on.

 

And how depressing would that be?  Having this project looming over my head.  Never quite done.   There’s more “on the list”.  Trust me.  So it’s not like I’m ever really *done*.

 

Now,  speaking of fireplaces,  my next little concern will be getting the “exhaust hat”  on the chimney cap along with the ‘in’ and ‘out’  tubes that have to run down to the gas insert that needs to go in.   I want to have that sorted out before too long,  since we’ll be getting a new roof presumably sometime in September,  and after that I’m not going up there.  It’s a metal roof,  from these guys.

 

Oh,  and did you know,  that if you use some sort of card (we have a debit card system here in Canada) at Home Despot,  you can take stuff back within 90 days and you don’t need your receipt?   I just found that out this morning.  I had bought boatloads of the adhesive that we were using,  and took back all the extra tubes that were never opened.   We’re talking like fifty bucks here.  No point in keeping ten tubes of PL Premium hanging around.  When am I ever going to use that much adhesive?  I’ll get some more if I need it.

 

I guess that’s all I have in my pea brain.

I’ll resurface in a day or so if I think I have something worthwhile to say.

 

 

Keep it between the ditches.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

.

Man, were we ever lucky.

I’m almost afraid to jinx it by even talking about it,  but we didn’t lose our power the whole time that others around us are without.  And some (many) are *still* in the dark. 

Daughter Number Two and hubby decided to hang out with us yesterday for most of the day, as their place was without power,  and at one point later in the afternoon we were considering whether to go back and pack up the dog and cat,  but then their power came back on around seven I think it was.   And how did they know this you might ask?   Well,  one of the folks in the building is a friend on the Book of Face,  and he had stayed behind.  It wasn’t like it was really bitterly cold or anything,  and he had work to do.  At one point though,  he said it was getting too dark to draw.  He’s a artist of the comic book variety,  so he just sits and works. 

Anyhoodle,  I don’t have a whole lot to offer at the moment.  We’ve done our running around in order to fetch the turkey, ham and what have you.  So we’re *done*.

Until we think of something that we’re missing of course.  There’s some sort of law about that.

Saw this little guy just hanging out, outside our kitchen window this morning.

I’m guessing he was up there trying to get a little dried out?  It’s pretty damp out there.

Speaking of laws,  and by that I mean Murphy’s,  there was a message when we got home that there was a leak,  and would I mind coming to take a look?

Come to find out,  when Daughter Number One’s significant other went to brush his teeth this morning,  he found himself standing in just a little bit of water.  In his sock feet.  That’s never fun.

So it turns out that the over flow for the sink has a slight leak.  That was a bit of a relief I suppose,  since I wasn’t sure if it was a leak on the pressure side of things, or the drain side of things.  The overflow is a bit of an odd arrangement, since it consists of a channel that appears to be stuck onto the outside of the bowl, leading from the overflow down to the drain.  No wonder it started to leak. 

There was a brief discussion about plumber’s putty,  but I know from previous experience (most of it bad) that it’s best to just put in a new sink and be done with it. And a better one at that.

The aggravation of trying to fix a leak that you can barely detect is never a good option.  HOWEVER,  the interim solution is to put a pan under the damned thing and sort it out some time in January.  It’s too close to Christmas,  the stores are all mobbed,  and I have no desire to get something half ways apart and discover there’s some little thing missing.  It’s a law.  It’s gonna happen.

And that’s about it for today I’m thinking.  Travelling Companion made a couple pumpkin pies to match the two apple pies from yesterday,  which means I stay clear of the kitchen.  

The remainder of the activities between now and Christmas Eve consist of more food preparation, present wrapping, and ingesting copious amounts of the food that’s been prepared. 

I’ve lost count, but we’re expecting in the neighbourhood of 20 for dinner.  We’re not entirely sure.  It’ll depend on the weather for some, and their state of well being for others.  Meh, we’re flexible.

 

Try not to overdo it.

 

Thanks for stopping in.

Thought I was having a stroke.

Well,  the first time it happened,  that was the thought that popped into my head.  This time, I knew better.

I was standing there at the counter,  just about to order my stamps and had decided to put on my specs.  As it was, everything was pretty blurry from having just come in from the cold,  but then it got worse when the glasses were added to the equation. Whoa! What’s going on here?

