post # 3674
☔ actually, who knows today, what will fall.
drizzle
freezing drizzle - lets roll them bones
so far the good news is - we can stay home
the math : I worked for Scarborough and then Toronto District School Boards for 30 yr. BUT this will be yr twenty of pension time. The Suprannuation Fund sent out the reminders that are cheques are coming and what adjustments have been made
🔗
wasn't the topic, the closing of JA, just a bit ago.
a weather alert for T.O. for heavy snow at times & big winds to push it around
NOW
two things. # 1 I complained to the snow service about the narrowed driveway b/c the first crew failed to clear properly [ last week ]. The boss sent someone to rectify the narrowing.
thus, when the crews come again, they'll have a guide to line up the snowblower. OR, my driveway would have shrunk even more
# 2. clearing the ice made sense b/c it was only going to get worse - hopefully - I timed the work right
We shall see said the Zen Master
The latest fluff for my inbox, under social, says ' you have 85 notices of friends messages '. I think that you can tell that I've not been tending the FB garden, for sometime.
➰
someone wrote a book, the 'Iceman Cometh '
well, that s me today.
At this house our cathedral ceiling is an architectural addition and a gynormous pain in the netherparts.
Almost yearly, I go out and pickaxe ice bergs out of the gutter over the backporch
The melt water from the roof [ metal ] is encouraged by the warmer structure and the 2 skylights.
EEK !
as happens quite often the downspout freezes closed and the water fills the gutters. One year, I put in an electrical gable warmer and mostly solved the problem.
Unfortunately, this year, the free flowing downspout was traumatized by a four day cold snap follwed by horrid winter precipitation. Hence, my invite to go chop ice bergs.
as well, I decided to take down the downpipe and shorten the run for the next few months til winter gives up.
🙏
turns
spins
does it thing.
no coffee yet. decided that re hydration was needed. not quite the same kick, you know !
seems the trend for now but I'm sleeping through the night
yeah !!!!! am I better rested. no. oh, well.
lets see sleep thru the night and perky and happyYep. a little too much to hopr for
apparently, if I take ' Sleep -Eze ' or ' Night All ' then I'll be fine
Whoops ! didn't get far on CBC online and found this for T.o.
Hazard:
Reduced visibility at times in heavy snow.
Slippery surfaces due to accumulating snow.
Local accumulations near 5 cm.
Timing:
This morning into early this afternoon.
OMFL [ pardon the language ] but I have a new hat
somehow in the kufuffle of airport trauma,, yes, I lost my Tilley hat.
I sent two notices to ' lost and found ' s for the airport and WestJet. After 2 weeks, no joy.
M.. decided that my persona is ' hat and blonde '. She ordered a replacement Tilley
lo and behold - there is a Tilley sale AND the hat arrived 2 days ago. A little darker and little broader in the brim
on the streets etc
its me underneath.
💏
for metal health. Did not read the article in CBC online. But a good reminder
As well, Antarctic scientists studying glacier melt say ' its not too late '
Wow ! that is positive [ also, didn't read the actual body of the story ].
The plows came [ surprise ]. We don't expect to get plowed out at all. The garbage cans got knocked over.
Its freezing cold out there -like its winter [ 10 to 17 F w or w/out windchill }
The fallback. Coffee and typing to the void
one of the movie lines that I quote, from the ' Ghost and the Darkness ' , does not seem to exist in the form that I remember.
I cannot find ' the struggle is the glory '
This inconsistency might be minor b/c I do find ' the glory in the struggle ' etc. in Google search. So, possible the same meaning
BUT. I really like the quote or maybe I recall the the scene from the movie.
Our memories though are fickle things.
Doesn't matter - I'm still using the quote
There was a chance of freezing drizzle / ice pellets falling on top of the snow that we got Wed through Thurs night. We perhaps lucked out. The driveway was in pretty decent shape at 5:30 ish
💓
Winter hazard situation, here in the Toronto area. I cancelled my dentist appt. Cars are getting stuck in front of our drive [ slight uphill ] and I would need to turn right at the bottom and try the hill.
NOPE.
