Battening Down The Hatches

    It could get very breezy around my part of the world in the next couple of days. A weather system, known as an "Alberta Clipper" due to it's rapid movement, is poised to roar over us in the next 48 hours. The wind is going to be the worst part of it, with gusts up to 80 km/h likely. Some areas could get gusts of 100 km/h.

   If that's not bad enough, we could see rain showers, freezing rain, and the potential of up to 10 cm of snow as well. Despite this, we can't complain. It is January, after all, and there are still months left in winter. Also, aside from one storm ion December, we really haven't had that bad a winter. It's been milder than usual, and we haven't had much in the way of snow. Still, I'll be happy when this season is over.

TTFN

A New Year. A New Look.

 

   Yup! That's me rockin' a new "do". Short, isn't it? Question is, why? Answer is easy-ish. First and foremost of course is the pandemic. With a new strain of the virus now showing up, but not here yet, I'm doubling down my efforts to avoid it until the vaccine arrives (another, future story). Secondly, I actually decided way before Christmas to get a set of clippers and lower my ears. Due, again in large part, to not wanting to wait until the new year to get in to see a stylist. Thirdly, it was simply time for another change, as the mop top was getting a little long, although, I did have hair past my shoulder up until 2017.

   It's easier to keep, and doesn't need combing in the morning. The only down-side is I went ahead and did it in winter. Meaning when it's even moderately cold, I need something on my head. Will I keep it like this? For the foreseeable future, yes. I've used the machine twice already, and another 2 times means it'll have paid for itself in the savings from going not to a stylist

   And a belated Happy New Year! May 2021 be a damn sight better than 2020.

TTFN

Hope You All Had A Wonderful Christmas

    We did, even COVID-style. I don't know what the restrictions on family gatherings are like in your area, but they're pretty strict here. 5 people max from the same household, and that's pretty much it. With one notable exception. If a family member lives alone, that person can visit others, so long as the 5 person maximum is not exceeded. For us, it really made no difference, as there's just my wife and I in our house, and our son, who lives by himself, who came up from Regina for the day.

   Like a lot of people, we scaled things back this year. Again, not a hardship since there's just the 3 of us living in the same province. No turkey (something in the meat causes me intestinal problems, plus we'd never use all the left-overs anyway), so we did a roast, with garlic mashed potatoes etc. To top it off, I whipped up a loaf of chocolate chunk bread, which was delicious with strawberries and whipped cream. Did I eat too much? Yes. Do I regret it? No.

   And if you're wondering why I'm in on Boxing Day, it's traditional. And due to the holiday season, I'll be away all next week, returning January 4th. So, I'd like to wish you all an early Happy New Year! May 2021 be a damn sight better than 2020.

TTFN

The Joy Of Having Cats

 

  That little fur-baby, Mini, got into a passel of trouble last night. My wife heard her playing with something, and when she checked, discovered Mini had found the hot chocolate bombs someone made for her. Basically, they're a chocolate shell filled with hot chocolate powder and miniature marshmallows, and they are delicious!

   But, I digress. Kitty knocked one off the counter, which broke it, and started playing with the marshmallows. And licking them. Nothing like picking up miniature cat-spit covered marshmallows off the kitchen floor. My wife says she did try and eat the chocolate (not good for cats), but apparently didn't like the taste and spit it out. A quick clean-up, and everything was good. My wife hid the remaining chocolate bombs in a cupboard.

   And since tomorrow is December 25th, a very Merry Christmas to you all!

TTFN

Winter Is Here

    And it arrived with a vengeance. After basking in relatively warm weather for most of the past 2 weeks, with some daytime highs in the plus range, reality came calling hard. The temperature this morning as of this writing (06:40) was a balmy -29 Celsius. At least there's not much wind. We knew it was coming, and I plugged the car in last night, but it's still a shock to the system to walk out the door first thing in the morning and literally having your breath taken away.

   This first, brutal cold snap won't last long, fortunately. We're supposed to start warming up as the week progresses, and we could see a high of -2 Friday. Hopefully.

TTFN 

A Bad Way To Start The Week

    Sleeping peacefully this morning, when my wife started shaking my arm, telling me my alarm was going off. I immediately shut it off, then went to the bathroom..and went straight back to bed. As I was lying down, I hit my wife's arm, startling her. She said "you have to get up". I said "it's Sunday". Her reply.."it's Monday".

   After a rather foul-mouthed response to that little gem, I got up again, did my morning ablutions, and headed to the office. Not the best way to start the week, and I just hope it's not a preview of what's to come for the remainder.

TTFN

A Rock God I'm Not

 

   Okay, a guitar hero I'm not, or ever will be. But, yes, that's me back in about 1977. I admit that even if I continue practicing and working on it, I'll never be 1 hundred-millionth as good as Clapton, Page or SRV, but I could play a bit back in the day. Then, about 6 years or so later, I quit. I don't know why, I just did. Until about 3 years or so ago, when I decided to start up again. How bad am I? Well, I can get the correct guitar sounds out of it, but that's about all.

   The reason is simple: My left hand. Old age is a big part of it, with arthritis among other issues, but several years ago, I unknowingly busted a bone in the wrist, and had a couple of recent tumbles which also damaged old leftie. The upshot is while I can play for a very limited amount of time, my hand starts to hurt only after 10 to 15 minutes, and I need to put it down. What I should look at is either physiotherapy or getting something to try and build up strength again.

   Meantime, I'll just keep rockin' in the free world!

TTFN