" 1 is the Loneliest # :

or so the song went

Britain has a Minister in Gov't for loneliness. As well, much attention is being given to the loneliness of the elderly w/ the realization that you can be lonely at any age and in a crowd.
Research is now showing that internet groups tend to promote loneliness.
To wit, you join a group on line w/ perceived common interest ( s ) but discover the joining brings no comfort or reward. You are not closer to people.

And loneliness ( no surprise here ), goes hand in hand w/ depression. Chicken or the egg conundrum ensues.

We went gambling this week. yes , I shot craps. Overall, for 5 sessions, I was up. While participating, yesterday, a pit boss told a player ( newbie ) that you are just wasting your money by betting $5. 
The point, I suspect was to bet higher amounts to take advantage of a good hand ( or series of rolls by a shooter ). True.
I went over and said to the newbie, exactly that ' yes, bigger behind the line bets get you more. However, you then need to be willing to ' go deep' or risk more '. 
Many players have questioned how little that I issue at the beginning, $200. For some $400 is an appropriate issue ' to give yourself a chance at hitting a good hand '.
The difficulty is that you could be down $250  - 300 before that ' good hand'.
I realized on re-reading the above paragraph that you couldn't possibly get a feel for the actual numbers involved.

Here goes an explanation. I will start w/ an outlay of $24, as the rolls progress ( if they do b/c a roll of a 7 ' is seven and out or all bets are forfeit ). As the game goes on I'll wager another $6. Thus the total is about $30 for me and that stays more or less constant.
To wit, I'll watch player B put out $22 to begin and double down as numbers it. In reality it means after 4 rolls the outlay could be $40 and if the rolls continue, yes , the total increases.
However, the odds say that most times, every three or so rolls that you can expect a seven 9 seven out )
I've seen players lay down $75 to begin the hand and double each bet as a number hits.
You should see that ' seven out ', 3 times is over $100. 
Thus, I often lose $60 - 80 and quit. I'll come back later and try again, ostensibly finding a good hand at that time. Does it work ? Yes / No. 
My thinking is that the way that I bet, I can probably win back that $ 60 - 80 w/ a good run but I can't make up a 100 dollars.

Overall, I'm trying not to lose big b/c I can't win that $ 100 - 200 very often. And I cannot go $400 down and come back.
I'm trying to be a player and not lose a lot.
While, I was speaking to the newbie, the player right beside newbie told a friend ' if I lose this first $ 400, I'll quit for a while and then come back after dinner '.
Not me !

compression Knee

bandage needed

Yeah, really  I ve been icing for two days, twice a day
better to-night

compression This

aging !
when you start to consider the adverts for ' zip up compression socks '.... you don't need them per se but you look

The comp socks come in three desirable shades ecru, tan and mahogany

Yeah ! mahogany coloured sockettes

Humid and warm. An ' ALBERTO ' named system dropped a tree on a news coverage vehicle in S Carolina

one of my favourite little lines from ' Instrumentalities of the Night ', the one I re-read and re-read.
' when you look back ten years, and pictured yourself and where you'd be - are you disappointed ? '

answer ' Piper, you can sure suck the fun out of any moment ! '

My father always preached the ten year window as a time frame for investments etc.
In re: the cottage, we didn't make the ten yr window - circumstances wouldn't allow the extra year or so. However, ' when God closes a door - ex-students pop up and buy your cottage '
Not really the correct quote - I personalized it a bit

no Compromise to-day

we'll get full H / H

Temperature and humidity will soar and stay for 2 days minimum.
Break out the shorts etc.

Compromise

as in compromise me this

A word of diplomats, politicians and negotiators
Win - win

Probably ensures that not much gets done
but it is a peaceful word

In " Diner ", a 1980 s coming of age flick, set in Baltimore, one of the characters complains about the word ' nuance '.
I believe its Paul Reiser , the actor that claims  ' its not really a word ', it doesn't stand for anything.

One of my all time favourites w/ Daniel Stern, Kevin Bacon, Tim Daly, Steve Guttenburg, Mickey O'Rourke and Ellen Barkin.
Some cast, right ?

