the Good , the Bad and the Ugly

a defence of Walmart

This morning out of a sense of ennui ( love that word , what does it mean ? ) I ventured into Walmart , the Supercentre.
My thoughts were ,' Wow , the great equalizer. Everyone can feel like somebody in that place. All races , all social strata , flung to - gether in that big ( garnatuan , really ) space.

This is urban territory where we are but how about all over Canada.
The Walmart is more or less the same wherever it springs up. A brightly lit ' whats what ' of merchandise. 
Unfortunately ,the ability of Walmart to capitalize on price structure will mean other retailers without that size advantage , suffer loss of sales.

When a Walmart leaves an area or town , the consumer and physical space once occupied presents a vacuum that is difficult if not nigh impossible to refill.

While it exists , Walmart must be a de facto Wonderland of consumerism.

BTW - we got cold , and its getting colder. There is a winter weather alert in place

Snow Blossoms .............. ?????????????/

Well , I had to say something
On FB , someone posted ' cherry blossoms ' in Steveston , BC ( S of Vancouver )
What do we have - snow blossoms and greeny - brown lawns

There is hope , tho' b/c the temperatures are jacket and sweater 
and maybe a scarf or hood
the wind is gentle but cold

A Clipper

is heading our way , bringing snow and cold

but weather models show it flying by , N of the T.O. region and actually 200 miles n of us.

Temperatures will be mild on Sun. and cooler and then colder through the week. Rain is likely
the Great lakes are open
good b/c the open water moderates the temperature
bad b/c the open water is a source of moisture if storms move up the Ohio valley which is fairly typical

they say Donald Trump saw his shadow and that means 6 more weeks of listening to him , if only...............................

Begs the Question ............

............. its like , Deja Vu , all over again !!

Ask and ye shall receive

In the Torstar , an article forecasts the end of cereal as a breakfast
staple

Why , easier and more convenient to
m/w a breakfast
grab and go
buy at the corner Tim Toms ( Tim Hortons Doughnuts to you Southerners )
anything but the kitchen

I , of course , had asked in response to a fact from a poll about ' millenials , not wanting to wash a bowl and skipping crereal '
Got it

Weather turned colder and bitter windier
Hope is coming , tho ' wet but milder coming in

A ' Millenial ' is ...................?

dunno

However , a news blip on the 24 h news channel , says ' 40 % of millenials do not eat cereal b/c that would mean washing the bowl '

OK , begs the question ' what does a millenial wash ? '

I had a roommate who believed rinsing was equal to washing if you did it right after you ate. And yepper , he put the bowl back on the shelf

On CBC , the Age of Persuasion ( advertising and you ) , features Terry O'Reilly.
The topic , " Lassie '. Ran for 19 yrs w/ one sponsor , Campbell soup. The show ranks 4 th in prime time successes on TV.
In 1960 , Campbell's soup offered , a brown plastic wallet , for 5 soup can labels. 1 500 000 coupons got mailed in , generating , some 7 500 000 sales of soup.
Disney purchased the ' Lassie ' rights. Not for a movie but for the brand, likely worth in billions.

Sit and Take It

........ vat else ?

The weather pundits were right
Yick and yuck came in
light snow that swirled prettily 
little heavier snow , big flakes
drizzle
rain 
crap

and the temperature is 34 F

hot cocoa w/ a shot , methinks

Toronto rated # 15 and aahead of NY city in some ' livability ' poll ( Mercer ? )

The Sun

blasted through the windows , this Am

Clouds roll in through the day
and miserable conditions follow as night comes
we will not get really cold but everything could fall
rain , drizzle , sleet and snow but we are sort of warm for that

A Dose of Spring

Yesterday , we got temperatures , normally associated  w/ March 20 th
whoa , there buddy  !!

