TubaOrNotTuba

A shout out to the post office, who seem to have figured out parcel delivery. When the white car with the flashing lights pulled into the library, I barely made it to the sidewalk before the driver was out with a parcel in hand. There were customs duties owed, and there was a nifty machine in tow, to read my C/C and expedite payment. Total halt, under two minutes. When I compare that to a generation ago, where receiving a shipment from outside the country required study in the tariff manuals, a trip up to the third floor of the Dominion Building and a lien on the soul of my firstborn  (he doesn’t know about that)… we’ve made some serious progress. Not exactly free trade, but better than it used to be.

Read the rest of this entry »

Saved by the family courier service; our supply of coffee beans was just about gone, so they brought us a couple of bags full. (8.75 kg) should allow me to face the mornings for a while. We tried to source our coffee locally, but gave up when we learned that even the local roasters couldn’t deliver either the quantity or the variety we wanted. And forget the local supermarkets. We’ve returned to a small shop that will accept phone orders (and delivery by whatever means we want).

Read the rest of this entry »

Politics is like chess. You sacrifice your pawn, try to get the knight or the bishop into position, deliver the  match. Today, a big name from QC left the safety of the crowd (the opposition), determined to start his own party and spawn a new match. In reality, he has pretty much, helped his friends to concede the current game, and the next one. However, come another cycle (typically four years) and the proposed game is open. Unfortunately, there’s a dark castle lurking. He “whose name we dare not speak” could return. After all, he’ll only be sixty-four (isn’t that the same number as the squares on the board?)

Read the rest of this entry »

Call it a change in routine: sometime after morning coffee, the rainfall began. Here we are, about ten hours along and so far we’ve received 54 mm. About double the amount from the last month! Not going to start an ark project, but wanted to make sure I paid attention to the “end of a long, hot summer”. They’ve postponed the Gold Cup race, and a number of streets in the city require your Wellingtons.

Read the rest of this entry »

Listen to the word: Breakfast. Split the word into syllables. Break-fast. Now apply context. You’re out of bed, and hungry, The first meal of your day. As a complication, go out (far from the comfort an familiarity of your own kitchen. I don’t care. Restaurant. Community centre.

Read the rest of this entry »

With the summer season, people come this way as tourists. Along with the inevitable baggage, they bring their own personal conditions. Medical, particularly.

Read the rest of this entry »

Another sign that I’m getting older: while in restaurants, I notice the ambient noise level. More precisely, I notice the volume level of younger children. I ask myself sub voce questions, like “Is that a one-fork or two-fork response”? You see, my own children never did that scream in public while dancing on a chair at the table performance. If they had, we would have had a one-fork or two-fork response, depending on the escalation of parental involvement. And yes, the question would have been, “Are you done yet?”

Read the rest of this entry »

About six months back, while on a trip to Halifax, I set out to find the Donair Cam. Didn’t choose the right counter, but I opted to test the product at hand. Pretty standard. Filled the hunger pangs. Allowed me to move forward.

Read the rest of this entry »

Back to quiet time: the house guests have headed back down the highway, and the lady of the manor is off to visit fancy gardens. Just me and the dog around for the heat wave. If he starts a conversation, I’m going to blame it on too much warm weather.

Read the rest of this entry »

Just for the sake of conversation, let’s put “going out for supper” as the subject. Then, let’s decide on two ends of an arbitrary scale. At one edge, a quick burger at a drive-thru. At the other, how about six hours of constant “foodie” action, in a theme park, directed by a real chef. This evening, we chose the latter.

Read the rest of this entry »