The Year Was 2016

... my mom died
other s that I knew as well

Normally , we do a little in house snacky thing at dinner
But to - morrow , family arrives for New Years Day

Growing up , mom made stuff 
chow mein ( best that I ever had )
chicken cutlet
shrimp
and a soup called Ozoneh
basically Matzo ball soup

A fish flavoured stock of miso is prepared
and rice cakes are added to soften and get flavour
M calls it mucilage

We cheat , and order everything in sushi and Chinese food
chow mein obviously and we remember the real thing
in times long past

What we have left is our stories
and that is good
maybe the best

Segue into my anecdote. In university , there was a student rag that came out weekly. ' Gelius ' was the sports reporter. Covering College Intramurals must have been poor fodder for a part time journalist. My friend and co - player scored 2 goals in lacrosse. Gelius wrote ' Petrosoniak , son of electrosonic ( 2 ) and my name , a Jewish delicacy put in soup ( 1) '
hence my Matzo ball connection

Happy New Year !!

" Believe or Not I'm Walking on Air

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Believe or

... to quote Robert Zimmerman , Nobel recipient
' the times they are a changin' '

On line shopping
Ten years ago , four years ago
Huh whats that ?

Aujourdui  Why not
I think four to five packages came this pre - holiday season

And we segue into , another confession
I bought my 8 th pair of video glasses
and they broke in 3 weeks

On the bright side , I've taken 1 pair apart and am now re - packaging the whole kit and caboodle w/ the thought of re - jigging and re - using the guts.
If it works , I could have many versions of the new re - purposed video ....... ??? pocket camera ............. hat camera

Weather : Well , we caught a dumping , last night and it is still falling
Warm outside , very wet packing snow
Yepper , a bunch fell off the back roof
and I move it away from the house

Debbie Reynolds passed , days after her daughter

The dreaded return of Xmas gifts. At Winners ( e.g. TJ Maxx ) , I was 3rd in line for returns. EZ PZ and she was even pleasant.
I guess its not her money.
At Chapters bookstore , # 2 in line and she was really cute and helpful

What a day !!! Bonus
All done !

The drive was treacherous leaving our house but improved all the way b/c main roads are bare and salted

winter sledding occurs on Banmoor Dr as you drive your car.
there is no charge to take this ride
the curves are sweeping slides , curb to curb
a true winter ' wonderland ' , like 
You wonder can I make it
Whee ! I survived
Let's do it again on the way home

" Life is .................. "

continued

Life is like a toilet bowl
b/c the usual is a bunch of shit and then you meet a great ass hole

BTW - they didn't use this one in the TorStar

Weather : oh , the sun came out. Still cold according to the forecast
but not bad
w/ no unruly conditions

In Australia , esp Sydney , festive beach goers at one beach left a mountain ( 15 tons by some estimates ) in a drunken display of .... well everything - lewdness , civil disorder etc
Merry Xmas down under
BTW - it is very hot down there

We seldom announce deaths here but

Carrie Fisher passed away. She of Princess Leia fame in StarWars , the next generation
However , I remember her in ' When Harry Met Sally '

Life is like a roll of duct tape
b/c the tape is so useful but when it gets tangled what a mess

Hey ! I think I'm getting good at these

And M says that most of those quotees in the TorStar , probably gave their choice about as much attention as I have and likely mean it less
just press clippings for their resumes or picture caption

Thoughts of ...........

well, my hands were freezing , breaking ice out of the gutters.

W/ the steel roof comes some problems. Snow tends to fall off the roof - as in slide , like rolling thunder. Thus , I need to move snow that falls. And its lots.
I'm moving the snow out from the house 8 ft and putting the snow out were it will melt and the run off goes away.

The gutters fill w/ ice and any melt water adds to the weight. Plus there were still leaves in the gutter.
My hands were cold and getting colder.
Alright , if I lived in a condo then I wouldn't need to do this

BUT ' do I really want to smell other people's cooking '

I merrily chopped away
W/ the heavy rain the roof snow melted and everything flowed away

I was bang on w/ my personal weather prediction for yesterday.
We are anticipating cold ( below 32 , say 25 F ) and clearing skies as a high pressure system settle in

We ate turkey at a cousin's place - very nice get to - gether. I grew up w/ these cousins ( our mothers were close ) , so , a lot of history there.

Mentioned the downloaded movies and got an earful
" you're paying for each movie ? ( gasp ! ) "
" what about Netflix "
" I've got a gadget that gets free streamed movies and shows "

I am a dinosaur to the nieces and such.