Storm is on its way , tracking form the U.S. south
what / we don't know yet but loaded w/ precipitation
( warm Gulf air )

Started sorting out paperwork for Mom
cancelled 
semi - private insurance , whole life policy
last payment to nursing home
outside help agency

The funeral home will send out for documentation re: death

Fun , let me tell you 

Sad part is , been there  , done that
2 x already

I'm like a veteran

Trust , nothing

......... that you read here , to -day . Cleaned out Mom's room at the TLC and I've had 2 vodkas

Had to be done
clear out her room at the nursing home

I took some photos home on Fri
went back to - day
they had boxed all the clothes ( garbage bin , for sure ) and had her wheelchair and walker ready to go

Folks !  thats it 
92 years and pffft

2 vodkas and I'm typing away

Probably , very maudlin to think of a life as 
a wheelchair . walker and a computer table and 4 photos

Crap - ola

Well , We Survived

the bad day , Mom died

No pain  ( we think , not  ) and never woke up
All future problems negated

Duh

My mother died to - day

You think that , given she was 92 and had cancer
pancreatic to boot
that I would have twigged to the fact she might die    NOPE


So much for the objective son
all ready and accepting

The tooth
has taken a back seat to events of to - day

Sunny in T.O.

Do not be fooled , its cold but sunny

The tooth report , nothing
the upper back right feels different but not sore

Saga of the Wait

Having been told that your dentist is betting on poor results

hope seems ridiculous

but I am

Day 2 is good , can I feel it , Yes
does it hurt , No

Snaggle Tooth

or other mythical creatures

The dentist
betting the tooth in question is dead

drilled out the filling and temporarily filled the hole w/ a soft stuffing that is also antiseptic

now we wait
3 days - 2 weeks

pain again , dead tooth

Opt 1 root canal by him or the endodontist ( very expensive , tiny roots in this tooth , you see )
cap , if the tooth can support a cap

or Opt 2 - pull the sucker

No pain , yet at the 5 hr mark

Whimper , Whimper........

bang , bang

The tooth thing. Applied the benzocaine cream before the flight home from Fla. Needed ibuprofen and bnz cream on getting home
Applied bnz cream before bed.
Wake up to no pain but a slight tingle near the tooth
Home cures all ???

Cracks of Doom

On further reflection , maybe not a dead tooth
but 
a cracked filling
Still hurts , go figure

I've been feeling around up there w/ my tongue and the edges seem rough on that tooth
cracked ?

Deadpool or

well , Deadpool is a new avenger type character , sword swinging ' Spiderman ' acting and dressing. A smart mouth , mostly do - gooder guy. At a theatre near you.
So ,we segue into dead tooth
which is what I suspect is the back upper molar in my mouth 

EEK!  and we are not home for 4 days
I'm using ibuprofen to control pain and swelling
very sensitive to touch and cold
been there and done that
Dead tooth city and root canal avenue

more to follow I'm sure

Now , Fusion is

............ when
You blend things to - gether , as in fusion in food
take an egg roll and make it SouthWestern - corn , beans and salsa in a wrapper.

In the atomic world , hydrogen atoms join and release energy , lots of energy. This process is said to be the future of energy production.
the raw materials are hydrogen and ......... , ah , here's  the problem
to get hydrogen active enough to fuse , the container needs to be hot , and we mean very hot. E. g. fusion happens in the sun.
On earth , most containers could not hold the reaction. In some cases , helium can be the starter fuel.
The reaction vessel is often electro - magnetic.
Recently , at the Max Planck Plasma Laboratory , hydrogen fused , for a brief spurt but did fuse. The reaction used the power associated w/ 6 000 microwave ovens ( 6 000 x 1 500 watts ) , jetted into the reaction vessel. The stellerator is the apparatus that allows the process to occcur.
If thats not exotic enough ,a tokamat , also is being touted as the best sure bet for fusion. 
BTW , they measure the cost in $ 100 millions of dollars.

But the benefits are easy to obtain fuel
                                waste products that are safe ( really safe )
                                 control over the process much superior to
                                 nuclear reactors

And , I think , cheese on fired rice is fusion , M says gross
However , be aware , my Dutch uncle ( for real ) thinks melting cheese is a sin esp. Edam

FYI , a fusion reactor for a warship or big boat would be 1/2 to 1 / 3 the size of the engine that powers the boat. And , of course , the fuel would either be in a small ( read , 10 x 10 x 10 tank ) or made in a lab on the boat.
If fusion were successful , fusion plants would be near cities or industry and power lines could be reduced by large fractions , one would guess 40 - 60 % less infrastructure above ground.

