oh, yeah 19 feels like 9

and not my age - the temperature in F
and it doesn't sound any better in C either

Coffee, yes 
Awake no
Happy - the jury is out

And a winner on Netflix , called ' the Dig ' or the story of Sutton Hoo. Who ?
A landowner,  widow tries to fulfill her and  her  husband s belief that archeoligical remains are buried under the barrows on the land that they purchase. The local museum refuses to waste time as the WW II approaches.

The lady hires an excavator w/ experience of a lifetime to start the dig. The digger uncovers a wooden ship < funereal display > and it pre - dates anything anyone expected. Actually, 6 th century. The oldest cultural find at that time.
W/ the wooden relic comes hope of significant artifacts buried as well. Now, the museum takes note and quickly everyone < meaning the British Museum in London > takes charge and credit. 
What comes out of Sutton Hoo changes the preceived history of the British Isles. A modern culture existed and thrived in England circa 600 AD. The gold is valued in the hundred of thousands but the craftsmanship of the items tells a story.

Great movie. 

The real value to the British people was the hope of a history of peoples of significance culturally, not French but of the land itself. The English always believed and maybe still do that they have been robbed of a past - a continuum, as it were - linking them to history - a history of England.

Well, all ship shape and Bristol fashion here < tee hee, get it >. The alarm seems to work. I tested the failing or failed battery and the 3 V battery put out 0.6 V on the voltmeter. Oh, did I say Lee Valley voltmeter et al < no, b/c I can't remember the origin > the device has been utterly reliable.

And I dropped the Monster remote bluetooth speaker from 2 Xmas ago. I had the thing repaired in 2019 and now it refuses to start up. Banged up real good, it is.

Here is Lehman s banner: 

A Healthier You 😄

something like Olivia or Post # 2924

is a song by John Mayer - American singer & songwriter

why bring this up ? well , I like the song
And I can segue into YouTube. Dislike the ads and there are more of them. However, what an opportunity for me to sample items such as music and interest pieces - that I cannot imagine running across any other way.
Coincidentally, John Mayer is a typewriter affecianado who does a segment in ' American Typewriter ', a documentary on the survival and revival of the typewriter. As is Tom Hanks

Well, 4:30 arrived and I was awake - yes, coffee and a toast and honey < sprinkle on cinammon > ........ and typing to the void. Actually, ' word processing ' to the void b/c affecianado s as in American Typewriter maintain typing is done on a typewriter 
' you're bound to meet her like from time to time '

Lee Valley continued. Coat wall hangars come to mind. These variable angle hangars are screwed to the wall but have several angles to reduce their footprint. In tight spaces you can drop them down slightly to clear space - or alternately make them flat to the wall. Now, I bought 4 and have used 2 < yes, 2 sit a cupboard and I'm convinced that I'll need them, ????? >

The whole point to the Lee Valley project here at the blog was to re - inventory items and call to mind some gem that is sitting in a cupboard. Ultimately, I'm guessing one item < 2 ?  3 ? > will be crowned least used Lee Valley purchase.

OK, what comes close. Stencils, big sale at 1/2 off the regular price. Many shapes : stars, squiggles etc and used once that I can recall. BUT you never know. I make M s Christmas cards, Valentine s Day card and Birthday card - yes, some 25 years now. And there is a supply of stencils for letters, sparkles, blank stock and more. Ah ha ! stencils don't sound so silly, huh ? ............
and many of those supplies are used for fishing lures as well.

Lets try to sleep. 

Not very much.

Day is freeze your face off cold. Speaking of inside activities. Today s hot event was waiting for the Amazon delivery. Wednesday night the alarm shrieked to life We cancelled and all that. 

The dislplay read ' toolroom left side window low battery '. OK batteries wear out but the system got installed Jan 5 or 23 days earlier. Called the company and yes that is not reasonable. ' We'll credit you for new battreies. ' At Walmart, the battery costs $ 15 or / Amazon sells them 4 / $ 17.

Ah, under 25 dollars there is shipping charges. I had seen T shirts and was waiting - well, add the T shirts and DONE. The order was due today. Thus, we watched the camera feed and listened.

The excitement was building < promised for Sat before 10 PM > then a scratch at the door and the neighbour s dog   < kidding > parcels were there on the camera feed.
What are lives have become - lets wait for the delivery !!

Battery got installed and all systems green. Plus, 3 more batteries in stock. Betcha, though when the next battery dies, probalby 4 more go dead at the same time.

We shall see said the Zen Master

Reap What You Sow 🌱

 hey GOP are you reading this !

alright the positive parts of my life

1. Fed and sassy < check >
2. Warm, electric blanket humming < check >
3. Get along w/ M, b/c M fielded calls this week that        were not nice from friends re: partners  < check >

4. See, above the bumps and bruises of life, there is hope

' rebellions are base on hope ' StarWars

Frrrrriiiiiggggiiiiddd ! thats cold in Scarborough - ese. For you southern people thats single digits degrees F.

