One of the unanticipated side effects of staying home for self-isolation is that some people start drying out. I’m one of them. In case you were wondering, I haven’t stopped drinking alcohol. I still enjoy a couple of glasses of wine in the evening. In fact, I look […]
For all of you who are housebound, watching too much TV, and wishing you had something to do, I have a remedy. I have a mystery for you to solve. Yesterday as I was out walking around my neighbourhood and keeping the required two metres from other people, […]
Last year, when it rained steadily for a few days, I had lots of snails on, under, and around my patio wall, trying not to drown. This year, when it rained in January, there were no snails. I commented on it to my roommate and wondered aloud if […]
When you hear someone say “Let’s unpack this” you hope they are going to take a complicated issue, separate it into its parts, identify the common thread, and prioritize essential elements. They will see the big picture, discard the extraneous, and focus on productivity. When someone looks at […]
Humans started making tools about 90,000 years ago and it took all that time for us to realize we could put our luggage on wheels. Whoever first came up with that idea is brilliant and we should all bow down in obeisance to that genius. Here’s another simple […]
Here are some pictures of me taken in my glory days. I was somewhere between 19 and 22 or 23 and going through a somewhat rebellious period. Not very rebellious. Just a little.
As I work on a jigsaw puzzle, I have the TV on and I am listening to the Senate impeachment trial. It occurred to me that the House members representing the prosecution are organizing the presentation of the evidence in much the same way that I tackle a […]
After walking for about an hour today, I decided to take a break by sitting in the outdoor seating area of a downtown San Jose coffee shop that is on a pedestrian walkway. As I turned into Paseo de San Antonio, two people with clipboards beckoned me to […]
A little while ago I was visiting with some family members and my nephew noticed my phone. It was an iPhone 5S and it worked just fine for me. My nephew commented on it and made me take a second look. I can’t remember what he said, exactly, […]
From time to time I see a message that someone has written and I wonder who they are. Why did they write it? Who did they think would read it? Is it a message for the moment or for posterity? Here are some of those messages: […]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, aka the Mormon church, has a nest egg of one hundred billion US dollars. Yes, $100,000,000,000. Leaving aside for now the fact that this money is all in a tax-exempt investment fund, this huge amount of money is just sitting […]
There is a song by Jerome Kern and B.G. DeSilva that admonishes us to always look for the silver lining. Quite by chance today, I found it. I also found Santa Claus on an apartment balcony. But nothing surprised me more than finding out that Captain America lives […]
I’m the kind of person that enjoys true crime re-enactments so it should come as no surprise that I am also enjoying the US impeachment hearings. I’m lapping it up. I can have that channel on while I’m pottering about the house, doing crafts, reading, or replying to […]
In Canada, there has been a bit of a hullabaloo about poppies. Not real poppies; the fake kind that people wear for Remembrance Day. One of our hockey commentators made remarks insisting that immigrants have a duty to buy poppies and there has been a huge blowback in […]
For everyone who has heard “It’s your age,” this article is for you. I have reached the age when this diagnosis has been applied to whatever thing I might be grumbling about. I must explain, though, that this conclusion has not come from my doctor. She is very […]
I am a snowbird who travels south for the winter. When I get there I have a bird of paradise plant on my patio.
