Itinerary , Nov 30

We raked leaves and cut bush
Traveled to Pt Hope and the Capitol Theatre , where each year the lobby is filled w/ Xmas trees. Each tree is donated  and decorated by businesses and individuals. the premise : you buy tickets and place the ticket in the voting box beside each tree.
On a day , the organization draws tix from each box and the winner gets the tree.
We visited Home Hardware and Canadian Tire ( department stores ) searching for a companion to the lone Xmas tree on the lawn. This lawn decoration was in response to the neighbours who have reindeer and Santas galore. We got the lone pine tree.
We purchased a window scene w/ flying snow and music. The window replicates the sound of a 747 taking off. the music is tinny and dis - harmonius. Obviously , the window was on sale - obviously , 55 % off -- and you now , know why !!

The day was cold - ish ( 34 F ) , dry and slightly breezy. Sun , off and on.

Thus , except for the snowy window scene it was a good day

Do You Know what You're Doing

.... hey , is this about me ,  yep.

We live in a house , actually , its a 2 level condo. Way big for us.
Pros: we own it , clear
          the view is very good to fantastic
Cons: the stairs , w/ no shower on the 1 st level , we go downstairs
          pros; the mess , clothes etc stay in the basement ,
                   we change downstairs

We are comfortable , or too lazy to change

And we go condo hunting , all talk no bark

Weather : sunny and 35F

Error !  I reported that between 2009 - 14 more Mexicans left the U.S. than entered. I mentioned that this kind of fact down't make the press. Wrongo. In the TorStar , By the Numbers feature , they analyzed the whole thing.

Timex , heart rate monitor , so far so good. Records , instantly and faithfully. Of course , this is one week and a bit. Still success is success

Toss It

On a home make over show , the host is going through her wardrobe. The rule is ' if you haven't worn the garment in three months - toss it '. In the basement , 3 yrs and toss.
Last year , I re cycled 2 display train sets. A young couple w/ 3 kids got the trains. Good start but........
Only a start. My father's rule was ' hell , you may need it ! ' And his garage , looked just like that.
I'm a little better. when we first moved here , Dad goes ' a double garage !!  , wow , can we sure use  that '. I said ' you get a locker in one corner and thats it '. Father was crestfallen. My rule - cars go in , stuff goes around.
However , my workroom is ' like my dad's rule '. I may need it. Does it work , of course , you keep something for 20 yrs and who knows...... 

For Norton : from the DayStarter , TBT

Where you live can play a role in when you die, study says

By Kathleen McGrory, Times Staff Writer

People in Hernando and Pasco are more likely to die sooner.

BTW - we stay in Pinellas County.

Weather : early fall for us but gloomy , warm - ish and rain threatens. A temperature drop is coming.

Happy Thanksgiving

........ to the southerners that follow , here.

The temperature is not bad , say , 40+ and going up. Grey though and miserable , looking , sun isn't showing yet.

Yesterday , NPR had a ' taste of the turkey ' day. Recipes and ideas from 3 noted chefs were featured. The emphasis quickly shifted to sweet potato , squash and pumpkin. Pies got mention , esp , pecan pies ( from the south ) and potato pie and pumpkin pie from the north.
Kale got mentioned , up and coming , you know. The big debate : salad or not on the TD table. Pros : light and a palate cleanser
Cons: its turkey day !!! salad on Fri , not TD.
I wanted to add rice for the table - w/ rice and gravy , a dream come true. We used to have chow mein for my brother. Yes , turkey and chow mein , what memories.

Methinks a haircut is in order. The cow licks are getting huge and the hat hair problem is back. Always sure signs that my hair is too long - actually what is left is too long.

No haircut.
To - day is the start of cyber Black Fri , thus , I went to amazon to find the bargains
1.   DVDs are big w/ 60 % off   'the Walking Dead ' , see the problem is that I thought they were fellow staff on Fridays at 3.