The TorStar ran a piece on ' a Metaphor for Life '
as in " Life is .................. "
Canadian newsmakers were asked to complete the sentence as their philosophy of life

Life is like a camera -- Megan Markle

Life is a guitar --- Liona Boyd

Each went on to explain the ' why ' of their choice

Here's mine

Life is a fishing rod
B/c there is always a need for balance between the strength of the thing and the need for flexibility. Neither by itself is good.
And besides , it makes fishing fun

Mild and Blowing

my interpretation of the noise outside the window

Drops of rain are on the window
The wind is howling
and everything looks slick out there

The newspaper delivery is late b/c
the roads are slippery
or the delivery lady is worried about the roads

Should be mild w/ rain according to the forecast
maybe even , high 40 s

We shall see said the Zen master

AND a new release for the theatres is " Lion "

BUT Nicole Kidman plays a mother , as in the son is 20 something
I still think of her as a young chick seducing guys

Getting old , never gets old

" this Is It

.... we've hit the heights "

Merry Christmas to you

Weather is damp and the ... well the sun is not up yet.
P.S. the sun showed and is now hiding

We're expecting 36 F or better but
to - morrow , the temperature soars

We downloaded a movie last night

after watching 1 / 2 h of scans , trying to find a movie

we settled on ' Zero Dark Thirty '
and it was dark , well for me

they hate us , 

2 new movies , in the loot from to - day
'Tarzan , the Legend '  so - so
' the Revenant ' bloody , dark

'Twas the Day

before the day

I've often commented that in my teaching career , I'd listen as the students planned their week end , all het up and excited

I seem to count things such as Xmases and anniversaries 
and it isn't the same
The time frame is so long for me or us

Weather is gray and dull
We left the Xmas tree outside on all night
so Santa could find his way
Right !
I forgot
But it was a Friday night and the tree looks festive

We are sandwiched as you know between two herds of reindeer , a polar bear and deer as well on one side and Santa and a sleigh on the other
we are minimalists
I heard that somewhere and its ' in '

Something snapped
is my pet phrase for impulse buying
At Shoppers Drug Mart , there was a shelf tag that said 50 % off
Now , you know that caught my eye
Oh !
The object was a Go - Pro 750 camera and mounts
and emblazoned on the front was ' the girl from Frozen '
the camera and accessories are pale blue
Bought it anyway
So if you see a grown man w/ ............................

Yep , its me

Slipped out early to gather milk , bread etc. Parking was catch as catch can - I parked on a snow mound
no buggies
men were relaxed and jolly
women were harried
normally 6 or so registers are manned
14 to - day and no line ups 
but constant 2 - 3 person lines

Early ............... yeah , 

Post Script : video camcorder. The basic instructions are translated from the Portuguese by a Mandarin speaking Australian.
I fiddled around and got really very little to work. Set the date.

Then I remember something that I saw on line when pre checking what help was available. Always a good move

* Hit reset and change the SD memory card.

 Unfortunately , the SD card that I used was 4 Gb and good for 43 min.
I replaced the 4Gb w/ a 1 Gb which is good for 10 min

But surprise , the camera works. I'm not sure what I'm doing all the time but ........... it records and plays back

I wrote to the company to ask about a manual.
Reply : " Dear Sir 
                Thank you for your purchase. The model described is our base model and does not have an instructional manual , only the information booklet. Feel free to write and ask questions "

Oh boy , email chaos for sure

Joyeuse Noel 

Oh , Genius at Work

got out early to shop for stocking stuffers ( food items )

I was 20 th in line at the Scottish Bakers. Early ! Right. The store opened at 8:30 A. and you couldn't turn around in the little bakery.

I said ' I'll  come to - morrow at 8:00 A and beat the crowd.'
OR /
Drive to a indoor mall for the other bakery. Ten minutes later , there I was first in line and out the door in a blink .
Pleased w/ myself , as only I can be

Meanwhile the CBC , morning show ' Q ' has a piece on the Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune. Born outside of Japan but arrived in his 20 ' s.
Did you know ? 
He is the quintessential samurai , in fact the piece this morning is based on a documentary ' Mifune - the Last Samurai '
His N.A, fame comes from the ' Seven Samurai ' by Akiro Kurosawa or the Magnificent Seven ( if you saw only the American version )
His N.A. agent turned down the role of Obi Wan Kenobi , in the first StarWars for Mifune.
Darth vader was pure Samurai ( helmet , sword etc even the voice as it turns out )
Mifune was the role model for Paul Newman in ' Hombre ' and for sure was Dirty Harry before Dirty Harry

Weather - sunny , cool wind and 34 F but real pleasant.

" have yourself a Merry little Christmas
Make the Yuletide , gay 

And have yourself a merry little Christmas day

the donald wants to boost America's nuclear presence

Ho ! Ho ! Ho !