💔
M.. fell [ again ]. I ended up calling 911. All the contacts were proficient. The paramedics and firefighters were able and efficient. In my defence, it took 3 of those guys to lift M.. from floor to sitting on the bed.
M.. could barely move and no way that I could shift her even a little [ let alone to bed ]
We were 5 1/2 h all in at the hospital. Tests were negative and the wait long ish.
Bad news is our weather warning of wintry conditions esp. for sidewalks and roads. Very slippy is coming to our neighbourhood.
Apologies. Not mcuh in the way of good news this post.
However, my typing setup, Duet 11 inch laptop hooked to the 22 inch TV and using BluTooth keyboard and mouse is the ' bees knees '
A bit of kuffufle setting up BUT what the 'hey' I've got time.
💖
I figure that you cannot lose if this is how you start your day ' heart '.
OK what magical thing will happen today
Open your eyes. See the magic.
Well, that didn't work. I quick scanned CBC online. The best that i saw ' gorilla sized penguins may have inhabited New Zealand '
Oh, boy, I got the good news in one line
Coffee and typing. The usual beginning.
maybe someday, a person will see this blog and go ' I knda get what the blogger was doing '
Scary or profound [ not me - the blog ]
💗
Monday. Called Family Day. A mid winter respite.
The sickie report. Some phlegm and coughing. BUT I'm sleeping better and thats a big plus. [ awoke at 4 AM ]
Oh, I did figure out, the proper way to sue the attached keyboard on the Duet [ this machine ] however, the auxillary keyboard is much easier to use [ using it now ]
As well, I'm displaying the screen image on a 22 inch TV. BIG screen is a blessing.
To wit, I changed the font size by three notches [ down ] b/c the TV screen is so easy to see. One advantage of the Chromebook is that you can plug in peripherals [ TV, remote keyboard and mouse ]
In fact, when ' Chrome Unboxed ' [ a YouTube channel ] introduced the Lenovo Duet, the host had 5 devices plugged in - all peripherals ran fine.
💜 a shape and colour
For the last few days, I've switched laptops from the older Dell [ fixed keyboard ] to the newer Lenovo Duet. The keyboard detaches b/c the Duet can be a tablet.
Oops ! I started something here that I may [ likely ] regret.
Whats up?
B/c the keys on this Lenovo keyboard are small then you don't easily feel the contact or completion of each fingerstroke. This might be called key travel. If cursor motion can be highlighted then I should be able to notice if the fingerstrike created an action.
The OS allows a) the cursor to be highlighted
b) the cursor to flash if moving
CRAP spent 1/2 h trying to correct the cascade of changes that I started
SOLUTION : USE A DIFFERENT KEYBOARD
Of course, I knew this long ago. The last few days, I said ' lets give the accompanying keyboard another try '
NOPE
I need a keyboard w/ travel so that I can feel the strokes complete
AND I need a mouse
My experimenting days are over. No matter how clumsy the extra keyboard is --- worth it
You better know that the Dell laptop has been slow loading YouTube and images - almost as if there was hesitating.
The thinking is, getting older and bogging down.
Just a try w/ the newer model. Feels wrong. Shouldn't the problem be fixable ?
💚
Almost made it through. Woke up 4:30 AM, dry, coughing the usual. Tried nasal rinse and then sprayed w/ decongestant. I'm clear now but its been 40 min.
AND the Dell [ this machine ] balked on starting. I attempted several ideas.
Normally, open the lid and the screen lights.
The ticket was to plug the laptop in and try ' power '.
Da da !!!
You're not sitting there, imagining that I know why ' plug in and try to start ' worked, I hope.
I performed the CBC on line sweep. No, I'm not reporting anything
Not a glimmer of hope
except coyotes are still mating
BTW, basically, I've stopped posting on FB. The love affair is over. And it wasn't much.
Oh, oh ... looks like this blog is social media central for me.
The next step, to formally shut down the page.
Sickness report. Well, chest is sore [ irritated ] but w/ nasal rinse [ 2 x ] and some Mucinex [ anti phlegm meds ] the day looks promising. Really. I've mulled over exercising today.
