Sunday 30 June 2013

A boy named ... Jack

A movie review for ' Jack the Giant Slayer '.  Amy Adams isn't in the credits for this one but the princess is comely , nevertheless. Entertaining w/ fairly high production values and has interesting plot twists despite being re-worked from ' Jack and the Beanstalk '.
Rating at the Redbox , .7 out of $1 , except that I paid $2 b/c it is a new release.

Weather is cool and dry. We are sub normal temperature wise but a gorgeous day coming. Wind is up - shaking the Manitoba maple soon to be memory.

On the health front , root canal is feeling no pain and blisters are dry.
VG. 

Saturday 29 June 2013

To Those in South ( ............................... ) America

I.e.  south of the 43 parallel

I need to remind myself that you will be unaware of Canadian trends and economy. While it is true that for the most part we are American as a result of constant bombardment from media , in many respects we are different. The words - slow and conservative - are probably the most oft used.
I know ( from our Fla experiences ) how little news you get esp. financial. In the Tampa Bay Times , 1 column a week is maximum for Canadian news. None of it positive.

The TSX or our biggie stock exchange , was off 6 % approx a week ago. I know , I bought 200 shares of big bank stock and they were down 2 - 3 % 2 days running. To put things in perspective , the big 5 banks and trusts have had a long run up.
Over the last 3 - 4 yrs CIBC ( bank of Commerce ) has or had doubled in value. So , the drop was miniscule in the overall picture.
meanwhile the dividend has remained in the 4 - 5 % range. The 2 banks that I now own , also produce a dividend of 4 - 6 %. The value , of course , has always been the dividend yield.
The TSX is anchored by financials but rises and falls based on commodities / resources. Friday , the TSX had a bump up b/c the price of gold stocks rose.
The Canadian dollar and the TSX to some extent , rises and falls w/ oil prices. Gas prices have been steady to low for about 4 months and that parallels our TSX.

The stock purchases were an attempt to shift my investments away from pure mutual funds and bulk up on Exchange Traded Funds and stocks. both the latter , get more favourable tax treatment. I'm still 90 - 95 % mutual fund heavy but for the last 3 yrs , the portfolio has been fairly productive.

House prices have levelled out and modest gains are expected. modest b/c up til this past quarter , S.ON experienced yr over yr increases of 6 - 10 % in house prices , for about 6 yrs.

OK. Health. The blistering is a thing of by-gone ages.
The root canal situation. Still on Amox ( antibiotic ) and those doozer ibuprofen orange guys. I'm about to eliminate the orange guys , they're too hard on my stomach. 
I don't do well on medication. If you read the warning labels on the pill bottle , thats what happens to me. I told my doctor , how I reacted to one prescription , his comment ' you're pharmaceutically naive '. M likes to think that the line refers to other aspects of my life as well.
I took one more 600 mg orange doozie but thats it. I'm switching to reg strength ibuprofen this aft.

Weather , the air is still and the birds are chirping - they're always chirping - are they ever sad ?
very humid but coolish - 66 F - and rain is very likely. Weatherboy is all ready w/ his brolley and there is an arrow down.

We turned off the A/C to give it a rest , its been running for 5 days straight. Actually , it didn't run last night but its shut off now. We'll adjust to ambient temperature for the morning and see how it goes.
Our house doesn't air out well. The windows do not line up and flow is suspect. We have a crank skylight in the kitchen and at least thats good at shifting hot air.
I read somewhere that North American homes were never designed for air flow. The layouts do not favour natural ventilation. European homes tend to large ( floor to ceiling windows ) and straight line air flow patterns. I suppose here , in the GWN , heat conservation is a bigger concern rather than air flow patterns.

Local news and I mean local. The tree on our border w/ the east side neighbour is coming down. The tree is a Manitoba maple , the tree is huge , maybe 5 ft around and 60 ft tall but Manitoba maples are considered adventitious - they're weeds. The tree is dirty ,dropping all kinds of veggy crap on our roofs and clogging the gutters. the dirty business is why next door is getting rid of the tree.
Our by-laws , do not allow the removal of big trees w/out permits and inspection. the Manitoba qualifies for removal b/c of its mainly weed status. They are not strong trees and this helps in the permit department evaluation.

Friday 28 June 2013

Trends in Canada

A survey was released that showed

a) # 1 job category was retail sales for F / M
        manufacturing fell to #3 ( in 5 years )

b) #1 education choice was business

The problem may be that this was a voluntary survey.
Stats Canada will no longer do a long census for jobs , education , employment etc. There will limited data for long term planning.

As well , if this data is true , it predicts poor growth prospects w/out manufacturing. Unfortunately, more and more trends are being established that do not turn on old truisms or traditional forces.

Amy Adams avoids the sun whenever she can. She once had a wag yell out near a pool ' hey girl ,  get a tan '
She is fair skinned and red headed and should keep out of the sun.

Weather : we have grey and wet and the coolest AM temperatures in a week. What can I say , our summer

To-day is  ' get Mom teeth day '. The culmination of a process that started in Nov. and there are still no X-rays of her mouth.
Can't wait for the rest of this adventure to reveal itself.

A Canadian was chosen #1 overall in the NBA draft. AB goes to Cleveland.

The root canal situation seems good. No pain and I haven't had one of the ibuprofen doozies for 12 hrs. however , I'll take 2 more to-day and see if I can downsize to-morrow. The Amoxicillin is still necessary.
Doc sure put the fear of god or infection in me. He came out front on Wed and laid out the worst case scenario and I'd thought he'd done that already w/ me strapped to the chair


Thursday 27 June 2013

Funny Thing Happened....