Hey , There

' welcome to my morning
welcome to my day
Your the one that made it possible
I made it just this way '

the words of John Denver

Announcement , another download called ' Eye in the Sky ' being the tech war in the sky and collateral damage
Sad and a downer
Terrorists gather in Kenya. In Las Vegas , a drone pilot awaits orders from London overseen by a British political meeting seeking permission from Ministers in London , Beijing  etc. Video I.D. is done in Hawaii.
Bingo Bango ( and I mean it ) 
" Rifle , Rifle bird is on its way "
And there is collateral damage
Rating 2.5 out of 4 ( even tho' it cost $4.99 )
Starring Helen Mirren and a farewell performance by Alan Rickman. Side cast also very good and mainly British

A dusting of snow for T.O. , thus cars were sliding off the roads

We will be 32 F and rising for the nest 4 days. The top might be a 45 F  

T.O. has had only 2 White Xmases in 10 yrs
This would be #3 and its pretty much a lock

Following up on a previous entry tidbit
Our ISP provider is dropping the rate for internet and phone

Why ? the explanation is :

In October, Telecom ruled ruled that incumbent providers were charging third-party ISPs like Teksavvy too much to access the so-called "last mile" of their networks, from the street to home connections. 

An earlier 2010 ruling had mandated that the big companies charge no more than their own costs plus a 10 per cent markup, but the October decision found they were charging far more than that — and ordered them to stop doing so, at least on an interim basis.

We follow up

in an effort to finish out stories
as if you cared

Do you ?

I wrote the following to a friend re: taking back our driveway

I re - claimed my driveway. We are at the end of the plow run for our street. The plow pushes a pile against the W side of the drive at the bottom , nr the street. They do it neatly but the pile extends 2 ft or so onto the driveway.

When the snow service comes , they look at the driveway and start at the snow pile. I lose approx 3 ft of driveway. If I don't remove the extra snow after each snowfall , I'll loose a foot or 2 each snowfall , all season.

I have a complete driveway as of now.

And I can now report the Sony charges us for download movies in Cdn $. Sheesh , in $ U.S. thats an extra 1/3.

Turkey Tuesday was a big success. There will be turkey sandwiches , soup etc for days ( frozen , so its spread out ).

I told relatives at the memorial that I avoid packaged deli meat. Its the salt and fat that bothers me. I prefer frozen left overs as sandwich fodder.

As well , I favour open face sandwiches.

Still no beer. Vodka , yes and coolers yes NO beer.

I'm like a virgin saving herself 

but I'm waiting for Yeungling on draft.

Celebrate :
December 21, 2016 – NATIONAL FRENCH FRIED SHRIMP DAY – CROSSWORD PUZZLE DAY – PHILEAS FOGG WIN A WAGER DAY – YULE HUMBUG DAY – WINTER SOLSTICE – NATIONAL FLASHLIGHT DAY – NATIONAL HOMELESS PERSONS’ REMEMBRANCE DAY

P.S.  - this is going to be the last " National Day of .... "

I can make up ones better than these

I thought National Snow Shovelling Week  - was appropriate and informative

Why

is a song written by Roger Whittaker. British born semi - folk / popular songster. I saw him live here in T.O.

Tuesday turns out to be Turkey Day. No , not celebrated nationally , but here

For the last while , say 12 yrs , we've been invited out for a turkey dinner , call it a family get to - gether on the 26 th. And we have cooked a turkey on Xmas day , kinda for ourselves.
I'm big on Xmas at home. People can come here but I won't go out.

As in the past , off and on , we wanted a turkey here ... this year we plan on turkey DE 20 and then out the 26 th. Spread out the turkey feasting.
A lot of work for M but she dives right in and goes for it.

Xmas Eve is planned. And we'll do the British roast thingy on the 25 th.

so , merry christmas , early

#3 Download

yepper , another movie from Sony Unlimited Video , for our TV

Another one , called ' Criminal '
wherein , a spy is tortured and killed but EMS maintain is body function.
A memory transplant is completed using a non redeemable convict.
Natch , the transplant is dubious at first and then hits big time
The world is saved
Again.
On the Sony scale of $ 3.99 , this was a 2 ( even tho' it cost 4.99 )

Celebrate :

December 20, 2016 – NATIONAL SANGRIA DAY – MUDD DAY 

And Mudd ??? haven't a clue

Weather bright and beautiful
Cold ish

AND , I'm on my 8 th pair of video glasses
I broke down and ordered the sucker

Settling Down

the weather. must be a high pressure zone above us
Cold , yes , but sunny Its 9 F out there Windchill to -6

Lets celebrate

December 19, 2016 – NATIONAL HARD CANDY DAY – NATIONAL OATMEAL MUFFIN DAY

Wait , don't get angry !
I only invented Natn'l Snow Shovelling Day

This is from the website , I copy this

Download nation. Well , its cost us ( no , we used ) 4 Gb of data for movies. Someone told us that his cell bill included 400 Gb of data from 7 phones. Cell phone !!! not TV or computer

We're minor players

The report on the day. Why ?  dunno

A visit to the Giant Tiger was on the books. The list for acquisition included celery , pretzels , walnuts but bananas were on sale $2 a bag ( 7 count ) and somehow a bag of light salt rippled chips made its way into the cart. Well !! How did that happen.

