Monday, 30 June 2014

# 799

No , this isn't like approaching 800 goals in hockey , or 800  straight games in baseball. However , I did allude to the fact that the next 6 blogs in blogspots after mine are really vacant sites.  As well , I've noticed other blogs had fallen silent when I've accessed them.

Thus , we need to address  - consistency 
Oscar Wilde , oft quoted libertarain , said ' consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative '  Pleasant fellow , wasn't he.

I should get some points for staying w/ it. You , the reader , are aware that I may need this therapy device , way more than Oscar Wilde ever did.

Painting the bedroom. Finally, a beginning. Only we've been going for four days.
 The ceiling is white. Of course , the ceiling started white , so , it's whiter or cleaner. Will anyone notice ??? Will we notice as we stare up just before nodding off or numbly drag our carcasses out of the sack ?? Dunno. The can and paint girl said ' high hide - one coat ' but white on white is not the test. Pale blue ??? on pink will be.

We discovered as well , that our 4 poster pine bedstead doesn't appreciate being dragged around like a rag doll. One post was sagging last night , as well as us, and we found one bracket was bent. I was tired but managed to clear the offending tang and the bracket is holding w/ 2  of  3 slots engaged.
The bedroom suite was our first purchase to - gether. And , it was a revelation that people could pay as much for a furniture as I paid for a car.
Boy , was I naive. However , 28 years later , a bracket failed , so really alls good.

Weather , as predicted , hot and humid and increasing til to - morrow , kinda a sticky ending to the July 1, Canada Day. The rain was epic last night. Gushing gutters and a solid wall of noise for about 1 / 2 hr.
BTW - Canada is 139 yrs old to - morrow. Founded in 1865 , a hodge podge of everything right and wrong w/ the world.
We are safe and secure and the largest diaspora for approx 60 cultures and nationalities. We celebrate more independence days on our calendar  than any other country.
P.S. - I made that last one up - but I'm probably , not wrong either.

Have a beer to - morrow , and salute the hodge podge nation to your north

Happy Canada day  !! Y'all

Sunday, 29 June 2014

A Quiet Place

The signs are every where .... actually the signs aren't there.
The city has vacated for the long week end. 
Friday , e.g. the parking lot at the Nursing home was part filled even at 1 PM. Normally , I wait until 3 or 4 a) for the business portion of the day to end at TLC and the shift change to finish , both events clear the parking lot.
The Home Depot was very quiet as well.

The Provincial police announced extra patrols to watch the departing throngs on the road.

I washed walls , yesterday. All the glue needs to be off the wall.
One wall left.
The new colour ?? Haven't a clue. The management is still in a quandary. Me , waiting for the commands on high

WC , on going and a work in progress

Weather , humid and warm to hot but very live - able.

Canadian news : the gov't ( basically , Republican ) is tightening the rules on Citizenship. a ) harder to qualify     b) easier to revoke
Apparently , this is bad. Commentators are definitely against the changes
Me. Dunno
2 Canadians , man and woman , are through to the next round in the All England Champs'ps. This is good.

FYI - You as reader , are used to this blog. 2sents.. comes out fairly regularly. I went through 6 blogs that follow after mine in .blogspot.
The blogs are all dated with last entry , months if not years ago.
So ,somewhat unusual it seems , to keep going
Maybe , not , maybe I need the therapy ..... maybe , I really need the therapeutic value of 2sents....

BTW - this site is coming up on 800 entries




Saturday, 28 June 2014

Re - doing the Bedroom

The Dos and Don'ts

Do : celebrate ( w/ beer )
        go slow , b/c there is no fast , outside of hiring someone ( Smart         move ! )
        listen to the paint counter girl - I was right , she was righter

Don't : Start , it never ends

Our Saga
Things are going well ( relatively ). The walls are stripped of wallpaper and all tidbits are off the walls.
The wallpaper glue is still there in places , lots of places. The recommended solution is called Dif. Dif works marvels and smells like chemicals. We sprayed on the Dif to get the backing off the walls from the wallpaper.
Now ,we  go over and remove the glue.
Our dithering begins, Colour. Blue. How blue ? . Only blue ?

