No way Jose. I get to go in winter, yipee. There is a wedding, we're going. Club class, but we're going.
First, Club class means they wine and dine you. If you ever want to feel guilt up the wazoo, try Club flying.
However, there will be changes. I will sleep. Long if possible. Last trip was a disaster at the other end, in London. Jet lag city for 3 days.
While I type flurries started up. The day was gray anyway but now there is precip. To-day, should be 40 F something, so this brief interlude of downy flakes should end soon.
Last night, two people may have slipped big time, one maybe on purpose.
Princess Kate might have stopped herself from saying ' daughter ' as she got caught saying my ' d......... ' . Royal watchers are abuzz.
Next Olivia Chow who is the widow of Jack Layton has dodged rumours all over the place about a possible run for mayor. She had been using phrases such as ' I'm keeping my options open ' etc.
On a CBC talk show ' George Strombolopolous ', she said a mayoral run is possible and she would take advice from George. Announcing herself on CBC and the ' GS ' show is like telling Entertainment To-night you have fantasies about your co-star. This is it. She's running.
Talk about surprised - I couldn't believe that she would blurt it out like that. She couldn't have picked a better venue - what am I saying, of course, she did.
We've been back from Fla approx three weeks now and yes , fishing fever is building.
All the anti-gambling groups are raging. The slick video and whoopla for a casino started yesterday. Concerns about splitting the CNE ( state fair, for you guys down there ), traffic flow ( which is congested down there to begin with ) and the social ills of bringing gambling to T.O.
As a suburban resident, I think they should build the sucker. There is no social ill that they could import thats any worse than what they've got. Traffic will never flow b/c no on wants to spend the money to upgrade. Separating the midway rides from the buildings would move youth centred activities away from the gambling.
Toronto is # 4 in size of city in North America. Now, I thought there were 2 or 3 big cities in Mexico and then throw in NY, LA and Chicago, I figured us for 7 th at best. The chant starts ' we're # 4 , we're # 4 '
Still flurrying.
Thursday, 7 March 2013
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Target a success
As mentioned Target came to Canada, yesterday, and hit it big.
There was a line up to get in and people did camp overnight as well.
The merchandising philosophy is to fit in locally and nationally but bring some Target mainstays to Canada .
The stores are racetrack layouts w/ essentials easily accessible near the entrance.
We should be aware of the product placement tricks e.g prime spots are row ends and eye height. The perimeter gets more attention as well.
I seem to fall for all the PP tricks. However, I do bend down quite a bit just to see what they are hiding down there.
Well, we are #2 again. Canada dropped to 2 nd place in most hours on line per person. We fell behind the U.S. For Canadians, this ranking has a familiar feel to it.
In number of pages viewed , Canada is also 2 nd this time to the U.K.
Hugo Chavez died at 58. He had a long battle w/ cancer. A vocal opponent of the U.S. and the American influence - imagined or real - in S. America he championed Cuba and other dictatorships in the hemisphere.
He is reputed to have blamed the U.S. for intentionally, giving him cancer. I think that he watched too many of those CIA movies. Although, you wouldn't want to put anything past those guys. Sort of , if there's a will there's a way.
So, back to the ' luddies ' ( my low tech award ). In Africa, more people have cell phones than TV s by something like 80 / 1. The expectation is 1 billion cell phones in use in Africa , very shortly.
In many parts of Africa, phone banking and phone payment replaces credit cards and cash. The purchaser phones in the amount to the merchants phone account.
Now, they expect Africans will ' sign up ' or dial up movies. The first movie is 2 MB per episode w/ maybe 18 episodes. The phone user pays a small amount per installment.
The push in the Western world is, of course, higher tech than in Africa. Voice ID or fingerprint ID for passwords.
Now which do think would be cheaper to implement ? I'm betting on phone transactions. Now I'm sure Hugo Chavez and the CIA could evolve into a swirling melange of international intrigue but in the Developed world, techies will invent tech heavy solutions.
Where you don't have the infrastructure - solution is go low tech.
Right, here's me talking about low tech and our phones are 8 yrs old and pay as you go. The Africans have phones that are video capable.
When I was having eye trouble, the bulk of the advice revolved around re-lasering my eyeball etc. At the Waterloo Eye Clinic, the doctor suggested eyelid massage and cleansing.
When I questioned Dr. Wilson about his low tech approach, he said ' ask a surgeon for help and he'll come up w/ a surgical solution. I'm not a surgeon '.
There was a line up to get in and people did camp overnight as well.
The merchandising philosophy is to fit in locally and nationally but bring some Target mainstays to Canada .
The stores are racetrack layouts w/ essentials easily accessible near the entrance.
