the morning of the night before

 a new year

dark and cold < ish > Circle of light is on for the neighbours - its barely a circle, more like a football standing. OK - what do you want for a garden hose frame !

The CV 19 news is worse. Our numbers are above the 7 day roling average. Not quite double, still discouraging. The pundits have proof, more people are moving than in the spring. If they look at phone data - people are out and about.

Over to CBC to scan the sections

Oh, sorry. I forgot yesterday s big news  ' C V 19 Vaccine - roll out is slow '

See thats not news. News is ' They got it right, finally. '

I called England, outside of London city centre by 20 miles. Shop lady said the streets are empty.

The circle of light went on at 6:30 
And got lowered to half mast at 9:30 AM / a symbolic lowering of the ball ala Dick Clark

The mis - shapen circle is getting worse -  plenty of sag

Hey ! just like 2020 - plenty of sag and going downhill from there

Highlights of the year for good or bad.

1. Fished almost every weekend June on til Oct 6

2. Finished the workroom after the flood and clear out of stuff. All storage returned to its hidey hole in the back closet. Where it will sit for another 24 years. One plus is that I didn't replace the mirror sliding doors. At least I'll be able to see inside better

3. A backyard Xmas tree beacon for 3 weeks and then 1 week in the front. Conversion to a ' football ' and symbolic lowering

Crikey ! thats the highlights of the year. Let s do it again

NO ........ NO ........ NO

pandemic worry ?

I couldn't get back to sleep at 4:30 / tried til 5:30 and 

Yes, typing, coffee and Bailey s    Cuz I won't be driving anywhere

M says blame the pandemic < sleep problems > 

Well, I'm all for blaming someone else

Oh, no - I've got trump- itis .......... Always someone else ' s fault. Lets shift the blame ....... shifty donald ( thats what they call him in the corporate world, likely )

Yesterday, I cleared the gutters of ice. In case, we get rain ...... silly, of course, we'll get rain. I never see anyone else doing this gutter de - ice. In fact, I've never heard anyone talk about doing de - icing < except planes and they don't have gutters >

Why ? There have been winter / springs when water has poured over the gutters - almost a flood. And at least three tradesmen have said that there is nothing wrong w/ the gutter system. That it looks normal.

You see the problem is these people don't watch the water gush out of the gutters. Well, it will be warm ish today and I may run heating cable for eaves in the gutter to keep them ice free for the rest of the winter / spring.

I've used roof de - icing cable before. And likely should do it every year. Why didn't I this year. Dunno

I did a sweep of CBC on line for news. This is my summary. European stocks rebounded b/c a Brexit deal is signed ( temporarily, at least ), the vaccines are rolling out and stimulus money is available.

Our Ontario Minister of Finance flew to St Barts island for a vacation despite travel warnings. But please don't leave the country - the party line.

When 42 F is the high

 you gotta feel grateful. But thats tomorrow. Today, a Westerly wind brings 27 F and a wind chill to 18 or so. We get to 30 F by afternoon

Then the warm up and back to 32 ish for several days < up and down >

To sum up this year, we can say ' blah ' . Life goes on.

Life happens.

Royalty named Wilhelmina

Let s face it, my major problem is how to build a ' ball of lights ' from the Xmas tree. No good ideas yet. Three mental stabs at it, failed. One required cutting the bottom out of a plastic wash basin. Wasteful and a little small. I'm figuring that I need about 2 1/2 ft across. And 3 would be better

A need for coffee got me up but my eyes were dry < always dry in waking >. I'm sitting in the spare bedroom typing away to you the " ether ".

Done. A circle of light < 1 1/2 ft across >

Looks small ish and not round maybe lop sided. But there " sufficient for the day is the evil thereof "
Haven't a clue what it means

the decision is in

I'm comfortable w/ the 11 inch Chromebook < Dell 5190 > w/ keyboard and WiFi mouse. Tablets are cute but I'm used to this little guy.

One charge and its 13 h < maximum > of internet life. Way more than I need.

And I do use the tablets upstairs. But the truth is our phones are so good at getting the internet - we gravitate to the phone, right away.

A cold stupid morning < spilled coffee already >. T.O. will be blustery, a 40 % chance of wet or white all day.

We won't cross the 4 C mark all day < 5 right now .

Over to CBC on line for the idiocy of the day

After that intro re: Chromebook love in, the Duet tablet went into denial mode. It started up / worked for three switches of websites and 

then  said " what do you want " in cyber, by stopping 

I tried to re - start / un - connect from WiFi etc NOPE !

The benefit of Chrome is ' powerwash ' for reset. If any program is compromising the system - powerwash returns the Duet to factory original BUT b/c of Chrome sync then everything except local storage  is there

So far, we have success

And still re - customizing the system - slow and slower

or dumb and dumber

step by step

Ernie Nevers

#2891 in the never ending story 

Say what >

A football player in the NFL scored 6 rushing TD s. Tying a record by Ernie Nevers

our weather will be up and down meaning both temperatures and precipitation for say a week. Predicted reading for today says 34 ish F.

