Summer bugs Rotzy in many ways…
A Busy Week Here….
….at 555 Harris Place, including two visits from Molly Maid*tm….Matt, the guy who did the ‘estimate’ on Monday, then three Molly’s for our first once-a-month cleaning on Wednesday; company, in the form of a good friend we hadn’t seen for 25 years or so, arriving for a wonderful visit; welcoming a friend/neighbour down the hall who’s been having a ‘rough tyme of it’ for a couple weeks (hoping we might have helped out a bit); and last but not least, a fire drill, the notice read Friday between 12:00 Noon and 3:00PM….apparently the hottest day so far this year, and breaking a 1946 record for July 19th….39C, with a ‘feels like factor” of 45C (*see below). Well, the alarm (a VERY awful sounding system which I’m betting scares the poop outta the resident ankle-biters, as well as the full size canines) went off about 12:04PM, just as I had set out a couple Ziggy’s black forest ham, Black Diamond swiss cheese sandwich’s on rye bread, topped with Dijon Mustard and a ‘side’ of a couple Vlasic Polskie Ogorki dill pickles. Anyway, when the rude-sounding alarm goes off, the elevators shut down, and those who can are supposed to walk down the stairs, congregate in the lobby or wherever and give management/staff your name(s). If you use a walker or rely on a wheelchair, methinks you’re supposed to go out on your balcony and wave a white flag….or towel….but I’m not sure what happens next? When we get the green light you can climb back up the stairs….OR….wait 20 minutes or so until the ‘lifts’ are working again….on the hottest day of 2019??!! Hello???!!! Sorry, but the sandwiches won out….OK, OK, OK…truth be known, it was a ‘no-brainer’, and I washed it all down with an ice cold Diet Coke*tm. I never did find out how many oldsters actually took part in the evacuation…or if anybody melted.
I Have Previously Explained….
….in this space that I fully believe that the ‘feels like’ temperatures the weather reporters use, whether it’s the Wind Chill Factor in winter or the Humidex in the summer, ARE the actual temperatures….no ‘feels like’ about it. Hence, if it ‘Feels Like 45C, it IS 45C!! You get my drift? And as to breaking the record that was set in 1946 (*see above), tho I was only about 15 months old I can faintly recall lying buck-naked in my baby pram (I never wore diapers as I never pooped my pants) and my Mom had a General Electric swivel fan blowing on me, then my Dad came home from work with a 12-pack of Cinci in his bicycle carrier. Who woulda thunk the temp that day would hold up for some 73 years???!!! Anyway, I do hope I got that ‘feels like thing’ straightened out for you. You’re welcome.
Garden Update
It appears, what with regular rainfalls….which are quite often major downpours….and lots of sunshine, all of the plots in our ‘commune garden’ down in front of 575 (the gray building) are doing just fine, thank you. Including our #4 plot, tho it looks as if some of our group just stuck their plants/seeds in the ground and stuff will automatically land on their kitchen counter tops. In particular a number of tomato plants which are spreading like crazy, having ‘escaped’ the wire cages that were meant to contain/keep them under control. The plot next to ours….I have no idea who it belongs to?….has/had their tomatoes spreading out over our beans and carrots, so after spending five minutes a couple days last week, methinks I have ‘trained’ them to go the other way. The funniest one is the row of peas! which are planted in one of two raised boxes, but I haven’t seen the lady who lays claim to them in 2 or 3 weeks, at which tyme she was re-tieing them up….again….and she exclaimed “this is too much like work….none of this next year for me”! Or something like that. The thing is that she has planted about ten tymes more pea seeds than she should have, and with them all tied up, it’s just like a maze. They’re all coming ripe….and beyond ripe, which are too tough to eat….and as to the middle of the vines, you can’t even see the peas, let alone pick them. Let me assure you that those which aren’t over-ripe taste just fine, thank you. Anyway, we’re still eating beans and gave a feed of the yellow variety to a couple neighbours. We’re also using fresh herbs from out on our verandah/balcony….might even be getting a few strawberries!
Miz. Jo And Rotzy….
….had a discussion last week about what we’re missing most from Nakina, now that we’ve got about nine months under our belts here in Brant’s Ford. Methinks that, after twenty years up there, plus another 23 or 24 years of having our camp out on scenic Lower Twin Lake, we both pretty much agreed that leaving a wonderful bunch of friends behind was #1. Things like camp and fishing, our home and property in town with veggie and flower gardens, my daily ‘buckboard run’ ( I still do a daily buckboard run here, but I have to drive faster or people honk at me and say rude things….and after last week down here, surely slightly cooler temps and definitely drier air up north!! So….SO…when it came tyme for what we do NOT miss about Nakina we both chimed in together with ”the BUGS”!!! And even tho we’ve been down here less than one year I have a tough tyme recalling just how BAD they were, and wonder how they didn’t drive me/us bonkers….that’s how distant it seems now, only part way through one summer. OK, OK….we do have a few flies around….house flies/dumb flies….one or two beer bugs that might have ridden down with me/us….also, to date we’ve spotted one mosquito….YES! ONE!!! And here’s the biggie….ZERO Black Flies!! Can you dig it?! What I mean is that if I have to get honked and cursed at now and then….or even daily….ir’s a damn fine trade-off for ZERO Black Flies….you think?
J..O.T.W.
Jerk Of The Week….a two way tie this week! Donald Trump for his racial slander/slur against four African/American women for telling them ”go home where you came from”….and he’s not talking about Chicago or Dallas. Dougie Ford also gets the semi-prestigious nod for calling an escapee from the Queen Street Mental Health facility a ”nut-case”. Way to go guys, you’re both setting the bar high for other would-be jerks!!
*Thought Of The Day…Since Americans throw rice at weddings do Asians throw hamburgers? (Steven Wright)