" so smile while you're takin' it
   smile while you're fakin' it "

And nobodies gonna know

Lee Valley returns to this blog. Metal bending. As in a super hero ? No, as in small metal pieces and wire. First, an add on to a vise that has two heads one is v - shaped attaching to one side of the vise jaws and the other is a valley shape to receive the ' v '. And a template for bending wire and thin metal consisting of pegs that can be arranged to suit a bend < even ' s ' shaped >. Okay, how often could you use either, not frequently, however if you have ever tried to shape metal w/out a torch or a furnace - it can be very frustrating. To wit, I can make my own hooks for hanging items.
OK. not everyone would really care but it seems my lot in life involves stuff just like that.

the Weather report

we got our winter. Snow is minimal but cold in spades. And down to single digits on the thermometer.

thus we hunker down during the hunker down time. freeze your face off winter is here

what does Lee Valley have for us - ice cleats and snow shoes. The ice cleats buckle over shoes or boots. The snow shoes are stubbies for tourist type snow walking. I haven't used either very much. Or not at all. Dad bought the snow shoes - he did things like that.

no wonder I'm like that, too - just ask M

the sun is big and the sky powder blue, there is wind moving the low branches

" I get all the news, I need on the weather report " P. Simon. But our CV 19 numbers remain flat lined at 2 000 cases c.f. 3 000 plus in late Dec and Jan 2021 < earlier >

" poor people, stay poor people                           b/c they never get to see                              someone's got to win                                  in the human race
  if it isn't you
  then its got to be me "  

Alan Price < from O'Lucky Man >

' so laugh while you're taking it
  smile while you're faking it
 and nobody s gonna know '              

< sung upbeat and rowdy ish >          slightly cynical, say

 

the Lehman s Banner is

Low-Tech Laundry ✨

a mobile clothes washer - its a clothes plunger

lo tech alrighty !

We are officially cold w/ temperatures between 20 - 22 F. Big blue sky and fluffy clouds but that wind is NNW or some such. If you're Canadian, its winter. Same old, same old.

Shovel some snow, slush about in the parking lot, wind bites a bit. But you'll survive.

The Lee Vallet theme. I have purchased lamps, lights etc galore. A hand crank safety bar that has 20 LED bulbs that come on with sequential pushes of the button. Bright and designed for supplementing lighting in the garage or working on the car. Approx 20 yrs old and fading. The battery is dying - slowly but you can tell. I own two other types of crank hand held flashlights. As w/ the first, the batteries are fading but in their day, very useful. However, it is true w/ LED lights, alkaline batteries do last a long time and the benefit of crank batteries diminshes. Still, when your bttery supply runs low - not bad having low tech lights in a pinch.

Speaking of lighting. I bought bird cages for outdoor lights around the house and cottage. The hard plastic frame protects bare light bulbs from getting whacked and trust me if you have a bare bulb < it will get hit, its a law of entropy or chaos >

These Products are for the Birds 🐦

Lehman s poultry feeders - segue into a FB friend who keeps chickens and posts their pics

And back to Lee Valley and me. When I kept the bassboat at a berth for the summer, the boat cover would not stay on - wind etc. I had a flood one time and barely got the boat pumped out. The mechanic nextdoor at the marina added a float valve bilge pump - water gets to one inch and the pump starts.

However, I needed a way to cover the boat even in the strongest wind. Yes, MR LEE came to the rescue. The item was a plastic screw top for 2L torpedo bottles that say Coca Cola comes in. The screw top had a clamp attached to grip say a boat cover. Fill the torpedo w/ water and a heavy weight that could clamp to a tarp was formed. The torpedo bottle was heavy but wouldn't scratch the hull. Several months later, the dock owner and customer were watching me cover the boat, the customer said to the dock owner ' waste of time that will never work in a wind '. The dock owner turned to the customer and said ' that system holds even in storm '. I felt so good about the idea and that it was appreciated.

After the first trial of torpedo weights, I added tarp clips from Lee Valley. The long adjusting clips pulled evenly on the boat cover, so that the cover didn't ride up in spots but stayed tight to the hull. BTW, the other solution was to drill holes and add button down snaps to the hull and sew the coresponding snap covers to the boat cover. Cost for the snap boat cover was $ 1 200 c.f. the clamps and long clips for $40 < oh, and 6 torpedo bottles, but you got to drink the diet Coke >

Segue into research in natural cola recipe. I have a soda stream machine. Make the flavour and feel of ' coca cola ' and carbonate. There are copious recipes available. Surely a by - product of CV 19 ' delirium and mania

Lee Valley continued. LV sells quality products and frequently offers deals. Thus, I'm flipping through LV on line and see " lifetime supply of utility knives '. The doubter in me says ' fat chance '. But ! The price was 12 for $ 20? that was 7 yrs ago. I'm on # 1 set <large and normal > and 5 more to go. Maybe ?????