TG the ceiling is white and stays white. Counter girl promised 1 coat
high hide. 
I'm enjoying the white look w/ the stripped walls and gluey patches, M not so much.
Apparently , she thinks we should paint. I'm all for stopping now.
The bedroom has a kind of basic , a primitive look, and I think that I could live with it. We'll see who the boss is !!

BTW - apparently , if you whine a lot - someone responds. The ' Loop ' is the access page to the main server website. Before , two weeks ago , the Loop was graphics galore and a hodge - podge of news , fashion , entertainment trivia and living advice. My special complaint was the download time ( forever ). 
I never wrote to Loop but Loop is now cut down and 1 or 2 snaps and then some banners. I'm  not the only one not appreciating the crap on that page. Although , a few banner headlines got reported here.

Weather : This date is our July 1 - Canada day - week end. The DAY falls on Tues. Here in Canada , that means that stores are closed Tuesday ( the real day ) and this means banks etc. and no booze.
However, people are taking 1 - 4 days off from work or going somewhere. So ,Saturday , Sunday and Monday are themselves w/ a whole whack of people gone.
The weather itself goes from humid and warm to very humid and uncomfortable as Tuesday approaches. rain , almost anytime.

The city fathers have discovered when you build roads and railways at the same level as rivers in river valleys when the rivers rise the banks flood. The solutions are all expensive , go figure. The news presenters pointed out that people living on the high side of the river got less flooding. I'm telling you that I'm glad that they figured it out.


Happy Canada Day Week end !!!!

Friday, 27 June 2014

AfterBite

... is a product for mosquito bites , reduces swelling and itch.

... is the topic at WC , as Luis Suarez is penalized for biting. Using teething problems as an excuse , the Urugua - in officials will appeal the suspension of 4 months and 9 International games ban + a trivial 100 000 peso fine

Weather : Well we are warm but humidity is in check. Basically ,we have summer

In the water rich ( for now ) GWN , a concern is the water levels in the Great Lakes and of course , the feeder or associated water bodies. already in the N , some docks have been extended 30 to 60 ft to reach the receding water.
Our QMH , is part of the Trent - Severn Waterway , and there isn't much change for us , yet.
For our cottage , falling water levels would put us 10 ft from the water if our docks remain in position. We are in a back eddy and I can only assume the water will recede to the edge of the back eddy.
OMG  , could this mean , more grass to mow. Yikes !!!!!

On the fishing front. I've decided not to copy Ant and his throwing a mouse into heavy cover. First , I'm not strong enough to haul fish 40 ft through the weeds and I don't want to.
I'll fish the way that I finished last year , simple rig - take it easy

Thursday, 26 June 2014

Follow up

The President of the Urugua - in soccer Federation said that he saw no evidence of biting  in the Suarez incident.

The weather gets results : The rain came down in buckets and the authorities closed the Don Valley Parkway - a major N - S arterial in T.O. The roadway was knee deep or higher in many places. The ground has been saturated and the water needed a place to go.  Basements flooded and people got rescued from cars as waters reached the windows

The Tour de France starts on the week end.

We have started the prep process for the bedroom. Recall this room is as is from when we bought. Pink
Yesterday , wallpaper stripping began. I was thinking  , why couldn't wall paper stripping be a punishment for convicted felons. Seems fair to me
OCD or whatever I have demands that the wallpaper comes off in whole pieces. Actually its more than OCD b/c there would need to be a lot of scraping otherwise.
Anyways , I am getting very good at the task. Go figure , practice makes it easier

Weather : sultry , last nights temp went to 68 F and stayed
Humidity is back

Wednesday, 25 June 2014

" No biting , now "

Mommy to her little darling or FIFA to Luis Saurez

Weather : dull , poured like the dickins last night at least twice
To - day , grey and ominous