2.  the prices for stuff - 60 % off and the price was $290 - who pays that much regular for this stuff

3.   60 % off video games - I thought using the laptop was a video game

4.  Blu Tooth headsets - doesn' that mean you need a device that broadcasts blue tooth - see , big problem there

5. 60 % off a pod coffee maker .... all I can think of is a scene from 'the Coca Cola Kid ' starring Eric Roberts. A game warden / private security guy in the Ozzie Outback is making coffee. Hot water and coffee grinds over the campfire then swing the pot on a rope in big circles - pour and drink. And Greta Sacchi is naked in this one - whoa , momma

6.  Activity tracker - counts your steps etc. holey , what if you fail i.e. not enough steps !!!

7. the ' Dummie ' books are on sale. did you know that one of the Paris terrorists had a paperback " Terrorism for Dummies " ???
He got it on sale.

BTW - the highly touted Kaori Muraji may have tongue cancer.
The reports were based on emails sent to fans in general but the English was difficult to translate - you know Japanese into English
- the standard joke for instructions.

The 5 thousand

..... movie thriller.
Nope. Last night , at the craps table, a guy in a hoodie and goatee stands and watches for a few minutes - consults his PDA. He takes out a wad of cash from the bank w/ wrapper ' 5 000 $  ---  50 x 100 ' says the stamping. The pit boss counts the loot in two separate stacks - in front of the cameras so that all the crew can see - 5 000....... and I'm there w/ my $ 160 and happy as a binman w/ new slippers , to make $60 ..... whoopee !
As , Marvin the Robot , says ' life , don't talk to me about Life ! '

KIDS FOREST PINK CAMO RECLINER    WHERE DO YOU NEED PINK CAMOUFLAGE ??????

On sale at the Tractor Store

Yo .....

........  Hi / Lo , Big Red , the Horn ,Hardways , Crap check

Where do you hear these words

At the craps table , natch. My favs , crap check -and maybe , three way craps

Now , mathematically ,craps has the lowest house odds in the casino. If you play it right , the house edge is 1 % 
My way the house edge rises to 6 % but it is all about enjoying the time.
Have I played 1 % craps , yepper , boring as sin. So , a little of the 6 % slips in .... an in ...and in

Weather : overcast and cold - ish , the icy stuff has lingered. Well , a warm up is coming

Winter Came Knocking

.......and we were home
.We don't know the  name of what fell , last night - little round snow pills. The little guys made a racket coming down. The steel roof magnifies the sound.
We warm up all week. Get by , to - night ( snow flurries ) and we'll be reasonable. 

Angst Amidst the Stuffing

Apparently ,' turkey hotlines ' are deluged , this week w/ franatic calls. Turkeys not thawing etc. The problem say the experts is  simple , big occasion, pressure and no practice. Some people cook , one turkey a year.
M was at the hairdresser and the ladies that do her - hair , nails whatever , were fascinated by the fact that she did turkey.
Well ,she gave her advice. Two months later , she got the feedback. One Chinese lady was doing great until , she realized that she couldn't turn on the oven. Her husband spent 20 minutes figuring how to turn the oven on.

Orchestrate a success

Turning out a top-notch Turkey Day dinner can and should be a harmonious affair. Follow these tips.

This item was w/ the DayStrater , TBT , to - day.

For the second time , at Canadian Thanksgiving , we cooked the turkey , the day before. Slice , chill and re - heat the day of.

You pour turkey stock over the meat and re - heat.

This time , I convinced M to let me try the re - heating. The instructions that we got said " lots of stock and triple foil the container and wrap tight " . I said, we'll use a large corningware dutch oven and foil and cover that w/ the lid.

Worked a charm ( TG , or I wouldn't be allowed to live , big pressure ).

Good Luck , you southerners

This Will Never Make Headlines b/c

............. no one profits or can spin it

In 2014 , something happened that is unique in 50 yrs of record keeping. More Mexicans left the U.S. than arrived. A million either way , but 140 000 more left the U.S.

Ebola , not gone , 10 000 cases , 4 000 dead but 3 cases popped up in Liberia ( ? )

Weather : rainy , gray and dim
How are you ???

Is Norton healing up , there ?