on a dark Monday AM

 imitating life but coffee in hand

The theme was Lee Valley and the catalogue ala me. I was thinking < those are dangerous words, BTW >         ' you'd better do a count of item types < not total objects  b/c you know that I'd have more than one, in many cases >. The count of descriptors came to 70 +

First a brief story. About ten or so years ago, I was using a torque driver hand - powered gun < in English its a pistol grip squeeze screw driver >. And I twisted the trigger part out of alignment. Severely enough, that the torque driver was useless. I returned to the store and said that I had broken the driver and could you help me get it repaired.                                                                       The clerk said ' give me a moment '. He came back w/ a torque driver in package and said ' there you go good as new ' Really.                                                                And I still use that torque driver b/c it saves your wrist from that constant twist motion w/ a screw driver.

As well, that catalog is old - ish. It won't have recent items such as an indoor / outdoor analog thermometer that is on the kitchen window. Or the meat / candy thermometer we got for Xmas. The thermometer is instant read, can be used by right and left handed persons and adjusts through 120 degrees for ease of reading.

Oh, I see that I've started the job.

Simple Living Sunday: Illuminating Tips for Non-Electric Lighting 💡

 Illuminating Tips for Non-Electric Lighting 💡 Lehman s for sustainable living.  Tips from the past bring a stable future.

Cold. Yesterday, the basement was the coldest this year and season < winter >. I watch the automatic heater setting in the washroom.The reading has been, say, 65 to 66.something but I saw a 64 F on the display.

Typically, one of us is down in the fireplace room watching TV < fireplace on >

Turns out that I fell asleep and re - awoke at 11.............    .........11 ! Like in noon.  
A lazy day, thus 2 beers seemed about right for the afternoon of going nowhere in no hurry

Tomorrow, I'm starting a new segment called       ' you have it and do you use it '. I've spoken of tools  - buying, organizing and inheriting. And my go - to store is Lee Valley Tools of Ottawa.
Some years ago, I recognized the accumulation of Lee Valley equipment but ' do you even use them ? ' came to mind. I went to the LV catalogue and photocopied the image of each tool and title,  making a collage of the items. In essence a catalogue of Lee Valley Tools ala me.
Tomorrow, I'll go through ' catalogue ala me ' and tell you if the item gets used and how much

See, thought you should turn to another channel -well , it's your big chance

Cold, again. Sun, yes and wind

Re - organizing continues. Other people write about ripping out decks and taking up wall to wall. Me. I sorted through some mislabelled drawers in a plastic storage cabinet - mostly fishing related < spare parts for fishing lures and other tittilating things like that >. 

Also, I found a box labelled ' rebounder ' which I sold, 2 years ago. Inside was anhoring pegs for the rebounder net which sent a lacrosse ball back to you. Great anchors. And velcro straps which are big and I don't know what they did.

Ha ! beat that after 2 beers.

Deliciously Homemade 🍰

 Baking Supplies We Can't Live Without < I thought the first part up there was more important. Sorry Mr Lehman >

Oops. Something went wrong < again > last night. Brain was racing - going nowhere - racing. No bad dreams as such but failure to shut down

Well, the sun is beaming < I'm not > thus, I'll need to make an appearance shortly. Grab some java juice and begin the day.

Thats Ontario January temperature for you < 22 F > in bright sun. W/ the breeze up and moving the trees.

The term that we use is brisk - thats as in runout and run back, tout de suite

A Canadian company in the Atlantic provinces has temporary let go staff. Why ? The company makes health products e.g. cough and cold lozenges. There is no flu season - no coughing or sore throats. Folks are separating and masking, hence no colds. Now, there' s a winner for you

Protect Your Home and Garden form Unwanted Pests🐭

< the typo is theirs ' form ' > I hope they meant door to door salesmen !

Coffee in hand and keyboard silently clacking 

Diane Birch sang ' fools, fools knocking on my door '

she read the Lehman s ad obviously.

Toronto, the big smoke and ' hogtown ' - has a Reproductive CV 19 value below 1 < meaning 1 person is infecting less than 1 person while infected > All along this - one of many factors - has been a goal. Ontario has seen the 7 day average fall. All good signs but as noted before the numbers remain way too high to predict a ' win ' in the CV 19 battle. While typing that last bit, I wondered if ' CV ' isn't the identifyer for American aircraft carriers ?

What the vaccine will mean for me. First, a little less worry. However, very little will change. Mask up. Stay home and stay away from others. Limit travel out of the city ( in point of fact, there will be no where to go ). To quote Milton " they also serve who only stand and wait "

or sit and wait......... or watch Netflix and wait

Thus, looking ahead as in looking forward to, etc. is like hoping for a release from ....... see classically, thats a problem. Philosophers have always opined that there is no freedom from - only freedom to

hence travel

there is a Zoom meeting for my graduating year of high school. Sat in on one and probably not this event

guess not looking forward to Zoom anything - unless its a zooming vaccine

< Lord > Baden Powell

 BP or be prepared - thats the myth and story - his initials

Coffee and typing to the ether

On the CV 19 front. Vaccines still delayed which actually means Amazon is not delivering vaccines to Canada this coming week BUT Pfizer will ramp up numbers soon < Pfizer ought to be in politics, they know the lingo, alright >.