Kinda make p for the off week. BUT wisdom says ' we are starting back slowly
And actually, I'm not going anywhere, meaning this exercise thing must be forever [ or as long as you can - policy ]
Dilemma time. Whats for dinner. Its likely a trip to Metro [ grocery store for takeaway, anything, at this point ]
❤
The Nightly Report. Of course, slept propped up. An early morning coughing jag was followed w/ a nasal rinse and a capsule of Mucinex [ figure I'm still expelling phlegm ]. Then managed a sleep til 5:30 AM
Rumour has it that people have colds and get better.
We shall see said the Zen Master
From CBC online. Coyote Mating Season in B.C.
On normal. What is normal.
I am breathing easily. Perhaps, slightly tired. But body feels able to move w/ out discomfort
In my mind, I'm ready to exercise. Again, not much really, I'd plan on a short [ 1 / 2 h ] session on the elliptical. I guess gradually, working back to pre - holiday level of workouts AND of course, pre -sickie level of workout as well.
Call it, ' Chasing Normal ' or someday, I'll get there.
OK. Revving up to a workout.
The workout was hallabaloo about nothing. I kept the time to 37 min., mostly elliptical. I watched the final [ thank god ] episode of ' Lockwood and Co '. Should never have started. Premise is that haunting is real and society needs organized protection. The protection is government run - get the idea of how good the service is ????
Well, I did sweat and showered [ all important concepts ].
For reference, the ' Battle of Charles St. ' takes place tomorrow in Baltimore. The two Div 1 teams Loyola of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University play the yearly [ almost ] inter street game. I have been to Ridley Complex and Homewood Field. Ridley is called the ' Dog Pound ' [ ala Greyhounds ]. Homewood is Homewood. Hallowed ground of the winningnest club and university team in lacrosse.
The first live game that I saw was at Homewood vs Loyola. The Hounds came out first and looked impressive. I later discovered that there is someting about Baltimore area teams that is an in - born lax identity.
The BlueJays dominated that game. I did not know that that team would go on to win 16 games against no losses and the National Championship. In fact, I returned 10 weeks later to see JHU play Marist College [ MAAC ].
Traditionally after each goal, the Hop band plays ' We Want More '. The crowd counts the goals out. That day the cheer went out ' we want 24 ! '. Yep. 24
💛 why not
In the never ending saga, I was forced to administer ' Buckley s Cold and Sinus ' veterinary horse capsules. Those liqui gels are BIG.
Plus, I found a sleeping posture that was almost comfortable and I slept.
Some tremendous hacking overnight. I made sure that I got some lemon and honey w/ warm water [ hydration therapy ] and think of propping myself up for another few hours.
Managed a semblance of normality, coffee, brekkies [ very late, to boot ] and lit out for lunch from Skyland [ Chinese -y takeaway hot table ]. Also, a side trip to Shoppers Drug Mart to re - stock on cold / flu / sicky supplies. BTW, the shelves were 30 % empty space.
Lunch. Was chinese - y in the main. But sushi made a slight deviation toward Japanese - y. Deep fried chicken legs made a detour toward clogged arteries. There is enough left for two meals. I recognize that those noodles in the combo [ noodles and 2 mains ] are loaded w/ grease. Thus, I make sure to spread those noodles over multi meals.
As at now. 1 / 2 a beer, NeoCitran [ cold and flu ] and a nasal rinse.
Apologies if this is ' old hat ' / disgusting / not of any interest.
Or " This is Your Life, Mr Jones " ( ?????? movie )
Sleep !
Sleep ?
💙 for FE 15
Just when you think that it all comes together - right
I slept slightly uncomfortable.
Last night, after a thorough rinse, while watching TV, I got stuffed up { ? ]. M .. suggested nasal spray. I haven't tried that so far. Well, although out of date - success.
But between 3 - 4 AM, I was fighting to breathe. I turned to nasal rinse and it got the job done.
However, my throat got raspy from coughing. I' m drinking hot water, lemon and honey [ for throat relief ]
I'm winning the battle in fit and starts
AND I turned to Otrivin nasal spray, once more.
In truth, I have a history w/ Otrivin. When I was early teens, I developed fearful headaches. These bouts did not qualify as migraines [ ????? ]. The solution was eye exercises. Three dimensional puzzles.