Skipped over to CBC on line and did a quick run through - nada. Same old same old. Oh, different date

There was a Dutch Queen Wilhelmina, 

Summary : coffee in hand , sitting and typing < yes, there is Bailey s in the coffee >

On Xmas day, ' Wonderwoman 1984 ' opened in theatres. The reviews are mixed. One critic said that for a super hero type movie ' there wasn't much of a super hero to see '. I believe he thought more of ' wonderwoman ' in full battle dress was needed. Me. I think just looking at Gal Gadot is good enough. 

Overall, DC comics has garnered a reputation for doing spandex action movies - poorly. To be fair, Marvel has pretty much run out of creativity at this point. As far as I know or can tell ' Guardians of the Galaxy ' rather summed up the whole genre for Marvel.

Captain Marvel was average - y. Now, I thought the Brie Larson < Capt Mar - velle > sassy amnesiac was cute. And the by - play between Cpt Mar - velle and Fury was attention grabbing. But see, thats not the ' knock - em down spandex ' part of the movie either

Guardians was a retro music festival -  see not spandex super hero fight - y stuff - again. Thinking back - ' Dr Strange ' just might of been the mountain top. Wonderwoman was planting the flag, and Cpt Marvel was circling the top.

BTW, by accident, I got to watch ' King Kong ' w/ Brie Larson again. Cpt Marvel was a better movie for her. She had Samuel L for help in that one also. < no where near the same though >

Well, sun up in 20 minutes. But the Xmas tree beaacon is lit. You do know - that out front it can't be seen for 1/2 mile like it was in the backyard. However, I deemed that portability was a real plus for the Xmas tree. And of course, it was showing off to the neighbour s who have a ' zoo ' on their lawn in lights

In the back of my mind is a thought to turn the Xmas tree into a ball and have it descend from DE 29 to JA 1 down the pole.    

We shall see said the Zen Master

Out in the driveway, shovelling the margins to take back the whole driveway

Wakey, Wakey

 job 1 : light the beacon < everyone else is on timer for their lights >

job2 : turn up the thermostat, otherwise its 8 AM before night cycle is over

job 3 : grab a coffee < no Bailey s > , yet

M talked to England < meaning the cousins > and found them caring for K s mother who lives w/ them. The mother has some physical issues but cognitive dysfunction is occurring as well. To combat the stress, daughter and grand daughter are sitting down w/ a Bailey s at days end.

And K had Bailey s on her breakfast cereal, Christmas morning.

Job next : go over to CBC on line for some information re : weather then Science and Tech then Health then Business

P.S. please recall Brett Anderson has predicted mild changing to mild and wet for the week ending the 3 rd of Jan

I'm back from trolling the CBC. I'm reporting ' zero ' new ' news '. And segue - ing into a pet peeve - ' 24 hr news channels '. OR 24 hr re - cycled news and CNN which is like gossip central

CNN may soon become the longest running soap opera on TV. Sorry, I'm sure all the others are just as bad but M watches that particular one

BTW, M gets the TorStar daily. I read each section back to front. I figure front to back is how they want to read the paper

Thats it - off for Bailey s and a coffee warm up ! ( 6:50 AM )

A follow up. A load of wash went in.

Dishes got washed and I did breakfast

I'm sitting here typing. Fired off a 13 paragraph email to a cousin in law in Edmonton. Her fault she wrote first.

Sitting. I needed a break. Chill baby

Shoveled the drive

Slept

🏃 BOXING WEEK STARTS IN 3… 2… 1

 right. spend more

Fact : retail associations expect greater than ever Christmas returns b/c so much stuff was bought on line

I spent from 5:45 doing :

a) turn on the Xmas beacon Tree for the neighbours

b) coffee and Bailey s Irish Cream

c) a Xmas card for M, custom designed in 15 minutes

d) put Margaret s present under the table                              < tree is on top >

e) coffee and Bailey s

M feels Xmas is special so, I run round Xmas morning and do stuff

Yes, we got snow last night w/ more to come. How much is undetermined b/c it all depends on the moisture that blows over us. Cold enough for snow, obviously but will we catch the streamers off L. Erie or L Huron < Georgian Bay for us >. Turns out that we are just on the edge of 2 bands and will they wobble over us

Wow ! Bailey s at 6 AM. Neato 

it's 12:40 PM and full daylight is disappointing but no more snow

All went well re: Xmas morning

TG for that

2:20 PM and the sun broke through the clouds

a Power Glitch

b/c the neighbours needed an extension cord. I lent the one powering the Xmas tree.