The graph line is bending down < but the case numbers are still high and a poor level to be at >. The major concern is ICU bed occupancy which stresses staff and can prevent other sick patients from being transferred as needed to Intensive Care. 

Here's the data as of today

• Windsor Essex: 289 new cases weekly per 100,000 people
• Lambton: 250 new cases weekly per 100,000 people
• Peel Region: 236 new cases weekly per 100,000 people
• Niagara Region: 220 new cases weekly per 100,000 people
• Toronto: 182 new cases weekly per 100,000 people

The cases come as Ontario's network of labs processed 70,256 test samples for the virus, notably more than on each of the last four days. The labs reported a test positivity rate of 4.3 per cent.

The seven-day average of daily cases — which helps clarify long-term trends in the data — fell to 2,751, marking 10 straight days of decreases in that figure.

Friends who travelled to our usual Florida haunt say SPB bars are packed at night w/ dancing and mingling. Guess we are not going soon

The Lehman s promo came in:

Don't be Left in the Dark 👀 kerosene lantern and LED sets

Be Ready for Anything ⚡💧❄🔥

 as an ex - Boy Scout who often mistakes ' buy everything ' for ' Be Prepared ' , this banner was inviting   < likely in the wrong ways >

Slept til now. No coffee, except a sip of last night s cold coffee. Sun is holding court out there. We are riding near freezing for 2 more days then night temperatures drop to 20 F 

A SNAFU < situation normal all fouled up >

from CBC on line, my interpretation. Our numbers are down and no more vaccine is coming for for a week. Many vaccinations sites are closed and cancelling scheduled appointments. BUT there is a caveat b/c Toronto health is under reporting numbers < maybe >. WELL are they or not < ????? > Toronto opened a prototype vaccination clinic for mass immunizing but got to 250 people a day and is now out of vials.

The prototype was to be the pracctice run for the spring.

Please note that in a population of 14 million, well, 250 a day is ' spit in the ocean ' effect.

Hi, Dutch girl 

Continued sunshine and cold b/c that wind is NNW or ' frigid - air ' as in the company.

An historic day, there will never be another January 20, 2021 in my life. See shouldn't have slept in - blew it, big time. Perhaps, I need to make an effort for January 21, 2021 or < 21 - 01 - 21 in digit speak >

And then of course, there comes January 22, 2021. Will it ever end, these historic days.  I'll do some research on how historic these historic days will be. Can't be waking early, every historic day, can I ?      Would I ? 

After all, ' be prepared ' or go buy something

I did - bought pumpkin pie .... oh, me oh my !

Just me ? Lee Valley Tools, an Ontario based garden / woodworking supply company, advertised a ' leather cord wallet ' or organizer for computer / electronic peripherals eletrical cords. Leather aprons for electrical cords.  ??????? sounds oxymoronic. Right 

Wrong

Set Sail

' a shipwrecked sailor on this coast bids you set sail                   full many a gallant vessel weathered the gale                   ere this one was lost ' the marker beside a grave on the site of a broken wooden hull

" a shipwrecked sailor buried on this coast bids you set sail. Full many a gallant bark when this one was lost weathered the gale " a translation from the  Greek epigram by William James

The sun sets near to 5:10 PM around now. Yes, daylight is coming. Slightly over 9 h of sun < when it can pop through > ERROR ERROR it should read 9h & 25 m

Did the sweep of CBC on line. About as expected. We can announce that although the numbers are high, there seems to be a plateau or ' the rise is slacking '. Now, of course, we are nearing the end of the 2 week period since festivities more or less ended from DE 23 to Jan 1.

And mobile data usage shows greater stationary use - meaning poeple are phoning etc from home < or office > but not on the move. 

Segue from the quote above. I get seasick very easily

Soothing Solutions to Feel Good, Smell Good & Look Good 😄

now this, I can get into. Good banner Lehman s

A week of intermittent everything while the temperature hovers near freezing. But by weeks end overnight temperatures are in the teens.

Coffee < check >. typing < check > 

Swept thru CBC on line : weather < as stated >, SciTech, then on to Health and finish w/ Business. Nothing really new, except ' X L pipeline faces doom, as Biden likely to cancel permit '.