After about 3 weeks [ or so ], the presiding eye Dr [ Setsu Weldon ] says ' why is your nose always running '
BINGO. Blocked sinuses. 2 bottles of Otrivin, later, no more headches.
Oh, I needed glasses.
I rode the elliptical for 30 something today. Flet like crap afterward
However, grateful to sweat a little- wash the demons out
❤❤ had to be right
sort of woke at 3 A, stuffed up and groggy
but I perservered and heated water and flushed my sinuses like crazy
made instant coffee [ I'm using up supplies from fishing ] ate cake
not smart
Now, find a position in bed where I can breath
Well,9 o clock came and I tried to pretend that I was well. Decided that I could shop [ big shop ]
Shopping began fine and then I could feel the tiredness set in.
I managed to finish BUT wow a real drag.
Made it home w/ a sense of satisfaction. Crashed for a couple of hours.
I'm still stuffed up but coping
🐛 bug is going away [ please ]
Last night, spent my sleeping time trying to breath. Finally, at 3A w/ a new dose of Buckley s and a salt water rinse - I found a comfortable position [ propped up ].
M.. said to try this but truth, took a bit of flopping around.
Report : the Cold and Flu pills are due to wear off in 30 min. And I am not sure if I need any more.
I am way better than yesterday morning, albeit, tired.
Going for coffee.
Discovery. I'll need to salt water rinse more often to feel better.
Thus, no meds today. Water, a little beer and coffee.
Just tired and not able to get a good sleep during the day [ stuffed up a bit ]
Admission, I broke down and took an ibuprofen for the headache that had been w/ me all day and it helped big time.
🈂 katakana symbol for ' sa '
I'm relying on Buckley s Cough and Cold to pull me through this last bit of ague. These capsules are the ones the Vets give to horses.
Coffee on board
Trying so hard to be normal [ and its a reach ]
The Neocitran Total Cold and Flu packs a whalloping 1 000 mg of acetominophen. I went throught the box that we had. Although, I wish that I could finish out Sunday w/ Neocitran, likely its better that I switch to the Buckley s. Buckley s is 700 mg [ not a huge difference ] but if this dosage works better to cut down.
the Johns Hopkins BlueJays, division 1 in NCAA lacrosse. Back in the late 60 's Sports Illustrated ran yearly updates on College lacrosse. In that time, my only source of news was SI.
The aticles typically, mentioned a small liberal arts college in Baltimore that routinely beat out the best in the East. Big schools like Duke and Syracuse.
Over time, I barely kept track of JHU but occassionally caught tidbits of their success. Then the internet brought the possibility of catching College games [ peripatetically, tho' ].
When retirement loomed, advice was to choose an activity that you had always wanted to do but b/c of work could not.
You guessed it - attend Hopkins lacrosse games. AND true to dreaming big - 2005 the year, that I went to 2 JHU games, they won the National Championship for the first time since 1987.
I've seen Hop play in Baltimore [ at Towson, Loyola and home ], Annapolis Md, Emmitsburg Md and Syracuse NY.
Lately, Covid pause included, I've been less and less to games. Still following when I can. This year, I knew that their recruitng class was not highly rated.
Hop s first game was against Jacksonville U. JU has always been competitive if not in the top half of teams. Well, JHU won and I thought , good, great start to the season.
Next, yesterday was Georgetown U. The BlueJays started strong and faded [ actually, three times ] BUT took charge in the final 10 minutes went ahead and hung on -> 2 -0.
What I failed to notice was JHU was not ranked in the Top 20 this year. Jacksonville was pre - season no 17 and Georgetown was 4 th ranked.
It was a weekend of upsets. AND to be fair, pre - season rankings are based on last year s play and supposed improvements this season. Funny stuff can happen. BUT this weekend was ' nut - so '. The # 2 nd 4 seeds lost and other top ten teams too.
Early days as the saying goes
OK I'm reporting my symptoms are easing somewhat. Feel like crap ' off and on ' but definitely, better than yesterday.
💤 which I didn't get enough of, last night
We ran to the hopital early this morning for a MRI appointment. I am just the driver.