Yah , starting in about 20 yrs which is the optimistic guess.
It takes a long time to gather 6 000 microwave ovens in one place

The Boys of JHU , opened the season on the road at Annapolis and beat Navy in a double overtime game.
Whew ! When you cheer for Hop , well ...........  you need patience and iron guts ......... oh and you pace a lot

Speaking of patience , Arsenal of the Premiership in the UK , climbed reluctantly into 3 rd place. A big test awaits Saturday b/c the Gunners play 1 st place Leichester. 
Now , I think all games are crucial b/c you don't know which Arsenal team will show up a) one touch , slick passing Arsenal 
or ....... ' what are you doing !!!!!! ' Arsenal .
My fav line ' Arsenal , the best 4 th place team money can buy '

M says that I need more faith and loyalty
loyalty , I have for 40 yrs
its the optimism that is in short supply

I'm Pre - heating

an electric oven
I'll let you know when it chimes

We have gas at home for cooking. Pre - heating is a 5 min process.
This oven has been going for 5 min and made 225
There is hope

I always think using the oven on cold days make sense
In the summer or on hot days , not so
Its cold this Am

thus , using the BBQ in summer always seems right
you know keep the heat outside
M , well , she doesn't quite see it that way

The target temperature is 375
and we just reached 290

I know , keep typing
I added airtime to the MaxPatriot and my active service expires in 4 / 17 / 17 and min came to 3300. Ludicrous , I guess
325
But this TracFone system is cheaper than anything that a Canadian company is offering. I've mentioned some offers are $5 a day or 200 for our stay and then more if we are away anymore.
360

And at home , the same. The lifestyle we lead , makes pay as you go , sensible. $0.25 or .22 really
CHIME !!
No , you won't have to wait for the fish sticks to finish
I do.
Recall , even at 25c a min , we run our phones for under a 100 dollars a year. and less , now , b/c we both can text at 0.30 min airtime per text.
The texts are cute , allowing for auto correct or ' auto misunderstand ' is interesting.
On the MxPtrt , a caption display shows what you're typing and offers suggestions from the first letter , there's no psychic in this smartphone.

Alright , you go have your Shreddies or processed wood chips

A day Late

......... well , several days really

Movie review : Bridge of Spies w/ Tom Hanks
historically based ans slightly accurate , one would think
or / let's trade agents
Redbox score    .75 / $ 1.00

Thus , this house has set a recent record , after seeing two of 8 nominated Oscar movies. Last year , I think it was one
this result is not a tribute to us but lousy weather and laziness
- as in we are not driving to the theatre

We paid $10 for the first 2 , Best Exotic #2 and Martian but BoS was  $ 19. Overall , we think we're ahead economically c.f. going to the theatre....... popcorn etc figuring in

SuperBowl 50.  The pundits will trot out the old cliches 
 good defense beats good offense
wise old head at the helm v. young , and learning QB

and then there's my cliche ' its a football game '
no more no less ..............except a lot of more in $

Puppy Bowl was well done , this year , Ruff looked the better team but Fluff hung in , pretty good
you gotta have the legs to win PB , all out effort for 4 quarters

1 3 0 0 th Post

Well , its something
we don't know what
but ...........

How can there be 120 flavours of yoghurt
I'm not sure that there are 120 flavours

chocolate , vanilla , strawberry  etc

rocky road , cinnamon raisin , chocolate swirl

I'm short a few

Some post , here ! 

( #1299 ) Real Fishermen ???

We were offered an invitation to watch SuperBowl " L " at a pub , and I said that the only problem is that we'd need to watch the game.
I might surf back and forth but M will dutifully check at the end of each 1/4 to see if we won the pool that we are in. Its pick a box and pray....... really pray
I mean 4 winners and 100 boxes. Some boxes ( cross numbers ) are more valuable ,still , we'd need to invoke the ' faint hope ' clause , here.