I ran out this morning and hooked the tree back up for the morning - shine to fight the gray day ( P.S. Its 8 AM and still as dark as 7 AM despite sun up ) < P.P.S. 10:30 & dim goes on >

 Rain fell overnight 

Our window at night

Why  Because no one has been in the house since the stair lift repair guy. The dishwasher repair guy. The oven repair man. Hey, did I forget a repair guy ?????

 Thus, who could have seen this great set up

The Gadget Explosion or Tech ed to the gills

A PC tower and peripherals in the beginning, all hard wired

Then a Dell 19 inch laptop, portable and eventually to be the PC s replacement plugged in. Which truly did happen

A baby laptop, e Machine, b/c 19 inches of laptop is too much to haul to Florida, but wireless

A Chromebook laptop as the eMachine failed or couldn't cut it

The house goes wireless,  the modem powers TVS, phones and internet

Two G8 cell phones which are really micro tablets in disguise

A Chome Duet ( 1/2 laptop and 1/2 tablet )

And as a Xmas gift, a real tablet called Tab 10

The summary is that something is always charging in the house. However, the upside is all devices charge via Type C plugs - meaning 1 cord and power block could charge them all < separately of course >

AND in 10 days, the house goes all future - techie w/ central controlled alarm system and monitoring. The automated house begins. Alright, who is at the front door - 'we know ' or will in ten days. Spooky.

Whatever, happened to a baseball bat under the bed or tin can and string - Kittyhawk and gliding into the future

light the Beacon

since the day was so gray

turn on the Xmas tree.  ... recall it's new location   ..... the front

Lockdown foibles: fact #1 - medical facilities are strained.  Fact #2 - every day brings increases in CV 19 cases.
The question then becomes if you Lockdown why wait til Boxing Day?
Nothing changed b/c medical advice = lockdown now    ( Dec 21 )                                                              political advice = don't look bad by Cancelling Xmas

And the public interprets the decision ' oh, go ahead ' meet at Xmas ' after all if it was serious the government would make us not gather

I can sum up my day by saying ' an ice cream cone was lunch ', a choco cone < ah, but Canadian made >

The sunlight outside is no lighter and the wind is cold

Recommends : a George Clooney production called ' Midnight Sky ' bebuted around now. Starring, yes George and Felicity Jones. After the tolerable stuff that I've been watching MS is a change. High production values and a solid cast help. GC took some fairly standard world troubles and hopes and did not bad. Sorry George, others will need to over laud the effort.

Or, maybe another day, I could.

 

a Hacksaw and a Loaf

 oh,, yea - same to you. The combination was my Xmas gift to a friend LK. Approx 56 yrs ago, we started exchanging holiday presents. Thus, 2020 even w/ CV 19 was not an exception. The hacksaw came w/ 4 blades ( wood, metal, composite materials and fine ). The loaf was a Xmas stollen.

Lets tell a story < so whats new >. About three years ago, LK calls and says ' I need a hand '. The announcement is fraught w/ danger, trust me. Once, I ended up carting dirt from his backyard to a off ramp construction site < in summmer , in the heat >

This favour, move 40 boxes of hockey publications from the basement of his house to the garage and car. We're talking 4 guys and 3 hrs. Apparently, I missed the full order of business b/c after a pop break, LK says ' can we do the tree ? ' I must have looked stunned b//c someone goes ' sure '.

The tree, is a branch 15 ft up and the thickness of my thigh. The tree is on a slope and the ladder couldn't sit flat. I gawked as LK brings out a saw. The saw was our age at 60 something. Very fine teeth and rusted. It was as close to useless as you could get for the job. Thats when GI pops up and says ' I'll come back tomorrow and bring a proper saw '. Thus, the hacksaw b/c I know LK has never seen a saw like it <  I mean owned one >. A blade for every kind of household job - specialized for the task.

The stollen comes from a local bakery < expensive but excellent >. I wanted to buy from the bakery to help it stay in business.

A so - so day. The sun squeezes out every now and then w/ a cold breeze.

BTW - the boxes of hockey stuff. LK drove them to South Bend, Indiana to a hockey museum. Seriously, Indiana

darker Still

 alright who got up at 4:30 for a coffee.................... ME !

I lit the Xmas tree beacon, so if you're walking your dog in the ravine - the hill is marked for you.......... you're welcome

Part of the dark ....er, is our province wide lockdown that starts DE24. No.1 is we don't know exactly what the lockdown covers. No 2 is fundamentally un - enforceable anywhere rural < b/c the folks won't care >

Our biggest threat is lack of ICU space and a shortage of ventilators across the province. In fact some rural medical facilities wouldn't have a ventilator. Here in the big smoke, our ICU capacity is now limited and the reserve space is almost gone.

Long range weather for the Great Lakes, especially the Golden Horseshoe, calls for mild and slightly wet right into Jan 2 But the pattern could include some wet or white

Last evening, one of Santa's elves appeared at our door < my second cousin > w/ Xmas cookies. As she was leaving, she commented that our lights were very subdues < here read - tiny > compared w/ the neighbours to either side - namel the ' zoo ' to our West and the decorated shrubbery to our East.

