Don't Be Naughty

As the bearded kingpin of gift buying season, I get a chance to hear all sorts of wants and wishes. However, this Santa only has one. I beg you to wait until the end of November before you hang my likeness anywhere!

Quantifying

The Amazon guy brought me two of these today.

   

I got them expressly so I don't over pour. Did you know that a standard restaurant serving of wine is 150ml (about 5 US oz). That means there are five servings in a bottle.  The standard size is considered the norm for use in medical studies of wine consumption.

Prior to today, I'd never found more than three servings in one bottle!  😃

 

Interdependencies

I walked uptown again today.  

I stopped to take a picture of the front of the Westminster Centre from across the street.  I noted two fast food places, a Subway and McDonald's on each side of the entrance.  If you spend too much time eating in them, you might need to go and visit to Planet Fitness. If you keep putting off doing so, you may find yourself visiting the Care Point health clinic.  If you also fail to heed the doctors' advice about not visiting the fast-food places, your relatives will hope you spent time with one of the financial advisors at Edward Jones. 

Free to a Good Home

Day 77 - Looking for some sunshine? Come and pick some up.

   

We currently find ourselves with an excess of solar UV radiation. As we cannot use it all, we are offering to give away one-third of our current supply. Simply enquire at the email address found under contacts here.

Unofficial Proclamation

Text Credit: Bing Chat and Photo Credit: Midjourney

Whereas spring is a season of renewal and growth, and

Whereas the Lower Mainland of British Columbia is blessed with a mild and temperate climate compared to the rest of this land, and

Whereas the signs of spring are evident in the blooming of flowers, the chirping of birds, and the lengthening of days,

Now, therefore, I, Dennis Sylvester Hurd, do at this moment, proclaim that spring has unofficially begun in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, and urge all residents to celebrate this joyous occasion by enjoying the natural beauty and diversity of our region.

Shopping and My Unexpected Find

Today was Saturday so, as is our norm, we went to Coquitlam for groceries in the morning.  While we were shopping at the Superstore, I plugged our EV into one of the fast DC chargers.  Lately, it has been too cold and rainy for enjoyable walks in Queen's Park.  I usually charge at our largest New Westminster public park because I can get a little exercise while enjoying the natural environment.  However, it generally takes us more than a half hour to shop, so charging on Saturdays is like killing two birds with one stone.

 

I did not pick up the potion in the picture today.  It came from a second-hand shop.  I found it in the bottom of a box of junk.  I'm pretty sure that it is a bottle of Love Potion # 9.16.  I should be able to re-sell it for a pretty penny.  If interested, contact me by email.

 

Alternate Facts 2

We've owned the same apartment in New Westminster, BC for 25 years this spring.

This is how I picture our building's fountain in my mind.

   

This is how our building's fountain actually appears.

 

Alternate Facts 1

We've owned the same apartment in New Westminster, BC for 25 years this spring. 

This is how I picture our building's hot tub in my mind.

   

This is how our building's hot tub actually appears.

 

A New Fragrance by Celestial Bodies

Share a little space and people will think you smell out of this world. 
Experience Alpha Scentauri!

 This false advertising was created using AI-imaging.

Stunt Cycling Allowed

We stopped up at Queen's Park for a short walk this morning. We did not see anyone doing bicycle tricks though.

 

My title was going to be 'Practice Sharing'. However, after looking more carefully at the image, I think it represents a cyclist standing on a bike's seat and handlebars. So, it's obvious to me that stunt cyclists are allowed on this path. 

I Want the Life of Weather Frog

Google's Weather Frog often flies his kite when it's windy. He spends quite a bit of time in a hammock and he sometimes tosses his empty can of, I presume, beer. He takes picnics and does yoga on a mountaintop. The frog sometimes paints pictures, especially at sunset. He writes in a journal and frequently reads books as he was doing here. The guy naps a whole lot.

   

Hey, wait! That really doesn't sound a lot different than what I do.

Simple Cause & Effect

The following photograph highlights a brand of beer brewed locally in Mazatlan, Mexico.  It also showcases the resulting beer belly.

 

2LP Double Playing Time

"Thanks for listening to Spotify. No really! You could have listened to the radio. You could have spun some vinyl. You could have played a cassette tape. You could’ve listened to an 8-track tape, if you knew what an 8-track tape looked like.  But you listened to Spotify. Thanks for that! And you still have hundreds more playlists to enjoy."

   

Screw you, Spotify. 

I found this today when cleaning the front closet. I don't know where I picked it up.   It couldn't have been in the case from Columbia House in my Ford Pinto during college.

Today's Message

Dear Weather gods,

Thank you very much. You've prompted us to light the gas fireplace already this season. I'm happy to see it still works. Also, keeping lights switched on most of the day meant we'll get a larger power bill, but it did provide us with a very cozy, relaxing environment. We didn't feel the need to accomplish anything. Most importantly, I must add that today's weather is providing us with some pleasure in knowing our winter plans are all set and include five months away in the tropics.

Yours in damp subjugation,
Dennis and Jay

Where's My Calendar and Calculator?

Yay, I have an Amazon Canada Prime membership with free 2-day shipping! So today's order will arrive on Wednesday, July 10th. OK, thanks.

Now His Folks' Skype Number? They Look Fun.

I remember those horrible, dark days when I deleted my Facebook account and encountered severe FB withdrawal symptoms.

To ease the pain, I signed up for a Mastodon account. I still hang around there because it is full of weird and wacky sorts. Mostly, I lurk at their conversations, but I do link this blog's postings. Oh, and once in a while, I also write short, inspiring outbursts, assuredly comprised of things of little consequence.



I also continue to use Twitter as a news aggregator. Things from Mastodon bounce there to provide a touch of lived-in Twitter appearance. I noticed that Phil Rosenthal liked the tweet that resulted from the toot. It could have been a media representative, but I prefer to think it was the fellow himself. I just knew that someone who looked like Phil would have to possess good character and a healthy sense of humour!

Columbia StrEAT Food Truck Fest

Yikes, there sure are a lot of people on Columbia Street right now! We just walked the length of the Food Truck Fest and it was elbow room only in many sections. This has become a big summer event in New Westminster, BC.




I was surprised by the number of millennials in attendance. Most of the crowd skewed toward that demographic. Then, I sort of recalled the situation of baby crows at this point in the summer. By now, they look like fully-grown adults, but the ones flapping their wings are the new brood. They demand and expect to be fed even though they're big enough to feed themselves.

At Least There's No "K"

I'm not one to participate in spreading Internet memes. I seldom embed objects from external social media sources into this blog. However, I saw this tweet from a local news source just as it was time to create today's posting. It does seem as though someone working for this contractor needs to revisit one for a little refresher course in spelling.

Oops! B.C. city gets schooled on ‘scohol’ sign https://t.co/GDgp91Dc20 pic.twitter.com/6gg4U7oN2l

— Globalnews.ca (@globalnews) June 1, 2017

Coffee Not Ingested

It's fun to look back. Yet, it's more amazing to be able to look back.

I've been trying to take, at minimum, one photo every day of my life. I've been fairly good at keeping the project going since July 2005. In fact, the eight pictures you see right above these entries are randomly chosen samples. Even on the days which seem to be missing from the album, I most often took the photo but neglected to name and include it correctly.

Today, I looked back exactly a decade. This is what I found.


January 17, 2007 - My handouts for class are meticulously organized. I'm quite addicted to coffee. The two don't mix well. Ugh!

Stuff I Didn't Think Of ...

The new stove is great. However, the existing cheap-ass range hood will need to be replaced with a new cheap-ass stainless-steel range hood.