Christmas is seeping in everywhere….
joy, happiness, and making of hoopla!
I Was Involved….
….(without even mentioning/promoting the subject)….in a number of (sometymes ‘heated’) conversations around #555 Harris Place and around town last week about P/M Justin Trudeau’s proclamation of a ‘tax break’ for ‘all Canadians….get this!!….who are earning less than $147,000.00 a year’! The savings will work out to about $300 yr. Well dont’cha know Miz. Jo and Rotzy are in that same bracket, so to speak….just drop the ‘1’….as are millions of other Canadians, many of whom make less than us, yet they are raising families. Anyway, yours truly has been ranting about a 25%-50% increase in the sadly outdated CPP and OAS benefits for a decade and a half, but it ain’t happening yet. I guess we’re supposed to be happy with $300 per annum. I actually had a damned good laugh the other day whilst taking a second look at it….why in hell do people making between $100,000 and almost $150,000 need a $300 tax grab??!! S..t, I’m sure they regularly lay out $300 for a bottle of their favourite scotch!! It says right here that J/T and Minister Morneau coulda done a lot better/fairer job. But you gotta keep people happy, eh? and just maybe this is the bunch of Canucks who fit in the bracket that the new ministry was created for?….The Ministry of Middle Class Prosperity. And what a ‘fit’ it is….they get their own Minister AND a $300 bonus just for being what they are. So….SO….what about us at the other end of the Wealth-O-Meter, and is there a Minister Of Hard Tymes? My mind got to wandering there for a second or five, thinking about what it would be like for the Rotzys to be pulling in nearly $150 G’s a year??!! Imagine! One thing is for sure….the scotch would stay on the shelf over at the In And Out Store….all of it. Back in Rotzy’s and Miz. Jo’s partying days, when the J&B Scotch & Labatts 50 was all that was left in the bar, it would be ”good night, turn out the lights, the party’s over”. Hopefully, someone in the House’s P/C section will twist J/T’s arm, in favour of those of us at the low end of the $150G Club?!
Speaking Of P/C’s….
….I/we were very surprised to learn that Andrew Scheer was/is ‘stepping down as Leader of the Federal Conservative Party’….after guaranteeing the week prior that he was doing nothing of the sort. Well hello!! Andrew didn’t ‘step’ anywhere, other than in the poo. Andrew was shown the door!….all the P.C. ‘big names’ wanted him gone, even former P/M Stephen Harper was pushing for a ‘leadership change’. Scheer will remain as an MP. SO….So….from that news item to the next item, Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s name pops up!! Yessiree, as a possible (eventual) replacement. Ford says an emphatic ‘NO”….and he’s been busy lately ‘befriending’ Trudeau, nine other Premiers, and pretty much anybody/everybody he comes into contact with….the ‘new and improved mellow’ Doug Ford. Well, in spite of him denying any interest whatsoever in becoming Leader of the Federal P.C’s, “From Nakina” would bet the mortage….if we had one….that he WILL take a shot at it. And, guess what? Fordo will win! Any takers on Rotzy’s bet??!!
This Past Weekend….
…I/we celebrated National Monkey Day….and though I can’t be absolutely sure, I have reasoned that type of monkey we’re making the fuss over is the wild ones that we find in the jungle and/or the Metro Zoo rather than the popular rock band from back in the 1960’s. It’s also National Alabama Day, and one reader used the opportunity to call out a boistrous ”Rollll Tide” on behalf of Bama’s NCAA football team The Crimson Tide. Also late last week Rotzy enjoyed ‘participating’ in National Lager Day (*see below). I quickly verified it was NOT National Logger Day, lest I would be required to go out and ‘buck firewood’, meaning cut, split and pile enough of it for winter in Nakina. Well, after over four decades of ‘bucking firewood’ in Nakina I gotta say that I don’t miss that ‘chore’ at all! since landing in Brant’s Ford. But I certainly do miss the smell of freshly cut/split pine/spruce/birch. Tho the smells are different, it’s the same sensation as a newly cut lawn. As to National Lager Day (*see above), well, let’s just say I did MY part….and then some….but hey, it only comes once a year!
”A Holiday Gathering”….
….(1st Annual!) for 3rd Floor Residents here at 555 Harris Place last Thurs from 3:00 to about 5:30 was a resounding success!! The metal chairs and tables had been brought from the patio to our 3rd floor elevator lobby, the wheels started turning, and an idea became reality. A couple ‘meetings’ with Miz. Jo and Joan (our friend from down the hall), decorations went up (including our tree which we didn’t/don/t have room for), Rotzy named it ‘The 300 Lounge’, invites were hand delivered to each unit, another J&J meeting, ‘suggestions’ were made as to what type of food/munchies they could bring. Somebody set a small radio beside the tree, softly playing Xmas music. The Day arrived….it was almost 3:00….a quick meeting, and we needed more chairs and tables…no problem. LOTS of food set out on two tables and folks began arriving….need more chairs!!….then about 3:15 in came Gary The Guitar Guy and his Missus! He did a great ‘Elvis’, we sang some Christmas songs and then a lotta olde tyme rock and roll. The final count was 20 or 21 people methinks, including our Resident Managers, plus a couple in their 70’s who’d moved in the day before and a young single mom with a five yr old boy and a cute little baby girl…..so the age spread’ was from 3 months to 80, and everywhere in between. Ruth even dropped by with her tail wagging golden and ?? pup Stella, also 3 months. Clean up was a snap, leftovers easily found homes, chairs and tables could wait until morning…..after another meeting, at which it was agreed it was a GREAT party, and THE THIRD FLOOR had surely become the envy of all the others! Now there is talk about a New Years Eve get together….again, Third Floor Only?! Stay tuned on that one.
Merry Christmas!!!
With yours truly not sure what day the Dec 25th Edition will hit the stores, we’d better take care of business in this week’s Times-Star….hence, as always, Jo Ann and Rotzy hope and pray that YOUR Christmas is everything that YOU wish it to be and that 2020 brings you an abundance of Health, Happiness and Love!! Bonnne Noel!
*Thought Of The Day…If if’s and but’s were candy and nuts, what a Merry Christmas we’d all have!
