It's Halloween!

   And I can finally take the wraps off my get-up for this year. Last week I blogged about having a lumberjack shirt and some kind of axe as part of my gear. Which is true! I do have a lumberjack shirt on, and I am carrying an axe of some kind:

   I decided to come as Slash's long lost relative who hasn't been lost long enough. And since the G&R and Velvet Revolver guitarist is a really good player (I think of his fingers slashing across the fretboard) and since I'm not, I decided to call myself "Scrape", the rocker who needs a walker.
   I also alluded to the possibility there may be singing this year. And, yes, despite the lack of talent when it comes to vocals, I did in fact "bust out a tune". I will say I'm an even worse singer than I am a guitarist. If that's even possible. I wasn't going to sing, but GX94 Morning man Danny Ismond "put the screws" to me, and I gave my rendition (live on the air) of the "Umm Game Song", the details of which I will not bore you with. There's an "in-house" competition for best costume again this year, but judging from what I've seen early this morning, I don't stand a chance.
   And, yes, I've already started thinking about next year. My wife (who dressed up as Miss Haversham from the Dickens novel "Great Expectations"):

   Suggested we do something as a pair. I thought we should go as a piece of bread, split in half. My side would be plain, hers covered in a churned dairy product. She could be my "butter half". Cue the agonized groans.
   Looking at my picture, something occurs to me. I think I look more like Ozzy Osbourne that Slash.
   Happy Halloween!

TTFN

I Know We Need Lights, But Really???

   We need lights to be safe. I understand that, and accept it. The pictures below were not taken in a commercial or industrial area, or in a prison yard. They were taken in the common parking area where we own our home, and were installed at the behest of our developer (I at least assume).
   To say they're bright is an understatement. I did not enhance or photoshop these, and they were taken on the crappy camera on my cell phone.

   You know they're bright when they start casting shadows from vehicles parked down the street. I noticed this a couple of mornings ago when I got up for work and looked out our bedroom window. I first thought it was a full moon reflecting on the paving. I was wrong.
   Again, I understand the need to have lights in common areas, but was it really necessary to install 23 gazillion candle-power spotlights? And whats next? Guard towers? Coils of electrified razor wire? Machine gun emplacements? It's almost like living next to the DMZ in Korea. Or along the Berlin Wall back in the '60's. Even my blackout drapes in our bedroom filter, not block, the light entirely.
   I guess we're lucky, though. All the master bedrooms in the development face the street, and we don't have one of these monstrosities beaming into ours.

TTFN

When In The Netherlands

   Have nachos. Our youngest is in the Netherlands for a heavy metal event in Rotterdam later this week. He landed in Amsterdam, and, rather than having a traditional Dutch meal like Hollandse Nieuwe Haring (raw herring), or Stroopwafels, a syrupy waffle. Instead, he opted for nachos.
   That's like going to Italy and not having pasta, or Germany and not having Bratwurst. Don't get me wrong, I'm not castigating our 2nd born. Far from it! It's just that he loves Mexican food, especially tacos and nachos. At least he's drinking a Dutch beer, so all is not lost.
   From Rotterdam, he's going to Belgium for a few days before flying back to Canada via Frankfurt.
   Am I a little jealous? Hell yes I am! We'd love to see both those countries, and are currently trying to scrape together the needed pennies (several million of them) to head off again. And yes, the Netherlands and Belgium are both on our radar screens. As is Iceland and other Nordic countries (perhaps even a return to Norway).
   At any rate, I hope he has a great trip. He deserves it.

TTFN

It's Almost That Time Of Year Again

   In fact, Halloween is now less than 2 weeks away. Am I ready? You bet I am! Regular readers of this blog will know I start preparations for next year's Halloween on November 1st, although I have actually started work on some ideas even before October 31st has arrived.
   In years past, I've shown up as a Zombie News Reader, an Aussie from the Outback (including "bush tucker", didgeridoo, and lobster on a Barbie) and a Zombie Hunter. This year...stay tuned. I never reveal what I'm going to do in advance. However, I will let a couple of visual clues slip. My get up will include a lumberjack shirt and an axe of some kind

   And that's ALL I'm going to say. Except, there may be (heaven help you all) singing this year. Oh, yeah. It might be a good idea to have a bandage on stand-by, 'cause there might be a scrape. But no "creepy clowns". That I promise.
   Other than that, you'll just have to wait for the 31st, which happens to be a Monday this year.

