Thursday, 28 February 2013

Eye of the Beholder

Very pretty out there. Another inch and something fell last night.
The temp never moved much from 32 F , I imagine the white stuff is heavy. The shoveling yesterday was tough.
I used shoveling in place of regular exercise - the shoveling hurt way more. The shovel was a car shovel so that the load for each shovelful was small. Still, I am sore to-day.
And again I need to go out and move some snow away from the foundation.

On the news banner on CITY Pulse, research showed that in  the brain scans of people driving,  turning left lit up all areas of the brain as opposed to straight and right turns.
The scientists did not test the brains of people, driving, smoking, texting and smoking - all at the same time. One imagines the brain scan would turn up negative on these people.

Infecting Canadians from tainted beef - reached a total of 8. The beef is hamburger patties sold at ' Safeway ' a primarily Western Canadian chain. The infection is E. coli.

The snow is tumbling off the roof as I type. First you hear a low rumble. The rumble increases in frequency and then the white stuff drops off the end.

BTW - ' texting ' is not a recognized word in spell check

Wednesday, 27 February 2013

If it........................

dumps on you - it must be southern Ontario. We have a winter wonderland out there.
Big gullops of snow are sliding off the roof ( steel ). We're not shoveling, yet.
This is our typical cocooning mode, its out there, we're in here.

The Pope goes to-morrow. A new one by Easter according to all the in-people at the big V.

We just re-jigged our finances in a never ending effort to prop up the Canadian Bank of Commerce and its subsidiaries.

We cancelled Balto. We'll drive when the weather is more favourable for sitting outside. It would have been about 5 C at game time ( 5 PM start ).
We still hold out the possibility of going next week, maybe to catch 2 games ( the games both start 5 PM too ).


Tuesday, 26 February 2013

The Big Blue and Yellow Store

' They seek him here, they seek him there. Those Frenchies seek him everywhere '. This ditty is from the ' Scarlet Pimpernel '.
However, if you substitute ' horse meat ' for him the  ' Scarlet P ' and substitute the EEC for the Frenchies you got the tainted horsie bit scandal. 
Yep, IKEA can't sell its trademark meatball meal - some burger meat may have run the Epsom Derby at sometime.

While watching a doc on the ' Vikings ' an interesting fact was stated. In 900 AD, Greenland wasn't as cold as it is now. The fjords weren't blocked w/ ice.
Aha, I said - pre- combustion engines, the earth got warm, the earth got cold. I've said all along global warming is a fact. But the temperature does go up and down. Low lying land does flood and weather -  is well,  weather. Humans and Mother Nature seldom play nicely, to-gether.

Weather here, calm, cool and sunny - but ,yeah big but.... a foot or more of wet snow is on the way. The storm will come in 2 bunches , late to-night and to-morrow. Life in southern Ontario is pretty much like this.
Yesterday, I cleared some snow from the valley of the roof. Typically, the snow builds and ices. Pre-steel roof, this build up was a possible source of water damming and water seeping under the shingles. The steel wafers they used aren't as prone to water damage. Still, I removed about 8 inches of snow from the ' vee '.

Well, I'm off for a haircut. Its been 8 weeks and my bald spot is almost covered, so time to thin out the stuff that did grow.

Sunday, 24 February 2013

And the " Luddie " goes to.............

' Luddie ' ?  Well , this is Oscar week, right !
The ' Luddie ' is awarded to the most non-techie type person that I know.
To be eligible the person must be under 65. Those persons over 65 just plain don't get it.
Personally, our house comes close in the ' Luddie ' competition. To wit , our unit in Fla is 780 sq ft w/ 3 flat screen TV s. Our Scarberia house is 1700 sq ft w/ 1 flat screen ( 46 incher ). Now, this will change slightly as a 50 in Sony is on delivery... but where it goes is up in the air right now... QMH ?

Our cell phones are all ' pay as you go '. The most modern phone we own is 3 yrs old. And the I-phone, of course, is an I -PHONE, yep the first. No internet either.