" On My Way to the Forum " is the classic line and stage / movie production , probably made most famous by Zero Mostel.

I was on my way to cottage country but....... I felt a dull pain in my upper jaw area. I noticed the same thing over the last 2 weeks but it was diffuse and hard to pinpoint. Last night , it was easy... knew the tooth right away.
I hemmed and hawed and said , ' dang , call the dentist '. Thus , I popped in at noon. Left at 1:30.
Clank ,clank w/the probe. Push , push w/ the fingers. X - ray. Aha, we have a dead or dying nerve.
Root canal , right there. Some discomfort and unease.

Willer the Driller , has been my dentist for 35 + yrs. Between myself and my dental plan , we have insured he would have the  lifestyle that he could wish for , and apparently , will keep on doing so.

Turns out , I was 3 days from intense pain and swelling , no more than a week. The X-Ray showed a black outline around the root ( apparently , black isn't good there either ).
The root canal procedure showed the root was dead not decayed to disease point but no blood , no live root.

Came home sore and swollen. Ibuprofen from the depths of hell and anti-biotics for a week. The hope is the infection will be slowed and stopped , and no other tissue involved. Doc was asking nasty questions , such as ' do your sinuses hurt '.
Sinuses ! -  how far up the head is this thing going - doesn't it stop at China as we used to say.

Well, its six hours later and feel fine. Swelling down and pain barely there. The ibuprofen is therapeutic to short circuit pain and build up of swelling.
That was then.     This morning , all is well. No pain but apparently , I need to heal. Especially, since some bone tissue may have been involved.

In the NEWS : a glut of headlines
1. Tourists rescued from ice floe off Baffin Is. serves them right. I saw ' Apocalypse Now ' and Chef said ' Never get out of the boat '

2. U.S. boss held hostage by his Chinese workers. released when he promised to pay them

3. Paula Deen dropped by Walmart. She used the ' N ' word , nashua , on a broadcast.

4. Samsung has an OLED TV ready for production , the cost , 13 , 000. For that price , this TV better make coffee and deliver popcorn to your seat. Heck , makes going to the movies seem cheap.

5. In San Antonio , they debuted a 2 - headed turtle , named ' Thelma and Louise ' after the Three Muskateers.

6. Land cruises. Overnight on CBC ,the show is called ' This and That '. The interview was w/ a chap named Norvind who represented , Royal Norwegian cruise lines.  The plan was to duplicate the luxury and life on board a liner but on land. This item must be a joke. The landliner was to be 145 m long and rolls across the prairies of Canada and N. U.S. Yep , pools , casinos etc.
I've seen those moving shows where they move a building. they need special permits to use the roads. hydro lines need to be lifted etc.
Aha, prairie schooner takes on a whole new meaning.

Weather: Yepper , its summer in T.O. and A/C doesn't stand for alternating current , either. Weatherboy is holding a brolley and there are clouds w/ an arrow going down.

the universe unfolds

Wednesday 26 June 2013

England in Our Home

Our visitor has returned home - to England and Yorkshire.
That was 2 weeks and although enjoyable , M needs rest. She was the perfect host but feels the effort now.

On the blister front , healing is , well , miraculous. The wound is dry and flat w/ a trace of colour to show the site. I survived , whatever. It will happen again , b/c I'm allergic to every fudging piece of vegetation ( pardon my French ). I need to keep that BetaDerm cream on hand. Unfortunately, the BD cream has side effects. The extended use can lead to blanching of the area treated and a thinning of the skin. I'm not sure which of those problems is worse.

Weather : We are T.O. summer warm. This sentence is short form for H/H. The Wikipedia states S.ON has hot , very humid summer weather. This humidity is caused by the presence of the Great Lakes. No rain , though , to-day. To-morrow starts a period of 8 - 9 days of predicted daily rain and / or TS. Yech for sure. Oh well, that will set us up nicely for JULY when we will get 0 in of  rain.

I'm missing the craps table. There is excitement even if I bet only a small amount. I'm likely to bet 6 - 12 dollars on a number. The total would be 20 dollars. And I'm standing besides guys who put down  $ 30 - 60 a number. The total bet $ 200.
At the craps machine while I'm betting $2 or so , the guy to my right was carrying a balance on his machine of $ 1200 , the whole time. I saw him push in a $ 100 bill part way through my session. I had $ 33 in my machine.

Tuesday 25 June 2013

" Niagara Falls .. Slowly I Turned "

Those lines were classic Three Stooges schtick.
We were in the Falls yesterday. Niagara is close , we can do it in under 1h 30.
The problem is the traffic. Truck convoys prowl the Queen Elizabeth Way ( QEW ) , swooping down on unsuspecting cars.
In rainy weather the trucks are their  own storm fronts. Car traffic can be overwhelming as well. Traffic volume crossing the city from W to E on the Hwy 401 can be daunting.

So , after all that worry , we breezed there and back , travelling at odd times 9:30 A going and 7:30 P returning. We used the southern approach on the Gardiner Xpresswy and up the Don Valley Xprss.

M and her sister went last week but saw the Falls driving past and didn't take the scenic ' Walk Behind the Falls ' . WBtF is advertising -ese for ' do you want to be soaked to the skin and pay us $ 20 '

I dropped them off at the entrance and went to the Fallsview Casino where it turns out , I spent the day.
After many phone calls , mostly missed b/c I was shooting craps , I finally , talked to M , missed most of what she said - and decided to wait for them at the food court. I spent my winnings on a sandwich and coffee. Waited some more.
We hooked up around  3 P. they achieved their goal and walked the 1/2 mile up to the casino.

