Is Sleep Over rated

what ?

We all have our little quirks
Mine
For as long as I can recall , going back to my teens , I get over tired.
A back log of poor nights , late nights , distracted sleep
followed by a ' flat on your back ' cold / flu , you better be in bed kinda sick
Margaret and her friends deem it a ' man cold '
It is not meant to be flattering

You see , I've checked. Whenever I notice the charts comparing cold and flu symptoms -- well , I get them all.

Apparently , this round , I've seem to have bailed myself out of the cycle

I'm way less worried about the Q' sale. Final trip up went well.
The mortgage signing was accomplished.

One , long big back cover over my head for 7 hours
A little groggy on waking but solid sleep

Is sleep over rated .......... no , not for me

Weather is wet , mayhaps not raining but damp and expectant
This is the kind of conditions that lead to trench foot and green toes
Keep your socks dry

The Mortgage

we are assuming a mortgage on the Q'

As in , the buyers pay us money for 5 years and get 350 000 dollars worth of cottage ( Q' )

Sort of feels , final

Glad and sad

The day was a real mixed bag sun , cloud rain spit and a deluge

Leaving the Q'

never , say , never

And it is true , here
I supervised the cleaning and last clear out of the Quarter Mile House.
I said ' Good bye ' but of course its not really true

Part of the offer to purchase gives me docking privileges and o/v night accommodation for the summer / fall.
Still , a whole lot of emotion churned through my thoughts.
Change

"If the Red Slayer slays and the slain think , 
That they are slain
They know not well the subtle ways 
I keep and pass and turn again "

thats Ralph Waldo Emerson

at his cheery best

Weather had everything , to - day
Rain , fog cloud and sun
cool wind and humidity

Watching Crazy People

finished a Netflix Original series called ' River ' . A Detective Inspector loses his partner in a targeted shooting. Turns out , River the DI was in love w/ her. River hears voices , responds and reacts to the voices.
The imagined ex - partner calls him a nut case nutter , a brick shy of a lorry load etc

Thus , we ask , is it safe mentally to watch someone like that ?
Feeling a little shaky there , myself

I , now , realize , how normal the Barnaby cousins are in the series ' Midsommer Murders '

Weather is gray , again. Should be warmish close to 70 F w/ shower chances , later.

Rain is in the offing for the week
The Q closes on Thursday ,YEAH ! 
I want that day to come

We are Soaking

I'm sure the ground is just plain saturated


We played cards , last night. I won and won big
No , it doesn't pay the mortgage , in fact , the win buys lotto tickets
Still , we drink a little , scream a little
Talk about being old
Jeez , doesn't sound all that great , saying this

Weather : gray and grayer ... rain is likely but light to moderate

I'm watching " Fantastic Beasts  and Where to Find Them ' , hint don't look in your suitcase if you're smart. A fantasy piece by J.K. Rowling of ' Harry Pitter ' fame

To - night , the menu is ribs. Oven baked and then grilled.
I'm a no sauce guy. I prefer dry rubs for the ribs or a soy sauce basting way before hand
Occasionally , a little dipping , may occur.... not much

Rain Went Away

we are very damp still


But , I can almost see blue or mushy gray

And on the horizon comes Brett Anderson s Long Range from Accuweather

Below is my latest interpretation of the European model weeklies along with some input from current observations/teleconnections......

FYI, very strong northwest winds will impact south/central Alberta this afternoon into this evening with localized gusts in excess of 90 km/h as much cooler air spreads across the region. Snow will also accumulate above the 6,000-foot level in western Alberta.

The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of AccuWeather, Inc. or 

And the Rain Came

and stayed

CBC home page says , light showers for the area
Bull hockey , its full fledged downpour
I've been out to clear the down spouts b/c water was pouring over the eavestrough.

The Chia pet project. I'm getting about a teaspoon of chia seeds and weight loss is negligible ( but I'm eating lots )
However , on the poop front - its great . Regular and easy. I'll say no more.