Thus, this afternoon, I trnslocated the Xmas tree beacon < eight footer > to the front yard. W may not have the msot but it will be the tallest by a margin. Pictures to follow. My main worry is that the beacon will be mistaken for the great conjunction < Saturn meets Jupiter > which has closest approach tonight.

The tree goes on at 4:30 local time approx the 4 hours before the great conjunction. Don't be fooled, now that you are warned

See pix above

I got to see the ' beacon ' at night 🌃. Actually, it's impressive for home made. Baling wire and glue construction, after all.

P.S. I'm typing on a Lenovo Tab M tablet < a Xmas present >

Light and simple to use if your tablet trained which I'm still learning to fiddle w/

dark Still

 and like a beacon, the Xmas tree shines over the ravine - b/c I turned it on for the early walkers

This two days marks the longest nights of the year. We gain a little light from now. It is now almost 8 and the sun is up. Can't tell from here. We are overcast.

Thus, under the topic of Good News, Stay hydrated and  stay happy was an item. The survey found that those individuals tht drank 6 glasses of water per day, reported being more optimistic and awoke in better spirits than those that had 1 glass of water or so each day.

There were stories of people donating money, homes and organs. I think that the key is the giving.

However, the study found that drinking water at your favourite temperature makes a difference in how much water that you consume.

I favour ice in my water. Filtered water and filtered cubes. and conversely, I'll sometimes have boiled water thats cooled to lukewarm. Aha, I'll need to ensure that I drink water and take the effort to choose the temperature b/c it will make a difference.

I also have a soda stream - soda water maker. Apparently, I'm saving plastic < soda bottles > and using less cans < bubly soda >

11:15 AM and dark ish. Rain and other things predicted to fall

Ont C V 19 numbers are in the rolling average zone - not good but not altogether bad

the morning after

turkey day

a big success on the whole

and left overs for Xmas and beyond .... lets get real a 14 lb turkey for 2 .......... spells lots remaining

Well, came home errands < booze > and said ' job half done '

Took out the saw and after an anxious 10 min,  the stump is gone and just the bones lying on the ground < not really bones, but wood >

We have enough booze to last through lockdown w/ some rationing

Stuff fell - wet,snow, pellets etc. The wind was raw and meant to irritate your body

An Extension and ...........

 our lockdown which is not succeeding < notice that failure is never used by the Gov't > goes for another 3 weeks.

on the homefront, I kept looking at the pile of branches from the tree - bush that I hewed < love that word - hewed, always wanted to use it >. I had tossed them over the backdeck onto the yard and figured that sooner or later - I'd clean it up.

Yesterday, w/ the sun beaming despite the cold, yepper went out and did the deed. We have the ravine at our backs, meaning no neighbours < good, always > and if you're careful a place to recycle grass and cuttings.

Tremendous feeling to finish the clean up. One job left to ' hew ' the stump thats standing.

The days ahead spell warm up to above freezing but unsettled conditions apply.

Cold and Bright

 Ontario reports fewer cases of CV 19 but barely. Thus, the curve did not soar up and the rolling 7 day average didn't rise.

The numbers remain big and challenging - very obviously, folks gathered or forged on Lack Friday Weekend and even now are making too many contacts

Turkey in the oven, ready at 5:30 

R U coming over

DON'T listen to me - stay home

Latest scuttlebutt is that Ontario < the infected south > will enter the ' twilight zone ' on Dec26 w/ total shutdown for 3 weeks or so. We are imagining travel curfew and closed stores.

{ in the Bleak Midwinter } or getting there

its actually, not that cold      my bathroom thermostat still reads 66 0r 67    cuz when its real cold that reading is 62   I have a separate heater b/c the bathroom is not centrally heated     when we first got here, there was a radiant floor heater  but when they were going to re-do M s bathroom       I said ' can you put in a blower heater '

Genius level move.

I turned on the Xmas tree beacon, for the ravine people. I figured if your out walking at 7:30 then you can find your way home by the tree

P.S. I run a fan at floor level approx 6 hrs a day to dry out the bathroom or just move the air.

P.P.S. I run a baby fan in the lower hall to move the air. There is only 2 of us and I figure its good to circulate the air in the lower hall  < there is no vent for central heating >

Well, for 8 months, I've asked Rogers Telecommunications to allow me to see daily usage for internet. We are on primo service for primo price and the graph is there but blank. Two days ago after umpteen phone calls - bingo its there. And it says that we average between 4 - 6 Gb per day < our service is no cap internet > however, I think its good to know 

Thought I'd share. As well, I discovered a way to take screenshots w/ this laptop < Chromebook >. Some computers have a screenshot button not this baby - but I followed the description from a site AND yessiree there she is

Then its sad - how much we use. The story goes before primo service as today, we had a 50 Gb cap and then paid for overage < expensive b/c we went over once > When the girl sales rep said unlimited, I replied ' we really don't need unlimited b/c we could get by on 60 Gb ' Nope, that was the deal, unlimited. Oh, the 60 Gb cap cost $10 more w/out the intro deal.