Later that day

Forgive me father , for I have sinned

We had country fried steak for dinner
M bought these cute little steaks for grilling. How do you want them , you're in charge !
Sliced them thin like bagels and soaked them in soya sauce , and the other in beer. Let'em sit. Pounded them flat w/ a spike hammer
thingy and egg and bread crumbs
OMG , was that ever good
It is a sin
Fruit salad for dessert to atone

Takes a Licking and

.............. and keeps on ticking

The slogan that made Timex

I used the Timex , personal trainer , last night
The story was don't put your heart rate monitor in the dryer , except that I did get it out pretty quick.
Rather than pay 50 , I paid 60 something for a new monitor.
Its a Timex

Worked like a charm , last night.
4 days of taking it easy and then last night , I went for it.
The WBR or Welcome Back Rouitne
One of two , the other is Burst

WBR
Prelim : work the lacrosse stick for 2 min
              30 push ups on the bar , about a foot off the floor
Elliptical for 2 min
10lb hand weights , alternate hand raises and raise from waist
jump back on the ellip. and finish the minute  ( X4 )

Barbell , chest raise , front and 10 bent chest raise from the ground
jump on ellip and finish the minute ( X 4 )

Barbell , arm curls , jmp ell fin min ( X 4 )

Barbell , back raise , jmp ell fin min ( X4 )

Hand weights , arm swing while walking on ellip , 17 each side
finish the 2 min on the elliptical

Small hand weights , punch / stretch and / punch , while pedalling  finish the 2 min on the elliptical

Wrist grippers , 10 squeezes  , 3X , while peddling
finish the min on the elliptical

Arm / leg extension , on all fours 30 X each side
jump on elliptical and finish the 2 min.

Arm swings , raised on the bar 30 X each side

Elliptical for 6 minutes

Resistance band - rowing for 1 minute
Elliptical

resistance band , leg extensions , 27 X each side
Elliptical

Resistance band arm curls at side , 20 X each side
Elliptical

Leg raises , 30  and repeat 3 X

Over
Total time 46 min and a tad
Avge HR 114
Max HR 136
Cal burned 436
from the Timex personal trainer

Weather : Sunny , and clearing. Temperature approx 15 degrees cooler than yesterday.

A cool , rainy week end is ahead

Prognosticating

the weather.

If you check the entry for yesterday , I included the American Thanksgiving Week forecast. Looks good.
To - day feels good but the temperature will drop some 15 degrees by late afternoon.
Did a check of the gutters. We have a sour cherry tree adjacent that drops all kinds of crap on the roof and it ends up in the gutters.
I cleaned out the dross.

Health wise , XXXXXXX maybe I've beaten the cold.
I was expecting sore throat , fever , body ache - yes , symptoms of the flu but my symptoms when I'm sick.

Hope U R Feeling Better

............ goes out to Norton , OH

Me , here in the s GWN , on the mend. Head is clear , -ish , stuff is still coming out of my nose

Got it ! too much information , there

Day looks bright but windy , the forecast says rain due
mild temperatures

And Amazon came through again.
The story. My heart monitor belt , somehow made it into the dryer and made almost 10 minutes in heat cycle. The readings have been slightly irregular.
Pricing out the battery change and the suggested chest strap replacement ( 2 batteries from Polar , the company itself ) $ 55 incl postage.
instead , I ordered a Timex , heart rate monitor = del to the door 
$ 66. Obviously , maybe not the same standard BUT I don't need much. It is just a rough check to make sure that I don't do stupid things. I do lose the max VO2 test but that was pretty simplistic anyway.
What is bad , is the slide into disposible consumerism - I mean what happens to the watch and chest strap thingy - see !

Oh well. I 'll try to think of something

In ' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy ' Frogstar World B , falls prey to the ' shoe event horizon ' , when shoes become the bellweather for industrial success  - make shoes , consume shoes leads to more shoes etc

According to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson, "We expect another large storm to roll from the Pacific and expand toward the central Rockies during the week of Thanksgiving

Follow Up to symptoms

Much better , stuffy but re - bounding in health

The weather is less beautiful than yesterday , cooler and breezier
41 F on the back deck

I'm trying to be normal but its hard ... still a little loggy , overall

Riverton the book is getting better ... things are moving along quite
well

I'm watching a re - play of the latest episode of ' Partners in Crime ' an Agatha Christie series featuring Tommy and Tuppence , married couple , playing at being spies.