Rain was a factor all day. And wind to boot

2May4

an attempt at being original  LOL

Weather should be 70 F and mixed cloud / sun

I'm off for financial advice. The company PWL is known for two things. One of the principals is the author of a blog called ' the Canadian Couch Potato ' an investing seminar. As well , the firm champions Exchange Traded Funds as a vehicle for investing.

May 23

I know , I know ... not original

I'm half asleep.
Topic : Ear Worms
A song that runs around inside your head. AND it may be one that you don't even like
Cure : sing God Save the Queen or for the southerners , here Thy country is of Thee
Unfortunately , ear worms also co - exist w/ many psychiatric conditions. Well ,you can't have it all
I mean ear worms and sanity

Weather in the s GWN , cool and brightening up.
If you're counting , its 8 days to ' Q' xit '. I made that up , ha ha.
There is a cleaning day scheduled. BUT things are a bit late.
the water has been historically high and I haven't been all fired up about the Q' in general.

The donald introduced his first budget. Winners , industro - military hegemony , rapers of the natural world
losers , everyone else

Ladbrokes on a donald exit

the British bookmakers were interviewed on CBC

The odds of a ' trexit ' ( Trump not completing his term ) started at 
3 : 1. To - day , the numbers are 4: 6 or a 60 % chance of trexit.
this odds making is decided by the political division of Ladbrokes plus the weight of bets being placed.
in loose terms , betters are flooding their money in
I stand to lose $ 10 if trexit happens
I wanted the bet to be a can of diet coke but someone forced me up to the ten

Weather : cool and gray

Darn , Brett

bang on w/ the forecast. Its pouring right now.

Thats Brett Anderson at Accuweather blog
Guess it will rain , this week

Yesterday , set up the downstairs TV imported from the Q' ( the ROKU equipped one ) for extra speakers. The system is an undermount speaker bar w/ remote for bass etc. My observations are that normal volume for the TV is 34 on the TV volume display. And its not that easy to hear. However ,w/ another speaker system such as the stereo upstairs that is hooked to the TV or the speaker bar downstairs as at yesterday , the sound is much improved.
I had it explained once at a Electronics store that most speakers produce in the high end for sound , kinda like soprano. As we age , our ears b/come less sensitive to the low end sounds , thus any external speaker that has a bass ability makes it easy to hear.
And its not just me or us. At the Q' , when we go up after a set of friends has been visiting the Q' , we find the TV up there ( now the basement TV ) w/ volume set to 55 + b/c the visitors don't like or don't know about the external speakers. And these are often younger folks than us.

everyone is ' younger folks than us '

Addict - shun

The story from here
I bought ROKU which is a streaming device ( like plugging your laptop into the TV ). The free feeds ( except you pay for Netflix ) are Netflix , Sky Sports and Reuters News.
I've been watching Netflix in the den downstairs. I am binge - ing  on ' Hinterland ' . A troubled CDI is given an assignment in Wales. His staff is friendly and efficient.
CDI Matthias is moody , a loner and prone to getting really emotionally involved w/ the investigation.
The background has his daughter drowning while Matthias was supposedly watching her.

Weather : glorioso , in the highest. Cool but sunny
rain to come

go out a watch some track

A/C and the Cool

the temperature has plunged.
we are below 50 F

Our plan was to keep the thermostat for A/C at 76 F during the day and lower the temperature at & PM which is Off Peak rates for hydro.
To - day , is cool and dry

Have a good ' un

Checked w / Brett Anderson s blog at Accuweather

From Fri May 19 
cooling followed by a 5 day stretch of wet weather

A/C

a story ran in the TorStar re: overuse of air conditioning

that was 4 days ago , And our A/C went on yesterday. We ' conditioned the air ' i.e. removed the humidity.
My feeling always is that w/ only 2 of us in the place , moving the air is important. Thus , we run the furnace fan as much as possible.
Also , there are fans on timers to push the air in the downstairs corridor as well as in my bathroom which has no connection to the central heating system.
I try to keep air moving in that bathroom w/ a heater fan in the winter. This wall mount heater is thermostat controlled and I punch the temperature up only when i'm going to use the bathroom.