I managed not to lose my shirt at craps but ' baby needs new shoes ' an old craps call , didn't happen either. The table started at $ 5 minimum which is good for me , I'm risking $ 20 - 30 most of the time. I lost a bit. Then the min went to $ 10 and playing very conservatively , I clawed my way back to even and quit - up a teensy bit.
After joining up. 
We gambled some more and I won at the craps machine. The CM is a video terminal kiosk which offers roulette or craps. The dice are the size of bowling balls and bounce and shake inside a glass dome.
The minimum is $ 2 somewhere on the table , so its pretty good.
In Vegas , I was lucky to lose 1/2 my issue ( what you start w/ ) and walk away.
Well , I plugged away , made some key random bets - which translates as ' I was lucky as stink ' and tripled my issue in an 1- 1 /2 h

Meanwhile , M's sister wins $ 170 and offers to treat for dinner. 

We cruised home and we can say its was a good day.

Weather : We have rain , its drizzle to steady , temp is still 74. T.O. type conditions for summer.

BTW - the blisters are really fading. The worrisome new little bubbles have given up trying to look like the bubonic plague and are shrinking. the whole area looks like 4 week hold scar tissue. God bless Dr Datta ( after hrs clinic GP ) she got it right. Not shingles. Vegetation allergy, or some such.

Monday 24 June 2013

Steel ........................Magnolia

We went to a big box cinema , yesterday. It was hot and humid ,typical of a T.O. summer disaster.
The theatre was not overcool ( surprise ). We were in seeming heaven - the row behind us was blocked off ! No noise and no seatback bumping.
Whoa , Nelly. Five minutes before the pre- pre- show w/ commercials and trailers , 30 little tykes carrying pop containers about the size of their bodies trooped in - and took the row behind us.
They chattered and oo-ed. However, they were fairly quiet during the movie. For little bodies , they manage to bump your seat pretty good when they move around.
Remind me , why I don't enjoy the theatre experience.

The Movie : ' Superman Man of Steel '  I'm in love w/ Amy Adams ( Lois Lane ). She didn't get a cape or lace up boots to her knees.
She can't fly or shoot red light out of her eyes. Looks good , though.

Oh, the movie - went for character development ,Clark Kent growing up etc.
The history of superman was heavily favoured , life on Krypton.
I'm going to say it out loud , Russell Crowe was perfect as Jor-El ( Ka-el 's father ). Furthermore , Kevin Costner , you were terrific as Jonathan Kent - there I praised KC , please don't hold this against me.

Rating : Redbox scale .7 out of 1. Based on cost etc. , more like a .55.

On the shingles front .... or arm. The old blister areas are drying up nicely. The newer ones seem to be more stubborn. However, the overall itching or tingling is diminishing. The spread is definitely in pause mode.

We get sustained H/H in the weather dept. w/the chance of TS for 3 days. At least , we aren't rafting down our streets , as they're doing in Calgary , AB  and points south.

I trolled the Bizarre Fla website and the headlines were fairly tame 
the best was ' Firemen Use Ladder to Rescue Bear ' , if this was your cup of tea , my apologies. Didn't turn my crank.

The universe will continue to unfold as it should , God Bless.

Sunday 23 June 2013

Beta Derm Cream

Clean and dry affected area. Apply a thin film of BD cream , 2 - 3 times per day. Call me in the morning.

Success !  Maybe. The BD cream is soothing,  TG. If the blisters were shingles the BD cream would acerbate the shingles.
The little bubbles are still there , but no others.

Weather in T.O. - the city has called a heat alert. They create , cooling stations w/ shade and water. Pools etc are allowed to stay open well into the early morning hours.

I thick our A/C will run steady for 4 days now.

The gardening service complimented us on our backyard - which is to say  ' don't we do a good job caring for your place ' - that's  pretty cynical , I know, bad me. Maybe , they meant the site or what we planted.

Oh , being dead must have changed my brother , he didn't come for me , since I punched him - and heck he didn't even flinch when I hit him , just looked at me , as in ' think you can hurt me ? '.
He was usually even tempered w/ everyone else , he would complain to me. And he wasn't afraid to let me know , how I was doing.
That was cynical.

Saturday 22 June 2013

The Clinic

Another medical theme blog.
Nothing mysterioso , I’m in the waiting room at the local hospital , SA post noon.
This hospital is familiar , this is the After Hour medical walk in clinic.
As well , my father died at this hospital after 2 surgeries. M had surgery here and she lived.  So far , they're batting .500.

My specialists are here – ortho surgeon and GI man

Did this blog mention that I have a blistering on my forearm. Two weeks ago , the irritation was three small bumps. The bumps b/came serous bubbles and elongated. There was a slight spreading – say 3 mm around the original site. Figuring this was an irritation from plants – I took Benadryl and applied a hydro-cortical ointment.
This treatment is basic for me.

The original site turned into a red scar mark ( over the last 5 days ).
This AM however, little blister bumps seem to have appeared around the site w/ a spread of 1 cm. Yep ,its getting bigger in area.
I’m # 7 on the waiting list. Many little ones – one threw up. More victims are trooping in. I now count 4 ahead of me.

Weather , summer thndr / strms , humid and warmish.

I have a history of skin irritations. I may have had shingles but there was never enough proof , suspicions but that’s all.
In late summer , if I’m bare legged wading through long grass , you can see weal marks where the grass blades have brushed against my skin.

Definitely, I’ve had poison ivy twice. Once , I lay on a sheet not touching anything or I got spreading blisters or rash.

Basically , I’m sensitive to allergens.
So ,here I go again.

