(Another) Hearing Update

   I made the trek to Regina and back..again..for my damned hearing aid, which quit working earlier this month (see my July 23rd post). I'll admit that after not having it for a week, it was nice to get it back. I'm still not 100% (or even 80%) happy with it, but I refuse to make another trip until necessary.
   Like the last time I was down, the round trip took over 4 hours, due mainly to road work being done in the Queen City, meaning I didn't get home until 6:30 last night. Which is a long day for me. I probably could have got home earlier, but decided to stop for a quick bite, which I wished I hadn't. Mall food court Chinese food isn't great, and it sat like a lump all the way back. I could've gone to a sit-down restaurant, but wanted to get home. In hindsight, I should've just bolted back to Yorkton and picked something up.
   Oh, yeah. The problem with the hearing aid was the receiver quit working.

TTFN

The Things You Find

   Okay, I admit it. I'm a clutter-bug. I was looking for something in my home office yesterday, when I came across some of the material my wife and I got when we took our trip to Norway. 9 years ago today, to be exact.

   I won't post any of the pictures I took during the trip, to save me time uploading them, and you boredom looking at them. The trip was fantastic, as far as bus tours go, and I'd do it again. Why a "package holiday"? It was the best way to see as much of the country as we could in a limited amount of time. Had we made our own arrangements, we wouldn't have seen or experienced even half of what we did. Would I go on another tour? Maybe, if we could hit a few different areas. But, we'd also like to travel elsewhere as well.
   And that's where some 'problems' creep up. First, while we'd like to visit Norway again, if we had the chance (and the finances) I think we'd move there permanently. My grandfather came from the "old country" in 1907. Second, and as mentioned, we'd like to travel more. My wife would love to see Russia, and we'd both like to see more of Europe, if we had the chance (and the finances). And finally, finding the material shows the need for me to clean up and categorize my home office. Yeah, right.
   As for the item I was searching for that started the whole thing: I'm still searching.

TTFN

This Wins The Internet This Week

   It's been the buzz on social media ever since Tuesday, when it happened. Someone much more well versed than I am in the ways of computer imaging, came up with a phony Great Seal of the President of the United States. It ended up being briefly projected behind POTUS Donald Trump at a youth event this week.
   The fake seal has double-headed eagle, lifted from the Russian coat of arms, with one set of talons holding golf clubs instead of arrows, with the other clutching cash, rather than an olive branch. And rather than the motto "E. Pluribus Unum", the fake seal's says "45 es un titere", Spanish for "45 is a puppet".
   The man who created it, a former Republican and Bush supporter, says he did it after the 2016 election. Trump's relationship with Russia has cast somewhat of a pall on his presidency, including unproven Russian collusion in the campaign.
   The person who projected the image behind Trump was fired.
   Poor taste, perhaps. But in my mind, it still wins the 'net.

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Hearing Update

   So, I trekked down to Regina yesterday to see about my hearing aid, which packed it in last week (see Disappointed). Lo and behold, the technician said she couldn't hear anything (no pun intended) when she checked it out. So, it has to go back for repairs. Luckily, it's under warranty, or I'd be hooped, since I have no idea what repairs cost, and I sure don't have another $25 hundred to throw away on a new one.
   The biggest downside in all this is it's going to take at least 2 weeks for them to send it back, get repairs done, and have it shipped back the the place I've been dealing with. So it means almost no hearing in my affected (left) ear. And it also means another 4 hour round trip to Regina after getting up at 03:30 and working my usual 8 hour day. Oh, well. It is what it is.

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Disappointed

   Last year (December to be exact) I blogged about having to get a hearing aid, due to serious hearing loss in my left ear. The first one I got, I was not happy with. So, after spending almost $15 hundred on it, I went back to the hearing centre I got it from. And got a nearly $1 thousand upgrade in January.
   Yesterday morning, it quit. Completely. There was no warning. It just shut down. At first, I thought it might've been the battery, since they only last 4 or 5 days. Usually, I get an audio "battery" warning when wearing it, but I didn't. I changed the battery. When I power it up, I get several tones letting me know it's on (even though I can hear the difference anyway). Not even a "beep" when I tried it again.
   The upshot of all this is I now have to make a 4-hour in total round trip to Regina to have them look at it. If it's a quick fix, I might be in their office for 15 minutes. If it's pooched, I don't know what to do.

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50 Years

   That's how long it's been since the Apollo 11 moon mission lifted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on the Saturn V rocket

   Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins arrived in lunar orbit July 19th. On July 20th, and while Collins stayed in the command module, Armstrong and Aldrin left in the Lunar Module, and safely touched down in the Sea of Tranquility.
   A few hours later, the L.M hatch opened, and Armstrong became the first human to set foot on another world. His words "that's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind". He was joined by Aldrin a short time later, who called the lunar landscape "magnificent desolation". They spent most of the mission collecting samples and setting up experiments, some of which are still in use today. They also took hundreds of photographs, including this of Armstrong's reflection in Aldrin's visor

   Where was I in all this? As a then 13 year old, I, along with my father, was glued to the T.V. I remember vividly an electrical storm caused the power to go out, just as the L.M was getting set to touch down. It came back on just in time. I also watched the 2 take their historic walk on the moon. Apollo 11 safely returned to Earth July 24th. Armstrong died in 2012, and of the 2 remaining crew, only Michael Collins was back at the launch pad today to commemorate the event.