However, in my defence, I down-loaded the ' stickies ' program from c/net, complete w/ 'Wajam ' for linking social media. Hope ' Wajam ' isn't an arm of the Christian Science Monitor.
My older Windows, programs all have stickies. So, I went looking and bingo-bango, I have stickies. 
I'll use a stickie in a moment.

As well, I traded in my ' Rocket Stick ' internet flash drive key. QMH has no land line service so wireless internet is essential.
I now own a mobile hot spot - wireless hub. The contract is for a ' sliding scale ' fee that starts at $ 24 / 200 MB and tops out at $ 75 / 10 GB. BTW - 200 MB is about 18 times doing e-mail. I figure sometime in the summer we may pay $ 45 occasionally that gets us 3 GB.
This contract beats the $35 / month / 2GB which only went over once ( I blogged for 3 days straight at QMH. )

However, the MHS ( Mobile Hot Spot ) , records usage and billing refresh date ( obviously for idiots who can't keep track )

To-day, ' Fresh Air ' , a CBC morning program mentioned the new ' Google ' glasses that are mobile ready for communication. Voice controlled and internet accessible. So, once more slipping into the past for me.

I found out typing this piece that ' techie ' is in spell check but ' stickie ' is not  but ' stickies ' is in spell check.

Using stickies : World Wonders that will disappear in 50 years, maybe :
Macchu Pichu - old wear and tear, methinks
Statue of Liberty
Great Barrier Reef
Dead Sea - there is a hole in the bottom of the boat, apparently.
Low lying areas of the world - Key West, some Pacific Is.

FYI - in the Loop - entertainment segment under ' Oscar Winners that Shouldn't Have Won, ' Shakespeare in Love ' qualified. I mentioned ' Saving Private Ryan ' well the ' The Thin Red Line ' also got the snub that year. But I'm a SPR fan . tTRL was way too gritty for me and nasty too !

Oops, weather. Dreary, falling something ( snow, rain , sleet  ? ).
Damp and uglie w/ a capital ' U '.

Baltimore ????? Still up in the air

A segue to Balto, JHU won again, Sat. , v Michigan. The ' Kings of Spring ' are 3 - 0. Next , the Tigers of Princeton. The PU game is usually a ' bell- weather ' for Hop. PU a disciplined, hard nose team.
Michigan was a 17 - 8 game. PU is typically 7 - 6 for who knows who.
In fact, I think there was time when PU was the first game of the season - Fe 25 or so. # 4 game, now.

Saturday, 23 February 2013

Something Positive

about a movie.
' You Kill Me ' stars Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni, Bill Pullman, Luke Wilson and a small role for Dennis Farina.
First, there may not be a better villain than Farina. DF is slimy but smooth - excellente
The plot - a substance abusing hitman lives and works in Buffalo. He is connected to the Polish mob. The P mob is under intense pressure from the Irish. The hitman ( BK ) is drunk and misses a big hit on the Irish godfather ( DF ).
BK is sent to San Francisco for re-hab w/ Alcoholics Anonymous.
A contact person, BP,  is able to provide accommodation and a job offer ( mortician's assistant ).
While on the job ( in San Fran ) BK meets TL as a client of the funeral home.
Through a series of quick interchanges involving bowling shoes the two connect a some level.
With some setbacks and successes, the couple survive the initial stages of dating.
LW is a gay AA guy who befriends BK and on the periphery interacts w/ BK.
Definitely a black comedy that works b/c you're putting 2 fabulous actors into ridiculous social situations. Funny and tender, the movie bounces from Buffalo to SanFran and abnormal to almost normal.
TL as Laurel Pearson says " I've been accused of having no boundaries ".  That sentence could somehow describe
 ' You Kill Me '

Weather is 37 F , dreary and dull looking. No sun. no wind              ( I think ).       Welcome to T.O.
Hope its nicer where you are