Took me a second or two to realise that no, I wasn’t having some sort of an “episode”,  but rather that a lens had fallen out.

Crap.

At least it was still in the case, and not crushed to bits on the floor. 

Naturally,  being in need of glasses in order to see how to fix your glasses,  presents a bit of a conundrum.  Thankfully they had “cheaters” on sale at Shoppers. 

I have to say, this is one of those little “jobs” that I do tend to ever so slightly dread.  I have to choose my words carefully here too,  since there are possibly readers out there who just might be the recipient of a piece of mail over the next few days. 

Let’s put it this way, once upon a time when I was in school (and you can take that to mean whatever you want) there was always that sense of dread when it came to writing an essay.

You had to just sit down and “do it”.

It’s kind of like that with me and Christmas cards.  Ironically, I definitely find it easier these days to sit down and bang out a 1000 word essay.  Mostly because I don’t *have to*, not to mention the slight issues I might have with verbal diarrhea.  Hell,  I’d probably have to cut out great big chunks.

Oooh, that “chunks” image wasn’t the best,  was it?

Anyway,  we’re done.  Boom.  Went through the list,  checked it twice.  I’m missing a couple addresses but there’s not too much I can do about that.   Doc Emmet moved to Yarmouth and I have no clue what their address is,  so we’ll see if they send us something. 

Oh, I meant to say my brother John.  Sorry.  Freudian slip.

 

I managed to knock off another little job yesterday afternoon.  The new washing machine is “up and running”.  More than one meaning to “up” as well.   You may recall that I had built a stand for the thing?

 

There she be.

I don’t mind saying,  getting that thing up there was a bit of a workout.  And I don’t “work out”.   I guess I haven’t completely lost my “lifting, grunting, snorting” mojo just yet.   But there was a drop or two of sweat involved.  Oy.

Sadly,  the other machine to the right there has got to go.  Even though it still works. Dammit.  Just clunks when it spins. 

 

All kinds of fancy stuff going on there.

 

Maybe I should start taking in laundry?   Let me see now,  what would be our motto?  “If it can be shrunk,  we’ll shrink it.  Now you know.”

Nothing like letting the customer know what to expect.  “We aims to please,  or at least not surprise you”.  That would be my second choice.  Or maybe put that on the back of the business card?

Hell,  I betcha I could make at least five bucks a week.

 

 

This morning it’s a bit of a “Winter Wonderland” out there.

I just said that with a stupid smirk on my face,  which is only something I would dare do in print.  If I said “Winter Wonderland” like that to anyone in person, I’d probably get slapped. 

And deservedly so.

And no,  I’m not mixed up when it comes to garbage day,  those are bags of clothes for a charity that will come by and pick sh*t up at your door.  This time around it’s Cerebral Palsy,  but we get calls from the Canadian Diabetic Association as well,  and they called a couple days after the first bunch.  I *suppose*,  in light of the frequency of diabetes in the family, I should chose the one over the other.  That would mean I’d have to actually be *thinking* when they call? 

Don’t even go there.

 

I think I mentioned (and will continue to do so)  that we’re starting to get some wintery conditions?

Well,  that doesn’t mean I don’t BBQ. 

BBQ season?  We don’t need no stinkin’ BBQ season!  We’re Canadian,  dammit!  Unless it’s pissing down rain,  or blowing and snowing so bad that I can’t SEE the BBQ,  I’ll be out there.  And even in the rain.  I have an umbrella.

Besides, I only need one free hand.

Last night I once again did honey garlic sausages.  Oh man!

If I hit Denninger's at just the right time, I have a very hard time passing up a sausage purchase.  They make their own sausages,  and they only come in on Wednesday afternoons!   You *might* find a sausage in the place on a Friday,  but definitely not Monday or Tuesday.  Nope.

They make them fresh,  and then they’re gone.  Can’t beat that.

 

I think that’s going to be it for today.  Should be an interesting couple of days coming up,  weather wise.

Didn’t put them winter tires on for nothing!

 

All grammar mistakes are intentional.

 

Don’t eat the yellow snow.

 

Thanks for stopping by.