Time to tear the final leaf from the calendar. With hours left, I have no regret about 2013, and a great deal of optimism about 2014. Thankfully, the day to day changes in my appearance save me from the less than subtle shock of getting older. I won’t provide “before” and “after” photos.
posted in environment | Comments Off on Tear the final leaf from the calendar | 252 words
The dog noticed first. A reflexive bark, followed by a rush to the window. I had to look, and I saw the familiar car pass by without turning in. Winter. Has a trick where it covers the driveway in snow of unknown depth, and like a hesitant diver… and so I suited up and headed out to move some snow from here to there. Almost a camouflage effort; no sense trying to get rid of the evidence. Winter.
posted in technology | Comments Off on Clearance for landing | 265 words
While choosing the appropriate laundry cycle, this evening, the machine entered into that warp space where time makes no sense. Kind of like the last five minutes of a major sporting event, I guess. At one point, the counter showed 25 minutes remaining. Thirty minutes later (I heated a pizza, so this was real time), the counter showed 21 minutes remaining. Shortly afterward, 9. Not any more useful than the download indicator in Windows XP.
posted in media | Comments Off on The distant sound of barking | 287 words
I don’t understand. English is one of the languages that gets used (and abused) around the planet. And, thanks to movies, radio, TV and the other cousins, there is ample opportunity to sample various regional accents. So, based on a limited sampling, what happened in the urban wilds of Scotland?
posted in education | Comments Off on Lost in the accent | 259 words
Sighted, in the street by our house: snow removal equipment. A big deal; as recently as yesterday, I believed that the city’s new approach to winter was to simply let cars scrunch the snow down. We’re now good until the weekend.
posted in humour | Comments Off on Sighted – snow plows | 257 words
Oddly impractical, the rules of commerce during the holidays. Although I could have (and didn’t) joined the lines to purchase an oversized TV, my trip to get more coffee ended up against a locked door. Back-to-back holidays in the bean trade. Tomorrow, at the earliest. The bin isn’t empty, yet, but my getting out of bed early has taken on a new urgency.
posted in technology | Comments Off on Bury the wires, not the pipes | 254 words
A special request to the fowl merchants across the land. Could you please affix a simple “This Side Up” label to the birds. This was not the first time that my meal received a hearty welcome to the table, along with a sotto voce comment about the turkey/chicken being upside down. Colour coding the flesh is insufficient for some (brown on one side, white on the other). And my explanation that the bird carried its fleshy section down to the ground doesn’t win me any sympathy.
posted in environment | Comments Off on Festive food and festive music | 250 words
Part of the holiday paradigm. What do you eat, when the fridge is full and the possibilities are wide? How about that loaf of apple-raisin bread? If not taken in hand, now, it will harden to club status, and the disappointment will be palpable. Or some of the oranges (from last week), before the peel gets thin and the juice goes away? I’m practical.
posted in health | Comments Off on Sitting and waiting for the celebrating | 257 words
Getting the snow out of the driveway was a little harder this afternoon. No more soft powder; this was akin to moving an outcrop of rock. Son #3 wondered if we owned a pickax; soon, we may. This is only the beginning of the season, and we’ve already received about a meter of frozen precipitation.
posted in media | Comments Off on Considering the value of my accumulation | 255 words
Maybe I should put an end to watching “historical biographies” on TV. After all, the chances that what I learn is more factually correct than what I picked up along the way is not important. By the time someone is subject of such effort, their time among us is done. This evening, a movie about Churchill. The famous “Peace sign” guy, who inspired a generation of hippies (I think).
posted in history | Comments Off on The relevance of historical bios | 253 words