MRI all done. This procedure was neck and brain target
The Total Flu Neocitran seems to hold off the worst of the aches etc. I am about to find out how good Total Flu is b/c I'll run out tonight [ tomorrow 3AM would have been the next dose ]
Hopkins won for the second stright week vs Georgetown U. JHU barely led at any time but came back to score 4 in the last minutes. YES.
⽧ kangxi for sickness. See, I'm a pitiful sight in any language
Last night, started out semi - OK. Then a stuffed up nose, body ache got to be too much.
I performed a shamanistic ritual. Salt water rinse [ helped a little ]. Followed by two horse size capsules of Buckley s Cold and Flu.
Aha, slept peacefully after about 20 minutes.
Reporting, that we had rain all day Thurs.
Coffee and Irish cream, I won't be driving.
I gave in. I took the 1 000 mg acetominophen [ NeoCitran Flu Total ]
or mega drugs for colds. This NeoCitran is the daytime formula or non drowsy mode. Likely, I needed the knockout verion.
However, I'll probably sleep anyway.
Really, this cold / flu affliction is luckily minor [ so far ]
BTW, step by step, I'm getting my laptop back to how it was set up prior to powerwash.
Quite the learning experience. Read here ' pain the ass '
THEN is the laptop faster. Barely.
At least, I tried and if anything goes wrong and I need reset [ please, NO ] Well, I can bungle through about 90 % of it.
Now, if anyone says learning is pleasurable - they were not talking about computers. or disarming bombs
or survivng diarrhea
𒅳
Oops ! bit of a sore throat
gargled w/ salt water last night
body is a bit achy
juice then coffee, in a few minutes -> back to bed for sure
Coffee + Irish Cream [ I won't going out today ]
Took an ibuprofen, to take the edge of the achy feeling
Now, this is when I think of all the things that need doing around the place.
When I'm feeling well - not so much gets done.
So far, the ibupofen is a winner. The IPA called ' Boneshaker ' not so much. I didn't realize that Boneshaker was 7.1 % in alcohol. However, I'm betting that Boneshaker relly didn't hurt.
The story.
I felt that things were slowing down on this Dell laptop. i investigated and tried some minor restore trickies. Nope.
Finally. I said ' lets do it '. Chrome calls it " powerwash " but to everyone else the term is ' factory reset ' or back to when you got the machine.
however. the powerwash cleanses the machine of everything not ' Google ' meaning that you need to :
sync information via Google across the account
have taken the step that your main storage of data is in the ' cloud ' or in this specific case in ' Google drive '. My machine is set to send downloads direct to Google drive.
I haven't found anything missing - yet.
Alrighty. is it better. faster. less glitchy
Dunno, sort of OK
📳 well, the Pixel 6a is fully charged - set up will happen slowly
a whole new experience for M..
the differences are all touch gestures, voice assist and haptics
the learning curve is steep at the beginning
and is barely getting less for me
recall. I'm just catching on to Chrome and the phone is a another level
however. the lifelong process is
adapt to survive
' the struggle is the glory ' ala the " Ghost and the Darkness "
🐇 a rabbit symbol for the New Year
Google tracked me to Florida. Google Timeline had me in 6 cities for JA. St Pete Beach, Pasedena, Tampa, etc. Plus, GT knew that I was at the ' Texas Roadhouse ', PJ s OysterBar and Horse and Jockey Pub.
GT did fail to notice that I didn't appreciate the ' Jockey '
The story : awake at 5 AM
a little groggy but not able to fall back to sleep
coffee made
however, I slept right through from approx 10 PM
perhaps a nap will be needed - shock and surprise there
OMFL. Or someting like that. I deleted ' Stadia ' from my Apps list. Stadia is an out of date gaming app. What games ?
Dunno. Why did I have Stadia ? Dunno.
One idea. Did Stadia come along w/ the gaming mouse. I didn't game but maybe having the mouse brought an automatic app too.
BTW, Stadia is being phased out by Google.
In fact, I'm discovering reams of information about Google and this latop and Chrome. Sort of, the more that I know, the more that I realize, that I don't kow much at all. OMFL.