We should be aware of the product placement tricks e.g prime spots are row ends and eye height. The perimeter gets more attention as well.
I seem to fall for all the PP tricks. However, I do bend down quite a bit just to see what they are hiding down there.
Well, we are #2 again. Canada dropped to 2 nd place in most hours on line per person. We fell behind the U.S. For Canadians, this ranking has a familiar feel to it.
In number of pages viewed , Canada is also 2 nd this time to the U.K.
Hugo Chavez died at 58. He had a long battle w/ cancer. A vocal opponent of the U.S. and the American influence - imagined or real - in S. America he championed Cuba and other dictatorships in the hemisphere.
He is reputed to have blamed the U.S. for intentionally, giving him cancer. I think that he watched too many of those CIA movies. Although, you wouldn't want to put anything past those guys. Sort of , if there's a will there's a way.
So, back to the ' luddies ' ( my low tech award ). In Africa, more people have cell phones than TV s by something like 80 / 1. The expectation is 1 billion cell phones in use in Africa , very shortly.
In many parts of Africa, phone banking and phone payment replaces credit cards and cash. The purchaser phones in the amount to the merchants phone account.
Now, they expect Africans will ' sign up ' or dial up movies. The first movie is 2 MB per episode w/ maybe 18 episodes. The phone user pays a small amount per installment.
The push in the Western world is, of course, higher tech than in Africa. Voice ID or fingerprint ID for passwords.
Now which do think would be cheaper to implement ? I'm betting on phone transactions. Now I'm sure Hugo Chavez and the CIA could evolve into a swirling melange of international intrigue but in the Developed world, techies will invent tech heavy solutions.
Where you don't have the infrastructure - solution is go low tech.
Right, here's me talking about low tech and our phones are 8 yrs old and pay as you go. The Africans have phones that are video capable.
When I was having eye trouble, the bulk of the advice revolved around re-lasering my eyeball etc. At the Waterloo Eye Clinic, the doctor suggested eyelid massage and cleansing.
When I questioned Dr. Wilson about his low tech approach, he said ' ask a surgeon for help and he'll come up w/ a surgical solution. I'm not a surgeon '.
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
Craziness or Smart
All right, I've openly admitted that tech and me don't function at the same level or same universe.
Last night, I printed " TSBlog... " entries from yesterday back to Dec 16 2012.
I've tried to save the blogs on the hard drive but I seem to have some problem in that I think that I'm saving the site itself and not the blogs.
In paper terms, I guess we're talking approx 180 pages to do 400 + entries. The problem is that I'd like to have a record, more or less permanent. So, that I envision a book called " 2sentsworth ... the Evolution " or something.
There is probably a better way to accomplish this end. I may go to someone else's blog on Blogspot and ask if the author is saving the blogs.
News - ticker ( CityPulse )
In an a Life Expectancy poll of countries, Spain finished first and Canada got 5 th. Now, they didn't say what kind of life just a long
one.
Target did open to-day. Three stores outside the T.O. area are the start of 24 expected openings very shortly. Over a hundred loyal Targees, lined up for the store openings.
In Canada, debit card skimming hit an all-time low in losses. Experts point to x-tra security devices on the cards. I suppose they mean the crooks haven't caught up yet.
Josef Stalin has been dead, 60 years. Big, Wow, I know but he does have a rep.
Here in T.O., there is a big push for a waterfront casino complex. The players are big too ! We have MGM properties joining w/ Cadillac Fairview ( a giant property developer in Canada ). And of course, the mayor is all gung ho about the project.
These poli-types need a building or railway or steeple that is the highlight of their job. And good ol' Robbie Ford, our mayor, is known right now as the most litigated against mayor in T.O. history.
Weatherboy- all dressed up and no where to go - cuz he's staying in the little screen. Temperature is 26 F, bright and sunny and trees are still ( I think ).
Last night, I ordered the sushi boat for the 5 of us. Its a real wooden boat w/ sushi on the deck. Well, it looked better than it sounds and tasted even better.
We discussed gross food. Insect larva, other body parts and what fish that you can eat raw ( and how ). And cousin ate the eyeball .
Last night, I printed " TSBlog... " entries from yesterday back to Dec 16 2012.
I've tried to save the blogs on the hard drive but I seem to have some problem in that I think that I'm saving the site itself and not the blogs.
In paper terms, I guess we're talking approx 180 pages to do 400 + entries. The problem is that I'd like to have a record, more or less permanent. So, that I envision a book called " 2sentsworth ... the Evolution " or something.
There is probably a better way to accomplish this end. I may go to someone else's blog on Blogspot and ask if the author is saving the blogs.