The day was cool to cold as announced. Yet the sun made the day seem , reasonable.

Our new ( its been 7 months ) internet supplier DROPPED the monthly charge by $2. Down , as in less.
The statement explained that recent Gov't decisions concerning what 3 rd party suppliers had to charge affected the way our supplier got charged. They passed it on.
Yipee !
Our water and garbage rates go up by 6 % , next year.

Change

in one morning

Guests are coming. I scraped the driveway down and re - sanded for grip. Our driveway is inclined ( inclined to be ' slippy ' ).
The wind was brisk and cold , gray and gloomy
The sun popped out and , now , all looks , hunky dory.
What a difference , rays make

Celebrate ?

December 18, 2016 – ANSWER THE TELEPHONE LIKE BUDDY THE ELF DAY – NATIONAL ROAST SUCKLING PIG DAY

Somebody forgot about National Snow Shovelling day ...... already

Biggie news  , we watched , another internet download movie
' London Has Fallen '
bullets flew , ' its an RPG ! ' , ' Marine 3 is down ' etc
Mayhem and swearing
and there was a traitor
The Prez , not donald , is rescued

Rating ? on the Sony scale of 3.99 dollars
this was a 2.5 ( but cost us $4.99 )

To - night we watch ' Buddy the Elf  '
NO , kidding

At the memorial , yesterday , it was revealed that my younger cousin ( who can still wear muscle shirts b/c he has some )
is on a salt free diet. He had a stroke at 57. Mild  
and he recovered but he got a scare.
A warning as it were. 
Right across from him is younger cousin , commiserating b/c he had a heart attack , mild but .............

They compared dosages of meds and blood pressures
Both are counting mg of salt and trying to cut cholesterol intake


Crikey , we were young once
Honest , we were

and it Continues

national snow shovelling day

Heck , I'm a genius , got this celebration thing , down pat

I celebrated again , to - day !! shovel into the snow

Dang ! they got it right
a messy overnight and day

Really tho ' its

December 17, 2016 – NATIONAL WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA DAY – NATIONAL MAPLE SYRUP DAY – NATION WRIGHT BROTHERS DAY

There was a memorial service for an aunt who died 27 yrs ago.
Crikey , she was 56 
and all I can remember is that she was fun
younger than my mom and not as logged down w/ growing up crap
that my mom got

National snow Shovelling Week

or should be

Possibly , in one week , we will have gotten 9 in of snow
Thats if the 3 in dump comes to - night as forecasted
And they haven't missed by much on their predictions
Still cold out there

donaldeskiva trtump denies that his pal Vlady hacked emails
well , comrade we shall see

Rogue One - the StarWars spin - off got rave reviews from Karen Gordon , this morning on movie review for CBC morning.
Suspenseful w/ dashes of humour and enough familiar faces to make the audience comfortable.
She called it , a must see.

Celebrate :

December 16 – NATIONAL UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER DAY – FREE SHIPPING DAY – NATIONAL CHOCOLATE COVERED ANYTHING DAY -UNDERDOG DAY- BARBIE AND BARNEY BACKLASH DAY


mine was way better , the shovel thing

What Happens After

always a hitch or 2

We are cold out there , 13 F and 8 w/ the wind chill.
Beautiful blue sky, tho '

Now , that we finally , stream internet to the TV here's the skinny
Sony has billed $3.99 for the video download ' WTF ' we viewed last night. PLUS data costs as per the provider. Our max is 250 Gb , so we won't see any extra charges for 1.4 Gb of video.
As well , fiddling this morning , I found free , yes free , content from the streaming WiFi.
Travelogues ( selling tour sites ) were nicely done. We saw ' Vienna , Imperial Capital ' and promos for movies , most of them crap. Is everyone a Zombie ( excluding those who voted for donald ) or werewolf ?
Wow , are we getting techno or what ?