Greece squeezed through in the WC and Italy lost. I think we have the biggest diasporic Greek population outside of the homeland
Heck , we have the biggest out of country population for many ethnic groups
The crowds blocked the Danforth or eastern Bloor St after the win

TG - there's the WC to write about b/c all the other banners are for killing or dying form disease - you name the place and their doing it

" Its a wonderful world " L. Armstrong , hisself

Tuesday, 24 June 2014

A Part of Life

Long ago , my second car , broke down on the road , away from home. Called my Dad and brother. " Good " says my Dad. " You need to know that things breakdown ".
He sends my brother , who knows Nada about cars.
We got home. Dad finishes w/ " An all around good experience for you " Yeah , right Dad.

This Sunday , I was meeting 3 guys on the river for fishing. I didn't want to be late , so I lowered the boat 20 minutes early.
The boat is sliding down the ramp and CLUNK. Dunno !
Pushed , pulled and tried all the stuff that usually gets results. Nope.

The guys text that they are close. I texted back ' Railway problem w/ the boat. I'll join you later.
They decided to come down river and check.
 There I am sweating and out of ideas. Well , 3 hrs later the boat is in the water. The marine railway fixed and operating.
They did all the work. I lugged equipment up and down the hill
I'm hurting , even to-day.
I figure 3 times up an down the hill is aerobic enough. I did 12 trips
Sunday w/ 6 trips carrying battery, winch and stones.
We fished til 8 : 20 PM. I went home and had 2 beers , ate and slept.

B/c , 2 other friends were coming Monday. This is tag team fishing adventuring. This group was supposed to be for 2 days. Eek !!!

Turns out , one couldn't get off the 2 days and the other needed to be at a meeting for clients at 8 PM.  TG
I had all my excuses ready for why I couldn't fish the second day.

A very good time , all things considered.
I'm dead , oh , did I say that already.

Weather is sticky and warm going hot. Rain is anytime.

World news , lots of killing in Iraq , Ebola running riot in W Africa.
Were safe in the sGWN , I guess

Cross your fingers and toes.

Friday, 20 June 2014

Safer Than Going to a Restaurant

In someone's opinion , some organization , food trucks could be a safer health alternative than going to a restaurant. Nope.  Didn't read the story    ( it was banner on the all news TV channel , anyway ).
Hey , the story was on , right now.
Across the U.S. , when restaurants and food trucks were compared using health and safety by - laws , food trucks equaled or surpassed the restaurants.

Ebola , dread infection , is running wild in western Africa according to the org. Doctors W/out Borders. Ebola is hemorrhagic , easily transmitted by body fluids and deadly ( 30 - 40 % mortality )
Have that w/ your morning coffee !

We aren't killing anyone here in the sGWN , which makes us pretty unusual in the world

Weather : Sunny , cool , halcyon days
The latest long range forecast has our area expecting pleasant conditions this summer   Yeah !!!! I'll take that
In March , the prediction was for hotter and more humid conditions , all summer. Boo !!!



Thursday, 19 June 2014

Down Time

Thats what I call it. But down time from what ?
Dunno. Just feels like a break
Change is good
Thus , we zip back and forth to QMH. Like a job
COAC , it is a job
We made it a job - when we bought the extra place
Your fault , dummy !!!

BTW - in conversation w / the neighbours at the corner of our road , it turns out that they a) sold their boat and b ) bought a cottage
Now , my imagination was running in over - drive , what kind of boat equals a cottage ,probably not quite an even trade up - still a boat for a cottage  ????

Whine , moan , bitch --- its life , get in line

To-day , we go looking for shutters for the bedroom
When we were away staying in a B/ B , we admired the shutters there.  Actually , we admired or envied every appointment in the place. A true quality establishment.
So , I suppose its an attempt to upgrade.
About time , we'd say. We 've been in this house for 18 yrs. The bedroom minus decorations is ' as is ' from when we bought.
The bedroom is rose. Neither of us ever wanted rose.
Now , its time to change

Weather : halcyon , real halcyon
But a lull in the ups and down of our turbulent weather times

Enjoy , the down time ( ???? ) and the day

Carpe Diem 

Wednesday, 18 June 2014

Paul Gets Off

Paul Simon won't be prosecuted , nor Edie. They called 911 and the emergency people arrived to find the couple post - fighting
The county laid charges but w/drew the charges this week.