Always the Way

........ is it a cold , is it the flu
NO
Me being me. I've checked the lists of symptoms   Cold  /  Flu
Me , I get them all

Saturday night , went to sleep w/ Neocitran or the fake kind from Shoppers Drug Mart. For you southerners , Neocitran is Nyquil dressed up w/ lemon flavour and put in hot water.
Knock out drops for a cold.

Did it Sunday night as well and spent the day ( Mon ) in bed , reading. Funny when your captive , I think you'll read anything ... and I did
First , a Rizzoli and Isles thriller about Chinese revenge... not bad
The corker is ' Riverton' ...its a girls book , I think
The recollections of a maid that went from understairs to above stairs ( English class , sort of terminlogy ) and a college education and professorship.  Goodness.
I'm reading the Kindle that M gave up. I've read most of the detective ones and won't start the American ones.

Hopefully , I've beat the illness.
Cross my fingers XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cuz when I get sick .... the works

The day was pleasant form the window view - sunny and a little breeze.... looked good

Here goes : Ten Things that Canada is good at

1. reputation - according to  an international poll 
2. Donuts - we eat lots
3. personal freedom - we polled highest among G20 countries
4. Kraft dinner - we eat lots 
5. Hockey - M  / W both , by international interest groups
6. OECD - says college education is high here
7. Lakes , we got lots
8. Banks - some of the solidest in the world
9. Maple syrup as of the last ten years
10 Coastline - yep , lots of coastline

Sunday , here

Temperature 48 F , there is a breeze but reportedly the wind is going to ramp up turning quite brisk. The sun is out making things look pretty good.Temperatures will rise to 50 +  ,this mid - week but will come w/ rain.
This time of year , w/ the leaves gone , we can see the back of Cedarbrae Plaza approx 3/4 of a mile away.

Alright , here. Breakfast in front of the TV. One topic , attacks in Paris. We are watching the news feed from the CP 24 , news show.
Coffee and toast , and someone is having cereal. Of course , I'm typing , on the emachine. 
? was it faster this morning. In light of the new protocol for start up. Maybe , the one change that is noticeable is that loading the Google , gmail program ( my main choice for email ) seems to finish faster. I usually would get a window pop up " something's not right " and the program icon spins away. That part seems to be faster.

Paris .........

........... are they going to talk about 11/13 w/ sadness. 
Imagine the relatives dealing w/ this tragedy

Weather : hovering around 48F , wind is still here and its grey outside.

Following up from yesterday , and the reset for start up of the baby laptop. I did the same deleting for start up on the big laptop ( using it now ). Figured that it doesn't hurt esp. since some of those ' apps ' were games or game sites

Re - inventing the Wheel

............I use this expression all the time ( at least in my head )
mostly as a frustration but quite often as an explanation for the state of affairs.
I mean , of course , that it seems that duplication or re - doing of something seems the norm.
Here we go. The baby laptop was xtra slow this morning.
Recall , that this e machine , 10 " screen , small laptop has had a memory upgrade and a solid state drive installed. All this effort to increase the speed of the computer. The initial cost $ 130 after bonus points BUT $100 to get a full Windows program , $40 for a 2 GB memory chip and $110 for a solid state drive. Thus , I have a $380 laptop. 

I've explored the possibility of buying a new laptop or i - Pad , etc. The problem is plug in ports. I still need an USB port for my video glasses and it is handy to have xtra ports for attaching devices.

As mentioned , this AM , really slow.

I went to YouTube ( where else , would I go ) and watched two videos , essentially , titled , " make your computer faster'.
After 18 minutes , I got the feeling that for me and my emachine , only one item really applied.
The suggestion was to go to the ' start - up menu ' and delete any programs not needed at start up b/c you could manually bring those programs into service as you needed them.

BTW , some suggestions involved using CNET a website for computer programs and upgrades. I'm leery of using CNET b/c in the past , along w/ what you want CNET sends a bunch of programs attached for search engines etc.

