Now from the land of ice and snow my title makes sense. And we did get 20cm (8 in) of snow over a four day period.
No , I'm talking about being busy. Really busy. So I have not been able to post as often and I admit that reading and commenting on blogs has been less. I have missed reading some blogs meaning I like the blog and would like to read it in more detail.
Sometimes one problem gets tangled up with a couple of other projects and then "I get snowed under". I mean really busy.
So two weeks a go the micro manager discovered a little water under the kitchen sink. "So I'll just take a little look and see what's the trouble. " I found out the trap was leaking. That's the u shaped thing on the drain. This is a double sink so there are two drains.We went to our handy plumber who sells products and gives advice. He suggested we take out all the pipe under the sink and replace it with ABS (plastic). No, no we said we just want to replace the trap. Off we went to another place to find that we couldn't get what we wanted. We decided to take another look to make sure we were right. Well, we found a leak in another place. Back to the plumber for advice. Well, he still said replace the whole thing. He suggested a couple of options. Well, after puzzling and puzzling we decided to change the one side with plastic.
Well lo and behold when I was taking the right side apart the left side fell apart. So then I had to replace both the left side and right side.
So off we go and buy the supplies. The right side was tough to line up and it leaked.
So lesson learned. I buy more supplies and try again. I finally did a great job on both drains.
So my guy was right at the beginning. He said replace the whole thing and that's what I ended up doing.
Now some people are saying why are you so silly and do it yourself? Why don't you call a plumber? I like these projects even if they are difficult. Plumbers cost too much money. Plumbers leave you with a big mess to clean up. Plumbers break other stuff!
However, this is my last project. First, I don't have training or experience so the projects are a challenge. Next , I'm too old to crawl around on the floor and get into small spaces.
So this is probably my last post on doing a home project.
With my title I've probably made at least 50% of my readers angry.
Changing time twice in a year always brings about discussion on both sides of the issue. Some of it heated. Most of the negative comments come in the spring when we spring forward and lose and hour of our sleep. We don't hear so much complaining in the fall when we get an extra hour to sleep in.
The comments I've heard this spring have more substance than just complaining. People are asking why do we change. People have been following blindly without thinking about the reason for time changes...if there is one. Why do we change time? Who started the time change ? When did it start? Here people blame the farmers for the change. Farmers are the biggest complainers about time change.
So now people are saying, "Do we really need to change time?" The next question is but which time should we stay on? The hour ahead or the standard time. This is really when the choices are divided. There are good reasons for staying on standard time for the whole year and good reasons for staying on daylight saving time. The the term daylight saving time is a stretch. We are not saving time. There's still 24 hours in the day.
Ask shift workers about the change twice a year.
One place I know. Saskatchewan, Stays on standard time all year and has done so for many years.
I would like to see us go in the middle of standard time and daylight saving time.
Anybody with me?
In my previous life as a middle school teacher, I had to teach options from time to time. One time the school had three blocks of six week options. These options were to be something that was not covered in any other part of the program. We had to name our own poison. In other words, we had to make up an option.
Since I was keen on cycling I thought well, I'll do a cycling option in the spring and fall. I would do bicycle safety, maintenance, riding skills and you could always find a few games to go into the program.
One of the activities I tried was the Gold Rush ride. I took 100 egg sized rocks and painted them yellow(gold). In one of our larger parks with bike trails. I would hide the rocks. Then the kids had to find the rocks while riding their bikes. I was amazed that the kids participated in this activity with such energy. I had one kid choose my option 6 times in a row.
Later on we had a welcome to the new class , gr. sevens, in September. Again we chose a large park and bussed 200 grade sevens out for hot dogs. But we needed an activity. You guessed it...the old yellow rocks. We went out the afternoon before the event and hid the rocks. On the afternoon of the hot dog roast we divided the kids into groups. They came from 5 different feeder schools so we wanted to mix them so they got to know kids from other schools. So when we were all organized somebody said "go" and off they went. Liberal amounts of licorice twisters added energy to the hunt. Again the kids went tearing around looking for the rocks. My buddy, the art teacher used to keep the rocks in his art room. He probably still has the rocks in his garage at home even after 20 years of retirement.
Well, a few posts ago I wrote about finding 150 bird species for our country's 150th anniversary. I'm getting the same feeling about the activity. We're not finding rocks but birds. I can't believe the enthusiasm people have for finding species, reporting them and general discussion.
I guess I'm a one trick pony and use the same activity over and over but in different forms. I guess it's basically a type of treasure hunt!
Recently I have been very surprised by what I have experienced at the hands of our justice system. I have really started to wonder if our justice system works the way it's supposed to.
Now I'm not a crook. But I am currently experiencing the wheels of justice and how they turn. I'll tell you that they don't turn very well.