Friday, 22 February 2013

AcademyAwards

Once again, they'll present the Oscars and this house will not even know what they are talking bout. Typically, we will not have seen any of the movies or people nominated.
This year, thanks to M, we've seen Argo. I don't think it should win anything except as cannon fodder in the movie industry.
Of course, I believe the Oscar should only be awarded if the film is good - not the best of the lot.
The Star, in the entertainment section, mentioned ' Shakespeare in Love ' as the upset Oscar winner over ' Saving Private Ryan '. SPR will probably be seen and revered years from now as a testament to movie making and the sacrifice required for WWII. SiL is probably even now just fluff. 
This house will watch the red carpet for glamour and wow, yes, we still say  ' Wow ' after all that's why they do it

From the TV news banner, the CDC has rated this year's flu shot as 9 % effective for seniors. This could explain the massive epidemic status of the flu in the U.S.

A Canadian was arrested as part of a conspiracy to smuggle honey in the U.S..
Homeland security was obviously worried about the bomb making capability of honeybees. Must be the wax, no ?

We are warmer, 28 F thingies but the wind chill is still high.




Thursday, 21 February 2013

Loop -ity-loop

From the Loop pages ( Sympatico Home page )

Not wanted in Canada, thank you
1. In Japan, the ' double down ' at McD s is 2 pieces of fried chicken sandwiching a ketchup flavoured rice patty - oh yeah pickle and onion.
2. In the UK, lamb flavoured ' crisps ' or our potato chips also mint    ' crisps '
3.Russia has added pickled cucumber flavoured potato chips to its top 5 favourites list
4. Salmon Doritos
5. Cluckin' rings - onion ring looking chicken un-nuggets

The weather is cold and the wind died down. But the W / NW wind is now a N wind exclusively - very bitter. Bright skies and sun

We are contemplating Baltimore in 6 days but it looks cold there.



Wednesday, 20 February 2013

A Movie Review

Argo - the movie

Topic - scary as all get out. The 6 HouseGuests of the Can Embassy  - they all went back to the Foreign Service - scarier still

Actors - did an excellent projection of Americans esp the way Canadians see them

Feel Sorry for - the guards at the airport - they meant well but they let the Canadians go - big mistake - they didn't check for hockey sticks and maple syrup

Pace - slow 

Break out - Ben Affleck in a movie where even he can't blow it

Cost - $ 2

Value - for $2 - not bad - maybe a 7/10

Based on a true story - definitely ' spun ' for Americans. Which is fine - they could use some re-assurance right now

Well, I'm back in T.O. and already I've ordered 2x on line from Lee Valley. Sort of my fix
The other is that  I need rice - we had les mets chinois in Fla but OMG do I miss real rice. Well sushi is Fri. - my usual meet and eat w/ Antz ( his freeline e-mail name ).

Weather gave us rain yesterday and warm, almost 32 F things or slightly over. Aujourdhui, we"re 23 F w/ some wind chill

To-day is most likely a run to the QMH for the 1 st time in a while.

We joined Costco again - yeah, 2 people w/ a Cstc membership.
Yep, we can buy 3 loaves of bread at a time.



Monday, 18 February 2013

Cheaper in Canada

Icewine is a bargain
Buy a football team for  less
Only in Canada you say, KD ( Kraft Dinner ) is a Canada only product. In the U.S. , KD is called Kraft, macaroni and cheese, and it doesn't taste the same
Prescription drugs are cheaper
Maple syrup is exclusively priced in Canada

MD s in India are selecting for male children when given the choice

Still freezing cold up here w/ a wind chill of 10 - 12 deg
Bright blue sky and sunshine - something should melt

We're still sorting and organizing the bills
Now, we pay for our vacation ahead of time ( mostly , car and money in an U.S. bank ) but regular costs up here continue.


Sunday, 17 February 2013

OBH VII

On Being Home Vol 2

Somebody moved the cutlery while we were gone. Thank goodness they didn't move the kitchen faucet.
The snow is white and the temp is 7 F things. Crap. Fla is ONLY 58 F - poor them.