Did you know that if you run Windows 10 on your device , you're supposed to have a recovery flash drive ?
I made one this morning or think that I did
I put in a thumb drive ( capacity 32 Gb for a set up that needed 16G according to the tech site , I visited) but the thumb drive only got 4.8 Gb instead.
Thus , I'm not sure if I got everything
Meaning , the recovery should include the Windows system files
Uh well , another day , another tech problem

On the fitness front. I'm back , of course , to my home routine
Weights / elliptical on Day 1 
Elliptical / stretch on Day 2

I tried using a Hill climb and Cardio mode but I can tell both are harder on my knees.
So , back to manual mode and 1 level of difficulty

Weight for me , showed a slight gain after holidays ( 172.4 lb ) but I'm back to 170 +/ - as of to - day.
I'm fighting fit for the holiday ridiculousness

BTW , haven't had a beer since Wednesday DE 7. All part of the plan to drink only beer that I like which is mostly Yeungling , original amber lager.

However , I've been using Chocolate liqueur in my coffee , so , I'm not completely abstaining. Mornings are so much better w/ a boosted up coffee.

Movie review , by the TBT for ' Rogue One ' , the newest StarWars
offering. 
Rogue One is set in the same galaxy far, far away as Anakin's then Luke's and now Rey's quests, depicting events leading to the opening crawl of 1977's Star Wars, now known as A New Hope. That signature introduction told of Rebel forces stealing plans for the Death Star, leading to its destruction. How it all went down is Rogue One's relatively narrow focus.

Downers include : a pre - Imperial world and Jedi s are scarcer than hen's teeth.
No light sabers , EEK !

This one , we get on streaming video for sure. I'm not paying $16 per person w/out popcorn

Can't You Tell a Simple Story

NO
In the end , all we have is our stories

At the ' mile ' , I was looking for something in the garage. A piece of cardboard that I was saving for a cover or protector for the floor was leaning against a ladder.
The cardboard was the front of the box that a TV came in. I looked and the writing said ' wireless and wired ' internet ready.
I checked both TV s home and the ' mile ' but neither seemed able to connect to the internet.
By chance this morning , the same thought struck me and I got out the quick set up guide for the Bravia TV , here at home.
Well. if you're not a total idiot , you can figure out how to set up the internet on a Bravia.
Thus , to - night , we watched ' Whiskey, Tango , Foxtrot ' w/ Tina Fey. A producer in NY is bored and volunteers for Afghanistan.
The video was streamed WiFi and the picture was sharp and brilliant.
OK , big deal !  Well ,it was. Our first downloaded movie
EVER

Other than a TV movie on a channel

This WFT is a highly recommend from us.
The Sony Corp charged us $3. 99 and the movie was easily a 3 , on the Sony scale.

We Call It

shabu shabu
or fish head stew

By any other name

Celebrate:

December 14, 2016 – NATIONAL BOUILLABAISSE DAY

Shabu shabu is more than fish head but thats whats on top.
Nowadays , in restaurants they use shrimp etc too !

Weather brilliant sun and cold

Well ,after 6 yrs , I connected our TV to the internet
We don't subscribe to anything Netflix etc but Sony Home Entertainment seems a possibility
They want you to join
BUT I can't find prices for each ' rental ' or showing
I won't sign til I know

Forecast Map  s GWN misses this one but Fri - Sat ( early AM )
T.O. gets snow

A Day of

December 13, 2016 – NATIONAL COCOA DAY – NATIONAL DAY OF THE HORSE – NATIONAL VIOLIN DAY – PICK A PATHOLOGIST PAL DAY

Good grief , the bottom of the barrel for sure

How about National Pathetic Day

We are cold and getting colder for the week

BTW in my never ending whine about our American cell phones
I figured it out. The gmail on the TracFone worked the last 4 days of our holiday.
Solution !
Send a picture from the phone
Somehow , all the ' little men ' inside the phone remember what gmail is when you use it for photos
Voila !  gmail works

This fix will need to be battled tested
and my usual victim will likely get 3 or 4 duplicate test messages
BUT he won't mind ?
will he ?

When Winter Comes Knocking

watch out

Hello , winter and 3 1/2 in of snow

Celebrate :
December 12, 2016 – NATIONAL DING-A-LING DAY – NATIONAL POINSETTIA DAY – GINGERBREAD HOUSE DAY – NATIONAL AMBROSIA DAY

And Robert Pointsett thought the lovely flowering plants that he saw at his mansion in Mexico would brighten up his American home
Poinsetttia !

Gingerbread can be stored for long periods

 Taking back the driveway
My phrase
Our lawn / property company plows in winter and does the sidewalk
Every now and then , the edges are left w/ snow. This in itself is not a problem. BUT
from then on the driveway gets narrower as the snowfalls continue
To - day , they came up 3 ft short on the one side.
I went out and took back the whole driveway
Can't stand it - thinking about losing more and more edge
My problem not yours !