My crime is speeding. Yes, photo radar caught me driving at 41 kmph in a 30 kmph speed zone. We're all surprised when out of the blue we get a speeding ticket in the mail. There were three things that caught my eye when I looked at my ticket(1) The quality of the photo was very poor. (2) You could not identify the location from the photo(3) something labeled 48 Ave NB didn't make sense. If it hadn't been for these three issues I'd have gone down and paid my $105.00 fine.
So I started with some basic research. It took them 46 days to get my ticket to me. I found out that in our bill of rights we have the right to have justice in a reasonable time. A ticket is to be delivered in 21 days. I decided to fight the ticket.
I met with a prosecutor and told him I would plead not guilty. He told me to go and arrange for a trial date. This was the most efficient of the whole issue. I then had to make an application for disclosure. These people looked at me if I a nut. I was not amused with these people. They didn't want to take my application for disclosure.
Now I'd previously written about my issue with entering the courthouse and security. It was not a great day.
This week I received an email out of the blue from the solicitor general's department. They were answering my Dec. 8, 2016 email. What really got me going was that the writer's name was not on the email. We phoned the solicitor General's dept and got nowhere asking for the name of the person who wrote the email.
To say the least, I'm not very pleased with how our justice system functions.
My court date is April 4. With the gong show I have been dealing with , I'm not sure what could happen at my court case. I am asking for the ticket to be withdrawn.
Okay , stay tuned.
Here, March definitely came in like a lamb. Wind was light and it was clear. It got nasty in the afternoon with lots of wind. However, when March arrived it was nice. I should mention it was minus 16 C (plus 2 F).
Now I like weather sayings and once in awhile I will look for their origins. Origins usually turn up some interesting information. I couldn't say facts or even fake facts but I'd be wrong. Research has uncovered various theories as to why we have special weather sayings. Origins are ancient. They may have a religious aspect. Many refer to agriculture. Others refer to stars and constellations in the solar system.
Origins for in like a lamb go far back and come from various sources. The Leo constellation is high in the sky in March. Some think this influenced the lion part. In many places lambs were born at this time of year. In like a lamb sounds better than in like a kid! Religious beliefs come into play as well.
One thing I notice is that the sayings like groundhog day have a European origin. So I sometimes wonder if the southern hemisphere has the same sayings or do they have their own which apply to their schedule? I'm looking for comments from some Australian followers. I'm sure there are many sayings for African weather. Are any of them the same as what we have?
There are other weather sayings that are not common and we don't know about them.
So do you pay attention to weather sayings? Do you like the sayings?
The photos are from Mar. 21 2013.
Four nights ago our microwave went dark. It stopped in the middle of heating our supper. It silently quit and went dark. That was it for a hot supper.
Now when the microwave quit I realized how dependent I had become on it and how much I used it. It was difficult to be without it.
So half the supper was cold. The next morning, no hot cereal. No hot morning coffee. My soup for lunch had to be done on the stove. I can't remember the last time I heated soup on a stove. We kept running to the microwave only to discover again and again that it wasn't there. We suddenly realized how many times a day we used the microwave.
The microwave was still on warranty so we had to take it back to the store. There was a hassle at the store but finally they agreed to replace the microwave. But , they didn't have one like mine. they checked other stores. Finally they found the right microwave but it takes a few days to get here.
Now the last time the microwave died we just went out the next day and bought a new one. Unfortunately, this time we have to do without the microwave.
Now all this whining has made me look back and wonder how we lived before microwaves. In my Mom's case she spent more than half her life without refrigeration. We didn't cook so much at one time so we didn't have leftovers. Now we make large amounts of food, refrigerate it and then warm it up with the trusty microwave. Want coffee? Boil the kettle and throw a teaspoon of instant coffee in your cup! Remember instant coffee? It's been 20 years since we had instant coffee.
So now on the fourth day without a microwave we are getting used to the routine. We're not going to the microwave only to get a shock when we realize the microwave is gone. I haven't stopped looking over for the time on the microwave clock.
Maybe Thursday we'll have the new microwave!
Did you ever get a problem where you worked for hours trying to set things up but couldn't find a solution.
That's what happened to me today. I told you about my 150 species count. As usual , I get a good idea but I don't think it through to the end. I knew I wanted to set up a list that would show all birds spotted, the spotter, location and date.
Now some people would say that's easy and I'm sure it is. They would say set up one of those little boxy squary things and away you go. I've never learned how to use that handy dandy program.
So I tried about 4 or 5 things and found out they wouldn't work. Put the list on my word processor and transfer to face book. It doesn't work. I wanted to pin the list to the face book page so that it was obvious and people could see the additions. The face book page is too narrow.
Finally, during supper, I said I'll bet the blog would work. So I've worked another hour and yes, the blog does work.
You won't see it on this blog but on Natural Wise.
So now I feel much more relaxed and when I get all the reported birds typed in I will be happy.
So go over to Natural Wise and have a look at the list.
Do you ever get a problem that is so difficult that your head hurts?