News - ticker ( CityPulse )
In an a Life Expectancy poll of countries, Spain finished first and Canada got 5 th. Now, they didn't say what kind of life just a long
one.
Target did open to-day. Three stores outside the T.O. area are the start of 24 expected openings very shortly. Over a hundred loyal Targees, lined up for the store openings.
In Canada, debit card skimming hit an all-time low in losses. Experts point to x-tra security devices on the cards. I suppose they mean the crooks haven't caught up yet.
Josef Stalin has been dead, 60 years. Big, Wow, I know but he does have a rep.
Here in T.O., there is a big push for a waterfront casino complex. The players are big too ! We have MGM properties joining w/ Cadillac Fairview ( a giant property developer in Canada ). And of course, the mayor is all gung ho about the project.
These poli-types need a building or railway or steeple that is the highlight of their job. And good ol' Robbie Ford, our mayor, is known right now as the most litigated against mayor in T.O. history.
Weatherboy- all dressed up and no where to go - cuz he's staying in the little screen. Temperature is 26 F, bright and sunny and trees are still ( I think ).
Last night, I ordered the sushi boat for the 5 of us. Its a real wooden boat w/ sushi on the deck. Well, it looked better than it sounds and tasted even better.
We discussed gross food. Insect larva, other body parts and what fish that you can eat raw ( and how ). And cousin ate the eyeball .
Monday, 4 March 2013
Reality, What Reality
I forget the year ( 1999 ? ) but I read a prognostication that claimed the future of TV was cartoons and reality TV. The rationale was cost.
Reality / cartoon shows require no star or extensive studio time.
Another blunder wonder. I said ' I cannot imagine what they could put on TV to fill the time '.
Wrongo, bongo my friend ( 1 registered blog follower for TSBlogging ). Shall I use the word ' exploded ' to describe the plethora of reality shows.
I felt watching ' Pawn Stars ' and ' Highway through Hell ' was excessive reality TV. Now apparently, there are housewives popping up in every city in Norto Americanos.
Shopping for wedding gowns is very low tech. Send five ' oohing ' , excitable women all roughly related to the bride to a dress buying and watch the ' fur fly ' or taffeta as the case may be.
I've been accused of chain watching ' Duck Dynasty ', which is a patented lie. I may have seen 3 episodes, funny though.
Therefore, I question , what is reality. Is it the stuff on TV now ? B/c the stuff on TV is no reality that I know.
I originally claimed that ' Survivor, ................ ( fill in place )' was a showcase for what is wrong w/ people in society. Seems many viewers want just that.
OK. Now is your chance to criticize , my fav, reality shows.
Weather. Fairly, bright and 23 F. Weatherboy is dressed to the nines. Wind seems still.
Watched the TV series ' Vikings ' last night on History channel., its premiere show.
It better get a lot more exciting, real quick. I mean its only got ten shows to do it . Boy, that wife of Ragnar's gives a whole new meaning to home protection. Everyone should have a heated poker handy.
The series is a co - Canadian / Irish production.
Apparently, from my late night listening , RTE, radio Ireland ,has one of the most extensive audio documentary libraries. I'm not entirely fond of all their productions but some are interesting.
The cousin in from New Mexico, actually Albuquerque, prefers Sante Fe but both partners make their living in big bad Alby.
To-day was a banner day for them. They ate sushi for lunch and dinner.
I introduced Stephen ( Steven ) to fried salmon fish head. This dish is excellent but he ate the eyeball, way beyond me, let me tell you.
My fav dish at SuperSushi.
Steven's bro showed and the owner knew us both but did not know we were related. The SuperSushi staff know both of us by name.
We don't look alike, at all.
Reality / cartoon shows require no star or extensive studio time.
Another blunder wonder. I said ' I cannot imagine what they could put on TV to fill the time '.
Wrongo, bongo my friend ( 1 registered blog follower for TSBlogging ). Shall I use the word ' exploded ' to describe the plethora of reality shows.
I felt watching ' Pawn Stars ' and ' Highway through Hell ' was excessive reality TV. Now apparently, there are housewives popping up in every city in Norto Americanos.
Shopping for wedding gowns is very low tech. Send five ' oohing ' , excitable women all roughly related to the bride to a dress buying and watch the ' fur fly ' or taffeta as the case may be.
I've been accused of chain watching ' Duck Dynasty ', which is a patented lie. I may have seen 3 episodes, funny though.
Therefore, I question , what is reality. Is it the stuff on TV now ? B/c the stuff on TV is no reality that I know.
I originally claimed that ' Survivor, ................ ( fill in place )' was a showcase for what is wrong w/ people in society. Seems many viewers want just that.