I trimmed the start - up list and re - started. And , yes , the emachine is slightly faster.
Google is our main program and loading gmail seems to take a long time. After the tweaks to start - up , there was an obvious change in the response time. Now , we'll see if this performance continues over time.

Weather : is all about the wind. The wind has been gusting for at least 36 h and I estimate leaf cover is in the 10 % range. In fact , only 2 trees out of the 40 that we can see have more than a few leaves left.
Temperature is 46 F on the back deck.

NO 12 , 2015

Rain and getting colder , wind is rising

6:30 P  And the wind rose

It whipping around out there , not terribly cold but chill , still

Remembering

I'll have to careful here,I'm almost against Remembrance Day. 

We should be thankful for all those who fought and dared for us.
But the rub , is that it is an excuse for politicians to feel self satisfied and smug ' hurrah ' , we did something.
In reality , our veterans come home to fight vs the government. Why should a vet have to prove that their PTSD (trauma ) is war related. Or wait for medical service or travel 100 s of miles for medical treatment and re - hab.
Thus , on Remembrance Day , DND and the government should announce that no vet has gone untreated , this year , if they asked for help.
I know that members of the Merchant Marine received limited or no post service care or acknowledgement. Has that changed , I don't know , maybe.
Seems to me when they fire torpedos and bullets at you , your fighting for your country.

So , to real Remembrance Day , thank you vets and shame on you gov't.

Weather : 50 F on the back deck , cloudy , hints of rain.

The Low Country

For our fishing week , beginning of Nov. , we drove to Niagara Falls Airport , caught the shuttle flight to Myrtle Beach and drove a rental car to Hilton Head Island.
Each day of our trip we started by catching shrimp and mullet for bait ( and jumbo shrimp to cook ). I'd love to tell you where we fished but could never be sure if I was right. The names Haig Point , Skull Creek and May R seem to be correct but we went to many locales to fish.
The area comprised Hilton Head Island , Beaufort and Bluffton which are all considered ' the Low Country '. I remember in the movie ' Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ' , the host Jim Williams insisted on Low Country cooking.
The rigging was simple medium size rods and reels , braided line and jig heads. The bait was hooked onto the jig.
The redfish hit hard but several times we pulled the jig from the fishes mouth by being too aggressive.
By rough calculating , I was outfished by the other three 5 days out of six. My glory day saw 9 redfish come to the boat. However , I gave up my corner of the boat to let others try. And they caught fish too !

Weather in the s GWN , overcast and threat of rain , then sun to - morrow mostly and rain to follow Thurs. Temperatures are holding at above seasonal values.
Long range calls for relatively mild temperatures.

Refreshed and................

......... I wanted to say ' rarin' to go '

Alas , I'm still a little sleepy. On this fishing trip , I was the oldest by 11 yrs and the other guys were fairly active.

From the DayStarter , TBT

Could olives be Florida's next big crop? The proof is in the oil.

By Laura Reiley, Times Food Critic

Ripening worldwide demand for the "liquid gold" comes at a good time for Florida growers.

The weather , this AM , cool and sunny. Our temperatures are dipping into the mid - 30 s and to night may see sub 32 temperatures. The trees have been stripped of leaves by the winds. Lets say , coverage is 30 % in the trees

( later that day )

M says , 20 % leaf cover left

We ( M and I ) used the rig that I cobbled to - gether to blow out the leaves from the gutters - all around the house while still on the ground.
That means , yes , even the second story gutter.

The Break is Over

and the week in review
This last week NO 1 - Nov 7 represents the longest lull in blogging on this site
Where were you ? You ask , or not
Answer is Hilton Head Island , South Carolina

Four Guys , not the hamburger joint.

Drove , flew and drove to get to South Carolina's playland for the rich. And they are

We rented a house on the Island and drove to the charter dock which turned out to be a public dock beside a church

The weather was sultry , not a day below 70 F and high humidity

We used shrimp and cut bait to catch redfish , spotted sea trout and other less desirable victims + 1 shark

We ate like kings w/ shrimp and fish every night.
Overall phenomenal