Poodle , Doodle

or

Lets recognize


December 11, 2016 – NATIONAL NOODLE RING DAY

Shades of ' spaghetti - O s '

A dreary day , fractured by snow sprinkles that are now flakes for sure
We will get a dump
Brett of Accuweather said the odds of a ' white christmas ' are relatively good

Calendar Day Designations

as opposed to ' someone made this up ' day

These national days of ... are called , yepper , calendar designations

Celebrate :
December 10, 2016 – DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM DAY – NOBEL PEACE PRIZE DAY – HUMAN RIGHTS DAY

OK , some of these designations are appropriate

Random thoughts : more than once using the washroom on a airplane " I'm normal size , how do big people fit in the tiny space "

Up at 7 Am . If I'm hungry or need to use the washroom - thats it , I can't go back to sleep
Coffee is on.
Water is boiled
A slice of lemon and hot water to start
Everything else is ad libbed

And the question of all time ?
Who is Rula Lenska
She was on a cosmetic commercial , years ago
who is she ?

Flying and me , Pt II

or more of the same

On time , at the gate on time at destination
WestJet , Thank you

T.O. NO
flite was 2 h 18 min
drive home was 2 h

Go figure

Bleary eyed and hung over from travel we face the s GWN
Of course , it snowed as we got to the driveway
Welcome home , see what you missed

To - day is National Glad Your Home Day
its official  , cuz I said so
no dumber than most of those other days

Chestnuts roasting , and all that

From Brett Anderson, Accuweather blog

5. I expect a general 8-15 cm of snow across most of southern Ontario and 7-12 cm over southern Quebec Sunday night and Monday. The snow might mix with rain early Monday in places closes to the lakes such as Hamilton and downtown Toronto, but not before there is a decent accumulation of snow.

6. Longer range forecast models are trending toward a longer period of cold weather across much of the country with less flow off the Pacific than what they showed a few days ago. Clearly, the worst of the cold will move out after Dec. 18, but the period through Dec. 22 still looks colder than normal for a large part of southern Canada. Areas from Manitoba through Ontario may see temperatures back to normal or slightly above around the Christmas holiday, but there is still plenty of uncertainty with that.

7. So based on what we are seeing over the next two weeks, I would say that the probabilities for a white Christmas are higher than normal for a majority of southern Canada.

Flying and me

not a good mix

Fear of flying , NO
Uncomfortable , yes
M does everything she can to make sure that I fly at ease , no , more at ease
Entertaining me is her big concern
I distract easily , teachers said that same thing all the way thru grade school

This trip , I'm at a work station at the airport fiddling w/ the baby laptop
which earned big kudos , this trip.
A little slow but reliable and the battery life was VG.
We did charge daily but BbyLpTp did a stellar job

Celebrate ???

December 8, 2016 – NATIONAL BROWNIE DAY – PRETEND TO BE A TIME TRAVELER DAY

Which brownie ? desssert or girl guide
or pixie - ish creature

BTW - saw Amy Adams as Princess Giselle in ' Cinderella (? ) '
and she was singing and dancing up a storm
Delightful
Second best movie that I saw

#1 was ' Dark City ' , in which the protagonist , imagines a world
and finds out slowly how he manipulates this dream world. A little creepy still DC was entertaining
Besides , how many re - runs of ' Law and Order ' are necessary

And rose said my name

Further to ..

Truth hurts  .............. a little

The el cheapo UMX Patriot or some other glitch in the electro- ether-verse

Yesterday , gmail worked ........... kinda
I sent a photo via gmail. Waited . No notice of sent mail
Tried again . Waited.
Did a separate email to the recipient , as in , ' did you get the photo '

Of course , when I checked some 1/2 h later. All sent emails showed in the ' Sent box '.

Electronic communication is instantaneous but my phone waits for confirmation from Mars , before it registers activity.

Hello Mars ........... lets get w/ the program and join the world 

Celebrate :  

December 7, 2016 – NATIONAL PEARL HARBOR REMEMBRANCE DAY – NATIONAL COTTON CANDY DAY

You think that they could do w/out the Cotton Candy and leave this day for a real National remembrance

The Truth Hurts

a little

I complained about my Tracfone and the email kufuffle. I originally stated gmail was on the fritz. I read the instructions and found my Tracfone app for email does not work for gmail specifically. And that I set up an outlook.com acct but couldn't make that work either.

Dummy ! The instruction before ' email app ' was for gmail app.
Yep , the UMX Patriot does gmail separately.
BUT ....................... !
Gmail is still futzy

At least I have a phone and texts

Celebrate :
December 6, 2016 – WORLD TRICK SHOT DAY – NATIONAL GAZPACHO DAY – ST. NICHOLAS DAY – NATIONAL MINER’S DAY – NATIONAL MICROWAVE OVEN DAY – NATIONAL PAWNBROKERS DAY

" All you really have in the end is your stories " spoken by Burt Reynolds in ' Burn Notice ' as a retired spook.