Our record usage was last month when we blew by 150 Gb. BTW, this usage is all Netflix and Prime and YouTube. See sad. A dupe to the great god TV

the December Blues on cue

 I woke up at 6:45 A, a little groggy / tried to sleep / gave up and played Casino. W/ play money, I got a straight flush producing a 1745 play dollars win.     PLAY money ! Truth, with real money could never have bet $ 65 on a single play

The day will be a mixed bag of everything winter. Cold { 18 F and feels like 1 }, northerly winds, moisture < all kinds > STAY home kinda day. The tree stump can wait. To cheer up the neighbourhood - I turned on the ' beacon ' Xmas light tree in the backyard. Now relocated, I'm positive that the whole ravine can see the lights.

Think kind thoughts                                                           Do kind deeds                                                                    Be kind

From Harvey : Elwood, my mother always called me Elwood, in this world, you need to oh so smart, or oh so kind. I've tried smart, kind is better

I Googled ' American Pie ' by  Don McLean

When people ask Don McLean what does American Pie really mean, he likes to reply: "It means I never have to work again ' 

The song came out in 1971 and D McLean is 74 this year < 2020 > 

The day turned out as expected minus the white stuff. Something like little white balls fell - swirled a bit and streamers of white occassionally. That was it. However, this evening, we could get 2 inches of snow or hopefully not sleet < its very cold out there >

Our Ont C V 19 numbers are scary right now. We aren't surgung eponentially but the values are high .Our rolling 7 day average tends to rise slowly but surely

in Vain

the Province has had Toronto in a lockdown for 22 days .This included all personal services, and non essential retailers but the loopholes allowed Home Depot, Costco, Walmart and Canadian Tire < really Walmart w/ more auto related items minus groceries > to open.

the upshot : our numbers for C V 19 cases are as high as ever.             BUT the growth is not exponential or multiplying

What happens post Dec 21, the current lockdown release date ?   That will be announced this Friday, for Dec 22

The day is brightening and sun floods the tree tops w/ light winds b/c the tree limbs are still 

the news had the first six people to get innoculated highlighted, the rest of Canada will follow over the next decade

I remember a Sci Fi genre story where the Manufacturer made a vaccine and then invented the disease that would need the vaccine

Eerie, spooky that

Popped out to move the Xmas tree to a better anchor tree. Its 3 ft off the ground level on a mound. I'm sure low flying aircraft can use it as a beacon for landings. I noticed that branches distorted the light strings thus the move to a sapling kinda tree.

Speaking of tree limbs and we were - a tree came down at the edge of the drive, I sawed it down. The umbrella tree was hard to shape. Probably, I didn't trim and train the tree, very early on, in our tenancy. Its been 24 yrs. Gone wild is the phrase. I trimmed the side chunks, first and then went after the trunk. And discovered that this boy had some meat to him. The piece that went last, weighed in around 100 + lbs. Sugar, that was heavy.

The standing stump is 3 ft high. Someday it will come down.

the theme was ' in vain ', in fact it is almost appropriate

I mentioned the faact, that Google < my platform > is doing away w/ ' Cloud print '. Thus, I'm at the point where all 3 devices can reach the HP printer. Crap ! On DE 31, the last day of cloud print. I was concerned then relieved and now ..........................  mystified. I've worked out that ' yes ' the change affects me.

On YouTube, watching a few videos, it seems possible that the HP printer can still be used post- DE31. I am dubious b/c I don't really recall the ' printer set up ' window quite looking as presented in the video. Tomorrow, I will see if the tablet, Lenovo Chrome Duet can reach the printer w/out cloud print.

I would choose the tablet for 2 reasons, newer and the one device most likely to be upstairs. The sad part is that my phone doesn't seem to have a ' printer settings ' page or window < to adjust to print w/out cloud 

the big news

 the turkey is thawing......... the problem always is .............. how long will the sucker take to de-ice

we never know ........... 72 hrs is the advice everywhere ............ for our bird ...........                                                                                                          1 year

so we are going for the 17 th. Tues night at 7 P marks 48 hrs in the fridge

we shall see said the Zen Master

speaking of which < we weren't, right > I've had technical glitches

A) neither Chrome device, tablet < Duet > or Chromebook can reach  the HP printer. The Moto g8 can get the printer to work. I've tried changing IP destination etc. But this morning, on waking, the printer spews out about three tries worth of pages from yesterday. However, I have no idea which IP code did the trick

AND this morning, gmail flashed ' you may not be able to use Contacts ' AND YouTube went down ' Oops ! somethings wrong '

After an hour < and three shutdowns and clearing caches etc > Google is back in all its glory

I was going to say originally at 6:30AM " I'm up and drinking coffee "  but of course its still true at 8:15

Cool ish day to come. Rather gray out there.