I could be #3 ,but they may take the throw up case , first , or she may need the Emergency room.
There is only 1 lady ahead of me. Unfortunately ,  they receptionist is talking about the next doctor who takes over at 4 PM. They’ve closed the door. I’’m not sure if they’re seeing the remnants in the waiting room or they send me home to return at 4. ?????????????
The time is now 1:05 P and I checked in at 12:0something.



The throw up girl got in first. I’m #2 – maybe
1:27P no one ahead of me.


Got in at 2:0something

Dr. said ' not shingles but a generalized allergic reaction. If the origin was vegetation - Benadryl would not be effective  - scratch one.

The hydro -cortisone cream OTC is too weak to help , scratch 2

I have the script for a stronger cortico steroid cream.
See your family doctor if it worsens

To-morrow’s blog will report on
#1 After Hr clinic results

#2 our meal treat from M’s sister , a thank you

Friday 21 June 2013

The Life of Pri ......

........on.               

To continue from , yesterday and the CJD - BSE  story.

Firstly, there were some inconsistencies w/ the story. The long incubation period , the transmission process , the trans species movement and the passing of the blood brain barrier.

Explanations were slow to come. finally, a solution was available but it required suspension of normal scientific theory or the status quo.

The culprit was tiny protein piece. Small enough to pass filters , not be recognized as living by host bodies and therefore not rejected.
The new name was ' prion '.
The prion would alter the folding of proteins. A prion would act as a false prototype for essential proteins and cause mis-folding. ( FYI - the Nobel Prize went to the originator of the prion idea , 20 yrs after the publication of his theory. )

Protein function at any operational level is based on the 3 - D shape of the protein. The shapes are complex and unique for each function.
Other diseases were known that resulted in protein mis-folding but none where the offending particle was a false template for protein formation.

The most unsettling news is the anticipation that CJD will appear again as incubation times expire.... some 25 or 30 yrs post exposure.

Please note this explanation is simplified and anecdotal. However, in the fashion of this blog - more or less accurate.

BTW - prions are not affected by heat or radiation as far as tests have gone. Thus , the prion is not treatable in the hither - to accepted practices of disease control.

Weather : Summertime means heat and humidity and unsettled conditions. this pattern will occur this next 5 days.

Movie review re-viewed. We have a guest and re-watched ' the Day After To-morrow ' Dennis Quaid / Sela Ward / Jake Gyllenhal.
Others as well and hopefully they won't read this blog.
Still a good story , fine acting and a fine balance of tension and result.

To - day is Mom to the dentist Pt III. An afternoon appointment.
Expectations are that we will go home w/ dentures and a re-newed try at eating after some 6 months ( Nov ???? ). we have one more scheduled fitting so , there is a chance that to - day is an additional tweaking session and the final placement occurs next, oh well. One step closer.

Last night my brother was featured in my dreams. He died in 1996 , but is starring in some weird images. Well, weirdy dreamer - weird dreams. Hey , is that a 17 yr incubation period , kidding , its happened before. Last night was vivid.
I punched him which is in character and he didn't get mad which is also in character but he'll get me to-night which is also in character. I'm doomed.

Thursday 20 June 2013

CJD - BSE ---......lots of letters


Creutzfeld Jacob disease and Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis are related diseases.  Both result in impaired neurologic function and are fatal. The increased motor disability varies from patient to patient but are inevitably fatal.
CJD and BSE came to the  world's attention in big banner headlines and bans of the import and movement of beef in the mid 1990 s. Hundreds of cases and deaths , realted to CJD  were reported.

The cause was the random mutation that caused BSE in a cow. The cow was fed to humans 2 ways. One , the meat was consumed and Two , the non human food parts were ground and included in a mash fed to other cows.

In the 70 s , researchers in the S Pacific documented a CJD like trend in a native tribe. The ultimate cause was the ritual consumption of relatives as a means of ensuring their spirit lived on in the generations that followed. A random mutation gave rise to a pattern of disease that could be traced based on historical research.

The government of Australia , the administrating body , banned human consumption in the late 60 s. Several extraordinary features in disease theory came from this case study.
After the ban on human - human feeding , cases of Kuru ( the native name ) still occurred. The incidence was much less but still seemed common.
The researchers theorized that Kuru could pass the human blood - brain barrier. Previous , to the Kuru study , it was believed that the brain could wall itself of from infections normal to the body . Kuru was shown to pass and cause sometimes rapid instigation of the disease mechanism.
Next, the only possible conclusion was that unlike any afore-studied disease , Kuru , had a long incubation period. Certainly , incubation periods of weeks or months had been observed in other diseases but Kuru was different. It was surmised that incubation periods for Kuru , could be several months , several years , several ................ decades and thy're still waiting for the definitive answer.
100 years is one guess.

 There was a repeat special on Kuru and  the recent cases in B.C. , seemed an interesting coincidence ..... umh , I wonder , does someone know something..... or is this my typical paranoia.

In B.C. , Canada , 3 cases of CJD were reported over the past year.
The belief is that these patients were infected in Britain. That means , the Canadians were infected in 1995 or so or post 1995. If infected in 1995 , the incubation period was some 18 years.

World wide , scientists , are expecting a new wave of CJD , as incubation periods approach those lengths experienced in Kuru.

Cattle are no longer fed cattle parts or sheep parts for protein. Random mutation will still occur but now should be isolated quickly and spread of the disease should not occur. Prior to BSE migrating to humans ( CJD ) , species to species , transfer , of disease was not normal.

As the U.S. , considers resumption of mail service w/ Cuba ( ban has been in effect since the late 60 s ) , some advice may be in order.
Canadians have been told to buy Foreign Cuban Pesos as opposed to the normal peso. The foreign peso is more valuable and is the only currency accepted in major tourist venues. However, the Foreign peso has no value outside of Cuba. Thus , spend or convert the Foreign peso before you leave.    U. S. $ , are not used ( but highly valued ).