The weather is summer w/ the humidity. In the s GWN , we call this patio season. Recall we have winter ( bad !!! ) and patio ( good ^^^^ ) and nothing in between.
Actually ,we have congested and really congested too for traffic

" summer " Arrives

all indications point to a warm , warm day

Yes , as promised 75 F plus and a HUMIDEX even
nice breeze

Angst has set in - will JUN 1 ever come
thats closing date for the Q' sale

Taking It All in Stride

............ I wish

Rather , I think its best described as stumbling along.
I drove up to the Q' w/ the next door neighbour , now , he seems to take it all in stride
Oh well , some have it some don't

Stumbling beats dragging along .............  by a little

Weather is gray - er than yesterday
chance of rain

OK Mr Sun

he's back !

A predicted , one whole day of sun and heating is on the books.
We may top 80 F on Wed.

Yipee !!

On Netflix , I'm recommending ' Zootopia ' , an animated film of a benign animal world gone berserk , well , some go berserk

As well , I started the series called ' the Last Kingdom ' , wherein the Saxons who took England are fighting to keep the Danes from doing the same.
A captured future king is raised as a Dane - Viking and attempts to re - gain his place , in a tumultuous world.
I'm on the fence on this one. OK in some ways but a little mixed up but thats fine b/c this world is mixed up. As in conquerors conquering conquerors etc

I'm off to the Q' for a check up run. Mostly , everything we wanted
-- yeah , wanted , we haven't a clue why some objects came home --
M has been very conservative
me , not so

there's a lot of emotion tied up in this ' transfer '
and here I am trying to be so objective sounding

 but I'm not

From the Q' vault of stories.  The water is as high as an elephant's eye
NO But the whole fore shore line is inundated. Water is up to the back of the boathouse.

Dandy Lion

.... two garbage cans of dandelions

Ten more popped up , last night. B/c its perfect weather for them , rain and cool.

Where is that salad lady when you need her

The boys of JHU got a shellacking , yesterday by Duke. 19 - 6

A first round loss again.  Boo hoo 
Next year , I say , next year

Still a Lull

we are dry and sunny

But rain is due for two days , showers ????? 
Monday sunny and rain off and on for 2 days
Friday , really warm , going over 70 F

Dandelions are doing their thing - yellow blobs all over the lawn
I was out digging the suckers out but they apparently came right back

One lady in the TorStar opined that nothing is better than spring dandelion salad  ... come on over , lady

Unfortunately , we are thinking of England , and Bath , where we were supposed to be.

A Lull in the Wet

we will be dry to - day , TG

An off day for the rain
Saturday and Sunday , still showers forecasted

The sale of the Q is fast approaching . I called for final reads for propane and hydro. We've arranged the tentative date for mortgage signing................ real fast

A couple of visits needed to finish out the moving business
Then
its done

Strange - that

My anniversary present from M , was Marvel's ' Dr Strange '
in BluRay and Digital HD , Huh ? Whas up w/ that ?
Dunno. But only 1 DVD machine here can play the disc.

The master of the occult , sage of the mysterious ways of the multiverse , adept of the magic eye of Agamotto

did I forget something

Oh and egotistical beyond belief
otherwise he's a nice fellow

The casting is Benedict Cumberbatch has ' Doc '
Tilda Swinton is the Ancient One

I thought OMG , what have they done to ' my song , ma '
Dr Strange was my fav comic from Marvel and I couldn't wait for a movie
but Tilda Swinton not John Hurt ( from Hell boy etc )  as the Ancient ?

she is good , believable and neat
BC is a functional choice , great range of physicality and emotion or rather no emotion and up

I'm truly impressed

Weather : lousy , rain do to come  and it feels it

Only the Highlights , Please

.... sort of the sports in 1 minute

Tales from the Craps Table 

Ended the session down approx $ 200.