Post Script info : it wasn't just me, Google services went down holus - bolus

In a spurt of genius, I moved the Chromebook beside the printer. The printer flashed ' device discovered ' for Wi Fi Direct ' which I don't use. But moments later, I hit print and it did print.
BAD was, the window noted ' this service is ending soon '

Thank you, Chrome. Chrome is changing service products incl printing straight from emails. To what, I don't know yet.
I have til Dec 31 to figure out what happens

Thus, one device to go for total printing

AND once that's done - figure out how to print w/out using cloud print.  I didn't know that was what the Chrome system was doing

The vaccine arrived in Canada, in Ontario. Our CV 19 numbers are w/in the rolling 7 day average < + / - >. Toronto has 7 days of lockdown left .......... Or so we think

Simple Living Sunday: Creative Ways to Celebrate Christmas 🎄

 this is the usual Sunday banner from Lehman s

a pattern ? skipped my evening coffee - couldn't fall sleep   however when you're retired and comfy

well, I can nap

I mentioned the ' sleep ' program from NOVA < PBS > and the importance of sleep. Sleep deprivation is an epidemic in the North America. A fortune is spent on sleep aids.

I've seen information that suggests A) regular habits re: sleep  B) avoid the cell phone or computer near bedtime

but surprisingly, the blue light from city light poles is detrimental to sleep, as well.

It all comes back to Paul Simon ' I don't expect to sleep through the night '

P.S. I don't do either A or B suggestions, well, poorly at best

Whats on tap for simple living Sunday ? Not much. The biggie is that the turkey comes out of deep freeze today. I came up w/ the brilliant plan of cooking the 14 lb-er on the 17 th, have a turkey dinner. Cool and freeze the rest.

In the past we've cooked the turkey the day before people are coming and cooled and refrigerated the meat. On the day of eating, we would flood the meat w/ chicken broth and heat in the oven. This plan gets us a dinner this week and a Xmas dinner < prepped in the main > for Dec 25.

Thus, the bulk of the work gets done before the 25 th. Unusual approach ? but could there be a more unusual year

Someone on CH_ _ - some FM station < b/c CBC had their music selection playing, yick ! > mentioned a Xmas YouTube video. Ready !

Normally, people can watch the 24 h Yule log in the fireplace on video. This year, the surprise hit on YouTube is the ' dumpster fire '

Really, someone started a fire in a dumpster and invited people to toss on objects from 2020 - kinda burning out the year. See. Not a normal year, not even close to anything normal. Thank goodness, I'm not too normal.     I'm a perfect fit for 2020

Had to happen

 this is hand written. Using a stylus. But its slow

Actually too slow

At 11:30, the day has turned wild. Damp and bone penetrating coolness

it was order in night, fish & chips from Duckworth's On Kingston Rd

buy local even if its 4 mi here

2 halibut/ chips 



Here is today's weather details from the Torstar < that is 46 F >

after today, the temperature will fall for 5 days - and bottom out around 28 F

Today

Cloudy with 30 percent chance of drizzle this morning. Rain beginning near noon. Fog patches dissipating early this morning. Wind east 30 km/h gusting to 50. High 8.

And now I'm stuck in this little box 

the Big Squeeze

- I've coined a new term. Its when the retailer has you between ' Black Friday Madness and Xmas desperation "

' not much between despair and esctacy ' from ' One Night in Bangkok '

The day here, cool -ish - in fact, one should expect a raw kind of feel. Damp and w/ winds

the CV 19 situation in Ont and really, Canada is dismal. The vaccine comes, but just in time to barley blunt the CV 19 wave that is crashing over the country.

To wit, Ontario has high numbers but a large population. Other provinces are barely below our totals w/ half the population.

Basically, Canadians haven't figured out : a ) the virus is there, meaning everywhere. b) if you make your own rules about your behaviour - you are wrong. Because you can't be right

And we got the proof - absolutely full ICU wards. In Peel, to our West, the health units are shifting patients based on priority

Wet and not too Wild

 mixed precipitation is on order ........ and winds might get swirling

I watched a ' NOVA ' special on " Sleep " last night.

Sleep is important. For all animals, except it happens differently. I believe that w/ age comes the change where neurons that normally fire or activate deep sleep are not roused as in youth

However, I'm retired and can nap. Napping can be very useful to the very young and the older types. I nap.

Day 18 of Lockdown. The numbers for CV19 dipped a tiny bit but rebounded big time. The rationale is simple. The pool of virus is large.
Canada is allowing Canadians to travel by air and return. Foreign visitors are landing in Canada 

' Have virus, will travel ' seems to be the motto .... And it works - we have proof

Weather is damp and not too windy. Bundled up and out of the wind, the day is tolerable

" and the times, they are - a - changin' " costs $300 million. Thats the guesstimate of the rights to the Bob Dylan song book.

