Back home again.

It's always a challenge to have much to say when we're back home in Canada. Mostly because even though we're "on vacation", there seems to be enough work around the house to keep me busy.
I probably should have done a small update on Sunday already, but we were still in recovery mode. Plus, we already had a party to go to that afternoon.

The flight was reasonably uneventful. Arriving at one's destination in most any condition is always a good thing when compared to say, ending up in the middle of the Atlantic ocean.

I was supposed to be in the window seat, which I didn't really care to do for an eight hour flight. Turns out some old guy who apparently didn't understand how the seats were numbered took the window seat.

We just left him there.

I must say though, his bladder was certainly in good shape for his age, since he never budged from his spot.
And that my friends, is the reason I'd prefer not to be in the window seat for eight hours.
My initial impression of the plane was that it didn't have the same confidence inspiring look of a 747, which is the plane of choice used by KLM.
After all, we were flying Continental in order to use up some points, but the downside to that is that we needed to then fly in to Newark. I don't mind Newark, but a direct overseas flight is always a better option.

Somehow this rather blurry pic is a good summation of most any overseas flight. It does convey one's condition when cooped up for eight hours. Don't you think?




This time around, my darling significant other looked after the car rental arrangement, with some interesting results.
I'm trying to be nice here, but let's just say that there are certain vehicles that you know you'd never be interested in taking for a test drive, and then your suspicions are confirmed. Somehow I don't think we'll need to be doing any off roading in our rented Jeep Wrangler.
I actually said out loud at one point, "Gee, I think our motorhome handles better than this thing".

We just laughed.

Since the flight that was supposed to bring us from Newark to Toronto was already over an hour behind due to some nasty weather, there was no chance I was going to even consider not taking the vehicle. We just wanted to go home.

By the way, this:...is pretty much the only chance we'll ever have of remembering where we parked the Audi at Schiphol. We did the long term parking thing. Pretty sure we'll think carefully before doing that again. Or at least it won't be such a completely new experience if we do. What a sea of cars! Holy cr*p! I'm thinking it was a good ten minute walk to get to the shuttle bus, and there are no signs to even tell you if you're heading in the right direction. To make matters just slightly worse, we kept spotting open parking spots that were closer.

So today it's off to the dentist, and I hate to say it, but I'm almost looking forward to getting my teeth cleaned.

Almost.

Then I have to see if I can finish getting our sprinkler system sorted out. I've had to replace a couple valves, and then discovered that my 24 volt transformer is pooched.

So I'll need to nip over to Home Despot to see if I can come up with a 24 volt transformer.
Not sure if that component is sold by itself.

Of course, back in the spring when I was doing a purge, I'm pretty sure I threw out a perfectly servicable 24 volt transformer.

But why would anyone keep such a thing?

Counting the hours.

It's kind of like waiting for Santa to arrive actually. But I doubt very much if the morning will get here any quicker if I go to bed now.

Just got back from chatting briefly with our neighbours, since I asked them if they wouldn't mind putting out our two green garbage totes on Wednesday night. Of course, "would you like to see the puppies", is the first order of business. Who could say no? They've now been moved into the kitchen and have their eyes open.

So cute!

There's not much left to do. I've sorted through all the bits and pieces that need to go along. Done all the laundry I can find, charged up cameras etc.
Managed to find some Canadian money, (along with Swiss Francs and Danish Kroners) although I don't think we'll need too much when we get to Toronto, since we'll simply pick up a car and drive home. It's a slightly different story if taking an airport limo is on the agenda. Then you need to have at least eighty bucks.

We decided that we'd eat in tonight, since doing up some salmon on the BBQ isn't going to leave me with any extra fridge items. Besides, even though the food last night was really great, once a week eating out is just enough thanks.
I am however looking forward to some pizza from Burlington Pizza. Used to have that one on speed dial. Could just call when leaving the pub on a Friday night....

Ah...good times.

Now, speaking of Friday nights. It would seem that there will be many eyes glued to TV sets all over North America (well, pretty much north of the Mason-Dixon line anyway) watching game seven of the play-offs.

Hm...ya, well. We don't don't get that kind of thing here in Yurp.

Oh well.

I just happened to think of it though, as I took a sip from my Frank Mahovlich beer glass. Kind of a coincidence, don't ya think?
On the other hand, but bugging out of here tomorrow, I will be missing the 24 hrs at Le Mans.

Was that summer?

We're pretty much down to counting the hours at this point when it comes to the going home plan.
Of course, when leaving for a couple weeks, it's not too clever to leave all that much in the fridge, so we'll be dining out tonight and tomorrow night.
Mind you, in the time that we've been at this location, we've never yet had a power outage, which was a far cry from the situation we had in Cabo Rojo. Aparently a brand new fridge there would typically only last a few years, since not only did the voltage go up and down like a toilet seat, but the power would also tend to go out completely about once a week.
There's this one restaurant that is right around the corner from the rather lack luster hotel where we stayed a year ago, and we figure we'll revisit that one tonight, and then maybe go to Het Witte Paard tomorrow.

We'll see.

I mean, I could always make pasta, but we've been shying away from too much pasta lately, since it's not the healthiest choice for anyone with blood sugar issues.
In desperation I can make it on the Sunday when we get back, since all stores are closed, and even the bakery is shut up for the day by the time we get here.

What has this to do with the weather you ask?

Well, the one thing I indeed have to do before we head off to bed for our last sleep tomorrow night, is to cut the lawn. I can't in good concience leave it for the two weeks, and the chances of finding someone to do it at this point are pretty slim. It's been my intention to get it sorted out over the next day or so, but we've suddenly been beset with some wet weather.
I've managed to dodge the squalls that we've been getting over the last few days and have done my usual running around on the bike, but there have been a couple times when it was coming down in buckets.
I just need a couple hours of sunlight for things to dry out a bit.
Then it's a matter of cleaning off the machine and leaving it out more or less in the middle of the garage so that our landlord can come by and pick it up at some point.



Remember him?



Anyway, the last time I saw the guy, I was in their store ordering a mattress, and he mentioned that he wanted to take the machine away to do a tune up and have a little repair done to the handle. It's a heavy machine, and I discovered last summer, that the handle was somewhat under engineered, and was developing some metal fatigue.
By this I mean, I have to lift up on the handle to turn the thing, otherwise it starts to bend.

Not fun.

Whether he actually comes and gets the POS is the subject of some speculation, since he's said he would do this before, and never showed up. Frankly I'll be quite surprised if he keeps his word. (seems he's a bit of a "talker")

In the grand scheme of things, I really don't give a rat's tiny behind.

But that is an entirely different story, and one that is not yet blog worthy.