But along the way , Tues , Afternoon , I shot lights out at the craps table.
The time started w/ a guy shooting for at least 15 min. I made a little money , he made more.
The dice circuited the table and made it to me.
For over 50 minutes , I hit point after point and cashed at least 10 numbers.
I managed to be up some $ 250 but the original shooter guy made $2 000 on my run.

The other guy had 120 dollars out there at any time
meaning , 7 and out , it all goes away. It didn't for 50 minutes.

I went back at night , a shorter run but same result , other guy up a $1 000 , me up $ 40.

Was I Right or Not

please read no further if you are presently watching House of Cards.
I'm revealing the plot ! Episode 14................

Kate Mara naked ? FU threw her under the bus !
That is a political expression

There is a show called ' Mary Kills People ' and they could change the name to ' Francis Kills People '. 
FU used a subway train not a bus.

BTW , FU or Francis Underwood's intials are at play as well. His security / driver dude buys Frank ,cuff links w/ his intials. in a closing shot , the cuff links are isolated and you see "  F    U  " in gold on the cuff links.

Weather : looks inviting , it will be cool ish for this time of year but the sun is beaming and the sky is blue

O' , them bones .... they have been cold to - day. I'm down at craps.
Like thats news ! 
News is ' man bites dog '
or ' I won at the table '

Another Roku Night

..  sounds , kind of indecent

" Roku nights in the big city
   danger is everywhere , feel the vibe
   you come alive , aware , aware !

I watched ' House of Cards ' w/ Kevin Spacey etc
I think I'm watching to see Kate Mara naked , but I'm pretty sure its not going to happen
Thus , I'm paying $10 / month for Netflix and the cost of the initial purchase for the Roku,  I'll get my money back , maybe !

HoC is 50 episodes and I'm getting ready to stop watching
I guess its character development thats going on
........ what I'm seeing , is people getting deeper and deeper in the goo of Washington
there are some nasty dudes and dude - ettes , doing their thing in the nation's capitol

We are rain free for several hours / slight chance of drizzle but the big stuff blew by us and is plaguing the East.
Quebec is drowning - islands have disappeared or will.  The high water crests Mon late or Tues.

both home and the Q are high , in fact , as high as possible , it turns out

Reading , re - visited.
The ' Drawing of the Dark '
The story line is evolving , as expected. The hero , Brian Duffy , is King Arthur re - incarnated. His mentor and mental tormentor , Aurelianus aka ' Merlin ' reveals that the Fisher King is waiting for the proper time ( Easter ) .... to drink the Dark.
The Dark is especially aged beer , soaking in the essence of Finn McCool,
Tim Powers is tapping into the mythology of the Western world,
King Arthur ( Balder , Sigmund ), Merlin , the Fisher King and even Odin gets a cameo reference.
His love life which fell apart , semi gelled is now a  puddle - poor guy 
BUT he gets Calad Bolg ( ? ) or Excalibur
See , everything falls into the story
and there is historical time lines woven in

Un imaginable

no , not quite

A dry morning , not bright but no rain
it comes back this aft

We now own , a Roku stick and account. Roku streams internet content from WiFi. The TV and DVD player are old school and need to be either hooked directly or receiving data somehow.
Roku is a WiFi receiver , thus , I'm watching Netflix downstairs
Several streaming services are free , the bulk are pay as you go or subscription.
Roku stick costs $50

Keep your powder dry !

Road Closure

.... due to flooding

The semi big news in T.O. is an advisory that the Don Valley Parkway or the Eastern highway route into the city might need to be closed b/c of rising water in the neighbouring Don R.
The DVP got closed 4 yrs ago b/c of flooding. In that instance , trains were stuck in the water when they ceased operations

Rain is the order of the day
mega rain
and the ground is saturated 

Old Reads

very old , say 30 yrs or so

' the Drawing of the Dark ' by Tim Powers. A sci - fi fantasy set in the time of the Turkish conquest of ... well the whole of Europe. The Turks have made overtures that Vienna is to fall. Western powers are  purportedly eager to defend Vienna and the West.
The hero , an Irishman , Brian Duffy is hired as a bouncer in a pub / brewery. A famous brewery established in Roman times.
A monastery til purchased by a eccentric wizard , the brewery still churns out Herzwesten ( heart of the west ) beer.
It turns out that our hero has visions , has had visions his whole life , a ' girl friend ' turned barmaid after a failed marriage ( he suicided ) and a uncanny ability to act in life threatening situations.
Yes , I've re - read this story about 20 times.
However , I maintain finding good books to read is difficult . thus I revert to old ' reads ' to fill the gap.