Chore ( s ) of the day. Snow removal. The driveway narrowed over the past month. The snowplow creeps further from the edge and snow drifts replace ashphalt. I hacked away at the leading edges and burrowed into the edge. These actions will increase the snow melt dramatically in these places.
Further, the backdeck had snow / ice build up + on the adjacent boardwalk access. This deck and walkway combo represents 2 exits from the house [ other than frontdoor and basement walkout ]. I prefer to keep these clear for fire exit etc.
As well, the plow service charges approx $ 20 a bag for snow melter. The guys often glob it down as they spread the stuff. I took a broom and shovel and gathered up the excess and sprinkled ice melter onto the snow drift edge on the driveway.
THEN. We visited the Doc who was to give M .. her cortisone shot for back pain. Turns out that was ' 6 shots ' total.
XXXXXX fingers that there will be success. More to follow, I'm sure
BTW. M ..s Pixel 6 a arrived. I found that Google was offering a $ 100 discount. Considering the trouble we had w/ Tracfone this trip and the lack of updates and service by Motorola for the G 8 + that she had, no doubt a good move.
post # 3 652
🔂
' back to the grind ' but not really.
Fell asleep w/ two nods. Awoke at 5 A or so, w/ bowel pressure. Did my business
Typing. And groggy
Electronically, this session on the laptop is a test. You see, down in Fla the laptop started to bog down
- as though there was too much load on the memory. I mean buffering galore and blanks or hesitations.
- the office staff at the Sunrise said that there was more load on the internet b/c of the Smart TV s
- further the slot machines on the ' Seneca Gaming ' site froze too.
Update: re : bogging down. There is a suggestion for a ' hard reset ' or hardware reset. This interim step is prior to going all the way and ' powerwashing ' or scrubbing the software [ drastic for some ] except for the data in the ' google cloud ' environment
Chromebooks store little [ or should have little ] data on the physical machine [ laptop ] rather data is entrusted to G cloud [ for free under 100 Gb and cost if over that amount ].
So far, I see a light improvement.
The uneventful day became a miasma of drivning to and from different drugstores to fill a 2 part prescription. No pharmacy had # 1 and one pharmacy had # 2. In the end 3 h later, we have # 2 in hand and the prescribing doctor has an in house supply that he can tap.
🛅 no left luggage today
BUT my hat is gone [ on the plane ]
We spent the day. 9 A til 6 P car, airport, plane, airport, imo and home
Yeah ! Thanks all
Tomorrow I'll call around at the airport and see if the hat turned up
🌝 a smiley face to start the day
I'm not smiling. Awake ?
Leftover coffee and some help
did Phil see his shadow ???? YES
🐹 [ sorry for all zooologists, not a groundhog face ]
Coffee. No 7 - 11 run. The bloom is off the rose there
six more weeks of winter
official
Ah, but did I watch ' Groundhog Day ' a, ag, aga, agai, again ?
Nope.
Swim est complet. I finished swimming.
🎇 says the ' hog [ Puxatawny baby ]
Here, he'll see his shadow
A slow morning. Woke up later. Internet. Coffee.
Swim.
OK. The morning routine. Coffee. Fresh. And we watch ' Major Crimes '.
Hey, you're spending the holiday watching TV. Well, its a start. Kinda.
We relax. Roll into the day. Slowly
And then.
Fish a little. Cool evening, dry. Calm. Manatees came to loll around.
and ladyfish co - operated ,TY
㆙this is the ideogram, first notation
didn't you know
I'm marking FE 1 2023
its pre groundhog day celebration
like groundhog day eve, eve, eve
thats before the movie begins [ again ]
At CBC online
a green comet has been time lapse video'd [ well, they filmed it ] or have a series of pix that show the near pass.
Recording. The swim was done. I survived. Good
We entertain this aft. In the past, we co - hosted what are called ' lanai ' get togethers. The ' lanai ' is also termed the ' breezeway '.
In essence, the walkway in front of the unit.
This year, as a trend of non - returning friends continues, we are changing to balcony get togethers. The balcony term is not anything other than the balcony. Thus, al fresco cocktail liaison is planned.
Alcohol is an important part of the meeting
A convivial appetizer afternoon. Food was plentiful and hit the spot. Neat.