Alrighty, then, the clean theme. We temporarily stopped the house cleaners back in March. The vacuuming etc has fallen to me. A patchwork job is getting done. Dustbunnies are routinelt routed from under the bed. A segue leads us to something an acquaintnace chimed in w/. I said that we are choosing to re - floor w/ hardwood b/c I couldn't imagine what lived in the carpets. The reply was  ' thats what wall to wall carpet is for '

Yick and double yick ! Carpets must be disease central in a house. A home away from home for everything smaller than rice < and thats in there also >

Leading to the Febreeze story. The original Febreeze was neutral scent. Febreeze eliminated odor very effectively. In home trials, pet owners were selected. Free samples were provided. On completion, pet owners barely noticed a change in their homes. The lab folks were mystified. Then an ' aha moment ' ! was realized. The pet owners had lost the ability to detect theri pet's odor. Change in plans. Give a fragrance to the Febreeze so the pet owners could tell the difference. Da da ! Febreeze linen scent, vanilla etc.

My question is ' where does the odor go ' Myth would have the smell trapped in the Febreeze micro droplets. But where do the micro droplets go - into the carpet ?

micro dorpletbunnies, come to mind.......... growing bigger and bigger ....... its called droplet accretion < OK, so I made that last part up >. 

I slept better last night, saw the alarm clock at 7:30 AM. A brighter day than yesterday, so far

darkest before the dawn

 guess that I'll find out. saw the clock and it said 4:15, moistened my eyes and saw the clock at 4:45

I'm awake ish. Coffee and typing

Did a sweep of CBC on line - no joy. The latest innuendo re : CV 19 is that our increasing cases of CV19 are driven by the new variants. Doesn't mean much but someone gets to pretend that they know whats going on - hindsight being 80 / 80.

' little by little, we meet in the middle ' BeeGees lyric ..... there is one left 

Actually, I've been lying to you. In the morning, as today - I need eye drops or a face rinse < filtered water > b/c my eyes are very dry. In fact, I < and M > can hear them squeak or click throughout the day as well. Along w/ the caffeine thing - clicking eye gets me up. Point of truth, there hasn't been a morning in months where I haven't rinsed my face < cup water and hold it on my eye >

Dismal day w/ above seasonal feel. Wind kicked up a bit and dampish air. I got out to feebly move stuff around. Basically, show myself and improve the property or ot let it fall down totally

happy Birthesdaag a vu

 that was the Lehman s banner < kidding ! >

Alright. Coffee < check > Scan CBC < check > Blogging < check >

Awake < no >  

To recap, Thursday Night my mind was racing, perhaps a bad dream was the cause.

I slept much better this night. I can definitely blame CV 19. CV 19 causes everything to go wrong.

Except. from CBC, an owner of Bitcoin lost his password years ago. 10 guesses and the account shuts down and he is at 8 tries. Since this happened years ago there was no failsafe on private wallets on the internet. The value today is U.S. $ 220 million. What ? not possible. right. Wrong.

There is technology to dissasemble the thumbdrive and restore the number of guesses to infinity. Then a codebreaking system goes to work. However, there is no guarantee of success. 220 million. Thats enough to buy a whole lot of Big Macs and fries. or 135 000 x 220 meals. Approx 28 000 000   Actually, plugged in the numbers in the calculator and got 31.4 some million.

Now, I love Big Macs but that is overkill. And the guy gets no interest on the wallet - just the value increase on the market < whatever its called >

Make Your Home Sparkle ✨

 very embarassing here. Do they know about us ?

Don't tell on us. We'll get going on sparkling. Maybe, we'll start w/ ' spark ' first

A gray day w/ a rising breeze and the promise of precipitation. Recall its going to be the ' kitchen cupboard ' coming down on T.O.

The Lee Valley Company had an advert calling for ' hibermaking ' as in your stuck inside so do something. My attempt was ' organizing'. You see, I have lots of tools. All organized in storage units such as a mechanics rolling tool chest. Over the years, accumulation has outstripped usage or functionality.

My specialty is re - organizing.     Last    operation   was ' amazing ' . B/c I cleaned off the top of the rolling chest. The top is recessed and covered w/ a ribbed mat for all round use. But if the top is covered w/ bits and bobs thrown loose or semi sorted in a muffin tin  < as if that passes for organizing > . It is very hard to see the utility of that top surface....... Job done.                                         The top is clear and stores waxes and lubricants that were loose or jumbled on a shelf, in a box that displays the items    < so that you can see whats available >

We shall see said the Zen Master. B/c that chest top didn't reach the jumble - mumble state in a few days. That was likely years < as in 10 > since last review. Review. Does that mean I looked at it or did something.

In my defence. Over 50 years, my father gifted me w/ tools to encourage fixing and repairing around the house. I've owned a home for 40 years. W/ a garage and a tool room, always.

As well, I often bought my dad tools as gifts. Knives and axes for example. In fact, you can guess that on many occasions we managed to duplicate tools. When my father passed - lo and behold, I came up w/ doubles of 40 % of my tools. I re-gifted some.

However, you got it - I can fill two repairman satchels identically or almost. I can almost interchange units and find the same items < give or take > in each bag. Actually, 1 bag and 1 bucket b/c I bought a ' bucketeer ' organizer pouch system. Sure. You had to figure on that one

Hand-Powered Garden Tools 👍

really, they must mean shovels and such

Gray day, and again near 32 all day.