Weather : gray is the order of the day , don't you know.
water levels in the Great Lakes and esp. L Ontario and downstream are high and approaching homes and records.
It will rain for three days ,maybe clearing by Monday.

On the topic of old reads , I looked back at Brett's Long Range outlook. He predicted a wet May 1 to 7. Bang on Brett baby.
Next week , Brett has ' uncertain ' for the prognostication

I'm an Imposter was the banner , as I introduced myself to the world of R.O.C. forum.
ROC ? Is Ridgeline Owners Club ( Honda trucks ) not an official Honda site.
I discovered new jargon or abbreviations
Gen2 - is me , any Ridgeline 2017 and on is Gen2 or the redone Ridgeline
RL **** is not swearing but short form Ridgeline and your trim level
I called my yet to be delivered Ridgeline , a ' ridgie ' 
apparently , some forum types don't like the nickname
while I think RL isn't correct after all the truck name is one word

ah heck , potato ---- potata  

Talk about enthused , these dudes and dudettes are high on trucks
( we hope )

Sharing

some thoughts

Cooking Tips
Now , I love barbecue. I'm always willing to try BBQ when we travel. Here are some tips.
The best BBQ masters will tell you that the best BBQ is the one that you're eating now.  That being said , beware not all BBQ is the same.
In parts of the U.S. , the Carolinas , the baste for the meat is often vinegar based, and very little or no tomato.
Dry rubs are popular in places and some areas believe in mustard

Bearing all this in mind , I can say the all time / all around baste is soya sauce.
For every meat. B/c I tried all the different ' secret ' bastes. K.I.S.S.
unless you hate soya sauce ( Keep It Simple Stupid ). 
My success list : soya sauce
                                            on chicken
                                                 beef
                                                 lamb
                                                 turkey
                                                 burger meat
Baste early , overnight is good for almost every meat

In the movie , ' My Heroes Have Always been Cowboys ' w/ Scott Glenn and Mrs Steven Speilberg , chili is doused in beer while cooking.
Thus , for cuts of meat that are not blue ribbon quality , yepper , soak in beer for several hours and o/vnight is best

And do not salt the meat before cooking , the soya sauce did it for you.
AND  , NO as far as I can tell ' You won't taste the soy flavouring or whatever the flavour is.

Try it - you'll like it

and it is butt simple ( meat humour there ! )

We have sun and sun and blue sky
To - morrow we drown
and the next day
and the next day 
and the next day

Tues ????????????? might be clearing

Spoke too Soon

wild , wild weather at the Q

It sounded as tho' the sky gave out
Some lightening and wind
buckets of rain

Another full load of ' I don't know what '  came home from the Q.
The HD TV and receivers , clothes  .............
Posters of Lord of the Rings , all 3 volumes
Fellowship , 2 Towers and Return of the King

I left the walls 
and the kitchen and bathroom sink b/c these items wouldn't fit
Thats the only reason , I think

Good Soup
I'm having home made chicken soup ( carcass from Sunday Dins )
Fantastico !

What makes good soup , really
I think its the weather
Its damp and nasty out there and this soup is going down a treat
Rice and chicken , for the main

Our Wet and Wild Night

..............  yepper , the whole she bang came down last night

The TV competed w/ the thrum off the roof and the whoosh through the trees.
In the region of the 'bee , there are tornado warnings for the late afternoon and evening , this Monday.

I'm heading up to the QMH , for further clean up and clean out.
The struggle continues
We shall see said the Zen Master