Disorder in ..........

a slight disorder in the dress
kindles in clothes a wantoness
a carefree lawn about the shoulders thrown
doth more excite me than when art
 is too precise in every part

by ( i'll remember ,in a bit )  got it ---- Rupert Brook

We celebrate

December 5, 2016 – NATIONAL SACHER TORTE DAY – BATHTUB PARTY DAY – INTERNATIONAL NINJA DAY

Oh well , not every day is Christmas

Roll , TIDE , Roll !!!

they're nicknamed the Crimson Tide. Once upon a time Alabama was small and fast. Alabama got kicked around for a while by the likes of Nebraska , Oklahoma and Texas

They are not small , now. But they are fast and skilled.

On the National Calendar

December 4, 2016 – NATIONAL SOCK DAY – NATIONAL DICE DAY – NATIONAL COOKIE DAY

Apparently , Sock Day is to celebrate how socks can stay in pairs despite going thru many washes and dries.
Egads ! I'm waiting on Feet Day

Alabama v Washington is coming up
game is in Atlanta , and will get called the Peach Bowl

my Re - vamped , introduction Header

some consternation , out there

I do the Cryptoquote each day , down here

In a segue for the ' surprised ' comment that I received

here is the TBT , Cryptoquote for DE 2

'People underestimate their capacity for change. There is never a right time to do a difficult thing '     
                                           John Porter

Also , National calendar day has :

December 3, 2016 – NATIONAL RHUBARB VODKA DAY – NATIONAL ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD DAY – SKYWARN RECOGNITION DAY

Never had rhubarb vodka
We have roof
and ?????????? what is this apocalypse coming 

Wad Happend ( or editing for DE 2 entry )

????????????????
Ah , change for the sake of change

I was fiddling w/ the blog arranger settings.
A new hairstyle ?

And what is / who is " Morty " , the new icon fore the header of the blog.
Morty is a Pokemon ( Japanese storyboard and game character )
Morty is also an alias for my my name , in Pokemon.

As well as Pokemon , my surname is the variegar for koi                 ( goldfish ) , the scales on these fish are ' pine cone ' looking

The National Day calendar says :


December 2, 2016 – NATIONAL FRITTERS DAY – SPECIAL EDUCATION DAY – NATIONAL MUTT DAY – FAUX FUR DAY


Faux fur needs a day , well , at least its shared
BTW at the National Day calendar page , each day is explained if possible

Chicago is setting records for # of murders at 700 /year as at this week.

Java the Hut

got your attention, did I
I lied

The topic is coffee , rose of Tralee

On CBC radio , the segment from Monocle radio magazine out of the BBC , had an expert on coffee. The dude sold coffee beans around the world.
He was a coffee lover. And had about 2 - 3 cups of coffee a week. B/c he very fussy about his coffee.
His take was - w/out good water almost everything else you do is a waste of money.
He stated that some people buy expensive Arabica beans                 ( good ?? )  and then use city water that has been chlorinated or fluoridated. Apparently , a real NO - NO in good coffee.

Now , moi. I make the coffee here w/ city water. To M's taste or close , so she won't make faces at breakfast.
Then I heat water in m/w and add the coffee. The ratio is 1: 3. My fav is canned evapourated milk added after that.
M calls it dishwater coffee.

And at night , cold coffee and water and milk w/ French Vanilla coffee flavoring + ice. The $3 iced coffee at Dunkin' .
Does the coffee affect my sleep  ? Haven't a clue.
I figure my sleep is erratic , coffee is an interesting side light to a pathetic sleep pattern.

Here in the South , I drive up to 7 - 11 for coffee twice a week.
To -day , it was Columbian blend and Fr Vanll coffee flavouring.
Not the best , for me. And you guessed it - diluted it down and added Fr Van creamer back home.
Not bad 
Normally , I get Fr Van coffee and add Fr Van flavouring. Which is actually , not bad.

Why do the coffee run ? If , not bad is the verdict

I'm trapped. I tell people that I don't want to vacation where there isn't a 7 - 11 up the street. You see its proof of civilization.
Thus , I feel obligated to go.
Besides , they have combos - coffee and doughnut for $2.
This week its coffee and a muffin
And every once in a while , free torquinados ( sp?  not the inquisition guy but a rolled tortilla thingy ) or pizza bites samplers
Love it !!!!