Fencing and Fishing

Yes, the last 2 days have been full. 6 hours Thursday, re-standing a fence blown down some weeks ago. Older wood, thus, screws and nails torn out and no place to put new screws. Metal plates on every joint.
Then up to the X - Q, to fetch the trailer being serviced and launch the 2018 fishing season.
 Clean the rails of growth ( mussels and algae ) straighten and level the rails. Batteries returned to stern and bingo bango - in she went.
I call her ' Gray Lady ' but no one knows this.
Ran like a dream.
No walleye, but all the little guys cooperated - big time

Sun in the Sky

oh, me oh, my

Rhymes

I smell like an eucalyptus factory, but the shoulder is at peace.

OK How did this bout of shoulder pain start. Last week, I shifted myself in bed and sort of ' scrunched up my shoulder ' -- Eek !

However, FYI - I can do push ups and all my free weight exercises.

The real problem seems to be jerky movement. As in, bumping my hand into an object , even lightly , causes the grabbing pain.

Oldness Egad what a fate. my uncle says the alternative is not as charming

I'm deciding whether to allow the ' PigGuide ' to send me emails.
I keep 2 email accts. One is the give out one, as in ' do you want the latest on dining out in England ' , hence the PigGuide.
I'll need to re - visit the site and see why I joined.
I'm betting it was a ' free ' beer or a discount. That stuff gets me everytime.
Apparently, the rules of engagement have changed in Britain and re-need my permission.
Everyday, job #1 is clear the email.

a Dingy Day

gray and damp

I'm hurting a) my almost rotator cuff shoulder is sore and barking

b) the knee is gimp city

I'm using Dr Ho TENS pain reliever or electroshock therapy

nothing Witty To-day > Again

Hi,  Sunny and dry looking

Nothing Witty To-day

barely awake

We are cool ish and gray ish. This weekend is callled, Victoria Day or the May 24 weekend. Monday is a Federal holiday.
And, natch ! we got rain for all the campers and cottagers that start Summer celebrating traditionally on this weekend.

Notice that I'm slightly ahead b/c the bassboat is all set to hit the water
only it hasn't
however, hope springs eternal 

a Tale of Mulch Ado About Nothing

hee , hee

On waking early yesterday

I was planning how to move mulch ( free ) from neighbour's drive to our backyard. The backyard is 20 steps down. That woke me up.
In the end, as in my dreams, I carried the mulch by wheelbarrow to the back deck and dumped it over the rail.
Messy, but I figured it saved my knees, the up and down.
I practiced w/ one load going down the steps w/ the wheelbarrow
One - OK

Twenty ???

However, its all done. The appearance - well, we are still looking - going ' alright but a little cheesy '. The mulch is chopped tree and leaves and all sorts

We are gray and overcast

Oh, Boy up at 5:30 again

slept right trough but

Saw the alarm clock at 5 AM and 5:15 and 5:20 and said
Thats it, I'm up

No sun, yet

Computers :
Our main laptop was slow to cycle, no it was pathetic. Going from site to site could take 15 seconds
I went on line to " Is your Computer Slowing down ".
Read through the ten suggestions. Ignored 4 b/c that would involve 
large costs.
3 remedies that I already do and obviously had no effect.
But 1 suggestion was to dump temporary files. Nope. didn't even know what that was.
OK, I navigate to Temp and use the delete command w/ the Security Defender icon beside. Some files could not be deleted w/out overriding ' Trusted Installer ', I left those alone.
Thus, I dumped 40 files that were stale dated.
Re - start. Not much difference.
Re - read the instructions
Ah ! , empty your ' Recycle Bin '. Really !!
Hit ' Display Recycle Items '
Crap. the list took 15 seconds to load. As well, some dates were from 3 yrs ago.
The computer is faster now

Got it - Empty the Recycle Bin - at least every four years

Tri[p to the X - QMH

its not mine anymore but we went to

a) get the boat trailer prepped - drove to Parnell's Garage for                 servicing

b) de - moused the boat and cleaned
    loaded the essentials for the fishing season

Had the Chicken store special.  1 BBQ chicken, buns, salad and dessert for 20 dollars

Big sun and a helpgul neighbour who went w/ me

I thought I was fussy about cleaning
Whew, I'm lower tier compared to him

No Seepage

Aha !

Meanwhile, I dug up the low places in the interlock - these stones will be lifted anyway come digging up time for waterproofing. I replaced the vacant areas w/ construction sand, on the grounds that if some sinking or subsiding occurs that its much easier to fill w/ sand than the interlock.
After the waterproofing, the area where I lifted the interlock becomes grass.