Summer arrives to-morrow. We are anticipating 80 F in the next few days. A/C , work out time.

Wednesday 19 June 2013

Fast As a................

supercomputer. The world's fastest computer is now in the U.S. ( I think , late night radio , so details could be fuzzy as usual ). However, 34 trillion calculations per sec.

Fishing was , humh , so - so. Fishing for bass , I caught a catfish on a spinnerbait , which is not typical. I caught and released a perch. 
Which turned out to be a huge mistake.

That night , I panko fried two perch from the freezer and they were delish - delish. Rolled in flour , dipped in egg w/ soya sauce and covered in panko. Pan fried. Genius or good cooking. See , should have kept that perch. 

Weather is marvy , cool but high UV and windy. We're below seasonal norms for temperature. Nights are cool - 46 F last night.

Sunday 16 June 2013

" When the Rain Is Blowing .... "

...in your face
And the whole world is on your case " sang , B Dylan

The weather is the pits or in my terms  ' If to-day were a fish , I'd have thrown it back '

Gusty winds and rain that sheets down. On the Parkway ( 55 MPH ), this morning , the trick was to go slow in the middle lane. As well,  pick a car to follow e.g. Becks taxi  in orange and green. And avoid the swerving drivers that had their steering wheels wrenched out their grip by the massive puddles.

The forecast is definitely mixed w/ thunderstorms , ordinary showers and clear patches. The pattern will hold for 4 - 5 days , basically , as far out as you can trust the forecast.

I've always felt that the next day forecast is 90 - 70 % correct.
Two days out 60 % reliable - three days out 40 % trustworthy and after that its like Ouija or Tarot.

Take it as it comes , n'est-ce pas ?


Saturday 15 June 2013

Saturday is Rest Day

After Mommy trauma day , to-day I had to check the shoe situation.
We labelled her shoes right on the upper - where the Nike ' swoosh ' would go, not pretty  but functional. And she was wearing her shoes as opposed to any shoes that the PSW s could dig up.

It was James Bond  Marathon Day , and the TV didn't change channels , someone got to watch JB ( Pierce Brosnan ).

Weather : Sunny and warm , benign weather really. The skies will darken to-morrow and showers / thundershowers , are very likely.

Aha, tuna flavoured candy , yet , I did try chicken chips once.

Friday 14 June 2013

Olio - is Hodge Podge Day

As if , every blog day , wasn't Hodge Podge Day

Here it goes

This AM , pick up Mom at the Nurs Home. Load her up. Meet the helper.  Drive to the dentist.  Very Good so far

Dentist. Wax mould and metal frame fitting for dentures. Very Good. minor probs , Dentist did great , Mom too

Drive home and McDonalds b/c Mom missed brekkies.

Dada . What was to worry. no sweat. Well, why didn't I sleep well last night ... Cuz  , who knew !

 In the shoe bizarre story. you might recall , someone has my mother's shoes. The substitute pair , are too big , and a falling hazard. Thick socks , sometimes etc.
Yesterday , bought 2 new pair  ( different , sizes and styles ) and thought , given a chance , we could try to fit one pair.
Well, while waiting for the helper in the Nurs Home lobby  , just slipped on a pair , that I had bought. Bingo , bango , a fit !!!!!!!!!!
Yipee.

In the News : Recall that I mentioned a short piece on overnight radio about the  ' Origin of Feces ' or poop for everyone.
This topic made the daily rag we get and turns out the prof guy is Canadian. Recycle the poop and maximize the energy available

Then : On the  Loop page

They didn't need to make : 

New Candy flavours
Tuna 
Barf
Boogers
Diaper smell
Dog food

Diet Foods - flavoured paper ( no calories )

Chewing gum in mackerel and miso flavour - tastes like some Japanese fast food favourite

Cheese in Sticky toffee flavour

Soda pop in eel flavour

Lollipops in Mother's milk flavour

Pepsi and chicken flavoured chips

Diapers dotted in chocolate pieces as a design

Beard flavoured beer - the yeast came from the brewer ' s beard

weather is beutii - soft warm w/ a cool breeze  Clouds went away but we're expecting rain. 



Thursday 13 June 2013

Dark and Dreary

' While I ponder , dark and dreary ' E.A. Poe

The day broke w/ ominous clouds and sprinkles of rain. This weather front was supposed to pass to our south ,BUT it didn't.

The house is in a tizzy. We have house guest , M's sister. As well ,friends are popping in for a meet and greet.
M didn't know she had a sister until 10 yrs ago. The two have a lot of catching up to do.

Me, I get to hide downstairs mostly. I believe its fiddle w/ fishing stuff - which is easy to accomplish. Bass season opens this week end. I will not participate until Sun or Mon night.

I've now caught 6 walleye , which is a decent start to the season.
But Bass is serious fishing. Then , I'll be looking for big.

I have sort of planned for a more diversified attack plan. I'll fish a little lighter and on the edges of weed beds instead of starting under the wood which was my basic plan last year.

Of course , this is all airy - fairy til I get out there - sort of where the rubber meets the road. Things can get mixed up once the excitement starts.

Movie Review : ' An Angel for May ' which is a mystical time travel  story w/ a happy ending , I guess. A young boy coping w/ his parents separation and divorce , travels back to 1944 ,in the some locale. He meets and mentors ( encourages the socialization of a young orphan girl ).
Very good production values and a touching story line.
RedBox rating - 0.75 out of a dollar. It actually cost $ 4.