I've started to indicate that I'm closing in on 1300 posts. 1300 is way more than I could have ever imagined
Ooh ! thats a lot of therapy there - venting etc

On an advert for ' Wicked Tuna ' , yes tuna fishing off Glouchester MA .
The vid shows a fisherman waking w/ the voice over ' a fisherman doesn't wake thinking of yesterday's failures ' 
Oops ! didn't know that
file it away under , proper thinking

Well , Got It ( # 1298 )

I mentioned the Roman numeral designation for Super Bowls , XXIII etc. This year , #50 would look silly "  L " by itself

the muck e mucks listened or figured it out

its Super Bowl 50   thats all

MxPtrt is clicking on all cylinders or maybe 3 1/2 chipmunks as I've shut off many running apps
w/ total effect so far , 0

baby laptop is also in fine fettle

beware , these things are not static or dynamically balanced
to quote Fletcher Jones
' the scenario does not always work out the way one would want
for every dictum there is a contradiction '
you don't know who FJ was but I want to attribute the quote 
you know, fair is fair

( #1297 ) Fish Eyes

From the Tampa Bay Times , Week end section
Park Stadium 18 , movie theatre , yes, 18 screens
 is advertising 3 movies  .... 

at the Fla State Fair ( courtesy of TBT , WE as well )  
Fair Food offers 
Oink Oink - weiner in a bacon shell topped w/ pork rinds
OMG , its a joke right ! Yes , a fantasy item by the editor

But........... for real

Peanut butter , jelly and bacon quesadilla
Pizza funnel cake
Double barrel burger - donut top and bottom , burger patty top and bottom w/ cheese and bacon between and around the patties

I'll have Mini wheats for brekkies
plus hazelnut coffee from 7 - 11

Fish eyes , have a yellow filter , not all but many
thus , they see life w/out blue in the spectrum b/c yellow filters out the blue
the bio - fluorescence that results reveals markings and coding features on the plants and animals 
On PBS , the special was on bio luminescence ( the organism makes the light ) and bio - luminescence ( the organism absorbs light and re - transmits a different colour )
bio - luminesence is obvious and note worthy. Fireflies etc.

At depth in the ocean , it is blue light that penetrates through the water. Many plants and animals absorb this blue light and throw back reds , greens and oranges. When scientists use yellow filters such as many fish have , the underwater world is a ' barcode ' of life. Fish it turns out are often display boards of information  , ' I'm a predator ' or ' watch out , I can sting ' or ' I'm available for mating .
great , mating fish
no !
Bio - luminescent markers for cancer cells , nerve cells , so that scientists can track and determine activity and location. Offending cancer cells that were marked could be targeted specifically b/c the cancer cells are glowing green vs the normal backdrop of colours in the human body.
Alright , TV  isn't so bad

All the time ............ mostly tho '

( #1296 )

....... but who's counting

I am. " Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative " Oscar Wilde

to be or not to be  William S.
to do is to be           John Paul S.
doo be doo be doo  Frank S.

The MxPtrt problem is under control , running apps are stilled and waiting , as always

Big Smeal

......... keep reading

Last night was the best result for battery usage , 8 % or less

Thus , cutting out the running apps has been good

Unfortunately , someone could ask 
' why do you have a smart phone if you don't use the apps '

Pros : the android phone
can show a qwerty keyboard instead of the Morse code that I was using on the flip phone
makes better use of WiFi and accesses WiFi easier
allows the potential to use the different apps when I want

Cons : the android phone
allows music playing ( which will never happen , well so far )

In Your Head ..............( #1294 )

............ all day

No , it not unusual , you hear a tune or a lyric line and it stays w/ you all day
This one was gross , C & W station and I hear
" will your mouth still remember the taste of my tongue "
Come on, yick w/ a capital Y
Whats worse , I heard him sing the lyric .... so the tune is in my head
GROSS !   GROSS !
sone day , I'll have

On the android phone front , the MxPtrt read 92 % for o/vnight
88 % for 10 h on battery , as of right now
I took some pictures after waking