In Liberia , the death toll from Ebola is close to 20.

Spain takes its lumps and will not qualify further in the WC of soccer.
Why is this here ? B/c I watched the whole second 1 / 2 of the game and wanted someone to know.

We were in tornado alley last night. Tornado watches for our area
Turned out to be torrential rain and a lightning show
Tornados did touchdown N of T.O.
The storm blew through at 50 MPH , so blasted some and took off for parts unknown.

Caught my first walleye , this morning. Then he caught me on the thumb w/ his gill plate. Bled like the proverbial stuck pig. There I am tying a cloth around my thumb ,just like in the movies.
Fish is done in one , the fillets came home

Stay dry , folks

Monday, 16 June 2014

At It Again

We boiled the chicken wings. Then , into the 400 F oven. Brush w/ oil , celery salt and pepper. 
Results : crisp ( as promised , in the recipe highlights)
M likes them which is mostly the point. 
We are almost 1 / 2 way through the bag of wings. Which is also good. Things tend to linger in the freezer in this house. No bodies , left-overs though.  Right now , pasta , spaghetti sauce , bread ( lots )
,salmon and sundries.

Rain fell in gobs , for a brief spot , this morning. This event heralds the coming of humidity for the week. Bass season opens this coming Fri at mid - night.




Sunday, 15 June 2014

The Looking ' Glasses '

This blog has related that I have video glasses. How do you use ' video glasses ' ?  Well , fishing trips can be recorded for M. Its not necessary to carry a camera or hold up a cell phone. You click and look.
Yesterday ,at a retirement get to - gether , the guest of honour stood up to say a few words. It became apparent that she intended to thank persons gathered , individually.                 The host , then said " Someone should be filming this "
Click , look.
2 GB later , done in one
We get home and download the glasses onto the big laptop. Store to a thumb - drive.
We hooked up the baby laptop and watched on the TV.

Problems :  a lot of bouncing , up and down in the video. I am getting better but its difficult to remember sometimes to hold my head steady.
There was scratchy - ness on the audio.  Dunno. Wind ???????????
And 2GB is so big , the baby laptop can't handle the data. I tried to download onto the baby laptop but it balked big time.
M said , that she was still impressed w/ the quality , overall.

Readers , will know , this is my second pair of Bios video glasses.
Camo - coloured but still video glasses. And this version is labelled 4.0 v.the original 1.0. We though that the V 1.0 was good.
This V 4.0 might produce sharper images

I was talking to another fisher - guy and he was very taken w/ the concept of video glasses - hands free etc.

Weather : glorious. Not warm , warm - ish. Brilliant sun and a breeze lifting the leaves
Father's Day - we're doing , NADA w/ NADA planned
Exciting , you bet
What can I say , its our life

BTW - England lost to Italy in disease ridden rural Brazil

To all the Fathers  - have a good ' un

Saturday, 14 June 2014

They're Back

On. gets the Liberal gov'ment again and " Tinky - Winky " will be produced w/ Canadian help
Which is more important ???

Weather : bright , cool , glorious

The killing goes on ... well , everywhere Iraq , Syria , Nigeria and the Ukraine
Procul Harem was once a musical group , now they shoot people

To - day , we attend a retirement ' do ' for a friend
Someone's backyard , for the afternoon
90 % teachers , this is the ' Good , Bad and Boring '
Rumour has it that , nothing is more mind numbing than 3 teachers standing around expressing their concerns
I'd say , yes , but I've been at some snore - fests that had nothing to do w/ teachers

The Unthinkable :                  I boiled chicken wings.... really !