Our CV 19 numbers stayed high but not up. Lockdown + starts today. The message please stay home 

A dreary day and tomorrow as well. Increase in falling stuff of all kinds. Drizzle, sleet, snow and snizzle and snorain etc

Highlight of the day. Homemade panko baked chicken. Removed the skin < boring > and baked instead of fried < boring + >. The product was good, healthy etc. The sides were rice, and a I talian style sauteed spinach, toy tomatoes and onion. The seasoning favoured oregano < hence Italian > and garlic. 

Thats what passes for a highlight

happy Wednesschine of from Lehman s

don't worry made that one up

Up early. Yes, coffee and typing

Covid 19 - new measures for Ontario. The gov't decided to tell people to stay home. Exceptions are work, groceries and medical. They did skip the curfew but changed hours on some stores.

The biggie is the fact that our medical facilities cannot handle the numbers of added patients w/ CV19.

Vaccine roll out is not in gear to innoculate the population by summer, even late summer. The vaccination rate has to increase by 13.5 X to meet a fall finish date

Our weather, so you can compare < SPB >. Temperature hovers near 32. Wind SSW, lightly and bringing chance of drizzle and of course whatever based on how cold it gets up in the cloud region. Sunrise 7:49 AM and sets 5:03 PM

Alright, the gin taste testing result:

Roku ( Japanese ) neutral flavour and dry < very dry >

Hendricks - flowery, meaning herbs have been added. of the three it is the most flavoured

Aviation - slight, very slight flowery taste.

My choice. Dunno. I'm leaning toward the flowers.

Best bottle is Hendricks - deep blue and smallest of the three. Very cute

Both Roku and Avaition have the feel of real booze

Happy Dinschdaag!

 to you

< apologies if you don't do Dinesch >

Coffee ! Typing ! Life !

Or Happy National Championship to:

Alabama - the Crimson Tide

You can find info anywhere on this happening. Coach Saban establsihed a bar that few will even challenge. In fact, prior to last night, Saban ranked as the G[C]OAT for many. That win marked the 7 th time he has won a NCFBS. He surpasses another phenom - Bear Bryant.

I recall watching in the 1960 era. Alabama would face Nebraska or somesuch. Alabama had down linemen averaging 245 lb vs the other team at 275 per player.

Last night, you would have seen an Bama front four at 300 lb each. And fast and agile as well.

New measures for CV 19 lockdown coming. To prepare - stock up on gin
Roku - Japanese gin, neutral spirits very dry

Hendrickson - flowery, a touch botanical

Aviation - neutral to slightly flowery

Its a tough life. BTW, all the above are expensive < say 40 % more than plebian gins

the day is bleaky gray or bleak gray - y

A gin - y afternoon is looming

a Dying Art

 from the streets of Sin City

• Rates from $39 • • $25 Daily Food & Beverage Credit • • $25 Spa Credit • • Up to 20% Off Retail * • * 10% off $100 spent, 15% off $150 spent & 20% off $200 or more spent at Style & Trend.

patrons needed, anyhow, anyway

I made myself get up. Coffee first. 

Out and about day. Groceries, not essentials just filling the cupboard < for xtr - lockdown whatever that is > Pundits are baffled b/c lockdown in gray is highest level. Curfew ? 

Took back empties of beer, wine etc.

The liberating experience of wandering the aisles - looking, picking and choosing stuff.

The magnificent Duet tablet was doing kip ups when in laptop mode. Pain in the butt. Logged in as a tablet and switched to laptop by snapping in the keyboard. Not the way its supposed to work.

Much easier to type in laptop mode. And if you're a reader, we got a tablet for Xmas so that part got covered. 

Very hospitable weather. Dim looking but OK

Duet is running fine now.  Why ? sweet mysteries of life

Sunday: Simplify Your Life with These Tips 👈

 from Lehman s 

Ah, simplify, simplify - the hunter gather lifestyle

Already did a sweep of CBC on line. CV 19 news, experts say too little was done early - tough measures needed. Hindsight is 40 / 40 or more

Weather gray but light winds, humidity and raw out there. Feels like 28 F - warmer all week

Coffee, please - Oh, its weigh in day.

Weight was 176.2 lb. I was over 180 De 28 or so. Apparently, butter tarts and beer aren't conducive to weight loss.

Overall, weight is a fairly poor indicator of health. I believe bing active is more important - MOVE is the key word. 

' Shyin' away

 its much better to be safe than sorry ' lyric from " Take on Me "

The time is 8:36 M and I'm deciding on whether to move from bed. Thats 2 mornings in a row but who is counting

My cousin informs me that this is a mild winter. We haven't been home in January in over 15 years. Some typical snowbird types lost track of heavy coats and shovels < went out to buy these essentials > 

Actually, BA over at Accuweather prognosticated a warmer than usual early Jan. I need to go check on whats in store for late Jan 

Below is the map portion o Brett Anderson s post for Ja 2021 at Accuweather. My cousin continues to be correct.