As well, 1500 dandelions are in the compost bucket. I'm saying 1 500 b/c it sounds like a lot or more precisely it felt like I unrooted 1 500 of the little beggars

Big sun and cool breezes

Arggh ! just saw the backyard

15 million dandies !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  approx. I might have over estimated a tad

Rain as a Test

this spell of wet should verify what kind of leak that we had

The conditions are not the same i.e. freezing rain and overflowing gutters - still, it is rain and the water will go where the water goes

And this is now spring. Our backyard is fully curtained w/ greenery.
In late fall and winter, we can see about 1/2 mile through the trees and branches. To-day, the visibility is our backyard. No more.

Busy as a B

The baby truck got a wash. I did the interior by myself in the driveway. The mats are washed. The vacuuming is done.

As well, I trimmed the hedge around the house # as the greenery was blocking the #.
I dug up a stump of a decorator tree that died and cut the sucker off below the ground.

See as a B

Sun mostly, a dampish w/ humidity

On sun - Day

Yes, glorioso to-day

On the baby laptop to be sure the charger will work - I'll plug in later
A reminder for my readers.
Original price for the eMachine by Acer:  
                                                 $130 ( w/ discount in coupons )
Upgrade to Windows home       $  90
Battery replacement                    $  60
Memory boost                           $  60
Solid State Drive                       $   80
Chrome OS conversion              $  00

but this is amortized at 10 yrs.

OK   Alright so I'm cheap !

Ugh !

aka how I feel this morning !

The story from Friday : I left the AC adapter for the baby laptop in NY at the casino.
I called and a helpful security agent found my phone. Warren itemized the adapter and gave me a reference # to use.         We'll be ' forced ' to go back and pick up the adapter.
Meanwhile, I went on line and found an AC adpater at Amazon for $ 28, tax and shipping extra and it ships by May 20 - 26.

Then I had an epiphany, I drove over to the local fix it shop. The dude had an adapter. This store is the kind of place where the guys plugs in your laptop and makes sure it works. Then sends you out the door. All cash - $28 all in.
At the same time, he was dealing w/ an older lady who had brought in her laptop b/c of bugaboos w/ Yahoo mail. The dude suggested switching to another service. He picked Google. The lady looked frazzled, so I went over and said ' Trust me, Computers equal grief '
She explained that all was going well yesterday and then to-day, trouble.
I let her know this is pretty much what happens to everyone. I guided her while she got in to G mail and she thanked me. I'm not sure how much better she felt but I had to let her know that she is not the only one going through this stuff.
I then explained to the dude in the store in my broken Chinese- English that this laptop is the one that this store had a) increased the memory b) added a Solid State Drive to make the thing faster.
NOPE !
I relayed my ridiculously slow loading time w/ the laptop.
And told how I converted the laptop to run stand alone Chrome OS and how much faster the laptop got.
He found CloudReady, said that he had never heard of converting and then said Thank You b/c he got 4 customers a week w/ the same problems.
Older, less powerful machine overwhelmed w/ all the background crap that the platforms such as Windows sends out.


a good day and we're still going back to the casino  Yeah !

Recommend : if you have a soul or want to nourish one
then go to YouTube and find Lady Caliph, the dinner,  played by YoYo Ma / written by Ennio Morricone

California vs the U.S.

yes, the contrarian state

Ahead of the curve ?
Way out there Crazy ?

Cally is pushing for solar devices in all homes. The belief in Global Warming is driving the California Gov't to opt for green.
granted the smog / gas fumes dilemma is considered a large ecological blemish, damaging health and quality of life.

TheFederal Gov't is not so :
sure about Global Warming
or advocating for pollution controls

Go ! California

Muddy or Not - Here I come

what the hey  !

Muddy Buddies are a snack by Chex cereals.
About the size of small mints, the snack is a small Chex cereal square covered in chocolate and filled w/ chocolate. The exact composition is hard to determine.

However, the MB s are addictive and way too sweet. Of course, I'm going through them like a house on fire

I protest !!! too good

Denouncing

feeble attention grabber

However, once started, it needs completion

Diet - the word or term
         actually, diet is what you eat not what you don't eat

Thus, coffee, bacon and butter make my diet list
plus Salty Dogs ( grapefruit and gin / salt the rim )

I believe in chia seeds to regulate fibre intake
and I've been taking Krill oil
( the eye doctor thinks that krill has worked wonders )
We shall see said the Zen Master !