OK. Now is your chance to criticize , my fav, reality shows.
Weather. Fairly, bright and 23 F. Weatherboy is dressed to the nines. Wind seems still.
Watched the TV series ' Vikings ' last night on History channel., its premiere show.
It better get a lot more exciting, real quick. I mean its only got ten shows to do it . Boy, that wife of Ragnar's gives a whole new meaning to home protection. Everyone should have a heated poker handy.
The series is a co - Canadian / Irish production.
Apparently, from my late night listening , RTE, radio Ireland ,has one of the most extensive audio documentary libraries. I'm not entirely fond of all their productions but some are interesting.
The cousin in from New Mexico, actually Albuquerque, prefers Sante Fe but both partners make their living in big bad Alby.
To-day was a banner day for them. They ate sushi for lunch and dinner.
I introduced Stephen ( Steven ) to fried salmon fish head. This dish is excellent but he ate the eyeball, way beyond me, let me tell you.
My fav dish at SuperSushi.
Steven's bro showed and the owner knew us both but did not know we were related. The SuperSushi staff know both of us by name.
We don't look alike, at all.
Sunday, 3 March 2013
" I had a farm in Africa "
A reminder, that anything you read here, is just like the newspaper. Truth takes a backseat to...... well anything. Remember that I get this stuff from radio ( lying in bed w/ headphones ) or off the news feed from Sympatico Loop ( homepage ).
The quote in the post title is from " Out of Africa " the movie based on the story by Isak Dinesen.
The segue is that Kenya is about to hold elections again. The contest is close...... therefore CNN can report on the number of election related deaths. Last time in 2007 - 8 the death total was 1200.
Well, last Christmas I received colouring pencils. Yep, as in now you can colour your maps in geography. These pencils are water colour pencils. The colour will spread if the pencil line is moistened.
The plan, there's always a plan........ sort of, was to exercise the option to create ( draw ) things that I like.
So far, progress ..... stinks. I did try to draw something, a wooded scene. the result looked just like it did when I was in art class in high school. In baseball, they would term it ' stone hands ' or in my case ' stone fingers ' . Do you gather that the result was not satisfactory. You're right.
I'm trying again.... soon. And there are many projects like this one that are mid-start, that seems a kind way to put it.
Weather. Bright and peaceful. That means, pretty cold too ! The temperature is 21 F. Brisk and bracing, right !
We have a family get to-gether to meet a cousin who lives in the U.S. Originally, he lived in Atlanta, moving to Carrollton, Texas a suburb of a suburb of Dallas, Now, I think he lives in New Mexico.
He is a close cousin meaning we grew up to-gether. We get to meet a new ' girlfriend ' or some relationship like that. Who knows ?
We are meeting at a Chinese buffet. A sort of family tradition. I guess its a cheap - all purpose way to meet and eat. I suppose we take a chance on Salmonella and stuff like that.
The quote in the post title is from " Out of Africa " the movie based on the story by Isak Dinesen.
The segue is that Kenya is about to hold elections again. The contest is close...... therefore CNN can report on the number of election related deaths. Last time in 2007 - 8 the death total was 1200.
Well, last Christmas I received colouring pencils. Yep, as in now you can colour your maps in geography. These pencils are water colour pencils. The colour will spread if the pencil line is moistened.
The plan, there's always a plan........ sort of, was to exercise the option to create ( draw ) things that I like.
So far, progress ..... stinks. I did try to draw something, a wooded scene. the result looked just like it did when I was in art class in high school. In baseball, they would term it ' stone hands ' or in my case ' stone fingers ' . Do you gather that the result was not satisfactory. You're right.
I'm trying again.... soon. And there are many projects like this one that are mid-start, that seems a kind way to put it.
Weather. Bright and peaceful. That means, pretty cold too ! The temperature is 21 F. Brisk and bracing, right !
We have a family get to-gether to meet a cousin who lives in the U.S. Originally, he lived in Atlanta, moving to Carrollton, Texas a suburb of a suburb of Dallas, Now, I think he lives in New Mexico.
He is a close cousin meaning we grew up to-gether. We get to meet a new ' girlfriend ' or some relationship like that. Who knows ?
We are meeting at a Chinese buffet. A sort of family tradition. I guess its a cheap - all purpose way to meet and eat. I suppose we take a chance on Salmonella and stuff like that.
Saturday, 2 March 2013
Across the Border
The differences. ( Torstar Mar 1 )
Marketing has determined the preferences of each country.
Canadians like it blander, firmer and less sweet.
Canadian priorities are quality and nutrition .
In Canada, Que gets poutine and Atlantic Canada gets McLobster courtesy of McD s.