On the 'net , I found a site called ' 15Spatulas ' where the host boiled the wings for 8 minutes and then oven baked them.
I did the BBQ thing ,using offside heat. It's summer after all.
All I did was celery salt , paprika and pepper after brushing w/ canola oil.
The verdict : VG to great
The boiling removes some fat , I guess. But the wings were crisp and might have got crispier in the oven at 400 F
I did finish the wings by grilling them on the hot side , next time longer on the heat
I had a pan of water under the wings on the offside
The experiment was interesting. M is not a wing fan but she dug right in ... she was probably starving hungry 

Friday, 13 June 2014

A 2 Season Country

Standard joke in the sGWN , Canada has 2 seasons , winter and patio
Yes , whenever possible the plastic chairs come out and al fresco dining , wining  and shivering , just happen

In the Loop , news - social page , the banner " Why Patio Sucks "
The reasons include 
cold food
plastic chairs
bugs in your hair
shivering
car exhaust ( hopefully , not bus exhaust b/c that is visibly toxic )

As a couple , we studiously avoid patios. And here in the s GWN smoking is not allowed inside. Thus , if the patio is non - roofed , the smokers can smoke out there. W/ a roof of any kind , smokers must move 60 ft form the tables ( in theory )
No thank you , inside is good

Follow up : the Wheel Re - Invented - Re - Invented
The poker table top is now done. The quarters are now 1 / 2 s. The quarters of the eight sided top  were joined by using 1 in x 1 in strips of wood along the long margin ( the diameter and one end ).
The strips were glued and screwed. Glued b/c there really was not much to drill into.
Clamped and allowed to set , the strips hold nicely
Next 1 in rigid foam was cut to shape ( a part octagon ) and glued in place between the wood strips. 
The result is excellent. The top is solid and sits beautifully. The tears and rips are no longer evident. Later , the surface may need re -gluing , we'll see.
The acid test , of course , is the first game w/ players leaning and physically abusing the surface. Before , you could see the table top flex and pull part as guys leaned on the edges.   
One problem might be , keeping the 1 / 2 s to -gether. Recall , the velcro is no more. It seems as though the halves won't move much but 200 lb of poker player could make a difference
However , I left about an inch to 3 / 4 in between the wood strips when affixing them. This spacing means there is room for magnets and a metal strip on opposing 1 / 2 s. These dyominium magnets are the kind that hold doors closed in cupboards.
I'll pick up some magnets when I go to LeeValley Tools to replace the Weatherboy monitor which is kaputzy - ky.
Success. so far

BTW -the polls didn't understand the people. We , now , have a majority Liberal legislature ( Democratic ). We voted , so , we get to live w/ our choice. That's the harder part.
Its the old " be careful what you wish for "
The Republicans ( Progressive Conservatives ) took one in the ear

BTW II - the ' Emoticon ' robot is named Pepper.

Thursday, 12 June 2014

Via the Buds and other tekkie stuff

The FIFA World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the World ???
What about the Olympics ???

Ohio B. and I are texting . His first text was " plug the boat "
funny , I was really worried about not putting the plug back in , b/c it stays out all winter season.
Wow , we are real tekkies - texting !

Weather :" While I ponder dark and dreary " is E. A. Poe
its also what I'm seeing , out there to-day.

I was researching , nut and fruit diets. Perhaps , I'll need to go part - time on this one.  The regimen looks a might extreme for this boy.
My plan , as of this morning is to do NF ( nuts / fruits ) at breakfast.
Hopefully , I'll get to the point of breakfast and lunch NF.

On Blogspot , this blogging site , I found a fellow doing NFV ( vegetables ) full time. He might be a little extreme for me b/c his blog is like a testimonial for his lifestyle. Too preachy for me.

You'll hear just tidbits , of course , why would I bother explaining - don't now , do I ???  , won't start

We vote to - day , the call - way too close. We have had a minority Liberal government Provincially for 11 years. Liberals are equated to American Democrats.
We have 3 parties that sit in the legislature ( 6 that are on the ballot ) and no ' first pass the post ' . Thus  , for the past while , the 100 or so seats , have been split more or less equally among 3 parties. The Liberals and New Democratic Party have voted to - gether on issues that would bring down the government. That process stopped 40 days ago and an election was called.
The NDP generally ,propose and espouse , a more social - union flavoured policy package.
I'll vote Liberal - recall , this election is "who do you not want in "
This election is the  ' hold your nose and do it ' kind.