We shall see said the Zen Master
( recall : its the line by P Seymour Hoffman in ' Charlie Wilson's War ' )

What You Missed

if you didn't check w/ the national day calendar

Yesterday , was Nat'l Send Electronic Greetings

To -day

November 30, 2016 – NATIONAL PACKAGE PROTECTION DAY – ROCKEFELLER CENTER TREE LIGHTING – NATIONAL MOUSSE DAY – STAY HOME BECAUSE YOU’RE WELL DAY – COMPUTER SECURITY AWARENESS DAY – NATIONAL METH AWARENESS DAY

My whine of the day

Recap for new followers or those who are forgetful or don't really care.
We use Tracfone ( el cheapie cell phones , nominally 22 cents a min but we get 800 minutes for 100 dollars in reality ).
The phone is a Chinese ( maybe , no one knows for sure ) clone phone. UMX Patriot has all the bells and whistles. Except not all the whistles work.
I installed gmail on the phone. Sometime , this year , gmail b/came dodgy. Sometimes yes , sometimes NO.
When all else fails , read the destructions which I downloaded last year.
Line 1 : this app is designed for all systems BUT gmail.
????????????? right
Wisely , I went to Microsoft / Bing / Outlook and created a new email for Outlook.com
The email won't load on the Tracfone
However , gmail came back -fitfully , it must be said

electronics , bah Humbug
Well . TG its the only real worry that I have
I'll be OK

My recommendation from YouTube is Sara Bareilles singing ' Love Song '. Try it you'll like it.

' Is that All there is ......

...from Peggy Lee or the RedBox

Redbox fills my spare gmail account w/ ads ( along w/ everyone else ). VRBO , Seneca ( where we gamble ) , Bath Bed etc Peltz andCVS keep up a landslide of postings
Like this blog , a snowfall

I keep  a gmail acct solely for throwaway emails.

These are some of the new releases at Redbox

Sausage Party
Wildlife
Bad Moms

Along w/ ' Independence Day , the Resurgence '
they're back !

Won't be getting any of these

I'm waiting to see ' Dr Strange ' w/ Benedict Cumberbatch

On the reality show ' Hack This ' , the host tested ' dishwasher ' lasagna , yepper , cooked in the dishwasher.
On radio , this Am , they commented on the proper setting for the iron if you are making grilled cheese sandwiches. Shades of             ' Benny and Joon ' w/ Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson where they recommended a ' cotton ' setting for grilled cheese.
The difference was in Benny and Joon , they didn't use aluminum foil as a wrapper.

And the Next Post is

yes , running low on titles , catchy ones , at least

Trivia : Daisy BB guns are iconic items , linked to many childhoods. The Daisy company originally made windmills and BB guns were a giveaway. The Daisy people saw the demand and switched to BB guns

The National Day is :  NOVEMBER 28 – NATIONAL FRENCH TOAST DAY – CYBER MONDAY National French Toast Day – November 28 NATIONAL FRENCH TOAST DAY 

French toast is described in the calendar as - eggy toast which is pan fried.

My french toast is usually served w/ corn syrup. Of course , the high fructose base is recognized as worse than sugar itself.

Weather is warm and blue sky is the dominant feature.

I hadn't reported but my 3 month old Michelin , Lat X tires picked up a screw and the went flat. Good news , AAA honoured the CAA affiliation and came and switched out the spare.
Bad news , the screw is considered road hazard and would be repaired for free at home. On the road , I pay and maybe try and claim after. Oh yeah , can see the hassle now.

And people are just people , sometimes very kind.

" Out of Touch" ......

the song by Hall and Oates or..... me

Below , are top music Videos on YouTube as of JA 2016

		PSY - GANGNAM STYLE(강남스타일) M/V by officialpsy			4:13
			Wiz Khalifa - See You Again ft. Charlie Puth [Official Video] Furious 7 Soundtrack by Wiz Khalifa			3:58
			Justin Bieber - Sorry (PURPOSE : The Movement) by JustinBieberVEVO			3:26
			Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk ft. Bruno Mars by MarkRonsonVEVO			4:31
			Taylor Swift - Blank Space by TaylorSwiftVEVO			4:33
			Adele - Hello by AdeleVEVO			6:07
			Taylor Swift - Shake It Off by TaylorSwiftVEVO			4:02
			Major Lazer & DJ Snake - Lean On (feat. MØ) (Official Music Video) by majorlazer			2:59
			Enrique Iglesias - Bailando (Español) ft. Descemer Bueno, Gente De Zona by EnriqueIglesiasVEVO			4:47
			Katy Perry - Roar (Official) by KatyPerryVEVO

And even w/ my YouTube surfing , haven't seen one of them

Eek !! what does this mean
Dunno
I thought ' Take on Me ' by Aha w/ 240 million was real lots
Nooooo !
Billions for these vids

BTW , I tried to Google , the most viewed videos but you need to prove that your old enough to view them
Didn't even try

And trivia , Katy Perry was accused of copying ' Brave ' by Sara Bareilles when she released ' Roar ' 

Womans World mag recommends eating carbs after protein to prevent post meal hunger.  Kinda hard that one