Let Me Be Clear - a fav intro for a politician or shill for some gov't official.

really means ' I'm so full of shine-ola, step back three paces '

We Have System in Place  - Oewwee !

translated to ' nothing F...ing works in this place ' stay tuned for how you will get screwed

Announcing

The Iran nuclear agreement decision has been made
to-night is the night in the week when the  donald cuts and styles his own hair
adds a touch of orange to his skin and proclaims ' all is right w/ the world '

A recent article appeared in the TorStar ' Brexit cannot Happen '
based on the sure knowledge that an agreement or accord called the EU Trade policy which took 25 yrs to develop cannot be dismantled for a member in 2 years.
As of now, the EU is basically not negotiating b/c the ' soft landing ' dreamed of by Britain is out of the question. How hard the landing will be is moot - there is no landing available.
Britain wants ' X ' and the EU is offering ' X minus < minus > '
We are visiting the Ol' Country soon,hoping for a soft landing

Chaos Tamed

the toolroom is back to function

gone are the purple walls and purple pheasant. Come on where else could you put a purple pheasant but in a purple room !

I'm still not able to use the back walk in closet. However, the plans say that enough crap needs to be dumped such that missing that back area shouldn't matter.
e.g. cross-country boots are slated for GoodWill. 

A work in progress. for sure

We have sun and cool w/ promise of warmer,

In all the kerfuffle, I missed 4 days of exercise but the slave work made for the missed sessions 

Sunny Days

everything is A-OK

Its Sesame St in our house

Neighbours are cutting down trees and plastic topping their roof shingles that blew away. One lady lost 30 or shingles and was quoted $500 by a company working on the street.
Ouch ! Does insurance cover shingle loss ?

Power-less

Big winds took out our power from Fri 5:30 P til 6:30 P Sat.

The lack of power didn't melt our hearts but the frozen yogurt.

Across the province 150 000 lost power. They decided again to re-hook us up last.

In the mean time, I double painted the toolroom floor.
As well, I bought 128 sq ft of inter-mat interlocking anti-fatigue floor foam. You add on to the existing pieces as you want. The 16 sq ft packages cost 15 dollars and I needed 8. Plus the concrete paint - cost was 220 dollars.
After watching YouTube, I followed the last guy's advice and poured the paint on the floor and rolled the blue out to the outer edge.  E Z pz.

Basement Floors on YouTube

Crikey !!!

Acid wash the floor, don't get splashed.
Concrete sealer is very expensive

The best advice on floors: pour the paint on the floor and spread the stuff.
The last guy was so laid back it made me feel good
My floor isn't near as blotchy or paint stained as the example in the video

There is hope.

Drizzly

and gray

But warm enough for jackets or less

" a Whiter Shade of Pale " or Procul Harem re-worked

The room was a girl's bedroom done in violet or purple, transformed into my workroom / hoarder stash and equipment storage.

Then the water came through the walls. The underlay and wall to wall braided-look rug went bye-bye. The walls are now white w/ a touch of shadow showing through.
But it is my workroom, thus imperfections are satisfactory.
And besides
You worry about how the white will look - will the white cover the purple ?
Pah ! Its so bloody dark in there, its hard to tell if its white or pale gray.

Worry ! Worry ! for what

It gonna be 4 X brighter than before

now, worry about the floor which is concrete and bare.

YouTube is like my worst bout of self doubt magnified a gazillion times. Look up < Behr, Granite Grip concrete floor cover >

fifteen ways to say: Eek ! how much of this stuff do I need at $60 a gallon. A gallon covers 30 sq ft ( the real value not off the can )
and it goes on like batter out of a bowl
most folks are pleased w/ the look 
but wont' do this application again

Sun and Clouded Over

past noon and looks like rain
feels like rain

Warm and cool damp winds

Eye Dr appts this AM. He sang the praises of Krill oil and Omega 3
since I've been taking the krill as of last November

I'm the krill man - good for eyes and cholestrol

Estimates are coming In

Comparing Apples and Oranges

2 estimates - one double the other

but the work done is 12 ft longer ( the excavation and waterproofing )

Warm day ahead, we will top 70 F 
rain follows to-morrow

Good News - World's oldest Known Living Spider Dead

# 16 made 51 y.o or something like that
How can a death be good ??? B/c at least someone cared to keep track, in a world galloping along
Someone cared !