You may remember when my support for the nascent women’s movement inspired me to walk in protest marches and to crochet pussy hats. Well, my enthusiasm for both the women’s movement and crochet have not diminished. My skill in crochet, however, continues to leave something to be desired. I’m pretty good with toques (or beanies, […]
It is hard to admit failure, but I have to confess to something less than success in a history class. I have started taking classes in local history presented to seniors by a department of the regional university. It is called Elder College and it has all sorts of affordable courses presented both in-person and […]
A week or so ago some friends were talking about Spotify and how it had taken income away from musicians. I agreed, and added that both my children are or were musicians and they had found that they got more benefit from selling CDs at performances than from Spotify. Both of them had experienced that […]
After I moved into this apartment I decided that the grey wall-to-wall carpeting needed something extra; specifically, a dash of colour. So I ordered an 3′ x 5′ area rug that I thought would coordinate with the window pelmets (or valances) and really tie the room together as the famous designer, The Big Lebowski, once […]
I have been intrigued to watch some of the yachts in the marina being prepared for winter. They are wrapped up like the most difficult to wrap Christmas gifts. That reminded me of the year my parents bought me a hula hoop, but that is another story. There is something very sweet about swaddling a […]
You know how it is when you try to do the right thing but it turns out to be the wrong thing? Well, maybe you don’t. You probably always do the right thing. But anyway, that’s what happened to me. Doing the wrong thing unintentionally, that is. Here’s what happened. In my apartment are a […]
My recent move has been a joy. Really. I love everything about my new place. As time goes by, though, I have come across a couple of peas under the mattresses. The first was the difficulty I had in receiving deliveries, but that is now resolved as effectively as possible. Not perfectly, but live-with-able. The […]
Tonight I succeeded it making the best french fries I have ever made. To be fair, I have to qualify that by adding that they were prepared and frozen originally by Western Family, the store brand at my local grocery store. I must also explain my claim to french frying brilliance by adding that I […]
I like puzzles. I like jigsaws, crosswords, cryptic puzzles, and even the New York Times Thursday Rebus puzzle. Well, maybe not that last one. But mostly I enjoy solving puzzles because I know that there is an answer just waiting to be found. Until today. Today I came across the impossible Jysk Ersmark dining chair […]
A few days ago I noticed two ducks in the marina and I wondered what type of duck they were. Accordingly, I spent some time Googling “grey duck” and coming up empty. Yesterday, I decided to take some pictures and do a reverse image search. In the photos they look more brown than grey, so […]
As I look out over the marina, I cannot help noticing that there seems to be some mast envy going on. I’m sure there is a practical reason for this, but some masts are definitely much bigger than others. Not that it matters, right?
I had assumed that the security panel at the front gate could be linked to my phone so that I could buzz people in. When I asked my landlord about it, he confessed to not knowing how it worked and then chatted with another resident who happened to be nearby about outdated names on the […]
When I moved in here on 10th, I thought I was being clever in arranging for the cable company to hook me up with TV and internet on the same day. I wasn’t clever enough, however, to realize that the technician would need access to the condo complex’s mechanical room. That requires a key that […]
You know what it is like when you visit a different country or culture, even if you speak the same language, there is so much you don’t understand? It is a moment, or a month, of realization that you are an outsider. When I first immigrated to Canada, I was bewildered by much that was […]
White wine has helped to soften the rough edges of moving from Edmonton, Alberta to Nanaimo, British Columbia. It was one heck of a two-day journey. Actually to be fair, the scenery was magnificent, and the vehicles (a U-Haul truck and my aging car) performed brilliantly. The trouble we had was entirely down to Rogers […]
We thought Roe v Wade was fixed in stone, but we were wrong. Clearly, it was only pencilled in. Today, though, I discovered something that does seem to be eternally fixed, and I doubt that even the US Supreme Court can change it. The Google logo and search bar are deliberately placed just slightly above […]
This week I have been trying, multiple times, to change the address and phone number on my Bank of America account. You’d think that would be fairly straightforward, wouldn’t you? First I tried to make the changes online, but could not enter any edited data. So, I tried the chat line. The chat person was […]
Snowbird of Paradise 