Day 17 of Lockdown

 and the situation is not resolving quickly, here

small downward movements but hospitals are nearing the theorical limits

Snow is dropping from the branches. The snow is heavy w/ moisture

We got 2 inches, give or take

Officially, the values are down, slightly

Still not hopeful yet

05 : 07

 reads the time on Day 16 of Toronto lockdown

I am awake b/c I want to be. 
or so I'd want you to believe

Amazon Prime has a series called ' Carnival Row '. A fairy story w/ dark sub plots. I binge watched 2 episodes last night. Can 2 be binging ? The prodution values are movie grade and the smallest things seem well thought out

back deck was 19 F at 8:10 / a bitter edge to the wind.                             Tomorrow maybe 38 or so F

And our C V 19 cases are down ( barely ) but we are below the 7 day running average < now, no one said that but I think those are the numbers that we can use > However, < always, one of those > our City Medical Officer asked us not to gather over Christmas except for your regular household. And everyone will break the rule. We know for sure b/c the neighbours are already doing this - couple lives in the house, 3 sons live away and meet on the weekend , see, family but 3 different domiciles.

Whoa, Baby !

we set a new record for CV19 cases

best line I've heard yet ' here we are fighting a virus that can't move on its own and its everywhere in the country ' 

Got up for coffee. ............. there was a campaign at school, way back, reminding students to avoid drugs < narcotics etc > I changed mine from                                ' My Choice Drug Free ' to                                                                                             ' MY CHOICE DRUG caffeine.......................... b/c it is

I've been around the internet - my bookmark pages - CBC on line  / facebook   / Rogers ( internet services -which means everything for communication minus our cell phones ) ......... a morning routine

one bright spot is the number of students that take the time to pass along a kind word

on facebook, a lot  of the ' friends ' are former students

the sun came out and makes the day and view - heart warming - sun kissed tree boles and branches.  the wind is up tho', everything is in motion out there

by a round about way, Googling produced, ' wrap your feet in foil ' - to help relieve cold symptoms ( ???????? )

the raationale for feet wrapping ........ is warmth ?

Check Out These New Arrivals That We 💕 for December

 the Lehman s banner 

and #2868 posting

we have big sun and it felt cold reaching for the newspaper.   the view is half sun - half shade

C V 19 is not the headline in the Torstar.    One column 3/4 page on rapid testing and where RT could lead us. Now here is a wonder Slovakia tested almost it's entire population in a weekend.
That of course, raises a plethora of questions.
Such as how many troops gathered the testees in one huddle ?

And 2 weeks into lockdown and ' way hey and up she rises ' old sailing shanty to describe our C V 19 numbers

The Staple of Many Chefs 🍳 Discover the Perks of Using Cast Iron

 from Lehman s. 

Apparently, some chefs do not wash the cast iron pan. I saw that on ' Emily in Paris '

We will hover near freezing for the next 5 days. Very overcast as at now.

Recommend : Prime Video has ' the Only Living Boy in New York '. Cast has Pierce Brosnan, Kate Beckinsale, Cynthia Nixon and Jeff Bridges plus Paul Simon gets to sing his song

Oops ! Day 13  AND .................

the debate in Ontario, is this a crisis, our  CV19 situation,

 Premier says ' No ' and our cases per 100 000 is 6 th in the country

Health pundits say ' Yes ' Hospital ICU beds are full and ' last line of defense ' workers < medical personnel > are exhausted. Shortly, PPE will be hard to come by - again! Ah, everything old is nu again

the day is gray and breezy

Oh, a friend's Uncle < age 85, a cardiac specialist > succumbed to C V 19. Getting closer !

Baking Supplies We Can't Live Without 🍰

 from Lehman s

Day 12 and improvement re : CV 19 not evident. To wit, in Quebec a plan to allow social gatherings o 10 was kaiboshed by the Premier. No way Jose said Legault or  ' pas possible en francais '

Ontario is barely keeping numbers down. To be fair, the testing numbers are high, so maybe values are skewed slightly. But CV 19 is there - no doubt.
The alarming data is that ICU beds are past full. Thus, no wiggle room for hospitals. In the spring, elective surgeries were postponed but the backlog of surgical procedures is mammoth. 
Stuffed to the gills is the expression that applies. 

Surprise. Pfizer announces a delay. Yes, its coming but not as much as first estimated.

Snow started this hour, heavy at times. The ground is not white but these are big flakes, coming straight down. The temperature on the back deck is 32  - ish

Occasionally, I catch a talk bit on CBC, yesterday, the topic was nostalgia. Turns out everyone loves nostalgia. The guest admitted that no one actually wants to go back 30 yrs. They recognize that technology is different and we are addicted. Then what is w/ nostalgia ? 