I notice in the U.S. , a minor ruffle occurred in Richmond , Va when a prominent Republican congressman , Kanter ? , lost in a primary to  a Tea Party toting guy.
Kanter was the heir apparent to be House Leader.
I like ' tea parties ' but not this kind , I'm thinking

Keep your eavestroughs clean

Wednesday, 11 June 2014

Re - Inventing the Wheel :: Part ?????

The saga continues..... actually , it limps along

The boat got waterborne this week
The history ... two weeks ago started charging the batteries
Last week got to-gether safety equipment , insurance and ownership
also , re - charged the batteries

This week , checked and charge batteries , carried safety stuff down to the boat - shouldn't have bothered b/c I had left all that in the boat over winter. This really isn't smart. The fire extinguisher shouldn't undergo drastic temperature swings and the bins tend to get mildew
It all worked out
The marine railway , has been checked for level - apparently , not enough. I did the in the water work 3 weeks ago. Thought that I'd levelled out the inside or land portion. As the boat wobbled down the ramp , aha , numb nuts , you call that level ???  So ,more wood under the rails

The boat cranked over on the first try. The boat flew down the river except for the chicken driver who was looking for logs. Imagine people just push out logs etc into the river , who dat ????

RItW :   The boat house door is a metal garage door. The locking mechanism failed long before I got it. Normally , a pin goes through the sliding part of the door and the jamb. Except that the holes are about 2 in apart - the foundation hasn't settled from the flooding.
Back to the drawing board. After , several hours contemplating - I used metal strapping w/ the holes pre- drilled. I screwed the affair onto the moving door part and the pin , now , goes through the hole on the jamb. I guess until the ground settles.
The substitute for the pin , so far , has been to chain the garage door down. Time consuming and silly. Thus , re-inventing the wheel

Weather : we got deluged , predictions said close to an inch , the were right
I look up and water is pouring over the eavestrough - out w/ the ladder - something was building a nest ( or saving grass and twigs in my eavestrough ). Soaked to the skin but the water flowed down the trough.

Monday, 9 June 2014

Loose Ends

A backlog gapes like a black chasm
Not really , but on CBC ,this AM on FM , they read poems about soccer. You think that top line was bad - those soccer poems were as awful

Weeks ago , news had Paul Simon calling 911 and trying to cancel the call. Police arrived to an embarrassing domestic scene.

Longevity comes from a Mediterranean diet -more fibre , fruit and veg or.....win an Oscar. Yepper , they live 3 yrs longer than those who don't win
An Emmy is worth 4 yrs , more

Here in On. , an election is happening. Ontari - ari-arians ( from an Ontario Travel and Tourism ad) are voting Thurs. The choice is who not to vote for, the incumbents are crooks or really inept. The opposition has a chinless wonder for a leader or a party leader that voted down a budget tailored made for them.
Its called strategic voting. Keep the numb-nuts out. Classy that.

Weather : sunny , rain all week -here and there

The boat goes in this week , God willing ( they said that all the time in ' Lawrence of Arabia ' , crossing the desert )

Disaster city , Weatherboy has lost his outside monitor , we are stuck w/ only inside info on the climate front. However , Weatherboy knows enough to put up an umbrella and change his clothes according to the conditions. How does he do that ????
Smart lad and all.
And , also over the buds this morning ,for  $ 2000 , a robot that senses your emotions / mood etc will be available. Much as in Siri , my talking phone voice and internet looker - upper ,      the robot or " Emoticon " as I've named him / it / her , uses the ' Cloud ' and facial recognition etc to respond to the owner.

