🪫 2 of April

 🪫... the state of old [ er ] age. in the ' boro, the day is dull. We will warm up to 52 F this aft. Then rain or snow at noon [ come on ..... snow, alright rain ]

The coldest forecast day is Tues at 32.

going for coffee. ah. good brew this morn

Follow up battling computers.

 Lately I was explaining my problem transferring money from CIBC to Wise and the fact that transactions wouldn't go through Well today,  I thought let's beat them at their own game. I decided to start an online banking account. I chose PC financial because a friend uses PC and claims to have no problems 

beginning.                                                                I managed to set up an account. They offered the option of transferring money in to my new account and I chose interac. Of course I chose interact just to see if it would work. So I transferred $1,000 which immediately disappeared from my CIBC account but did not appear in my PC financial account.              I waited at appropriate amount of time, still nothing.    While waiting, I decided to choose the option that was offered, notification by email when any transfers occurred. Still nothing  

Okay now I call support at PC financial wait 25 minutes. Get a lady and she explains that interact transfers take three business days and because this is my first transaction, it might be five. Furthermore, the funds might be held until everything clears through both banking systems. I said. Thank you and rang off

 5 minutes ago I get a notification PC financial has received $1,000 interact transfer. It is now in your account

Crikey and all gods in heaven. The left hand and right hand don't 

🛍 April 1 in the building spring

 🛍 in the ' boro .... definitely, a work in progress. Bleeding cold and gusty. This is take out your rubbers and hooded coats feeling

shoppping day. First, lunch at the Magic Noodle [ our go to ].
Then we go to Costco. Except today it was visit Optical Div. for a touch up, re - adjustment on my latest reading glasses. The glasses came slightly askew and then proceeded to become crooked and not pliable at all.
The lady at Opt. Div, said give me 15 min and we did. Quite the change.
Shopping proceeded to get out of hand
.... chicken thighs, $ 2 off the package of 20.
... toilet paper is the standard Costco price [ more than fair ]
.... BBQ chicken is $ 8, not giant but for two, bonus
... cap it off w / Husky sealable bags for [ travel, packing ....] anyway there is a vacuum port for shrink packaging your clothes? or ..... and $ 4 dollars off.
We are travelling, so, maybe squeeze some clothes down.
Thus, out of hand is the apt description of me at Costco. Nothing will be wasted. The packing vacuum bags [  ????? ] but a great idea. Toilet paper - well, necessary, even if there 40 rolls under the stairs.

On the prepping front. I started an account w/ Wise. Wise is an international debit card. Transfer money from your bank to Wise. Then while away, you use the debit card for daily spending [ you convert currency before you travel ]. The start, transferred $ 100 Cdn. Used the Wise card for practice. Works. Now, let s transfer more ..... what ?  Four days later and I'm trying to figure out how to get through. All starts well, then " we cannot complete your transaction " keeps appearing.
Last year, I sent GBP ahead to the cousins and then ' borrowed the money back. Guess what, might be the same again.

You understand that starting early, gives me room to adjust.

💸 Marching 31

 💸 ' boro weather. Mild and sunny giving way to gusty cold, leading to gallons of water per minute 

An electrician sorted out some minor physical shortcomings in the house. We are lined up for a more arduous session to route a new electric line to the outside deck

A former Leacock student came by and we swapped 📚 sci fi 

yes. beginning to think that some old ways and possessions need re - thinking and re - homing
Hard but true.

We are stepping closer to completing prep for our UK trip

🧮 Marchessa thirty

  🧮' boro gets full Spring 🌼. OK.  no flowers but work outside type weather. My priority was the garage

Wad hapin'd ! Swept the West side where the truck goes. Hand sweeping. Then everything gets in the way. Stuff ( really stuff ) needed binning, re shelving ( meaning should have been binned but saved for ...... another three years ). And re organized storage.

A valiant try. Someone has to do it. That's gospel

Somehow, feels like you have to do something - cleaning is needed and overdue

💷 Mar 29 ... running ......

 💷 ... with a younger crowd, next to my age was a 40 y.o.
Way too young. They did all the work.
Carrying and removing and replacing the truck hard top cover.
Loading and unloading  three times.
Putting a TV and stand together [ I got to sit and put in batteries ]

I'm dead. 

☯ ... both sides now ....

 ☯  ... I've looked at Love from both sides now .... ala Joni Mitchell.
recently [ two years b / c I am always slow on the uptake ]. the Icelandic singer and everything music, Laufey performed the JM standard, to a new standard. Comments were rave. I enjoyed and admired her performance - however, how much better is she than anyone else ....
to me, the epithets are fresh and vibrant and piquant

loved it

' boro is going to above freezing for today, then, we rise for five days. A cold night or two but we are headed Spring - > nice spring.

I need a rest day. Oh, alright, today will do, just fine

follow up: the flushmate toilet fill time review. The average is 40 sec c.f. the 4 min that was the situation for the last three weeks or so.

backyard looks remarkably cleaned out after the lumberjack work of Friday.

battle of the bulge -et. Yes. For about a month now, I have been careful eating. Back in Feb, I started at 182.2 lb. Today, the number is 175.2. There is always a Uh -o part. I don't look any slimmer or better. My pants fit awkwardly. I am down to reasonable girth, the size 36 are comfortable.
We need to be aware that last year, over the same time frame I did lower my weight pre - trip to UK. BUT as 2025 wore on, yes, everything went back.

The pattern is way less bready stuff and rice and veg / potato and veg. I surmise that bread is too easy - pick up a slice and add meat / jam etc

 

⚛ on Mars 27

 ⚛ a return to sunny cold in the ' boro. Wearing the plaid lumberjack look - I lumberjacked the backyard to clear a dead tree that toppled AND crashed the wall 

What was the greater tragedy 😭. Using the reciprocating saw plus pruner blade the victim was trimmed and tossed ( oh, the ravine is right there )

Topic : the flushmate power toilet. Yesterday I reported that I picked up the duckbill valve which prevents backflow of water and air out of  the pressurizing bladder. Today I installed the new valve. Actually I was a little concerned, I didn't want to tear the old one. In case ,  I needed a spare but I was able to ease it out with a pair of long forceps. Well actually they're pliers but we use it for fishing to de-hook fish. The duckbill goes in atop the air intake opening  and is held in place by the inducer cap. Finger tight connection. However, the suction of the process ' glues the duckbill to the cap '

we are claiming  a success, on the two trials, that is flushing - we have times of just under a minute and also 50 seconds which is 3 minutes faster than the worst that's been happening for about the last 3 weeks.

further reportage. all flushes thus far are under a minute. FYI. A cartridge replacement is $ 180 [ time and parts ]. AND according to the online checklist system, waterline and screen first, second adjust the lever position, third replace the cartridge AND then the duckbill. 
The info says ' for noise or irregular flushing ' check / replace the duckbill. NOT long full time.

BUT I found a YouTube vid that had a veteran plumber and he said ' check the duckbill first b /c 80 % of the problems could the valve failure or clog.