A survey of 3 000 Canadians recorded that LG electronics are breakage prone and not repairable < the most >. Overall, 65 % reported a device as broken or not able to be repaired. 

Experts warned that tablets are a waste of money. Repair shops warned that spare parts are impossible to get in most cases. Further, tablets are typically glued together and opening could cause more damage. Fixit type repair people also caution that often opeing the case can cause an electrical short.

Wow !

My take is that people claimed that 4 year old devices should be repairable. I had phones that I was waiting for them to quit or implode, no such luck. The last 3 phones that I replaced were to upgrade,

As at now our $ 400 Moto G8 s are darlings. Ease of use and adaptability are key features. Also note, that this Dell Chroembook goes out of update status in 6 yrs or 2023 for me.In 2023, I'll need to switch the Dell to Linux < basic format > to continue use.

HP was knocked for undependability. The big HP laptop is over ten years old and still groaning on. Old and slow but so are we. And the HP isn't taking Advil to keep going < Advil gets expensive - ha ha, age humour >

Big sun kind of day. Brisk to cold - and yes, hovering around 32

No real widespread, extreme cold will be found across North America for the next three weeks as the core of that will likely hang out over eastern Russia and parts of northern Europe.

the Sun is out

 and I'm in bed. I'm having a lay in - English colloquialism. 

Over to CBC for the nu s clu s

OK. An apology to Toronto and Ontario. I took down our Xmas light < beacon > tree, too early. The Premier and Mayor asked citizens to leave their lights out on display from Xmas. This move to brighten spirits. I'm a real downer, sorry.

Weather wise, its cold w/ a big wind chill - although I can't see any branch movement. A pretty day from here

Bad news. 1 in 50 UK resident has CV 19 and that ratio is 1 / 30 in London. And thats 60 million people in the UK.

' we breed excitement '

 a casino motto

Not here. To wit, the high point of the day - I put gas line antifreeze in both cars.

Dark, of course b/c its 1 hr to sunrise

Hello, MWM, herself

A Healthier You 😄  ........... OK Lehman s I'm in

A Serbian hydroelectric dam is a new test site for how much plastic waste, it takes to ruin a generator. They have Lake Plastic.

So, keep yourself busy is a good idea and things get done around the place.

the View - our front door

 again, we are dragged kicking and screaming into the ' now '. We possess a bulb that is controlled by our digital keypad, or phones and laptop obviously from anywhere in the house if we choose.

I mentioned the front door camera. Oh, and we can alarm the house. Wired for the safety of all OR wireless for the safety of all.

And we have blinking lights everywhere < from something hooked to WiFi >. 

Of course, I'm thinking about the cost of batteries. A total of 17 thingmajiggies around the house sensing the doors, windows, carbon monoxide and water level. 
A gray day, once more / slight breeze

A report on the exercise regimen. Well, still going, and going and going. From June and my minor leg tingling etc, I opted for an every other day exercise program. Since then gradually, the length of the workout has increased to approx 89 minutes. The biggest change turns out to be the addition of 30 minutes of time on the rowing machine.

The rowing machine is a Concept II egometric device. The Concept II was purchased in 1984. To be fair, parts have been removed, such as the RPM dial and spin counter. The guts or moving parts wheel, chain etc are there and work. I use a work out monitor called a Wahoo, Tickr heart rate monitor. A chest strap sensor and WiFi feed record and display vital data. 

Actually, the Tickr could do more if I had a sensor on the rowing machine or on the elliptical machine. < that do exist >. And the second part of the workout is an off - on the elliptical - calisthenic program as the foundation.  Last night was fairly typical of the last 3 - 5 months. Time of workout approx 81 minutes, average heart rate 124 BPM w/ HR max around 154. Calories burned was 1016 which was within the 7 workout rolling average.

My exercise goal was a steady program w/ very little pounding but a wide range of activity. To wit, free weights < shoulder presses, front presses, curls and bent and standing lifts >, push ups and then mobility and flexibility in the form of lacrosse stick handling, wrist grips. Further crouch extension, exercise ball routines and free weight arm swings < 3 varieties > and 3 repeats of leg raises. Done

My wish is a sweaty workout for at least 45 minutes - I believe in a free sweat session to clean out pores and a prolong rise in basal metabolic rate that promotes a fat burning change in cells.

So far so good. On retirement in 2003, I picked a five year window where the routine I chose could be done for that time frame.

like the butcher

 the vaccine rollout. Say what ?

Yes, he got a little behind in his work !

What a way to start the day.

In the dark, still at 6:30 ish.

We change home monitoring companies  today. There is quite the competition for services.