Back - ordered as well , or called up from memory , I discovered that my U.S. phone , can also talk to me.
I'm surrounded by tech






Sunday, 8 June 2014

The Wheel Re-invented

... an example. Lest you think the above is a phase or just a bunch of words
I'm doing it right now. 
Approx 10 years ago , a Christmas present was a poker table top
The table is in 2 sections , each section folds , so that the table carries as 1 / 4 size in its own case
The table gets put away downstairs or as this week carried to someone else's house for a game - I lost

However , while packing up , the velcro strips that joined the sections ripped. Glue them in , you say , been there
So , in reality the re - glued strips peeled off.
As well ,the folds which were held to-gether by the fabric of the table top are separating as the fabric weakens

Smart money  ( as well as M ) says buy a new one
Nope.
Gonna fix the sucker

Plans have been drawn , to scale , I might add
Problems have become evident
W/out velcro , which could be replaced - how to hold the sections to- gether
Right now , I'm thinking of rods or pegs that extend into each 1 /2
How long ? What material ?

And the table that the poker surface sits on - is another re - invention
I found a tripod base on the street. I was gifted a poker table top ( hand made ) by a friend , the table top degraded over the years , fabric deteriorated , the legs never folded flat and the thing was heavy.
M bought the new poker table top for me. I stripped the old poker top down to a covered board.
I drilled holes so that the old poker board could attach to the tripod base and be knocked down w/ 4 wing nuts.
The new poker top was secured by long bolts joining the bottom board . The table , thus , collapsed to a tripod base and board plus folded poker table top. Neatly , stored in different places

So , in essence , I'm re - inventing , the re - invented.
See , story of my life

There is an easy way , I never do it
Recycle , re use - regret  No , I'm kidding 
there is some enjoyment there

I received an e - mail from Microsoft re: the new " Surface " i - Pad
The gist is that you can write on the screen as a paper product and the system stores your writing as a document
I'm sure there's much more
The cost is much more $ 800 plus for 64 Gb and a grand plus for 128 Gb

This week's By the Numbers topic was   ' Being Mobile-y Connected "

20       -   % increase in smartphone subscriptions esp China etc
30       -   % smartphone users as of all mobile phone users
38       -   %  African mobile internet usage ; 2x the North American                      rate
193     -   minutes / day Nigerians spend on their smartphones
124     -   minutes / day for Canadians on smartphones
51       -   minutes / day , Canadians spend on their tablets
115     -   minutes / day , Filipino use of tablet devices

Oops ! This house isn't even close -   no Surface in the future for this dude.

Weather : dreary and wind is rising Weatherboy isn't stupid , he's got his brolley out and the arrow is down

Saturday, 7 June 2014

Secretariat

.....runs for the Triple Crown and racing immortality

OK What am I good at
Organizing   Yep Tools , my workroom
Accumulating  everything A born or cultural saver - Daddy's fault

The tools in the workroom are all in drawers or shelves

What gets done.   Not much
I fiddle here and there and organize 
I organize the organized

Every once and then - success 
Something gets fixed
My favourite line is that I spend my time ' re - inventing the wheel '
I seem to find problems , mostly unique to me

Roof run- off seems to be haunting me

Weather : sunny , wear your sunscreen my friends

Friday, 6 June 2014

Living Life or not

Maybe I'm too cheap.... no I am too cheap

I am not buying a i Pad for a travelling computer , I'll keep the 3 yr old E machine ( 500 dollars vs status quo - i.e slow or slow-ish and not style - ish either )

Our bill for TV , internet and phone just hit $ 208 , it has been climbing but now it crossed the 200 barrier - I'm searching for alternate service providers and there are lots but w/ varying degrees of satisfaction based on reviews

I try to stay on top of the rising costs for sustainable ( ???? ) urban life ...... internet and TV are almost in the class of essentials in this house .... kinda sad in a way
There we are trapped in a modern whirlwind of spending
Our garbage is more than half packing material
Whine , moan , bitch

In my book , Tyranny of the Night series , the hero and his friend have this repartee
Pinkus : We're hurt and low on supplies , where you've been
Piper : You're still complaining , we must have got here in time