TTFN

A Few Thoughts About The U.S Election

   I'm lucky. I don't live in the States, so I don't have to make a choice between Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. However, I, and pretty much everyone else, will be impacted by whoever wins the election next month.
   I'm not enough of a political analyst to wade in with any pithy thoughts about the 2 contenders, and I'm certainly not about to say which one I endorse, even though it wouldn't matter since I live in Canada. I'm also not about to comment about the foibles and follies of the Republican or Democratic nominee. But I am going to chime in on the nastiness of this campaign, even if I forgo the details.
   Politics by it's very nature is (it seems) destined to troll up skeletons in closets, and bring mud-slinging to an almost Olympic sport level. The current U.S election campaign, and even last years Canadian one for that matter, have shown at times just how low people can go in attempts to tear down their opponent. I know, it's all part of the "game", but there are times I wonder "why".
   The constant sniping between candidates, the constant dredging up of incidents, sometimes 30 years in the past, the campaign staff trying as hard as they can to uncover that piece of information to damage the "other guy" have become too much a part of electioneering on both sides of the border, and I for just one of many are heartily sick and tired of it..
   So here's a radical thought. Rather that engaging in a prolonged mud-slinging and slagging match, why not focus not on your opponent and how bad that person will be if elected, but what you are going to do for your constituents if you are? Tell me why, and exactly how, a vote for you would benefit my constituency, province or state, and the nation, rather than the constant character attacks that now seem to dominate all but civic politics.
   It might be a way to engage voters, rather than turn them off. IMHO at any rate.

TTFN

I Thought This Was Apropos

   Especially given the early start to winter we had the past few days. Not a lot of snow in our area, but parts of Saskatchewan did get blanketed by up to 20 cm (8 inches) this past week. And even smaller amounts of the white stuff was enough to halt harvesting operations across the region, if not most of our province and Manitoba.
   I'm not exactly a picture of sartorial splendor at the best of times, nor will I ever be considered a fashion diva. But (aside from Saturdays, like today) I never wear t-shirts to work. Well, until last Thursday. And again, it was simply down to the weather. And my wife suggesting I do it:

   I got that shirt last month at the Saskatoon Comic-Con. And it does in fact say "Winter is here", referencing the HBO series "Game of Thrones" which, thanks to my wife, I started watching. Fans will know the Stark family was always saying "Winter is coming", but with the series now moving toward a conclusion, the Ice King

   Is marshaling his frozen, un-dead forces for the "final showdown". And if early indications prove correct, that battleground might well be in my region, since we're in store for a snowy, cold winter.
   All of which brings me back to my shirt. I think the expression on my face (along with the "thumbs down") pretty much sums up what an awful lot of people feel about the early start to winter.
   Anyone have any Valerian steel?

TTFN

Oh, Great

   Should this be happening in a 3 year old house? That's what greeted me when I got home yesterday afternoon. That's along one of the joists of the ceiling in our living room. In our 2 story house. That's not beneath a bathroom, either, but our master bedroom. Which was bone dry.
   So, what happened? To the best of our knowledge, wind blown rain. We had one hell of a storm Monday night, with heavy rain and a very strong, gusty wind. That's not to say we haven't had lots of storms with heavy rain and strong, gusty winds. It's just this one happened to be blowing from just the right direction. And we think the water got in here:

   The overhang on our porch. You can't see in this picture (at least not well), but the 'corrugations' on the bottom where it joins the house is where we think the leak is. Meaning the builders likely didn't do a good enough job sealing it off.
   As mentioned, the place is 3 years old, so I'm hoping the new home warranty will cover this. If I could find it. That's problem #2. We were not handed our copy of the warranty when we took possession. I've called the project developer. He said try the real estate agent. I did try them a while back, and, if memory serves, THEY told me to call the selling agency. And 'round and 'round we go.
   I also called the builder, but never heard back from them yesterday.
   So, I've got a lot of calls to make and places to visit today, trying to get this mess taken care of. And I also happened to notice while heading out the door for work this morning that there was a shadow along the other joist, meaning we've likely got water there, too. But at least those areas haven't spread, and there's no mould yet. Hopefully it won't take too long to get fixed. Or cost us too much. But that's what homeowners insurance is for.

TTFN