Daily Feature : From the news


They are checking for horse meat in the E.U. in all pre-packaged food. apparently, they are worried ' SeaBiscuit or some other poor equine was INADVERTENTLY processed along w/ Bossy.

Adele seems to be having anxiety issues prior to singing the theme from ' SkyFall ' at the Oscars. I can't blame her - horrible sounding song.

Toronto and Chicago. We had 54 murders last year, Chi-town had 500 + . Heck last week Chi-town was at 43 murders for the year.
However, both cities have mayors desperate for a casino downtown and groups very opposed. The reports say Chi-town is mobbed up - well, so is T.O. Apparently, Chi-town and Illinois are worse off than T.O. and Ont. 

I broke down and purchased 10 utility knives from Lee Valley Tools for $ 20. Never had a complaint w/ anything from LV, thus I expect these knives will last well into the next century unlike me.



Saturday, 16 February 2013

on Being Home

We left the environs of Fla. looking at scudding clouds that were pregnant w/ rain threat. 
The flight was late but  fast, 2 h 13m but we took 30 min to reach the gate. 20 min to leave the plane , 20 min to get our luggage.
A limo was waiting at the curb and we were 40 min on the road

Ordered Swiss chalet chicken and ribs - gin and wine

Unfortunately, coming home means we leave good friends behind in Fla. and they're warm - sort of - when we called they were 50 F things and getting colder. Fla will soon be 70  something again but not here.

Ah, Buddhistically, the great cycle of all things in life - warm in Fla return to cold Canada and we go back again, Buddha willing in January.
Fishing will be tough in shorts and T-shirt in Scarberia.

Well we had no meteors explode - so Scarberia beats the dickens out of Siberia.

And now to bed

I paid $12 to watch Johns Hopkins record its 2 nd win this year. The BJ s beat Towson 12 - 6 or so. The Jays are 2 - 0/ Which is good. But JHU should be 2- 0 and 3-0 and 4-0 etc .. it is a long season if you're a Black and Blue fan ( some pun intended )

On being Flexible

or not.

The one topping pizza idea did not work out. The last slice that I bought was the meat-lovers. So, I admit that MLP was better than OTPP.
The fishing is over for another year down here. Overall, the results were tepid at best. Approx 16 whiting and we even ate some - gave some away. One silver and 2 spotted sea trout. 
Highlights include 6 manatee in the cut or channel, that was yesterday - a farewell to Fla show.
The dolphin spectacular, 2 weeks ago, 3 dolphins at play in the cut and I had a ring side seat.

It seems that quite a few people are bugging out to-day and to-morrow. Sort of like the changing of the guard. Apparently, things change around here, starting now. A whole new atmosphere comes with the new flush of people.

On the fishing front. Stayed w/ the jig standard. Shrimp or minnow.
We cut the plastic shrimp in half longitudinally. More scent released and the thinner plastic is more flexible.
We didn't even go to cut bait or  live shrimp. In fact, no one that I saw used live bait. cocktail shrimp and preserved shrimp but not live.
See, flexible, never happened. Same old, same old.
On the whole,  your hands smell less w/ plastic baits and it certainly is less fussy. Simple is good. Not smelly is better.
Except that I let a ladyfish jump all over someone's jacket - not on purpose, lady was flipping around.

TTFN

Tuesday, 12 February 2013

Getting Older, getting wiser ????

On the radio, yesterday was Tina Louise's birthday - she is 79. This Tina is ' Ginger ' from Gilligan's Island. OMG, she was pin up girl for TV.
BTW, MaryAnn is 74 and the Professor is 83.

Good fishing to-day, caught a ' red ' , this is a red drum. Simple jig and minnow near the dock and Whamo, the line straightens and the fight was on. Not big but a brawler for sure. The best part or parts 
a) dragged the red away from the dock, fought him out and took him back to the dock to land him.  b) a witness and picture - Bonus !

Very pleased right now. Last year, the red hit the night before we leave. Now I get two more days to catch another. Neat.

Weather is breaking cloudy but humid. oh well, we'll sweat it out.