Love that 
I guess I'm still alive , I'm whining

Weather: sunny , beutii --- summer set in

Gardening : went wild last night , afternoon was shady and cool
Trimmed the hedge. Normally , I cut it straight across , its never flat or straight. This time , I cut it as an arch low on the ends and rising to the middle , uneven but it always is uneven - this way it looks like I was trying for uneven ---- Go figure

The evergreen part of the hedge got whacked something big time - I used the ratcheting loppers and a saw ... it never had a chance. Some chunks were as thick as my wrist
Oh , the silver leaf dogwoods didn't escape either. I decided to show them who's the boss . Now , they know
You could tell from the self satisfied grin on my face that great things had been achieved
Basically , the plan is to do enough so that you feel smug but don't die doing it
Kinda like , if you're still whining , then you're still alive
It is a precarious existence here in suburbia



Thursday, 5 June 2014

SEX or /

.... Lose Weight Fast
Trying to get catchy titles so that , more people will read the blog

Couldn't think of any other flash titles
Problem , we would venture into territory that I know zilch about

Hey ,that wouldn't be too different from normal blogs - only everyone would know right at  the start

Will Rogers had the line  " everyone seems to be writing a book , mainly about sex , and as soon as I learn something thats what I'll do " Will was modest , I'm pretty sure he had 6 kids

weather : warm , sultry and clouding over but def , it is summer conditions

We were told in the Niagara grape region , conditions are approx a month behind.... does that mean my untrimmed edges aren't that behind .... meaning I'm not that late trimming them

" How Our Love Affair w/ Politics Is Fading Fast " is a banner headline in the Torstar. Who is kidding who , here?
They could have posted this is the late 60 s , even 1860 if it comes to that
Maybe , the plan should be : pay politicians zero dollars. Then let them steal all they can... at least then , we would know they're crooked and  ...  guilty. Gotcha.

Met w/ dear friends , the last 2 days. They are from North of the U.S. - Canada border , they live in Ohio
Hi, Ohio !!!
Overall , no one was injured and no shots fired

Then we come home and the headlines list ,  3 Mounties shot dead in the Maritimes , hey , we didn't sign on for this

We traded Nexus stories w/ our hosts , theirs true , ours imagined
There is an outside chance that we may keep our Nexus cards for more than 2 crossings , if we are careful .  Very , careful.

Tuesday, 3 June 2014

Blooming

Right now , the backyard seems alive
Pop , bang , green all over

The dandy lions have retreated a bit
Not so obvious but w/ the rain they'll start nosing up
Talk about pop - those things really do jump up overnight

Weather - rain and clouds - unstable for 2 - 3 days
Wk nd promising to be , summer like and open to all possiblities

Monday, 2 June 2014

Watching..............

..... what you say Or doing what you say
This phrase is the bugaboo of my life

" Oh , we bought the cottage close to T.O. so we can zip up for a day "

We aren't going this week as usual. I was hemming and hawing about whether to go , stay one night etc  ... then I remembered the above line
Gotcha !!!!
I went

The good , the new plants got watered - it will rain to-day ,natch..

The good : We replaced the satellite dish base, last week. 3 hrs of TV and then
- the signal starts cutting in and out as in a rain or thunderstorm
Go up to the dish , check the connections - all tight.
Board under the dish doesn't seem to move - so far so good , no signal.
Get out the destructions - azimuth ,declination and skew
How to adjust by compass and protractor ............COAC
Protractor , there's a diagram in the book
COAC , I aimed the dish 1/2 " higher , what the ' hey ' - take a chance
The book says that you must get at least 55 % signal strength on the test band
Bingo !!!!! 73 % and climbing
We have TV
BTW - this is free satellite TV , so far since we've been up there. I think that they forgot about us

Bad : nope , except keep my mouth shut

Weather : warm and warmer , sunny and sunnier , high UV
Maybe rain / thunder this aft
It is getting dark


Sunday, 1 June 2014

Groggy

" Woke up , got out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head

Nice day