The U.S. market has tasty, convenient and cheap as priorities
Served only in the U.S. - Mountain Dew breakfast drinks. Dragon fruit flavoured Pepsi X.
Chicken and Waffle flavour chips.
In Canada, blond roast coffee is more popular.
Canadians prefer holiday treats w/ more spice esp. ginger and cinnamon
Muffins need to be firmer and more crumbly w/ real fruit and sugar toppings
Starbucks in Canada serve oat bars, Nanaimo bars, butter chicken wraps and Thai tuna sandwiches.
Dill pickle chips are Canadian born and stayed Canadian.
Ketchup chips started in Canada along w/ Munchies snack mix and Doritos sweet chili tortilla chips. Now these latter products are sold in the U.S.
Nutritionally Canadians eat more fruit than the U.S. 80 kg / 25Kg
and eat more vegetables 114 Kg / 68 Kg.
I don't know about this - we seem to do our share of ' what the hell are you eating ' in Canada.
Irish food that you need to try. Pan boxty is a kind of potato pancake thing. Brown bread is soda bread - quite famous.
Weather is cold and dullish, we got 24 F.
JHU bricked out against Princeton, the BJ s are now 3 - 1. Typical angst and drummel for me. C'est la guerre as they say.
Tis a long .... long season for me
Marketing has determined the preferences of each country.
Canadians like it blander, firmer and less sweet.
Canadian priorities are quality and nutrition .
In Canada, Que gets poutine and Atlantic Canada gets McLobster courtesy of McD s.
The U.S. market has tasty, convenient and cheap as priorities
Served only in the U.S. - Mountain Dew breakfast drinks. Dragon fruit flavoured Pepsi X.
Chicken and Waffle flavour chips.
In Canada, blond roast coffee is more popular.
Canadians prefer holiday treats w/ more spice esp. ginger and cinnamon
Muffins need to be firmer and more crumbly w/ real fruit and sugar toppings
Starbucks in Canada serve oat bars, Nanaimo bars, butter chicken wraps and Thai tuna sandwiches.
Dill pickle chips are Canadian born and stayed Canadian.
Ketchup chips started in Canada along w/ Munchies snack mix and Doritos sweet chili tortilla chips. Now these latter products are sold in the U.S.
Nutritionally Canadians eat more fruit than the U.S. 80 kg / 25Kg
and eat more vegetables 114 Kg / 68 Kg.
I don't know about this - we seem to do our share of ' what the hell are you eating ' in Canada.
Irish food that you need to try. Pan boxty is a kind of potato pancake thing. Brown bread is soda bread - quite famous.
Weather is cold and dullish, we got 24 F.
JHU bricked out against Princeton, the BJ s are now 3 - 1. Typical angst and drummel for me. C'est la guerre as they say.
Tis a long .... long season for me
Friday, 1 March 2013
Sequestration or What
OK . The proverbial s**t hits the fan to-day.
First the Canadian interpretation for our southern friends.
You guys are nuts w/ a capital ' N '
A while ago, the Prez and Senate and house agreed to postpone a whole packet of budget cuts, til Mar 1. A crippling set of cuts that no one would want to see come true. Guess what, ' they're back '.
How will this affect me, I hate to put it like that, but its the way everyone is going to deal w/ this lunacy.
Crossing the border will be slow. the scuttlebutt says wait times extended by 50 minutes at the airport. Heck, US Customs is going to make Canada Border Services look good, OMG.
Registered letters may not arrive like the one that I sent De 28 2012. That registered letter is still in the ether. Apparently, I will get a letter saying that the inquiry will take another 60 days. didn't someone go around the world in 60 days.
Weather is our coldest in awhile, the sun is up and its 28 F.
no snow but white is the colour. Bright day , blue skies.
First the Canadian interpretation for our southern friends.
You guys are nuts w/ a capital ' N '
A while ago, the Prez and Senate and house agreed to postpone a whole packet of budget cuts, til Mar 1. A crippling set of cuts that no one would want to see come true. Guess what, ' they're back '.
How will this affect me, I hate to put it like that, but its the way everyone is going to deal w/ this lunacy.
Crossing the border will be slow. the scuttlebutt says wait times extended by 50 minutes at the airport. Heck, US Customs is going to make Canada Border Services look good, OMG.
Registered letters may not arrive like the one that I sent De 28 2012. That registered letter is still in the ether. Apparently, I will get a letter saying that the inquiry will take another 60 days. didn't someone go around the world in 60 days.
Weather is our coldest in awhile, the sun is up and its 28 F.
no snow but white is the colour. Bright day , blue skies.
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