The general conclusion is that nostalgia is a touch stone - our past. Is it still there ? Its where we are from, and of course, we can choose to remember ' good ' times without the baggage of today. A sort of purified experience and skip the bad parts.

Another contributor noted that we talk nostalgia but want the latest in electronics ' as in new is better and newer is the cats pajamas '

on the 11 th Day: Lehman s said

Wow, That's Clean! ✨ Find Our Time-Tested Cleaning Solutions 

the big gab in Canada is Rollout. We have not approved a drug for C V 19. We likely won't ge it for 2 months. But everyone is asking ' how will I get it ?

I feel that I should be next in line after the Premier for the vaccine. I figure that I am just about as useless as he is.

Thursday should be clear and cool not cold or as cold as its been

Morning summary. A trip out to :

DejaVu, used DVD s etc

Shoppers Drug Mart, it's Seniors Day ( 20 % off )

Hearth Bakery

Gas

Results - light rye is excellent

Dec 3 at 2 AM or as we say, 10 th DoLD

 and awake b/c ..............?????????????

awake

I'll nod off in a bit

How are you ?

Yep , fell asleep. OK then what kept you up.

Here in Toronto, 2 yrs ago, a young man drove a van onto the sidewalk and killed 10 people. He aimed at the groups that he hit. His defence is that b/c of autism and social awkwardness - he is not criminally reponsible for his acts. I couldn't stop thinking about the families of the victims. Oh, and 16 people were seriously injured as well.

Well, I agree. He is not criminally reponsible. So shoot him b/c he will never be any fitter to live in society.

I do try and be tolerant b/c it's right and M says so. But this guy burns my butt. He felt awkward w/ girls and girls didn't like him. Become a priest. Don' t run people over

Oh, today, cold to ' Holey Kamoley Batman, where's my long underwear ' w/ mega sun. The water ran off the roof into the gutters

I found this piece from Forbes < 2013 ?>
Gin is a drinker's drink, as unrepentant as a porterhouse steak, an advanced exercise in pleasure. Descended from alchemical origins, it was perfected in its familiar "dry" style during the British Empire and reflected an imperial power's taste for imported curiosities: cubeb berries, orris root, cassia bark. But in the postwar decades, gin's cerebral, old-school exoticism, unconcealable in any drink, slipped out of fashion. It was vodka--covert and undemanding--that the public craved, and the market poured its energy into creating ever more brands and brand extensions with ever more imperceptible distinctions. Only in recent years, with the rise of the cocktail culture, has gin come in for a jazzed-up rethink--new mixes of botanicals, new methods of distillation, new players puzzling out the range of notes and amplifying their complex harmonies. If you've never known how good gin can be, consider these drinks another of life's grown-up lessons: Sexy isn't always simple. --Richard Nalley

On the Nine - th Day of Lockdown or Post #2863

I was thinking < always dangerous > while drinking Drumshanbo Gin < gunpowder green tea flavoured gin >   That gin is a drink when you're alone. Whiskey, well, you sit back and contemplate - the day , life something. Rum is a party drink that you mix w/ fruit.

Gin can be a Collins or Martini or a tonic. However, nowadays, gin is a drink when you're alone. Thus, my philosophy of gin. But I checked on line, AND she beat me to it - w/ a whole book.

' the Philosophy of Gin ' is a history of gin and how it changed. Originally, a poor man's or drunkard's tipple, gin has metamorphosed into a sophisticated party alcohol.

So much for my - ' gin for when you're alone '.

Thus, I'll publish here.
 Whats new ! 
 My Gin Theory

I drink Drumshanbo w/ a drop of filtered water and a filtered ice cube. To be fair, we should ask ' do you contemplate life when having ' a gin moment ? ' For sure. But not a lot. 
Is TV on or other distractions going ? Maybe

did I mention the sculptured blue bottle < picture to follow > 

let me get this straight that you choose the gin b/c of the bottle - Yes

Drumshanbo distillery does this bottle for people such as I. Now, I also like gunpowder green tea. Gunpowder green tea is dried and slightly heated to curl into little balls of tea leaves. Then add hot water and watch the leaves unfurl. It's a multi sensory experience

Filtered water ? Yes, from the fridge dispenser. I listened to a coffee buyer who travelled world wide. The host asked you must really love coffee.     The answer  ' yes '

Host : how much coffee do you drink.                                                       Guest : 3 cups a week.                                                                               Host : 3 ! Why ?  Couldn't you have  coffee in every city                                                                              

Guest: I have to know where the water is sourced. I will not spend 5 dollars a cup for city water. Why buy the best coffee and brew that blend in inferior water

Give me a break 💔 5 dollars a cup

Well then my Gin is worth it 2

I ran out and  re - adjusted the light tree at 3 PM

5 PM report :   Repairs to the backyard Xmas light tree - a success. Looks better than before, before. The outline is very reminiscent of a classic pine tree or the standard decoration look of a Xmas tree.