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Time Flies

   It was a cold January 12th we added to our family. We adopted this cute little ball of fur, and my wife named her "Minerva"

   Flash forward 6 months, and that little ball of fur isn't so little anymore

   In fact, as you can see, she's pretty much full-grown now. "Mini", as we now call her, continues to be a ball of unbounded energy. And while she has settled down somewhat, she's still subject to deviltry. Things like shredding toilet paper (which we now keep in our bathroom cupboard), attacking, albeit mostly playfully, her older "brother" and "sister", 15 and 11 respectively.
   She has settled down a bit, and seems to understand, as far as cats can, the "no" command, which we no longer need to enforce with a spritz from a plant water sprayer.
   She does, however, get quite rambunctious in the evening, and therefore our bedroom door remains shut.Which is a shame, because our other 2 kitties like to sleep on the bed with us. All in all, she has settled in very nicely.

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More SnapChat Fun With Danny

   And it was all sparked by some wicked weekend weather. We had a pretty good downpour Sunday, which left a lot of humidity in its wake. So much so, that the studios in out radio station resembled something like a tropical rain forest or sauna. Okay, not THAT hot, but you get the picture.
   Anyway, GX94 Morning Show host Danny Ismond was saying the humidity was enough to put a curl in otherwise straight hair. And that's where the snapchat filter comes in, with hilarious results

   I think we could be a father and son crime fighting team! All we need now is a 1974 "Starsky and Hutch" type Ford Torino and a couple of hand-cannons to complete the look!
   As I've said, it's never a dull day working with Danny!

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I've Had Requests For This

   It was a little more than 4 years ago (April, 2015 to be exact) I baked a loaf of chocolate chunk bread, and decided it was time to try it again. It worked out better than the first time I tried it, and was delicious with my wife's strawberry-rhubarb jam.
   After posting the above picture on Facebook, I started getting a few requests for the recipe, which I gladly provided.
   For anyone wanting to try this, here's the recipe, plus any amendments I made. Try it if you want. It really is a good bread, and isn't as heavy as it seems.

1 pkg. Fleischmann’s RapidRise Yeast, 2½ cups all-purpose flour, divided1 tsp. salt3 Tbs. cocoa powder 1 cup milk ¼ cup sugar 1 Tbs. butter 3 oz. semisweet baking chocolate, coarsely chopped. In a medium size bowl, combine yeast, salt, cocoa and 1½ cups of flour and stir. In separate container, combine milk, sugar and butter and heat to 120 to 130 F.

Pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Add the remaining cup of flour about¼ cup at a time, mixing until flour is completely incorporated. The resulting dough will be quite soft and sticky. Using a bench knife or plastic dough scraper in one hand, knead the dough for five minutes---keep the other hand dusted with flour to facilitate kneading.Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes. Flatten the dough and place chopped chocolate on top.Fold up the sides of the dough and knead to distribute chocolate evenly throughout the dough. Lightly grease a one quart casserole or other oven-safe dish. Dust your hands with cocoa and shape the dough into a round ball. Place the ball of dough in the baking dish and cover with a dry dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place free from drafts until nearly doubled,about one hour. Bake in the middle third of a preheated 350 F. oven for 35 to 40 minutes,or until sides are browned and loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. If the top crust seems to be browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes of  baking. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Makes one loaf, about 12 servings. 

***(Craig's changes: I used 1 1/2 packs of RapidRise yeast that I re-hydrated in water with a little sugar to make a 'starter', since 2 previous attempts using this recipe produced no 'rise' in the dough. I also a stand mixer for the kneading, and let it go 10 minutes. I also placed the dough in a lightly greased bowl for the first rising. After the first rise of an hour. I also punched the dough down, gave it a quick knead, then placed it in the lightly greased casserole and let it rise for another 45 minutes. These steps seem to have made the difference)***

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All Good Things Must End

   Normally, I do not post 2 items on a single day. But given the brevity of my previous blog, and the fact this happened today, you get a bonus.
   Not a very happy one either, because a good chunk of my, and millions of others, childhood is ending.

   After 67 years, Mad Magazine, the goofy, irreverent, and lets face it funny, publication will no longer be published. At least, not any new content, starting next month. Any new issues will be previously released content with a new cover. As well, the magazine will only be available in comic stores, and to subscribers. The publisher, DC Comics, has refused so far to say why the magazine is being pulled from newsstands.
   I used to buy it every month when I was a kid, and loved the satirical articles, Alfred E. Newman on the front cover, things like "Spy vs. Spy", and, of course, the folding back cover.
  For all intents and purposes, RIP Mad Magazine.

TTFN

Happy 4th

   Wishing my American viewers a Happy Independence Day! Have a great 4th!!

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It's Just A Mascot

   It may be "just a mascot", but it's got fans of the Canadian Football League's Saskatchewan Roughriders in a tizzy. For a long, long time, "Gainer the Gopher" has been the team mascot, and fans love him

   So, a lot of of Green and White supporters are wondering why officials in whatever department looks after it changed it's look

   I think people are having a hard time getting used to the new head Gainer, or whoever is wearing the costume, is sporting. The eyes, I think, are a big issue in why so many fans don't like it. In fact, a lot of people are calling for "old" Gainer's return to the sidelines for home games.
   The whole thing has exploded on the social media I monitor in Saskatchewan, and it almost make me wonder if this is like the "new Coke" fiasco back in the 80's, where enough people were upset with the new formula to force Coca Cola to bring back the original, which I've come to suspect may have been a clever marketing plan, and may be the case here.
   Still, it could be worse. We could've had something similar to the Philadelphia Flyers "Gritty"

TTFN