Sunrise is at 7:51 AM but we are overcast < I think >. A mixed bag today, a little of this / that, sun ? not likely

We shall see said the Zen Master

Dim at 11 AM as predicted, the day is trying to happen w/ bare success

Barely less dim at 2 But alarm guy is done. TV camera for the porch and front door + radio in the hall. Radio ? Yepper, FM in the foyer

' the Drawing of the Dark '

by Tim Powers. ' much has been lost, much more will be lost ' paraphrased

Segue ? 6:20 AM and very dark ou there

Swinging over to CBC to cacth a glimpse of weather etc

I purchased a CD , maybe 2 years ago. The music of Ennio Morricone as played by Yoyo Ma. Haunting melodies from movies such as the ' Mission ' - Gabriel's Oboe or Nella Fantasie

'Cinema Paradiso ' - Se or Pictures in a Dream or Profumo diLimone < different titles for the same song

And two real winners that I barely knew about

' Malena ' - the love theme

' Once Upon a Time in America ' - Deborah s Theme

I've purchased since the DVD ' Cinema Paradiso ' or ' Cinema Nuevo Paradiso ' b/c I had to hear the music accompanied by the images.

For Christmas, I got ' Once Upon a Time in America '. The whole thing was a mashup of past and present. I admit that I pretty much got lost. But. But. ' Deborah s Theme ' fit. So glad that I had a chance ot see this.

Before I go on. One more surprise from the CD. ' Morricone at the Movies '. " the Lady Caliph " - Dinner. .........Ooh ! sublime music

On reading Wikipedia, I discovered that the original movie was 4 h +. For reasons of sanity, it was edited down to 2 h 40 m. And I watched the N. America version at 1 h 40 someting. In essence, a summary of the original.

And actually, Sergio Leone wanted a ' Once Upon a Time in America ' in two volumes at 3 h and a bit each. Meaning the ' Lord of the Rings ' kind of movie. BTW, maybe all the blood and shooting could have  been diluted down in 6 h.

post #2900

Suppertime Savers! Make Serving and Storage Simple. 🍴

 Lehman

w/ ' frozen dessert ' falling for the last 1/2 he and temperature hover at 32 ish

CV 19 numbers ' steady ' at near disaster status. Just a nudge upward would start a tidal wave 🌊

#2897 because a relative called me a blogger < w/ 3 followers >

the day is clear and all that kuffufle in the sky  - resulted in not much difference

Fact, twice I've seen or heard ' Hope is not a plan " in a TV show. Applied to my fishing, it explains a lot. I start each day w/ ' hope '. Funny, I always thought, great way to begin ........ even better way to finish.

B/c in ' Star Wars ', they know - " Rebellions are built on hope "

I can start a fishing rebellion. Plastic worms will conquer the world.

or the Otonabee, whichever comes first

Hey, Dutch girl, glad you're here < MWM >

Check Out These New Arrivals That We 💕 for January

 a Lehman s new year - new arrivals

be careful what you wish for ....... Clemson to lose    but it happened in College Football.

The accumulation is minimal overnight but the original 1 inch looks frozen OR more likely ' feels frozen' 

Oops ! Yesterday, I analyzed the CV 19 reporting for Ontario. I seem to have fantasized about the trend. The rolling average is not OK. The curve is bending up. If the Saturday numbers are in the upward bend - the curve will start the exponential run. You can see it coming now

" Eli s coming " words of Laura Nyro

CORRECTION : not my fault. The Province pooched the count for  two days < Thurs / Fri >. I'll and try and re-do the trends. If they ever get it right

Start the Year On a Fresh Note... 🎉

 Lehman s meant - buy their soap and cleaning essentials

However, many cultures would agree - New year, new clean house

Not ours. The dust bunnies can live in peace for a while

Segue : I watched a NOVA program on planet formation....... yepper dust bunnies.

The Analogy was that dust bunnies gather by electrostatic attraction < a weak force > but if they were allowed to grow < like our house >. Soon gravity would become a factor and larger conglomerations could occur. The ' gravity dust bunny ' was super scary. I vacuumed under the bed next morning

Wild weather tonight and into the day. The temperature will hover around freezing thus a mad mash up of rain,  sllet, ice pellets and slush. If it comes as snow approximately 2 inches will fall - the other stuff ???????

Its a raw kind of cold w/ not much wind. Threatening. Like the donald.

The family clebrated New Years Day rather than the Eve. Thus, this morning, I ventured out to the Chinese hot table and borught home goodies. Noodles < 2 kinds > sweet an sour chicken, BBQ pork, beef and green peppers w/ broccoli plus shrimp and steamed dumplings. I slipped next door to the sushi counter and chose 3 - inari or bag rice, red dragon roll and cucumber california roll.

A feast

Prior to leaving, yes, the Xmas light beacon came down. I mean the ball was dropping anyway. The neighbours left their imitation of a Winter zoo- a - rama hooked up so the neighbourhood will get by.

Tonight, I put out the recycling bin and waded through 1 inch of wet, heavy snow

and the night is getting cold