Well, they're rioting in Turkey , Syria is a disaster zone , here at home our Prov government is slowly sinking or bailing - depending on your political POV , I don't ahve one , so I'm OK
The universe continues to unfold as it should.

Wednesday 12 June 2013

Cruzin to Nova Scotia

Friends from MI regaled us w/ their cruise story , Mass. to Nova Scotia and on to the St. Lawrence Seaway. Well , a 19 ft Great White shark is aiming for Nova Scotia. Unfortunately , there is company , around 20 more sharks are in the group. Oops , too many sharks ? Or is one too many

In B.C. , authorities have been criticized for dumping chicken manure near a gathering place for homeless people. Cynical people claim the poop dumping was purposeful , discouraging marginal people from congregating in certain areas of the city. 
Now , one has to ask ....   homeless or chicken manure ..... i'm kinda voting people here.

Weather : broke blue and brilliant , expecting 70 F give or take
But rain to-night

Tuesday 11 June 2013

Infected

There is an area about the size of a dime on my forearm that is infected. Originally , it presented as three bumps. It progressed to one larger bump and 2 small bumps. Next , a bubble of serum appeared under the big bump.
I didn't recognize the bumps as an allergy.
I've been taking Benadryl for 3 days , my drug of choice for fighting my allergic reactions to .... well ,everything
What was this one ? A plant ?  An insect bite ?

To-day , we have an extended line of blistering , overall the size is not quite a quarter in size , long but not wide.

Weather , is cool ,losing dampness and 60 +  F give or take.

I purchased a grass trimmer , which came w/ a speed loader head. The speed loader takes pre-cut lengths of trim line and pops in and out. Mine became expert at popping out.... .even when not convenient such as during actually cutting grass.
I e-mailed Echo ( the company ) and got a authorized dealer ( close to home ) and took in the trimmer. Contacting the company was a genius move b/c the rep contacted the service people and expedited the claim process. I went in and signed to get the trimmer back. I had registered on line on purchase .. so no problem.

We had rain .... and rain..... and rain last night. Nothing doing fishing wise but little jobs got done inside ... victory.

Sunday 9 June 2013

In the ' Cloud ' s

Lately , more and more , the term ' the cloud ' is popping up . I assume that the ' cloud ' is an internet service that stores or allows data keeping.

In the News , the cloud is a site of a ruckus. The cloud is high up , way up , around Everest , the mountain. The to-do is between the sherpas and some pro climbers.
I've heard the air is so thin that every motion is an effort. Thus , brawling at the top the world must be taxing. What they fought over was , etiquette . The sherpas were apparently , fixing a ladder arrangement that allows an easier ascent of a piece of Everest. Its called the tourist highway , as at some times the line up is pretty much like the line up at the grocery store.
Big mountain ,big money. 

Weather is blooming , warm and getting warmer , big , blue sky.
Rain in two days.

Well , mulching was on the agenda , yesterday. Our backyard , has a tree glade ( the lawn is carved out and the dogwoods , grow in the space) . Glade , sounded , upscale , at the least.  I'm a dogwood growing expert. Those trees might be the only , living things  that I can grow. Friends have commented that they can't get dogwoods to grow. My effort or lack thereof , gets dogwoods to flourish.
The dogwoods got mulched or mostly , mulched.


Saturday 8 June 2013

Short and Sweet

Hopefully , you don't drop in here   ...... expecting up to the date , verified truth or shortness.

Imagine , its your job to read the blog , sort of as therapy for you ( well , me )

On the soup front , VG to excellent. Flavouring was soya sauce and Magi ( a herbal seasoning w/ MSG ).
Magi was mentioned on the radio , as , it seems , everyone's traditional flavouring , sort of the taste of back home. Home was Hungary , France etc. As I said everyone.
Normally , I wouldn't put MSG in my food. many Chinese restaurants flaunt their ' no MSG ' signs as , an example of healthy choices.
 MSG is what my brother called ' brain laceration ' food. He read or heard an article that listed  glutamic crystal formation in the brain  leading to lesions or cuts in the brain tissue.

However ,  Magi  does perk up the flavour. I added a few drops and a few drops but not teaspoons.
The stock was home-made from bones and heated w/ onions, carrots and celery salt.
I re-heated the stock w/ sauteed onions and carrots.
As well, I boiled noodles which are Japanese ramen noodles, these noodles are boiled and rinsed , but not fried. In the pre-made ramen , the most famous brand is Sapporo Ichiban ( and the most expensive ) , the noodles are fried. The fat content in these packages is very high - no surprise , there.
The ' creation ' is home -made ramen. And a big success.

Yesterday , the canvas art arrived. Yipee !
For years , I've toyed w/ the idea of ordering a photo placed on canvas as a hanging mural. Somehow these last months , something snapped and not only did I order one but two.
Same photo of our view in FL from our room in JA - FE.

To explain , a on line company Groupon offered a $ 100 off ' coupon ' at a Canadian firm. I opted for the medium sized canvas.
Added charges for delivery and tax , added to the $ 49 coupon cost but the $ 67 was close to 1/ 2 of what other firms charged. Ah , internet purchases , certainly , causes some trepidation on my part.
Heck ,for $ 49 , I'll take a flyer.
The second , also , online , was from CVS , the drug store down south ( U.S. ). We were planning on visiting friends in OH and while on line , CVS offered 25 % off , all orders. I can't resist a sale...... 25 % , !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  , of course.

We've now seen both canvas hangings. the gift canvas seemed sharper and more yellowy or golden. The one delivered , yesterday , is larger ( natch ) , less defined and tending to the blue or off blue.
The larger canvas will have the tendency to be less defined - less sharp , the pixels from the digital photo , tend to get spread .  
We like ours and think the gift canvas was extremely well done.