In the quality of life poll, Germany finished first and Canada was 4 th.
The Scandinavian countries and Ireland filled out the top ten.
Germany received high marks for social issues e.g. care of the elderly.  Canada got panned for other social factors including poverty among the young etc.

Here we go again  hear the chanting " We're # 4, we're #4 " Oh well, four beats five.

Sunday, 10 February 2013

CDII

No, not 311 CD but 402 in Roman numerals.

From Fla the Bizarre.

Self inflicted flare gun injury damages man's genitals. whoops, my bad

Golf cart returned the wrong way. A community custodial crew reported a missing golf cart. A temporary loan was arranged from a golf cart supplier. the manager of the community centre felt the loaner looked familiar. It was. The thief sold the cart to the company and the company loaned the cart out to the original community centre.

Tow truck driver has his phone dial 911 by mistake and leaves the phone on. During his drug buy, the police listen in and then arrest the driver.  Big whoops here too.

Weather too nice to talk about - cheers

Friday, 8 February 2013

401 K.....

I'm Canadian, so 401 K is -- four hundred and one carats to me.

On this day, Mia Farrow is 68 ( OMG even the elves age, I guess )
Mark Spitz is 63 - he aged nine years for every gold medal.

Nicole Kidman admits to using botox
The Sympatico Loop asks ' How much will Britney make in Vegas ? '

Johns Hopkins opens the season to-day in lax v. Siena. This game is the earliest start for Hop. I went to a Feb game somewhere around the 20 th of Fe and froze my patoochies off. We stayed across the street from Homewood and M could hear the crowd screaming.
So that no good deed goes unpunished we're planning to be in Balto for some early March games - weather ????????????? .

The day broke cloudy but the sky is blue and clouds are wispy at best. Hi for to-day 70 mid Fthings.






Tuesday, 5 February 2013

The quadracentennial

Post # 400
Da Da  big whoop , I know

Ohio, southern home of the sasquatch
birthplace of the Chef Boyardi company

Apparently, Salt Fork Reserve ( park ) is reknowned for being the haunt of the sasquatch. This item doesn't appear in the Travel Ohio tour guide.  go figure

In talking to Americans, Ontario is mentioned in conjunction w/ travel , fishing, some arts ( plays / musicals ) and being Canada - they don't know that much about us.

What would I say ???  fishing and lakes
pretty safe and fairly clean
Whoops - not much , eh.
but safe and clean is a mighty big place to start.
Down here in Fla - those two are much desired commodities.

No, # 401 is not going to be a barn burner, either.

 "Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof  " somebody's Brother teacher at Catholic school used to say this. I'm still trying to figure out, if I understand what it means




Monday, 4 February 2013

Post 399

SuperBowl losses.
Chicken wing prices are very high - supply and big demand this Sunday.
The 49'ers , of course
Electrical power for 30 minutes


but////
Beer sales soar ^^^^ w/ SB party fever
Ravens win

J.D. at the Toasted Monkey had the 49'ers minus 2 1/2 and the over.
So he split the bets.  kinda dead even

Dave and I got nada in the SB pool

The waitress at dinner on sat lost mt credit card but they found it overnight. But I still had to cancel and now wait 5 days for a new one. bummer !
In Tampa, gun amnesty day brought in 2500 weapons incl 2 grenade launchers. The deer don't stand a chance, like horseshoes - close is good

Saturday, 2 February 2013

Its GroundHog Day

Feb 2

I watched the ' prognosticator of prognosticators ' and the ' seer of seers ' from his perch on the arm of the inner circle member. From Gobbler's Nob, early spring shouted Puxatawny Phil / or his interpreter b/c not everyone speaks groundhog-ese.
In Ontario, Wiarton Willy, a close cousin of Phil's, also does the GH Day thing. Except its so cold up there he wears long johns.

And we are watching ' Ground Hog Day ' w/ Bill Murray and Andie McDowell.

And how many chucks of wood can a woodchuck chew if a woodchuck knew it could chew wood.

Think I'm running out of stuff for to-day, duh, yeah