Weather is dodgy , cool , dampish and rain is a possibility. The look ahead is for warm or warmer  ( 70 ? ) for at least 2 days.


Friday 7 June 2013

A Mammoth Review

Yes , there is a movie review here , but the review will not be big , pretty typical , I think.

In the News : the mammoth story , as in " In tact , mammoth discovered , Cloning is a possibility '
The item is now on day time radio on CBC. The scientist was at least fair , mentioning - the possibility not the reality. However , you got the feeling that he was chomping at the bit , so to speak.
The mammoth genome ( please , no jokes here ) , is almost complete. Insert the genome into an Indian elephant egg , and stimulate , voila , c'est un mammoth , s'il vous plait.
No fears , not to-morrow but 20 yrs down the line.

Why do it ?   b/c it will be a learning experience , you bet for the mammoth
Solve questions about evolution...... study biological differences.....knit sweaters ( kidding )

more News : Sushi - rice bundles w/ various toppings , some raw , some cooked , some fresh frog. Yepper , frog ! Frog sushi , not a chance for this guy.
I had raw , sea urchin and was sick all the next day. It was " Oh yeah , you can eat anything raw "   .... puke.... puke    

Syphilis rates in B.C. , Canada rose by 2 times , in 2012. There not doing it right , there.

To-day is soup day , a combo , turkey stock and chicken left-overs , heck its poultry soup.

weather , tropical storm / hurricane Andrea , throwing her weight round up into ON. thnx , Andrea

rain for the flowers etc   Cool almost cold... but 70 F come Sunday.

Movie Review Time : ' the Lincoln Lawyer ' based on the Michael Connelly stories.  A street smart , counselor in L.A. runs a fairly loose operation , making money , any which way he can. Not illegal , simply loose.
He drives / is chauffeured in a Lincoln . He owns more than  one but all the same colour and year ( in storage , when not needed ).
The lawyer , Matthew McConaughey  (sp ) ,is Michael Haller , back slapping , well connected , as in , baillifs , sheriffs and bikers.
His ex-wife is an Asst D.A.
The rating is 0.6 out of $1 at RedBox but I got this one free at the library , thus this film rates excellent. Marisa Tomei is the ex-wife and is so cute. 

Thursday 6 June 2013

' Finding Grace...... '

A movie review : 1996  ' Finding Graceland '  w/ Harvey Keitel , Joanthan Schoen... and Bridget Fonda ( barely )

A lost soul picks up an Elvis Presley , impersonator , on the road to ???? , however , Memphis , TN seems to be Nirvana or redemption

Everyone it seems but the hero , sees HK as Elvis , re-incarnate. Even , BF who is a Marilyn Monroe , impersonator , almost full time.

The director is Winkler , his first , big film.

On the Redbox scale ( pd $ 4 ) , FG is a .70 out of 1 ( films that are older , are cheaper )

Should you see this , YES. Why ? Dunno , cute w/ some deeper impacts , psychologically.

Weather : Grey , cool and rainy ( at QMH ) not in Scarberia

EREL is in its 5 th day ( feels like , 10 ). No results to report.
The rules seem to be bread , as in sandwich or treat ( butter and jam ) , only once a day. I do eat pretzels or taralli , which are pretzel like. 
BTW - I've been known to turn every food ( esp meat ) into a sandwich. so, leaving out the bread is a big step.

trying steel cut oats , to-morrow, for brekkies. ????? we'll see.

Further reports on previous entries. The Cheerios box debate , made day time radio. The box picture , showed an inter-racial couple eating breakfast. What made the picture , incendiary , was the black male and white woman scenario , a real taboo in advertising or social psychology. 8 % of couples , in the U.S. are named as inter-racial.
M and I are. She's normal and I blog.


Wednesday 5 June 2013

BBQ and Me

Many times , I've seen shows on the nation's best BBQ. I've dragged M to so many, BBQ places.  My comment is usually, I can do almost as well at home.
My pet peeves , a) over sauced , to cover up deficiencies in the meat or process  b) dry to tasteless b/c the meat has been sitting so long.

About 6 miles from QMH , a BBQ joint started up , called ' Muddy's Pit BBQ '. Probably , open about 2 years , now.
Well, went to-day, excellent food. The beef brisket was tender and juicy. the ribs were a little dry but not overly greasy. The beans were unique , flavoured and laced w/ BBQ brisket pieces. 
OK. It was worth it.

The boat has been out 4 times now, the play time has started. I did trim the lawn Mon. and mowed the waterfront , to-day,
The totals  are 3 walleye , 1 smallmouth bass and 3 perch. 2 perch are in the freezer , filleted and lightly salted.
Water is high , for sure , and the current is strong.

Weather : The UV index , was high - sunny w/ cloudy breaks , the day never got really hot. The breeze was gentle and constant. Good day , for everything.

Tuesday 4 June 2013

the Truth is Always Elusive

Many times , I've reminded the reader  ( s ) that the truth is the first victim in reporting. Thus my overt distrust of the news machine.

Then occasionally , I find myself in need of your complete open mindedness.

Yesterday , I prepped for the launching of the boat. A springtime ritual. I'm not the first on the river and certainly  not the last. My promise was to do the chores first and  then play.

The batteries need to be carried down and hooked up. The safety equipment , lifejackets , floats , etc are hauled down and stored.
The wind was its typical N - NW but howling. I opted for getting ready and waited for morning.
I did chores - clean up around the boathouse and garbage pick up from last year.

About three week ago on a fishing show - the host was fishing for carp and used french fries. I can do that - so for lunch I bought the medium wedgies at the Farm Store. Ate some and saved three handfuls for fishing. Salted the ff s for extra fish appeal.

After boat prep , I tossed 4 ff into the water as chum - baiting the area. I hooked on a ff and tossed it in.
I patiently , moved the ff around and tried different distances and locations. I gave it 20 minutes and switched fishing gear to try for perch etc.

Not ten minutes later , I brought the jig up to clean the weeds off.
As I look down into the water , a carp approx 15 lb , breaks the surface takes a peek and swims back down. Sort of , where are those ff s , can't catch me but keep trying............ love those ff.
If your heart could break that would be it.

Well ,the wind is still N - NW and blowing pretty hard , this day , but doable. I launched the boat , no problem.

Bright sun and cool w/ wind galore.
I'm chumming w/ ff again to-night 

Monday 3 June 2013

On line dating ... for ?

In the never ending quest to bring you all the news that you probably never saw...
We came up w/ ' on line dating ' for fish. Yepper , a research group has sent out a resume for a cichlid. Cichlids represent a diverse group of boned fishes commonly found in warmer climates.
The cichlid group , much like Darwin's finches in the Galapagos , are believed to show adaptive radiation. Adaptive radiation is one of the anchors of evolutionary theory.
Well , there is a lone male cichlid looking for a mate.

Swamp land in Florida , you say. How about a bridge ? There is a new , never driven on bridge for sale in a place called Davie. I seized upon this item for my on-going list of where 'oops ' doesn't quite cut it.
As in ' We built the thing .... but , come to think of it - we don't really need it '

Weather in the Great White North .... or border weather really. Those folks N of the 60 th parallel , get real annoyed when we abuse the term GWN. To them , the 60 ers , we are American or weird , take your pick. We are snobs, elitist , privileged and spoiled rotten on energy and cheap everything.
Cool and bright sun. def , all the hallmarks of a high pressure system.

And my on going self effacement continues as I marvel at the number and oddness of TV shows. I mentioned , doubting a comment that I saw , well , nearly 15 yrs ago , a prediction stating that 70 % of all TV shows would be cartoon or reality shows.

That one , a gigantic mis-read , ranks right up there w/  " I'd better buy ' She Loves You ' by the Beatles , as a single , b/c they'll never have an album ".

However , I feel that I redeemed myself , partially , when I said ' Hey , she sings great and doesn't need that group '  - Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Ponies. 

Reality shows. We watch ' Wicked Tuna ' and ' Deadliest Catch '.
WT highlights the people of Glouchester , MA who go out and line fish for tuna. They use rod and reel w/ 200 # line. One fish can bring in $ 8 thousand. One fish was priced at $ 18 K at the dock.  This is not wholesale price , wholesale would be higher and what the tuna costs at the retail end ,  doesn't bear thinking about.
This pricing equates to $ 8 - 25 / pound.
DC , is crab fishing in the Bering Sea , w/ 400 lb crab traps. At the same time apparently, people are going after gold ( ' Being Sea Gold ' ).

And I've never looked at alligator bites ( the appetizer ) in quite the same way , after ' Swamp People ' who make their living baiting and hooking alligators in FL and LA. I mean , I thought alligator bites were chicken pieces in cayenne. They'd say it was gator but...... come on , doesn't chicken in cayenne seem more realistic ?

There is ' Ax Men ' , who lumber for a living. they do not seem to use axes very much though.



Sunday 2 June 2013

It Comes Back to haunt You

The Asian Bird flu and the SARS related sickness are still making news. The latest is the ability of the bird flu to rapidly gain resistance versus drugs.
As in the film  ' the  Birds ' ala Hitchcock , it seems they do come back.

The weather : Slightly , less humid and warmer , as the day progresses cooler temps will arrive. In fact , the start of the week coming , will be a tad cooler than average. I imagine a high pressure ridge will sit on top of us for a few days.

Thus , day one of ' eat right , eat less ' , now termed EREL , passed.
The problem here is that I'm not doing the jump on the scale thing.
I suppose pants etc will need to fit easier.
Philosphically , I'm going for - do it b/c its smart , weight etc will be secondary. 
Ha Ha , sounds so good , we'll see.

M. read , right now that , Jean Stapleton has passed away , tres dommage , n'est-ce pas ?




Saturday 1 June 2013

Headlines - or not

The Loop , or rag central for Sympatico our IPS ( Is this the right name , our e-mail server ) had " Headlines that are weird " as the lead story.
Weird is : " Man Leaves Loaded Gun on Disney ride " , Quote , ' I wasn't aware firearms were not permitted in Disney World '

" Inter-racial Backlash , Leads to Withdrawal of Cheerios Box " Yep, mixed couple on box riles people.

Add to this a comment by Roland Emmerich , director of ' the Day After To-morrow ' , " We got written comments at the pre-screening of  " Independence Day " stating a black man shouldn't be the hero.
Will Smith , of course , was the pilot . Oh , yeah , makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Miami Dade Cty ' Boy w/ Puppy Choked by Officer ' . Quote , " the boy looked at me w/ a dehumanizing stare "

These are all U.S. items.

Weather : All would seem to be as yesterday. 73 F and sunny , very humid. Apparently, there is a sea change coming. We had downpours last night , and the temp will drop to-morrow. The week will start 65 - 70F for 4 days , little chance of rain.

The plan , find things to eat that I like but are nutritious and can help w/ weight loss. Yep , decided to try and do some intelligent eating.
stay tuned for - ??????????????  it sounds good to-day , we'll see in a  week.